My New Favorite Book

I just wanted to share with each of you, my new favorite book. My sweet little Hazel made this for me. She drew the pictures and then told me what to write. I love it!

Bath time FUN!

My two older girls would stay in the bath for days,
as long as the water was warm!

Don't you just love that Silly Lilie smile???

Elsie on the other hand, has not been so impressed.

Our Beautiful New Temple!

Earlier this month we had the wonderful opportunity of taking a tour of the new Rexburg temple. What a sweet experience! My mother, dad, brother, and sister-in-law came up to go with us and stayed at our home. It was so great to have them here! I wish that our family could be closer to us, but I guess it sure makes us appreciate it when we get to see them! I love them so much! I wish I had some more pictures to post, but I'm beginning to realize (sadly) that I'm not the best picture taker.


The temple is SO beautiful! I'm so thankful to have another temple close to us and this particular temple holds such a special place in my heart. (I get all weepy even thinking about it - sigh...)

My Senior year of high school, I remember trying to decide where I should go to college. From the moment that Ricks College came into my mind, there was nowhere else to even consider. I remember my mom asking me, "Why Ricks?" I told her I didn't know. That's just the only place that there is...that's the only place that is even in my mind. I remember almost 8 years exactly from today taking my first trip to Rexburg and driving down the snow and ice and "red rock" covered streets thinking, "Are you SERIOUS??? THIS is where I'm supposed to be??? It's so small and ugly!" (Any of you locals have to admit, Rexburg in February is not the most beautiful place.)

I grew up in Rexburg. I met my sweet husband there. We became a family there. All three of my babies have been born there. I gained a real testimony of my Savior, his love for me, and the Atonement. I learned to serve in His church and to love Relief Society. I learned how to follow the Spirit. I became a mother there. I met most of my closest friends there. I love Rexburg. I guess to me this temple represents all the years that I (and we) spent growing there. I have such tender memories of Rexburg.


I just want to invite any of you who would like to go through the temple, to let me know. I've found that you don't actually have to have tickets to go through. If you show up, they'll let you in. It is truly worth the drive! It was priceless to be able to take our girls into the House of the Lord and give them a chance to see inside and talk about the special blessings that the Lord has in store for us there.

Poor Elsie didn't get to go with us, as I figured that she probably just wouldn't appreciate it as much as the older girls would, but I look forward to the day when I can have all of my family with me, together, in the House of the Lord.

Winter fun in the Valley of the SUN!

Two days after Christmas my sweet mother gave me a wonderful gift! She took Elsie, Genny, and me to Arizona with her to visit my Aunt and her family! I had a hard time leaving my big girls and my hubby for 5 days, but it was fabulous to spend some time outside, in the sun, in DECEMBER, in only a t-shirt! We had a grand time playing wiffle ball and bocce ball, mafia and board games until the wee hours of the morning, and talking non-stop! It was SO fun!

I got introduced to a new game while there, called Ticket to Ride. This is my new favorite game and recommend it HIGHLY to all! I the thing I like about it most is that although you want to win (duh!) you can pretty much go through the game building your little trains and having fun without it being too competitive. (Unless of course, it's 1:00 in the morning, you haven't gotten hardly any sleep for the past two weeks, and you have a tendency to get overly emotional. --- Sorry, Jesse! I love you, I PROMISE!)

One of the highlights of this trip (and the main reason I went, besides being able to lock my sister and my mom in the car with me and my newborn for 24 hours) was getting to spend time with my cousin Amber. She and I have been as close as sisters (who live days apart) our entire lives. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful friend! It was so great to get to know her sweet little family!

I love my cousins and aunts and uncles! I am so thankful that this is such an important part of our family! I hope and pray that we will be able to keep the love and friendships that we share throughout our entire lives. So many people don't seem to have those strong relationships with their extended family and I feel so blessed that that is something that my mom and her siblings have maintained! They are truly some of my best friends in the whole world! I have such love and respect for each one of you!

Christmas 2007

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! How wonderful to have children! It was so much fun to watch Hazel and Lilie this year opening presents! (Elsie wasn't much for opening presents! In fact, she slept right through Christmas morning! Can you imagine??? :) )

This year we spent Christmas in the desert at the Chickweed Oasis! Christmas Eve was spent with Nels's brother Erik and his family in Boise. We had a wonderful time playing their new Wii with them...Emily (Nels' 6 year-old niece) is a master at pretty much every game we played and had a grand time putting us in our place. :) That evening we drove back to Mnt. Home. The rest of the Chick clan had gone down to Hagerman for the Annual Chick Christmas Party and so we spent a special Christmas Eve with just our little family. We had a lot of fun opening jammies, drinking hot chocolate, and watching the "Grinch" with our sweet little girls. It was really a new experience to spend Christmas Eve alone, but it had a really special feeling to it.

Christmas morning was pure excitement and chaos! I'm so thankful to have children and see how excited they get! I must say, Nels and I love being Santa and Mrs. Claus! I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful in-law family! We had a great time!