Believe it or not...

Believe it or not, but this living room was completely picked up, straightened out, and vacuumed approximately 15 minutes before I took this picture. I went into the other room to change Kiahna's diaper and to put a few things away in my room. When I came back through the living room, this is what I saw...

It probably took Aliya 8-10 minutes to put all the stuff in there; however, it took me about 2 hours to get her to pick it all up. After helping Aliya put everything back in her room, I went in the kitchen to help Niah make some cookies. It only took me about 5 minutes (8 at the most!) because she already had everything mostly done. I heard Kiahna crying, so I headed towards the girls bedroom. This is what I saw...

Aliya had blocked Kiahna in her room by stacking up blankets and toys in the hallway! I was actually impressed, but being impressed didn't helped with the overwhelming feeling of "not another mess to clean up!" Some may think that being a stay-at-home mom is a lazy job. I challenge those individuals to follow me around a few hours, and I am sure they would quickly change their minds! Some days I feel that I have ran the Boston marathon! I just don't understand why my waistline isn't shrinking!

Tidings of Comfort and Joy...

Our hearts are full this Christmas Season because we are truly blessed. Our wish as parents was to have a full Christmas that honored our Savior and the reasons why He came. We wanted our children to enjoy this season of hope, love, giving, and receiving. We knew that this would take a miracle, but isn't that also what this season is about?

We looked at the miracle under our tree, for every present under that tree was a gift from a family member or a friend. Each of the girls spent time choosing gifts for each other--Aliya sacrificed her new music toy for Koni, and she gave away many of her special books and toys to Niah. Koni picked out a special toy for each of her sisters from birthday money she had received. Niah saved her allowance and bought everyone a gift from a gift store at her school. There were also presents under the tree from Grandparents to Aunts and Uncles.

The girls each hoped for a special gift, each had love for one another, each gave what they had, and each received from another. We had completed part of our goal--the larger question still needed to be answered...how do we honor our Savior and the reasons why He came? We looked to the reasons why He came...He came to give us hope, He came because He first loved us, He came to give ALL that He had, and He came to received us unto Himself. Once we looked at the reasons, the answer became clear...

We honor Him by following in His example.

We want to say a special Thank You to all for being a part of our Christmas Miracle.

Tyrone, Heidi, Niah, Aliya, and Kiahna

School is Out!!!

Today was Niah's last day of school for 2006! It's hard to tell for sure who is more excited, but I think I might be the winner! I LOVE CHRISTMAS BREAK! I guess some things you just never out grow!In the morning Niah had a class party (food, fun, presents...) followed by an afternoon of skating at the ice rink.

Aliya skated "by herself" but yet was never alone--she always had an entourage following her. The ice walker brought a lot of attention to her... and of course, she loved every minute of it!

This was Niah's third time ice skating. She didn't fall down, she skated pretty fast, and she didn't get any blisters (thanks to 3 pairs of socks).

TJ went skating, but walked (hobbled) away with blisters and hairless shins. I, myself, played it smart and didn't even try it at all--I joined myself with all the other "boring" parents who just watched. Kiahna didn't mind where she was as long as there was food!