Family

We are so thankful for our wonderful daughter. She is now 2! YAY! The time has flown by and sometimes I catch myself just looking at her and wondering how in the world she grew up so fast. I know she is just going to keep growing and I don't know where all the time goes.
I love being a mother, the happiest day of my life was two years ago (besides when I got married to Brandon of course). We have had many ups and downs but I never regret those two decisions of my life. Being a wife and mother is what I live for and I am so grateful my Heavenly Father has seen me fit for both of these life callings. I honestly don't know what I would do without these two special people in my life.
I find myself often comparing myself or my family to other families that I see, and become hard on myself and then I have to realize that we each grow and learn and develop at different paces. Although I may not be the perfect wife or the perfect mother I am definitely trying and that is the best that can be expected of me, that I try my best. Each day I get to wake up and have a new start and try my best each and every day. Families are not perfect and we many times find ourselves comparing us to what we see at others, comparing our worst with their best.... well it just isn't meant to be. We shouldn't compare ourselves and our weaknesses to those of others. Everyone has their faults and their weaknesses and it is a challenge for each person in themselves to overcome. I am thankful for the people I have met in my life who know my weaknesses and my faults and do not judge me for them, but help me to want to be better.
Well I want to ponder on my sweet, adorable daughter for a bit. This post is after all about her and being a family. She made our family feel whole and she has learned a lot over two years. She talks a bit and loves to play games. She always says please and thank you and has learned the true meaning of HOT. Her favorite toy is Lady (which her father gave her) and she loves blankets and pillows. If she sees a blanket and/or pillow she asks for them and wants to be cuddled in them. I LOVE it because that is when I can get in some good cuddles with her to because other then that she is usually too busy running around. She is really starting to enjoy coloring and is slowly learning her colors. Her favorites to say are blue, purple or red. She is already in 3T clothes but is mostly because she is tall. Her hair is coming in very thick and when it is wet it curls at the ends. She has so many comical faces and emotions that sometimes I can't help but just laugh. She is quite animated. Recently she has started drawing a picture on her art easel and then when she is done she steps to the side and says ta da! It is pretty cute.
She also loves to help me, with anything. She helps to clean the house, dishes, her room, etc. She enjoys sewing while sitting on my lap or my moms lap and she loves going outside. She loves sledding and petting her puppy Bella. She is potty trained to :) We still have accidents but they are becoming less and less and she is loves that she gets to be a big girl.
Brandon and I couldn't be happier with our angel and all she is doing. She truly is a joy. I don't know what our lives would be without her and I don't want to imagine because she keeps me going at times :).

Much to do...

Well life is definitely busier here it seems, but it is a lot of fun. My brother Shannon is in football and he really enjoys playing. We have gone to two of his games now and Tamina LOVES being able to yell and shout and not get told not to lol. She was having so much fun last night cheering and yelling go, go, go! Her uncle Christopher even let her have his bell to ring and so every time she heard everyone else ringing their cow bells she would pick hers up and shake it with all her might to. I wish I would have thought to get my camera out and take a picture, it was so cute.

I did get a couple pictures of her at the game last week, it was much colder last week, but she was still so cute all bundled up and cheering.

She definitely sleeps well on the nights when she is out there cheering so hard. I love how she isn't super attached to any blanket or anything like that except the first toy that her Daddy gave her. She doesn't HAVE to sleep with it every night or anything, but it is the one toy that she loves more then any other. It makes her Dad very proud because it is one he picked out and gave to her. It is Lady from Lady and the Tramp and here is a cute picture of her cuddling her one night.

She is such a big helper. She loves to help me and her grandma pick up and clean the house or even push the little cart in the store (I should get a picture of her with that to), but she just loves to help. She is getting better at talking and wanting to talk now, once in a while she gets really frustrated because she just wants to talk so much and yet she can't get it out fast enough. One day when we were out running errands she was just sitting and being so good on a couch that they had in the room and I caught this picture...

I just love the face that I caught because it almost looks like she is giving me her "I'm innocent" look yet she was being so good and wasn't getting into any trouble at all, lol. She sure is the light of our lives. Brandon and I would be lost without her. Sometimes she tests our patience, but only to remind us to have patience and explain things to her without blowing up. Sometimes she just makes us laugh until we are crying. Sometimes she makes us cry, but usually they are happy tears because she learned something we have been teaching her or she just caught on to what we have been explaining and it makes sense and you can see the lightbulb click on for her. It is kind of crazy sometimes how much we can love someone who we have known and watched grow for a little under two years and yet we know that love is just going to keep growing. It is the same way with our relationship. We have known eachother for a little over 4 years and yet we still surprise each other with things we didn't know before, or we are able to understand the other one better because we have learned how they are and what makes them tick and how to just enjoy the moments of life together.

Brandon is such a sweet heart because he is always doing so much for me and Tamina and still finds ways to surprise us and make us feel even more special. The last couple of times he has been home he has surprised me by showing up at work and taking me to dinner when I got off, with flowers, and even with a necklace at different times. I sure don't know what I would do without him. We have been through so much together and yet we still have so much time we get to spend together. I am so grateful we get eternity because I wouldn't want to be by anyone else's side or raise our kids with anyone else. He completes me and makes me so happy. I know we have gone through some stressful times, even lately with moving and all, but we feel we are where we are supposed to be and that makes us both happy.

Well it's off to more fun today, and getting ready for Brandon to come home on Monday. I always look forward to his days off and being able to spend time with him. :) Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

Change

Well life is changing still....

I got a job at the local library, it is an awesome place to work, and I can't wait to use my library card (which I successfully made myself :)) to check out lots of books for Tamina and I to read together. It is a very part time job which is amazing, because it isn't easy to leave Tamina. But it will get us by better until things all fall into place. Tamina is LOVING being with her Grandma, Aunts and Uncles all the time. Here are two pictures of her watching movies with her uncles... and one by herself, lol she loves to just lay down wherever she can, especially at night when she is tired.

 Watching a movie on the laptop (my brothers way of getting out of homework) lol

Different night, but she was loving being able to relax with her uncle and that he let her spread all over his lap.

Tamina is having a blast, and much of the time she tries to be the center of attention. She has enjoyed doing dishes with grandma, and successfully soaked herself and much of the counter and floor in front of her. 

She has found that one of my sisters has a small stash of candy/goodies in her bedroom. Luckly they are out of her reach but she is so cute because she will go into her room when she is in there and stand by her bed and say please, please, please, please...etc until my sister gives her a small piece of candy and then she says thank you and will leave. She is quite the character. 

Tamina has enjoyed skype with the family that we left in Rexburg. She thinks it is so funny to see them on the computer screen. 

Brandon is home again and we are excited to have some time with him. He has popped his hip out so we will be letting him relax a lot and hope Monday can come soon so he can get it put back in and be out of pain. He enjoys helping out on the farm and helping with the tearing of things down in the other house right now. 

I have really enjoyed spending some time with my Mom. It has been a long time since I have just been home with her. We have torn down a couple of walls in the other home and gotten quite a bit of things on a list so that we know what and where we have to go from here. There is a lot of work to be done still but it is nice to see the work coming along!

Getting Settled....

Well, we are officially all in Star Valley and all of our belongings are here also. It has been a crazy couple of weeks, but I am going to do better with Blogging because I really want to keep people updated on us and our crazy lives, and I have great friends who have inspired me to blog so they can keep up with us. :)

Well to start off with a cute picture, this is how we all felt after getting everything moved, and our vehicle (finally)

Well then sitting around the other night I had this thought... "Ever feel like you have made the right decision but then you still wonder about it sometimes? How do you know the difference between faith and relying on the Lord or just going your own way? Well I don't think you can know sometimes until later on down the road and I am at that cross roads right now. I have to be patient and wait for the blessings/confirmation more entirely and the lessons that come with it, and patience can be hard to have at times. I have felt peace about this all but the unknown just gets to me sometimes"

Well Listening to conference was a huge blessing. I can't say I remember all the talks because sometimes I was running around getting things for Tamina around the house or helping her with something she needed, but the talks I listened to I LOVED and I can't wait to read all the ones (or parts) that I missed. I am so thankful for this gospel.

Tamina rather enjoyed conference also...

She wanted her baby and Lady to watch conference to :)

She has had a wonderful time getting to know her aunts and uncles here a little better. We all miss our family we left in Rexburg, but we have a feeling we are on to better things for our family and our lives right now. Brandon is enjoying his job still, and he has really enjoyed being on a farm where there are things to do. Him and my brothers went out shooting, and he has loved learning how to operate a backhoe and other equipement and learning how some of the things of the farm work. I think he is enjoying it and I know we are having fun. I am enjoying getting to better know my younger siblings. They are a lot of fun to be around and it is great to spend some time with my mom, she is always such an inspiration to me.

Well I am making a cheese cake, pumpkin, pecan pie and it is smelling amazing and I better go to finish the topping but I will write more later.

Chau!

MOVING... Ahhh

Well, on this night when I should be in bed I find myself not able to sleep, so I decide to blog instead... hmm. Well I am going to get better at this whole blogging thing so I can better keep up with life's events and keep everyone better informed about us :)

So we are moving to Star Valley! We are pretty excited about it, I have a job opportunity that makes pretty good money and I will only be away from Tamina for 2 hours a day. I really can't beat that because Tamina is my first priority. We are pretty excited about the thought of getting ourselves out of our debts and moving on with life in a better financially stable way. It will take time of course, but we will be able to start seeing results faster then where we are at right now, so that makes us pretty happy. We really feel like this is the right move to where we need to be next as a family. It took some time and convincing, but I guess when you feel that peace of mind (even when there is a lot of controversy and craziness going on around you) you can't deny it and you better follow, cause the Lord knows better then we do.

Tamina has been doing awesome with everything going on, and her world pretty much getting changed drastically. She is a bit more loving and a bit more clingy to me, but she is still the sweetest little angel. I don't know what I would do without her and Brandon they are my strength and my rock when I feel I am going to go crazy or completely fall apart. I am also thankful for wonderful friends and family.

I apologize for the many pictures to come and the catching up, that is why I need to do better, and I will do better. But here are a few highlights of our summer up until now.

 This picture I just happened to capture and I love it. She has such a cute personality. Oh and Yay for summer hats :)

Now this is what happens when you give this girl a graham cracker with icing, hahaha, she licks all the icing off the best she can then leaves the graham cracker.

 Now these two pictures are what happens when she learns how to say the word dance and then hears some music. A most precious sight indeed.

 She loves the park and she loved it when I finally gave in and just let her go down the slide by herself.

 She got a fish :) She loves her 'fishy' (that is what his name is) In the picture above she is blowing him kisses goodnight. Then in the picture below she was wanting to pet him and wave night night. Lol, this little girl is so full of love for anyone and anything.

Yay for the Carousal being open. She wasn't sure what to think about it at first, but then after the first time she LOVED it. She would yell yah yah as we went around. 

This is us going on the stake Temple Walk. It was a beautiful morning and my camera ran out of battery so I wasn't able to take any other pictures, but it was such a neat experience. I was able to make it 5.5 miles pushing a stroller and up and down hills. It was awesome to be able to point out the temple and explain to Tamina how important it is (although I know she doesn't understand all I say just yet) She was a trooper and I am so thankful the that opportunity to do that with her. 

So I won't post until I get all settled again up at my moms house cause everything here is pretty much all crazy anyway. I am thankful for so much and though I feel so overwhelmed and unsure of things at times, I will just say this. I know the Lord knows our sorrows, our heart aches, our joy, our pain, our insecurities and so much more, but please never loose hope. He does hear and answer our prayers and although it may take more trials to get us to where we are wanting to be and where the Lord knows we are supposed to be, it will be worth it in the end when he says "welcome home my dear one" I will miss so much about Rexburg, believe it or not I will even miss my teaching calling on Sunday because I have learned so much, but we are onward to where the Lord needs us next. It's kind of crazy how life works, but I know he is listening to me, I just pray I am doing the best I can with what he has given me.