It Arrived Today

It arrived via a large truck in half a dozen large boxes, the latest addition to our family… A bunk bed for Emma and Hannah to share.  Sabrina will now get the blue bear bed that all four of our kids have used as toddlers, and Hunter will continue to plead with us to get him a loft bed. Guess you know what Rob will be doing tomorrow…

My Turn

A- Attached or Single: Attached in a good way
B- Best Friend: my attachment, Rob
C- Cake or Pie: Pie of course. Cherry, Blueberry, Chocolate Banana Rama…
D- Day of Choice: Friday. No homework for the kids and the hope of a productive and/or peaceful weekend ahead
E- Essential Item: Email- I’m not a phone person and letters are so old school 🙂
F- Favorite Color: Yellow is what I always pick for board games. I like yellow, green, blue- beach colors
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: no preference. Not crazy about gummy anything since my teeth got so sensitive to sugar.
H- Hometown: Oakdale
I- Indulgence(s): Oreos with milk… I don’t really know
J- January or July: July – I love the sunshine.
K- Kids: Hunter (9), Emma (7), Hannah (3), Sabrina (2 on Thurs)
L- Life is Incomplete Without: My babies
M- Marriage Date: August 24
N- Number of Siblings: 1 sister, 2 brothers, 7 siblings-in-law
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges
P- Phobias or Fears: Loss of my husband or kids
Q- Quote(s): “Thank You Mommy” -Sabrina says this all the time!
R- Reason to Smile: I don’t have to shovel snow, movie time with Robby, sticky kid kisses, Emma’s fashion shows, Hunter’s inventions
S- Season: spring
T- Tag Six Friends: Erica, Matt, Stephanie, Marea, Jenny B, Melody
U- Unknown Fact About Me: My brother Chris and I once made a pact that we would move to Oregon when we grew up.  So far only Erica has followed through.  I’m still working on it 😉
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I go light on the meat. I like it, but don’t love it. No moral reason, just more of a carbs girl.
W- Worst Habit: procrastination- You’d think I would have learned better by now
X- X-Ray or Ultrasound: Ultrasound, but x-rays are cool too.
Y- Your Favorite Food: chocolate truffles, cereal, Subway sandwich, rouladin
Z- Zodiac: Aries

My Movie Debut

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZgwKueCWxc

I have been jealous of all the great videos I see on people’s blogs, and decided it was finally time to give it a try. This was my first attempt at editing some video I found from a while ago. The music is what Uncle Matt wrote for Emma’s talent show song last year.

Elder Ballard at BYUH

Recently there have been several talks given in church encouraging us to become more vocal about what we believe. More specifically, we have been told that we must communicate better with the world around us so that others know what we are really all about, and so that we aren’t defined by rumors or stories people have heard. In order to do this we need to be more diligent in our study of church doctrine and church history. I would like to be a part of making my faith better understood and will be doing my best to keep up on continually educating myself and keeping my mind and spirit sharp so that I can have a conversation at anytime and feel comfortable with it.

Here is Elder Ballard’s address to graduating students at BYU Hawaii on this topic. I think it is wonderful, and hope that it will give members a boost to realize that we can be more vocal and involved when it comes to the perception of our faith.

“…We are living in a world saturated with all kinds of voices. Perhaps now, more than ever, we have a major responsibility as Latter-day Saints to define ourselves, instead of letting others define us. Far too many people have a poor understanding of the Church because most of the information they hear about us is from news media reports that are often driven by controversies. Too much attention to controversy has a negative impact on peoples’ perceptions of what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really is…

…That you may make your contribution wisely, carefully, lovingly, filled with the promptings of power of the Spirit of God, that you too can join in declaring with your words and your voice, the great and glorious message of the restoration to the earth of the fullness of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ…”

-M Russell Ballard 15 December 2007

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love Exposed by Matthew Nicolaysen

This photo was my brother Matt’s entry into a photo contest at BYUI for which he won first place! I think it is so creative and I’m so proud to have such a talented brother!

As part of his prize he won a very cool gorillapod. I’ve added this to my mental wish list, although I don’t know if it would get much use. I haven’t tried anything creative with photography for a while… When I saw this I also thought about my friend Stephanie in Texas who has a goal to take at least one photo every day this year. What do you think Steph?

Heartfelt Messages

As a kid I loved playing Mad Libs on long family trips. What better way to get a laugh than to stick words like “toot” or “snorkel” in a random story? With these easy forms, now I can fill in the blanks for even my personal and social obligations. Nice!

Baby Girls

Hannah has mastered the mouse and loves to play Holly Hobbie and Polly Pocket games on the computer. She also likes Caillou although we never watch the show on TV because the kid is so whiny it drives me nuts!

Sabrina is content for now watching Hannah play. Having just one computer in the house has become a bit of an issue. So many people use it now. We may need to make a sign-up sheet so that everyone gets a turn.

Can you get any cuter than Sabrina taking her “Baby Pupul” for a ride on the horsie. She yells, “Wee… Ha!”