Sophia's First Valentine's Day

Father Daughter Ball

Natalie's school had a Father Daughter Ball and they were having people donate dresses for the girls to be able to pick one out for the ball. So Natalie says she wants to go pick one out and I tell her NO, because she has her own dresses. But ofcourse she wanted to pick one out. She comes home with a velvety blue dress that is like 3 sizes to small. So I make her take it back and tell her she'll just wear one of her Sunday dresses. Well then the day before the dance she comes home with this!

 

It wasn't even a kids dress, it was a teen dress size 1. So I'm like "Ummm no, it's not modest and it's not for a 10 year old girl." But then she ofcourse starts to beg. So she tries it on and I have to say she looked so cute. So I gave in. But we still had to convince her dad.

Well after some sweet talking we convinced him too. I have to admit I wasn't too sure, I mean it made her look older. And it was so sad to see that she's almost a pre teen. She's not my little tiny baby girl anymore.

 Here she was going off to her first dance and getting her corsage from her daddy.

 

She for sure had the cutest date at the ball.

 

I'm glad she got to have this experience and I think I don't have to worry about her wearing anymore inmodest dresses because when she came home she shared something with me.

She said, " Mami, everytime I want to wear something inmodest I have a bad experience that proves to me I shouldn't do it. Like when I was little and I had tiny shorts that made me not be able to bend over or play comfortably. At the party I couldn't dance right cause when I wanted to dance and put my arms up the dress would fall or feel like my top would show. And it just was so uncomfortable. I don't want to wear something like that again."

Awww music to my ears.

Sophia's touching blessing.

Sophia's blessing was this month. I have to admit that for awhile I didn't understand why the blessing was such a big deal. I barely remember Natalie's blessing, and Jaimito's was done by my brother and not David. So it just seem not important.

So the Sunday of the blessing came and we went to church. David's family came to our ward and brought her this dress. I have to say it looked quite silly on her. Still she was cute. As we sat on the bench in sacrament waiting for the moment of the blessing I was still just going with the flow. I was also trying to entertain Jaime so he wouldn't make noise.

Then the Bishop said it was time for the blessing and I handed Sophia over to David. I have to say it was quite nice seeing all the family and friends that got up to participate in the blessing circle. So many people that love us. David started to pray and I have to say my mind wasn't there, I was trying to keep Jaime quiet. But then this overwhelming feeling came over me that literally made me stop and listen to David's words. As I payed attention to his words I realized everyone around me was tearing up and so was David. He was crying uncontrolably as he tried to continue with the blessing. His words were so beautiful. He thanked her for trusting us as her parents. He told her that the hands that were holding her today were the hands of the people that would help guide her in her journey here on earth, and many more wonderful words. But most importantly the spirit that was in that room was so strong. At that moment I knew how special it was for a father to have the opportunity to bless their child. I will never forget what I felt as I saw David hold is baby girl and kiss her and introduce her to the congregation with tears in his eyes.

Sisterly LOVE!

I love to see the bonding that goes on between Natalie and Sophia. Sometimes I worry about how their relationship will be since they are 10 years apart. But since Sophia was born it has been all love between them.

 

They have their thing going on. When Sophia won't stop crying Natalie picks her up and walks around with her while giving her kisses on her chin. Sophia loves it, she instantly stops crying and closes her eyes and just enjoys the love.

It's so cute because it totally makes her stop crying and she just has this "I'm so relax" face!

This is another of their favorite ways to bond. We love this picture because we actually got Sophia smiling! Awwww to cute for words!

3 Nephi Chapter 11

I have to confess that I hadn't been reading my scriptures for awhile now. Probably a whole month. And I kept making excuses about it, like how I was too tired from Sophia keeping me up at night. Yet I noticed that I found time for other not very important things. So I kept saying I'll read tomorrow, I'll read later. Well finally this past Monday I said, "Okay I'm going to read."

My daughter hadn't gone to school so she decided to sit next to me and do her homework while I read. I thought, great now she's going to be asking me for help. I might as well not read. Then I thought, I'm not going to even remember where I left off and I won't even know what's going on. Wow, wonder who was putting all these thoughts in my mind. Then I finally opened my scriptures up and saw that I had left off on 3 Nephi chapter 11. I also realized there were 41 versus. Immediately I thought; these are too many. How many should I read? So finally after much thought and a couple of math questions from my daughter I started reading.

Oh my goodness, I received so many affirmations that I soon realized why Satan didn't want me to read my scriptures.

I was again received testimony that my Heavenly Father knows me, is aware of me, and talks to us through the scriptures.

As I began to read, I still was a little negative, thinking okay I know this and that, and was reading pretty fast. Then I came to verse 28-30.

28......And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.
29. For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger one with another.
30. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.

See for the past month I had been having some issues with church members that had made me feel very angry. I had even been rude to some at some point because I felt so hurt. Contentions about the doctrine had also arised. My heart had been stirred up and I allowed it to take over me. I think that my spirit was very weakend and that was also a reason for not wanting to read my scriptures I think. So it wasn't a coinsidence that I had left off here and that Satan didn't want me to read these verses. Yes, I had heard these verses before, but this time it was a reminder directly from my H.F. to me. I felt it in my heart, I felt ashamed and sad that I had allowed myself to get to this point. But I also felt happy and blessed to know that I have His gospel to guide me, to remind me to get back on the right path. I feel blessed to be in the true church. But I especially feel blessed to have a testimony of God, and to know that he is aware of me. He knows me and he is there for me when I need him even when I don't ask for his help he gives it to me anyways. Even when I'm not being as obedient as I should be he is still there for me ready to guide me and strenghten me.