first letter arrived!

We got our first letter from Tanner today!  It was so nice to hear from him.  He is doing really great and said that his adjustment into the MTC was smooth.  He seems to be enjoying what he is doing which I think is learning the language for much of the day.  He said he likes his companion who is from St. George. 

I am so happy to have gotten a letter from him.

I had a very busy day.  I have begun to do "10 days of truth"  this is a program that the missionaries go through (I am not sure if it is Minnesota specific or not) But what it means is that I am reading the Book of Mormon in ten days!  I am reading it with my friend Emily who has been taking the discussion with us since Aug.  Today was our second day.  She comes over at 8:30 in the morning and we read out loud straight for 3 hours.  Today was a really great day.  I could feel the spirit as we read and then had a really great discussion afterwards.  I wasn't sure if I could actually accomplish this with everything else that is on my plate at the moment but where there's a will there's a way!  Heavenly Father is blessing me to be able to get everything done.

Tonight is our last night with the kids that have been staying with us.  Their mom gets out of the hospital tomorrow.  It has been a challenge and very difficult at times but also we have had wonderful tender moments when those kids have brought much laughter and joy into our lives....but I am ready for a break.

Well I am going to go spend some time with my husband...it seems we have both been very busy lately and I need to give him some attention.

I am grateful for modern day prophets who lead and guide us in these days.

Another Monday come and gone in 2011

Monday night Football.

Scott is sitting in the other room yelling at the tv.

The little kids are fast asleep after bath time.  Chloe hit her head in the bath tub and told me that her hair was broken and she was so sad.  All I had to do was give her a kiss on her head and it was all better.  After the bath Chloe got to paint her pretty nails.  She loves anything pretty.  She is such a princess.

Emma has been making cookies to take to seminary.  I will believe it when I see it.

Elle is on some kind of manic, very hyper and happy.

I am exhausted, but happy, it was a good day....And I chose another blog design :)

I am grateful for a warm house...yes we got our new heater put in today!  No more fuses being blown.

What a great first week of Jan.

What an exhausting week.  I started out last Sunday night taking in a 4 year old boy and 3 year old girl while their mom went to the hospital.  Last Sunday I didn't have a working heater. Last Sunday I had Tanner sitting next to me while I blogged.  This Sunday I still have the 4 and 3 year old staying at my house, we are still running our heat from heaters plugged in to every outlet in the house and blowing fuses every day.  But tonight I sit here and blog and am wondering how Tanner is adjusting to life on the "inside".

I have been blessed by our Heavenly Father this week.  He has given me the strength to keep on going, friends to buoy me up, my kids to take on extra assignments, and an understanding husband who changed a couple of 4 year old poopy diapers!!  Some days I have shed tears and some days I have laughed my head off.  But all in all I have been blessed beyond measure and I know that Heavenly Father is very mindful of me and my challenges.

I look forward to what this week might bring me and hope it is something really good!!!!!!!!

I am grateful for Sundays.  They are a day of reflection for me.

Foster Parenting may not be for me...

I have been overwhelmed by kids today.  For the last week I have been caring for two children ages 3 and 4.  There mother is having some problems and has been in the hospital for a week.  She doesn't have any family support and because of my close association with her in the past I offered to take her kids while she got the help she needed.....I am so tired!  I have had wonderful support from people in the ward who have helped me at times but in the end I am responsible for these kids.

Chloe has been sick today and I left her in Emma and Elle's care tonight so Scott and I could go out and get some shopping done.  When I left Chloe she was asleep as well as her brother.  10 minutes after we were gone I got a phone call from Elle.  She said that Chloe had woken up and had been crying for me.  I told her to just rock and sooth her she said okay.

Half hour later...Emma called and insisted that we come home immediately as her and Elle were not equiped to handle Chloe and her crying.  So like a good mother I dropped everything and came straight home. 

I have realized through this whole ordeal that I am probably not foster care parent material.  I am way to busy with my kids (homeschooling) my church calling (I usually get phone calls at the very last minute when people are right in the middle of a crisis, it is kind of like being on call 24/7 with no warning when someone will be in need and what their need might be)  It is hard for me to "dump" the kids on Emma and Elle, it is not fair to them, they didn't ask for this.  Scott has been very understanding during this whole week but he also is gone for much of the time. 

I guess this has been a good experience for me to help me realize that my time committments to other things don't allow me to take on the care of kids full time, especially kids that come with emotional distress.

I am grateful for Emma and Elle. 

This weeks good news...

I have already failed at two of my  goals this week.  Good thing each day is a new beginning!

I had some "emergency" situations come up this week with RS and it seems like when it rains it pours.  I was unable to take the assessment test for college and will have to postpone beginning college until next spring.  I am okay with this because I feel like my most important responsibility right now is my family.  My church calling is very taxing on my time and I don't want to spread myself to thin. 

I also have not started to work out yet.  Like I said, this week has been a challenge and I haven't had any extra time for myself.  I am going to do my best to work out this week...we will see.

The good news...I have prayed on my knees everyday this week (morning and night, actually some of those days this week it was more like afternoon and night!) and I am planning to attend the temple next Saturday.

I am now going to lay down by Scott and watch a movie!  We haven't had any alone time for a while.  I can't wait to snuggle up.

I am grateful for achieving two out of four goals this week!  I am awesome :)

P.S. I am so glad Tanner had the opportunity to go to school last year.  It has made this transition much smoother for me this time.  It just seems like he is off to school but without the opportunity to call him when I want :) instead I get to write him letters every day!!!

a great Jan. 6

I have decided that I am not going to give anyone a reminder that I wrote a post any more.  I am sure most of you get tired of the annoying emails that I send out each day.  If you are really a follower of mine I am sure it won't matter to you.

Today was a great day.  I had a really special friend bring me donuts because she wanted to be super nice to me.  I am not sure why I deserve such great friends but for some reason I am blessed to have the cream of the crop.

I found a great web site today that lets you send a letter to a missionary in the MTC and they will print it out and put it in their mailbox every day!  I sent Tanner a little note and it was so nice knowing that he would get it today!

I am grateful for small children that make my life richer and full of love. (We have two special friends staying with us right now)

Bloggity Blog

What an exhausting day!








I wish sometimes that I could go back to the good old days of taking naps every day.

I am now ready to lay my head down to sleep and hope that I have wonderful dreams of eating chocolate on the beach in Hawaii while watching people walk around in their swimsuits. (I am such a people watcher and especially when they are not wearing hardly any clothes, I am very mesmerized by people who think they can wear hardly anything and look good in it, I know I am way super duper weird!)


I am grateful for Elle. She is very interesting as she talks to me right now.


(This is the blog I wrote last night before I went to bed but my blog was not functioning correctly so I saved it to an email so I could post it today, I will be blogging later tonight...)

What a beautiful Day

Happy Day.

We just dropped Tanner off at the airport.

He was set apart last night as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

In his blessing he was told his voice would be as an angels voice to many and that it would sound as a trump.

Tanner has much compassion and love for others and I know he will touch many lives as he spreads the good word.

I only shed one tear as I kissed my boy good bye (I have shed hundreds privately). 

Okay, on to other things....

I am going to take a placement test today at RCTC (the local community college).  I applied last month and I was accepted (they accept everyone).  I am happy to report that I am going to start my college journey with one class this semester and then increase my class load with each semester.  I just really need to take that step and start, even if it means starting at the very beginning with one class.

I am not sure what I am going to study, I have plenty of time to work all that out.  I just want to reach this goal of getting a college degree and it may take me 15 years...(hopefully not, but still if it does that is okay).

So I have said that I wanted to share my goals with you for 2011.  Here you go....

Last year I set 4 goals:
1. Blog every day
2. Read my scriptures every day
3. Pray every day
4. Do a good deed every day

I think I did very well at working each day to achieve my goals.  I did fall short in some areas but in others I succeeded!  I feel great about my efforts and I don't think I have ever felt like I have been so diligent at working towards reaching my goals before.

This year I also have 4 goals:

1.Prayer on my knees morning and night
2.Attend the temple once a month
3.Take one college class this semester and two classes the following semester and three the semester after that.
4. Work out 5 days a week

Some of these goals will be more difficult then others to achieve but I know with encouragement and determination I can reach my goals and feel good about what I am able to accomplish.  I know my testimony will grow, my body will be healthier and I might even get smarter (they may not be true but I will tell my kids that).

(I will continue to read my scriptures and blog because these goals have become habits that I am happy to continue, it is also natural for me to do a good deed)

Well today I have much to be grateful for....I am grateful for Tanner.  I will miss him dearly.  I love him more then I miss him.  I am proud of him.  I know that he is doing the right thing.  I know Heavenly Father will take care of him.  I feel absolute trust and faith in my Heavenly Father, this is the reason I am happy to give Tanner to the world with out much contact.  I have such a peace about what he is doing.

P.S. We are all happy and healthy.  The furnace is still not working but we have many electric heaters heating our home (we have only blown a fuse once!) and will be getting a new furnace by the end of the week.  Thank you to everyone who have offered to help us!

Everyone should have carbon monoxide detectors!

Lots has happened in the last 24 hours.  After I got done blogging last night we had a carbon monoxide scare and ended up staying in the hotel.  We are blessed that we had co detectors.  After they sounded last night Scott and Tanner decided to change the batteries in them because being new to the house we didn't know if they were going off because they just needed some fresh batteries.  After the battery change they stopped beeping.  Emma was very uneasy about going to bed but Scott felt like it was safe because they stopped beeping after changing batteries.  I didn't feel right about it either and asked Scott to call the fire dept. and have them come out and check it.  After the firemen came and told us that we had unhealthy levels and then a furnace guy came and "red tagged" us which means he told us he was going to shut down our furnace because it was putting out dangerous levels of carbon monoxide we had no choice but to pack up and get out.  The fire dept. told us that it would have been disastrous if we had just gone to bed instead of checking further.

I am grateful for the spirit that whispered to me.  I am grateful for Emma who is a worrier.  I am grateful for another day with my family.  I am grateful for LIFE, what a blessing it is :)

New Years Eve

Okay first let me address the person that wants to see pictures of the purple and black room.  I will put pictures up very, very, very soon.  I want to finish the last touches of the rooms before posting pictures. 

My new years eve was nice.  Once again Scott and I attended the black tie affair that the hotel hosts each year.  I got to go out and buy a new dress that had some sparkle to it.  The sad thing about buying dresses that sparkle is that I only wear them once a year. 

I decided that out of 500 people who attended me and maybe 5 other women were modestly dressed.  And the same five modestly dressed people were also the only sober people there.  It is always interesting to watch people make  fools out of themselves. There are always a a few in the crowd that leave a lasting impression on my mind each year.  But for the most part it was a fun people watching activity and I always enjoy people watching.

I had a great visit with my mom and dad.  They left to return home yesterday and I will miss them very much.  We did absolutely nothing (except decorate Emma's room) while they were here and that's the way they like it.  We did go see Tangled at the movie theater.  It was so cute!  I would recommend it highly.  But other then our little movie adventure it was a very low key visit.

I am looking forward to sharing my new goals with my blog tomorrow....It is going to be a great 2011!

I am grateful for a wonderful husband.