logan's new trick

this kid makes me laugh. boy do i love him!

a little bit of logan

a trip to the fire station

a guy who goes to our church is a firefighter and was nice enough to let a group of us visit the fire station. it was really fun. we got to ask all sorts of questions (i had lots), try on the gear (someone would need to rescue me with all that stuff on. talk about heavy) and sit in the fire engine. sadly we didn't get to slide down the pole, but chad was nice enough to do it a couple of times for us. i did learn they grease the pole so you slide down easier. that made me want to do it even more, but alas, i'm not a professional.

notice how logan was not cooperating with my photo opp above. didn't he realize it would have been cuter if he left me put the little fire hat on him?!

last weekend

my sister angela and her family are moving to colorado this summer. i can hardly wait! she and mark, her husband, came for a quick house hunting trip last weekend and we had a fun night being together. it involved lots of talking (we are todd's, so it is to be expected), dessert (also to be expected) and dave and i taught them our favorite marble game. can't wait until you're colorado residents!

go green

we're not very "green," even though it is the trendy thing to do (although we do recycle and i use reusable grocery bags. those count for something, right?!). but on st. patrick's day we were all about the green! it was a gorgeous day and so we went to the park and sat on the (not very) green grass, but no complaints because the grass wasn't covered in snow. we wore green and had our annual st. patrick's day dinner, green waffles and green (orange) julius.

are you kidding me?!

today while i was at the grocery store i heard the following:

a customer loudly announces to a couple of store workers that she has an important piece of feedback. the orange juice is located too far from the entrance of the store. as a frequent drinker of orange juice this is unacceptable. it is too far to walk to get her juice. this store should take a lesson from another store she's been to where the juice is located much closer (same chain, different location). they have it figured out. she explained that lots of healthy people drink orange juice and with summer coming that number will only increase. it is just too far to walk for her juice and if a change isn't made, she won't shop at the store any more. she then repeated her complaint to her checker.

my thoughts as i listened to the lady rant:

1. she is crazy
2. she clearly needs something real to worry about
3. she is probably one of those people that always finds something to complain about
4. are you kidding me?! do you actually expect them to rearrange their entire store so your juice is closer to the entrance.
5. the store workers would probably appreciate it if she made good on her threat and shopped at a different store (perhaps the other one that has it all figured out).
6. healthy people won't mind walking a little further to get their juice.

love them!

spring snow

it snowed a lot here on tuesday night and early wednesday. and while i am more than ready for spring, the perk of this last storm was that dave got a snow day! i am more than fine with that (although now i would also be fine with this being the last snow for a long time)! we had the ultimate lazy day (want to know how lazy? we watched 2 movies!) and it was fantastic!

doesn't logan look thrilled?! i think he is ready for spring too (he seriously looks ticked at the snow. or maybe at me for bundling him up and sticking him in the snow to take a picture. totally worth it though).

grow it, shave it, beat it

a couple of months ago dave became involved with st. baldrick's, a foundation that raises funds for childhood cancer research (more than any organization except the u.s. government). dave reached his goal of raising $500 and celebrated by shaving his head at the denver shave event (one of 3,500 shave events that happened throughout the world). logan and i headed downtown to witness dave's transformation.

before and after. he looks pretty darn hot if i do say so myself!

here we go!

twins!

i'm so proud of dave! it was inspiring to be at the event and see so many people that are working to make a difference. maybe next year i'll try to raise money too. although i don't think i can rock the bald look like dave (or the women i saw at the shave event). i have a HUGE dent in the back of my head (trust me, it's huge).

8 months

these days logan:

• is mimicking our sounds (as long as we make a sound he knows how to make)
• is reaching for everything. he has quite the stretch, which is good for him since he shows no intention of becoming mobile.
• loves showing off his 2 bottom teeth
• loves grabbing noses. a stranger at the grocery store started talking to him and he reached right up and grabbed her nose. it was hilarious!
• waves his arms, kicks his legs and bounces up and down when he gets excited.
• holds his arms up at about shoulder height and waves them when he gets upset
• loves throwing toys. especially his rubber blocks. and then folding himself in half to try and reach whatever he's just thrown.
• loves bananas, peaches and bananas with mixed berries baby food and prefers oatmeal to rice cereal. he bangs on his tray and leans forward with his mouth open to let me know i need to pick up the feeding pace.
• still can't decide what he thinks of graham crackers. he had his first one a couple weeks ago.
• has entered the "i drop it, you pick it up" stage
• likes to "walk" when his daddy holds his hands and helps him
• seems to have rediscovered his hands. he holds them in front of his face and moves them around
• will scream if you squish his cheeks
• likes to chew on his thumb
• loves reading books and being sung to
• loves attention and will usually smile is someone talk to him
• loves to be held
• grunts, then holds his breath and his face turns bright red when he poops. it is hilarious! (sorry, tmi)
• likes to suck on his toes again. but now he folds himself in half to get to them
• loves to have his belly kissed
• does "head bumps" with daddy (touches foreheads)
• favorite word is da-da, although we're not 100% sure he knows who da-da is
• talks to himself as he falls asleep and when he wakes up
• favorite toys: measuring spoons, his eating spoon and the remote control

fuzz head

faith obedience

a couple of weeks ago i read some negative comments about my church. and while that is not altogether uncommon (unfortunately), it still is hard to have something that is so important to me criticized. one of the comments that really disturbed me was the notion that we blindly follow our leaders without questioning or thinking for ourselves. for days that comment bothered me (because i know it's not true) and i began a study on the topic of faith.

i follow our prophet because i have received a personal witness from the holy ghost that he has been called of god to lead us. joseph smith, who restored the church of jesus christ said, "it is the privilege of the children of god to come to god and get revelation. god is not a respecter of persons, we all have the same privilege." i have asked god and i have received an answer through his spirit. i know that president thomas s. monson is a prophet of god, that he is our modern day moses or abraham, called to lead us today. i don't pretend to understand the reason for everything we are asked to do, but that doesn't change the fact that i know god has called a prophet and i will follow him. abraham didn't understand why he was asked to sacrifice isaac (especially considering the promise god had made to him. a promise that seemed like it would be fulfilled through isaac), but he went forward with faith. it takes faith to be obedient. elder r. conrad schultz, a leader of my church said, "'faith obedience' is a matter of trust. the question is simple: do we trust our heavenly father? do we trust our prophets?"

in speaking to students at harvard law school 2 weeks ago, elder dallin h. oaks, a modern day apostle said, "some wonder how members of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints accept a modern prophet's teaching to guide their personal lives, something unusual in most religious traditions. our answer to the charge that latter-day saints follow their leaders out of "blind obedience" is this same personal revelation. we respect our leaders and presume inspiration in their leadership of the church and in their teachings. but we are all privileged and encouraged to confirm their teachings by prayerfully seeking and receiving revelatory confirmation directly from god."

elder schultz also spoke about the idea of "blind obedience":

"one of the sneaky ploys of the adversary is to have us believe that unquestioning obedience to the principles and commandments of god is blind obedience. his goal is to have us believe that we should be following our own worldly ways and selfish ambitions. this he does by persuading us that 'blindly' following the prophets and obeying the commandments is not thinking for ourselves. he teaches that it is not intelligent to do something just because we are told to do so by a living prophet or by prophets who speak to us from the scriptures. our unquestioning obedience to the lord's commandments is not blind obedience. president boyd k. packer...taught us about this: 'latter-day saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. they are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of god. ...we are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see'" (emphasis added by me!).

i know those were some long quotes, but their words were too powerful to paraphrase. i am so grateful that god loves us enough to call a prophet in our day, just as he did anciently. the world is a confusing place and i am grateful for the guidance that god provides us today through his prophet. it brings me such peace and direction and in my life. and i am grateful i don't have to just take someone else's word for it (or follow "blindly"). i know we can learn truth for ourselves from the source of all truth. i know god can teach us through his spirit because i have experienced it. and i am grateful that he continues to teach me and strengthen my faith as i seek it. i love how my faith grows and as it grows, my desire to be obedient and more christlike grows as well.

i am obedient not because i am blind. i am obedient because i can see!

Baby Bungalow GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

my friend jaimie sews the cutest things (she is so talented). a blog is hosting a giveaway for a cute car seat cover she makes (her name for it, baby bungalow, sounds so much cuter). check it out!

Baby Bungalow GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

for grandma and grandpa gg

thanks for my new outfit. i love it!

love, logan

pieces of me

earlier i was reading a talk by elder jeffrey r. holland where he quoted ecclesiastes 6:14, "a faithful friend is a strong defense. and he that hath found...one hath found a treasure."

this scripture made me think about this weekend when i spent some time with a friend that i consider a kindred spirit. i honestly believe we were meant to be friends (yes, like it was in the cosmos...our paths were meant to cross). she is the kind of friend i can say anything to, i can vent to, i can drop by her house without warning, we can sit and do nothing together and have a great time. i wish we could be next door neighbors one day (as in, i wish we could be next door neighbors today. too bad the house for rent next to hers was outside our budget). on saturday night we had a little movie night at her house. she offered to make us a milkshake in her awesome blender (think jamba juice blender. i have blender envy). but dave had already started his fast, so i passed (trying to be a supportive wife and not an evil temptress by drinking a yummy milkshake in front of him). but after thinking of that milkshake all day yesterday, i was craving one last night. so i texted my friend and asked if i could take her up on that milkshake offer. 20 minutes later (at 8:45) i was pulling up to her house to pick up 2 berry milkshakes and she even sent me home with a few slices of homemade bread. she is serving constantly (not just by making milkshakes). she is amazing and the type of person i want to be (she will be embarrassed when she reads this).

i started thinking about all the wonderful friends that i have from various parts and times of my life and all i have learned (growing up, church, cheerleading, soccer, high school, college, mission, washington dc, thailand, work, post college life, post married life etc.). friends who have helped me through hard times, have shown me a different perspective, friends who have made me laugh, have rocked out at dance parties with me, have traveled to new places with me, have taught me new skills, introduced me to new music and books, have taught me about motherhood, have taught me about love, about selflessness, about service, about the gospel and ultimately about being like christ. i see pieces of so many friends over the years in myself and i am grateful for the person i have become because of so many of you! i feel like i have found a wonderful treasure.

bedtime routine

every night before i go to bed i check on logan. i just have to. last night as i crawled into bed after checking on him, i said to dave, "i don't know why but i can't go to sleep until i've checked on logan." to which dave replied, "because you're a mom." his response made me so happy. even though i've been a mom for almost 8 months, every once in awhile i have those moments where i go, "wow! this is my baby, my son. i am a mom!" it is more fantastic than i ever could have imagined!

a few moments over the months where i not only snuck in to check on him, but snapped a picture (i can't believe he was ever as tiny as he was in the first picture)