Lily's Baptism.

Lily's baptism was a beautiful day!  She got to share her special day with her best friend and cousin, Kenzie!  And her Cousin, Maggie, got blessed that day as well!  They even wore matching dresses!  So many people came out to support Lily; Jeff, Cindra, Steve, Karen, Nikki, Emily, Sam, Kate, The Putnam Family, and so many great friends we've made in Grayson ward!  We had everyone sign her new book of mormon so she can always remember who all was there on her special day!

Chris, her dad, was able to preform her baptism and confirmed her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint which made it just so much more special!!

I'm so glad Lily decided that the gospel was important enough to her to be Baptized, confirmed a member, and received the Holy Ghost.  Kenzie and her (and Maggie too) looked so beautiful!  

I love how when Chris started saying the Baptism prayer, Lily started holding her breath.  She held her breath throughout the whole prayer so when he finally pulled her out of the baptismal font, she was gasping for air.  It was pretty cute and funny!  I couldn't help but cry, she was so clean in that moment, and watching my loving husband and oldest daughter in the font brought such joy into my heart.  I love my family so much!!  Lily is such an example to me!  She cares so much about others and wants to serve anyone she can.  She has such a happy spirit and I want to be like her when I grow-up!  I'm so impressed by her daily!!  I can't wait to watch her grow in the church, and watch her testimony grow!  I love you so much Lily!!

  I told Lily to write down her baptism experience and her testimony.  I just love both!

Baptism:

"I felt scared when I first learned about Baptism, but I felt like a new person.  Just coming out of the water. It felt like something else.  My jumpsuit was wet and my eyes were red and I felt new.  I was lucky to have such a nice daddy to baptize me.

Testimony:

I believe Jesus Christ is my savior and he watches over me.  I love President Monson he guides my way.  This church is important to us because it helps us learn about him [Jesus].  I listen to conference when I do not go to church.  It is important to listen to the Holy Spirit.

I love these cute scripture bags my mom made!  This is them on the Sunday after their Baptism!

A special thanks to these cute Missionaries for teaches the discussions to the girls!

And to the other girls getting ready to be Baptized this year too!  I'm so glad these girls have such fun friends!

Family

I just want to quickly jot down my feelings of gratitude I have for my family.  I have been so incredibly blessed with parents and sisters who cheer me on, give me the best advice, are the BEST examples, and are my very best friends!  I seriously do not know what I would do without them!  They have seen me at my best and at my very worst and have continually supported me and have just loved me as I love them!

The past few months I have started down a spiral where I had absolutely no motivation or energy.  I was tired all the time and was seriously slacking as a wife, mom, and a general human being.  It was getting bad and everyone around me suffered.

I wanted to change and I prayed constantly for the motivation and drive to do ANYTHING.  It didn't come.  Mostly because I wasn't ready to change.

One day I broke down and vented to my family about how I was watching myself ruining my life, but felt too lazy to stop it.  I couldn't figure out why I couldn't just get my butt up and live!!  I just felt defeated.

My sisters who all could relate at some level decided it was time to do something about it and they figured out a way for us to be accountable to each other everyday to make sure we were taking the steps we needed to be a good wives and moms, live in clean houses, and live positive lives!!  And it is truly working!!  I feel so motivated!  I wake up feeling energized and ready for the day, I am excited to challenge myself and to get stuff done throughout the day, and I spend more time savoring my children's childhoods!  This is truly a life changer for me and I feel so incredibly blessed and happy!!  

This is just a tiny sliver of how much my family rocks, and I don't know why God decided to bless me so fully, but I am sure grateful he did.

My parents, sisters, husband, and kids are gifts in my life that came straight from heaven.  My cup is full.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I don't always celebrate holidays like I should, but I'm always happy and grateful when I do!  I loved spending time with my kids, sister, niece and nephew today!  We finger painted rainbows and then had a rainbow snack!  

Side note: My sister's and I have been challenging each other to become better, and this was just the push I needed!  I'm so grateful for them!!  This holiday would have been me laying in bed watching Daniel Tiger all without them cheering me on!