Birthday Fun

This past Thursday I turned 33. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I always promised myself that I would grow old gracefully. I guess it's time to start. :) It was a fun week.

Thursday morning Daniel gave me my other present: another Bones season on DVD. I got season 1 for Christmas and seasons 2 and 3 for my birthday. Only one more season left to buy, for now at least. That night, after the kids were in bed, he even watched a few episodes with me. It was really nice!

I didn't work Thursday, and Lily had a bit of a cold so we kept her home from preschool. We went to the Happy Sumo for lunch. Erik was at school, so he wasn't able to join us, but he's not always a big fan anyway. I tried a new sushi roll, the Mango Mamma. It's tempura shrimp and cream cheese topped with mango slices, shredded coconut and passion fruit sauce. It was soooo good!
That night, after eating hamburgers and potato chips (and yes, I did pick this for dinner) we had a chocolate lovers cheesecake variety pack which contained 4 different kinds of very yummy cheesecake.

Erik told Daniel earlier in the week that he wanted to buy me a present. Daniel went shopping with him at Target. Erik knew exactly what he wanted to get me, and he knew I'd like it: a New Moon lunch box. He's too cute. He knows that I like the Twilight Saga so he knew I'd like his present. Smart kid. Apparently, it was a bit more expensive than Daniel thought it would be, but he didn't have the heart to tell him no because he was so excited/proud/happy to get it for me. Erik is such a sweet boy!

Saturday morning I was able to go to our stake Women's Conference: "Seeking the One Thing that is Needful...". It was amazing!! Our speaker was the man in charge of CES in Denver north area. He spoke about the things we need to do to become closer to Christ. Our stake RS presidency is amazing! They put a lot of work into this. They took 4 pictures from the New Testament and made larger than life murals of them: Mary and Martha, Christ praying with Mary as a child, Woman at the Well, and Christ with Mary Magdelene outside the tomb. The backgrounds and Christ were painted on the huge canvases. However, the women from the painting were live sisters from the stake posing as models. They had to stay still for 5-10 minutes, depending on how long their painting was on display. The little boy who played Jesus stayed still the entire time, and he's not even 5 yet! I was pretty impressed. The music was beautiful as well: Mary Did You Know, Woman at the Well, Mary and Martha (written by two sisters in the stake), and My Redeemer Lives. It was spectacular! A few thoughts that came to me during the conference:

- Do I realize the potential of my children? They can grow up to do amazing things and I need to do what I can to nurture and prepare them.
- Motherhood is the greatest calling and places us next to the angels. I sure don't feel or act this way all the time. I need to remember to perform this calling to the best of my ability!
- Am I pondering and acting on impressions I receive from the Spirit? Recognizing and acting on promptings is something I've been working on for a few months now, and I'm doing better. I have lots of room for improvement though.
- Forgiveness = charity. We need to forgive others. Failing to forgive mocks the Atonement. I had never thought of forgiveness in this manner before. Christ continually forgives us for our mistakes, no matter how big, as long as we repent and ask for forgiveness. If he does this for me, who am I to not forgive others?

It was a great week spent with my family. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, cards and texts to help remind me how much I am loved. I greatly appreciate all my family and friends. I love you all!