To The Rescue!!

This past weekend we went to a 'Super Hero' party for one of Caitlin's best friends up here and she had a blast! There was a mini photo shoot of all the kids in their super hero attire, and this is hers...she is pretty much dressed as herself with extra powerful lady bug boots. She had to wear them. I love this girl. If I was ever in mortal danger she is exactly what I would want to see!

Time...

I feel like I need to take a minute to write down some thoughts I have been having over the last few days and I am trying to follow promptings I receive, so I better get writing.

A couple weeks ago my mom had me listening to a collection of talks by Pres. Henry B. Eyring and there was one talk specifically that has really come to mean a lot to me in the last week or so. I will not be able to convey his message near as eloquently or accurately as he does but I hope the feelings I am having will come across as I mean them. The talk was about how the real gift that our Heavenly Father has given us is the gift of time and the ability to use that time the way we want to. We don't know how much time we will be given but we do know that the use of that time will have eternal consequences and we know that our Heavenly Father's mercy is so great that he will give us as many opportunities as he possibly can to turn to him and redirect our paths. I know now why one of the mottos the Church has is "It's about time..." because that is what it is all about. We only have a small amount of time on this earth to learn to love deeply, serve unselfishly, comfort unceasingly and judge righteously. We only have a small amount of time to learn to bear one anothers burdens, repent of our sins, forgive others their mistakes and weaknesses and to become more like our Savior.

I have recognized the teachings of the spirit more in the last 12 days than I have in my entire life combined and more than anything I have been taught of the unconditional, undying love that our Savior has for each one of us. It truly is his work and his glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. He loves us, he wants us to return to him, and he is willing to do everything in his power, aside from take away our agency, to help us to return to him. I know these things are true. I know He hears and answers our prayers. I know He will send peace and comfort even in the most hopeless of times if we will but ask, and the peace and reassurance He will send is unlike anything the world has to offer. As we turn our lives over to Jesus Christ he will make more of us than we could ever hope to make of ourselves. There are so many people that are lost and have forgotten who they are and what they can become, and it is our responsibility to seek them out and help them to feel the love of our Savior through our service and example.

I know Jesus Christ lives and I love him with all of my heart. I know he atoned for our sins and I know that families can be forever. I know that the time we have been given here is so precious and that we need to use that time each and every day to grow closer to Him and to bring others with us. Let us use this time to judge less, forgive freely, serve with all our hearts, and love others as He loves us. Let us repent of our sins and turn away from those things that will draw us away from His light and His love.

Let's try to remember each moment we live that it is about time. Don't wait to tell the people you love that you love them. Don't wait to forgive someone who has wronged you. Don't wait for tomorrow to listen to the promptings of the spirit. Now is the time and my prayer is for the strength to act on and remember this each day for the rest of my life.

One Year Down and Updates...

So, first things first...Jeff finished his first year of Vet School!! I cannot tell you how proud and grateful I am of him and his dedication to our family. He spent so many hours studying and for about the last month of school we were lucky to see him 1-2 hours a day, if at all. I know how hard it was on him and I am so grateful that he is willing to work so hard so we will be taken care of. He is amazing and we are lucky to have him. Second, we moved to Utah for the summer since Jeff has the opportunity to work at South Valley Large Animal Clinic, and let me tell you, he is so glad to just be working and not studying for a second! It is really nice to be so close to our families (we are living with mine) and get to spend so much time with them, they are such a blessing in our lives and I would have to say we have the best families! And even though we love being here we are seriously missing our friends up in Pullman. When you live so far from home your friends really do become like your family and we happened to make some of the most amazing friends. Its good we've got 3 more years with them and hopefully the rest of our lives:) So here are a few updates...

Grammy came to visit Pullman earlier this year and we loved having her! Little Miss loves her so much and would run into her room every morning the minute she wakes up! We ate yummy food and my house is amazingly organized and clean by the time she leaves...it is absolutely great! She also brought a ton of new books for Little Miss and that is what she wants to do all the time...read:)

Little Miss and I got to come home for awhile during the semester and we were lucky to get to celebrate Steve's birthday while we were here. We went to Red Robin and it was awesome. Little Miss loves her Uncle Steve, they are pretty inseparable. Also during this trip Little Miss had to get her first set of stitches. She opened a drawer in the kitchen and forgot to close it and while running away from me, her face ran right in to it. I felt awful! She cut her lip open and my mom, Steve and I took her to Primary Children's to get her all fixed up and she completely amazed me! She did not cry even once at the hospital. She just kept saying "the goctor needs to fix my lip" and she let them do everything they needed to. They wanted to sedate her for the actual stitching since it was on her lip and so they had to do an iv...yep, no crying. She held totally still and just looked at it after. I even cry for iv's. She is one tough cookie! She is now healed up and back to normal, the whole experience was way more tramatic on me for sure!

This is another one of Little Miss's favorite people...Grampy! There must be something about Grandpa's because between her Grampy and her Pa, she could be content forever!

Just practicing her golf swing with Steve...pretty much perfect form...

Our Easter celebrations were really fun and Little Miss loved having her dad around and ridiculous amounts of candy, what kid doesn't like that?? But if you ask me, I have always thought the Easter Bunny was a little disturbing...abnormally huge rabbit sneaking into your house...come on. I think we will definitely focus more on the real meaning of Easter:)

And I love this picture because it represents our life as of this moment...lots of time with dad, swimming pools, trips to Loa, family and fun. We LOVE having daddy around and we might even let him work a little this summer:)

One Amazing Woman!!!

I just wanted to write a note to let everyone know how great Marie is. She is my best friend and so supportive of all the many things I am involved in. I love coming home to her smiling face at the end of a hard day. She is so loving and is always there for me, to boost me up and be by my side. She is a great mother and little miss is privelaged to have such an amazing woman to raise her and teach her. Marie is always willing to serve and goes above and beyond the call of duty, especially for little miss and I. I am so grateful to have met and married Marie, she has changed my life and has given me everything a man could ask for. I love you Marie, you are the best wife and mother in the world!!!

The Best 2 Years...

Dear Little Miss,

Two years ago we welcomed you into our little family and it has been the best two years of our life. Your little spirit brings more joy into our home and family than I ever thought possible and I am so grateful you chose us. We loved you from the minute we saw you and that love grows more and more each day. We have a lot of adventures with you and you always keep us on our toes, but that is what makes life exciting!

At 2 years old...

*You love to workout! You will put on my running shoes and hang my ipod from your little arm and "go for a run" around the house. When you are finished you will tell me you are all sweaty and need a shower:)

*When you aren't running, you have to play my Turbo Jam workout video multiple times a day...you inform me you need to stretch to your "moomie"(movie).

*You will eat anything! Vegetables and all. You especially like pizza(no idea why), ice cream(again, no idea how that happened), meat, oatmeal, apples, yogurt and cheese. You love trying new things and you even like to eat leaves of spinach...please don't ever change! You may just be the healthiest kid ever with habits like these(not the pizza and ice cream, but the other stuff:)...

*Your dad is your best friend. You love your dad so much! You get SO excited when you hear that door unlock at the end of the day and you squeal and run to see him. You call him daddo, daddy, papa louie, and most recently, Jeffrey(he doesn't love that so much but I think it is adorable)...

*You love to do your hair and makeup everyday! The minute I turn the blow dryer on in the morning, you will drop what you are doing and run to the bathroom so you can blow dry my hair and your own. The blow dryer probably weighs more than you so it is especially cute to watch you handle it. Then you have to put your contacts in, put mascara on, apply deodorant, and straighten your hair...and it begins...

*You love to talk and sing! You are talking in complete sentences all the time and you love to sing primary songs, but your favorite song to sing is Happy Birthday. We have to sing it with a different name all day long and you know every word. You will change the person you want to sing it to and we will sing it over and over again. Your favorite primary songs are I love to see the Temple, The Chapel Doors and I am a child of God.

*You love your friends! You probably have more friends right now than I do:) You love to spend time with them and you are surprisingly good at sharing(most the time) and you don't like confrontations.

*Your favorite animal is a horse. If we are ever drawing or coloring you have me draw one for you and I love that you think it is the best horse ever:)

*You love your grandparents, uncles and aunts and cousins so much! If I am on the phone you always know who I am talking to and you always have to talk to them. You ask about them all the time and love seeing pictures of them.

*You love to play chase! This consists of me or daddy going and hiding and you come looking for us. When you find us you run as fast as your little legs will carry you, laughing the whole way...grampy McOmie taught you this and it has stuck!

*You love to read! You would sit and let me read to you all day. I even find you in your room looking at books on your own and taking care of you babies. You will be the best mommy some day!

*You got a backpack for your birthday and you wear it all the time. You always have to go to school like daddy and study "anamy"(anatomy). You will blow me a kiss and say "bye mom, going to study anamy!"

*You love to clean! This is definitely a trait you got from your grammy! You are always wiping something down or wanting to dust and vacuum...

*You love to shop! This is definitely a trait you got from grandma Oyler...you always look forward to our Wal-mart trips.

*You know most your colors and you love to draw.

*You love bath time and water. I could put you up to any sink, turn on the water and give you a cup, and you would play for hours...seriously.

*You love people and they love you. No matter where you go people are always smiling at you and commenting on how cute you are. You always say thank you and excuse me when you sneeze:) And bless you when I sneeze...

*You know who Jesus is and you love to see his picture. I know you know that he loves you because you always smile when you see him and say his name.

You are loved so much! I hope you always know how special you are and that you have great things to do in this life. Happy Birthday Little Miss!

Love, Mom and Dad

Home for the Holidays...The Final Chapter

Well, we are officially back in Washington and I must say, it was hard to come back. Don't get me wrong, we love our home here and were so excited to see all our friends again, but having family around 24/7 was awesome! I know this might sound strange to some people, but I absolutely love being with my family and having them around all the time! It was especially hard on Little Miss. She loves her Grammy and Grampy so much, and it is because she gets SO much love from them! She spent a lot of time with Grammy making cookies, cleaning the house (she LOVES to clean and so does my mom, they are so much alike!), walking Luckie, shopping, taking baths, reading books and singing songs. And just one example of the love she gets...my dad works graveyard shift and gets home at 7:30am. Little Miss loves his pancakes and the minute he walked in, she asked him for pancakes and instead of going up to sleep, he made her a whole bunch of pancakes, which she ate a ton of! She also loves when Grampy chases her around the house and plays "monsters" with her, it is so fun to watch and see how hard he can get her laughing! And two of her favorite people in the world are her Uncle John and Uncle Steve. She thinks everything they do is so hilarious and she always has to give them hugs or just sit with them. She also got to spend time with "the boys", her cousins Mason, Carter and Bridger. They are so cute together and it is always so good to see Stayler and Jessica and have the whole family together. My family really are my best friends and I am so grateful to have each of them in my life. While we were there we attended my brothers Eagle Court of Honor, got to see Harry Potter 7 (thanks to Steve!), went shopping, and attended the temple. There were also a couple of really late nights playing 007 (which I was NOT a part of). We really had such a wonderful time and I am so grateful that my family is so good about us crashing with them:) We love them so much!

Also while we were there, we went to the annual McOmie New Year's Day Party and it was so much fun! I really think I have some of the coolest cousins ever! We always have so much fun and laugh a lot when we get together. We ate the traditional lasagna, garlic bread, salad and tons of goodies...we played games as a group and just enjoyed each other's company. LOVE this smile, I think she might be half pirate...

Love this one also...

Anyone else for a nice spray of water in the face from the drinking fountain??

Love these boys (and Little Miss too!)...

The holidays were wonderful and I am so grateful for all the time we got to spend with our families!

New Year's Eve 2010...

Once again it was time for our annual girls' lunch on New Year's Eve, and as usual, it was so much fun! We have done this lunch (used to be lunch, a movie and a party that night, but children have shortened the celebration a bit...) since high school and I look forward to it every year. I was so blessed to have an AMAZING group of friends through high school and I still consider them some of my closest friends. These girls are such incredible women, friends, moms and wives and I am so grateful to have their examples in my life. Not everyone has the opportunity to have a group of friends like I do and I am very lucky to know each and every one of them. It is getting harder to get us all together at the same time (we missed you Chrissy and Amanda!) but I am so glad we still keep it going! The rest of the day was pretty quiet and relaxing. Jeff, Little Miss and I just stayed home with my mom, dad and Steven, ate some yummy food and an amazing lime slush my mom made, played cards and just hung out. We are definitely getting old though because Jeff went to bed before midnight and I stayed up and read a book...super exciting, I know. But I must say there is no one I would rather bring in the New Year with than my family. It is going to be a great year and I am glad I got to start it with some of the people I love most!