It's Official

We have a new calling. After going with out one (well for me at least) for well over a year, we were asked to teach PRIMARY! Really? I thought. I've been in Primary (except for the last 16 mo) for over 12 yrs. Now you can see why I did not jump into the acceptance seat right a way. After remember the paragraph in my Patriarchal Blessing about how I will "help to mold the lives of his children", and after much thought and prayer, and after having a family mtg. Ward and I happily accepted our new calling. So back on the Primary wagon we go.

We had a crazy busy weekend. My Dad and his wife came for the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a ton of visitors and 2 events going on each day. Well, except Thanksgiving Day. That was just one huge one. Friday we had a huge Mexican feast which my Brothers Girlfriend, her Sister and I made. It was so yummy. Then Friday night we took stuff for turkey sandwiches to the Hotel that my Dad and Jean were staying in and let the kids swim in the indoor pool. Sat. we had leftover Thanksgiving dinner, and Carne Esadas for lunch. Sat. night we went to Orem to visit my Cousin and her family. Sunday we slept in, and went to church. Phew....I am pooped. I was with out some of my meds this month, and I can really feel it. Now it will probably take me another month or so to get back to feeling great again.

Well, that was our Holiday in a nutshell! TTFN

Life Happens

Life has been sad for me this last week. Our Bishop's Daughter passed away from a 10 yr battle with cancer (she was 30, and a member of our Ward, and was the YW Sec.). I get that she is better off and that we all live and die and that we will see her again. I did not get the opportunity to get to know her well. I do know that she was an amazing person. She accomplished a lot in her lifetime. I mourned so so much for her Mother. Her Mother is an amazing women. I hold a special place for her in my heart. Even though we have lived in this ward for only 5 months, I have come to love her and look to her as an example.

Next, I am sad that all the opportunities I thought I had to be a CNA have fallen through. I can't decide if I want to spend more money, and time and go re-take the skills test. I have put out over 40 applications between Oct. and Nov. and have not had one call.

Finally, we were called to a calling, which I am not at liberty to speak of yet. For the first time ever I did not jump to the acceptance seat. I sort of unloaded on the poor Bishopric member who was meeting with us. Ward's jaw dropped to the ground and he was irritated at me enough that he did not speak to me for a bit (like 1 hr). After we got home (we had met just before sacrament mtg). I was able to explain to him why I said what I said. So for a few weeks we pondered and prayed. I remembered some of the words of my Patriarchal Blessing as well. Well, a few days ago, we met with the Bishopric member again. We happily accepted our new calling. Well, guess what? We have already received blessing in just the 2 short days that have passed. Also I should note that the Bishopric raked over a few other callings and kept coming back to this one. The Lord's will shall be done, not our own. :)

So even though it seems things have been gloomy, things are looking up and we all know that in order to know happiness we must know sorrow.

At this time of year we are focusing on our blessings. I am going to list a few of mine/ours:

1. The blessings we receive from being dedicated members of The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints.

2. Our Family...when everyone else walks away...your family is always there standing firm.

3. Friends who love us as their true friends, who carry us along the road when we want to give up. Friends who love us for who we are even when we don't choose the right when we know we should.

4. Our beautiful children. although they give us a run for our money sometimes, they mean everything to us.

5. Both Ward and I have been able to stay fully employed during this economic mess.

I think I will stop there because honestly...I could really go on forever. Can we ever list everything we are blessed with. We are blessed with so much. TTFN!

Can't keep up

I am not sure that we have been screaming busy. I have been lazy and fighting a cold and just when I thought I was over it, low and behold, I get another one and this time with a really bad sore throat. Ugg!

We had a fun Halloween. The weather was so warm the kids didn't even have to wear coats. But sadly that was the last of our warmth. I took Halloween off because I have worked ever since Sara was 4. I never make it to her cute little parades or field trips. So this time I was there to see her march around the school. I loved it.

I also took my State Certification test for my CNA. Well...I thought..I got 100% on all my class work and tests, and 99% on my final. I also passed off all my skills. So I don't have to study. What A DORK! Who doesn't study for a state cert test? I passed my written with a 93% score. But my skills??? Nope I failed it. I had a really easy skills test and couldn't remember small details. I am pretty upset with myself for that. But life goes on so I will retake my skills test in a few months. This time however....I will brush up.

The girls all did a great job on their grades this first quarter. Morgan held her 4.0, and Hailey was right behind her with A's, and B's. I was really proud of my girls and they sure don't take after me. Sara did a great job as well. Sara is loving her clogging class and she will have her first recital in Dec.

Well, that is it for now. TTFN

WOW!!

We have had a lot going on. Not that, that is any different from anyohter week. Here is the low down.

Last Saturday 3 teen girls that attend school with Morgan and Hailey got hit by a train. The two girls died instantly. One girl lived until Tuesday and passed away that night. Morgan had attended school with Essa Ricker since Kindergarten. It was a sad week for our girls and for us. The funeral for Essa was so amazing. Essa's whole family spoke. It was so refreshing. What amazing testimonies. I was so grateful and touched by them. Morgan chose not to attend the funeral of the other two teens. The other two are sisters and they had a double funeral. Morgan really did not know them at all.

We also found out that our Bishop's Daughter has terminal cancer and has 6 months or less to live. So so sad. There is also another family in our ward whose 6 year old son was just diagnosed with cancer. We have had a rough go.

On a happier note, I was called out to help with a birth at my friends Birthing Center. Although the baby wasn't born for 16 hrs, I was able to experiance some of what goes on at a home setting birth. I left at 7 AM because I had to go to work. I will be working for my friend generally, after the baby is born to relieve her and to get mom ready for discharge. After mom leaves, I will clean up and sanatize then close up the center and be on my way. This is on call only and I am hoping it wont interfer with my day job.

Sara Takes clogging and absolutely loves it. This last week the instructor had them dance a solo for the Christmas Program coming up. She blew the others out of the water. They only learned the dance last week.

I was able to take Thurs and Fri off to spend time with the girls and go to the funeral with Morgan. Friday we caught up with friends and had a pic nic up the canyon. we had a blast.

Sat. we went to a place called the red barn. We took a hay ride, picked out pumpkins and had ice cream. After that we went to our friends house and had crafts and yummy food.

Sunday comes along and we are thinking ahhh a day of rest but NOOO.... We get a phone call from the leader of ABATE of UT. ABATE stands for American Bikers Aiming Towards Education. He has a daughter who has cancer. Sara has been collecting Pull Tabs for this girl for months. So far Sara has collected enough pull tabs to help this girl with 2 mo. of Chemo and then some. by collecting the pull tabs a portion of the money raised helps children with Diabetic and Cancer treatments. He tells me The members of ABATE would like to recognize Sara for her efforts. So 20 or so bikers come rolling into our neighborhood on their bikes on a quiet sunny Sunday afternoon. We were completely surrounded by these bikers. They Showered Sara with Thanks, hugs, and hand shakes. They made her an honorary memeber of the ABATE of UT. She recieved 2 t-shirts, a dew rag, a patch and a pen. She was soooo embarrassed but honored. It was the most awesome experiance.

Well, that brings our week to a close. I am really hoping to post pics. We will see if it works. TTFN!






The next picture is of the Three Teens who were hit by a train. So traggic!


The next set of Pics is from our trip up the Canyon.




Finally The Red Barn.







I have no idea if you can see a blank box in the line up of pics but I have no idea how it got there or how to remove it.

It's been a long time.

Hello bloggers....I am finally done with my CNA Certification. Yay!! I passed with 99% on my final. Honestly though, it was really easy stuff. I still have to take my state certification but that is a few weeks out. I really loved working in the long term care facilities. I loved each person I cared for so much. Sadly, CNA make less than I make now as a receptionist. However, I am not giving up hope. I would like to work in the office I am working in now as a Medical Assistant. However, I did not certify in that, I certified as a CNA. A CNA works in the hospitals or in the care center. Which is fine too. I can't seem to find an opening for a CNA or an MA at this point. I will however, work on call on weekends for my friend who is a mid-wife. (Please forgive me for not using proper punctuation and capitalization. I am doing good to get this done at all). I am excited to work with her.

I made it, working 24/7, ok not really but 7 days a week 10 hours a day for four weeks. I didn't get sick once. I literally bathed in my essential oils. However, 2 days after I finished school, I was sick. Flat in bed! I ended up missing 2 days of work. Ugg. I'm good now though.

One more thing in my rattling mess here. Our awesome neighbor put together a computer for us to use for now. We are very grateful for it too. TTFN!

On another note, Sara started Clogging. She loves it and is doing really well. Hailey, is loving Jr. High and doing great. I am very pleased that she managed to get 2 A's and 5 B's on her quarter grades. She also FINALLY got to babysit for the first time on her own. She loves it of course. Morgan, still carries Staight A's and is going to try out for basketball this month.

Really? Still posting from my iPod!

We went to Cali to see friends and family! Had a blast but Ward had to stay home and work! We had so much fun catching up with friends and family! Wish we could have stayed longer! I went down to see my Granny! She is 97! Granny is alert, and still caring fir herself! I love her so much!

I started CNA training this week! I love it! We will see how i feel after clinicals! Lol!
Well it is really hard to blog from my iPod so ttfn!

Still no computer!

Well..it's late let me see if I can re-cap the week!
Mon = work
Tues = work
Wed = work
Thurs = day off! Wow yay... Thurs we crammed I'm two dr appt three girls meeting their teachers , and Mom registering for school! I start CNA training in Sept! I am so excited! Can't forget Fathers Blessings for school!

Friday= work + office party! O and my hailey started 7th grade!
Sat. = playing with friends at their family cabin!
Sun = church and dinner with family and friends!

We are back at Mon, which = work, canning salsa, and the first day of school for my girls! Phew...TTFN!

O my gosh! I think I figured out how to post from my iPod!

1. Make sure kids know that magic eraser will burn their skin and not to use it to clean paint off!

2. I did a sleep study! Ugh! It was a last min appt. So I was not prepared! It took me forever to fall
Asleep! I wont have results for 2wks!

3. I have decided to become a CNA. I won't start till Jan. Though!

4. Worked on filling a million holes on my friends staircase! The house was built in 1800's! We also
painted the cement floor in their garage!

Other than work being crazy busy! That's it for now! I have great pics for this post but don't know how to
Load them! TTFN

Dead computer! Can't post from my iPod or phone:(

Thoughts and Things

Wow!! Satin just go away ok!

Our Family decided to have our first family fast. Now, the girls know about fasting but we had to go over a few things. I am going to make a long story short. Sunday morning comes and most of us remembered to fast but some of us forgot and Mom forgot to do some reminding. I told one of our girls (who seemed to be really confused as to what to say in the prayer) not to worry about it this time. That next mo. I would help her out. Needless to say we slept super late in the morning and had just enough time to get up and get ready for church. Meanwhile, the girls began to argue and judge one another. Thus Ward and I started to become a little on edge. Funny how fighting kids can do that to a couple. Anyway, I decided to stay calm and to remind the family that satin does not want our family to do what is right. Since this was our first family fast, he for sure did not want us to reap benefits and blessings.

Next on my mind:
I think I am going to go back to school. I love my job. However, I have the hardest time staying awake and alert. I sit at a desk 5 days a week. I love it, I do! I am gaining weight, and getting lazy and whimpy. I need to be up moving around. Because I love my job, I think I am going to become an MA (Medical Assistant). This will take me one year to 18 mo. M-Th from 6 pm to 9 pm. Whoa...can I do this? Work full time, go to school, and study. Hmmm! I think I can do this.

Finally... Sara has decided to start clogging. This girl of mine is so shy and like the rest of us anxiety runs like water through her. I am hoping this will boost her self confidence and that she will have a blast.

Well TTFN!

Hey it's only Wednesday.

Ok, so maybe I can't remember Sunday Smiles... So what! At least I have made an attempt to post each week. Right?

I feel horrible this week. So this is me whining. I have a pounding headache, a raw throat, post nasal drip, and I am so tired. Last night I wore an oximeter to bed. I have been way more tired than the average bear for years. Even as a teen. My iron is fine, my thyroid is fine, and pretty sure I do not have sleep apnea. So now what? I can go to bed at 9, 10, 11...I can sleep 4, 6, 8, 10 hrs. a day. I stopped taking my meds, I have increased good for you foods, I have exercised, etc. Still no change. Ugg! It is so bad now that it is getting difficult for me to drive alone longer distances. Any ideas I would happily entertain.

My sweet Hailey Turned 12 this last week. Wow, I now have to girls who attend YW. I loved YW when I was their age.

My Mother-in-Law has a friend whose Niece has cancer. She told us that if we save our pull tabs from our soda cans that this sweet 14 year old girl can get some help with covering costs for her cancer treatment. My Sweet 9 yr old Sara took this to heart. So much so that Ward and I are having co-workers save pull tabs, we have put flyer's around the neighborhood, and any time we go any where, Sara collects all the tabs she can. Check out the website sometime. If you do not have a particular person to collect for, you can collect the tabs and turn them in. 50% of the proceeds go to Ronald McDonald houses and The Cancer Institute.

Well, that is it for now TTFN!

My Smiles

I think I have to change the title to my weekly posts. I can't seem to get my Sunday Smiles done on Sunday.

1. My Family makes me smile. No matter what I do or what I say my family loves me. They accept me for who I am and who I am trying to become.

2. The relationship I have with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, wheather it be good or bad, I can turn to Heavenly Father in prayer and feel completely at peace with anything I have going on in my world.

3. My Friends. Of course I can't post pics of all of them so I won't post any at all. I love my friends. They are the most amazing people and I love them all. When I am down they are there with a smile.

4. My beautiful girls. Man I am so lucky to have my girls. They are so good. Sometimes we don't always agree, but in the end we are tight. They are so sweet.

I am only putting 4 smiles done right now. I am running out of time...but hey, I at least got something in here. TTFN!~

Sunday Smiles # 2

So i am a day late and really short on time so here we go:

1. My two oldest girls went to girls camp. Dropping them off and driving off I got all choked up. Two days later i get a call from the camp director. I had 2 girls who were home sick. Now don't get me wrong I love my babies, but coming home was not an option. I sent letters and special things from home. Sat. I picked them up and again got choked up. They had a great time despite their homesickness. Memories of my girls camp and know the memories my girls are making make me smile.

2. Sat. we bought a mini van. Yep we have officially joined the mini van clan. We love it. It is an 07 Hyundai Mini van. It is loaded to the hilt with features. I don't think there is one thing that it doesn't have. Having 3 girls ride to and fro with out yelling don't touch me, makes me smile.

3. Friends and Family: while the big girls were away and Mom and Dad worked, Friends and Grandma and Grandpa took care of our sweet Sara.

4. This may seem trivial, but driving into my happy neighborhood and seeing happy waving people, make me happy. I love it. PG will always have a special place in our hearts though.

5. The warmth, and excitement of each Sunday lesson. I always feel like each lesson is especially for me.

6. My dumb stupid animals. Always there to give and get attention. They drive me nuts sometimes but they are so lovable. I am a major animal lover.

7. As always My eternal family and the blessings we receive from living the gospel.

Until next time...May the lord bless you all. Maybe next time I can post pics.

Sunday Smiles!!!

I have some dear friends that post Sunday Smiles. They post each week some things that make them smile or things they are thankful for. I am going to copy them. I hope that I can remember to do this. So here we go.

1. Autistic, lovable kids. These kids have a special place in my heart.

The pic on the left is my Brother and his girlfriends son Andrew. He is severely autistic. He is very affectionate and lovable. He does not talk with words but I have learned his likes and dislikes from his own ways of communicating. I love this boy so much. Whenever I see him I am filled with so much love.

The pic on the right is Ben. He was in my primary class at church. Ward and I taught Ben for two years. I was able to help Ben deal with all the things we did in Primary ea. Sunday, and we loved being with ea. other. I don't see Ben often anymore. Mostly because we moved. Ben isn't severely autistic. He can talk to me. But I learned his likes and dislikes quickly by watching his actions. I also learned a lot by reading his blog his Mom keeps. I miss Ben and had a wonderful time with him. This boy gives me much joy. I love you Benny Boy.

2. Relief Society lessons on Sunday at church. Today we learned the things we can do to keep our family together for eternity. Now these are things we are told a lot. But today we focus on the list. It gives me a renewed hope. As I am human and slide a lot.

3. My husband, who went to our Steak Priesthood Mtg alone for the first time I can ever remember. We love this ward.

4. My In-laws. They are retired now. They literally fill my shoes while I am away from my kids at work all day.

5. My amazing niece...she had a rough childhood. She has 3 beautiful children. She has a great job, and has made huge strides to do the things she needs to be an awesome mom and she does it all on her own.

Wow, I could go on and on. This is easier than I thought. TTFN.

Crazy Busy Times...

Well, I guess I will keep the blog for a while. I still only have 6 people who view my blog or at least that report too.

We have moved from our little itty bitty house here in Spanish Fork to a nice roomy house up by the mouth of the canyon in Spanish Fork. We love it here. The house is newer, bigger, and the neighborhood is amazing. We love, love the ward here.

We got to go to Oregon to welcome home Elder Joshua Glasmann. He served a 2 year LDS Mission in Tulsa Oklahoma. We had a great visit. We also got to get family pics done. I am going to post a few here. These are pics of my Oregon family. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins. We hope to go visit my Granny who is 97 in Aug. or Sept. TTFN

Whose Oma?

Ok, I posted Should we stay or should we go. I wanted to see if I should keep bloging. I have only have four viewers. So I am considering staying but whose Oma? I know Oma means
Grandma or Grandmother in German, but I don't know who you are.

Should we stay or Should we go??

I really have trouble keeping up with my blog. I want to know on a weekly basis how many people actually look at my blog and look forward to the posts I put on. If I get enough interested people, then I will continue to keep my blog. If I don't, then I will say farewell to this blog. I do a lot on facebook. I know there are a few people who do not Facebook that is why I have kept this blog. If I get enough interest, I will be better at posting. So leave me a comment if you are a regular visitor. TTFN!

Behind again!

I seriously can't keep up here. We have had lots going on since our last post. We made it through the freezing cold temps of Soccer season. Hailey did a great job. We celebrated Easter, Morgan's 14th Birthday, My Bro. girlfriends son's birthday, and now 6th grade graduation for Hailey.

The biggest thing, is that we are moving. Hopefully this will be our last. We found a nice house in an awesome neighborhood in Spanish Fork. We will be moving June 1. I also started working full time in April. I figured I may as well work so we can enjoy life, rather than work just to get by.

Well, TTFN! I have a ton of pics to post. Hopefully I can get to thoughs soon.

Birthday and Camping at Goblin Valley

I seriously have a hard time blogging. I have missed blogging Sara's 9th Birthday. I can't believe our baby is 9. Our girls are growing fast. It makes me really sad. I am posting a few Birthday pics as well as pics from our recent camping trip to Goblin Valley. We loved hiking Little Wild Horse Canyon. TTFN!

Wow!!!

I need to catch up again. Ward and I got Ipods with some of our tax return. We seem to always do something more responsible with our refund. This year we spent it on ourselves. Needless to say, I use my Ipod to get online most of the time. Thus never wanting to post on a tiny Ipod to my blog.

Anyway, we have kept very busy. We have been to a few of our friends houses every weekend for a while now helping to make small improvements to their homes. We figured, since we can't do any improvements to our own home, we may as well help our friends.

The biggest update is...I will be working full time AGAIN! By my own choice. I have come to the realization that it is a must do. I would much rather be a stay at home mom (as most of us would). It is just too tight having me work part-time and I will soon have 2 kids in Jr High. There will be all sorts of added expenses. So here I go again. I will work 3 days a week in PG and 2 days a week in Lehi. I am really excited to get to know people in Lehi better.

I have also had a huge problem with depression. I got down pretty bad the whole month of Feb. I was so mean to my poor, sweet, loving husband. I was picking at him so much. I finally realized there were a lot of things adding to my depression. 1. dealing with the fact that I will probably have to work for the rest of my life. 2. I had a few family members who I had, had issues with. 2. I wanted so badly to move back to our old ward in PG. Seriously I would sit on the couch on my day off doing nothing. Finally, after talking to my brother's girlfriend I realized it was time to turn to a more powerful source.

Now, you may or may not know this, but I am just a tiny bit rebellious and really did not want to do what I know I needed to do. I also knew if I did not, I would loose everything. Yep, you guessed it...I turned to prayer. I basically repented for my hard headedness, and turned my issues to the Lord. Guess what?? The very next day I felt 95% better. I have since felt better and better and almost completely normal again. I realized 1. Working is ok and there were even a few General Authorities that spoke on it at one of the Conf. I can't remember what was said but I remember I felt peace when I heard it. I can't even remember when it was given. Also, Barley having enough money to get by was way stressful. 2. Forgive and forget. Family is Family and they will be the only ones who are always there for you. 3. It's ok that we can't live in the ward we were in, in PG. We can visit anytime, and I am making more of an effort to get to know people in my new ward. The biggest issue is that through prayer Heavenly Father confirmed to me that we are where he wants us to be right now. I have now gained a huge testimony of prayer. On top of all of this Ward just received a calling in our new ward to be one of the Gospel Doctrine Teachers.
So on we go with each day being a new day and remember to pray always.ttfn

Update

I am just going to ramble on as I always do. We have been very busy since the Holidays. With what? I have no idea. For some reason my mind forgets everything. I have lost my debit card twice this month. Not to mention my temp drivers license. I told my husband that he may just have to divorce me since I can't remember anything including the items going in and out of our bank.

Strep has found its way to Ward and I and we are very sick. I was hoping to kick this in 24 hrs. but it isn't going to happen. Somehow tomorrow I have to take 2 girls to the ortho, and find my darn wallet. I hope I have more energy.

Ward and I have been given a new calling but here it is 3 wks later and we have not been sustained. We found out on Sunday that there are arrangements that have going on so they are holding off. This makes me so sad. I hope we still get the same calling it is one of my favs.
TTFN

Happy New Year!!

This is what I found at my desk!

My poor girl!!!!!!!!

Look at those roots.

U

Wow have we been busy! Lets see if I can do a quick run down. I update a lot on Facebook but I forget my blog sometimes.

We were dang busy for the Holidays. We had my Dad and Jean here for Christmas. We also got to meet my Brothers girlfriend. She is really awesome and a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time with them during the Holidays. We had several get togethers at our house. 1. My Nieces daughters 5th birthday which was Dec. 23. then we had Christmas Eve Day here with my Brother, his girlfriend, her son, my Dad and his wife Jean. Then we went straight over to Ward's Mom and Dads for Christmas Eve. I was ready to cancel Christmas morning after coming home with all the loot. Christmas day found us with visits from Wards Aunts, Uncle, Mom and Dad. Then we headed over to my Cousins house to wrap things up. LOL. No punn intended.

New Years Eve we spent with our friends in Payson. We had a lot of fun playing games, eating, and just hanging out. New Years Day we attended a Baptism, and then spent time with My Bro and his girlfriend, and then on Sunday....OOOOOO MY we had a wonderful authentic Mexican dinner made by his girlfriend. Wow, after spending all afternoon prepping the food, I was worn out. You would think I was gettin old or somethin.

As if it isn't enough to be busy with all that, Monday found us with Dr. appts, and school. Tues??? Weeelll, that was my big 4!0! whooo hooo, I am officially headed down the slope now. LOL! I had a fun day and I got some cozy PJS and.....Bop It! I love that game. Ok, so by now I am thinking phew...time to get the house back in order and get our schedules under way. But NOOOO I get to work and there sit this huge bouquet of black balloons. LOL! I was really shocked. So I celebrated the whole day at work. O but the fun doesn't stop. As soon as I got home I drove to Payson to meet my friend for a Weight Watchers mtg. Ok, so the good news is I only need to look 7 lbs to be in my normal range. The bad news is to be right smack in the middle of my heathly range instead of the end, I have to loose 20lbs. So I have now started a butt kicken work out with Jillian Micheals, and my Wii fit. So watch out, I am hoping to conquer this time. Well now that I have made all this run on nonsense, I shall close. O wait I forgot, two of my 3 girls start ortho work this month as well. Sara, had to have 3 baby teeth pulled to make more room. The poor girl felt a ton of pain even after a ton of shots. :( TTFN

PSSS. Why is blogger so tempermental? I couldn't put these pics on the way I wanted to save my life.