Endurance

Today I did something that was very hard for me to do. For a few months I have been working on running this hill (almost a mile of hill) that has frustrated me because I haven't been able to finish it without stopping to walk. Well, today I told it who was boss! It felt great. Even though everything physical in my body was screaming at me to stop, I persevered and did it. As I was doing this I thought of all the emotional and down right hard hills in my life right now. I don't want to sound like I am complaining, but life is NOT easy, nor perfect. A friend of mine asked me how to increase spiritual endurance and I thought just like in physical running in order to increase your endurance you have to do hills, just like in life we are all going to face our emotional and spiritual "hills". Sometimes I find myself when I look at other people's blogs I think,"Wow, they seem to have the perfect life," or "I wish I had that." But I have really come to realize that blogs are really what the author wants them to be. We will all have our struggles in life. It is part of life, but the key is how we CHOOSE to deal with them. Life is really all about choices and self mastery. I can honestly say that the experiences that I have gone through and still face have broken my heart, but they haven't broken me. I am so grateful! It really is true, "that which doesn't kill us only makes us stronger." But it is still a choice!

Who are you going to Marry?

Ashley informed me this weekend that she is going to marry Jordan. Jordan is my 15 year old nephew. I told her that she can't marry Jordan because he is your cousin, and we can't marry cousins. She just looked up at me and replied, "Mom, he is just Jordan." She said Jordan in a very dreamy way. She sure likes Jordan. This fall we have been able to go to some of his football games and Ashley loves it, especially the cheerleaders. When we were leaving she said she wants to dance and hold the fuzzies!

Laughter is the Best Medicine

I think my kids are some of the funniest little people. They are always saying or doing funny things and I just have to write a few down.

A few weeks ago before Blake started pre- school I could tell he was getting a little nervous for school to start. He told me he was nervous because he couldn't write a "k" in his name, but I reassured him that Miss Angie would teach him how to write a perfect k. Well, I guess that wasn't all he was nervous about. A week before school started he got some mail from his teacher and it was addressed to Master Blake. (Don't say that too many times.) A few days later my sister Micki asked him why he was nervous for pre-school and he replied, "I'm nervous because I don't know Kung Fu!" Blake has seen Kung Fu Panda and he thought in order to be a "Master" he had to know kung fu for pre-school!

The day pre-school started I was getting ready and walked out fully dressed, but had my curlers in my hair and teased Blake if it was okay if I took him to pre-school like that, Blake answered, "Okay Mom, but you will just have to go with a blanket over your head!"

I think everyone knows that Ashley is a very LOUD child. She cries loud, laughs loud and sings loud! Last week Ashley and I went to Wal-mart while Blake was at pre-school and Ashley was loud. She wasn't crying, she was singing. She was singing really loud, "Hey, hey, you, you , I don't like your boyfriend," and " Fire burning on the dance floor," I got some really strange looks. I tried to get her to sing quiet but she just kept on singing. To end her singing, Ashley said a prayer. A nice prayer, that everyone close by could hear. I hope she gets a cute daughter just like her!

Pre- School and Potty

This week Blake started pre-school again. He loves his new class and new teacher. Ashley wanted to dress just like Blake on the first day, so she did! Ashley also started to potty train. She is still working on it and she told me yesterday that she doesn't want big girl underwears she just wants diapers. Um, no. Hopefully we soon will have more successes than accidents. My pics as I uploaded them are just uploading as words, does anyone know how to change that? Computers and I are not friends. Anyway, it has been a week of change for us. The first pic is of Ashley with my really old pair of glasses upside down. She cracks me up. The other night the kids and I were jumping on the trampoline and I told the kids that since I have had them I can't jump on trampolines for very long, if you have had kids you know what I mean. :) Anyway, Blake just says, "Come on Mom, just hold your inner breath." Okay, whatever that means!

13.1

Yesterday I ran a half marathon! I really can't believe that I actually did it and finished. This is actually a picture of my sister Honey and I in Denver, but I didn't take any pictures yesterday. I was too much of a chicken to run the Spanish Fork Half because I had only ran 8 miles before and I didn't want the pressure and not getting a good night's sleep the night before. So I did my own. I still didn't sleep the night before so I might as well just have done the Spanish Fork half. Anyway, from Vivian Park in Provo Canyon to my house in Orem is exactly 13.1 miles. My Dad dropped me off at Vivian Park at 7am and I started. The run was BEAUTIFUL. I had never run down the Provo River trail, it was awesome. I must confess that when I got to the point where I only had a mile left I got tearied eyed and couldn't believe what I had just done. It was a great feeling. I felt like humming the chariots of fire theme. We are sent here to do hard things and we can do it!

For Blake and Ashley....

This month's Ensign has some great advice that I want to write down for my kids and my future posterity that will one day read this blog book.

"May I invite you to rise to the great potential within you. But don’t reach beyond your capacity. Don’t set goals beyond your capacity to achieve. Don’t feel guilty or dwell on thoughts of failure. Don’t compare yourself with others. Do the best you can, and the Lord will provide the rest. Have faith and confidence in Him, and you will see miracles happen in your life and the lives of your loved ones. The virtue of your own life will be a light to those who sit in darkness, because you are a living witness of the fulness of the gospel."

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Influence of Righteous Women," Ensign, September 2009.

"The point is this: when you are having a bad day, you've got alot of company- very,very good company. The best that has ever lived."

"In fact, it ought to be a matter of great doctrinal consolation to us that Jesus, in the course of the Atonement, experienced all the heartache and sorrow, all of the diappointments and injustices that the entire family of man had experienced and would experience from Adam and Eve to the end of the world in order that we would not have to face them so severely or so deeply. However heavy our load might be, it would be a lot heavier if the Savior had not gone that way before us and carried that burden with us and for us."

"I testify that bad days come to an end, that faith always triumphs, and heavenly promises are always kept."
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, "Lessons from Liberty Jail." Ensign, September 2009

Mommy LOVES you Blake and Ashley!

The Last 8 Months in a VERY Big Nutshell!

My heroes. Blake thought it was so great that Grandpa had a super hero outfit too. I must admit that I am the worst at remembering the camera and taking pics of my kids. These pics are back in January and progress till now and I will give a brief synopsis of each month.

Ashley playing with some play googles. Frankly, January was a blurr for me. I was an emotional wreck. Running was my saving grace. I also enjoyed during the school year going to the temple each week with my sisters. Thank you so much Mom for watching the kids for me.

In February Ashley turned two. I let her decorate her cake all by herself. She wanted to make sure the 2 was really pushed down in the cake.

Also in February, Blake and I were able to attend the Draper Temple open house. He loved it!



In March, Ashley got her front tooth fixed. She and Blake both went to the dentist. She had 1 cavity and Blake had none! Blessed day! I ran a 10k and was so pleased to have finished it in under an hour, that was my goal. I also had the privlidge to attend baby Gracie's funeral. The Gledhill's are amazing. Gracie died just 18 days shy of her 1st birthday of a heart defect.









Here are Blake and Ashley on Easter Sunday. We had Stake Conference that Sunday and walked into the building with Elder Richard G. Scott! I was so glad I wasn't yelling at my kids before I saw him because he was walking in right beside us. He was so kind to us and talked with the kids.

Blake helping Grandpa wash his car.

Ashley gave her doll some "medicine."




Ashley the makeup artist!



Blake and Ashley love Aunt Micki and Uncle Spencer. They have been SO good to us. We really appreciate them.



In May it was my birthday. It was such a fun day. My friends and family made it great.


Love these girls!

Ashley the artist, again.

In June, we went to the Kelly Clarkson concert. Marsha and I.



Marci and I


All us girls. I honestly don't know what I would do if I didn't have these amazing friends.


I know this is a bad picture, but if you look really hard you can see Kelly on stage, she is in yellow! :)

Ashley talking to Daddy.




We have had a really fun summer. Every Wedsnesday we would go to a movie at the Scera with Patti and her kids. The movies are only 65 cents each. What a steal! We have also been boating with Grandma and Grandpa and on Uncle Brent's new boat. I tried waterskiing for the first time and got up for 3 seconds. But it was well worth it. Here is Ashley crashed on the couch after a long day. Feeling the love.


I went in to check on the kids before I went to bed and this is what I found. So cute.

Blake and Ashley worked so hard for their new fish Gilbert. I had a chart that had things the kids had to do (brush teeth, do jobs when asked, play nicely together etc) each time they did one of these things they got a sticker, once the chart was full, we went to Wal-Mart and got a betta. Ashley calls him "Govert."


Blake having breakfast with Gilbert.



In July, the kids and I and my parents and my neice Kennedy went to Denver for Rylee's baptism. It was so great. Blake and Ashley really love going to baptisms. Earlier that morning my sister Honey and I ran a 5k. It was my sister's first one and she did awesome! I will have to steal pics from her blog. In the middle of July we got to go to the Oquirrh Mountain open house and this time Ashley came with us. I loved that I could be in the temple with my kids. I love to watch them get very reverant and just look at everything. At the end of July we had a Livingstone family reunion. There was some serious slip and sliding going on.



Blake is so excited that the corn that he and my Dad planted is all ready. Blake loves to see how tall "his" corn has gotten. Any time on the way to the lake and we would pass a corn field Blake would say, "My corn is alot taller than that. Now, Blake says he wants to be a gardner. This makes his Grandpa Allen very proud. Eric's dad teaches Horticulture at BYU!

Last, but not least here is Ashley with three layers on. This is what happens when she helps me fold the laundry. She wants to wear as much cloths as possible.

Are you still awake? Super long post. But that pretty much sums up what we have been up to lately. I have really enjoyed getting into running again. I am thinking of running a half marathon next month. I will let you all know if I actually do it.