Thank You Twin Falls Public Library!

One of the few winter activities there is to do in Twin Falls, is to go to story time at the public library. Since November, the boys and I have been going to story time every Friday morning. The boys usually sit and listen to the stories while I walk around with Jacob finding books and movies to check out for the week. We have been pretty consistent at taking home about 40 books each week. Each week as I check them all out I promise myself that I won't get as many next week. Then as we return the books the following Friday I remind myself of how annoying it is to haul 40+ books in and out of the library with 3 boys, and again promise myself that this week we will cut the number in half. This week I actually stuck to my promise for the first time in 4 months. I only found about 25 books this time. When I went to check out they reminded me that I had a "couple" of books on hold. I remembered that Will and I had looked online a few weeks prior at all of the dinosaur book options, and placed them on hold for when they were available at our library. Well the "couple" of books they had on hold ended up being about 25 more books. So I set a record this week for the most items I have ever checked out at one time.

The library has a limit of 50 items and today we met that...exactly.

I must say that as annoying, and I must say, stressful, as it is to haul out that many books each week with my boys, I must say I am grateful for the blessing it is. Believe it or not we return each week having read all of our books. So, today I am thankful for resources like the library that give me the opportunity to spend quality time with my boys, regardless of how inconvenient it may be for a few moments. I am also thankful for wonderful boys who love to sit with their mom each day to read.

New Template

I am sure most of you bloggers out there know that it's not such a good idea to change your template all the time. (Before I go on I guess I should let you know that I am not the most intelligent blogger so there may be solutions to my annoyances that I am just not smart enough to have figured out. If that is the case feel free to fill me in on your blogging secrets so I don't continue having all of these problems.)

I had the brilliant idea at the beginning of the year to change my template with each holiday. What a good idea, right? That's why I have had my Valentine background on for so long. When I updated for Valentine's I learned a few things about my brilliant idea. The first thing I learned is that when you change your template, you erase all of your widgets and sidebars. So now, when I find the time, I will be redoing all of that. Second, it's just tough to find the "one" template that matches your personality/mood/lifestyle, without copying all of the cute ones that your family and friends already have. It's kinda like wearing the exact same shirt on the same day to the same place....that's embarrassing. So I have been looking at so many templates in preparation for the big day (today) when I finally take off the Valentine's template and do something more permanent. I really wanted to do something that was somewhat reflective of my family. Well I found the "one". It was love at first sight. I know some of you may be thinking, "what?" but those of you who know my family well, know that I have 3 dino loving boys. I don't think they will be spending too much time checking out our family blog enjoying the T-Rex, but I am happy to have found one that represents my family in one small way. I also don't think the copying thing will be an issue.

So, for now, and for the next long while, enjoy this dino page and think of my boys each time you check up on us.

Happy 1st Birthday Jacob/ Happy Valentine's Day!

This was my Valentine's surprise from Brent!

I was out late on Wednesday night. We had a very late mutual activity and I got home at 12:30 am. When I walk in the door these were on the table. I was so surprised. Thanks Brent.

As you know Jacob was born on Valentine's Day. We combined the holidays and had a wonderful evening. We invited Annie's parents over. We had a steak and shrimp dinner that was incredible. (Thanks to my mom) After dinner Jacob (with help from his older brothers) opened presents and ate cake and ice cream.

This is how we do birthdays in our house. All 3 boys attack the gifts. I love this picture because you can see the joy on Will and Andrew's faces as Jacob's new gift is revealed.
Good gift Grandma and Grandpa Crandall -They all love it!


This is Jacob eating his cake. We may have another Justin Plane in the family. (He hated getting his hands messy) The frosting on his face was grandpa giving him a little help.

I have to add that his new high chair seat is Grandma and Grandpa Nielson's gift. Our old high chair gave us a few near death experiences...it was at the end of its life. Thanks Brent and Marcia for making our baby safe.

Happy Birthday Jacob. We love you so much. You have brought us one of the happiest years of our lives.

I have to explain this one :)

Some of you may have seen this. For those of you who have not it's quite inspiring.

Katy (my sis-in-law) sent this to us the other day. I took it quite seriously.

To read it click on the link below. You may want to do what I did. Print a copy and put it on your refrigerator as a constant reminder!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuF0ynQWKeRVfRvSnlEtgXGNtf-Zar8x27uuxtkGZiRpVEuw1huWSlaw1iaW6HabJtrBD7SY4AonSOKX6E52nKHOCGZVlIGVT45Ys21RBoNVbiM69aQOzJSic92r1OwkT_NmhUvDLqgwFs/s1600-h/housewife.jpg

So the picture of Jacob is what needs some explaining.

I am always looking for ways to be a better wife and mother. When I read this it was like an Oprah "light bulb moment". So I quickly made preparations for Brent's homecoming that evening. I put on a dress and some bright red lipstick (I don't own a bow for my hair so I thought some lipstick would do the trick), had a delicious hot dinner on the table for Brent when he walked in the door. I failed at keeping the kids quiet part (that is a work in progress).

Brent thought it was hilarious. My boys thought I looked like a freak. They kept asking me if I had to go to a meeting. We didn't get a picture of me, but had to pull out the camera after kissing all the boys on the foreheads. They thought it was so funny.

Speaking of Temples...

Brent and I had the opportunity to attend the Rexburg Temple Youth Cultural Celebration this past weekend. I have to say this was definately one of the most uplifting, spiritual experiences in my life. One cool thing was that we sat about 10 ft. from Elder Nelson, Elder Bednar, and Elder Costa. WOW!

I think the President Hinckley was truly inspired when he came up with a way for the youth to be involved with their temple dedications. You could not be in attendance at that event and have any doubt about the gospel and the purpose of temples. The feeling of the spirit that night felt like the actual, physical presence of the Savior himself. It was truly an emotional experience. For those of you who may not know what a Youth Cultural Celebration is, let me explain. Before a new temple is dedicated the youth in the surrounding areas put together and perform a medley of song and dance that depicts the history of the area and how the church was established up to the present time. It really is a celebration. In our church culture, most spiritual settings we are very reverent. It was interesting to witness an event that was truly a "Party" to celebrate having a new temple. Even in that "party" atmosphere the Spirit was "unrestrained". I have always known that I belong to the true Church upon the earth. I feel that the Lord has blessed me with that gift, to know. I can say that after this experience, my faith in my Heavenly Father has been strengthened. I know He lives. I know we are all His sons and daughters. Each one of us play a very important part of His plan. I believe that we each have a purpose. First we must come to know that we are literal descendants of God. Second that we live to understand our purpose in this life. Third that we spend every day, relying on our Savior, to help us achieve that purpose. God loves us! He wants us to return to Him. We can do that through the blessings of the temple. I am so thankful for this blessing in my life. I hope that each of you may have these blessing in your lives as well.

I am so excited to be involved so closely with the Twin Falls Temple. I look forward to all of the events that will take place during the open house and dedication of our temple.

Twin Falls Idaho Temple at Night

It has been a while since I have taken pictures at the temple. For the past few months it has looked pretty much the same outside. I am not allowed to take photos of the inside of the temple, so until spring time when the plants start to green up, I don't feel a huge urgency to be there weekly. A few weeks ago they put up the lights on the Angel Moroni at night. I think (I hope) the lighting situation will be improved when the temple is closer to completion sometime this spring. You can see in the pictures that the lighting is pretty scattered. I am happy that we finally have some lights on it, so it can be seen at night. We are still waiting on word from the first presidency of when the open house and dedication will be. We are so excited for this experience. It will truly be a once in a lifetime exprience.

For more photos of the temple visit

tftemple.com

The Boys!

It's been a while since I have pulled my camera out. We had major snow day last week so the boys and I stayed in and made cookies, watched movies, and found some time to take some pictures. So here are my handsome boys.