Cruisers

For Christmas David got the girls a cruise.  This time they boarded the Carnival Magic headed for the Western Caribbean.  They stopped in Honduras, Belize, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.  Lucky girls!

Las Vegas

Love these boyz!❤

Besides all the free entertainment on the strip we spent some time at the Pinball Hall of Fame and took in the Mac King Comedy Magic Show.  GOOD TIMES!

Fire Wave

Our next stop was in the "Valley of Fire."  We hiked the fire wave. 

Oasis

We decided to escape the cold for a few days and headed south.  We spent some time at the Stevenson Inn, thanks Angie!  Then made our way to Vegas.  On the way we did some exploring.  Our first stop was Warmsprings recreation.  It is a little oasis in the middle of nowhere (near the Moapa Indian Reservation).  I had a lovely visit with the sister missionary who serves there while Ben and Q took a dip.

If you look closely you will see some
tiny little fish nibbling their feet.

Oh Boy, Here We Go...

Alyssa is the first of our "triplets" to turn 13.  By the end of June we will have 4 teenagers😟.  Things might be a little rough over here for the next few years.  However, this afternoon we took Alyssa to lunch and she told me that I am great, she never says that.  Maybe the teenage years will make her sweeter??? 🤞

HaPpY bIrThDaY Alyssa!  You are amazing!  You're smart, fun, responsible, beautiful, sweet and helpful. I'm a lucky mom!

Alyssa's friends decorated her locker at school!
This made me so happy I just about cried.

Dinner and a pedicure with daddy

Alyssa felt a lot of love today💜

Come, Follow Me

Last General Conference our Prophet announced that an adjustment was needed in the church.  For many years families have relied upon the church to provide opportunities for spiritual growth and gospel learning.  But that was never how God intended things to be.  We are each responsible for our own gospel learning and spiritual progression.  In God's plan, he sent us to live on earth in families.  He provided us with parents to teach, lead and guide us and while it is their responsibility to teach us right from wrong and help us onto the covenant path, the responsibility to remain there and choose to deepen conversion is up to each individual.  The adjustment announced by our Prophet invites us to make our homes and families the primary center for our gospel learning.  Today we began a new pattern of gospel instruction for our family which will be supported by the church.  Most of our children are old enough to read and study on their own,  so we bought each one of them a journal.  They will study the assigned topic throughout the week, write down an impression they had or something they learned and share it with the family the next week.

Since Qyntn is a little too young to study on his own, yesterday I took him aside and we studied together and wrote down the things he liked and an experience he has had with prayer.  When we finished he said, "mom, can we do this every day?"  I asked him why he wanted to do it every day and he said that it makes him feel good.  It was a parenting win for sure!

I feel that this new way of home-centered gospel study will strengthen each member of our family.  I am excited to follow the invitation of our prohet and know that blessings will follow.  Blessings always come when we obey the Lord and his mouthpiece.

Looking Forward to 2019

I love new beginnings, fresh starts.  I am optimistic that 2019 will be fabulous.  It started out great!  We spent New Year's Eve with a bunch of lovely people at the home of our friend Kirk Adams.  We played some fun games, ate food and made so much noise banging pans on the balcony of his swanky loft that I am sure we woke up anyone who was sleeping in downtown Salt Lake City.  We were all smiles all evening.  Happy New Year!

This morning we all slept in until after 10, we put away Christmas, cleaned the house and started the year off with some "pure cardio."  We're off to a good start!