Happy Birthday Rylan!

How did we get from here

to here

so fast?

At 1 year old Rylan is learning to walk and is so very proud of himself. He gets a big, goofy grin on and has his arms up every time he is walking. The greatest length so far is across his bedroom the long way. He started taking a few steps at a time on Wednesday February 8 and has been working hard at it ever since. It is such a delight to watch him get better and better and to be able to share that with family.

He deals with change well and as of a couple days ago is weaned. He is also done with the soother. Wow, that all makes him seem like such a big boy.

He likes playing with Little People and playing the piano.

He like climbing up on furniture, especially couches and chairs, oh and the window seats.

He doesn't like his carseat right now. Mostly the getting in part. I hoped it would be better when we changed him to forward facing, which we did today. It did not help. I'm sure it's just a phase he'll grow out of though.

He loves to be tickled and he loved cuddles though they don't last long. 

He loves his sleep and is a really good sleeper. Down to one nap a day for about 2 1/2 hours and a 12 1/2 hour stretch at night.

Special things we did today to celebrate Rylan's birthday include:

-a special family prayer in the morning thanking Heavenly Father for him and asking blessings for his future

-Make and Mingle (and he was noticeably better at leaving me to go play with the toys!)

-cinnamon buns and smoothies for lunch

-a birthday celebration in the evening

We feel so blessed to live close to both sets of grandparents. Rylan loved having Far-far, Far-mor, Uncle Henrik, Grandma, and Grandpa over for the party. 

We visited. We played with balloons.

We played with some shoes, and then we were back to the balloons.

We had cake.

Sidenote: I was excited about making my first "kid cake". I decided on the carousel theme and thought "how hard can it be?" My confidence fell considerably when the cake broke in 2 and pieces crumbled off when I was taking it out of the bundt cake pan. Thankfully, I remembered some important tips about freezing the cake and doing a thin icing layer, freezing again, then doing the final icing (thanks Kristyn!). That definitely saved the cake! It was fun to make. I'm really liking this whole mom job!

We opened presents. It truly is a group effort at this age.

A Noah's Ark book from Far-far, Far-mor, and Uncle Henrik. A parrot puppet from Grandpa and Grandpa. Stacking blocks from Dad, Mom, and Spencer. All very much appreciated, such thoughtful and good gifts.

We played some more, and visited some more. Then it was time to say goodbye.

We had a wonderful evening together and got all tuckered out. It was soon time for bed.

Now a note to my dearest Rylan,

I love your smile and your laugh. 

I love how playful you are. You light up each of my days. 

It is truly a blessing to be your mom. 

I hope I can teach you well and show you how to follow Jesus.

I am always here for you. 

Thanks for sharing a wonderful year in your life with me.

I'm looking forward to watching you grow and change.

I have great hopes for you. 

You are special and can be a great influence for good.

I love you. Never forget that.

Love, 

Mom

Simple Joys

 The weather around here is beautiful and we have had a great weekend. On Friday I got to see my brother Ryan (love that guy) and spend time with Kristyn and her girls. We had a grand idea of packing all the kids in her van and going to Lethbridge together...but all the carseats can't fit at the same time so she picked up what I needed in Lethbridge and I kept Emma here.

She is such a doll. Just a pleasure to have around. Emma was trying to mother Rylan a lot. She loved to feed him and just be around him. Spencer usually wants cheerios as a bedtime snack so here they are eating cheerios just before Emma was going home.

 Saturday morning Spencer dumped a whole bunch of cheerios on the floor. At first I wanted to just get all upset and then sweep it up (like I had the day before) but I was good and was just firm about him cleaning them up. He was back and forth between time-out and cleaning up for quite awhile but when he realized after each time-out he was just coming back to clean up he finally figured he better just do it. I'm hoping the cheerio dumping stage is over and we don't have to go through that again. Since reading Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood I've looked at these learning opportunities differently and I'm grateful for teaching opportunities while he is young so we will hopefully have less problems later.

 Rylan is getting into everything and one of his favorites is the buffet. I save myself a lot of stress by only keeping table cloths in the area he usually goes for. He is getting so big-his birthday is in a week. Nursing is coming to a close which is a little bittersweet-we're down to once in the morning and once at night.

Yesterday, I started feeling a little cooped up and wanted to get out of the house, all by myself, and go shopping with no limits! I told Hakon about it and he said for me to just take the day off and go to Lethbridge. In a way I wanted to but I also wasn't sure that was truly the best thing for me to do that day. After talking about options and ideas we came up with a better solution: we each get some time off from the kids next weekend to just do what we want to do. I get some time Friday and he gets some time Saturday. But as for yesterday we had a wonderful family outing for the afternoon. We drove out to SpringGlen Park and enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. It was wonderful! Some fun memories were made, including Hakon throwing my volleyball in the air and accidentally getting it stuck in a tree.

 It took awhile but he finally dislodged it by throwing rocks. I think that was his favorite part of the day. Sometimes simple pleasures are just what we need!

 We also played on the tram they have there. Hakon and I took turns on it as well, although we aren't pictured.

 Spencer loved it and went multiple times. By the end he could do it by himself if Hakon sat him on and let him go. He even got off by himself at the end.

 We are always glad to have Rylan along. 

He appreciated that we had cheerios on hand and that it wasn't windy, what a treat!

 What is it with boys and rocks? Any time we go to a waterfront or park Hakon always wants to throw rocks. I think it is in their nature. I notice it all the time. I hope we can make it through raising boys without too many injuries from rock throwing! So far, so good.

Rylan and I were glad we didn't get pegged!

After SpringGlen we visited my Aunt Diane's family who lived outside of Glenwood. We realized we see them less since we moved here and never go to church in Glenwood anymore so we just popped by their house for a visit. It was so nice to catch up with them. My cousins Jenae and Kalina were both home and had fun stories to share about boys, basketball, YSA, etc.

Before we left they showed us the animals on their farm. The bunnies were so soft, I could hardly believe it. Spencer loved feeding the horse and petting the dog. Hopefully we can make it out there again when they have some baby calfs for Spencer to see. We decided we need to make a trip out to Jefferson to show Spencer around the family farm there soon.  

All in all I was so glad I didn't take off for the day and leave Hakon stranded at home with the kids (though there is a time and place for that for sure). Instead we had some real quality family time and built relationships that provide so much joy in our lives. I am so grateful to be a part of a wonderful family and have simple joys in my life. 

Little People, Little Victories

Remember when I posted the picture on the left of Spencer when he loved to play in the fridge? Well, now it's Rylan shown in the picture on the right and I can hardly believe I'm already dealing with my second fridge lover. Time really is flying. It's so fun to see pictures of the boys side by side. They are surely brothers but I think they look so different from one another. A funny sidenote is that we had the exact same fridge in Strathmore as the one we got with this house. It was actually really nice. It gave us a sense of home right off the bat. That may sound strange but it was nice!

Now these two are playing "together" if you could call it that. This is a view from this morning. Spencer got out a few unconventional toys to go along with the Little People. I love our storage benches in the living room for keeping some toys upstairs but they can be out of sight in a hurry.

 Spencer has been obsessed with puzzles for awhile now. Rylan only gets a chance when Spencer isn't around but he tries his best to put it together. When Spencer is doing a puzzle Rylan usually plays with some other toy close by or wants me.

The other day Mama and Henrik came by for a few hours. Spencer loved it when they read to him during Rylan's nap. One of the pages has a picture of magnets on it. We got out a couple magnets for Spencer to play with. It is easy to forget that he still needs to be shown lots of everyday things that he doesn't know about. Magnets are fun to play with and it's neat how they pull together when they are close. Spencer was amused for quite awhile.

Last Sunday afternoon we had a family in our ward over for dinner and had a great time. Every time we invite people over we wonder why we don't do it more often, especially when the kids all get along. After they left Hakon and Spencer crashed for the afternoon leaving Rylan and I some time for ourselves until we all went to Mom's house for a birthday get-together. It was fun to get together with some of my family. We celebrated Mom's birthday the night before as well at Rustin & Kristyn's house with Cafe Rio Pork Salad (yum!) and Bananagrams. We had to come home a little bit early because Rylan would calm down for the babysitter but that was okay since we came home at 9:45 pm and Hakon had to be up at 5:00 am for meetings on Sunday.

A little Rylan update:

-He's feeling a lot better since he got past a bad stage of eczema and his ear infection is cleared up.

-He loves climbing up and down the stairs and is really good at it. 

-He loves, loves playing the piano.

-He is enjoying more toys including the Little People buildings and animals.

-He tries to do puzzles.

-He is switching from 2 naps a day to 1. It's hard on both of us.

-He's down to nursing 2 times a day, morning and night.

-Sometimes it sounds like he actually says cracker and a few other words but I'm only sure he knows mama and dada.

-He reaches for Grandma and Far-mor sometimes.

-He is such a mama's boy. Whenever I leave he searches for me most of the time.

-He has taken 1 step!

-He goes to bed at 7pm and doesn't usually wake up in the night. He gets up for the day around 7:30 or 8:00 am. 

-He always wants to play with the computer if he can reach it. 

-He is so hard during church now. He just wants to go, go, go! I usually take him during Sunday School, and Hakon takes him for the last hour while I teach Young Women. 

-He can get really loud when he runs out of food in his high chair.

-He is truly a joy to have in our family.

 A little Spencer update:

-He doesn't take a nap every day but will often times fall asleep on the floor around 2:30 pm. Some days he still naps in his bed, like today-which is why I can blog mid-afternoon!

-He usually has a bedtime snack which is often times prepared by Dad.

-He got his very own Book of Mormon which he loves. He got it on Saturday and I've seen him "reading" from it daily on his own outside of the time he "reads" from it during family scripture study. I hope he will always love the Book of Mormon. In the picture above he is looking through our family one.

-He likes to choose who says prayer, for now we let him, if he doesn't grow out of it I guess we'll have to do something about that.

-He loves, loves doing the dishes with me. I hate the occasional splashes of water but try to remind myself it is worth it. It really is fun to have him pull up his chair saying "dishes" and keep me company.

-He can be really sweet to Rylan sometimes. I caught him saying "What happened? It's okay, come 'ere. It's okay. What happened?" and trying to give Rylan a hug when Rylan was sad that I left the room. It's great to see he's learning some empathy even though many times he is the one causing the crying.

-He is a little parrot lately. We catch him copying us all the time. He also tries to sing a lot.

-He is still very organized and likes to clean up if he has fair warning. 

-He loves jumping on our air mattress. At first we weren't sure if we should let him and chance getting a hole in it. We soon decided it was worth the chance since he gets so much energy out on it and we don't have a trampoline to send him to. I think he's been jumping on it for over a year now and it is holding up. We always talk about how great it is to have for him. Knock on wood-now it's going to pop! (Even if so I think we'd just buy another and let him jump on it too.)

-He's still on medicine but is basically over Strep Throat. We both had it this week and Hakon had it last week. Things are looking up though. 

-He is very full of energy and loves to have fun. He's funny and laughs a lot. He does well when we get out of the house and see other people and places.

-He is so much fun to have in our home.

Although I love my kids very much and am glad to stay home with them, yesterday I was just so irritable. As I looked back on the day I found I could have changed a lot of things to make it better. I could have had my house cleaner, worn comfortable pants (I find this makes a huge difference in my day, crazy enough), and had more meaningful prayers. I did get it together before Hakon came home for dinner and we shared some good family time before Hakon spelled me off so I could go to our ward temple night. It was wonderful to be in the temple with the peace and quiet there. At the end, I was able to sit in silence for awhile and pray and just open up to Heavenly Father about my true desires. It is so good to do that because it reminds me of what I should be focusing on and working toward. It reminds me that my kids aren't just slowing me down and causing havoc in my life, they are my life and they are what I have time for. I'm grateful I have time to become a better mother and wife, and all the roles I have in this life. It's exciting when I see improvement in my life and makes me want to work harder and do better.

A recent triumph in our home has been better dinner times. A few weeks ago Hakon and I talked about our concerns with the chaos of dinner. Spencer was always up and down, away from the table and back, and causing havoc. As we talked about it we started wondering if it was largely our own fault. We decided to get everything on the table before saying the prayer was said and, as much as possible, staying seated for the entire dinner. We explained to Spencer that if he left the table he needed to go play and not bother anyone in the kitchen until dinner was over. It has gone incredibly well. It was a great reminder to me that if I want my kids to change their behavior, I need to look at my own first and make sure I'm setting a good example. It feels good to have a victory amid the countless every day failures.

Life with Boys

Lately motherhood is always on my mind. I don't want to just go by natural instinct all the time because too often natural instinct would be to yell and yank, or ignore and be annoyed. I want to be deliberate and intentional in my mothering. It is too important to be left to chance. I am almost always reading some sort of parenting or homemaking book. I also love to read blog posts on these topics. Something I'm working on right now is taking the emotion out of disciplining. I'm trying to remember to be sad for Spencer (as opposed to being angry at him) when he makes mistakes and quickly give the consequence while at the same time being grateful he is learning these lessons early. A lot of things run through my mind on a daily basis that help from the Love and Logic book I read and A Joyful Mother of Children. I want to read 5 Spiritual Solutions for Everyday Parenting Challenges which is also written by Linda Eyre with her husband. Just focusing on the ideal more, although I am far from it, makes me a better mom. The key is to try harder to do better. I know my kids don't expect perfection but they can sense when I'm trying and that is really important.

I'm trying to really enjoy the activities I do with them even if it is playing hockey and ping-pong with a 2 year old multiple times a day. I find it helps to have some good music going and to pull the camera out now and then.

Spencer loves playing goalie. He thinks the whole idea is to crouch and fall when the ball comes. He doesn't yet realize you are supposed to try to stop the ball. He's got the moves down pretty well though!

Rylan crawls around while we play and pulls all the shoes off the shelves. He recently wanted to climb in the ride-in car. He can sit in it well and likes for Spencer to push him around if it's not too fast.

Poor Rylan has been sick for about a week with a runny nose, mild fever on and off, and conjunctivitis. To top it off his eczema has been worse than ever.  

The above picture was taken a week ago. He is doing a lot better by now (you can tell in the next pictures that were taken today). It's not all better but people aren't asking if it is a carpet burn anymore. Poor little guy!

The boys love playing around the windows and fireplace. Rylan can climb up and down on it which makes him so proud! He is also doing very well going up and down stairs now and is trying to climb on the couches. He's cruising around everywhere and is into everything.

We spent a few hours last Saturday in Glenwood so Hakon could help Papa and Henrik put insulation in the kitchen. There was a little bit of time to relax and watch some hockey afterward.

Spencer was excited to see Mickey Mouse waiting outside the front door for him when we arrived at their house. He loves seeing him when we visit. Spencer is still very much into Mickey Mouse, I'm sure he would still sit and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on youtube all day if we would let him. He probably wishes I was still painting all the time, he got to watch a lot more then.

 

Spencer still loves spending time with his Dad. It makes him so happy when they are together. 

We are still working on this house here and there though we should be going full-tilt. The boys always want to be involved and get into Hakon's tools. We finally got a fan for the living room-that was extremely hard to find one we liked!

Rylan reached the weight limit (22 lbs) for his carseat so we bought a new one for Spencer and moved Rylan into Spencer's old one. The lady at Toys'R'us assured us that he didn't need to be rear facing since he is above the weight limit though not yet 1 year old. I thought that was strange, but great. So Rylan got to sit forward facing for the drive home. I researched to make sure she was right and found she was wrong so Rylan is back to rear-facing for another month. It will be so fun to have both boys facing the front again on February 13th!

So that's what's been going on in this house of boys I live in. I hope I can hang onto my femininity through all this boy stuff. It's quite the ride, bumpy and tiring and thrilling with a few peaceful moments to break it up. I'm sure glad it's not over yet!

What Matters Most

I haven't forgotten about my theme for the year yet. Here's how my first experience with it went:

I hadn't gotten around to finalizing my lesson plans for teaching last Sunday and it was Saturday afternoon. I had 4 couples coming over for New Year's Eve and I wanted to decorate (okay, they were all immediate family, but the point remains). So here is the dilemma: I don't have time for both! "Put your effort where it matters most" pops into my head and the decision is made: I will spend all the time I need on the lesson to feel really ready regardless of whether there is time left over for party preparation. Well, there is no time left over. The party was fun because it was with some of my most favorite people in the world and I was proud of myself for doing what I thought was most important.

Now, fast-forward to church the next morning. A water line breaks in the parking lot, my class is cancelled, and we all go home. Great, so much for "putting my effort where it matters most".

I know I still did the right thing, and the bonus is I have my lesson ready for the next time I teach way in advance. I had a good sleep and good morning because I was prepared, and I actually learned something from that lesson about being a daughter of God. I think I've been acting more like one lately.

So, I still like my theme. It's a good exercise for me.

One thing that I think "matters most" is spending time with people you care a lot about. I got to do that over the holidays with some of my best friends. It's so easy to let the time slip away and not get together but we made the time and had some fun.

Megan (Bennett) Heavenor, Kami (Allred) Berezay, Leah Lacey, and Katie Wood came over for an afternoon. Awesome, awesome girls! I look up to each one of them and thoroughly enjoy each time I see them. Kami and Megan had their babies here who are each adorable! It was fun to talk about our lives now and reminisce about the past.

Leah and Katie are so much fun. I can not begin to tell all the good times I've shared with these two lovelies. They are the girls I can tell anything to and I know they will always still love me. I will never stop loving them either! Even though we are in totally different stages of life we've been able to stay friends and I get to hear all the fun stories about roommates and school, work and guys. I love to hear all their crazy stories!

They were so good to Spencer while they were here as well. Katie won his heart with her attention and the iphone helped too I'm sure. They didn't even get upset about him continually jumping between the two of them and begging for tickles. When everyone left I realized I had made the mistake of not telling Spencer to come say goodbye as he was in the other room. He came straight to the loveseat to find Leah and Katie and was so upset they were gone. He was only consoled by calling each of them on their cell phones to say goodbye.

I also got to see another good friend, Monica (Redd) Harker and her husband David over the holidays. I was so happy to hear they are expecting a baby and doing so well. Becoming a parent is so exciting! I love the holidays when so many people come home and I get to see them!

Spencer's new favorite thing to do is puzzles. I'm impressed with how well he is doing. I need to find some new ones to challenge him since he has completely memorized the ones we have.

Rylan has taken a step and loves to crawl over everything and climb. He is starting to learn to climb down the stairs and to get on and off the seats by the fireplace. He is almost 11 months old. Seriously-where did my baby go?? He is learning to share with Spencer and they sometimes play together. Nothing makes me happier than seeing them have fun playing together.

But nothing makes me more angry than when Spencer hurts Rylan, over and over! I didn't know I could be so mad. Consistent consequences have helped but haven't totally stopped Spencer from crawling right over top of Rylan or head-butting him. I can tell he just wants Rylan to be old enough to rough-house and he probably is trying to get a reaction from me but in the mean time it makes me so mad! I don't think I am one who is easily upset or incensed but he found the right button to push. It makes me wonder how Heavenly Father feels when his children (all of us) don't get along. It must hurt Him so much!


A book I just read was fabulous: A Joyful Mother of Children by Linda Eyre. A friend let me borrow it and I will soon order one from amazon. It was jam-packed with ideas to use to become a better mother while at the same time finding more joy in it. This lady had a bunch of kids and talks about real life. I feel like she has really been where I am and has great ideas for how to make it through joyfully-for the most part! There is so much for me to work on. I know I will want to refer to this book many times over the next 20 years or more!

Hakon had the week between Christmas and New Year's off from work. I loved having him around. This year from Christmas his mor-mor (Grandma who lives in Norway) sent him fine chocolates because they said "Kong Haakon" on the package-which means King Hakon.

The truth is, he is meant to one day be a King, and I his Queen. Isn't that surreal! That is what we are working toward in our every day running around, trying to make it through this life. That is what it is all about. I love him and want to be his Queen for eternity!

Chrismas Festivities and 2012 Theme

I didn't send any Christmas cards in the mail this year. Please forgive me, and consider this the best I could do this year. It felt too overwhelming to figure one out earlier in the season with renovations and all the activities that go along with Christmas. 

We have had a lot of fun with the Christmas season. It started out with an FHE at the Chinook Lodge. The Women's Ensemble I'm singing with sang and we added numbers that our children wanted to do. Spencer stood up front during "Jingle Bells" although he didn't join in the singing. It was great to get out and give some service. Hakon was good to take care of the boys while I sang.

December 17 we had a grand time at a Norwegian Christmas party at Darren and Stacey Atwood's house. We watched a slideshow of pictures from Norway, had smorbrod and Norwegian treats, and went on a hayride. It made me so much more excited about carrying on Norwegian traditions in my family and grateful I have the opportunity to learn more about a different country and culture and enjoy the benefits that come along with it. 2 of the Young Women from my ward are in the Atwood family. It was fun to see them with their family. They are so good with all the young children and are so much fun to be around, as are their parents!

The next evening was the Rotary Carol Festival which I sang in with the Women's Ensemble. It was so wonderful to be singing in a talented group again. I actually sang alto with Leslie Dittmann who led me in choir from grade 5-12 and who took the Girls Choir on tour when I went to Germany. It was a bit intimidating at first to sing with her but then it became really fun because we started blending nicely and just enjoying singing together. We are a group of 8 right now but will probably expand to 12 in the new year. We sang "You are the New Day", "Carol of the Bells", and "Mary, Did you Know". I think people enjoyed "Carol of the Bells" the most. It felt great to sing well and feel the spirit during it.

December 22 we had a Family Adult Christmas Party! It was great to have an evening without the craziness of all the kids being there. We had a scare when our babysitter called 25 minutes before we needed to leave to say she got the chicken pox (it's been going around town). I called about 12 other young women from my ward but nobody was available. Finally I called my neighbor ReNae Jensen and she was so kind to come over for a couple hours. What a relief! We started with dinner at Athens (the new restaurant in Cardston). Unforunately Hakon ended up at the front of the picture again and looks like a giant...again! We just laugh about it now. He really isn't that big!

After dinner everyone came to our house for games and visiting. Darren and Christal brought a bunch of Minute to Win it games which really got us laughing! Such good times.

We even played Werewolf afterward with those who weren't partied out yet.  It was a blast!

The Norwegian Christmas gets into full swing on the 24th. I cut my thumb that afternoon just before we were going to take treats around to friends and neighbors so that got put on hold until after Christmas but the celebrating went on as planned a couple hours later.

We had a pork dinner and Ris Krem og Rod Saus (rice pudding and red berry sauce) for dessert. Mama got the hidden almond in it but didn't confess until Hakon had taken a second bowl of dessert.

Afterward Santa made it to our place and found that Spencer and Rylan have been good little boys this year.

Spencer watched out the window for him to come and was so polite when he came in. He wasn't quite sure what to think about it all but was on his best behavior. Spencer got Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figurines and Rylan got a wooden train.

Some other gifts to mention are the car ramp from Far-Mor and Far-Far and a pingpong table for the family which Grandma and Grandpa Bevans contributed to. Emme and Mike sent us Bananagrams and toys for the kids. We missed having them with us as well as the rest of Hakon's family. I was excited to surprise Hakon with the complete set of the History of the Church, which he has been wanting for years.

It was nice to do Christmas at our house with Hakon's parents and Henrik. We were able to put Rylan to bed around 7:30 when he got tired and still enjoy the rest of the evening together.

Christmas Day we had a fabulous Sacrament Meeting with a beautiful Cantata. I enjoyed singing with a group of 8 women from the ward. Although I lost my voice earlier this week and didn't have it all the way back for Sunday I was still able to sing well enough to join in. It was great to practice with these ladies and get to know them better. We love our ward family here!

We had fun being little helpers for Rustin by taking a piano to their house to surprise Kristyn. We dropped it off while they were at church and she had quite the surprise when they got home. It was fun to be sneaky! I am so glad to live here and be able to help out with these things. At 3:00 we went to my parents' house for dinner, presents, and the nativity. Alley and Brady are up this year and surprised us with the announcement that they are going to have a baby in June!!! That made my Christmas!

 The most exciting present was an Ipad for mom. She was totally surprised, although I'm sure she was hoping for one. She continually amazes me with how she keeps up with technology. I'm sure she will put it to good use.

 This was Spencer's first year in the Nativity. He was a shepherd. The cutest part was that he kept holding his arms out like an angel because Grandma told Emma to. He really wanted to do things right and follow along with the other kids. He sure loves being around his extended family, as do the rest of us.

I feel sad that Christmas came and went so fast. I think doing renovations at the same time took away from pondering and reading as much as I would have liked to. Although there are times when you just have to get to work and get a project done, I can absolutely see the wisdom in not letting our lives get too busy for the simple, quiet moments that allow us to focus on Christ and our blessings. I am grateful He did come to show us the way and provide the way for us to return to live with Him in the mansions of His Father. I hope and pray that I will live faithful and obtain this blessing along with all of my family.

I've also been thinking about "simplifying" my life. I don't think life is meant to be simple in the way that it is easy and laid back and meaningless. I think I need to focus less on simplifying and more on putting my effort where it matters most. Sometimes we put our effort where it shows the most but it doesn't have any eternal significance. I think we are not supposed to just be hurrying around trying to keep up with everyone else but we aren't just supposed to do nothing either. We need to be anxiously engaged in a good cause and lay up treasures in heaven. These things take effort, work, and deliberate actions. We can't achieve eternal life without any effort but just being busy with unimportant things won't get us there either.

So my theme for 2012 is going to be: 

Put Your Effort Where it Matters Most

I hope everyone enjoys this week between Christmas and New Years! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year if we let it be that!