May 2008: Choo Choo at Victoria Gardens

Our family loves Victoria Gardens, a nice outdoor shopping "mall" with great stores that also has great things for kids: a shooting water fountain, a playset, a stream, plenty of places to run, and a fun little train. My boys love to go on it. Mike loves it for the Williams-Sonoma and the Apple store, me for Forever 21 and Naartjie for the boys.

May 2008: Cousins

My kids are very blessed, they have lots of cousins their age and have lived by one side of the family or the other their whole lives. Cousins are great! This time our trip to Disneyland was to celebrate Jackson's birthday. Here are all my Mom's grandbabies minus the actual baby, Savannah. My Mom doesn't have enough arms. I took a million photos in attempt to get a great one. Here is the best photo...and the worst (not including the ones where they were running around and climbing over the bench) , I thought that would be fun to show:-)

For all of those wondering what "delphinium"s are, here they are... so beautiful, unique, and I can't get over the gorgeous indigo color. Thank you California Adventure, they were all over.

May 2008: Savvy's Baby Blessing

Our family gathered for Savannah Grace Ferguson's baby blessing. As I explained before when Tate had his blessing, "in our religion, children are not baptized until they are 8, but a special prayer is offered in which the one giving the blessing- usually the father-gives the baby his chosen name and pronounces special blessings upon the baby as directed by the Spirit of God." It is beautiful to hear the words of God spoken through the mouths of loving fathers. It is a wonderful experience to be in church together; Jesse was missed though. Our family continues to grow!

May 2008: A New Woman!

Every 6 months our church receives counsel from our leaders in what we call "General Conference", an opportunity to be fed spiritually in which we receive wise counsel on how to live Christ's gospel more fully in our lives. Elder M. Russell Ballard, a man I believe to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ, gave an amazing talk in which he addressed the demanding role of being a young mother. Speaking to husbands he said, "give your wife a 'day away' now and then. Just take over the household and give your wife a break from her daily responsibilities. Taking over for a while will greatly enhance your appreciation of what your wife does." An opportunity came for me to have my 'day away' - well technically it was 5 days away. My mom bought me a ticket to "Women's Conference", two days of classes at BYU. I have always wanted to go. Thanks to an amazingly loving little sis Liz and my fully supportive husband I was able to leave the oldest 2 boys and take Tate along for the trip to Utah.

There is soooo much I could write about my retreat, but for the sake of everyone who may not be as interested in the details, and so this will actually get finished and posted, I will give some of the highlights -- oh to narrow it down is too tough! (sorry still lengthy and a little sentimental!)

I got my hair cut!!! I have been growing it out for my husband who was nostalgic for the "hair when we met", which was really okay for me until recently. Janae at Lunatic Fringe, don't you love the name!, is a perfectionist with the scissors and I love watching her work. It felt sooo good to cut my hair. I love it. She is the only one who has cut my hair for 3 years, too bad I don't own a private jet.

I had lunch with some of my wonderful, energizing, ever-so-fun friends! Just driving into the neighborhood made me cry. I miss those amazing girls so much. I was so blessed to meet so many wonderful girls all living in the same neighborhood. My friends Melissa and Petra hosted the open house and the rooms were buzzing with chatter. Hearing it all made me sooo happy. I was able to visit a few more in their homes later on. I could have spent days!!

Tate and I visited with some of Mike's family. Our trip was so brief that I wasn't able to see everyone. I am very lucky to have sister-in-laws who love kids and were so happy to have Tate come stay with them for a day so I could enjoy the entire Women's Conference.

I spent quality time with my Mom, my Aunt Sherrie, my brother Jesse, and our friend Cheryl. I am so lucky to be surrounded by family and friends who love me and are fun to be with. I am so grateful for the relationship my Mom and I share.

I couldn't get enough of Women's Conference and I loved being back on BYU campus. I could go on and on about the things that I learned. What an amazing opportunity is provided for those who can attend, to learn at the feet of leaders of our church, professors and professionals, as well as everyday women who struggle with things just like me. Some of the greatest things I learned were taught by the simple lives of other young moms. And to hear our new Prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ speak, Pres. Thomas S. Monson, was a testimony builder. As soon as he walked into the Marriott Center, a most amazing thing happened, a beautiful feeling in my soul that I knew that he was a living Prophet of God. I will never forget that. I learned so many things, things I could take home to help me be a better me, a better woman, a better wife, a better mother, a better daughter. Instead of coming home and feeling overwhelmed by all the changes I wanted to make in my life, an incredible feeling a peace came as I thought about all the beautiful things I had learned. It was the first time in a long time that I did not worry, I had faith and the peace that comes with it. I need that feeling everyday. I came home a new woman, hopefully new and improved!

I came home to my wonderful boys who were well taken care of and had a great time with their Auntie and of course with the more popular parent, Dad. Only Tate loves me the most:-) Here are a few shots of our family's parallel lives for the week.