Returned with Honor from Romania

The day finally arrived of my baby brother returning from his 2 year mission in Romania! On April 14th most of my family stayed the night at my house in Tooele so that we could go together to the airport on the 15th. The kids were really excited to wake up to have a new cousin in the house to play with. We loved seeing little Ashton...it had been 2 years since we had seen him. Poor guy was fighting some flu bug and was sick alot.

After lunch we headed to the airport and after getting lost once and being in the wrong terminal, we finally found the waiting place where he would arrive. It was a miracle that we made it in time!

 

 We all were very anxious!!

 Here's a few signs me and the kids made.

If you look closely in the back you can see my mom in the grey sweater running towards Adam the second he came through the door.

 Mom and dad of course got the first big hugs and me and my kiddos were next in line. Mollie wasn't shy at all and ran right up to him. Carter held back a little but ran as fast as he could and jumped into his arms. And I love this picture of my dad hugging Adam. Tender!!

Jordan grew a big bushy beard to rub on Adam. I almost didn't recognize him! 

 Tony was next with Ashton in tote. He threw up a few minutes before he came in so he wasn't wearing any clothes. Poor kiddo!!

 I have to take 2 seconds and say how incredible I think my parents are. We all had our ups and downs of growing up but they stuck by our sides and supported us in all we did and most importantly loved us through our mistakes and encouraged us to live the gospel. They have sent 4 missionaries out who all honorably completed their missions and who all are temple worthy and active in the church. I know its rare and I attribute our success to my loving mom and dad. They sure are wonderful people!

Mission----ACCOMPLISHED!!!!

 Four of the 5 of us kiddos. It was so great to be reunited! Sure love my brothers! Justin and his family were able to join us later in the weekend.

 And the In-laws (or outlaws as we sometimes call them!) Looking good!

 After that we headed to temple square. It was snowing so we made it a quick trip but took some time to walk around the visitors center. This spot is always a favorite of mine and such a sacred place.

I'm super proud of Adam and his willingness to serve his Heavenly Father unselfishly for 2 years. I know it will bless his life forever and change him too. I know he feels unsure about where his future will take him but I know too he has a testimony of our Savior and that he leads and guides us. And I know he is on the right path and that his Heavenly parents are so proud of him as well and his earthly family! Love you Adam!! 

Stay tuned for the weekends adventures!

Birthday Getaway

What else made my 30th birthday totally epic, you may ask? An adults only getaway to one of my favorite cabins in Idaho. I decided some R&R for my big day was just what I needed and it did not disappoint! 

We arrived at the Inn at Owl Hollow about 3 pm and our friends started arriving shortly after. We played some pool and then the guys played basketball outside while the ladies caught up.

My brother Jordan and his wife Taylor came, our good friends the Eash's from Tooele, my high school friends Woody & Aubrey and Jordan with his wife Nicole whom I didn't get any pictures of!

We had some pizza and tons of candy, played some games and hit the hot pools at Lava Hot Springs, It was incredibly relaxing and the weather was great.

 Some of the gang standing around eating way too much junk! That night we stayed up playing games until what we thought was 1:30 but the clocks hadn't been changed in the cabin yet and we didn't notice until it was really 2:30 or 3! But it didnt really matter because we all got to sleep in the next morning. Gloooorious!!!

 The next morning I was the first one up and I sat in the peace and quite on the patio in the sunshine and soaked in the scene. Out of no where a wild turkey wandered and gobbled its way around. Kinda funny!

Once everyone rolled out of bed we had breakfast on the patio and chatted it up. 

It took everything I had to pull my bum out of that chair to pack up and leave. I did NOT want to go home and the trip went by too quick.  

I was so grateful to the friends who made an effort to show up and make me feel loved. We missed those who couldn't make it but I know that we will be back some day hopefully sooner than later! Till we meet again Owl Hollow!!

Easter 2015

I love Easter! For several reasons I'm sure I've mentioned in past posts so I won't go into it but I love the whole meaning of spring and Easter. We started the week off with a big easter package from G&G Hymas and the kids dove right into the candy. 

I usually don't have to worry about easter festivities since my family usually has a large egg hunt and party but it was canceled this year and so we were on our own!

The night before we dyed some eggs. We only did a few because I knew Chad would be the only one who would eat them. Mollie and Brielle actually ended up liking them as well.

We try to celebrate Easter on the saturday before so that we can focus on Christ on Sunday so we were awoken bright and early by these two squealing that the easter bunny had come!

Brielle was very excited too. Man that girl LOVES candy just like her daddy!

 We watched some wonderful conference sessions and then headed to our old church for an easter egg hunt. It was pretty chilly out so they just did it in the gym. The host even had a stuffed animal for each kid who came. Brielle wasnt quite sure what to do but she found some candy on the ground and was happy with picking that up and eating it.

I love when conference is actually on Easter sunday. The talks seem to be so much more centered around christ. I felt like i dropped the ball a bit with surgery/birthday distractions on getting a chance to talk with my kids about the atonement before easter but it inspired me to do so after Easter was over. It still was special and the kids each took a turn telling us their feelings about Jesus. It was so special and sweet. 

 I'm so grateful for my savior and for the mercy he extends to me. I've been able to study recently about mercy and justice and it is so true that without christ we would be lost. There would be no hope, no happiness...just misery, What a beautiful message Mercy gives us. When I'm feeling like I'm not enough or failing in life, I try to remember that his grace will make up the rest...after all I can do of course. One of the conference messages asked "Are you doing all you can do?" I'm setting a goal to do all I can do a little better. To serve more and grumble less. To love better and judge less. I'm grateful I have repentance for when I fall short. I love my Savior and I know He lives!

My 3rd decade birthday

 I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to turning 30. Being pregnant and just having knee surgery didn't add to my excitement either but I was determined to have a good day. I woke up to 3 giggling kids, 30 balloons in my kitchen and a few gifts. The kids were so excited!

 After a yummy cinnamon roll breakfast we set out for something I have planned on doing on my 30th birthday for a few years now.

I once heard of someone who for their 30th birthday did 30 random acts of kindness. I loved that idea and set a goal to do it. As you get older, birthdays really arent that exciting so I wanted this one to be special. I wont name everything we did, but here are a few....
-took flowers to an elderly lady
-cookies to the ambulance, lifelight, and police crews
-bought a persons meal behind us in the drive thru
-left a treat for the mail lady
-"egged" a few houses (where you hide easter eggs in their yard secretly) This was the only photo I took although I meant to take pictures at each stop
-taped quarters to 6 soda machines
-sent a baby gift in the mail
-called my grandparents....etc!

 The kids really had a fun time and it really made all of us feel really good. I encouraged the kids while we were out and about to find someone to smile at or hold a door for someone. Everytime I turned around they would give me their biggest and best smiles. Those really made my day too.

Then it was off to lunch at Johnny Carinos...my favorite and then we did some birthday shopping afterwards.

 My leg was so exhausted after walking around for a few hours (i was only 4 days post surgery!) that we went home and rested. Carter snuggled up to me and insisted we needed a birthday picture.

I had big plans before surgery was scheduled to have a big game night with friends but instead we watched a movie as a family and hung out. It was just as great. 

My neighbors even delivered this fun gift for me.

                                                
We let the kids stay up late and have cake at the end of the day too. Delicious snickers cake!

And I love how this picture turned out. It looks sort of magical to me. It was a terrific end to a magical day. I'm so grateful to all my family and friends who made it special! And especially to Chad who put up with my crazy ideas and was patient with me while I hobbled around my favorite stores. 

Here's to the next 10! I hope they are my best years to come!

One of these things is not like the other....

 Back in February I was exercising and my knee felt funny. So I stopped and went and sat down. When I got up I heard a huge pop and then my knee felt "out." I had problems like this in high school and when it got bad I would have a friend kick me in the side of the knee just enough to get it back in place. It always worked.....

well I had Chad do it....twice...and it did pop and it felt better for a while. My loose pregnancy ligaments didn't help out on this one! By that evening I couldn't even walk. It took about 2 weeks to be able to get back to normal and then I kept hurting it over and over. I finally bit the bullet and went to a doctor.

Right away he suspected a torn meniscus which meant surgery. But he gave me a steroid shot in my knee and said he would do surgery after I had the baby. I went home and felt great! I could run up and down my stairs and bend my knee and I felt wonderful! I was cleaning the garage one day and twisted to put something in the garbage and POP! There went my knee again. This time it was bad and I was up all night with lots of pain.

The next day I had an apt with my OB and talked about the possibility of an MRI and surgery while I was pregnant. I was expecting a BIG NO! But she agreed with me that it was best to get it taken care of and that I should be in the best health I can when I bring baby #4 into this world. She Ok'd me to have the surgery and made arrangements for the baby to be monitored for the surgery. The MRI results showed a torn meniscus. Small, but annoying and painful.

Thats how I got here...

Dr. Douglas scheduled surgery for me on the following Monday. It was a quick arthroscopic surgery and I walked myself out of the hospital.The doctor found a tear in my meniscus and a tear behind my knee cap in the cartilage.After a few hours I was good to go.  I even got to drive a cart around Walmart waiting for my drugs at the pharmacy. I knew I was high and looked like a freak so we left soon after we got there. 

The first 2 days were painful but really not too bad. The pain meds made me puke and that was not very fun, By day 3 I was starting to feel much better and Chad went back to work on day 4. I have to wear a wrap for 10 days and then I get to take it off and get back to normal life...i hope. It has not been a fun ride but I'm so excited to be out of pain.

I'm grateful for a willing husband who takes such good care of me and the kids while I haven't been able to. The kids loved having him home and so it was easy for me to not worry about them. My white towels did end up getting turned pink but I thing that is a VERY small price to pay for having a helpful husband. (And it looks like new towels are in my future!)

We also had lots of friends help us with meals and kids. I'm so grateful because there is no way this could have happened without them. Here's to happy healing and being able to exercise soon!

Spring!

 I totaly love spring for several reasons....flowers, Easter, my birthday, general conference, but one of my new favorite things to do since we have moved to utah is visit temple square in the spring and visit the statue of Christ. We try to go around Easter and it is always very special.

 The flowers were incredible as always and it was fun to watch Brielle run from flower to flower and exclaim "OH!" as she pointed at each one.

Chad made the comment that he is always so amazed at how quite it is inside temple square. Even a midst all the busyness of the city its still peaceful and quiet.

 We also tried to capture a few family pictures with the girls in their new easter dresses. This is as good as it gets!

 We have lots of windows in our house (which was a main selling point for me) which I love but it is really hard to find a spot in the house where there isnt a window in the background or effecting it some way!

 Still looking a little sick, but still as cute as ever! I think Carter and Brielle look so much alike!

I hope everyone has a happy easter. I feel like i dropped the ball a bit this year with being sick and having knee surgery...more on that later. But I hope my kids know that I love them and I love my Savior and how important He is to me. As I've studied the Atonement this month I've learned so many new things and I'm always overwhelmed at His love for me. I know that my Redeemer Lives!