bubbles.

loving spring weather and this pretty girl.

sunday at granny birds.

my sweet "granny bird" lives up in farmington utah, my family constantly finds ourselves thinking that we really don't visit her often enough. this past sunday morning my mom prepared a dinner for us to take up to my grandma's house, after church we headed up to my sweet grandma's home. as soon as we arrived we popped our prepared dinner in her oven and looked through the old pictures she had brought out. i don't know why my grandma hadn't ever gotten her pictures out before, but they were so fun to look at! i loved hearing her tell her stories as we looked through all her photos.

sweet maycie sleeping on the ride up.

the hospital in australia where my grandmother was born. the hospital is still standing til this day (my grandama turns 90 in august!)

my grandmothers parents.

 my grandmas only brother, ian. he use to go out and sail and would come back every few years to visit he sisters, was kidnapped by pirates and never returned. my grandma first told me this story when i was about 8 and i'll admit..... i laughed. for some reason the idea of getting kidnapped by pirates humored me.

my grandma's older sister who died as a baby from polio. she was never baptized and my great grandma was so torn up with the thought of her perfect baby going to hell, when my great grandma met the mormon missionaries she was overwhelmed with peace knowing that she'd get to be with her child again. boom. conversion.

 my grandma out on a picnic with a mormon missionary who was serving in her ward. oh how times have changed! could you even imagine a missionary taking a girl out on a picnic in today's world? haha.

my grandma's family. complete with her dog sandy mcnab. 

after dinner my family went for a walk to the park near my grandma's house. i played PIG with the boys. eventually my dad ditched us and lexi joined us; we switched from pig to a game of 2 on 2. me and tyler dominated.

it just so happened to also be national siblings day; how appropriate! 

sure love this sweet granny bird of mine. she makes life happier!

general conference weekend.

last weekend was spring general conference. i swear every year we're blessed with the most beautiful weather over conference weekend. our weekend consisted of peaches and cream french toast, pajama's all day long, sunshine, breakfast burritos, the park, snuggling, family, sunshine, and a whole lot of spiritual upliftment.

 during the sunday morning session i sat and listened to the talks while i watched my sweet nieces sharing a chair as they painted together.

maycie eventually went down for a nap and the rest of us went over to the couch to finish up watching the sunday morning session. my heart was so full as i pondered the words spoken about family and fatherhood (from Elder Todd D. Chrsitophersons talk) while watching my brother and his sweet family cuddled up together. 

i felt especially at peace last weekend. i am oh so blessed. i've got the best examples in my life and better influences then i could ever ask for. i'm forever grateful for an older brother and a father who are both worth priesthood holders; they constantly remind me what i want in my future husband and they probably don't even realize that they're doing it. life can get overwhelming and tiring but at the end of the day i've got the best family and that's all that really matters.

family combined with beautiful words from our prophet and other church leaders equal the perfect recipe for an amazing weekend. 

babysitter.

i work part time at doterra and part time as a nanny/babysitter. if i was smart i'd probably just nanny full time because it's one of the most rewarding jobs in the world.

i just have this "natural mom" deep within me that can't wait to be released full force. i'm only 18, but i love spending time with young children and getting a glimpse at what being a mom is like. whether i'm busy being an aunt, helping my mom teach her preschool classes, or babysitting, i'm generally always with kids in my free time and i wouldn't trade it for anything! i actually just got a calling earlier this month to teach a primary class each sunday my class is full of 5 and 6 year old girls and i adore it. if you ever want to die your hair pink and be surround by people who love it..... spend time with 5 year old girls, you'll leave feeling like the coolest person ever ;)

there's something about unloading and reloading the dishwasher over and over again, rinsing out  rotten milk bottles (even though there's no worse smell in the world) changing diapers, putting clean socks on a babies little feet, making a bed and folding blankets, picking up toys, cuddling a baby to sleep, greeting them when they wake up from their nap and so forth that just fulfills me. it's the weird & simple tasks that most people would dread or feel indifferent about that leave me feeling so accomplished and proud. i think this is because i (along with every other girl and women) was born with this natural mom within me. i crave motherhood and all the clean up and sticky duties that come along with it.



as i spend more and more time with kids, i can't help but crave motherhood more and more.

easter weekend.

my easter weekend started out with LOTS of babysitting (between Friday and Saturday i spent over 21 hours babysitting... i may or may not need a nap now) i took the kiddo's to local easter egg hunts and i also brought ingredients over to their house for us to make easter treats together; because as we all know, being festive makes me happy.

(chocolate preztle cookies "nests" & reese's peanut butter eggs. the cookies may of not been super great because the boys i nanny were more interested in eating the eggs out of all the nests. at least they were cute though right?)

after a long weekend away from my house i was excited to spend sunday relaxing with all my family close by. my heart has been SO full of gratitude and love it could just burst. as i've gotten older i've really come to appreciate the gospel more and more. i recently got a primary calling and i now teach a class of 5 and 6 year old girls, obviously our resurrection/easter lesson was very simple, but it's crazy how much you can learn from breaking things down and teaching them in the simplest terms. my mom made an easter dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, rolls, and cooked carrots. at our easter dinner i had a lot of questions for my dad and we had an awesome gospel discussion as a family. i've grown up in this gospel my whole life but i'm coming to realize how much i truly don't know; but i'm learning more and more every day and it's such an exciting feeling. the gospel just makes sense. everything fits together and it just all makes so much sense. learning about it and understanding it is so fulfilling.

nothing says easter like a floral dress and pastel hair right?

besides spring dresses, easter dinner, family, and the spirit, we had fun searching for our easter baskets in the morning, going on an easter egg hunt after church, and making lots of strawberry milk. i love having my nieces live with us everyday, but i especially love it on holidays. the thought of the easter bunny coming to deliver treats is just so much more exciting when you room with a 3 year old.

and if you're having a bad dad just enjoy these terrible awkward photo's of me dancing. happy easter.

Happy Easter (a day late)

"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world's history, that Friday was the darkest. The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord bust that bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind. 

Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays. But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come. No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come.” 

― Joseph B. Wirthlin

happy 21st alexis anne.

last friday my sweet older sister turned 21 years old.

last year she was out in alabama serving as a full time missionary, as happy as were with where she was and what she was doing - we certainly missed her! this year, we actually got to celebrate WITH our lexi lou. sadly i didn't get to spend as much time with lexi on her birthday as i would've like too because was babysitting alllll day long (for reals, 5:30am-7pm) but as soon as i got home i gave her the biggest hug ever and helped my mom prepare her birthday feast of steak, mashed potatoes, rolls, and fresh zucchini. at dinner we talked about all of our favorite lexi memories and stories. after her birthday dinner we watched her open presents and then sang happy birthday to her with cake and ice cream.

sadly, i had to quickly bounce after singing happy birthday so i could get to a friends bachelorette party, after i left the rest of the fam went bowling to finish celebrating lexi's day.

thankfully, i got to spend more time with lex the next day. my mama took me and my sisters up to park city for some lunch and shopping at the outlets (rip @ my bank account because holy outlet sales)

lexi is a sunshine. anyone who's ever met her could tell you that, in fact, people have been telling my family that ever since she was in elementary school. lexi is so friendly to every person she meets and she ALWAYS has a great big smile on her face. it's impossible to be around her without having your spirits lifted. i'm sure gratefully for lexi and the positive influence she has on me.

happy 21st birthday alexis anne.