The beauty of the earth

Today we drove through amazing canyons and mountains! What beauty we are surrounded with. The snow has its own beauty... But I tried to picture everything green and full of life. The hope of spring, when everything comes alive again reminded me of the hope of the resurrection. Just as I have faith and hope that spring will come, I know the resurrection will come to all after we die.

Growing fast...

Free Books

I remember when I was pregnant with Adam I found a pin on Pinterest that led me to this website:

http://www.eyresfreebooks.com/

What a goldmine!

I spent hours reading free books online and just eating it all up. I was an excited new mother-to-be and this site contained dozens of valuable resources to fuel my passion for parenthood and motherhood.

Richard and Lynda Eyre have been great role models to many great parents and are generously sharing their wisdom and knowledge through books they have written. They write books for parents on families, life-balancing, and parenting. They have generously provided these books for FREE online and really inexpensive versions on kindle and paperback.

For my last Birthday Mom and Dad Anderson gave me one of Linda's books, "A Joyful Mother of Children." Great book!

I was reminded of the Eyre's and this great resource because I read a news article that was written by them today:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865594161/Ironies-of-the-marriage-debate.html

Happy Habits

Everyone wants to improve and do better. Sometimes we just need a little extra competition.... that's exactly what the Happy Habits competition is. A few of my awesome siblings got together and brainstormed some basic areas that they could improve that would contribute to overall success and happiness in life. Each one is worth a certain amount of points and there's incentives like Bonus points and extra points for having a perfect day (scored in each area).

Here's a list of the habits and points:

Exercise 25 min (can be doubled for 2 points)

6 servings of Fruits/vegs/beans/whole grains (not bread)

Scripture Study & S. Journal. Must start and end with prayer

Write in Journal

No Sweets

Less than an hour of screen entertainment*

Rotating Personal Goal:

**Awesomeness point** (do each item for the day 2 extra points)

Other bonus point (weekly total column)

I've been excited to find new ideas for workouts I can do indoors and with a baby. This was the Youtube video I found and did today to get my exercise point... ok, I really only did 70% of this but it was still the most intense workout. Check out this 20 minute workout (requires no equipment and easily done on the family room floor with an admiring baby nearby). I have to admit the best part was the looks Adam gave me while he watched me do these exercises. He looked so confused at times... I guess he'll get used to it. ;)

For the "rotating personal goal" I get to choose a new one each week. Last week I did "bed by 10pm weeknights." This week my personal goals is "post to the blog"... so that should explain my sudden burst of posts after not posting for over a year. 

One of my overall goals for the year is to better record current family history. I think this blog is one great way to do that. Some post are random but I hope that others provide a kind of journal for our family. 

The aspect that makes these goals exciting is the fact that several family members are working on the same thing and recording their progress.... and we're all trying to get the most points! Last week I did not do so great but I am recommitted this week. So far this week I have been perfect in getting all my "Happy Habits" points... Here's to a great week and a new year of improving!

A Love of Learning

I read this article in the Desert News and really appreciated the ideas it shares to help children love learning and not be ashamed of it.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865593705/Raising-real-men-Be-smart.html?pg=all

The point that stood out to me as something I could work on now is "Take time to educate yourself." Lately I've been missing the structured learning of college life. I realized this learning doesn't have to be in the traditional formal way (like by physically attending classes and getting grades). I can show my children I love learning when I take every opportunity to learn. My parents are great examples of this... here's a few examples I remember from my childhood:

• Taking the time to read historical markers
• Visiting any and all museums whenever we were on a road trip
• Dad would read books we were assigned in school (and be up all night doing so)
• Dad offered us 25 cents if we learned a new word that he didn't know the meaning of (we'd often scour the dictionary but I never quite could earn 25 cents) 
• Giving opportunities, even when I was very young, to attend musical performances and famous plays
• Teaching us and speaking to us in Spanish
• Reading Jesus The Christ, In the Eye of the Storm, Awesome church history book, etc. out-loud to us on Sunday afternoons 
• Playing and appreciating great music
• Making the time and effort to travel all over the US as a family

This list is not all comprehensive but a starting point for me to jump from with my young family. Thanks to my wonderful parents for instilling a love of learning in me!

25 Photos Showcasing Why Utah Has the Greatest Snow on Earth

Watching this amazing clip of various Utah vistas made me anxious for summer to come. Sheree and I recently made a list of locations we would like to visit this summer while we are living in Salt Lake City. What an awesome location we live (Salt Lake City) where 5 of the world's most fascinating/incredible National Parks are within a 3 hour drive. Arches, Zions, Bryce Canyon, Canyon Lands, and Capitol Reef. We also want to see Bear Lake, Goblin Valley, and a few other close hikes up the Canyons here surrounding Salt Lake City.