Easter 2011

This was Cameron's first Easter and he liked it! On Saturday afternoon our family did an Easter egg hunt on our own at a local park followed by a picnic, a mini-lesson about the resurrection, and some time on the playground.

That evening Grandma and Grandpa Banner flew in to watch the Mesa Easter Pageant with us. The pageant was a beautiful portrayal of the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Savior. The pageant has become my favorite Easter tradition to date. It was so fun seeing my parents again but they had to leave the next morning around 7am. We saw them for a total of about 8 hours. Such a short visit but so wonderful!

Sunday morning I put together a simple Easter basket for the boys...Cameron got goldfish crackers...Ethan got candy. In retrospect I think Ethan might get goldfish crackers next year too.

Here are my too sweet boys after church on Sunday...Cameron kept kicking off his shoes during church so this photo is an accurate documentation of how he looked at church. :)

Give Me an E, Give Me an H, Give Me a T!

Ethan figured out how to draw his first letters today...E, T and H...now we just need to work on the letters A and N and he will hav his name down. Here are pictures of his work. All the yellow letters are the ones Ethan drew. What a BIG boy!

Clothing and Accessories

Ethan is very opinionated lately about pretty much everything! Along with this new streak of independence has come the desire to pick out his own clothes. This is what Ethan wanted to wear today...

His outfit has inspired me to have a luau. :) Cameron wanted to dress up too...he went for something more sophisticated...

New Job!!!!

YES...a new job...and it is about time! Jared has been commuting for 2 years from our house to Avondale...about 65 miles each way (it takes about an hour and half each way to drive) Not ideal!

It all started about a month ago... Jared and I both knew it was time for a change. Actually, we have both felt that we needed a change for two years now, but we both felt distinct impressions that now was the time for him to make a career change. We fasted and prayed and went to the temple asking for guidance for the Lord. A few days later we found a job post for a high school art teacher about 3 miles from our home. Jared applied and got an interview. The interview went very well and he was offered the job the next day, April 6th. It happened so fast. The position is taking Jared's career in an completely different direction. He never saw himself teaching outside of the elementary school setting and now he will be teaching high school. Not what we anticipated but we feel this is where Jared needs to be. He is actually getting pretty excited to teach high school art. Jared's salary will be higher at his new school, not to mention the gas money we will save from the commute, and it is 5 minuets away! IT'S A MIRACLE! We feel so very blessed to have this new job and we feel that we were guided by the Lord to find it. I am on cloud nine!!! My husband will be around at least 3 more hours every day!!!!!!!! My heart is full!

Conference Weekend

General Conference was this weekend. Can I just say....I LOVE General Conference! I felt extremely uplifted by the conference. There were so many messages that I needed to hear. I have come away from the conference with a strong desire to be a better person and to live a more Christ-centered life.

For those readers that have no idea what I am talking about when I say General Conference, let me explain. General Conference is a semi-annual conference that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds. In this conference the Prophet of the church, the Twelve Apostles, and other church leaders speak to the entire church population of over 14 million members. This is done through broadcast, video streaming online, etc. Church leaders give addresses that uplift and inspire church members. For a better explanation go here. Below is a picture of the inside of the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, UT.

I thank God for the opportunity that I have had this past weekend to listen to modern day prophets and apostles speak. I believe that there is a prophet on the earth today. I believe that God is mindful of us in our day and has given us a prophet to guide us just as He did anciently. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing , but her revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." -Amos 3:7

Cameron Crawling

Cameron is crawling...yep it's true. He has been doing so for a couple of weeks now but I have neglected to post a video...it's a second child thing. :) So here it is. Enjoy!