sunday surprise

seeing as i've been slacking on the blogging end, i'm going to try to do a little catch-up as this blog is not only used for your viewing pleasure but primarily as a history of our family. so here are some enjoyable pictures from a couple of weeks ago.

sunday mornings, our kiddos like to "surprise" us by getting ready for church all by themselves. this sometimes turns out better than others (in maryn's case) although caleb's preferences seem to get worse each week. nevertheless, i love their efforts and those proud faces modeling their little outfits.

this was one of my personal favorite outfit selections....



this boy holds a piece of my heart that i didn't know existed....


mercy!!!

forwards and backwards

this morning, for the first time in too long, i got to attend the temple with my mom and her sister. walking in those doors from the literal storm outside just filled me with peace. it didn't matter anymore that i had been running around like crazy trying to get the kids ready for school and the boys ready to go to my friend's house. (thanks again, cass!) it didn't matter that i had been caught at every traffic light on the way. when i walked in, i felt peace and for the next two hours, had the opportunity to sit and be taught about God's plan. i had the chance to recommit...to be a better disciple of christ. going to the temple helps me feel peace and refuge from a very tumultuous and demoralized world. it's a place of eternal absolutes and a reminder of the promise of something better in worlds to come. i love the opportunity to contemplate my family -- generations both forward and backward. today, i did work for an ancestor who was born in the early 1800s. i thought about her. how she was probably alive during the time of the restoration of the gospel only a half a world away in cape town, south africa. a few generations later, the gospel would find her family in south africa. i am truly grateful for this quiet moment today.

the

**i would ask that if you want to know more about temples, you visit our church's official website, or ask me directly. there is a lot of very wrong information out there about our beliefs and i would ask that you use our official site for correct information:)

"i hate it....but i love it!"

so this week, i started the "insanity" workout program after a couple of months of contemplating whether or not it would be suicide. you see, i enjoy working out but i curse the phase of "getting into shape". once i get through that initial phase where your lungs are burning, your body is itchy from jiggling, and you feel tired after 3 jumping jacks, then i'm okay. then i enjoy it.

for some reason, since joshie was born, i have really struggled to find the motivation to get back into shape. i don't have a problem with putting on weight while i'm pregnant -- i generally lose weight as the sickness from my pregnancies ravage my body taking with them any sign of "health" , fat, and especially muscle. i don't think that i have ever recovered muscle-wise since my first pregnancy.

anyway, i digress. after a few half-hearted and unsuccessful attempts, i've decided that to follow my insane husband--it's all or nothing and i just have to go for it. eric started a bootcamp class just before thanksgiving....got great results and then kept going with "insantity" so he didn't fall off the wagon. he looks AMAZING! best shape i've ever known him to be in. his goal is to be in the best shape of his life when he turns the big 3-0 in may! and i bet he's just about there. he is incredibly disciplined and dedicated (at the gym at 5:30 every morning!).

so i've been doing "insanity" since monday. i have not sweated this hard in a VERY long time and i actually like it. it's super hard and hurts my frail body but i just remind myself of all the bum jigglage i can feel back there and remember that's why i'm doing this. plus, i sometimes pretend that i'm a super star athlete getting ready for a major athletic event....but that's just between you and me. besides, i am getting ready for this athletic event with eric this summer and it looks completely awesome...

well, time for me to go and sweat it out again. feel free to stop by...i bet i look like a real idiot!