when you're fifteen...

sadie turned fifteen on saturday!!!

crazy old!  

we celebrated bright and early--7am

birthday itinerary:

celebrate

games

set up

party

sadie carpooled with a bunch of friends to her two basketball games.  my parents met her there, which i was grateful for because dave was medical supporting at the high school track meet and i took max to his first soccer game and then abe had a game in salt lake.  

dave got home and somehow amazingly moved furniture upstairs and set up our new tv (goodbye to the cube, sniff, sniff) for sadie's big birthday party, while i ran to costco for food.  we pulled it all together minutes before the big party started.  it ended up being just right. 

sadie's shrine consisted of a few gifts for her bedroom and some pics from way back when.  i love the blue peacock.  what a find!

 we started singing happy birthday and vivian got this cute look on her face, thinking we were singing to her again:)

 sadie's birthday wish:  a snap back hat.  loved it!

 the boys gave her a spring sports pedicure.

 we surprised her with these nike shoes that she fell in love with in new york.  tricky finding them, but somehow i did.  i think it was a birthday miracle:)

 a new dresser and some decor to finish off her room.

love these two amazing girls!

wonder what the wish was, she wouldn't tell:)

i really am so lucky to have sadie!  she has decided to be remarkable and she is.  plus, we are great friends and she lets me in.  she is a good listener, a hard worker and strives to be good and do good.  she is a huge blessing to me.  i have noticed lately her efforts to make our home heavenly.  she does small things that make a world of difference, like putting her arm around kai, asking if i need help, tending vivs, talking to the boys on their bed at night, complimenting her brothers.  it makes for a happy, peaceful family.  i can't say enough about what a good person she is.  she is talented and radiates happiness and light and has great judgement.  she is mature and unselfish and i know heavenly father will and is using her to do great things.

sadie invited a few friends over.  we had tons of food and they played air hockey, foosball, soccer outside and sort of watched jurassic park.  she had a great time and so many of her friends came.   she felt loved and happy.  dave and i reminisced about the birthday party when we first saw each other.  it was in 9th grade, about the same time of year, same type of party.  crazy!!

 i love the awkward space between sadie and the boy next to her:)  haha!    

happy birthday sades!!!  we heart you!!!

vivian's birthday

we waited for the kids to get home from school to celebrate.

i enjoyed the relaxed day and happily spent vivian's nap time making her birthday cake. she was so happy to have her own huge lollipop!

the kids were excited to see what she would do to her cake!

we opened presents first.  

these cute "glass slippers"  were not wrapped and she wanted them on first thing.  we tried them on in the store the other day, and when i took them off, she threw a fit, crying, so upset that i took them off!  it was her first real "fit":)

abe patiently put them on her.  it was such a cute moment seeing how much abe wanted to help her.  she waited and right when he finished, she got so excited and started kicking and smiling, almost dancing!  

she loves shoes!  she has such dainty little feet, that they never stay on, so she is always barefoot.

sadie has taught vivs to love cinderella and she really does!  

she was so excited about this doll!

we all sat around and watched her tear off the wrapping paper a little at a time.  the kids were happy to see her reactions and anxious to help her with each toy.  she is a lucky little girl because they all adore her!

she kept hold of her new little baby, it was so cute to watch her love it!

she got excited about each gift.  it was so fun to see her reactions.  i didn't realize how involved she would be, but she loved it!

my favorite part was how curious vivian was and also watching the kids interact with her and help her and care about her.  they each wanted her to be happy and excited about everything.  i loved having them all there and no rush.

we sang happy birthday.  abe was concerned she would grab her candle, so he protectively kept a hand on her:)

watching her with her cake was the highlight!  

our tradition for 1st birthdays is to spread a blanket on the ground and then let them do whatever they want to their cake.  after singing, we let her go for it.

she pinched a tiny bit of frosting off and tasted it, then she dove right in--no hands!  it was surprising and the kids were laughing so hard.  it was awesome!

she kept taking bites with no hands.  she then started dipping her lollipop in and eating it off her sucker.  super cute!

the kids all joined in at the end.  haha, gross:)

vivian had a bath while dave cleaned up, then we went out for dinner.  

it was a great little family celebration! 

 the next morning at scriptures, she was still so happy to see her new doll!

i feel like vivian has grown up so much in the last few weeks.  it's hard to believe it's been a year!  we are so glad we have her.  she is definitely loved!!!

we're number one!!!

 vivian turned one today!

my present to her was a calm day:)  

i had sadie skip her two basketball games, abe skipped his soccer game, dave and kai canceled soccer practice, and max's game was canceled due to weather... vivian didn't have to drive in the car or sit through any games.  we all stayed home, just our little family, and we celebrated her!

couldn't decide which of vivi's facial expressions to post....so i added them all.
details coming soon.

children

i have had a paragraph from a conference talk i heard way back when, pop into my mind over and over this last month.

it's from a talk about children by elder anderson.

so here it is:

“I explained that I wanted to become a doctor. There was no alternative but to postpone having our family. Elder Kimball listened patiently and then responded in a soft voice, ‘Brother Mason, would the Lord want you to break one of his important commandments in order for you to become a doctor? With the help of the Lord, you can have your family and still become a doctor. Where is your faith?’”

when i reread this part of his talk it made me cry because i realize how much we have been blessed. 

i named our blog 'and they lived' because dave's goal was for us to not put off living while he went to school.  it was a long process.  he wanted so much for us to live along the way.  we tried hard to do this, but also we decided that we wanted to "look to god and live" (alma 37:43-47)  when it's all said and done, i want it to be clear, "they looked to the lord, and they lived!!!"  i love in verse 47 where it says, "see that ye take care of these sacred things, yea, see that ye look to god and live."  i really feel that our family is one of these sacred things and i know that heavenly father helped us, wow, in so many ways!

crazy cause i kept thinking about this talk, then i got on lds.org and THIS was the new mormon message!

anyway, i am so happy that we have been blessed with amazing children.  they make me smile!!! they give life purpose and meaning and make me love dave even more.  i love being a parent with him.    because of my love for them, and because at times it has really stretched us, i rely on our savior so much more!  
isn't that what it's all about?

**sadie and i were doing laundry, and vivian kept trying to put the clothes on, then she spotted an ant!  yes, i had ants in my laundry...gross!  she was so thrilled!!!  sadie documented it all and then sent me this in a text right before bed:)

easter sunday

we have 9am church so we got ready, talked for a minute about the resurrection and then had a quick search for easter baskets before church.  

 vivian found her basket full of baby food and one box of nerds.  she went straight for the candy and then straight to sadie, where she put it in sadie's hand and obviously wanted her to open it.

 max got some cool new church socks conveniently right before church.

 abe and kai both got new ties and a few treats.

 it was an extra special easter watching abe pass the sacrament and he also gave a talk in sacrament meeting.  he did so well and it was neat having conversations this week with him about the atonement for prep for his talk.  my mom came to watch abe speak and she brought easter lunch:)

here is abe's talk:

Abe atonement talk

Introduction: Happy Easter, my name is Abe Tullis. I was asked to talk about the atonement of Jesus Christ.

One article that stood out to me when I was preparing for this talk was from Last general conference. Elder Boyd K. Packer of the 12 apostles told a story about when he was in Samoa in 1971. He was there to organize a new stake on Upolu Island and attend the Samoan stake conferences around the area. He took a small plane to the island called Savai’i 13, miles away from Upolu to visit a conference. The plane was parked on a grassy field and would stay there until the next day when he would return to Upolu. When they were scheduled to leave Savai’i it was raining. The plane could not take off from the wet grass so they decided to go back by boat. They did not realize that they were heading right into a ferocious tropical storm at Upolu Island. It was dark and they could not see.  To get to shore they were to go through a very dangerous, narrow passage was marked by two lights.  When one light was directly above the other it meant the boat was facing the right way and they would enter the passage safely. That night, only the top light was lit because the 2 elders waiting there to meet them had fallen asleep and forgot to turn on the lower light. This made the passage unclear and it would be almost impossible to make it to the shore without it lit.

To me the shore in this story represents the celestial kingdom, without the atonement or the light we can never make it. Because Jesus atoned for our sins, it makes it possible to return to shore. 

However, The atonement is not just to make it possible to repent, but it can also be an example to us, and empower us to be better.  Elder Bednar said, “ I frankly do not think many of us “get it” concerning this enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement.  Brothers and Sisters, the gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good.”

I would like to share with you two things that I am trying to do to apply the atonement to my life that will give me power and strength.

The first is obedience. 

Before Jesus felt misery and bled from every pour he said, “Father, if though be willing take this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.” When he performed that dreadful task at Gethsemane he showed obedience.  I know the atonement was a difficult thing for the Savior, but he did it because His Father asked him to.  The third article of faith it reads, “We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.” In this short description of the atonement it says that we must be obedient. I think that if we think about what Jesus did that night, then we can all be more motivated to follow those laws and ordinances, and to follow our leaders, parents, friends, etc.

Jesus was also merciful to us during the atonement. He did not just say if we sinned, we wouldn’t be able to live with him again.  Instead, he sacrificed so we could live with him again.  Another way I can apply the atonement to my life and have power is  when other people’s choices affect me, I can also be merciful, like the Savior. If somebody is being disrespectful to you, you should still be able to treat them nicely, don’t reject them or mistreat them in return, show mercy, and do what you can to help them. I know that if we follow his example we may return to heaven and live with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and our families eternally. I know that Jesus did suffer for our sins and sorrows and that that atonement is the only way to make it to shore. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.