The Ten

I've always been fascinated with The Parable Of The Ten Virgins...

As a child I remember seeing my first picture (different than this one) at my Aunt Marilyn's house and I would just sit and stare at it, trying to imagine what each girls name might be, and wondering what each girls story was and what brought them to that point in the picture...I always wanted to be just like the prettiest girl! And my heart would break for the five virgins that were sad, I just wanted to jump in the picture and help them! I could never figure out why they were sad, meaning, in my young mind living the gospel and loving our Savior was so easy...this picture has always inspired me to want to do better, sometimes I feel like the last five virgins, as I'm not as prepared as I should be and could do so much better in my life and yet sometimes I feel like the pretty one, happy and striving to my fullest.

It's funny how much symbolizim there is in each picture of The Ten, and what you can draw from it to help you prepare for your own journey to meet the bridegroom. (Pres. Spencer W. Kimball said;)

“This was not selfishness or unkindness.

The kind of oil that is needed to illuminate the way and light up the darkness is not shareable.

How can one share obedience to the principle of tithing;

a mind at peace from righteous living; an accumulation of knowledge?

How can one share faith or testimony? How can one share attitudes or chastity….

Each must obtain that kind of oil for himself….

In the parable, oil can be purchased at the market.

In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living.

Fasting, family prayer… control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel,

studying the scriptures- each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store.

Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thoughts and actions,

marriage in the covenant for eternity-

these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps.

(Faith Precedes the Miracle, p.255)

It truly was a sad day last week when...

after 16 years and 4 kids,

the magical era came to an end

~BUT~

I still believe...

so it looks like I'll be getting some good gifts this year

from the jolly old fat man,

he's never let me down before

and

before you know it,

after a small season

we'll get to

celebrate

with the next generation

of Santa lovers...

Cheers to the circle of life!

dreams....

....

Candice made

~Wind Symphony~

and

~Section Leader~

Her future is looking bright...

It's so nice when good girls finish first!

Pictures by Cierra...

One Little Dancer's Delight...

Her Saturday recital was a success!

the bird whisperer...

please, tell me there is no such thing as the "pigeon flu"!

future...

It's the end of the school year...

and with that brings alot of preparations for the next upcoming school year

and

alot of auditions and alot of pressure,

pressure to strive to do your best so that all your hopes and dreams will fall into place and you can reach your goals

or

at least die trying to reach your goal and life-long dreams,

(which ever comes first!)

it's alot of pressure for a small child,

(a small child in the eyes of her parents...)

but she is setting herself up for success and learning so many valuable life and spiritual lessons,

I am so proud of her these last two days,

proud of how she has handle herself in each stressful situation,

proud of how she has first and formost sought out the spirit to guide, direct, and calm her

and I love that that is how it has worked,

the thing that I am most happy about is no matter what happens with the results of this week, she feels calm and she has seen and recognized and felt the calming spirit,

and that is a life lesson that we as parents try to teach and try to live by and so when that lesson is lived and learned it feels good, not only to the person experiencing it but also by all those around!

good luck Candice!

P.S. your already a winner!

yep...

go ahead...

get closer...

can you smell me?

I smell good, don't I!

H♥ppy M♥ther's D♥y to me!

.

.

P.S. i love being a mother to this bunch!

two lovely locks of love...

thank you ladies

for allowing me to be lucky enough to cut your luscious locks,

it only goes to show you

what lovely ladies you are inside and out!

someone is going to be lucky enough

to feel your love in the hearts

and

on their heads!

This is Morgan's 3rd time for locks of love

and Skylar's 2nd...... Amazing!!!






over 14 inches...

♥ SWEET ♥

When you give Kurt a camera...

" oh darn", he says,

"let me try again".....



bless.his.heart.
better luck next time!

Logan & Lynzie

Liz is one of my best friends, and Liz is also my little sister.

(but taller than me)

She is only 2.5 years younger than me so we have alot in common us two, we shared alot growing up, from sharing a room, sharing clothes, double-dating... from cheerleading, to being nannies in N.Y. to both serving missions, hers to Brazil, mine to Italy, where I might add we met our husbands, so lucky for us our husbands are both two years younger! Did I mention we just went to Disneyland with them and did I mention that every time Liz and I get together we buy something matching, like a shirt, necklace, or earrings, (note the above picture) it always gives me warm fuzzies and I always feel connected to her even though we live so far apart!

So, it would only make perfect sense to have babies on the same day, right?

Well, that's exactly what we did, Liz and I....

that's the way we roll....

Before the twin cousins were born I remember having two very vivid dreams of having twins, a boy and a girl, my dreams were so vivid that when I woke up my stomach actually hurt from labor, and so after my first Dr. appointment and there was only one heartbeat my dream was quickly forgotten,...

until after Logan and Lynzie were born on 10/10/00,

Logan was born @ 12:58 am

and

Lynzie was born @ 12:50 pm.

(I know, I know, Liz and I are amazing like that!)

That's when I realized.......

These are the twins I dreamed about!!!

Logan and Lynzie love being twin cousins,

last week when we went to Disney every time I turned around these two were doing the same movements just like synchronized swimmers, it was amazing and fun to watch them together, they have alot of similarities.

I love these two twins!

the strangest thing.... these two have the same freckles!

these two are fun!

M.I.C.K.E.Y.M.O.U.S.E.

Our Magical Moments...

it was a dream come true for us,

something we've always wanted to do...

so, to be able to go was pure magic!

Kurt was like.... a little kid in a candy store!





I didn't know wheather to laugh or cry
so....... I did both!



The kids were beside themselves
with all the amazement and fun...
Candice couldn't believe all the details in each ride,
and
Caitlyn may or may not have pee'd her pants from laughter!?!

Spencer approved....

two thumbs up!

Look, Spencer is as tall as Mickey Mouse,

hummm.....maybe Spencer could get a summer job!


(we drove those cars 4 times at least!)

But little Lynzie said it best when she said;

"Disneyland, where have you been all my life!!!"

The biggest magical moments were spending it with this family!

Thanks Craig and Liz for making it magical!

Landon's 13th

When someone comes into our lives...
and they are too quietly and quickly gone,
they leave footprints on our hearts...
and their memory stays with us forever long....


(Landon's little foot)

Wow!

So many thoughts, happy thoughts I might add...

Thirteen years seems like yesterday but really it's been forever!
This birthday has been the easiest one so far, I wonder why?

I actually had a good day today...

It was nice to have a good day and not have a tender, sore heart.

I love my little guy

doesn't it make ya wonder about eternity,

I can't help but think...

a big fat family reunion

I know I'm looking forward to it...

Landon and Steve, watch out!