Little girls and emotions!

So yesterday we were invited by Joel's bro Chris and wife Melissa to go to the open house of the Draper temple. It was kind of a last minute thing because she had tickets for a certain time and had forgotten about them until the day before so she asked us if we wanted to go. Of course I told her yes and then I remembered that Kinlee had a birthday party she had been looking forward to going to at the same time. She really wanted to go to the birthday party especially because they were going to "Jump On It"... a cool place with all kinds of trampolines and slides etc. that kids love. Anyway, I decided I would give her the option of choosing between the birthday party and going to the new temple because I didn't want to MAKE her go with us to the temple... I wanted her to think about the choice and be able to choose which one she really wanted to go to. Of course I wanted her to go with us to the temple and see the inside which she probably won't have another chance to do any time soon, but I told her it was okay if she decided to choose the birthday party. HOLY COW. She had a meltdown. She started sobbing uncontrollably because she wanted to go to both and really didn't know how to make such a difficult decision. I almost wish I had just made the decision for her at that point, but I still was going to give her the chance because honestly I didn't mind if she chose one or the other. Dylan wasn't helping either because he kept telling her that she might never get to see the inside of a temple until she is old and that her favorite cousin Karlie was going to be there too. (I think he was secretly jealous that she was going to "Jump On It" and he wasn't). Anyway, she told me she would make the decision by the next morning and she wanted to think about it some more. Every time I would bring it up or say anything about it, she would start crying again... she would say "But I'll be sad if I miss the temple, and I'll be sad if I miss the birthday party!" so I decided to wait till morning to say anything about it. Ultimately, she chose to go to the birthday party (which was fine, because I think I will take her to the Oquirrh Mountain temple when it opens), but I could tell she felt really guilty about her decision and when we got home from the temple, she was already home from her party and didn't want to talk about the party or the temple. I told her it really was okay that she wanted to go to the party and I wasn't sad or mad at her. I had no idea it was going to effect her this way though! If this is any indication of what it's going to be like in the teenage years, I'm scared! She is such a sweet girl, but has such a tender heart and gets her feelings hurt so easily. It's usually a daily occurrence that she gets upset about something and runs to her room crying. I'm sure I NEVER did anything like that when I was little. :) yeah right.

Baby Pic

Well, I found a picture of Christian on my cell phone when he was just a couple weeks old so I thought I would post it since all my other early pictures of him are on the dead computer... he and Dylan look quite a bit alike don't they? :)

Happy 1st Birthday Christian!

I can't believe my baby turns 1 today! He is such a sweet little baby, he is loved by so many. I don't remember any of my other kids being as pleasant and happy as he is. He just seems to give love by smiling and being his sweet self. Here are some pictures of this past year...

Here are some pictures of Christian this morning opening his presents, he got a boat w/bath toys from mom, dad and the kids, and some clothes from Grandma and Grandpa A...

There aren't any pictures here from when he was first born because our old computer died and all the pictures are still on it... Joel assures me that we can still get them from the old hard drive, but we'll see. I'll be really sad if we can't get them. Anyway, we are so lucky to have completed our little family with baby Christian. We love you little guy! Happy Birthday!

A Good Thought for the New Year

I ran across this thought while I was "blogstalking" today and I liked it so much I decided to share it on my blog. Here it is...

Take time to play with your kids more. Silly play. Run around with them. They love it.Sit and cuddle your kids as much as you can.Make sure everyone knows how much you love them. Sometimes you never have the chance to tell them again.Don't sweat the small stuff. Some things just don't matter. They mean something, but they really don't matter.Hold yourself accountable.Remember that everyone has a bad day once and a while. Just like you.Don't get offended. Assume that whomever said it, just didn't get it out right.Give others a break. We are all fighting our own battles.Remember that people aren't always going to remember what you said, But they will always remember how you made them feel. Make them feel special.There are too many people out there who need someone really bad. Be that someone.Sometimes all someone needs is a shoulder to cry on. Give it to them and really listen.Don't keep your distance. We are all supposed to be taking care of eachother. Life isn't about us, it's about everyone else.Sometimes the simplest things to you, mean the world to someone else. Give it to them.Live by example.Have Faith.Remember . . . Life is Good.

And here is a funny picture of my baby just to make you smile... hope everyone has a great 2009!

Kinlee loses a tooth

I love when the kids lose one or both of their two front teeth, it just makes them look so cute or like a hillbilly or something. Kinlee's other front tooth is loose now so watch for another photo with both teeth gone hopefully! And the tooth fairy keeps forgetting to come and bring her a dollar under her pillow! I know, bad tooth fairy.

Sledding at the Moon Cabin

A few days before Christmas we were able to go with Joel's side of the family up to an awesome cabin above Kamas that belongs to my sister-in-law Melissa's family. They were nice enough to let the whole Pilling clan come and stay overnight and have some fun. It is huge and has several bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, etc. and a fireplace in almost every room. There were 29 of us there and there was room for all of us to sleep and enjoy being all together. Joel's parents were with us too, so that made it even better especially for the kids. We spent the time eating, playing games, relaxing and the kids got to ride their sleds down a big hill to the bottom where uncle Chris or Grandpa would pick them up on the snowmobile and take them back up to the top. Too spoiled! When I was little, we had to walk back up to the top! Anyway, it was a lot of fun and a great time was had by everyone. Here are some of the pictures...
You can see Grandpa Pilling was kicking the butts of the boys at a game of pool.

Kaitlyn wouldn't get on any sleds, but at least she went outside for a little while!

Christian didn't really sled down the hill... this was just for picture posing :)

Here are Kaitlyn, Dylan Madilyn, Morgan and Hunter hanging out watching movies in the cabin.

Kinlee and Daniel (our cousin from Canada).

Kinlee and Karlie had a good time playing together at the cabin.

Kaitlyn and her favorite cousin (and pretty much only friend) Madilyn.

Here's Dylan getting ready to go down the hill

Grandma Sandy cleaning up in the kitchen

Ashley and Kaitlyn getting ready for bed

Kinlee and Bailey at bedtime

Kaitlyn peeking out the bathroom door (at least she used the potty!)

Anyway, I really think we should make this a family tradition each year (hint, hint Melissa) because everyone loved it and it's nice to get out of Provo once in a while. :) When we did get back to Provo there was about a foot or more of snow that had fallen just that day! It was perfect and just in time for Christmas. I'm ready for it to melt now. :)