PrAy

My favorite song right now....I am definitely a closet JB fan :) I guess not so much a closet fan now...

DeFiNeD bY ChRiSt

I had a dear friend give me a book recently. She had so much wisdom in giving it to me at this time to get through some things I have been dealing with lately. So I must say it is such a good read to all. The book is by a woman named Tori Sorenson and the premise of the book is seeing yourself through the eyes of the Savior. Some of my favorite quotes are:

"We are so much more than our mistakes and flaws. We are children of God. Allow yourself to be defined by Christ and not by your own skewed thoughts and by the judgments of others."

"God's love is not something we can earn, no matter how hard we try or how high we run up the scoreboard. God's love is 'freely given' to all who will believe, come unto Christ, and endure."

"The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears and rejoicing and gratitude." -Joseph B Wirthlin

"Through repentance and the power of the Atonement, what was broken can be mended, but in some very practical ways, I think it can be made stronger than before."

"It does not matter what others think or say about you. Those things will hurt, your heart is tender. But now realize what matters is what God says."

Good quotes huh? I loved the book, and have found solice in scripture reading and this book lately. Thank you to my sweet friend for the gift.

hArLiNe FaMiLy PhOtOs

We had these pictures taken while we were in Az over Christmas. I love the family ones...but the one of just our little family isn't my favorite. We were super pressed for time when it came to the individual family pics. But I loved the photograper she did such a great job. Cute family huh? hehe...

sLEdDiNg iN tHe NeW yEaR

[It was the perfect day to go...the sun was out, the snow was great, and we wanted to be together as a family to celebrate the new year.]

[Rachael, we miss you so much and are so glad you came with us and stayed the weekend!]

ChRiStMaS EvE & ChRiStMaS dAy

My mom has a fun tradition of getting us all matching jammies

and the pants didn't exact fit for the guys...

Christmas Eve night we went caroling and on a hay ride

Here is Gramps and us...

We love most the live nativity

& following that a dinner with Santa, and a dance. It was such a success. The Gardners know how to party!

Christmas Day...the kids were dying to go in to see what Santa brought...

Santa did come! He found us in Arizona! (Annelise was worried)

Here are the kids with our tree back at home before we took it down. I am sad...Christmas is over. Another year and counting!

BiRtHdAy PaRtY fOr TiNa

Well, it wasn't exactly a Christmas party, but it was a party at that. It was an amazing one in fact! I do hope my mom had one of the best birthdays of her life! She had a homemade sign-in book by Mayra where all her guests wrote notes to her, and my family made her a Dvd of pictures of her to play at the party, and all of the family did lots of work to make a perfect night. Happy Birthday Mom. Some 50 people attended to wish her a happy birthday. It was alot of work to put the party together, but it sure made her happy. The centerpiece that her friend and her did was absolutely amazing.

ArIzOnA hApPeNiNgS

While we were in Arizona it was a constant go. I don't think we have ever had a vacation that had such a lack of down-time! But, at least we had time for this fella...& to give him his first hair cut

& we got to see a train exhibit with over 3000 trains!
& we rode in a..."one horse open...Rhino?"
& we went to the play Scrooge with Gramma

We got pedicures after my mom's party (since it was so exhausting)

and did some playing with our cute cousins

ChRiStMaS iN ArIZoNa

One of the first activities we did when we got to AZ is to go to my mom's ward party.
So we took advantage of that to make sure Santa knew we were in Arizona...

PeDiCuReS & SaNtA

[Here is the girls with their much needed pedicure time after my mom's shindig.]

[& a couple pics of the kids with Santa Christmas Eve...Annelise was relieved to see him because she was so worried he wouldn't find us in Arizona!]

#5 MaKe AaRoN a BlAnKeT

My First Quilt...a T-shirt quilt

I used some of Josh and Aaron's t-shirts, & purchased the rest at Ross and DI

I had some help...but it is finished! And I am so happy! I am also so glad Aaron told me it was his favorite Christmas gift! & yah...if I look tired in the pics...it is because I worked alot on it. All because I love my little boy...and I wanted to learn!