I shared this picture on Facebook and wanted to share it here as part of my tribute.

Footprints
Also Known As "I Had a Dream"

One night I dreamed a dream.

I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.

When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.

"Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."

The Passion of The Christ (movie)

I really feel that these two pictures go hand in hand. Christ carried ALL of us when He was forced to carry His own cross to his death. It is the symbolism that is true with the the long loved poem from above. He has physically carried us on that day and continues to carry us everyday in our lives. He carries  us during our hardest, toughest, loneliest and quietest moments. I wonder if I make CHOICES that could lighten his burden from me, and give him rest. The physical burden was so great and I'm sure that the spiritual burden is just as demanding for my Lord and Savior to carry. I pray that I can make those choices and walk beside Him through this journey of life.

 I LOVE MY SAVIOR and hope to show my respect for him

 for all that he has done and sacrificed for me.

Women's Conference September 2011

Like just about everyone else that I know that saw 

President Uchtdorf's never forgettable talk: Forget Me Not 

I was truly touched and even though I'm posting this a week later I started it the night we all heard him address us. I put together this collage that night because I couldn't get his words out of my mind and I just wanted to capture the the way I was feeling and one of the best ways that I could do that for me was through pictures. I have had it on my wall paper all week and printed and posted on my front door so that I could think and ponder his words during the entire week.

I haven't gone to the church to listen to Women's Conference in some time, I have either watched it online or read it latter when it was posted. I was inspired that I needed to attend this time. I had been struggling some with all that we have going on in our lives right now and just that morning was feeling a failure as a Mother. Now I know that all parents have such feeling; that is just where I was last week. I enjoyed all of the talks, however when President Uchtdorf began to address us I knew that his words was the reason that I had been inspired to be there that night. The 5 pedals represent the 5 points of his sermon. I will not ever again be able to look at a Forget Me Not again and not think of and ponder on his talk, it was beautiful and touched my life for good.

I was also inspired to ask my niece Ashley to attend with me and I am so glad that I was able to listen to the Spirit in-spite of my failing feelings at the time. We went out for Ice Cream afterwards and we were able to just sit and talk like we haven't been able to before... no kids or teasing husband around to interrupt us! It was a great girls night out and something I really needed and enjoyed the opportunity to bond more with Ashley.

The night was a spiritual and personal high for me and helped me to

regain some ground and start anew. Something that I was truly in need of!! 

I am SO GRATEFUL that the LORD still reveals to us his love for us through his Disciples. 

I am SO GRATEFUL that I listened to the spirit and didn't ignore the promptings that I received. 

I am SO GRATEFUL that we have a LOVING Heavenly Father that knows his children and what they need, and that he never leaves our sides, and caries us when he knows we don't have the strength any longer on our own. 

I am SO GRATEFUL for the knowledge that I am HIS Child and I will be once again in his arms one day!! as well as my earthly Parents!! Oh how I miss them and having that cheering section in my corner, but also GRATEFUL for the knowledge that I will once again be with them as well and my boys will have the opportunity to know and love them.

I am so grateful for the AWESOME weather today!!! I took ALL the boys to the park, (we hadn't seen Jimmy or Chis all week so we were excited to see them) they changed my plans for the Bean Museum, they wanted the extra time at the park. They played hard and had a ton of fun!! I wasn't quite prepared for that one since we were headed to the museum so I didn't have sun block...oops.. I must get that all re-packed. We had so much fun and got a little too much sun, but it was so worth it!! :)

Hope everyone had a great day in the sun and the end of spring break!!

I'm going to post pictures tomorrow from the day...

Tonight I am grateful for the good weather and for some quiet time tonight!!

Now I just need to get some sleep....

long weekend ahead of us, I'll try and get some pictures and let you in on what will be happening around here....

Oh ok I'll tell you... WE ARE STARTING THE GYM TOMORROW!!

We are getting a roll off and we are DE-JUNKING OUR LIVES!!!

as much as possible!! and even though it is going to be a LOT of HARD WORK!! We are so excited to get things thinned out and trying to get a grasp of our lives...FINALLY!! :)

**UPDATE 4/10/2010- The can didn't come today as promised...I guess we'll have to start on Monday... So we worked on other things around the house and took the kids out to play and had our First B-Q in a long while (we've been out of gas). Good day even without the can :)

Today I sent Chad a message and said... wow you've been real quiet today... is everything ok?

His response,"Good day kids have been good"... YEAH!!!!!!!! Very Grateful for good days!!

Very Grateful that Chad and I are a TEAM!!! I have watched this wonderful man of mine change and develop right in front of my eyes!! It has not been an easy 2 months, but he has been AMAZING!! I will tell you more about some of these things a little latter... I have to be up in a couple of hours and really need a little sleep. But I just wanted Chad and all of you know how grateful I am for him and ALL that he has done!!

THANKS BABE!! YOUR AMAZING!! AND I LOVE YOU!!....

SO MUCH!!!

Ok so it's almost been 2 months...

There have been a lot of grateful moments, and I should have posted them and kept going on my gratitude posts, they may have helped on the tough days, but I'm back and things are finally calming down a little. There is so much to tell my closest friends and family about, I will get to that... but right now this is a gratitude post

Today I'm grateful for a really good day at our home!! Chad and the boys had a REALLY good day together, even with the youngest getting a "haircut" from his brother and face planting into the wall and getting a bloody nose. He is at an awkward stage of going to fast and tripping over himself. When I got home the day continued to be a good one. We all ate dinner together and the boys got to stay up late since they were so good today!!! :)

There were no fits, no hitting, and VERY little arguing with each other.

That is an awesome day for us!!! We have only had a couple of those in the past 2 months!!

THANK YOU BOYS!! WAY TO GO!!

So much to be grateful for... and so much to catch you up on!! but for tonight I have to keep it short!! I'm so tired I might just collapse right here as I'm typing. I am grateful that Chad and I have followed the direction that the Lord sent us on... We were inspired I know.

We got a call with a need for a home, for a family of 3 little boys. We felt strongly that we needed to help these Brothers, so we went and meet them and brought them home with us last night. They are beautiful little boys and they have LOTS...no... TONS of energy!!! Chad has been so great with them and they have already had lots of fun with him.

More to come after we both get some sleep!! :)

Well it's been a week since I posted but I'm going to keep up my Gratitude posts even if I miss some days!! This is one goal that I want to accomplish for myself!! It's been a long week with a lot going on in our lives. I have also been avoiding my computer because I have so much work to do to get it back to functioning for me. But it's time to get back to what I love and stop avoiding it...

Tonight I am grateful for the past week being behind me, and having a fresh new week ahead of me. Just like what Christ has done for us so that we can have a new and fresh day and life ahead of us with the atonement, I believe that it also allows us to "restart" and "renew". I look forward to a renewed week ahead of us.

Today was a quiet day for me. I was home alone all day. I took advantage and took the steps that I needed to do to restore my computer. I had to take it back to the factory settings. Therefore EVERYTHING was whipped off the computer. If you know me, my LIFE is on this little piece of "technology" (as Jimmy would call it)... well ok WAS on this computer. I took the steps to save everything on my external drive so hopefully I will be able to move what I need back over. KEEP OUR FINGERS CROSSED!!!

With that all said thou, tonight I am grateful for two things:

FIRST is, to have Chad home with me. Safe and sound.

Second is that hopefully now my computer will stop crashing and I won't loose my work anymore.

** NOTE: Sassy went with Chad this time, Griz went with him the trip before. I took some pictures of Sassy in the truck with him, it was so cute... I'll have to get some with Griz now too. But here ya go!! She had a blast and I was glad that he wasn't alone and had some company with him. :)

Sassy and her first trip in the "Big Truck"

Chad says she did better than Grizzy did on the truck!! :) She looks like she's in charge!!

He had to barter with her to get her to share the bed with him!! But at least she was there to help him stay warm.. :) LOVE YOU TWO!!

I'll have to share the pictures he took of her on the truck... I'll have to re-load them... :} Something to look forward to another time.

I haven't posted for two days because I was working my bum off... I didn't get home from work till 3 am each of those days. Long story very short... DEADLINES and past employee NOT doing her job. So tonight I am VERY Grateful for my bed and to already being in it!!! Night all... More to come...

Later after some ZZZZZ'S!!!!

I have posted on my Facebook how I feel about this picture. This is what got me searching for a new picture to begin with: "Retro week is over! Starting now, post a picture of someone fictional that you think best represents your personality. Be creative. It will be interesting to see what/whom you choose...Copy and paste this so we can all play along."

And here are a few of my comments about the picture and myself that I posted:

*We as Women are VERY strong and should share the strength with our families and the ones we are raising!! as well as our TENDERNESS :)

*I think that this picture stands for so much.. It was a time of change, some great...some not so great for all Women. It also for me shows my determination and my attitude towards life and all that I do. I CAN DO ANYTHING THAT I PUT MY MIND TOO!! I DO HAVE THE STRENGTH TO DO IT!!

I am grateful for this Strength, the knowledge of the inner strength to do what I need to do and know what that is. To be able to reach deep down inside and do what has to be done when the time comes. To be able to pull out all the stops and accomplish what looked imposable prior. And with all that, the knowledge that ALL this is possible because of a LOVING Father in Heaven and ALL strength is possible through CHRIST!!

I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE STRENGTH CHRIST GIVES ME IN MY LIFE!!

READING TIME

Jimmy sat with me tonight and read to me, just the two of us sitting together enjoying a few minuets to ourselves. It was some much needed quality time that we haven't really spent together in a long while. He got to stay up a LITTLE late, but it was worth it and he fell to sleep really quickly tonight, which is a miracle for that kid!! :) He said that tomorrow is my turn to read to him before it's time to go home :). He did say that Cheyenne reads to him, I'm so glad!!

Thank you Cheyenne for all you do with and for the boys!!

We love you!!

This post if for Monday... My computer is really having some major "issues"...

I'M VERY GRATEFUL FOR

FAMILY NIGHTS!!

That is what we call it at our house... With our family having a "mixture" of religions and the up coming addition of new members in our home I thought that is the best thing for us to call it. Anyways... I am so grateful for our Family Nights!! The boys really look forward to it and having game time together!! We added about 6 games to our mix over the past 2 months and we are enjoying having new games to play and learn. The boys wanted to do something new Monday and we had a a Hair cutting night!! The boys finally decided that they wanted their hair cut short... shorter than I wanted to, so we compromised a bit. They look so good!! They were bouncing all over the house all excited!! Jimmy did let me know that he thought it should still be shorter... He wanted it "fuzzy" meaning buzzed to a #1... I did a #3.

Here are the results of the night. We had a fun night even Chad got his done. Not sure if that counts as a family night, but we were all together visiting and enjoying our time together... so it worked for me and I was glad to get some time with the boys,

it's been a while.

They wanted to see who cut more off... it was like a competition

Left was Chris's, Right was Jimmy's

I think he's happy, what do you think? :)

I Don't know about you, but you can't beat that smile!! That is one happy 5 year old!! He was running around laughing and dancing!!

He was SO HAPPY to have his hair cut!! LOL LOL ... I was totally laughing at/with him!!! :)

Successful FAMILY NIGHT!!

Today we studied the Creation in Sunday School...

and heard talks about Jehovah of The Old Testament...

I am SO GRATEFUL for both!!

Without the Creation we would not be here, we would not have the chance to be families, to learn and grow, to gain our bodies and experience the miracle of this life. How grateful I am for the knowledge and understanding of just how miraculous the Creation is and what this means to me and to ALL of God's Children. Our teacher made some great comparisons and I really liked this one...

"For God to explain the Creation to us is the same as explaining how a plane flies to a 5 year old, how do you do it so that they understand and it doesn't just pass them by with NO understanding." (of course paraphrased) Hence forth the explanation in the Bible of the Creation, is as if God explaining something to us that we just CAN'T grasp and yet helping us to understand it in the SIMPLEST of terms.

I really liked thinking of it this way and knowing I don't have to understand how it all happened, but just trust my LOVING God and know that he is in control of this GRAND plan of his and that Christ has followed it with the DEEPEST of DEVOTIONS and has paved the path for Me and You.

JEHOVAH

I have to admit that I learned something new today that me a member my whole life with a strong testimony should have known. Jehovah in the Old Testament IS CHRIST. I guess I may have known, just never gave it great thought to realize it. Another thought our teacher shared with us from a talk (I believe) was... The Old Testament is the Testament of Jehovah (Jesus Christ of the Spirit), the New Testament is the Testament of Jesus Christ and his mission of the Flesh, and the Book of Mormon and D&C another Testament of Jesus Christ. All four Standard Works being Testament of Him.

How GRATEFUL I am for all The Savior has done and will do for me and all of us. I am grateful for this knowledge and for the love I have and feel from God and His Son and that I have for them.

This Gratitude fills my heart, body, and Soul. I pray that I will always be true to this knowledge, and what the responsibility each of us has being a Child of God and all that in tells.

MOTHER NATURE!!

I am grateful to live were we get to experience 5 seasons!!

I know that many don't care for the snow but for me I love it...

This was last night while we were being pounded...

After just an hour of snowing!!

We need the moisture and it is so beautiful...

I love watching it fall and how quiet, calm, and light it is

outside while/after the snow fall.

Ok so after a day or two and it's all dirty not so much,

but this is a gratitude post not negative.. :)

Sassy was not happy with me that I wouldn't let her go BACK outside to play in the snow!! She was playing snowball fights with the neighbors...

She CRACKED me up!! LOL

The dogs stayed outside...

well I went to bed at 1:30 am and they still wouldn't come in.

I'll tell you what though they slept till about 1 this afternoon!! LOL LOL

They are so fun!! and they were VERY GRATEFUL for the snow!!

I'm grateful for LAUGHTER

You can have a long and exhausting day and yet when you've been able to laugh through it all and have fun with your loved ones, pets, and friends, it just puts it all into perspective!!

If you know me you know that I love to laugh!!

It is the MUSIC to my SOUL!! :)

I had a day FULL of laughter and I find myself tired but SMILING from ear to ear!!

My favorite scripture is:

"Adam fell that Men might be; and Men are, that they might have JOY"

I TRULY BELIEVE THIS AND TRY TO ALWAYS REMEMBER AND LIVE BY IT!!

I finally got the Christmas Tree down...

I know it's January 21st, but I've been hurt since the middle of December and haven't been able to do as much as I would like to and normally do around the house...

I am grateful that my knee has held out for two days so that I could get some

Very Much NEEDED things done in our home.

I am grateful for friends that allow you call them and set an "appointment" to come over just so you can "VENT" before you explode, and then rejoice with you when you feel better at the end of a much needed vent... it didn't even take very long... :)

I HAVE GREAT FRIENDS AND I LOVE YOU ALL

AND AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR YOU ALL!!

Well tonight I'm going to keep it short and sweet...

I am grateful that the Lord granted me the strength and stamina to make it through the day!

It was a really long day and I needed his strength to physically make it through it, and that is just what he did for me!!!

Thank you Heavenly Father!! :)

Ok so about an hour ago I was thinking about my day trying to decide what I was most grateful for. I was going through my wallet looking for receipts and found a FULL CAFE' RIO card. So since I'm home alone tonight I went and got a FREE DINNER. It's my fist Cafe' Rio salad in 6 months (to the best of my memory).

So I'm VERY GRATEFUL for my FREE SALAD!!!

YUM-O :)

(Thanks Rachael Ray... I love that word/phrase)