Egin Lake

We went to Egin lake a few weeks ago with our friends, Andrew and Emily. We got a little lost on our way, but we had fun. It wasn't really what we expected, but lea loved it. She loved the water! Here are pictures of our adventure. 

a little late...

About a month ago we went down to Bakersfield, CA for Parker's baby blessing (Jason's sister's baby). He is adorable! We had amazing, hot days swimming in the pool.We had so much fun with Jason's family. Lea loved playing with Colby and we can't wait 'til Hawaii so we can be with them again!

Hi

Lea and I just wanted to say 'konnichiwa' (Hello)!!!

Ps: That is not how you spell it..lol

FPP: Family Principles

We have heard the term ‘wholesome recreational activities’  many times in our lives as Mormons. But what does it mean? Going outside and playing in the sun? Or watching TV as a family. Well.. It can be both. Wholesome recreational activities are meant to strengthen the family unit.

Now days we have so much technology that we disconnect ourselves from each other. Wholesome family recreation allows us to be with each other and come closer as a family unit. The book for my family class said concerning wholesome recreational activities,

“ Meaningful recreation doesn’t just happen; it must be prepared for, cultivated, and privately defended.”

We need to avoid meaningless leisure. Many of us are very busy but we need to plan for the activities that we want to do as a family. They don’t have to be huge plans, but activities that will reunite the family.  We live in a time that provides many activities that we can do as a family, but we need to find activities that will help us grow stronger, build relationships, build faith and happiness.

Forgiving is such a strong principles. It is easy to understand, but hard to act upon. Many of us have been hurt in many different ways. Sometimes it is the hardest when someone that we love has hurt us. There are many behaviors out there that are very difficult to forget  about and eventually forgive.

I was able to learn how important it is to remember all the things that an individual that has hurt us  has done right and not just focus on the one thing that they did wrong. As we look at it this way, it will be a little more easier for us to forgive that individual.

In my family book  it talked about what Christ taught about forgiveness:

"And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."

I loved that. Even though we may be hurting it is important to forgive so our healing process can be more peaceful and when we do something wrong our Heavenly Father will forgive us because we have forgiven others. 

No one on this Earth is perfect. I think that we should be willing to forgive all. It will be hard at times, but we need to leave that judgment to Heavenly Father. In the Doctrine and Covenants Heavenly Father says, “ I will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” 

I hope you enjoyed it! Have a great weekend. 

Lea: 9 months!!!

I can't believe that in 3 months my baby girl is going to be a year. That's crazy. She is a very active baby. She crawls everywhere, she stands up against furniture, she says: momma, dada, papa, hi, baba, popoo. She is super loud, especially at Church. She is so cute and has a beautiful smile. She makes a mess everywhere. She loves to pull things out of my purse and backpack. And especially our movies and cards. She is a doll! 

Playing with daddy's car!

Father's day

We had a great Father's day. We just relaxed and enjoyed our Sunday!We both got to talk to our lovely fathers and wished them a great Father's day. Jason is an awesome dad. I am so thankful that he is my husband and that I get to spend eternity with him. I love everything that he does for our family. I couldn't have asked for a better husband and father. 

Ready to go to church

Lea's lovely outfit

Our family

FPP: Family life

 This week I want to talk about supporting family members and the subject of “Honor Thy Father”.

We all know that we need to support each other in a family. We need to be there for our sibling’s sporting events, weddings, blessings, etc. But I am not going to discuss the nuclear family support system, but the extended family support system. I think that most of us care very deeply about our nuclear family. We talk to our parents and siblings often, but what about our grandparents, our cousins, our aunts? You do care about them. Why don’t you do anything about it?  Is our relationship with them as strong as it could be? I know that I need to improve. My grandparents live in another country and I talk to them maybe around 6-8 times a year. That is so sad to think about. Sometimes we get too caught up in our own lives that we forget about our extended family. President Ezra Taft Benson said,

“We encourage families to give their elderly parents and grandparents the love, care and attention they deserve.”

I think that many of us fall into the trap of thinking that our parents or grandparents are too old, they can’t remember things, they say hurtful words, etc. Those things are probably true. But we have to remember that because of the things that they did or didn’t do we are the person we are today. We need to learn to love them and truly care about them and their needs. Sometimes elderly people need us there just so they know that we care. They don’t need us to bring them anything; they just want us to love them.

My grandparents

My next subject is “Honoring Thy Father”. I am going to do this in a different perspective. I am not going to discuss the ways that we should honor our fathers, but what it is needed from fathers to be honored. Parenthood is not easy, but it is one of the greatest joys! Fathers need to preside in preside over their family. Fathers are “a powerful spiritual figure in the family.” Children need their fathers to share their spiritual experiences with them. Sometimes we leave that up to the mother, but it is essential that children know that their father has a testimony.

A father needs to be present. Most of our fathers work really hard during the day and sometimes we don’t see them until the next morning. But make sure that when you have time, you spend it with your family. Children need their father and they will respect you because of that. Be there for them. My dad is a busy individual with work and church. My mom wasn’t able to always be there when I had dance competitions because she had to take care of my little sister. But my dad was there. I loved that! He would always yell my name and embarrass me before a performance with his whistling. But I loved that he was present!

The last points are that fathers are supposed to provide for their family and to be partners with their spouse. Fathers don’t just need to provide financial means but also emotional as I’ve mentioned before. Lastly, fathers and mothers will work better in the family unit if they are united.  As children we should have respect for our parents. But parents need to things that children will admire, always remember, so that honor can increase daily.

My parents and Keally

That is it for this week! I hope you all enjoyed it. Sorry for the spelling errors. Have a great weekend :)

FPP: Parenting Principles

This week in our class we discussed parenting and its purpose. Parenting is such a powerful subject. As a parent I have to admit that it is hard. It is not easy. After you have a child everything changes. Your priorities are not the same and you become more selfless. There is little sleep, little time for yourself and tiredness. Parenting is the greatest gift that Heavenly Father has given us.

Heavenly Father has a great plan for each one of us. I remember when I got pregnant with Lea, I received many comments such as “You are too young” or “How are you going to do it”. I have to admit that I am a young mom. I had Lea at 19. You know what… I could have waited until we were done with school, but Heavenly Father had something greater for me.  Lea is such a great blessing in our lives. I do not regret it.  The great thing about being a young mom is that I’ll be done having children by age 26. Isn’t that great?!!

How was I going to do it? I don’t really know. Everything came together perfectly. I am going to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in what I love and my relationship with Jason had grown. I I know that we couldn’t have done it without Heavenly Father’s help. I know that He was there every step of the way. He truly does love each one of us and I have seen His works in my daily life.

I believe it is important to talk to your spouse and determine what kind of parents you want to be. He or she may have a different view and it is essential to address those before. I have to admit that being parent is not easy, but I promise that if you work together with your spouse it will be much better.

Once you get married the next big step is to try to have children. Sometimes it is a longer process. Getting pregnant does take time. In some cases you’ll get pregnant right away, but most of the time it will take lots of fun/ tries  (If you know what I mean) lol. Heavenly Father does love you. He cares about you, He knows your needs and knows you better than you know yourself.

I hope you all have a great weekend. I am having a blast here in sunny California. I can’t wait to post pictures of all the fun :)