James 1st Day of 1st Grade

Here we are again! The first day is always so hard for me. We are excited for James, though. Last year he learned so much and really blossomed in school. I still can't believe how well he reads. We will miss James very much. His little brothers have already been at each other's throats this morning. James must be the peacemaker. Hopefully his teacher will be as great as last year. I can't believe I have a first grader......I'm having a major reality check right now, better go!!! WOW!!!

More summer visitors

One of the highlights of the summer was our trip to Mount Vernon with Grandpa Kinney and Aunt Katy. They brought Sammy back to Virginia for an other semester of school. We had such a great time at Mt. Vernon, but mostly just having them around was such a joy. It reminds me of how much I really want to be near my family. There is nothing quite like having family around.

New Puppy

Probably the craziest thing we have ever done was purchase this little bundle of joy. His name is Scout and he has been quite an experience. We are learning to love him. He is much more enjoyable now that he's a little older. He was 8 weeks old in this picture. He's still cute, but a little less happy to be held by the little boys. He is 16 weeks old now and he has learned to be a little leery of kicking feet and swiping hands. But he is learning to not bite, not bark at everything, and to not chew on everything. The house training is another story. Apparently Yorkshire terriers are the hardest dogs to house train. Wish I had known that. We love our little Yorkie (most of the time), despite him being such a puppy!!!

Special Visitors for Special Occasions

We were so happy to have Grandpa Huff come and visit when Matt was put in the bishopric. It was a very special experience for Matt to have his father set him apart as a high priest. It was so nice for all of us, especially the little boys. They love their Grandpa. We even got to take a quick tour through the museum of the Confederacy, and the Confederate White House.

New York, New York!!

We took a trip with some friends to Palmyra and Niagara Falls a few weeks ago. It was the best trip we have ever taken. We enjoyed every part of it. It was especially nice to be in Palmyra, New York. There is a special feeling in that village. The
Sacred Grove, the Smith Farm, the Grandin Printing Press (where they first printed the Book of Mormon), the Palmyra Temple, and the Hill Cumorah were the highlights of the trip. I hope our boys will be able to remember the special feelings they had there. My testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon has increased tenfold. I knew it was true before, but learning more about the sacrifices and experiences has deepened my feelings and conviction for its truthfulness. Every member of the church should have the experience of visiting the birth place of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.




Niagara Falls was impressive. It was amazing to see the power of the falls and very enjoyable to ride the maid of the mist boat tour right into the falls. It was beautiful there. We almost got stuck in limbo because we didn't have proper documentation to cross the Rainbow Bridge that crosses the falls between the U.S. and Canada. Thankfully we had asked the guards to open the gate for the stollers and they remembered us going through just a few minutes prior to returning to the United States or we would have been in serious trouble. I've never enjoyed my brief visits to Canada. Great trip. I highly recommend staying in the Palmyra Inn. Go as soon as possible. And if you go in May, take jackets.

Back to Normal

My life is finally back to normal. I have been able to thoroughly enjoy every cold, flu, and disease that has ripped through our family the past month, because I am no longer the proud owner of Treasure Gift Enterprises. I sold my business. I can now totally focus on taking care of my family, and myself. So many things have happened and I haven't been able to even take a moment to document them. My parents were here in January. The only thing that would have made it better is if they could have stayed longer.
For Matt's spring break we took a trip with some friends to Maryland and stayed in their relatives beautiful home. We spent some time in D.C. seeing a lot of the sights that we hadn't seen before. The Jefferson Memorial is my new favorite. He is directly facing the White House so that he can keep an eye on what goes on there. It gave me chills just to stand there and read the quotes. It was amazing.
The boys have fun no matter where we go. This was taken in D.C. with our friends, Tan and Angela Jones. That is their little girl, Samantha. How perfect would it be to add a cute little girl face to our team of boys? Maybe some day. Hopefully I'll be writing more now that I am actually home some days. The business was such a blessing, but it got to be more of a burden towards the end. I was too busy, and not able to be who I really wanted to be. I'm sure many of you can relate.
This week has been perfect. James had spring break, so the boys and I have had such a good time playing games, going outside, exploring nature, relaxing, telling stories, and enjoying one another's company.
Wish all weeks could be spring break weeks.

The Wonder (of Christmas) Years

I have heard many people say that these will be the greatest years of my life. This Christmas was the first time that I actually began to understand what they were talking about. I have never had so much fun in my whole life as I did this Christmas. I was a little bit lonely for extended family, but watching the magic of Christmas come over my children's faces was a joy I can't describe in words. We had a very special program on Christmas Eve. We were each able to share our feelings about the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and there was such a feeling of reverence and peace in our home. And then we did something really fun. We went on a Santa walk outside where we gazed into the sky for any signs of Rudolph's nose. We knew that as soon as his nose was visible that Santa would be coming to our house very shortly, and since Santa doesn't visit kids who are out of their beds...As soon as we spotted that blinking red nose in the sky James and Joseph ran back to the house so fast that by the time I finally reached them they had already stripped off their shoes and coats and were hopping into bed. It was a great motivator for bedtime on Christmas Eve. Matt and I were both so excited about Christmas that we woke up before the boys and ended up having to wake each of them at 5 o'clock. Naps were a definite must Christmas Day.

Another goal accomplished

One of Matt's goals for his Christmas break was to teach James how to ride his bike without training wheels. James is a natural athlete and with very little effort, but a lot of running on Matt's part, James was riding all over the place in no time. My two athletes have even been out running and biking together. Joseph is looking forward to getting his bike for his birthday this summer so that he can bike around with them. Isaac is content to just be outside....for now.

Goals, goals, and more goals

Last year I accomplished an unknown lifelong goal. I say unknown because I never even thought I could be capable of running a 5K X-Country Race. I know that 3.3 miles may not seem like much to many people, but for me that was an extraordinary accomplishment. Matt supported me through the whole process. He made my training possible, and he also made the actual race possible by sticking with me and encouraging me through the whole thing. It was so much harder than I could have ever dreamed, but I never quit, I never gave up, and it was the first time in my life that I just kept going even though every part of me was screaming to STOP. It was a life changing experience for me to realize that I am not a quitter. This year I have new goals about fitness, and I plan on beating last year's time in the 5K this year.