Kids, Service & Love

We love our kids! We love them more than we ever could have imagined we could love someone. This last Sunday in Relief Society, one of my new wonderful friends was teaching the lesson. She asked us why we love our own children so much. She asked, "Why are parents willing to do anything for their children? even give their lives for them?" Someone answered, "Because we serve them all the time." I felt the truthfulness of this principle. I know that the more we serve someone the more we grow in love for them. I know that because of the service I render to my family I have a great desire to be with them, love them, and serve them even more! I know that this is an eternal principle. I know that we have a loving Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ who love us even more than the profound love we may have for our children. They have served us, they have given us all that we have. I also know that the more we serve our Heavenly Father and our Savior, the more we grow to love and appreciate them and all they have done and given us.

Happy Halloween!

We enjoyed some delicious chili, cornbread, and pie at the church Halloween party last weekend and today we celebrated Halloween all day! I think Halloween is probably my least favorite holiday. Not that I don't like it, I just like the other holidays better. But this year was sure fun! I think kids make holidays even more enjoyable.

I put up a few decorations last night so when the kids woke up they would be able to sense the excitement of the day. And boy did they love it! Peter thought the ghosts were the coolest things ever. I love it when it cost me nothing to make my children smile. The ghosts were made from a recycled grocery bag and some thread. And I cut some pumpkins out of construction paper and threw them up on the wall too. Simplicity is great!

I served them ghost bananas along with their Cream of Wheat this morning. I broke a banana in half and made a ghost face toward the pointed ends of each half. The eyes were mini chocolate chips and the mouth was a normal sized chocolate chip. My children rarely get sweets so those chocolate chips were the first things they ate! In fact Peter didn't even eat the banana part of the ghost, he did eat all of his cereal though.

We made these earlier, but I had to share :) This is Peter's spider cookie!

The next big festive activity was pumpkin carving! David was able to participate in the pumpkin carving! We were lucky that he had a little break from school this morning.

Of course we took the kids out Trick-or-treating! They had a blast! We went down to The Square here in Bolivar. It was great! I love small towns! Most of the little shops, boutiques, and businesses were waiting to give candy to little trick-or-treaters. The fire department even cam down to The Square and parked one of their firetrucks there with the lights flashing. They had their fire dog there too! He was a beautiful dalmatian. There were a few fire fighters dressed in uniform handing out candy from their hats! The kids loved it! I'm sure as much as I did ;)

We Love Fall!

We had the opportunity to visit the Rutledge-Wilson Farm in Springfield, MO. The kids loved seeing the animals, going on a hayride, and exploring. We will definitely make a trip out to this amazing farm/ park again :)

The kids have also enjoyed the amazing weather we have been having. Up until this week it has been beautiful and not too chilly. Here are some pictures of them enjoying the weather as we played outside. Goodness! I love these kids!

Families Are Forever

"I have a family here on earth. They are so go to me.

I want to share my life with them through all eternity.

Families can be together forever 

Through Heavenly Father's plan.

I always want to be with my own family,

And the Lord has shown me how I can.

The lord has shown me how I can." 

(Ruth Muir Gardner).

I have been feeling overwhelmingly grateful for our little family. I am humbled that our Heavenly Father entrusted David and I with the nurturing and teaching of Peter, Evelyn, and Hannah. Each of them have their own special, unique spirit. They each have helped us learn and grow in our understanding of true love. As a mother I have been able to experience a glimpse, a small taste of the profound love our Heavenly Father and our Savior have for each of us, his children. I am so very grateful for the opportunity I have been given to be a mother and I am especially grateful to be Peter, Evelyn, and Hannah's mother. I am grateful for the knowledge we have of the Plan of Salvation and for our temple marriage. I know that I can live with my family forever. Isn't that amazing?!

We love to Run!

We had an opportunity to participate in a Terry Fox Run. It was the first annual Terry Fox Run to be held in Bolivar, Mo. I wasn't real familiar with the story of Terry Fox before this run, but it is an inspiring story of a young mad who had a great desire to do good and help the cause of cancer (you can learn more about Terry here).

While David sped off to run a 5 k, the kiddos and I walked one lap around the track. And, we made a new friend! She and I hit it off. As we talked I learned she is from Fresno! It is such a small world! She loved holding Hannah. She has 10 grand-babies but none of them live close. I love it when I can share the joy of my children with others! She was so sweet to me and my kiddos. She helped me walk the kids around the track.

The kids had a blast! They loved running around. Peter especially loved running on a track. He felt so special. I love the look on his face in the picture bellow. You can see how thrilled he was.

Here are a few more pictures from our fun morning :)

Life With Hannah Jo

Life with three kids is busy! But we are sure loving our little Hannah :) Peter and Evelyn adore her. They love to help out by getting diapers, pacifiers, or blankets. They have also learned that we need to be real soft with baby Hannah. Evelyn likes to help me burp Hannah, she gently pats her back and says, "Pat, pat, pat." I find this particularly adorable because Peter did the same thing with Evelyn when Evelyn was a new baby.

Hannah's Blessing Day

We enjoyed having family stop by and visit. My mother and my little brother Pierce stayed at our house for 2 weeks (with a few breaks between for trips to church historic sites). My dad was also able to stay with us a few days. David's Mom and Dad and two of his sisters, Kate and Janet were able to stop by as well. It was sure nice to see family and feel of their support at a time of so much change. We are sure lucky to have such great families. :)

Yesterday we had the opportunity to attend the Kansas City Temple. It was wonderful of course but we had three kids in tow. The two and a half hour drive there went real smooth. Hannah slept while Peter and Evelyn snacked, read books, and played nicely in their seats. It was AMAZING! But, waiting three hours while your spouse serves in the temple, with nowhere to go with three little ones... that was a wake-up call! "Yvonne, you have three kids!" It was hot outside, there is no visitor's center or other building with air conditioning we could use on the temple grounds. We did use the little waiting room in the temple sporadically. However, even though it's a waiting room, you still are in the temple and, I felt the need to leave when the children began to get antsy. The children really were kind to us though. Things could have been worse AND, the kids loved it! Evelyn and Peter both were talking about going to the temple today. Yes it was a trying experience and when it was my turn to go in and serve I was feeling a little exhausted and emotional, but one of the most amazing things about the temple is how it can bring peace to your soul despite all the craziness you faced before entering and the craziness you knew was waiting for you after.

Life is good! We are grateful for the perspective we gain from attending the Temple and knowing of our Father's plan for us.