2 Days to Go!

Just 2 more days and this amazing man will grace us with his presence.

One talent Daddy possesses is his ability to cook.

He enjoys cooking and is a great help to me.

In December 2010 Daddy's here helping cook dinner.

His specialty is probably dessert.

He makes a great Key Lime pie, cookies, brownies and others.

The kids love his fruit smoothy, his yummy breakfast foods and delicious dinners.

We can't wait to enjoy some more of his cooking when he returns home.



3 DAYS left!!!

Yay! Yay! Yay!  Yes, yes, YES!!!

We just got word today that it is official.

Daddy-O will be transferring up here for good.

He doesn't have to work on Friday, so he actually is coming up here one day sooner than expected.

 

Yay!  I will finally have my husband home and the kids will have their Daddy!

We are all so excited.

 

One of the things we love about Daddy is how fun he is.

He loves to take us hiking.

Here we went hiking on August of 2011 with some friends of ours.

 

He loves his Disc Golf and will take along whoever wants to go with him.

He's won a few awards in competitions for doing so well.

These are from November 2011

He is entertaining to watch on the trampoline and the kids enjoy having Daddy bounce them so high.

Noah has taken after his dad in doing amazing tricks on the tramp.

 

In February of 2014, Daddy had fun putting on roller blades (when he hasn't for over a decade or more) and skating around with the boys.

Of course, they all had a blast.

 

Cave exploring has been a great hobby over the years for him and our family.

Here we are at Massey's Cave this last May of 2014.

He is a great leader, especially in dark, tight situations.

He even makes the tough situations turn into fun ones.

 

He even took us camping this year (July 2014), and he doesn't care for camping all that much.

But we had fun all together.

 

So, if there's fun to be had somewhere, this man will take us to it to create memorable experiences and lasting memories.

Disneyland in December 2013

 

 



5 Days - Hard Worker

Daddy has a great work ethic.

He works hard at everything he does and likes to keep busy.

If he's not doing the dishes, mowing the lawn or cleaning out the garage, then he must be working at his job.

This is from March 2013, just before we were moving from Idaho to Utah.

 

He has always made sure to provide for our family.

He's worked a variety of jobs and liked some more than others.

He has gained vast experiences in many areas, but sales seems to be his expertise.

 

He loves his current job he's in and feels like it helps him reach his potential.

I love seeing my man in uniform!

6 Days - talents and lost teeth

6 days until Daddy will hopefully join us at home for good.

Daddy has a talent to play the piano.

I love that he shares his talent by playing in Elder's Quorum at church and at home.

Our favorite songs to hear him play are from "Phantom of the Opera".

This picture is from January of 2006 with 2 year old Noah looking on.

What a great example of sharing your talents is Daddy to his children.

 

The kids had a long day at home.

While I went shopping at Costco in Ogden, they did fun routines and played together. 

 

Jaden came up the stairs at 8:50p.m. with another hole in his mouth.

After pulling out his second front tooth, now he will really want his 2 front teeth for Christmas. 

Count Down - 7 Days

So the count down begins - 7 days until Daddy gets to move and work here with us for good.

(We are still waiting for the official "ok" from his boss.)

 

So in honor of this great man who works so hard for us and does so much for us, I would like to dedicate each of these 7 days with some wonderful tidbit of info about how great he really is.

 

To start with, Daddy really loves his kids.

As you can see here, this was from April of 2009, and Daddy is resting with Hiram and James.

He always helped out with the babies.

He got up at night almost as much as I did.

He has always helped with changing their diapers, feeding them and putting them to bed.

He loves to play with them whether it's games or bouncing on the trampoline or running around the house tickling them.

He is a good dad and these kids sure do love him.

Not Ready

Early tomorrow morning, this wonderful man will go to Vernal for one more week to work.

I'm not ready for him to leave, but ready or not, he has to go.

I really hope and pray that it will be just one more week and that his boss won't change that.

 

I attended the Brigham City Temple for the first time.

I love going to Heavenly Father's home each month for a visit.

I come away feeling refreshed and ready to face the world again.

 

I also love being able to go sing with the "Reflections" group each Thursday for 2 hours.

The choir fills my musical craving.

Fa la la la!

Ogden Canyon Waterfall

The kids had no school because it was a teacher work-day.

Thankfully, Daddy was home so we went to Ogden Canyon to hike up 1.5 miles and see the small waterfall there.

The trees were beautiful dawning their fall colors.

 

All 6 kids were great little hikers. 

 

The day was sunny, but the weather was not hot, just perfect. 

 

The kids kept pleading for us to take pictures here, there and everywhere.

I couldn't post even half of them. 

 

Daddy even took this handsome selfie of himself. 

 

The kids favorite part was being able to eat at Pizza Pie Café.

That's our family's favorite place to eat all together.

Gotta love those dessert pizzas! 

 

We had a fun-filled family day!

Depression

All my days are not always happy ones.  In fact, I have quite a few depressing ones.  I have had some serious depression to deal with in the past, and even fight it still to this day.

 

For me, depression has stemmed from all the overwhelming responsibilities that seem to enshroud me.  The kids squabbling and fighting, dishes and laundry piling up, house needing cleaned, food needing cooked, grocery shopping, and my husband out-of-town working.  All the motherly responsibilities are a lot, especially the more kids you have.

 

After my 6th baby, it all seemed just too much.  I felt trapped and bogged down.  I wanted to die.  I didn't contemplate any way to kill myself, I just prayed to Heavenly Father to let me die.  I felt that some other woman would make a better wife and mother than I could be.

 

I had friends that stepped in to do an "intervention" and try to help me out.  This only made it worse and more depressing for me.  They were good friends, trying to lift me up, but I felt belittled for how I was feeling and that I was in the wrong.  Going to church became embarrassing and hard.

 

I even tried therapy with LDS Family Services to no avail.  I would come away from therapy sessions feeling unresolved, upset and worse than before.

 

I went to the Doctor contemplating medicine, but I was and still am so much against medication.  I know medication is definitely good for some, but I struggle to bring myself to it.  I've heard how it dulls the senses and messes with your emotions.  Some work and some don't.  Getting off medication can cause serious withdrawals.  Some make you sleepy.  The clencher for me was that some can make you more suicidal.  With all these risks and side effects that can come along, I just couldn't deal with more in my already emotional, fragile state.

 

What eventually pulled me out of my depression was the gospel.  More in particular was the phrase "Faith in Every Footstep."  I learned that if I will trust in the Lord and move forward that the Lord will carry me the rest of the way.  So I started by changing that dirty diaper and patted myself on the back.  Getting through a few dishes on the counter became an accomplishment in my book.  Just getting the clothes washed and dried became good enough for me.  I lowered my expectations and just did the bare minimum and praised myself for it.  I realized and constantly reminded myself that my family wanted a happy me.  They didn't care if the house was a mess or if we had cereal for dinner.  They just wanted to see me happy and feel loved.  So instead of focusing on the home, I focused on my family.  I put one foot in front of the other and, with faith, I moved forward.

 

I still struggle to this day to fight the overwhelming responsibilities and depression.  So often I just want to curl up in bed and stay there forever.  I want to lose myself in a book, or Facebook, or games, or anything that will help me escape reality.  But, I know that just pushes me further down and away.  While I try to make sure and take time for me, I also know that I have to keep moving forward with faith, and the Lord will carry me the rest of the way.

Praying Mantis

I am like this preying mantis.

I feel stuck on the outside looking in.

I'm really just a little lonely tonight, missing my Prince Charming.

I wish he didn't have to be gone so much.

It's hard to parent by myself.

I love my kids so much.

I am grateful for prayer and know Heavenly Father is there for me.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for being there for me.

Prayer

Temple Redication

I was able to take Joyanne, Noah and Hiram to the Ogden Temple Redication.

What a wonderful opportunity and great experience to participate and feel the Spirit.

This was Hiram's 1st temple dedication to attend.

We learned, from President Monson, to love the temple, appreciate the temple and to attend the temple.

 

Grant was quite the helper in putting the dishes away.

I think he had more fun playing with the dishes than actually helping.

 

In the last 7 weeks I have run 106 miles.

I may have pushed myself a little too hard with acute pain on the top of my left foot.

In self-diagnosing myself by studying up online, I think I may have tendinitis or something similar.

So, I will take a break and give my foot a chance to heal.

In the meanwhile I get to ice my foot, bandage it up, and stay off it as much as possible.

That's where my crutches come in handy. 

Friend Late Night

Because my kids were so good while I was gone for 7 hours last night, tonight they were able to have friends over for a late night.

They enjoyed playing the Wii and watching movies.

 

Beach balls and Plasmacars were fun and not too dangerous of play. 

 

But, of course, Joyanne and her friend played with her piano, acted out their own movies on the Ipad, and talked a lot together. 

 

While it can be crazy to have so many extra kids over, I far prefer having my kids friends over at our home, than wondering what they are doing elsewhere.

I, also, love kids and enjoy seeing them play.

 

This movie, which you can watch HERE, really helped and inspired me as a mother.

I had one of "those" days where hardly anything on my to do list got done.

The video helped remind me what is truly important, and that what I am doing is enough.

Shoot!

I'm loving the daily 1 hour I get with Grant and James to do schoolwork and activities.

James is learning math really well.

He's only in kindergarten, but he's adding and subtracting fabulously.

He reads extremely well and has his phone number and address memorized.

Grant is working on getting all his colors down.

He can count to 10 really well and is working on counting to 20.

He recognizes most of the capital letters and knows most of his shapes.

Teaching preschool to kids is definitely a passion of mine.

 

Joyanne played "Mom" tonight as I went off to some fun activities.

She cooked a wonderful dinner of Mac 'n Cheese (which is a rarity at our house) and green beans.

 

I was able to go see what it's like to be a police officer.

I went to POST in West Jordan and learned some defensive tactics, scenarios of real situations where the police have to defend themselves, and I shot a rifle, a Glock, and a Shotgun.

I'm actually a pretty good shot, if I do say so myself.

Of course, it's not hard to shoot a target when it's only 10 or 20 feet away. ;)



Happy Birthday, Grant!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Grant!!!

Though we celebrated Grant's birthday last Friday with mine so Daddy could be apart of it, today was Grant's real birthday.

He had a fun day and enjoyed the cake and ice cream for dessert. 

What a lucky boy to celebrate for 2 days!

 

He's doing pretty good potty-training with only 1 accident.

He spent naptime coming out every 5 minutes to use the bathroom.

Bedtime was a battle because he wanted to stay up and finish "America's Got Talent" with us.

He finally went to bed after using the bathroom a couple more times.

 

Happy Birthday to my happy, funny, silly boy!

Child of God

This little boy has been so fun to hang out with in the afternoons when all the other 5 kids are in school.

We have been working on potty-training and only had 2 accidents.

After a difficult day, yesterday, it was nice to have a better day.

I'm so glad I get to be a mom to all my kids and that the Lord has entrusted me with these great spirits.

I pray every day that I can be a good mom and raise these children to the Lord.

I hope I can always treasure these children and help them reach their potentials and realize that they are truly a child of God.

Change

Grant was quite the terror in Sacrament meeting.

He started screaming and then as I took him out he screamed more and kicked his way about.

He did this 2 times before I could get him to calm down enough to sit and be quiet.

Our Sacrament meeting is at 2:20 to 3:30p.m. which is naptime.

Daddy is back in Vernal working, so it was a bit challenging without him.

We made it through though.

 

We had a meeting tonight to sustain a new bishopric AND ward boundary changes.

Change is always hard.

We have only been in this ward 4 weeks, but we will miss the few friends we've made that won't be in our ward anymore.

We know what ward boundary changes are like though.

In our Maeser ward there were boundary changes in February and when we left, our ward still hadn't fully recovered from it all.

But you know what they say, "Change is good!"

 

Here's me from my birthday.

It was fun to get dressed up.

Here's "Fancy Nancy"!

Potty-Training

The kids loved and fought over Grant's Plasmacar so much, that I went out and bought one more.

It was definitely a relief to have the kids thoroughly entertained while I worked hard on potty-training Grant.

Ahhh, potty-training, challenging, yet interesting.

I put Grant in "Big Boy" underpants and, for the first part of the day, gave him lots to drink and encouraged him to use the bathroom for which he received M&M's.

The second part of the day he had several accidents, but went once on his own.

By evening, my patience was going, so he got to wear a diaper, but he stayed completely dry.

Hoping for a great day tomorrow and hoping Grant catches on to using the bathroom.

Happy Birthday to Grant and Me!

I turned 33 years old today.

I shared my birthday with Grant.

His birthday is on the 17th, but since Daddy won't be here to celebrate, we decided to celebrate them both today.

Opening presents were fun for both of us.

Grant was as excited to watch me open presents as he was to open his own. 

 

Grant's favorite present was his plasmacar.

It can hold up to 250 pounds and when you sit on it all you have to do is turn the wheel back and forth and then it propels forward all on its own.

Grant was on it all day, but the few times he wasn't, I snuck on it.

It seriously is fun, even for adults.

It was rated "Best Toy of the Year!" 

 

Our frosted green cake turned out pretty good and was yummy for us all. 

 

I'm so grateful for all those friends and family who remembered me on my special day.

I felt very loved.

My 2 little boys

My 2 little boys are quite the super heroes.

After doing some preschool activities, they have fun running around and playing together.

I'm grateful James has afternoon preschool because Grant sure has fun playing with James.

Besides being superheroes, they also like to play marbles, games and bounce their bouncy balls all over.

I love these cute, smart boys. 

 

Tonight I fell apart and was completely worn out.

I've run 5 miles each day for 3 days in a row.

I guess 15 miles has been a lot for me.

Now to relax and look forward to a happy, family day tomorrow.

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa paid us a visit.

Joyanne was able to play her piano pieces for them.

James and Jaden played "Sorry" with Grandpa.

Grandpa helped Daddy prune the trees and take all the branches to the Dump.

A yummy dinner of baked chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, beans and corn were served.

We ended the night with "America's Got Talent" and a game of "Phase 10".

Fun memories!

 

Family prayer has been a blessing in our family.

As we pray morning and night together, the Spirit enters our home more and we draw closer together.

I have a plaque up in our living room that says, "The family that prays together stays together."