Special

This is one of my favorite pictures of Colt and I.  Photographer:  Colt :)
     A couple of years ago we had a friend stay the night at our home - after finding out that his stay landed on my Birthday, he was appologetic for intruding on my "Special" day. 
     For me, a date on a calendar doesn't make the day special.  If you live every day like it was something special - which it is! - a gift from God for another day of life, then everyday is truly a treasure and a chance to find and make great experiences and your own specialness. 

      These special times don't just happen on their own, you need to look for them, find them, and make them.  The miracles and tender mercies of the Lord are all around us.

     Have you heard of the 5 love languages? 
Here is a fun assessment to find out what love language you speak and how you most likely give and receive love:
http://www.5lovelanguages.com/assessments/love/
Here were my results:
10 Quality Time
7 Acts of Service
7 Words of Affirmation
5 Physical Touch
1 Receiving Gifts

     This was on Husbands and Wives.  They have other ones for other relationships.  I gave a YW lesson a while back on loving and appreciating others, and it was a big eye-opener for me that the way I give and receive love may be different than how others do. The ways that they show me their love may not be the language that I primarily speak.  I think this is important to realize!!  Take for example gifts:  Even though I don't necessarily speak this language, it's important for me to realize that others may have this as their preferred/dominant way to give and receive love.  (I do enjoy a thoughtful gift - the choices on the site were between the other ways of love and gifts - with Colt, I'll choose the other ways most every time :)  While I prefer time and service, I need to recognize, accept, and give all forms.  
The following is from the website 5lovelanguages.com:
Quality Time
     In the vernacular of Quality Time, nothing says, “I love you,” like full, undivided attention. Being there for this type of person is critical, but really being there–with the TV off, fork and knife down, and all chores and tasks on standby–makes your significant other feel truly special and loved. Distractions, postponed dates, or the failure to listen can be especially hurtful.
Acts of Service
     Can vacuuming the floors really be an expression of love? Absolutely! Anything you do to ease the burden of responsibilities weighing on an “Acts of Service” person will speak volumes. The words he or she most want to hear: “Let me do that for you.” Laziness, broken commitments, and making more work for them tell speakers of this language their feelings don’t matter.
Words of Affirmation
     Actions don’t always speak louder than words. If this is your love language, unsolicited compliments mean the world to you. Hearing the words, “I love you,” are important–hearing the reasons behind that love sends your spirits skyward. Insults can leave you shattered and are not easily forgotten.
Physical Touch
     This language isn’t all about the bedroom. A person whose primary language is Physical Touch is, not surprisingly, very touchy. Hugs, pats on the back, holding hands, and thoughtful touches on the arm, shoulder, or face–they can all be ways to show excitement, concern, care, and love. Physical presence and accessibility are crucial, while neglect or abuse can be unforgivable and destructive.
Receiving Gifts
     Don’t mistake this love language for materialism; the receiver of gifts thrives on the love, thoughtfulness, and effort behind the gift. If you speak this language, the perfect gift or gesture shows that you are known, you are cared for, and you are prized above whatever was sacrificed to bring the gift to you. A missed birthday, anniversary, or a hasty, thoughtless gift would be disastrous–so would the absence of everyday gestures.
    
     You may have scored certain ones of the love languages more highly than others, but do not dismiss those other languages as insignificant. Your husband may express love in those ways, and it will be helpful to you to understand this about him.  
     In the same way, it will benefit your husband to know your love language and express his affection for you in ways that you interpret as love. Every time you or your husband speak each other’s language, you score emotional points with one another. Of course, this isn’t a game with a scorecard! The payoff of speaking each other’s love language is a greater sense of connection. This translates into better communication, increased understanding, and, ultimately, improved romance.
     Little things can be enormously special to a spouse:  Like when Colt comes home early and sits down and eats dinner with us, or last night he vacuumed the front room - true greatness!

     Little things can be enormously special to a child:  Reading a book, pushing them on a swing, playing games or "bear", wrestling, painting a picture.  Spending time with them is of utmost specialness.  Our girls want to be where we are.  If we ever have a door closed, they are right outside the door waiting for us to come through it.  River and Silver usually follow me around the house, playing in whatever room I'm in.  Or if we're working outside, and going from front to back, it's not long before they're right there with you.  I will miss that when they grow older. 
     People other than parents are super-special too.  Grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends and cousins are pretty special and things to be looked forward to.  The other day I had a friend call and say "I'll take your kids tonight so you and Colt can have the evening to do what you want.  Go out...stay in, we'll have your kids." That was so sweet to offer and meant we got a date-night without having to arrange a sitter - the hardest part for me with making an evening happen.  We watched a movie at the theatre - something we don't do very often at all, and haven't done without kids since college.  A Big Thank-You for a Special Evening! 
     I had another friend call today and offer to watch my kids next time I go to St George for my midwife appt.  So thoughtful, and so appreciated.  Offering to help is so big to me because I always have a hard time asking. 

 Here are some of my ways to make the day special (you'll have to come up with things that you enjoy)
*Time - mainly with Colt.  *Time - also by myself (Colt took the girls last night and had a special outing with them while I got to get to some things I have been needing too - special time!  *Visits - to or from friends and family.  *Sweedish Fish and Chocolate - I just discovered this combination today - it is exactly like those fruit sticks covered in chocolate, instantly taking me back to my Grandparent's home and Grandpa opening the box of chocolates.  *Re-live a memory  *Ice Cream  *Music - This is an instant mood-picker-uper for me.  I love to turn up the music and dance around  *Dance in the rain  *American Cheese!  (sometimes with Wheat Thins)  *Pictures - This is why I love my Blog Time - It is my favorite thing to go through pictures and post them.  *Squeeky Cheese - another instant memory - with Dad or Grandpa and Funyons.  *Do my hair and makeup - An instant mood picker uper.  *Dress nice.  I need to shower and do my hair/makeup/and get dressed nicely each day to feel good for the whole day.  If I don't do this, I can feel it in about everything I do.  *Put on shoes.  *Put a flower in my hair.  *Make your own fashion statement - Colt has taught me - don't worry about what others may think of you - with a flower in your hair or green shoes - Be Yourself!  *Say a Prayer  *Phone call from Colt 

*Quotes - One of my favorite things is an email every couple of days from http://ldsnuggets.com/ .  The left top has a box to put in your email address. They email the greatest LDS quotes, that are very timely, and an instant pick-me-up as quotes from our prophet and apostles.   Another thing with quotes is to remember things that are important.  I post quotes and fun things around so I can read them often.  Today's favorite:  "More Grains, Less You"  Posted on our candy cupboard:  It makes me laugh everytime I see it :)  *Read Scriptures  *Earrings:  I bought some little kid earrings - the lady asked if I was getting them for my daughter, Nope - for me :)  They make me smile when I wear turtles or butterflies, bees, stars or cherries.  *Get to a project you've been wanting to do.  *Clean something or change it so that it really looks better than before  *Get Outside - I love weeding and watering because it gets me out there.  *Go for a walk to the mailbox - I know this sounds wierd, but it's one of the things I look forward to, or if I need a pick-up, put the girls in a stroller and go for a walk.  *Outside after the heat of the day wears off  *Colors, I get a kick out of bright colors  *Read - I don't read much, I find that I put other things as a priority over this one regularly.  I enjoy reading though, and so when I do, I really find the time special.  My favorite things to read:  National Geographic, Time Magazine,  gospel books, Comic books - Calvin and Hobbes and Baby Blues :)  *Do something for someone else - go visit someone lonely or make them a card and mail it - Look for things you can do for them.  *Invite someone over for dinner or games and ice cream.  Everyone loves an invite, even if they can't make it. 
So yes, I am really random, and yes, I am wacky - but hey, that's me!

I guess I should say - That's US!

Make today Special.  Use the nice glasses.  Go ahead and get dressed up even if you're not going anywhere.  Be spontaneous and remember to smile and laugh :)

I Love You Colt!

Thanks for Making Every Day Special

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

Our Daddy is the Greatest! We love it when he is Home!

River has a new favorite thing to do! Playing Cards!! GO FISH! She is really excellent. She has the teenage neighborhood girls pulling out their hair because she wins most of the time. Mike also couldn’t win her for awhile. This is her game!

Even when she gets sidetracked on getting the pig (her favorite animal because it's her favorite color: pink!) she still wins!
Determination!

"Daddy and I make a great team!"

Our Daddy is full of life, enthusiasm and happiness!

He adds so much joy and love!

Most Favorite Spot: On Daddy's Lap (Or being packed around by him)

River snipped off the blind cords - so Silver has a convenient spot to watch for Daddy to come home. Silver has a hard time when Daddy leaves in the mornings. She blows him kisses and waves goodbye!

Oh, The Fun When Daddy's Home!

It's amazing how much fun you can have with a wetwipe!

A Few of Our Favorite Things

Each and every day is a special gift!! There are SO many things to be thankful for, what started as just a little idea has grown to tons of pics and videos and a huge list of things we're thankful for every day!! Some of River's Favorites:

River and Silver play SO well together!
Our Happy Girls on their Tramp: Funny story about this tramp: So, we like to be frugal and save money where we can. Most everything we have is 2nd hand. We save lots of $$ and don't worry about it too much if it gets ruined (which just tends to happen sometimes with little helpers). Anyway, we found this tramp on Craig's List and drove to St George to pick it up! We were so excited to drive home and put up our tramp. Small probem: When we got home, one of the frame bars had fallen out of the trailer. We couldn't set it up without that piece! We finally got another piece wielded for it, and have had SO much fun on our $20 tramp!

Dollies! River's new thing is that she wants to grow up to be a Mommy (and a Doctor, we got her a doctor set for Christmas - she LOVES to gives shots. She wore her stethescope the last time we went to Dr. Bowman's and she got the biggest kick showing him she had a stethescope just like he did :)

Whether doing dishes or cutting things with a sharp knife or taking care of babies: Look mom, I'm a mommy now!! I tell her she's practicing all the things she needs to be a mommy.

Our tent is SO fun! Here are River's cousins and best friends John Wayne and Easton.

My River Smiling!

Joy School! River and Jakob get together twice a week for Joy School. What a fun program and a chance to get together and learn and have fun!

Art Projects: River LOVES art projects. Her constant daily question: Mom, What can I do next? If it involves any type of art or cooking, cleaning too, she's SO excited. How many kids can you get to clean the floor and think it's fun? Or try water in a squirt bottle and have her squeegee off the sliding glass doors! Tons of FUN!

Toys!

Fingernail Polish!

Stickers!

Tramp!

Jumping and Running!

Reading!

I LOVE this picture! She is SO into books. River loves reading books all day long, and at night we let her have her light on and read books. She'll read for hours at night.

Art Projects! This one is a Smelling Collage.

Our Daddy! Daddy is a girl Magnet! When he's home he's either got 1 more likely 2 and sometimes all 3 girls on the couch with him :)

River loves taking her naps on Mommy and Daddy's bed. River and Silver sleep in the same room, but for naps, it's easiest if River is in our Room and Silver is in the kids room. That way they won't wake each other up when one wakes up.

Water!

River was Well Named

Being Part of Everything!~ Silver Dawn is a go-er! My goodness, she is into everything and running as fast as those legs will go most of the time. She sleeps well when she finally stops!

River loves puppies! She wants a pet of her very own. We bought her - it's kind of like a chiia pet - that grows grass out of the head that you can cut. After about a week she comes to me: "Mom, I want a real pet this time!!"

Makeup!

River just can't wait to grow up!

This picture is River to a "T" Nailpolish in one hand. A sucker in the other. Comfy Pants (she won't wear jeans) and a necklace to boot with a princess shirt. Messy hair end our ensemble. Most of the time we do her hair and it gets pulled out a couple of minutes into church, looking worse than ever with crazy hair everywhere :) Memories!

Precious Archive Video. Book of Mormon Stories! We love singing! This was just after Silver Dawn was born - February 2009.

Bedtime made up Stories HAVE to be on a list of our favorite things!! River makes up stories too. She's not shy about sharing them.

Colt's favorite things:
Coyotes
Float Indicater’s showing a strike
High Mountain Lake in a Float Tube
My Honey’s Blue Eyes
Cookie Dough
My Girls in the Morning

River: When asked what she is Thankful for:
Daddy, Mommy, Silver Dawn, Ruth (next door neighbor) Necklaces, Reading Books, Watching Movies, Joy School, Library Time (every Wednesday and Friday the local library puts on a fantastic reading hour). Dancing (we just signed River up for Ballett lessons - she LOVES her dancing. It is the CUTEST thing I've ever seen. The best entertainment of the week watching 10 3 year olds having fun! Computer Games, Pushing/Wrestling, Made Up Stories with Daddy, Something to Hug (Teddy Bears at night) Stickers!

Some of my favorite things: and things I'm most thankful for: The Gospel, COLT! – Tops the list, My biggest blessing! Having Gone to College, Having Gone on a Mission, Living on a mini-farm while growing up and learning to work hard, Being Debt Free, Being okay with me, my body, myself, being able to be in a quiet room and okay with that, Good Health, GRASS, An American Flag, The Seasons, Avacados, Sugar - in most any form (River has this too: she tells me, Mom, what has sugar in it that I can eat?) Sunshine coming through our windows, Sound of Rain, Hot Showers, So I don't know if I've shared this story yet, but Hot showers in the morning, to be able to stand up and enjoy a refreshing showers is just about one of the most wonderful things to be enjoyed every day!! On my mission, very, very few people had stand up showers. They were mostly a tub with a small hot water tank literally above your head. There were no cutains on the tub either. And they always had 2 handles - one for hot and the other for cold. The water tank was so tiny, that you'd have to get wet fast, turn off the water. Soap up. Turn on the water, finding the correct temperature and rinse off. Same thing for shampoo and conditioner. You almost always ran out of hot water by the end of it. All this was done while kneeling in the tub. Very awkward. For zone conferences, all the sisters would go to the apartment of the sisters in town. There would be 6 to 8 of us sisters in one apartment. One time I was "showering" when all of a sudden hot, scalding water poured into the tub. I was so confused for a while trying to figure out what was burning me. Their washing machine emptied into the tub! I jumped up, unable to fathom where the water was coming from. I dropped the shower nozle which was spraying all over the room. I tried to jump out of the tub, slipped and literally fell into the scalding water. With all the commotion, I have 5 sisters on the other side of the door asking if I'm okay. When I did manage to jump out of the tub, my foot pulled the hot water plastic pipe out with me, so I was still standing in the unbearably hot water!! It was hard to walk on burned feet that day. Standup, warm showers are one of my daily wonderful blessings!
Water, rivers, lakes, streams (I don’t care for living in a desert, and take the chance anytime I can to be around green and water, plants and flowers)
Dancing, Restaurants – any time I don’t have to cook or clean up, Birds, Butterflies, Laying on the tramp looking at the stars, Aquariums, Looking back on some of the hard times: Because they've made me stronger and wiser, and the good times even better. Songs you hear when you need them most, Today!