2 Baptisms in 1 Week

I love Baptisms so much. I feel the Spirit so strongly and am so excited for the person being baptized and the wonderful decision they have made to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So whether the person getting baptized is 8 or 22, I always feel the Spirit and it helps to remind me of the covenants I made at Baptism, to continue to be worthy and righteous to live with Him again.

H* (when she was 4 or 5), me (excuse my swimsuit), and her little brother.

The little girl above, H*, is my little cousin (really she is my cousin's daughter) who was baptized last Saturday. In the picture above she was a little, little girl and it is crazy how she is 8! It was such a special event and I cried as I felt the Spirit as her mother bore her testimony and as she received the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It made me think of how wonderful it will be to be a mother and see your children grow up and make wonderful decisions as they go through their own life.

I love this photo of H* from her fun Baptism shoot.  It symbolizes how once you are baptized you are cleansed and have a wonderful future ahead of yourself as you continue to grow and strive to be the best you can be!
 photo via Moxie Shots Photography.

Last night we attended another baptism. This baptism was of the most amazing woman I have ever met. L* is only 22 and is incredibly brave. I won't tell you all about her and her life, but she has gone through some horrible things that I hope I or my children or anyone I know has to go through. She has no family and no one to support her, yet I remember when I first met her how she said, "I know that I am not alone and that without God I would not be here or who I am today." By knowing and interacting with her, I have realized how blessed I am. If I was given the situations and things that she has gone through in her life, I do not think I would be able to of done what she has done. She has so much faith and hope. Through L*, my own testimony has grown so much. It was such a treat to attend her baptism last night and to experience it with her.

How lucky am I to be able to attend 2 baptisms in less than 1 week?

the small things matter most.

the smalls things matter most. at least to me.

like...

what direction the toilet paper is put on. which I am sure is a reoccurring battle with husbands, roommates, siblings, or whomever you live with. matters.

Came across this image this week.
I guess I am a faithful, logical, and sensible.

Or like...

just painting your nails and a good time what seems like 30 minutes of waiting for them to dry then freaking smudging one just one nail and you leave it be because you don't have another what seems like 30 minutes of waiting for it to dry. matters because the whole week I am just staring at that ruined nail.

Or like...

the moment I walk into my parents house and see this little face running straight at me. matters most.

Or like...

the little kiss your husband leaves on your forehead or cheek every morning before he goes to work. matters most. even if you are the deepest sleeper ever and don't remember it more times than you actually do remember.

I know, I am not asleep but just pretend I am in PJ's rather than a wedding dress.

so "lift up your eyes" and think about what small things matter most to you?

Our New Year's Eve.

A little late here but here is what we did on New Year's Eve.

We attended the Annual Family Olympics that Matson's family does every year. It was loads of fun and we ate lots of yummy food! Matson got to get his video games in and I got to play my card games. Leaving us both happy.

We play normal games, video games (the boys), and silly games. Like this one where we try and land our airplanes certain places!

My husband being the goober that he is totally forgot to kiss me at midnight...I know, weird especially for Mats who is usually so thoughtful (and don't think I am bagging on my hubs...really I am trying to brag about him). BUT he made up for it at 1am when we took a little drive up to see the view of Utah County and he had set back all our clocks to a little before midnight. We got to our spot where we were gonna look over the city and recounted down to midnight again. Even though we had toasted before we toasted again but this time with our plastic cups instead of goblets, shared our New Year's kiss, and had our own little firework show! So cute, thoughtful, and a special way to bring in 2012 just us two.

New Year's Toast with our Picnic Cups 

Loving my New Year's glasses I had won at a Baby Shower.

Top: The Day after New Year's we got a new furnace and thermostat (happy day, our old one was GHETTO).
Bottom: Matson even gave me this cute watch for New Year's Eve!

Overall, we had a great New Year's! Hope you all did too! Welcome 2012 and all you bring with you!

Favorite Photos.

Remember our Christmas Card (December 2011)? Here are some favorites of mine from our Christmas Card shoot done by Melissa at Moxie Photography.
She was also our wedding photographer. She takes some great pictures!

We used a better one like this on our actual card, but these ones are funny!

Posts with pictures also done by Moxie Photography here, here, and here.
Happy New Year and Happy First Day of School (for me and other BYU students)!