Easter

Hank and Megan. Tired from all the Easter activities.

Whit opening up all of her eggs

Whitney had to wear her "binoculars" to help her find all of the Easter eggs.

Yes, Whitney is wearing wings. They are actually bat wings that go to her Halloween costume but sometimes she thinks she is a fairy and has to wear them. Not worth fighting that battle. :)

Hope everyone had a great Easter!!

Cabin Fun

This weekend was really fun, but I was not the nicest person in the world. I was so grouchy.. I'd like to blame it on the menstruation cycle- I hate to use that as an excuse, but I just might. Thankfully, my wonderful husband is just that. Wonderful. And very patient. We went up to Danny's family cabin over the weekend and it was cold! We got up there Friday night around 10ish. There is no heat but a fire and we did bring up a little space heater. We all got settled into bed and to make a LONG story SHORT.. Danny stole the big blanket (claiming he was bigger so he needed it) and half way through the night took MY pillow (because apparently he needs 2 to sleep with.) I had a teeny blanket- no pillow and honestly.. it was like 20 or 30 degree's ok maybe 40.. I don't know what the temperature it was but it was FREEZING! All the while, Whit and Danny are sleeping very comfortably- with 2 pillows and a huge blanket. Hank and I woke up at like 6 AM because it was so cold and I was grouchy until I got warm.. which was like 1 pm ish.

I finally got nice :)...My family came up in the afternoon, we played card games, dyed easter eggs and just hung out. Fun times! Next time though, I will be prepared for cold weather or HOPEFULLY it will be a bit warmer.

We were all happy in this pic. :)

gma Suz and Whit dyeing easter eggs.

Whit, Jess and Parker

Die hard fishermen.. Jess, Parker and Danny fished for over 1 hour in the snow. Crazy.

Eating a cupcake

Great gma Donna and Hank

Ok.. I may be smiling in this picture but I am not happy! It was like 6 AM and cold.

Danny getting the fire going and his little twin helping him.

Whitney's 3rd Birthday

Whit turned 3 on Saturday. My cute little girl. I can't believe it. We had a pretty low key day. Danny ran the marathon and we went to Incredible Pizza with family and friends in the evening. It was perfect. :)

Danny was so tired from running the marathon but was such a trooper.

Best buds

Her fun little house. She absolutely loves it.

Love you Whit!

Salt Lake Marathon

Cute Danny ran the Salt Lake marathon on Saturday.. so proud of him! :) He made it, survived, and was/ is still very sore. 26 miles is A LOT!!

my handy helpers..

Gotta love the lipstick!

.. and my cute little guy.

Growing Up

My little Whitney is turning 3 on Saturday and I can't hardly believe it! Where does the time go? Craziness. The other day I asked Whitney if she would stop growing up so fast and this was her reply:

"Mom, I can't because my heart is on the opposite side and it makes me strong and special and it makes me get big." {As she pointed to her heart.. on the opposite side.}

So cute. I love these tender moments with her. She was born with a condition called Situs Inversus. She has no side affects and is perfect and healthy, but we just like to remind her of how special she is.

Today we laid on Whit's bed and played "pretend." She loves to imagine. Her bed turned into a magic flying carpet. She flew us to the beach-we built a sand castle, we went down a water slide at the pool and waved to dad as we flew away (he was catching the chickens she said.) We even reached off of the "magic carpet" to touch the clouds. Sometimes on our "flying trips" we have to fight off a mean dragon.. that eventually turns nice or there is a scary crocodile that is right below us.

Other times she likes to pretend that she is a dog. She will crawl around the house begging for food. She does a trick, I feed her a treat. I will pick her up and hold her... scratch her ears... rub her belly.

And her night-time stories.. the best! Always filled with stories of Whitney the princess and her entourage of friends.. Tinker Bell, Rapunzel, Toy Story characters... they are our frequent guests. Usually we are rescuing someone from either a mean witch, huge octupus, or a big dragon. Whitney, the nicest princess of all, of course, has super powers. She can stretch really far (like Mrs. Incredible) and always rescues whomever is in danger. I mentioned a couple of nights ago that maybe we should ride the horses (Mo and Muffins) into the woods. I told her she could ride Mo and I would ride Muffins. Her response: "No, I want to ride Muffins. Mo is too fat and slow." ;) After every story she ALWAYS says: "That was a great story."

So every night we tell story after story and it never gets old. I don't want to ever forget these little moments we get with her. In 10 years from now when she is a teenager, I'm not going to be able to kiss her or Hank a million times a day or lay with them until they fall asleep. But so it is, inevitable.. growing up. I just wish it didn't have to happen so dang fast!

Hanks new thing is his teddy bear. He likes to hold it and play with it until he falls asleep. And he LOVES to sleep with it on his face. :)

She totally fell asleep like this.

Today's Ramblings

Life is hard. Not that that is such a bad thing. Trials are good, right?? Just an opportunity for growth. They mold us and shape us--- creating character. I feel like we have been in the "molding" stage for awhile now.. just bidding our time.

I also feel like I have been selfish lately. Selfish with my time, selfish with my money, selfish in my prayers. "Bless me, help us." I know that the Lord hears and answers every prayer, but sometimes it's not exactly how we would always like and the true test is to submit our will to the Lord's and trust in Him. As I was thinking about that very thing this morning, about the need to be 'less selfish in my prayers and bear my burdens/trials with patience', I read the following chapter in the BOM, Mosiah 24. And it hit me like a brick of rocks. To summarize the chapter, Alma and his followers were in bondage to the Lamanites. They prayed with all their hearts to be delivered from bondage, but the Lord didn't immediately grant them their wants. He "eased the burdens which were placed upon them" that they were able to bear them with great faith and patience... Interesting. After they "submitted cheerfully and with patience" did the Lord finally deliver them out of bondage from the Lamanites. Yes, trials are hard, but sometimes our prayers aren't answered by the trial being taken away, but rather we are given patience to endure it.

I love conference. I feel like a lot of talks were geared towards serving and loving others. Time is not on my side these days. I feel like I am slacking in so many area's.. serving others is one of them. This morning when I knelt down to say my prayers I asked the Lord to help me "serve someone today and for the spirit that I may know what to do." -- I got an immediate answer. "Serve my children." And so I did. I was present all day. I didn't clean (much). I didn't put off Whit's million questions. I didn't tell her, "no, I couldn't play" but just put all of my tasks aside and spent quality time with the people that mean the most to me. And I learned an invaluable lesson.. sometimes the greatest service that you can give is being present with your children and loving them. I am grateful for my 2 beautiful children. They are my whole world and make me so happy.