Jalen Turns Seven

I still think of Jalen as a little boy so his birthday this year kind of caught me off guard. Seven doesn't seem so little, especially since that means next year he will get baptized. He has changed so much this past year. It has been a great year for him as he has faced challenges and started learning to control his emotions.

We don't do birthday parties every year. This year Jalen got to invite a friend to go do something fun so he chose to take his best friend, Ian, to Frankie's Fun Park. (Ian's brother, Josh, also posed for the photo.)

Jalen loves to go to Frankie's. They have go-carts and motor boats and slides and mini golf, but all Jalen ever wants to do is play the arcade games. That's okay with us (much cheaper!).

I didn't realize that I forgot to take pictures of Baylie - whoops!

After Frankie's, we came home and made pita pizzas.

Then Jalen opened his presents. He was so sweet and let Ian help open them

Jalen's cake was AMAZING. My friend that makes them uses all local, organic ingredients. If you're in the Columbia area, check out her website.

Jalen LOVED it. (I'll spare you photos of my previous pathetic attempts.)

Thinking of his wish (forever!).

The inside of the cake was as pretty as the outside and it was DELICIOUS. (We didn't finish it until Saturday and it was still great!)

The black frosting was a bit messy.

Jalen's actual birthday was Thursday. On that day, he opened his present from Aunt Tiffani. It was a big hit. This boy loves his superheroes.

When I asked him what he wanted for dinner, he said he wanted to eat at a restaurant. We had some kid coupons for Texas Roadhouse so that's where we went. He was super excited. (He also got to eat what he wanted for breakfast and consequently had ice cream and cold cereal.)

He love the peanuts.

Jalen said, "Look! I made the Baby Jesus!"

On Saturday, Jalen took his birthday money and bought some Legos as well as some other things. He loved spending his own money.

So essentially his birthday celebration lasted all week!

We sure love this little boy and are so grateful for the miracle that made him ours.

Family Goals

Each year in January we set goals as a family. This year we decided to do something a little different and make a vision board. We thought this would make it easier for the kids to remember our goals (and for us too).

One of our goals is to go to the temple twice a year as a family. We decided to go right away so we headed to the temple on Saturday.

We should have checked the schedule because the temple was closed!

The kids can't go inside, but since we couldn't go through the gates, we couldn't walk around the grounds by the temple. We could walk around outside the fence though.

View from one side of the temple.

View from the other side.

It was fun just spending some time doing something together. And the kids were especially excited that we ended the day with an ice cream cone at McDonalds.

Weaknesses Become Strengths

I believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. In the Book of Mormon, there is a scripture in Ether 12:27 that reads:

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

I have recently seen this played out in my life.

When I was younger, I took great pride in being a good judge of character. I felt that I could meet people and know what they were really like. I couldn't be duped. I would get a gut feeling and I would just go with it. And most of the time I was right. I thought it was a special gift I had been given to be able to read people.

But here's the thing. Sometimes I was wrong, really wrong. Over time, I came to realize that judging people wasn't a talent. It was actually a sin. The Bible teaches us not to judge one another. Instead we are to love one another.

As I have met more and more people and have traveled around the world, I have come to believe that most people are inherently good. Most people want to make the world a better place, they want to be good neighbors, they want to be good parents. I still think I have the ability to judge people, but it's different now. I find that I can see good in almost everyone. I find myself trying to see them the way God sees them. I'm not saying I'm perfect at this. I still misjudge people and sometimes I still say things I should keep to myself. I'm still learning to be kinder in my thoughts and feelings.

I didn't realize that this was actually a fulfillment of the scripture above until last week. Last week I was given a new responsibility in Church. A part of this I had a blessing given to me. It was a beautiful blessing. In it, our bishop told me that I have a gift of the capacity to love the women in our ward (church group). I realized it was true. I truly do love these women, individually and as a group. I had never thought of it as a gift before, but because of this blessing I realized it is a gift. And I realized that it was actually the result of a character flaw being turned into a strength.

I have so many weaknesses. And reflecting on this experience has made me wonder what these weaknesses could become if I would humble myself and turn them over to God. Our potential is truly unlimited if we could just let go of our comfort zones and be willing to change.

Happy New Year!

We are not party people and we usually prefer to just spend New Years at home with the kids. This time we had the added bonus of our friends the Baltzeggars.

The girls had fun trying out the karaoke.

So did the boys.

Although the boys spent most of their time as backup dancers. You can check them out HERE.

We toasted the New Year with sparklng cider.

We set off poppers.

The girls decorated David's head with confetti.

It was a fun night!

At some point during the week, we roasted hot dogs over our fire. We have loved having a fireplace for the holiday.