Families ARE Forever

Oh so many tears. I came across this blog http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/ in a round about way from blog hopping. My heart stopped when reading this tragic story. As a mother I can't help but have heart ache for this family. I wouldn't know what to do, I don't know that I could go on living if my child was taken early (in my opinion of course, but ultimately it's the Lords plan right) from this earth. Their precious little girl returned to Heaven thru a tragic accident. My heart & prayers go out. I can pray & pray but I as a mother wanted to do more, so I'm posting this song which is available for download to help with all their medical costs. I may not know them personally, however, one parent to another, we are connected. I hope & pray that the Lord sends his love & sends angels to this family to help them thru this horrible time in their life.


Preslee's Song

Hard Blessings

Wow, we seem to be having quite a few hard blessings right now (but who isn't right?). I'm grateful for these hard blessings, grateful that I learned from an amazing family that trials are hard blessings & don't have to be so negative. Looking up these future blessings makes them easier to endure that's for sure even though they are still hard, however, I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves.

I'm grateful for the Gospel and my relationship with my Father in Heaven. How do people survive in the world without that relationship? That astounds me. I'm grateful for my husband who works hard to be a worthy priesthood holder, that I can call upon him morning, noon or night to receive a blessing. I'm very blessed in my life & sometimes I need to remember that, I need to remember that more often.

We've had several funerals in the last year (I think 10) each one, I walk away with something new. This last one was from another amazing lady who lived just shy of 99 yrs. Her family talked about her testimony & that they always knew she had a strong love for the Gospel & for our Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ. She made a point to write it down, so that the kids, grand kids, etc... will always have that to read. She also made a point to serve other but more importantly her family. I love my family more than anything & if these hard blessings have taught me anything it is that this is the time to really teach my kids old school stuff clothes line, washing dishes by hand, etc...). There will come a day when we won't have the luxuries we have now & this is the time to teach them not later. So going "green", saving money & teaching my kids how to work more with that hands all go hand in hand.

I love my calling, it has allowed me to step out of my comfort zone quite a bit & I've learned to like it, which for me usually means, it's coming to an end :(. I have grown to love Dee Cherry & Judy Mckinstry as 2nd moms. I have tons of respect for them & their wisdom. They've been gone traveling quite a bit this year (they both have lost their moms this year), as stressful as that was I was able to step up and really serve the sisters in a way that I haven't before & guess what? I LOVED IT!!!


My kids well, they are getting antsy, school starts in a little less than a month & they can't wait. Rusty has made a new friend in the ward, Ethan Stein & they get a lot great. I'm so glad that he has made a friend in the ward that has so much in common. He's had some struggles this kids this year, it's been quite sad. He's a good kid but I need to remember that he needs to learn to make his own friends & that he doesn't have to be friends with everyone.

Kennedy well she getting bored this summer & really really really can't wait for school. She lost her 1st tooth over the weekend. Her tooth was so small, she actually swallowed & didn't know it. She was so worried that the tooth fairy wouldn't come but our tooth fairy ROCKS!! She left a note along with $$$.

horrible blogger

I am a horrible blogger, I admit it. I do it while it's still new & fun but then I get bored, (shame on me).

I'll do a quick update on the fam.

Kennedy

She will be six 2 1/2 month (where did the time go??). She finally has a loose tooth, what the heck, I didn't say she could grow up. She finished Preschool with flying colors. I wasn't surprised. She loved LOVED school. She loved her teachers just as much. She was sad when she first heard that kindergarten was 1/2 day but then they offered all day, thank goodness. $170 of pure happiness. She a busy body, loves to sing & dance just not in front of people. She is still shy but doing a lot better. She loves Primary. She's ready to be big girl. What more can I say she is as girly as they come.

Rusty

He will be 11 at the end of the year (ouch, that hurts). He's doing great. Lost off of his teeth. Braces are the next thing to discuss but after this next school year, paying for Kennedy's school is priority. He's okay with it. He did great over at Copperwood, loved it so much better that ALTS, a lot less strict & a ton less homework. It helps when most of the ward goes to Copperwood as well. Rusty's ready for the 5th grade. He is currently working on reading the Book of Mormon for the 2nd time this year. His Primary teacher challenged her class to read it once & so he finished in May & is almost done for the 2nd time. It's a great challenge & he loves it.

Me & Orville,

Well, not much new except we've decided to go more green. We cut out the use of the dryer for the most part & also cut out the use of the dishwasher. We will save so much on electricity & water (from the dishwasher). The kids so far are loving it, they love the clothes line under the patio. They both get to help with laundry & dishes. We made it exciting by going green, since it's all over the tv, news, schools,etc... The kids want to know what other ways we can go green. Other than that, nothing else new. Business is barely staying afloat in this economy. We now have a facebook page, we will be doing some advertising, new website & we both feel very good about making some positive changes.

Life is good, we have our trials but we are making the most of it.

Picture Time again!

Claire Waite Photography is giving away a photo shoot. She is the one that took our photos last year. Who doesn't want more family photos? Umm, not me. I LOVE LOVE family photos. I've been blessed with an amazing family so of course I want pictures to show them off.

Here's her website: www.clairewaitephotography.com

Here's her photography blog: www.clairewaitephotography.blogspot.com

I'm a horrible Mom :(

Rusty's 10th Birthday has come & gone & I didn't even post about it.  I'm horrible, :(  So sorry. 

Our little man is now getting to be a bigger man, that's right HE'S 10!! Can you believe it?  I can't, where did 10 years go?  Well, having fun, going to school, church, growing, loving Rusty, loving him more, teaching him, him teaching us, Rusty being the best big brother around, Rusty being the best son around, we laugh together, we cry together, he's a great friend & a great example of Christ like love.  No matter what he will love you & will pray for anybody & everybody.  He's growing up so fast & quite well I might add.  We've been so blessed since day 1.  He has a heart of gold.

Rusty got a birthday dinner w/my parents & our closest friends the Beaubien's.  John was out of town this year so it was just the girls.  Rusty got spoiled again, he got a cool faux paintball set (HUGE), instead of paintballs it's foam balls.  Make not mistake they HURT!  So it's targeting shooting only.  He also got the new Mario Nintendo game & a $50 gift card.  He was supposed to go to the midnight movies with Daddy but was so tired, his allergies were acting up all day, so he tried to stay awake & couldn't. :(  So he & Daddy will try for a daytime showing of Avatar.  We'll make a date out of it, Kennedy & I will go so The Princess & the Frog at the same time.  We finally have some down time so we are all enjoying it, especially Rusty so he can play with the paintball & nintendo game back & forth over & over.

WE LOVE YOU RUSTY!!!!

Such a slacker!

My apologies. I've been horrible at blogging. I've been so busy unpacking, kids off to school, etc... We've been in the new house for about 6 weeks and still unpacking. AUGH!!! Almost done. Rusty loves his new school, LOVES IT!!! Kennedy loves preschool & I mean LOVES IT!!! She wants more school, she wishes she could go to school all day every day. That's my girl. I will post pictures soon, as I have a newer computer & I don't know how to shrink the photos down to a smaller size so I can upload them. So keep checking back. I will work on setting time aside to updating the blog with the ins & outs of the family. Kennedy is getting ready to turn 5! WOW, time flies. So with that being said, it gets even busier for us our here as soccer, birthdays, holidays, etc... Can't wait :) TTFN

So much so little time

Let me start off by apologizing that I haven't blogged. It's been crazy. So much to say, girls camp, cub camp, packing, moving (YES we are moving, AUGH!!), Super Saturday, church, school starts in exactly 1month, school shopping, it's blazing outside, more packing, etc...

When I have more time, I will devote more time to updating. I'm so sorry.

Right now check out facebook, I update there because it's quick & easy. Hang with me, I'll be back soon. :)

We r going thru a carwash. AUGH.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy to ME!!!

WOW, I can't believe I'm **cough cough** umm 33 ** cough cough**. WOW, times sure flies. I'm having fun. I have been very blessed so I thought I'd share 33 things about me that you may or may not know.

I love to scrapbook (I know, DUH), I love to help others, I love my calling, I can't wait to have another baby, I am a social person, My favorite colors are pink & purple, I loved girls camp,
I am sad girls camp is over, I do not like country music, I love being a mommy, I love being a wife, I love to clean (although you can't tell right now, so don't come over), I love to do yard work, I love goofing off, I love to cupcakes, I love to make cards, My favorite foods are: sushi, Mexican & hot wings, I want to own a pressure canner, I want to start a garden,
I am so disorganized, I don't like to have all the attention on me, I'm a little on the selfish side, I love music more than tv or movies, I don't watch much tv, I enjoy collecting food for my food storage, I enjoying learning about new ways to do food storage,
I actually am wanting to take a class or two (not sure on what yet though), I love glitter on my projects, I don't like spiders, I like scorpions even less, I don't enjoy the heat,
I hate the feel of cotton balls, I'm always chewing gum or have a mint in my mouth (fear of bad breath)

Okay so some are obvious. I hope you learned something. That was actually a lot harder than I thought, only because 33 is such a high number. Life has been so good to me. I don't go without my challenges & trials but I am blessed to have family & friends to help me thru it. Heavenly Father is always blessing me in some way everyday & every minute. I am grateful that the Lord has allowed me to be on this earth for 33 years to grow & to learn. I hope that I am making him proud.

Here's to HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me as I celebrate with my wonderful family.

Family Photo Shoot

I love LOVE all these photos, there are so many more as well. In case I didn't mention it,

I LOVE MY FAMILY!!

Thanks to Claire Waite @ Claire Waite Photography

Memorial Day

What are you doing today? Swimming, barbecue, parties? Well not us, Orville had to work and the kids & I went to Hobby Lobby (my favorite store, okay one of them) Anyway, Kennedy picked out face painting markers. I've never heard such a thing, until today. We had so much fun coloring each other. Forget all the other fun stuff. 1st we started out @ the movies, we saw Night at the Museum, Battle at the Smithsonian. Very good. I had such a blast with the kids.

Have I mentioned I have the best kids ever?? If not, I DO!!!

Anyway, here are pictures of our coloring escapades.

Rusty enjoyed it, however, asked that I not post his belly pictures. Can't say that I blame him, I wouldn't either.

Happy Memorial Day! Thanks to all who currently, will & did serve in any of our Armed Forces. Thanks for the freedoms we have today!

My little girl is gone!

My little girl is gone, has anybody seen her? I can't find her, oh wait, Here she is, but she's not little anymore. She's a BIG girl! WOW!!!

Here's my now big girl. She's getting glasses, pink ones of course. What kinda girl would she be if she got another color one more practical. She loves them. Since she is still so petite we had to get littler glasses and a Fisher Price rep had to come in this morning. SHE LOVES THEM!!! She can't wait to get them and wear them all the time. She's so excited to fit in with the rest of us. I can't say that I'm all that trilled. I loved having her my little girl and now she's my big girl. I guess she has to grow up. She went from my cute little baby to my now BEAUTIFUL BIG GIRL. It's not like she's going to be 5 in September, but I was holding on as long as I could with having a little princess. I love my Kennedy, we are so close. Watch out world, she's ready to conquer you now. All we have to do is wait to get the glasses made. Luckily, I get to hold onto my little girl for a little bit longer. We should have her glasses soon.
WE LOVE YOU KENNEDY :}

Check it out

Check it out I post to my blog from my cell.

We just found out!

We are doing it all wrong, no wonder why we don't have more babies. :}

Stake Conference

Wow, what a Stake Conference. I was sure looking forward to this one. President Frank Forsberg has been serving (wonderfully, I might add) as our Stake President for the last 10 years. What an era. Orville & I got married & he was shortly called. We've had 2 kids under his stewardship. We love this stake! His councilors President Miller & Turley are fabulous as well. What men of God they are! There is no mistaking their testimonies.

I had no idea who the new Presidency was going to be, there is always speculation, which I'm way off on. They called Bishop Keith Forsberg, yes, I said Bishop. He is our current Bishop. 1st counselor is Bishop Todd Westover (previous Bishop before Keith) and then Bishop Dennis Cathcart (previous Bishop to LaPradera Park Ward). I know all these of these men personally. Love them all! This is a perfect fit. I'm so excited to be under there stewardship. I'm more excited that my kids will be under their stewardship. All 3 of these men are so youth oriented that my kids will be blessed greatly because of their love for the Gospel. All 3 are so vibrant and fun. I got to see the Lord's work 1st hand, these men of God took upon them the Glendale Stake's mantel. I've never really seen this before. Bishop/President Forsberg made a comment, "..If this is the Lord's will...well let's get to work" PERFECT!! I saw him before, during & after. What a difference in him or all 3 I should say. I saw them all grow up a little bit more. I got to see what is looks like for men of God to take on the mantel. WOW!!! For me, I was imaging what it would be like to hear the Prophet Joseph Smith speak when President Forsberg got up. I see these men as General Authorities.

THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG!

WOW, what amazing parents they had to teach them the Gospel. I can only hope & pray that I can teach my kids 1/2 as well. I want to raise valiant servants. I am married to a valiant servant. I never had the Priesthood in my home and I do now. I am soooooo blessed, words can't even describe. Rusty has such desires to grow up and be like President Forsberg, I'm truly blessed that he has such fabulous role models

As I am so excited to be apart of this, there is also sadness that comes with it. As I have to say goodbye to a Bishop. I've gotten to know him as part of my calling in the Relief Society. I've received council from him regarding my own life, my family, my kids, my callings. I will miss that interaction with him on a weekly basis.

I do know that his new calling is exactly where he needs to be. President Forsberg & his councilors will do amazing things for this Stake. I admire him as I do his councilors. I have a ton of respect for these gentlemen. I look forward to serving the Lord under them.

Along with this our ward now needs a new Bishop & Bishopric. Our Stake also needs a new Stake Young Men's Presidency. Things are a changing in this Stake once again, but that is the way the Lord needs it to be at this time. This change will be great.

Happy Easter

Our Easter was fabulous. We originally had so many things scheduled that I was concerned that it was to much. It all worked out fabulous! We ended up not going to the Easter Pageant this year, Orville's been wayyyy busy and he ended up working Friday night. I don't dare tackle that crowd by myself. Saturday was supposed to be the Ward Easter picnic & then off to my mom's for Easter. Well, it rained so the the Bishopric rescheduled for next Saturday (I was sad, I look forward to those, we always have so much fun, however, we'll just have fun next week). My mom had to reschedule until Sunday (which was crazy because we were feeding the missionaries our tradition of boiled dinner & that needs to be in the pot 3-4 hours before serving, AUGH!!! CRAZY RESCHEDULING!!!) because my sister & nephew came in later than expected. So we ended up doing our Easter as a family Saturday night. We didn't do the normal Easter baskets for our kids. This year we decided to put all our focus on Christ. The kids each got a new picture of Christ w/a little child & then 4 books to share, all about Christ. This made Easter so much more meaningful for the kids. They really got to reflect upon the Resurrection and what it meant to them. We asked Kennedy first what it meant to her, she instantly, ETERNAL FAMILIES! Rusty went on to say, eternal families, eternal life, forgiveness & most important LOVE from CHRIST! I'm so proud that even our 4 yr old gets it. Most adults don't. Sunday was Easter, we went to church which of course was beautiful! Mom had to cancel because Mikey (my nephew) was up all night sick, super sick to. Poor guy. Didn't want that! Nana came by with HUGE Easter baskets for the kids. They were both so excited to see the baskets but they were also very excited to show Nana what we had given them. So back on to New England Boiled Dinner (cabbage, ham, potatoes, carrots all boiled together, YUMMMM!) We watched the Testaments, which is about the Resurrection of Christ. The missionaries came and ate dinner, & loved it! All in All it was fabulous! It was quite the relaxing weekend when it didn't start out that way. Thank goodness, we have a super crazy busy week and weekend coming up.

Claire Waite Photography is the person for you!

If you are looking for a way affordable photographer, boy do I have one for you. She does FABULOUS WORK!
http://clairewaitephotography.blogspot.com/

Congrats!

Congrats goes out to a dear friend of mine, Amy Dozier. She & her hubby just had there 2nd baby boy on Saturday around 10am. He's so stinking adorable. Congrats!!! Harrison Dozier, weighing in at 8lbs 7oz and is 21 1/2" long. Easter time what a special time for this little one to be born. In time to celebrate Christs' Resurrection.

Congrats Amy & Collin Dozier :)

I'm a Proud Mama again!

Rusty did it again, he made me cry! Darn it! In a good way of course. Picture it, Sunday morning, Kennedy's eating breakfast, I'm helping the kids fill out their tithing slips. I start to explain the meaning of a fast offering. Most of you know me well enough to know that I don't explain things very well most of the time, however, I did this time (thank to the Lord help of course.) Rusty at 1st wasn't to thrilled but once Orville said it helped people in our ward who are struggling and that right now with the economy there are more people who may need help. Rusty ran into his room and got the last of his money to give w/no question. He wanted to give it all. I instantly was overcome with the Spirit and was in tears. This is my 9 yr old. He's always wanting to help, but to give the rest of his money, WOW!!!! As we filled that section out, he wanted to know what the rest meant. So I explained it, he wanted to give more. He was eagerly going to give up his 4 gold dollar coins. I explained that he should save those and we could break up the money have gave to fast. He did, he gave into the Temple Construction & he said it's because he knows temples are so important and that it helps bring people closer to the Lord. He also gave into the Humanitarian Fund, to help people around the world that don't have what he has. Again, he's 9! He AMAZED US! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU RUSTY! YOU ARE SUCH AN EXAMPLE. WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Needless to say Rusty felt the Spirit that morning. We all were overcome with the Spirit. I wasn't planning on going to church as I was not feeling well, but how could I not after this. How could I not show gratitude to my Father in Heaven for sending us such a special boy. I am eternally grateful for both of my kids. They give their tithing with no question. We have 4 jars for the kids, 1: Tithing, 2: savings, 3: mission 4: spendable. The 1st 3 jars the kids put 10% in and the rest they keep. I'm so grateful that we have started this, the kids love to see their newsletter from the bank come and tell them how much money they have and how much interest they've earned. They are ready for another bank deposit. Yesterday, Bishop Westover & Cathcart gave an amazing lesson about the raising of our children. It was fabulous. We must be doing something right, Rusty gave his money to help others. I only hope & pray that we continue to do what is right.

WHEN MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS REQUIRED!