This is me, Melanie

If you can call it a job

2012-02-15T11:44:00.003-07:00

At the end of December I got the best part time job ever. This is my job description.
1. Love Basketball, especially the Utah Jazz.
2. Help get the crowd excited during time outs and at half time.
3. Be willing to act crazy and have fun.
4. Be able to run up and down the stairs in the arena to give out free merchandise.
This is basically the job description. So, I get paid to watch the Jazz play basketball. This is the best job ever!!! I absolutely LOVE it..
The only downside to it is ugly uniforms..

sometimes

2012-02-09T10:28:00.002-07:00

Sometimes life feels very lonely. Sometimes I am tired of putting on the face that everything is great when it is not. It is hard not feeling like I have any real friends, nobody that I feel like I can share my problems with, without feeling like I am burdening them.It's hard living in a place for a year and a half and not feeling included in my ward and neighborhood. I feel like I have really tried. But, there is the dang clique. Do adults really have cliques? This has been a hard transition, one that we have prayed about and felt good about but, it has been so hard!! I am trying, trying , trying but today I am tired... Tired of so many things. But, to even say them aloud or in writing brings on tremendous guilt because I shouldn't feel tired of being a mother or wife or babysitter or whatever hat I put on for the day. But, I am... Today I am tired of all these things and just want to stop... Sometimes I wish I could just stop.

My greatest accomplishments are sometimes my greatest sorrows.

2011-10-14T08:51:00.006-06:00

As my kids are getting older and taking on new roles for themselves, I really have had much contemplation on my greatest role as being their mother. I have sorrow for my older ones as they have been my lab rats in the sense that everything was practiced on them first. I find myself a much better and patient mother to my younger ones than I was to my older ones. I am grateful for repentance and forgiveness, as I try and become better today than I was yesterday. My greatest joys and sorrows have been because of my wonderful and beautiful children.
I wonder what I can do better today than I did yesterday? I feel so much that they have got to be valiant and strong and so do I as their mother. They are being raised in enemy territory with so much of the world pulling at them. I need to make my home a place of refuge and peace. Sometimes that is hard but I have got to be willing to do better daily.
I came across some amazing quotes that I would love to share. They have really helped me have the desire to do better and not get so down on myself when my children choose to go astray.

"Let the father and mother, who are members of this Church and Kingdom, take a righteous course, and strive with all their might never to do a wrong, but to do good all their lives; if they have one child or one hundred children, if they conduct themselves towards them as they should, binding them to the Lord by their faith and prayers, I care not where those children go, they are bound up to their parents by an everlasting tie, and no power of earth or hell can separate them from their parents in eternity; they will return again to the fountain from whence they sprang."
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 11:215)

Another one that I really liked.
A successful parent is one who has loved, one who has sacrificed, and one who
has cared for, taught, and ministered to the needs of a child. If you have done all of these and your child is still wayward or troublesome or worldly, it could well be that you are, nevertheless, a successful parent. Perhaps there are children who have come into the world that would challenge any set of parents under any set of circumstances. Likewise, perhaps there are others who would bless the lives of, and be a joy to, almost any father or mother. My concern today is that there are parents who may be pronouncing harsh judgments upon themselves and may be allowing these feelings to destroy their lives, when in fact they have done their best and should continue in faith. (Howard W. Hunter, Conference Report, October 1983)

I hope to do better, be better and rely on the Holy Ghost to help me be the best parent I can be.

My husband

2011-09-11T19:27:00.002-06:00

I was reading a blog of a man who lost his wife a few months ago. He was going on about all the things that his wife did that he never realized until she was gone. It made me realize how truly grateful I am for my husband and I wanted to write it down.
Can I just say I am one blessed woman. I have a really good husband. I am spending forever with a man I still get butterflies with when I see him. I enjoy spending my time with him, talking to him about my triumphs and my sorrows. He is a righteous man who honors his priesthood. He is a great father who tries to teach by example. We have grown together in so many ways. I just love him! I am thankful for the advice and wisdom he shares with me to help me become a better person. I understand the wisdom in the counsel the Lord gives to cleave unto your spouse and none else. This year we celebrate 20 years of marriage. I know that is just a drop in the bucket of time that we have together. He is my best friend.

this affected me greatly today

2011-08-17T09:38:00.002-06:00

I was reading 2 Nephi chapter 4 and it really affected me greatly. Oh my! What an amazing chapter this is. I so can identify with Nephi's feelings here. He is upset because of the weakness of his flesh and giving into sin and temptation. I had such feelings of sadness as I read this because I feel the same way lots of times. I have such a desire to do good but allow my human side to get in the way. I have listed in my mind many things that I want to work on to be better but fall short and I don't do them.
I want to be better at making sure our family is reading our scriptures. I want to be better at exercising. I want to be better about not speaking bad about people who I have chosen to be offended by or thinking bad about them too. I have a great desire to do better and be better. My actions affect so many more people than just myself. I have just got to try and do better today and take it one day at a time.
I love how Nephi says "Awake my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice O my heart and give place no more for the enemy of my soul. Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation."
Those scriptures bring me great peace. It brings hope to me.

Aubrey's married

2011-07-05T07:36:00.004-06:00

So, I have crossed one of those big moments in my life, I am now a mother in law. I've got to confess that when I first found out that Aubrey was engaged, there were a few temper tantrums on my part. I really went through the process of he is not good enough for her. She needs to wait a few more years and so on.
But, I am thankful to say that I am happy she is happy. Does that sound cliche? It is true though. It is fun to watch them start their new married life together, to remember some of my own experiences through theirs.

This life is ever changing and I am thankful for the constant learning that each new phase of my life presents.

Random thoughts on a "good clean Saturday"

2011-06-18T13:37:00.004-06:00

I love the smell of Pinesol. I'm not sure what it is about this smell but I love it. Saturday is "good clean day" as we call it at my house and so on this day my house smells like Pinesol.If you could give smells an emotion it would be a happy smell for me.

Not much better than listening to Pandora U2 radio while cleaning. It just makes me want to dance while making my house spic and span.

Have you ever smelt Mrs. Meyers Basil scent household cleaner? It smells so good. Every time I use it, I almost want to lick the counter.

At the end of the day it's such a good feeling to have a clean house top to bottom and to know that the whole family pitched in to make it this way!!

Elizabethtown

2011-05-03T10:57:00.004-06:00

I know this movie is quite a few years old. But, I saw it for the first time the other night. It was so good. It really brought up lots of emotion about my own Father's death. There are things that I wish were different after my Dad died. I really wish that he was not cremated. In the back of my mind he is still living in Arizona. It is hard to say good bye to ashes. It is hard for me to get finality with it. I really miss him oh so very much. I miss the big, strong hugs that he would give when he would see me. Even after I was an adult, when he would hug me I felt like I did when I was young.
I know its been 2 1/2 years but sometimes it is still so hard..
But, if you want to see a good movie and haven't seen this one, I recommend it.

Reminded once again

2011-05-02T10:12:00.004-06:00

I am reminded once again of the importance of temple attendance. I came across this great talk by John H. Groberg and I wanted to share some things from it.
You Are Invited

...to spend a half day (or even a full day) in the temple each month Here is what monthly temple participation will do for you:

1. If a man, you will become mighty; if a woman, powerful. (D&C 109:22)
2. It will serve as great "insurance protection" for your marriage. (D&C 132:19)
3. The blessings of the Eternal Gods will be called down upon you, and great spiritual growth will be yours. (D&C 109: 12&14)
4. Unseen angels will watch over your loved ones when Satanic forces tempt them. (Acts 27:23)
5. Your families will draw close to the Lord and there will be no empty chairs in the Celestial Kingdom. (Hymn #301)
6. Your children will all go on missions. (D&C 109:58)
7. You children will get married in the temple. (Conference Talks)
8. The veil will be thin, you will have great spiritual growth, and many spiritual experiences will distill upon you. (D&C 138)
9. You will be prepared for exaltation--with a celestial body, a celestial mind, and a celestial personality. (3 Nephi 12-20, 3 )
10. You will become receptive to divine guidance and you will receive spiritual perception to help you grapple with your problems and cares. (D&C 38:30) (D& C 3:1-3)
11. You will see clearly how to make critical decisions that weigh heavily on your mind. (D&C (109:42)
12. You will become Christlike. (D&C 109:22-25)

What a blessing for me to have so many temples close by. I am committing to myself to go more often.

Monotony

2011-02-17T12:04:00.002-07:00

I feel like my days have become monotonous.
Every morning my alarm goes off at 6:45. I get Devin and Haylee up for school. I help Haylee get ready and send her out the door at 7:30. I than wake up Jerin at 7:45. Take him to school at 8:25.
I come home and start the dishes, feed Adalyn breakfast, put a load of laundry in the washer. I take a shower. Than I bathe Adalyn. On Mondays I grocery shop. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays I babysit most of the day for other people. On Fridays I work as a lunchlady at Jerin's school.
Now, I'm not complaining. I feel very blessed to be able to stay home with my kids. I love my job as a mom. I'm just saying sometimes it is so uniform. I'm always so excited when I get an invitation to lunch or something. I just think I need to add a little more variety to my schedule.

My birthday

2011-02-10T22:10:00.005-07:00

It was a great day today. I woke up this morning feeling rested. I had a good night sleep. Adalyn hasn't been feeling well. She had a double ear infection and she seems to get teeth in groups of four. So, she has had a miserable month and hasn't been sleeping well. But, last night was a little bit different. Anyway, I am grateful that I woke up feeling rested.
I than went and got my hair cut and colored. I haven't done this since September and was looking really gray. I can't believe all the gray hair that I have. I am to young for this.
Than my beautiful sister Amber took me out for Sushi.. We love sushi!

While I was gone for lunch, a beautiful bouquet of flowers was delivered from my sweet daughter Aubrey. I really miss her.
I than came home and my other sister Monica had brought me a beautiful cake. Oh my goodness, it was heavenly!
We ended the evening with taking the kids to one of my favorite places to eat, Cafe Rio. I love my Pork Salad.
The only thing that got me down today was the resignation of Jerry Sloan, the coach of the Utah Jazz.

My heart broke and I shed a tear or two. What are we ever going to do without him?
Almost a perfect day.

Just one of those times

2011-01-19T22:20:00.009-07:00

I am sitting here going through blogs, reading about different lives. I am thankful that I am able to get glimpses about what people are doing, about how they live their lives. Doing this, has really made me miss all my loved ones that are gone.
I was reading my friend Carmen's blog. She has a picture of her brother who reminds me of my brother Joel. Oh! how I miss him. I just long to see him, to talk to him.So much has gone on since he left us. I wonder what he thinks of all of this. I would love to ask him. Joel! I miss you.

he is such a handsome man!

I went to my Uncle Ricky's house the day that Aubrey left to NY and sat and talked with him. He looks so much like my dad. I couldn't help but just stare at him. He even has some of the same mannerisms. OH! how I would love to talk to my dad about my latest adventures in basketball. Every time I step out on the court to coach I think of him.

he was my coach through all my elementary years. I loved it.

This was taken in Mesa. We went and visited him in March before he died.

I just read a post on my cousin Kim's blog about my grandma Dean. I miss her so much. I miss the little things like cards in the mail that I could always count on getting. I miss going to her home and knowing that we would probably have frozen pizza and root beer floats. I love that she loved her great-grandkids just as much as her grandkids.

I am so blessed to call her my grandma

So, this really doesn't happen very often. But, tonight I just miss them.

My latest find

2011-01-02T14:34:00.002-07:00

I am reading a great book right now called Why Gender Matters by Leonard Sax. I continue to be amazed about how the things that I seem to need most in my life come to me. I give all my thanks to my Heavenly Father for that, as he seems to know me and exactly what will help me out at that time in my life. I would recommend this to any parent raising a child. I've loved the amazing insights and knowledge I've attained. Hopefully it will help me be a better parent.

For the cause of Christ

2010-12-25T23:53:00.003-07:00

I found this quote and absolutely loved it. I want to share..

"I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, color-less dreams, tamed visions, worldly taking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ. I must go 'till He comes, give 'till I drop, preach 'till all know, and work 'till He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear."

I am amazed

2010-11-28T08:52:00.004-07:00

I am truly amazed by the wealth of knowledge that has come to me from reading As a Man Thinketh. Every single day I read there is something else that rings completely true for me. I continually share bits and pieces of them in my facebook. It has been such a treasure to me. This small book is jam packed with goodness. I would highly recommend reading it. You can go online and the text is all on there for free. Here is a link
Happy Reading!

Aubrey's playing her first live show

2010-11-22T14:32:00.003-07:00

I am so excited about this. Aubrey is playing her first live show this Wednesday in Provo. She has such an amazing voice. I have missed hearing her sing since she moved out on her own. I can't wait..

My reading as of late

2010-11-17T09:26:00.002-07:00

"Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself." - James Allen

Jonathan got an IPad from his boss and I have really enjoyed having it. What I have enjoyed most is an application called IBook. It allows me to have so many books at the touch of my fingertips. Some of my favorite books are free! The one I am reading again is called As a man Thinketh by James Allen. I think this is on my list of one of my favorites. It's full of so much thought provoking material for such a small book. I would highly recommend it.

My Quandary

2010-09-12T22:15:00.003-06:00

So I am having a predicament and I am really not sure what to do about it. How personal do I make my blog? You see I am having lots of learning experiences lately that have really opened my eyes to some of my own behaviors. Do I write about those or do I just keep this blog about the happenings in my family life. I am not sure what to do. This I think is why my posts have been few and far between lately.
For instance I have been reading some amazing books. I have had some ah-ha moments with them, some that have really awakened me to behaviors that I want to change in myself. But, I struggle with knowing what to share. Anyway, those are some of my thoughts. Hopefully, I will get it figured out and post more one way or the other..

Catch up

2010-08-23T09:15:00.003-06:00

Oh! What a bad blogger I am. So much has happened. So I really would like to hit on the highlights. But, we usually take all the pictures with Jonathan's phone and so when I sit down to update, I think "I have got to go to his computer and get the pictures that I want." Than, end up not updating anything because I don't have the pictures to go along with it. So, my goal is to get these things done by the end of this week.
But for today I want to write what is on my mind right now.
I was reading in Matthew chapter 11. There were a few things that really stood out to me. In verse 19 it talks about how the Pharisees were judging Christ and he once again says it is by our works and deeds that will tell us in whom we follow.
This theme keeps playing out for me in my life. I am guessing the Lord really wants me to be aware of my actions towards others, especially those that are closest to me. Sometimes, it is easier to be nicer to strangers than the ones that I love. It also helps me to remember to not make unrighteous judgments. I can do better. I am thankful for this continual reminder for me in all the things I have been reading lately. For me it's like a big flashing sign that says " this is what you need to be working on." I am thankful for that.

Actions speak louder than words

2010-07-22T08:19:00.003-06:00

I have always been a big believer in the saying actions speak louder than words. In the last general conference we had, I heard the quote "your actions are speaking so loudly, I can't hear what you are saying." I have tried to make sure that my words and actions are saying the same thing. Right now I am reading the most amazing book and I came across something that I would like to share.
" there is a power in every word we say and every thought we think, but sometimes the greatest service we can offer is not to say something. Words are but one form of communication and they are not nearly as potent as the energy contained in our actions, including our thoughts, body language, eye contact and facial expressions. You know you trust the energy behind the words spoken to you far more than you do the words themselves. When you say something you don't mean, you know the other person picks that up. You can feel it."
This was an Ah hah! Moment for me. I really want to commit myself to be able to do this and be this.

Just at the right time

2010-07-21T00:25:00.002-06:00

It seems to me that whatever I am looking for I find it. If I choose to look for the bad in things I find it. The great thing about this is, it happens with the good also. I was having a particularly hard evening and decided to read and try and get my mind off of things that have been weighing me down. I found this great quote that I really want to share.

“... joy and sorrow are inseparable. . . together they come and when one sits alone with you . . . remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.”

-Kahlil Gibran

A prayer by Thomas Merton

2010-07-12T10:42:00.002-06:00

This is just what I needed today. So, I am going to share.

My Lord God

I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,

and the fact that I think I am following

your will does not mean

that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that my desire to please you

does in fact please you.

And I hope that I have that desire

in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything

apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this

you will lead me by the right road

though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always

though I may seem to be lost

and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear,

for you are ever with me,

and you will never leave me

to face my troubles all alone.

Some of the hardest things to do

2010-06-04T14:38:00.003-06:00

Lately, I will admit, that I have been having a rough time. But, I am grateful that the Lord sends Angels into my life right when I think I can't do it anymore. I know we all have these times and I really don't like publishing my boo hoo moments because I know I am not very different from so many other people. These are some of the things that have been on my mind lately.
Do I really follow Christ through my example? Am I willing to really forgive and turn the other cheek when I feel like I have been wronged? These are some of the things that have tested me lately. I can come up with justifications on why I did this or that. But, it really comes down to that I have taken Christs name upon me and in so doing I have a responsibility to be like him. Oh! and sometimes it is really hard!!
I was challenged by one of my angels to read D&C 121. This has really helped to give me perspective. I am thankful for the tender mercies of my heavenly father. I really needed one today.

My grandma

2010-05-24T09:25:00.008-06:00

I went and visited my grandma yesterday. It was a bittersweet visit. I know that it was probably my last one with her while she is on this earth. I went and sat by her bedside and held her hand. The first thing she said to me was " oh your hands are cold." she than grabbed both of my hands and put them in between hers so she could warm them up. That small act of love is what my grandmother has always been about, thinking of others. She is such an example of what Jesus Christ taught. How blessed I am to have her as my grandma.

She played pat a cake with Adalyn and sang pop goes the weasel. We all sang if you're happy and you know it.
She seemed to wear out fast. I just held her hand and stared at her beautiful face while she slept. I love this woman so much. My heart filled with gratitude for being blessed enough to be her granddaughter, to be taught so many great lessons by her example throughout my life. While she will be missed here, I am thankful for the knowledge that I know she will be with my grandpa, dad, brother Joel, and so many other loved ones that have passed on. What a great reunion that will be..

All you need is love

2010-05-21T15:59:00.002-06:00

Isn't it the truth though.

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you
in time - It's easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.

England and back

2010-05-15T14:18:00.004-06:00

For the last four months Aubrey has been planning her trip to England. She started talking to the family at the end of January. She bought her plane ticket the beginning of February and has been planning her life accordingly. She said her goodbyes to her family and friends, packed her suitcases and her room because we are moving in a few months and I didn't want to do it. She was sad to leave but so excited for a new adventure in a different country for the rest of the year.
We took her to the airport Wednesday afternoon and all said our goodbyes through tears.I knew she would land in London Heathrow at about 5 am our time. I got a call from her at 6 am and this is what she said " Mom I am trying really hard not to cry but immigration will not let me through. They have searched all my suitcases. They have gone through all my personal items including my journal and read some of my most cherished letters. They tell me that my story is sending up red flags and they are going to give me a formal interview. I have already been sitting here for over an hour."
I am frantic. Both Jonathan and I start calling trying to figure out exactly where she is and what the problem is. Well, we find out that the UK has a law against Au Pairs coming into England from the United States. It is very specific to Americans. The family she was going to stay with did not know the law. They had 2 nannies previously that were both European. After the family she was staying with talked to immigration and we talked to immigration they still decided to send her home. It's the law.
The worst part about it was they treated her as if she were a criminal. They would not allow her any of her belongings. She had a horrific headache and only gave her medicine after Jonathan called 2 different times and yelled at them to give her some aspirin. She had to stay in this small room and couldn't leave. She was in London and could not see anything.She had to sleep in chairs.
They booked her a flight for the next day at 10:00 am London time which is 3 am our time. But, they still would not allow her to have any of her things. They gave it all to the flight attendant including her passport.
When she arrived at JFK she had to be escorted off the plane. But, when she got to customs they asked her why she was back so soon and she told them of her story. With the biggest grin and a very heavy New York accent the man said "welcome home!" Aubrey's response to that was " I love America.. I love Americans!!"
While I am glad she is home safe and sound, my heart hurts for her. She really has been devastated by the whole experience. She has spent so much time and money into making this happen and it didn't. I just hope to hurry and find her a job so she can put her mind on other things.

Bon Voyage

2010-05-11T21:35:00.006-06:00

My baby is leaving to England tomorrow. Yesterday was a hard day for me. It is hard to see her grow up and move away. There are so many things that I am going to miss while she is gone. I am going to miss her beautiful singing voice. She is always singing, around the house, in the car, the shower, while we are eating. When we are in church, sometimes I will stop singing just so I can hear her sing. I will miss her infectious bubbly happiness. People just want to be around her when she is like this. I will miss her amazing cleaning skills. She can clean a house like no other. I will miss her strong spirit in my home.
She is so talented. I love watching her come up with new ideas for photography. She is so much like her father in the way she thinks and acts. I am just not ready for her to go. We have had a saying since she was very young. It is " I love you a million sweedish fish and red M&Ms." But, I love her even more than that.
I will miss you Aubrey Lee!

She is so beautiful and talented!

One of my favorites.

9 months old

2010-05-08T08:00:00.001-06:00

Oh! my goodness. Why does she have to grow up so fast? I really would like to slow her down. She is my last baby and I am trying so hard to enjoy every moment I have with her. Everything she does is just the best. She is such a happy baby and is always smiling. She has learned to crawl, which is so cute because it is sort of gimp crawling. When we sing "if you're happy and you know it" she claps in the right places. She will actually grab my own hands and make me clap also. We have had a hard time feeding her solid foods because if she can't feed it to herself than she doesn't want it. She constantly tries to grab the spoon from me while I am feeding her. Can you say independent already? She doesn't have any teeth yet. But, she seems like she has been teething forever. I hope they come in soon. She is such a ray of sunshine in our lives. I am so thankful for her.

one of my greatest loves

2010-05-04T11:19:00.004-06:00

Growing up in the Victor Dean family I almost can't help but love basketball. Lots of my fondest memories with my dad have to do with basketball. Well, these last few months have been full of my favorite sport. I was able to go to game 6 of the Jazz/Nuggets series. We watched them play an amazing game and wrap up the series at home. I absolutely loved it. I always said if I were wealthy I would buy season tickets right on the floor. Oh! what a dream. Anyway, let's hope they can do it again against the Lakers. I would love for the Finals to be the Jazz and the Celtics, my 2 favorite teams.

Oh! wouldn't that be awesome...

a bit of ranting

2010-03-03T15:28:00.003-07:00

Oh man! Sometimes it is so hard to be a parent. I have all the best intentions to be a good example to them, to try and make sure they know I love them and trust them. It just seems in the past few weeks it has become really hard to the point where I want to just pick up and go hide out for a week or so. I wouldn't do it but sometimes I sure feel like it. I am tired of the same behaviors being exhibited and than the consequences are handed out but it happens again. Yes, I am being vague on purpose to spare embarrassment to some of my children. But, what other things do I do? I feel like a failure. I really keep the mantra in my head "just keep swimming swimming..." over and over again. I try and talk with a soft voice even sometimes through clenched teeth and sometimes I don't speak softly at all but I yell... and than have major guilt when I say my prayers at night.
I love being a mother to my children. I am blessed with 5 beautiful, unique souls. But, man oh man! IT IS SO HARD!!!!! I will be happy if I can just get through this week in one piece.

My big and little helper

2010-03-02T10:02:00.004-07:00

I am a very healthy person. I hardly ever get sick, which is a great blessing, especially for a mother. But, yesterday I woke up with a migraine. I have had 4 migraine headaches in my life. It was completely debilitating. If I tried to get up, I became very dizzy and sick to my stomach. I wondered how in the heck I was going to take care of Adalyn. Aubrey had to be at school. Jonathan just started a new job and could not miss work. So, I asked Haylee if she would stay home and help me take care of Addie. She was more than willing to help me out. She did such a great job. She helped change her diaper. She stayed on my bed with her and watched TV while I slept. She even brought me a glass of water and rubbed my neck. She played with her and kept her entertained until Aubrey got home.
When Aubrey got home she took Adalyn and just let me sleep. She dressed her and even painted her toenails. It is so nice to not have to worry about these things when I am feeling sick. I really have such good girls.

Going to England

2010-02-04T18:28:00.003-07:00

Aubrey is going to Worcestershire England for 6 months to be a Nanny. She applied about a month ago and found a few families that were really interested in having her as a nanny. She really got a great feeling about this one couple in England. So, she will be leaving at the beginning of May to start a new adventure.
I have such mixed emotions about it. I am excited for her. This is a great opportunity for her to travel and meet new people. But, she is leaving. My baby is leaving. I know that this was going to happen eventually but, I was hoping for awhile down the road.
She is so excited, she can hardly stand it. We are in the process of getting her passport and plane ticket together. We have already checked on churches close by. There are three near where she is living. I am so glad for that.
I just wish that my kids would not grow up so fast. I am not ready for this..

6 months old

2010-01-24T21:20:00.004-07:00

I can't believe it. Adalyn is already 6 months old. It has gone by so fast for me. I have loved every single minute of being her mommy. She is such a good baby. I have given her the nickname Smiley. She is always smiling. She has such a sweet disposition about her.

Her accomplishments in this amount of time are rolling from front to back and from back to front. She can almost sit up by herself. She loves people food. Her first taste of food was around Thanksgiving. She had sweet potatoes and loved them. I guess she takes after her mommy there. She is about 16.5 lbs but not sure on height. I have to take her in for her check-up to get that.

She LOVES to jump. You will find her jumping anytime she is in a standing position. It feels like she has springs in her legs. She is a quiet baby though. The only time you will really here her is when she is upset about something.
I cherish so much this time I have with her. The only thing I would change is to slow it down. It is going by to fast for me.

Devin

2010-01-18T13:08:00.006-07:00

Devin has had a busy last few months. He decided to try his hand at wrestling.This was a great time commitment for him as they have 2 1/2 hours of practice every weekday and tournaments on Tuesday and Saturdays. He has really loved it and has learned a lot. It sure is an intense sport though, different from most other sports because it is just one on one. Sometimes I find it hard to watch him because it is so intense.
This is him placing 2nd in his weight division for a tournament in Delta.

He also is refereeing 5th and 6th grade basketball again. He really enjoys this and can make some money also.He is trying to decide what he wants to do for high school next year. He was thinking about going to UCAS which is an accelerated high school on the campus of UVU. He would have his associate degree by the time he graduated from high school and have 2 more years of education paid for to get his bachelors degree. But, this would mean leaving his friends and really having to buckle down and concentrate on his studies, not much time for anything else.

He was also just made President of the Teachers Quorum for our ward. He takes this calling seriously and attends all his meetings that are required of him without much complaining either. He is a good boy and I can truly say he is such a joy for me to raise. I know having teenagers has its hard times but, I am okay with that because it sure has its good times too.

All she wanted for Christmas.

2010-01-14T22:51:00.002-07:00

I must say that some of the cutest pictures of my kids is when they have lost their 2 front teeth and Haylee did it just in time for Christmas. She did say she thought it would be gross to ask Santa for 2 front teeth. In her words " where would he get them from and what kid would want to find teeth in their stocking? That's just gross. " She is so funny.
On another note, she turned 7 on the 31st. She is my New Years baby. We always have such a HUGE celebration for her birthday. Well, the whole country does or atleast she thinks so. Oh! to be 7 again. I love my Haylee bug..

Hello again

2010-01-13T23:07:00.004-07:00

So I have been gone for awhile. I thought I would do a few catch up posts this weekend. But, I had to share this poem that Jerin, my 11 year old wrote. We had Parent Teacher Conferences and he read this aloud to me.
Here is his poem he wrote in school.

If I were in charge of the World

if i were in charge of the world I'd cancel- dramatic vampire movies, awkward moments on the phone,
naked good luck trolls on pencils,
excruciating headaches and boring typing classes.
If i were in charge of the world, There'd be cheap sushi,
free stuff for every A you get on your report card,
santa would come more than once a year,
pomegranates are a lot cheaper,
and sugar is a fruit.

if i were in charge of the world
you wouldnt have drugs.
you wouldnt have alcohol.
you wouldnt have burnt toast.
or " you didnt put a bag in the trash can"
you wouldnt even have crooked teeth.
If i were in charge of the world, reading would be a sport.
All hairs would be a little straighter.
and a person who sometimes forgot to go to bed,
and sometimes forgot to write down the homework,
would still be allowed to be in charge of the world.
-Jerin Bond

I got all teary eyed when he was done because first of all, it made me realize that he is growing up so fast and also that he is very expressive in his writing. What a great kid he is. He brings me so much joy. I love being a Mom.

This reminds me of my Grandma

2009-11-13T16:28:00.005-07:00

I went and spent some time with my Grandma today. As, I was looking around her house I was thinking of all the things that remind me of her.
These are some of the things that come to my mind.

1. Peaches and Toast.
Ever since I can remember Grandma would serve us peaches and toast for breakfast. When she was in Kirtland and Grandpa was still alive, it was her homemade bread and the peaches from her tree that she had canned. We LOVED that breakfast.

2. Playdough
Not the store bought playdough but her famous homemade salt dough. I remember my sister Amber eating it, sometimes until it made her sick.

3. The Magnetic shaving face guy

She always had these at her house. I loved playing with them.

4. Diet Pepsi

I always remember her drinking this.

5. Balloons and bubbles.
She always had these fun things lying around for the kids to play with.

Memories at Grandmas house are full of happiness for me. I love her so much. I am glad I got to spend some time today with her.

Gratitude

2009-11-03T13:28:00.002-07:00

I am taking my Aunt Lori's advice about writing things we are grateful for. With my Grandma being diagnosed with cancer, it really makes me want to find those many things that Heavenly Father has given to me. Things could be so much worse and so I want to publicly write the things that I am most grateful for.
The first thing that comes to my mind is the knowledge that my Heavenly Father is aware of me and loves me. When I get down on my knees to pray, I know he heres me, loves me and answers my prayers.

I am grateful for an amazing husband. He is like a good cheese, he just gets better with age. He is a compassionate man with a strong sense of what is right and wrong. He loves the gospel of Jesus Christ and tries hard to show it to our children and those around him. He is a great father, trying to constantly teach our children what is true.

I LOVE being a mom. I am so grateful for this. My greatest joys in life are my children. I am grateful for all the different stages that my children are at, even the teenage stages. I learn so much from them. I truly am finding joy in this.

I am grateful for good books that help me become a better person. I find that the Lord really guides my path and I find just what will help me the most in a good book. I love having those light bulb moments that help me become a better me.

I am grateful to wake up to the beautiful smile of my baby. She smiles so much, I think her cheeks just might fall off her face. She melts my heart. I feel like I am holding a little piece of heaven with her.

I am grateful for my health and the health of my family. We have been blessed to be very healthy this year, all of us. Through reading, I have found different ways to stay healthy and am grateful for that knowledge. It has sure paid off.
I really could go on and on. There are so many things that are given to me daily.

I love this scripture Matthew 6:28-34
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof

The Lord truly blesses me.. I am grateful for that.

Update on Addie

2009-10-08T12:02:00.008-06:00

Wow!! I can't believe that I have gone a whole month without updating anything. So much has happened in that amount of time also. It's just that if I have a free minute, I am trying to catch up on cleaning and laundry and all that good stuff. I can say that I have gotten good at doing things one handed.

Adalyn has been such an amazing joy to have in our home. She is such a happy baby. She is growing way to fast. Her latest stats are at her 2 month appointment she weighed 12lbs 8 ozs which is the 95th percentile. She was 24 inches long which is the 90th percentile. She has now been sleeping through the night for 11 days. She goes to sleep about 10:00 and wakes up to eat around 5. Than goes back to sleep until about 8.

We had her baby blessing the first Sunday in September. It was really nice. We had lots of family come and support us.

I also wanted to share something I have found that I want to recommend to all moms of newborns. They are called Kiddopotamus.

They are awesome. I have bought three of them. They help keep her swaddled and she can't wriggle her arms out. They also help keep her asleep longer. They have velcro on the blanket so they stay nice and snug. We use them every night before she gets put in bed. She has also almost outgrown her Moses basket. So, I guess we will be putting her in her crib in the next few weeks. That really makes me sad because I would really like her to stay little longer..

She has also found her voice. Aubrey sings to her and she will start singing back. Maybe she will be a singer like Aubrey. I have it on video and will post in another time. She is so happy in the morning. She just grins from ear to ear.
But, she hates her car seat. Man does she ever. This makes it hard to go anywhere. If it is longer than 20 minutes, she starts just wailing. Plus, she will not take a pacifier. So, we are homebound lots of the time.

But, life is good! I feel very blessed.

I love this lady

2009-09-01T13:21:00.005-06:00

This last weekend Summer and I took the babies and went and visited my grandma. I am so thankful for this great lady. She is my hero.

I love this picture. She is looking at Adalyn with such love.

Here she is with Adalyn and Summer's baby Brighton. These pictures are priceless to me. I love my Grandma and I am thankful that my kids can know her also..

2 week check-up

2009-08-12T11:55:00.002-06:00

I took Adalyn in for her two week check up and these are her stats.

At Birth she weighed 7 lbs 5 ozs and was 19 inches long.
At her 2 week check-up she was 8 lbs 4 ozs and 20 1/2 inches long.

She is such an amazing eater. She feeds every hour and a half which makes for a very tired mama. She still sleeps lots. I love having her in our home. The kids just adore her. Thank goodness for all the hands that want to help hold her. Otherwise, I am not sure how I would get anything done. I love having her sleep with me, which I know and have learned from past children that is not such a good idea. I just figure I will stop when she is a few months old. I feel safer knowing she is right next to me.
This has been so much work but I LOVE being her mother. I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has given me the opportunity to take care of her.

The Birth story part 2 (part 1 below)

2009-08-06T10:44:00.006-06:00

After running around trying to throw a bag together, we left for the hospital at 10:30. The contractions started to come a little more regular but they were still mild. Jonathan stopped at the gas station to load up on goodies for him and I. I guess I was still in denial because I was in no hurry to get to the hospital. I just really wanted to go home, get in bed and have a good night sleep.

We get to the hospital and I got out of the car. When I stood up it felt like Niagara falls had just let loose. I was soaked. How could there be anymore amniotic fluid? So, I embarrassingly sloshed my way into the Womans center. Thank goodness there were no elevators to go up.

When I went into the center, she asked me if I was sure my water had broken. I just sort of laughed. I told her yes that I was sure. She preceded to ask me a ton of questions because I didn't preregister. I was sort of annoyed at this point but answered all the questions.

Finally, I get to my room and I promptly handed them my birth plan, things that I wanted and did not want. Now, I hadn't written it out when my water broke. I had it all in my head. Remember I thought that I had time for all of this later. So, on the way to the hospital, I wrote out my birth plan. It consisted of things like I wanted to go completely natural. I did not want pitocin. I wanted to be able to walk around. I wanted them to wait until the umbilical cord stops pulsating before it was cut and I wanted to be able to hold the baby right after she is born and nurse her. This proved to be very invaluable later.

So, they still had to give me an i.v. that they put a heploc on. I still had to be hooked up to a monitor so they could monitor my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. But, this was all portable so that I could walk around. It proved to be very annoying because I had to push a stupid pole around but atleast I was not confined to a bed. Now it was just the waiting game. When I got to the hospital, I was dilated to 2 cm and 65 percent effaced. Haylee's labor was only 4 hours so Jonathan and I said lets have this baby by 3 in the morning. That was 4 hours. I thought I can do that. Well, the problem was my contractions were pretty weak and erratic. They were painful enough that I couldn't sleep. So, I walked and walked and walked. As long as I stayed moving they would stay consistent. If I laid down they would become erratic. I tried the Jacuzzi tub and it helped with the back pain but it also slowed the contractions down. So, I just walked. I watched the hours just tick by. I had her come check me again at 4 am. There was no progress. I was patient and thought, it's okay. I really tried to stay positive. I was exhausted already but knew I could still do this.

At 8 am my midwife came and checked me. I was at a 3 and still only 65 percent effaced. At this time she was worried that I wasn't making progress and that my contractions were not strong enough. Because my water had broken, we needed to do something more. So, she suggested pitocin. At that time, I was really wanting to progress. So, I agreed to the lowest amount. Well, that really got things started.
My contractions really picked up in intensity and frequency. They were coming every minute and lasting 30 seconds. So, I walked some more. I also did the birthing ball which was the best thing for back pain. I liked this best as it took pressure off of my pelvic area and I was able to rest a bit. At 10:00 I was at a 4 and 75 percent effaced. This was so frustrating for me. I felt like I was progressing so slow. At this time the contractions were very intense. It was getting harder and harder for me to relax and remember the methods I learned to help with labor. I was having a very hard time remembering to breathe and relax. Jonathan was so great though. He would constantly remind me to breathe. My midwife was also amazing. She would push on pressure points which helped relieve some of the pain of the contractions. I was truly amazed by the help she gave me. She was with me from 10:00 until I had the baby, helping me through the most difficult part of labor.

By noon I had only gotten to a five. I literally felt like I was losing my mind. I didn't know if I could do it anymore. The pain was the worst thing I have ever felt in my life. I became that woman that I thought I would never become. It was the worst thing to feel so out of control. At 12:30, I was begging for an epidural. They checked me than and I was at a 7. I didn't care. I WANTED AN EPIDURAL NOW!!! By the time the anesthesiologist got there I was dilated to a 9 and my body just took over. It was the craziest feeling. I had the strongest urge to PUSH! I had to get the baby out now! That is what I was yelling. But, I still wasn't at a ten. I still demanded the epidural. So, at 1:00 I got the epidural and he put one dose of numbing medicine through the tube. At 1:16 she was born. I think I got enough numbing to help with the pushing but I still felt everything!

I was disappointed with myself that I just did not hang on another 15 minutes. I almost did it. But, I can say that looking back the only thing I would have changed was hanging on another 15 minutes. I would do natural again. It was amazing to see how alert Adalyn was when she came out. She was completely different than any of my other babies at birth. She stayed that way for quite awhile. It was all worth it to me to see her not having any effects from the medication.

I will never tell another woman what is the best way to labor. It is by far the hardest thing I have ever gone through. This labor was far from what I thought it would be. I guess my only advice is have no expectations on how it will be and you will not be disappointed..

The Birth Story Part 1

2009-08-05T12:43:00.006-06:00

It has taken me awhile to write this mainly because I was unsure if I wanted to share it. The reason for this is that I know quite a few pregnant ladies right now and did not want to influence them one way or the other with this story. This is just my experience and know that it will be different for every other pregnant woman out there, just like this birth story was completely different from my other four.

It all started in the late afternoon of the 22nd. I was having some braxton hicks contractions that were not going away with lying down or changing positions or any of that. But, they were very erratic. Sometimes they were 15 minutes apart and sometimes they were 3 minutes apart. They were not painful just annoying. I didn't say anything to Jonathan about them. I made dinner and was just going about my regular duties. Jonathan had church meetings that night and so I went and relaxed in my bedroom for a bit. They started getting a bit stronger but still no pattern to them. I really thought it was all false labor. I mean I still had 18 days to go. My two oldest had been gone that whole week on trek. They were to return around 9:30.
Jonathan had gotten home from his meetings about 9:00. I than decided to let him know that I was having some very irregular contractions. I told him not to worry it had to be false labor. My kids returned around 10:00. As I was listening to them speak of their adventures, I started having some mildly painful contractions. They were painful enough that I needed to concentrate on them and block others out. But, I still had 18 days to go. I kept telling myself it was false labor. I did not have any type of bags packed. I hadn't even preregistered at the hospital. I was going to do that on Monday at my next doctors appointment. So, I convincingly told myself that it was false and went and laid down.
As I was laying there I felt like I had just uncontrollably wet my pants. I have a very strong bladder so knew that it was something more. I stood up and called Jonathan in the room. I told him that I thought my water had just broken. But, I was unsure because it had never happened to me before. So, I started walking into the bathroom and well lets just say that I than became very sure that my water had broken. I started to panic. I wasn't ready for this. I still had a few weeks to mentally prepare for this. My babies had never been more than 5 days early. I than started to cry... I don't know why. I guess it was because the reality of the situation hit me. There was no turning back now.
I called my midwife to let her know that my water had broken and that I wanted to stay at home for as long as I can. She told me that I needed to go and get checked to make sure everything was okay. I wasn't really very happy about that because I knew they would make me stay. In hindsight, I wish I would have followed my own instincts and stayed home for awhile.

To be continued....

Our newest member, Adalyn Grace Bond

2009-07-26T12:33:00.008-06:00

She was born on July 23rd at 1:16 pm. She weighs 7 lbs 5 ozs and is 19 inches long. This was my longest labor to date. She weighed and measured almost exactly what Aubrey did. She has one dimple in her right cheek. We named her after my Grandma Dean whose name is Ada Evelyn. So we combined her first and middle name to get Adalyn with a short A sound. I think this is fitting considering she resembles more of the Dean side. We are so glad she is here. I will save the labor story for another post. What I will say is that it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life..

Her Daddy already just adores her.

It is amazing to me that my heart can open up and love another so much. I love being her mother. The Lord has truly blessed our family with such a beautiful little girl..

An inspiration to me

2009-07-10T11:36:00.002-06:00

Every Tuesday Jonathan and other members of the Elders Quorum presidency go out and do visits to less active members of our church. About 6 months ago, as they were making their visits, they came to a house of a young man named Mike. He is a married man about the age of 26 and grew up in a family that was not active. He was baptized at 8 but that was about it.
At first he was very friendly but just not interested. They sat and talked to him for a few hours and got to know him. At the time he was a guitar player in a band. He loves music and is very talented at playing the guitar and base. He and his wife fully lived the rock and roll lifestyle.
The next Tuesday the group was out making visits again and saw Mike on his front porch playing his guitar. So they went and talked with him again. They became his friend. It wasn't about lets get him to church. It was about being a friend to him. So, that is what Jonathan and the Elders quorum President became to him.
After a few months Mike had decided he really wanted to change. He surprised everyone and quit smoking cold turkey. He started coming to church. The hardest decision he had to make was to quit his band because he knew he could not stay clean while playing with them.
2 months ago, he received the Melchezidek priesthood and was ordained to the office of an Elder. He started temple prep classes 3 weeks ago and has decided he really wants to be able receive his endowments.

Yesterday Jonathan got a call from Mike who was very upset. His wife had just served him with divorce papers the night before and told him she wanted him out that night. She said he has changed and become to religious. So he packed up all his stuff in the back of his Jeep and headed to his parents home. He got a call from them saying that their house had just flooded and he would not be able to stay there. So, while he was trying to find a place to stay, his Jeep broke down on the side of the road. He left it there and went to get a part at the store for the Jeep. When he got back, the Jeep was gone with all his stuff. Someone had it towed and he had to figure a way to get it out. This is when he called Jonathan for help.
This morning I woke up early and as I was coming into the kitchen Mike was sitting on a chair reading his scriptures. Through all of this, he is still relying on the Lord.
What an inspiration it has been to me to see him. It reaffirms a few very important things to me. The temple and the work that is done there is vital to our salvation. Mike could have just said "this is to hard." But, he has not done that. He still has the desire to finish the temple prep classes and receive his endowments.
It also reaffirms to me that without my testimony of Jesus Christ I have nothing. Things can get really hard but I know in whom I can trust. How blessed I am to know Mike and have his example in front of me to help remind me of what really is important in life.

Summer's baby

2009-06-25T08:12:00.006-06:00

Summer had her baby! I am so excited to see my baby sister become a Mom. It was such a great experience being able to be there with her and help her through one of the most important events in her life. She was scheduled to be induced but didn't have to be. Her water broke that morning at 5am. She had her epidural in by 6:30. From 6:30 until about 3, it was just a waiting game. We watched movies and read. I think her husband Jesse was getting a bit of cabin fever. It took her awhile to dilate to a 4 but, she went from a 4 to a 10 in a matter of 2 hours.
She started pushing at 3:00. But, Bryton decided to take her own sweet time. Summer did so amazing. She pushed for 3 hours. Jesse was a great coach. Bryton was born just a little before 6:00. She came out just a screaming.. She did not stop until she heard her daddy's voice. He started talking to her and she automatically stopped crying and just stared at him. He held her hand and just talked to her. It was such a sweet moment.

She weighed in at 7.7 lbs and 21 inches long..

She is so beautiful. It really makes me so anxious to meet my own little girl..

I love my job

2009-06-16T10:27:00.002-06:00

My mother in law came up on Friday and took my three youngest kids down to New Mexico for the week. This is something that she does every summer. Aubrey used to go down too but I think she has out grown it. So, it is Jonathan, Aubrey and me. Having them gone really helps me to appreciate how much I really love my job as mom. I feel almost lost without them.
I was at the bank yesterday. Every time we go to the bank Haylee has to get a sucker but it has to be a blue one because that is her favorite color. So, it felt strange not to grab her a blue sucker. Aubrey and I were at Walmart and I was getting cereal. Jerin and Haylee are the ones that pick out the cereal. I just wasn't sure what to get. These are just little things that remind me of how much I love my kids and my job..
How blessed I feel to have the children I do. I love being a mom.

My decision

2009-05-24T21:42:00.002-06:00

With much studying and reading I have decided to have this baby naturally using the Bradley method. I have been devouring books on this method and natural childbirth and the benefits that come from this. This will be my first go at this. All my other babies were born using an epidural. I got to tell you that I am nervous but really believe that if I practice and use the principles that are taught I can do it. Now, I just need to coach Jonathan on his responsibilities and hope he can do it also. With an epidural he just had to sit back and wait until they said it was time. Heck, thats all I had to do too.
This will sure be more work for the both of us. I can do this! That is what I must keep telling myself... Positive thinking, right?

Mothers Day

2009-05-15T12:20:00.003-06:00

I have so many different things to post about lately but finding the time to do it is the tricky part. But, I have got to talk about Mothers Day or the day before Mothers Day. Some of my sisters took my mom out to lunch on Saturday, the day before. It was really nice spending the day together. While I was gone Jonathan and the kids spent a lengthy amount of time preparing my Mothers Day gift.
We have had this bit of weedy ground in our front yard filled with wood chips, weeds and dried up dead plants. I have wanted to plant something beautiful there and have talked about it but have not done anything. So, they decided to clean it up and plant a flower garden for me. He took the kids to a local nursery and they all picked out different kinds of flowers to plant. They all pitched in cleaning out the spot. I was told it took about 2 hours just to do that.
I wish we could have gotten a before and after shot so you could see all the work that went into it. But, I absolutely LOVE it!!! It
was by far the best gift I could have gotten, one that can last all Summer..

Here are some of the different kinds of flowers that were planted... I love them.

Art Royalty

2009-05-02T19:20:00.005-06:00

The Springville Museum of Art holds an Art ball every year. It is a big tradition in Springville that has been going on for the past 75 years or more. This is one of their big events that raises money for the museum. It includes a nice dinner, dancing and a program. Everyone dresses up in their fanciest attire to come to it. They also have Art royalty that is announced the night of the program.

This year Aubrey decided to try out for it. She made it down to the twelve finalists. These 12 finalists than have to perform a talent and are interviewed by 8 different judges. I was able to watch her perform in front of the judges today but the interview part was completely closed. They are also asked to submit a paper answering a half dozen questions.

here she is after the talent competition waiting for her interview.

We have to wait until May 16th to find out if she has made Queen or an attendant.. Whatever happens, she did amazing today. She had some very tough competition as their are some crazy talented young women in the area.

Here is her performance. I was so nervous for her so I think I was shaking as bad as she was. Also there is something wrong with my camera because the pictures and video are just a bit blurry. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it..

Put it on me

2009-04-28T18:33:00.002-06:00

RULES:1. Put your iTunes, iPod, MP3 Player, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.

Do you need a good laugh? This will do it! I tag you ALL!

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
Black Bird- Evan Rachel Wood (Across the Universe soundtrack)

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Juke Box Blues (Walk the Line soundtrack)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
City Traffic Puzzle - So Sudden

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Message in a Bottle- The Police

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
New Slang- The Shins

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
Set it Off- Audio Slave

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Homeless- Michael McLean

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Miami-U2

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
The Star Spangled BAnner- Jimi Hendrix

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band- Paul McCartney and Bono

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Of the Girl- Pearl Jam

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Rollover DJ- Jet

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
In my daughters eyes- Martina McBride

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Nowhere with Love- Harry Connick Jr.

WHAT WILL/DID YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
I got a name- Jim Croce

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Love one another- Church Hymns (ha ha)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Let him fly- Dixie Chicks

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Come by me- Harry Connick jr.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Travelin Soldier- Dixie Chicks

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Everything I said- Cranberries

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Roxanne- The Police

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Father up above- Primary songs

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Christ the Lord is risen today- Mormon tabernacle choir... ( this is so not true)

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Faithful- Pearl Jam

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
God so Loved us so he sent his son- Church hymns

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
If with all your heart- Primary songs

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Foolish Games- Jewel

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Making memories of us- Keith Urban

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
How sweet it is- James Taylor

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
I'm like a bird- Nelly Fertado

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Put it on me- Ja Rule

All kinds of fun

2009-04-22T10:35:00.007-06:00

My sister Summer, Jesse and Dezmon came over for Sunday dinner. We love having them over as we always seem to have so much fun. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon. We have this huge park right in our backyard so, we thought we would go and play games. The first game that we played was shotput and discuss.

Than we played a game of Croquet.

I had to put this picture in of Summer and my pregnant bellies. I know my eyes are closed but I think it is a cute picture. I love that we are pregnant together.

It was a great way to spend our Sunday afternoon.

The tummy sleeve

2009-04-20T14:08:00.004-06:00

I had heard of this thing called the tummy sleeve. It is a piece of stretchable cloth that you can wear with your regular jeans while pregnant. I have always disliked most maternity clothes. Plus, they are so expensive.. I can just leave my regular jeans unbuttoned and it smoothes lines from the unbuttoned jeans. My sister Summer went and bought one and liked it so I thought I would give it a try. I absolutely love it.. It works so great. I can wear my old jeans, shorts, skirts.. whatever and don't have to buy those ugly maternity pants.. This is a must for any pregnant woman.

A first for everything

2009-04-17T22:03:00.002-06:00

This week has been Spring break for the kids. Jonathan has had to work and so has Aubrey. So we have just stayed close to home. We decided that tonight we would travel up to Sandy and go see Monsters verses Aliens with my sister in law Kristy and her family at the Jordan Commons theater. It is so nice because this theater has reserved seating and lots of different restaurants and you can bring all the food into the theater with you. The kids are always excited to go watch movies up that way.

We were stopped at a light getting ready to turn into the theater complex and I looked over at the car next to me and there is a lady opening a bottle of Vodka and taking a drink out of it. I had to do a double take to make sure that is what I saw. It was a big clear bottle with the word Vodka written on it. I wasn't sure what to do. We had gotten the arrow to turn left. So, I got her license plate number and called 911. I told them everything that I saw in that quick 15 seconds. But, there were some things that I didn't get like the dispatcher asked me what was the color of her shirt? I did know important things like our location, the license plate number, the color and make and model of her vehicle, her race and how old I thought she was. I just kept saying I can't believe I just saw that... Devin's comment to me was "well you grew up in New Mexico I thought you would have seen that before." I have seen a few drunk drivers and plenty of drunks but never seen someone actually drinking and driving...

Aubrey's going to prom

2009-04-10T14:50:00.003-06:00

I tell you the boys are sure alot more creative when it comes to asking a girl to prom than when I was a teenager. When I was a teenager it was like "uhh...hey do you want to go to prom with me?" And I would say "ya! Sure.." Well here are some pictures of what Aubrey's room looked like after the boy left who was asking her to prom.

This sign was left on her bed...

She had to pop the balloons until she found the one with his name on it. But, she decided to just peak through the balloons instead..

He was a smart guy. He waited until she left for Young Womens before doing it so he would not be caught in the act. He also asked Jonathans permission to take her to prom... No boys I ever dated did that. Can I say WOW!

Half way there

2009-03-26T11:17:00.002-06:00

So I am half way through this pregnancy and I am feeling so good. I am growing very fast this month. I feel like my belly has sort of just popped out there. No more wearing my regular clothes. I guess I am going to have to start wearing maternity clothes. They just aren't very stylish. I am fighting it as long as I can get away with it.
It has been really neat to start feeling the baby actually move. Before it was just like flutters and I knew it was movement but this is different and so wonderful. Last night I was laying in bed reading. I had my hand on my belly and there was a hard kick right under my hand. It actually startled me. It was so awesome. I know I have done the pregnancy thing a few times before but it still amazes me. I love it.
I don't necessarily enjoy getting big or losing my favorite sleeping position. There are some things that stink about it. But, the idea that a life is growing is a miracle. I am truly blessed.

Happy Birthday Jonathan

2009-03-21T13:39:00.003-06:00

Today Jonathan turns 36. We have celebrated the last 18 birthdays together. That is crazy.. I have been with him now for half of his life. Jonathan is such a good man. He has such a strong testimony of Jesus Christ. He is passionate about so many things. You will never find him sitting on a fence about anything. He has the desire to learn constantly and amazes me almost daily with something new that he has learned. This last year he has memorized most of the Declaration of Independance because it is important to him. He is a good husband, great father and my very best friend. How blessed I am that he is part of my life..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!!

Shocked

2009-03-16T10:11:00.003-06:00

That is the best word to describe my feelngs. I had completely convinced myself that I was having a boy. There is a reason for that and a story that goes along with it but none of that matters now because I am having a girl. We are all very excited but no one is as excited as Haylee. When the tech told us, Haylee turned to me and said " see I knew it the whole time." I still was not convinced. So the doctor came in and looked at the baby and checked again and said "I am 100 percent positive it is a girl." so there we have it. I have no names at all. I guess I have a few more months to think about it.

Ultrasound

2009-03-11T17:02:00.004-06:00

So I will be getting my ultrasound done on Monday the 16th. We are all very excited for this. So, I guess I will join the bandwagon and ask your opinion on what you think we will be having...

I will post and let you know when I do.

Catch up post

2009-02-28T23:17:00.002-07:00

So not to many exciting things have been happening around here lately. This is a good thing considering my last post..

But, I was able to go to my first doctors appointment and heard the babies heartbeat. It was a beautiful 160 beats per minute. I find it sort of comical that I am considered a high risk pregnancy because I am 35 years old.. I really did not feel old until they told me that. This means that I got to take an early glucose test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes and I will have to take it again at 20 weeks. I also had to give about 5 viles of blood for all these other tests and my vein collapsed in the middle of it. That has never happened to me before. So, it left me with a big ugly bruise.

I stopped refereeing a few weeks early because it was just to hard for this old, pregnant body. I dreaded going so instead I chose to quit early. That was a big relief for me. Hopefully next year will be better.

And the best news of all is that I am starting to feel back to normal. I have more energy and I am not feeling so sick. Ya! for that. I did find out that some of the reason that I was so exhausted all the time is that I have become Lactose Intolerant. Go figure... That is sort of a hard one for me because I love milk and cheese. I hope things will return to normal after the pregnancy.

A bit of a scare.

2009-02-12T16:27:00.002-07:00

Over the last month or so Jonathan has been having some weird things happening to his heart. It will start to tighten and sort of spasm but than goes away fairly quickly. We have been keeping an eye on it and knew that we wanted to get him to the doctor for it but we haven't.

Well today on the way home from teaching his class, it started to hurt and tighten, like someone was squeezing his heart. I was in the passenger seat and saw him turn pale. He than started to sweat all the while driving and grabbing his chest. Okay, I was scared....very scared.

He drove himself to the ER. He went in and I parked the car. So they hurried him back to his room. They started running all kinds of tests, just one thing after another. They were putting medication under his tongue, hooking him up to an EKG machine, taking blood, taking x-rays, putting an IV in him. They took it very seriously.

In the end they found that it was not his heart but the muscles around his heart that were spasming and tightening. They gave him some muscle relaxants and said it was probably brought on by stress but they were not sure.

So, I am very glad that his heart is fine. It was scary but that news is much better than my 35 year old husband is having a heart attack.

35 isn't that old

2009-02-11T07:35:00.004-07:00

I remember when I was young thinking that 35 was OLD. Well, it is amazing how perspective has changed. Yesterday was my birthday. It was a nice quiet day. My sister Amber came and got me for lunch. We went and ate sushi and had a great time talking and being with one another. I love her company. She is so thoughtful. She also put a slideshow together for me on her blog. That evening Jonathan and the kids took me to my favorite restaurant Thai Ruby. I love this place. Everything tasted so good to me, which is good considering these days very little tastes good to me.

Yesterday was also the first day of my second trimester.. HALLELUJAH! I am hoping that my appetite and my energy level return soon. I go to my first Doctor's appointment today. I am excited to hear the baby's heartbeat and make sure everything is okay.

Thanks to all of you who sent birthday wishes my way. I have the best family and friends ever!!

My heart aches

2009-01-30T23:06:00.004-07:00

I have so many things to be grateful for. The Lord has blessed me so tremendously and continues to do so on a daily basis. But, over the last few days my poor heart has been aching for Jonathan's cousin Audrie and her son Kristoffer who is 5. For some of you this story is a repeat but for others, it is not. So, I will tell it in my words but will also give you the link so you can here it in Audrie's words.
http://theflackfamily.blogspot.com/
About a week ago her son was running a temperature and said his stomach hurt. So, she took him into Instacare and they ran an xray of his stomach and found a mass. From there they sent her to the ER and that is where they ran a CAT scan and found a large tumor on his Kidney and some spots on his liver. The next day he was flown to a hospital in Phoenix where they took a biopsy of the tumor. He is now in Albuquerque so they he can be closer to home. It is a very fast growing tumor and so they are starting chemo treatments for him tomorrow. It is heartbreaking to me that she has got to make such hard decisions for her 5 year old little boy. Haylee and Kristoffer are just 3 months apart in age.
All of my prayers have included Kristoffer. May I ask for you to please pray for him also. Through our faith miracles can happen. I believe this... And please remember who is important in your life and let them know...

Dating Contract

2009-01-21T21:23:00.007-07:00

Now that Aubrey is sixteen we as parents feel that it is our duty as her custodians to make sure that she feels safe and taken care of on the dates she goes on. I remember all to well some of my own dating experiences and so I want to keep her out of some of those situations if at all possible. So, we were talking with some of our good friends Roger and Larin. She told us of the dating contract that each of the boys had to sign before taking her or any of her sisters out. Well, we got it from her dad and put a little bit of our own into it.
At first Aubrey did not like the idea. But, I think she has finally gotten used to it and doesn't seem to mind it. Anyway, here is the contract. Tell me what you think?

Jonathan and Melanie Bond
Parents

________________
Defender of Honor

The Bond Family of Springville, Utah, acting as Celestial Custodians of Aubrey Bond, do stipulate the following terms and conditions contractually binding upon the defender for the high privilege of accompanying said daughter on petitioned dates between her ages of 16 and 18. The defender certifies that he will faithfully abide by these terms and does so of his own free will and choice:

• The defender will physically protect and defend said daughter from any situation fraught with peril (i.e., shady characters, associates involved with smoking, drugs, or alcohol, friends involved in moronic behavior, etc.).

• The defender agrees to pay for all "damages" encountered in the course of the date. Damages can consist of meals, transportation, sporting events, entertainment, accouterments (flowers, candy, perfume, bribes for the father/mother, etc.), however, NO live animals nor rings will be accepted! "Dutch" dating may be agreed to before hand.

• The defender will protect and promote virtue at all costs. defender will not engage in a goodnight" kiss with said daughter during the course of the date. At the end of the date, a goodnight kiss on extremely rare occurrences (approximately once every 33,414 dates) may be exchanged. Kiss will be exactly the kind given to his mother. Examples may be asked for! A peck on the cheek or a quick kiss on the lips of less than 3 nanoseconds duration may qualify. In addition, holding hands is limited to situations requiring chivalry (crossing the street, escorting to dance floor - father cannot think of any other examples!). Holding hands while walking in the park, walking to class, walking in the hallway or any other situation which causes other boys to view said defender and daughter as an "item" are strictly prohibited.

• Defender will have said daughter returned to her home by curfew. Curfew is 10 PM on weekdays and 11:30 PM on Fridays or Saturdays. Earlier arrivals are encouraged and looked upon favorably by said parents. Curfew requires said defender to vacate premises (no hanging around here after curfew!). Any suspected violations must be phoned in to the parents for notification and/or approval.

• Defender will acknowledge that said daughter is a jewel of priceless worth to her family. He will treat her with complete respect, courtesy, and will take all possible precautions to include but not limited to:
• Driving defensively and obeying all posted speed limits;
• Never parking in a car for conversation or amorous purposes;
• Avoiding all solitary dating situations (always being in the presence of the double dating couple);
• Never dating said daughter twice in a row (2 week minimum interval
required if daughter has not dated anyone else in the meantime);
• Never raising his voice in anger;
• Never pressuring her to do anything of a less than a celestial nature;
• Never acting like a jerk (as far as within his power!).

Entered into on this day of ____________

signature ______________________________

I am feeling old

2009-01-16T17:24:00.002-07:00

Refereeing season has started. I reffed 4 games last night and by the time the fourth game hit, I was already hurting. My muscles in my legs just ached. I wondered how I was going to get through the fourth game. Luckily, it was a blow out so not a whole lot of running was involved.

Just add the pregnancy to the mix and this body just isn't up for it this year. My energy level is literally non existent. Although I do find that exercising seems to help somewhat. I hope that when this first trimester is over that things will pick up. I know that getting pregnant in my older years is harder than my younger ones or I have just forgotten what it was like. Either way I really need to figure out a way to have more energy. I am just dragging all day long. I looked it up online to see what I can do about it and why and this is what it said:

"Your body is really quite wonderful. During what is called the implantation phase of a pregnancy (the time when the ovum and sperm have joined and it is getting settled into the uterus) the development of the zygote is extremely fragile. Your body is in an amazing race to get the zygote implanted so that it can develop into a fetus. Your body understands this reproductive process far better than we can and it produces hormones to make you tired so that you will take it easy and you will rest - this helps to protect the fragile life that is getting settled in your womb.

We're a society that is constantly on the go so the constant feeling of tired can be really annoying. But as the old saying goes, rest is often the best medicine. You need the rest so that your body can utilize the extra glucose for the baby. It needs it to fuel development and so once you know that the line has turned pink, it's important to plan for some rest time during your day."

Anyway, I really am looking forward to when I start feeling normal again.

Haylee's Birthday

2009-01-06T15:25:00.010-07:00

Okay So Lots has happened since the last time I blogged. Christmas, New Year's and Haylee's birthday. Her birthday falls on December 31st. She was my New Years baby and made it with 45 minutes to spare. She is such an amazing joy to my life. She constantly tells me how beautiful I am. I can wake up in the morning, have bed head and she says "mom you are beautiful." I really enjoy being her school teacher this year. I get so much satisfaction out of helping her learn all kinds of new things. She has a great sense of humor and comes up with some of the funniest things. Lately most of them that she comes up with have to do with babies and her ideas of how they get in my tummy and come out. HILARIOUS!!!
So, on each of the kids birthdays they get to choose a favorite restaurant to go to. Haylee chose to go eat sushi.. Yes, sushi is her favorite. She got to choose what she wanted and she said that the dragon roll was her favorite.

Than we decided to go clothes shopping so she could choose out her birthday present. We went to three stores before she could find something that she actually liked. She is very picky and knows exactly what she wants. So if we couldn't find it, we went to another store.

To end the night we went to my cousin Amy's house for a fun New Year's/Haylee's birthday party. We all sang her Happy birthday. It is such a treat for her because there is always such a big crowd at her party.

It is hard to believe my baby is six.. They grow up so fast.. I think this is my very favorite age. She still thinks the world of her mom and dad....

So happy Together

2008-12-27T12:06:00.004-07:00

Today Jonathan and I are celebrating 17 years together. As I type it, I can hardly believe it myself. We started out so young together but have grown so much over these many years. I love being his wife and am so thankful for a husband that loves his family, his Savior Jesus Christ and respects and honors his priesthood. He is very passionate about the things he believes to be true. He is not a fence sitter. Here is to us and another 17 years together....

It's all about family

2008-12-25T17:42:00.002-07:00

Christmas day is winding down. It has been a very fulfilling day. For me, it has been amazing because I had my husband, children, mom and some of my sisters here. I truly love my family so much. They are what bring me my greatest joy. It has taken me until today to feel the Christmas spirit. Usually I make lots of goodies and take them to neighbors. I always do a Christmas card and send it to friends and family. I did not do any of it this year. I guess I attribute it to losing my Dad. I am not really sure why it has taken the Christmas spirit out of things for me. I would think it would do the exact opposite. But, today as we were sitting down to eat the most amazing meal I was filled with such an overwhelming love for my family, especially the ones that are no longer with us.
I got a great gift this week in the mail. My step mom sent me my dads very favorite shirt in the mail.

I have atleast 4 pictures of him wearing this same shirt. I was very glad to get it. She was very thoughtful in sending it to me. So, Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you had a very peaceful Christmas..

Good Reasons

2008-12-20T22:58:00.002-07:00

So, I have a good reason why I have not posted for so long. Well, I have many reasons... The first is my lack of motivation for anything due to the lack of the sun and warm weather. I am always cold so do not leave my fire place for very long except to make some Hot Cocoa. In fact, as I am typing this now, I have my coat on. Mr. Winter is not my friend. I know lots of people are excited for the snow.. I know I have already harped about this before. But, had to keep you updated on why I have not blogged in awhile..

Oh! and the other reason, well.....

14 and counting

2008-12-05T18:25:00.004-07:00

Devin turns 14 on Sunday. He is so excited that he can barely stand it. I remember very well the day he was born. There was a terrible storm that hit Utah County. We were living in Springville and had to drive to American Fork. I really thought we were going to crash on the way there.

He was born early on December 7th, Pearl Harbor day as so many people reminded me. He has been such a joy to have as a son.

I remember when he was about 3, he got a basketball hoop for his birthday. He spent hours upon hours just shooting hoops. He was so tired but would not stop. If the ball rolled further than his grasp he would just cry until someone picked it up for him.

When he started kindergarten we bought him his first watch. It bothered him so much that not all the clocks were on the same time. He would set his watch to the one at home and than the one at school would be different by 1 or 2 minutes. He just didn't understand why they all couldn't be the exact same time. It bothered him enough that he stopped wearing the watch.

He is precise in the things he does. He is a serious boy and a deep thinker.

This year we have put him in a school that has really helped him find the love for learning again. He will come home and share with me the things he has learned. It is really great to see his love of learning rekindled. He is a boy that takes his priesthood responsibilities seriously. I am very thankful for that.. I am truly blessed to be given the stewardship of raising him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEVIN!

The Best Find

2008-12-01T17:57:00.003-07:00

I found this a few months ago and meant to blog about it but forgot. But, now with Christmas upon us, I just have to share. Have you ever heard of Pandora? It is internet radio. The coolest thing about it is you make your own radio stations. You select an artist or a song that you like, type it in and they will find artists that are similar or songs with that same type of beat. I like it for the Christmas season because I just typed in the word Christmas and it comes up with all the best Christmas songs... So, if you want to find good tunes go to Pandora.com. You will have to sign up for an account but other than that it is free and I love it!

Thankful to be a visiting teacher

2008-11-25T19:58:00.003-07:00

Throughout my married life, I have had a hard time with being a visiting teacher. I have not ever gained a testimony of it. I really did not see the importance of it. I have had a hard time making new friends and opening up to people that I just didn't know. I must say that I have had a bad attitude about it all. Than, I would feel guilty every month for only putting half effort out there and would sometimes find myself dodging the district supervisors call. I just did not want to report once again of my failure to come through.

When we moved to this new ward, I decided that it was time that I change my attitude, the way I think about it and approach it. The ladies that I had been assigned to were all women I had never met before. I was scared. I did not know them and they did not know me. But, I was going to overcome my fear and make friends with them. After all, isn't that what most of us want anyway a friend? So tonight I finished up all my visiting teaching. It ended up being a great experience. My companion could not go. So, I took Haylee as my companion. She helped break the ice too.

The message that I gave was one that I needed to hear, especially because of the recent death of my dad. I love our prophet and his inspired words.. So, I will leave you with his words.

Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.” We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.
Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”

Thank you for being in my life, either through allowing me to read your blog or spend time with you or talking to me on the phone. I love my family and Friends. You truly do enrich my life!

A treasured find

2008-11-20T18:17:00.003-07:00

Last night I was up late. Jonathan was working and I was keeping him company. There are a few boxes that have not been unpacked yet, mostly because I have no idea where to put things. There was an open box in his office with some books in it. On top of these books there was a brown folder looking book. It has been with me for quite awhile. My mom gave it to me a few years ago with all the genealogy she had in her home. So, I decided to grab it last night and look through it. To my amazement, it was my dads personal history and a list of important events in his life. There was so much information listed in there that I did not know. For instance, he was actually baptized in the Catholic church as an infant. I never knew that fact about him. It only covers the first 24 years of his life but it was full of things I never knew about my dad. It also has the original certificate of birth from Mercy Hospital in Durango Colorado and the certificate of baptism and confirmation. I love this... I don't know why I have never looked at it before but I am so glad I found it, especially now...

I think I am solar

2008-11-13T13:55:00.002-07:00

This past week has been cloudy and rainy all week. The sun peeked out of the clouds yesterday for a bit. My energy level has been completely depleted and I am DREADING winter. It is still Fall and I find myself wishing that the sun would just come shine on me and charge my solar batteries.

Plus, it just sort of brings on the blues. I guess they have a name for it. The acronym is S.A.D.

Seasonal Affective Disorder. That is a very fitting acronym because that is how I feel. I just want the sun to shine. At these times, I really want to live in a state with sunshine and warm weather...

I think San Diego sounds very nice right now.

8 things

2008-11-08T13:56:00.003-07:00

I was tagged by my Aunt Melanie. Doesn't she have the best name ever? I think so...

So here is a list..

8 TV shows I watch

1. Medium (love this show when it is on. The new season hasn't even started)

2. House

3. The Office

4. Supernatural

5. Biggest Loser

6. American Idol

Thats all I can think of. Not to much of a tv watcher

8 things I did yesterday

1. Took the kids to Liberty Academy

2. Taught the computer class at Liberty academy

3. Went to the bank

4. Grocery shopping at Wal Mart

5. made my amazing hot cocoa

6. started preparing my talk that I am giving on Sunday

7. talked with Adrienne (my dads wife.)

8. watched a Tom Hanks marathon on TV.

8 favorite restaurants

1. Thai Ruby- best Thai food in utah...

2. Cafe Rio - I love their pork salad!

3. Lonestar- yummmy steaks and sweet potatoes.

4. Johnny Carinos- not a big Italian food lover but this place is amazing!

5. Asuka- Great sushi and miso soup.

6. Magleby's- just all around good american home cooked food.

7. McGrath's- love their coconut shrimp with orange marmalade sauce.

8. Blue Iguana- spicy, authentic mexican food almost as good as New Mexico food.

8 things on my wish list

1. To have my dad back.

2. To be financially free.

3. To have politicians that truly understood the proper roll of government and upheld the constitution as it was written.

4. To be a body talk therapist.

5. I want season tickets to the Utah Jazz with lower bowl seats.

6. A 10 day European cruise with my husband.

7. The energy that I had as a youth.

8. To eat and drink whatever I want and not worry about gaining weight, like when I was young.

Holy Cow! That took forever.. It is hard to think of 8 things.

I am tagging Amy B., Audrie, and Abbie

things you may not know about me

2008-11-07T10:14:00.004-07:00

I have actually been tagged for two different things. I will post one today and one tomorrow. My friend Chanel tagged me about 6 things that you may not know about me.

1. I have a phobia of large crowds. I am not sure when this started but I realized how bad it was when I enrolled in college for the first time. Just thinking of going to school with so many people gave me anxiety. I purposely enrolled mostly in evening classes as to avoid the larger crowds. There was a class that I enrolled in that had about 200 people in it. I made it through a couple of weeks before I dropped it and elected to take it online instead. I love sporting events but have a hard time going because of the crowds. The same with concerts. I try to analyze what it is all about but come up empty handed with that one.

2. If I am not good at something or don't think I will be, than I just am not interested. I know this is very limiting. For instance, Jonathan likes to bowl. I really stink at it. So, I don't want to bowl. I don't enjoy going bowling. I am a competitive person and if I think that I can't win, than I won't try. This is something that I would like to work on though. I feel like I have gotten better as I have gotten older. I am not as rigid as I used to be.

3. I love to read. I have atleast 4 or 5 book that I am reading at once. I go through phases though. Right now I am in a phase of self-help books. How can I improve myself? How can I improve my relationships? and everything else in between that is good for me. I miss the time I once had for reading though. When I was young I remember spending hours reading. I loved all the Nancy Drew books and wanted more than anything to find a hidden staircase or secret room.. When I was a teenager I read all the Dean R. Koontz books. I was always reading. I really have a love for learning.

4. I love to try new and unique foods. I will try anything atleast once. My two favorite foods are Thai food, really anything Thai and Sushi. A good Unagi sushi roll, when prepared right, is just a bit of heaven. All of my children love these things too so I am glad that my taste for unique food has rubbed off on them a bit.

5. I have a gift to recognize truth. When something is true, it just resonates in me very strong. So much so, that I do everything in my power to find out about it, study it, teach it and speak about it. I want others to know what I have learned. But, I have learned to be very careful with my words. I have learned that we all learn different things at different times in our lives. I believe that I will know when and who to share these truths with.

6. Before I referee a game of basketball, I have got to talk myself into doing it. I get great anxiety when I think to much about it. I have to tell myself over and over again that "I am an amazing referee." The idea of people scrutinizing my every call is sometimes overwhelming. Last season I did pretty good. I only backed out of two games because my fear really became paralyzing. After the game is over and I know that I did a great job, than the feeling is exhilirating. I think "why was I even worried?" Than, the next games comes and I do it all over again.

WOW! that was so hard.. Now, maybe you know a little bit more about me.

Now I tag Amber, Kristy and Amy O.

Election results

2008-11-05T12:24:00.004-07:00

I have been contemplating on blogging about this. I know that so many people have different views about politics. I have started and erased and than started again. I have been listening to different things. One of the things I read was a transcript of a conversation between Senator Orrin Hatch and Glenn Beck. It was very good. One of the people that Glenn Beck quoted was President Reagan.
"No generation in the history of Earth has ever tasted freedom, lost it, and then tasted it again." We are so close to losing our Constitution. We are so close to losing what we have, and people aren't thinking. The next generation, our children will look to us and say, "You sold my freedom for what?"

Is that the problem? People are not thinking... I have heard lots of people say they want change.. Do they want to change to Socialism? That is the road we are barreling down.

In the 1960's Ezra Taft Benson, than secretary of Agriculture had a conversation with

Kruschev. He said "Kruschev told me that Americans are so naive, we'll spoon socialism down their throat, you know, and over the years; before you know it, you'll raise the red flag." Here we are, we're at a point to where our country and our Constitution is slipping through our fingers.

There is hope for me in that I do know the end of the story..

I do know that Christ will come again.
Brigham Young says
"Will the Constitution be destroyed? No: it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, "The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction."

These prophecies are what bring me peace. Hopefully, I will be one of the people that help save it from threatened destruction by turning my brain on and learning about the constitution and also teaching my children the same.

Phew!! There... Now I feel better.

Some thoughts from this last week

2008-10-31T09:44:00.003-06:00

This week has been a very peaceful week. I have truly felt all the prayers that have been given in my families behalf. I have felt such a peace this last week. I am so grateful for the comfort the holy ghost brings.
It seems that most of my thoughts of the last week have been centered on my dad. It still seems not quite real to me. I only talked to my dad about once a month and saw him a few times a year. It truly is amazing to me how the Lord is so merciful to his children. We can only be given what we can handle. I believe that is true also in dealing with the death of a loved one.
My Dad's wishes were to be cremated. At first this was very hard for me to accept. When my brother passed away, I was able to see him. This brought a good amount of closure for me. But, as the week has gone on, I know that the ashes are not my father.. He lives on. He has gone home. I am sad for myself but not for him.
He lives on in many ways. One of these ways are through his paintings. He loved to paint. We all have something he has painted. I have 4 paintings and they all have a personal note attached to the back.
The following are all the paintings that we were able to get together for the service. The first 4 are mine. These pictures do not do them justice. They truly are amazing works of Art.

Some wise words

2008-10-29T13:41:00.002-06:00

I know this is a very long post, but it is amazing... I got chills when I read this. It comes from a friend of mine. I really hope you will take the time to read it..

Some wise words, not my own but an excerpt from "The Sanctity of Life" (an essay by Rousas John Rushdoony). This was written some 40 years ago and yet so applicable today.

Godly wisdom, which means faith and obedience, is, according to Scripture "a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her" (Prov. 3:18; cf. 11:30). Instead of being a form of bondage, God's law is for us the condition of life.

Let us analyze the meaning of this, God's law as the condition of life. The condition of a fish's life, its environment, is water; take a fish out of water and it dies. The condition of a tree's life, its health and its environment, is the soil; uproot a tree, and you kill it. It is no act of liberation to take a fish out of water, or a tree out of the ground. Similarly, the condition of a man's life, the ground of man's moral, spiritual, and physical health, is the law of God. To take men and societies out of the world of God's law is to sentence them to a decline, fall, and death. Instead of liberation, it is execution. Man's liberty is under God's law, and God's law is the life-giving air of man and society, the basic condition of their existence.

Law is therefore the condition of man's life because God is the creator of life and the sole ground of its continuation. God's law is the essence of life and the terms of life. Those who tamper with God's law, or who espouse any departure from it, instead of seeking freedom to live, as they claim, are in actuality seeking death. For a fish, "escape" from water is an escape from life; it is a will to death. Jesus Christ, speaking as Wisdom ages ago, declared, "But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death" (Prov. 8:36). The hatred of God's law is the hatred of life: it is the love of death.

True government is government according to God's word, in terms of His law, as a ministry of justice. Those who despise government are, according to Moses (Num. 15:29-31) and St. Peter (II Peter 2:10), guilty of the sin of presumption. Presumption means taking for oneself authority and power for which one has no warrant or right. Whenever we set aside God's laws concerning life and death, we are guilty of presumption. Presumption is the mark of an unbeliever. Presumption means that we have set ourselves in the place of God and have demanded that life and death be on our terms only.

The presumptuous humanists talk about reverence for life, but, instead of having any regard for the sanctity of life, their view of life is secular and profane. Life for them has no connection with God; it is simply a natural resource to exploit and to re-shape to their own tastes. They are presumptuous, that is, self-willed; their universe is essentially their own ego and their own intellectual pride, their confidence that they represent the elite ruling class of the ages. Their presumption makes them not only contemptuous of God but of other men. We live in a day when the love of all men is insistently proclaimed in theory, and the massive hatred of all men is practiced in fact. We hear much about equality from men who tell us they are our superiors and therefore know what is best for us. We hear calls for unity from men whose every action divides us. Presumptuous men, because they are self-willed, can only bring anarchy. Faith and obedience bring unity because they unite men in Christ, not in man's will. "Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it" (Ps. 127:1).

Comfort in music

2008-10-27T10:22:00.002-06:00

I receive so much comfort in different types of music. I always have. I remember when I was about 8, running away because of something that happened at home and going to the park and digging a hole under the slide. I hid in that hole and sang "I am a Child of God" over and over again while crying. When my dad finally found me, I was still singing it. He picked me up and was not angry.

The song "Consider the Lilies" has been a great comfort to me in these past days. I love the words of this song.

Consider the lilies of the field--how they grow, how they grow.
Consider the birds of the sky--how they fly, how they fly.
He clothes the lilies of the field. He feeds the birds in the sky
and He will feed those who trust Him and Guide them with His eye.

Consider the sheep of his fold--how they follow where he leads.
Though the path may wind across the mountains,
He knows the meadows where they feed.
He clothes the lilies of the field. He feeds the birds in the sky
and He will feed those who trust Him and Guide them with His eye.

Consider the sweet tender children who must suffer on this earth.
The pains of all of them he carried from the day of his birth.
He clothes the lilies of the field. He feeds the lambs of his fold
and He will heal those who trust Him and make their hearts as gold.

He clothes the lilies of the field. He feeds the lambs of his fold
and He will heal those who trust Him and make their hearts as gold.

Dad's Obituary

2008-10-25T08:51:00.001-06:00

October 18, 1947-October 21, 2008
Vic Dean, of Mesa, AZ, was born to Bob and Ada Dean in Durango, Colorado. He was the oldest of six Dean children. He grew up as a great brother and mentor to his siblings and to all of those that he came into contact with.

Vic leaves behind an awesome legacy, full of love, fun and hard work. Vic served proudly in the US Army from 1968 - 1970. While in the military in 1970, at a Base Dance, he met Sandy Snider-Bawden. They were married until 1999, and during that time they raised eight children together.

He loved each of his children, his two stepchildren and his 33 grandchildren with all of his heart. There was not a day that went by that those who knew him didn't hear of how proud he was of his children and his posterity. He was sure to instill in each of them good morals, good work ethic, the ability to have fun, and of course, the great game of BASKETBALL. Victor also instilled and taught of his fond love for his Savior, Jesus Christ.

After his military service, Victor attended BYU and Dixie College; And after most of his children were grown, he attended and received a degree from the College of Eastern Utah, as an RN.

Vic loved helping people and did so as often as possible. He was able to do so in his job, and he and his wife, Adrienne, made a daily effort to reach out to those in need whenever, wherever and however they could.

Victor and his bride, Adrienne, have built a wonderful, fun-loving life together that Vic was very happy and proud of. They resided in Mesa, AZ, where they have lived life to the fullest and participate in all of the outdoor adventures they can handle. Together, they have become avid bicyclists, kayakers, motorcycle enthusiasts, hikers, and love to travel together to spend time with family, as often as their schedules allowed.

Family was very important to Victor and we are excited for his union with his loved ones on the other side.

He is preceded in death by: his siblings, Dennis Dean and Roberta Shirley; his son (and his pride &joy), Joel Dean; and his father, Robert Dean.

He is survived by his wife, Adrienne Shaver-Dean, and her two children, Erin and Andrew Shaver; his children: Monica Riedel; Misty Thompson (Jay); Jared Dean (Christa); Melanie Bond (Jonathan); Amber Dean-Hobdy (Lanard); Joel's wife, Kristy; Lindsey Dean; and Summer Smith (Jesse); His siblings Ronald Dean (Diana); Rick Dean(Dorothy);Lori Buhr(Terry);his mother Ada Dean and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is scheduled for Sunday, October 26 at 6:30 pm at the Grandview LDS Chapel; 900 West 2150 North, Provo, Utah.

My Dad October 18, 1947 to October 21, 2008

2008-10-22T06:42:00.003-06:00

Can this be real? Am I writing that my father is no longer with us?
Last night at 9:00 I got a call from my sister Lindsey who had been contacted by the highway patrol to tell her that my dad had been in a bad motorcycle accident. That he was unconscious and taken to a hospital in Scottsdale. They found her number on his cell phone and so they called her first. She than called me and with Amber's help we tried to find out exactly what hospital he was at. We were able to find him and talk to his Doctor. He told us that he had severe head trauma and that he was very critical and it did not look good. At 11:00, they called Amber back and told her that they could not stop the bleeding in his head and that they were stopping all blood transfusions. We got the call at 11:57 that he had passed away.

I am very blessed in that I was able to talk to him the day before. We had a really great conversation in that he told me how very proud of me he was and how much he loved me and I was able to do the same. After going over that conversation in my head, if I knew it was the last conversation that I ever had with my dad, I would not of changed a thing. When I got off the phone with him, I said I love you and have a great week!

We know that he wanted to be buried in Mancos, Colorado, where he grew up. I will post more information when I know.

Family Night Pumpkin Carving

2008-10-20T21:26:00.007-06:00

Tonight for family night we carved our annual pumpkins. It was so much fun. The smell of pumpkin guts reminds me so much of Fall.

I think Jonathan likes it a little to much.

What is he doing to Devin?

Haylee wasn't real happy about having to clean her pumpkin out.

Haylee's Spider Jack-O-Lantern.

Jerin's Jack-O-Lantern.

Devin's Dracula

Aubrey's pumpkin wasn't scary so she decided to be.

And Jonathan did one too.

We had a really great time. I love holiday traditions and look forward to trick or treating with the kids. We have a great neighborhood for that. So come by, we would love to see you.

My First facial

2008-10-19T18:38:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I went and got my very first facial. You see I have a really hard time spending money on myself. I have never gotten a pedicure. I did get a manicure once when my sister paid for it and the only time I have gotten a full body massage is when it has been given to me as a gift.

My lovely cousin Rachel gave it to me because of a contest I won on her blog. Can I tell you how absolutely amazing it was? WOW!! It was so nice to just relax and let my mind do nothing. I loved it. She comes highly recommended by me.

Help support the effort

2008-10-17T10:01:00.005-06:00

There are many things that I believe to be true. Some of the things that I hold most dear to my heart have been challenged. Most people that read this blog share my beliefs, but some do not. So, I want to share something that I believe in...

I solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

These are things I know to be true.. We have been asked to help in whatever way we can to help support proposition 8. We need to help support the effort to defend traditional marriage.
Please if you pray, add this to your prayers.

Follow up story

2008-10-13T22:00:00.004-06:00

Haylee came home on Saturday and said that she figured out who she was going to marry. She said " Me, Tate, Jacob and Chase were all playing at the park. Well, they all said they wanted to marry me and I told them that they would have to do eanie meanie miney moe to decide. Well, Tate won and he was so excited that he said "YES!" like this. (while pumping his arm up and down) "So, I am going to marry Tate. Is it ok to marry your friend?"

HA HA!! Problem solved.

Funny conversations with my 5 year old.

2008-10-09T22:34:00.002-06:00

Haylee has been talking a lot about marriage lately. Why in the world would marriage be on the mind of a 5 year old is beyond me. This was a conversation we had the other day.

"Mom, is it against the law to marry your brother?"

"Yes, Haylee it is."

"Is it against God's law?"

" Yes, it is also against Gods law." ( who knew that my 5 year old knew there was a difference.)

" Than how am I supposed to get married? Is it hard to find a husband?"

" No, it is not hard to find a husband."

" Well, than how do you do it? I don't know if I can find a husband. I don't think I want to get married. It will be to hard."

At this point Jerin interjects and proceeds to tell her how to find a husband.

" Well first you find a boy that you like and than you start talking. If he likes you than you can go out with each other. Than you fall in love and get married."

Haylee than says-

" I am never getting married. It sounds too hard."

Family Pictures

2008-10-07T08:54:00.005-06:00

We have been trying to get family pictures done while the fall colors are still here. We had it scheduled for Saturday with some family but, it rained all day Saturday and most of Sunday. So, we rescheduled it for yesterday but nobody could make it. So, this is our attempt at taking family photos by ourselves. It did not turn out as good as I would have liked. Plus, I think the rainstorm knocked off most of the beautiful Fall leaves. I love the Fall foliage and was sad that most of it was gone. Here are a few...

Fall Weather

2008-10-03T10:44:00.003-06:00

I have really enjoyed the last week of weather. It has been in the mid 80's and gets down in the 50's at night. That is by far my favorite kind of weather. But, all this is starting to change. I think I saw the last days of the 80's for the rest of the year. That really brings on the blues. I love warm or even hot weather. Sometimes I wonder if I truly am warm blooded. I am always cold unless I am sitting in the sun. I have to bring a jacket with me everywhere. When someone in the room is hot, you better believe that it feels perfect to me. I have to take a coat with me into a restaurant because I get so cold after I have finished a meal. It doesn't matter how warm it is in the restaurant you will still find me shivering away.

Now the question is why do I live in Utah when it gets so flippin cold here? IT has nothing to do with the weather, that's for sure... There are some great things about living here. I love the mountains and being so close to temples and family.

I am not looking forward to the cold weather or snow. I hate bundling up and putting on layers. Give me sunshine and flip flop weather anytime... Good bye warm weather. I will miss you.

Private and Home Schooling

2008-09-26T11:11:00.003-06:00

The first month of our change in schooling has now past. This is the first time that all 4 of my children have not been in public schools. Although, Aubrey does go part time to Springville high school for a seminary class and an Art class.
Aubrey and Devin absolutely love Glen J. Kimber academy. I was very excited to put them in it but not so excited about the 30 minute drive to get them there. It has been well worth the time driving to see them so excited about learning. Devin absolutely hated school before. He dreaded going everyday. Now, he LOVES it. They share with me everyday what they are learning. They are learning things that I do not remember learning about. They are able to pray and sing hymns and have scripture study in school. I wanted more than anything for my childrens teachings to be centered around the teachings of Jesus Christ. This was the biggest reason why I chose to pull them out and try and find something different for them. I love it... Plus, they are taught by the most amazing teacher, a man that has taught for more than 30 years, Dr. Glen Kimber.

Jerin and Haylee are both doing home school. Although, Jerin's program is a bit different from Haylee's. I talked with a woman that has been homeschooling for awhile and she suggested that I start Jerin in a new program for homeschooling kids. It is actually like a COOP program, meaning that 13 kids get together and have classes together. The ages range from 9 to 12 and the kids learn at their own pace, which works well for Jerin because he learns very fast and can now move on when he is ready rather than waiting.

Haylee loves that I am her teacher. My neighbor also homeschools her daughter who is Haylee's age so they are able to do Math together. I do reading, writing and spelling. The lessons go very fast. She also does a Friday program with other homeschoolers at a school in Salem. She is taking Dance, Spanish, Piano, Music and story time. Jerin is also doing the Friday program.

All in all it has been great. I was very nervous to take this step but I am glad that I did. I am busier than I have ever been. It has taken some getting used to but I know that change really can be a good thing.

My daughter the driver

2008-09-23T16:32:00.007-06:00

Tomorrow is the last day of Drivers ed. for Aubrey. I am very glad only for the reason that I would get up with her at 5:45 so that I could have her out the door and to drivers ed. by 6:00. Now for some reason the idea of her driving by herself really scares me. We have been driving together for sometime now. She drives home everyday from Lehi on the freeway and does a fairly good job. It does make me nervous though. I find myself clenching onto the passenger door getting ready to grab the wheel at any time. I have to remind myself to relax and that she will do a better job if I show confidence in her abilities.
Early on in her first experiences of driving, she had an accident. Luckily, it was just in our garage and in only wrecked some of the shelving and my front bumper. It scared me and scared her. It was a very cliche moment. She pulled into the garage nice and slow, did a great job and went to put on the brake, got confused and stepped on the gas. This was the result..
I am glad it did not scare her away from driving. But, when she pulls into the driveway I am always a bit nervous. So, I know that practice makes perfect. But, I still feel my heart racing every time she gets behind the wheel.

Sunday Morning

2008-09-21T17:19:00.003-06:00

I am a big believer in that everything happens for a reason. It doesn't mean that I always know the reason at that moment or even in that year but I think that I can choose for all my experiences to be something I can learn from.

Now saying that, I have for the better part of a year really tried hard to learn from Haylee. What can I do to help her make different choices?
Haylee is her own person. She likes things done her way. She has been this way since about the age of two. This morning Haylee wanted to wear an outfit to church that was not clean. She dressed herself and was ready to go at 9:00. Church does not start until 1:00. So, I told her she could not wear the outfit she had on because it was dirty. We have this discussion quite frequently because she has about 5 outfits that she LOVES to wear and that is all she will wear. Forget about the rest of the wardrobe that hangs in her closet. So, I made a rule that if it has not gone through the wash than she can not wear it until it does. Her laundry day is on Tuesdays. So, Wednesday is usually a good day because she has so much to choose from. Anyway, that started the Sunday meltdown. She could not wear the outfit that she LOVES and that she chose. So, I start making suggestions on different things that she could wear. I am trying oh so hard to be patient and not yell and when she cries, I just send her to her room until she is finished. We went through 4 outfits. By this time it is about noon. She finally settled on one that she liked. Now for the next hurdle, her hair. Most of the time I am relaxed about this. She prefers her hair to be brushed and on occasion a barrette. Sometimes she will surprise me and ask for a pony tail. But, it has to be a low ponytail. If she can see it in a mirror, it is to high. Today we decided on 2 ponytails... On Sunday she sometimes will let me do her hair. So, I put the 2 ponytails in making sure to keep them low. Well, she decides she wants a barrette now instead. I do not have time for this. We will be late for church. So, I left the ponytails in and put a barrette in also. All the while, she is crying saying her hair is to puffy and she doesn't like how she looks. So what to do? We ended up going to church with her hair in 2 ponytails, a barrette and as we were walking out the door she adds a headband to it to help with the puffiness.

Now, this is my fourth child. You would think I could figure it out by now. I think what I have figured out is that we are all individuals. That force and coercion is not what the Lord intended and I still have lots to learn about being a parent.

Constitution Day

2008-09-18T22:18:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was Constitution Day.. I think lots of people don't really care to much about that day. In fact, as I was typing this my son said " what is Constitution Day?" Well, atleast I was one of those people. I truly know very little about the Constitution or the Declaration of Independance. But, I have committed to change those things. I really have wanted to learn more about it. I know it is more than just a historical document. But, I wasn't sure where to go to learn more about it and how it affects me today..

Well, we have been introduced to a lecture series called "The Healing of America." It was written by Cleon Skousen and is being presented by Glen J. Kimber. For those of you who do not know, Cleon Skousen is a well known author who has written many books on America and the state of it. Dr. Kimber is his son in law. I am very excited for this series to start. If you want more information about it, you can go to http://www.healingofamerica.org

I know that I want to become proactive on learning more about these things and here is a great way for me to do it..

Welcome to the neighborhood.

2008-09-13T20:58:00.002-06:00

So, we have now been in our new home for one week. Well, tonight we were all sitting in the kitchen. Off of my kitchen, we have a deck which overlooks a park. We heard a loud crash. It sounded like my deck was coming off of the house. I ran out on the deck not realizing that the screen has been pulled shut and knocked it off the tracks. The deck seemed fine but, it was just getting dark and I could see what looked like a headlight in the grass at the park about 40 yards away from me. Jonathan yells "call 911" and sprints out the front door. I called 911 but did not have much information to give them. I could tell it was a motorcycle in the grass and it looked like there was a man laying in the road. That is what I told her but she wanted more information. I made my way over to the man and he looked bad. He had no helmet on and Jonathan was trying to ask him questions but he spoke very little English. (these are times when I really wish I spoke more spanish.) He was bleeding from the head and that is what I told the dispatch. Four policeman showed up right away but it seemed like forever before the ambulance came.

On further inspection we could see that he skidded off the road onto our lawn and hit a power box. His motorcycle flew forward about 50 feet but he flew another 40 feet. It was nuts. Anyway, the ambulance came and luckily one of our neighbors spoke fluent spanish and was able to speak with him and find out if he had an allergies or had been drinking. It was quite an experience.

We have moved

2008-09-10T20:24:00.003-06:00

This is our new home. We have spent the better part of a week getting moved in. We are not quite out yet. We still have all those little odds and ends, the things you are not quite sure what to do with. But, we are so glad to be getting settled. My house is still in a bit of chaos trying to get things organized. I hate chaos. I have worked very diligently on getting it together and do not feel so overwhelmed by it. My backyard backs into a huge park and directly north of me is Evergreen cemetery. It's a great neighborhood and my kids already have lots of friends because it is back in our old ward. So, lets have a party!!

Family Parties and visits

2008-08-31T22:07:00.008-06:00

This weekend I have had a blast. To start off, we had Jonathan's cousin Tyler, his girlfriend Emily and our sister in law Amy over for banana splits and a game of Apples to Apples. Tyler is visiting from BYU Idaho. It was lots of fun and we are glad they decided to come and hang out with us old married people.

On Saturday we went to my cousin Amy's house for her son Stockton's baptism and a barbecue. It was so much fun. Lots of my extended family was there.

My in-laws also made a last minute trip up to visit with us. They brought 2 bags of their green chilis from their garden and a bag of fresh tomatoes.YUM!!! We than roasted the chilis and put them in my freezer. I now will have some to last me all winter. It is such a treat to have them come up. We don't get to see them as much as we would like though.

My brother Jared came up from Vegas on Friday. So, we were also able to spend this whole weekend with him. I don't get to see him very often. So, it was an amazing treat to be able to spend time with him.

On Sunday we celebrated my nephew Aaron's 18th birthday with a big barbecue at my sister Monica's house. All my siblings were there. It has been almost 4 years since we have all been together. I enjoyed my weekend immensely. I love my family so much, both sides.
PHEW!! It was such a busy weekend. I am blessed to be part of one of the most amazing families. Sad to see that it is over..

Cub Soccer

2008-08-26T20:43:00.009-06:00

In Springville they have a thing called Cub Soccer. It is the beginning league for 4 and 5 year olds. Today was Haylee's first game. It was so much fun to watch.. They only had 3 players from each team on the field at once and they played on a field that was only 30 yards long and 20 yards wide. The kids didn't care who won.. They just wanted to play and have their treat. Haylee absolutely loved it.

Haylee is in the line-up to kick the ball. Well, I guess they all are, considering there are only 3 players on each team.

Go get the ball Haylee!!!
She is taking a break and getting a drink.

She was in charge of the treats for her first game. She picked fruit roll-ups and Caprisuns.

Buckin Bronco

2008-08-23T09:02:00.003-06:00

Since Aubrey and Devin were little, Jonathan has been their buckin Bronco. Every night after prayers, he would get down on all fours and act like he is a buckin Bronco and try to knock the kids off of his back. Aubrey and Devin are both to big for it but Jerin and Haylee still love it....

He is a great dad and a Buckin Bronco too!!

Good Bye Buddy!!!

2008-08-21T16:05:00.004-06:00

Last night as I was helping Jerin say his prayers, I looked in on his Russian dwarf gerbil, Buddy. I usually look in on him nightly because he liked to come up to the opening of the cage so that we can pet him. He was a very friendly gerbil. Well, after 2 long years of living in Jerin's room, he died.... We think of dehydration as his water bottle was empty. Jerin is having a hard time with it.. When he woke up this morning he asked if we put some water in his mouth if he would come alive again? He also wanted to know why we have animals if they only stay in cages and than die?

Jerin said he is done having animals.. I guess we will see.

So, we are putting him in a fruit roll-up box and burying him in the backyard.

So long Buddy!!

The Choice

2008-08-19T08:35:00.004-06:00

As all the kids around us are getting ready to start school tomorrow, mine will not be. This year through much thought and prayer by both Jonathan and I, we have decided to pull our children out of government schools. I will be homeschooling Jerin and Haylee. Aubrey and Devin will go to an LDS based private school. There were many reasons why we made this decision but, the biggest one that stood out the most for us was that I wanted the gospel of Jesus Christ to be taught in their school subjects. For me, this is an important factor in their learning. I know this choice is not right for everyone, but it is right for our family. I am very excited and nervous to be making such a big transition. So many exciting things have presented themselves to us lately that I feel and know that the Lords hand is a part of. This is one of those things.