Happy Thanksgiving!

Love to all of our family and friends. We love you all so much and are so thankful for you.

xoxoxo
The Leyland Family

Getting a big head

I had to share. Alyson at New England Living...a blog I love and a girl I love posted this about a painting she won from me. I thought her post was so beautiful but also hearing all the kind words from other people in the comments, was so touching. I feel excited to be figuring myself out. Though I have always been creative I am loving the road I am on right now with my creative endeavors. I just had to share with my loved ones, something that meant a lot to me.
Click here to go see


Oh yeah...plus I won this award!

HOPE

I have been full of fear the last few months, not hope. I have felt scared and unsure about our future. Unsure how to care for my family in times of spiritual and mortal calamities, scared about the times when life will get really bad and the "easy" life I have known, will be something of the past, scared for the days when we will have to stand strong against evil.

Today I realized that we have to do that everyday already. In every choice we make to do right, or take the better road, we are standing strong. I realized that though life will get scary all around us, I know that the Savior of the world will return! I don't need to be scared. I know that I can live eternally with my family, Father in Heaven and Savior.

I finally got it. At church today the message was clear. A message I had been praying for in my moments of fear and anxiousness. We should be hopeful. We should not fear. These days have been prophesied about. No matter what we may face as a country or a church, we know we will be "safe".

Watching the protesters of the Proposition 8 in California, angrily bang on the temple gates made me so sad and mad. I also felt ready, ready to stand a little taller, a little braver in the face of adversity. We can't shrink in these days, from anything we believe in. As one of my blogger friends Shelle said "After a 150 years...the MOBS are back. But it is a sign of the times...it is meant to come to pass." That just made my hair stand on end when I read it, because it is so true and the same thoughts came to my mind when I saw the protesters at the temple grounds.

Many other churches supported Prop 8, but it seems that Mormons are being vilified and singled out.

The long and the short of my post is this. I know that we have a father in heaven who loves us and a Savior that gave his life for us, that one day we can return and live with him again. I know there are going to be rough seas ahead but today, for the first day in months I feel HOPE. I know I do not need to fear. It's a burden I am so happy to have unloaded. Watch this beautiful video. The photos are simply... stunning!

Make sure you pause my music player on the right before you start the video ;)

Hairy Times

Enough of you have asked for a picture of my new haircut that I hate so much, so here you go.
This picture shows the long mess I wanted to get rid of. It was even longer than in this picture.



I like my hair short. Don't get me wrong.
This picture shows a haircut I LOVED!




This is what happened. A mushroomy, nasty, mom cut. I am a mom.
I know, but I just didn't want to let go of trendy youthful hair. If I go get it cut more it will be even shorter and then I might lock myself in a room and hide out for the winter. I know I sound sooo shallow but hair is sooooo important to us women.













And I want to say thank you to my photographer Chloe. It was quite fun being told how to pose by my 7 year old sweetie. Like in this picture she told me to "hold my hair like I was sad that it was all gone". Hahahaha- I am!!!!!!!!!!

So..............

I posted on the wrong blog and I'm too lazy to go fix it. Just go here friends and family to see pics of our Halloween.



Love y'all

xoxo Emily