A Most special Christmas memory

I know the title sounds a bit corny, but hey :) I wanted to share a Christmas memory from a very special Christmas past. Everytime I think of this certain special Christmas and the angels who helped to make it special...I start to cry....

A few years ago when we were in transition from New Plymouth to Hermiston, Tim was in Hermiston and I was in New Plymouth trying to sell the house. We had hoped to move together and not be apart, but Tim had the transfer before we sold the house :( Tim's transfer date was December 12th so there was no way that we could have Christmas with him.

I had dreaded Christmas that year and was not looking forward to the sadness that would come from being without my husband.

On Christmas eve, we had an angel drop something at our door. There, at the door, was a bucket FULL of Christmas cheer... We were SOOOOO excited... and yes I cried. Someone loved us so much that they wanted to share some cheer with us. In the bucket were some Christmas presents for each of us and some Christmas snacks.

I think about our present situation and remember the overwhelming feeling of love that came from that simple act that Christmas. I am encouraged by the generosity and love of that family and find strength in them.

There are many more Christmas memories, but this one particular memory is and always will be near and dear to my heart.

May we all find those Christmas memories and make many more. Merry Christmas!!!!

8 things

Okay, I said I would do this Monday, but now it's Friday.... So many things happening this week, life has escaped me.

Here's a fun tag... Thanks Ang for tagging me...I'll see how well I do :)

8 Favorite shows... when I had time to watch TV...
1. Biggest Loser
2. America's Got Talent
3. American idol
4. Deadliest Catch
5. Ace of Cakes (Duff is so good)
6. Cooking challenges with cakes
7. Next Design Star
8. Next Food Network star

8 things I did yesterday
1. Took the boys to school
2. Went to the store for stamps
3. Visited a friend at work
4. Delivered invites to my open house (anyone want to come)
5. Got Kyler from school
6. Cleaned the house for Tim to come home
7. Got the boys from school
8. Relaxed with the fam :)

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Johnny Corinos (I miss that one)
2. Sweet Tomatoes
3. IHOP (great kids deals)
4. Great Wall of China buffet
5. Applebee's
6. Golden Corral
7. Chen's
8. Hallam's home cookin

8 things I look forward to...
1. MY HOUSE SELLING!!!! You knew that was coming huh :)
2. MOVING!!!!
3. Christmas
4. Moving :)
5. Getting an offer on my house
6. Moving somewhere that I can hold a baby since i can't have one ;)
7. Christmas break...we get to go to Idaho :) YAY!!!!!
8. Getting back to being more physical....great stress reliever :D

8 things on my wish list
1. Hello????/ My house selling SOON!!!! I love you guys in Hermiston, just want to be with my hubby again...not just the weekends
2. To loose more than 10 pounds
3. To have more time than I know what to do with so I can get EVERYTHING done that i want and need to get done
4. My boys would be overly nice to each other
5. To be able to get together with old friends from all over the US
6. To increase our family number by two little girls :)
7. The home that I have plans for on some land
8. To go on a couples mission with my honey

8 people I tag
Well, I can't tag Ang or Linda...hmmm...
1. Jennifer
2. Alisha
3. Melissa
4. Wennona
5. Jodi
6. Tressa
7. Shila
8. anyone else who wants to join the fun :)

Give Thanks

There is still so much to be grateful for. I taught in RS sunday. The lesson was on Pres. Eyrings' talk "Our Hearts Knit Together". The lesson went very well and I had a lot of participation and help. It was also my visiting teacher's last sunday as she is moving to Boise.

I never thought in a million years that I would ever have such a kinship with someone here, but I did, in the last two months that we've been here. I found another angel among us. She was going through similar situations as I have been going through at the same time. Her husband was away during the week working and home on the weekends. I'm so grateful that their prayers were answered and that their family can be together in Idaho now and have some peace in their lives.

I have been so blessed in my life to have such wonderful, sweet, caring friends who are so true and sincere that my heart is overflowing with thanks and love for each of them. Friends make the journey sweeter.

I was also reading the next talk for December's lesson....another good one. The bishopric has done a wonderful job in selecting these talks for the lessons each month. This next one is Pres. Uchtdorf's talk... "Infinite Power of Hope" How perfect is that for this time of year and this season in the worlds history? A few thoughts on Hope...... It comes as a three part blessing... faith, hope and charity.... They all work together to bring us closer to our Lord and Savior. Without Christ and His infinite atonement, we would have no hope of being with God again. Christ's atonement encompasses so much more than just a forgiveness of sins; it brings us hope of eternal life. That hope stirs us into action and following Christ's example and being charitable. We are on the Lord's errand in helping our brothers and sisters in this life to grow closer to our Savior.

No matter what our challenges in life we are never alone. We must not give up hope, but must forge onward and upward in our quest.

I am also so very grateful for MUSIC!!! The music that touches my heart and soul... it hits the spot for sure so many times. The Lord knows our needs and I'm so grateful for that :)

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. May your life be blessed with love and friends and all that is good.

One year ago

It's been a few days since I've blogged about gratitude. I want to share what I'm most grateful for this week :) A year ago, Brandon had another episode with his ITP and he was in the hospital for a few days...this time his platelet count was lower than it ever has been, even in the beginning....this time a year ago, Brandon's platelet count was below 1000. Before I share my gratitude, I will share what ITP is.

ITP or immune thrombocitopenic purpura (sp?) It is a disorder of the blood that is present when someone has luekemia and sometimes, just because. ITP is when the body fights against itself and the platelets. A normal person has between 150-240 thousand platelet count.. if a count goes down to 50 thousand or below, then hemoraghing can happen. When the platelet counts get that low, then brusing happens, in big dark bruises and/or little tiny pin pokes called petechia (sp). The treatment for ITP is expensive antibody treatments and a treatment called IVIG..immune something.... They are supposed to help raise the platelet levels in the body so the bruising goes away and healing begins.

When Brandon was in 3rd grade...2003/2004, he came home from school with some really bad bruising, which we thought he was getting from kids at school hitting him. Well, the school thought he was getting them from home...no one knew where the bruising was coming from. We took him to the dr. in Ontario and they suggested that it might be ITP...those dr.s are so amazing :) We had Brandon's blood tested and his platelet count was all the way down to 3000. The dr. called and suggested that we safely and carefully get him to St. Lukes to be checked out and get his counts back up.

In Boise, another dr. did some testing to see what they could figure out... nothing... they did a bone marrow test to check for luekemia...which thankfully he didn't have. After several months of expensive treatments that only worked for a few days, we had to put him on prednisone (steroid) and it got his levels up a bit higher, but still, he had to have constant blood tests every week or so.

For the past few years since the initial start of his ITP, we have been blessed with the wisdom to know what to do...two years ago, when Brandon had just started 5th grade, he had another episode where his count went down and he had to do the prednisone again. We decided to take him back to boise and check again...the dr.'s there said that they needed to remove his spleen... which is needed for proper immune function. I didn't feel comfortable with this idea, so we decided to see a kineseologist. We went to Emmett to see the one there and she did some muscle testing on his body to see what was wrong... AMAZING!!!! His left tendon in his foot was twisted all the way up his spine, limiting his spleen. She put his body back in the proper place. We saw some amazing transformations at that time :D WOW!!!!!

Since then, Brandon has only had one episode requiring hospitalization which was last year. So far, this year, he has been healthy and had no bruising...we're keeping our fingers crossed.

At the same time Brandon was in the hospital last year, we had another incident where I had Aaron watch Kyler while I took Josh and Dallin and went to relieve Tim at the hospital. It was Thanksgiving day so I put the turkey in and woke aaron up to watch Kyler and make sure he was safe. When I got to the hospital, I called to see if aaron was basting the turkey...the police answered my phone.. I WAS SHOCKED!!! Kyler had woken up and Aaron went back to sleep :( Kyler thought I had taken Dallin and Josh to the school, so he decided to go up to the school to find me. Well, I wasn't there and thankfully that whole ordeal ended peacefully with my baby back with me and our family back together.

So, the things I'm grateful for this week are my family's safety. Brandon's health. The wisdom we were blessed with to know what to do for him and his health... and I'm grateful for the kineseologist who knew what to do for Brandon and knew how to teach us about the body. I'm also grateful for good insurance to take care of expensive hospital costs :)

Remember your blessings and be grateful for them :) Tell your family you love them and appreciate them. Cherish the time you have right now...don't wait :D

More reflections of Gratitude

These past few days has been an emotional roller coaster... so many things have happened in the past 72 hours and I'm not going to speak of them, but I am going to share the things I'm grateful for.

I am so very grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord. I have felt bouyed up by His love and concern for me as I've gone through the trials of the last few days. These trials, I know will make me stronger....which leads me to my next thing of gratitude.

I'm grateful for the wisdom and knowledge that our trials are ours to help us grow and learn. Sometimes they are to help others as well.

I'm grateful for my integrity and for my YW leaders when I was younger for teaching me about integrity.


Here's a shocker...but I am grateful that I can have the opportunity to teach the RS lesson next week...the conference talk, i'm teaching on is Pres. Eyring's sunday morning talk... Our Hearts Knit as One... it is a MUST read...again and again... It is about unity and helping others and much more... read it and share your thoughts with me PLEASE :) I would love to have some more insight for my lesson next week.

Today, while we were in Tri-cities to take care of Aaron's clarinet and have it serviced, we stopped by the book store to get a Conference ensign... I found several books that I've added to my mental wish list :) I am taking a great liking to books and have enjoyed reading. One book that I bought was on the same idea of Pres. Eyring's talk of unity.. .I started reading it on the way home...so far it's a great read :) I'll post the title of it later as I can't remember what it is right now.
I know that I've said this before but I want to share it again as I dont feel that it could ever be said enough. I am so grateful for all of my dear friends and family who have been praying for our family and who have stood by us through so much trial and joy :) I love you all and pray that you're all enjoying November.

Reflections day 11

I'm grateful for family vacations and family reunions. I love the places we go and the people we see :) We've been so blessed this year to be able to go to Idaho several times...to go camping/cabining at Emmigrant springs state park. To spend almost three weeks on the oregon coast and see so many things and spend time with some dear friends. We've seen so many amazing wonders and enjoyed the family time immensly. Those memories will forever be with me.
We may not have gone on any expensive fancy vacation, but that's not what it's all about..it's about spending time with family and making memories. Those memories will help us get through the tough times that life throws at us.

Reflections of gratitude

Day number 10 :) I'm grateful for the temples that are dotting the earth.

I'm so excited about the new temples that were anounced in conference..especially the one in Philly... I MUST make plans to go see that one...

I'm anxious to see exactly where near Philly it's going to be...can't wait.

It's so exciting to be a part of this amazing church history in the making.

It's such a blessing to live close to the temple and be able to attend. We haven't been able to go as much as we would like to have gone. We also can't wait until we can be in Idaho so that we can go more often...when the boys are all in school :D

Reflections of Gratitude

It's November now,,... we have a wonderful tradition in our family in November to reflect at the past year and look at the things we are grateful for. Each day one person in the family shares something they're grateful for. I'm going to do that on here to share with all of you some of the things I'm most grateful for :)

1. I'm grateful for my sweet husband of 15 yrs. He brings me so much joy and laughter. We've shared some tough times, but we've also had some wonderful times.

2. I'm grateful for my handsome boys. They are a handful, but they are good kids. I love each one of them and their talents. 3.Speaking of talents. I'm grateful that the Lord has blessed me with some wonderful talents that I can use to help and lift others :D
4. I'm grateful for my sight.... that one is taken for granted by so many... however, when I was young, I was told that I would be blind by the time I was 8.... each day I'm grateful for my sight. I thank my Heavenly Father each time I am blessed to see the ocean waves, the stars in the sky and even when I see my children smile and play.5. I'm grateful for my testimony of Jesus Christ and for His love and sacrafice for me.
6. I'm grateful that I'm a daughter of God and to feel His love for me. I am comforted to know that He feels my pains and knows my potential and has so much in store for me and my family.

7. I'm grateful for my birthday...which happens to come in November :) and for my parents who love me and have taught me.

8. I'm grateful for dear sweet special friends. I have been richly blessed with them...my quiver is full of dear friends all over the country.

9. With those friends... I'm grateful for the technology we have been blessed with to be able to keep in touch with so many of our dear friends and families.

Today is the 9th so I will post something I'm grateful for each day this month until Thanksgiving. :)

I love this time of year and pray that all of you reading will take the time to look at your blessings the Lord has blessed you with this year :)

Love

I got this email today and wanted to post it here. Things have been super busy around here and I haven't had a chance to blog, but here is something to think about. We need more of this.... have a good read :)

Touching words from the mouths of babes. What does 'Love' mean? A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does 'love' mean?' The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' Chrissie - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mummy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mummy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss' Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.' Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,' Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.' Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' Cindy - age 8

'My mummy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.' Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mummy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day' Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image) Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mummy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.' Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

When there is nothing left, that is when you find out that love is all you need.

Here's to MOTHER!!!

Kaylena sent this to me this afternoon. It brought tears to my eyes as I think of my boys growing up so fast and that I fit into to so many of these categories right now in my life...all at the same time :)

Thank you Kaylena for sending me this little reminder that being mom is so very important and so very rewarding. I'm grateful for my beautiful/handsome boys. I'm also grateful for all the 'mom's ' in my life who have taught me and helped me along the way.

Here's the email she sent me :

Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?' and get their answer when a little voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade...It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it.

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom' s opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair . .. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul ... It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Conference

Conference was AMAZING these past two days. Well, it started with the Relief society broadcast last weekend. I wasn't going to go since I had no one to watch the boys...but I did decided that I needed to be there. A friend had talked to me earlier that day, and something she said stuck with me...and still sticks with me to this day... she said "Have faith that you will be where the Lord needs you to be when you need to be there" I know I've heard that before, but that time it meant even more to me.

I decided at the RS broadcast some things that I am determined to do... when we get moved back to Idaho, all the boys will be in school all day. Kyler will have every other day off, but on those days that he is in school, I will go to the temple once or twice each month by myself or with some other ladies. I have always wanted to do that and have the opportunity to do that when we do get moved. Another thing that I want to do when we get to Idaho is to go to the temple at least one friday a month with Tim...again, when the boys are all in school. Tim has Fridays off, so that will provide a great opportunity for both of us to attend the temple without needing a sitter or leaving our children at home alone. I am so eager and anxious to have this opportunity.

Now for this weekend's conference.... the first amazing thing was the announcement of 5 new temples. Two of which have special meaning to Tim and I... Cortuba Argentina for Tim as that is where or near where he served his mission... and Philadelphia PA for me. I lived there for over seven years there when I was younger. We would have to travel several hours to Washington DC temple to do baptisms...as wonderful as it was to go there, how much more wonderful it will be for the saints in the area of Philly for them to have a temple closer :) I'm so excited for that temple and look forward to being able to go there and see it one day. I'm anxious to hear a more precise area where it will be built. The other three temples will be in Calgary Alberta Canada, Kansas city Kansas area, and Rome Itally.. WOW!!!! is all I could say...well, I couldn't say anything as I was so overcome with joy..it was unspeakable joy.

The messages of conference were wonderful and have been so inspired. One of the main topics that I took away from conference was that of hope and overcoming trials and challenges and helping others in their challenges as well. Everyone is going through some sort of trial.

Some things that I felt impressed to write down...this isn't word for word what was said, just how I wrote it down and felt it in my heart:

L.Tom Perry- Things we need for a simplified lifestyle...1. food- if we follow and live the word of wisdom the destroying angel will pass by us... 2. clothing- dress and grooming sends a message....casual dress is often followed by casual manners.."Modesty reflects an attitude of humility" 3.shelter- Live within your means 4.fuel- spiritual fuel Aknowledge God's plan and do our part to bring to pass His plan for us

Sister Allred- The lifeblood of the church is missionary work... Seek the guidance of the spirit as we share the gospel with others

Neil L. Anderson- Eternal life is the journey of all journeys. "We each have moments of spiritual power. We must seep it into our hearts and store up for our spiritual reserves."

Faith is not only a feeling, we must also choose it. "Be not afraid, only believe" how true is that :)

Dallin H. Oaks- Sacrament meeting is the most important and only meeting in which the whole family attends together. The manner of dress for sacrament should be as if we were going to the temple...not the beach or hiking. The white shirt is a gentle reminder of the temple and our covenants.

Pres. Uchtdorf- Go on in the face of fears...find hope. Hope has power to fill our lives with happiness... Hope is the gift of the spirit...despair kills ambition.... What is hope? The things we hope in uphold us in times of trial

Joseph B. Wirthlin- I love what his mother taught him "Come what may and love it" The way we react to adversity will be a great measurer to our happiness. Understand the principal of compensation....(that one penetrated my heart...as I still struggle sometimes with not being able to have anymore babies... I know that it will be made up to me)

Adversity, if handled correctly can be a great blessing in our lives.

Jeffery R. Holland- Angels are sent most often to comfort us...the only thing I could keep thinking about as I was listening to this talk was my angel friends...one of whom has the appropriate angelic name :) LOVE YOU ANG!@!!!! I have been so bless with angel friends to help me and comfort me in my adversity

Pres. Eyring- Joy comes when we are blessed with unity. Be humble---pride is the enemy of unity. Be a peacemaker by looking for anything in which you agree with your accuser. As children of God, we have more in common that we have differences. SPEAK WELL OF OTHERS... if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

Robert D. Hales- Christian courage.... respond to our accusers in a Christlike way. Turn the other cheek, resist feelings of anger. Ask for help in answering accusers without accusing. Opposition in itself may create an opportunity.

Elaine S. Dalton- In the strength of the Lord I can do all things... Virtue begins in the heart and mind..it is an inner strength. You be the one to make a stand for the right, even if you stand alone...

Pres. Monson- Find joy in the journey NOW...don't wait for tomorrow. There is no tomorrow to remember if we don't do something today.

Boyd K. Packer- Obedience to laws and ordinances of the gospel will bring us safety.

Russel M. Nelson- Celestial marriage brings greater possibilities for happiness than any other relationship. Celestial marriage is a pivitol part of the eternal plan.

I'm so grateful that I could have the opportunity to be taught so richly at conference today...there is so much more to take from it than just these thoughts. These are deffinately going to be watched again and again and read over and over.

Primary program

Today was the primary program for our ward :) The little boys did such a good job and had practiced their parts. Kyler was especially cute when he got up to the mic...he took a deep breath and started to say his line...he was a little too close to the mic that it was incredibly loud when he started to speak... of course everyone laughed. Kyler then looked at me as to what to do... I tried to keep from laughing as funny as it was, I had to keep my composure for him. He then took another deep breath and breathed into the mic and said his part. Then he went and sat down in his seat with a big ol grin on his face. His grin was way cute :)
After the program, Josh came up to me with a sad look on his face... "You never even looked at me mom" I told him that I kept trying to look at him and see him but he was so short and sitting behind those tall girls, I couldn't see him :( Josh is the size of the 6 yr olds and he was sitting with the other kids his age, but they are quite a bit taller than him.

What is with not so smart questions?

Okay, so this post doesn't sound all that great, but I'm trying to figure this one out... I got a call on our house this evening and the man asked me how much we were asking for the house. I told him we were asking $173000.... TOTALLY AWESOME deal for around here...anywhere really for the size of our house.. We have over 2400 sq. ft of living space... 5 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bath. Huge laundry room. Large living and family rooms and a good size kitchen and dining room. Our backyard has only one neighbor to the back since it's not in the subdivision on that side.

Anyway, the man asked me tonight if we were totally firm on the price... then he asked how low we were willing to go. I told him that he's getting a great deal as it is, so it would be hard to say. Then he told me to talk it over with my husband and see what we would go down to.... Do you think I'm stupid or something? NO WAY!!! I'm not telling you or anyone else what I am willing to go down....that's nonsense....

Okay, I think I'm done venting... I'm not too worried about this showing... if it's the right family then things will work out and if it's not the right family, I'm not worried. I want the RIGHT family to buy this house for them. I know that the right family is out there and will find their home soon :) AND for the right price :)

Okay, so now I need to go clean and get after my children who are not in bed :( grrr.... maybe they will get some chores to do :) There's always chores that need to be done...hehehe

Day of Sorrow or day of Faith?

Tim just left after we had our family scripture study and family prayers. It is so hard to have Tim leave first again. I was hoping that we would never have to do this ever again...be separated that is.





I'm still hopeful and praying that it's not as long as last time.









Now, on a lighter side....Josh had his first set of football games yesterday. He did a great job and is getting the hang of things. He is really enjoying playing tackle. There were 6 teams that played yesterday in a jamboree. This was so that all the kids could have a chance to just play each team before the REAL games begin. Josh is on the Falcons team.



The Cowboys were getting hurt so bad during all the games. They started with 22 kids and ended up with only 14 left to play when the coach called it a day for them. Some of the kids got hurt worse than others... it is so sad to see kids getting hurt. All of the kids had a chance to experience "taking a knee" and waiting for the injured to get off the field.









There was great sportsmanship shown by all the kids. Tim was able to be at this first jamboree, but will miss the very first GAME this week.
















The game that Josh plays this wednesday is at the High School field. "Under the lights" He's so excited about that one.

24 plus hours till meltdown?

We have a little more than 24 hours left with Tim. He was able to get tomorrow off so that he can spend the day with us before he leaves us. Josh has his first series of games tomorrow morning, which will be the only ones that Tim will be able to be at and watch.
We took the house off the market and put it up by owner again. Bold move, but it has to be that way. So we're praying for the family that needs our home so they can buy it. Selling the house ourselves allows for an easier purchase and a lower price. It's so sad how bad the market is. Too many houses are being built so no houses existing can sell :(
I will keep everyone posted as to our goings on.... you'll know when we have a buyer :) You may even be able to hear me :) Thank you all for your prayers and love.

Dallin's story

Dallin brought home a paper that he wrote in school the other day about books. Here is his writing that he did....

I like books because the first time I read, I imagined that it was real.
Books are good for you. They'll make you imagine everything.

Isn't that the cutest :) Well, I'm biased to :) I love that he loves books and reading. For his birthday he got a majority of the set of magic treehouse books. He loves them and organizes them all the time :)

Erie similarities

Does this situation sounds familiar to anyone? I hope you'll find it somewhat humorous and then start praying for us :)

Tim put in for a transfer a while back. He was called for an interview last week and scheduled for his interview in Ontario for yesterday. He went down for his interview and was hired. Tim is now transfering back to SRCI . We are happy about the transfer as it is what we've wanted.

Now, here are the erie similarities.... ready????
I'm homeschooling Josh and Kyler is in kindergarten......

erie similaraty 1- When Tim transfered to Hermiston, I was homeschooling Aaron and Josh was in kindergarten

The boys had just started school

now this similarity I don't want to happen.... it took until the end of the school year for our house to sell :( NO WAY!!!!! I'm not looking forward to being a single mom again. I don't have my friend Ang here ;) I know that the only reason I was able to hold on and make it through the tough times was the tremendous support that our family was so richly blessed with in New Plymouth.

I did it before and I know I can do it again IF I HAD to, but I don't want to... kicking and screaming right?

Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know of our transitions again and ask for extra prayers and help in selling our house and that our kids can make the transition with ease.

September 1st means SCENTSY MADNESS

Today is the first day to order from the new catalog :) I'm so excited about my open house tomorrow as there are so many cool new things that scentsy has done :) They added small plug in warmers that plug right into the wall like a nightlight.

They have also added some very pretty new warmers...these warmers have a reactive glaze on them so they will all look different from each other :) I can't wait to see some of the new warmers and have some plug in for my house.

I'm having so much fun with scentsy right now and have had a lot of success. I had a party last friday night which was HUGE and had a lot of parties scheduled off of that one. Tomorrow is my open house and then Thursday is another party for a teacher. Another friend is also having a basket party. She's taking my basket testers to work with her so people can smell and order.

I have another teacher that wants to have a party as well, she just has to figure out when :)

I am so very excited for this month as I am promoting to a "certified" consultant and now will be getting 25% instead of 20%. I've made a goal for myself this month to have at least one new recruit consultant on my team. So far it's just me on my team :( I'm sure the day and time will come when I can add more friends to the scentsy family, but for now, I'm just working and having fun.

If you're curious about the new things I've been talking about, go check out the catalog on my site :) There are so many wonderful new things this season.

Happy Birthday Dallin !!!!!

Dallin is 7 :) Well, on the 31st, but I wanted this posted before Sunday morning :) Here are some pictures honoring Dallin :) He had a rough go when he first came to us, if any of you knew us then, you know some of the trials Dallin had in the beginning.

When Dallin was 2 weeks old, 911 happened. When Dallin was about 2 months old, he quit breathing and turned blue... thankfully Kaylyn was just down the road and came to help out. When Dallin was about 6 months old, he weighed only 10 pounds. From the time Dallin was 2 months old to the time he was 6 months old when we had our fire, Dallin had to be on a nebulizer for his breathing. He had a really hard time breathing since he was 2 weeks old and we went the rounds with the drs...

We are so blessed to have Dallin in our lives and in our family. He is a pure joy and a delight to have around. Dallin absolutely loves learning and reading. He also enjoys being active and playing with anyone and everyone. He's a very friendly kid who loves and is very easy to love.

This year Dallin is looking forward to reading more books and being in second grade. He's now counting down the days until next year when he turns 8!!!!!