10 years of falling in love:)

 (pics taken Jan 18, 2013)

Every man who truly loves a woman and every woman who truly loves a man hopes and dreams that their companionship will last forever. But marriage is a covenant sealed by authority. If that authority is of the state alone, it will endure only while the state has jurisdiction, and that jurisdiction ends with death. But add to the authority of the state the power of the endowment given by Him who overcame death, and that companionship will endure beyond life if the parties to the marriage live worthy of the promise....

But this gift, precious beyond all others, comes only with a price—with self-discipline, with virtue, with obedience to the commandments of God. These may be difficult, but they are possible under the motivation that comes of an understanding of truth

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

 My dear husband has taught me so much and I value ALL that he has taught me.

One of the first things I started learning from my husband, boyfriend at the time, was how to love and how to be loved. He is selfless, humble, sweet and kind. He still amazes me to this day! I love you, Good Man!

Matthew wanted proof that his foot "popped"

It's been 10 very good years!

Moments of Love

 (pics taken March 3, 2013)

Sariah was blessed this past Sunday, March 3, 2013. 

It was a beautiful. It was beautiful to have her Daddy give her the blessing, it was beautiful to have family there and participate, it was beautiful to have friends there and participate, it was beautiful to have this baby girl presented with a name and a blessing and it was beautiful to be full of joy.

Our Sariah is our light and our anchor.

 There are a lot more pictures and a few details to record. This is just a small glance.

Our little ladies

(pic. taken early part of 2011)

I would speak of the sanctity of womanhood. President Hinckley has eloquently captured what the Lord has repeatedly inspired His servants to say of His precious daughters:

“Woman is God’s supreme creation. Only after the earth had been formed, after the day had been separated from the night, after the waters had been divided from the land, after vegetation and animal life had been created, and after man had been placed on the earth, was woman created; and only then was the work pronounced complete and good.

“Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue with an understanding of why she should do so, who honors and respects her body as a thing sacred and divine, who cultivates her mind and constantly enlarges the horizon of her understanding, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth.”1

We love our little ladies and feel so blessed to have four of them in our home, teaching us and reminding us how special God's creation of women is.

Our Sweetheart

(Mar. 3, 2013)

This girl is awesome and we are very proud of her!! We went to parent teacher conferences last night and we thoroughly enjoyed them. The girls teachers are great! And my girls are great!

Aleah is 7.5 years old and has learned so much in that time.

Aleah is a very kind and has a genuine concern for others. She loves learning, helping and accomplishing her tasks. She is the "go to" in her class. She loves her friends and family and works at trying to be a good friend. 

Aleah we love you!!!

Oh, and on an academic note, she excels in her reading and does very well in her math and writing.  

Reading is her favorite thing to do!

She likes to play soccer. 

Her favorite food is Mac and Cheese.

She enjoys reading lots of different kinds of books.

She likes puppies.

And here are a few faces of our sweetheart.

                     

Flash back

(pictures from mar/apr. 2010)

 These pictures were saved in a draft I never posted. I probably never posted because I never wrote anything to go with them. When I looked at this draft I had to post because I love that squishy little face. Muah!

Nani is 3.5 is these pictures and they make me realize how fast time goes by. Look at that beautiful face! I love you Nani!

It's fun to see how much her personality has developed. 

Nani surprises us all the time. She makes us laugh with all the funny things she says and she surprises us with the small things she notices and remembers. 

We are so proud of this girl!! 

Last night at parent teacher conferences we were able to hear how wonderful this girl is. (of course we know, but it sure is nice to hear someone else tell you too:))

She is doing so well in reading, she is at a grade level above. She really enjoys writing and understands the different areas in language arts. She does well in math (numbers, counting, comparisons, grouping, etc.) An she gets along really well with other kids. She plays with lots of different kids, boys and girls. 

We love you, Beauty.

Baby Love

(Feb. 6, 2013)

It's so nice to have a baby around.

There's just so much love and peace when holding or playing with a sweet baby. 

I know having a newborn is very restless, but it's also so soothing to snuggle a bundle of goodness.

Hard To Be Sick

February 6, 2013

Our Nani is sick again :(

Sore throat, bad cough, lots of congestion, small temperature...

I think we'll get through it though without and antibiotics.

Nani has been a trooper as we have tried to figure out why she gets sick so often and has chronic headaches, leg pain and stomach aches. Nov. 2011 we did a blood test and found that she had allergies to milk, eggs, all nuts, small reactions to wheat and corn, cats, dogs, all sorts of plants. Before the blood test, she had about 5 ear infections that year, always congested and her congestion would not clear up unless she had an antibiotic. She was on Singular, Flonase, and Zyrtec everyday but it wasn't helping. Sometimes she would get too congested that it would result in a breathing treatment. (Albuterol and the nebulizer)

She had tubes put in her ears and her adenoids removed, Nov 2011, but now we're certain that wasn't necessary. After the initial blood test we took her to an Allergist and did another allergy test, the one where they pricked your back and see how your skin reacts. It was rough for her. The little pricks didn't really bother her, but her skin reacted to just about everything they tested her for. Her skin swelled up, reddened and itched like crazy. She had to wait 15-20 minutes so the skin could react if it was going to and then they came back in and measured the results. She couldn't itch or touch it. She did so good, but it was hard. 

After that test we were given more medication and cream for her skin.

 

About 5 months later we went for a check up with the allergist and came back with more meds and still the same problems, itchy aching legs, headaches, stomach aches, congestion, emotional, and fatigue.

We had taken her off milk, eggs, all nuts and limited her wheat intake. But it still wasn't enough. 

For a few months before her check up, I stopped giving her her medicines everyday because they made her grumpy and didn't help.Then one night when we were in Dallas for a weekend trip, we laid down to go to sleep, and Nani tried to sleep but her legs just kept moving with restlessness and pain. Once I realized she was in pain, after 45min. of us telling her to go to sleep, we got up and we walked the hotel for about 2 hours until the pain subsided and she could fall asleep.

After that, we decided that we needed to figure something out!

 We started reading a lot and talking to others. One day while searching the internet, we read about leaky gut syndrome and candida. Everybody has yeast in their bowels, but when there's an overgrowth of yeast, candida, it cause leaky gut syndrome, where you gut leaks particles from food into your blood stream prematurely and before they are completely broken down. And that leads to all sorts of problems since it's in your bloodstream. For Nani, it was causing respiratory problems, head aches, stomach aches and leg pain.

We read up on what causes the over growth of yeast...Sugar!! Yeast thrives on sugar!! 

(to be continue...)

Maya Girl

It's been awhile since I pulled out the camera and practiced taking pictures. So here are a few.

Maya is now 2 years 4 months old.

She is very talkative, loving and full of smiles.

She can be very demanding, which I hope is a result of being two, and in her mind, still the baby.

She loves watching Caillou and has had to do a lot of it with having a new little sister.

She loves Grandma and Grandpa! When Grandma comes, Maya takes Grandma downstairs right away to play toys.

She loves her sisters. Just about every morning she is happy to see them and gives them a hug.

(pictures after customizing the white balance)

She counts well and loves to sing ABCs.

She likes playing with play dough.

She says her favorite color is purple. She also knows Aleah's and Nani's favorite color.

She is a very good listener and helper when it's just us during the day, but when everyone else comes home, she's a trouble maker. She likes to tease her sisters by taking their toys from them or annoy them with loud noises. 

She has learned how to get our attention quickly by saying, in a very sweet needy voice, 

"Mommy (or whoever), Maya need you."

She likes her hand to be held as she falls asleep.

If there's too many people around or people she doesn't recognize, she closes her eyes and turns and droops her head and does not respond to whoever might be trying to get her attention.

She likes to eat her sisters' left over lunch when they come home from school.

She looks up to her older sisters.

She is very persistent in trying to being heard.

She likes bath time, but did not when she was a baby.

She is a morning girl. 

She thinks she is in charge.

She melts our hearts!