A season for giving thanks!

I really love this time of year. I appreciate being able to take the time to think about the things that I am most grateful for. There are definitely many things on my list which keeps growing as times become more uncertain. I keep adding to this list as each day goes by. I love what Henry B. Eyring said about the more you look for the blessing in your life the more you realize that you have and that you should write them down so that you can be reminded of them when you are struggling to find them. Anyway, now that I have talked in circles, I will share some of my blessing so that they are written down if I ever forget them and need to be reminded.

#1: A husband who works hard to provide for his family, teaches karate so that his daughters can take it, shares his passion for biking with his children, takes his wife shooting, plays with his family and uses his priesthood for the benefit of his family while showing his sons and daughters how to honor it!

#2: A healthy active pre-teen who loves to do karate, tries hard to do what is right, asks many, many, many questions to make sure she understands the principles that we are trying to teach her and still thinks that most boys are gross and dumb!

#3: A daughter who finally believes she is smart, loves school, did awesome on her Johnny Appleseed wax museum report, would rather play in the dirt with the boys at school, loves to give me hugs and keeps me on my toes!

#4: A son who loves the chicken he caught on the 4th of July, loves his friends, loves soccer, scares me because of the things that he loves to try on his bike (thanks to his Dad!), tries to be obedient, wants to be just like his Dad when he grows up, plays well with his little brother and loves to take care of Max!

#5: My little sidekick that sticks to me like glue, helps me cook, wakes me up at 4 am to snuggle, laughs all the time, teases everyone, tries to scare me and is fiercely independent until he thinks that I am walking out the door without him, watches football with his dadand says that he wants to play football for Boise State when he grows up!

#6: Extended family who provide lots of laughter, teasing, good times and love (this includes both sides of the family, I just don't have photos of my side! (happy now Bubba?) )

#7: Friends who will always be there through thick and thin, love my kids like their own, listen to our fears, laugh when we are happy, cry when we are sad, are always honest with us, never mention our faults and are always in our corner cheering us on!

#7: continued from above, come into our lives when we most need them, and stay regardless of the distance between our homes, are only a phone call or text away, never make fun of your dreams and share theirs with you, their doors are always open!

#7: friends continued still, share their abilities and accomplishments no matter that the whole world knows who they are and never act like they are better than you. Provide another positive roll model for your children and not only invite you into their world, but make sure that you feel welcome!

#8: the things that remind me of who is ultimately in control and is always mindful of me and what is going on in my life. The beauty that these possess and the joy they give me by just being!

There are so many other things that I am grateful for but this post would be impossibly long.
Let it suffice to say that everyday I am appreciative of one more thing than the previous day. Today as my friend returns to Iraq, I am particularly grateful for his and his family's sacrifice along with the countless others who give all that they have to ensure our many freedoms, even to the sacrificing of their lives. May they ever know that I am eternally in their debt for allowing me to keep the right to speak my mind and ever grateful for all the freedoms that come from their service!

I was pleasantly surprised by....

Yesterday was rot with surprises for me. First was that the alarm to the school started going off when I unlocked the door for the cheerleaders. Thank heaven that the office manager was there shortly after to drop her daughter off and she turned the alarm off for me. That could have turned out a lot different and not pleasant at all. Then our family went to the Gun Show in Sandy to find a few things for our 72 hour kits. We found everything on our list and a couple of extras too. Merry Christmas to us! The kids even got a pocket knife each. I have never been to a show where we got everything on are list. There were 2 times that I felt like we should get something. We heeded the feeling the first time and I couldn't think why I should get the second item which was a duffle bag, because we had so many. When we got home and talked about it, I discovered why the feeling had been there. One more reminder to me to always listen to that little voice and ignore my own ideas. Good thing it wasn't a big deal this time. We quickly made it through all of the vendors so that I could meet some friends to see the movie "Twilight".

I went to the movie knowing that a movie-made-from-a-book is never as good as the book. I wasn't too convinced that the casting was right either, but there were some scenes from the book that I wanted to see them in color, not just in my imagination. I patiently waited in line for about 40 minutes with my friends. The theater was packed and there were actually about 10 men brave enough to enter this world of vampires with all these women. I now like who they cast for the characters with one exception and that person was not the lead so I can live with it. The scenes that I wanted to see were done beautifully.

The above scene was one of my favorites that was a surprise for me. I laughed when a lot of the women "oohed" when Dr. Cullen came on screen, giggled when a couple of things were corny instead of scary like I had imagined them and really wished that some of my close friends had been there with me for it so that the things that we had discussed could be rediscussed. I thought that the movie was well done especially considering that it was from a book. I have learned that no movie will ever match up to my imagination. This is another case where you can see the movie and then read the book to add extra details. I will go see it again with my friends and love it again. I thought that the movie did a good job at showing the feelings in the relationship between Edward and Bella. Anyone want to go with me while all kids are in school so that the teenagers aren't making funny noises and a cell phone isn't going off behind me? I give the movie an A.

Saying goodbye!

We learned last week that Steve has high cholesterol. The doctor has given him 3 months to get it down or he will have to go on meds. He is only 37. I can't imagine another 40 + years on meds. I have been reading up on what he should and shouldn't eat. Since it is a genetic thing for him, I figure the whole family may as well eat healthier so the kids can learn now to eat like they should for this genetic mutation. So we are saying good-bye to some of our favorites or eating them a lot less. It is up to me to keep the menu on track, because they all eat pretty much whatever I feed them.

Good-bye Mr. Red Meat!

Come saute with me vegetable family!

Good-bye cream family!

Hello, Miss Sexy Dark Chocolate!

Au revoir Monsieur Gateau du fromage!


Steve is doing good eating things that he doesn't like such as spinach when I don't disguise it. Luckily we do eat pretty healthy, it is just a matter of remembering "plant are our friends, animals are our enemies!" If you have any good recipes that are healthy, please share with me!

Meetings, meetings, meetings......

I have been feeling that meetings are going to be the death of me. I have a meeting at least once a week for my callings or something else that I am involved in. Most of these meetings are what I call fluff meetings. There really is no reason to have them except that the organizers feel for some odd reason that it is necessary. I find it annoying because a 2 minute phone call or better yet a 1 page email would accomplish the same thing. As the athletic director, most of my conversing is done via email. I love it. It wastes no ones time with stupid questions that have already been answered. If I get such an email I simply respond by forwarding the answer that was already sent. As far as church meetings go, we were counselled about 5 years ago to not have unnecessary meetings, but to especially eliminate most of our Sunday meetings. I must admit that I personally abstain from most of those meetings that I am supposed to go to on Sunday. I believe that my time is better spent with my family. Steve has 2 days off a week and one of them is Sunday. I am happy to go to meetings when he is at work or when it doesn't take away from my family plans. I have always been taught that family comes first in this religion and sad to say, there are people who believe that their callings come before their family. I am not one of those and for some reason not even the prophet feels that the church comes before his family, so I am in good company.

My cup runneth over!

Today was a good day, despite the cold weather. It has been one of those days were I reflect on the things that I have received. Sidnee was baptized yesterday. We are fortunate to have much family and many good friends around us who came to help us celebrate the occasion with her. I can hardly believe how fast she and my other children are growing up. Somedays I do feel like they are making me lose my mind, but what parent doesn't feel that way occasionally? It is strange to me to think that Steve and I have been married for almost 12 1/2 years. We have a beautiful home in a great neighborhood with great neighbors and many friends. Steve has a good job, our vehicles run, we are all healthy and sassy! We love our ward, our town and our hobbies. We have food in our fridge, freezer and food storage. We have clothes to keep us warm and a furnace that works to heat our home. I am really enjoying my warm slippers right now. I have Internet and phone to help me keep in touch with those who don't live close. I live in country where I am free to worship my God and vote for whom ever I please. My children are able to go to school and receive a good education. There is gas in my van so I can go wherever I want at least until I have to buy more gas. I get to play volleyball, basketball and softball with women in my ward. I had a bounteous tomato harvest. There is just so much that I have to be grateful for. What more could a person want besides a Chrysler 300? Seriously though, it really humbles me to think about all that I have. I may not be rich in the eyes of the world, but in my eyes, I am rich beyond my wildest dreams.

count your blessings

The idea that really struck during conference was gratitude. There were several talks that touched on that topic. It made me stop and think about the things that I have to be grateful for. There are so many little things that I tend to take for granted or chalk them up to luck, that really are blessings. Steve and I have been working pretty consistently on our food storage since before we moved to Eagle Mountain just over 3 years ago. I have been couponing and canning things. I didn't can too much last year, but this year I was determined to. I bought 2 bushels of peaches that we put up as a family. Even the kids helped without complaining too much. After finishing the peaches, I really was feeling that we didn't have enough put away. I was wanting to can more, but as is with everyone right now, money was not in the budget for that. The next day one of my neighbors gave me a box full of pectin for freezer jam. I almost didn't take it because I didn't have any fruit left to jam, but I just couldn't say no. So here I was Saturday with a box of pectin, but no fruit. Monday I went to run an errand. While on that errand a friend called to tell me that the Church cannery had a surplus of peaches and could I please grab her some on my way home. I told her that I would. I grabbed a box on the way and then stopped at the cannery. I ended coming home with about 5 - 6 bushels of peaches. Now I was feeling grateful that I had taken the pectin because here was fruit to use it on. I called a friend and the next day she and I spent 4 hours making jam. We still hadn't made a dent in the peaches. We decided to have a canning party during priesthood session and invite whoever wanted to come. We ended up with 5 ladies. We made jam for 1 1/2 hours and still had about 1 1/2 bushels left and a ton of pectin. We decided that since we had used all of our containers that we would let someone else have the rest of the peaches and pectin. Just as we were finishing cleaning up we had 3 late comers show up, so we sent them home with the rest of the pectin and peaches. Everyone was happy and feeling blessed. Yesterday I was wishing that I had more tomatoes so that I could make and can some salsa. Today I got an email from a freecycler saying that they had a lot of green tomatoes. I was the first to respond. I came home with 2 bushels of green tomatoes. The man threw in some hot peppers and onions when he found out that I was going to make green tomato salsa. Once again I am feeling very blessed. These things have come to me when I have a lot of other things going on, but how could I not feel blessed when the Lord is giving me what I have asked for. I feel very blessed that I can put food storage up for my family and be able to do it on our budget. It makes me realize that the Lord is mindful of every righteous desire of our hearts. It is as President Eyring has said, the more you look for blessings that have come to you, the more you see that you have been blessed with. May we all look for what we have been given instead of focusing on what we don't. Even in this time of uncertainty, we can be grateful for what we have now and live in the moment as President Monson has counseled.

Take a stand

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has asked once again for its members to take a stand for marriage. This time for those in California to vote for Prop 8 which will repeal the current marriage law and make it so that a marriage will only be between a man and a woman. If you live outside of California you are to get a hold of family and friends there and encourage them to vote for it. I will support that and email my family in California. This is an issue where no man can sit on the fence any longer. The local news had an interview with a family here in Utah who is LDS and has gay children. They feel they are being torn by this issue. I don't understand this. Although more extreme, how is it different than how a parent should react if their child gets caught stealing, or decides to live with someone out of wedlock? As a parent you should reprimand the child, but still love them. How is that hard? If my child decides to live with her boyfriend, I will let her know how I feel, I would be worried that she is not living the principles that she has been taught therefore not be able to have the full benefits of membership, but I would still love her. In my mind you can love a wayward child, while still living the gospel of Jesus Christ to the fullest. There is no one forcing me to choose between my church and my child. I hear so many people say that the church should change it's rules. I say no! Very much NO!!! God will not change the rules just because he has a child who is having problems passing his test here on earth. I am sure He is more heart broken than we can imagine. I say this as a parent who loves her children with all that she is and knows that what I feel for my children is a minute fraction of what our Father in Heaven feels for us. I know that this is a difficult situation for many, but we need to remember that gender is essential to our premortal, mortal and post mortal lives. I hope that the Lord will bless those whose lives this personally affects will rely on Him and be granted the peace of mind that they need at this time.