Stew's First Solo Prayer

Tonight Stewart said his very first prayer without being helped, and it's Father's Day to make it that much more special. At the end of it Daddy, Lily, and I all cheered for him and his smile was priceless. His sweet prayer went like this -

"Heavenly Father….day….blessings….Jesus Christ….amen. "

I love seeing my children learn and grow, especially in their little seedlings of a testimony of the Savior and the gospel. It refuels my own testimony to see their pure faith.

Daddy-Daughter Date

Spending one-on-one quality time with our kiddies is something that is so important to me and that I want to make a priority throughout my children's lives. Some of my favorite memories when I was younger was spending time with just my mom, or just my dad. I think being the only girl allowed me to have more of those moments which I am so grateful for. 

As jealous as I am that my little girl got to go out with her daddy, I cherish these pictures of them building memories and their oh-so important relationship. I can't wait till Stewart gets a little older and Paul and I will split up, each taking one to go out on a date. I hope that Lily learns through these times with her daddy the kind of man that she should look for one day. Because he really is the greatest and I want her to feel as special and loved as I do her whole life. 

Dear Daddy - We Carved a Pumpkin!

"I miss you! I love you! I carved pumpkins today. I play with Gunner today at the spooky adventure. I drew a picture and then I did another one by myself and then it was really fun to carve it and draw it. Stewart's been naughty today? I been good today. Um, I miss you really really really much! Um, one more thing..do you miss mommy? I love wearing my costume and I love when you wear your costume and Stewart. Hope we have fun at trick-or-treating!" -- Lily

The Simple Things

Three things that made me so incredibly happy this last weekend that I am reminiscing on already are:

1. Stewart's sweet kisses on my back, arm, hands, and cheeks as I was building the kid's little playhouse. He has been so generous with his smacking lips lately and it is my most favorite thing in the world! No matter how I am feeling, when I hear his little smack and see his arms around me, I melt with my unconditional love that I have for my little buddy.

(picture taken by my Dad in St. George, he emailed it to me after he read this post and I had to share)

2. The "date-night" Paul and I had in the garage finishing setting up the playhouse. It reminded me of our first year of marriage when we were establishing our little apartment as our home. I can't help but laugh every time I see Paul with a screwdriver in one hand, and a little screw in the other. About 65% of the time, he drops that little screw and it makes him so irrational. I love it about him! The little blurts of anger and frustration that come out of him, makes me smile every time. It was a good night!

3. Watching the second session on Sunday of General Conference cuddled up with my little Lily in the cheerio chair. Paul was on his way to Chicago, and I had just put Stew in bed for his nap. That left me and Lily to have some quality time and she was so sweet as she sat there and pointed out the apostles that she knows, "President Monson and President Uchdorf," and asking who the others were. It was a little heaven on Earth listening to the prophets testify of Christ and spending that special time with my little girl.

I am so grateful for quality time that I get to spend with each person in my family. I think that it is so important to spend one-on-one time and build those special memories and moments I hope to cherish forever. When I think back at my time with my parents and brothers, my very most favorite times are when I got to spend one-on-one time with each of them. I hope that my children and I will have solid relationships and that I can show them how much I love them individually.