#27 Make 72 hours kits for the whole family

Jackson and Emma's 72 hour kits!

Sometimes it pays to be in charge of Relief Society activities. I've been wanting to get my family 72 hour kids for a while now, but haven't had the motivation to get them done on my own. When my Relief Society president suggested a 72 hour kit activity I JUMPED at the opportunity to do it! A great activity AND a check on my goal list!

Now that the food emergency kits are done I'm hoping to add other things to the backpacks as I find the time, things like flashlights, clothes, emergency contact info, etc...

(Mine and Christian's 72 hour kits are not shown in the picture, but are tucked away in our bedroom closet already.)

#22 Take a family name to the temple

I originally wanted to find a family member myself and do their work in the temple, but I was asked to take a family name to the temple for an endowment by my mom and aunt while family was in town for Hayley's wedding. I figured, that counts!

Someday I would love to learn how to find family members online who need their work done and do it. I just haven't made the time to learn between spending time with my family and doing my Relief Society calling. BUT I had a thought and that thought is that, for now, my children come first. I'm so excited for the day when my kids are grown up and self sufficient so I can sit at home and focus on doing service to others (including for the dead). In the meantime, I'm HAPPY to take names to the temple as they are presented to me!

#3 Go back to Utah

I went on a trip without Christian, with the kids! I only stayed sane because I have awesome kids! 

I was so excited to see my friends and family in Utah, but I was most excited for my kids to experience Temple Square with their cousins! So here is part of the blog post from that trip...

The older boys holding hands to temple square.

The gang

Taking breaks to walk around the flowers.

 Jackson found a wheel. He's good at finding wheels.

Resting on Noah's Ark. Or maybe it was the boat that they used to catch fish?

Playing with shapes.

Reading about the Holy Spirit.

Jackson checking out the Last Supper.

Building trucks and temples with the blocks.

Loving the fountains.

Reflection pool

Beautiful Emma

Cousins at play. They insisted on stopping at all the water pools and fountains. Jackson was disappointed that we couldn't swim in the pools.

Looking at the big temple next to the little temple in the visitors center.

The temple!

The boys in front of the statue of Joseph Smith receiving the Melchizedek priesthood.

You can't go to temple square without taking a picture in front of the Christus.

The most beautiful flowers in Utah.

Jackson was having a hard time toward the end. He wouldn't take a nice selfie with me. I don't blame him...it was a lot of walking.

Selfie with Emma, plus two photobombers.

I hope someday I can take them back again!

#14 Teach Emma to walk

I forgot to post this when she started walking...well she did it! Good job Emma!

#13 Make Emma's 1st birthday cake and throw a party

I've been looking forward to this birthday for a long time! Happy 1st birthday to my little 

Emma Katherine!

I loved the sunflower in Emma's monthly photos so much that I stuck with that theme for her birthday. I LOVE Pinterest, which is where I found the ideas for her cupcakes and smash cake.

Jackson took on the role of host while Christian was out at the grill and I finished getting the table ready for dinner.

We had burgers, hot dogs, strawberries, pineapple, salad, and apple juice.

After dinner we opened presents.

Emma did what she could with the wrapping paper, which wasn't much. Thank you dad for opening all of her presents for her!

Jackson was very interested to see what new toys Emma was getting.

Dolls!

A few (but not all) of her fun new toys. She got the cutest clothes, too, which I'm sure you will see her wearing in pictures in the next couple months. She was completely spoiled by us and her grandparents.

Jackson picked out a gift for Emma at the store with Christian last week. Surprise, surprise, it was a Lego backhoe loader. He helped her put it together. And he probably will insist it is HIS for the rest of forever.

And then it was time for the cake!

I just can't get over how beautiful these cupcakes are. I honestly didn't think I could pull these off. Piping frosting is still very new to me, but I'm practicing!

I came to grab her for cake and she was hugging one of her new dolls. Aww!

Before I forget...Christian put up streamers and he did a fabulous job.

And...back to cake! We sang "happy birthday" to her and Christian blew out her candle.

The fun begins.

She didn't make quite the mess that Jackson did on his 1st birthday. It's so fun to see the differences in how every child approaches things. Emma picked up the entire cake and just started taking bites of the frosting and cake.

 Messy hands.

Selfie with the birthday girl! This is as messy as she got. Can you believe that?!

I took her for a quick bath to get the frosting out of her hair. When we were done in the bath it was play time. She played with every single one of her new toys.

And Jackson did, too.

In two and a half months we will be celebrating Jackson's 3rd birthday! 

Dear children,

Stop growing up!

Love, your mother