This will  be a post loaded with pics.  Sorry, but it will give a quick update on what we've been up to.

 

Our New Home:

 

 

 

 

This is the after picture.  Over fall break we cut down the horrible tree/bush/vine that hid our house.  I love it now!  The pine tree next to the house is next on the chopping block.

 

Cary finished his first full harvest!  It was a long two months, but it got done.  I love going to the farm!  The wheat fields are gorgeous at harvest time.

 

We got a new cat shortly after moving in.  She still isn't sure what to think of the bunnies.  Speaking of bunnies...we have three now.

DJ sure loves the sand box!  All of the kids love having a big backyard again with plenty of space to play and things to do.

 

S took swim lessons for the first time.  She's not very fond of putting her head under the water, but she did better than I expected.  (We have a big fear of water in our family.)

 

In the middle of harvest I took the kids to the Ogden Temple open house.  It was gorgeous, as expected.  It was a very warm day, but we still enjoyed being there with M and her boys.

 

First day of school:

DJ is in 5th grade and S is in 1st.

 

How did I get old enough to have a high schooler?

M is in 10th grade.

 

DH is now at the middle school in 8th grade.

 

I'll update y'all on October and my goals soon.  Have a great day!



 

 

 

 

Tomorrow is July 14.  15 years.  That's how long it has been since my dad passed away.  Cancer.  I hate that word more now than I did then.  Has it really been that long?  So much has happened.  So much has changed.  So much has been learned.

Certain dates, like July 14, bring about many emotions and thoughts.  Wonderful memories.  The nurse was right.  The memories of Dad's last days have faded somewhat compared to all the other memories we have with him.  That of course is a good thing.  Memories of my mother-in-laws struggle are still quite raw.  I'm glad I don't often think of my dad's struggles any more.  Instead, I remember trips to the dump which sometimes ended with lunch at McDonald's or occasionally a stop at a convenience store for corn-nuts.  I remember how he totally freaked me out by catching a tarantula in a match box once when we were driving through the canyon.  He put the matchbox in the trunk, and I just knew that it was going to crawl out and somehow get through the seats and crawl on me.  Needless to say, I was not sad to see the thing drown after an overnight rain storm a few days later.

What might we have learned from him had he lived to watch us raise his grandchildren?  My sister, K, posed this question when we got together for my birthday dinner last month.  I know we could have learned so much more from him, but it was not to be.  The Lord had other plans for him.

Life is all about change, sometimes easy, sometimes hard.  Challenges.  That's a word I try not to hate.  Challenges are part of the Lord's plan for us on this earth.  A way for us to learn and grow.  We can't just stay in one place forever, in more than one way.  This leads me to my next subject:  moving.  We are waiting, with baited breath, to close on our first home!  We have never had the opportunity to buy our own home before, since a house has been provided with C's last two jobs.  I hope that July 14, 2014 brings us a good memory.  A memory of signing our closing papers on our new home.  We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Goal update:  I have indexed 1100 names and have 1900 left to do before Dec 31, 2014.
       Sadly, I have not done so well with our family scrapbooks.  I have finished one, but have not published it yet.  I did publish a family recipe book for C's niece that got married last month. But, it doesn't count towards my goal.

Wow!  Where has the time gone?  Is it really mid-June already?  Life has been so wonderfully busy lately!  The school year ended with all of the normal end of the year activities.  M and DH have started their summer jobs, hoeing onions for some friends of ours.  M finished driver's ed and got her learner's permit.  And the neighborhood kids are still coming out to play!

C is learning to more fully enjoy his job, which is a huge blessing.  We still need to find a winter hobby for him, but for now he is content.  The biggest news:  we are buying our first house!  We have been married for almost 17 years and have never owned our own home.  My in-laws purchased a home for us and C's younger brother to live in while C finished college.  Then we moved to a job where a house was provided for us.  Although we changed jobs, a house was provided for us with the next job as well.  We have been renting since last October, and have a one  year lease.  We're a little worried about what will happen with that, but trust that the Lord will watch over that aspect of our lives too. 

It is truly amazing how we got this house.  Our realtor had been out of town for a week, so last Monday I called him to let him know we wanted to go take a second look at a home.  He told me that there was a couple coming in that afternoon to put their house on the market, and continued to tell me about this house. It sounded perfect!  Well, he set it up and we went and saw the house that same day.  Within an hour later we had signed the papers to make an offer.  No one else saw the home, so we didn't have to worry about competing bids.  The family that owns this house had an offer in on another home and were waiting to know if their bid had been accepted, before fully agreeing to our bid.  It took a day longer than we had hoped, but their bid was accepted and so we were set to buy the house!  On Friday we signed all of the paperwork for the loan and that afternoon the appraiser got his part done.  If things continue along this course, we will close in just 3 1/2 weeks!  It is so exciting!!!

We came home that night after seeing the home and the kids asked if we liked it.  We looked at each other and grinned as we told them that we did and we were buying it.  They were shocked!  After waiting for one full week, we took the kids to see the house tonight.  They loved it.  But, I think they loved the yard even more!  There is a sandbox, trampoline (which we are buying from them), swing set, lots of space and lawn, a great climbing tree, a possible future garden space, a basketball hoop and a nice patio.  I think the best thing of all about this house is that we don't have to do any work on it!  It is move-in ready!

I have been keeping a gratitude journal for just over a month now.  Not every day, but at least a few times a week. This week I have been extra grateful for my mom.  She was able to take a ten day break from her mission and had some great times while she was here.  K-1's high school graduation, K-3's 6th grade graduation, S, DH & M's soccer games, DJ's piano recital and S's grandparents day.  It was so great for us to have her here for these events. Yesterday we were all able to get together at her house and have a great bbq dinner and then visit Dad's grave at the cemetery. This morning mom hopped on a plane and headed back to Fresno to finish out her mission.  Only 3 1/2 months left!  It wasn't too hard to say goodbye yesterday, since we know September will be here before we know it!

 

 

Think about it.

The video in the above link should make you think.  Think about your own screen time as well as your children's.  Are you guilty of watching the screen instead of focusing on what your child is trying to tell you?  I am.  Are you guilty of checking your phone immediately when it beeps even if you're in the middle of a conversation with someone face to face?  I am.  Are you guilty of letting your children watch TV, play video games, or play other electronic games for hours on end?  I sometimes am.  Are you guilty of giving in and getting your child a phone or letting them have a Facebook account, simply because: "All my friends have one!"  I am happy to say that I am not!

I'm not asking these questions to instill guilt.  Rather, to instill understanding.  Understanding of what our society has become.  Like most of you, I spent my after school hours running around with the neighborhood kids and my summers soaking up the sun with the same neighbors.  Why would I want to stay inside when I could be running, jumping, biking, etc. When we moved into the city 7 months ago we were astounded that we rarely saw children playing outside.  Granted, we don't have a lot of children on our street, but they don't play outside nearly as much as our children do.  If we leave this neighborhood with nothing other than getting the kids outside to play more, I will feel that we left it better!  The past week or two we have been enjoying beautiful weather.  The result:  two of the neighbor boys have actually come and asked if DJ could come out and play with them!  They have a great time together and I love listening to them through our open windows as they decide which Super Hero they each are and where to take the bad guys after they capture them.



I am so glad that my husband and I have decided that our children will not have their own phones until they can pay for one by themselves.  We do have one 'extra' cell phone that they can take when they are going somewhere for a late night or activity.  This phone is not a smart phone, but does have texting and a camera. They know that the privilege of using this phone as needed is just that:  a privilege.  Even though we have two teenagers, neither of them have a Facebook account.  They do have email, which I have access to and check on occasion.  Our oldest, M, has asked for an FB account, but because she goes to school every day with all of her friends and can email or call her cousins any time she wants, we haven't let her have one yet.  I am not worried about her use of it, it's everyone else out there that scares me!  Our teens know how to navigate the web better than their Father (no offense Hon!) and we have filters set up to take care of everything we possibly can.

We feel that as parents we should teach our children to be good citizens of their community.  Leave things better than you found them.  And although it is important to have good friends, we feel that our family is the most important area of our lives to focus on.  This is what has brought us to use "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" for our Family Home Evening lessons for the next 5 or 6 weeks.  I am so excited to study this with my family.  I have found some great ideas for helping the kids understand some of the concepts and hope that it turns out as well as I want it too.  I'll let you know how it goes.  Meanwhile, I hope you will take time to enjoy your family now.  They grow up way too fast!

I love this quote!  These are things which we have made a part of our daily family life.  I have always felt that they were things which would strengthen our family.  It is not always easy to get these things done!

Between kids poking, scowling, copying, back-talking, etc. and the nights when at least one of us is just not in a good mood...it can be down right painful.  Still, we push forward and do our best.  As a teen I liked to have my bedroom clean and organized.  I continued this with my home until my depression started.  Since then things have just gone down hill in the cleaning department.  It's not that I don't want or like a clean house.  I have fallen into very lazy ways.  I do want to change these ways, but I loved hearing these words from Sis. Reeves.  I know that the three things she listed are more important than any amount of cleaning.

We will continue in our struggles to hold daily family prayers and scripture study as well as weekly family home evening.  Meanwhile, I am heading off to clean my bathroom.  Wish me luck!

What a difference a week can make!  Last week I was laying around, sad, anxious and scared.  Today I tutored at the elementary, returned a couple of items I had borrowed, went to the store, planted pansies in the front flower bed and made dinner.  Wow!  The difference?  The atonement of Jesus Christ!

Two of the three sacrament meeting speakers yesterday talked about adversity.  The first was a youth speaker, and he did a good job, but the second spoke straight to me.  It was wonderful!  Then we sang 'Count Your Many Blessings' as the closing song.  I sung the chorus a couple of times, but could not get through any of the verses.  The tears were streaming down my face.  The Spirit stayed with me the rest of the day.  It was the best Sabbath I have had for quite a while.

I can't express my appreciation to the Lord for His help and guidance through the past two weeks.  They have been the hardest two weeks of my life.  I pray that I never have to feel like that again.  If any of you find yourself so depressed that Satan seems to be taking over your thoughts, I promise you that the Lord can and will see you through it.  Just as he did for me.