Vacations, Creations, and Birthdays (the celebration of creation!)

I mainly want to show-off how creative and handy Mike is, so this post will highlight the things we've done, places we've visited, and things we've made.

Valentine's Day

In February we celebrated our L-O-V-E on Valentine's Day in simple ways, making breakfast and dinner for the other and renting a movie and staying home to watch it. It wasn't fancy, but it sure was nice to have a quite evening. I did get Mike a Best-of Johnny Cash CD, which he loved, and Mike got me flowers, which I love.








Presidents Day Vacation

For Presidents Day weekend we went to Southern Utah and stayed at my uncle's cabin. There was no internet, cable and by the time we came home I wasn't even charging my phone anymore. It was so nice to unplug and enjoy how quiet and beautiful it was. Mike did some homework on the laptop, we read, went for a few drives, visit with my grandparents (my mother's parents who live close by), and played scrabble every night. James loved being in a big house and just crawled all over the place, he especially liked the dishwasher, as you can see from the pictures. Before this weekend I didn't really like Scrabble, but we played it every night and I finally beat Mike, who is actually quite good, by the time we came home. We enjoyed it so much Mike bought it for me for my birthday in March.









Our Last BYU ROTC Dining Out

We realize this semester is the last time we will be participating in certain things that we love at BYU, and one of those was the Army ROTC dining out. We always enjoy getting dressed up and spending a nice evening with our friends from ROTC. There were two things I really enjoyed about this semesters dining out: one- Bronco Mendenhal (BYUs head football coach) was the guest speaker! He gave an excellent talk on leadership and I can see why BYUs football program turned around after he became head coach. Plus, we got to shake his hand. I wanted to take a picture with him, but he had to leave so we didn't; two- we finally got to sit with some of our good friends! In years past they always ask who you want to sit with and it seems inevitably the couples get switched around and we always end up sitting with UVU cadets we don't know. Now, I realize this is an exaggeration, but it was really nice to sit with friends at the dinner:)





23rd Birthday

In March we celebrated my twenty-third birthday by going out to eat, going to a movie, and Mike bought me Scrabble. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures:( I feel every year is my favorite birthday, but this year was especially wonderful because I got to celebrate it with Mike and James; being a Mommy makes everything so much more wonderful. We saw Disney's Tangled, which is a darling movie and took James with us. He did so great. I was a little worried the loud noise would scare him, but he just sat in our laps big eyed with his mouth forming a perfect "o" for the first half of the movie. Towards the end he started to get tired and we took turns holding him in the back of the theater. But it was so much fun to have him there with us.


60th Birthday

A few days after my birthday my sister and I went home to good ole' Brawley, California for our Mom's 60th birthday. My sister and I must have brick feet because we made it to Brawley in eleven hours and back to Utah in just under ten. In large part, the trip was so fast because the kids were soooo very good. We spent four days enjoying 75 degree weather and let the kids play with the cousins, grandparents and great-grandparents. I know everyone thinks their mom is the best, but my mom takes the cake, it was good to to celebrate her and the wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother she is. I hope I can be like her. While in Brawley I got to visit with my grandparents (Dad's parents), which is nice because they are well into their 80s. I love them and hope to take James home to see them as often as possible. Grandpa James (James's namesake) is a World War II veteran and my grandmother is a saint, and a very large reason why my Dad is such a good man. I also got to visit with my brother, sister-in-law, and their two children - Vera and Blaine. It was fun to have Blaine and James together because there are only four months apart in age.
















An Early Birthday Package

A few weeks ago Mike's sisters sent an early birthday package to James - clothes, stuffed animals, a shape ball, and bead balls. James loved the bead balls and especially liked the wrapping paper!






Spring Break

Here at BYU we don't get a spring break... the trade off is graduating April 22nd, which I'm okay with. But Mike's neice did have a spring break and came out for a visit. We tried our hardest to sell her on coming to BYU for college, I think we made a little head way:) We took her around campus, went out to eat, went to the movies, and on a few little hikes, but it was pretty cold and snowy so we couldn't do to much. Here are a few pictures of our outings. Mike's brother and wife went down to Canyon Lands with Jessica. It was much warmer there and much more like a spring break!






Chinese Panels and Bread Making Creations

This semester Mike is taking an art class. His mom is also opening her very own Chinese accupunture business. So, Mike decided to make his mom a set of decorative panels for her new office and to also have them count as his final project for art. He spent quite a bit of time getting all the material, putting the panels together, and painting them. The Chinese characters stand for peace and good health. I think he is pretty darn creative and artistic. I am so proud of him.

As for my creative outlet, I bake. I have found it is something I truly love to do. I go through phases; for awhile I was making bread and rolls, but lately I have had a sweet tooth and made cinnamon rolls on Sunday. I've worked in a bakery before and I really enjoyed it. I think I can say a dream of mine is to one day have a bread bakery.

Why blogging?

Well folks, one of my new years resolutions was to be a better journal keeper and blogger. So far I haven't been very good at either, but I am going to try and redeem myself!

I mainly want to blog to keep friends and family updated on what is happening in the Lindsay family. I also think keeping a blog is a great way to stay in touch with loved ones we don't see very often. And finally, I like blogging because I get to "blog stalk". Don't worry, I'm not a creeper, but I find some many of the blogs out there are positive, upbeat and full of great insights about motherhood. So, thanks for your examples and I hope that I can be better in the future, too!

I am a child of God

While at church last Sunday we sang the childrens hymn, I Am a Child of God. For those not familiar with the song, it is an LDS hymn that many parents teach their children when they are young. As the congregation was singing several of the little children were singing, too. One little boy was singing so exuberantly that I could hear his sweet voice across the chapel. I was touched that he knew all the words and by how exictedly he sang, I could tell that his parents were doing a wonderful job teaching their little boy about who he is and how special he is. It made me excited for the time when our children are old enough that we can teach them the same hymn and also teach them who they are - children of God.

The lyrics are below and also a link to the hymn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNQNoBHzZPg

I am a child of God,
And He has sent me here,
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear.

Chorus:
Lead me, guide me, walk beside me,
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with Him someday.

I am a child of God
And so my needs are great;
Help me to understand his words
Before it grows to late.

Chorus

I am a child of God,
Rich blessings are in store;
If I but learn to do his will
I'll live with him once more.

Chorus

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Emily and Matthew - the Virginia cousins

James - 7 months old

Jessica and Cora - the Illinois cousins

Christ and the Little Child, Carl Bloch

Vera and Blaine - the California cousins

Layla, James, Bailey, Ronnie, Issac - the Utah cousins

Medical School Interview, Christmas, the New Year, and James

Playing behind the couch. I still don't know how he got there!

Helping Mama with the laundry.

After bathtime.

Boots are in our roots.

Getting to be such a big kid. I just love him.

My friend, Missy, and her husband, Brady, at their wedding reception.

Salvation Moutain - Niland, California
This is about twenty-five miles from my parents. A little weird, but pretty cool, too. One guy built/painted the entire mountain.

James climbing into and out of his exer-saucer. One of his favorite things to do.

Going to the temple.

Sweet kisses from Mama.

Another one of James's favorite things to do, play with the newspaper ads:)

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Well, I realize that I haven't been so good at this blogging thing since I created the blog a few months ago, but one of my New Year's resolutions is to be a better journal-keeper, and I think blogging falls into that category. So, here is an update on what is happening for the Lindsays...

Medical School Interview

Christmas break was wonderful and very restful. Mike had an interview at the University of Utah medical school before we left for California and he felt very good about it. At the latest they will let us know in March if he will be accpeted. Mike has done everything he can and we have put the rest of the process in the Lord's hands. We have always felt good about the future; whether that means medical school or not, we know Heavenly Father is watching over us. He has always taken care of us and will continue to. Now, we are just saying our prayers:)

Christmas
We went to California for Christmas. It was a wonderful week-long visit full of relaxing and visiting with family. Mike's brother, Mark, and his wife, Cyndi, came with us, making the visit even more memorable. James has a wonderful time playing with his cousin Blaine, who is four months older than him. I got to visit with my good friend/cousin, Valerie, that I hadn't seen in almost two years! Whenever, we go home it always seems like Mike gets drafted into doing projects with my Dad around this house. This time he dug a whole for the merry-go-round my parents got for the grandkids, painted it, and poured the cement. We all got to put our hands in the cement, including James. We thought about doing his bare bum, but decided not to because he might get a rash!!!

Christmas Eve we had a beautiful dinner, made by my mom, and a very nice devotional. Christmas morning the family opened presents and then went to town to make breakfast in the park for the homeless people. It was a wonderful way to spend Christmas morning, and helped us remember the true meaning of Christmas.

New Year

We came back to Utah and attended my good friends wedding in Southern Utah. She and her new husband were just radient. We stayed with my grandparents for a few days, and as always we left a few pound heavier, thanks to Granny's delicious cooking.

We spent the New Year here in Provo. The school year has started now and we are both excited to be in our last semester at BYU. We will both be graduating in April. Mike is taking seventeen credits (which isn't too back, especially since he thought he was going to have to take twenty-one!) and I am taking six (three on campus and three indpendent study). It is hard to believe we will be leaving BYU soon.

James
Our sweet baby boy is getting so big. The past few weeks he has started to pack the pounds on. I think it is because he has really started eating solid food. It seems like he is eating all day long. He wakes up in the morning and I nurse him, then he eats a big breakfast, plays for an hour or two, nurses again and takes a nap. He repeats the sleep, eat, play process again and then eats a big dinner and falls asleep around seven o'clock! Last week he started sleeping through the night, and it is a wonderful feeling to have him sleep for twelve hours!!! He is army-crawling all over the place now. Today after I finished washing the dishes I went to check on him (he was supposed to be in the living room) and I couldn't find him, but I could hear him jabbering. I finally found him... he had crawled behind the couch, got himself into a sitting position and was playing this some toys. It made me laugh. He just smiled at me, as if to say, "Look at me, Mama!"