President Hickley

Here are some of His quotes that I like the most...

"Now, my brethren and sisters, the time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of this The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a season to be strong. It is a time to move forward without hesitation, knowing well the meaning, the breadth, and the importance of our mission. It is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow. It is a time to be found keeping the commandments. It is a season to reach out with kindness and love to those in distress and to those who are wandering in darkness and pain. It is a time to be considerate and good, decent and courteous toward one another in all of our relationships. In other words, to become more Christlike."

"Truly, my dear young friends, you are a chosen generation. I hope you will never forget it. I hope you will never take it for granted. I hope there will grow in your hearts an overpowering sense of gratitude to God, who has made it possible for you to come upon the earth in this marvelous season of the world's history."

"There is a sad tendency in our world today for persons to cut one another down. Did you ever realize that it does not take very much in the way of brainpower to make remarks that may wound another? Try the opposite of that. Try handing out compliments."

"True love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious concern for the well being of ones companion."

"We live in the world. We work in the world. But we must rise above the world as we pursue the work of the Lord and seek to build His kingdom in the earth."

"There is room for improvement in every life. Regardless of our occupations, regardless of our circumstances, we can improve ourselves and while so doing have an effect on the lives of those about us."

Happy Valentine's Day

Feliz Dia de San Valentin!!. Ya se que todavia faltan algunos dia para el 14 de febrero pero como ya he decorado mi casa de San Valentin pese que deberia porner algo en el Blog sobre eso. Hay muchas fotos que me encantaria compartir con ustedes pero no las tengo en la camara digital por lo que no podre hacerlo pero si encontre algunas que espero les gusten. Me encanta el Dia de San Valentin por que esta lleno del color rojo ...ya se navidad tambien pero en la navidad puedes ponerte melancolico por la ausencia de personas con quienes deseas estar mientras que el dia de San Valentin no es una gran fiesta entre familiares excepto en mi familia jajaja. . Aqui puse algunas fotos que me traen buenos recuerdos espero que los difruten y feliz dia de San Valentin!!!

The Johansen's are coming through town!!

Ashley is such a great helper... at least that's what she thinks

She was so excited with so many different heart shapes

Here are Brent and Lucas.

Here are Kaylee and Ashley. Kaylee loves icing!


We are always excited to have friends over and it has been great for us to have the Johansens over at least once a month in our home. This week was tough for me with the kids and the weather didn't help a bit but their visit made us all feel great (especially me). Ashley and I decided to bake some Valentine's cookies for them and us:) Here are some pictures of our fun visit with them and as always we all had a great time!! Thanks for stopping by; we love it!

Blessings...

As we begin this new year I just wanted to let my family and friends know how much they mean to us. This Holiday season was a time to reflect on the things that matter most and I got to thinking about all the blessings I have in my life. Last year was a great year for us and it was great because of you all. Luke Russell was born on the 28th of June and everything went well and weeks before he was born I graduated from OSU with a Bachelors degree in Sociology and I couldn't have done it without the help from friends in Owasso and Christie. Alyssa, Tim's sister left on her mission a day before Lucas was born and she is doing great. She is serving in Phoenix, Arizona. We also sold our first house after being in the market for exactly a month( it could have been after 2 days but we weren't that lucky:) My family was here for a month in January and then my mom came back to help with the baby and stayed for another month (by the way my mom got here at 10:00am and hours later the baby was born). Later my mom took Ashley to Paraguay with her for a month!!! talk about being blessed:) and after 4 weeks I went to Paraguay with Luke and came back with both kids...I know it was crazy but it was so much fun!. The Dorius Family came to visit several times and as always it was a treat to have them here. Now we are looking forward to having Grandpa Dorius here visiting us. Tim started medical school and believe it or not he is enjoying it a lot and doing very well!! Things are going great for us, more than we probably deserve but we won't complain!! Christmas break was great. We visited friends and spent time at home as a family:) What else could we ask for?

I am so glad that I graduated from college last May!! This is something that means so much to me and my family and though it wasn't so easy to do it with a toddler and a baby on the way I always thought of my mom and what an example she is to me. To mention just one thing she did, she went to Austria to finish a part of her years of education when she had just found out that she was pregnant with my oldest sister. She left my dad and everyone behind and moved on to achieve this dream/opportunity that was presented to her. My sister was born there and somehow she was able to get her degree there and take care of my sister all by herself when my dad and my mom's parents thought that she would come home soon before or after the baby was born. I often wonder how she did it since I can't imagine doing it without her help! Thanks Mom...:)
This is Lucas at age 1 month! He is a big baby, can you tell? We are so happy to have him in our lives. He is quite different from Ashley in every way. He is our cute and happy baby boy! Thanks Grandma Dorius for all the outfits you send for the kids! She is always buying tons of things for them and we appreciate that so much! I think that she has been sending new sets of outfits for Lucas every other month since he is growing so fast. Thanks Christie! The kids are always very stylish with their new outfits:)



Tim's white coat ceremony. It was such a great ceremony and I couldn't believe that Tim is now part of the medical field. They discussed the question "What kind of Physicians do you want to be? I always knew that physicians in general are important but I didn't understand/appreciate till that night how amazing this field is and what a great opportunity to serve others and also the trust that people have in physicians and the importance of keeping that trust and in doing all you can to cure/save/protect a person. I am so glad that Tim is involved with it. I am so proud of Tim I can't even explain it. He is loving medical school and I am so happy for him. So far it has been great. It hasn't been like most people talk about, it has been like a regular full-time job. He is always home for dinner and the kids and I love to have him home. He studies on the week between and after classes so on the weekends we can go out and do fun things as a family. We are so proud of you!!

Christmas break, Christmas Day and New year!

Ashley got a tricycle and many other toys! Thanks Grandma Dorius and Mama Cristi:)

It great to see how excited Ashley got with every gift.

Before going to our Ward Christmas Party.

Ashley asked for a Baby Doll, as she did last year, and she got more than that!

Going shopping to Toys R Us.

Ashley enjoys playing with her dad.

We spent lots of time baking cookies and cup cakes! We all enjoy them:)

Isn't she adorable? She loves when anyone takes pictures of her.

Christmas Day opening gifts!

Ashley is painting her Christmas tree/ brownie tree.


They have enjoyed riding their new car. Thanks to the three Kings fro that:)

We had such a great Christmas break and we definitely took advantage of being together as a family for 3 weeks!! Our first week we went to an OU basketball game and we all enjoyed it! We just love OU. There is something about OU that makes us proud and happy to be a part of the things that the University offers. Our treat as a family is to go to Norman to eat at The Greek House and take the kids to Sooner Mall; we try to do this every weekend if we can.
Later that first week we got an invitation from our friends in Fort Worth to come and visit them; needless to say that Friday morning we packed and left for Texas! There we had a great time going out to eat, visiting downtown Fort Worth, and even seeing Santa Claus! The kids enjoyed playing together as they used to do. It was great to see the Johansen's again and to spend a weekend with them. We are glad to get to see them quite often as they travel back to Oklahoma to visit family. On our way out we stopped to see Matt ( Tim's roommate in college) and Monica. It was kind of late and we wanted to drive back to Oklahoma that night so we didn't have much time to hang out with them so we went to the Mall to eat and walk around. I haven't seen them in years so it was nice to see them after a long time especially now that they are expecting their first baby!
Christmas Eve we went over to the Lusk's home and had a great time! They are one of the coolest families we have met and we enjoy being with them. Christmas is a big thing for them as it is for my family so they just made me feel at home with gifts for EVERYONE, including us. I am telling you they are so nice! On Christmas we spent time as a family as well as that whole week.
We celebrated New Year's Eve as we do back in Paraguay, BIG! We had the Lusks over for dinner and later did all the traditional things that my crazy and fun family does. We ran down the street with suitcases, touched a fish, counted money, and got down from the chair at 12am with our right leg among other fun things I have done my entire life! Although I missed my family tons it was so nice to do the same things that they do back at home. I even tried to set up my table as my mom does hers and we cooked a lot of food representing abundance. The only thing we missed is the big breakfast on the 31st to say good-bye to the old year but we definitely had a BIG dinner to welcome the New Year!
It was so fun to relax, eat, watch movies, eat, go shopping, eat and play with the kids. On Sunday we celebrated Three Kings' Day like we do in Paraguay and we all liked it, especially Ashley who is very excited about opening gifts! Thanks Mama Cristi for the gift, the kids are enjoying it very much.