Jury Duty

Monday was new experience for me. Out of the four times I have been summonsed to Jury Duty, I was actually selected this time to be a part of the jury. When I received the green paper in the mail, I had a feeling that I would be part of the jury. I sent in the paper with only my CNA job as my excuse for getting me out of it. Two weeks later, I received an e-mail regarding the dates for jury duty. I told Tom and the boys, "I have a feeling that I am going to get selected and I'm nervous." Tom was being a good husband and kept telling me that everything was going to be okay and that they would send me home. I don't claim that I have premonitions, but this time, I think that Heavenly Father was trying to prepare me for this. The second I walked in the court room, my heart was pounding and I felt this lump in my throat, wondering what I was in for. Then, I offered a silent prayer that everything would be okay and if there was a special reason why I was there, to please let me know.

Anyway, I did get to stay and I did learn from this opportunity, if you want to call it that. First of all, during the trial, I felt this urgency to go home and tell my kids how much I love them. I tell them this all of the time, but sometimes, it becomes part of our daily ritual and not really thought much about as the words come out. So, I really wanted them to know how much I really love them. Then I wanted to talk to them about the atonement. As Elder Matt said in his letter, "Sometimes we feel that we are past the point of no return, or we have committed too many mistakes and that it is too late that Heavenly Father can save us, but this is Never TRUE! " I wanted my kids to understand that it is better to repent of something right away, then to let it fester and become to difficult to ask for forgiveness later, thus leading us down a lonesome dark path. The last, but not least, I wanted them to know, that they are loved not only by me and their dad, but by a Heavenly Father who created a beautiful temple for them to live in. They need to keep the inside and outside clean and pure, so that when others see them, they will stand as a light or example of Jesus Christ.

Alas, I had also found our theme for Girls Camp this year. The theme for the youth this year is "Arise and Shine Forth". Just as the Temples around the world, stand as a beacon or light for others, I want the Young Women to know of their worth- their potential and to be a light and beacon to all that are searching for truth and light. They are given a temple to keep through this life and eternity and their calling in life is to fill it with the good things in life. Not only do they need to keep it clean inside, but the outside also needs to "Shine Forth" for others to see.

One comment that stood out in my mind that was stated in the trial, was "I at first felt guilty, like I should just turn around and go back, but I didn't. I wanted to have some fun." The Holy Ghost was trying to whisper and give help to this person, but they shut him out. This makes me wonder how many times I have been given the opportunity to follow the Spirit and I shut Him out.

I have had my testimony strengthened again- that the gospel of Jesus Christ can make all of the difference in this life. It is only through Him that we can be saved. He is the only one that loves us enough to help us in all that we do. We have to be humble and willing to let the Holy Ghost guide us in ALL that we do, so that we can "Arise and Shine Forth"!

Home Addition Part 1

Well, this is long overdue.  I have been meaning to update our house project for quite some time, but have found other things to write about.  

Here we go!  Last September, Tom and I decided to add some more chaos to our already crazy life.  He is still in school working on his PhD and we have a missionary boy out and one that is getting ready.  We have soccer, violin, piano lessons, school studies and other things that are demanding of our time.  "There is no better time than the present", right?

Here is what we did:

We painted the grass where the addition would be going.  Fun colors huh?  There is a board across the back patio door to prevent little ones, like Tootsie Pop and Muffin from falling out when the hole was dug.  This was taking forever!  We were using that small backhoe and the tractor from the nursery.  They hauled most of the dirt to the neighbors who needed  back fill for their home.

We had to move sprinkler pipe and wires for the sprinklers.  This is a picture of Chu-Chi and Tom out working hard! 

 We finally called the Humphries to come and help with the digging.  They brought over this huge tractor with a bucket as tall as me.  The digging really went fast, it was just waiting for the dump trucks to return from dumping their load of dirt, that took a while.  

Once the ground was ready, they came in and poured the footings.  Then they showed up with the foundation forms and put it up in a snap.  They called in a pumper truck to pour the foundation.  My house is now covered in dust and dirt, it rained and rained and the forms had to be soaked with kerosene to prevent the concrete from sticking to the forms. Mmmm? The smell of gas in not my favorite. This is every mothers dream- trying to clean up all of this dirt!

This is where the real work began.  We decided to add on a storage room and a nice big 'basement patio' (I prefer to call it the music studio for future reference).  Do you see all of that gravel?  We had to haul a lot of this gravel by hand.  Yes!  We loaded a 5 gallon bucket with gravel and took it through one basement window and dumped it out the other basement window.  This is how I got my herniated disc in my back.  

This is where Tom's brains and my creative ideas collided.  Tom wanted to use the wood forms for shelving for our new storage room instead of doing the B-decking material.  We had Ryan Johnson come and form supports for the ceiling for the suspended slab.  We then put visqueen (plastic) over the wood to keep the concrete from sticking to it. (My idea!)  When the slab had gained its full strength (28 days later) we pulled the forms down and the plastic peeled right off the ceiling. =)  We could now use the sheathing for shelving.

Wow!  I forgot how pink this looked.  We had the concrete colored and then we stamped the top with a brick red. 

We had the boys pull all of the forms down and frame the shelves for our storage room.  We went to the extra expense of having a company come and spray the ceiling with insulation foam.  (Like 'Great Stuff" foam insulation)  They used a huge hose (the size of a fireman's hose) and sprayed the ceiling.  Then the boys cut and assembled the shelving.  I was the one who painted the entire room white!  It is so bright in there and the girls love to play hide and seek in there now.  

This is Mr Stealth and Rhino having too much fun. Mr Stealth is a hard worker and Rhino is a distraction and can be quite humorous.  This helps with having fun while you work.  Rhino was holding the board down tight, (there was a slight bow) while Mr Stealth nailed the board down.  Rhino looks like he is in pain, but he's not, he's just being..... himself.

Rhino is a good sport!  While building the shelves for this awesome storage room, I shot him in the cheek just below his left eye with a nail (16p).  The nail gun double shot and one went flying at him.  In this picture the nail appears to be covered with blood, but it is not.  However, it did bleed pretty bad for such a tiny little hole.  I'm very grateful for guardian angels and their ability to protect us.   The coloring on the nail is the coating that is used on all of the nails.  

Well, we took a break for the winter and have begun again.  I will post more later when we have more progress.

Love at First Sight

Tom at age 3
I love his cheeks and smile!


Tom and Krissy at the Senior Cotillion
(His boutonniere was made by me and my mom. My brother forgot to get our flowers for the dance (My brother was going with our group) on his way home from work and so we had to improvise with the roses we had. As we were standing in line for pictures, I accidentally hit Tom's flower so hard that it snapped off the stem. In a quick hurry, we pinned it together and wrapped the floral tape higher to hold it in place. I couldn't wear my corsage on my dress because made my dress reveal too much. So, I held it on my wrist for the picture and then carried it for the rest of the evening.)


Our Family now
(It was snowing on our way to Salt Lake for our picture appointment. On the way there, I prayed that the sun would come out. Just after we parked the car and headed up to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, the sun began to shine and melted the snow. There were puddles of water everywhere, but it made a beautiful sunny day for pictures.)

These are pictures of my 'love at first sight'! I met the man of my dreams one fall day after marching band practice at Weber High. He was standing in front of the seminary building in a blue and white striped rugby shirt wearing a smile. His eyes matched his shirt and his dimples melted my heart. I knew then and there that i would like this guy and that he was one worth chasing! To top it off with a cherry, he was so nice.

Not only did his smile melt me, but he could play anything on the piano. He was often found in the band room after marching band practice tickling the ivories with "St. Elmo's Fire", "Peter Piper", "Maple leaf Rag", "Music Box Dancer" or "Bumble Bee Boogie". There were kids sitting around the piano as he played cheering for more. Sometimes, I would quietly slide next to him on the piano bench and watch in awe as his fingers moved up and down the keyboard so gracefully. I still love to sit next to him on the piano bench and watch him as he plays. He has also added a few more songs to his repertoire.

Now, he was not a sissy boy by any means, if you think he spent most of his time playing the piano. He grew up farming! He could throw bails of hay all day and still be able to pick me up without a wince. He also milked the cow and had the benefits of that hard work=Big Muscles! I still think he's the strongest man alive. He was often teased by his friends about his "Popeye" muscles.

We got married when I was 19 and he was 21 and we now have 5 kids and have shared 22 years of marriage. He is more than I could have hoped for. So, my advice to my kids and those that are still searching is- that when you find that special someone and the Lord tells you it's the right one, by all means, bind that love for eternity!

Rainy Day

Today it's raining! My room was dark this morning when it was time to wake up and I thought that I should just stay in bed for a little longer. I prefer to have the sun wake me up, but I got up anyway and read scriptures and had family prayer with the boys. Then Bryce and I studied Preach My Gospel on the subject "Teach when you find, Find when you teach". It was a great reminder to keep looking for people to share the gospel with. Then when you find someone, don't be afraid to say something.

Then I woke the girls up and fed them breakfast. After a yummy bowl of cereal, we headed into the living room and cuddled up on the sofa in a blanket while we read Mosiah 3. King Benjamin was speaking to the people as they camped around the temple in tents. What a neat General Conference that would have been. All the saints were gathered around and living in tents while their King spoke to them. Those that could not hear him, were brought the word from those that could hear. I imagine this to be their 'Home Teachers' or Elders of the church. Those that could hear him wrote down what Benjamin said, which would have taken a long time to write all of that down and to spread it among the saints.

We drove Emma to school after she got bundled up in her coat once again. I almost put those winter clothes away for the year. Good thing I didn't. We are longing for warmer weather.

Gracie came and cuddled with me while we warmed up together and then she had a fun idea! "Let's have a competition with the hoola hoops!" I'm thinking, "Oh my! I haven't hoola hooped for a long time." This little Tootsie Pop can hoop a hoola for a long time! Here is what I learned today:

1. Kids can find fun in any kind of weather!

2. Apparently, my hips can't move like they used to.

3. Never compete with a little girl who has more energy than you.

4. Don't let pride get in the way of letting your 5 year old beat you at something you used to be good at.

5. Enjoy the Moment! Take pictures and write about the small happy moments in life. They are too important to forget about.

Well, off we go to get lunch for the little Tootsie Pop and send her off to Kindergarten. Then off I go to the computer to update all of my receipts from missionary/birthday/Easter shopping.

Hooray for kids that keep us young and happy!

Life like a River

We took an unforgettable trip down Oneida Narrows last August and had a wonderful time as well as a great learning experience. We put the young kids in a rectangle raft that I had and we had the adults surrounding the raft as we headed down the river. There were slow parts and a little white water. Nothing like the Big Kahuna, but fun for a tube. As we headed down the river, we came to some forks. Every time we came to a fork, we would choose the right side to follow. But one time, one of the teenage boys didn't get over far enough and the current took him down the left side. As we floated to the point where the two met again, we noticed that the water was stagnant, mossy and filled with tall grass. He had to really work to get out of that to get back on the right path. We left one adult behind to wait for him and we kept floating. Occasionally we would come to some pretty big rocks that we had to paddle to get around. Towards the end the kids were frightened because of the white water. When we were paddling around the rocks, we were dragging that huge raft with us which made it difficult to move very quickly. We really had to watch ahead and plan out which way we were to go before we got to the rough water ahead.

As we go through life, we often have times where we just float. Meaning, life is good and we just get to enjoy the view and each other. And there are times, we come to a rocky path that can either help us to rely on our Heavenly Father to make it through, or we can ride it alone. The kids were surrounded by others to protect them and help them. We would try to guide them down the right path so that they would not get hurt. How many times have we tried to teach our children to always 'choose the right' and that we will always be there to help them along the way? When life gets tough ahead, it is better to be prepared to know which direction to take. It is better to go through life with a constant companion that will love and help you no matter what. We all have choices and sometimes we do not always choose the right path to follow. When we choose to take that wrong path, our spirit becomes stagnant and filled with guilt. We have to work hard through repentance to regain our testimonies and come back to right path. It is still possible! The best part is that we will always have others who love us waiting on the other side to welcome us back.

Happy Independence Day

I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Graduation!

This is Bryce. He is one awesome boy and I'm proud to have him as my son. Do you see the white cord that is hanging around his neck? That says, "I did it, I reached my goals and I maintained a 4.0 grade point average through all of High School." He actually achieved this beginning with 7th grade. I kind of wish they had an award for that, but they don't. He completed 5 AP classes and earned a 30 on his ACT. That boggles my mind, considering I took 1 AP class and didn't do that good on my ACT. He definitely got his dad's good looks and brains. (Maybe he got his stubbornness from me?)


Do you see those dimples and brown eyes? Those got him out of a lot of trouble as a kid. Tom and I kept saying to each other, "Man he is stubborn! If we can teach him to be a good kid, he will never sway from it." I can't say that he has never been naughty, because 'Time-out' was my best friend while he was little. That is, little enough to still be able to pick him up and haul him there. However, when he turned 4, something clicked. He then became this cute little determined boy, who was going to do his best in everything. If it weren't for his determination, and drive, Matt would have been stuck in the same piano books for years. We as parents have never, and I do mean never, had to ask him if he got his homework done. He just did it. He doesn't like to have things on his task list, so he just gets them done. Whenever there was extra credit offered in school, he treated it like an assignment and did it. Most often he would have above 100 % in his classes because he would do the extra credit assignments.

This is one of my favorite pictures that I took of Bryce. It was the symbolism of the whole shot. To me, it's like he is walking away from High School, looking to the future and still taking all of the knowledge that he gained, with him. Bryce, you are Amazing and I love you so much. You have been a great example to me and our family. Even though you have passed me up in height, you will always be my "Buddy Bryce". CONGRATULATIONS!!!!