Happy Birthday Daddy!

D was done with classes for the semester so off we went!

 We took off to the Zoo! We love going to the zoo so any chance we get we go...especially on the cooler days. This day was even better for Miss A because while we were sitting waiting for the bird show to start we realized we sat in front of some of our friends...their little girl and Miss A are different ages but love to play together. So we spent the rest of our time at the zoo with them.

 They recently got lions!!! 

After that we headed to meet with some of our other friends from Idaho, well D knew him from Japan first. They have moved from Idaho and were passing through so we got together with them. After we ate we headed to the dinosaur play area. If you know Miss A you know she loves dinosaurs as well. So when she saw this place she was so excited. At home she puts blankets over her and pretends to "crack the egg" or have one of us crack it so she can "be born". It was awesome! However, this was her first experience getting her feelings hurt by another person...and can I just tell you how sad it made me...If you know Miss A you know she is spunky, she can be bossy, and stubborn, she knows what she wants and is not afraid to tell you...she also is the sweetest little girl I know. Her little feelings are so tender, she wants to be kind and truly is kind. This experience has kind of helped her to see though, how it feels when other people are mean or when she is mean to someone else. Long story short...Miss A was beginning to climb onto a red stegosaurus when a little girl on top of the dinosaur started pushing her hand off, then she started stepping on Miss A's fingers so she wouldn't climb up...now first of all I love little kids and I know they all have to learn how to treat each other...but for the first time I wanted to go over there and stop that little girl from pushing and stepping and saying mean things, I thought who in the world is watching her? They should probably be coming out to stop her because I am ready to walk over there and stop it. But I let it play out, I know I won't be able to be there every time something happens so I have to let Miss A figure it out. So on with it...she stepped on her little fingers and told her she couldn't get on because she was on it and it was all hers. Miss A looked over at us, kind of questioning, almost with the facial expression of why is she doing this? What do I do? Can't I play on it? Then came the rushing of tears and through the sobs she kept asking, "Why did she do that?" Thankfully after crying and talking it over she went back to cautiously playing. 

After that it was on to the Disney store. The Disney store is one of our favorites!!! I cannot wait to go to Disneyland!!!! This is a magic mirror and when a wand is waved over it one of the princess's appears and talks to you. She loved it...over and over and over again!

So daddy had a pretty fun birthday. We love to be together and if we are happy he is happy, and if he is happy we are happy!

Sunday is a Day of Rest...and a Time for Lots of Laughter

Sunday is a day of rest for us....and for the most part it really is. One reason we love Sunday's at our house because Daddy doesn't do his homework! That means that he is all ours all day! We have been talking about how on Sunday we decide not to go to the store, or shopping etc. we "rest" from all our labors.
Keeping that in mind...as we are getting ready to go to church little Miss A announces, "I am not going to go to church. I am going to rest."
To which I responded, "That is fine you can rest after church."
She counters, "Sunday is a day of rest."
I conclude, "It is, but it also is a day where we go to church to learn of Jesus. So we will rest after we go to church."
And did it end there? It actually did that time, which was surprising and nice because I didn't have to battle!

Fast forward to sitting in the chapel....there we are listening to a sister missionary who just returned from serving in Australia. She was sharing her experiences with teaching people about God and Jesus Christ. She was also asked to speak on one scripture from The Book of Mormon, Helaman  5:12 which reads, "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

She then went on and talked about ways that we can build our foundation on our Savior. She talked about scripture study, family prayer, family home evening, faith, going to the temple, etc. She continued and talked about what happens when we do not have our foundation built upon Christ. She said the words "crack and break". Miss A looks up at me and says, "Crack, break? I hope that doesn't happen to our house."
I said, "That is why we build it strong. Just like our faith and testimony. We need to believe in Jesus and come to know Him, so we won't be tricked by Satan."
Now just fyi we haven't talked much about Satan at our house...he isn't one we like to talk about...we have talked a little but not a lot yet.
She asked, "What? Who is Satan?"
I said, "He is the one from Heaven who was mean, didn't follow our Savior, and he has brought bad things into this world. He tries to trick us."
She responded, "I hope he doesn't come to Utah."

Back to the sister missionary...she told a story of a man they met who is related to "the rock" you know the guy from The Game Plan? I don't even know his name...So in talking about it she says, "His cousin is "the rock"". Then we all hear Miss A say, "His cousin's a rock? Why?"

Oh gotta love this girl!