Hello 2017!

2017. 

We will have a huge year this year and are really excited. We will have a new baby (hopefully with a name if we can get past our nameblock). Lydia will start Kindergarten. (Let us say that again, Lydia will start Kindergarten!) Plus, who knows what else is coming this year. Certainly there will be challenges, but there will be opportunities and so many fun things coming too. 

Shantel started to write this post and was feeling a bit down about 2017 because of all the hard things going on in the world. Morals continue to decline at a breakneck pace. The family as God has designed it is under constant attack. Donald Trump is President. (How did that even happen?) It can be scary and intimidating. How do we raise our family in this world?

However, I can truly say that because of a loving Heavenly Father, a Savior, and wonderful family, we are not alone and we have a lot to look forward to. Particularly within our own family, there is so much to look forward to. The 2017 Priesthood and Relief Sunday manual is Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley. He is the prophet of my youth and such a great example and strength to me. The lesson from this week (Chapter 3) I think is particularly helpful in our times. I'll add in just a few quotes from throughout the lesson.

--We have every reason to be optimistic in this world. Tragedy is around, yes. Problems everywhere, yes. But … you can’t, you don’t, build out of pessimism or cynicism. You look with optimism, work with faith, and things happen,

--Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine.

--Believe in yourself. Believe in your capacity to do great and good things. Believe that no mountain is so high that you cannot climb it. Believe that no storm is so great that you cannot weather it... you are a child of God, of infinite capacity.

--Look to the positive. Know that He is watching over you, that He hears your prayers and will answer them, that He loves you and will make that love manifest.

--There is so much of the sweet and the decent and the beautiful to build upon. We are partakers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel means “good news!” The message of the Lord is one of hope and salvation! The voice of the Lord is a voice of glad tidings! The work of the Lord is a work of glorious accomplishment!

--In a dark and troubled hour the Lord said to those he loved: “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27.) These great words of confidence are a beacon to each of us. In him we may indeed have trust. For he and his promises will never fail.

Perhaps the title of the lesson is a good mantra for 2017 for us, let us "Cultivating an attitude of happiness and a spirt of optimism."

With that, we are ready for 2017. Here are a few of the things that I want to accomplish this year. 

1. I want to become a better husband and father. I realize that is super general, but I truly want to work on a couple things. Particularly time, making sure I am giving time to Shantel and our children to show them how much I love them. I want to make sure I take advantage of their desire to do so many things with me. Take the opportunity to play "chase the monster", or build a tower or whatever they want to do. I also want to work to support Shantel and take some of the load off of her shoulders. She has so much she is responsible for and I want to make sure she has the help she needs. 

2. I want to Blog more on Sunday. I can think of no better thing on Sunday than recording a record of our family. I think it will be great to make a record and also, keep the sabbath day holy. 

3. I want to make sure to focus on the "keystone habits" as our bishop calls them. I want to focus on powerful scripture study, prayer and family home evening. I want to make sure we are always bringing the power of the Holy Ghost into our home. 

So happy and glad to have Shantel, Lydia, Austin and Baby on the way, this year will be fantastic!

(david passes the computer to shantel...)

As David said above, usually I start our year posts with how fresh and bright the year looks and how happy I am for a clean slate. But I'm a little worried about 2017 and just pray that it manages to keep things together. 

However, 2017 is also going to bring us our sweet baby boy!

Last year some of my goals were:

--Make time to reach out to all of our grandparents.
--Be kind. When I see a need, fill it.
--Be a better mother today than I was yesterday.
--Fear not, but only believe.
--Be present. Stop missing opportunities, moments, and love because I'm distracted.
--Family Home Evening once a week. Scripture-song-prayer every night.
--Learn how to say no.

I feel like I made progress in all of these areas. This year my heart has a lot of the same feelings about goals as it did at the beginning of last year. These are the things that I think I want to work on the most this year:
1. Add Baby #3 to our family and have it be a good transition for everyone. Transitioning to 2 kids was difficult for me, I'm hoping that transition will be easier this time and that through everything I can be a good mother to all three of my kids, and a good wife to David.
2. Set clear boundaries to protect my time and my family. Last year I wanted to "learn how to say no", but I'm realizing that's only the very beginning of the solution - and that I'm not very good at saying no. However, I need to have some boundaries in place because I'm worn out and if I truly want to make goal #1 a reality, I'm going to need to learn to slow down and make my family my priority. (Which, hello, my family IS my priority - I just need to make sure that the things I allow to fill our days reflect that.)

I started writing other things - but mostly those two things are my biggest goals for this year. Obviously I want to be a better mother, emphasize the gospel and have a Christ-filled home, be kinder to all those around me, and many many other character developing goals. But if I'm being honest - I think those two goals are my biggest priorities and many of the smaller goals will come naturally as I'm working on the bigger ones. For example, I know that I will be more patient and a better mother if I stop overscheduling myself and stick to the boundaries that I know I need to have be healthy mentally and emotionally.

Last year I wrote about an experience I had at the temple, where I realized that I needed to declare my allegiance to the Lord. Making the decision to place my faith and trust in him, right then and every moment after, has been a blessing in my life. He has my faith and trust - it's His. I've felt the blessings of that declaration and hope that 2017 is filled with the continued blessings of standing on the Lords side.

With that, to 2017, we say "Welcome!"