cookies and snow. and thoughts on the new year.

we got some snow last night. and it was just thrilling for lyn.

we sat on the window sill and watched the kitty.. watch us.

it was a really good day. we stayed warm and cozy, and played pictionary, and watched lion king, and made cookies!

little miss callie girl loved the cookies tonight.

i couldn't help put pull my camera out and snap a few of the many faces of tired callie.

she currently has three teeth. her two bottoms and then her left top one. her right top is just starting to look a bit swollen.. and may be popping through any day. i am hoping that that is the reason for the slight grumpyness the last few days anyways....

 these faces crack me and lynley up! she does it with us like a game. she gives us the face, then laughs and laughs.

this year i am working on many things... but my main goal i guess you could say is a word.

HANDSFREE.

spell checks telling me that that word is actually two words..oh well.

handsfree. it's something that i want to be. i want to be hands on with my family. i want to have free hands to play babries, or dress up, or games, or for back scratches or hugs. i want to have my camera in my hand more often, not just that pesky phone.

i don't want my family to remember me always having my phone in my hand. it's something.. that bugs me. and ihave been having this guilty nagging feeling when i'm waiting, checking over and over agian to see if my mom has played in our scrabble game....

i miss the simple days.

i think i was a better family member back when i didn't have a smart phone. only 2 years ago, i was different! this isn't easy to admit. becasue.. no one wants to admit an addiction to something so meaningless as a phone. but taht's where i feel like i am hovering over. and i am deetermained to take charge and quit it.

anyways, there are other things as well for our family taht we have committed to. for one, we are going to learn the articles of faith this year! we are going to focus on one a month. memorizing and learning the doctrine in them. we have already been working on the first one, and tyler and i were both amazed at how much lyn caught on to. she totally got it. and has memorized it. it's amazing.

we are also reading sriptures everyday together as a family. we are in first nephi, and reading a half a page a day. no, not everyhing is comprehended by lyn, but thats ok. it's the fact that we are making it a priority. i hope that she understands that, and that as she gets older, she will also make them a priority in her own life.

i am also going to be a real visiting teacher this year!
and i am going practice positive thinking.

lots of good things for this family in 2014.
i feel like last year, we sorta let life jerk us around. we just took whatever it was, and we suffered in it. i read something in a book i'm reading. it said, "pain is part of all our lives, suffering is optional." (it's called 15 secrets to a happy home) i loved that. yes pain is apart of our journey here on earth.. but suffering is optional. we suffered alot in 2013.. i felt agony that i haven't yet felt in my 24 years alive. i let that suffering take hold of me, real tight. i let it totally block everything else out. i couldn't be in my life at times.. i couldn't grasp the reality of our life.. the suffering made everything feel like a dream. and in that dream state.. i couldn't enjoy our life. because, lets face it, even through pain, there is beauty as well. the Lord gives us tender mercies.. even in the midst of painful places.... but that suffering.. it just blocks everything else out.

i believe that.. we can't chose our circumstances, but we can choose our attitude about them. and our thoughts, and attitude can literally change our whole world. and in my case, it can change my whole families world. my mood, and attitude carries the rest of the family. i see that now.. and so i just really want to focus on CHOOSING happiness. i am hoping that by focusing on being handsfree, and really giving of myself to my family.. that that happiness will come naturally. (it usually does :))

2014 is going to be great. life isn't going to be in control of us.. only God is. and we are going to take charge of our outlook on life.

bonus: this isn't a dream. it's real life. and i couldn't be happier about it.