Women's Conference

I love Women's Conference! I love knowing that I am going to hear something that was for me... something that I needed to hear that will help me learn and grow. Tonight was no exception. All of the talks were wonderful, but President Uchtdorf's talk was for me so to speak... He spoke of our path to peace, hope, and joy- how to have happiness even in the midst of trials and sorrow. He answered this with asking us a question about God's happiness and what it is - or really how we can make Him happy so to speak. The part I loved and he focused on was CREATING beauty and being COMPASSIONATE. Love it! These are the two great works of our Heavenly Father and of course why should we too not be involved in this? It makes Him happy how could it not make us happy? He gave us a quote from Brigham Young and part of it I loved... "make beautiful everything around you." What a great way to live each day by trying your best to make everything around you beautiful. Im going to strive to do that each day while also trying to be more compassionate to those around me. I also love the phrase "create beauty"... wow what fun! I like to think I am pretty crafty or handy, but now I want to be even more so... I want to look for more ways to create beauty around me... it can be a project, organizing something, decorating, cleaning, helping, smiling, anything - it is limitless and sounds like fun to me!

Here are a few little quotes from tonight that I loved... (forgive me if I dont remember who said them or got that info wrong!)

"be anxiously engaged in a good cause"
"be an example of righteousness"
"be a mighty force for good"
"as we lift others we rise a little higher ourselves" Pres Uchtdorf
"work will cure your grief" Pres Hinckley
"open our eyes and see the heavy hearts" Pres Uchtdorf
"CREATE BEAUTY" Pres Uchtdorf

I cant wait for General Conference next week! I know as I ponder and pray about the things that are on my mind and in my heart, I will hear what I need to hear from the Lord - whether in a talk or by the spirit. I cannot wait!!

Family History

Don't go to sleep just yet... I used to think that doing genealogy sounded so boring... and my Patriarchal Blessing tells me very clearly that one day I would have a desire to do this work ( and more info about it, but I dont want to go blogging the specifics about something so personal ya know? :-) Anywho... well Id say this past year I have had a huge desire to do my personal family history work and I am LOVING it! So fun! I am doing my biological line... and while I really do not have any sentimental feelings about the people I am doing the work for (they are "family" so to speak, but I do not know any of these people and have no contact or relationship with them... no hard feelings whatsoever, I just truly do not know them - for those of you lost, my mom divorced my bio dad when I was like 3 and for the most part after that I never saw my dad again. My mom remarried Carl Wirfs and he is my father all the way!!). Anyway... as I am searching for my ancestors I am getting to know their names and who they married and their childrens names and parents names, etc... so amazing to see my family line grow! I am beginning to care for these people and am honestly trying to find all of their family members so that I can perform all the work I can for everyone to give them the opportunity to be together forever. What a blessing to be able to do that for someone. I love doing this work and I have seen how Heavenly Father is opening doors for me to accomplish this... my ancestors are counting on me and I do not want to let them down! So far I have found and done most of the work for 14 females and 16 males. I have 5 couples I can seal together most of which I have found their children (one couple having 10 kids!)... what an amazing day that will be when I can have them sealed together! I cannot wait and I hope they cannot either!! So, bottom line is... I love genealogy!!

All grown up...

Today is the day when I looked at Liane in pictures ( more of Uncle Jake's amazing pics of Liane) and thought "Wow she is really growing up." She looks older to me in these pics and I wanted

to post them on my blog for one, cause she is darn cute and I love her to pieces, but I wanted to document the moment I thought for the first time "My little girl is growing up." (sniff, sniff, sniff). Liane has moved out of the "baby" phase and is now a toddler and these pics truly depict that for me. Enjoy!!

Decisions, Decisions...

So I have a thought... it's something Salomon and I have talked about and also my mom and I... and it is this...

When I (we) have decisions to make - particularly the big ones- I make it a matter of prayer,and bring the situation, options, thoughts, desires and hopes to Heavenly Father and ask Him to guide me to make the right decision... the decision He would have me make (for I know that is where my only and true happiness rests...) so it's a "petition prayer" at this point in time. I'm just in need of guidence. Then I do all the studying it out that I can and come to some sort of conclusion that I feel is what Heavenly Father would have me do. Then the prayer becomes a "decision prayer" and I pray to confirm (or not) that the decision I have made is in accordance with His will. Confirmation = move forward with it... stuppor of thought = change the decision - it's probably not right or not right for now (in my case anyway). Ok that sounds all well and good and this process can be easy or really hard sometimes. It's a little more difficult when after all the praying and studying and searching, I still feel like I am not getting an answer or confirmation. What to do then??!! Well all I can say is that I have to move forward with what I think is best and wait patiently on the Lord so to speak. He will not leave us to make a wrong decision if we are truly seeking His will. So move forward with what you think is best and see where the path takes you... takes great faith sometimes, but the journey can be fun too!

Another thought I had was that sometimes I have received and answer to do something and continued on the path to make it happen, only to find in the end that it wasnt going to happen... the lesson I have learned from this is that sometimes (maybe I am the only one who has gone through this, but Im about 100% sure Im not) Heavenly Father just wants to test us or wants to know/see that we are WILLING to do what He asks us to do, but in the end we never had to go through with it... does that make sense?? If not then recall the story of Abraham and Isaac... ok I have not had a situation like that - thankgoodness! but the principle is the same. We are tested sometimes to see if we are willing... and sometimes that is enough and lesson is learned.

I have gone through these experiences these past few months - which was kinda tough - but I am so grateful for the lessons I have learned and the opportunity Heavenly Father gave me to draw a little closer to Him and to rely in Him a little more... not to mention get to know myself a little better too :-)

Liane's 1st Birthday!

Wow is my little girl really 1 already??!! Time really does move too quickly, but this past year has been so fun with Liane. She has grown up so fast and is such a joy to have in our lives. This past year Liane has learned to roll over, sit up, eat food, sleep through the night, say a few words, got her first two teeth and is now walking!! She has also been on a little road trip and flew on an airplane for the first time. Liane is an outgoing, funny, sweet, huggy, kissy, smily, intelligent, active little girl. I thank God every day for the blessing of being her mommy!

For her first birthday we went as a whole family - Wirfs and Cano's - to the Hogle Zoo on Saturday. Way fun!! All of the kids and the adults had a blast. After spending 3 hours at the zoo we all went home so the kids could take naps and get ready for the party- her Backyardigans birthday party. We again had the whole family over for a BBQ, pinata, cake ( yes I made the cake from scratch... it was an Orange Spounge cake shaped and decorated like Pablo from the Backyardigans... ok so its not the best job ever, but for my first character cake I think I did a pretty good job!) and presents. Salomon also made a special video of Liane's first year on this earth. So sweet!! We again had a wonderful time and Liane had a blast! Today is Liane's official birthday and after church and her nap she got to play with her new toys and spend lots of time just with mommy and daddy which she loved - and so did we! She also got to have more cake and be sung Happy Birthday to once again. What a special day for us! I love you Liane with all of my heart and soul and am so grateful to have you as my daughter!! xoxo

Remembering September 11, 2001

All day I have been thinking about it... where I was, what I saw and how I felt on September 11, 2001. I was a teacher at Plumfield Preschool in Santa Ana CA at the time. It was in the morning and I had just gotten out of the shower and was brushing my hair. As usual in the mornings, I had the TV on in my room in Fountain Valley CA - I was still living at home at this time. I was brushing my hair and I could hear the news anchors talking about something that had happened in New York to one of the Twin Towers. I came out of the bathroom to see what it was and I saw the first tower smoking. As I was watching and listening to the anchors contemplate what had caused this (no one knew at this time exactly what happened) I saw a plane come across the TV screen and slam into the second tower. My jaw hit the floor and chills came over my body for I and I think everyone knew this was no longer an "accident". Shocked, horrified and scarred I ran out to tell my family who was also watching in horror. I remember leaving for work feeling a stranger eariness wondering "what next?". This cant happen to the USA! At work it was all we could talk about all day with co-workers and parents. I remember some parents keeping their kids home from school that day and one mom in particular who had brought her kids to school came to pick them up early and just held them for a while when she saw them. I felt her pain and worry, but now as a mother myself I get it even more. I would have run to see my children too and just hold them in my arms to know they are safe and sound.

My heart went out to and still goes out to all those who lost their lives and to their loved ones left behind. I thank God I live in this country and for the freedoms I enjoy because of it. I am so very thankful to those who serve our country bravely and proudly and for the families who have to sacrifice to let their loved ones go to battle for our freedoms that we take so for granted.

9-11 will forever be remembered and for me it will always make me grateful for my blessings and the peace that I do enjoy because of the sacrifice of others. Thank you!

The 80's

Gotta love them right?! Well I do and always will. As I was working yesterday I was listening to Accuradio and chose the "Flock of 80's" section. Man I love the 80's... so many memories flooded back to me... sock hops at Alamitos Jr High, my 6th grade crush Joey Bettencourt having Danny Romero dance with me so he could come over and "cut in", the bazillion slumber parties my best friends Stacey Belisle, Kim Runge, Kelle Hennes, Kristi Kaloust and Tori Helmick would have (bless our parents hearts!), New Kids On The Block (concert was amazing!), the big hair, neon colors, LA Gear, Tiffany, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Debbie Gibson, Bon Jovi, and when we were feeling a little crazy- Janet Jackson, toilet papering and almost getting caught, Eric Olsen, Zeyen Elementary school, Condors!, on and on and on... but now I also have some new memories of the 80's that come to me... when my husband and I were dating and engaged, he would always make me a CD of songs when he would come to see me and it seemed that they were always filled with 80's love songs/ballads. I have so many sweet memories now of those CD's and of the times we were able to spend a few days together each month before we got married. It now reminds me of San Diego where we first saw each other in person and would spend most of our time when he would come to visit. It takes me back to the time we met and fell in love... most significant is the first time we met in person... that particular CD will always be my favorite and fill me with such sweet memories, never to be forgotten. Thank you bebe for all of the wonderful memories (and CD's)!

My little garden treats

Ok so I love to garden and just about every morning Liane and I go out back to check on the goodies growing there to see if anything is ready to be picked. This year all we have growing are tomatoes and serano chiles. Yum! I took a picture of the first treats we gathered... silly I know, but it makes my heart happy so now you all have to read about it. :-)

A snake in the grass

Litterally, a snake in our grass... we have a big beautiful yard out back and Salomon takes great care of our lawn. It's his pride and joy. We love the yard and can't wait for Liane to get bigger so she too can enjoy the grass and all the yard has to offer. Even my brother Jake likes to come in the backyard and just lay on the grass... it's just that good! (not to brag). Well we are not the only one's who enjoy the yard... these little snakes do as well. They are not mean, nasty snakes, but they do make quite a lot of holes in the ground which Salomon is not too happy about. I can almost count on everytime I go out back I will find a little snake trying to find a hole to slither into. I do not like snakes even though my mom and brothers constantly had them as we were growing up, but these ones don't bother me for some reason. They are "nice" ones. :-)

Labor Day Burger Throwdown!

We had a Burger Throwdown on Labor Day... all of us made a burger and voted on who made the BEST/TASTIEST one... ALL of them were amazing and it was hard to choose a winner... in my eyes, we ALL won... but here is the official breakdown... And the winners are... Mom and Katie!
2nd place goes to... Greg and Ness!

Yummy ground turkey & soy chorizzo quesadilla burgers!!

3rd place winner is Dad!!

Jake and his delicious spinich artichoke dips!!

The Cano's

Katie, Koral, Ivy, Diesel and Mom

Greg and Carol

Full bellies!

We are all now contemplating the next one... hummm what will it be?? Wait and see... cause there WILL be more!!