Answer to prayers

Lately, I have been blessed to have my prayers answered.  I've been thinking a lot about the power of prayer.  A few months ago, I had the chance to go to my grandma's birthday celebration.  We also celebrated my great uncle's birthday at the same time.  Uncle Bill told us the story of when he was a young man in the navy stationed on a ship during the war.  The ship was attacked and began to sink.  He was lucky enough to get onto a life raft.  After a long time, the raft began drifting too far out, and the seas became very dangerous.  One of the men on the ship said "I think it's time we all start to pray".  Uncle Bill said that as soon as they all started to pray together, the seas calmed and they were soon rescued.  He bore his testimony that Heavenly Father loves us and will answer our prayers.  Not long after hearing his story, I was feeling depressed and upset.  It seems that whenever Mike and I save enough money to get a project around the house fixed, something comes up and our project gets put on the back burner.  Well, we've been talking about putting new flooring in for years, and finally had the money to do it.  A few days before I actually ordered the flooring, we found out that we needed the money for something else.  I was feeling fed up and frustrated.  I prayed that I could get over it and not fight with Mike about it.  Later that day I was reading in my scriptures and came across this passage:  3 Ne. 13: 25, 31, 34
  25 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked upon the twelve whom he had chosen, and said unto them: Remember the words which I have spoken. For behold, ye are they whom I have chosen to minister unto this people. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
  31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
  34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient is the day unto the evil thereof.
I felt that this was an answer to my prayer, that I need to take no thought of material things, and take more thought of spiritual things and the things that really matter the most.  
I had two more experiences this week.  After a long trip home from Utah, I was feeling exhausted.  I don't even remember half the drive home from Phoenix!  We got home, and I took an instant nap.  After I got up, I went to get us some dinner, but couldn't find my wallet.  I searched every where.  I got angry, and searched every where again.  Then I made all the kids help me look for my wallet.  It was no where to be found.  I asked Levi to say a prayer that we could find my wallet (I was too upset to do it).  He was so sweet, and I was instantly relieved and the stress started to fade away.  Hours later, after I put Levi and Tristan to bed and sat down to relax, Jordan says, "mom, Jaxson found your wallet."  I don't know where he got it from, but there he was, sitting in the floor playing with my wallet!  Levi came out for a drink of water and I told him that his prayer worked.  He was pretty pleased with himself.  

Two days later, I took the boys to Tucson.  We were in Costco shopping, and just as we got in the checkout to pay, I reached in my pocket for my Costco/Amex card.  It wasn't there.  I searched all through my purse and pockets, and knew it had fallen out somewhere in the massive store.  I asked Levi to say another prayer real quick while I searched again.  In the middle of the crowded store, Levi bows his head and folds his arms,  and prays that we will find my card.  We re-traced our steps, to no avail.  Then we went to customer service where someone had turned it in.  Levi said he knew his prayer would be answered, and so did I.  I'm grateful that the Lord has given me a chance to teach my sons that prayer works, and that my testimony about it could be strengthened.  

Christmas time is here!

This has been a hectic holiday season so far.  I am about done decorating for Christmas, but what normally takes me 1 day has taken me 4 so far and I'm not completely finished.  It's not that I have a lot more decorations, it's that I'm also trying to get the house ready for some visitors next week.  Mike's old mission companion from Australia is coming next week with his two daughters.  So, we are trying to get everything decorated and cleaned up before next Wednesday!
               Tris loves putting ornaments on the tree.

                                 Jax really loves un-decorating.

Levi just loves doing things together as a family.

Jax will keep me on my toes through out the Christmas season.  He tried to unwrap the presents under the tree today.

Vacation!

So, this was an interesting Thanksgiving.  Taylor's high school band planned a trip to Hawaii for six days, and we thought it would be great if Mike went along as a chaperone.  Since I didn't want to leave all the other kids with someone else during the holidays, I decided to stay with them and head out to Utah to visit my sisters and brother.  We knew it was going to be an interesting trip when Tristan threw up the whole way to Utah.
This was the kids after we landed in Salt Lake  Utah was cold and covered in snow.  I loved it!  So did Tristan.  He just wanted to play in it all day.

After a delicious turkey dinner, we played a game of family soccer.  My brother and nephew schooled us all.  It was fun.  My dad challenged all the little kids to a race.  Levi was certain he would win.  Papa was the winner though, with Lauren coming in second and Levi third.  Levi consoled himself by saying that Lauren is older, and he just decided not to finish fast because he didn't really want to win anyway.  We were all worried that Papa would keel over, but after a short rest, he joined in on the soccer game.

The next day, we went Black Friday Shopping!  I've never done it before, and I had so much fun laughing at all the crazy women shoppers.  I did find some good deals too, but I don't know if it was worth getting up at 4:00 in the morning and waiting to get into Target in the 20 degree weather.  But, spending time with my sisters and niece made up for the sheer exhaustion.  I love them so much!

The next day we took all the kids to the discovery museum for kids.  They had a ball.

Jaxson loved all the attention he was getting from his cousins, and to be honest, SO DID I!!

After that we went to the temple square to let everyone see the temple lights and take a tour of the conference center.


Me and my siblings finally found time to get a picture together.  They are fun to be around.


Although I missed Mike and Taylor so much, I loved visiting my family.  And I know that Hawaii was a fun trip for them too.  I will post pics when I get them loaded.  I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday as well!

Terrific Table!

Last month we bought a bit of new furniture.  One thing we really wanted was a new table.  One where we could all sit down together and have a nice meal together.  We are usually very casual about dinner.  Even though we all eat at the same time, we rarely sat at the table together.  We found a great table that seats 8 and is comfortable for us all.  I decided that it was high time we made a tradition of having a formal dinner once in a while.  Namely for the holidays.  Our old blue dish set didn't match so great with the new table so I went on a search for affordable dishes that would be good for formal or casual dining.  I found a great deal!  Can you guess where I got it and estimate how much?  Yes, it includes the silverware, napkins, table runner, glasses, mugs, plates, bowls, and salad plates . . . for 8!

Here is my new table all decorated for our Thanksgiving feast which we will have tomorrow since we are going to be out of town for the actual Thanksgiving day.

They are growing so fast!

My kids are growing up so fast.  Taylor is 15!  Jordan is 12 and taking on a lot more responsibility.  Levi is 7, and only has 1 year until he is baptized.  Tris is about to turn 5 and starts all day Kindergarten next year.  I can't believe my baby Jax just turned 1!  Where does all the time go?  Having said that, it is so fun to have your kids get older and to get to know them and their personalities.  I got to take Taylor and Jordan to the movie last night.  We saw New Moon.  It was fun and the girls made me laugh with all their drooling over "Jacob".  It's fun to plan with them for their future.  It's fulfilling to see them experience things I never got to do as a child (or even as an adult!).  Next week Taylor and Mike are going to Hawaii together for her band trip.  How lucky is she?  Jordan and the boys get to fly with me to Utah for the week.  How lucky are we?  Jaxson is walking now.  He can take about 10 steps before he gets distracted and falls down.  It's all happening too fast!  I love it all.
All the kids at dinner in Tucson

Waiting in line at the movie

She's 15!

Veteran's Parade

Yesterday I had lots of fun watching Taylor and Jordan march in the Veteran's Day Parade.  Taylor plays Sax and Jordan the trumpet.  The boys and I got a great spot on the road where we had access to a quick getaway, and we settled down to watch.

Taylor's band is blue and white.  I couldn't get a good shot b/c I didn't know where she would be.  They keep moving her around!

Jordan was right where I thought she would be!  She is so cute in her uniform.

Levi and football.

We had so much fun watching Levi play football this season.  He finally got into it and decided that football is where it's at!  He learned a lot and really improved.  Next year he is on to tackle!  He is gonna get creamed!  I took him to the dr. for his annual check up and found that he has grown 2 inches and not gained a single ounce in a year!  It's a good thing he's fast, maybe the big kids won't see him well enough to knock his lights out.  Anyway, here are some pictures of him playing ball and some pics of his end of the year party where he got "the coolest trophy ever"!

Here he is making a run for it!

Happy daddy/coach when Levi hustles.

Levi and his big green mouthpiece.

Levi with coach Jeff

Waiting for his trophy

Trophy time

Halloween fun!

We had a great Halloween this year.  We started out early, and headed to Willcox for Levi's final football game.  His Nana, Papa, and Aunt Shirley came to watch the game.  Levi had a 70 yard touchdown run!  I hope to get a video sent to me of it.  Then we went to Apple Annies to get some pie, ice cream, and look at the country store.  Later that night we went to the ward trunk-or-treat and got way too much candy.  Then it was back to our house for a Halloween gathering of friends.  We played "Who Am I?" and True Colors. Then we ate the yummy pie!  We got to bed late, and had so much fun.  It was a perfect Halloween!

Jaxson is 1 year old!

My baby has turned 1! Time goes by so fast. He is getting so big and wanting to do everything for himself. We didn't have a party, just dinner and cake with the family, but he did get a tickle me Elmo and a new rocking horse for his birthday. He loves toys that move and make noise.

Can you tell I really love Halloween?

I don't know really what it is that makes me love Halloween time. I am like a kid. I can't wait for October to roll around so I can decorate, and start planning parties/costumes. Maybe it is just all the fall colors, the changes in the way shadows fall and how the sun shines during the fall, maybe it is the full moons, scary movies on t.v., or maybe it is just that it is the beginning of holiday seasons. It could be that I love it so much since October is when Mike and I started dating, or that November is when my oldest daughter was born. It's likely that it is all of these things. One thing I know for sure, the fall season makes me happy, nostalgic, and ready to make good changes in my life. YAY FOR HALLOWEEN TIME!!

Pumpkin Patch!

I had planned on spending a great weekend with my brother, but unfortunately, my kids are sick and so is my sweet sister in law.  So, instead of going to Chino Valley with my kids and mom in tow, I took her home to Wilcox and decided to take the boys to Apple Annie's Pumpkin Patch while we were there.  I love all the fall colors and PUMPKINS!!  Levi started having asthma problems so we didn't pick them from the vine, but I did manage to get a few pictures.

I can't believe I got sucked into it!

I am about to have a panic attack!  Some of you know that I have been suckered into coaching the cheerleaders for Levi's football team.  Now, once you quit laughing and wipe your eyes, you might wonder how in the world that happened.  Well, my friend "signed" me up.  If I refused to help, there would be no cheer for our team and her daughter wouldn't be able to cheer this year.  I love the kid so I decided it couldn't be that bad.  That was until the first practice that is!  I am not flexible, can't do a cartwheel to save my life, and don't know the first thing about cheerleading.  I actually hoped the girls could help me figure out what to do, but they are only 5-7 years old.  Thankfully, there is youtube out there to teach me what to do.  It has been a month now, and I have learned and taught the girls about 10 cheers.  It wasn't as bad as I anticipated, once I gave up the concerns about making a fool of myself.  Now, the panic part comes from having to come up with a competition routine to do at the end of the month.  I have no idea where to go from here, and only hope that October will end quickly!  I vow never to coach cheerleading again!  Besides the obvious, I am constantly trying to see around the girls at the actual football games.  Go figure!

I have no idea what I am doing.

Welcome to my blog!  After reading blogs of friends of mine, I have decided to join the world of blogging. I really don't know what I am doing, but hope to get the hang of it soon.  I also have nothing witty to say at the moment, but bear with me, I am sure those moments will occasionally make an appearance here (if I can remember to post them that is!).