Well since May I've taken over 600 pictures... have you seen any of them??? NOPE... I've been a real SLACKER I guess!! I haven't meant to but it is what it is. So I'll do some catch up posts here over the next little while. Some of them will be really old, but after the cold weather today maybe it will be nice to see some warm stuff :)

So here is what Chad and I worked on in May... Our garden. We cleared out the whole back corner of the back yard and then put up a fence. I can't find the pictures of that right now?? We planted 40 different kinds of fruits and veggies. We were so happy with what we had accomplished.

We tried to router till all that grass up after trying to take it out by hand but neither one worked. So we rented this tiller... It worked like a dream!!! Like taking a warm knife through butter :)

The only draw back to this was that now Chad is convinced that we now need to acquire one!!! I'm thinking that when we get out of this mess we've been in he'll be pushing for one!! lol

It looked Awesome and we put a ton of hours into it, the heartache was that the gate did not work at keeping the dogs out of it. They decided that they also loved all the work we did to make them a "play area". I think all the manurer we put in did it in for us. We did everything including putting our dog run back up to keep them out. Ultimately they won and destroyed our work.

Just wait till next year!!

They will HATE life if they even step one single paw in there!! lol

No really we think we have it figured out for next year. I did read that dogs are really hard to keep out of gardens. I read a post that had hundreds of people that were struggling with it. Didn't help that all three of them were ALL young puppies this spring...

NEXT YEAR!!! IT'S ALL OURS!!

We're already planning it :)

Another Testament of Jesus Christ - The Book of Mormon


This is the comment that username "dogbadgereye" said;
"awesome it truly brought the spirit in such a way that is indescribable. What joy we can find in the knowledge that our Father in Heaven loves all his children and gives us the knowledge that he would never forget any of his children."

I couldn't say it any better myself. I found this tonight and I know that the Lord directed me to see it. I needed this and knew that I needed to share it.

I have been trying to figure out what to post since it's been so long. I do have so much to catch up on and wanted my first one back to be something important to me and worth sharing before I start with all the other ones that I need to do. So when I saw this even though it's so late I knew that I needed to take a few minutes and share our SAVIOR'S LOVE with all that I LOVE!!

I hope that you all know how much you are loved by our Savior and that
WE ALL MATTER!!

Today was Chad’s BIG Birthday. He has been dreading it for a year now, he even had a dream about it and it wasn’t a good one. He sincerely asked me to keep his birthday low key and to not make a bid deal out of it. So I really tried to honor his wishes. Two weeks ago we went out to dinner, dessert, and movie that he wanted to see, that is what he wanted to do and we really had a great time.

His Mom has been planning on coming out since I think Easter we first talked about it. So we were able to keep it a secret and she got here today and surprised him!! It really meant a lot to him!! She took him to get the gift that he really wanted, it was great to see him smile and be so happy!! He has dreaded this day for so long, it was nice to see that he was able to relax and enjoy himself.

His Aunt Jo also surprised him and showed up to go to dinner with us. Mom surprised him with going to his favorite place to eat (and where we don’t get to very often) Tacono’s Brazilian Grill, then to the Hotel for a dip in the pool. She brought out our Nephew Tyler, and we had the boys (they love Grandma and was excited to see her and share in Uncle Chad’s Birthday),

the three of them were really good!!

I was amazed at how much Chris ate…WOW!! He tried EVERYTHING that Uncle Chad did!! What a trouper,
HE LOVED IT TOO!!

It was a fun packed day for the boys; Grandma took them to lunch and the park before we went to pick up Uncle Chad from work. And now they are all having a “sleep over” in the House tent in the Living Room…. Wow that’s a lot in one day for little boys :)
They are SO HAPPY!! And have had a BLAST ALL day!!

I love you Chad, I’m glad that you had a great day!! You survived and it wasn’t so bad :) It has been my pleasure to share 12 Birthdays with you; I hope that we have MANY, MANY MORE!!
Some of the things that I LoVe you for, see in you, and admire in you are;
You have an amazing heart and capacity to love.
You have the ability to make people smile and laugh,
especially me.
You can make a serious and tense situation lighter with a joke or a funny poke at something no one would have seen.
You try new things and have an adventurous soul and spirit.
You are able to take risks, even when it scares me to death.
You are always supportive of me.
There are so many more, Thank you Chad for being in my life and heart. Thank you for staying with it and us. Thank you for loving me. I hope that the next ½ of our lives are filled with Joy, Happiness, Fun, Everything you hope and wish for, and above all LOVE!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!

He danced!! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!! He was GREAT!!

That's our Chad!!

I just had to share my shopping experience.. I feel kind of badly I have two other posts that I’ve been working on, but I just had to do this one real quick!!
Most everyone knows that I’ve been working the coupons and have had to be very careful and frugal with our spending and that includes our groceries… Well tonight I just back (a little bit ago) and got all that’s in this picture ($64.02 worth of groceries) for $8.58. I was expecting to save $3 off of that but miss figured a little. But I mean really how in the world can I not still be happy with this trip?? I was TOTALLY out of cereal, the boys (including Chad) are going to be so happy in the morning :). Oh I guess I should say that I saved $55.44 on this trip hehehe…

Incase you can’t see it it’s:
6- boxes of Cereal
2- 6 bag boxes of Popcorn
6- boxes of Mac N Cheese (Great for lunches once in a while since we can’t have it for dinner with Chad’s new schedule, but it’s great because I don’t have to make as much bread…like that)
2- boxes of Taco Shells
3- cans of Refried Beans
1- bottle of Hot Sauce
AND DON'T FORGET 2- Ben and Jerry's Ice Creams.. I got each of our favorites... yummy treat for sure!!
Not bad, I figure I’ve got 6 lunches for .50c each and 2 dinners for $1.00 each (since I have the meat) not to mention weeks of free breakfasts!!! …

TOTALLY worth the time to coupon shop!!!!!

I think I will sleep with a smile tonight!!

So as I was sitting here thinking about what I wanted to post next… I have so many that I would like to do and want to do. So in all my reflecting I decided that since I have done a tribute to Mom and my Sisters that it would be fitting to finish one that I started in April for my Dad.

This was taken just weeks before Dad passed

On the morning of April 9, 1975 our Father kissed us good bye, promised me a ride the next time he went out, and left for the airstrip. He never returned. You see he promised me the ride because I was suppose to go with him that morning he was flying a group to a meeting and at the last minute they had an addition the their group and there was no room for me any longer. I was really upset that he wasn’t going to take me, I was use to going everywhere with Dad. I was upset for a minute until I realized that I was going to get a trip just the two of us. This was the third miracle in my life, the first was the day that Mom and Dad took me home from the hospital and the second the day they took me to the Temple to be sealed to them and a member of this most complex and WONDERFUL family. That was the last time that we were with Dad, the plane crashed and all of our lives changed forever. It was a really hard time for ours and the other families along with loosing our loved ones it took them 2 ½ months to find the wreck site, only then did the closure have a chance to start, and many years latter (for some) for the healing to begin. My sisters have a hard time because they can’t remember; I have a hard time because I do.

Our Dad was an amazing man and for the short 4 years and 11 months that he was a Father he was amazing in that roll too. He left a lifetime impression on all of us and then went on to finish his life’s mission on the other side. We were all blessed to have him and his example in our lives no matter the length of time.

My wish and hope is that I can and will be the daughter, sister, wife, and woman he would have wanted me to be.

This was taken of us three girls just after Dad passed

This is one of mine and my sister Kristel’s favorite pictures it reminds us of the three of us when our father past. How old (well close) and innocent we were at that time.

One of the posts that I have wanted to do for quite some time now is this one….

I love my siblings very much, and there is something that can be said about the bond that SISTERS share. I wanted to dedicate this post to my Sisters… I hope that they don’t mind sharing it with my “other sisters” as well.
I am a very lucky person to first have two sisters that mean the world to me. We have been through a lot together, both good and not so good. I LOVE them both so much!! They are two of my best friends. I want nothing but the best for both of them!! And true happiness!!

I am also very lucky to be surrounded by people that really care about me. How amazing it is to have people like this in my life. I know that both of my sisters also have these kinds of “Sisters” in their lives. I think, -no- I know that we are all BLESSED to be able to share our lives with such people. It’s also refreshing and reassuring since all three of us live apart from each other, to know there is someone out there that is caring for your sister the way you would if you were there and could do it yourself. In every way these are OUR Sisters sharing our lives with us!!

So this is for all of OUR SISTERS out there… for all that you do and are to each of us!!

To a Special Sister
Author: unknown

A sister is one of the nicest things
that can happen to anyone.
She is someone to laugh with and share with,
to work with and join in the fun with.
She is someone who helps in the rough times,
and knows when you need a warm smile.
She is someone who will quietly listen,
when you just want to talk for a while.
A sister is dear to you always,
for she is someone who is always a part
of all the favorite memories
that you keep very close to your heart.

This is the three of us two years ago, one of my favorites.

Ok so now I am VERY officially behind in journaling our lives. So I am going to try and catch up some over the next week or so. I have started many posts and have just not been able to finish them up. I’m not going to do some of the ones back from March and not going to count them as I was...too overwhelming… I’m just going to post what I know that I’ve wanted to, and go through my pictures and do my best to journal what we have been up to. I have some older ones and some newer ones. I’m not going to apologize for being behind (again); I’m just going to take pleasure in getting caught up. :)

I am getting close to my 100th post, I have decided to post some of my thoughts and have been writing it over the past few weeks. (I don’t put any thought in to it all of this at all…lol… like WAY TOO MUCH…lol)

Hope someone enjoys them, and if not… I guess they aren’t reading anymore… I just want to have a record of our lives and a record for the boys… if anyone gets any pleasure out of it, then I have accomplished something that I have always wanted and strived for my entire life…

***to make someone a little happier, a smile on their face, or their life a little better or brighter***
I guess that is my personal mission statement…. Wow… that is an a-hah moment… that has been on my list of things to do for FOREVER!!... and there it is, just spilled out here in my ramblings. My mission statement!!
THANKS DEAR FRIENDS!!!