Change

As you can see I have a few changes on my blog. I am having so much fun with it.
Hee Hee!
So this is the deal. Some of you know that my sweet hubby is a computer programmer and he has been writing a few things for my blog. He is curious to know what you think of them. He wrote the program for the radio buttons to change the music that is playing on the blog, and tonight he finished my cute flowers falling at the top of the page. He would like any feedback you have. He loves doing this stuff and if you can think of something you would like to see he will give it a whirl. He is still learning alot and this is great practice for him. Thank you much

Self Improvement

It just occurs to me that someone out there may be curious about how my goals for the year are coming. Well maybe not, but since this serves as a journal I thought I better put in an update.

Okay. The Book of Mormon Yes, I read the Book of Mormon and completed it in the first quarter and have started again. I have really enjoyed this goal so far and my scripture study seems to have a broader picture of the gospel in moving quickly through the book. I especially enjoyed Alma and 3 Nephi through the end of the book. I learned so much about the Nephites and Lamanites and can see many paralells for our day and for the personal struggles we face.
I leave early to go pick up Matthew from school and read while I wait for him. It gives me a very quiet place to read and ponder without all the distractions I face at home. I feel very good about this goal.

The Temple attendance. This goal has been met. I have been to the temple at least twice each month. I must admit that one of those times was not for ordinance work but for the Draper Temple dedication. Is that a cheat? I hope not. It was an awesome experience to sit with my family and see another temple be dedicated to the Lord and prepared for his work. it was meaningful in that my dad worked on that temple before he retired from construction work. It will always have a special place in my heart for that reason.

Now down to the Nitty Gritty. My reading goal has fallen totally by the wayside. Don't get me wrong I am reading, I have several books from the library on my desk as I type but I just can't get through some of these books. I have tried a few and I just fall asleep. I am back to my mystery and suspense. I thought, and still do think, this would be a way to expand my mind and become more refined. But it does no good if you fall asleep everytime you start to read. So I need to re-think this one and see what is more reasonable for me.

The fitness. Hike 5 miles like it is a walk in the park by June. Well this has definately been the hardest. With all the physical things I have had going on it has been hard just to get out of the house. I have however realized my bathroom is in dire need of a paint job. But I digress. So I can walk 2 miles without any trouble. I need to pick up my pace and really push to make it 5 miles.
I am however feeling better and better so I have some hope I will come close to this goal. It will take some serious work but I believe even with the wasted time I can do it.

Sorry if this was a bore for you but I thought it belonged here since I posted my goals on the blog. As The Young Women General Presidency says "I can accomplish all things in the strength of the Lord." I hope the wording is right on that. But you get the picture. I am doing what I can and praying for help each day. I may not be 100% where I want to be right now but I can accomplish this goal.

Thanks for your time, I love you all.

Sorry, I got Sidetracked

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Gen 1:1



" And God said let there be light: and there was light." Gen 1:3


"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." Gen 1:6

"And God called the firmament Heaven." Gen 1:8



" And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding the seed, and the the fruit tree yielding fruit after it's kind, whose seed itself is upon the earth; and it was so." Gen 1:11



" And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also." Gen 1:16

" And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and the fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." Gen 1:20



" And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so." Gen 1:24

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Gen 1:26


" And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth..." Gen 1:28




" And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten." Moses1:32





" For behold this is my work and my glory-- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Moses 1:39
" Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:25

I' am so sorry, It has been a busy few weeks. My little seedlings are looking great. I have about 5 weeks until I plant the garden and I am afreaid the seedlings will have taken over my house by then. Already they are taking up my dining room table and a spare table in the kitchen. I love to watch them grow and this year we will have the biggest garden we have ever done. I might be missing my backyard this summer but all the fresh veggies will be a wonderful substitute. We will still have room for the pool and trampoline as well as room for running around and bbq'ing.

I am post endometrial ablation and now just waiting to see how I will respond. I am hoping better. I am tired of my body ruling my schedule and activities.
Big Matt will be using a c-pap machine and I am hoping I can ditch the ear plugs. He really is looking forward to getting better rest at night and not feeling so tired during the day. I am sure it will make a big difference for him. He has severe sleep apnea and it is a miracle he has functioned as well as he has with it,
Little Matthew is a riot. He is such a sweetheart. He is always pampering me somehow. I am sure he has learned that from his Dad. I was telling Big Matt that little Matthew is well on his way to becoming an awesome husband and father. He is now back to baseball. and getting ready for the 09 season. He has been working hard and really loves his team. They have played together for several years now and we love getting together with them. The coach and his wife are so wonderful. He knows so much about baseball and she is a huge supporter of him and all the boys on the team.

General Conference this weekend was amazing. It is so wonderful to be taught from the prophet and apostles of Jesus Christ. Thay are our direct connection to the things we need to know now. I wish I had a copy of their talks in my hands right now. There were so many things said that have such powerful teachings. Every person who spoke was inspired and really hit on vital things for our times. Each talk was impressive in that the spirit testified of the truth spoken and the urgency in which we need to follow or improve the way we live the counsel of our church leaders. I am so thankful for the internet and the technology we have to access this critical information. I was especially touched by the talks that covered pressing forward and enduring to the end. I am sure that has to do with the struggles I have personally faced these last months. I realize I need to work harder to smile in times of tribulation and remember that the trials I face are for my benefit not for my destruction. I also need to keep in mind that the things I go through are not like the woman who lost here entire family and had to bury her children with a teaspoon or her bare hands in frozen earth. I believe that was Elder Richard G. Scott who spoke of her. I am truly blessed and have much to be thankful for and much to smile about. I also really like what Elder David A. Bednar said about focusing on temple work and how we can make our time at the temple more meanigful. I may have to re-think some of my temple goals. I feel spiritually invigorated and ready to try harder and make some much needed improvements in my life. I truly have testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that he is my Savior and Redeemer. I also have a testimony that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of our Lord. It fills my heart with joy and gratitude to have this testimony.


My camera has been on the fritz, thus no pictures lately but as I review my blog I realize they are an important part of my life and it doesn't seem right to go so long without any so I thought I would throw in a few of my favorite flower pictures that I have taken over the years. As you will see I love flowers. I hope you enjoy them and are having a wonderful spring.

Spring is here

Well it is officially spring and I am so excited. We are seeing much warmer weather less snow on the ground and it is time to start prepping the yard and garden for growing and blossoming.
In a few weeks it will be time to get my seedlings into the ground and start working outside more. I have been looking toward spring and more sunshine for a while now. This has been a tough winter with all I have had going on and I always feel better when I can get outside and soak up some sun and get a little dirty. Ahhh spring. I love it.

Onto other things. We had our winter retreat to start planning camp and we got so much done. The girls have decided that our theme will be "Arise and show your strength in virt'you' " They have some fun ideas to incorporate virtue into camp and with it being the new young women value we thought it would be important to focus on it. It is so much fun to spend time with these young women. They are so full of energy, crazy, silly, goofy fun. We laughed all night long and it got so silly. The girls are a totoal crack up. I feel like I get to know their personalities in a different way when we are in a different environment than a tuesday night activity or church on sunday. They are so smart and creative. I learn so much from them. They also made it to the championship basketball game for our area and in that game we had two girls sprain their ankles within a couple of minutes of each other. All this time I have been in this calling with no injuries to anyone and we have two seperate incidents in 3 minutes. Fortunatley they are up and walking around 24hrs later so nothing serious. One of them has an upcoming gymnastics meet and might not be able to compete. Now we are gearing up for our futsal season. This is one of their favorite sports. For those of you who are not familiar with futsal it is indoor soccer.

Matthew is getting ready to start baseball season. He is pretty happy about that. He will be on the same team he has been on for the last 3 years. His coach is great and really knows how to teach baseball and work with kids. It is always fun. He is also getting ready to turn 10! It is just around the corner. It happened so fast. He is now officially as tall as I am. He wears a shoe size that I swim in and I no longer buy his clothes in the boys department I have to go to the young mens or mens department. Still as sweet as ever and oh so cute.

Big Matt and I are both doing well. not a whole lot to report. He has been having a bunch of tests like his sleep test and blood work and a few other things. He had an EKG and they thought he had a few mild episodes so he was sent to have a stress test and his heart is very healthy and strong. What a relief. It scared me to think there might be a problem. I am such a worry wart, Iam always preparing myself for the worst case scenario. I guess that makes me a pessimist. I better work on that.

I love all your blogs and am so glad I have found a way to keep up with what is going on in your lives. Until next time Be well and HAPPY SPRING!

And Days go by.

I just got an e-mail from my sister reminding me that I have a blog. I have had so much happening I haven't even thought about it. Sorry. You would think with all that has been happening I would have something exciting to share, not really. It is all regular day to day stuff. The highlights of the last few weeks are that 1. I have been to the draper temple open house twice. Once with my family, Matt Matthew and myself. That was so amazing. I loved being in the temple with Matthew and Matt. I have always thought of the day I would be there with both of them and even though the temple is not dedicated it gave me a glimpse of what it will be like to go as a family. Matthew had lots of good questions and We were able to share witht him some of the important things that happen in the temple. I also wnet with some of the youth in the ward. That too was an awesome experience. One of the young women I was walking with had so many questions and had a good knowledge of the temple and what happens there. It was nice to talk with her as we walked through the temple and share some of the things that happen there. The temple is beautiful and as some of you know my dad was one of the men who helped build the Draper Temple. He retired during the construction of the temple and so his first time seeing it completed will be when he goes to the open house. I am not sure, he may already have been there. On a clear day from the Draper Temple you can see the Oquirrh Mtn Temple and the Jordan River Temple. I can't get over what a beautiful sight that is. I remeber when we moved to Utah Matt was so surprised that you could see several church spires from so many different places in Provo and Salt Lake. It took him a long time to get used to that sight. Now we have an even more amazing sight and that is three temple spires in one view. It is a miracle to me. We are so blessed to have the temples here on earth and available for us to come closer to our Heavenly Father. It is such a peacful and beautiful place to be. I love being able to feel the love and blessings that come from attending the temple. I don't know how I would get through some of lifes challenges without temples. They are a manifestation of the love of our Heavenly Father.

Now more mundane. Matthew is sick today. Poor guy. I hate to see him feeling so yucky. I hope he gets feeling better soon. He is vomiting and diarrhea. I am sure it is the flu. Not much to do but let it run its course. He is sipping some chicken stock and watching Ice Age to pass the time. He is not fond of the saltines or sprite but I think it is helping him anyway. He is thrilled with his new school. I hate to beat a dead horse but everyday he tells me how happy he is and how glad he is that we moved him to Wasatch. I know some of you were asking where he is going now. Wasatch is another school within the school district. Some of the kids in our neighborhood and ward attend Wasatch so he knows a few kids there and a few teachers that left T.O. Smith now teach at Wasatch so he knows sevral of the staff and He told me that he doesn't even miss me or his playstation when he is at school. I feel honored to be mentioned in the same sentence as his playstation.

More of the same with big Matt. He is plugging away with the website for printelligent. He loves what he is doing and learning so much. It is good to see him happy. He spent the night at the Dr. office this week for a sleep study. He was told by the nurse that in the 17 years she had worked there he most definetly rated among the top 100 of the worst snorers she has encountered during her time there. He had to hear it from someone besides his wife who has resorted to earplugs in order to get any sleep. According to the nurse he has very abnormal sleep and will be invited back for further study. I don't know what they will do, Maybe try a c-pap machine and see if that will help him.

I am looking out my office window and it is just beginning to snow. I don't think it will stick long. The temps have been warm for this time of year and it has felt like a mild winter here in Ogden.
I am looking forward to spring. I just started some seeds for my garden and have a few sprouts. I have 20 tomato plants, 2 pumpkins 4 cucumbers, some cataloupe, and lots of herbs. I need to start a few other things too. I don't want a huge garden but I do want to be able to make lots of fresh salsa and salads as well as have a year round herb garden to use in cooking. I want to do some sugar snap peas and some green beans. a little lettuce and zuchini. I think that will keep me busy this year.

I guess that about sums up the news from here. Like I said not a whole lot of exciting news but we are in good shape and thankful for that. Until next time I hope you are well. Toodleloo.

New School

Matthew started at his new school yesterday and was happy as can be about it. I was afraid he would be a little nervous or have some anxiety but when I dropped him off he gave me the usual hug and kiss and off he went never looking back. I kept my phone by me all day long just in case he called and needed some comfort or something and I was right he called but it was not for reassruance or encouragement, no, it was because he had wet socks from playing out at recess and wanted me to bring him some dry ones. I was so relieved that he was so happy and when I took the socks to him he changed them quickly and was gone again. He came home so happy and excited. He said he teacher is sooooooooo nice and he says the teachers there really care about the students. He said no one was yelling at the students or being mean. He even made a friend that he played with at each recess. He can't remember the boys name though.
Today they had "Donuts with Dad" day so Matt and Matthew went in early to eat donuts and read a book together. This was big Matt's first visit to the school and when he called me he talked about how calm the atmosphere is there and how friendly everyone at the school is. He was floored at the contrast from the previous school. We are both so relieved to have Matthew in a positive learning environment. He his happy and comfortable we know he will learn better and enjoy his education rather than dread it.
Yippe -ay- O- Kay- ay ! One less thing to cause concern. Health wise hope is in sight, improvement is the current condition. One of my medications causes diahrea (yuck) and the Dr. says it is normal and will last about 6 months to a year but it will be worth it. He assures me that if I hang in there I will not be dissapointed. So Pepto is my constant friend and I am learning to deal with it in way that doesn't interfere with my life so much. The never ending period finally ended and is getting into a normal pattern. So maybe as spring rounds the corner I will be able to join the well and healthy. I am looking forward to things getting back to normal.
Today the sky is blue and the sun is shining after our all day long snow storm yeasterday. It was beautiful then and it is now but today I feel more hopeful and optimistic.
I have to say how thankful Iam for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it is true. I know Joseph Smith restored the gospel to the earth and was a prophet of God. I know President Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today and that Christ lives and he loves each one of us individually. I have felt his love these last few months. I have had so many prayers answered and so much happen to sustain me through all that has been going on. I can not deny the beauty and the hope that comes with living the gospel. I know I have much to learn and much to improve. Even though I am an imperfect being I know God lives and there is a plan for each one of us to return to be with our Heavenly Father and elder brother Jesus Christ. I am also thankful for the temples. My trips to the temple that last few months have been my refuge. The place where I go for reassurance, hope, peace and answers. I am ever grateful for all that I have been blessed with and thank my Father in Heaven for being mindful ofo me.
May God bless and keep each one of you and know that I love you.