Baptism Day!

The day has finally arrived ... Katelyn's baptism! I am not exaggerating when I say she has been looking forward to this day for at least a year. It was certainly a day that Greg and I have thought alot about during the past 8 years.

We are so proud of Kate and the decision that she has made to be baptized. She is so much fun and has such a big heart. Our family would not be the same without her.

We had lots of family that traveled for hours in snowy weather just to be with us on our special day. We also had lots of friends that came to Kate's baptism. What would we do without good friends! Then we all headed back to our house for dinner and had such a great time visiting with each other. Thanks everyone for celebrating this important occasion with us. We love you Kate and couldn't be prouder of you!

President's Day at the park

So, after having the flu for one week, I decided that I could use some fresh air. Plus, the kids were out of school for President's Day and they were tired of being cooped up, too. So, we went to the new park down the street for a little while. It was a beautiful day and it felt so nice to be out of the house. Plus, it was fun to visit "our" new park for the very first time.

Just watching the kids play and have fun together helped me to feel better. I feel so blessed to be Kate and Josh's mom. They truly are the loves of my life, besides Greg, of course.

Good-bye training wheels

Today was an exciting day for Josh ... the training wheels came off of his "2 wheel bike." Greg has far more patience than I do (big surprise, I know). He followed Josh up and down the street and around the neighborhood for quite awhile. And you can tell from Josh's face how much fun he had. Thanks for being such a great dad Greg! And great job Josh! You're a big kid now with only 2 wheels!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is Valentine's Day and I am feeling so very grateful for ALL of my loved ones. I am so blessed to have such an AMAZING husband, two INCREDIBLE kids, an AWESOME family (both sides), and WONDERFUL friends! Thank you all for making me feel so loved all of the time. My life wouldn't be the same without each of you!

Lots and lots of love today and always ...

Jill

About my Valentine!

O.K. I was tagged by Amy and since it's Valentine's Day this week, I'm happy to share a little info about my hubby. So, here goes ...

What is his name?
Greg

How long have you been married?
If you can believe it, 17 years this June. Wow! We sound old!

How long did you date?
We dated for about 6 months when he proposed and we were married 4 months later.

How old is he?
A very handsome 37 years old.

Who eats more?
Greg (unless there's sweets involved and then it's all me!)

Who is taller?
Greg, by a long shot

Who sings better?
Neither of us can carry a tune. It's sad!

Who is smarter?
Greg is smarter when it comes to most things. However, I have him beat when it comes to technical things like computers and such.

Whose temper is worse?
Sadly, I must admit ... ME! But that's not too hard since Greg is very calm.

Who does the laundry?
Me. I've kind of told him not to do it since he throws almost everything together. That drives me crazy! But I still love ya Gregor!

Who does the dishes?
Greg is a GREAT help when it comes to dishes. His mom raised him well.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Let's see, that would be me.

Who pays the bills?
Me. I tease Greg that he wouldn't have clue if something happened to me. But that's not really true. He has a general idea of where our money goes. (Plus, I've made up a chart that shows who we pay when and how much.)

Who mows the lawn?
I actually really like mowing the lawn. However, I have been banned from trimming. Apparently I get it a little too short. Oops!

Who cooks dinner?
Me.

Who drives when you are together?
Greg

Who is more stubborn?
He would probably say me ... and he's probably right.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?
Greg

Whose parents do you see the most?
Probably my family because they like to visit us in the land of the sun alot. But when we're up there we try to make equal time for both families! Love you all!

Who proposed?
Greg. I actually thought he was going to break up with me. He said he really wanted to talk. YIKES! Then he popped open my ring box and said that he wanted to spend forever with me. It was amazing! He's the best!

Who has more friends?
Hmmm, we both have lots of friends, but probably me.

Who has more siblings?
We are the same. Both the oldest of 5 kids - both families with 3 boys and 2 girls. Funny, huh?

Who wears the pants in the family?
Greg (right love?) :)

I am SO incredibly blessed to be married to Greg! He is an incredible husband, dad, son, brother, son-in-law, uncle and man. I love being married to my best friend!

O.K. Now you know a little more about me and my hubby. I am tagging my little sister, Ashley J. and my cousin's wife Kim. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Kate's Cooking Party

Hey, hey ... it's a party day! For Kate's birthday this year we chose to have a cooking party and it was lots of fun. We made pita pizzas, salad on a stick, homemade brownies and ice cream sundaes. This is a cute group of girls and I'm so glad that Kate has such great friends.

P.S. Thanks Amy and Kara! I couldn't have done it without you!

Happy Birthday Kate!

Today was a big day at our house ... my baby girl turned 8 years old! I can't hardly believe that it's been that long already and part of me feels very sad to see her growing up so quickly. But the other part of me realizes that she gets to be more fun each day.


Since I'm using this as kind of a journal, I thought I'd take some time and list 10 things that I love about Kate.

1. First and foremost, Kate is an answer to my prayers! Eight years ago, my life was changed forever! It was a day that I had waited and longed for for so long and had often times wondered if it would ever happen. But when I look back, I know beyond a doubt that she came to our family at the right time and in the way that she was meant to.

2. Kate is KIND! She is truly one of the kindest and most caring people that I have ever met. She loves everyone (at least most of the time) and really tries to make other people happy.

3. Kate is courageous! There isn't anything that she's afraid of, which is a little frightening for her parents. But she goes after everything and isn't afraid to fail or look crazy. I love that about her because I'm not nearly as brave as she is.

4. Kate loves to learn! Kate loves school and seems to soak up everything that she can. She amazes me sometimes with the amount of knowledge that she already has and will soon pass me up when it comes to math. We're going to have to hire a math tutor, I'm just sure of it.

5. Kate is energetic! Ever since she was a little girl, she has been on the go. We always said that when she got older we'd have a hard time keeping up with her. That is certainly true. She can go and go and go and then when it's time for bed, she crashes!


6. Kate is FUNNY! Honestly ... anyone who's been around her for very long knows what a crack up this kid can be. I could have written a book on all of the funny things she's said or done in her short life. In fact, just tonight she gave us another one for the books.

We took her out to dinner for her birthday and she was telling me about her first Achievement Day activity this afternoon. Sister Egbert talked to them about service and making sure to thank people. As our waitress walked away from our table, Kate said, "Mom, I bet these worker people get very little thanks." So, as we went to pay for our check I said, thank you and Kate chimed in with a very excited, "Yes, thank you very much!" Thanks for all the laughs sis!

7. Kate knows how to LOVE! Kate genuinely loves everyone and is always looking for ways to show it, whether it's a note or picture, a hug or a kind deed. Kate also has a tender place in her heart for animals. She tells me all the time that when she grows up, she wants to be an animal rescuer. She truly knows what it means to love one another.

8. Kate is friendly and outgoing! Just go with Kate to any sort of social situation and you'll relize that we've got a social butterfly on our hands. Last Sunday I took her to our Stake Baptism Fireside where all of the kids being baptized in 2008 and there parents were meeting. No lie, Kate could identify and acknowledged by name almost every kid in the room. That old saying that says, "I never met a person that wasn't my friend" certainly applies to my Kate.


9. Katelyn is GOOD and wants to do what's right! Now, I'm not saying that she's perfect by any means. But by and large, Kate really tries to do what she knows is the right thing to do. She isn't too afraid of what others might think and really strives to be the kind of person that our Heavenly Father wants her to be.

10. Finally, Katelyn is confident and self assured! One of the things that I love most about Kate is how confident she is with herself. She's happy in her own skin and doesn't let what others think or say ruffle her feathers too much. Sure, she gets her feelings hurt and she has those moments of self doubt. But she knows who she is and seems to really like herself. I am SO grateful for that. I think that nowadays, a self assured child, especially a daughter, is an amazing thing.

These are just a few of the things that I love about my sweet daughter. Words will never adequately express how much I love her and how proud I am to be her mom. I love you Katelyn Hope! Happy Birthday!

Our Prophet

I, like most of you, have feel thinking alot about our sweet prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley this past week. Although we knew that this day would come, it's still hard to see him go.


My first thoughts upon hearing that he had died were about the sweet reunion that he must have had with his cute little wife. They were truly remarkable couple and a wonderful example to us all of what marriages should be like.

I've been thinking all week about what amazing things have occurred under his direction. He has guided the church and all of us through 9/11, brought about the building of more than 75 temples and the Conference Center. Who can forget his "Be's" and his encouragement to "Stand for something" and "be a little better."

As I watched his funeral today and listened to those closest to him speak, I began to realize that we really won't hear his voice again. What will conference be like without him? But then my sadness turned to gratitude.


I am SO grateful to say that I lived during the time when Gordon B. Hinckley served as Prophet. I am grateful to be a member of the Church and to know about the restored gospel. I hope that someday I will be able to shake his hand and tell him how grateful I was to be on the earth at the same time as he was. Thank you President Hinckley!

Basketball season has begun!

My son's dreams have come true ... his 1st basketball season has officially begun. As I mentioned previously, he has been SO excited! He's been wearing his jersey and practicing his dribble EVERY DAY for the past 2 weeks and was counting down until his 1st big game!

Earlier this week he told Greg that he was a little nervous because "it was going to be hard to dribble around all those other people." So, like the good dad that he is, Greg spent some time with him trying to boost his confidence and improve his dribbling technique.

It was as you might expect ... like watching a bunch of little bees running around in a hive. But is was VERY fun to watch. Whenever Josh gets excited and he's running anywhere, he tends to throw in a skip or two. So, the whole game he was half running, half skipping.


Despite the fact that our team lost, Josh had a fabulous time! Great job buddy!

Such a fun day!

Today was SUCH a fun day! We spent the whole day doing fun things together and it will be one of those days that we look back on with fondness.

First of all, I kept Kate home from school today - not because she was sick, but because I had planned some fun things to celebrate her upcoming 8th birthday. Now, I know that's not the best thing to do as a parent ... allow your child to skip school. But hey, it was a short day and I assured her that this was NOT going to be a regular thing. I had originally planned to surprise her and take her to Salt Lake to see the Hannah Montana 3D movie. (For some idiotic reason it isn't playing here.) Unfortunately the weather was bad and I was too chicken to drive up there alone.

So, first thing in the morning we woke her up and told her she wouldn't be going to school. (You can imagine how devasted she was). I told her that we were going to have her baptism pictures taken first thing. Then Greg and I asked her what she would like to do that day. She decided that she wanted to have a "girl day" with me to go have lunch and get a pedicure. Then she wanted to go bowling as a family. So, that's exaactly what we did.

Spending those few hours alone with her was priceless. I'm not sure who enjoyed themselves more - me or her. All during our pedicure she chatted my ear off. She thought she was pretty hot stuff! I am SO glad that we were able to spend that time alone, just us girls!


Then we headed home to pick up the boys and we were off to the bowling alley for an afternoon of fun. Big surprise! Both My kids beat me. To say that I'm not a great bowler would be a serious understatement. But we had fun just the same. Here's a few snapshots of our adventure.




To cap off our evening, we went out to dinner and came home to watch a movie. The kids talked us into blowing up an air mattress for them to watch the movie on and have a sleepover in the family room. When all was said and done, I couldn't think of anything else that I would rather have done all afternoon. I hope it meant as much to everyone else as it did to me.