I went to Time Out For Women this last weekend. I am addicted to them. This was my third one. I guess if one must have an addiction this one isn't the worst, although it's not good for the pocket book.
At the very first of the meeting they asked us to turn to the people who were there for the first time and tell them this isn't church. After a good laugh we were then asked to write down things we know. Things we know beyond any doubt.
The first thing I knew is that the last time I was at TOFW me and my group took up almost the hole row. I had my two sister-in-laws whom I don't have anymore. This made me feel a bit lonely. But, I still had my mom, Grandma Lovely, and my mother-in-law, Grandma Ellen. We had a great time, but other's were greatly missed. Who knows maybe they will come with me next time.
Some of the other things I wrote down that I know is: I know I am at my most beautiful when I've been kissed by the spirit. It's not when I've bought a new outfit that hugs all the right curves and hides all the wrong ones. It's not after I've spent hours in front of the mirror. It's when I've served someone, when I've followed a prompting to hug a stranger or put my arm around someone at the temple. I feel beautiful when I've done what I know the Lord would want me to do.
Another thing I know is that music can heal the soul. Nine times out of ten when I was brought to tears at the conference it was during a song. And sometimes I started crying just as the music began, before any words were sang. I feel that music is the quickest way for the Lord to touch and communicate with you. It's his way of reaching out to hug you, and me.
I also know that beyond any doubt that when we build others up, we in turn build up ourselves. There is nothing better for my bouts of depression then to think about what I can do for someone else. It works every time. If I just think about someone in need of a service I can provide or visit a lonely neighbor I know that I too can be blessed by it.
The Relief Society motto is "Charity Never Faileth" and I believe that with all my heart. However, it's not just giving stuff to someone less fortunate, it's giving a piece of your heart to those less fortunate. I know that just because I might be the giver one day, there will come a day when I am the receiver. What an awesome motto!
The last thing that I came up with that I know for sure is that tears never fall without the Lord's knowledge. When we are at our lowest and feel so alone, He is there. When we are so happy we can't contain the joy and it comes spilling over our eyes, He is there. When we just need to release tension for no other reason than to let go, He is there. When we are listening to a beautiful song that touches our soul, He is definitely there.
I had a great time at TOFW. It filled my well. I can't wait until the next time I get to go. The great thing is, I don't have to wait until then to fill my well, it gets filled every week at church. The Lord truly has an awesome gospel and I'm so grateful to be apart of it.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Yukon Disaster
If we didn't have drama, life would be boring. Plus, I'd have nothing to write about.
We took a trip up to Washington for our cousin's wedding a few weekends ago. On the way up we decided to stop and check out this Yukon we found on Craig's List. We really weren't going to but we thought since we were in the area we might as well. We test drove it and then went on our marry way.
Big D has been wanting a bigger vehicle like this for a couple years now. I've been very impressed with how patient he's been and how diligent in finding just the right one.
Over the weekend we discussed it and decided to purchase it on the way home. I'm pretty sure having eight people crammed into a tiny mini van helped with the decision.
After the couple hour drive in our new Yukon Big D decided he didn't like the way the big truck tires sounded and felt on the freeway so he took it in to Les Schwab to see if there was anything they could do about it, short of all new tires. They gave him some options and rotated the tires for us.
Big D was really excited to see how the Yukon pulled our boat so we decided to go boating the next day. We invited Brook and his family to join us and we all headed out after work.
As soon as we pulled out of the driveway I asked Big D if he felt like the shaking was worse than before? He said he couldn't really tell yet. We got distracted about all the fun we were about to have and didn't broach the subject again.
We got all the way out to the reservoir and at the top of the boat ramp I could tell Big D was feeling something funny. He started turning the wheel back and forth and then we slammed into the ground. I thought we hit a huge pot hole, until I saw our front drivers side wheel rolling off down the ramp and into the reservoir.
I had to walk down the ramp and fish the wheel out. We were so lucky because there were tons of people out boating and all their expensive trucks where parked along side the ramp. Our wheel went right past all of the trucks and trailers, all the people and animals, we were so lucky!!! We were even more lucky, or should I say blessed, that it didn't happen five minutes earlier when we were going 75 mph down the freeway.
Brook hooked up the boat to his truck, thank goodness he was there. The funny thing is five minutes after it happened my brother, Lowell, called me and asked if we were all okay. I asked him how in the world he knew so fast. He laughed and said he was the center of the loop, he knows every thing, some times before they happen. I told him he could have given us a heads up then.
We called Les Schwab and they sent out a truck to fix us up so we could get home. After an hour of being the center of attention and having people telling us the obvious, "Wow, dude that sucks!" Les Schwab finally showed up. Big D calmly told them, "You've let me stew for an hour, I don't think this is the best time to talk to me. We are going boating, you fix the truck and park it on the side for us. I'll talk to you tomorrow." We left and went boating.
After we were done boating we had a mismatched wheel on our Yukon and six terrified people to ride home in it. We had Brook pull the boat home and we followed, slowly. I guess I just hope that this isn't the kind of "mark" we will be known for when we say we left our "mark" on this world.
We took a trip up to Washington for our cousin's wedding a few weekends ago. On the way up we decided to stop and check out this Yukon we found on Craig's List. We really weren't going to but we thought since we were in the area we might as well. We test drove it and then went on our marry way.
Big D has been wanting a bigger vehicle like this for a couple years now. I've been very impressed with how patient he's been and how diligent in finding just the right one.
Over the weekend we discussed it and decided to purchase it on the way home. I'm pretty sure having eight people crammed into a tiny mini van helped with the decision.
After the couple hour drive in our new Yukon Big D decided he didn't like the way the big truck tires sounded and felt on the freeway so he took it in to Les Schwab to see if there was anything they could do about it, short of all new tires. They gave him some options and rotated the tires for us.
Big D was really excited to see how the Yukon pulled our boat so we decided to go boating the next day. We invited Brook and his family to join us and we all headed out after work.
As soon as we pulled out of the driveway I asked Big D if he felt like the shaking was worse than before? He said he couldn't really tell yet. We got distracted about all the fun we were about to have and didn't broach the subject again.
We got all the way out to the reservoir and at the top of the boat ramp I could tell Big D was feeling something funny. He started turning the wheel back and forth and then we slammed into the ground. I thought we hit a huge pot hole, until I saw our front drivers side wheel rolling off down the ramp and into the reservoir.
I had to walk down the ramp and fish the wheel out. We were so lucky because there were tons of people out boating and all their expensive trucks where parked along side the ramp. Our wheel went right past all of the trucks and trailers, all the people and animals, we were so lucky!!! We were even more lucky, or should I say blessed, that it didn't happen five minutes earlier when we were going 75 mph down the freeway.
Brook hooked up the boat to his truck, thank goodness he was there. The funny thing is five minutes after it happened my brother, Lowell, called me and asked if we were all okay. I asked him how in the world he knew so fast. He laughed and said he was the center of the loop, he knows every thing, some times before they happen. I told him he could have given us a heads up then.
We called Les Schwab and they sent out a truck to fix us up so we could get home. After an hour of being the center of attention and having people telling us the obvious, "Wow, dude that sucks!" Les Schwab finally showed up. Big D calmly told them, "You've let me stew for an hour, I don't think this is the best time to talk to me. We are going boating, you fix the truck and park it on the side for us. I'll talk to you tomorrow." We left and went boating.
After we were done boating we had a mismatched wheel on our Yukon and six terrified people to ride home in it. We had Brook pull the boat home and we followed, slowly. I guess I just hope that this isn't the kind of "mark" we will be known for when we say we left our "mark" on this world.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Lord's Hand in May 2009
5/31/09~ I have Sharing Time in Primary. It is my second time and it didn't go nearly as smooth as the first time. The kids were a bit rowdy and I think I had way too many scriptures. It's nice to learn what works and what does not.
5/30/09~ We planted Grandma Lovely's garden tonight. It was the perfect day for it; the cloud cover and the light rain it cooled all of us down and made the work fun.
5/29/09~ School's Out For The Summer!!!! We decided to celebrate with a boat trip. We invited Brook and his family to join us. Let's face it, fun is way more fun with more people. Big D was excited to see how the Yukon pulled the boat. He just had the tires rotated the day before and wanted to see how the Yukon did on the freeway again. We got to the top of the boat ramp and our drivers side front wheel came off and rolled into the lake. Needless to say we were pretty ticked, but relieved that no one was hurt.
5/27/09~ The girls had Passage Ceremony tonight. It's like a mini graduation for the next grade. I'm glad that we had our kids two years apart so we only have to go to Passage Ceremony every other year. They did a slide show at the end and after the sixth song started I leaned over to Big D and said, "Let's Go".
5/26/09~ I don't know if Big D just got tired of eight people in a mini van but we ended up stopping in Boise and purchasing a Yukon XL. It is pretty and Big D hasn't quit smiling.
5/25/09~ We are up in Washington for Kelly's wedding. She looked so beautiful and the wedding went off without a hitch, that is if you don't count an ER visit. Ken's oldest daughter, Savannah, got a little overwhelmed with everything and passed out. It was a good thing Lindsey was standing right next to her to catch her. They took her to the hospital and the doctor said she just had a panic attack. He let her out of the hospital for the wedding and then they had to take her back for observations. Other than that every thing was great.
5/24/09~ We went to Sacrament Meeting with Aunt Pat. It's nice that no matter where we go the church is the same. It's very comforting knowing that even on vacation you can feel a little piece of home. We got back to the hotel and the kids swam for four hours. I think I gave birth to water babies.
5/23/09~ Happy Birthday Kinnzi, she is now two years old and still thriving. We took her into the lady I bought her from to for her birthday. Kelly, the breeder, was so happy to see her and see how well she is doing. Kelly was really reluctant to sell us Kinnzi because we still had such small kids, which I don't blame her small kids can be rough. It was nice to go in and show her that we haven't hurt Kinnzi and in fact she is such a part of our family that we try and take her every where we go.
We left on our trip to Washington. Eight hours in a mini van full of eight people, lets hope we all survive the trip.
5/22/09~ Beaner had her Passages today, but I didn't get to go in with her. I let Big D go in since I got to go in with Bug. I bet she did great though, because just like with Bug, Beaner practiced with us a lot and every time she did better and better. I am so proud of my little ladies. What a lucky mom I am to have two beautiful and smart young ladies. They were both so relieved when passages were finally over, I don't blame them. I am really liking how this school teaches kids at a young age to public speak and learn to articulate themselves. Beaner is definitely gaining more confidence where in public school she was melting into the back ground.
5/21/09~ Bug had Passages today, which is where students stand up in front of a panel and present at least three projects they worked on through out the year. They kind of make it feel like if you don't do well on your Passages you won't make it to the next grade, but in reality if you are doing you Passages you've already made it. Bug did so good I was so proud of her. As we were walking out she confessed that she really didn't want me to go in with her because she was scared that if she messed up I'd be mad at her. How preposterous, I could never be made about some thing like that. She did the best she could and that is what I'm proud of. She practiced numerous time with Big D and I and she did even better than all those practices.
5/20/09~ Feeling much better today. We've had construction going on down our street for over a week now. The boys are in heaven. Today they were working right in front of our house so we had to get our pillows out for our bums to sit on the stoop and watch. The boys wanted to ride on the tractors so bad. I think one may grow up to play with really big toys.
We are initiating our summer of fun and activity. Our motto this summer is inspired from Dora on the movie "Finding Nemo". When Dora sings, "Just keep swimming, swimming" we've taken that and sing, "Just keep moving, moving". We've been trying to find fun things to do to stay active with our family. Big D has discovered Frisbee golf, which we've done a handful of times already. Tonight to change things up we went and played kickball and took a walk. I hope we keep this up all summer.
5/19/09~ I was down all day with an ear ache. I don't know what's wrong but I feel like I'm two again. This is the second ear ache I've had in the last month. It was ticking me off to have to lay on a heat pad all day. I was so bored while my family went and played Frisbee golf. It's just not fare! I figured since I was feeling like I was two again...
5/18/09~ They are replacing the water main down the center of our street this week. Actually they've been doing it for two weeks now. Today Bear and I are sprawled out on a blanket watching all the tractors do their stuff. He is such a boy. He had to go in the backyard and get his bulldozer to play with in the dirt so he could be like all the contractors. He makes me smile.
Today at the gym I ran the equivalent of a 5k. I was so dead that afterward we tried to go lift weights and as soon as my friend said she was leaving I waited till she was out the door then I packed it in. Holy Cow my legs are so dead. I don't know how people do marathons. I have one friend who ran a 1/2 marathon when she turned thirty as a present to herself. Is she crazy? That's not a present, that's torture. Who knows maybe that the next stop on my crazy train.
5/17/09~ We were in a bit of a rush to get home from Salt Lake. I really wanted to make it in time for church at 1p.m. I'd missed the week before because I went to church with my mom for Mother's Day and I'm not going to be here next weekend because of my cousins wedding in Washington. I didn't want to leave the rest of the presidency high and dry for three weeks in a row. We were a bit late but we made it. Yeah!
5/16/09~ My mom, I and my cousin D all stayed at the hotel Brook and Andy were going to stay at for their honeymoon. My dad ended up getting the happy couple a lodge in Yellowstone and it was too late to cancel their hotel in Salt Lake. My mom, sisters, cousin and I all went down and paid for the room to help Brook and Andy out. It was a nice adventure.
5/15/09~ Brook and Andy got married today. Boy was it a long day for everyone. We started with Brook's endowments, which was so nice. I loved seeing him in the temple. You could tell he was a bit overwhelmed with it all though. It's okay he can go back as often as he'd like to get a handle on it all. We went right into the sealing room and watched them become husband and wife for all eternity, AWESOME. The open house was at my church building so I had the keys. I lost track of time and by the time I got back to the church tons of people were standing in the parking lot waiting for me to unlock the doors. Oops! After the open house me and my mom had an impromptu trip to Salt Lake City. Wow, what a long day. Thank you to everyone who helped with the clean up. I was a bit nervous at how long it was going to take me but it went really fast with so many hands. Thanks!
5/14/09~My cousin, D, came up for the wedding. She is such a life saver; Big D and I were wondering what we were going to do with our kids while we were in the temple. The day we started discussing one of us staying home she called and asked if she could stay with us and watch our kids. She must have been listening to the spirit.
5/13/09~ Ann is up for the wedding and she brought home my girls. I thought I wasn't going to see them until tomorrow morning but here they are. Oh, I missed them so much. I tried not to focus on them being gone so I didn't go crazy. But now that they are home I can't quit kissing and hugging and tickling them. I didn't realize how much I missed them until they got home.
5/12/09~ Yeah, it worked! I feel so much better today. I actually made it to the gym this morning after taking a week off. I still took it a bit easy, I only ran two miles and came home, but I feel great. The migraine I've had for a week is not there today. Apparently it climaxed yesterday and then left my head. OH THANK YOU!
I only have two more days until my girls come home. I am so excited!!! I've been talking to them on the phone almost every day but it's not the same as having them here. I want to hug them and have them be my snuggle buddy for at least an hour per child. I figure they owe me that much.
Big D and I got our grades, we both got all A's. We were so excited. This was an exceptionally tough semester for Big D. He didn't think he was going to get one A let alone two. I am so proud of him.
5/11/09~ I told myself that I had one more day to be sick and that's it. I am so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I've had the worse migraine today. I've been tempted to wear my sunglasses inside as well as outside. I was hoping this sickness was one of those ones that if you push yourself to get up and move around you'll feel better, but I might've been wrong. I took it easy and slept. It better work because tomorrow I am exorcising the demons.
5/10/09~ Happy Mother's Day! My mother's day gift was my trip, and what a great one it was. Today I went to church with my mom and cooked dinner for my mother-in-law. I really should learn my lesson with cooking for my in-laws, every time something goes wrong; the food is under cooked, the ingredients didn't come together like they should, or like yesterday, I blow up a glass lid. I don't know if I just get nervous about cooking for them or what, but every time without exception something goes wrong. It's a good thing my mother-in-law is so gracious about all my disasters. She hasn't fired me from being her daughter-in-law yet.
5/9/09~ It's a good thing I came home early because I came down with what ever it was that Big D was suffering from the first of the week. I barely made it home. I stopped at the store and got some cold medicine, and I tried to find some that didn't say "may cause drowsiness". However, I had the darnest time keeping myself awake on the drive home. I had to pull over a couple times just to get up and get my blood pumping. I got home and went right to bed. I did pull myself out of bed to go to the bridal shower, but I seriously had my doubts on if I'd make it through.
5/8/09~ I decided to come home from SLC a day early. Andy is having a bridal shower tomorrow and no other sister from Brook's family can make it to the shower so I have to represent. Ann and I picked her out a great gift. When she opens her gift she will see a granny nightgown then the second layer will be a sexy nightie and Ann thought it was a little short and didn't like the idea that it didn't have any panties, so I found some floss panties and they will be on the third layer. I really think we out did ourselves. It will be a little awkward having her open it with my grandma sitting next to her.
I took the boys to Hogle Zoo before heading out of town. We had a great time wandering around seeing all the animals. Bud was excited to see the penguins, that's what he's been learning about in school. He was more excited to see the penguins then the bears or alligators. We ended our visit with a nice little train ride, ate some lunch, then got on the road home.
5/7/09~ I spent the day with my sisters, Marie had to work part of the day so Ann and I went and took her out to lunch. Then Ann and I went shopping, to the park, then more shopping, it was a good day. Bud and Bear got to go to the Build-a-Bear workshop. Bud got a turtle named Turtle Jack and Bear got a dog and named him Puppy Jo.
I heard from the girls they are having a great time. It's a bit hot in Florida but they are swimming a lot and having a great time with their cousin Lexxi.
5/6/09~ I took my final, I am done with school for the semester, YEAH! I love the end of a semester it's so freeing. I decided to reward myself, and since my girls were gone, I'd run away to Salt Lake and see my sisters. Bud and Bear would miss one day of school but I'm fine with that. We will have tons of fun.
5/5/09~ My babies left for Disney world today. I won't see them again until next week. What am I suppose to do until then? Wow, what am I going to do when all my kids actually move out and get lives of their own. I will be so lost. I will have to actually get a life of my own. Yeah right:)
5/4/09~ I finally admitted that I was a bit freaked out about my little girls going across the United States without me. I think any parent would. As a mother all I can think about is every thing that can go wrong and I will be stuck on the opposite side of the country. Big D sat all of us down yesterday and gave us father's blessings. This helped calm my nerves. I know they are going to have the time of their lives with Grandma Honey and Papa Guy, to be honest I'm a bit envious. This is an awesome opportunity for them, it's not like Big D and I could ever afford to take them. I'm glad they are going to have this experience that will last them a life time. Now we just have to get them packed.
5/3/09~ We had a family meeting over at Grandma Lovely's house. Brook gave us the good news that he and Andy will be able to get married in the temple. She finally got her letter from headquarters about her temple divorce from her first husband. This is great news for them, they were a bit discouraged thinking they might not be able to get sealed for a year. We also planned my mom's garden for this summer. We are going to do a big family garden and rotate weeding it again. It worked out pretty good last year.
5/2/09~ We decided to start our Spring cleaning. We only got the girls and boys bedrooms done, but it's a start. Of course, clean rooms are a magnet for the kids so all day they played in their rooms with their friends. Needless to say, I need to "Spring clean" them again. Ahhhhhh! I am fighting a losing battle here.
5/1/09~ Bud, Bear, and I went on a field trip with Bug. We went back to the park were we planted wild flowers. We checked on the progress of our flowers and planted another native plant. This time we planted a bush that was already growing. Bug's teacher encouraged the students to come back and check on their plants so they can watch them grow. Bud and Bear were very entertaining for the other students. I'm pretty sure I will be asked not to bring them again, they were a bit distracting.
5/30/09~ We planted Grandma Lovely's garden tonight. It was the perfect day for it; the cloud cover and the light rain it cooled all of us down and made the work fun.
5/29/09~ School's Out For The Summer!!!! We decided to celebrate with a boat trip. We invited Brook and his family to join us. Let's face it, fun is way more fun with more people. Big D was excited to see how the Yukon pulled the boat. He just had the tires rotated the day before and wanted to see how the Yukon did on the freeway again. We got to the top of the boat ramp and our drivers side front wheel came off and rolled into the lake. Needless to say we were pretty ticked, but relieved that no one was hurt.
5/27/09~ The girls had Passage Ceremony tonight. It's like a mini graduation for the next grade. I'm glad that we had our kids two years apart so we only have to go to Passage Ceremony every other year. They did a slide show at the end and after the sixth song started I leaned over to Big D and said, "Let's Go".
5/26/09~ I don't know if Big D just got tired of eight people in a mini van but we ended up stopping in Boise and purchasing a Yukon XL. It is pretty and Big D hasn't quit smiling.
5/25/09~ We are up in Washington for Kelly's wedding. She looked so beautiful and the wedding went off without a hitch, that is if you don't count an ER visit. Ken's oldest daughter, Savannah, got a little overwhelmed with everything and passed out. It was a good thing Lindsey was standing right next to her to catch her. They took her to the hospital and the doctor said she just had a panic attack. He let her out of the hospital for the wedding and then they had to take her back for observations. Other than that every thing was great.
5/24/09~ We went to Sacrament Meeting with Aunt Pat. It's nice that no matter where we go the church is the same. It's very comforting knowing that even on vacation you can feel a little piece of home. We got back to the hotel and the kids swam for four hours. I think I gave birth to water babies.
5/23/09~ Happy Birthday Kinnzi, she is now two years old and still thriving. We took her into the lady I bought her from to for her birthday. Kelly, the breeder, was so happy to see her and see how well she is doing. Kelly was really reluctant to sell us Kinnzi because we still had such small kids, which I don't blame her small kids can be rough. It was nice to go in and show her that we haven't hurt Kinnzi and in fact she is such a part of our family that we try and take her every where we go.
We left on our trip to Washington. Eight hours in a mini van full of eight people, lets hope we all survive the trip.
5/22/09~ Beaner had her Passages today, but I didn't get to go in with her. I let Big D go in since I got to go in with Bug. I bet she did great though, because just like with Bug, Beaner practiced with us a lot and every time she did better and better. I am so proud of my little ladies. What a lucky mom I am to have two beautiful and smart young ladies. They were both so relieved when passages were finally over, I don't blame them. I am really liking how this school teaches kids at a young age to public speak and learn to articulate themselves. Beaner is definitely gaining more confidence where in public school she was melting into the back ground.
5/21/09~ Bug had Passages today, which is where students stand up in front of a panel and present at least three projects they worked on through out the year. They kind of make it feel like if you don't do well on your Passages you won't make it to the next grade, but in reality if you are doing you Passages you've already made it. Bug did so good I was so proud of her. As we were walking out she confessed that she really didn't want me to go in with her because she was scared that if she messed up I'd be mad at her. How preposterous, I could never be made about some thing like that. She did the best she could and that is what I'm proud of. She practiced numerous time with Big D and I and she did even better than all those practices.
5/20/09~ Feeling much better today. We've had construction going on down our street for over a week now. The boys are in heaven. Today they were working right in front of our house so we had to get our pillows out for our bums to sit on the stoop and watch. The boys wanted to ride on the tractors so bad. I think one may grow up to play with really big toys.
We are initiating our summer of fun and activity. Our motto this summer is inspired from Dora on the movie "Finding Nemo". When Dora sings, "Just keep swimming, swimming" we've taken that and sing, "Just keep moving, moving". We've been trying to find fun things to do to stay active with our family. Big D has discovered Frisbee golf, which we've done a handful of times already. Tonight to change things up we went and played kickball and took a walk. I hope we keep this up all summer.
5/19/09~ I was down all day with an ear ache. I don't know what's wrong but I feel like I'm two again. This is the second ear ache I've had in the last month. It was ticking me off to have to lay on a heat pad all day. I was so bored while my family went and played Frisbee golf. It's just not fare! I figured since I was feeling like I was two again...
5/18/09~ They are replacing the water main down the center of our street this week. Actually they've been doing it for two weeks now. Today Bear and I are sprawled out on a blanket watching all the tractors do their stuff. He is such a boy. He had to go in the backyard and get his bulldozer to play with in the dirt so he could be like all the contractors. He makes me smile.
Today at the gym I ran the equivalent of a 5k. I was so dead that afterward we tried to go lift weights and as soon as my friend said she was leaving I waited till she was out the door then I packed it in. Holy Cow my legs are so dead. I don't know how people do marathons. I have one friend who ran a 1/2 marathon when she turned thirty as a present to herself. Is she crazy? That's not a present, that's torture. Who knows maybe that the next stop on my crazy train.
5/17/09~ We were in a bit of a rush to get home from Salt Lake. I really wanted to make it in time for church at 1p.m. I'd missed the week before because I went to church with my mom for Mother's Day and I'm not going to be here next weekend because of my cousins wedding in Washington. I didn't want to leave the rest of the presidency high and dry for three weeks in a row. We were a bit late but we made it. Yeah!
5/16/09~ My mom, I and my cousin D all stayed at the hotel Brook and Andy were going to stay at for their honeymoon. My dad ended up getting the happy couple a lodge in Yellowstone and it was too late to cancel their hotel in Salt Lake. My mom, sisters, cousin and I all went down and paid for the room to help Brook and Andy out. It was a nice adventure.
5/15/09~ Brook and Andy got married today. Boy was it a long day for everyone. We started with Brook's endowments, which was so nice. I loved seeing him in the temple. You could tell he was a bit overwhelmed with it all though. It's okay he can go back as often as he'd like to get a handle on it all. We went right into the sealing room and watched them become husband and wife for all eternity, AWESOME. The open house was at my church building so I had the keys. I lost track of time and by the time I got back to the church tons of people were standing in the parking lot waiting for me to unlock the doors. Oops! After the open house me and my mom had an impromptu trip to Salt Lake City. Wow, what a long day. Thank you to everyone who helped with the clean up. I was a bit nervous at how long it was going to take me but it went really fast with so many hands. Thanks!
5/14/09~My cousin, D, came up for the wedding. She is such a life saver; Big D and I were wondering what we were going to do with our kids while we were in the temple. The day we started discussing one of us staying home she called and asked if she could stay with us and watch our kids. She must have been listening to the spirit.
5/13/09~ Ann is up for the wedding and she brought home my girls. I thought I wasn't going to see them until tomorrow morning but here they are. Oh, I missed them so much. I tried not to focus on them being gone so I didn't go crazy. But now that they are home I can't quit kissing and hugging and tickling them. I didn't realize how much I missed them until they got home.
5/12/09~ Yeah, it worked! I feel so much better today. I actually made it to the gym this morning after taking a week off. I still took it a bit easy, I only ran two miles and came home, but I feel great. The migraine I've had for a week is not there today. Apparently it climaxed yesterday and then left my head. OH THANK YOU!
I only have two more days until my girls come home. I am so excited!!! I've been talking to them on the phone almost every day but it's not the same as having them here. I want to hug them and have them be my snuggle buddy for at least an hour per child. I figure they owe me that much.
Big D and I got our grades, we both got all A's. We were so excited. This was an exceptionally tough semester for Big D. He didn't think he was going to get one A let alone two. I am so proud of him.
5/11/09~ I told myself that I had one more day to be sick and that's it. I am so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I've had the worse migraine today. I've been tempted to wear my sunglasses inside as well as outside. I was hoping this sickness was one of those ones that if you push yourself to get up and move around you'll feel better, but I might've been wrong. I took it easy and slept. It better work because tomorrow I am exorcising the demons.
5/10/09~ Happy Mother's Day! My mother's day gift was my trip, and what a great one it was. Today I went to church with my mom and cooked dinner for my mother-in-law. I really should learn my lesson with cooking for my in-laws, every time something goes wrong; the food is under cooked, the ingredients didn't come together like they should, or like yesterday, I blow up a glass lid. I don't know if I just get nervous about cooking for them or what, but every time without exception something goes wrong. It's a good thing my mother-in-law is so gracious about all my disasters. She hasn't fired me from being her daughter-in-law yet.
5/9/09~ It's a good thing I came home early because I came down with what ever it was that Big D was suffering from the first of the week. I barely made it home. I stopped at the store and got some cold medicine, and I tried to find some that didn't say "may cause drowsiness". However, I had the darnest time keeping myself awake on the drive home. I had to pull over a couple times just to get up and get my blood pumping. I got home and went right to bed. I did pull myself out of bed to go to the bridal shower, but I seriously had my doubts on if I'd make it through.
5/8/09~ I decided to come home from SLC a day early. Andy is having a bridal shower tomorrow and no other sister from Brook's family can make it to the shower so I have to represent. Ann and I picked her out a great gift. When she opens her gift she will see a granny nightgown then the second layer will be a sexy nightie and Ann thought it was a little short and didn't like the idea that it didn't have any panties, so I found some floss panties and they will be on the third layer. I really think we out did ourselves. It will be a little awkward having her open it with my grandma sitting next to her.
I took the boys to Hogle Zoo before heading out of town. We had a great time wandering around seeing all the animals. Bud was excited to see the penguins, that's what he's been learning about in school. He was more excited to see the penguins then the bears or alligators. We ended our visit with a nice little train ride, ate some lunch, then got on the road home.
5/7/09~ I spent the day with my sisters, Marie had to work part of the day so Ann and I went and took her out to lunch. Then Ann and I went shopping, to the park, then more shopping, it was a good day. Bud and Bear got to go to the Build-a-Bear workshop. Bud got a turtle named Turtle Jack and Bear got a dog and named him Puppy Jo.
I heard from the girls they are having a great time. It's a bit hot in Florida but they are swimming a lot and having a great time with their cousin Lexxi.
5/6/09~ I took my final, I am done with school for the semester, YEAH! I love the end of a semester it's so freeing. I decided to reward myself, and since my girls were gone, I'd run away to Salt Lake and see my sisters. Bud and Bear would miss one day of school but I'm fine with that. We will have tons of fun.
5/5/09~ My babies left for Disney world today. I won't see them again until next week. What am I suppose to do until then? Wow, what am I going to do when all my kids actually move out and get lives of their own. I will be so lost. I will have to actually get a life of my own. Yeah right:)
5/4/09~ I finally admitted that I was a bit freaked out about my little girls going across the United States without me. I think any parent would. As a mother all I can think about is every thing that can go wrong and I will be stuck on the opposite side of the country. Big D sat all of us down yesterday and gave us father's blessings. This helped calm my nerves. I know they are going to have the time of their lives with Grandma Honey and Papa Guy, to be honest I'm a bit envious. This is an awesome opportunity for them, it's not like Big D and I could ever afford to take them. I'm glad they are going to have this experience that will last them a life time. Now we just have to get them packed.
5/3/09~ We had a family meeting over at Grandma Lovely's house. Brook gave us the good news that he and Andy will be able to get married in the temple. She finally got her letter from headquarters about her temple divorce from her first husband. This is great news for them, they were a bit discouraged thinking they might not be able to get sealed for a year. We also planned my mom's garden for this summer. We are going to do a big family garden and rotate weeding it again. It worked out pretty good last year.
5/2/09~ We decided to start our Spring cleaning. We only got the girls and boys bedrooms done, but it's a start. Of course, clean rooms are a magnet for the kids so all day they played in their rooms with their friends. Needless to say, I need to "Spring clean" them again. Ahhhhhh! I am fighting a losing battle here.
5/1/09~ Bud, Bear, and I went on a field trip with Bug. We went back to the park were we planted wild flowers. We checked on the progress of our flowers and planted another native plant. This time we planted a bush that was already growing. Bug's teacher encouraged the students to come back and check on their plants so they can watch them grow. Bud and Bear were very entertaining for the other students. I'm pretty sure I will be asked not to bring them again, they were a bit distracting.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Chivalry Isn't Dead
I took Bear with me Visiting Teaching the other day. My partner is about 85 years old, she is the cutest.
Margie, my partner, was bragging about what a big helper Bear has been calling him our future priesthood holder.
He showed her how to open her car door, he would hold her hand as we crossed the street to help steddy her, plus, he would run up to the door and push the doorbell for us.
She was quite tickled with him.
As she was bragging to one of our sisters about Bear's chivalry she looked at Bear and asked, "If you already do all this great things now, what are you going to be when you get older?"
Bear looked at her, tilted his head and without a beat he said, "Five".
Margie, my partner, was bragging about what a big helper Bear has been calling him our future priesthood holder.
He showed her how to open her car door, he would hold her hand as we crossed the street to help steddy her, plus, he would run up to the door and push the doorbell for us.
She was quite tickled with him.
As she was bragging to one of our sisters about Bear's chivalry she looked at Bear and asked, "If you already do all this great things now, what are you going to be when you get older?"
Bear looked at her, tilted his head and without a beat he said, "Five".
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Brook and Andy's Wedding Day
What a beautiful day. I was a bit nervous when I woke up to clouds in the sky, I was one of the photogs for the wedding. They asked two of us to take pictures. I think the other guy, Andy's brother-in-law, took the pictures at her first wedding too. I don't know if they were nervous about hurting one of our feelings by asking the other so they asked both of us, but trust me I would've been fine.
I ended up getting a bit intimidated by the guy; he had all this equipment. I felt like with two of us giving commands we were going to be there all day taking pictures. I decided to let the other guy have the show I took a few pictures and then left.
Wow, this post is not about me.
We got to the temple, with blue skies over head, Brook looked so handsome in all white. It made me love him just a little bit more, you'd think I was his mother or something. Never mind, his mother, Grandma Lovely, was gushing she was so proud. At least I kept the gushing in check ;)
Big D and I got to be the witness couple, which meant we had the best seats in the temple, next to the bride and groom. Of course, Big D had to remind me my right from my left.
Lowell and Papa Guy were Brook's escorts and Lowell leaned over to Papa Guy and said, "I heard about the alligator story." Papa started laughing and leaned over to Brook and asked, "Did you hear about the alligator?"
At this point Brook was so overwhelmed trying to take every thing in that he thought there was some sort of alligator initiation in the temple he had to go through. It didn't help when Brook was sitting by Big D and Brook leaned over to ask him if he was nervous because he was bouncing his knee and Big D whispered back, "Yea, because I know what's coming". We got a good laugh out of that one.
After the endowment session we had a thirty minute break before the wedding. It was nice to just sit in the temple and soak in the peace.
Seeing Brook and Andy across the altar from each other was such a beautiful sight. I think they were a bit nervous but they were so cute. You could tell they were so excited to start their new life together.
It was funny when they were exchanging rings Andy got a bit flustered because her ring wasn't going on very easily, she turned bright red and next to her blond hair it was really red. She then tried to put Brook's ring on the wrong hand, but the sweetheart he is didn't tell her until she forced the ring on his finger.
The open house was nice as well, except for the moment when I got a phone call asking why the church was locked. I had the keys and I had just walked in the door at my house when I got the call. I showed up at the church to thirty people in the parking lot waiting to get in. Oops! I felt like a shmoe.
The open house was lovely. I enjoyed meeting Andy's family, she comes from a family of eight kids there's no way I remember all their names. She has two brothers, one I went to school with the other was huge.
It's funny because everyone has their own nickname for him. Brook calls him Little Hulk. Grandma Honey, who knows him because he used to shew her horses, calls him Thor. I've also heard someone else call him Johnny Bravo. I looked forward to meeting the real man behind all the names. He lives up to his names, not that I can remember his real name.
The brother I went to school with got real excited when he heard all the nicknames for his brother. He asked my sister Ann, "So what does everyone call me?" She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I've got nothing".
Brook and Andy stayed with in a ten foot radius of the door all night. They were so anxious to leave. The open house was suppose to be an hour and a half, finally after about the third hour Brook asked what he could do to help me clean up. I just laughed and told him to leave.
At that point I was ready to be done too I still had to drive to Salt Lake. Brook and Andy reserved a room in SLC but then my dad gave them a lodge in Yellowstone. It was too late to cancel either one so we let them choose which one they wanted and my sisters and I took the other one. We ended up dragging my mom along too so we could split the room four ways.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Goals, Goals, and More Goals
I passed off quite a bit of goals this lately. I cooked dinner for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day, which was my fourth time cooking for them (Goal #10). It's kind of sad that it took me so long to pass off that goal. I just get so nervous cooking for them.
I also passed off the goal of taking my mother out to dinner in a different city (Goal #38). I kidnapped her on Friday night after Brook and Andy's open house. We went down to Salt Lake to stay in the room the happy couple would've stayed in on their honeymoon. My dad ended up getting them a lodge in Yellowstone so they chose to go there. We stayed in Salt Lake and paid for the room because it was too late to cancel. It was fun, we had a nice adventure.
And just today I passed off Goal #29: to run 5k. I didn't actually run a race but I ran the distance of a 5k. I thought I was going to die. It took me a little over 40 minutes, which is not fast by any means. I wasn't really going for speed I just wanted to see if I could do it and I did. Of course, running on a treadmill for 3.1 miles is a lot different than doing it on the pavement. We'll see, maybe I will get the courage to run an actual race this summer. I'm just proud of myself for doing, I don't care that it was on a treadmill.
I know some people have been wondering about Big D and our wager: to lose so much weight by July 17. Well, we hit a wall for a couple months. I got discouraged with the lack of progress I was seeing, but I didn't give up. I kept going to the gym at least three times a week. I wasn't eating the best so I didn't lose any weight. But I am back on track now. I've started losing weight again and Big D is started to get a little nervous, which is making him step it up. I will have some weights posted as soon as I get them. Thanks for every one's help in keeping us focused and inspired.
I also passed off the goal of taking my mother out to dinner in a different city (Goal #38). I kidnapped her on Friday night after Brook and Andy's open house. We went down to Salt Lake to stay in the room the happy couple would've stayed in on their honeymoon. My dad ended up getting them a lodge in Yellowstone so they chose to go there. We stayed in Salt Lake and paid for the room because it was too late to cancel. It was fun, we had a nice adventure.
And just today I passed off Goal #29: to run 5k. I didn't actually run a race but I ran the distance of a 5k. I thought I was going to die. It took me a little over 40 minutes, which is not fast by any means. I wasn't really going for speed I just wanted to see if I could do it and I did. Of course, running on a treadmill for 3.1 miles is a lot different than doing it on the pavement. We'll see, maybe I will get the courage to run an actual race this summer. I'm just proud of myself for doing, I don't care that it was on a treadmill.
I know some people have been wondering about Big D and our wager: to lose so much weight by July 17. Well, we hit a wall for a couple months. I got discouraged with the lack of progress I was seeing, but I didn't give up. I kept going to the gym at least three times a week. I wasn't eating the best so I didn't lose any weight. But I am back on track now. I've started losing weight again and Big D is started to get a little nervous, which is making him step it up. I will have some weights posted as soon as I get them. Thanks for every one's help in keeping us focused and inspired.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Bug's Park Project
At the first of the school year Bug's class came out to this park and planted wildflower seeds. We came back to check on them and to plant some bushes. We weren't able to see any of our wildflowers growing yet but it's still early.
The kids had a good time taking turns with the shovel and throwing dirt down each others shirts. The red headed boy, Connor, was hilarious but of course all the girls think he's annoying. They will learn to appreciate that more when they get older.
The little girl in the middle sitting by Connor, holy cow she was annoying. She was one of those girls that keeps talking and following you around still talking even though no one is listening. I think she had a huge crush on Connor, she would not leave the poor boy alone. The kids were all separated into groups and he group was clear on the other side of the park but yet here she is.
It was fun, as a mom, to be able to see how Bug interacted with her classmates and in a social setting. She is quite good at making others feel included and not taking over the situation, she must get that from her father.
This isn't one of those parks that gets mowed I guess. It's a new park that is gearing more toward conservation and natural habitats. They want plants that are indigenous to our area planted all over. I had to take the boys with me and they loved playing in the grass.
They thought it was so funny that they could lay down an no one could see them.
Hey, where did they go?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Brook and Andy's Big Day
Brook and Andy have been pushing their wedding date back, I don't know how many times. They've been waiting for her temple divorce to go through. Well, now it's a go ahead for this Friday.
Brook and Andy decided to just set a date and get married either way; if the divorce goes through they'll get married in the temple and if not they'll get married civilly and go to the temple in a year to be sealed.
They really didn't want to have a civil ceremony. Andy felt like it would put a cloud over what is supposed to be a happy day, which I don't blame her. However, they needed to set the date and get married so they can start moving on with their lives. So they set the date for May 15 and prayed the divorce would go through by then.
The good news came last weekend, the divorce went through and they can get married in the temple. We are all so excited for them. They've asked me to take some pictures at the temple, I don't think they really looked at the engagement picture I took for them. Some turned out okay but I wished they'd turned out a lot better. I have to keep telling myself that I'm learning.
Friday is going to be a busy day. Brook is getting his endowments out, then married, pictures, with the finale of an open house. They are going to be exhausted, I'm going to be exhausted.
It is going to be a day that my whole family has been waiting for for a very long time. We all knew that Brook would eventually come back to the church and now he has.
It is so awesome to see the change in him. He is so much softer, don't get me wrong he's always been the biggest softy but now he doesn't have the hard exterior to get through before you saw the gooy insides. He is adorable! I love watching him with his wife-to-be, I've been waiting a long time to see him this happy.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
My Babies are Growing Up
I just sent my two girls off to Florida for a week with their grandparents. I am excited for them but stressed for me. I've never had my kids that far away from me. The mother in me thinks of all the things that can go wrong as I'm stuck on the other side of the country.
Big D gave each of us a Father's Blessing on Sunday and that has really helped. I've actually been more excited for them. This is a once in a life time opportunity and I'm happy they get to experience it. I'm extremely grateful that Papa Guy and Grandma Honey invited them to go. I know they are in good hands.
I tried to get the girls set up for what ever they may need. I bought them snacks and activities for the plane ride. I even asked some people to write the girls letters about a vacation they had or something special about the girls. I wanted them to have something to read if they got scared or homesick, which I bet they will be having way too much fun to have that as a problem.
Thank you to everyone who helped me with that!!!
I also wrote each of the girls a bedtime story with them as the hero saving the day. I think they turned out pretty cool. I'm excited to hear what they think of them. I put the stories and letter plus some other surprises in the carry on bag and told them they couldn't peek until they were on the plane.
Big D said I went a little over board, I say it's just the mother in me wanting to cram a weeks worth of love in a tiny backpack.
I hope they have fun and I look forward to hearing from them. Grandma Honey and Papa Guy are pretty good about having the girls call me to check in. I think they just know that I freak out a lot.
I worry that I'm a bit too over protective and I'm smothering them. I guess I'll never know until down the road when I get a phone call from their therapist inviting me to a session.
Big D gave each of us a Father's Blessing on Sunday and that has really helped. I've actually been more excited for them. This is a once in a life time opportunity and I'm happy they get to experience it. I'm extremely grateful that Papa Guy and Grandma Honey invited them to go. I know they are in good hands.
I tried to get the girls set up for what ever they may need. I bought them snacks and activities for the plane ride. I even asked some people to write the girls letters about a vacation they had or something special about the girls. I wanted them to have something to read if they got scared or homesick, which I bet they will be having way too much fun to have that as a problem.
Thank you to everyone who helped me with that!!!
I also wrote each of the girls a bedtime story with them as the hero saving the day. I think they turned out pretty cool. I'm excited to hear what they think of them. I put the stories and letter plus some other surprises in the carry on bag and told them they couldn't peek until they were on the plane.
Big D said I went a little over board, I say it's just the mother in me wanting to cram a weeks worth of love in a tiny backpack.
I hope they have fun and I look forward to hearing from them. Grandma Honey and Papa Guy are pretty good about having the girls call me to check in. I think they just know that I freak out a lot.
I worry that I'm a bit too over protective and I'm smothering them. I guess I'll never know until down the road when I get a phone call from their therapist inviting me to a session.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Family Haircut Day
Bug decided she wanted to donate her hair. That led to everyone else wanting to lighten their load as well. Although none of us had long enough hair to donate.
She looks older. I don't think I should let her cut her hair so cute anymore. She's getting too old.
Beaner hasn't had much patients with her hair since the first time she donated it. I keep asking her if she'd like to wait and donate her hair, but her hair gets to a certain point and she wants it cut off. I don't blame her I'm the same way.
How in the world did my little girls grow up so fast? Beaner was a bit worried that people wouldn't be able to tell she got a hair cut because she only chopped a couple inches. She still looks adorable no matter who can tell how much she cut off.
I decided I was bored with my hair so long. I'm too old to have such long hair. I wanted to donate it but my hair wasn't quite long enough. I feel bad, I should have waited a couple more months and then chop it off.
Big D didn't want to be left out so he shaved the boys and himself. They all look adorable. It's nice that the boys have a simple haircut, it saves us money for one thing. It's a good summer haircut.
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