"Amen."

Wasn't General Conference this year wonderful?!?

The last session (Sunday Afternoon) was my favorite, and the talks were exactly what I needed to hear. I am so grateful for living prophets and leaders who guide us through these tough times. I can't imagine going through life without knowing that there is a loving Heavenly Father, who wants us to succeed in life. And that through trials and tribulations we are able to grow and progress, become a better person, and become more like Christ. I know that I am FAR from perfect, but it is so comforting to know that if I do the best that I can do, the Lord will take care of the rest, and I can always rely on Him to be there for me. Always.

{If you would like to know more about our beliefs, click here, or if you would like to listen to any of the General Conference talks, go here.}

I am so thankful that I am able to raise Noa in this Gospel. I can't imagine my life without it. And I don't even want to think about raising a family in this world without it. 

One of Noa's latest accomplishments have been prayer. We started having family prayer during meals and at night before putting Noa to bed. The three of us. Just short and sweet, but I wanted to make it a habit in our growing family to always have family prayer time. 

He can fold his arms around his chest and bow his head when we tell him that it's "amen time." He comes and sits on the floor with us and sits still for most of the prayer. The best part (in my opinion) is at the very end of the prayer when we say amen, he always smiles and yells out "Amen!" which sounds more like AH-mehn. 

It was the cutest thing though, when after hearing each Conference talk, when the speaker would close with an amen, Noa would look at the tv and repeat "Amen!" 

He is just becoming the biggest talker, or should I say jabberer(?). He speaks in "sentences"  =  mixes up words I can actually understand with total non-sense, but I'm sure its making perfect sense in his little mind. I am a bit disappointed to say that his language sounds a little more English than Japanese...but he's learning...and I am not giving up.

His new words have been:

*Thank you! - "en-tyuu" - he's always been able to bow to express gratitude, but one day out of the blue he started saying thank you after someone did something for him that he liked.

*Bye-Bye - "buh-bye" - he doesn't wave much anymore, but he sure likes saying it!

*iPhone - "ai-phonn" - yup....

*Shoot! - "shyutt" - NO. not the bad kind you're thinking about. You probably thought we were horrible parents for teaching him such a word...but Chad has been watching a lot of basketball lately (March Madness I guess?) and remember the basketball hoop we got him for Christmas...well. everytime Noa sees a ball, a hoop, or anyone playing basketball, that is what he says.

*Rain - "a-me" (Japanese for rain) - he feels the rain and recognizes it right away.

*Juice - "jee-sh" - he loves his juice. All thanks to his daddy...

*Cracker - "ta-ckur" - yeah, a little hard to understand.

*Spoon - "poon" - what he calls all utensils...forks too...
*NOA! - He can finally say his name now! before, he was only able to say "No" and "Ah" but never together. He can also repeat 'my, name, is, Noa'
*One (year old) - "issai" (Japanese for 1-yr old) - when you ask him how old he is he puts his pointer finger up and says "issai!" Who knows if he understands what it means though...
*Dance - he likes to show off his moves. especially when there is music on
*Jump! - "bump" - I have no idea why it's bump, but thats what he says every time he bounces up and down.
*Hawaii - "A-wai"
*Aloha! - "Oh-ha!" - he's working on his shaka (hang loose) sign

It's so fun to watch him grow and develop each and every day.

 I LOVE my little samurai boy!! 

{photo from a heritage shoot Chad and I planned for his photography class...more pictures will be posted soon! Sorry, it was just the most recent picture I had of him...}