Quick Update

What a difference a year makes!
I was watching old home movies the other night & could not believe in the last year how much the kids have changed! They are able to do so many more things & are just so grown up.

Today Marli, Conor & I were driving in the car. We were listening to the Primary Music cd our ward gave us. Marli asked me "Mom, Do you know why I absolutely love these songs?" I said because they help you feel the spirit? She said "Yeah and because they are just so kind"! I thought that was pretty special. Marli is loving Kindergarten & has way more friends Than Jacob & me put together. She always has a friend over. She loves Primary & singing. Her teachers tell us she's amazing. She has an incredible memory & loves to draw.

Monday the 21st was Jacob's B-day #7. It's been an incredible journey the last seven years. Marli & I took 30 goodie bags to the school at 2:00. Jake was out at recess. Marli had the camera and took some really great pictures. We went out on the playground & found Jacob. It was so fun to see him playing with his friends. Jake asked for a Big Boy Birthday party this year. I asked him what that meant to him. He asked to have friends from school & church come to his party. I thought it would be better to have it on Tuesday my day off and also not FHE. I planned a really fun party. We had our friends the Marley's come over & about 10 kids. We had pizza, rootbeer, games, prizes & of course cake & ice cream.

Conor has been really growing up lately. I can see him turning into a big boy right before my eyes. Ryan's parents came over on Jacob's b-day. We made homemade pizza & hung out with them. I asked Conor to give Grandma Lyn a hug...he walked right over & hugged her so sweet. We were all a little surprised because it had been awhile since he had seen her. Then I asked him to give Grandpa Reuel a hug. He walked right over & hugged him. I was so proud of him. He's been riding the big wheels lately. He scares me how he flies down our steep driveway. At the very last second before he goes in the street he cranks the handle & turns. He laughs so hard every time. Monday he was running down the driveway & biffed it pretty bad. He landed on the palms of his hands & his little nose. Yesterday he was at my Dad's while I was at work. I guess he tripped & fell. He hit the side of his head & cheek on the edge of one of their in tables. He's got a pretty good bump & black & blue mark. Poor kid. He is 100% boy & goes mock 90 all day. When it's time for bed he laughs & is so happy when I tuck him in. He loves his Blue & white Winnie the Pooh blanket. He wants to have it with him all the time. When it's time to wash it he stands in front of the washer & tells me about it. "I want it he says" He cries for a minute until we go find some big trucks. He is absolutely obsessed with my parents new Jeep. He loves to go for rides in Papa's jeep. My parents bought him a black jeep to play with. When he walks in their house he goes over to where he left it & tells them to get it for him to play with. He's starting to really try to communicate with us & say more words. I can not believe he's going to be two soon. He had a blast at Jacob's party swinging on the big swings with his buddy Porter.

Work is going really well. I'm grateful we have all been healthy & getting used to the busy schedule we have. Ryan got a new glucose monitor that reads his blood sugar all the time. After several near death experiences...we are finally getting his diabetes under control. That in itself is a huge blessing.

Ryan took a vacation day today & went on a Harley ride with some friends. When he gets back he's going to watch some cage fights in Pocatello. My friend Linda is coming over tonight & we're going to watch a movie & make cards. Fun times!

Trials

Today is always a hard day for our family. I can not believe it was seven years ago today that our sweet son Jaxon graduated from this mortal life with the highest honors. We love you so much Jax & miss you like crazy. I'm grateful for the three wonderful years we had you as our son. I'm grateful for all the memories you gave us.

I have the worst migraine today & have been throwing up. It took everything I had to get the kids ready for school. I didn't have a choice & had to go into work for five hours. My boss did some acupuncture on me & was able to really adjust my neck. It helped a lot. I had to go into the school & talk to Jacob's teacher. She is such a wonderful teacher & she asked me to come in on Tuesdays to help her. I'm looking forward to being in the classroom with Jacob & his classmates. We took Jacob into to get his allergy shot. Which we have to do every Tuesday & Thursday. We came home & read & played a couple games. I made clam chowder soup for dinner & garlic bread. I was surprised that everyone liked dinner so much.

I have been receiving a lot of calls & emails lately from friends on family members that are really having some major trials right now. Loosing loved ones suddenly & seeing others suffer with illness's or other trials. I'm not sure why it seems like everyone is suffering greatly. All I know is that through personal trials I have learned this: Adversity is not a punishment, but rather a blessing, for it is through adversity that the Lord blesses us with strength. It seemed like for the longest time we felt we were being punished for something. I know the Lord has blessed me with incredible strength to endure what is asked of me. I have found myself pleading with the Lord numerous times a day lately for those I love. I'm thankful for the gift of prayer.

New Moon Countdown Official Poster

The Reason

Saw this today & it brought tears to my eyes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkKRYbBcUtM&feature=email

Family Pictures

August 13th was Ryan & My 15th wedding anniversary. I told him all I wanted was new family pictures. My brother Kyle & his wife Lesley & their little girl Ella were up from Provo visiting. Lesley has taken our pictures before & does a fantastic job. I asked her if she would find a spot for a photoshoot & take our pictures. We had lunch with all my family at Iggy's.Ryan suprised me with 15 long stem gorgeous pink & red roses. Then we went and saw Angels & Demons. Good movie. Then we went & picked the kids up from my parents & changed our clothes for pictures. We met Kyle & Lesley down by the river & she did a great job at getting natural pictures of us.














I love photography & wish I could take such great pictures. Thanks Lesley for such a fun painless time. I think they all turned out super good.

Saturday the 16th was family day at Ryan's work NRF. We got to go out to the desert/site & see where he works. Ryans parents went with us. My parents kept Conor. It was a lot of fun. The kids got to shoot targets with a fire hose. We got to see alot of things that are always so top secret & confidential. It was a really neat experience. My parents kept all three kids & Ry took me out to dinner at the Outback. We don't get to go on alone dates very often. I usually feel guilty that we should take one of the kids so we can have one on one time with them. Not this time though. It was a fun date.

The kids are all ready for school to start on Monday the 31st. I'm not ready to have Jakey gone all day. I like having a routine, but I don't like all the comittments that go along with it.

Tommorow is Jaxon's B-day he would be 10. We we're going to go to Lagoon with Kyle & Lesley. However my Dad's older brother Jack passed away yesterday. We will be going up to Butte in the morning. His viewing is tomm. night,then the funeral is saturday. My brother Brandon is coming from CouerD'alene. It will be good to see him. It's weird to me that Jack's first wife Thelma passed away a couple days short of exactly a year after Jaxon. Her funeral was on the same exact day as his was a year later. Now Jack is having his viewing on Jaxon's b-day.

We have had a healthy & happy summer other than this week. I'm grateful we've got to spend a lot of time with family & friends.

Two Months

How can it be possible that two entire months have gone by & I have not documented a single thing. Ok I'll try to do a update of what we've been up to. We got new phones in our house. Jakey loves to answer the phone & he loves to use the intercom & talk to me. He loves to talk on the phone more than I do which is a lot!


Most recently we took a trip to Boise with all of Ryan's family. We were able to hang out & spend some quality time together. My kids are so blessed to have so many wonderful Aunts, Uncles & cousins. One of my fave parts of our trip was when we were all out on these paddleboats at Julia Davis park. My sister-in-Law Kim saw a red dragonfly. She told me about it & I felt so happy that she saw it. Ry and I saw it & smiled. Red is one of Jaxon's favorite colors & dragonflies are definately his thing.It only seems right that all of us were out there on the river & having fun as a family when we saw it. I believe dragonflies are how angels can be seen on earth.

Holding on & trying to let go

Sometimes you have to let go to see if there was anything worth holding on to. Unknown

I know it's been a long time since I've updated this blog. We've been busy enjoying our time as a family. I saw this quote today & it really made me stop & think. I've been watching so many people I love endure so many awful trials. Loosing loved ones, loosing their jobs, loosing their homes, loosing their security & peace of mind. I know that what I've been asked to endure this far in life has at times shaken my very foundation. We have went through some serious dark times. We have suffered financial hardship as well as the loss of the most important blessing we have ever enjoyed...the loss of our beautiful son Jaxon.

Last night when we said our family prayers & I tucked the kid's in I took a moment to thank my Father in heaven that right now right this moment Life is Good. Jakey & Marli are growing up way too fast & I wish I could push pause & just snuggle with them & enjoy them right now. Life is what we make it & right now I am choosing to make it the best for all who are around me. I'm grateful for the 4th of July. We live in the Best country in the world. We enjoy our freedom & our families. There is no greater joy than that of living in the moment. I am really enjoying life & being my kids mom!



Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going to fast-you also miss the sense of where you are going and why. Eddie Cantor
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. Dr. Seuss


Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Don't rely on someone else for your happiness and self worth. Only you can be responsible for that. If you can't love and respect yourself - no one else will be able to make that happen. Accept who you are - completely; the good and the bad - and make changes as YOU see fit - not because you think someone else wants you to be different. Stacey Charter


Look at your past. Your past has determined where you are at this moment. What you do today will determine where you are tomorrow. Are you moving forward or standing still?
You don't get to choose how you are going to die. Or when.
You can only decide how you are going to live. Now. Joan Baez


We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. Joseph Campbell

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The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

These are some of my favorite quotes. I'm grateful for the trials I have been given. I'm grateful for the strength my Heavenly Father has blessed me with to endure my trials. I'm grateful that my eternal companion has been with me holding my hand & cheering me on the entire path we have walked. Sometimes it seems we didn't have the ability to walk & we carried one another. That is what family is for though. We are here to help our loved ones any way we can. All in all at the end of the day all that is important is our loved ones.

Elevator

Jakey fell asleep tonight on the floor in my scrapbook room. I tried to carry him up to bed. Half way up the stairs I stopped & said"Man I wish we had a elevator". Jakey perked up & said "Yeah that'd be awesome then Uncle Mark could go in our basement...We'd need elevator music though mom"! Last weekend Mark let Jakey & Marli borrow some Justice League movies. When we picked them up there was only one case. Jake was excited to have the movie. When we got home & he went to put the movie in he was thrilled there were four movies in the case. Jake was so serious when he was explaining to Marli that they have to take really good care of Uncle Marks movies. He said Marli we love you, but you AREN'T allowed to touch them... you might scratch them. Thanks Uncle Mark for making a couple kids very happy! We love you! (hope it's OK I cased these off your blog. I thought the Jazz picture was appropriate because it's playoffs)

Happy Birthday #27 Kyle

• • I remember the day my little brother Kyle was born. I begged my parents for a brother or sister. I honestly didn't care what I got. I was almost eight when he finally got here. I was so happy! Although there have been times in my life that I thought there was a huge mix up at the hospital....because Kyle doesn't look like us & he is way smarter than all of us combined. I know he is my brother. The one I prayed so hard for.
    

I always knew Kyle would be an Awesome dad. He has been so good with my kids. To watch him with kids is so fun. He is like a big kid. I wish we lived closer so we could see each other everyday!


I hope you have a very Happy Birthday little brother! I am so proud to be your sister. You make me smile every time I see your face or hear your voice! Thanks for putting up with me over the years! I love you so very much!

We hope you have the best Birthday ever! We wish we could be there with you to celebrate! Go Red Sox!!!! I hope you always know how much your family in Idaho loves you!

Photoshoot With Lesley Day #2

I finally got the pictures to upload from the disc Lesley sent me. They all turned out so cute. Even though she's taken lots more than two photshoots of my kids I named this one two because it was day two in Provo with them.

When we went to the Draper outlet mall Marli picked out a panda necklace that came in a cute little panda. She loves to shop as much as her mama.

The kids got these fun suckers from Chuckee Cheeze with all their prize tickets.


Sweet little Conor

I love the Osh Gosh store in Draper. I got the boys some really fun matching shirts & shorts. They both like wearing matching clothes.


Jakey picked out this hat with his his prize tickets. Funny how we had a thousand tokens & I still ended up paying like $10 so they could get a sucker & a hat.

Ella Bella with Marli's sucker. When Kyle brought her to our hotel she was still in her Jammie's. I helped Kyle get her dressed & do her hair. It was so fun. Marli wanted Ella to wear one of her hair bows.

I Love this picture of the two girls. Their expressions are priceless. I'm hoping one day I can figure out photoshop & collage pictures. For now I'll have to settle for posting them this way. I'm so grateful Lesley captured these for me. I love them all!

Pictures By Lesley

When we were in Utah visiting my brother Kyle & his family I asked Lesley to take some pictures of all four Grand kids. I'm working on a collage for Mothers day & one for my dad's garage for Fathers day. She sent me the disc & I thought I would post some of the pictures. I'll try & post some more later. These were mostly taken the night we went to dinner at Tucanos Brazilian restaurant.

Cute Ella loved sitting by Marli as much as Marli loved it. When we were leaving Marli said "Ella is the sister I've always wanted".

It was fun to put Conor & Ella next to each other. They loved touching & staring at each other.

My cute parents

Conor loves hats. He always has a hat on even if it's not his. He's wearing Jakey's Red sox hat here. A couple fun things Conor does is says "MINE" when he wants something someone has. Usually it's when you have a drink with a straw or food. His grip is way stronger than all of ours. If he wants something bad enough you CAN NOT get it out of his grip. Jakey & Marli know this & have lost many battles with him. He loves shoes (gets that from me). He will put on any ones shoes and walk around in them. He loves being outside. He stands by the door or window & tells you he wants out. He HATES the highchair. If your sitting on the floor he backs up & sits on your lap. He just started giving us kisses, where he tries to pucker up & kiss. So cute. The other day Jacob said the funniest thing about Conor that is SO TRUE "Instead of Danger around every corner, at our house it's Conor is around every corner". Conor locked himself in the bathroom by pulling out the bottom drawer. It took Ry a good 15 minutes to get him out. Conor LOVES making messes. He goes from room to room destroying all that he can get his little paws on. Anything on the kitchen table is fair game to him.

When we went back to Kyle & Lesley's the kids had so much fun playing with Ella's toys. We were surprised when Ella came over to Ryan. She was totally fascinated with his whiskers. She was so funny pulling on them.

Ella liked Marli's button on her shirt.

This is the only picture of me & it's quite a winner don't ya think? I must have eaten way too much by the expression on my face. I liked this one despite my goofy eyes being closed. It's fun to see everyone enjoying a meal together. (Minus Lesley cuz she's taking the picture) She got our cute waiter though.

This was while we were waiting to be seated. Not sure where Jakey, Ryan & I were?

We had the best time with My brother Kyle his wife Lesley & Ella. I wish we lived closer so we could hang out all the time. Thanks Les for taking pictures.