{Happily Ever After}

Last night we had New Beginnings for the Young Women. We had been practicing for the program for awhile. We found three programs that we thought would work well and then we let the girl's pick which program they wanted to do. They chose the theme "Happily Ever After", which ties in well with the new theme of the year, The 13th Article of Faith. The program was based off of Elder Uchtdorf's talk , "Happily Ever After". I love Elder Uchtdorf.



About 7 of the girl's had a narrating part, which talked about staying clean and pure, being virtuous, Dressing modest, returning to virtue, being the daugher of God you are meant to be, etc. They sang about five songs in between narrating parts. One song one of our girl's sang a solo to. The song is called "In the Strength of the Lord". Then another song called "Honest" we had three girl's sing together. The song "Happily Ever After" was also sung by three more girls. We all sang two songs together. They were BEAUTIFUL songs and boy did those girl's bring the spirit into the room. They all did so beautifully.



For decorations each table had rose petals laid out, with flowers in a vase, with princess tiara's for each girl. And we also had a "story book" for each girl to write their own storybook fairytale. So, Instead of having a classic storybook fairytale book displayed at each table, we had a fairytale storybook for each girl with their picture on the front and it contained blank pages for them to write their own fairytale story. Cool huh?! We had three white dresses on display...the blessing dress, the baptismal dress, and a wedding dress. We had pictures displayed on a table of the leaders wedding pictures, the YW girl's in their baptismal dresses and blessing dresses. We had all the Values displayed on the table as well. And of course we had the EATING table, where we served fresh fruit, cupcakes, chicken sandwiches, and salad with punch. And the plates and napkins said "Happily Ever After" on them.

Here is a picture of each girl's own fairytale storybook where they can write their own story. :)



All the girl's made a very large banner for display. It was a banner of the OKC temple and all the values were written all around the temple.



At the end of the program we showed a quick video made my Jenny Phillips. It was a beautiful video with background music "happily ever after". This whole program was a Jenny Phillips program. It's beautiful.

Then, of course, we had the Bishop speak for a few minutes at the very end. It was a special night for everyone. This program is usually just for the girl's and the parents, but we invited anyone in the ward. We ended up having almost 100 people there last night, including the young women.

The girl's all LOVED it! Truly. It was such a fun night. I felt like a mom preparing a special night for all her daughter's. It was so fun and special. I love Young Women's. It's the best.

One of the songs that we, the leaders, sang with the girl's was "Return to Virtue"...i love this song so much. I love ALL the songs we sang, but really this one ! They are just beautiful. Here are the words to a few of the songs...

Return to Virtue

We raise our voice to the world and we say, that the Savior is coming to reign.

and those who are pure are preparing the way, we are raising a banner in his name.

Return to God, Return to Virtue. Put both feet back on the pathway of truth.

Restoring respect for our divinity, uniting together in purity. In all that we think , in all that we do, we are calling the world to return to Virtue.

We are the bearers of truth in these perilous times. Gath'ring all who will come to the light. His standard is set and we will not move, we call all people to come join in the truth.

Return to God, return to virtue, put both feet back on the pathway of truth. Restoring respect for our divinity. Uniting together in purity. In all that we think, in all that we do, we are calling the world to return to virtue.

Restoring respect for our divinity, uniting together in purity, in all that we think, in all that we do, we are calling the world to return to virtue. we are calling the world, we will lead all the world, we are calling the world to RETURN to VIRTUE.

In the Strength of the Lord

When it feels, like life is too hard and the person that i want to be, feels just out of my reach, he whispers to me, that i do not need to do it alone, he never wanted me to face anything on my own. In the Strength of the Lord, i can do all things. He knows how to change the weakness in me. So i will let his love lift me up. He believes i can do hard things if i will trust him and walk forward in the strength of the Lord.

He promised me there would never be anything that i could not overcome. His power is more than you know. I know that if he is standing with me i can conquer anything. He offered his life so he could be by my side everyday. In the strength of the Lord i can do all things. He knows how to change the weakness in me. So i will let his love lift me up. He believes i can do hard things if i will trust him and walk forward in the strength of the Lord.

Happily Ever After

Once upon a time a child was born into this life, Heaven could be seen in her eyes, there was no doubt she was divine. If you are still you will feel the truth that the princess in this wondrous story is you.

It's your time, it's your destiny to shine, so arise, be true to the royal that's inside of you. Don't settle for the story that the world would have you write. You were born to reach eternal life. Let faith fill every chapter. Let the Savior lead you to Happily ever after.

Sometimes in our life the world would cast a spell and try to make your conscious fall asleep and forget the woman that god would have you be. If you are still you will understand the noble role you play in his plan.

It's your time, it's your destiny to shine, so arise, be true to the royal that's inside of you. Don't settle for the story that the world would have you write, you were born to reach eternal life. Let faith fill every chapter, let the Savior lead you to Happily ever after.

When the forest fills with darkness and the walls seek your soul, just know you are simply in the place between once upon a time and you'll triumph in the end.

It's your time, it's your destiny to shine, so arise, be true to the royal that's inside of you. Don't settle for the story the world would have you write. You were born to reach eternal life. Let faith fill every chapter, let the savior lead you to happily ever after.

Now that this is over, we are moving onto other BIG things. This Friday we have our camp fundraiser. For that we are having a talent show, with a silent auction, AND a regular auction, and awesome refreshments. We have asked for anyone and everyone to offer anything for auction. Basically they are offering their talents and skills. The young women are not only auctioning their talents and skills and babysitting services, but are also auctioning off yummy desserts. It's going to be a busy and FUN night! And lots of preparing between now and Friday! I'm off! :)

{What our weekend consisted of...}

THE ZOO....

Tanner loved being the Navigator....

I love these faces...The Tiger started making loud rarrrrrr noises and they freaked out.

Mom and Dad...look at the name we found! TITI! hahaha!

Our turtles...

AT THE HOTEL...

Jaydon in the morning just before getting out of bed... He always takes his pants off and gets his body caught up in his shirt all weird, like this picture. :)

A few things that i don't want to forget....

1.Gavin has a loose tooth!

2.Tanner just finished watching a movie. He said to me "Mom, i didn't get to watch the movie. Can i watch it again? I was looking over there(pointing the opposite direction of the tv) the whole time." haha! Seriously?

3. A lady from Gavin's school came up to me and said "oohhh, is gavin your son?" I said "Yup, he's mine." She said "Oh, i am so in love with your son. I go into his class every week to help out and he is just one of my FAVORITES! I just LOVE him!" I loved hearing that. It made me feel good and it made Gavin feel so good too.

4. Tanner and Gavin started Soccer season last week! I will take some pictures and post in a week or two.

{Jaydon}

Jaydon is 3 1/2 months away from turning 2 years old! I can't believe it! Soooo, i meant to post this Feb. 1st but never did. So, here are a few things about Jaydon...

He can say...

1. Gone

2. Oh no!

3. DAD! (He yells it!)

4. Milk

5. Teeth

6. For blanky he says "ttssseee". Not sure why.

7. poo poo (he tells me he is poopy)

8. book

9. NO

10. mom

11. pee pee

12. okay

13. Bath

14. Ball

15. Yummy

16. Peewww

17. Ouch

18. eeww

19. hello

20. Down

He is at the point now where he is repeating EVERYTHING i say. He is starting to catch on quick. It's really fun watching him and listening to him try to say what i say. :)

He loves to....

1. tackle his brothers to the ground

2.Eat everything in the house.

3. Get into everything he shouldn't.

4. LAUGH

5. dance

6.Play tag

7. Make a mess

8. Watch me cook

9. Run

10. Destroy things that shouldn't be destroyed

11. Tease his family...seriously. It's funny.

12. Be roughed up

13. Be LOUD

14. Sit on your lap or just sit on you.

15. Take a bath and splash the water like a crazy man. He soaks the floor.

16. charm people with his eye contact and big smile.

17. Wave HI and BYE

18. He loves his blanky!

19. Brush his teeth

He doesn't like to eat...

1. salad

2. veggies (his brothers eat their veggies just fine, but not Jaydon!)

He loves to eat...

1. Fruit(especially bananas!)

2. Sweets

3. Meat

4. pbj sandwich

5.Oatmeal

6. ROLLS

7. Fruit snacks!

8. Anything that's not a vegetable

He does not like...

1. When his sippy cup is empty. It always needs some liquid in it.

2. When you don't give him attention when he wants it.

3. A poopy diaper

4. Having an empty stomach

5. Sleeping( he makes noises in his bed all through the night)

6. Sitting still

7. Being ignored

8. Wearing shoes

One thing Tanner really likes about Jaydon is that "he is a FUN baby".

{Our long weekend}

Talk about a crazy weekend.
Friday night we spent time preparing for the lessons/talks we had to give for this weekend.
Saturday morning shane and I dropped the kids off at a babysitters at 8:45 a.m.. Shane had to teach a couple lessons at the Relief Society conference we had. We were gone until 1:00 p.m. for that.
We got home and i had to leave at 2:45 p.m. and head to the church. All the youth and leaders went to Oklahoma City, which is a 2 hour drive, for a TRI stake formal dance. It was held at the State Capitol building. It was really cool and lots of fun for them. The dance ended at 9:00 p.m. The kids were hungry so we stopped at McDonald's. They ordered food, changed, and we headed to the gas station to fill up the cars. Then we headed home. We got back at 12:30 to 1:00 a.m. in the morning.
Then we got to church at 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning. I had to teach a lesson to all the Young Women today. I was tired and could've done better. After church , i quickly made some enchiladas and right after we ate those we came back to the church at 2:30 for a Baptism. One of the young women that has been investigating was getting baptized, along with her brother. I felt like i needed to be there. We took the boys so they could see a baptism. It was a neat experience. We get home at 3:30.
I had to head back out again at 5:30 b/c we(the yw and ym presidency) were in charge of the youth fireside for the night. After that was over and i took some young women home, i walked through the door at 7:30.
Now, shane is working, probably until 10:00 or 11:00. And he will be up at 4:00 a.m. like usual. Sometimes earlier.
We are tired.


BUT i am gonna go sit down, snack on something, gain a few pounds, and watch the grammy's. Yup. I need to put my feet up. Unfortunately, my husband can't.

{*Another* *snow* *day*}

Tanner and Jaydon and I made some homemade wheat thins(crackers) AND we made some homemade granola bars. I think they turned out fairly good and they were easy to make. I might be doing that more often. I realize that i want to can a lot of stuff. Particularly freezer jam. I need someone to can with me ALL DAY LONG. I remember my mom's best friend in south carolina, Tina. Her and my mom would spend ALL DAY LONG in our kitchen canning all kinds of food. They did it quite a few times. I wanna do that! :)
Here is Tanner showing you one of the crackers we made. Jaydon playing with the rolling pin...

Gavin and Tanner playing games on the snow day they had this week....

It's been a little while since we have had a dance party. We used to have them ALL THE TIME. Especially when we would go to zsa zsa and papa's house. Everytime after dinner we would blast the music and dance all over the place for at least an hour. It worked off all the calories we ate at dinner, that's for sure.
Having a Dance party on his snow day...

Jaydon loves to dance. Right here he is bobbing his body up and down....

He also likes to do quick feet...

Here he is laying on the ground waving his arms all over the place to the beat of the music...

{Gavin and life}

"Mom, that's justin bieber." pointing to the tv.
me: "How do you know who justin bieber is?"
Gavin: "He's a girl. The kids at school told me bieber is a girl."

hahahaha....



We have a lot on our minds lately. Lots of thinking. About the future. Hopefully it all goes the way we hope for it to go.

This weekend starts the nice weather. 4 days of weather in the 60's. I need to get back on the weather channel and see if wed. is nice too. :) Ohhhhh i am excited. :)

Gavin has two more basketball games. Then soccer starts in March, for both Gavin and Tanner. It will be fun to watch Tanner play sports. It's his first time! :)

I am starting to see wrinkles appear on my face in a way i have never noticed them before. And being that i turn 30 this year...well, both of those combined has me FREAKING out. Not to mention, i have grey hairs popping up all over the place. I am serious. Don't laugh.

Life is busy. Shane and I were talking and we both feel like our one year here in wichita falls is like a boot camp. We feel sort of "trapped". :) We are needed left and right and up and down. But it's all good. It's not like it's a few years. It's just one. right?

Trying to keep my house clean all the time is the biggest pain. It's tiring. I like a clean house, but not so much so to have to labor for a couple hours each day.

AAaaahhhh, such is life. I love it. :)

{Our week of cancellations}

Well, this is what our week consisted of last week, when we were all stuck in the house b/c of the icy roads. School was cancelled for 4 days and work was cancelled for 3 days. I have a feeling that everything is going to be cancelled again on Wed. after our "snow storm" comes again.

I got in a picture with Tanner! yay! And you can see what Gavin is doing...playing his nintendo ds. Gavin outside playing with Daddy in the snow. Tanner was sick and couldn't go out. I didn't want to bundle Jaydon up b/c it was too COLD. AND the wind was briskly cold making it so much worse.

Here is gavin trying to pull shane around in the wagon.

Shane pulling Gavin around in the wagon....well, more like "running like a wild man".

Another picture of shane pulling Gavin around. haha

Jaydon watching daddy and big brother play in the snow...

Shane tackling Gavin...

Gavin all dressed and ready for the snow...

Our Texas-style snow storm.

Shane and the boys played with the nerf guns A LOT. Grandma Bates sent these to the boys for Christmas. They LOVE them. Shane decided to use BOTH guns and attack the boys with them. The only defense the boys had was the glasses they were wearing, which prevented shane from getting them in the eyes. Good thing they had the glasses on, as you can see in the picture below.

Shane having way too much fun attacking the boys...

Ready to be defeated. Going out with honor.

{Update}

1.Gavin had four snow days. Yes, he didn't go to school for four days due to the ice on the streets and the "cold" weather. That's crazy to me. That last time he went to school was Tuesday of LAST week. He was out for 4 days from being sick and then the day he could've gone back they cancelled school for 4 days. He is getting very antsy to go back and so am i. :)

2.Shane got 3 days off of work due to the snow and ice on the streets. Unfortunately here, we don't have snow plows, so the snow turns to ice on the streets. And everyone is locked in their homes. They don't use salt b/c nobody here wants there trucks to be ruined from the ice. Which, after seeing the damage salt creates on a car, i understand. It's been nice having shane home for those three days. He needed it and i needed it. :)

3. All of this snow reminds me how much i dislike the cold and snow. I like snow when i can go snowboard, snowshoe, cross country ski or sled. I like to VISIT snow. :)

4.We are all over the FLU now. It hit pretty bad, went through all of us, and hit me the worst. It was the most terrible flu i have had in years and years. Now we all just have a cold.

5.Update on my siblings: Holly is going back to school and working hard right now trying to become a NURSE. How exciting is that? And how lucky is she to have a doctor in the house to help her with all of her science classes when she feels like she doesn't understand?! Brion is still in South Korea. He went there after he graduated with his bachelor's in history. He first went to Europe for awhile and now he has been in South Korea for almost two years teaching english. It's crazy. As soon as his two years are up he wants to head back to Europe and get a degree in International Business. He is a smarty pants. Stephen is workong on getting his PHd right now. As part of his PHD he might be heading to California and working with NASA. He is very excited about that possibility.

6. We have been looking into bikes for muah. We went and looked at some a couple days ago. I stepped out of the car, and completely wiped out. My hands flew up above my head, and my legs were straight out in front of me. It was a classic scene from a movie. haha.

7. I have to mention how exciting it is to pay off student loans. I had no clue we could pay off as much as we have in just 6 months. It's amazing. I love seeing the loans disappear a little at a time. It's crazy thinking about all the money we have already paid off, and especially thinking about how we could have saved or used that money IF we didn't have student loans to pay off. Ooohhh, so many possibilities. We are just loving watching them SLOWLY, but swiftly disappear. :) The thought of not having those things to pay on every month will one day be amazing. :)

*i will post some pics in a little while to show what we have been doing on our time off.