pictures of our house...

finally! This is for you, Tai :)
Our kitchen:





The living room:



My favorite room in the house: The girl's bedroom. Their bed sits in the gabled window.



The entertainment armoire and coffee table are in the center of their room. There are two amazing closets. Anyone who knows me knows how obsessive I am about organization. I love fabulous closets! And...there is a small door leading into the "dollhouse room."



I have so many great memories in the attic dollhouse room in my grandparents house in Mesa. From the upstairs bedroom, we would climb a narrow set of stairs that led to a room entirely devoted to imagination and play. We spent hours tucked away in our own make-believe world. And now, my girls have their own little room where they can shut themselves away to dream and imagine...

power of covenants...

Last night, I re-read the recent conference talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, entitled "The Power of Covenants." He spoke of a family whose home was destroyed in a massive earthquake in Peru. When a member of the Quorom of the Seventy met the local Branch President's wife, she said, "I have prayed and I am at peace. We have all we need. We have each other, we have our children, we are sealed in the temple, we have this marvelous Church, and we have the Lord. We can build again with the Lord's help."
Though our circumstances were not as devastating and tragic as what this family experienced, I felt a similar peace. Elder Christofferson counsels, "In times of distress, let your covenants be paramount and let your obedience be exact. Then you can ask in faith, nothing wavering, according to your need, and God will answer. He will sustain you as you work and watch. In His own time and way He will stretch forth His hand to you, saying, "Here am I."
We have been sustained. With the Lord's help, we are re-building our lives. I feel so thankful for His watch and care over our family. We have gained a greater trust and understanding of the love of the Lord.

Blessings of making and keeping sacred covenants:
1. Empowering blessings
2. Endowment of Faith
3. Bestowal of Divine Power

I am so thankful to be on the "covenant path" with my family!

getting the word out...

My website is officially transferred to the new server and is online again. I am so excited to launch my business in Utah! So...I am offering a FREE photo shoot, with 1 5x7 and 2 8x10 prints (over $200 value)!

Since I don't know many people in Utah, I am posting this info on my blog in hopes that those of you who know people in/near the Salt Lake Valley will send them the info. Thanks in advance to everyone who sends this info out to friends and relatives in Utah.

Here is how to enter:
Enter by visiting my website at www.mindykiddphotography.com, then send me a message through the contact form. One entry will be drawn on May 31st. Everyone who enters must either live in or be willing to travel to Salt Lake City.

Okay...yea! Thanks!

temple...

Bountiful Temple

On Sunday evening, I attended a fireside entitled, "The Temple: A Guide for Raising Your Children and Strengthening Your Family." The presenters were Richard and Linda Eyre. I have heard them speak on BYU TV and always been impressed by their positive ideas for teaching young children. So, when I heard they were speaking at our stake fireside, I was super excited to attend.

Sister Eyre spoke about ways we can teach our children temple principles through family home evening activities. One example she gave was regarding teaching the principle of obedience. She suggested playing a game similar to Simon Says, but where the key word is please instead of Simon Says. The children MUST do what is asked of them when the parent says "please." Then, discuss the importance of following Heavenly Father's commandments and always being obedient. She also talked about how they had a "repenting bench" in their home while their children were young. I love the idea of calling it a repenting bench instead of a time-out chair/naughty spot/etc. It is just so positive. Then, when children are fighting, they get to go quietly sit on the repenting bench until they figure out what they did wrong. When each child is ready to confess, that child raises his/her hand and is able to apologize for what he/she did wrong and ask forgiveness.

Then, Brother Eyre suggested that the next time we attend the temple, to do so with the following two questions in our minds:
1. What does this teach me about families?
2. What is this a symbol of?
I am looking forward to following this counsel!
Another thing he said that I really loved was, "Adam and Eve chose parenthood over paradise." They understood that their choice would result in the loss of a lot of ease and physical comforts. But, as we take on the role of "parent," we become more like our Father in Heaven. This statement gives me renewed determination to cheerfully do things that are difficult, knowing that I too chose parenthood over paradise. Sometimes it is difficult to be a parent. Disciplining a difficult child, cleaning the kitchen six times a day... But, I know that this is what Heavenly Father wants me to do. And, as I prayerfully seek for guidance from the perfect parent, He will lead me, teach me and mold me into a more perfect parent. I am so thankful for the blessings of the temple and am excited to think of more creative ways to teach temple principles to my children and to make my home more like a temple!

outside...

After church on Sunday, Jase looked so cute relaxing on the comfy chair in his shirt and tie, so I quickly grabbed my camera.



Brighton decided to come "help him" smile for the camera:






(okay, so I know the above picture is blurry...obviously not technically correct. But, it makes me laugh every time I look at it, so I had to include it!)

Since I wasn't able to get a good GQ shot of Jase inside, I took him outside.





Well, Jase LOVES being outside!
So, I got him all situated. He sat for ONE picture...



And then, he was off...



And he bolts for the road. BJ scooped him up and headed inside...
(Take one look at Jase's face: Do you think he is the least bit repentant for dashing toward the road?)



With a little spanking too...



Our little photo shoot was short lived, but you get it. He is pretty dang cute!

my little guy...

playing at the park...

There are amazing parks spread out all through our neighborhood. And, they aren't just your regular old parks, but really neat, original play areas. One park has a "pirate ship" constructed entirely of ropes for the kids to climb on and hang from the riggings. This particular park has these awesome geometrical things that the kids have to shift their body weight to get it to move. And, once the girls got the hang of it, they could rotate fast! We regularly take walks down to one of the many parks throughout our neighborhood.





Jase's only word that he consistently says is "Ball." He loves balls! Oh, I guess he does say one other word regularly: "Huh-Uh," which contrary to what it sounds like actually means "yes" in Jase's language.



The Bub is a little daredevil. He loves slides and will go down the tallest slide at the playground without even the slightest hesitation. Sometimes he even gets so much momentum going that he launches himself right off the end of the slide. But, that does not deter him. He just stands up, looks a little confused or maybe a bit put off, and turns to go climb the stairs back up to the top.





I love this crazy little kid!

picnic...

A picnic on the porch. Everyday since the girls received these darling little boxes from Grandpa and Grandma Loveland! As soon as Addy gets home from kindergarten, the girls hurry to pack their lunches. The fill their little boxes with sandwiches, fruit, chips, a little treat (and maybe a treasure or two) and take their packed lunches to enjoy on the front porch.



Ah...the simple joys of childhood. I love this image! Chipped fingernail polish, dusty knees and all!



My cute little wistful girl...



Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for these cute boxes. The girls have had many hours of fun toting their favorite things around in their own little boxes!

anyone....

still there checking my blog? Well, wow. My life has changed dramatically over the past 7 months. As I sit here and even think about how to write an update, I am overcome with emotion. What we experienced as a family was hard, but we have been so richly blessed. I have seen so many miracles happen in our lives, I thought we must have received more than our share of miracles, yet the blessings continue to pour in. I have a testimony that the Lord knows what we need. Now, sometimes what we need is not necessarily what we want :). It was hard to live in a remote rural community, alone on a ranch without family/friends nearby. I felt alone and cold.





Then, after just four months in Idaho, BJ's job ended unexpectedly and we found ourselves out of work again. He took an unpaid month-long internship out of state and the kids and I stayed in Idaho alone. It was one of the most difficult times of my life. At the end of the internship, we felt hopeful that the company BJ had interned with would offer him a position. They did offer him a position, but the offer was nowhere near what our family would need to survive. Given the economy, we wondered if he should just take the position. But, after prayerfully discussing the situation, he declined the position and came back to Idaho to devote himself to searching for a job. Then, after the trial of our faith...the miracles began. Our sister-in-law, Andria, suggested that BJ apply with the company that she worked for in SLC. He had two interviews with the company and they offered him a position! And it is not just any old job, but a career job! Immediately, just the weekend before he started his job, we came down to Utah to see if we could find a home for rent. Miracle! We found a darling home and were able to move in that same weekend. Now, BJ has a great job. I feel so happy spending my time cleaning my cute house and hanging out with the kids. We have family, temples, neighbors, shopping, etc. close by... a/c, a heater, a dishwasher, a disposal, internet, a garage again... I feel like myself again. I didn't realize it at the time, but I think I experienced some depression while in Idaho. Yet, even amidst all the difficulties, I knew that we were being provided for. Now, I am overwhelmed by the blessings we have received and am SO THANKFUL!!!
And now...here we are! Happily settled in Salt Lake City. Today is BJ's official graduation date. He finished his Master's program and I am so proud of him!!! After defending his thesis, the board is even encouraging him to get his thesis published! So, today is definitely a day of celebration.



Finally, I thought I would post some b-day pictures of the foof.







Any of you who know the foof well, know that she has a lot of expression!


She has been saying the funniest things lately.
2 days ago: "Mom, you are giving me a headache."
Yesterday: "Did you know that I have super powers? They are just stuck inside my body...that's what!"