September 2014 Visiting Teaching Printable

I really enjoyed studying the September VT lesson. There were many quotable words of wisdom and I would love to have several of them on my wall.

 “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18)

 “Our Savior has taken upon Himself … our pains and our suffering and afflictions so that He can know what we feel and how to comfort us,” ~ Linda S. Reeves

“Our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us." ~President Thomas S. Monson

 “In visiting teaching we reach out to each other. Hands often speak as voices can’t. A warm embrace conveys volumes. A laugh together unites us. A moment of sharing refreshes our souls. We cannot always lift the burden of one who is troubled, but we can lift her so she can bear it well.”Elaine L. Jack

I picked my two favorites and condensed them onto a handout for next months VT. I hope you enjoy and can decorate your special place with some words of inspiration from our inspired leaders.

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Click HERE to download printable versions of my September handout.

I am so grateful for this series about the divine mission of Christ. I hope you all have a great month of sharing the gospel and uplifting your fellow sisters!

How does understanding that the Lord remembers you bring you comfort?

Summer Time

We have been enjoying a great Summer in our household. Our garden is full, the branches of our plum trees are loaded, and we have spent plenty of time enjoying the fresh air outside. Everyday is a new adventure and one that I look forward to. The girls are growing so fast and learning many new things. They are now 18 months old, walking, running, dancing, chattering (in their own language) non-stop, and always making us smile. I feel so blessed to have these little spirits in my life, always reminding me to be a better person. I feel like am still learning how to be a mother, and it is a good thing that kids are pretty resilient, because some days my learning curve is a little slow. I know my Heavenly Father truly loves me each time I look at their little faces and I can see so much love, curiosity, and kindness in their eyes.

We went fishing

and boating

learned about sharing

played dress up

posed for the camera

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It's About Time

Happy Easter

This was the first Easter for the Girls outside the NICU. We took them to an Easter egg hunt at the church, and they never really got into it... they were less than impressed with their first experience with grass. They did have a blast with our version of an Easter egg hunt in my mom's living room. They had even more fun finding the treats inside the eggs.

A Very Merry Unbirthday

My baby girls turned one This year, and we had a lot of fun celebrating. We had quite the get together with family and friends.

Tis the Season

I realized today that this post has been sitting in drafts since January!! Better late than never.



I cannot believe 2012 has slipped out the door. Christmas for us lasted almost all month long. We had Christmas at grandma and grandpa Olsen's where the girls gave their grandparents and unexpected gift...

a brand new toilet ( a bit of a gag gift from Sam)

I swear it has never been used.

 then we had Christmas at home when a special visitor made a surprise appearance...

 and then as December came to a close, we ventured our way south the longest road trip the girls have ever taken.

What little troopers though! All the way to Oklahoma they traveled like champs. For the first time my babies got to meet their great grandma and grandpa Sweet, aka. Mema and Papa. What a treat for all of us to be able to visit my grandparents. It was such a special occasion that Santa even showed up to fill the girls' stockings early so they could have toys as soon as they got there. We were able to spend almost a week before we drove all the way back home. After 48 round trip on the road, it was nice to back in my own home.

Great Grandpa Sweet and Temperance

Great Grandma Sweet and the girls.

Grandma and Grandpa Moncur and the girls.

The Adventures of Temperance and Juliet

                        Oh what did we do in the Summer time? Well... a little bit of everything.

 

We posed for the camera.

 

 

We went hiking at Five Springs

 

 

Ate Grandpa's first watermelon from the garden.

 

 

 

As Summer turned to Fall we...

 

 

Celebrated Aunt Katie's Wedding... Welcome to the family Uncle Jonathan!

 

 

Finally met cousin Payden who came all the way from Hawaii!!

 

 

Played with all our Olsen cousins.

 

 

and went swimming for the first time!

 

 

 

Time sure flies when you're having fun. Can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings!

Happy 4th

For the Girl's first 4th of July we thought we would go to the Parade in Cody, but got our times confused and only saw the last three floats.

Since we got up to Cody with more time than we expected, we decided to make a trip to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.

The girls had quite the little adventure on their first museum tour.

Happy 4th!

Baby Shower Number Two

The ladies in my ward threw a baby shower for the girls and me. I asked that they pass along how much apprecieated diapers would be, and not only did I get lots of diapers *YEAH!* but there were some very cute decorations and activities.

Super cute diaper cake

Binkie cupcakes

"Aren't you glad they aren't cloth?"

"Remember, sissy is probably wet too"

Everyone left cute messages for us to find when we changed diapers

Lilac Babies

Our town celebrates what they call Lilac days. Part of the celebration is to have a Lilac Queen, Princess, and Baby. How could we pass up the chance to win Lilac Baby?

The contest consisted of turning in a funny story about you child, what their favorite things are, and then present them to a panel of judges.

there were 11 babies in all and it was quite the cute little pageant.

Temperance wowed the judges and won the title of longest eyelashes.

Juliet proved quite the charmer.

We may not have won , but they are my little Lilac babies!

Little Blessings

On Sunday, June 10 our little girls were finally given their blessings. There was a lot of family that came to support the girls. I am so grateful for such a great family!

The famly

Cousin Sky and Juliet

Cousin Levi and Temperance

Baby Shower

Big thanks to Audrey and Karlie for the work they put into throwing us a shower. We had a blast being with family and friends, and of course opening all the great gifts!!

Juliet, Temperance

Great Grandma 'Laine and Grammy Moncur

Home at last

After 3 months in the NICU we are finally home. The girls were given a clean bill of health one month ago and now our little family is finally complete and comfortably at home. Life with twins is never boring.

I am so grateful to the staff at the NICU for their amazing care, not only for the girls, but for Sam and I. Spending day after day in a hospital can be taxing and some days can feel like torture. The nursing team at St. Vincent's was so supportive to us and without them I am sure the many days of going back and forth to the hospital would have driven me nuts!

We made so many great friends during our experience and witness many amazing things that have strengthened my faith in prayer and my Heavenly Father.

For an update on the Olsen Twins...

Temperance Gail is now 8 lbs 8 oz and 21 in long. She has rolled over, can hold her head up, and loves to talk to herself.

Temperance 1 day old 2 lbs 14 oz and 16 in long

Juliet Violet is now 7 lbs 4 oz and 20 in long. She has rolled over, loves to look out the window, and play in the tub.

Juliet one day old 2 lb 4 oz and 14.5 in long

I feel so blessed to have such perfect spirits in my home... even when I am up at 2am changing diapers and feeding two babies at once.

Watch me grow...

I am so in love with my two little girls. It is hard sometimes to remember that they are not like other newborns. They reached 32 weeks gestation on Thursday... we have to think of them as still in utero as far as their age. This means when they finally come home they will be considered new born even though they will be around 3 months old.

I attended a parent night put on by the March of Dimes that taught us about the special development of a preemie infant and how they require a much different environment and care than your typical baby. Some interesting things I learned are:

• Rocking a preemie feels to them like the tilt-o-whirl feels to us, very disorienting. It is important to be very still when holding them.

• It looks cute when they "stretch" out their arms and legs, but they are really looking for the boundaries of the womb and it is scary for them to not feel anything.

• Having boundaries, like being swaddled, or confined by special bedding provides important developmental ques for the preemie. Without these boundaries, they do not learn to self regulate and wont develop proper muscle tone or tendon length in their extremities.

• Even though they squint at bright lights, their eyelids are still so thin it makes no difference.

• It feels natural to us to stroke or touch a baby softly, but a preemie will feel over stimulated and "tickled" by those actions. When you hold a preemie it is important to have firm steady "pressure" as it feels reassuring.

The girls are now 19 days old and still doing very well. Temperance is now up to 3 lb 8 oz and 17 inches long. Juliet has grown to 2 lb 10 oz and 16 inches long.

They are both still receiving their milk through a feeding tube. Temperance now gets 30cc and Juliet gets 24. That doesn't seem like much, but it is a lot for such a tiny body.

They both have found their thumbs. Temperance tries to suck on everything that gets near her mouth when it is getting close to feeding time and does really well with a bink. Juliet is partial to sucking on her fist and also loves her bink... which takes up half her face!

Both girls have "smiled" at us. I am sure it is just a spasm since they have a long while before they actually develop true muscle control to smile.... but it is still pretty darn cute!

Temperance has gotten big enough and maintains her own temperature well enough to wear onsies... sister still has a little way to go before she gets her first outfit, but I am sure it wont be long.

They have so many cute little personality quirks already... it is amazing to watch them change every day.

Juliet and Temperance. 18 days old

Juliet's little kissy face and sleepy Temperance

Happy St. Patrick's Day little Temperance

Juliet loves her bow