My Most Sacred Blessings Call Me Mom

We just got back from such a FUN night of skating. Just the kids and I. We went to Classic Skating in Layton. It's crazy how much my kids are growing up. And even more crazy how much I seriously enjoy spending time with them. Not that it's a bad thing, but me and seven kids?? Going out for the night?? I know some people that can't even imagine doing that. But I absolutely LOVE IT!! I love having so much fun with them and getting out there and enjoying the simple things in life. Last weekend, I went and bought junk food and we totally vegged out on the couch and watched a movie. And we were totally happy!! 

I feel like a lot of times in life, it's easy to forget how simple kids are and how they don't need much to be happy. How they really only crave the love and attention of their parents. My kids are absolutely my most sacred blessings in this life. Aside from Hoko, they make me so HAPPY and a lot of times I feel so undeserving of their unconditional love for me. 

President Joseph Fielding Smith said, "If I had to suggest one thing which I think we as parents are most lacking, it would be a sympathetic understanding of our children. Live with the children; follow their paths. . . . Know everything that claims the interest of the children, be a good sport with them.

We have been trying to impress upon parents the need of paying more attention to their children, having a little more of the spirit of the gospel in their homes, a little more unity and a little more faith; a little more responsibility religiously, spiritually on the part of the fathers; also, of the mothers; more of the teaching of the gospel in the home."

There is no other goal on this earth as vital to humanity than that of being successful in our relationships as a family. I love my family so much and count my blessings every day that they are a part of my life. My kids will never know how much I love them until they become a parent themselves. And I can't wait for Hoko to get home tomorrow!! I've missed him so much this rotation. And the kids are off on Monday for President's Day. Yay!! 

Grandparents Day

My parents stopped by this morning before heading over to the kids' school to have lunch with them. Today is grandparents day so Sila and baby Hoko made sure to call them on Monday as soon as they got home from school to ask if they could come have lunch with them in honor of grandparents day. I totally forgot about it and was surprised to see my dad on my front porch ringing my doorbell. Lol. But it was a very good surprise and I didn't realize until that moment how much I've missed my parents. I know I just saw them at Sila's baptism two weeks ago, but I always miss them when even a week goes by. Lol. 

I always tell my kids that they will never fully realize how lucky they are to have both grandparents just a city away from them. Growing up without any of my grandparents nearby, I can definitely attest to this. I miss my grandparents so much. I only have one living grandma on my Mom's side at this time and I can't wait to see her in Dec for our family reunion in Australia. 

My grandpa, Savou (who I named my son after), came back in 2002, I think and that was the last time I saw him. When we took him to the airport to go back to Australia, as we were pulling out of the airport parking, I started sobbing. Hoko was so surprised and a little panicked. Yeah, my cry was that ugly and that dramatic. Lol. He asked me what was wrong and I told him that I missed my grandpa so much already and that I knew that I would never see him in this life again. I remember having a good cry all throughout the day that day. He passed away a couple of years later and I never saw him again. A day doesn't go by that I don't think of him. Especially when I look at my son, Savou. But it makes me all the more grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that families are forever as long as the goal in my life is exaltation. 

I've been quite emotional this week while preparing my lesson for RS this Sunday. It's on the family and how the gospel is centered on strengthening families here on earth so that we may return to our heavenly home as part of our father's heavenly family. I can't wait and I hope and pray every day that I'll be worthy along with my husband and kids to return as a family to our heavenly family/home. 

I came across this in my lesson book. 'We should remember, as Latter-day Saints, that outside of the celestial kingdom, there is no family organization [after death]. That organization is reserved for those who are willing to abide in every covenant and every obligation which we are called upon to receive while we sojourn here in this mortal life.' 

When I first read that, I cried. Once again. I've always known that in order to be together as a family, we would have to make it to the celestial kingdom, but reading this excerpt seemed so final. It made me think of my kids and if one of them decided not to strive for exaltation, I would be so devastated. It's crazy cause in the lesson, it talks about imagining a world where strangers live amongst each other cause there's no family unit. How the other two kingdoms are going to be like this. I can't even imagine it and when I try, I cry. I am who I am because of my family. This has re-lit a fire within myself to try harder to keep our family eternal and to live up to every covenant I've made in the temple. P

The girls and I started our BofM reading once again this morning. The girls have, separately, voiced their concerns to me about feeling like their lives are off track. And this is my answer for everything. Going back to the basics and inviting the spirit of The Lord back into our lives on a personal level. I love my girls and the fact that they're old enough to read and participate in scripture study with me. I hope and pray that we stay close and that our relationships continue to flourish and grow cause I LOVE seeing them grow up and develop into the beautiful daughters of God that they are. 

Thanks to the atoning sacrifice of our dear Lord and Savior, every day is a new day to be better than the day before. I look forward, with a heavy heart, to working towards exaltation. 

Sabbath Day Success

It's not every sabbath day that I feel like its been a success so this one definitely deserved a post. Lol. 

Jordan woke me up this morning at 7:30. I got up and we had a bunch of leftover waffles from dinner last night (waffles and ice cream) so I already planned for the kids and I to have them for breakfast this morning while I prepped my 'make ahead' freezer pancakes for the week. 

We stayed in last night and after indulging in our waffles and ice cream, we gathered in the living room for movie night. I pulled up StreamPix an we ordered a movie. The girls won over the boys and picked the One Direction movie. We chilled while they drooled and mauled over those UK cuties. Lol. It was a great night and as soon as the movie was over, it was bed time. 

Well, our church time has changed to an 11 am start time and I'm so glad!! That's so the perfect time for us!! I was able to get the kids up for breakfast this morning, cleaned them up, fed them breakfast and got started with my make ahead pancakes freezer breakfast meal for this coming up week!! And I also finished the whole two batches since I'm always doubling up since I have seven kids. I was so happy and feeling so accomplished already. Lol. 

I ran Aaliyah to the church an hour before church started for her BYC meeting. She also gave a talk in sacrament today. She spoke about God's love. She did such a great job. This girl never ceases to amaze me. She is so mature for her age and has such great stage presence. She spoke for a good 4-5 min and didn't seem nervous at all. Wow!! She definitely doesn't get that from us. She is totally her own person and I love watching her evolve into such a beautiful young woman. 

I also saw this blogger post freezer pb&j's. OMG!! I jumped on that quick and made them while the pancakes were cooking. Yay!! Lunch for the boys for the week as well. 

When we got home from church, I recruited Aaliyah and Lote into the kitchen with me to help things go a lot faster. I decided on breakfast burritos for lunch so while I was whisking the eggs and milk, I had Aaliyah cooking the breakfast pork sausage. I doubled the batch, once again, and had enough after we ate to freeze for make ahead meals this week. At this point, I'm feeling pretty untouchable!! Lol. No really, tho. Cause this is giving me such peace of mind for my week to go smoothly. 

I got started on dinner meals for the week, but realized that most of my food items were still frozen so I couldn't finish those preps just yet. But I'm not sweatin' it cause I feel so much relief that my breakfasts and lunches are all made for the WHOLE week long and it didn't take that much time at all. I love it!! 

Since my meal prep came to a temporary halt, I decided to make sweets for the kids and I. I was looking thru my phone at recipes and came across Cake Boss' chocolate chip cookies. I looked over the ingredients list to make sure we had everything, which we did, so I got started. I doubled the recipe which made six dozen big cookies. Lol. I don't know why I don't ever believe the servings amount or number of cookies listed at the end of the recipe so I'm always doubling and tripling everything. We had a ton of cookies left over so we bagged them up, put our warm clothes on and headed out the door to deliver cookies to different ward members since we have so many within walking distance. 

First stop, Laura's house. This sweet lady lives down the street from us and I visit teach her so every chance I get to drop off some goodies to her, I don't pass it up. 

We then stopped at Anica's (another ward member and friend) and then at our neighbor's (who aren't members, missionary work??) who so kindly brought us a box of Greek yogurt earlier today. When we got home, the kids grabbed a snack and got ready for bed. My sweet kids. I love them so much for always being so willing to share and serve others. We had a great time walking our neighborhood tonight and they didn't hold back in expressing how they feel and what they need from me. Lol. I'm so grateful that they know that they can come to me for anything. And that they like to remind me when I'm spending too much time with Aaliyah and neglecting the rest of them. Which is why they say they miss their dad. Hahahaha!! I better prioritize my time better and be more conscious of my other ones. They reminded me tonight that I don't only have one child. I have seven. Lol. 

They're all in bed now and I'm winding down as well. Tomorrow is a busy morning taking these two monkeys of mine to Discovery Time at the library. We go every Monday and spend the whole morning there. When we get home, they eat lunch and take a nap. I better get some shut eye so I can hit the gym early for legs and then T25 at home before the kids get up. 

I'm so grateful for my kids and the unconditional love they have for me despite my countless imperfections. This sabbath day definitely feels like a success and I'm so looking forward to continuing my journey to the eternities. 

Blessed

I'm feeling extremely blessed and very aware of my heavenly father's hand in my life right now. This week has been so great minus the fact that I miss Hoko so much. He's gonna be gone for the rest of the month and won't be home til like the first week of March. Booooo!! But we're doing what we gotta do in order to keep our family moving in the direction it needs to go. 

2014 got off to a rough start. We've been battling sick kids and sick parents, which equals a house of sick people ALL THE TIME!! It totally sucked!! Then Hoko's grandpa passed away a lot sooner than we expected or hoped for. And Hoko took it extremely hard. He thought he was ready for Pa's passing, but he quickly found out that losing loved ones, even ones that have lived a full life, is never something you can be prepared for. I haven't seen Hoko cry so much in all the years that I've known him. He loved Pa so much!! It made it harder for him to cope because he was in North Dakota for work when Pa's health took a turn for the worse and he hoped and prayed that he'd make it home in time to see him before he passed, but he didn't. He came home a week early to help with his funeral and be with his family during this rough time. But I have to say that a very positive thing came out of the passing of his grandpa. Hoko was reminded of just how important eternal families are and where his priorities need to be. 

The following week Hoko went to the distribution center and bought himself some brand new garments. A week's worth. When he got home, he said that on his week's off we needed to have temple dates. Aaaaaahhhhh!! I am so happy!! I went the very next day and bought myself new garments as well. That simple step has made such a huge difference in where our priorities are now. I didn't wanna pressure Hoko too much about where I knew we needed to be because I wanted him to come to it on his own. I felt like it would mean more cause it would be real. And I'm grateful for the patience I was granted to wait it out. It's been too long and I'm excited and eager to get back on track!! 

I'm eternally grateful for the plan of salvation for enabling us to be able to return home. I was reading over my lesson for RS for next week and I was overcome with so much emotions. It's on the family and how the gospel is patterned to support the family unit. How the celestial kingdom is the only kingdom out of the three kingdoms where the family unit exists. I don't think I've ever thought of it that way. It talks about the other kingdoms and how it'll be strangers living amongst each other because the family unit is of God and if our families here on earth make it to the celestial kingdom, we are part of a greater family. That heavenly family in which God is the head of. 

I was so saddened cause my thoughts turned immediately to my kids and if one of them was ever to reject the teachings of the gospel and live their lives in a way that isn't pleasing to God, I'd be devastated. That's what made the tears start to overflow. I knew I had to get to the temple this week and I'm so glad Anatava's back in Salt Lake from Vernal and that we got a temple date in this morning!! I love this girl so much!! We've grown so close over such a short time (a little over a year) and I'm always grateful for her friendship and that we're able to attend the temple together when our husbands are out of town. 

We met up at the Bountiful Temple because its the halfway point for the both of us. We caught the 6 am session and barely made it because it was so full. This temple will always hold a special place in my heart because its where our family was sealed for all time and eternity. But now that we're in Ogden, I cannot wait for the temple to be done with renovations!! It's supposed to open back up between July and Sept of this year. Woohoo!! It's like a 30 sec drive from my house. Aaaaaaahhhhh!! I can't wait!! 

Ame came up last night from Salt Lake for gym date with me. I loved it. We died!! Like seriously!! I wanted to end the week with an intense legs session so I pulled up the MFT28 legit workout and we went heavy on our weights. It was so therapeutic!! My legs and butt are super sore right now!! I really appreciated the fact that she came out here to spend time with me. Actions always speak louder than words and I'm grateful for her in my life. 

Anyways, I'm just rambling. I can't wait for Hoko to come home in how many weeks. I miss my main, but I'm grateful for all the amazing people in my life and I want them to know how much I appreciate them. Definitely gonna work on that more this year. 

P.S.: I went grocery shopping for my freezer meals for next week. Spent only $82!! Aaaahhhhhh!! Can you say, MONEY IN THE BANK!! As in money that stays in the bank!! I'm so excited for these freezer meals to help me stay sane and track my caloric intake. April's gonna be here in no time and my goal weight will be here, too!! Yay!! 

Fitness

Fitness is a major part of my life and who I am as a person. I love it so much because of how it makes me feel on the inside. The physical attributes that come with it are definite bonuses. 

I started the T25 program again and am on week three of it. I did the whole first half of it last time, but then stopped when I started the Down and Up Mass program. Now I restarted it from the beginning and am planning to go through the whole ten weeks of it. And I'm excited. My eating hasn't been on point so I'm reeling that in as well. I'm on week five of the Down and Up Mass program by Jim Stoppani. I love it!! 

Ashleigh and I also started weekly weigh ins last week. We do them on Wednesdays. Aaaaaahhhhhh!! I hope I've gone down by tomorrow morning, but I'm not counting on it since my nutrition hasn't been restricted. But I'm gonna stay accountable and stick to it. 

We are going by this 4 week meal plan by blogger mom at www.OrganizeYourselfSkinny.com I love her blog!! She's amazing and makes so much sense!! Gonna do all my meal preps today for my freezer meals. I'm totes EXCITED!! This should help my eating stay on track for the next four weeks cause it'll already be pre-made with freezer meals. Breakfast, lunch and dinner five days a week. And it's mainly based on calorie counting so it's not drastic. Like we have a homemade pizza night this week. And I can't wait!! I'm gonna try making the crust out of mashed sweet potatoes!! Yeeeee!! 

Anyways, just a quick post before I get my T25 workout in. I do this in the morning and then hit the weights later when the kids are home from school and we're all done with homework. Creating a routine with them is so vital for my everyday living to be successful. I have every intention of hitting my goal weight and goal waist measurement by my birthday!! I can't wait!! 

Sila's Baptism

Hoko just left back to work for what is usually his two week rotation, but because he had to come home early for Pa's funeral, he's staying in North Dakota during his week off, which means he'll be gone for five weeks instead. Boooo!! I'm already missing him so much. But I'm so grateful to this man for all his hard work and sacrifice in providing for our big 'ol family of NINE!! 

Anyways, that's why I'm up super early!! So I thought I might as well get a post in while I can. 

We had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate our beautiful daughter's baptism yesterday. Sila made the very important decision in her life to have all of her sins washed away and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We are definitely some proud parents and humbled immensely because of her example. 

We had Aaliyah give the talk on baptism, Lote spoke on confirmation, and all three older girls sang a special musical number as well. It was beautifully imperfect in so many ways, but it's what made it uniquely perfect for our family. 

Hoko baptized and confirmed Sila. His confirmation blessing was beautiful and I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. I married an amazing man whose love for his kids and I only grows with time.  I'm so happy I'm married to this wonderful priesthood holder. He has so many weaknesses as do I, but we draw strength from The Lord and are grateful that we are given the chance to keep trying through daily repentance. 

Cracking up in this pic above cause we were trying to get a pic of just Hoko and I with Sila and Jordan runs up on queue, turns around, poses and says CHEEEEESE!! Lol. It was priceless!! 

Our awesome home teachers came. We're so grateful and blessed to be in an amazing ward. 

And then it was time to go eat. 

And when all is said and done, I'm so grateful for my husband and kids. They are everything to me and through them, I'm able to continue striving to be worthy of exaltation. I love this journey here on earth because they are with me. They make every day worth trying to be better and striving for eternity. I love them so much and am filled with overwhelming gratitude for their very existence in my life.