HAPPY BIRTHDAY DON!!!!

A very happy birthday wish for my big brother Don Shaw today!!!! What a blessing to know him and have him a part of my life!!!! I love you big brother!!!

After a short two week visit in Dec 09 and another short visit in June 2010 I got to have a ton of great memory making days with my brother!!! It's never enough though, but those times we had were great ones and there will be more to come!

Don taught me a lot of things while I was in Texas. We now have some regular recipes added to the weekly/monthly menu..... uncle Don's double decker tacos, chicken spaghetti and biscuits and groundhog gravy (he taught me how to make white sauce) and fudge!!!!!

I love you big brother!!!! I look forward to when the boys can meet you and the whole gang in Texas!!!

Happy Birthday Aaron!!!!

Happy Birthday to my oldest baby!!!! I can't believe he's 17 years old already!!!! The time has flown on wings of lightning for sure. Aaron has grown into quite the young man.

Aaron has been such a blessing. He reaches the highest shelves for me when I can't reach them YAY!!!! Aaron's height has come from both sides of the gene pool....Tim's father and grandfather are both tall as is my father. Aaron's musical talents have grown and increased along with his love for music.

I love you Aaron!!! May you continue to be blessed throughout your life! You are an amazing young man who has many amazing abilities and talents. The Lord loves you and He knows you. You are one of His sons!!!! Happy birthday my son!!!!

The defenition of Perfection

I was reading this morning in my book... Finding The Angel Within by Pamela H. Hansen.... In my reading, I read about pride. Pride has two ends of it's spectrum... one, we all know is feeling and thinking that we're better than others. The other end of the spectrum that so many are guilty of including me is feeling and thinking that we could never measure up. Comparing ourselves to the latest fashion trend or the Jones's. Too many times, we belittle ourselves and put ourselves down because we don't think we're as pretty as the most popular girl in school.

In my reading, if anyone wants to go check it out... on page 101... I was reading about Satan's plan of Sameness and the Father's plan of Happiness. Satan uses a perfectly toned body as a tool to get us to think and try to be just like that person. Our Father in Heaven created each of us different. He didn't want us to be clones of each other having the same physical appearance as others....so why are we still doing it?

Why are we trying to fill Satan's deffenition of perfection instead of our Father in Heaven's deffenition.... afterall.... it is our Heavenly Father's defenition of perfection that will get us to our ultimate goal of PERFECTION!!!! So.... no more comparing ourselves to others, we are all unique beings created divinely different for a reason, celebrate our differences and embrace them

Platinum vs. Gold

We've all heard of the golden rule..... but what about the platinum rule????

We all know that the golden rule is TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED.
Well, there is a new rule that far outweighs the golden rule, it is the platinum rule:
TREAT OTHERS AS THEY WANT TO BE TREATED

This simple change in rule is so heavy and has such a lasting effect and can change lives and let others know just how much you really truly care about them. We are all different and want to be treated and shown love in different ways. Some of us want to be treated like a buddy, but others of us want to be gently loved and cherished. We wouldn't treat the men in our lives like one of the girls.... nor would we want them to treat us like one of the guys.

In thinking about this new Platinum rule, I was thinking.... which one is of more worth? Gold? or Platinum? well, a simple search has proven that platinum is about double the value of gold!!!! So, naturally, we would want to follow the platinum rule and not the golden rule right????

May we think of others and be aware of their needs. May we pray earnestly to be guided by the spirit to know the needs of our children, spouses, family and all of those with whom we associate everyday. The Lord will guide us because He truly loves each one of us and wants us all to know and feel loved.

F-O-R-T-I-F-Y

On facebook, a friend had posted on her status, a challenge to all of her friends. Think of one word that you could focus on this year for 2011. As I thought about that one word, I remembered reading another friends blog as she had chosen a word STRENGTHEN.... a very good word :) I wanted to choose something different and something that would suit me and my family, so I prayed. After I said a prayer, I began to read my scriptures and was writing in my journal when the word hit me with such force that I had to stop what I was writing about and write about that word....

The word FORTIFY!!!!

The defenition of Fortify- to make strong; to strengthen and secure; to give physical strength, courage, or endurance to



I want to FORTIFY every aspect of my life this year!

FORTIFY- my family, building up those fortifications to protect my family from the evils around us
FORTIFY- my physical body and strengthen my body, getting out and enjoying this wonderful world that Heavenly Father has blessed us with
FORTIFY- my spirit, building up my own defenses and listening more to the spirit and doing the Lord's will
FORTIFY- my testimony and my relationship with my Father in Heaven and my Savior
FORTIFY- my education, studying more and continuing my education to better myself

Love notes

Yesterday I got the sweetest love note in the mail. It was addresses to me, the return address was my address and there was no stamp on the envelope. It was a love note from Dallin!!!!! He kept asking all day if he could get the mail. Asking so much to the point of almost frustrating me. I decided to let him get it, but I took Chloe with me in the car for her ride. Dallin and Kyler raced me to the mailbox.... of course they won lol. I gave Dallin the key to get the mail and it seemed to take him longer than normal. ..... of course it did because that's when he was slipping the love note from his shirt into the mailbox..... He's tricky he is!!!!

I opened the envelope and cried!!!! This is what it said... by the way it was a thank you note and a paper picture. The thank you note said "love you mom. Thank you for all you've done. i wish you get better because of your hip. Have fun and fun with friendship you're so important. LOVE you so much"

The picture was a sunshine with a heart in the middle of it.... on the paper it says "To a great mom: love you, thought you needed some light and love"

I so love these sweet tender moments of reward :) Yesterday evening Kyler even tried his hand at being sweet in his own little way. He made me a love note and, while I was in the bathroom, knocked on the door and told me I have a package waiting for me. He was so excited to give me his letter :) His letter says "I love you mom. I am going to put this card in the mail. Love Kyler" and hearts are drawn all over the paper :)

I SO LOVE BEING A MOM!!!!!!

FAN MAIL!!!!

I posted this on facebook but wanted to also post it here. The other day, while getting my lunch out of my lunch box, I noticed a piece of paper on top of my food. I looked at it and there was a note from one of the boys. The note read:

"Dear mom I love you mom, have a great day! Love Dallin"

It is so sweet and comforting to get such sweet fanmail. What a blessing to see that the boys are learning to be concerned for others and want to make others smile and feel loved.

Tender moments like finding fanmail in a lunch or a special homemade Christmas story make the hard times so much easier to bare.

Josh's letter to Santa

I know I should have posted this before I posted the Christmas posts, but oh well.... This is a letter that Josh wrote to Santa at school:

Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is my family. Even if they are mean or rude, they are still my family. Sincerly, Josh


What a sweet sweet boy. I love my boys!!!!!

Dallin's Gift

This morning when we were opening Christmas gifts, Dallin brought Tim and I wrapped gift and said it was for both of us. The gift was a homemade book titled "The best parents ever" which he wrote himself.... here is his story

"The best Parents ever"
Once there were two kids and they had trials like getting bullied and beat badly but they got used to it and then 8 years later they were adults and they dated, there names were Tim and Gina. They had 5 kids 1 was Aaron 2 was Brandon 3 was Josh 4 was Dallin 5 was Kyler. Gina worked at Wendy's then lifeguard then teacher and Tim works at a jail facility. We barely see him, he's gone a lot and he misses his kids but on the weekends we get to see him because he doesn't work on weekends. We like that because he gets to spend Christmas with us. He liked being able to be with us all on Christmas.

It is four days til Christmas and we can't wait. It's so exciting. The two parents are busy doing christmas giving, donating, buying presents for all of the family which is a lot of presents. I'm making this present for my mom and dad because they don't have a lot of presents so I want to make them happy.

Merry Christmas mom and dad!!! you truly are the best parents ever!!!! From Dallin, Josh, Kyler, Aaron, Brandon

We love you!!!! The very special end!!! Merry Christmas!!!


I did not tell him any of this story, nor give him any words. This was all on his own and completely from his precious giant heart. If anything this title should be is "The very best son a parent could ask for" I am so very grateful for this sweetest gift of Christmas and for Dallin's sweet spirit. He knows our Father in Heaven and he knows the true meaning of Christmas. I love you Dallin!!!!

Merry Christmas 2010

What a marvelous blessing! We had an angel bring gifts last night. Tim went out to walk Chloe and found a large black bag at the door. This bag had a huge gold bow on it and a card that read: "Just thinking of all the things that make you such a special family...What a perfect way to add a smile to the holidays!" It was signed from SANTA!!!! What a wonderful blessing to feel so loved. May the Lord bless whomever it was that made this Christmas extra special for the Hallam boys :)

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends whom we hold so dear to our hearts. May you all be blessed with countless blessings.