DWELL in the POSSIBILITIES

Today I was inspired by a quote on my wall that reads "Dwell in the possibilities". I Love the message that this quote sends and the encouragement that it gives. I have constantly lived in amazement at all that Jim can accomplish and his "can do it" attitude. He always approaches everything that people ask him to do and all the things I come up with and simply says "ya I can do that" or " we can figure it out" What an amazing thing. Then I think, Well why couldn't we do all these things. We have been created in the very image of God. We have a heavenly spirit in each of us and if we choose to have faith in those things there should be NOTHING that we cant do. I have loved watching this in my husband and it makes me even more excited when I see it developing already in Xander. He is always saying "I can do it! I can do it!" He loves the independence and through that independence he grows so quickly and dwells in the possibilities of all that he can do every day. I am a believer in that our children can only stretch as far as we allow them to. If we create an environment for our children that encourages them to try new things and not be afraid of life happening around them but instead to make life happen the way that they want around them I feel they would have a lot more success. It all rests on us as parents. To show our children that we are excited for new things and the promise of what tomorrow can bring into our lives. To find Excitement in the little things that we see every day. In short its important for us to be more like these wonderful little people we are blessed with naturally are. Children are naturally curious, they love to explore and to touch, to taste and to see, to hear and to feel things. Xander's newest discovery is that he can hear things that he cant see. He loves to to hold still and listen. Then he will pipe up and say "Mom I hear something with my ears!" "What is it?" So I explain what it is that he is hearing and often times if we can we will go and find what it is that we hear. And guaranteed the next time he hears that sound he tells me what it is and where to find it. He is discovering his love for books and music and he loves to find new books at the library and bring them home and tirelessly turn through the pages and learn everything he can from the book. I have seen him learn a word from a new book and later in the day start using it correctly in his speech. I watched him yesterday as he was listening to my EFY music with me doing dishes, he started to sing. He caught on that the chorus is repeated and he started to sing the words to the chorus out loud. 

Children will always dwell in the possibilities that we can teach them from our past experience, some that they can learn from whatever is around them right now, and millions that shine on the horizon of what tomorrow can bring. All we have to do is encourage them to take the chances and help them to succeed when they do. If we do this, we will create the leaders of tomorrow that we will be proud to follow into eternity!

So this is a little bit late but better late then never. Here is a picture of my beautiful family in front of our very first home. We have been here for little over a month now and we are loving our home more and more all the time. We are so lucky to have it and to be able to make so many wonderful memories in it. 

I really wanted to add a few pictures of my beautiful family and tell you all about them. First is my handsome husband and love for eternity. Jim is the whole reason I have this wonderful little family. He was the smart one that decided that we needed more then just young adult friends, activities and parties. He is the one that decided that there was more to life then how he was living and he wanted more then anything to have me be a part of his wonderful adventure. He loves me! He is an excellent father and a wonderful example of service to me everyday! 

Im so lucky to have not only him but a wonderful little soul was given to us to protect and teach!

Xander is a smart little man. He has been a blessing from the start. He almost always slept well, always ate well and blessed us with the opportunity to watch him learn and grow far faster then we were able to teach him. He never stops moving lately or talking. He can talk circles around Jim and I, which is really saying something. He has an incredible spirit in him. He is so willing to love everyone. Its true when they say that teach and you will learn. I have learned more in the last three years with Xander as my teacher then I ever thought I could.  

Well I guess I should also say a little about myself as I am a part of this family. I am a Wife, Mother, Sister, Daughter, Cousin, Friend, Caregiver, Granddaughter. Those are a few of the titles that I very proudly hold and love every minute I get to spend being them. I also have a love for pictures and photography. It is a passion of mine. I have chosen to keep it a hobby and I am so happy I did. I also love to be outside. Nothing cures my bumpy grumpies then being outside spending time with the ones I love most. And lastly but most importantly I love my savior. Without him I would have a very different life and I am blessed by his sacrifice every second that I live. 

yeah! I finally have a dryer now! its been to long and I have way to much laundry to do but again with the little things that make me excited now I can do it. My wonderful brothers came and helped me load it into my truck and then came to my house and plugged it in for me and got it hooked up to the vent. I am so thankful for wonderful family. They really are a blessing to me. My awesome hubby had to work today like always so I figured instead of waiting for him to be done to make him work more we would figure it out without him. Yesterday was Canada Day and it was so fun to bring Xander through all of the fun celebration that was taking place. He loved all the bouncy castles and obstacle courses. He went through pretty much every one of them by himself. Im pretty proud of him because some of them were huge with quite the slide at the end and nothing stopped him. Then last night we got to take Xander to his very first fireworks. HE LOVED IT! It was awesome. He kept naming off all the colors of the fireworks and was amazed at the loud bangs! What a fun day with a fun kiddo and family.

Canada Day! I love Canada day. My whole life I have felt like it really kicks off summer when we get to celebrate with everyone and watch some fireworks. We took Xander down for the pancake breakfast this morning and it was so much fun. He was so patient waiting in the line along with half of Medicine Hat I am sure. We came home and he helped me to water my newly planted strawberries and sour cherry trees, then got bored and got up on the trampoline and jumped for a while. Our backyard is coming along nice. We had to plant alot of new grass because there were a lot of bare spots that get pretty muddy with a 3 year old and a sprinkler and after a week I finally am seeing little baby grass growing. It made me oddly excited over something so little. We also took a big old trailer of branches and garbage to the dump that was all around the yard when we moved in. Our next task in the yard is going to be the big cement slabs that we have to move out of the garden spot. It is a horrible mess right now but I cant wait to see what its going to look like next year after all this work. No Garden this year but next year I am going to have an awesome garden and Im so excited. Xander is to, He is already checking my strawberries every day and eating every little teeny red one he finds.
Well now we are off to Kin coulee again to check out the festivities. It will be the first time Xander will really get to enjoy what we are doing. He is at such a fun age where he is learning to explore and be amazed at everything. I could spend my whole day just watching his facial expressions and listening to him talk through all this things that he is seeing and learning. What a cool thing to witness. I feel so blessed everyday to get to be a part of this amazing childs life and learning. He continues to blow our minds daily with new words and concepts that he picks up on. I cant wait to see what he is going to be and the amazing man he will become when he is grown. Not that I want him to grow up quickly because I love every moment with him now, they just seem to get better and better that I cant imagine what it will be like 20 years from now. I live a blessed life. I am thankful to my Father in Heaven for it everyday. Have a fantastic Canada day everyone!

A New Chapter

So we finally did it. We moved into our very first home! It has been full of so many different emotions. I have felt like we have been on a roller coaster ever since we got our keys but I would want it any other way. I love my home. Jim has worked so hard to make it a wonderful, peaceful and beautiful place for us to be already. Xander loves having so much room to play and his own space again. His favorite room in our home is the crawl space under the main level that we have made into his play room. He would spend the whole day down there and we totally content to just pop up for food every once in while, which is beautiful to me as I try and organize the rest of the house. I started my summer holidays just this week so now I can really get cracking and organize my chaos. Its wonderful to be able to be home and getting things done again during the day, however I must admit the urge is huge to lounge all day in my jammies with Xman. Now that I am not working again I am going to work hard on writing more because I find it helps me to sort through my thoughts. I also have such a funny child that I really need to be better at writing down his moments so that they are never forgotten.
Here is one for the day, Xander and I went to my moms to hang out for a while and get away from his path of destruction he seemed to be on in our own home. We were all hanging out in the living room talking (totally boring for a little boy almost 3) and uncle Kimball is laying on his stomach on the ground resting his eyes. Xander walks over to him and proceeds to quote Frozen while trying to wake him up... "wake up, wake up, wake up," rolls over and lays on uncle Kimballs back "I cant, the sky is awake, so I'm awake, so we have to go play" oh it was the best moment of the day. When all is said and done, the food is spread across the floor and Jam on my rocking chair, marker on my couch and a freshly watered carpet, with Highlighted the parts he must have loved in the book I had just set down. This little boy can take all the frustration away in a heartbeat. He is my heart and soul.
I feel the need to share one more thing before I am done for the evening. I love my family so much, My husband is the absolute love of my life. I couldnt have asked for a better best friend. I am constantly amazed by how much he loves me through all the emotions and crazy that I put him through. He is always so call and constant. We have an amazing son, as I have mentioned who lights up our life and makes us so happy everyday. We are such a happy family and we have wanted for 2 years now to make our family grow larger but it has not been in the plans for us yet. I say this not to gain any sympathy because I dont need it, I say it because for the first time since I made up my mind that I wanted #2 I have finally become ok with accepting whatever our family gets. I feel I have wasted to many tears that could have been a smile elsewhere and to many thoughts that could have been happier on something else. I know my family is ment to grow. What I have come to accept is the timeline which is different then originally planned. It is hard for me at times when I have people ask me if I am pregnant again and my thoughts go straight to "I wish!" but trust me when I say when it happens again and I am blessed to carry another heavenly spirit into this earth it wont only be the heavens celebrating you might just hear me from where ever you may be. Until then I am content to wait in patience. I will pass this test, and when I do, I know the blessings will be beyond my comprehension.  

SURGERY.... Yuck! I just wish I could switch with Xander so he didnt have to go without food all night long and no breakfast in the morning and then get taken in and handed to strangers while hungry and tired to go have surgery. I know its not as big a deal as I make it out to be and I know for sure that they are kind and capable hands that I am leaving him in but it just doesnt sit well with me. Oh well I guess its just a learning experience for me and it will be good. Just cant see it yet.
Well we are all moved in to our place and the only boxes that arent unpacked are my books because they dont have a space anymore since my food storage took over yet another shelf. Oh well, prioritize right?
well another day has passed and I just love my life so much. my earlier melt down is all I have had cause to worry about or stress about in the last little while and for that I am so grateful. I am so lucky to have such wonderful family on both sides and such great friends.

IM BACK!  So it has now been over a year since I have posted in my blog and I am going to be better. So many things have happened in this last year. My wonderful little family moved to a different house and we love it. We had some friends that just left for a a mission and we get the opportunity to watch their home for them. It helps us and them out a ton because it allowed for Jim to go back to school and I can still stay at home with my beautiful little son.
Speaking of my son, Xander turned a year old and I am still trying to comprehend that I now have a one year old. He is so smart and talented for a little man. Picking up on alot of words already, running and climbing up everything. I had the happiest moment of my life yet when I got to watch my husband and my son play hide and seek for the first time every. Nothing melts a heart more then when a baby sincerely is laughing because he thinks something is hilarious. He loves his daddy so much to and I don't think in the history of fathers on this earth that one has loved a child more then Jim loves Xander. I'm so proud!
We also got celebrate lots of firsts with Xander this last year, we had a first Halloween. It was pretty fun because we got to dress up and all match. Xander was the Cheshire Cat and Jim and I defiantly rocked the tweetle dee and tweetle dum costumes.  Another first was Christmas. That was so wonderful! He was only three months old at the time so he didnt really get excited much about it but I sure did. Im more excited for this coming Christmas because now he really likes to rip into things so this should be great memory!
So many other things have happened in the last year but I am going to leave with what I have said and just promise to do better. Life is so wonderful! It truly does bring new things with every day just like a box of chocolates brings new flavors with every bit!