Dance

We have been busy the last couple of months with many dance perfomances with the girls. This is Hay's first year and she is LOVING it! I think what she loves the most is that she finally gets to do what her sister has been doing for a couple of years now. They have had fun and have gotten to perform at many half-times. Today they got to perform at the college girls basketball half time. They did great!



Before the performance.
Hay dances to "Single Ladies" and gets to put this big ring on during the dance. She loves it!

Em is improving more and more each year. She really enjoys dancing and performing.

Valentines 2011

Each year for Valentines day we have a tradition of having a heart waffle breakfast. We received a heart waffle iron many years ago for our wedding. It's been a fun little tradition each year.

I'm finding that these red and white flower plates I bought at Walmart on clearance last summer are coming in handy for many holiday celebrations. I love white and red together.
I bought these heart glasses a few years ago. They have been fun to use at our breakfast and candle light dinners each year.
I kept up the festive lights from Christmas and we have enjoyed many dinners this winter under them. This morning we enjoyed them as we ate breakfast. I'm taking them down after today.

Gave my sweetheart some hugs and kisses.

I saw these darling heart marshmallows and had to get them. We had hot chocolate last week using them.
An after school snack Hay and I made for Ty and Em. Saw this idea on my amazing friends blog. She is so creative and it's been fun to try some of her ideas.

The mailboxes have been so fun. Hay was asking this morning if we were going to keep the mailboxes out. I told her that they were only for valentines and that after today they would be put up until next year. She was so sad to hear that. She wants to keep them out all year around. Needless to say it's been a big success and truly brought some LOVE into our home. It will definitely be something we will continue to do each year.

Violin Recital

Last week the girls had another performance at school for violin. This time it was a recital where they got to play individual songs while being accompanied by the piano. Hayley played Twinkle, little star and Emily played a Fiddle song. They both did a great job as always. This time they got to wear Sunday dress clothes instead of the school uniforms. They didn't plan their outfits but they ended up matching each other. Of course I had to take a picture of them together all matchy.:)

This experience is one of those times I wished I would have taken my camera but I didn't. Dang it!

Last month in our city we had a new airport open. We decided to go to the dedication. So, we checked the kids out of school, picked up my parents and drove to the new airport. Well, everyone else in the world decided to go to it as well and we got stuck in traffic and missed the whole ceremony. One of the apostle of our church was there and we were hoping to see him but missed the whole thing. After the dedication they all flew away in a plane. What we didn't know was that they would return later to the airport.

We finally got to the airport and enjoyed touring it. Such a nice little airport. They did such a great job with it. The kids enjoyed the brownies and cookies that they were serving to the public. It was a fun experience. They had TVs throughout the airport broadcasting the different things that were happening. We were about to leave when we noticed that all the people from the dedication were on the TV again. We thought it might be a rerun but decided to go and see if maybe they had returned from their plane ride. They had and we miraculously came to the exact spot that President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was coming through. He came to us and gave Hay a high 5, shook my hand and then reached around to shake Em's hand because she was hiding behind me. He then shook Ty's hand. . It was such a neat experience to be in the presence of a living apostle. We just stayed and watched as he interacted with everyone. Such an amazing man. It was a fun experience and one I think my kids will always remember.

So grateful for the gospel and for living apostles that teach and give us pure doctrine to follow by. I don't know what I would do without the knowledge I have of eternal life and the blessings we will receive. I love all the comforting quotes I have on my sidebar many from apostles and prophets.

Heaven in our home

Because someone we love is in Heaven, we have some Heaven in our Home.

A sweet friend gave this to me and I LOVE it! So, TRUE! Love you Wyatt!

Macie Mae

Isn't she cute? I just had to add this picture my niece took of Macie Mae. I still love her sad puppy dog eyes. I'm totally surprised at what she has added to our family. I never in a million years thought we would have a dog. My sweet husband told the primary kids when we got her "that a complete miracle had happened at our house that week"...it truly was a miracle. I have to say I felt like our little family needed a dog for a long time but I resisted the thoughts and impressions. I started having dreams about puppies...seriously??? It took a good year for me to finally cave and now I can see why we needed her in our life. Ty hated her at first...was not happy about it but now I would say he loves her and enjoys having her to pal around with. I had no idea...but grateful for the inspiration and miracle she has brought to our family.

Volume 2 "No Empty Chairs"

For Christmas I got my 2nd volume of "No Empty Chairs". I was surprised to see that it had so many pages. I didn't think I had posted that much. I've debated for a while now if I should continue to blog about our family and the things we are doing. I've established some traditions that will most likely not change with regards to Wyatt and I will continue to take pictures and write about those occasions. Some things will not change. My feelings that I continue to feel over him will not change. I will continue to ache for him. I will continue to think about him every single day for the rest of my life and I will continue to want to talk about him here on the blog. So, I've decided I will continue on. I love having this book each year that documents what the kids are doing, some of my "Wyatt moments" the tender mercies in my life and the different things I'm leaning to enjoy and do since Wyatt's death. In a way it's our little family history book and I enjoy looking at it and seeing the progress I've made, how the kids are growing up and the things they are doing. I will often refer to it to remind me of the traditions we have established for each holiday that includes and remembers Wyatt in some way. I guess what it has shown me the most is that I've learned to live again. I've learned to enjoy the simple things in my life and will continue to enjoy those things and so much more.


For those of you that may want to know which company I use to print up my blog it's called "Blog2Print." It's easy...that is why I chose it. Not the cutest but the quality is great!

Genius

I wish so badly I would have thought to take pictures of this but I didn't. Since I get this blog printed each year I want to try a little better this year of recording some of the things that happen around here to help us remember them later on.

About a month ago our 14 year old decided he would fix our laptop that had died many months prior to this time. He had spent time online trying to figure out what was wrong with it. He decided ne day to take the thing apart. I had no idea how many little screws and little parts were in a laptop. He had the office full of parts here and there. I wondered if he would be able to put it back together because I know there is no way I could do that. He worked on it an entire weekend researching and figuring out what might be the problem. He tried a bunch of things but they didn't work. He then found a you tube video that gave the instructions of putting the mother board in the oven...seriously???? At that point I'll be honest I figured our laptop was going to be the girls play toy. How could putting a part in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes fix it? Tyler had researched and figured out that some how it would melt something that would then stabilize it and fix it...something like that. So, he did it...put the mother board in the oven for 10 minutes and then he put the laptop back together...which was not an easy thing. It took him hours to do but he persevered and guess what it WORKED! A total miracle in my eyes. Then I realized once again that our son has some extra ordinary abilities and is pretty stinking smart. Way to go Tyler...it's been so nice to have that laptop working again.

Goals for 2011

Goals for 2011

Yes, this post should have been done last month but I seem to be about a month behind. Better late than never is my new motto. This post really is just for me to record a few thoughts about what I want to accomplish this year...you do not need to bore yourself and read it. I've included some great quotes that you may want to check out at the bottom if you would like. You can just skip this first long paragraph.

I have many different goals that I want to try and implement into my life this year. One of my main goals though is to find balance in my life. So, some of the things that I think will help me find that balance is to continue to plan out my day and try to accomplish those things that I need to do each day. I've come up with my own little planner system that has worked really good the past year so I want to continue to use that to help me be organized. I want to make sure the important things get done each day. Scriptures, prayer, exercise, family scriptures, prayer and gratitude journal. I want to do something each day that is creative. I want to create. I feel that that will bring balance to my life. I want to show daily gratitude for the many wonderful blessings in my life. I want to better my self as a wife and mother. I want to try and have more patience with my kids and not raise my voice to them. I want to seek out the positive things they do instead of noticing the bad. I want to enjoy life more and celebrate the accomplishments that I do achieve. I want to become closer to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I want to continue to notice the tender mercies in my life each day. I want to continue to keep Wyatt's memory alive. I want to continue to feel and express my emotions in a way that helps me cope with them. I want to provide the needed emotional, physical and mental support my kids and husband need. I want to learn how to cook better and try some different meals each month...at least 2 new ones a month. I want to continue with the traditions we have established and bring in any new ones that I feel are important. I want to continue to serve and help others. I want to continue to enjoy the blessing of the temple each week and how it balances and puts my life into perspective. I want to learn more about photography and enjoy taking pictures of the beauty around me. I want to continue to make physically activity and priority in my life. I want to work on getting more sleep. I want to continue to enjoy making our house into a home by doing little fun projects around the house. I want to enjoy reading again. I want to read as many fun books as I can this year....I want, I want, I want. But these things really are things I'm hoping I can incorporate into my life more fully. Some are not hard to do. I already to them but some are more challenging. So, I'm hoping this year I can learn to do those more challenging things and make them a bigger part of my life and continue to try and do the easier ones. It's going to be a good year. I'm excited to see the things I'm going to accomplish and do. Hopefully many of these things will bring added joy to my life.


I listened to this awesome talk by Elder Christensen click here if you want to listen to it. Thanks Jennifer for the link. I love this quote about making goals.

"Thoughtful planning and preparation are key to a rewarding future but we do
not live in the future we live in the present...it is day by day that we achieve
our goals, it's one day at a time that we raise and nurture our families. We
endure in faith to the end one day at a time." Elder D. Todd Christopherson

I love that quote! So much wisdom in it. One day at a time...that is my goal.

Here is another great one by N. Eldon Tanner:

"As we reflex on resolving to do better let us determine to discipline
ourselves to carefully select the resolutions we make and consider the purpose
for making them and finally make commitments for keeping them and not letting any obstacle stop us. Let us remind ourselves at the beginning of each day that we
can keep a resolution just for that day as we do this it gets easier and easier
until it becomes a habit."

And then finally a great quote by Delbert L. Stapley:

“Good habits are not acquired simply by making good resolves, though the thought
must precede the action. Good habits are developed in the workshop of our daily
lives. It is not in the great moments of test and trial that character is built.
That is only when it is displayed. The habits that direct our lives and form our
character are fashioned in the often uneventful, commonplace routine of life.
They are acquired by practice.”

So this is my resolve to do a little better one day at a time. I know some days will not be how I hoped or planned and I will continue to struggle with different things but at least I'm trying and I will celebrate the little accomplishments I make each day. The fact that I've learned to live again since Wyatt's death is a miracle in my eyes. I'm learning to find joy in those simple things that surround me and I'm so grateful for this.

This gets me excited.....

because before long we will get to enjoy this....

can hardly wait!

Create

I had a little extra time this week because a couple of my kids were sick at home. Therefore, I cancelled a few things and stayed home as well. With this extra time I've been able to get all the squares put together on my quilt. I'm liking how it's turning out. It's kind of wild, crazy and bright but I'm liking it. It will be a fun quilt to take on picnics.

I'm finding that I need to do something creative each day. That is one of my goals this year. I want to try and create something new each day. I feel it will bring balance into my life. If you haven't seen this video about creating I would highly recommend it. It's wonderful! We as a family got to meet this amazing apostle last month...still can't believe I haven't posted about that yet...coming soon. :)

Figuring out where to put each square. It's not going to be a huge quilt but big enough for at least 2 people to enjoy. :)

Wyatt's mailbox

I was able to find a mailbox for Wyatt this week. They had gotten in a few more and I was so glad. It just didn't seem right that I was writing love notes to my kids but was leaving one of them out. It now seems right. It's been good for me to be able to write notes to each and EVERYONE of my kids. Hayley was the first to put one in Wyatt's mailbox. I big I LOVE U! For me it's been good to be able to write down my feelings to my youngest child. So, at least for me I'm glad I decided to get one for Wyatt. I've learned to include him in anyway I can...that just seems to be the right thing to do. He is still a big part of our family. We love you Wyatt!

It's been a fun week with the mailboxes. Lots of love and thank yous going around. It's been a good thing! I think this will be something we will continue as a tradition each year. Love it!

See the Good in The Jacksons

BYUtv - BYUtv Shorts: See the Good in The Jacksons

Just wanted to share this beautiful video. Hope you will check it out. Molly and Vic you are amazing! I'm sure Lucy is so very proud of you.

Valentine boxes

Last night I introduced the kids to something new we are going to do this month to celebrate valentines. I saw this idea from one of my friends last year and loved it. I had kind of forgotten about it until I saw these cute little mailboxes at Target in their $1 section. I bought us each a box. We are going to start sending love mail to each other for the next couple of weeks. What I'm hoping is there will be lots of kind and nice things written and sent in each mailbox. Hopefully lots of "love" will be expressed. I think this will be a fun new tradition at our household.

At the time I debated if I should get a mailbox for Wyatt. I ended up not getting one and now I'm kicking myself. I went back to Target to buy one and they were all out. I'm hoping they will get more in. The thought occurred to me that it might be a good thing to have a box for him so the kids can express how they are feeling with regards to missing Wyatt along with expressing their love. I do believe he will get those messages. The kids even asked where Wyatt's box was...so, hopefully in the next few days they will get some more mailboxes in so we can have one for him.

I love the color red.