a hero.

my attitude towards family history has changed over the years.

initially, I was scared of it.  then I got excited about it, but was a little let-down to discover that both my maternal and paternal grandmothers had done the bulk of the work already.  (not that my family tree is filled in entirely..)  then I was kind of happy, almost relieved that the bulk of it was done, I had kids at that point, but not the time to do that kind of work.  I am at the phase where I realize there is still more work to be done, and someday, I will have the time that is necessary to do that work.  right now, I feel like my responsibility is to share these stories and histories with my girls.  they need to know where they came from and about the great legacies that have been left for them.

this layout came together so easily using liv’s newest t + mini – so blessed.  I literally changed the background paper, removed some of the more flourish-ey feminine parts, added my journaling and this AMAZING photo, and it was done!

so here’s more about my grandpa…  don’t be surprised if he and my grandma are the subjects of more layouts to come..  I love them so much!

(you can click on the layout for full credits.)

the journaling reads:

“This picture of Grandpa has to be one of my favorites.  I am so thankful to have a copy of it in my home.  I want my girls to know of the sacrifices that not only he made, but of the sacrifices that continue to be made.  Grandpa was a member of the Utah National Guard, and mustered into the Regular Army in March of 1941.  He was sent to California, to prepare to go to the Philippines, but in December of the same year, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.  His assignment changed.  He was sent to Washington, to train new recruits, then later sent overseas to Europe.  He fought in many battles which included Utah beach on D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge.  He was later injured in the Ruhr Valley in Germany.  He received five battle stars and was awarded the Purple Heart.  He didn’t talk of these things much.  It wasn’t something he was particularly proud of.  We are proud of him though, and thankful for not only his service, but his example in how he lived his life every day.  He will always be our hero.”

this is history that my girls need to know!  what an amazing man..   

mother’s day gift idea.

so I totally have mother’s day covered this year.

I know, I am incredible!!

(but thanks really belongs to miss jessica sprague.)

you see, I was asked to test this mini class, as in, get to take it before anyone else did, to make sure it made sense and junk?  and it totally did.  and as was making my little family tree poster, a little idea entered my mind.

“you could so do these for mother’s day gifts…”

and guess what?

when I got my poster and saw it in all of it’s printed, physical glory, I was like, “yeah.  this would be pretty darn amazing.”

and since I enjoy evoking emotions, I planned on doing it.

then, my first-grader gasped when she saw it.

(it helps that we have been finding and reading stories about our ancestors.)

but she GASPED!!

so that pretty much did it.

(mom, you better not be looking/reading.  but whatever, yours isn’t on here.)

so here’s mine:

and obviously, it’s for my kiddos, only goes back to their great-grandparents.

(ash was trying to spot her 5th great-grandfather..  nope, doesn’t go back that far.)

my mother’s day gift version has been tweaked a bit.  it has parents at the base of the tree with the kids and grandchildren up in the branches.

it’s quite sweet.

and I really love this quote:

“looking at the faces of those who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.”

-Gail Lumet Buckley

so, if you are at all interested, here’s the link to the class.

it seriously took me no time at all to plug in pics and names.  then it gets printed, and you frame it…  so easy.

and all the gasps and tears are totally worth it!

My "word" for the year is...

4 pages, 2 layouts... all for Peyton's book. Teaching my kids about where they came from is very important to me, those are great people and great stories that they need to know. These pages are about my parents and Merrill's parents. I love to have the baby pics with them, they are so much more interesting than their boring adult pics... just kidding.

Jaclyn posted her word for the year, which got me thinking, and helped to keep me awake last night, well, along with the discomfort of my growing belly... I finally came up with it...

EMBRACE

I will embrace my family, friends, and experiences that happen with them. I will not continue to dwell on what comes next, I will enjoy what is happening now, I will embrace it.

I started to think of how I want to be better this year. I started to think of the naggy wife I was as the year began... I kept nagging Merrill as to when we would "try" for this one, and I have continued to nag him about the "next one". Mom tells me to leave him alone, I am pregnant after all. But I feel like I need to "seal the deal", so this won't be it. I could happily go on to have a dozen or more children, it's Merrill's poor gray hairs that can't, or his wallet for that matter. But I now realize how many things I truly wasn't enjoying or in the moment for, looking ahead to the next event to happen. I wish that I would have enjoyed the girls at their individual stages more, not dwelling on when I could bear their next sibling.

So I will embrace every moment that Peyton has as an infant, not trying to rush it along so I can look forward to the "next one". I will embrace what I have now, two healthy, yet emotional little girls, and the awesome relationship (although there is some slight nagging...) that I have with Merrill.

This all stems from another great lesson I learned from Christie, who also brought me a yummy treat today :)... Thanks buddy!