Thankful 6

Today I am thankful I survived the week. It was a busy hectic one.

Well, one problem with going back and adding my posts from Facebook. It has been a couple of weeks, and honestly I don't remember exactly why the week was so hectic.

I a guessing it has something to do with Stake Conference and the meetings that Jim had that week.  

It might also just have to do with the fact that I have 2 teenagers, and one preteen at home.  A son serving a mission and a married son and daughter in law who are soon to be parents.

It could also have something to do with my job and the crazy situations that I deal with day in and day out.

Whatever it was, I survived.

We are now on to other weeks that we are needing to be survived.

Thankful 5

"Today I am thankful that my rolls turned out."

.

.

This week-end was our stake conference.  We had a dinner for the stake presidency and their wives and our visiting general authority.  I was asked to make rolls for the dinner.  I am a novice.  I was stressed about making them.  They turned out beautifully.  

.

.

.

Around 4:00 pm my sweet husband called and said, "I don't want to stress you out, or ruin your night but....You have been asked to share your testimony tonight at stake conference."

.

.

.

Did I just call him my sweet husband?

Holy Cow, that was so scary!!

I haven't ever spoken in stake anything.  There was a lot of people there.

My heart was pounding and my knees were shaking.  Why is it that when Jim gets up to speak, he makes it look so easy?

.

.

.

I spoke on God's plan being greater than my plan.  How all of the really big and important things that I wanted to "plan"  God often had other plans for me and my family.

I reflected on the trial of the last 2 years.  My plan would certainly have been that Jim would of found employment a long time ago.  I am trying to have faith and trust that God's plan will be greater than that.  That for whatever the reason, or the lesson to be learned, it will be what is best for me and for my own personal growth.

.

.

I would of been happy just having to stress about making rolls.
.
.

Thankful 4

"I am thankful for my beautiful daughter in law. She is going to become a mommy any day now. We are all so very excited for the arrival of Sweet Baby James!"

.

.

.

We are so anxious for the arrival of our first grandchild.  It really doesn't seem possible that Tyler is old enough to be a Daddy.  It just seems like yesterday that we were anticipating his arrival.

.

.

.

It is so amazing how times goes by so quickly.

Although I am sure that Emily would tells us differently about the last 9 months!

.

.

.

Jim was very honored when Ty and Em called on Fathers day to tell him they had chosen a name for the baby.

.

.

.

We then started calling him 

Sweet Baby James.

Thankful 3

"I am thankful for friends who love and support me, and make me laugh"

I have been blessed with some wonderful friends.

.

.

Friends that it doesn't matter how many  weeks/months have gone by, you can just pick up right where you left off.

Jan~

 Friends that you can lean on and get support from.

Janette~

 Friends that make me laugh until I want to cry. 

Char~

 Friends that still love you even when you rope them into doing crazy things.

Karen~

 Friends that love and support you, even when you have lost all of your marbles.

Michelle~

Friends that no matter what, offer support and hope for the future.

Friends that are willing to take you with them on this journey of life.

Karin~

Friends that let you talk and sort out your feelings while they listen and offer support and hope.  The type of friend that hours can go by and you realize that you're the one doing all of the talking, while they are listening.

Gina~

I have been blessed with many wonderful friends. Friends that turn into family.  Friends that love and support you through the good and the bad.
.
.

Thankful 2

"I am thankful for my children, and that God's plan was greater than my plan. I can't imagine life without them".

.

.

I have reflected on the whole my plan, God's plan...  God's plan has always been

 better. 

My plan was to get married have babies every couple of years and live happily ever after.

.

.

Not a bad plan.

.

.

God's plan was to test me, to put me through the refiners fire.  To give me the things that I needed to stretch and to grow.

.

.

My plan never included 6 miscarriages.

.

.

My plan didn't include pain and heartache and disappointment.

.

.

God's plan included taking a journey that led us to adoption.  

..

For that I will always be grateful.

Thankful: 1

I am thankful for my husband, he is the best thing that ever happened to me.

.

.

Really he is.

.

.

I can't imagine life without this guy.

.

.

He has more patients than anyone I have ever met.

He is always positive, it takes a lot

for something to get him down.

.

.

When we met 27 years ago, I must admit that I wasn't sure....Eternity is a very long time.

.

.

I do know that I was given an undeniable answer from a loving Heavenly Father.

.

.

Boy was he right.

.

.

Jim is the perfect husband for me. I am one lucky girl to get to spend Eternity with

this guy.

.

.

The last two years have been hard.

The last two years of unemployment have taken a toll on me and our little family.

.

.

How many times do you think Jim has complained? If you guessed zero then you

would be correct.

.

.

Jim has so much faith, and hope and trust in God's plan.

He has been my rock!

.

.

.

Twenty-Seven years!

I look forward to another oh, lets say billion years with this man.

Thankful

Over in the land of Facebook an epidemic of gratitude has been stated from status to status.

It's one of my favorite things about November.

Taking time to pause and reflect on all that we have been blessed with.

I have tried each day to count my blessings.

.

.

I don't want to forget the feelings and thoughts I have shared.

I am going to transfer those thoughts from Facebook to my blog.

.

.

If you read my updates on Facebook you might want to skip the next 30 posts.

.

.

Who am I kidding? I have been gone so long I am sure no one even checks the blog.

But....maybe one day a grandchild, or great-grandchild might want to know what his grandma was thinking and feeling in November, 2011.

.

.

Test

This is a test to see if this still works, and to see if anyone is even out there anymore.

I have been gone awhile, not on purpose, but life gets in the way of life sometimes.

I plan to do better.

There are things going on that I don't want to forget.

Schools Out, For Summer

         Where has the time gone?  This school year really seemed to fly by.  I have to say that I am really blessed that my children have such great teachers that not only teach them academics, but also take the time to teach them values and why it is important to be nice and kind.
      A couple of my children have learning disabilities, things that come naturally and easily to some can be a struggle.  I am so proud of them for working so hard and never giving up, even when it seems too hard, or confusing. 
     It can be hard on a mother's heart to see your child work so hard, and not have that reflected on the assignement, or on the report card.  To see them feel bad about their grades is not always easy to take.  I wish there was a grade for their efforts, because it would be A+.
     I want them to know that I am proud of how hard they worked this school year, but even more importantly, I am proud of the awesome people they are turning into.  I am still not able to wrap my mind around Tori headed off to High School, and Coleman entering Junior High School, and my baby going into 5th grade.  I do know that they will continue to work hard, and that they will continue to make me proud!

For now, lets ENJOY being out for SUMMER!
    

WANTED

Goldfield Ghost Town. 
We had a great week with Grandpa and Grandma.  One of the highlights was visiting the ghost town.  We enjoyed a beautiful day of sunny weather and 80 degrees.   I have to say I LOVE Arizona's winter weather.  I could be happy with this weather year round.  I guess we do have to go through the bad to really appreciate the good.

Snow Fun!

We spent two weeks in Utah over winter break!  We were lucky enough to be there during several big snow storms.  The kids had so much fun sledding, having snowball fights, and making snowmen and snow angels. 
    Dallas is having just as much fun in South Dakota playing in the snow, and enjoying the below zeros temps.  Poor Arizona boy is freezing!
A nice man that lives on  my parents street pulled the kids around on sleds behind his tractor.  It was about 7 degrees that day.  No one seemed to mind.

 We had a blast getting to spend time with Tyler and Emily.  We went to the "pie" for pizza,and we even wrote our names on the wall.  We then went to to Temple square to see the beautiful lights.

 This is my favorite scene of all times.  I love how beautiful this looks on the reflecting pool.

Yes, that is Dallas with a very large snow man?

Resolution

res·o·lu·tion  [rez-uh-loo-shuhn]
The act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.


     I have decided that I need a course of action.  I have thought about my New year resolutions for a few weeks now and I am ready to put them into writing, and make them happen.
 
* Find joy in the journey~  life often throws us curve balls.  It doesn't always go as planned.  I am resolving  to find joy along the way no matter the circumstances.  This last year has been a challenge.  As I reflect back on the journey I am amazed at the blessings we have been given.  I want to be more aware of the blessing and less focused on the challenges.  We are so blessed in so many areas of our lives.  That is what I am going to choose to focus on.
 
* Blog more~ I started this blog when we moved to Arizona so our families could see what we were up to.  I have been slacking and have not blogged as often as I would like to.  I want to remember events and thoughts and feelings that I experience.  I am resolving to blog weekly.  I know that is a resolution just waiting to be broken...I am going to make it a priority and try hard to make it happen.
 
*Clean out the closets~ My friend Jenny made this one of her resolutions last year and I am going to steal her idea.  I want to get organized and dejunk!  It amazes me how quickly stuff creeps in and takes over the closets and other areas of the house.  I don't need all of this junk...I am going to tackle the closets one at a time and get organized!!
 
*Scrapbook~ I am really good about collecting paper and scrapbook supplies, I could sit down and scrapbook for days on end and not need to buy a single thing.  I really enjoy scrapbooking, I love being creative.  When I started working a few years ago I decided I didn't have time to scrapbook and I have gotten really far behind.  I want to make time this year.  I want to work on them  on a regular basis.  I have started by cleaning and organizing my scrapbook cupboard.  It looks so good.  I need to organize the pictures next and get all of the pictures printed that I have taken the last few years.  I am going to tackle this project a little at a time.  I feel overwhelmed just thinking about it, and know that is the reason it has not been a priority.  I am resolving to make it a priority this year.
 
*Scriptures, Prayers, Temple~ You know the "sunday school answers"  I resolve to make these a priority.  I know that when we put these things first, we have time for all of the other things.
 
*Laugh more~ Laughter is the best medicine!
 
*Learn to muscle test~ I have wanted to learn how to do this for a long time.  I am not sure why I have not had the confidence, but I am determined to learn and become good at it.  I have been reading the book "The emotion code".  This book talks about releasing trapped emotions and negative energy.  Jim likes to call it voodoo medicine.  Over the years I have seen some shifts in my health and mental well being by using energy medicine.  I am excited to learn to muscle test and be able to release some of the "baggage" on my own.
 
I know there are a lot of other things I could/should  be working on this year.  I am going to start here and see how it goes.
 
Wish me luck!
 

Much to be Thankful for

Monday Jim was blind sided with the news of a lay off at his new place of employment.  We didn't see it coming.  He knew that business was slow, but didn't think his job was in jeopardy.  Many people lost their jobs.  The work did not show up like they all had hoped for. 

It kind of feels like dejavu.

It was last November that we were hit with the same devestating news of being unemployed.

I really, really, really did not want to go through the holidays again this way.

What is there about this trial that I still need to learn?

Do I still need to work on faith?

Or perhaps gratitude?

Maybe my Heavenly Father wants me to grow and stretch and come to know him even more?

*

*

*

*

*

Today I am not going to think about the stress and worry of this new little road bump in our game of life.

Today I am going to count my blessings.

*

*

*

*

*

In no particular order..

My husband, who is my rock!  My children, who I adore and miss (Tyler, Emily,and Dallas) My parents who taught me right from wrong.  My 10 brothers who mean more to me than I express to them.  Their beautiful wives and the wonderful 50+ nieces and nephews I have.  The countless friends who make going through life fun and rewarding.  My job at the school working with some very special kids. The great teacher who makes everyday an adventure, especially when  we go from one melt down to another.  The great co-workers and the community we enjoy on a daily basis.  The knowledge I have that my Heavenly Father loves me.  My Savior Jesus Christ that died for me.  My cozy home that is filled with love.  My health and the health of my husband and family.  My freedoms.  The food that is always on the table. My inlaws and their examples, for raising such a wonderful son.   That my needs are always met.  And many, many more.

*

*

*

Today I have adopted this motto.

Elder Brignone

September 22, 2009

 

Eric, Dallas and Caleb

Dropping Dallas off at the Missionary Training center 

Dallas with his MTC companion Elder Neff.

Dallas and Elder Horrocks Elder Horrocks is his trainer and is from Pocatello Idaho.  Their first area is McLaughlin South Dakota.

Dallas with his mission president and wife the Laytons.

Dallas is loving his life as a missionary.  His first area McLaughlin, South Dakota, is a very rural area with the population being about 700 people. He is on the reservation.  He loves his trainer, and they seem to be working very well together.  We love hearing about his experiences each week.  Although we miss him like crazy, we are proud of him for serving!

Volleyball, Volleyball, Volleyball

Tori #20

I love seeing my shy, quiet daughter come alive on the Volleyball court.  She is an awesome player and loves every minute she in on the court.  She eats, breathes, and dreams volleyball. 

Way to go Lady Mustangs!