Elder Hobson

Our nephew, Joey, is serving a mission for the church in Portugal right now. I love reading his letters every week. He always adds some good spiritual insight that he has gained through his studies at the end and it's always uplifting to me. I'm grateful for him and for all the missionaries serving around the world.

Service

Tenley loves to bake as I think I've mentioned before, so today we baked cookies. Tenley wanted to take them to someone and she chose the Gibbs family. Their daughter has babysat the kids before and Brother Gibbs is always so nice and friendly to them. The kids were really happy afterward and loved being able to serve someone!

Low-key Days

We hung out at home all day today and it was nice and relaxing. Played more games, jumped on the tramp, went for a walk to the park, and grilled for dinner. I loved it!

Skiing

We took the kids skiing today! Initially just Brad and Kade we're going to go but Tenley was begging to learn how to ski as well so we decided to all go! And I'm glad we did. Kade and Tenley had a few hours of a ski lesson and Ryder and I watched them while Brad was able to ski around the hills. The kids did a great job, never complained, and loved it! They were sad when we had to leave. I loved watching their progress and am so proud of them. Plus it was such a beautiful day and it was nice to be in the mountains.

Games

I was helping Kade and Tenley fill out there spotlight sheet for primary the other day and they both said that their favorite thing to do with their family was play games. So this afternoon we did a lot of that and it was so much fun!

Play-dates

Kade and Tanner have been getting together once every week for a play date for a while now. They have so much fun together! And Tenley likes to join in on the fun as well. It sure will be sad when they aren't in half day Kindergarten anymore.

Little Moms, Kade's Drawings

Tenley is very caring, compassionate, and a natural little momma. She is often willing to help me out without even being asked. The second Ryder starts to cry, she's there trying to cheer him up. 

Today, Ryder made a lot of big messes! He made a huge one in the kitchen and I thought I'd just clean it up later because I figured he'd just tear it apart again if I tried to put it all back together. But when I walked back in the kitchen Tenley was there putting it all back in the cupboards and even taking the time to organize it! I was sooo thankful! I let her choose whatever dessert she wanted, which ended up being brownies, AND she got to lick the brownie bowl! She felt pretty happy with herself, as she should!

Our niece is getting baptized a member of the church in a few weeks and the kids are so excited to go to her baptism. Kade's been drawing a picture all about it; a road representing our long drive, Libbi in the church getting baptized, and the Holy Ghost that Libbi will be given after she's baptized. He's amazing.

Visitors, Pine Trees, Helpers

We had so much with Danny here! But today we had to take him to the airport :(. It was sad. Before he left, though we took him to Hells Gate State park. I've never been there before and I loved it! It's really nice AND they have pine trees! I miss my Utah mountains covered in pine trees so I was happy to find a place here in Lewiston with so many pine trees!

Later today when I got back from the grocery store Kade and Tenley came in the garage and said, "Mom, we're here to help you bring in the groceries!" It made my day. I love my sweet kids.

Gratitiude

I've been trying to make gratitude an important part of my life for a while now and it truly has changed my perspective in life a lot. I love looking back at my day every night and thinking about what I'm most grateful for that day.
As I was looking at some inspirational quotes I save on a document today I came across this one on being thankful and it reminded me again why gratitude is so important in our lives. I speak from experience when I say, a grateful heart is a happy heart no matter what our circumstances may be.

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,

If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something

For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.

During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations

Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge

Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes

They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary

Because it means you’ve made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are

also thankful for the setbacks.

GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles

and they can become your blessings.

Author Unknown

My husband

I'm so grateful for my husband. He works so hard to provide for us, he helps me with my "chores" when I have a lot on my plate, he loves playing with the kids and making them laugh, and he's got a great sense of humor. I love that I get to hang out with him every night. I love him so much.

He's exhausted tonight, hence his expression. haha.

Uncle Dan

My little brother Danny is here visiting! The kids have been looking forward to this for a while and they were so excited to see him when they woke up. We're excited to spend the weekend with him.

Brad did some dental work on Dan and Ryder was the cutest assistant!

Manners

Ryder used to always whine when he saw something he wanted, but the past few days I've noticed a new little habit that he has begun. Whenever he sees something he wants he reaches out his hand for it as far as it can go and stares at the wanted item silently with the cutest little puppy dog face I have ever seen. Not sure where he learned this but I love it! And it works really well.

Sunshine

It's been a little gloomy and cloudy here lately although I know I shouldn't complain because all my Utah friends and family have been dealing with an inversion for a long time. Still, it was really nice to see the sun peek out through the clouds this evening. It was so beautiful! That coupled with Tenley playing with Ryder and Kade coloring pictures at the table made for a nice atmosphere to cook dinner in tonight. 

Toothless, Uncle Kent

Kade lost one of his front teeth a while ago and his other one has been left dangling. He's tried to pull it out several times but with no luck. Today while we were visiting Brad at his office, he numbed Kade's tooth and have him some dental pliers and Kade finally pulled it out! I was proud of him!

We also got to celebrate Uncle Kent's birthday tonight with the Simmons. The kids love Uncle Kent and had a blast at their house tonight like always.

Love and S'mores

I loved that Kade had the day off from school today. We all enjoyed having a nice long weekend together. Today we slept in and then all cuddled in mine and Brad's bed until 9. Then Kade requested cinnamon pancakes for breakfast which were delicious. 

For family night we learned about Charity and choosing to love everyone no matter what! I love the scripture in Moroni 7:45 that says "And charity suffererth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." I hope we can all be more charitable!

We tried out our cool s'mores machine for dessert. I think Brad's mom gave this to us 10 years ago and we had never used it! But we had fun with it tonight!

Valentines

Valentine's Day was so much fun! Tenley made cupcakes (her favorite thing ever to make!) and we had a nice dinner at the Simmons. Love my cute Valentines!

The Book of Mormon

I spent the last 30 days reading The Book of Mormon all the way through. I've read it several times before but never that quickly and it was the most amazing experience. Since I was reading it as quickly as I would if I were reading a book for book club, the characters and story line all melded together and made more sense to me than they had before. I felt like I understood each prophet on a more personable level and all the wars that they went through made me more sad than I think they ever had before. I love The Book of Mormon. My testimony that it is a true book and was translated by Joseph Smith in 1829 so we can have the teachings of those prophets in our day is more sure than ever. I know the Lord lives and loves us. I know as we read and study The Book of Mormon we will gain insight and receive blessings for our own lives. I have been happier, more patient, and more full of love this past month and I know it's because of the scriptures. I'm truly grateful for The Book of Mormon and a loving Heavenly Father and for my family. I feel overwhelming blessed.

Some of my favorite verses:

Matinee Movies

The movie theater here in town does a Winter and a Summer matinee movie series for kids. It costs $5 for 8 tickets and they play a different movie each weekend for 6 weeks or so. It's a fun program that we enjoy. We missed the first two weekends of the winter series but we went today to see The Peanuts Movie. We hadn't seen it yet and it was so cute! The kids loved it! And Ryder did pretty well the whole time thankfully.