Harry Potter Mania!

Okay...so I just got home from watching the 5th Harry Potter movie at the theater. Very good stuff. For all you fans out there, they did leave out some of the good stuff from the books, but Jaysen couldn't tell the difference as he hasn't read a single one of them. ;0) With the books being roughly 600 pages each as we reach the end of the series, I know they probably had a hard time deciding what to include into a two hour movie. I'm wishing they had saved more time for the big battle at the end where they all ended up in different "rooms" at the Ministry of Magic fighting different dark wizards. But, that's okay.

I am now SOOOO pumped for the seventh book to come out next week. I can't wait to buy my copy and hole up in my room for DAYS staying up until 2 am every night till I get through it all. This is the end of it all. Does Harry die? I hope not.

For those of you that haven't read the books, you need to start reading!!! JK Rowling is such a brilliant author. Such imagination and creativity. It's amazing how she has been able to come up with all of this. And kept it going for this many years. By the time the last movie comes out, we'll have had a decade of Harry Potter. ;0) Not that I'm complaining. She could keep going for all I care. I know I'd keep reading!

Adorable

We had Mackenzee's 18 month pictures taken about a month ago (they were taken late as she was already 20 months old, oh well!) and we got them back last week. So excited with how they turned out!

My mom sewed this adorable blue gingham dress for her for Easter, and we had the pictures taken at the rose garden at CSI. I had never been to that part of the campus and it was so pretty! A great backdrop for summer time photos!

Anyway, just thought I'd share a couple of them with you. I can't believe my baby is going to be two years old in just a couple of months. Makes me so sad!

By the way, if any of you want to use this fabulous photographer she gave me a handful of these pass along cards to share. Her contact information is on the bottom. She is a "capture the moment" photographer and I just love her. This is the second time we have used her, as we had her take our family portrait last November as well. She will go anywhere you want to take the pics, including your own backyard, bedroom, whatever....And she lets you just be yourself and snaps pictures as you go.

In the end you get pictures that are just perfect. You can check out her website too

http://www.jrandallportraits.com/

You might see some familiar faces there!

Hot Stuff!!!

What was the #1 song on the day you were born?

Go to this website and find out!!

http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm

Mine was "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer.....I think that really says something about me, don't you????

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a pretty full day. We went out to Buhl to the Sagebrush Days parade with my parents and grandparents. Talon is still here, so he and Landon were able to hang out again. Mackenzee loved watching the horses, which she called cows and was so sure they were, that she mooed at them.

After that we went to my grandparents house for hamburgers as we were all famished. And since it's the 4th....you have to BBQ right?

By then it was naptime, so we took Kenzee home and left Landon with my mom so that he and Talon could play together some more.

Anyway...obviously that night we did fireworks. We had the best of both worlds as we were able to see the CSI fireworks from my mom's front yard, and still be able to do our own at the same time. Good fun! The boys had lots of fun with the fireworks. Jaysen let them help light some of them. So, they were extra excited that they got to be a little more hands on. Mackenzee LOVED the fireworks. She clapped and yelled in excitement. It was more fun to watch her than the actual fireworks. ;0)

I hope you all had a spectacular day celebrating our freedom and independance. Something we all usually take for granted at some time or another. Happy 4th!

Snakes!

So, as I was browsing through the paper this last Sunday, I noticed that they were having a showing of 'Mingle in the Jungle' Tuesday night (tonight). I had heard from my friend, Alicia, that it was prety good and thought that it would be fun to take the boys to it. In the end, it ended up being all of us (Papa, Nana, Jaysen, me, Talon, Landon, and Kenzee) that went.

Kenzee, of course, couldn't sit still and so Jaysen ended up roaming around the Herrett Center with her. That is until they brought out the big Boa Constrictor. ;0) She was amazed. It was awesome to see her reaction to it.

The boys were restless as well as they didn't really care too much about the "scientific" part about snakes and reptiles, they just wanted to touch them. Sigh. Oh well. I was amazed that they actually let the kids hold and handle the snakes like they did. The speaker actually plopped this one on Landon's back before he could say otherwise. I'm not sure he would have done it if the guy hadn't though. ;0)

Talon, on the other hand, lifted it right off of Landon's shoulders when I asked him if he wanted me to take his picture too. He was all for it. Picked it up and draped it right around his neck. Holy cow!!!! No fear. What do you do?

Now, Mackenzee wasn't sure about the whole touching thing. She was interested, but took it slow. She let me take her right up to the really big boa constrictor that the speakers' assistant was holding, but she had to take her baby doll with her. ;0) She just stared in amazement at first, until I took her hand and touched it to the snake before she had a chance to jerk it away. Once that happened, she didn't mind touching it and was able to pet it a couple of times.

Not sure if it was a good idea to get these kids to handle snakes. Knowing my luck, one of mine will find one and think it's okay to just pick it up and lug it around and get bit or something. Sigh.

Anyway...all in all, the kids had a good time, which was the point. And I have now finally been to the Herrett Center. We will definitely have to go back and take in a show sometime.

Camping Out

So, my nephew Talon is here visiting for a week and has spent the night at my house the past couple of nights. They decided they wanted to sleep in the backyard last night. Unfortunately, I don't own a tent. I'm not much of a camper. So, we ran to Target to see if we could find something inexpensive that they could use in the backyard. And, umm....tents are WAY more money than I thought. I did find a little two kid sleeper tent that was pretty cheap, the only problem is that it was pink camoflauge. Landon was freaking out. But the only other one that could have worked was twice as much money. Not worth it with the fact that we don't go camping. So, I told him he got pink, or he got nothing. My sweet nephew Talon said that it didn't matter to him, and finally convinced Landon that they could deal with it. Landon wanted to make sure that nobody would see him sleeping in a pink tent. Did you know that Barbie is his mortal enemy? I just found that out. ;0)

Anyway....they slept in the pink tent...all night. Told me it was their best night EVER! I even overheard Talon tell Landon, "I really like your mom." Warm fuzzies. Love it! And they even let me take a picture of them in the pink tent. They told me that I couldn't let anybody see the pictures though. So, this is just between you and me okay???? ;0)

How do I Love Thee?

The Message: How Do I Love Thee?
By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

I wish to speak to you about Christlike love and what I think it can and should mean in your friendships.
After a long, wonderful discourse by Mormon on the subject of charity, the seventh chapter of Moroni tells us that this highest of Christian virtues is more accurately labeled “the pure love of Christ.”
“And it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him [and her].
“Wherefore, … pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons [and daughters] of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; … that we may be purified even as he is pure” (Moro. 7:47–48).
True charity, the absolutely pure, perfect love of Christ, has really been known only once in this world—in the form of Christ Himself, the living Son of the living God. As in everything, Christ is the only one who got it all right, did it all perfectly, loved the way we are all to try to love. But even though we fall short, that divine standard is there for us. It is a goal toward which we are to keep reaching, keep striving—and, certainly, a goal to keep appreciating.
Mormon explicitly taught that this love, this ability we all so want, is a gift. It is “bestowed.” It doesn’t come without effort, and it doesn’t come without patience, but, like salvation itself, in the end it is a gift, given by God to the “true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ.”
The solutions to life’s problems are always gospel solutions. Not only are answers found in Christ, but so is the power, the gift, the bestowal, the miracle of giving and receiving those answers. In this matter of love, no doctrine could be more encouraging to us than that.

The first element of divine love—pure love—taught by both Paul and Mormon is its kindness, its selfless quality, its lack of ego and vanity and consuming self-centeredness. “Charity suffereth long, and is kind, [charity] envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own” (Moro. 7:45). Love for others blooms when we care more about another person than we care about ourselves. Christ’s was a great example for us through the atonement, and it ought to be more evident in the kindness we show, the respect we give, and the selflessness and courtesy we employ in our personal relationships.

The second segment of this scriptural sermon on love in Moroni 7:45 [Moro. 7:45] says that true charity —“is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity.”
Think of how many arguments could be avoided, how many hurt feelings could be spared, if we were not so easily provoked, if we thought no evil of one another. Think the best of each other, especially of those you say you love. Assume the good and doubt the bad.

In Mormon’s and Paul’s final witnesses, they declare that “charity [pure love] never faileth” (Moro. 7:46; 1 Cor. 13:8). It is there through thick and thin. It endures through sunshine and shadow, through darkest sorrow and on into the light. It never fails. So Christ loved us, and that is how He hoped we would love each other.

In a final command to all His disciples for all time, He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34; emphasis added).