My Mother

"A mother has far greater influence on her children than anyone else, and she must realize that every word she speaks, every act, every response, her attitude, even her appearance and manner of dress affect the lives of her children and the whole family. It is while the child is in the home that he gains from his mother the attitudes, hopes, and beliefs that will determine the kind of life he will live and the contribution he will make to society." -Eldon Tanner

Last Saturday (that's right, Valentines Day!) was my mom's birthday. My sweet dad decided that it would be fun to fly me home for a day so I could be with her on her birthday. I flew into Salt Lake on Thursday night and Mags and Ryan and Soph picked up me and Quince. (Q came because he could ride on my lap for free.) We slept over at their house that night and it was soooo fun!! My dad planned a little surprise luncheon for my mom on Friday and invited the women in our family and some of her close friends. When she came to the luncheon she was so surprised to see everyone! I stayed seated in my chair so that she wouldn't see me and had my sisters, Grace and Chlo'e, help Quince walk up to her. It took her a couple seconds to realize it was Q-ball, but when she did she looked up to look for me. So I went and gave her a hug and we both broke down. She was so surprised! She had told Abby and my dad earlier that day that all she wanted for her birthday was to see me, just to have all her kids there with her. She is so sweet!

Referring to the quote that I wrote above, it is so true of my mother and in the best way possible. My mom has impacted my life tremendously. I am so grateful for her example. She is a woman of faith, virtue, integrity and hard work. She gives her life to those she loves. She serves others with no thought of reward. She does it because she loves the Savior and she tries to see people through His eyes. My mom has set the bar high for our family. She believes in us all, and she tries to help us accomplish our big dreams however she can. I love her very much. She and my dad are an amazing team! I am grateful for them! Happy Birthday Mom!!!
I had the most wonderful weekend! Quince and I were there in Salt Lake with my family and were able to celebrate my mom's birthday with them! Then we flew home on Saturday around noon and I was able to go on a date with my sweet husband for Valentines Day!

Quince is quite the "hefty" boy weighing in at 28 pounds. And he isn't very interested in walking, which is fine because I can have a little bit of control over where he goes. I know that when he learns to walk, he'll learn to run, which he'll LOVE! And then he is free to go wherever he pleases, which is a little scary. Quince's personality is similar to Lezlee's..... CRAZY! So I'm a little nervous. However, this rather large child has been attached to my right hip, (I just can't seem to ever carry him with my left, much to my chiropractor's dismay!)for months. He is a bit of a "mama's boy" and needs to be carried everywhere so that I can keep up with Lezlee and Lincoln. My point is this, we got him shoes that squeak with each step in hopes that he would like the noise each step makes and he might want to walk. We think it is working, but it's only been a couple days. And we're still at the entertained stage, not yet to the annoyed stage that I'm sure we'll get to as soon as he walks well. The makers of these shoes were genius and made it possible to take out the squeaky part so that they can wear them as normal shoes! Wohoo!

Another Quick Recap

Our little family

Here is Lezlee on Christmas morning. You might ask yourself, where are her Christmas pajamas? Oh no, the girl won't leave her room still in her pajamas. Wierd! I could live in mine!

Linc thought he was so funny putting on his cousin, Addi Cate's bow!

Spence LOVES to tease the kids!! Here he is squishing Q's cheeks. They are just to irresistable!

Our trip home to Utah was OH SO FUN!! And COLD!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPENCE!!

I love my sweet husband very much. I love my life with him and am so grateful for his hard work. He works hard at work and he works hard to help the rest of us be happy. He is a wonderful husband! And an awesome, fun dad!

I made this for him for his birthday. My sisters-in-law, Steph and Kelli helped me because I had never done it before. So thank you!! Then when I went to Utah for Thanksgiving my mom helped me frame it just right! How is she soooo right all the time?!! LOVE HER! And her sweet friends at the frame store that do a lot of work with her did it for me in 2 days, over Thanksgiving weekend! They are so nice and generous! But we celebrated Spence's birthday early with my family last Sunday and I couldn't wait. So I gave it to him then. So here is Spencer's birthday project....



If you can't read the writing, it says,
"Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall by my people, and they God my God. Where thou diest, will I die."
-Ruth 1:16-17

My updates from the last 6 weeks all got out of order. Kinda weird. And also, my nephew Jackson was baptized so we made a trip out to Chicago. But somehow we didn't take pictures I guess. But that was a big part of the last 6 weeks too! Go Jackson! Also, I'm printing a retraction because I misspelled "handsome" when I wrote "Handsame Q." Sorry. Mistakes happen!

A Few updates from the last 6 weeks

The Fishes and Abe bought Quince this for his birthday. Talk about a rocking present!!!

Lincoln and Auntie Grace on the "roller coaster!"

We went to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving. This is Quince and buzzin cousin Sophie at Jungle Gyms!

Quince turned 1!!

Handsame Q is happy at the zoo!

Me and the kids went to the Phoenix Zoo! LOVE IT!
Steph and Marcus blessed their new little baby Abby!

Dallas:We all went to a bounce house for Quince's, Jackson's and Marcus' birthdays since they were all in November.

Here is Lezlee saying The Pledge. She says it each day in preschool. Go Mrs. Shawni and Mrs. Brooke!! I got the idea from a friend that recorded her girls saying it and it was so cute! Lez loves watching them, Poppy and Avery, saying it in their video and asked to do it herself. She is growing up way to fast for us!

I'm so glad she goes to a preschool that still say the pledge every morning. This is what we should be teaching our kids, that we have a country to be proud of. Their generation will treat it like it is special and strong if they grow up learning to respect it.