Gratitude!

I haven't written in a few days, but my heart is full of gratitude! I don't want to come across too cheesy, but a few things have happened in the last week to make me appreciate all that I have been able to have in my life.

On Sunday evening, Jan. 27, Jake's Mom called us and told us that President Hinkley has passed away. I was so sad and a little surprised, but happy that he is able to be with his wife and other loved ones that have passed on. I was sad because President Hinkley has been the prophet most of my adult life and I have grown up with his wonderful guidance. He made the gospel so personal for me, and I felt like every time he spoke he gave us a pep talk, not to scold us but to just help us to want to do better, and "stand a little taller." I guess I never thought he would be gone, and now that he is it makes me so grateful to have been influenced by him!

On Wednesday, Jan. 30, It was my parent's 38th Wedding Anniversary!! I have been working for weeks on a DVD for them full of pictures of our family beginning from when they got married until now, and let me tell you that was quite the project! But it was so worth it to see how happy they were and how much they enjoyed watching the movie and remminiscing. I am so grateful for the example of my parents!! They have continued to work at their marriage and to try to make one another happy for 38 years and I think that is awesome. They have also always tried to do their best to take care of "their girls" (me and all of my sisters) and now that I am an adult I realize how much they sacraficed their personal needs or wants to make sure we as their children has what we wanted. For that I will always be grateful, I LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!!




Today, Feb. 4, they announced who the new prophet and first presidency of the church would be, obviously we knew that Thomas S. Monson would be the new prophet, but it was exciting to see who he would announce as his counselors. I really like both Elder Eyring and Elder Uchtdorf and look forward this new chapter in the church's history. I will be honest, it will take me a bit to get used to all of the changes, but I know that the men called will be exactly who the Lord and our church need right now.

It's neat because I was able to meet President Monson about a month ago at my grandfather's funeral. We actually were surprised and touched that he made the time to give his condolences. He was so humble and approachable, and it was really exciting to meet him, and Jake and I were so glad that we were able to meet him and be in his prescence. It was pretty intimidating for my father who was conducting the meeting, but Pres. Monson was very kind and remembered so many nice things about my grandfather and grandmother. He spoke so eloquently and bore a sweet and sincere testimony of the Savior, the plan of salvation, and the truthfulness of the gospel. Now with the passing of President Hinkley, I feel so lucky to have met the current prophet of the church, Thomas S. Monson.

I know that we will soon be using quotes from President Monson of his counsel to us, but my sister found this quote from President Hinkley that I thought was perfect for how I am feeling this week:

"Let us from this day forward be a little better, love one another a little more, treat one another with greater kindness and look to God and live."
-Gordon B. Hinckley

ABBY IS OFFICIALLY WALKING!!

Just wanted to let you know that Abby is officially walking! She has been taking lots of steps and then stopping and falling down for the last month or so, and she has been cruising around holding onto things, but as of Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008 she is officially walking on her own and is off!! Now whenever she goes to crawl, she gets right up and realizes, "hey, I can walk" and then goes for it. I know you are thinking, well of course she is walking, she is 14 months old now, but Abby was an early talker and a late walker....I guess just like her mother was.:-)

Although I will say as excited as I am to see her walk I don't think it's really happening because in my mind it seems like she is still just a "baby" and not a "big girl." But I think our baby days are nearly over now, and we have so many fun things to look forward to on to.

I will try to upload a video of her walking as soon as I can get it figured out, I tried it, and it didn't work, so there will be more to come. :-)

Jake a.k.a. my mighty hunter!

When I married Jake I knew that he enjoyed being in the outdoors camping and hunting, and I had no idea really to what extent that meant. But now, after 6 years of marriage it's all really coming to light. For those f you who don't know Jake, it is an understatement to say that he LIKES to hunt. If I would let him ALL of his spare time would be spent tracking stuff down and shooting it. He loves to participate in the archery and muzzeloader hunt, and then the rifle hunt. He also loves to waterfowl hunt, and shoot small game. This year alone he took down a monstrous elk with his bow, a huge buck with his rifle, and numerous other animals and even a banded mallard duck (which is pretty unique in itself.)

I try not to complain too much because I have learned so much about wildlife and the outdoors from him, and really he is an awesome hunter!! He works hard at what he loves to do. He even invites me to come along with him, which let's be honest, not all husbands would do. So I just wanted to share some pictures from this last year of Jake's hunting success and let him know that although it sometimes drives me crazy, I do know that it makes him happy. And for some of you reading this, you may think the whole concept of hunting and camping may be weird and "redneck", but for us, it's just a way of life that I have learned to appreciate!! I love you Jake!

Abby's cheesy grin

So Abby has started the funniest thing that I have to share with you. Throughout the holidays we took a ton of pictures and we discovered that when taking Abby's picture we would say, "Abby, smile" and then she would give us an OK smile, but then when the flash went off she would totally cheese it and make the funniest face, so here are some examples of her cheesy face! She is getting so much fun and developing her own cute personality, I just love watching her grow!

We are in!

I apparently didn't realize how popular the whole blog thing was, and had no idea how many of our friends actually had one.....where have I been?? But now we are in with the "cool crowd" of bloggers and on our way! I hope you enjoy being a part of our lives as much as we enjoy being a part of yours!