Valentine's Date

For Valentine's Day, I bought Alfredo and I tickets to Desert Star to see My Big Fat Utah Wedding.  I knew Valentine's Day would be super busy (it was a Thursday) so we went on Saturday.  The play was really funny and we enjoyed it.  We also went to dinner at Red Lobster.  It was a wonderful evening.  I love him!

Mt. Timpanogos Temple

I spent the morning at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple while Ella got her hair done by our cute friend/neighbor Halee.  I am so grateful that we have so many temples so nearby and that I can go so frequently.

I love the temple!! So very much!

43 Years Young

I was a bit overwhelmed this year by the love I was shown on/around my birthday! I spent the morning at the temple with the young women, and I loved that!  I loved being able to spend time with these precious and remarkable young women in one of my favorite places. 

 Alfredo, the girls and I went to dinner for my birthday.  We decided to try a new place called Wallaby's Smoke House.  It was quite good.  Alfredo gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and 5 beautiful shirts and a pair of boots.  He is always so good to buy me such nice things!  He really does spoil me!

The bouquet of flowers was so beautiful !  I especially loved the really unique blue flowers.  They added such a pretty pop of color and were so interesting.  I don't know what they are called, but I loved them! 

I got so many other thoughtful gifts and notes.  Julie brought me a kind note and this darling frame that I've hung on my wall.  I love it.  "We rise by lifting others."  I know my life is immensely blessed by serving others.  I truly have the BEST people in my life...who lift me so often and who enrich my life.  I don't know why I am so very blessed, but I am so thankful!

Stefanie brought me a beautiful crocheted afghan that she'd made for me. 

Aly brought me a chocolate dome, a darling kitchen towel and this little bowl that says, "Love grows best in houses just like this."  I love that bowl.  A few years ago, the bowl might have made me feel guilty because I wasn't sure those sentiments were true...I so often felt like I was falling short as a mother and wife. I still am far from perfect, but somehow I have grown so much more confidence in my roles as a wife and mother and my nature as a daughter of God.  I'm far from perfect but I think my Heavenly Father is pleased with my efforts.  And our home IS a loving and (mostly) peaceful one.

An anonymous person left a box on our doorstep with chocolates and a lovely bracelet in it on Valentine's Day.  The bracelet says, "She leaves a little sparkle whereever she goes."  I don't actually know for sure if the box was for me or for one of my girls...so we have shared the chocolates and bracelet.

Wendy brought me heart shaped candies.

My dad gave me 5 chocolate domes.  My mom and Mike gave me an amazon gift card and Suzy gave me a gift card to Barnes and Noble.  I got so many loving messages and texts. 

Sara posted the following on Instagram/Facebook: "I've said it before and I'll say it again....the world would be a much better place if everyone could walk through life with a Jenny. My Jenny and I have done a lot of walking through life this year. She's walked with me while I've sobbed and she's walked with me while I've rejoiced. We can't physically walk every day, but we rarely miss a day of talking through life. Our subjects include everything from the Atonement of Jesus Christ clear down to how we will build our underground tunnel from her house to mine. She knows all of my weaknesses, including many I'm sure that I'm not even aware of, and she loves me despite. She helps me believe in who I am and why I'm important and she never gives in when I try and get her to say a bad word 😉. She helps me remember how old I am, she is patient when I have to ask her for the hundredth time "what does that word mean" and she kindly talks me out of getting a new pet on a pretty regular basis. She strengthens my testimony and teaches me by example. She listens, she cares, she loves and she serves. My life is blessed immensely by having her in it. Happy Birthday sweet Jenny! I love you so very much!!!"

Sara also gave me a darling pillow that says, "So many books, so little time" and a little reading light and took me to lunch about a week after my birthday.

Jackie sent me the kindest text on my birthday.  She said:

TEN THINGS I LOVE ABOUT JENNY:

1.  Your diligent efforts to be more Christlike in everything you do.

2.  Your light.  It radiates from your inner soul and draws people to you, and love around you.

3.  Your willingness to listen.  You know when to just listen, and when to offer advice or uplifting messages.

4.  Your joy.  It helps me to remember to dig mine out and dust it off.

5.  Your care and compassion for others.  In every area of your life, you are an example of nurturing and loving.

6.  Your knowledge.  Amazing!

7. Your skill or talent of remembering so much of what you have read, and to be able to share things that you remember with others.

8.  Your sense of humor.  I love to laugh with you over crazy things, and hearing your funny stories.

9.  Your willingness to serve every day (even on your birthday[I felt prompted to take Jackie a small gift on my birthday]) those around you.   I love that you actively pray for others, and strive to follow through with what you are asked to do.  You are an answer to a prayer!!

10.  Your mindfulness in language and care in choosing your words.  You deliberately try to speak only good things and never gossip.   That is such an incredible character trait!!  I know you work really hard at only saying things that uplift and heal or bring joy or help.  YOU ARE AMAZING, and I am so grateful for you in my life.  I wish you a year full of great adventure and happy memories.

Now, I don't think I deserve such high praise...I am a normal person with plenty of foibles and weaknesses.  But I am grateful every day to have friends that lift and inspire and bless and strengthen me.  I'm so grateful for that tremendous blessing in my life.  And I am going to try a little harder to live up to such high praise so that I am worthy of it.  

Odds n Ends

For Alfredo's company party at Christmas time we had a really nice dinner and saw Aquaman.  They did a drawing to see who would get the nice reclining seats and Alfredo won two of them...they were super comfy.

 Since two hour church began, we've been having two other families over nearly every Sunday to do Come Follow Me.  I've loved having these friends over.  I've loved the discussions we've had and the opportunity to learn together and support one another in implementing this new curriculum in our homes.  I know it's been a help and strength to our friends as well.  There have been a couple of weeks when I have had meetings and we've had to cancel it and we've missed it when it hasn't happened...even though we've been really good about reading and studying in our home.

Since two hour church began, we've also been playing games together as a family nearly every Sunday evening.  One week we played Phase 10 which is Alfredo's favorite.  On one of the hands, Ella needed a run and was dealt 3 wilds and the rest of the cards worked into a run of 10 so she went out completely on her first turn.   Unfortunately, the rest of the game wasn't quite so kind to her.  But we've been having so much fun playing together each weekend.  I know we only gained one extra hour on Sundays...and I actually miss having 3 hours of church...but my Sundays feel longer/like we gained more than an hour.  It's miraculous to me how if we follow the teachings of the Lord and obey His commandments, He really is able to make so much more out of our time and our lives than we are!!

Hair cuts and ombre

At the beginning of January, Michelle got her hair cut a lot shorter.  I also got my hair cut, though not dramatically.  Ella had Heidi trim her hair and redo her ombre.  Heidi does such a great job...and my girls sure are beautiful!

Breakfast Date

On January 11, all 3 girls had sleepovers.  Michelle and Ella had a sleepover at Morgan's house and Gabby had a sleepover with a whole group of her friends at Alyssa's house.  Alfredo wasn't home on Friday night, so after getting home from the Draper Temple with the girls and dropping them off at their sleepovers, I read and relaxed.  But Saturday morning, Alfredo and I went out to breakfast at Gourmandise for a really nice breakfast date.  It was really nice to just have a relaxing morning together.  And the food was delicious!

We both laughed when the waitress asked if we wanted her to split our checks...that hasn't happened in years.  Alfredo hates getting his photo taken and he looks like he's half asleep in the photo, but we really did have a nice time.  And he even got a nap before the girls came home around noon or 1 PM.

Draper Temple

 On January 11, Aly and I took Max and his friend and Michelle and Ella to the Draper Temple.  Annie had to work later than expected and was unable to make it.  The Draper Temple was SO busy!  It was a Friday evening and there were SO MANY youth there.  There were youth groups.  There were families, bringing their 11 year olds for the first time.  A member of the temple presidency was in the baptistry, welcoming people, teaching the 11 year olds, training the new Priests who were able to baptize for the first time and helping each person to have a good experience.  It's such a blessing to have temples dotting the Earth and to have opportunities to go regularly!

 When we arrived the sky was so murky that you could barely see the angel Moroni on top.  You couldn't see the temple at all from a mile away.  When we left, it was lit and glowing...light emanating from the temple.

The night before I'd read in 1 Nephi about the tree of life and the mists of darkness...and the two images of the temple...one murky and covered in mists of darkness...and one with light emanating from it...seemed a perfect analogy for this.  As we spend time in the world, it becomes harder to see what is true and what is right. Things become more murky.  But as we spend time in the temple, with the word of God, and praying...light enters our life and it becomes easier and clearer to see what really matters.

This year my goal is to gather more light.  Going to the temple regularly is one of the best ways I can do that.

 Photo credit for all but the first of these photos goes to Aly.

It's a Beautiful Day...at the temple

A few months ago, I told Sara that I'd never gone to the temple and done all the ordinances in one day.  She hadn't either so we decided to go together over Winter Break to do that.  It worked out that January 3 was a day that worked for both of us to go spend the day in the temple.  That morning when I woke up, I saw a First Presidency statement that changes have been made in the temple in the past and a reminder that sacred ordinances shouldn't be discussed outside of the temple.  So it seemed some changes had been made, which made our timing feel even more wonderful.  When we got to Jordan River, the parking lot was packed.  We did find a spot, but we were lucky...lots of people parked in places that weren't spots.

We went to the baptistry first.  Our stake member/friend Kaye was working in the baptistry.  She asked if we had done an endowment session yet, and we said no and explained what we were doing.  She told us that four apostles were in the temple at that time.  The baptistry was busy, but not too busy as were the initiatories.  We saw Sister Joy D. Jones in the dressing rooms.  After completing initiatories, we had a delicious lunch in the temple.  Then we did an endowment session and sealings.  It was such a wonderful day.  The spirit was so strong and I found myself weeping with joy over and over.  I loved seeing the connections between each ordinance and knowing that we had helped women receive these ordinances that they couldn't do for themselves.  I loved spending that time with Sara and feel so grateful for her friendship and example.  And I loved being in the temple.  It's my favorite place on Earth!  I love that there are so many temples in such proximity to us and I love that I can go so regularly and feel that peace and find guidance and direction.  We are so blessed.  It was truly a glorious day!!!

New Years

On New Years Eve, we had the Galatas over for games and dinner.  It was a lot of fun. 

On New Years Day, we had the Lazartes over for dinner.  Alfredo made his delicious sopa de res!  And Annette introduced me to my new favorite game...Splendor.  Really, I'm a bit obsessed with it now.  I bought us a copy and we play every Sunday.

Straightened hair

Every once in a while, Gabby likes to have Michelle help her straighten her hair.  Last week she had one of those days and I can't believe how long her hair is getting. (On the other hand, she is 10 and has only had 1 hair cut in her life, so I guess her hair should actually be much longer!)

She is the funniest, cutest girl and I sure love her!!