Big congrats to our sweet Sadie for being chosen from her class to be the “Student of the Month”! She’s worked hard this year…and we are proud of her. This award make us happy…but what makes us even more happy is seeing how proud she is of herself. She was so concerned about making it to the award ceremony on time Friday morning, that she woke up at 5:30 a.m. rearing to go.
We celebrated by going to Bill Johnson’s Big Apple restaurant for dinner.
Way to work hard Little Miss Mae!
Big shout out to my sis in-law Lindsay and boyfriend (well now fiancé) Darren for their resent proposal. So happy for you guys! Can’t wait to welcome Darren into the family. You guys are so great for each other….couldn’t be happier!
I’ve learned a great deal about faith lately (Although, I know not enough…!) There’s been times I’ve learned faith by choice (reading scriptures, the Ensign or praying) and then there’s been times I’ve learned it through trials (which makes me wish I could do all my growing and learning from what I read…but it just doesn’t work that way :)
The last few years have been full of:
SWEET MEMORIES
DOUBT
FEAR
FUN TIMES…
DID I MENTION FEAR…and more!
FAITH WAS DEVELOPED….FAITH WAS EXERCISED…FAITH WAS INCREASED…FAITH WAS LOST…FAITH WAS RESTORED (repeated many times) And the surprising thing, for me, was this faith cycle could play out all in one weeks time. Life has been a crazy rollercoaster ride…there were times we thought the ride was slowing down and stopping at the end…just to find out that we got to take another turn on the rollercoaster whether we liked it or not.
I’ve learned the best thing to do when you’re on the never-ending rollercoaster ride is just to hang on….
So what keeps me going…what helps me to hold on???
I read in a book once written by Elder Holland about faith. It was an ah-ha moment that has become a part of who I am…or at least a part of who I want to be.
He shared the account in the New Testament when a father with an ill son cries unto the Lord for help. The Savior replied “If thou canst BELIEVE, all things are possible to Him that believeth”. The father replied “Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief”. The man recognized he had some faith, but he did not have complete faith. While reading this book, I learned a valuable principle. Just as this father, we need to assert our strength first, and only then acknowledge what we lack. The father first declared WHAT FAITH HE DID HAVE (I believe), and then ask for help in the weakness he knew was his. In moments of fear or doubt we need to hold to what we already have won…holding fast to the things WE DO KNOW! Even a mustard seed size faith can move mountains.
“The first rule of holes…is when you are in one, stop digging”.
Is it just me….or do some of you knowingly dig your hole deeper on occasion because you feel like doing nothing but wallow in your own muddy pit? (Those are my “loss of faith” days.) I’ve had many days like that where I first declare, to the Lord and to everyone else around me, HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF! But every time I’ve made a decision to stop digging, I’ve felt the presence and love of my Savior. I’ve always known the Savior wants to help and bless us….but I had to learn a little patience.
“Let us constantly, repeatedly affirm our belief, even as we wrestle with unbelief” Elder Holland
Many of you know some of our prayers have been answered recently….it’s acts of tender mercies like these that the Lord gives to us to remind us just how much he loves us.
I sigh of relief…AHHHHHHHH…and will enjoy this peace and calm before the next storm arises….. BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS DO :)
Today we went to the Temple after church. We like to do that occasionally, so the kids can learn more about why we attend the Temple and why it’s so important to us. Although…I think the kids think it’s just another fun play land…despite our attempt to teach them otherwise. After sitting in church for three hours, it was impossible to get the kids to reverently walk around the temple grounds. Kendyl’s our little monkey. She would lift her leg up on anything higher than herself and start crying “UP…UP…UP”! We were impressed by her flexibility!
p.s. I found these matching dressing for the girls at the Goodwill…SCORE! I’ve done a lot of my shopping at second hand stores lately…and it just makes my day when I found awesome things…LIKE MATCHING DRESSES FOR JUST A COUPLE OF DOLLARS!!!
Would wake up at 5 a.m. to workout or get things done around the house just so she can do so in PEACE AND QUIET.
Would let her two year old go at her make-up…potentially destroying most of it….just so she can have 5 minutes again of PEACE AND QUIET.
Would voluntarily lay herself down at the park so her kids would giggle as they bury her (this is why we go to the park before Mommy showers for the day).
Would play sword fight (which included a lot of playing dead on the floor) in the middle of a Walmart aisle…because that’s what her son wanted to do on his “Mommy and Son” date. (Oh and I pulled a bike off of a rack and let him take a test ride at full speed through the aisles. I’ve learned that the pet aisles are usually the best people-free-zone if ever you’re interested).
Would let her kids make this big of a mess…JUST AFTER THE KITCHEN WAS DEEP CLEANED…
AND ONLY A MOTHER….WOULD DO THIS:
I woke up early the other day to get myself ready because I had to get all three kids to a doctors appointment by 8:00 a.m. I took clean clothes into the bathroom for me to change into….but I forgot to grab pants. Mason was asleep on the floor next to my closet, so I decided to just put my pajama pants back on and I planned on changing them once he was awake.
I did my hair and makeup…and was so impressed that I could get myself and three kids looking so beautiful by 7:30 a.m.
We made it to the doctors appointment on time…another huge accomplishment… I walked in, they handed me a clipboard full of papers to sign. I found the nearest chair and went to sit down placing the clipboard on my lap. That’s when I discovered I WAS STILL WEARING MY PAJAMA BOTTOMS!!! OOPS!
ONLY A MOTHER WOULD GO TO A DOCTORS APPOINTMENT…HALF DRESSED!!!
The things we do to survive this job we love so much!!!
I’m sure you have all been sitting on the edge of your chairs just waiting for the annual Reeves kid’s Christmas picture. Well they turned out just about as well as they do every year…..getting three kids to look their best at one time is nearly impossible. Although, I do enjoy the silly pictures almost as much as the one or two “Got it” pictures….so here you have it…the bad and the good!
Smile Mason….now that looks natural!
And so does that!!!
This is my sister Kendyl’s head!
Mason sportin the G.Q pose…Sadie looking a little uncomfortable sitting on that rock!
Out of the dozens of pictures we took….we finally got some good ones.
Here’s my favorite…
Here’s a new face Kendyl’s been making that I just love…it’s the “Now what are we doing?” face!
There was some giving…
(Our sweet Sadie is a GIVER….she made homemade gifts for just about everyone she knows)
Here’s Grandpa’s:
Some taking (well some good attempts…)
Each girl got a doll. Apparently, Kendyl did not like her doll as much as Sadie’s. She made that very well known. She WANTED SADIE’S DOLL!
So she cried….
She grabbed….
And threw a fit even from the other room…
Nothing was going to distract her….5 minutes later she was STILL CRYING!
Until she was given more gifts (like her new pink chair) then she felt much better!!!
As you an tell she liked some gifts more than others. She wasn’t a huge fan of the orange in the toe of her stocking.
I think what Kendyl enjoyed most about Christmas was spending time with Uncle Brian…HER FAVORITE!
What a great Christmas! Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better….it did for Kendyl!!!
Kendyl found a way to sweeten the day a little….
With all the commotion of Christmas morning…Kendyl took the opportunity to sneak away for 30 minutes and enjoy a sweet snack upstairs. She sampled a little bit of each chocolate. She was kind enough to leave little bits of slobbery pieces for others to enjoy. How thoughtful! And no she did not throw up…surprising I know!!!
HOPE YOU ALL HAD AS SWEET OF A CHRISTMAS AS KENDYL DID!!!
We had a special visitor over …
All the kids were scared at first….EXCEPT FOR COUSIN ETHAN…he ran straight to him and jumped in Santa’s arms.
We had a FIESTA Taco dinner…
Then acted out the NATIVITY!
The role of Baby Jesus was coveted by many ….
But in the end….the youngest…most nakey…most smiley baby got to play the Baby Jesus! And he played the part beautifully.
THE END….TAKING A BOW! Kendyl got really embarrassed and covered her sweet little face.
They unwrapped their Christmas Eve Presents….NEW JAMMIES!
Sadie wrote Santa a letter…and Mason signed the bottom.
When we weren’t looking Sadie added to the bottom “The coins are from me Sadie. This is my gift to you”….SO SWEET! She must have been in a hurry to write that because she spelled her own name wrong…never seen her do that!
Then we sprinkled the front yard with oats for the reindeer….and it was OFF TO BED!
