It's a Harry Potter Party!

Our Cool Lil' Dude

is getting so big!

His favorite word is "wow" but he is also partial to "uh-oh" and "gaga".

If I can ask him he will put his clothes in his laundry basket or bring me his shoes...sometimes.

He is also very helpful unloading the dishwasher.

Photo Sessions of Jonas Go Something Like This...

Exhilarated at the prospect of playing with the camera.

Devastated at the the realization he is not allowed.

Womens Conference

5 of my 6 Harker sisters! Only Liss couldn't come because she was in the throes of university exams.

We spent the nights in University housing.

Frozen yogurt, Cafe Rio sweet pork enchiladas and cinnamon bears were easily my favorite foods during this trip.

There were so many great conference moments for me but I think the two themes that came out strongest were to "weave the Atonement into the daily fabric of my life" and to make those small and simple but vital things a high priority in my daily life. I'm a bit of a sprinter- achieving great spiritual (and personal changes) in spurts before lapsing into a state of rest (which often undoes the good I've worked so hard to achieve) and I felt like a got a personal calling out by an apostle of the Lord, Elder David A. Bednar. 

He talked about being intelligent drip irrigators (instead of those great agricultural sprinklers that chug water over a field which are less focused and consistent). Then he gave an example of how it wouldn't make sense for a person to fast 3 days in a row and then neglect fasting the next few months. Haha. Ridiculous. But I was starting to squirm a little because this talk was hitting way close to home like it was a lecture written for my especial benefit. Then he proceeded to give more examples while I was thinking all the time don't talk about reading through the scriptures quickly and then not reading them consistently for a long time. Needless to say he did and I felt like he might as well have called out my name because that is exactly what happened after my great Book of Mormon marathon last year. But I am working on immersing myself in the scriptures on my own during Jonas' naptime everyday and I've decided to structure my personal scripture study around the lives of women in the scriptures and lessons I can learn from them, beginning with Eve, which I find really interesting.

Conference was a wonderful experience in its own right, but getting to share it with my Harker Mom and sisters made it even more meaningful and memorable. I L-O-V-E these girls.They are genuine, warm-hearted women striving to become more Christlike. And they are wonderful supports and examples for me. They've also been added to my list of people I don't mind being squished into a van with and believe me that is a very short list!

Easter

Our holidays involved a lot time at the park!

Tha sa my boy.

Jonas has been pretty sad lately. He had a bad reaction to his chickenpox vaccination and as a result his body has been covered in little chickenpox.
We had a family sushi party tonight and Jonas tried sushi for the first time.
Turns out that stuffing his face with sushi makes even miserable sick Jonas a happy little boy. Not so much as a flinch when tried the nori.
Tha sa my boy!

J-O-N-A-S

 Three new things about Jonas:
- he has an awesome crop of wavy hair growing in at the crown
- he likes to pretend (he pretended to eat some food off the counter the other day)
- he only wants to walk now