New England is NOT a desert and other discoveries I have made

Well, we survived the move. We even survived the summer (5 weeks) of blistering heat and humidity with only room fans. AND we have now survived back to school. btw,I don't care what anyone says... humidity makes everything hotter. I would pour sweat just making my bed!
Anyways, to elaborate on my title, here is a few of my "discoveries":
1) Utah: pay through the nose to keep a green yard all summer long. Rhode Island: run out in the rain storm and spread fertilizer. Serious. = Not ONE penny spent on watering the yard ALL summer.Thanks to the our town beach and YMCA, we enjoyed their water for play :)
2) Utah: amazing AMAZING grocery sales! RI: not so much in fact not at all!
3) Utah: most residents register their cars in that state. RI: NOPE! in fact, at least 20% of our town has cars registered in Florida. FLORIDA! why you might ask? I asked the same question. It is cheaper! imagine that. of course they have to also OWN property (i.e. house/timeshare etc. there) So my question is, Is it REALLY cheaper? i don't know. But,I will tell you when I get my yearly town vehicle tax assessment.
3) English must have been "modified" as the pioneers came west! School pictures were today. Only it wasn't called picture day, it was portrait day!?
4) Other odd words. Utah: water fountain RI: bubbler !? Utah: Aunt RI: Auntie Utah: sprinkles (i.e toppings) RI: Jimmies!? those are just a few...
5) Utah: Back to School night involves the Whole family RI: Parents ONLY!
6) Utah: take your kids almost everywhere RI: get weird looks for taking my kids places.
7)Utah: Large school class sizes RI: (our town) 11-19 kids per class.
8) Utah: most parents were around my age RI: I am a good 5-10 years younger than most of the parents! I was told by a teacher at back to school night that I look like Maycie's sister! what!? it was dark in the room so she couldn't see my white hair.
9)Utah: Fresh fruit stays good for weeks RI: lucky if you get 3 days!
10)I have realized women put great value in 3 things a) Friends b) a great hair dresser c) and sometimes the not so important stuff.
11) in lieu of 10, I took a 60 Book of Mormon challenge that Dwayne gave to the Elders Quorum. It has helped me to really truly without a doubt know that Heaven Father loves ALL of his children. Everywhere. No matter what!.
12)It doesn't matter if I live in Utah or Rhode Island as long as my family is together that is the only thing that matters!

School is now in full swing. We started a week late due to Hurricane Irene, which became a tropical storm by the time it hit RI. We were told to prepare to be without power for 5-7 days! serious!. Well, the wind and rains came and to honest I am pretty sure we had stronger winds in Tooele. Lol. We even ventured down to the beach during the peak of the storm. It was so surreal to look up at the sky and see the clouds actually swirling around like we see on the satelite pics on the news. The news people were right... we were without power for 4.5 days! huge tress came down all around New England. The one thing that I liked about not having power, going to bed early :) other than that, I really missed being able to wash laundry. I would not have made a good pioneer. By the 4th day the kids were dying to have some kind of power...and to be honest I didn't know how much longer I could last either. Good news: We all survived that too!


Maycie is playing Field Hockey at the middle school. They have been undeafted for 11 seasons! The boys are involved in Fall baseball clinic and games. They are really Loving it. Emily is having a lot of fun in kindergarten. Making lots of friends and is excited everyday to go. Everyday is a new adventure here for us in Rhode Island

Rhode Island adventures

It has been a fun and very busy 4 months here. The kids finally finished school on the 21st of June! since then it has been go go go. New York to visit family. Vermont, to see Ben and Jerry;s ice ream, Cabot cheese and The best part of our day trip Vermont... birth place of Joseph Smith! The church has a beautiful visitors center there and of course knowledgeable couple missionaries to share inspiring stories of a boy who would be a prophet. We also took a day trip to Mystic CT. to the seaport. We were able to go inside an original Whaling ship, it was so huge! Then we drove over to New Haven CT. for food. :) Yummy pizza and hamburgers from the "birth place" of the hamburger. Couldn't resist. However, I liked the pizza a lot better than the hamburger. We have spent days at the beach, library, park, six flags and the YMCA. I found out that I didn't like bringing home half of the beach :D.

Then we had our family vacation. Dwayne travels A LOT. Luckily one of our perks is the hotel rewards. Once again our family returned to Nauvoo. We left on a Friday and drove to Pennsylvania. Toured the Hershey chocolate factory and saw some Amish. I have to say, I have a "renewed" appreciation for simplicity. Saturday We went to Kirtland, OH. Toured the Kirtland Temple. The BEST part of Kirtland was the Church visitors center. They have restores Newell K Whitneys home along with many other significant homes and the mill. What an amazing sacrifice the Saints made there. The tour includes going in the room known as "School of the Prophets". It was by far one of my favorite church centers to visit. Everyone should visit Kirtland... and all the other church sites :). Sunday we left at 3:30 AM and drove to Independence MO. 16 HOURS in the car. Fortunately our kids are great travelers and they didnt really complain at all during this long road trip. Monday we toured Independance, Liberty, Adam-Ondi-Ahaman and saw the new Temple that is being built in Kansas City MO. absolutely beautiful! Tuesday we went over to Carthage, so peaceful. After I went and did a session at the Nauvoo Temple while Dwayne stayed with the kids. I was so overcome with emotions in the Temple. Not only did the saints sacrifice for the original Temple in Nauvoo but, it is a testimony to the importance of the covenants that were received there. They were commanded to build another Temple. They were blessed for their obedience. Many wonderful ordinances were received there before the saints left to go West. I am so grateful for their dedication and Testimonies. After my session I met Dwayne outside and he was able to attend a session. Our family then enjoyed an evening of Pioneer games and the Pageant. Every time I see the pageant I love it more. Wednesday, we spent the day walking Nauvoo. Dwayne and Maycie were able to go and do Baptisms for the dead. I spent time with the younger kids do activities in the Large air conditioned barn :). That evening we did the pioneer games again and saw the pageant. Love it! Thursday, we left early... again and drove to Palmyra NY. Another 16+ hours of driving. Luckily all of our hotels had pools so most evenings we spent time swimming. Friday we went and marked our seats for the Palmyra pageant early. We were able to visit the Joseph family farm. Take a very peaceful walk through the sacred grove. It has been 9 years since we last saw the Palmyra pagent. Another great pageant that portraits the history recorded in the Book of Mormon. Saturday we left and drove back to Rhode Island.
A recap of our trip. 8 nights in hotels = all of our Marriott rewards points. food for 6 people = $$ (found out they love turkey sandwiches made in the car better than almost anything else. Driving 4000 miles in 9 days = we listened to a lot of church talk CD's. Visiting Church sites, Temples and pageants = The wonderful opportunity to bear testimony to our children of these sacred places, help them recognize the feelings of the spirit and have an appreciation for their heritage. Here are some Pics of our trips. Enjoy!

1 month

YES! we have already lived here for a month. The time has gone by so quickly. I love living in a small town. However, it has a larger population than Tooele. It sure doesnt seem like it though. All 3 of the older kids go to different schools and they wont ride the bus.... luckily Nayatt Elementary is just a few houses away so I walk Tyson to and from school most days except when it is raining... then I drive. The kids seem to be adjusting to school. Maycie is 1 of 2 LDS students at the junior high. Andrew and Tyson are the only LDS students at their schools. So needless to say that alone has been a huge adjustment for them. The BEST thing so far about the move is the beach!!! absolutely beautiful! it is only 3 streets down to the water :)
I do miss some of the "comforts" of home (Utah). However I am adjusting to that too. In the dirst 2 weeks of living here, our garage spring door broke and 1 of the sump pumps in the basement stopped working. Those 2 moments made me very happy to be renting right now. :) The boys were able to get signed up for baseball and are really enjoying it. Maycie has been adjusting to a much harder cirriculum than Utah. However all of her teachers absolutely love her and say she is such a joy to have in class. but we already knew that :) Over all the first month has been full of new experiences.

Continue in Faith

FAITH... a 5 letter word that means so many things. Over the last 6 weeks I have spent a lot of time thinking about it. I drew on my Faith when I received the call from my mom saying she had a heart attack and was in the hospital. I again held to Faith as she had a quadruple bypass the following night. Faith sustained me through as she spent a week in the ICU, on and off the heart pump. Faith gave me hope as she was moved from ICU to the step down unit and again when she was transferred to rehab. Faith gave me direction and perspective as I spent hours holding her hand and speaking with her. Faith increased my Love. My love for Her and for My Heavenly Father who is so very aware of me. There are times in our lives when the veil between Heaven and Earth is so thin. How special and completely sacred are those times when we are graced, touched and lifted from those who love us so much on the other side. I have spent many days crying, remembering and giving thanks for the abundance of blessings that have poured down upon me and my family in the last 6 weeks. Tomorrow it will be 4 weeks since my mom went to be with my dad and sister. oh how my heart breaks to have them here with me. My tears and words cant truly express how full my heart is of Love for them and how thankful I am to have the blessings of the Temple in my life.
This has also been hard for our kids. They really miss grandma. Emily is often saying to me "sometimes this just stinks!" i couldn't agree more!. Tyson has said "I wish grandmas heart would have kept working". Even though she is gone her heart is still working, I can feel her love and I am sure they can too.
2 weeks ago I was asked to speak in sacrament on "being an example"... serious. Of all the things to talk on! all i could think was serious?! I felt as though I have been learning a whole bunch of lessons all at once and to think that the Lord felt I needed to talk. I couldn't say no. I spent the whole week thinking about the topic, reading the talks in the conference issue. Then it came to me. I paralleled the example I had growing up to the talk by sister Mary N. Cook. I was able to reflect and share the examples that my parents were to me. The most profound example I shared was their example of blessings from the Temple and being worthy to hold a recommend. Over that week I found every Temple recommend my parents had from April of 1974 when they were married to the current recommend they held in their wallets when they passed away. I also found recommends from my dads mission! what an example of Faith they are. Faith it is what strengthens us continually, heals us daily and brings us closer to our Father in Heaven. It is upon my Faith that I make it through each day with laughter and tears. Faith, my compass that brings me to the Temple, gives me direction and opens my heart and mind to blessings from Him.
I am eternally grateful for the Love of my Heavenly Father that sent me here and gave me a loving home, a wonderful husband and children. His promises are sure and true.
I dont know what the Lord has planned for us in Rhode Island. But, I do know He has prepared the way and as we continue in Faith we will be His hands here on Earth.

Inpsired leaders

Last evening we had the wonderful opportunity to attend YW new beginings with Maycie. It was like a pep rally! serious! we got pom poms that were made with the YW values/scripture references. It was in a way a surreal experience. maybe because getting older is not something I am adjusting to very well. At any rate, this YW new beginnings was inspired. At the time we knew we were moving...FAR away from Utah. Dwayne and I have always worried about how are kids are going to adjust to it. Over the few weeks prior to this YW activity I had made it a subkect of prayer to ask for our children to have experiences, opportunities or hear things that would help strengthen them. This evening was just what I had been praying for for Maycie. One of her amazing leaders (she has many) but, this one inparticular grew up in a very small LDS community. She shared some tear jerking personal experiences that she had. Maybe I was crying because I tend to do that a lot. But in all reality I was crying because at that very moment I was so very aware that my prayers had been heard. Tender mercies and inspiration continue to teach me.

A look back and forward

Where did last year go?? am I the only person who thinks last year went by way to fast? it did!!
Looking back last year was full of excitement and firsts. We took an amazing family vacation, finished reading the Book of Mormon, Andrew earned cub scout badges and arrows, Maycie turned 12 and went into young women's, Dwayne graduated with his MBA... HOORAY!,finished our basement and I am sure there is more but for some reason I cant think of them all. It was a great year!

Looking forward.... the biggest thing for our family (that is planned)is our move across the United States to Rhode Island. We have known for a while that we would be relocating for Dwayne's work and considering the economy (along with lots of prayers!) we decided staying with his job was the best thing for us. We are very excited about what new things that await us there. I have to admit seeing ocean instead of mountains will take a little getting used to.

How far can you drive in a day?

In all honesty the title should be "our family vacation" but alas it is being defined (by me) as a marathon sprint so to speak. first thought I will share with you the most amazing family trip we have ever taken.
Drum roll please......
our family vacation centered around church history. Yep, the kids were about that excited when we told them. they would've much preferred a trip to Disneyland, a stay-cation or any number of other things they consider to be fun. One might ask how we came to this idea? well it was kinda easy. Dwayne travels A LOT for work especially lately and he earns hotel reward points that can be used for free rooms. Actually the real reason is we (Dwayne and I) have wanted to go to Nauvoo for at least 8 years and we decided now was as good of time as any. Plus, it was the month they do the Nauvoo pageant! YES!! now for our trip.
We left at 3:30 AM on the 3rd. our goal: Omaha, NE. The kids slept almost to Rawlins, WY. we stopped for breakfast, gas and of course the bathroom!! I was getting a little worried when one of our kids had to use the bathroom quite frequently it seemed (we were on a time schedule, didn't he get the memo?!) needless to say between the bathroom stops that really weren't that many (just seemed like it) and then it started rain in Nebraska. We made it there by 7/8ish. early enough we could still go swimming and give the kids a break for being so good. On the 4th we drove from Omaha to Kansas, MO. about 5 hours... raining actually POURING rain all the way there! once there we went to see firework at the Kansas city river fest. It wasn't what we thought it was going to be so we headed back the hotel had "Steak and Shake" for dinner YUMMY!! and of course it was POURING rain so we watched fireworks from the Hotel window :).
Monday we started with Liberty Jail. It was tender, peaceful and filled with the spirit. What amazing revelation was given there to Joseph Smith and recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants.We then went to Hauns mill. Not the stone marker but the actual place. I highly recommend you do not attempt to go there after it has rained, even if it has been a couple of days! but since we were there, we took a picture of the marker and prayed our car would make it out. Also to mention we went to Adam-Ondi-Ahman, it is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Super green, lush and very peaceful this is until I caught a small frog on the way to the bathroom. The kids begged to keep it! so after much whining, begging and crying we kept it. However, we did let it go across the border in nauvoo before the trip home, I really didn't think he would make it. Tuesday, we drove down to Jackson county. Walked through the visitors center there and also walked over to the Church of Christ (RLDS) temple. We didn't take the tour, mostly because it was a very weird feeling there. We drove over to Nauvoo after that and enjoyed walking around old Nauvoo. Wednesday we got up early and spent the day touring old Nauvoo. It was so interesting to hear the pioneer stories as recorded in journals. To walk where the pioneers had walked and get a small glimpse into how hard they worked and sacrificed for the fullness of the gospel. In the evenings before the pageant they have pioneer games, dancing, cart pulling and all sorts of super fun stuff to do as a family. We went to the pageant 2 nights. Why not! we drove thousands of miles to see it. It was AMAZING!! all of our kids enjoyed it. Thursday morning I had the opportunity to go with Maycie to do baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo Temple. That is something I will never forget. So beautiful, so sacred I couldn't keep the tears in. I am so thankful for a wonderful husband that took the younger 3 kids so Maycie and I could go and perform such an important ordinance. There was so many things to do in Nauvoo. The kids had fun making rope, walking on stilts and playing all sorts of pioneer games. It was such a fun vacation, even better than the kids thought it would be!. Now for the "marathon" home. We left around 3:30 in the morning and.... drove all the way home in ONE day!! in our defense around the Nebraska/Wyoming
border we thought about stopping for the night but the kids were being so quiet, hadn't complained AT ALL so we decided to bite the bullet and finish the trip. Dwayne drove most of the trip, except for a few hours in Nebraska. He was exhausted. So being the driver that I am, I tend to go at least 10 over. I call it going with the flow of traffic but most people call it speeding either way we covered alot of ground that day and it went very quickly when I was driving:). Somewhere between Green River and Evanston, when the sun started to go down I had a hard time staying awake. Luckily Maycie stayed awake to talk with dad so he didn't start to fall asleep too. So there you have it, our summer family vacation, 5 months later.