Because of Our Savior, We Do Not Have to Walk Alone! {Preparing for Easter}

I love Elder Holland's spirit filled testiomy of our Savior's mission here upon this earth. I too know that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior and redeemer. He knows me and has felt every pain I have felt and will ever feel. He knows how to succor me. Because of Him, I never stand alone.

Alma 7:12

And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

Snow! ... Real Powdery Snow!

We had so much fun playing in the snow! David's school was canceled so we got to hang out all day!

Happy Valentine's Day

I love how it doesn't take much to light up the faces of children. Peter and I made Valentine's for Evelyn and Dad the day before. I put up some streamers hanging from the ceiling in the entryway to the living room and some balloons and some hearts on the wall and Peter immediately knew it was a special day when he woke up. Evelyn loves to run through the streamers with me. I made some pancakes for breakfast, a few shaped as hearts. And I made them these silly skid-proof socks.

That's it! And Peter is still talking about Valentine's Day. I'm just glad he is talking about Valentine's Day rather than Christmas (though he did ask for the Frosty the Snowman song today...).

I sure love my kiddos. I know that I think this because I'm their mom... But I have the best kids!

Update on Evelyn:

She is walking! Last Saturday  she was able to walk more than two steps but now she is walking from room to room! She can say mama, daddy, bye-bye, uh-oh, ball, moo, more (as she signs), and she signs "all done" (still working her mouth around those words). She still loves to read. And she has started to babble tunes as if she were singing along with us. She has changed so much even in the last two weeks since her birthday! 

Peter:

Still as chatty as ever. If not more. He is great at memorizing things. He has several book memorized and he likes to "read" them to you. He also has many songs memorized. He has known some since he was 18 months, but the number of songs he knows has more than tripled in the last year (mostly church songs, a few holiday songs, and some random others). I love to see his imagination run wild. He is so sharp for a 2 1/2 year old. He never ceases to amaze me. Oh, we have enjoyed crafting together during Evelyn's morning nap. Most recently, we made an airplane out of paper towel rolls. 

Well, that's enough for now :) Happy Valentine's Day!

Snow!

Today was the first time we actually got to watch the snow fall here in Bolivar, Missouri. It has snowed since we have lived here but it was either while we were out of town or over night. We were sitting down together eating lunch and peter says, "What's that?" I turn to see what he is talking about and he was pointing out the window at SNOW! Snow is sure beautiful. So I had to let him go out for a bit after lunch, even though it was nap time. Then after naps, Peter went out to build his first snowman with dad. Peter sure loves the snow :)

Evelyn is 1!

Wow, how time flies! My baby girl is getting big! She came into this world one year ago today.

I am still amazed at how fast children grow in one year; and by how much they learn.

We sure love our little Evelyn. Her favorite thing to do, as of late, is to read books. She loves books!

I love watching her play and explore. I love to see the wheels turning in her cute little head as she discovers cause and effect. Evelyn has sure brought our family a lot of joy. She is a special spirit daughter of God. We feel blessed to have her in our family. 

Happy Birthday little one!

Christmas in California

Christmas Morning

First off... I'm pregnant! Baby number 3 due June 27th 2013! We announced this in California :)

David got a substantial break from school for the holidays, so, we decided to spend his entire break with our families in Clovis, CA.  We had a lot of fun! It was great seeing a lot of family and friends we hadn't seen for a while. It was nice to visit our old wards and be around people that influenced us for good and helped us become who we are.

Grandpa Reynders & Evelyn

Grandpa Murphy and Peter

The kids enjoyed playing with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We did too :) I had the opportunity to meet up with my best friend Courtney Hosford a few times. We have known each other since we were 2! It was great to see her and it was even more great to see how well she is doing. She is a strong daughter of God. I also had the opportunity to meet up with several old girl friends from high school. They are all stellar women as well. It was great to see that all is well with them too. We enjoyed a lunch together as we caught up on everyone's lives since high school. Three out of the five of us served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was wonderful to be among such wonderful, spirit filled disciples of Christ. It made me realize even more how lucky we all were to grow up acquainted with one another. I also had the great opportunity to spend a little time with Edy Corum. We became friends around the time Peter was born and have enjoyed conversing with one another and learning from each other. I am grateful for her friendship and the opportunity I have to know and be associated with her. She too is a wonderful daughter of God.

Me and some great girls. (Courtney is wearing the colorful scarf)

In front of our banners at the Reynders.

We enjoyed Christmas traditions with our families. We made banners to run through Christmas morning at the Reynders. We enjoyed one delicious meal after another on Christmas. We listened to lots of Mannheim Steam Roller. We played a lot of board games and cards. We baked a little. We laughed, played, and made memories. I am grateful for the blessing we enjoy. I love how Christmas time seems to bring those blessings into view even more than before. I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. To me He is the ultimate gift that has been given for us from our loving Heavenly Father. He came into this world for us. He lived an exemplary life. We can find true happiness and joy in this life by striving to live as He did.

Thanksgiving with the Reynders

David's sister Kate came to our home on Monday night and then his mom, dad, and little brother Scott joined the fun Tuesday afternoon. We enjoyed having so much family here. David had the whole week off! We had a good break; though it went by too quickly.We enjoyed playing games and showing the Reynders around the little town of Bolivar. My mother-in-law, Jo Linda, taught me how to sew and helped with a few home improvement projects. On Thanksgiving Day, we traveled up to David's older brother's house in Kansas City. It was nice to be with so much family!

There was some singing going on. You can never have the Reynders siblings together without busting out the Hymn Book.

The last full day we had with the Reynders was Poppy's birthday! We had peach cobbler to celebrate. Yummy!

Peter loved having everyone around. He sure misses his Grandma Jo and Poppy. He sure loves playing with them. He misses building bridges and singing silly songs with Uncle Scott and playing with Aunt Kate. We are excited to see them all again at Christmas time. And to see my family! We will be in California for 2 and 1/2 weeks around Christmas! So excited! Just 3 hard weeks for David and then we will have a good, long vacation :)