My Little Jezabelle

My first calico



What a sweetie she is. She loves to cuddle with me and always wants to sit in my lap, even when I'm feeding Christian. She's great with the kids. Very patient. Even though Christian is still learning how to be gentle (he's on his way, though. He already recognizes the sign when I use it!), she still goes back to him time and again to let him pet her. She loves Lincoln and lets him carry her all around the house. He is such a gentle boy. I am so proud of him.

I love girl kitties. They are so sweet. (Can't wait to see what girl babies are like... he he)

Her many nicknames:
Jezzie
Jezabellie
Jezzers

I love her coloring. Orange, white, and black. She's definitely a little fiery like her orange spots. Our 9 yo kitty Romeo gets intimidated by her when she goes to wrestle with him. Our first girl, Reina, was more his match. We're hoping one day Romeo and Jezzie will become good friends. That would be perfect.

Our St Patty's Photo Shoot

Okay, let's be honest: I like the flag, but the shadowing is not helping my physique and the positioning is backwards. However, I do love Christian's stoic face!

I look like a mother hen trying to collect her chicks.

Crisco: Really guys, are family photos that important? They're definitely not any fun!

Seriously, Christian's right. Jon and I decided that the next time we try to take family shots, we're not gonna worry if the little kids aren't posing perfectly, and just try to enjoy ourselves so that our smiles are actually genuine. Nothing is worse than off-camera bickering. he he. I laugh now, but it's the pits during. Anybody have any tricks of the trade?

The final four
(not too shabby :0)

Happy Birthday Grammy Trish!

In honor of your birthday, I put Christian in this shirt that you gave Lincoln when he was this age. I thought it looked adorable with the phrase "Little Prince". Apparently, Christian thought so too with that cute little pose at the top. Can't wait for you to meet the boys in May! I'm sorry it's taken so long. But at least we can look forward to the future. I hope you had a happy, happy birthday!!

A Shot Out to Gma T!

Gma T, Lincoln drew these smiley faces all by himself just for you! Hope you like 'em since you are the master of all smiley faces.
I had no idea he even knew how to do this. I love being a mom; it's so much fun when my kids surprise me with something new they can do. Even the simplest things make me so proud.

Happy Valentine's Day!

-from the spirited Willisons. so matchy, matchy!

(Jon, really. You shouldn't wear your high heels when we take family pictures. It makes me look like a midget! Mercy... It's like I've got my own Redwood tree growing in my house :0)

Mommy & Link

-dressed up for church and rockin the curly hair-

Who Does He Look Like?

Daddy or Mommy?

(Should I even ask??)

Nonni & Link...and playdough

It's Laundry Day--Hip Hip Hooray!

Little Crisco at 10 1/2 months.
(Wow, I can't believe he's almost 1! That's crazy. And so great at the same time. Life is so much happier now that he can move around on his own. Christian's happier and a ton easier, which makes mommy a whole lot happier. Cheers to crawling! And cheers to Christian's adorable smile!!)

btw--his twin put him in the laundry hamper. that would be his daddy, just wanted to clairfy :0)

My Little Bishop

Last Tuesday we were having our weekly Family Home Evening Night. Jon did the lesson on loving to read the scriptures (since we were just about to finish the Book of Mormon--refer to previous post). As a game we decided to play "Name That Apostle". It's something we made up, but it's pretty obvious how it's played: Jon holds up these cards, shown above, in his hand and Lincoln picks one and tries to name it. It's pretty incredible to me that he knows who everyone is in the Quorom of the Twelve. However, that's not really to my credit. You see, while I was looking for supplemental material for a FHE lesson on apostles, I stumbled across this great video on Sugardoodle that sings all the apostles names to a fun little tune. It even came with these printable face cards. Score! Anyway, Lincoln got obsessed with the video and asked me if he could watch it over and over again everyday. I thought it was adorable. I love how much this kid just LOVES the gospel. He's my pride and joy. Needless to say, I wasn't totally shocked that he could name all the apostles. However...

I was completely shocked as I noticed Lincoln start to do something with the cards once he had finished naming them. Jon had tried to continue on with the lesson, but I stopped him and told him to check out what Lincoln was doing. My little 3 year old then proceeded to put all of the prophets and apostles in order of seniority! Can you believe it?! Isn't that incredible?!! Even I can't do that, let alone most faithful adults. I couldn't have been prouder.

My little Lincoln, how I love your enthusiasm and knowledge. I know that you came from heaven to be in our family, and I thank God every day that I have the opportunity to be your mother. You are such an amazing little guy.

I love you, Link!

What a Special Day

Lincoln and I finished the Book of Mormon!

I can't even remember when we started it. This picture is of Lincoln's very own Book of Mormon. If you look closely, you can see how worn the pages are. I'm guessing that it took us nearly 2 years to complete it. But that doesn't matter one bit, because we did it! We read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover. And it felt so good.

Despite all the war chapters in the end, it was really beautiful what Mormon and Moroni wrote. Their words really touched my heart. I think that this is the fourth time that I have read the BoM all the way through, and each time--without a doubt, I know that these were prophets of God who wrote the words contained on these pages. It speaks right to my soul. The swelling description found in Alma 32 of the joy of the gospel is exactly how I feel when I read the scriptures. They become delicious to me and they fill my body with joy. I have felt the Holy Ghost purely resonate within me many times while reading this sacred book. I am so glad that I have been diligent in sharing the light of the gospel with my children at such a young age. I know that it will help keep our family strong and united as we study the words of God together. I believe in Christ. And I know that the Book of Mormon testifies that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. And I encourage everyone to find this out for themselves. I promise that it will make you so happy.

Up to this point, Lincoln and I have completed the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. We are now on to the Bible! I am so excited. We are definitely starting with the New Testament, though. Then, we'll move on to the molasses (the Old Testament :0) However, I have never read the Old Testament, so I'm really looking forward to reading all the classic stories, like Job, and obscure books, like Haggai. Wish us luck!

(If any of you are wondering how I was able to read all these scriptures with a young child, it was actually quite simple. I found a spot in our routine that worked, and kept it up. Reading scriptures right before naptime has proven to be the best time for us. It's a dependable time slot in our day and a nice way to relax before going down for a nap. Depending on how the kids are doing will effect how much we read; but I always make sure to read, even if it's just a verse.)

I am so glad that we were able to finish it. What a special day!

Wow, What a Hill!

A group of us packed up all the kids and headed out to Hummel Park on a snowy/sunny Saturday. We had such a blast going sledding. It's one of my favorite 'extreme sports'. I haven't been since I was a teenager. I like to think that I'm pretty daring. Shockingly, I'm more of a baby than I thought. (i.e. There was a jump that was pretty decent. I decided to do it, but as I sled down the hill I started freaking out. I did the jump, but vigorously tried to slow my speed in the process...Not so tough as I thought!)



I love this pic. We're missing Crisco b/c we left him at home with Amira, our bbsitter. It worked out great, though, cuz Lincoln needed some Mommy and Daddy time to himself.

This was Link's first sledding experience. And it didn't go so well. He got banged up a couple of times going down, so he wasn't a big fan. He liked eating the snow and playing with his best bud, Vincent, a lot better. :0)

Can you tell who this is?
We got Vincent, Ally, and Link...all ready to go!

Their respective mommies

You might need to enlarge this one to see Jon getting some air on this one. This is the jump I was talking about. What a great shot--perfect timing!

The Superbowl

Geaux Saints!
Go Colts!
Wait...what? This is so confusing!



Technically, I'm cheating by rooting for both teams (hence the blue shirt for the Colts and black pants for the Saints). But you see, it sounds perfect to me because either way, I'm happy with whoever wins.

A big thanks to the Ramseys and the Allens for coming and watching the Superbowl with us. It was really nice getting together. And Kevin, you did a great job keeping your cool despite the outcome of the game.

The Battle of the Brothers
Umm, yeah. So, we dressed Christian up for church in this Saints outfit that my mom got for Link a couple of years ago. Suffice it to say, he did not have many friends at church that day. It was pretty funny. You know me, I can't help but stir the pot just a little...

My mom is from New Orleans. Which means my loyalty lies with my family. However, while living in Indy for the past 3 years, we have fallen in love with our local Colts. Jon, on the other hand, was not so loyal to the family. He was rooting for the Colts all the way, and antagonzing my uncles in the process! (Which our wallet felt the pain of when Jon made a 'friendly wager' with my uncle Mike that if the Saints won, he would buy him a jersey, and vice versa. Wait a sec-- Is that even allowed in Mormon land?) Anyway, everyone already knows the outcome. Suffice it to say, if the Colts had to lose to someone, we couldn't be happier that it was to Na'lens.
Who dat dat?!

Just Do Your Thang, Honey!

Me and the girls, Liz and Claire. I just love these ladies.

Shake it like a salt shaker. Shake it like a salt shaker.

The DJ did such a great job. The music was way fun to dance to. My rule of thumb: you know the music is bumpin if you know all the words and can sing along! It was so fun meeting up with my girls there. I say my girls only because their men ditched out and they went as each others' dates. It worked out perfectly, though, because that freed them up to dance all night with me. I do have to say that I was impressed with Liz and Val's dance moves. They had some swagger. And a special shot goes out to my best friend, who is the best hubby in the world. He danced with me the whole time and we had such a blast together. Jon, no one compares to you.

Here's a funny story: I made some special requests to the DJ's. They asked my name, but mistaked it for Dora. So, when they played this dental song by Owl City that I had requested, they introduced it by saying this song was dedicated to their friend, Dora the Explora! Lol. Say what? So hilarious. My name has been confused many times, but that was a first.

Hey lady!

(I found this dress at Dress Barn. It was my first time there, and holy cow, I had no idea that place was so great! It's like the perfect dress shop for Mormons. I was amazed by how many dresses worked with garments. So, I couldn't help myself... I went back and bought some more for church and the upcoming weddings we have this summer. What a find! I definitely recommend it.)

Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

Jon and I went on our annual Valentine's date to the Valentine's dance that the dental school hosts.
We always have such a blast. I look forward to this dance all year long. See, I love to dance. But being Mormon and having certain standards of decency, I refuse to go to a club to go dancing. The atmosphere is just too nasty. This decision really limits my options of being able to go dancing, though. So, in essence, this dance is the only option I have left. For that reason, I go all out, not holding anything back in these dance moves of mine. It's party time, ladies and gents! Let's do this...



The handsome couple

This is pretty much our only dance move that we can do together. (We really should think about taking lessons from our friend, Drew.) But we love it, nonetheless. It's our favorite!

No, wait. This is our favorite ;0)

After three hours of dancing, we didn't look too shabby.