Started in April

In April my sister had a life changing event, she is now living with my parents working, getting her GED and doing awesome!!! Justin and I have protective custody of her 3 kids. life has been super busy, super stressful, super crazy, and super fun. SUPER everything because i feel like everything has been multiplied with 3 more kids! Its been challenging at times but it has also brought new meaning to the phrase "I can do hard things" and "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". To make life even stronger Justin was put into the bishopric. I'm not sure what the lord had in mind giving us 3 more kids and then a bishopric calling but here we go! Walk by Faith, prayer,service,compassion, doing whats right, failing and trying again and again and again. Justin and i have both seen and felt the blessings and the trials that have come the last few months. We hope we are doing the lords will and doing it the way he wants us to do it. Overwhelming does not even come close to the feelings of stress and love and gratitude that i have felt. Everyday comes and goes and were still pushing forward!

Its been awhile.

A lot has happened since my last post, First off sissy is fine now has her cast off and has not been on the monkey bars or will ever again. Second I took a trip to Logan with my parents all by my self for 4th of July! It was awesome and soo nice to get away for awhile.Its was a blast getting to hang with my brothers and There wives/future wife. I met Mitchs fiance Tasia and she is amazing and funny  and perfect for Mitch. I was able to go to a Aggie game which is always a blast, see some friends from high school and drive around where I used to live and remember back when.so needless to say it was fun and Justin is amazing enough said. After I got back to Tucson I only had a few weeks till the kids and I were moving back to LasVegas. So organizing and hanging with friends was all I did till Aug 15th and we were on our way. Driving with the kids by my self was nerve racking but after 7 hours and one ticket I was home at last!!! Justin was going to be there Sept 1st so the kids and I settled in to my parents house. All the kids wanted to do was swim and after Skylar spending most of her summer in a cast i was more than willing to let them. Here is an example of our day, wake up, eat breakfast, swim, eat lunch, swim, eat dinner, swim, bath , bed. We did that for two weeks till school started and then we would swim after school! It was great finally Justin got there and we were complete. We lived at moms house while we were waiting for a house to open up on base. In September we had plenty to keep us busy Skylars 6th birthday which was a princess extravaganza complete with candy bar!!! Then we had Mitch and Taisas wedding in Logan it was so fun and beautiful and they were beautiful it was a great weekend! And wouldn't you know it Jeremiah broke his arm, so in Logan we had a trip to the ER!........ Then the next weekend was the open house for Mitch and Tasia in Vegas, my mom and I made crepes and Italian cream sodas. the guys decorated the back yard full of lights and beautiful flowers!!! it was simply amazing, lots of family and friends came it was fun to see them all!After all that we had a few weeks till we were able to move into our house. October 17th we moved in and it wasnt a week before we were all settled. Pictures and more to come!!!

Tender Mercies

Skylar broke her arm AGAIN!!!!! On the same set of monkey bars and everything but this time instead of a little fracture she broke both her of her bones in her wrist completely in half and her hole hand was off set by about a half and inch!!! it was awful! this picture was taken when we were in the ER waiting for the Doctor to come in and set her bone.. even without any pain meds she still smiled for the camera! lol We waited there extra long because well we were in the ER and a serious Emergency came in and didn't make it!!! And while our nurse was an idiot and didn't give sissy anything for the pain we sat there in the ER for 6 hours waiting !!! Sissy was trying to be brave. It was hard trying to get the IV in she was scared, but the IV nurse was awesome she got it in the first time and then brought Skylar a little bear! Finally the doctor came in and put sissy on some awesome pain meds then they put sissy out and when i say out i mean still awake but not there! WEIRD!!!!! and scary for mama!!! So They set her arm and put a splint on it then they were done and the doctor was amazing he called our follow up doctor and had us all set up for our next appt. he was really good and attentive to sissy. So then not the next day but the day after that we went on saw a orthopedic surgeon DR. Pike he said the set was good and everything is in place for her to get a cast on the next week.....So next week comes and the swelling had went down which is what is supposed to happen......but the bones moved back out of place and he informed us the she would need surgery that same day and he was open at 2 and we would have to be at St Josephs hospital at outpatient surgery at 12!!! Well needless to say sissy immediately started crying. I could feel me starting as well and i was trying to keep it in the best i could, So since she didn't need to be there till 12 i took her to school ( it was picture day) and Tender mercy of the Lord #2 Kyle my brother and his wife Makenzie were in town and At sissys preschool who is Makenzies mom so i was brave and held it in for sissy dropped her off and Ran to my brother kyle and sobbed! After holding it in for so long it was clearly built up cause kyle thought someone had died the way i was bawling!!! but sissy couldn't see me and i had to get it out before the surgery. So i sat there with kyle and he helped me call our mom and dad, and calmed me down before i had to go again. We get to the hospital and get checked in try to keep sissy calm and the tender mercy #3 Skylars anesthesiologist was DR.Merrill or to us brother Merrill from our ward it was a great comfort to me to know that someone who was a worthy priesthood holder who i knew and trusted! and would be with Skylar the whole time in surgery and he would be managing her pain!! Wow And this isn't the first time brother Merrill has been there for us, when i was in the hospital last year getting my gallbladder out he was there to give me a blessing before surgery. So anyway even though it was probably still a little scary for Skylar, i was comforted as he wheeled her back to be preped for surgery, and i couldn't go through those double doors:( Then while we were in the waiting room Tender mercy #4 came out to talk to us before surgery started, The surgical nurse Sister Fullenwider from our ward who knows sissy and has babysat and loved my kids for awhile and has been like a 2nd grandma!!! I was almost over come with happiness and wanted to scream, laugh and cry all at the same time! So my comfort was overwhelming and gratitude for the lord and his tender mercies he granted me that made it all so much easier. So the surgery was only supposed to be and 1 1/2 it was 3 1/2 hours till the doctor finally cam out to talk to us and he said he went slow so as not to break anymore of her bones and to try to limit cutting in her arm cause it was difficult with her little bones and arms to try and get the rubber nail in there as straight as possible, She did great and came out surgery great and now it all seems to be going smoothly. Tender mercy #1 My great friend Rainy Rosenbaum who took care of my other two kids while all this happened and Kyle and Mak who watched our kids while on there vacation. I never once worried about my boys while i was with sissy. Now sissy is on the mend with a hard cast that she will have to wear for 6 to 8 weeks but that's a piece of cake from what we have been through. I thank the Lord for his grace and tender mercies he has given my family.

Family Pictures

Back in December the Hawk family was going to have everyone home for Christmas ... for the first time since the boys left on there missions and it was Garretts last Christmas before he left. So mom set up Family Pictures. Lisa Barnum did them and she is awesome!!! These were some of my Favorites!!

I am a Beggar

I know everyone has seen the people on the side of the road with there signs asking for money. I see them everyday. But I started this new thing when I see them I Picture my brothers...yes Kyle , Mitch and Garrett. Because if it was one of my brothers on the side of the road begging for money of course i would give them all I had in cash, in fact I would want to pick them up and bring them home and feed them and let them shower and stay with me and do whatever I could so they wouldn't be there (of course i would never pick up a stranger). My heart seems to reach out to them more, no matter there situation of how they got there or the excuses I make up of why not to give them money such as them spending it on alcohol or drugs...cause who am I to Judge or make assumptions!  I know that if I have cash on me (which isn't often) and I see one of my brothers on the side of the road with that sign... that money was never meant for me it was meant for them. Sometimes when I don't have cash on me I try to avoid eye contact because I have now made seeing them so personal my heart aches for them, there eyes seem to plead and pierce my soal. But as I have learned we are all brothers and sisters in this world. God the Father made all of us to whom we are all beggars for life and food and shelter and comfort and blessings and forgiveness, EVERYTHING. I am on my knees everyday asking and begging for certain things in my life all of which are given to me by God The Father through his son Jesus Christ who is our Older brother. In a way the homeless and beggars are better than me cause when they receive the simplest thing such as my pathetic dollar they immediately are thankful and asking god to bless me, if only I could be more like those beggars.