"I LOVE TO SEE THE TEMPLE

I'M GOING THERE SOME DAY..."

KC TEMPLE

We're SO excited that KC is getting a Temple!!!
(pictures taken Jan 5th, 2011)

Incredibly Blessed

I love the Holiday Season,

and am so thankful for the birth of my Savior Jesus Christ.

It's so easy to get wrapped up
in the worldly wyles of materialism.

And I must admit that there are times that I do just that.

This has been a hard year for us financially
-with Vic being unemployed.

I woke up this morning in the wee hours, very sad.

Thinking about the things we don't have...
you know, a private pity party.

But thankfully my heart did a flip flop

and my heart turned from the pity party into a rejoicing party.
So I want to jot down the things I AM thankful for.

*First and foremost I'm thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ.
I know He loves me, even when I'm not very lovable.
I know He is always standing next to me
wiping away my tears when they fall.
He is always there rejoicing with me in my triumphs.
He is always protecting me and my loved ones from harm.
I know He died for me
so that I may stand before my Father in Heaven guiltless,
as long as I do my part,
so that I too, may return to my Heavenly Home
and live my 'Happily Ever After'.

*I am thankful for my wonderful husband, Vic.

Just as my Savior is, he is there to wipe away my tears,
rejoice with me, and to protect me.
My husband has an incredible love for me
and the children we've borne together.
He is my best friend and my lover.
He is my soul mate and I am in awe of him
and all he does for me and our family.

*I am thankful for my beautiful children.

I have the BEST kids ever!!
They are what I live for, they bring me great happiness.
They do make me crazy at times, to be totally honest,
but that's what they're supposed to do...right?
They have been awesome this year in all the ups and downs
and NEVER complain.
With the holiday season upon us,
not once have they been the typical whiny kids
with the 'I want, I want, I want' attitude.
They go out of their way to give rather than take.

*I'm thankful that my daughters
have found the love of their lives
and am thankful for my Son-in-Laws,
and the love they have for my daughters.

*I'm thankful for my beautiful granddaughter.
My sweet baby Jaedyn has brought such joy
and laughter into my life this year.
She truly has been a great blessing in our lives.
When everything else seems dark,
all I have to do is look into her beautiful bright eyes
and know all is well and good.

*I'm thankful for good health.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to have a body
that allows me to do 'most' of the things I want.
I would love to lose some poundage,
but overall, I know that I'm healthy and my family is healthy.
That is such a great blessing in itself.
We all have small aches and pains,
but Heavenly Father has watched over us this year
and thankfully we haven't had any major health issues.

*I'm thankful for Vic's new job.

He has just started and it is a commission only type of job.
We haven't seen any monetary blessings from the job itself yet.
But, just having it and knowing the potential it can bring
has brought new life into our home.
I know Vic will do amazing in this new quest.

*I am thankful for good friends.

People have been there for us, and good to us this year.
You know who you are.

I can't wait to be able to bless the lives of others,
just as others have blessed our life this year.
We have a roof over our head and food to eat
by the grace of others,
and soon, I want to be a blessing to those that struggle
and have no hope.

It truly is humbling,
when I think about the many blessings
that have come our way this year.

I know God lives and loves us...
the proof is all around us.

So no more pity parties being held here.
Rejoice..Rejoice..Rejoice!!!

HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THIS BABY GIRL?!

So I went to visit Selena and Baby Jae yesterday.
I walked in the door and heard Jaedyn playing in the other room,
so calling her name out as I always do when I go over
(she ALWAYS comes running when she hears her Nana-she SO loves me!!
--Just as I love LoVe LOVE her!!!)

She comes running around the corner...and this is what I saw!!!

I busted a gut when I saw her!!!
I laughed til I cried!!!

She is SOOO BeAuTiFuL!!!!

She was wearing "doggy ears" and true to her nature, she pulled them out...

This being the result!!
Isn't she the most beautiful baby you have EVER seen!!??

(btw..happy 11 mo. birthday today miss Jae!!
Can't believe how the time slipped by!!)

FALL FUN !!!

Raking leaves is a BIG job at our house!!!
We have several large trees in our yard...and everyone gets to help.

But it's not ALL work-we have FUN too!!!

My Beautiful Children!!
Cody, Amber & Shelby

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Amber and Jordan playing a friendly game of Tug-O-War

I LOVE MOWING!!

I LOVE mowing- CRAZY I know!!

Mowing really is such a mindless task-
all you have to do is cut in even straight lines.

Our rider died on us last year so we have to push mow our 1.8 acres.

It takes about 4 hours to complete the task.

Why would I love THAT??

Because it's therapy for me.

It's uninterupted time for me to think about
and ponder lifes BIG mysteries.

(The kids won't bother you
in fear of being asked to take over the project)

This past Saturday I had one of those opportunities
to have my therapy time.

As I was mowing
I was thinking about the confernce talks from the week before.

What a wonderful blessing

it is to listen to and recieve council
from living Prophets and Apostles!!

The talk I was thinking about in particular this day
was a talk from President Monson about judging others.

I've always been one that forgiveness comes easily for me.

And I truely try not to judge others
because I know I'm FAR from perfect

and I don't want others to pre-judge me.

We never know what another person really is going through,

not even our closest/bestest friends...
mine being my Amazing Husband,

we don't really KNOW-so we can't judge.

So WHY did this talk pop into my head?

I guess Heavenly Father knew I had a lesson to learn!!

Well...I ALMOST always forgive.

You mess with my family-you mess with me!!

I didn't "think" I was judging this particular person,

and I didn't "feel" outward anger toward this particular person,

but...I must have...unconsiously.

Because a particular situation popped into my mind.

And I listened and learned from the Spirit.

What did I learn?

That sometimes we can't control the bad things
that happen in our lives.

That we can't control how we are raised.

And that we ALL want and NEED to be loved and accepted...

and NOT judged
(especially for those things we are not in control of).

So I plead for forgiveness. (From this particular person),

and you don't even know who you are-but I do.
I don't judge you for your past-but for your present
which is caused by your uncontrolled past.
But...I judge No More!

So now that I've been taught,

I will work on loving you and accepting you for who you are...

A Child of God.

Mowing truely IS theraputic!!

I'm thankful for being taught this lesson!!

Life can be Crazy busy at times!!
These past two months in a nut-shell:

Planning a Wedding
On June 18th Adam asked Brittany to be his wife. The date was set for August 20th, 2010.
That gave us 2 months to plan, over the phone no less, since she lives in Idaho. So there were many phone calls and emails going over the wire. She did a great job planning and letting us know her hearts desire.

Blessings
We were truly blessed in the financial aspect concerning Brittany's wedding. We had great friends helping us out with the cake and pictures. Decorations were all bought at either 50% off or we borrowed items from friends and family. Brittany bought her dress from a great website. The dress was custom made, and only cost $197 plus sh&h. A friend of B & A took the pictures for the announcements, so the bulk of the announcement costs were the stamps-they were more than the announcements themselves!! Every time we turned around there were more blessings coming. Even during their honeymoon, the Hotel upgraded their room, at no extra costs when they found out that B & A just got married!!

A Beautiful Event
Brittany and Adam chose to be married for all Time and Eternity in the Nauvoo Illinois Temple. The temple overlooks the Mississippi River, and the view was breathtaking as you stepped out of the temple. Brittany makes a beautiful bride!! Her dress was beautiful, her hair was done beautifully by a dear friend, Kim Moss, and her flowers, roses and lilies, were beautiful. Her colors were crimson red and white with a touch of black. Adam makes a handsome groom, he wore a black tux with a crimson rose boutonniere. They truly look good together!!

The reception was the next evening in our backyard, lights lined the patio with red and white oriental lanterns hanging off of them. Music played in the background. We had a dance at the reception, starting out with B & A doing a Salsa Dance, as that was one of their favorite dates while they were dating. We had two long white canopies with tables topped with flowers and tea lights. The arbor was lined with lights and toole. The refreshments were wedding cake and strawberry cooler punch, and fruit platters with a chocolate fountain. Simple but nice.
It truly was a lovely evening!!

Other events during the summer
Vic and the YM leaders took Cody and the young men from our church on a High Adventure to Colorado to do some whitewater rafting. They had an awesome time!! They rafted for two days, down the Royal Gorge, and did some site seeing another day.

We stayed extra busy with our garden this summer. We doubled the size this year so we can do some canning. We have/had onions, beets, radishes, lettuce, spinach, 4 type of peppers, cucumbers, corn, green beans, cantaloupe, okra, and 14 tomato plants.

All three kids, Amber, Cody and Shelby participated in the community parades this summer. Edgerton had 'Frontier Days' in June and Amber and Cody were in the band. Then in the beginning of August, Gardner sponsers the County Fair, and they had a parade. Again Amber and Cody played in the band, and Shelby is a cheerleader this fall for her middle school, so she too was in the parade. It was fun seeing them all participate, but really wierd to go to a parade without children tagging along!!!

We lost our beloved Molly to the extreme heat this summer. We are still so sad. She was our sweet little dog of 4 years. Our pets become human-like and are totally a part of the family.

We also found 3 kittens under our porch in June. One of them was so sick, we tried to bottle feed it and help it survive, but it didn't make it. The other two were nice and healthy. It's fun watching them explore and play. We are guessing they are probably about 8 or 9 weeks now. We found a home for one, and still looking for another home for the last one.

We try to spend as much time as we can with our sweet little granddaughter Jaedyn. She is the joy of our life. There's nothing like being a 'Nana & Pappy'!!!!

Exciting Days!!!

Love is in the air and my family is growing!!
Brittany called me last night with the news of her engagement to Adam. I'm so happy for them!! Brit really seems happy and that makes my heart smile. They have chosen to go to the Nauvoo Temple on August 20th, 2010. It's such a beautiful temple. And Brit was able to watch it being built, went to the open house, and if I remember right she went to the dedication as well. It's definitely a special place for our family. And now to be sealed to her sweetheart for eternity...
Definitely EXCITING Days!!