sammy's new smile

yesterday sammy and elliot were playing with the blocks and elliot started calling to me, "mommy, look where sammy's sitting!" sure enough there he was, beaming, sitting in the middle of the block table. hehe. i told him to smile, took a few pictures, and everytime i told him to smile, this is what he would do. mouth wide open! silly sammy (elliot's words).

they return and leave again.

we had the chance to have my brother scott come visit from cleveland a week ago. he, his wife kate, and their darling girl sala spent about 6 days here. we played at the park, went to the gateway discovery children's museum, went swimming twice at the indoor water playground at the pool in sandy, ate lots of good food, including the shish kebabs that kate made, yummm, got to talk and just be together. it was so much fun to have them here. we miss them so much. we are happy that scott is doing so well in his first year of medical school, that kate is enjoying her violin teaching to i think 25 students, and that sal is enjoying her life and all the adventures it brings at 14 months. they are all so great!

here is sala at the bottom of the slide.


grandma lovin the grandma life.

scott and sala enjoying the warmth of the sun.

me and kate. good to be together. i miss the good old days when we would drive over to their apartment and just hang out.

here scott, kate and sal are enjoying the indoor water playground.

that's sammy. look at the air he got from his jump! he's just a little excited. hehe.

elliot and lillie, my friend's little girl, loving the freedom those floaties give them. swimming lessons here we come . . . hopefully soon.

sam and his darling silliness.

this is my friend karie. we were so happy she, lillie, and jozie could join us for some fun at the pool.

again grandma lovin the grandma life. she's gonna miss them.

goodbye scott and kate. thanks for coming!!



dear sweet sala. we loved having you visit with your mom and dad. you are so darling. we will miss you until the next time we get to see you. sorry about all the pushing and shoving (from sam). he really does love you. until next time! love the allens.

happy st. patrick's day

happy anniversary to my parents too!
37 years! way to go.
we love you!

tribute to jeffrey

i failed to post jeffrey's war wound. so here it goes.

here's the true story. jeffrey thought he would like to say hello to a big metal box hanging off the wall. what he didn't realize is that big metal boxes don't like having their personal space invaded. the result was a battle and to say the least, the big metal box won.

jeffrey's no sore loser though. he took it in stride.

jeffrey also mentioned that i failed to do a post of his snowmen.

traditional.
non-traditional, and yet so awesome. you never cease to amaze me with your talents jeffrey. i had no idea they extended to snow art.

the laurels

melissa, michelle, allison, lindsey,
maryirene, alisa, and marta

this group of girls are the girls i grew up with. we were in the same ward, elementary school, middle school, and high school. it has been fun to get together at wedding showers, baby showers, and random get togethers in between. we are all pretty impressed with ourselves that we have stayed in touch and remained friends. it's been eight years since graduation and since we all kind of went our own ways. it's so fun to get together and reminisce. it's great to relate and get advice from each other too.

here is lindsey and her darling son, cayden,

michelle and maryirene (me),

and lastly, marta and allison. there were kind of the reason that we threw this party together. marta will be moving soon with her husband to idaho. congrats on the upcoming baby!! allison is headed to california for her school and to alaska in the summer. we will miss you both! let us know when you come back into town and we'll get together again.

when one discovers a coconut

when elliot spoke to his grandma homer yesterday on the phone, she told him about the coconuts that they could see in hawaii. elliot asked "what's a coconut?" so i decided while we were at the store today to pick up a coconut. daddy and elliot broke it open with the hammer.

we all took a drink of the coconut milk . . . interesting . . . and then we chowed down on fresh coconut! it was so much fun. elliot's smile is proof of that.

thanks for the idea grandma and grandpa. have fun on the rest of your trip in hawaii. we miss you both. come home safe.

sara groves - it's going to be alright

ok so i found this artist, sarah groves from the movie, the ultimate gift, which is one of my favorite movies. her song was at the end during the credits. the song was something changed. it got me hooked. so for christmas i received her album, add to the beauty, and i love it! anyway, i want to share the lyrics to one her songs, my newest favorite song. here are the words.

it's going to be alright* it's going to be alright* i can tell by your eyes that you're not getting any sleep* and you try to rise above it, but feel you're sinking in too deep,*oh, oh i believe, i believe that* it's going to be alright* it's going to be alright* i believe you'll outlive this pain in your heart* and you'll gain such a strength from what is tearing you apart* oh, oh i believe, i believe that* it's going to be alright* it's going to be alright* when some time has past us, and the story can be told* it will mirror the strength and the courage of your soul* oh, oh, i believe i believe* i believe* i believe* i did not come here to offer you cliche's* i will not pretend to know of all your pain* just when you cannot, then i will hold out faith* for you* it's going to be alright* its going to be alright

every time i need a little extra faith and hope i listen to this song. i believe there is so much hope and faith out there. we just need to be looking for it and listening to it.

mi

loving yourself

i had the chance to share some of my experiences with some of the girls at my church. it was an enrichment night and i taught a class about loving yourself. it was a neat opportunity to reflect back on my journey to discovering how to love and accept myself. it was a good reminder of some things that i need to still be doing for myself.
accepting myself, the good and bad.
changing negative thoughts to positive thoughts.
taking time to do things that refill my own reserves so that i can have more to give to others.

so i want to share an idea with anyone that reads this post. the idea is affirmations or positive self-talk. the power of positive self-talk, or affirmations, is indescribable. it can change your outlook on anything. it can change who you become, because we become what we tells ourselves. if we tell ourselves we are failing, then we will fail. if we tell ourselves we are beautiful, that we can succeed, that we can love others, and that others can love us . . . well, that is what will happen. i promise you it works!!

so i am going to leave you with a list of affirmations that i handed out to the women that attended my class.
enjoy.

I am beautiful

I am happy

I am strong

I love me.

I am powerful

I am free to be me

God within me is my power

I love and care for myself

I believe in me

I am a daughter of God

I can feel good about who I am today

I can take time for myself, without feeling selfish

I have the right to be myself without feeling I'm not good enough

I am a unique and worthwhile human being

My first responsibility is my own growth and well-being. The better I feel about myself, the better I will be to others

Even if the most important person in the world rejects you, you are still real, and you are still ok

My actions may be good or bad, but that does not make me good or bad.

I will give myself acceptance and validity instead of looking to others to do that.


we all need to come to the realization that we can and need to believe in ourselves, love ourselves, and take what strength that gives us to then give to others and serve others. we cannot truly love one another until we first learn to love ourselves.

mi