In the process of de-cluttering i came across a scratch piece of paper that i had written down cute kids quotes from when i worked as a child life specialist at a children's hospital....they are too priceless not to preserve somewhere, here they are:

"I wish my sister didn't put the chapstick in her cast!" -a patient's sibling in the ED

"Ok, I'll play with you. I like to play with old ladies." -a patient to my co-worker(who is not that old!)

"You're an adult. You should go talk to those adults.  I'm a kid and i don't know you." -a patient to my co-worker:)

"If it were BYU i'd let them in!" -a patient to the Jazz B-ball players that wanted to visit her in her hospital room:)

"The blood pressure cuff feels like an anaconda squeezing my arm" -a boy about to have surgery

"So, when are you going to bring out the dead bodies for us to practice on?" -a 9 year old boy at our pre-surgery class

"What do you like to do outside?" (me) "Oh, I like slaying dragons" (3 year old boy)

"A blood pressure cuff is what they use to squeeze air into your body" -a 4 yr old patient

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

                  Christmas Bells

    I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
    Their old, familiar carols play,
        And wild and sweet
        The words repeat
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    And thought how, as the day had come,
    The belfries of all Christendom
        Had rolled along
        The unbroken song
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    Till ringing, singing on its way,
    The world revolved from night to day,
        A voice, a chime,
        A chant sublime
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    Then from each black, accursed mouth
    The cannon thundered in the South,
        And with the sound
        The carols drowned
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    It was as if an earthquake rent
    The hearth-stones of a continent,
        And made forlorn
        The households born
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    And in despair I bowed my head;
    "There is no peace on earth," I said;
        "For hate is strong,
        And mocks the song
    Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

    Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
    "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
        The Wrong shall fail,
        The Right prevail,
    With peace on earth, good-will to men."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the words to "Christmas Bells" following the death of his beloved wife Fanny and also hearing the news of his son being injured in the civil war. This poem later became the well-known Christmas hymn, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."  I love the rich history that Boston holds and remember touring the Longfellow home on Brattle street (just across the street from where i went to church while in a singles ward there)  I love Henry's humble testimony in this hymn of Christmas praise. 

Here is a shout out to my parents. My heart brims with love when i think of them. They are so good. So warm. So celestial. They are human too, but somehow keep the eternal perspective so present in their daily lives. They have created something so magical in their home and in their lives. They love Family, they love God, they love Life. I am so grateful for their happy influence in my life and in my children's lives!
(thanks to my sister for this great instagram of them:)

A little girl was asked by her friend what it was like to be a Christian. She replied, "It's like being a pumpkin: 
God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off you. Then he cuts the top off and scoops out all the yucky stuff. Then He carves a smile on your face and puts a light inside of you for everyone to see.

our house has been overtaken by candy! it is dwindling quickly though(with help from the adults in the family). our toddler's new favorite word is "sucker." None of my kids have noticed their dwindling candy buckets except for our very organized 5 year old who has all of her candy accounted for.

Perhaps you’ve heard the promises associated with family history work. Elder Richard G. Scott promised: “Do you young people want a sure way to eliminate the influence of the adversary in your life? Immerse yourself in searching for your ancestors [and] prepare their names for the sacred vicarious ordinances available in the temple…. I can think of no greater protection from the influence of the adversary in your life.” Elder David A. Bednar has declared: “Your testimony of and conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary.”

i just read this quote on a family search email i received. Wow! I sure want that protection for my children! We need to get immersed in family history work as a family!!!! 

"Keep the fire of your testimony of the restored gospel and your witness of our Redeemer burning so brightly that our children can warm their hands by the fire of your faith." 
-Elder Boyd K. Packer

I think this is funny, but i'm mostly posting this because i think my husband will think it is so funny too! 

The sacrament meeting speakers in our ward this week spoke on this topic. It was so good, so uplifting and helped me understand just a little more just how much our Heavenly Father loves each of His children.  It's so easy to love my own kids and want the best for them, to help them, forgive them, learn from them, and just love them no matter what.  What if we were able to see everyone through the eyes of their own parent's, especially through the eyes of a loving Heavenly Father!

"...Every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God..." -Doctrine & Covenants 82:19.

it is the early morning hours and i've been up preparing to host a luncheon for a family following a funeral tomorrow, it's a family of 90 people! Their loved one was in our ward so as part of my Relief Society calling we have the opportunity serve them:) It is an honor, however, our ward recently was divided and now we are mostly made of young students. Not enough people have signed up to help with the food, so this morning i sent out an email to sisters that were formerly in our ward, inviting them to help...i was wondering if i did the right thing or if i should have just made it work with those currently in our ward but then i read this scripture (and the surrounding verses too) and my heart swelled knowing that it is all God's work and it doesn't matter who is in what ward, we can still help and serve one another as neighbors and children of God. 

today in relief society the teacher talked about a time in her life that she was inactive and living in the mountains. she said she came to a point where she wanted to come back to church but told her dad she didn't have a desire to read the scriptures but she wanted that desire. he told her to go through the motions and just start reading every day and the desire would come...so she did, and she didn't look back and now, years later, she is still reading the scriptures and LOVES them and feasts on the words of Christ.

“Our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved."
-President Thomas S. Monson

our oldest just finished kindergarten! What?! Where did time go? We are so grateful for his kind teacher who inspired him and helped instill in him a love of learning, strengthened his self-esteem, reached out to our family (and all the others too i'm sure!) She really made a difference in our son's life. 

“Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine.” 
― Gordon B. Hinckley

“In giving birth to our babies, we may find that we give birth to new possibilities within ourselves.” – Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn

"A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece."-Ludwig Erhard

Just yesterday 5 of the wards in our stake, including ours, was divided and 3 new ones were created. It was quite the experience and so sad to see SO many of the families in our ward be put in new wards just created.  Somehow, though hard, it feels like individuals and families all ended up in the best place for them...including us. I'm grateful we get to stay in our current ward that has been around for generations. We love the elderly in our ward and also the young married students that will comprise 60 percent of our ward! Our new Bishop is ready and willing to unite the ward and the new members that have been included in the boundary change.

On Mother's Day weekend Lanning bought me a flat of petunias to plant in our yard, it's a tradition. The very next day a huge storm dumped on Rexburg while we were visiting family in Teton. When we got home we found huge chunks of hail and debris in our yard, and the petunias that we had just planted looked hammered :( I was a bit sad, but Lanning said "Maybe they will come back with a vengeance now and be better than ever"  Sometimes adversity does that to us, makes us grow and become better, even if it's not immediately apparent.

(Lanning and Henry-age 18 months)

        "T-I-M-E           Spells Love"

I heard this somewhere recently about how to children Time spent with them = Love. Hopefully i will remember this as the days get busy with "stuff."  A few years ago a friend of mine told me a whole day would go by and she really didn't know what her kids had been doing all day because they played so well together and entertained themselves, so she and her husband started setting aside one night each week for each child that they got to stay up later than the other kids and spend time just with their parents.  I thought that was a great idea. Lanning is really good about spending one-on-one time with the kids but i definitely need to do better! 

“None of us should get so busy in our lives that we cannot contemplate with prayer.” -president Spencer W. Kimball

i don't remember where i found this photo, facebook maybe? i thought it was adorable!

we sure love our toddler:) she keeps us smiling AND practicing patience....that apple photo is so her! When we went apple picking last summer we found our garbage can full of apples with a bite or two taken out of them...culprit=toddler! 

Goodbye 2015! it's been a great year! So grateful for the memories made, the new addition of Oliver added to our family and the many blessings of family and friends enjoyed. Onto the next, 2016!