The hills are alive....

At Rock Canyon Park where I died ugly at my first Utah Valley Fit Mamas workout.  Lol.  Running up those hills were dreadful and the saddest part is that we ran the smallest hills there!  Lol.  We threw in some push ups and abs in between the hill sprints and called it a day.

The weather was goooorgeous today so the kiddies ran wild while we worked out then we headed to Dom's.  The kids played in the sun for hours while we busied ourselves making trek buckets for Dom's YW only to find out the due date was next Thursday not today!  We are definitely sisters!  Lol.  The padded buckets turned out so great though and I can't wait to make mine :)  Oh yeah, Vili and I got called to be a Ma and Pa for our stake youth trek in Wyoming this upcoming June.  I'm always in the primary, nursery, or relief society so I don't get much time to interact with the youth in our ward.  I'm so excited for this opportunity and the chance I have to get to know our youth better.

Today was a great day!

Sunday Inspiration

During our relief society lesson I had a strong impression in my mind that my family needs to be more active in our ward activities.  It had nothing to do with the actual lesson but my mind was wandering with the different comments being given and that is what stuck with me.  It was our ward conference weekend and there is so much we missed out on because we were either too lazy or just too lazy.  That's really what it comes down to.  I can probably count on one hand the ward activities we attend together as a family on any given year but hopefully that will change.  When we got home I told Vili my thoughts during our lesson and he said a similar thought crossed his mind during his lesson in priesthood.  Coincidence?  I think not!  We decided that we will make more of an effort to attend all the ward activities, whether we want to or not, so that we can supportive of our amazing ward and leaders.

Fitness 101

I probably should have titled this blog post Fitness -101 because I think that might be more accurate.  Lol!  2014 marks the first year that I have ever included fitness into my yearly goals.  Anyone who knows me knows that working out is definitely not my forte.  The closest thing to physical fitness that I've done is dancing and I stopped doing that when I was pregnant with Elina way back in 2009.  Depressing!  Since then I have been blessed with two beautiful daughters and my body has been not so blessed with lots of changes!  I'm sure everyone out there is thinking, "Is this girl serious?  She's still skinny!" but I assure you I am just "skinny fat" and looks can be very deceiving.  Anyhow, this year I've decided it's time for me to get fit!  I want to be healthy in a aspects of the word: physically, mentally, and most importantly, spiritually.

The more I learn about health and fitness, the deeper my knowledge is about how much our Heavenly Father loves us.  He gave us the Word of Wisdom because he knew that one day we would live in a world where diseases are rampant due to unhealthy lifestyles.  I am gaining a testimony of how important our physical bodies are to our mortal experience here on Earth and I'm finally starting to realize how much our agency with regards to health and fitness affects our everyday lives.  I am learning how amazing our bodies are and how adaptive they can become to good and bad habits.  It really just amazes me!

One of the main reasons I'm doing this is because I want to learn to love myself.  Like truly love myself, inside and out.  I want to be able to teach my kids to love themselves and appreciate the bodies they have been given and to treat them well.  What better way to lead than by example, right?  I so wish that was easier said than done!  I'm sure this will be the most mentally challenging thing I have ever done but I am excited and look forward to getting that bikini body that will look just as amazing under modest clothing ;)  Lol!

Graduating to Primary

Gosh I wish I didn't stop writing my boring monthly posts about the girls!  Lol.  There is so much about them that I don't want to forget!  Like how Talanoa tells on anyone who says naughty words and how she almost always tells the truth even when she did something bad.  If it's not the blunt truth it's a blunt lie.  LOL!  I will miss how they both wake up in the morning saying "Goooood mooooorning mommy!" or how Elina's favorite line as of late is "Be happy!" with the poutiest face.  I love that they know their whole name and who they are named after.  They even know that my name is Lavinia and daddy's name is Viliami.  What the?  Hahaha!  I will probably even miss the naughty things they do and how they whine and complain 90% of everyday and how frustrating it is!  Seriously, only a mom can say something that crazy!  Lol!  I know I've been on too long of a break from my blog but this is a memory I never want to forget!

For a little while now I've been explaining to the girls that Elina will be moving to primary (class...according to them) while Talanoa will be staying in nursery.  They've been attached at the hip since birth and this was a huge change for them so I was trying to prepare them.  I knew it was weighing especially heaving on Talanoa when one morning she woke up and the first thing she said to me was, "Mommy, is Elina going to the big girl class?  Can I go too?"  So sad!

Well, last week was Elina's little intro to primary and she loved it.  She ran out of nursery like she didn't even know who I was.  Lol!  Before Elina left nursery she promised Talanoa that she would be back to pick her up.  How precious is that?!  Anyway, after she left Talanoa was having a little meltdown so we decided to sneak into primary so that she could see Elina was fine.  Elina was at the front of the room getting introduced with a few others to the entire primary.  She was so quiet and reserved I almost didn't recognize her.  The cutest moment is when Elina saw Vili amongst the crowd (we teach the 10 & 11 year olds) and started waving with the hugest smile on her face.  I almost cried!  Lol.  Nope, not pregnant and definitely was not expecting to be that emotional.

Here is a video of when they were singing to Elina.  So glad Vili recorded this!

Surprise FHE

When I got home from work last night I was greeted with an FHE lesson prepared by my husband and kids.  It was the best gift ever!  Vili taught them about the phrase "I love you" and drew out pictures that said I love my family and I love Jesus.  When I got home the girls held up the pictures and taught me all about it.  This is definitely a moment worth remembering :)   

Will post pics later

What is considered blogworthy?

I stumbled across one of my teenage journals late last night during my insomnia and it was kind of amazing and embarrassing all in one.  First of all, did I really talk like that?  Lol!  Anyhow, reading through so many memories that I recorded and forgot about was indescribable.  Some things were not so noteworthy and very immature but there were other entries that made me want to cry from joy because I recorded them.  Point is I re-learned the importance of journaling hence this blog post after a long hiatus.  I decided last night while reading my journal that everything is blogworthy whether it is big or small.  I want to remember everything about my babies because they are growing up so quickly.  I want to soak in their childhood years long after these memories have faded.

Baptism for the Dead

I've been really emotional lately.  To the point where I'm wondering if I'm pregnant.  I know I'm not so I'm not sure what's going on.  I'm here at work reading our lesson for our primary class about baptism for the dead and I can't help but feel the Spirit so strongly.  Anything that is temple related always makes me emotional because I understand the sacred responsibility we have while we're on this Earth to help those who have passed on.

Back to the lesson.  In the lesson it tells us to remind the kids (we teach ages 10 and 11) that if they stay worthy they can perform these ordinances for those who have passed by being proxies for them once they are twelve.  A few kids in our class have already turned twelve this year so this hits home even more.  The part that got me all teary eyed was a story about patriarch who went to watch baptisms for the dead one night and saw the spirits who had passed on, awaiting their turn to be baptized.  It talks about how happy those spirits were that their turn had come to be baptized and they were right there watching it all happen.  I get emotional because I think of myself in their shoes and how grateful I would be to the 12 year old who stayed worthy and was able to help me.

Not sure why but for some reason knowing that the spirits who have passed are present in the temple while we perform their ordinances for them makes things so much more real for me.  So much more personal.  I remember in a stake conference earlier this year the Provo temple president spoke and said something similar about all the ordinances performed in the temple whether it was baptisms, sealings, endowments, etc.  He also said that the veil in the temple is so thin and that the temple is the bridge that connects the living and the dead.