I am not getting old!!

So, my husband tells me the other day that it has hit him that he is getting old. I told him that he might be but that I was not....I am still 29. It is amazing that I can be only 29 when my baby is turning twelve this week and will soon get the priesthood. He has been told they will be providing a stool for him to stand on to be able to reach the sacrament table. He sang for the last time today with the primary children and he looked like he was one of the kids in junior primary. Poor kid, such a short small body. He makes up for it is spirit though.

Rob also feels old because our oldest finished her college career this week. She finished her last final on Wednesday afternoon and is now officially a college graduate with a BS degree. She will not walk for the graduation ceremony until May but she is officially graduated. What will she do now? She has no idea. She is taking a couple of weeks off to enjoy the holidays and will figure it out from there. Hopefully a job is in her future and she will be able to earn money - and hopefully that will not be here in Bullhead. I would LOVE to have her here with us (Boyd hopes note as he does not want to share a room again) but there is nothing here for her. She needs to be where she can have a social life and earn a decent living. It is just hard to believe that my baby girl is a college gradaute.

So yes Rob, you are getting old but your dear sweet wife never will be old. She will always be as young as her children. I love you

Give Thanks

What a wonderful week! So much to be thankful for and so grateful I have been so blessed. I am thankful that we have jobs to provide for our family. I am thankful that we have a wonderful family - four beautiful children who are GREAT kids. I am thankful for my husband whom is also my best friend. I am thankful that Tina and her family drove such a long way (just ask her kids...it was forever) to com spend Thanksgiving with us. I am thankful for wonderful parents whom taught me all I know. I am thankful for my health and for my life. I am thankful to have the true gospel in my home and for the priesthood that is within its walls. I am thankful for the sunshine and for the warm home that I have. AND...last but not least, I am thankful that we got home in one piece today from church as it was Boyd's first time driving. So much to be thankful for.....

My Hawaiian Dream Vacation

I just returned from the most amazing trip of my life with my husband, best friend Tina (my sister) and her husband. In fact, it was so amazing that none of us wanted to return home. We all missed our children, but we did not miss the real life. I don't remember the last time I was so relaxed and carefree. It is hard to put into words the feelings I had while we were there and still now. I get very emotional to think about it. I will never be able to repay Rick and Tina for making the dream of my lifetime come true. I only look forward to the next dream we can create.

Our trip started on the island of Oahu after a very long flight across the waters. I will admit I was very nervous about the flight. I am okay if i don't think about the fact that I am thousands of feet in the air, but that is hard not to do for five and a half hours. Thank goodness Rob was there to hold my hand. We headed over the the Polynesian Cultural Center and Hawaii temple as soon as we got there. Of course, that was after we watched Rick pull the handle completely out of the suitcase in the airport. I will never forget the look on his face - I wish I had my camera out. He walked forward with this pole in his hand while the suitcase lay on the floor. It was so hilarious. We were lucky enough to find duck tape to put the pole back in so they could use it the rest of the trip. With milk almost $6 a gallon, I can imagine what a suitcase would have cost.

The temple was so beautiful as they all are. It was just like in all the pictures...up on this hill with so many colors surrounding it. From there we went to the PCC for an afternoon of shows, a luau and an evening adventure. The culture of the people from the islands is amazing to learn. I think the men from Tonga were my favorite - and the Japan dude they had beating the drum. They really do pound those drums like they are made of steele. The muscles on their arms are enormous. I was looking forward to a great Hawaiian luau and this one was okay. I was disappointed a little in the food - not many choices and I was so geared up for tons of fresh fruit - especially pinaeapple. It was still the luau with the deep pit pig and poi (which I did not try). The show afterwards was really good - at least the parts I saw. Remember, it is now almost one in the morning and we have been up since six. We were all worn out.

The next day was spent at the Pearl Harbor Memorial Sites. One stands in awe as they look down at the Arizona and realize so many lifes were lost that day and buried there with the ship. To look at the names of the men and women on the wall is incredible. They had no chance to react or get off the ship. They had no chance to call home and tell their children good-bye or that they loved them. They gave their lives for us that day. We also visited the air museum where the story was told again of how Japan stole our freedom for the one day. I grateful I am to be an American and for those who fight every day for me.

That night we headed to the island of Kaua'i which I am told is the most beautiful of all. After driving down roads that took us right to the ocean and to a grocery store to buy a few days of food, we finally came to our condo. From the road, you drive along and see flames on bamboo poles lighting a driveway - our entrance. Tina went to check us in and came out to tell us "you know the hotel lobbies you see in grand movies, that is what we have here.". It was so unreal. you took an escalator down to the lobby which was surrounded by an open garden. Fish ponds, flowers, trees, frogs, ...the whole works. Mirrors on all sides (which a certain duck visited every night to talk to his friends - which was really himself). A place that I would never be able to afford to stay. Got to love those time shares. Our rooms were just as nice. We had king size beds, balconies (even though our view was of the roof from the floor below), a small kitchen, and all the comforts of home. The hotel sported its own private beach as well as a huge swimming pool complete with elephant shooting foutains and four jacquzzis. Again, it was like living in a dream world.

So, we were on this beautiful island at a gorgeous hotel, and we had a list a mile long of things we wanted to do. We were only able to spend about one day on our hotel beach enjoying the water and the sea turtle that tried to take Rob out when the waves came in. Poor guy could not help it though, he was missing a fin. We did spend many a night in the jacquizzi's though relaxing and laughing. I laughed so much this vacation...it was awesome. We had adventures from zip lining, to kayaking, to hiking, to scuba diving, a cruise and a helicopter tour. My favorites had to be the helicopter and the zip line. In fact, the helicopter tour caught me so off guard. I started to cry as our pilot played some song with the words miracle in it as he flew ever so close to the waterfalls and mountain tops. I was in awe that our Heavenly Father could and would create something so beautiful for me. He loves little old me enough to give me this beautiful world. I will have to say the Napeli coast was much more interesting from the air than from the cruise. The catamaran cruise was way too long and way too bumpy. However, the pool of porpoises we came across was delighting...I felt like a little kid wanting to touch the dolphins. Rob and Rick enjoyed the snorkeling off the boat, but Tina and I decided we were fine right where we were.

The zip line is awesome! Everyone said that I would have to be pushed off the ledge in order for me to go. However, I think Rick was more nervous that I was. We had a course that included nine zip lines. Each one was unique. It is a strange feeling to suddenly have your feet not underneath you anymroe and you are flying. You pray the line will hold then suddenly you are on solid ground again. To look down from those zip lines gives you a few you don't see from the hikes. You see rivers and streams and colors- so many colors. I will have to say, I am proud to be a zipliner. In fact, the last zip line was a race and I beat my sister across. It was four football fields long and 15 stories from the zip line to the valley below. It was awesome.

I am so glad that over the past year, I have put my body in shape. All those early morning or late night runs paid off. We hiked the canyons and I was not even tired. We went to waterfalls, and cliffs covered by clouds. I did not especially hiking right along the rim or Rob trying to climb down to the waterfall below, but the view was breathtaking. Again, something you can not put into words.

My favorite times were just being together sitting and talking or shopping. I loved all the activities, but I loved the bonding I was able to do with my sister, her husband and my bestest friend....Rob. We laughed and cried; we joked and played; we shopped and laughed some more. I think Tina and I made a great news story when we tried to snorkel while Rob and Rick were scuba diving. People on the beach were telling us to walk backwards with our fins on as it is easier....but it was more fun trying to lift your foot from the sand to take a step forward. We finally just took them off since we were not going out far anyway. We proceded to snorkel...by sticking our faces in the water while our feet were on the ground. We had to prove to our husbands that we did get in the water and use our snorkel gear. It was an expensive ten minute excursion. We finally decided it would be more fun to go shopping and get ice cream...so that is what we did.

I will never forget this trip or the feelings it brough to my heart. I believe my marriage has been revived and we are close again. I feel so bonded with my sister. How my heart wishes we could always be close (along with the rest of our families). However, I think being apart makes times like this more special. The islands of Hawaii have definitely won a place in my heart. I pray that someday I will be able to go again and be revived. In fact, I would leave tonight if I could.

Aloha.....

(PS...the site did not want to upload my photos, but you can find those on facebook)

The Blues

So, I sit here tonight feeling lonely, sad, scared, grateful, tired, proud....you name it, it is all here. I just can't stop thinking about all the people that I love so much and that I miss. It is so hard to be here all by ourselves so far away from everyone. We miss them all so much. I look at my daughter's pictures everyday and pray they are happy and doing well. My heart aches to have them gone. I sometimes wonder if we will ever be able to move closer to our families....until then though, we try to hang on and do the best we can. I am so grateful for a husband who has become my best friend. I can talk to him and love him and exercise with him. He has a soft shoulder when I need a good cry and the priesthood when I am feeling down or scared to make me feel better. I can never express my love enough for my family.

Our summer went by way to fast and I told myself I was going to post something every week. However, I spent that time playing with my family or spending time with them. In a nutshell, I will say it was an awesome summer! Boyd relunctantly gave up his room and moved back in with Skyler so the girls could have a bed to sleep in. It was great to have them home. Britt helped her dad all summer with the Cinderella videos and Cortnie found herself a job at Payless Shoes (and was able to transfer when she went back to school). Rob worked extra for the school district and I worked the least amount of hours that I could so I could be home as much as possible.

We were able to take Boyd to EFY again (although Rob and the girls stayed home). It is such a spiritual high for him and he loves going. Skyler and I spent the week doing things with my sister and the rest of the family. It was so relaxing and such a good time. Rob took the boys to scout camp again and Skyler was old enough to go this year. He is such a good scout leader and loves to help the boys. Boyd overcame lots of fears as he did Project COPE this summer. He was able to walk the monkey bridge, climb huge trees and zipline (pretty good since he is not great wtih heights). He made his father cry - he was so proud of him. We also took our anual camping trip with Rick and Tina in July. This year we went to Pine Vally though and again had so much fun. We were only 100 yards away from the lake, there were lots of trees, and no rain this year. My sweet little niece learned that her Aunt Wendi is wonderful and now calls me DeeDee. In fact, when I say her just a couple weeks ago, she came right into my arms saying...DeeDee. She has me wrapped around her little finger. And, a huge surprise was when my brother sent me a text with a picture of his new little daughter saying "this is not a joke...surprise." He decided it would be cool to not tell any of us that they were expecting again until the baby was born. Candice says she was held hostage for 4 months :-). Only Coby could pull that one off.

So,life is good right now. I am trying to focus on the positive and wipe away the sad feelings of the night. I want to be happy. I want my family to be happy. I am going to Hawaii in 16 days with my husband, Rick and Tina. I can hardly wait. I am nervous to leave my children alone for that long though, but so anxious to spend time alone with Rob and have no worries about work. I am so blessed....

Happy Mother's Day

Just wanted to post a quick note to say Happy Mother's Day to my mom. She is an awesome woman. Even though her body is not what she would like it to be, her mind is that of an angel. She will always be my mother and my friend. I love her so much and want her to know that. You will always be my angel mom....forever!

All Together Again

Yeah! Wahoo!! Hip, Hip Hooray!. We are finally all back together again for more than three days. We will be able to drive it each other crazy for three months. We will see how long it last before the first quarrels break out or the first tiff over the bathroom. No matter what though, I am so way excited to have all of my children home. We can actually say family prayer tonight with every here. We can play, we can laugh, we can work. I am so looking forward to a great summer!!

One here and one more to go

It is starting to feel like heaven again on earth. We went to Utah last week to bring Cortnie home for the summer and we only have 9 more days until Brittnie will be here. Then we will be a complete family again for the whole summer. I can hardly wait. I love having my girls home and having girl talk once in a while. Living with all boy is no fun.

Our trip to Utah was fast and furious. We arrived around midnight on Thursday night. After a short night sleep, we spent the day helping Cortnie pack and clean her apartment. That is always fun. She said it was almost done when we got there but I am not sure what was done. She did work hard though and we got done by dinner.

The next day we spent with our family. We had an Easter egg hunt for the kids and Cortnie did one for the adults. It was pretty funny watching all these adults climb in trees trying to get Easter eggs. We had a nice BBQ dinner and just talked. I always love to be with family. I wish we would have had more time, but I cherish the time we did have.

FOUR MORE DAYS!

Yeah! Only four more days until Cortnie comes home for the summer. I can't wait to go to Utah this weekend to help her move back home. Britt will be wtih us too and we get to share one day with our family having Easter fun. After that, only two more weeks until Britt will be home too!! I can hardly wait....

Our Goofy Scouts

So, this is what Rob got to spend his past weekend doing. These four crazy boys spent the night on Friday night working on their woodworking merit badge. It was hilarious to watch them with the power tools - especially as the sander would shake their entire bodies. Then as they used the super glue, you would hear "oops, too much glue" and they would wipe it off with their fingers!! Eleven year olds! The next morning Rob took them all to Lowes for another workshop. They worked hard and made two projects in two days. My wonderful husband loves working with the scouts and I think he is excited to have some newbies. He is so good with them and makes me proud.

Life is Good

Life is good right now - actually it is great! I have the most wonderful husband and children anyone could ask for. I take them way too much for granted everyday. I just wanted to take a minute to tell them that I love them and are so glad that they are mine forever. We are so blessed with jobs, a home, great friends, cars (even though with gas prices we can't afford to drive them), food and so much more. We also have the gospel of Jesus Christ which is great. I am so thankful for that all that I have. We are happy and life is good. I am way excited for my daughters to come home for the summer. We will have a full house again but I love having them all home. We have a very busy month with trips to Utah and scout activites, but we will survive. It will be a wonderful month in the end. Thank you family for being so great...and to Rob for being my best friend

Boyd's First Shave

Need I say more.....this was so funny to watch. Skyler had the bandaids on hand just in case but I am happy to say there was no blood

No Way!!

I got a phone call this week from my college senior to give me exciting news....at least to her. She was proud to inform me that she had just submitted all of her papers for graduation and ordered her cap and gown. There is no way my little girl is old enough to graduation from college.....but she is done come December. What will she do next.....move back home to tease her brothers.



Our smallest one also earned his Arrow of Light this past month. He completed everything needed to earn the highest award for Cub Scouts. Now it is on to preparing for his Eagle....they grow up way too fast!

Our basketball Star

So, Skyler's dream is to play professional basketball. He is on his way playing for the Raptors this year. He is small enough that he can run faster than most players, but has a hard time hitting the hoop. He has made a few baskets this season but the best is to see him steal the ball away from some guy twice as tall as he is. The other player will just be dribbling along and suddenly the ball is not there anymore. Our young men's team is short players so Skyler plays for them too. Unfortunately, this week he got mistaken as the ball and hit the floor. Good thing he is flexible and bounced right back up.

Winter Wonderland

Our winter vacation is always a highlight for my children cause they get to play in the snow. Living here in Arizona, they don't have that luxury. They look forward every year to putting on their snow clothes and rolling around in the snow. This year there was plenty of snow for them. One day alone I think it must have snowed 8 or 9 inches. Rob even go to shovel the driveway - and he was happy he does not have to do that every day. The weather was also very cold. Our high a couple of days was only nine degrees. People say we are crazy, but I still love the snow. I am not a fan of driving in it, but it is so pretty and fun to play in. The kids tried to make a snowman (Skyler had to ask us how), they made a ramp in grandpa's front yard, they made snow angels and of course went sledding. Another hightlight of our winter vacation.

My New Niece

Rick and Tina set off on the adventure of adopting a little girl from Ethopia about seven months ago. She became a part of their family the first week of December. She is the cutest little girl....huge eyes and soft, curly black hair. She has adopted well to her new family. She is one year old (on December 22). I was a little concerned about how she would react to us since she had never seen us, but my worries were short lived. She loved me from the start....came right to me. In fact, she wanted me over her own father during the week we were there. I think it is because I look like her mother.

They had Taysha sealed to them in the temple the week we were there. I was asked to be the one dressed in white to hold Taysha at the sealing alter...what a wonderful blessing. I prayed so hard she would not cry, but she cried - hard. She did not want her hand on the alter; she just wanted me to cuddle her. It matters not that no one in the room could hear anything the sealer said cause our Heavenly Father and the angels in heaven heard every word. She is now a forever part of their family.

I love that little girl so much. She has the sweetest spirit. I am just hopeful we will always have that special bond and that she will always want to come to me when she sees me. Forever families are wonderful

Christmas Day

Christmas Day is always wonderful. We were awakened early in the morning by 10 anxious children who wanted to see what Santa Claus had brought. It took a little while for those ten children to use the bathroom, get Grandpa and Grandma out of bed then convince them not to run over each other as they came up the stairs. (we had them all sleep in the basement and Rick slept at the bottom of the stairs to guard them from sneaking up to see Santa's elves). It was wonderful to hear the squeals and excitement of all the kids. There were art easels, bikes, golf clubs, nerf guns, clothes, laptops, luggage, musical toys and so much more. It seemed to take us forever to unwrap all the gifts but it was so much fun. McKay I think was the most excited over each toy - at least he waved his hands the most. Every musical toy was a new adventure for him and he was not very patient as they were being taken out of the boxes. In fact, he spent the entire day playing with his toys - not even coming to eat or get dressed- and played until 11:00 that night. My children faired very well considering Disneyworld was part of their trip. It was fun trying to stuff it all in the van to get home.

That afternoon, we were joined by Coby and Shawn's families for a large Christmas dinner. It is so fun to get together with everyone. We have not been "home" for Christmas for almost 16 years. I still enjoy just Christmas with my husband and children, but my heart yearns every year to be with my extended family. This year we had that opportunity and I will be forever grateful to Rob for allowing that to happen. He is always a trooper and goes along with my ideas. Thank you dear for giving me yet another Christmas gift...the gift of family.