Rise and Shout!!

Go Cougars Go!!!! Whoohoo!

Saturday was our last BYU home game so we decided to go all out! We face painted, tinseled, and placed bows with art and precision and the result was beautiful. We were a little late to the game but it was worth being late so we could be as spirited as possible. Here we see Rich and Allie looking like Smurfs and I look like a white and blue maned lion. We received stares and comments as we went to the game and from those next to us and I could tell that they were jealous of our creativity and genius.

This season has been pretty good for BYU. We lost a game that we should have won but over all it was a good season. I had fun. I ate slushies. I cheered. I even understood what was going on. But most of all I had a blast hanging out with my husband, Rachel, and Allie.

HEY SISTER!

I know there are people out there who have a bad relationships with there in-law's and I am so glad that my relationship with my in-law's is a good one. Rachel is my husbands sister and is the only girl in the family. She is a sweet heart! She has been so kind and supportive.

I only have one little brother, who is ten years younger than me, so I didn't really know how to live with a guy but Rachel has helped me to understand the logical and very masculine man that I married. There are some things that Rich says and does shock me and then I look over at Rachel to see her reaction and she is laughing. So I relax and let Rich just be a guy.

Rachel also has watch Beau for us on a number of occasions so Rich and I can have some time alone and she is so great with Beau and is always willing to help. I love that about her. So to those out there with in-laws take time to really get to know and love your in-laws because those relationships can be so awesome!!!!

So thanks Rachel for being the sweetest sister-in-law a girl could have.

100% for 100 Days

As we all know Christmas is coming soon. In my ward they gave us a challenge to read the Book of Mormon, pray with the family and individually everyday, have family and personal scripture study every day, go on 1 date a week with your spouse, and give your spouse at least 1 act of service a day. The challenge is to do all of these things 100% of the time. This is to be our Christmas gift to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I have been trying really hard to follow these challenges and so far I am about 80% but I am getting better. But even though I haven't been perfect in all of these things I have noticed a greater peace and JOY that has come to my household and to me. I noticed this increase of joy and happiness every time I follow the teachings and commandments of the Lord. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life and the peace that comes from knowing the pure truths that are taught in the Gospel. I am so excited for General Conference that is coming up in two weeks and I can't wait to listen to the Prophet Thomas S. Monson. He is such a spiritual man of God and his love of Christ is evident in his face and in his actions. I am trying everyday to be more like Christ. I know that He lives and that He died for my and your sins. I hope that I can show my gratitude more fully by the way that I live my life and follow Him and His teachings.

There is so much beauty and grace in the world that Heavenly Father has given to us. I hope that we can add to that beauty by being kind and loving to everyone just as Heavenly Father is to us. He is always there for us. We just need to reach to Him and He will pull us up from the depths of despair. He will lead us through the maze that is life.

Football Season

My family has never really been into football. I went to a couple of football games in high school but it wasn't really to watch the game. The reasons why I went were more of the social kind and I love hot chocolate. But since my marriage I have found that football is usually the topic of conversation for 3-4 months out of the year. When this first started (The first night of our marriage) I really didn't understand the depth of my husbands love for competitive sports, mostly football but some others. but 1 year, 2 lacrosse seasons, and 1 1/2 football seasons later I have finally come to understand that depth of passion and joy. I have even found myself enthralled with a particular close football game or enthusiastically declaring my opinion of a bad call made by the referee of a lacrosse game.

I never thought that I would be a football fan for the football. My husband has done a great job converting me to the football seasons. I know who is ranked. I know who is supposed to win but the percentages of which they could lose. I even know the names of players and coaches. Its been great and even though I give my husband a hard time about watching too much football....secretly I enjoy them almost as much as he does.

I have actually enjoyed going to the games the most. I have loved going with my sister-in-law Rachel and our cousin Allie. It is nice to have other girls there to hang with. I missed going to the last game because of work and I was surprised at how sad I was that I couldn't go. But I will be able to go to the next one I think so I am going to cheer extra loud and get a double large snow cone! Go BYU!

Top Left: Richard's excitment for being at the game!

Middle: Richard and me

Bottom Right: Allie, Rachel, me

Tummy Time

So now that the doctors tell parents not to put their babies on their stomachs to sleep they tell us to give them tummy time. This is a time set apart during the day for Beau to be on his stomach. The more time the better is what they tell me but Beau doesn't seem to listen. After 15 minutes of tummy time Beau very adamantly lets me know that he is done with this activity and that it is not one of his favorite situations. But since I am a tricky sneaky mom I have learned that putting a variety of toys in front of him instead of just one that he is content for about 5 to 10 more minutes!I also put Bubba on his tummy while he is laying on my legs and he really like to do that. I figure that finding solutions to these kinds of problems will help me to get him to eat his veggies and other things like that in the future. Beau is getting better about tummy time. It is fun watching him reach for toys. He is still learning how to grasp things but he is getting some things to his mouth already.

Richard

I just want to write a snippet about my most favorite person in the world... My husband Richard. ;) He is playing lacrosse again this year for BYU and it is such a great experience for him to be playing with one of the best college lacrosse teams in the nation. I just want to say that my husband is the best and I am not making a biased judgement at all. lol But really he is doing such a good job providing for our young family and he is so dedicated to school that he is even getting up early in the mornings to do homework, and if you know Rich that fact alone shows true dedication. Rich is not a morning person. My baby takes after his daddy like a carbon copy and it is so odd to me too have two blonde haired, blue eyed males out number me in my home. It is so amusing and comforting to watch Richard interact with Beau. Beau always gets a HUGE smile on his face when he sees his daddy. They do manly activities together like watching football and wrestling (so far Rich has won every time but Beau is getting there lol) My favorite is when Rich gives Beau a bath. It is an interesting experience for them both and although Rich gives him pretty good bathes I always check in the fat roll on Beau just in case. I am so glad that Rich is my husband...good thing to because we are going to be together forever! Well see ya!

The Codex of Alera by Jim Butcher

This is a series of books that my sister-in-law Ashley recommended to me. The first book, The Furies of Calderon was a little bit slow for me because I figured out a lot of things before the author told me about them in the next books. But it was still very interesting and I loved the new type of magic that was involved and there were still quite a few surprises that kept me on my toes. The second and third book were very good but I loved the fourth one. I am anxiously waiting to get my hands on the next book. This is a series that I will defiantly add to my library when I get a chance. Tavi is the main character and I have loved following him in his life. But by far my favorite character is Isana. Butcher did a fantastic job at making Isana a real person with amazing strengths and real worries and failures. I related to her and always looked forward to reading about her and her thoughts.