Blessings for 12.14

12.20- woke up feeling pretty great, how beautiful and precious my kids looked all dressed up in their Christmas outfits, Baily's excitement to find presents under the tree and her first time going through each one shaking it and guessing what it might be and recalling how much I loved Christmas as a child, Motab's Christmas music on the way to church- B and I singing at the top of our lungs to Hallelujah and feeling the Spirit so strongly, an amazing Sacrament meeting where the Spirit was burning like an unquenchable fire within me- my kids sat and behaved so well- reading Luke 2 as a ward- Bishop's awesome talk and how wonderful of a Bishop he is- singing Christmas hymns as a ward family- sweet Cyz girl sharing her snacks with my kids and smiling so beautifully, watching The Nativity in Sunday School and once again- Spirit was burning, getting new Gospel Principles for next 2 years of RS study and so excited about it, awesome YW class- putting together stockings for girls who weren't there- beautiful testimonies shared about Savior- getting to share my testimony about my Savior- getting awesome ornament gift and goodies from Sis. R., B had a blast at her Primary Christmas party and got so many awesome goodies and gifts- best Sunbeam teachers ever!, B's excitement and pure look of joy on her sweet face when she gave her teachers the gift she made, beautiful Christmas music on the way home and singing at top of our lungs with B to Motab's Joy To The World, nice convo with my bro Beau- love that boy!, the best fresh Alaskan halibut dinner at my dad's, Sunday family dinner at dad's- good laughs & conversation, nice deep conversation with dad, Joaquin's secret kiss/handshake he made up for he and I, J's adorable new dance that he made up out of nowhere and does all the time, all out dancing with my kids for half an hour- nothing but music blaring and bums shaking and lots of laughing, cuddling with my girl at bedtime and being overwhelmed with the love I have for her

12.19- my heart being softened and realizing I was wrong and apologizing, principle of forgiveness, email, true love, B playing with her friend Amber so I could have a "meeting with Santa," Joaquin being so cute and loving his alone time with me at the store, Christmas shopping for kids is done!- only one more gift to get for my brother, fun Christmas tag, Christmas music-specifically "For Unto Us A Child Is Born" by Motab, actually sitting down to a homemade meal with my kids for dinner, Joaquin cracking me up during his bath and splashing me until I was soaked, exciting news from Gerald and Rachelle!, making Santa cookies with B and a gift for her Primary teacher for her Primary Christmas party tomorrow, Zpac antibiotics and how they are helping me feel better so much faster- cough is gone!!, meds, B sleeping in her own bed, wrapping is done (except for Roberts) and I'm all prepared for a good Sabbath tomorrow, a pretty productive day finally

12.18- 5 years of being married to the best man ever for time and all eternity, made it through another pay period, B & J playing with Joaquin's new car couch that he got with his giftcard from his Abuela Cande and having so much fun with it, prayer, sweet calls from my Dad (he told me I'm the best daughter ever and it made me cry- a good cry) and Alex, most amazing & patient husband ever, pizza and CM with hubby

12.17- Christmas cards and letters sent- whew!, super friendly postal lady and mailman, new g's!!, house cleaned and getting more organized, sweet 12 Days of Christmas story and scripture, nice lunch with hubby for our anniversary and talking about our 5 faves of each other for our 5 years, Patty watching our kids so we could go out, awesome VT who brought a sweet dinner for us, watching First Pres. Christmas Devotional as a family for Advent Activity, acting out scenes from Elf for Advent Activity

12.16- prayer, prayer, prayer, Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash, hubby home from work- weird circumstances but glad to have him home, hubby's love and care for me, surviving through the day- literally, an amazing Dr. who I know really cares about me, awesome YW activity that I worked so hard on and the girls worked so hard on- great Spirit and great activity, Sis. Rebarchik- she's amazing!!, getting a very generous gift in the mail from someone who loves us- tender mercy Christmas style, my Savior and testimony of Him, knowing I'm loved, getting mom's letter written and ready to go

12.15- my boys excitement for life when he wakes up at 7:30am on the dot every day, ham and biscuits for breakfast, internet and computer, house cleaned and laundry done, playin' with my kids, baking cookies with Baily and giving them to a neighbor as a Secret Santa and then caroling to Patty, cute new monster jammies for J, watching Monsters Inc. with the kiddos

12.14- Happy Birthday Tia Franci!!, leftover cold pizza, Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash, crud in my chest is finally breaking up- I may finally be getting better, hubby's french toast and bacon breakfast, reading 12 Days Of Christmas story and scripture as a family, decorating gingerbread house as a family, computer and internet, Joaquin's birthday package from Abuelita & Tia & giftcard from Abuela came in the mail and he was so excited!, Christmas gifts made for family & ordered, Supernanny and her tips, nice conversation with my Abuelita, broccoli cheese soup, cranberry juice, scalding hot shower

Blessings For 11.23

11.29- facing my fears and trying to have faith, going to church, how adorable my cute B looked, The Proclamation on the family, my ward family, an awesome lesson by our Bishop and getting to sit and hold hands with my husband I love so much, an awesome Bishop, first Sunday family dinner of many to come with dad & fam at our house, great food (home-made breadsticks, spaghetti and chocolate & banana cream pies), great conversation & a full happy home, new Christmas decorations, watching The Santa Clause with my kiddos, glow of the Christmas tree

11.28- hubby home from work and spending time together all day as a family, having fun watching Christmas youtube vids with kids and with elfyourself vids, HOT shower;);), Joaquin's adorable toes and cheekies, putting up Christmas lights with hubby and our awesome teamwork, a beautiful sunny day, decorating Christmas tree, BK for family dinner, BK onion rings, decorating house, Christmas nativities, house feels very Christmasey, aroz con chocolate (first time making it and it was dee-licious!), my hubby and his love!

11.27- first time and very successful black Friday shopping- kids are all done-whew!, amazing deals, our sweet lil' Christmas tree, brother Jensen watchin' my kids in the morning for me, leftover turkey sandwich for lunch!, naps and snuggles with my kiddos, Jensen comin' and playing with my kids and being such a great Uncle, kids were great today, cute new pj's for kiddies, picked up home and now nice & tidy, Biggest Loser, watching Grinch with kiddos, adorable cards from momma and lovin' her so much

11.26- Thanksgiving!, thinking of and being grateful for the countless blessings in my life from on High, deviled eggs & turkey, good times with Aunt Misty, lovin' on my nephew, making Christmas plans and shopping ideas with hubby, working heater

11.25- feelin' better, clean house, Patty baby-sittin' for me & living right around the corner, SYTYCD, phone call with friend Britney, great job interview with Olive Garden, inspiration & Divine guidance, yummy dinner (stuffed shells with cheese & fave breadsticks!) & great conversation with the missionaries, feeling very inspired by the Biggest Loser special, first snow- so peaceful and beautiful!

11.24- grapefruit (sorry but I just love 'em!), the sound of rain, my awesome step-mom Patty for taking Baily for a while so I could rest during Joaquin's nap and bringing over yummy chicken noodle casserole for dinner, Broadway music, new Ensign and Friend are here, reading most of Friend with Baily, Pres. Eyring's First Pres. message in Dec. Ensign, Donny won DWTS!!, hubby home from work earlier than usual, Baily cracking us up, rocky road ice cream, hubby's buff arms

11.23- hubby's big fluffy pancakes he made just for me, realizing how grateful I am for being taught integrity and values during my background interview, fridge is not broken!, looking for Christmas ideas at Target with my kids and their excitement for the day!, good advice from Patty, kids behaving so I could get my walking workout in, having access to my dad's treadmill whenever I want, being showered with kisses from my kids, baked potatoe soup and breadsticks for dinner!!, that the markers ate while I was cleaning the kitchen were non-toxic, dancing the Paso Doble with my kids during DWTS

New Sunday Traditions

Sunday November 29, 2009
Yesterday was a good, good day. After taking too long to get going and working hard to let faith overcome fear on my part we got to church an hour late. I'm going to make it a point to not be late to church anymore. It's really a weakness I have and need to overcome. I'm so glad we made it to church because Robert and I got to sit together in Sunday School and since it was the 5th Sunday we got to sit together for the combined RS/Priesthood meeting taught by the Bishop. Both were so awesome. We have such an awesome Bishop and I'm so grateful for him and his family. After we got home I got dinner ready and then my Dad & Patty & Eyan came over and we started our new tradition of having Sunday family dinners together. We are going to rotate it between each other's houses. I'm so excited to start this tradition. Even though we live so close together, the days get away from us and we don't get to see each other very often. So yeah, I'm excited for this new tradition. I made spaghetti and homemade breadsticks (can you tell these are our new favorite as we've had them 3 times in the past week?!) and salad and then we had chocolate & banana cream pies. After dinner me, Eyan and the kids played Uno Attack and it was so much fun. Baily had a blast and was so excited that she actually got to play with us and Joaquin cracked up every time the machine shot out cards. It was so funny to see him cracking up. After they left Joaquin found his sisters pie and you can bet that that was the end of that. He thought he was so sneaky. So funny! The rest of the night we watched movies and ended up all going to bed pretty early. I guess all the weekend festivities caught up with us. It was an awesome day and awesome week as you can tell from my sweet girl's face in this pic!

Discussion Question:
What do you love about Sundays?