Prayers

I am asking for prayers from all of my friends. A friend of ours was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She had a double mastectomy and now found out that it has spread to her liver and lungs. Please pray for Charese.

Also my mom was diagnosed with Parkinson's this week. She has had a horrible year and this diagnosis has brought on so much stress for her and my dad. Please keep them in your prayers too.

Pan Am

My son thinks he is a world traveler. At least domestically right now:) Parker flew out with my dad to St.Louis to visit my brother and his family. My SIL Rachel was so great to take Parker around and show him the sights. Parker had such a great time and didn't want to come back:) He really loved all the time he got to spend with his cousin Annalyn. Luckily school is in his life still so he had to make it back for class. He got a good taste of what its like to travel standby over UEA weekend. He went to Dallas, St. Louis, Dallas, Chicago, and finally made it to SLC in a first class seat! Lucky kid!

I can do hard things

Here is goes. Day 1 of my kick-off to a healthier, happier, well balanced me. Thanks Paige for telling me about it:)

What is it you ask?
Here is what you need to accomplish each day for 8 weeks.

1. Exercise 45 mins a day.
2. Drink 8 glasses of water.
3. Eat 2 servings each of fruits and vegetables.
4. Get at least 7 hours of sleep each night.
5. No sugars/white flour.
6. No soda, fast food, or junk food.
7. No eating after 8.
8. Write in your journal every day.(blogging:)
9. 15 mins of uplifting reading or scripture study.
10. Complete an act of service or random act of kindness.

Why do I love the challenge even though it goes through Halloween, Thanksgiving, and ends right before Christmas? Because it will make me a better person inside and out. And I get one free day a week:)

Check it out if you would like to at 8weekstoabetteryou.blogspot.com

What really matters.

My friend Emily posted this video and it really had an effect on me today. I often get caught up in being too busy. I work, do homework, clean the house, cook, do laundry, run the kids around, shop....the list goes on and on. How many times do I slow down and just enjoy the moment? How often do I look around at my surrounding and enjoy everything around me? No matter what your beliefs are, we all can believe in taking the time to make memories. Little snapshots that we will never want to forget. I know I want that with my family. I never want to forget what I have been blessed with.

Boy/Girl Party. I am too young for that!!

Parker is in 6th grade this year and turned 11 last Friday. Say what??
When did my little home skillet grow up to be old enough to have a boy/girl party?
Just plain crazy sauce I tell you. Parker had his close peeps over for a movie night. Hot dogs were on the menu straight from the fire pit. It was pretty funny to watch all the kids interact. They boys talked alot more to the girls than I remember boys doing when I was his age. His "girlfriend" Katie was there and is so cute! Cracks me up to even type that he has one:) We brought out a mattress that we were getting rid of, set up some chairs, and watched a movie under the stars. We served popcorn buckets with a box of candy. They seemed to have a really great time. Matt and I enjoyed every minute getting to watch Parker that night. He really is such a great kid. He works hard at school. He is so responsible. He rarely ever complains about anything. I really have enjoyed watching him grow up:)

It's back to school time!!!

How sad is it that my last post was about the end of the year!?! I fail at writing on my blog:)

We have had a great summer! We stayed up in Logan with Matt for a few days(we missed you Jenny and family),we had season passes to Classic Fun Center where we spent many days. We went to Cowabunga Bay, Boondocks, and played with friends. I started a new job at American Airlines. This summer has just flown by with lots of fun and exciting things happening!

Oakley is now in 2nd grade. She has one of Taylor's previous teachers and she is excited to have her friend Maddy in her class again. She is still not a morning person and struggled to get up this morning, but I think in a few weeks she will be able to get up easier. (Let's hope and pray!!!!)

Taylor is in 4th grade. She has a great teacher this year also. She doesn't have her two closest friends in her class with her this year so it will be interesting to watch her make new friends in her class. She was our most excited child about school starting! She could not wait!! I think it's because she is excited to see all the boys in her grade:) Yes, she is SO into boys!! We even had the conversation about shaving legs. I had to tell her she has a few years before that nightmare will start!

Parker, Parker, Parker. What to say about my 6th grader? He is my easiest child. He just plays everything cool. He has a teacher who is young and pretty which Matt and I found very funny since Parker picked her as his teacher this year. He has 3 out of 4 of his closest friends in his class. He said he hopes this year his teacher won't get irritated at him for being quiet like his last teacher did:) It's in the genes! And we all know not mine!!

I have loved the summer with my kids, buy I am glad they are now back in school. I love seeing them learn new things.

Part one of June

What makes the last day of school super cool? If your birthday is on that day! My sweet/crazy/funny Oakley turned the big 7 on June 3rd which happened to be the last day of school. Can't you see in her face below that she is super excited to be done with school??? She did have the coolest teacher Mrs.Buttars. If you went to High School with me then you just might know that cool chick!

Oakley was spoiled on her birthday, and the whole weekend! I made Hello Kitty pops for her class. She had not one, but 2 birthday cakes. My favorite was the kit kat cake. Super easy to make!!! She loves Justin Bieber (although she will never admit it in front of her brother). Our family spoiled her like crazy! Some of my favorite things about Oakley are: she is so loving, she likes to sleep in like her mommy, she always gives hugs and tells us she loves us all the time. She is a great kid! She had a friend birthday party at the pool and we were so excited that Matt was in town for her birthday!!

Parker and Taylor were also excited to finish up school and start their summer break. I can't believe that next year I will have a 2nd, 4th, and 6th grader. Ack! I am feeling like I should be old!

June has been a great month for us. Lots of change, lots of running around. I love all the exciting things that are in store for our family!!

Part two of June

I love when the weather FINALLY warms up and we are able to get out and enjoy what Utah has to offer. We took the kids up to Donut Falls for a hike. It was beautiful, but we didn't expect to see snow up there in the end of June!!! Only in Utah:) There was so much water from the snow coming down that it had flooded the trail. So we weren't able to make it up all the way, but it was beautiful!

Then we continued up the canyon to Silver Lake. The kids planned on doing a little fishing. Again, SNOW!! This time it was covering the path around the lake. Crazy stuff to see people wearing flip flops and sliding and falling in the snow. The kids had a great time fishing and I had a fabulous time catching some rays:)

1 Point for the girls!

(Not my sink, but you get the point)

I have a habit of making sure something goes wrong while Matt is out of town.(I do it just to make sure he knows he is needed around here:) Totally kidding!!) I have mentioned before the backing into the garage door that required a new door opener, or the never ending leaking bathroom tub nozzle that turned into a 3 day project for a kind neighbor that fixed it for me, just to name a few.

Today I decided to make a wonderful dinner of Meatloaf and Potatoes for dinner. I peeled my potatoes and put them in the crock pot and put the Meatloaf in. Feeling so great about having a dinner that would be ready for the kids when they got home from school, I continued in the kitchen and cleaned up my mess. I sent all those peels down the disposal. Ladies. DO NOT DO COPY MY AWESOMENESS!!

Next thing I know the sink is filling up with water and will not drain. I called Matt later that night to fill him in on the fun. I told him "No biggie. I can go without the disposal for another two weeks till you get home." Brahaha! Guess who decided to do a load of dishes in the dishwasher? Yep, the smart one over here. I came upstairs tonight to find my sink filled to the top with nasty water. I scooped it out into the other sink. I was almost done and then I heard a big whoosh and noticed my feet were wet. The pipe popped off. Lovely. Then came the call to Matt. It was only midnight where he was, no big deal:) He told me to call my dad in the morning. Pshhhhh! This girl cleaned up the water, re-attached not one but two pipes that had come off, and found the potato peels in those pipes. Pulled out all the potatoes, re-attached everything and now has a working disposal! Now I am not bragging by any means. I am just saying "Woo hoo for the girls team!"

Happy Mother's Day!

What a weekend! We started off with having Matt out of town for the month of May,(Happy Mother's Day to me:) j/K). The kids and I made lunch for my mom on Saturday. It was so great to have lunch with her and show her how much we appreciate her. I am so grateful for all the sacrifices she has made to have me in her life.

Then it was off to the In-Laws to visit and go out to dinner. We had a nice dinner and then played at the park with the kids. I loved that the weather was so great! My Mother-In-Law is so kind to always give me a gift on Mother's Day. Bless her lovely soul she gave me another hanging flower thingy.....my goal is to keep this one alive for more than a week:)

Today was a day of sleeping in, (I made the kids promise they would let me) waking up to very cute notes of how much I am loved. Then off to church we went. I am in the Primary Presidency and we had put together cute pics of the kids that had a border around it and had "Happy Mother's Day" on it with a magnet to hang on their fridge. They put the picture in a card that they had decorated on the outside and then on the inside it had cute questions for them to fill out. Like "Why did you mom marry your dad?". My kids response? I got 2 "He's cute" and 1 "Because he had hair back then!". Holy LOL!!! Love it.

By far the best part for me was seeing a video that the Bishopric put together for the moms. (With help from at least one wife:)
The video had kids of all ages and also some women talking about how they love their moms. My sweet friend Emily had recorded a message from Taylor on it. Can I just say I bawled through the video? It is what I needed and more. Sometimes we wonder if we are doing o.k. and it was so cute to see my Tay unrehearsed tell why she loves me. I just melted. And I must throw out a "You don't know how much that meant to me" to Em!!!!

I am so grateful to be a mom. I wanted to bring these kids into the world. I own it. And I am so proud to be called a mom. It's hard, it has it's days, but there are so many rewarding days that I wouldn't change anything. So "Thank You" to all you mom's out there. What you do everyday is special and amazing!

Surroundings

So I have been checking out my surrounding a bit more than usual lately.......

Plumbers-ummmm such a messy job, but someone has to do it!
Resource Teachers- I think they go unthanked alot. And by alot I mean ALOT!
Zumba Teachers- Could I ever look that hot while shaking it????
Tiny Belly Pregos- (If you can't say something nice.....) Why was I a Beluga Whale?
The word "Teachers Butt."-what teacher wants your to reference your butt to them? Yet, I am getting one now that I am working at home and sitting all day.
Sunshine-I have loved seeing it this week! Holy crap. It took long enough to get here.
Gardner's-Can I get one please?
24 Hours-Not enough time in the day my friends!
Homework- Why am I doing it? It's YOURS!!!:)
Traveling-It's all I ever want to do.....
Weight Loss- I am waiting for that magic pill to be invented!!!
Prayer- Lots of it going out, not sure if I ever get the right message. Just shout it to me. It works alot better:)
Projects- Never-ending
Friends- Can't live without them (sometimes I can't survive a day without texting them:)
Babies- Love them.
Hubby- Miss him like crazy
My kids- Couldn't live without them. You can feel it in the air that they are ready to be done with school for the year.
Softball- gonna coach it this year and couldn't be more excited!!!!
Blogging- Need to be better at it.

Amazing Grace

That song is running through my head right now. SO many things are running through my head. I have something that I would love to blog about, but I can't for fear of hurting feelings of family members. I want to post about it though so that I will have this memory with me always. I hate when people post things that are so vague that you wonder why did they post it. Yet, I am doing that today.

I will say that today more than ever I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are real. I know that they love us and are always there for us. I know without a doubt that they love me and want what's best for me. Today they gave me something very special and personal. Some people who I am really close to may be able to pick up on what I am talking about. Today I had questions finally answered that I have wondered my whole life. I didn't know if I wanted them answered for a long time, but I came to a point in my life where I felt it was time and that I could handle whatever I was given.

I met with a man today that showed me true compassion and and was an example of reverence, patience and love. I learned of all the wonderful resources we have in this world. How fortunate we are. How fortunate I am. I was reminded of how selfless people can be. How many people put others ahead of themselves. If only everyone chose to live their lives that way. I found a desire to give more, to volunteer my time.

We never know where our road of life will take us, but I am so grateful for the journey that I am on. I am so grateful for such a wonderful support system I have from family and friends.

God is good.

Carefree and Inspiring

I adore this lady and the music she makes......

Oh it is SO on!!!

It is on people. I am committing to lent this year. Don't laugh.... I can totally do this. Guess what I am giving up? Ummmmmm SWEETS!!! Ack! Scary right? Might I just warn my fellow peeps that I see often that I might be scary for a week or two. I might go into withdrawals. It will be worth it though. I need to cleanse myself of something and I think sweets/treats/goodies/sugary snacks will be the way to go. I am a day late on this little fun bandwagon, but it's all good. I did go out with a bang by having a chocolate doughnut, a cupcake, and a few girl scout cookies. Bad, right? Don't worry, I didn't eat it all in one sitting:)

Time for a change

You know when the leaves start to change color and you can feel a change in the air? I want that change, I am looking for that change. I know the Debbie Downer can come out in the Winter, but I feel it more this year than I ever have. I want to go back to the careless world I once lived in. Where people are not easily offended, where gossip isn't a priority, where drama is left behind. I did High School once, and that was enough for me. I feel like I have lost a little of me. The part that I really like. The part that lets things run off my shoulder, that life doesn't need to be taken to seriously, where I don't let people get to me. Where people think of what they are saying before they say it. Where we aren't selfish. I need to find that part of me again. I thought little trips would help, maybe girl lunch dates, but I need more. I think I need a retreat in a Tepee with a Indian:) I need to sweat this out and be done. I want the warm ocean breeze blowing through my hair. I want the sun shining on me while I lay out and bask in the sun like a sea lion in San Diego. I want back the Aloha Spirit I felt in Hawaii. But most importantly I see the change needs to come from me. So from this day forward I will speak more kindly. I will look for all the good in the day. I will count the many blessings that I know I have. I will attract the good to happen. I will cherish the people I have in my life. I will thank my friends for all the times they have listened to me. I will put the smile on my face because I really truly am happy. And gosh dangit, I will exercise more!!!!

9 Years

9 years ago yesterday, I gave birth to that hottie. Believe it or not, she came out very tan and with a ton of dark brown hair. Matt looked at her, then at me and said she wasn't his:) Poor girl had jaundice (hence the tan) and I had lots of dark hair as a baby. She was our little monkey and we were so glad to have her.

Here are 9 things I love about this girl:

1-She has the most beautiful smile that lights up her face.
2-She will play pretend with her sister for hours!
3-She is so compassionate. She never wants anyone to be sad. I have seen her comforting friends with her arm around them, trying to make them feel better.
4-She has a crazy sense of humor. She makes us laugh with the craziness that comes out of her mouth.
5-I never have to ask her to do her homework. It is always done right after school.
6-She loves to help cook.
7-She has an amazing voice.
8-She loves to shop just like her mom:)
9-She loves her family.

Tay- we are so glad to have you in our family. I couldn't imagine life without you!

2010

Biggest Purchase:
All the items to finish our downstairs including our carpet:) But it was SO worth it!

Favorite Movie: Alison in Wonderland, Eclipse,
Funniest Movie: Despicable Me
Worst Movie: Repo Men-HORRIBLE!!

Favorite Celebrity: Sandra Bullock


Least Favorite Celebrity: Lady Gaga-NASTY

Guilty Pleasure(s):
Hot Chocolate, reading, lunch with my girls, sleeping in

Sickest Moment:
All the squishy dog poop I cleaned up that was wet from the sprinklers.

Saddest Moment:
Loosing a couple of people that were too young to move on from this life.

Achievements: Learning to really love cooking, finishing the basement,moving everyone into new rooms a week before Christmas.

2010 "Firsts": Having all 3 kids in school all day, road trip without my hubby for over 10 hours of driving, surviving a year of having Matt gone more than he ever has and making our relationship stronger than it has ever been:)

Lessons Learned:
Using my time wisely, saying "no" instead of trying to be a people pleaser.

2010 in 1 word: Exciting

2011 will be:
AMAZING!

Hopes for next year:
Financial freedom, more family trips, great health for my family, a healthy new niece.