President Hinckley

I just love this picture of President Hinckley. It is exactly as I will remember him: with his beloved Marjorie, smiling, and laughing with the youth whom he is so loved.
The girls were so sweet when we told them of his passing. Emerson simply said "I am so sad. I really love him" and Rileigh said "Oh, he was a gweat pwophet".

Here are some quotes from him for our girls for the future:

To the YW:
"When you save a girl, you save generations. I see this as the one bright shinning hope in the world."

"You are young enough that the future world of which you dream still lies ahead of you. Each is a child of God. Each of you is a creature of Divinity. You are literally a daughter of the Almighty. There is no limit to your potential. If you will take control of your lives, the future is filled with opportunity and gladness. You cannot afford to waste your talents or your time. Great opportunities lie ahead of you. "

"You need never feel inferior. You need never feel that you were born without talents or without opportunities to give them expression. Cultivate whatever talents you have, and they will grow and refine and become an expression of your true self appreciated by others.”

“Reach out to help one another. All of us need help from time to time. We need encouragement. We need friends who will stand by us through thick or thin. I ask each of you to be that kind of friend.”

To us:
“You have nothing in this world more precious than your children. When you grow old, when your hair turns white and your body grows weary, when you are prone to sit in a rocker and meditate on the things of life, nothing will be so important as the question of how your children turned out.”

“People wonder what we do for our women. I tell you what we do: we get out of their way and look with wonder at what they are accomplishing.”

in honor of Marie ...

Our friend, Marie, recently reminded me that she met two of our three daughters the day they were born. She and her husband, Richy, held our daughters before everyone but Mike and me. I recently found some photos of Emerson and Rileigh when they were younger. People are always telling us that Kate looks different than her sisters. We think she looks just like her sisters. Below are our three daughters at the same age. Can you guess the girl?

little ladies ...

For primary, the girls had to fill a spotlight form. While I was making dinner Mike and the girls filled out their forms. Mike came in to show me their forms, in particular the question pertaining to their hero. They both had the same hero. I was so touched.

(Here are their answers. I cropped most the form) Emerson's is the first and Rileigh's is the second.)

I hope they always feel this way. I seriously sometimes worry though. I am a pretty strict Mom. Emerson was doing impressions of Mike and me a little while ago. When she imitated me her voice went into a falsetto and she said "Remember, I always want you to be little ladies. That is most important." Mike just laughed. I am ALWAYS reminding the girls to be "little ladies".

Parenting is such a fine line. I watch parents who are too lenient with rowdy children and I just cringe. But then I watch parents who are too strict (although there seems to be few of them) and I cringe.

You only get one chance to do this. I have lately been asking parents of youth (parents of young women in particular) that I admire for parenting tips. All their daughters are polite, kind, not boy crazy (that is huge for me, you can like boys but do let it become an obsession), and intelligent. The type of girls that excel in many areas. Their parents are always happy to share, but each has a different method. I have noticed, though, two strong reoccurring themes: the youth that I admired most had parents who set very strong limits. And the young women I admire most play sports. I think studies may be correct about the correlation between sports and teen girls' self-esteem.

So if anyone has any great parenting books to recommend I would love some. I really want to get mothering right. You cannot go back and change it if you don't.

Happy Birthday, Kate!!

Yesterday was Kate’s first birthday.I cannot believe that we have had Kate for a year now. She has been such a source of joy and happiness for our whole family this past year.
I remember when Kate was two weeks old. I was up with her during her night feedings (I have never once let Mike get up with our daughters when they were babies at night. I love that special alone time and get quite possessive of it). I remember looking down at her little face and it was so familiar to me. And I was so surprised by how familiar this new little face was to me. It was so tender for me to realize that you could show me all the babies in the world with their similar delicate and precious features and I would know my brand new child. Even though I had only known her for two weeks. Even after just two weeks I knew her cry and smell and her sweet wide eyes. I knew that she was mine and I was hers. I couldn’t remember life without her.
I am so grateful for that sweet baby. I love the way she hugs so tightly when you wake her up from her nap. I love the little smile she gets when you say her name. I love to hold her up to the bay windows and watch her watch the world so intently. I love her baby laugh. It is deep and all consuming like her daddy’s. I love to watch her play with her sisters. She adores her big sisters. I especially love the way Emerson and Rileigh love Kate. It is amazing that that little 18 pound person can bring so much joy into our lives. I am excited and sad for all the changes the next year will bring. I just wish these girls of mine would stop growing up so quickly. It doesn’t seem fair.

Happy First Birthday, Kate!! We love you, CupKate.

Emersonism

Tonight I was reading to the girls in the Book of Mormon the story of Lehi and the Liahona. Emerson turned to me very excitedly and said "Mom, the Liahona is a GPS".
She may just be as profound as the man she is named after. I just love her!

I Like Mike

OK I need to remember tomorrow to get a gratitude journal so that I do not have to keep using this blog for one. But for today I am grateful for Mike. Mike has decided to help me with this contest. So he will be doing everything that I am (except the no soda part, he's a diet pepsi ADDICT - yes, dear, you need help). Last night he came home from work and worked out with me, read scriptures with me, and even wrote a little something in an old journal of his ( a few of the requirements for this contest).

I really love Mike. This year marks 12 years together. I have to say, for people who were so independent before we met we really are the most co-dependent couple I know. Mike is truly my best friend. I am not going to gush as to all the reason why I love him. But I really really do. We are always so supportive of one another and we love to help one another. We really like each other and we hate to be apart, even for a day. And the one thing that I recently noticed is that we still make each other laugh. Alot. And I love that man's laugh.