We've had such a great and busy couple of weeks.  On January 10 we took all the youth that wanted to the temple.  It was the first time for many of the young men and young women.  We were able to get 133 names done in 90 minutes.  130 of the names belonged to the youth.  They were family names they found.  It's such a gift to work so closely with the youth and to love them so much.  

Hallie participated in the Pep Rally at school. She's so brave.  I love that she has come out of her shell and it able to be so heavily involved.  She's made quite a name for herself.  This little rap her Student Council did for the School Board was quite hilarious.  

 After reading and studying an article about the different challenges President Nelson has given us as Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it said the most under utilized or discovered was the invitation to read and study the Relief Society Declaration and the Mission Statement.  Then it suggested we make our own mission statement.  I decided I liked the Relief Society one so much I'd just copy it.  After all, these are the things I'm striving most to become... Faithful, Virtuous, full of Vision and Charity.  I loved pondering these words and their meaning.

 Tommy came to town.  He's running the Houston Marathon.  Siblings are such a special gift of friendship and love.  Aaron, Rachel and Tommy came for dinner one night and then I spent the day with the boys the next day.  It was the perfect day.  We just visited on the couch and ate delicious food.  Each of us is very different and we each learn so much from each other and love each other something fierce.  I'm so impressed with the drive and ambition that both Aaron and Tommy have.  They make my life happy!

 We had such a great visit with Josh and Kirsten and Luke this week as well.  I felt bad it was so cold in Texas (We even got snow) that we didn't do much outside of our house but we did have a ton of fun playing games and visiting.  We ate tons of delicious food.  I'm starting to recognize a theme about Texas.  Visit and Eat... that's about it folks!  We had a great time on Friday night on a little date night with Josh and Kirsten.  We went Country Dancing.  We had a little two step lesson and then could dance until the bar crowd got a little rowdy.  I hope we go back for more dancing.  It was sure fun.  I've decided I'd really love to be a cowgirl!

My poor little Taylor girl is growing up and having a hard time this week.  It think hormones in this house are exploding and she's really trying to separate herself a bit.  I hope I give her the space she needs and wants but also love her so deeply she knows I'm a safe place.  She's such a good girl.  It breaks my heart to see her hurting.