It's the little things..

That make the life what it is.
Yesterday Little Man came home from school and looked at me and said Mom, you are just beautiful. I was shocked at his comment, but grateful for his sweet kindness.
Little Miss has been going through a rough patch with scary dreams and not sleeping well. The last two night have been much better. This morning I woke up to her snuggled into me.. and she looked at me and said I like you so much!
Little Man told me how yesterday a boy at school broke his leg and is on crutches, he carried his backpack to his class for him to help him out. He was quite pleased that he helped someone. And I was thrilled he so willing served someone.
Little Miss explained to me today that when she says her prayers she knows Jesus listens.
The little things my kids do are big things. They make me thank my Heavenly Father everyday for the blessing I have of being Mom to my wonderful children. They make me look at the world and look for all the good and the ways to help others. They are the way I want to be.

Check out this lovely..

If I were 5 I would want this to be my room. But I am not 5.. but I know someone who is 5. And I have convinced her she wants this to be her room. This is everything I love for a little girls room. Polka dots, pink, red, white.. and just the right amount of little girl that can grow. Now I just have to convince the rest of me this is a need. Or figure out how to make it. But I am not sure I am THAT ambitious. And I had liked it online but finally going to look at it... I am in love.

Girlfriends..

The thing about moving all over every couple of years you get friends all over! I have some of the best girlfriends.. and since moving here I have a couple that I just adore and get to add to my list of wonderful friends (Beth and Kellie)!! Today we had the chance to have lunch and rally around my friend who is going through a scary and hard time in her life. We laughed, we had fun, we ate, we shopped and talked..talked..talked. It was the way a nice lunch and shopping trip with your friends should be. And thankfully after a week of trying to get it done.. we got it! Hopefully next time we won't have such a hard time.. and we can do it a little more often.

It made me miss some of my girlfriends that I have known for years. I seem to be the one always moving away, but I love and miss each of them. So to each of my awesome girlfriends that I miss and those that I get to see all of the time, Thank you for being my friend! Totally cheesy I know. But each friend makes an impact and changes you. We learn and grow through all of our friendships. And I wouldn't be who I am without my wonderful friends!

Because Nine Isn't Enough..

I am adding number 10. Are you thinking year of marriage.. that isn't what I am talking about. Although I am doing that also. But I am adding number 10 for my surgery list. I know pathetic.

But I haven't talked about my running lately.. because it has been non-existent. Not that I didn't want to run, but my knee was bugging me so much it locked after my last run. And I have been fed up and ready to just get a new knee. Thankfully that isn't happening. But after meeting with a great Orthopedic Surgeon I am have my knee scoped.. and not for cartilage like everyone assumes. I have a medial plica. Weird I know. I don't do normal things, so it is quite fitting.

I really wish that surgery wasn't what was coming, but the doctor has assured me that my knee will be way better than it has been in the last 10 years. And that is worth it for me. I am going to be on crutches for a while and then I have a 6-8 week recovery, and after that I can run again, so I am ready to get this done. And the best and most shocking news for me.. my Mom is coming out for 18 days.. she has had knee surgery twice and wants to make sure I am not ignoring doctors orders like I do so well. And 10.. it is a good number to stop at. Because who needs that much surgery? Not me! Really 1 would have been nice to stop at.. or better yet zero.. but since we are here I really don't need to go any higher in the double digits.

And please don't feel bad for me.. I have friends going through much worse right now. This made me laugh at the doctors office. I was like really surgery?? And I started giggling.. to which he looked at me like I might have lost my mind. But it is irony for me.. and seriously..what's next?

Luckiest Girl in the World!

Nine years ago I married the man of my dreams! My best friend. The hottest guy in the world.We were 19 and 22.. And we were totally mature. I mean what teenage girl isn't ready for marriage? Thankfully Randy and I grew up together and he has always been there for me.And each year I am luckier than I was the year before. Each year I love this Man more than the year before.In our 9 years we have endured 9 surgeries for me.
We have doubled the size of our family, from 2 to 4.
We have purchased 5 homes.
We have moved those 5 times, plus the small stints living with parents in between moves while waiting for our homes to be finished.We have laughed until we cried more time than I can count.
We have been silly and in love non-stop.
We have been blessed more than we ever would have expected.
We have learned that if it doesn't matter in the eternal scheme of things, it really doesn't matter.
We are each others best friends. As long as we have each other we can do hard things.
We have endured heartache and time where you wonder what is going to happen next, and how you will get through.. only to realize that with each other you will get through.
Randy, thank you for making me the luckiest girl in the world! You are my hero, my life, my everything. I love the Husband you are, and I love you more each day.
Happy Anniversary!

And Happy Anniversary to Travis and Sandy.. Randy's wonderful sister and her husband! We were married on their anniversary!

Issues..

I have issues with my childrens school. I am trying to figure out the best approach, but I have very strong feelings on a few things that are lacking here.
I had heard Indiana had great schools, and we were moving into a fantastic district. I have yet to believe that.

My issues.. I don't agree with Kindergartners only getting recess for the first nine week and then no recess. That is wrong. I know that Kindergarten is only 2 hours 40 minutes, that is short, not my problem it is so short. But children learn by play. And a 10-15 minute recess will help to get wiggles out and for kids to settle down. If they can't have recess then please let them have PE, Art, Music, or something that is fun and creative.

And the rest of elementary kids they get a whopping one recess with Lunch. They are in school from 9-3:40, that is a long time for little kids to go without recess. I think two should be mandatory if not three. And heck if the issue is they can't pay duty's, I will gladly go and be a FREE duty so that way my child can have recess. Kids need to burn off their energy and move.

And another issue. I have to pay Textbook rental fees. What the heck? Since when is public education not free? And get this, my fees are almost $160 for a Kindergartner and a First Grader. It is crap. Complete and total crap. I love on the list that I am being charged 10 of the total of the books for Shipping and Handling.. yeah right it did cost them 10% to ship these books. I love to see that the district is making a buck off of my kid. Other things I like on the list it says Classroom Supplies, on this they have folders, (because the 3 I had to send in the insanely long list of school supplies wasn't enough).

I am contacting my Representative for the State. I am going to talk to other people. I am so against this in so many ways, and if I don't stand up for it who will? I don't believe that Public School, and our Free Education should cost us this much just for text books for kids this young. Thank you Indiana.

Because you were all dying to know..

You Are Jasmine!

Independent and adventurous. You don't want much; just to break out of the guilded cage society has put you in and experience life to the fullest. Following orders isn't really one of your strong points, and you would rather live a life of poverty than being forced into something that you hate.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

So.. what are you? Leave a comment and post it on your blog. It is like totally cool.

Ikea.. I *heart* you

I just got home from Ikea with a fantastic friend. We laughed, we shopped, we ate, we shopped, we laughed, we shopped, and then we shopped some more. It was fun, and a great way to spend an afternoon. And we are already looking to get another trip planned to go get the rest of the loot we didn't buy. My kids play room will now be organized. The kids rooms will be a little cuter. And well.. I am not sad anymore. Shopping makes me happy!

Confession

I cried today. I cried a lot. I fought it for a long time. I turned my music up insanely loud to drown out the thoughts in my head. But sitting in front of a pile of darks that desperately needed to be folded the tears came. And then they didn't want to stop. I hate to cry. HATE IT. But my baby is in school. Both of them. I didn't think it would be THIS hard, but it is. It will get easier.. but today. I am sad.. I am in tears and I want them home. Can't they be little for a while longer? I don't want them in school, I want them home. I miss my kiddos making messes, snuggling, climbing all over, just hanging out with me. I did my shopping it was quiet, and uneventful.. no begging, no hands to hold, just alone at the grocery store. It was quick.. but I was lonely. And now I am terrified for next year when they are both in school all day. My kids are so fun and my world.. this is even harder than I thought it would be. So there.. my confession, I am terribly missing my children. And Little Miss is only in school for three hours.. I should be able to handle this right?

Back to School!

Today my kids started school. For Little Man it was 1st Grade.. and for Little Miss, she is in Kindergarten. I seriously cannot believe both of my kiddos are in school. I think I am in shock. Thankfully she is only gone for three hours, but I miss having them running around the house. How did I get old enough to have them both in school? And how did they grow up this fast?
And now the reason you are really here.. all my pictures of the kids.. and the day!

My Poser!

I love this smile.. this is so Little Man!


Waiting for the Bus.

Waiting some more.

Still waiting. He did not want me to drive him.. he was riding the bus!
The kids were digging that they had new clothes from Grandma for their first day of school! Thanks Grandma!!
And then Little Miss had her turn.

Ready to go!!


I love her eyes.. and this is how bright they really are. She can melt your heart like that!

Sad Mommy.. Little Man was having none of this.


After school.. yes I am that crazy Mom jumping in front of the bus just to document this day.


And one of my favorites of the day. See how she looks at him. She worships her big brother.. it reminds me of my relationship with my brother. Makes me miss him a lot. But I am grateful that she has a big brother to look up to and love just like I did.

They say it's your birthday!!

It's not mine.. but my friend Stephanie's. Go give her a shout out and wish her an awesome 31st! I am sure she loves I blabbed her age, but she is rockin' it!
Happy Birthday Girl!!!! Hope your day is way better than last years!

Niagra Falls!

Finally.. I am getting Niagara Falls. We had a beautiful day there and it was awesome to see such a beautiful site. And I loved that I could see Canada.. one day I really should go there. Hopefully soon!

You can see Canada on the other side of the water.

My kids loved the view!

But after I begged them they finally turned around and flashed quick smiles at me before turning back the gorgeous view.

My parents and most adorable sister. It was so fun to share this trip with my family!


We decided to ride the Maid of the Mist. And I must say it is so worth it. If you go to Niagara Falls it is a must do. We were able to see the Canadian and the US falls. They gave us these styling ponchos to wear so we didn't get completely soaked.


And the bridge going to Canada. Pretty skies huh?

The Canadian Side.

The US Side.

Looking back at where we were.

I got a little soaked.. so my drippy hair? But the pictures rocked so it was worth it!

My parents and sister!

And next Kirtland. Be on the lookout!

Go Pacers!

Do you recognize this man? And no I didn't have a zoom lens on.. I was that close.

See we even got closer? Thank you Larry Bird! Do you see how tall he is? Remember I am 6' and Randy 6'3", we never get dwarfed like this!

And then we met Jeff Foster.. he is super tall too. 6'11"

And Mike Dunleavy.. he is ONLY 6'9"
and while we were taking pictures with some of the Pacers I told Randy you totally need a picture with the Pacers.. we giggled and he did it.

And then they gave us a signed copy of their squad.. the Pacemates. Nice huh? And doesn't Randy look a little too happy??

And Rookie Roy Hibbert. 7'2".. seriously tall.
We went to Larry Bird's Ranch for a party for season ticket holders. No we aren't season ticket holders.. but no one else needs to know that.
We ate good food, went on a tour, had funnel cake, went on a boat ride and had a lot of fun! And dude, I met Larry Bird!!!

They had a charicature artist.. he drew a picture of Randy and I. We were totally cheesing it.


So what do you think? Not too much like us!

And a picture of the house, the lake, and just the fun!
I am excited to go to a few of their games this year and experience my first LIVE NBA game! Go Pacers!

And sorry Kirtland and Niagra posts are coming. I just got side tracked.
And I will have a pricing listed for different print sizes for those interested! Thanks for all of the responses.

Where it all started...

We started in Palmyra. We went to the Visitors Center first. And then to the Hill Cummorah. We saw the statue for the Angel Moroni. It was raining but cleared up for us to have a nice momement ont he hill Cummorah. The Spirit was amazing there, and there was such a reverence.



Little Man took this picture of Randy and I.

And this is what was behind us. From the top of the Hill Cummorah this is what I imagine Moroni saw when he buried the plates.. minus the roads, power lines, and modern stuff.
And then we went to the Smith Family Farm. I was beyond excited.

The Smith Family log cabin.. plus a Sister Missionary. This was so small, and it was just amazing that they all lived there.
The well.. you get a double shot.. because I really like the black and white picture also.



I posted this fence before.. but I still love it... a lot.

I don't have a single shot of the Smith's home without people. But this is it. It is the original home they lived in. It was humbling to be there. Where the gold plates were, where the Prophet lived.
And a few shots of the inside. Much of this is how it was when they lived there.





Their kitchen sink.

This is where they made their barrels.

And their barn.. which Randy gets credit for these last two shots. Doesn't he rock?

Going into the Sacred Grove.
At this time we had a serious storm brewing. Thunder, lightning, rain and it was nasty. I was trying to not be worried.. but it made me nervous. And my hopes were slowly being diminished on finding the perfect shot in the Sacred Grove. And I proved to be right. It was too dark, and the amount of lightning made me nervous to be in a large grove of trees.
Now a little about the Sacred Grove, I expected it to be smallish. But it wasn't. It was quite large, bigger than I expected. I had no way of knowing which place it was that Joseph knelt and saw God the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. But, I did feel the most sweet Spirit and a great reverence for the place I stood. It was amazing. The gratitude I felt for a young boy kneeling and praying to our Father in Heaven was overwhelming. The peace was wonderful, and the Spirit testified of the truthfulness, that he saw what he said he saw.



Our Little Family pictures in the Sacred Grove. Do you see how dark it is? I was quite bummed, but the Spirit was just wonderful.

But I did make everyone go back the next day. The sun was shining, and my heart was in need of this picture. The one I had in my head. The one that I would always look and say I was there. Right there. And thankfully my family obliged to my crazy obessession and we went back. And the sun came through and my picture was made.

This is being blown up huge for my home. I am in love with it. It is what I had envisioned. And I am forever grateful that my family would be drug over 90 minutes out of the way, so I could have my picture. And if you are interested I am selling prints of it.

And on our way out of the Sacred Grove. Isn't it pretty.
It was beautiful and peaceful, and I felt even more at peace enjoying the Spirit without being worried I was going to be struck by lightning.

Back to the Palmyra day...
We hit the Peter Whitmer farm next. It was pretty awesome. How is that for details. :) This was the home where the Church was officially organized. I was humbled at the size of this building where so many Saints gathered, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored. Joseph Smith also received 20 revelations there, and did a lot of translating there. What a great place to visit. So many great things happened there, it was so peaceful and amazing.
Okay.. the pictures.


The room they gathered in to orgainze The Church.

And where Joseph resided in the Whitmer home, and received revelations.
And then we went back to the Palmyra visitors center to view the movie Joseph. But before we could go in I was getting out of the van and heard a voice. A voice I hadn't heard in 10 years. A voice I loved. A voice that changed me. I heard Ed.
Now many of you might not know the significance of this.. but you get to learn about me. I moved to a small town my Sophomore year of High School, where I was the ONLY LDS kid. I went to Seminary my Freshman year.. and my Sophomore year I had home study.. that I kinda did. But not really. And then my Junior and Senior year I didn't do it at all. Shocker huh? Especially since my Dad was Bishop half the time. Now you know my deep dark secrets. Anyway.. I was going to UVSC, because let's face it BYU wouldn't take me.. I didn't even apply. I had agreed to go to Institute, but basically I was going to go.. it wouldn't work with my schedule and I would go about my life without any worries and life would be all good. I signed up for class, figuring this Ed guy would be boring and I could easily justify working at that time and not going to Institute. And then I went, Book of Mormon.. we started and this guy came in and he was different. He wasn't uptight and stuffy. He wasn't boring. He actually could spend a FULL hour talking about 1st Nephi, chapter 1, verse 1. I was shocked. I was entertained, I was enthralled and I was hooked. So I stayed. I had many interesting conversations with him. And Ed J. Pinegar changed me. I fell in love with the Book of Mormon. My testimony grew leaps and bounds in just a short amount of time. I even signed up for another Institute class. It prepared me for so much in my life, and really changed me for the better.
Okay.. that was a long explanation but you have to get it to understand. I heard his voice.. I haven't seen him in nearly 10 years.. and I melted. I ran over to him, (really I RAN) and I was like ED!! How are you? Do you remember me? You taught me institute! You are here! How cool! (firing this all at once.. those who know me know I talk way too fast!) I was giddy, I hugged him, we talked, he remembered me! I introduced my husband and kids to him, and then I was able to thank him. Thank him for the change he helped to bring in me. I still don't think he knows how important he is in my life. I am so incredibly grateful for this man, and for his inspiration to say all of the things I needed to hear.. and for his love of the Gospel.. for his willingness to serve the Lord. He is currently serving a mission in Palmyra, New York. Cool huh?

See I look totally excited!
We watched the Jospeh Movie.. which was great.. and I hope to get to watch it without my kids sometime, because parts of it scared them, and it was harder to watch knowing it was hard for them.
Then we went to the Book of Mormon Publishing Site. It was awesome.






All of those are pictures of stuff that was used to do the first book. It was pretty amazing.

And the outside of the building.. it was beautiful!


And the last pictures of Palmyra.
It was awesome. We loved it.
And stay tuned for Kirtland.. and Niagra Falls.