We now have guitar players

Tucker has wanted to play the guitar for a very long time now! I kind of have put it off wanting him to change his mind but have finally given in and decided to embrace this interest of his. I have told our children if they are going to play a sport (which is definitely going to be a problem in our home) then they have to play an instrument. Tucker plays basketball as you all know and is loving it! This Friday night he is trying sledge hockey and is very excited to be able to do that!! I know that he has thought about tennis also. So as you can see there needs to be some balance in all of this!!

He has chosen to play the guitar and Austin has chosen to play piano. I was hoping Tuck would want to do piano first. ( I couldn't persuade him enough ) Grandma heard he wanted to play and brought her old one she played while she was younger. Last night he went to his first lesson and is so excited to play!! He even came home and practiced.

Mike has decided to learn with him. He says he thinks it will help Tuck, but I really think he wants to learn to play!! :) So we now have two guitar players in our home. Mike also bought a guitar yesterday saying that grandma's guitar just wasn't working and that now that he is going to take lessons also he is going to get him one!! :) Funny isn't it?? I am glad that he is doing this with Tucker!!

I am proud of Tucker for trying something new. He is working so hard to learn it. Last night he was all smiles and practiced over and over again. He can not wait to get home from school to practice again. I know that this isn't going to last very long but for now I am excited that he wants to play!

Don't they look so cute with their guitars??!!

Up next, is getting a piano for Austin and I to learn!! :) We have been looking on KSL for the last two weeks, wish us luck! We are going to be a family of musicians!! The boys have told Bryson that he is playing the drums! :) We'll see about that one!

My Masterpiece

I had a good weekend going to the temple with my little sister! The most wonderful thing was that my family was all there except my littlest brother and my dad of course but even then I felt him near and knew he was there watching over us. I also could feel how proud he was of Colleen and her decision to go through Saturday.

She looked beautiful all in white and has really grown up. I always think of her as my little runt sister who always needs our help, advice, support and comfort. I have noticed lately how much more she has grown up and how she doesn't really need all of that anymore. She is starting to make big decisions with no help and although we may think they are not the best choices, nonetheless, they are her choices. I was also thinking about how our Heavenly Father has given us our free agency and we don't always make the best choices but He still lets us make them for our learning and growth.

I was then pondering how much more I need to let my children make their own decisions, so they can practice making them now, which will benefit them later! If I start now hopefully they will learn that every choice has a consequence. I so want them to make good choices when they are older. We all make some good choices and some that are not so good but the important thing is that we learn from our choices.

How grateful I am for a Heavenly Father who has faith in me by allowing me to make my own path!! Even though there are times I am on my knees begging Him to help me make some of these choices. He is patient and allows me the time to sort it out and come to a conclusion. I see that with Colleen right now and all the choices that lay ahead for her. I love seeing her take her own reins and choose her own path!! She is doing so well and has come so far. I am so proud of her!

She also got a new car this weekend.

She is excited and so is Ben. She can get her wheelchair in and out of the car all by herself and that was important to her for her freedom, of course! I pray for their future and their success! I know they will be good for each other and learn the things that they came here to learn! I am excited to see them grow into amazing young adults. Everyone knows marriage teaches you a great deal and I can't wait to see how they do!!

Along with all of this in the temple I was thinking about the email that has been floating around about the temple in Texas and how this man is able to create his masterpiece. All the temples are so beautiful, they include the very best of everything!

I was pondering and wondering what my masterpiece to the Lord could be. I want to create something of myself to give to Him. I realized that my home should be my masterpiece, I need to raise my children in the gospel, teach them gospel truths, create a home that is beautiful and most importantly where the spirit resides. It should be a place where there is no fighting, yelling, arguing, but a place where there is joy, fun, love and acceptance! I thought about this for awhile and was praying in the celestial room and was feeling all of those things, joy, love and acceptance. When it came to me "you are my masterpiece." The Lord created us all and we are His masterpiece. I need to always be improving myself and create a life that is in accordance with my Master so that I can be, one day, a beautiful Masterpiece!! I want to be able to give Him all the wonderful things He has given me. To show gratitude for how blessed I am and for what He has done for me! The best way I can do that is to create my own masterpiece here with my family and home!!

I felt a stronger desire to go home and fill our home with more love, more joy, more free agency and more acceptance! I can not wait to get started on my masterpiece. I know it is going to take me many years and I will mess up along the way and have to go back to the drawing board probably a thousand times but I know that staying close to the Lord and doing His will is what will create a beautiful masterpiece. I am so grateful to have the knowledge of the plan our Father has given us and that He has given us our free agency to make those choices to learn and to grow!

I also am grateful to all of you and your examples and I see all of the masterpieces you are creating in your own lives and families and feel very blessed to be able to have so many wonderful friends and examples to follow!

We all have our opportunity to create our own masterpiece while we are here!! What kind of masterpiece are you creating?

Birthday in Southern Utah and Answered Prayers

Oh the fun we had this weekend.

We were having so much fun that I forgot to take some pictures!! We went swimming and the kids had a blast doing that, I decided I need to get them into swimming lessons this summer!

We packed up on Friday night and left early Saturday to head for Southern Utah.

Mike and I love small towns and were hoping that we would find a place that would just feel right that we could move to.

Well we have been all over the state of Utah without that feeling like this is your place. Needless to say we loved all the places but realized as we were driving home last night that our place is here where we are at.

I was not excited about that because I have been sick of the heavy house payment and want us to be able to go on more trips and fun things together like we use to!! Being stuck inside a house because your husband is working so much to pay for that house is no fun!! I have been ready to sell it more than 5 times. But for some reason we have been feeling like we need to stick it out and be grateful we have a home and job.!! I am hearing of people all around us that are struggling and loosing jobs. So on our way home last night we feel our prayers were answered and our answer came, that we just needed to continue what we are doing and that it is right for us right now to be where we are at this time. That has been a bitter sweet answer for me. I love our neighbors and friends here and Tucker really has done well here. I would miss all of this and you know a nice house is always nice but, A house really has become not important to me. I don't care anymore what I live in. We have a really nice home and I feel blessed but have come to realize that it is not what matters the most!!

We also came to realize that it doesn't matter if we take these amazing trips and vacations! Our children loved just playing at parks and swimming in the pool and plain ole having fun together!

Really that is what is important! I was thinking about what Thomas S. Monson said when he said " So frequently we mistakenly believe that our children need more things, when in reality their silent pleadings are simply for more of our time." How true that is!!

This weekend we had many answered prayers and we are so grateful for all of our blessings and most importantly for each other!!

Mike wanted to see Arches National Park. After visiting Richfield for a small time we packed up and went to Moab. It was warm, beautiful and just what our family needed!! There were a few moments where we were all sick of being in the car and the kids started fighting and arguing. I said lets say a prayer and ask that Heavenly Father help us to have better feelings for each other, that we can get along better. It did help and we were able to continue on and not cut our trip short.

Well this morning I was listening to Austin and Bryson fighting and I said boy I wish you two could get along better. Austin turned to me and said " we need to say a prayer and then we will not fight anymore." :) He actually learned something from me!! :) Sometimes you wonder if they are paying attention!! How blessed we are to have our family and Father in Heaven who listens and answers our prayers!!

So on to the reason I wrote was to share with you our wonderful weekend and our special day with Mike! This year I completely let the boys get Mike what they wanted to! It was so funny!! More funny to see the look on his face!! Austin got him Hungry Hippo game

and Tucker got him an air soft gun to go shooting with him.

Bryson got him a flying disc. I got him clothes of course!! It was so funny watching him open them and see the look he gave! I later saved him by letting him know that he was going to get a nice paint spray gun that I wasn't sure what to get but he was to go pick it out. :) Saved!! Anyway he had fun playing with the kids and enjoying our time together!!

What beautiful country the Lord has blessed us with right here in Utah!! Here are some fun pics to show you!!

Happy Birthday Mike!!

This weekend is Mike's 33rd birthday!! I thought I would take a minute and pay a tribute to this wonderful man in my life! Mike has always been very sensitive, this is what attracted me to him right from the start, along with his contagious smile!! I have been giving him a hard time lately about him losing his sensitivity since he has been in the ER. :) So I just wanted him to know that I still think he is sensitive and I love that about him!! I also love his desire to do what is right! He has always had a strong testimony and a firm foundation with the gospel. I am grateful for his steadfastness in this and teaching our children that also!! I love his personality and that he is easy to get a long with, thank heavens one of us is!! :)

He really never takes anything too seriously and I am glad for that also. I love that he likes a lot of the same things as I do. He likes Country music, Mexican food, Glenn Beck, Dave Ramsey, movies, being outside,

road trips,

yard work, camping,

fishing,

games, and just plain old enjoying time with family.

I am grateful he is such a great hard worker and has provided well for our family, beyond what I imagined him to do!! I am proud of him and his dedication to finishing his education!! I know that times are hard especially with the economy right now and he has done a great job!! How grateful I am for that!!

He is my very best friend and I love spending time with him! I wish we could spend more Quality time together!! I love his dedication to his boys and me! He will drop everything if he thinks it is what we need and I really appreciate that more than he knows!! I am glad we have had almost 11 years together and can't wait for many more!! He is a great provider, comforter, strength, friend, lover, father, and husband!! I love you Mike and hope you have a wonderful birthday!!

If you see him give him a shout out and wish him a Happy Birthday!! :)

Influences in my life!

Today was such a good day at church!! It was our ward conference, and our Bishop spoke and then the Stake Pres. I just loved the thoughts that were given by our Bishop!! He spoke of the love that he had for his grandpa and the influence he had had on him and what a great man he was. I instantly thought of my own grandpa and grandma and what an impact they had on me.

This is a picture of them right before I left on my mission and was the last time I had seen my grandfather. He passed away while I was serving. I remember feeling him close to me through several of my discussions while teaching about the plan of salvation and how we can be together forever. He was a good man and was quiet. He would say things every now and then but it was always good advice he gave. He had a strong testimony of the gospel and you could feel that from being in his presence. He was a farmer and a hard worker.

My grandma on the other hand had a huge impact on me and my life!! She was a very sweet woman and had a great big heart. She loved everyone and believed in treating each other with kindness. I use to go and spend a week or so at their house during harvest. For some reason I would always wake up around 6 or after and I would walk out to the front room and find one tiny light on and my grandma would be kneeling in prayer, or writing in her journal or reading her scriptures. I could feel her love for the Savior through her spirit and the way she talked about people or things in her life. I could always feel the spirit bearing witness to me. She was a powerful influence in my life and I am grateful to her for that!! I have tried to pattern my life after her. I always wanted to be better and wanted her to be proud of me.

Some fun memories I have were when I was going to school or had gotten my own salon grandma and grandpa would travel on Saturday to where I worked to get her hair done. I loved moments like that with them!! I don't think they realized how much that meant to me. Every now and then I would do her hair at her house also. I miss these moments of learning from her.

One of my favorite memories of the both of them was on Sunday afternoons dad would have us load up in the car and we would go to grandma and grandpas and when we would get there there was no doubt grandpa was watching the Jazz game or some football game. Grandpa would ALWAYS cook up some fresh popcorn the hot air blown kind with REAL butter and lots of salt. As a kid that was so much fun. Grandpa always had a smile on his face and loved to tease you. I miss them tremendously and wish I could still have these moments with them. Now I am raising my own kids and wondering what kind of things I am teaching them!! We live farther away from our families and don't see them as often as we would like. But in honesty we probably see them as much as I saw my relatives when I was young. We try to travel to Idaho as often as we can so our children can have these moments also!

Other people who have had an impact on my life is my parents of course. My mom has been there whenever we have needed anything!! When we have been at the verge of crisis with Tuck, she drops everything and comes to our aid!!! I can not tell you how much that has meant to us or how often it has happened because in the 9 years we have had him, there have been PLENTY. When we found out the news that he was going to be born with Spina bifida she was right beside us taking in all the pain with us, when he was born and my heart was aching because I could not nurse or hold him she was there. She also hauled me from the camper we were staying in at Primarys parking lot up to his room in the middle of the night to feed him every four hours, while my husband went back to school. She came when he burned his feet and needed surgery and feet wrappings all the time. She has been there through all of Tucker's surgeries and all of my c-sections with the other two. I am so grateful to her for giving me her time and help!!!! It has meant so much to Mike and I to have her support and strength!!

But my number one reason for writing this post is because of my father who has truly meant so much to me and how I have felt a void in my life since he has passed away!! The example of true service came from him! He was a manager of a John Deere Dealership in Idaho all while I was growing up. It didn't matter what time of the night he would get the call from farmers or what he was doing at the time he would drop everything and go help or take parts or whatever they needed. Even up to the last day of his life he had parts in his pickup to deliver to people and had just visited his mother and went to the store for her before his life was taken. He volunteer on the ambulance and fire department where we were from. He was a kind hearted man and would give everyone the benefit of the doubt. He had a huge love for the Savior and showed it in his callings in the bishopric and making sure we always went to church. When he spoke of the Savior, it was always with tenderness and usually tears. I knew he had a strong testimony of the gospel and felt the spirit from him touch my heart to allow me to have that same testimony. I am ever so grateful for his example and love in my life!! I miss him tremendously and Sundays are especially harder because that was a day we would spend with him, whether it was a game we were watching or dinner to eat or card games to play or trips and places to visit. Just spending time is what I miss!! I wish my children could have met their grandpa and would have been as lucky as I was to have had my grandparents influence in my life!!! Tucker was two when he passed away and can barely remember things about him! I am glad they still have their Grandma Searle and their Grandma and Grandpa Rady to learn from! How important they are in their grandchildrens lives! I hope they know how much our children look up to them and learn from them!!

I am so grateful for the examples in my life and the lessons I have learned from them!! I, like our bishop am product of them in my life!! How blessed I was to have many great and wonderful people to have touched my life in so many ways!!

Who has influenced you and how has that impacted your life?

It's official we now have a BIG Boy!!

You all remember when I wrote my post about packing up camp and quiting the whole potty thing with Bryson. Waiting until I thought it was a better time. Well last week I could tell that it had clicked with him. He just realized slowly what was going on. So I decided to give it a try again. Sure enough it worked this time right from the start and he was more excited! He has been doing it for a week now and he has had only three accidents and hasn't had any at night!!!!!! AMAZING! He has been five days without an accident! YAAAA!!

It actually has been fun instead of a dread! He is such a big boy and he goes around the house telling everyone he is a BIG BOY!! :) I love this little boy I have been entrusted with!! He brings a smile to my face everyday!! He is so full of energy, smiles and teasing ALL day long!!