Happy Birthday Pops!

Today would have been my Dad's 64th birthday. I really miss him! I need to be better about remembering, especially for my kids. Olivia was born after he passed away, so I need to make sure and tell her all about him.
He was the greatest! There is so much that I wish I could have told him, but I didn't get the chance. It's always hard when you live far away from family to keep in touch. You know, out of sight, out of mind. I thought of my family often, I just thought I would have a lot of time with them, so I slacked off. I need to be a better daughter, and sister. Life is full of regrets, but we can't let that get us down. I just need to take the opportunities I have now with the family I have left and make the memories count. I read a thought recently that has stuck with me. It said, "Count your blessings, and make them count." I guess I am a visual learner, because I really like signs, Nate teases me all the time about it. But I'm pretty sure it's always good to have reminders, right? All we can really do is leave a legacy for our own children, I really want to work on that. My Dad did the best he could with what he had. I need to follow that example. I really appreciate all that he did for me, he was a hard worker and always tried to give me everything I could ever want. I was spoiled rotten :) Sorry I am rambling, these thoughts have just been on my mind lately, and it feels really good to get them out in the open! On a brighter note, I do have a lot to be thankful for, I need to always remember that! And I need to go forward, learning from the past, and make a brighter future! Those are my thoughts for today :)

Thanks for beind a great Dad and always being there for me! I love you!

It's a new year!

I've been meaning to blog for a long time. I just never seem to make time for it though. Today is as good a time as any, right? It just so happens that I can't sleep, so I might as well write in my journal :) Bing Crosby said it best on White Christmas, "If you're tired and you can't sleep, just count your blessings, instead of sheep, and you'll fall to sleep, counting your blessings!" I love that movie!! Anyway, a lot has been on my mind lately, with the celebration of a New Year there is always time for reflection. I want to write down some resolutions, so maybe I will be more likely to actually do them this year. I will just put down a few, but I have much to improve on :)

1. Get. Organized.
2. Be a better Mommy, be more kind and loving, less yelling.
3. Put more effort into my calling, better planning, more organized, get those boys in gear for getting their Bear badges! Go Scouts! :)
4. Go to the gym at least 3 days a week.
5. Blog at least once a week, probably Sunday.
6. Be a better friend, and keep in better contact with family.
7. Serve others.
8. Make time, and plan for Date night.
9. K.I.S.S keep.it.simple.stupid. A lot of the time I really complicate things for myself :)
10. Make it to the temple at least once a month.

These are probably the hardest ones I want to work on. I'm sure I will come up with more, but now these are here to remind me. I just want to improve, and we can always be better than we were last year, right?

Olivia is 2!

Livy had a birthday, shout hooray! We celebrated her birthday a couple weeks ago. She is such a big girl now! I can't believe my baby is 2!

The birthday girl showing off her spoils.

She had a blast! She got lots of presents and lots of attention!

Time for cake!

Caleb is 6!

Caleb's birthday was back in August, but I am just getting around to posting the pictures.

It's great to be 8

Posing for a picture for the baptism

Another shot

Opening presents for his birthday, he got his own scriptures.

Showing off his Boise State jersey

My favorite one, and the one we framed for display at his baptism.

Singing in the rain

We got rain in Midland, finally. So Hannah got to try out her rain coat and boots. She was a happy camper!

Memories

This month marks 2 years since my Dad passed away. I have been having dreams(or nightmares) about it all. The memories have come flooding back and they usually come at a not so great time. I find myself tearing up at the store, in the car(a song triggers it), and it usually is in front of one of my children. They still look at me like I've grown a third arm or something if they see that I'm crying. Hannah was only two, so she doesn't remember him. Olivia wasn't even born yet, but I like to think that Grandpa got to tell her about our family and get to know her. Maybe that is why she is such a good girl. Hopefully my boys have some memories of him, I need to help them remember. I just made a photo book of Grandpa for them, from when he was a baby to an adult. I hope we look at it often and remember the good times. I miss him a lot and I need to be better about teaching my kids about him. It's been 2 years, but my heart still aches. I really feel sad for my Mom, she hasn't had the easiest time with all this. She is still struggling and I wish I knew how to help her. I guess we have to want to be happy, before we can really BE happy. I read a quote somewhere recently and have made it my new motto.

"Now and then we have to pause in our pursuit of happiness, and just BE happy."

I also had a really awesome RS lesson a couple weeks back about choosing happiness. It was a real eye opener. We can make our lives what we want them to be. It is through our decisions and actions that it happens. There was a quote in the lesson that I really liked (I'll probably slaughter it). It went something like this, "It is our reaction to our adversities, not the adversity, that writes our life story." I wrote it down somewhere, but can't find it. I'll have to email the lady who gave the lesson and get an exact quote. I have been suffering from depression lately(off and on) and this lesson really has helped me. I know I need to be happier, and I am trying. I always have to count my blessings, because I have been very blessed. It is usually through our trials that we realize what we have.