MeRrY ChRiStMaS!!!

What a fantastic day. Love seeing all the smiles & listening to all the giggles from my kids. We cut back (we never go crazy w/Christmas) this year (like most people) & it was better than last year. The happiness is fantastic. I love my family & we've been blessed.

I LOVE MY LIFE!

Kennedy actually let me curl her hair & she ended up loving it. So much so, that anytime anybody touched it, she was scared it would flatten her hair.

These pictures were taken right before church, before the kids could spill on their clothes. They were fresh & beautiful.

So there you have it. Updated pictures of our kids. It's been a while. More pictures to come soon, we are working on FINALLY getting a family photo, so if the clothes look familiar in those you'll know why.

My baby is 9!!!

WOW!!!! Well, actually tomorrow 12/17.

I'm actually quite emotional, my Rusty is growing up so fast. He's 9! Can you believe it? I can't & I gave birth to him, I just can't believe it was 9yrs ago. Rusty, you've been one of the biggest blessings in our lives. The Lord sent us a special spirit. Rusty we are so PROUD of you. You've made some HUGE changes this year and we couldn't be more proud. You've excelled in school, you've joined the mile club at school & not only learned how much you love to run, you broke the school record and continue to widen that gap. Your love and concern for everybody around is so amazing to me, I have learned so much from watching you interact with Kennedy. The love you both have for one another is amazing & rare. You never cease to amaze me.
I won't go into details about the day you were born, but I will tell you, you were 4 weeks early. You & I were VERY sick. I didn't get to see you for 3 days, because I was still so sick & I couldn't get up and walk very much, luckily Daddy was there in the special care nursery with you. You were sooo little but your spirit was SO HUGE.We didn't know if you were going to be able to come home with us, but the Lord made sure you were well enough. The Lord knew we had to bring you home. I knew from the moment we got pregnant that you were very special & the Lord has told us as much in many many blessings. We've been blessed beyond measure with you as our son. You are the best son, big brother, friend, etc.... WE LOVE YOU! Glad to be your parents. HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUSTY! HOPE YOU HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY!

Christmas Spirit

I so stole this idea, but I couldn't pass it up. I LOVE IT!!! This is one of my favorite songs of the season.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Things I am grateful for (no order of importance of course):

* Savior
* Family
* Orville
* Rusty
* Kennedy
* Friends
* Our Health
* Our Home
* Our Safety
* Our Business
* Part-time jobs
* Food Storage
* My Callings
* Orville being a worthy Priesthood Holder
* My parents doing most of the cooking today
* Having a 2nd car, so I can help my grandmother & others
* Having both my parents still alive
* My Eternal Family
* The Gospel
* The Gym, I love exercising
* Rusty learning the love of running
* Being able to stay home w/Kennedy
* Being able to be home w/Rusty after school to help w/his homework
* Food, as so many don't have what we have
* Grateful for the rain

The list goes on and on and that in itself I am eternally grateful for. I have been truly blessed.

Reflections of Christ

I have been trying to add some verbage to the video below & I kept getting an error, so I guess I'll have to do it this way.

For those of you who don't live in Arizona, or haven't seen these pictures they were showcased up at the Arizona Mesa Temple earlier this year. BEAUTIFUL!! The spirit was so strong. I'm so grateful to be a member of the Lord's church, especially at this time of turmoil. I know all this is necessary & signs of the times. Sunday's R.S. lesson was amazing, Jill Brady gave us hope as life starts to get hard and will continue on getting harder. We as Latter Day Saints know & knew this was coming but we ALL have the love of Christ if we chose. Christ loves us all not just the Christians, but us all! That is truly amazing and I am so blessed to have Christ and Heavenly Fathers loves in my home and family. This is the time to pull together not apart.

This & That

I just need to post about random things.

RUSTY
Rusty has been fantastic. He's doing so much better at school. He joined a mile club at school, where you run 60 miles (3 mile cards, 20 miles each card) and you get entered into a drawing for an I-Pod, of course, he's so motivated. He's already on his 3rd card. You can enter up to 9 cards I think. He's ready to enter all 9. He now gets the urge to run on the weekends. GO RUSTY!!!! His grades have improved (although, they have always been great), he's doing a lot less talking. Halloween, Rusty was an Army soldier, he wants to grow up and join the army after his mission of course. Rusty's still in soccer with the best coach EVER!! Can you guess who that is? I never said I wasn't vain. hehehe. I love coaching his team, it allows me to be closer to him and have more time with him. It's great. I love the time we spend together, you & I have grown so much closer. Rusty I am so proud of you, you have no idea. You amaze me as we've talked about this election, talked about the propositions, the Gospel, etc... How stinking smart you are and grown up you really are. You are so strong. You have taught me so much. The Lord sure blessed my life with you. Thank you. I love you so much there are no words to fully comprehend the amount.

KENNEDY
She is doing great, learning more and more each day. She's ready for school. She misses the cut off by 16 days, so Orville & I have decided to get her tested to see about entering early into kindergarten. She's doing great in gymnastics, most days she loves it. She's so girl, she changes her mind and her clothes like crazy. Her attitude matches that as well. She so funny, she loves to sing & dance. We were at a play that was put on by our Stake, written by a gal in our ward. When there was music she was in the isle dancing. It was so funny. She's been eating me out of house & home, so I've been waiting to see what body part was going to hurt for this growth spurt. Well the pain & attitude kicked in last night. She was carrying on and on about her legs. I finally gave some Tylenol & about 20 minutes later she stopped. She's been extra cranky because now, she needs extra slept. So she's back to taking naps, of course not at a good time, she waits until about 4pm to take a nap. This has been an ongoing battle, I'm losing, can you tell. I just let her sleep and put her to bed about 30 minutes later than Rusty. Kennedy, I love you, you are my ray of sun shine during the day. You sing, you dance you are so happy. You have taught me so much, how to be happier, goofier, to wrestle, to box, to dance silly. You are so amazingly smart. The Lord has blessed my life immensely with you as well. Again, I love you more than there are words.

ORVILLE
Well, same ol' same ol'. Not much is different with him. The business is slowing down (imagine that, the economy is tanking at the moment), so he's trying to see what he can do to drum up more. He is thinking of actually going back to school to expand his knowledge and be able to expand the business. WAY TO GO!!! Since he was in the Army way back & go injured (knee surgery) he's got full benefits from the V.A. YEAH!!! He can go back to school on their dime. Vocational school that is, that is fine with me. They will even pay him some sort of salary, since he won't be able to work during school time. Not enough to live off of but hey, it's something.
Orville missed another one of Rusty's soccer games this morning because he had a client in far east Mesa. We were blessed, not only to get paid but we were treated to Krispy Kreme donuts. I don't like donuts but these were extra good today. The kids have been in Heaven. Thanks for always thinking of us, that is one of the many things we love about our Daddy & Hubby. You are such a hard worker. You amaze me at how strong you are and all the MANY MANY things you've overcome. I know I take you for granted, but I am grateful that you are a part of my life.

ME
Well, I've been slacking in my weight loss. Not that you couldn't tell, I haven't posted anything. I've been quite lazy lately and lost my focus. Right now, I've been applying for part-time jobs like crazy (see Orville's blurb, business, slowing, etc..). My current application is for part-time at BCBS, which is where my mom works and has for over 25 yrs. The only thing is, it's during the day and I need to get a sitter. But it's weekdays only, no holidays, no evenings, etc...Know anybody with little ones at home and is way trust worthy? I'm quite depressed over having to leave her. The other jobs are night jobs, but still depressing even more so, because I'd be gone from Rusty that much more. Also, would have to work weekends, holidays, etc... But I've got to do what I can. I know the Lord will bless us & knows my pain, he actually told me once in a blessing when I had to go back to work full-time when he was 4. So I feel that same reassurance from the Lord this go around.

Love of my Family
I just want my family to know how much I love each and every one of them. I am so proud of Rusty, Kennedy & my hubby for so many amazing reasons. I can't even begin to explain, simply because it brings me to tears as the Lord as blessed me so greatly & continues to on a daily basis. As things change in the government, laws passed, etc... I fear what's next but at the same time, I am even more grateful that I have the gospel and the knowledge of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the power of the priesthood and that I have it in my home. I was not raised with it in my home but I have it now! I'm so grateful that both kids love the gospel. I am ever so grateful that I have a family that is sealed for all time & eternity. I could go on and on. I just wanted to express my love for my family and this amazing Gospel that I belong to. Thank you family for loving me!

Orville's being ARRESTED, HELP!!!!

PLEASE HELP!!! ORVILLE IS BEING ARRESTED!!!!



https://www.joinmda.org/glendalelu/orville



GO HERE TO HELP BAIL HIM OUT!!!! HELP!!!

More info to come later

Example shmample

Boy howdy, teaching by example! So true so true especially when you least expect it. Today Kennedy & I were on the couch snuggling when all of a sudden she starts doing sit-ups. Counting and all. She did 10 full sit ups, then several crunches after that. She even then pulled me on the floor to "teach" me how to do sit-ups, not the crunches but the full sit-ups and had me do 10.

Rusty, came home today so excited about running a mile. They have this goal at school that if you run so many miles you'll get a card and once you get 3 cards, your name will be entered into a drawing for an I-Pod. Mind you each card is 10 miles, so that means he has to run 30 miles to even be entered into the drawing. He can run up to 10 cards (don't ask, the math doesn't equate, this is coming from an 8yr old). Anyway, he is now excited. He even has another kid "training" him to be faster so he can get all 10 cards done by before the drawing. He even asked me to run with him. I'm so not a runner. I can do spin, I can do the elliptical trainer, lift weights, but run? Must be kidding, but of course, I'll run w/my Rusty. Anything to encourage him and keep him motivated. Heck, it'll be another excuse to exercise which is become a HUGE love of mine. Plus, I get to spend one on one time w/Rusty which is the best reward EVER!!! We don't get much one on one time since he's in school. Glad to see he has found something he's starting to love.

Who needs a rollar coaster?

Obviously not Kennedy. We were on our way home this morning from taking Rusty to school. When Kennedy asked to have all the windows down (normally we do, to enjoy the cooler weather, but today we didn't because she's not feeling good). So I appeased her and all of a sudden, there she was being a spaz and screaming with her arms as high as she can get them screaming yippy, weeeeee as loud as she could. I wish I could have taken a picture, but in the interest of safety, I chose otherwise. No need for another car accident. It was so funny.

On another note, Rusty's been asking a lot about Prop 102 and why people would want to go against God and marry within the same sex. It has been quite amazing as I've been able to really teach a lot of Gospel principles. I got to explain again, that the Lord loves the sinner not the sin. Today was especially good and I was in tears as the Spirit was really strong and he even got teary eyed. We both vowed to do a little better to please Heavenly Father and Jesus since after all he made the HUGEST SACRIFICE for us. My Rusty is growing up so fast.

I'M BACK IN FULL SWING

Well, I'm back in full swing of my weight loss. Since my weight loss has been m.i.a. I've unfortunately put on 6 lbs. YUCK!!! I feel gross, which in turn has me eating, which I feel gross. It's a vicious cycle. I decided yesterday, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!! I don't want those pounds. So I'm getting rid of them + tons more. I hit the gym hard and I'm signing back up for more spin classes to get my going. I'm back to being way motivated and stronger than before. I'd like to have another baby so I need to hit this harder than ever before. Hopefully, the Lord will bless us with another angel.

I have so many other things to post about along with pictures of some of the fun things the kids & I have been up to. So look for those.

Recording God's Blessings for Future Reassurance

"When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father in law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door. . . . I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property."He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind--not in my own voice--these words: 'I'm not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.'"I went inside. I didn't go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn't have to do what he was doing for us. . . . But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

"Henry B. Eyring, "O Remember, Remember," Ensign, Nov. 2007, 66 67

GO BLOGS!!! I need to do better about writing about the everyday stuff.

This and that

I have so not been good at keeping up with my weight loss. I've lost my focus and my drive, so I'm putting it out there for any and all help. I was on quite a roll until we went camping several weeks back and haven't gotten back on track. HELP PLEASE!!!

Last night our ward had an amazing adult fall social. It sure was fall night. It was quite chilly. We prayed for the wind to die down and guess what??? It did!! See, Heavenly Father does answer prayers. The night was fabulous. GO DIANA & her committee. We have a carnival just for the adults. It was so much fun, I so want to do the moon jump again, what a work-out.

Since it was an adult fall social, my parent took the kids overnight, since we didn't know how late we would be gone. It was so nice to come home to quiet. So nice to go to church and be able to listen, however, this Sunday was incredibly noisy in sacrament. I missed my kids at church, especially after the block when they come into the Relief Society room and tell me all the things they learned in class. I didn't get that part today. Instead we picked up the kids who are incredibly sleep deprived (love slumber parties @ Nana's). Rusty is sick & fell asleep in our bed about 4pm, & Kennedy was bouncing off the walls & wouldn't settle down until almost 9pm, you'd think she ate sugar & drank Pepsi. What a great Sunday. I love having my family together.

I'm so ready for this cooler weather. I'm excited to save some $$ on electricity, windows open, fall activities, warmer clothes. HEY, I get to wear warmer clothes without looking to HUGE. YEAH ME!!! Bummer, I got some cute sweaters for Christmas last year that will be to big, that's okay. I'll pass them along.

Anyway, enjoy!

YES ON PROP 102!

HECK YEAH ON PROP 102, SAVE THE FAMILY, ONE MAN & ONE WOMAN!

SORRY, GOT MY WORDING MIXED UP, I'M SO GOOD AT THAT!

NO ON PROP 102

For any of you who live in Arizona, should be aware of Prop 102 by now. This is so important to the future of our children. As we raise our children we've already had to discuss the issue w/Rusty who is only 8. I just explained about a man marring another man. Rusty quickly said that's not how God wants it! YEAH, go Rusty. I then explained that our loving Heavenly Father loves all his children just not the sin.

SO PLEASE GO AND VOTE, THIS ELECTION IS SO VITAL TO OUR COUNTRY.

Save the Family!

Kennedy's B-day

Well, here are pictures from the big day. We had her open a few gifts the morning of only because she had gymnastics and she got a new leotard, which ended up being to small so Katie was fabulous in letting us exchange it for a bigger one. We then spent the day doing whatever she wanted and then went to dinner at a restaurant of her choice. APPLEBEE'S takes the cake. She loves that place. We went w/our good friend the Beaubien's. Yummy food, plus they have the best Weight Watcher food around. It's soooo good.
CAN YOU TELL HOW OLD KENNEDY IS? SHE POINTED TO EVERYTHING SHE SAW THAT HAD A #4 AND HAD ME TAKE PICTURES.

She has to tell everyone or have me tell everyone that she is 4 now. She is so proud of her age.

WE HAVE SO MUCH FUN EVERYDAY. THANKS FOR HAVING A BIRTHDAY. WE LOVE YOU TONS AND TONS AND TONS MORE! THANKS FOR BEING OUR LITTLE PRINCESS!!!

Update on Weight Loss

Before camping I hit a HUGE goal, I hit 21.8 lbs gone!! I'm so excited! Here are pictures. I'm not wearing gym clothes like in the past, but by george, I love getting dressed now!

Look, white pants!!! For me this is GIGANTIC!!!! They had to be loose, I even when and bought capri style g's for these pants. LOVE THEM!!!! I got these pants from a friend of mine who went from a size 16 to a size 6. GO CAMIE!!!! She's my motivator/personal trainer.

This was enough to inspire me and motivate me to get back into working out hard and really watch what I eat. I had 3 pairs of pants hanging on my wall in my bedroom to motivate me, well 2 of the 3 fit and are comfortable I have 1 more size 12, but I need to hang some more clothes up. It's nice to be back in the blogging. Thanks for the inspiration and letting me know I was missed, I didn't realize I had inspired others. WOW!!! That means a lot. My main goal in this was to keeping inspiring myself. Glad I am able to inspire others. Baby steps are how it all starts and it snowballs from there. Also, the hard work is so worth it! YEAH US!!!! Keep up the work, I'll go back to posting on a regular basis.

It's been a while

Shame on me, it's been way to long. I have pictures to post from Kennedy's birthday, updates on my weight loss, etc.... But I had to change my background as I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!! It's so much fun, I love the dressing up, and the parties. I don't care for all the candy but love everything else about it. I am working on a cute Halloween decoration & will post pictures of that soon. My weight loss was good for a while and then I got off track by going camping and ever since ate like crap and my weight shows it and my stomach, well, YUCK!!!! So today I am back on track. I will post those updates once I get the pictures downloaded and stuff. I've been so busy with school, gymnastics, soccer, etc.... LOVE IT ALL!!!! It gives me more time to spend with my kids. I get to go up to Rusty's school every other Thursday to volunteer in class to grade and/or whatever his teacher needs. I love to see Rusty interact in school. Kennedy loves gymnastics and she's getting pretty good, luckily Katie has fabulous patience with all the kids, she's great at it. So look for several posts coming. Have a fantastic day.

It's my baby's 4th birthday!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNEDY!!!!

I can't believe it, she's 4!!! Where has the time gone. Oh I know, having way to much fun being her mommy! I am the luckiest mom in the world. I could give you 4 reasons why I love her but there is no way I could narrow it down to only 4! Heavenly Father has blessed this family with Kennedy. She is a spit fire, but she is so loveable and so darn cute. I can't believe she is 4! I will post more after I have pictures of her on her Birthday! We love you Kennedy! You are growing up so fast. We are so proud of you!

I'm a proud Mama

I can finally post about my amazing Rusty. He has been so good. Last week, I woke up and could barely move my neck. I of course, call the Dr. Cathcart to come get a adjusted. This is the 1st time, I balled trying to lay down and then to get adjusted. I came home put ice on my neck. In the mean time Orville had to go to work, he's been so busy. I took 2 Advil's & Rust played nurse, helper, babysitter, etc... He was amazing. He made sure I did my ice just like the Dr ordered. He was so sweet and fabulous in taking care of me. He helped wrangle lunch together for him & Kennedy. At one point, Kennedy went to take a nap and Rusty & I got to spend some alone time. It ended up being a good day, even though I was in pain. Rusty has really made some huge improvements this year. He so much nicer and kind. He is really trying in school and isn't talking as much. We've been going to the dermatologist to get some warts removed. It's quite painful as they are freezing them off and using blistering agent. This past Thursday was his 2nd treatment and he got brave and had some of the warts frozen off on his hand. This go around, he's got more blisters, they are dark and really gross looking. I sent him to school on Friday and I picked him up w/his hands wrapped in gauze. Some kids were scared because they looked so gross. His hands didn't look that bad Friday morning. I felt so bad, we immediately went to the store to get "sticky ace bandages" so we could reuse them and he wouldn't have to be embarrassed anymore. My poor Rusty was so sad. Today, Rusty & I get to go spend the afternoon together, we haven't spent alone time out of the house in so long. Orville has to work, but he is taking Kennedy with him, fortunately, it's only home stuff and then off to the Bishop's house to return their computer. I have a Baptism this morning, & Rusty has to go help a friend clean out the garage as he has to be responsible for some minor trouble he got into a few weeks back. After I get home, off to lunch Rusty & go, anywhere he wants. Then we are going shopping, he finally had a growth spurt and is in need of all new shirts for school and play. Soccer starts this week, I'm so excited, I get to be the head coach again. I love coaching the boys soccer. I get to be w/Rusty and get to learn a new sport. Rusty & I went to Blockbuster last night, we came home & I just looked over at him and started to get teary eyed. What an amazing kid I have. I love my Rusty so much. As he grows up, I am so proud of him. He's really trying to make the right decisions. He talks about wanting to be a great missionary when he grows up and he even talks about how he can be a missionary now and his good behavior will show kids his age, how you can have Christ in your life and still have fun. I love you so much Rusty. You are so good and turning one of my yucky days into a good one, by loving me and making me laugh. The Lord blessed us beyond belief when he sent you to us and then blessed us even more when he sent Kennedy. The love you have for your sister is amazing. Your heart growing bigger and bigger and you are such an example to me of pure Christ like love. You love everybody and want everything for everybody. WE LOVE YOU RUSTY!!!

Official Weigh In

Well, I'm down 1.8 lbs of the 2 pounds I put on. So I'm almost down to my lowest. I will be below that by next Friday. I took 2 really hard spin classes this past week. My goodness, I was sore. I don't think I've ever sweat that much in my life. It was crazy. I'll be taking 2-3 a week for the next 5 weeks to really drop weight. So here's wishing me luck. I get to go eat Sushi at our favorite restaurant tonight, ZEN 32. Rusty is going and is eager to try their California rolls & the Philly Roll with me. I bet I can get him to try the Spider Roll as well.

Better late than Never, weigh in

Well, I did weigh in on Friday. Sad to report, I'm up 2 lbs but down 1% in body fat. So at least something is moving. I paid to take a harder spin class last Friday. LOVED IT!!!! I decided that I'm going to pay for 10 of these classes, this will take me 5 weeks. So I'm going to give myself 5 weeks of working out even harder, being incredibly disciplined with what goes in my mouth. The only "cheat" day I give myself is Friday. We are going out for sushi and I love sushi with a diet coke. I usually drink about 4 soda's while I'm there, because I eat so much wasabi, my mouth is burning and my eyes are watering. I will fill in more later, my kids have been amazing, so more to come. Just need to go to take Rusty to school and the gym for my 1st of the 5 weeks of kick butt classes.

2008 Olympics

The past 1 1/2 weeks have been great bonding time between Kennedy

& I. We both LOVE to watch the Olympics. I'm amazed with all that is going on in the world, we all "seem" to take a "time out" for the Olympics.

Kennedy really loves the Gymnastics, hence, we are signing her back up

with Miss. Katie as she calls her. She has turned her garage into a gymnastics studio. THANKS KATIE!!! I used to do gymnastics, but I am such a klutz (I know, I know, not hard to imagine), I didn't do so well.

Oh, Michael Phelps, Kennedy is in love. Sorry Calvin, I think you've been replaced. Kennedy can spot Michael Phelps on the TV or if she hears his name, she comes running. She even asked, how old he was and I quickly exclaimed much to old for you. She was disappointed as she wants to grow up and marry him. She doesn't want much does she?



He is amazing! Way to go!!











Oh, these girls are fabulous! I've watched them for so long. I love volleyball. I love that we have TIVO, so I can record it and watch it and then fast forward thru all the other stuff. Kennedy loves to watch this with me as well, she says her girls are on and she yells right with me. Kerri Walsh missed a block and she yelled, "COME ON, GIRLS, LET'S GET IT TOGETHER!!!" It was so funny.

ALL THE OLYMPIC ATHLETES ARE AMAZING! CONGRATS TO MAKING IT!

Weekly Weigh In

I was so swamped yesterday, that I forgot to post yesterday. I once again, was successful at this weight loss war. I am down .6, not a ton but I'm down. I'll take what I can get, especially since I was down so much last week. YEAH ME!!! Almost 10 lbs down. This next week, I'll step it up. Part of my problem is that I am so sleep deprived, it hurts. So I will be sleeping tonight & tomorrow. So see you next week.! Here goes another great weight loss week.

Updated Picture

Okay, so I took pictures of myself. It's was exactly 1 month ago, that I took the 1st pictures. I really can't tell the difference, however there is 11 pounds less of me. This one is hard for me, only because it's white. I'm so used to the tops being quite a bit looser, so I'm not sure if I'll keep it or take it back. I had to go buy new gym clothes, because the other tank tops were literally falling off. That's good! I would be working out and the straps were falling down my shoulders, so kinda embarrassing. But at least they were falling off due to them being to big. I figure I'll take pictures every month on the 11 and then post them.

So Funny

Rusty's 1st day of 3rd grade

I can't believe it, he's in 3rd grade. WOW!!!! He was so excited to go back to school this morning, he was up earlier than I was. I wasn't quite ready for the morning at 6:15. I know that's not as early as most but early enough for me right now. I need to get back in the swing of things w/a 6am wake up for me, that allows me reading and prayer time while the house is still quiet. We are so blessed to have Daddy, a worthy priesthood holder in our home, who gave Rusty a father's blessing. Orville has done this every year before the 1st day of school. Rusty looks forward to this blessing, to hear what Heavenly Father has to say. Of course, Kennedy wanted a blessing and I couldn't be left out. What a great feeling to know that I can call on my hubby anytime and the kids can ask their daddy anytime for any reason. Rusty still wanted us to take him up to his class room, which I was glad for.
I was scared that he hit the



"MOM, you're embarrassing me" Fortunately, not this year. I didn't take pictures at school, he gave me that look. So i restrained myself. Rusty is growning up so well. He loves to go to church, & help others. He stands up at takes responsibility (most of the time) for when he has done wrong. Ask him anytime for help w/water barrels, food storage, yard work or even his sister, he'll jump right in. I am one proud Mom and couldn't ask for a better son or daughter. We are incredibly blessed when the Lord sent us these 2 kids.

Official Weigh In

Well, I'm not sure why I weighed in last night and then to post it. Such a dork. It's been a strange week. I'll just chalk it up to the weather and being a women. Well, I'm proud to say I'm even down 1 lb from yesterday. So that puts me at 3.4 from last week and total of 9 lbs in 4 weeks. YIPPY!!! The total since May now being 17 lbs off. The only bummer is that my fat % went back up. We have a crazy day, starting off w/meeting Rusty's 3rd Grade teacher, Mrs. LLoyd and then off shopping and then a Stampin Up party, oh yeah, Rusty has a birthday/slumber party tonight as well. So fun fun.

I'm on a roll!!!

I'm a roll, down wards. I'm so excited! I feel better than I have in so long. I weighed in and dropped 2.4 pounds!!! To top that off, I'm down 2% body fat. Finally, I was beginning to wonder if that was ever going to budge, I even asked a personal trainer at the gym today about my body fat and he seemed a little bewildered that the pounds are coming off but not the fat%, so I'm scheduled for a test at the gym on Monday. Luckily, it's free. Thank goodness. Anywho, I am on top of the world. That puts me at 8lbs down since Fri 7/11. Not bad in 4 weeks. SINCE MAY I'M DOWN A TOTAL OF 16 LBS AND 4% BODY FAT!!! I feel more empowered and motivated that ever, this is amazing to me. I compare this experience to gaining my testimony of Christ. You work so hard for the end result, you do whatever it takes and during the process (for me anyways) I'm gaining a new & better me, pray & pray and pray some more and do whatever research I can and surround myself with the most uplifting people. All the while, I am gaining what I set out to achieve a better me! I still have a ways to go (including my testimony) but I know I can and I will. I will become a thinner healthier me that is stronger, confident and closer to Christ that ever before. Because of this, I hope I will become a better mom, wife, friend, daughter, sister, & most of all daughter of our Heavenly Father. This journey has been such a spiritual one, one that I am eternally grateful for. Thank you for all your words of encouragement and still welcome them, I know I still will struggle but I know I've got amazing friends, amazing family, amazing ward family and most of all I have Christ to help pull me along.

Happy Birthday ORVILLE!!!!

I'm such a bad wife, Tuesday 8/5 was my hubby's 44th birthday. I can't believe it! I see so many blogs where they post all the reason's why they love the person's who's birthday is it for the amount of years they are. Well, since he's 44, that would take me forever and such a long blog. Just kidding, I do have more than 44 reasons why I adore my husband, I don't think I could narrow it down, so instead I'm going to post pictures of the kids and tell about our day. It went well. We made the day all about Daddy. Whatever Daddy wanted to eat and do. Orville took one client and then took the rest of the day off. During that one client, the kids & I decorated. Actually it was more the kids, I was just the computer lady who printed and gave them all the supplies. Rusty & Kennedy giggled while they cut & colored. It was great, to see the kids have so much fun. I wanted to show the kids that not all the decorations needed to be bought, but the that the ones we made from our heart will mean more and we'll have more fun. Boy did we ever. I was laughing so hard, I couldn't even take a pictures or a video of them coloring. They were just so excited. We hurried and hurried. The kids did a great job and of course, couldn't wait to give Daddy his gifts & share w/him. We then just layed low for the day and made a special dinner for Orville. Lasagna, garlic toast, peas & for dessert blueberry cheesecake. I bought the cheesecake, and you could tell. I didn't sleep much the night before due to severe allergies, so I took the easy road out and bought a Sara Lee original cheesecake. My cheesecake is SO much better, next time, I won't buy one, I'll just make it. So sorry honey! You deserve better, I'll make it up to you. I even bought the lasagna, that is a dish that I don't make well, luckily the lasagna was delish! I don't have pictures currently, due to Orville's computer being down, he is in the middle of transferring all his data fro the old computer over to a new computer. I'll upload soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ORVILLE!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Weekly Weigh In

Well, I had quite the week. I'm up .4 lbs. However, I'm down over 2% body fat total. I got a little upset at myself this morning on the scale, but I do need to remember that I'm going to have up weeks, and geez its' only .4 not even 1/2 a pound.

I've been craving junk food and more junk food. One of my all time favorites are hot wings. Love them. That's a bad weakness. Any who, as I have really changed my eating, I would crave them like nothing else. It was horrible. I quickly discovered the reason was the potassium in the vinegar, so I started eating spinach, couldn't get enough spinach. I now eat spinach but have added drinking a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. YUM! I have not acquired a taste for the vinegar. Anyway, the craving for hot wings came back this week. It was horrible. I drank more vinegar to curb that craving, it didn't work. So I caved last night and gave in. Boy those were some good wings. The good news is, I can only down maybe 6 small ones if that. YEAH shrinking tummy. Love it!!! I felt so relieved to have the craving gone, I then started craving more fried foods. I've come to the conclusion that not only was I needing potassium but also SALT!! Who would have ever thought, salt. Yes, your body still needs some salt. I don't eat salt very much anymore. Actually, very very little and most things taste to salty to me now a days. It's amazing when you change your eating habits how the "old normal" foods taste so bad. It actually goes to show you how bad I was eating. Not that you couldn't tell by how HUGE I was.

I do have good news, I was stretching one day after the shower, and I could see the outline of my ribs. I was beginning to think, I didn't have ribs anymore, I haven't seen the outline or any resembless there of in ummmm at least 10 years. YEAH!!!!! It's things like this, that keep me motivated. That and at my heavest, I wore a size 22-24 (yuck, I can't believe, I ever let myself get that big, GROSS) and I'm now into a 14. Hey, that's progress. It's taken a while but the eating is the most important aspect, sorry for those of you who want an easy fix, there is no such thing. Trust me, I tried and tried.

So all in all, I'm not to terribly dissapointed, I'll just work harder next week to drop the .4 plus 2-3 lbs.

Here's to a good next week.

Oh yes, school starts for Rusty in less then 10 days. YEAH!!! I'm looking forward to some girl time w/my Kennedy and of course, bonding time over homework w/Rusty. I love to see him come home with new things he's learned. He gets so excited or he tries to teach me. Which of course, the latter happens quite a bit. Things I've forgotten.

Feeling a little better

Okay, so after I posted my struggles, it occured to me, to go find pictures. The 1st picture is me about 3 weeks after Kennedy was born. I'm still wearing maternity clothes and they were snug. YUCK!!!!

Here's me about 8 months after Kennedy was born. We were at the Annual Glen Lakes Easter Picnic.

This is me about 8 months ago, I was one of Rusty's soccer coaches. I'm proud to say, I've had to get rid of those clothes because they are so big.

I believe, Rusty uses it as a sleep shirt.

Here's me about 3 weeks ago. So, I guess I have come along way. I feel better and less likely to go "pig" out now. I now will go to the gym today and work harder. I'm grateful that the inspiration came, for me to look at some old pictures. Any and all words of encouragement are still wanted

Struggling

I'm putting it out there, I'm struggling this week. I'm such an emotional person at home and I'm struggling this week. I want to eat everything in sight. Not sure why. Normally I would have weighed in by now just to check where I'm at & I haven't even done that. My official weigh in is on Friday (2 days from now). I'm a little scared. Please help, any/all words of encouragement will greatly be appreciated

Rusty

Well, we finally took the plunge and had Rusty's 1st slumber party last Friday. What a blast. We played, ate, played and ate some more. What else do boys like to do? We had make your own pizza and ice cream sundaes. Each boy brought their favorite toppings for the pizza & ice cream. Nothing to gross, unless you hate marshmallow cream. Spencer ate that stuff straight out of the jar. For me that was gross, it was funny to watch all the boys play and interact. We had fun, but boy am I tired. Can't wait for the next one.

Rusty's 1st Slumber party

Weight Loss

I've decided that I'm changing my official weigh day to Fridays instead of Mondays. I know that, that is going to screw this week up or at least cut it short, but it works out so much better for me & I've always weighed in on Fridays until I started to blog it. So anyway, I'm glad to report, I'm down 1.8 lbs since Monday. Not bad for cutting it short 2 whole days, I guess, actually 3 days. WOW!!!! So, so far, I'm down almost 6 lbs in just under 3 weeks. I'm doing quite well towards my goal of 50 lbs off by January 1, 2009. I only have 44 more lbs to go with 23 weeks to go. I better step it up and get more ahead, because I know there will be a slow period in there. Since I've actually started working harder (End of April), I'm down 14 lbs total. I'm so excited. I'm only 20 lbs away from my wedding weight. YEAH!!!! That is way exciting to me. I do have to confess. I've been craving junk food, oh it's been all week. I've put if off all week, I caved today. I bought frozen hot wings, I ate maybe 6. My stomach already hurts. YUCK!!! Hey, the craving is gone, yeah!!!! My stomach still hurts, this is a great reminder, why not to eat this crap again. Wish me luck this weekend as I have a friend's b-day party (Camie, she's 40). There's always a ton of food over there, luckily she's quite a health nut so it shouldn't be to bad this time, turkey burgers, shrimp, diet soda, etc... She will have normal food as well, but luckily for me, I love the the turkey burgers & stuff. Have a great day, I'm sure I'll post again as I've become quite addicted to this blog thing. OH YES!!! I forgot, we are now proud owners of a Honda Accord, older, but hey, that gives us 2 cars. YEAH!!! FREEDOM!!!! Not to much, still have gas to pay for but I can now go to the gym, not carpool for school, etc...Life is great and we've been immensely blessed by the Lord and I can't thank him enough. So when life gets rough remember to count your blessings now matter what.

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY CAMIE!!!!

Camie is the one in the middle. I normally would never give up a women's age, but I have to brag about her. She is 40!!! Can you believe it??? She looks freaking amazing. She has become a fitness buff. She teaches a ton of classes at the gym, motivates people about healthy eating and still having fun. She does it all with love and class. She is training for fitness competitions, what gal. What an inspiration, she is my "trainer" in dropping my extra weight. She kick butt but all with love. I want to look 1/2 as good as she does by my next birthday. Although, she's not a member of the LDS church, she is a strong believer of standing up for what you believe it no matter what it may be.

I hope you have a fantastic birthday, you deserve it!!

Talk about Tired

Talk about being tired. This is Rusty after spending 1/2 the day at the water park w/his buddy from school, Jacob. Rusty got a little sunburned so I put Aloe Vera on it, told him to let it dry and then we could go to bed. Poor kid couldn't even wait, he was so tired, his eyes were red. He was so tired that he even woke up in the middle of night complaining about his nose. Don't you hate it when you are over tired? Poor baby. Of course, he takes after his daddy, his sunburn is gone and turned into this beautiful dark tan. I can lay out w/tanning oil and still be white, although, this summer, I'm darker than I ever have been, but not on my legs. Kennedy takes after me, she has milky skin. It's beautiful, but there is something about a sun kissed skin.

The funniest thing

I just had to share. Kennedy & I were spending some girl time last night as Rusty was off playing and Orville was off working. She said the funniest thing ever. We were talking "girl talk" about princesses, balarena's, and mommies. She said she couldn't wait to grow up, go to schoo, go on her mission, come home, go to more school, get married and then have 5 babies. I quickly asked why 5, are you sure? Of course, Mommy, I want 5. 3 girls & 2 boys. Only because boys are harder and with more girls you can have more girl time. I want 5 because I want to show you it's okay to have more kids. I want more than you. You are slow to have more babies. This 3 yr old of mine, sure knows what she wants. We'll see if it really happens and how many she really has. This will be something I have to show to her when she gets older, just so she believes me. What a funny girl. At least she has the order right, can you tell that's what we tell our kids? hehehehe. Thought I'd share.

Official Weigh IN

Well, it's official, I'm down 2 lbs exactly. GO ME!!!! YEAH!!!! I was shooting for 3 and was actually down 3 during the week but went up 1 lb, bummer. I'm still excited over the 2 lbs. Not doing to bad. So far, I'm down 4 lbs from when I posted my public weight loss. So I have 24 more official weeks until I go on my anniversary cruise. So I can lose 50 lbs, no sweat. Or should I say, bring on the sweat? On another note, we as a family went out Saturday to look at houses and of course we found 3 that we both just loved, however, they are west of the 303 freeway off of G-way. That's a little far, anyway, we stopped at Red Robin to eat. I can not eat that much food anymore, plus a fattening hamburger, so not in my weight loss plan. You are able to order any hamburger off the menu and get it made into a child size hamburger. How cool is that? Did you know that? Anyway, I even at that couldn't finish all my hamburger. I only ate 3 fries, that is a miracle for me, for anybody who knows me, that is amazing. So I'm off to go eat some yummy NutriSystem breakfast. The food is actually not 1/2 bad. I'm quite surprised. Well, go have a great week and I'll post later. :)

No pain, no gain??

I guess for me, it should say no pain, no loss right?? WOW!!! What a week. I've upped my exercise and my weights and so far it's paying off. I'm way sore today. I took spin class yesterday, it's been a while, but I loved it!!! I'm ready for more. I also played volleyball last night at church. Even though it was church ball, it was quite competitive and it was so much fun. Needless to say, I'm SORE!!!!! My toosh hurts so bad. That's good right? My biceps, triceps hurt from Wednesday and my hamstrings have hurt all week. The things, I'll do to keep up me shrinking. My trainer friend will be so proud. As of yesterday I'm down 3 lbs, however, officially I way in on Monday. So I'll let you know. I missed the gym today and will hopefully be going tomorrow. So wish me luck! I'm so motivated this go around, I'm on fire. Soon, there will be less of me.

Weekly Weight Loss

Well, I'm down 2 lbs & 1.2% body fat from last Monday. Not to bad, I was hoping for more, at least I'm down. My goal this week is 3 lbs w/ another 1.5% body fat. Today wasn't my best day at the gym as the humidity is flaring up what little asthma I have so 45 minutes of cardio, I only did 4 miles on the elliptical trainer. I then did 1 hour of weight lifting which I had to stop frequently due to being over heated. Gotta love having 2 heat strokes/exhaustion in the past, I get over heated quite fast these days. That's okay, I'll take it, for the rain. We've had quite a bit this last week which is so needed. Here's wishing me luck this next week. I'll let you know how it goes. :)

Can't take the heat...

On July 4th, we went out for lunch at Wild Buffalo Wings. We dared Rusty to try one bite of a Blazin wing, which is the hottest wing sauce they have. Rusty took the challenge and so did Marie. Here are the pictures after their first bite.

Rusty couldn't get enough to drink, and, well, Marie didn't quite know what to do. We had a great time and Kennedy couldn't stop laughing. By the way, Rusty was also playing the trivia game and did quite well.

My picture, :(

Well, here they are, yuck! I'm actually quite mortified that I'm posting these (can't you tell) but here it goes. This will be enough to motivate me. This is me this morning before the gym. I know I don't look trilled but I should be, this is a new tank top, I went down another size. I started out w/X-Large tops and now in a medium tank. So that's good. I need to pat myself on the back, I'm doing what I'm supposed to. Just want it all off now. Since Kennedy was born I've dropped 45 lbs. Recently, it's been more inches then pounds, that's okay, because that is me still shrinking. I've gone down 4 dress sizes. Not sure how often I'll post pictures but I will post them. I will post the weight I lose each week. So here goes a new me! :)

A NEW ME, is coming!!!

Okay, I'm putting it out there for the whole world to see. One of my very good friends is quite the fitness buff, she's amazing. Any who, I've talked her into "training" me. I want to be down an additional 50 lbs by my 10 yr anniversary which is January1, 2009. I've already dropped 10 but I want more. This way I have a deadline. This gives just under 6 months. I'll post pictures as I go. I don't have a current picture, but I'll post one when Orville brings home the camera. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. I'm going to use this blog as my venting post. Most everybody knows I LOVE going to the gym, it's become such a part of me that I twitch if I miss a day. My friend is now going to help push me farther than I've ever been pushed, which of course is what I need/want. Orville & I are going to take the plunge and go on our 1st cruise to celebrate our anniversary and I want to look HOT!!! 1st and foremost Camie (my friend) told me to journal everything that goes into my mouth, every little exercise I do. So here it goes, I've dropped quite a bit of inches over the last little while but now it's time to kick it into super high gear. Any and all comments welcomed. Here goes to a new me! YEAH ME!!!!! Anybody want to join me, come aboard :)

MY BELIEFS

I so rarely express my love for Christ & his Gospel, so here I go

I am blessed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, yes,

I AM MORMON & PROUD OF IT!!!

I'm grateful that Orville & I are sealed for all time & eternity, allowing our kids to be sealed for eternity. I know that Joseph Smith saw the things he said he saw. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the true & living prophet on the earth today. I'm grateful that Orville is a worthy priesthood holder in our home. That in its self is truly amazing to me. I'm grateful for geneology (I know that is strange for me to say, but some recent discovers are coming to light, which are forcing me to do geneology & slowly but surely, I'm learning to like it). I love that we are tought about food storage. Whether your Mormon, Jewish, Catholic, storing food is just smart. Times are getting rough & I know they will only get rougher. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have that Christ will come again.

4 of my Favorite People

These 4 are some of my favorite people. They are the most loving and funniest kids I am blessed to have in my life. Of course Rusty & Kennedy are my most favorite for very obvious reasons, THEY'RE MINE!!! YEAH!!! Somebody up in Heaven must think I'm something special to have blessed my life with these two amazing kids. As far as the other 2, Bailey & Ashley, I'm still blessed and they might as well be mine. I love them just as much. We had a mini party last night w/fun dinner, games, movies & goofy pictures. I think that was everyones favorite part. We watch Beetljuice, which by the way is 20 years old. WOW!!! Don't I feel old now. You can bet I didn't tell that to the kids. The kids loved it. John & Camie (Bailey & Ashley's parents) were able to go out on a date, which as we all know with kids, it's something of a novelty to go out w/out the kids. Orville & I were actually able to do that on Tuesday & we went to go see a movie. It was strange but nice not having the kids. Anyway, I had to post and show off some of my favorite people. The Lord sure has saved the best for last. This next generation is so amazing & so strong.

Happy 4th of July!!!!

I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!!!

I am grateful to live in a free land that I can come and go as I please, worship who I want when and where I want, basically do want I want when I want. I come from a long line of servie men and women.

Thank you to all those who fought on my behalf to live in a free country.

Stampin UP Party

It's here!!!!! The long awaited new Stampin UP catalog is Really here!!!Come join us as we drool over all the new cute stuff. Whether you are a card maker, a scrap-booker, paper crafter or all of the above I guarantee there will be something for everybody. We will be making a card and 1 12x12 layout using some Stampin UP patterned paper.

What about Holiday cards, birthday cards, invitations, etc... The holidays are right around the corner. Get a start on making those adorable cards and great homemade gifts with pictures of the family. For those of you going on the annual Scrapbook cruise, do you know what you are working on yet? It is a good idea to start thinking about that, as the cruise is about 1 month away. If you have a game plan you will be able to get a lot more done. A good idea is to have a color scheme and make that part of your plan. That will help you to buy matching accessories for your layouts.

Stampin UP is not just for stamps. Although they have a ton to choose from, they are great for a ton of other embellishments as well. They have chipboard, boxes, ribbon, buttons, eyelets, glitter, inks, cardstock 81/2 x11 and 12x12, markers, scrapbook layout kits, adhesives, cutting tools, punches, etc... The list goes on and on. I almost forgot, all the cardstock, markers, & inks all match. Oh and what about ordering a catalog? It' full of ideas and techniques. Don't forget about those stamp sets that are being discontinued. They are only available until the 1st part of August.Remember, to bring a friend or two or three.

Join in the fun!Come join us as we have yummy and refreshing desserts.

They party is Thursday July 24 @ 7pm at my house.

Happy July

Well, I finally jumped in on the blogging circuit. YEAH ME!!! Well, I wasn't to sure about it until I talked w/Rachael during the kids swim lessons this morning. She explained that part of why she blogged was for journaling. She was surprised as a scrapbooker that I didn't. I go visit blogs, but I did not have one myself. So now we do. We'll see how it goes and what kind of groove I get into. I will post family updates, scrapbook layouts and cards, etc... I'm actually quite excited to get this going. I will type soon. Have a great day.