Air Show & Update

We had a really fun weekend as a family. We have been watching all the planes practicing all week. It's been pretty cool to just go in the back yard or front yard & see these amazing pilots do some pretty insane tricks. Friday we took Ryan's truck over to the North Soccer field parking lot & left it. We had the truck all packed & ready for the airshow Saturday morning. We went to dinner at The Outback. Saturday Ry & Jake rode the Harley over to the truck. I put Conor in the stroller Loaded up with the cooler & Marli & I walked over there. Our neighborhood was completely invaded with A LOT of people. We took multiple trips back to the house for potty breaks & different things. I NEVER get sunburned...well Never until being out in the HOT Sun all day with No shade. I really got fried. I put sunscreen on everyone...except myself. Right before the Blue Angels performed Marli & I ran home to make sandwiches & I noticed I was burned. i put sunscreen on at the house. Too little too late I'm afraid. O'well it was so worth it. I think Ryan enjoyed it the most. The kids used Ry's ear muff things that he uses when he goes shooting. Conor thought that was so cool wearing daddy's ear plugs. We were prepared NOT to leave the house because of traffic so we had Papa Murphy's take & bake for dinner. I was exhausted & felt sick from the Sunburn. I called my Friend Sydney & asked her to sub my Primary class. I took it easy most of the day. Then we went outside right before the Blue Angels were going to perform & watched it in the SHADE in the back or Ry's truck. I made a pretty incredible dinner for my family. I made Chicken with apple stuffing, Green Beans & Yukon mashed potatoes. Ry & the kids LOVED it.

My Awesome brother Brandon has been taking Jacob Golfing. Jake Loves it. Brandon was in Utah working & he was out selling meat...he sold a bunch to a lady who was having a yard sale. He picked up a junior golf club set for $5.00. They are practically brand new. Jake was so stoked. I'm so grateful that Brandon moved home from Cour D' Alene to be here with us.

Our stake is having a Stake Primary activity today. They asked every family to do a scavenger hunt in our homes & gather things for a BIG project. They are donating things to The Haven Shelter & a few other places. Ry & I worked really hard gathering things. I feel really good that we DE-cluttered our closets & house & have some great stuff to donate. My mom took the kids to the activity & went back & picked them up. She's such a GOOD grandma.

I had a 3 hour doctor appointment on Friday to have blood test done. I had to go in fasting for the Insulin resistance test. I took a book, but never got to read it. The office manager & I sat & visited almost the entire time. I was sitting next to this cranky pregnant women. She fell asleep...SOUND asleep. She was snoring & drooling. When the nurse came in to draw her blood it startled her & she SNORTED super loud. The nurse & I looked at each other & both busted up laughing. I have my follow up tomorrow to find out the results. I've been having some health issues & my depression has gotten pretty bad again. So my doctor wanted a full blood panel. I'm looking forward to my hair appointment tonight. Hopefully a new haircut & color will improve my attitude.

The Jacob & Marli are finally done with Pitching machine baseball. They learned a lot & enjoyed playing this year. Jacob has been playing with a lot of different kids & I've had to give him a little bit of freedom. It was really hard the first time his friend asked if Jacob could ride his scooter a little further than what I've been letting him. He took his watch with him & was really good about checking in. I sure miss the days when I was their only friend! Man it's hard letting my babies grow up.

Relief Society/Visiting Teaching

My Beautiful Mother-in-law was asked to talk in Church this coming Sunday. She emailed me & asked me to help share any experiences I have had with Visiting Teaching. I thought I should share what I came up with so i can reflect back on these sacred experiences.

I have always had a strong testimony of VT. When I first joined the church I adored my R.s. she teamed me up with a lady Karen Clark. We became really close friends over the next couple years. We both worked & it was challenging at times to find a time when we could go visit our three ladies. We had plenty of opportunities to serve the ladies we went visiting to. I always knew that if I needed anything I could rely on the ladies in my ward as well. It was hard being a new member & Karen was always a great example to me. We are still great friends after all these years. I loved living in Shelley. The people that lived in our ward were mostly farmers. The ladies taught me so much about being a example of Christ & I admired them so much. I knew when I had children I would try to implement the qualities I saw in them that were wonderful into my life.

We moved from Shelley to Ammon & I was nervous about not having those women to lean on. There is something amazing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ...no matter where you live the R.S. is there & it is the same. I soon fell in love with my R.S. president Brenda Johnson. She gave me the most incredible blessing...she gave me Nancy Lords as my V.T. Nancy was so faithful in this calling. She NEVER missed a month. Our son Jaxon became very ill & Nancy was there through the entire Journey. When we found had to take Jaxon to SLC to Primary Children's Nancy came over the night before & prayed with us. She knew how much Jaxon Loved Barney & she let us borrow all of her families barney movies. She made Jaxon a barney pillow & blanket. We were in SLC a lot over the next 10 months. Whenever I would be home for a short time she would run over & check on me. She kept in touch via phone calls & would keep everyone posted on us. She made it so I could focus on taking care of Jax & not have to worry on returning everyone phone calls. She went above & beyond the call of a V.T. She became part of our family. Her & her daughter did a fundraiser to help us with the enormous cost of Jaxon's medical care. They made quilts & auctioned them off...they sold soda & hot dogs in front of Westmark credit union where her husband worked. When Jaxon completed his care after 10 months we were able to bring him home. She brought him over a Barney shirt & coloring book. She was always thinking about us. When we found out his cancer came back she came over & was as heartbroken as we were. Nancy was always the strongest lady I knew. She had a testimony that made me want to be better & to do better. When our sweet little boy Jax passed away..Nancy did something for us that No one else could have. She wrote the most incredible poem. When she gave it to me, she told me she had help from the other side & was inspired to write it. She said she felt like Jaxon was there with her as she wrote it. I will forever remember the time I had Nancy as my V.T. She helped our family through the most difficult time.

When we moved to the Westside I again was blessed with amazing women who came visiting teaching to me. They helped me get to church when Ryan was gone for 6 months for his job. I had Jakey that was 1 & a new baby girl Marli. It would have been very easy for me to become inactive. These incredible ladies made me feel like I was needed & made me feel accountable for coming to church each week. Our ward was split 4 times in 5 years. I had a hard time with getting to know the ladies & loving them & then them being in the other wards. I was blessed with the most incredible V.T. partner Kristi Bialas. She knew I was struggling she knew how hard it was for me to go on living after loosing my whole world (Jaxon). She lent me her testimony & strength to bear my burdens. Every month we went V.T. to three ladies. She would not let us miss one month. She would ask me really hard questions in front of the ladies we would go visit. She helped heal my broken heart. She was inspired so many times to reach out. She would show up on days when I barely could get out of bed because I was so depressed. She became my sister. She brought us treats & meals. Kristi was the Nursery leader & helped Marli feel comfortable. Marli would take her favorite blanket to church & go in Nursery ready for a nap. Kristi would make her a safe place in the other room to take her nap. Later on we served as our ward compassionate leaders together. I learned so much from her. It was an honor serving with her. I know our Heavenly Father has given us R.S. & V.T. to bless us in multiple ways. We are asked to serve our fellow man,but in return the blessing we are given by doing so are far greater than our efforts. Our R.S. president can't do it all alone. Nor can she be everywhere. She needs us sisters. The V.T. program is critical to making R.S. work at its best. I am so grateful for the women I have met through the Church. I feel I am a better Wife/Mother because of these amazing women!

I Love you Lyn (My Amazing M-I-L)& am so grateful I have ALWAYS had you to look to for inspiration. I hope this will help you with your talk. I know it's going to be great! I only wish I could be there to listen to it & be inspired.

I love how much a group of ladies can help so many in need. Every humanitarian project, Every quilt, Every meal is made with LOVE! We are so blessed to be part of such an amazing organization!

LDS.org - Ensign Article - Mothers Who Know

LDS.org - Ensign Article - Mothers Who Know

I came across this article today & found it was exactly what my soul needed to hear. Thought I would pass it along.

A Mouse

Last Night I was trying to get my cards made for card club. Jacob was in my craft room with me playing a game on the computer. Marli & Conor were playing in her room. I kept thinking I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I was really tired & icnored it. Then all of a sudden Jacob screamed " There's a mouse on the window"!!! I looked over & sure enough there was a mouse climbing on the outside window. I screamed!!! The mouse heard me & took off running back up the window...then it fell down right in front of me. Ryan came running in. Soon everyone was in my scrap room. Marli was right up on the table looking at it. She said "OH its kind of cute"!!! Ry went outside to take care of it. I was so freaked out. I HATE mice! I can handle just about anything, but mice & snakes. GROSS!!! GROSS!!! GROSS!!! So we soon saw a pole coming down the window well. Ry was yelling at me to close the blinds so the kids wouldn't see what was about to happen. I didn't even want to close the blinds...I didn't want to get near the window. I managed to go over & close the blinds. I didn't want to be in that room. I didn't get my cards made Dadnabit!!! Ry came back inside awhile later. Conor ran up to him & said "Did you get it daddy"??? Ry smiled & said Yeah I took care of it. Apparently he had to get out the BB gun & take care of it. Then he had to climb down in the window well & dispose of the nasty little critter. Ry was nightshift & getting ready to head out the door when all this excitement happened. I was positive I was going to have NIGHTMARES. Thankfully Jacob slept with me & I took a ambien & got a great night sleep with NO Mouse mares! Thanks Hunny for taking care of this!

Mr. Conor James

I just wanted to jot down a couple things about Mr. Conor...Lately he has been my shadow. If he sees me getting on my shoes he gets excited & says "Don't leave me I go with you". He doesn't like it if I'm trying to hurry. He likes to play with my hair. He tells me he Loves me & that I'm pretty. When he gets in trouble he says "Mommy Your pretty but your mean". If Jakey or Marli does something he doesn't like he comes & tells me they're mean. He doesn't back down to anyone. He Loves to get his favorite blanket & come lay with me on my bed & watch t.v. He'll giggle & tell me he's on daddy's side. He's such a sweet little boy. I am so grateful for him. I went through so much to get him here & it was all worth it. I Love You Conor James!!! He Loves to be outside. He always has one of the kids baseball mitts on. He tells me to give his mitt High Five. He Loves to play catch & try to hit the ball. He seriously thinks he's as Big as the other kids. I wish I could freeze time right now. He is so much Fun!

July 8th,2010
Conor saw that Jacob has a wallet & He REALLY wanted one too. Jakey went in his room & found a Lightning McQueen wallet for his little brother. Conor was SO excited. He opened the wallet & said "I NEED MONEY". We all laughed so hard. I didn't want him touching money or loosing it. So I went & got some monopoly like money out of our Buzz Light year Operation game. I let him pick what he wanted he picked a Buzz $100.00 & a Buzz $500.00. He walks around the house showing everyone his money. He sits & counts it One hundred, five hundred. He insisted on sleeping with his wallet. When I got him out of his crib he said look Mommy One hundred dollars. I'm thankful he's happy with his Buzz money.