We miss Daddy!

All the kids love and miss their Dad. He has been gone for 2 weeks now and they are beginning to adjust. Thank goodness for video chat, it makes it much easier. However, Kailee said something the other night that I just had to get down in writing. Kailee misses her dad the most at bedtime. I was laying in the room with her and she was talking to me about how she missed dad and wished she could give him a big hug. Then she said, "Mom, Daddy is my favorite smell."


Kailee really likes the smell of the mousse Travis puts in his hair. She recently discovered that daddy's pillow smells like him also, so she loves to go and just lay on his pillow to 'smell' daddy.

Happy Birthdays!

Yesterday was Trav's birthday! We actually celebrated his birthday last Wednessday because he left Thursday morning for his summer job in California. Thank you Josh and Jan for making his birthday a special one, even though he was away from home!!! We love and miss him dearly and can't wait to see him in July!
Two years ago on Trav's birthday we spent the day in the hospital waiting for Blake to arrive. He waited though until the 18th so he could have his own Birthday, and not have to share it with his Dad. We had a birthday party for Blake last night. The kids and I went to Nana Jones' house for the weekend and Sandy and her kids; Kevin, Kathy, and their kids; and Liz and Thomas came to Nana and Poppi's for a little celebration for Blake. Blake LOVES trucks and so I made a construction cake. Thanks to everyone for the gifts! Blake had a blast.






It is hard to believe we have only had Blake for 2 short years. He is such a blessing in our lives it is hard for me to imagine our family when he wasn't a part of it yet. He is so sweet and happy despite the constant discomforts he has because of illness and allergies.




Happy Birthday Blake, We Love You!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Trav's wonderful sister Susan sent me this story to let her Mom and sisters know how important we are as mothers. I wanted to post a copy of it to pass the awesome message on. I was searching for it on the internet so that I wouldn't have to type the whole story out and I found a version of it on you tube. I thought this would be fun for you to see instead of reading it.
I am so thankful to have such wonderful mothers as examples to me. Not only was my mom the best mom in the world while I was growing up, but she continues to be there for me whenever I need anything. I still, at age 36, want to call my mom and talk to her whenever I need help, or when I want to share some exciting news, or simply when I want someone to talk to. And now as a mother myself, I have an incredible mother in law who in so supportive and loving. I also am blessed to have many sisters, and sister in laws that are great examples to me as I struggle to be the best mom I can be. I Love you all! Thanks for all you do!





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0

Rindercella!

Last Saturday, May 2, we went to the Miss Ephraim Pageant to watch Travis perform. He has been asked to perform at the pageant 3 years in a row now. When they announced his number they said that it's just not a Miss Ephraim Pageant without Travis Schiffman. I have posted a video of his performance, sorry it is a little hard to watch because I had Blake on my lap at the same time.
While we were watching the girls walk around, and around, and around....., and around in their evening gowns, Kailee turned to me and said, "Mom, she is going to get dizzy!" Then a girl came out in a strapless gown and Jaden turned to me and said, "Mom, that dress doesn't even have any straps on her shoulders or anything, that is just gross!" YEAH, JADEN!!! I gave him a big hug!

Jaden's first love!

Jaden has been dying to play the guitar since he could talk! I felt that he needed to learn to play the piano first, so we put him in piano lessons last year. However, last fall we found it necessary to pull all our kids out of piano lesson. I just recently decided that Jaden really needs that musical outlet and so I gave in and decided to let him take guitar lessons without learning the piano first. As you can see, he is thrilled! Hopefully this decision won't haunt us one day with Jaden coming to us with a mohawk, and body piercings asking for an electric guitar and amps!

My thoughts on Conference

I just wanted to take a minute to jot down some of the things I have been thinking about since Conference.
First of all I want to say that I love my kids!!! They were really quite good at listening yesterday. We always play the conference bingo game and Jaden was bound and determined to get a blackout. He didn't even move the whole first session. He was a little less still during the afternoon session, but he still was good. By the end he had every square covered on his game card except Word of Wisdom! All my kids were just so good. Tt was so nice that I could sit and listen without having to keep playing referee, or activities chairman. Because of this, I actually remember some of the talks and counsel we were given. I don't have to wait until the ensign comes out to know what conference was about, although I do look forward to reading through the talks.
I was very impressed by Elder Holland's talk about what Christ went through. About how the Spirit had to be withdrawn from Christ for a moment so that He would be able to know what it felt like for those who loose the Spirit. That he had to know how it felt to be completely alone. Even Christ didn't realize how hard his sacrifice was going to be, but he did it willingly for us anyway.
Travis mentioned that he especially liked the message President Uchtdorf gave at the Priesthood session. He talked about how we can easily focus on things that are not important, and become so focused on them that we don't realize other things may be going wrong until it is too late. He shared an example of this when some pilots were trying to land a plane and the landing gear light didn't go on so they thought that the landing gear was not working. They started circling over the airport while they focused only on the light not being on. Actually the landing gear had worked and was ready for them to land, the light had simple burned out. However, they were so focused on the light that they didn't realize that they got too close to the ground and flew right into the ground. Over 100 people died, it is one of the worst aviation accident in our history.
We need to be sure to focus on what is really important. In these troubled times it is so easy to become focused on what is going wrong in the world, and to obsess about the future of our country and the economy. We need to be sure to remember what President Monson said, that "our future is a bright as our faith is". So we need to be focused on our spritual progression and how bright our faith is. If we do this, everything else will be alright. I am so grateful we have the chance to hear the Lords counsel for our time. It brings me such peace in troubled times.

Just Dance!

Kailee had a dance 'competition' last week at Timp View high school in Provo. She absolutely LOVES dance. Every morning I hear, "Do I go to dance class today?" It was a very fun day for Kailee and she even got a trophy. Life doesn't get any better than this for her!