Kelty's first childhood kiss!

(Kelty's friend looking on)

As a mother I just have to write about this. One of Kelty's favorite songs right now is Love Story by Taylor Swift. Here is Kelty's love story.

Last Tuesday when I got home from work there was a message on our phone. It was a friend (boy) from Kelty's pre-school. He was asking if Kelty could come over and play after school. I did not get home until later in the afternoon and my mom had picked up Kelty from school. I returned the message and this cute friend answered the phone and he must have known it was Kelty's number because I said Hi is your mom there and he said, um my grandma lives farther away then your grandma and I wanted kelty to come over and play but the day is almost over. I asked if it would be okay for another time and he said yes and hung up the phone. Later that night I asked Kelty about her cute friend and she showed me that he gave her two stickers at school. I asked if she wanted to go play with him another time and at first she said, I can't because I like Caden. This was the end of our conversation. Brett and I laughed about this when I told him what had happened that day. (I think I figured out the grandma part in the phone conversation because Kelty's grandma picked her up from school so this cute friend's mother must have told him that Kelty couldn't come over and play because she was with her grandma)

Thursday I got a call from Kelty's friend again before school and he asked very politely if Kelty could come over after school and play. I asked Kelty if she wanted to and she said yes. She also colored him a picture that she got from Monday night's Family Home Evening - We talked about Heavenly Father's plan for me (not that this meant anything in particular). After school, Kelty's friend said come on Kelty you can come over and play and she got in their car and I followed her over so I knew where to pick her up at. I already know this family so it was perfectly fine. I just couldn't believe it already. You could tell this little boy likes my Kelty. When I came to pick up Kelty she was all smiles. Her friends mother called to tell me that I think my little guy loves Kelty because they were watching a movie and he put his hand on her arm. I was just smiling because I just know the innocence in all of this.

So I asked my little Kelty what happened and the conversation went something like this....

Mom.. Now when you play with your friend (boy and any other boys) remember that you are both friends and please use your manners at his home and be very kind.

Kelty..OK

Mom... And please don't play like you are a princess and the boy is a prince. (I don't know where I was trying to go with this but you all understand) We don't kiss okay honey because you want to be friends and have fun playing.

Kelty.. Ok. but is it ok to get a kiss on the cheek?

Mom.. What have you been kissed on the cheek?

Kelty.. Yes!

Mom.. Well I know your friend probably likes you but you need to tell him that you just want to play and that kissing is for when you are alot older and

Kelty.. I know the temple when I am 24. But mom I still want to marry Caden.

Mom.. Okay well we are done talking.

New year Resolutions....

Who still does these anyways? I really haven't been serious when it comes to new year resolutions. This past Christmas my mother gave a really good family home evening/christmas devotional. We usually write our traditional letters to Jesus and write goals to do through out the year which is our gift to Jesus however this year was a little different. My mother shared the story of the 2000 stripling warriors. The Ammonites had made an oath and a covenant to their God to bury their weapons of war and to never shed blood anymore or they would perish. When they saw danger and the many afflictions the Nephites bore they were desirous to take up arms in defence of their country but as they were about to take up their weapons Helaman feared they would lose their souls. They had many sons who had not entered into the covenant of not taking their weapons to defend themselves against their enemies. These sons did assemble themselves together and as many as were able to take up arms they called themselves Nephites and they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites to protect the land. They were valiant and were men who were true at all times. They had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before God. This was my mother's introduction into making new year resolutions. She gave us each a paper and envelope and had us write down any weakness or sin (weapons of war) that we wanted to bury (get rid of) and to add a personal goal that would lift us up and help us to walk uprightly before the Lord. Well, put it this way and I had no problem writting down one of my weaknesses to bury at the end of the 2008 year. For those of you who know me really well I have this huge weakness for my favorite soda drink, Dr. Pepper! It really is a dessert to me like it says on the commercials. I had to make it a goal to bury it before the 31st of December because my mom would often say that whatever you do on the last day of the year will set the tone for the year to come. So I pray never to be sick on New Years Eve because I want to have a healthy year for the new year. I also try to run that last day so I would be able to continue to run for the new year as well. I know this is so silly but I didn't have a Dr. Pepper on the last day of the year and I am going strong but mostly I write this not to share my weakness with others but because it has been easier to give up because of the spirit in which my mother introduced the new year resolutions. I haven't had those strong headaches I am so use to having. I also have a daughter who reminds me everytime I would buy my dessert (drink) that I was not choosing the right because she once wanted to take a sip and I would not let her because I told her it was a bad drink for her little body. I am thankful that each year we can take some time to reflect on the old year and to try to find ways to improve ourselves in the new year. I pray for a better year but more then anything I just want to be happy with where I am in life and to be grateful for living in this beautiful country and for the freedoms we have to worship and to leave our homes in safety everyday. We are so blessed!! And like the legacy of the stripling warriors I do want to keep the commandments and walk uprightly before the Lord.

Two words...Heavenly Bliss!

This morning we woke up to some fresh powder at the cabin. We couldn't resist to go out again on the snowmobiles one last time before we left. We were up at the cabin for the New year celebration and weekend. The snow was perfect for today and the temps were freezing!!!

Teagan gets mad when we leave her. She wants to go with us. She runs and gets her boots on and then tells us she is going with us. We take her for a ride but not too far. Her sister Kelty wouldn't even go for a ride because she gets "jack frost" so she claims.

That is Brett out there!

That is me. Can you tell? So 2 out of 3 days I got stuck. Brett was very patient with me probably because he took me riding off the trails. See below!

Mike and Chase helping me get unstuck.

That is my machine right there stuck.

Brett having way too much fun.

My friend Jen is basking in the Florida rays right now but check out Brett working on his snow tan! He still looks white to me. I think he was smothered in sunblock.

New Years Eve - Our family has a tradition of "little New Year" coming and filling our stockings. This is what it looked like at the cabin. Christmas all over again. Little New Years was good to me!

Kelty excitted to open her stocking gifts. When she came down to wake up Brett - She said that Uncle Sean told me to wake you up and Brett was still half asleep and he said to her sternly, NO and so she left crying and wouldn't talk to Brett when he came upstairs. She sat by Sean and Ariel. Brett didn't realize Kelty was trying to wake him up for Little New Year's gifts. Sorry kelty!

Last winter Grandpa and Grandma wanted the girls to go in the hot tub but I didn't bring the girls swimming suits so they told them they could wear their pajamas. They have remembered this and wanted to go into the hot tub this time in their pajamas but the hot tub wasn't working so Grandpa filled up the bath tub with bubbles and had the jets going to they could pretend it was the hot tub. They had a blast.

Teagan sledding by herself. She is so independent and doesn't want help getting dressed or going down the sledding hill.

These girls and their signature mermaid poses!


We tried to get a family picture of us in the snow but notice Teagan off to the left. Hmmm. So help me!!

My favorite Christmas gift.......

Is right here!!!! We had a wonderful christmas. I had to beg Teagan to get this picture of US. I kept telling her that ... all I (Mommy) want (s) for christmas is a family picture by the tree and I had to chase her around the kitchen and beg her. She finnally gave in and let us take one. Thank you Teagan!!

Christmas memories

Lately, I have been reminicing about so many christmas memories. I was trying to think back to my earliest memory of Christmas as a kid and it's got to be when our family moved to Fruit Heights when I was 6 and we were staying in a motel behind Cherry Hills (it is still there but I think they are apartments now) until my parents bought a home in Farmington. We were living there during the christmas holiday and I remember just a few things, visiting my grandparents in American Fork and then some sort of Slide I think that my brother got from Santa.

I really remember the following christmas. Our family had moved back to Alaska after living in Utah for 8 months. I really wanted a pair of roller skates and I got them. I wore them all over the house on carpet since there was alot of snow outside. My sister got a desk which we played school with all the time. My grandma Smith sent matching red pajamas which she made and embroidered our names on. I loved them. But this was the year that my curious eyes discovered half of my gifts and well...

My siblings tease me all the time but my Dad let me pass out the gifts as long as I can remember to everyone one at a time. I liked how we all picked a spot the night before in the living room where we were going to sit to open gifts. This was something I really liked to do. I did this up until college. I remember coming home to Alaska after my first semester at Ricks College and my dad asking me to pass out the gifts. I felt right at home again. You know I can only remember a few things I got for Christmas which is sad but more then anything I just remember my mom decorating the house with lots of christmas decorations and I love that. I remember whenever we got christmas cards my mom taped them to the door and so now I do this. I loved Christmas eve at the Paynes home. It was always fun to make the drive up the hillside and to jump on their indoor trampoline and eat dinner with them. They were family to us. When we were older we would go skiing on Christmas day and that was always fun.

I miss how all 6 of us siblings would sleep in the same room on Christmas eve. I wouldn't exactly call it sleeping we were so excitted and so hyper it would take us forever to fall asleep and just as one of us was about to fall asleep someone would yell, I think I hear Santa on our roof and we would all jump up and look outside.I also miss all the snow we got in Alaska (but i am starting to feel at home with the amount of snow storms we are getting here).

Another great christmas memory was when I was on my mission in Litchfield, Illinois. I was able to focus on Christ more then ever and not focus on the commercial part of christmas. I was serving with Sister Dillenbach, who has since passed on. She made the holidays so much fun. We had just moved into the area and were trying to get to know the members so it was more of a service month. It was hard to be away from home during the holidays yet it was one of my best Christmas's ever. We bought a tree and some people donated lights to us. We used pop cans as our decorations along with candy canes. Gotta love the mission! I remember our Christmas eve and we both shared and did our family traditions such as write a letter to baby Jesus expressing our gratitude for his birth and atonement and expressed things we would work on through out the year as our gift to him. We made cookies and drank egg nog. We even opened one gift since this is something we both did in our families on Christmas Eve. We also read the Christmas story and shared our testimonies. I am truly grateful for this opportunity I had to serve a mission and to experience a christmas out in the field. It was wonderful to serve and to help bring Christ and the gospel into many people's lives.

Ahh and of course our (mine and Brett's) first christmas together. How simple it was back then. We had been married only a few months and didn't have a whole lot of money since we were both in school. I do remember how blessed we felt because we were living in Brett's sister's home house sitting while they were trying to sell it and we were able to save money. How fun it was to pick out a real tree and decorate it with random childhood ornaments. It was great to have a break from school but still worked like crazy. I also remembered we had received a belated wedding card with money from my Uncle and we were just thrilled! But when I look back at this time I remember the best christmas gift I ever got was when Brett woke up early Christmas morning and made breakfast for me and brought it to me in bed. I will always cherish this simple gift. Now whenever Brett asks for ideas or hints for Christmas I just tell him Breakfast in bed.

We enjoy all the family christmas parties and eating and laughing together. We love attending christmas concerts and especially seeing the lights at Temple Square. Now that we have children Christmas time is so much fun and it feels so magical. They really bring the spirit of Christmas into our home and we love teaching them about the true meaning of Christmas and they understand. We also love to see their eyes light up when they see Santa at the store or hear the excitement in their voices as they talk about presents and making cookies for santa and leaving carrotts out for the reindeers (that is Teagan saying that).

May you all have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy your family traditions. These memories are priceless.

Marshall family christmas party

Grandma Marshall on the phone. She has lost so much weight.

Grandpa Marshall along with some very happy great grand-daughters.

Brett and his Grandpa.

We made the trek to Grandma and Grandpa Marshall's through Sardine canyon to Logan in very wintery weather for a family christmas party yesterday. Brett loves to drive in snow storms. I just close my eyes and pray we make it to our destination. We missed the car pile up on I-15 which we are very thankful for. This is a fun Christmas holiday tradition every year. We usually reserve the cultural hall at the Marshall's church and have a dinner and play volleyball or basketball and watch Art and Mae open their gifts. This year both Grandma and Grandpa are in a nursing home and it is very hard for them to get around. We all came to the nursing home. It was fun to visit with Art and Mae and we are so glad that they are feeling better after the hard year they have had with their health.

Do we have to drive back home in the snow storm?

This was Teagan before her pre-school party. She loves wearing this dress.

Camera shy?

Maybe just a little. Teagan has so much energy and is always bouncing off the walls at home. However, at pre-school it is another story. Her teacher tells me she whispers everything and hardly says a word. I don't know if this is a good thing? We have been practicing for three weeks Teagan's part in her Christmas program and well here you go..............
CHRISTMAS IS FOR REINDEER. WHO PULL SANTA'S SLEIGH. Teagan did participate in the singing portion of the program. We love her pre-school teacher. She has had both of my girls and is so good with them. Thank you Marny!

The Nutcracker by Kelty and the Ballerinas

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert SPECTACULAR

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Stay Tuned - There is always a commercial before the news report on the Choir.

A month ago Brett spent awhile entering every family member in for tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas program. The only people out of my family and Brett's family who received tickets were Mike and Jen and they only got 4. They were not able to go so they gave their tickets to Pat and Keith who invited Brett and I along. We attended Thursday evening preformance which was the rehearsal night but rehearsal who are they kidding. It was amazing!! I am so glad that we had the chance to go. The music really put me in the Christmas mood. Thanks Mike and Jen!

All I want for Christmas is........

Kelty and Teagan what would you like for Christmas?

SILENCE....

Saturday was a day full of parties. We had our ward christmas party with a visit from Santa. I wasn't sure if Teagan would even go and sit on Santa's lap since the last few years she would have nothing to do with him. She did sit on his lap but did not look once at Santa she just stared straight ahead. Don't you just love Teagan's hat? She has been wearing that almost every day to every public place we go to. I just have to not even think twice about it. Today I heard Teagan and Kelty playing and Teagan was Santa and Kelty was sitting on Teagan's lap telling her what she wanted for Christmas and Teagan said to Kelty - You better shape up if you want santa to come. HMMM I wonder where she is getting that from? We also had Brett's company party in the evening. We were debating whether to go or just stay home to rest. We went but we were so exhausted and it didn't help that the entertainment was a string quartet who played beautiful christmas songs but it was way too relaxing for us that we were ready to fall asleep during the twenty songs or so they played. And to answer my title question,What does Steph want for Christmas? I just want happy, obedient and well behaved children, who get good grades in school (pre-school). This was my mom's reply every year when we would ask her what she wanted. What I really want for christmas is for Brett's throat to get better so he can swallow normally.

It's Grandpa Swings Birthday today

Had fun cruising the eastern caribbean with the family.

This picture is a classic. How many members of the Dagley family does it take to look at the meat?

We want to wish Keith a very happy birthday today. We want you to know we love you Grandpa and Dad! We look forward to celebrating tonight.

Laie Temple day - Families are forever!

Tonight we walked over to the temple with the girls. Kelty wanted to pick the pretty flowers but Teagan she wanted to go into the temple. She asked me if she could go in the door and I told her she had to be bigger and she raised up on to her tippy toes and said I am bigger mom I want to go in. Then I tried explaining she needed a piece of paper called a temple recommend to go in to the temple and I asked Brett to open his wallet and he pulled out our temple recommends. I showed her what it looked like and explained how we got one and then she grabbed mine and said Ok mommy I am going into the temple. What a smart cookie. There was no stopping her and I pray she will always be that determined to get to the temple. Also, this morning Brett and I did a session at the temple and our session was so full. They brought in folding chairs and tried to cram as many people in. This is a good problem to have. The cute native lady sitting by me named Ada said I guess everyone had the same idea we had to come to the temple. I told her I was visiting and then she told me how the temple is closing next month on the 29th for 18 months to be renovated. She then told me, "Where am i going to pray for 18 months?" It is too expensive to fly over to Kona and it is cheaper to fly to vegas but I can't afford a plane ticket so I will come to the temple every day it is open until it closes next month. I asked her if she lived in this city and she said she was from the other side of the island and that it take her an hour and a half to drive to the temple. I realized how much I take the temple for granted. Brett and I made a goal before we married to go to the temple once a month and there have only been a few months that we have missed in our 9 years of marriage but I thought of this sweet lady who will have to wait 18 months to attend again and I told her that I will go for her as much as i can. I have made a new goal now. The temple will have a new meaning for me now. I am so thankful for teaching moments like today. It was touching to teach my daughter, Teagan about the temple but I realize that my Heavenly Father taught me a valuable lesson as I heard those words today, " Where am I going to pray the next 18 months?" We need the temple more then ever to face the adversary and trials in our lives.

We have the sweetest view from our rental house. It is fun to eat outside on the patio and to hear the waves crash against the rocks. Yesterday we hung out at Waimea Bay. I love this place. Every time we come to Hawaii we have to come here. One of my favorite places. Brett is in the waves kicking.

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I have many reasons to be thankful. I am thankful for Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ who created this beautiful world we live in. I am thankful for my parents who have taught me, loved me unconditionally and are great examples to me. I am thankful for my two daughters, who teach me about love, the world around them, patience and forgiveness and most of all I am thankful for my Husband, Brett who is the best husband ever. How did I ever end up with this guy is beyond me but I hope he knows I love him so much and I am thankful for the Father he is to our girls and the husband he is to me. I am thankful that he honors his priesthood and that he is such a great worker and supporter for us. Life is good and I feel so blessed!

We are having fun and eating lots!

ALOHA!!!

We made it to Hawaii and the girls did surprisingly well on both flights. Thank goodness the girls slept for 3 hours on the longer flight to HNL. Teagan always wants to leave and go somewhere and when we get to the place or we are on the way after 10 minutes she says she wants to go home. So after we were waiting in the airport for several hours Teagan said she wanted to go home and didn't want to go to Hawaii no more. I told her it was too late to return back home. She had to toughen up and go to Hawaii. Now that we have been here 24 hours. I think she is loving it and may not want to go back home.

This is what i call a piece of heaven. I love walking bare foot on the beach.

My two little mermaids.