Sophie Saying Jesus

A few weeks ago Sophie said Jesus for the first time.Here is is saying Jesus. Its not completely clear but I cant expect too much from a 14 month old. She is a sweet girl!

My Growing Baby!

I cant believe how fast our little Sophie is getting! She has just turned 14 months. She is a little ball of cuteness and energy. Today after breakfast I thought it would be fun to do some art. Here is a video of our little artiest making her very first drawling.

Back to the Books!

Joe is now finished with his studies for now, but I am still going to school. Last week was a very stressful week for me. Joe is now working full-time, so I am going to school full-time and being a full-time Mom as well. It is no easy task, Let me tell you! Last semester was nice when we were both in school because he would go to school MWF and I would go Tuesdays/Thursdays. This semester is a little more difficult because since he is now working I am taking most of my classes online so I can be home with Sophie as much as I can and one on campus. My wonderful sister in-law Carley is helping me with Sophie while I am in class on Tuesdays/Thursdays. She is a real sweet heart! She is so good with Sophie. Sophie just loves seeing her. Although this semester will be a tough one for me, I am thankful for supportive, loving, friends and family.

Motherhood

I love this quote. It helps me realize my responsibility as a Mother and how brief Motherhood is.

Formative Time of a Child's Life

"I am impressed by countless mothers who have learned how important it is to focus on the things that can only be done in a particular season of life. If a child lives with parents for 18 or 19 years, that span is only one-fourth of a parent's life. And the most formative time of all, the early years in a child's life, represents less than one-tenth of a parent's normal life. It is crucial to focus on our children for the short time we have them with us and to seek, with the help of the Lord, to teach them all we can before they leave our homes. This eternally important work falls to mothers and fathers as equal partners. I am grateful that today many fathers are more involved in the lives of their children. But I believe that the instincts and the intense nurturing involvement of mothers with their children will always be a major key to their well-being. In the words of the proclamation on the family, 'Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children' (The Family: A Proclamation to the World," Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102)."

M. Russell Ballard, "Daughters of God," Ensign, May 2008, 108-109

Topics: Motherhood, Fatherhood, Teaching

Silly Sophie!

Sophie loves to run around the house wearing her clothes hamper. She gave us a good laugh the other day. Here is a video of our little cutie!

Christmas

The Holidays are always a busy time for us. We celebrated Christmas Eve with Joes family and Christmas with mine. We had a wonderful time with the family, but Dusty was missing. With Dusty living in London, Holidays just don’t seem the same. It always feels like someone is missing. We had a wonderful dinner with Joe’s family on Christmas Eve. Joe and his siblings played Rock Band (as usual) and then we opened presents. Sophie always makes out like a bandit! We went home late that night and then woke up and Sophie opened her gifts from us at home. Afterward we went to my Moms house for a delicious breakfast! We then all went to her parents house (my grandparents) To see the rest of the family. Again…. It was weird not having Dusty there, but it was also weird not to have the Jackmans. They usually are there for every holiday. Hawaii is also very far from home so they don’t get to come home much either. It is hard having family living so far away. We then went to my grandparents the Payne’s for lunch. The Viramontes family came to town to celebrate with Grandma and Papa. Grandma, Aunt Connie, and my cousin Sarah made a wonderful lunch. Those two days were filled with wonderful food, and family members to celebrate the true reason of Christmas, Christs birth.

The Cowboys Game!

For Joe’s graduation/ Our Christmas Present we went to the Dallas Cowboys Game. Joe, Sophie, Merci and I drove an 11 hour drive to Weatherford TX, to stay with my uncle Glen and his family. I was worried Sophie would have a hard time with the long drive, but tomy surprise she didn’t even cry! We were very proud of her. The next day we rewarded her with some Ice Cream. She loves Ice Cream so I shared mine with her. While staying with Uncle Glen and his family we fell in love with their small town. We decided we would like to live in Texas one day. That Saturday we watched the Cowboys play Baltimore Ravens in the very last game in the Texas stadium! We arrived at the stadium about 3 pm and the game didn’t start until 7. So we just walked around and tried to find our gate. We asked a security guard where we could find our gate and he said pointing to a huge line of people, “Its right here! Hurry!" We didn’t understand what the huge hurry was about, seeing that we were 4 hours early. As we approached the crowd they yelled at us and told us that they have been there all day and its not fair for us to be on that side of the gate. We were really confused because we were trying to get on the other side of the gate to stand in line with them and then we heard the fans yelling players’ names! It turns out the gate that we entered at was right next to the entrance for the players! So we were able to see the players come. Once they finally opened the gate we were able to find our seats. The stadium was big, but for some reason I always imagined it bigger. There was a nice pregame show and then the game started. We ended up losing the game, but it was still fun. Lots of fans left before the Farewell Ceremony stated because they were mad the Cowboys lost, so we were able to move down to the 10^th row on the 40 yard line to watch the post-game stuff. All the old players were there. We were so close to all of them. We had a blast! Winning the game, would have added the cherry on top of our unforgettable experience.

Here is a video of Jason Whitten entering the Stadium and a video of Sophie entertaining us on our long drive!