Growing Up

Dallin just came into the room and I scooped him up into my lap and asked him why he had to grow up so fast, it as making me sad. He told me that he had to grow up so he could drive cars and go to scouts and earn badges and swim in the deep side of the pool. I love the simpleness of life at 5. 

Pictures

Picture #1

Picture #2

Picture #3

I was again going through my pictures  I took at girls camp and I thought these turned out really well. I was able to show my pictures to a professional photographer that was there, and he said I had a really good eye and I just needed to learn the technical stuff. I hope that some day soon I will be able to go to school and pursue this dream of mine. Until then I guess I will just keep playing. Which do you like best? #1, #2, or #3?

Christy

Terrific TWO

My cute Shane turned two in May. I noticed I did not have any pictures of him up on the blog. What a Slacker Mom that I have been. So here we go. 

Happy 2nd Birthday my Darling little Boy! 

Shane knew exactly what to do with those candles. He blew them out like a pro. 

We found the cutest little frog back pack and thought he would love it. He had such a great time filling it with all kinds of treasures that day. Mostly his teddy bears. 

He Had to wear his new frog back pack right away. 

Shane loves to wear his shades and his frog has to go with him where ever he goes. That is good since the frog holds a few toddler essentials such as diapers and the occasional binky. We are trying to phase them out. 

Girls Camp 2008

This is early in the morning. 
This is the reserve that the camp looks over. 
Everywhere you looked you saw huge granite boulders. One was as big as a house. I liked this one it was right outside my cabin.


I had the wonderful oportunity to go and be part of my stakes Girls Camp this past week. I was a Second Year counselor to 8 girls. Girls are a world different than boys, especially when it comes to bugs.  I had a blast. I was able to refill my batteries as they say, up  in the beautiful mountains. I wish a picture could capture all the beauty that i felt while I sat and looked at my surroundings. My favorite time of day was at 5:30 in the morning when the girls were still asleep and the sun was rising over the hills, all the birds were singing and it was so peaceful. I was able to sit outside and enjoy this a few days. Other than the beauty the surrounded me I was also able to prove myself, I went on a 5 mile hike and had a great time. I could be a pioneer if I had to. 

Another great part of Girls Camp was what is called the Destiny program, a small devotional given each day. One was about a boy who dove for pearls and found one that was worth a lot, he saved it for his future bride. One day she went to the jewelers and was offered any 3 rings in exchange for her pearl. The story never told us how what she decided. We were to see what our pearls were and if we were willing to trade them.  That is the extremely condensed version of course. My favorite was the devotional given by Sister Wood on a book called The Parable of the Princesses by Jenny Philips. The song she played at the end was just what I needed to hear. The whole week was about remembering that we all are Daughters of a King. I am going to have to get that book. 

I even memorized a scripture in like 10 minutes. Mosiah 5:15 which is our stake youth scripture for the year. It was so much easier to be closer to the spirit when you had not earthly distractions to deal with, not once did I have to answer a phone. I didn't check my email or mail, didn't have to worry about money at all. I didn't have to worry about what was for dinner or if i looked presentable (because none of us did ;o) I had a lot of time just to be and it was nice. I recommend it. 

Brag Book Project

I think I am finally done with it! I am sending it to be published tonight. I think it turned out great. Tell me what you think

If you would like one as a cousin book let me know. I will let you know how much they cost.

Perspective

Yesterday a family in the ward had their house burn down. It has brought up a lot of memories of our house fire years ago. I actually called Mom and Lee to ask them what was the most helpful when we had our house fire. They both said that just the feeling of love that they felt from everyone, and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. It brought back a renewed since of perspective for all the blessings of the Gospel. The Eternal Perspective as we say.  Tonight my good friend Kim called and invited me to go with her to institute and so I went. I was going to drop off a package of MK things I had for the family earlier in the day and forgot (pregnant brain) Anyway I was going to drop it off after going, well I forgot it again. Institute was wonderful and as we were heading home I asked Kim if she would mind if we went and picked up the package and dropped it off. So here we are at 8:00 at night going to drop this stuff off. When we arrived they were in the middle of pulling soaking wet pictures from albums. Kim and I were able to help them save most of their pictures. Their father had left them with lots of slides and photos, he was a photographer. The smell of the fire brought back lots of memories. Being there and seeing them just so happy to have recovered just those precious memories and not worried about anything else was wonderful. 

So to everyone I would recommend uploading all your pictures to an online storage or onto disks and sending copies to other family members. Also it was brought up to have an up to date video file of all you belongings in your home for insurance purposes. We are definitely going to be doing this.  

May the Lord Bless and Keep you all safe! 

All my love,

Christina

Happy Mothers Day to all the Beautiful Mothers I know

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
My plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.


Before I was a Mom,

I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.



Before I was a Mom,

I never held down a screaming child
So doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.



Before I was a Mom,

I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
When I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.



Before I was a Mom,

I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel
to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.



Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom.


This poem was sent to me via e-mail from my beautiful sister Numia.

Happy Mothers Day to all my wonderful sisters, mothers, friends