Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point

A friend of mine invited me to Thanksgiving Point last week. I in turn invited April who invited my mom. We had so much fun and took a LOT of pictures. See for yourself...

Tagged Again...

I guess it's a good thing I'm such an interesting person. lol
Thanks to my good friend Lisa you all get to learn a little bit more about me.

How long have you been together? It will be 7 years this September. Yeah-Lucky number 7!
How long did you date? Before we were engaged or married? We dated 1 1/2 months, got engaged then got married 1 1/2 months after that. It was 3 months total-to the day! June 8th to Sept. 8th
How old is he? 28 although I wish he were older so my kids would stop making fun of me. "You're older than dad!" they keep reminding me.
Who said ‘I love you’ first? Aaron did. I think I said "thanks". My "I love you" wasn't far behind though.
Who is taller? Aaron, by a foot.
Who is smarter? I'd have to say he is because he married me! :) He probably really is smarter than me, he graduated from college and I didn't. Not yet anyway. He's very smart at figuring things out like sudoku. He likes math and I like english.
Who does the laundry? Me, although once in a blue moon (every 4 years or so) Aaron will throw a load in. Especially if I haven't done whites for a while!
Who does the dishes? Me again but occasionally he'll load the dishwasher. He does rinse his cereal bowl out every morning though.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Depends, if you're at the foot of the bed looking at it then it's Aaron. However if you're actually in the bed then it's me.
Who pays the bills? I used to until we bought a ton of houses, now he does it all. Ever since our second year of marriage I think he's done it.
Who mows the lawn? Well, when we happen to live in a house that actually has a lawn then Aaron does. I think I mowed it twice in Ogden. As a side note- Don't mow in cream colored pants!!
Who cooks dinner? Me most of the time. However he's been cooking this amazing lemon/garlic chicken on the grill lately and I'd love to let him just have that job.
Who is more stubborn? Neither one of us really. It just depends on what. We pretty much agree on just about everything so it's easy.
Who kissed who first? Aaron FINALLY kissed me. Just kidding babe. I don't remember the day but I do remember I was right in the middle of a sentence. I was talking about cavemen dragging their women around by their hair. (Don't ask me why) It was a sunday and we were watching 'A Walk in the Clouds' obviously we weren't paying attention to it though.
Who asked who out? Aaron asked me out (he didn't know my name or number and put in a lot of effort to find me. That's a whole other story.)
Who proposed? He did at Bear Lake in front of his whole family. It wasn't a planned thing. He didn't have the ring or anything. He just felt like he should do it and Ryan helped with encouragement. (Thanks again Ry- I still think I should've name a kid after you!) The ring came a couple of weeks later when we went to the temple together. I think that's when I finally SAID yes too. The first time he only got two thumbs up- I was too emotional to talk.
Who is more sensitive? Actually I'm gonna have to say Aaron is. He's real sentimental and romantic and I'm not, usually. If he forgot my birthday or our anniversary I don't think it'd even phase me. I don't get bent out of shape over things like that.

So now I tag Gabrielle, Alyson, Jessica, Staci, Heather and Jane Ellen. Have fun!

Let's go fly a kite...

Last night my family came over for a 'family home evening'. It was a blast. We ate yummy food and flew pretty kites on the golf course and then went swimming down at the pool here. Aaron's 'canon-ball' was similar to a tsunami and my mom's backflip off the diving board can't go unmentioned either. I took the camera to the pool but left it in the van. Oops. I only got a few pictures of the kites and a few kids. I was too busy having fun with my family to take pictures. It seems like when I spend the whole time taking pictures I miss out on all the fun family togetherness so I let it go this time-but now I regret not having pictures of the whole thing. Aaron spent almost the entire night in the garage trying to fix our waverunner with the help of my dad. It still won't work and now he wants to "sink it to the bottom of Lake Powell!" The girls and I had a blast flying kites off the green. Macey loved just crawling around on the soft grass. It was so warm yesterday, it was just perfect. Today the weather has turned cold again so I'm really glad we got out yesterday and enjoyed the first really warm day of the year. I can't wait for more!

Here are a few of Dianne's kids flying their kites. Adam, Brigham and Mariah.

This is Olivia's kite. Super pink and girly of course. I actually flew it later on and it went so high I ran out of string. She took a nose dive and got caught on the neighbor's roof. We had to cut it down.

Olivia fighting against the wind.

Brigham helping Jocelyn down from the green.

My parents got these kites when they went to China years ago. We've been trying to get together to fly them for a long time and tonight we finally did. Too bad my dad and Aaron were stuck in the garage and didn't get to see them in flight. These eagles were the coolest, especially how my mom took the picture just as they crossed paths and were next to the moon. Great picture mom! Let's do it again sometime!

Serenity

This is kind of a random post. It had just started raining on the other side of the lake. I loved how the water turned this beautiful green color and then just blended into the rain. It was one of those still, quiet moments that you get to enjoy every once in a while and look at the beautiful world we have. It looked like a water color painting of the lake. It was much better in person, but you get the idea.

Utah Lake in March pictures.

Here are some pictures of our first boat trip of the year that I wrote about in my last post. Notice the snow on the mountains behind Aaron. He's crazy!

More boat pictures.

It was cold enough that we needed blankets, but that doesn't stop Aaron.

Here he is getting ready to get in. Brrrrrrrrrrrr!

Kell sitting on the back of the boat.

Macey has to sit in a jumper attached to the wakeboard tower or she'd crawl right out or fall over when we stop or go. It works so well. Aaron thinks it makes our boat look "ghetto". But it works so....
I love the in-your-face look on her face it's like she's saying, "Bring It!"

Nice 'rooster tail' Aaron. See the snow? The water was freezing. He was red everywhere the wet suit didn't cover.
Have you noticed that I am the photographer, driver, and babysitter-all at the same time? It's a good thing we were the only ones on the lake. But seriously who else would even contemplate going out to ski yet? The lake only thawed a few weeks ago!

Aaron has this funny habit. When he gets ready to do a big jump or cuts really hard he unconsciously holds his breath and puffs his cheeks out. If you click on this picture to make it bigger you can see his cheeks. It cracks me up.

Water, Agua, H2O... however you say it, it still spells F-U-N!

I haven't been on here for a while. Time for a new post, although I hate to write anything after that last one- man it was a good one wasn't it? My favorite so far.
So Aaron took a day off from the grind yesterday so I could get my visiting teaching done. We went to IHOP. Tell you what, you hop in but roll back out. Gluttony was the big winner! Yeah gluttony!
When I got back we took the girls down to the pool. Makell is learning how to swim without her floaty swimsuit. She's doing pretty well. That being said, there will always be lifejackets on in the boat (besides the fact it's the law) and at Lake Powell. Olivia was excited because we let her play hooky and miss school because some of her friends were at the pool too. After being in the warm water for so long I think Aaron had wishful thinking for the water in the lake to be warm too. So we took the boat out for her first voyage of the year. The girls and I were all huddled under blankets and Aaron was in a wet suit. He's crazy. He skied first then we cruised around for a while so he could warm up then he got back in the icy water to wake board. It didn't last long as the wind promptly picked up. For those of you who know Utah Lake you know how the water can get as soon as the wind blows. For those of you who don't, just try to imagine big waves slamming into your boat. It's seriously insane how quickly it can change. We decided to call it a day and came in. We all got a little burned. Everyone else's will turn into a tan. I however will peel and be just as white. At the end of the year last year Makell said, "Daddy's brown, Olivia's brown, I'm brown, Jocelyn is brown but Mommy is white." Pathetic. I can thank my own mom for my pasty whiteness. Yeah, thanks. :)
Today I've got cub scouts. I'm trying to find a sitter because Aaron is staying the night down at Yuba Lake again. He's been building some cabins for Uncle Gary down there and has decided to sleep over a couple of times because of the cost of gas. Last time (monday) he woke up at 1AM freezing so this time he took two sleeping bags, warm socks, a big blanket, his hoodie, and I think gloves too. I hope he stays warm. He starts his fire with the blow torch at night to cook dinner on and warm up a bit before bed. Such a good little boy scout. Who needs lighter fluid when you've got a blow torch? We've been watching a show on the Discovery channel called "I Shouldn't Be Alive". It's awesome, I highly recommend it, however now I've become very paranoid about him being alone in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention being in the middle of Utah Lake with 4 little girls, freezing water and big waves. I know I'm just a worry wart but I don't think I'd be a real mom if I wasn't always worrying about something.

My Wife is Amazzzzing!!

As many of you know, I married way above myself. Bonnie has changed my life so much since we were married. I say changed as a good thing. I fall in love with her more each and everyday. I sometimes sit back and watch her and wonder why she choose me. She is very good to me and a great mother of our four children. She does an amazing job of teaching them the gospel. It does help that we were blessed with great children. I think that with the trials we are going through, unlike others, our marriage has been strengthened. She never gets short with me and we talk about what needs to happen next. We draw strength from one another in an amazing way. I am so happy that we were married in the temple for time and eternity. She is truly my best friend.

RE-TAGGED

I was already tagged once, however a friend of mine re-tagged me so here are 6 more silly, strange and slightly-interesting secrets or facts about me...
1. I loathe laundry. I grew up running a family business Bed & Breakfast and my job was to wash, dry, hang, and fold all the laundry. Needless to say it scarred me for life!
2. I love to sing the hymns at church. I don't know why I love it so much but I do. Maybe it's because I feel that it's almost like my personal time when I can be in my own little world. Because of that it really drives me crazy when my kids try to talk to me during the hymns. Of course I will talk to them but then I feel like I've missed out on one of my favorite parts of church.
3. This goes along with number 2. I'm an alto. I'm not a great alto, but I do pretty good. I believe that altos make sopranos sound good. You sopranos may get to sing the melody but you don't sound half as great without us altos backing you up. You're welcome!
4. I have done the math and during the 6 1/2 years that we've been married, I have been pregnant for 3 of those years and nursing for 3 years and 8 months of those 6 1/2. I realize that adds up to 6 years and 8 months, how could that be you ask? Because I was pregnant AND nursing for 6 of those months. (Not fun and I don't recommend it.) That means that I have been my normal self for approximately 3 months of my entire marriage! One was the first month we were married and the other two were between the time I stopped nursing Makell and got pregnant with Jocelyn. I need a break!! And Aaron would probably like to know who he really married, I bet he doesn't even remember since we only knew each other 3 months when we got married!
5. Following along the same lines as number 2 and 3--I love to hear Aaron sing the hymns. He has a fabulous voice and varies between a tenor and bass. We sound great together (when I hit the notes). I really miss sitting next to him in church. Now that we have 4 little girls in between us (and talking during the hymns) it's hard to hear him.
6. This isn't necessarily a silly, strange or unknown secret or fact about me, but I adore my husband. Every ounce of him. He is what I refer to as Mr. Right and Mr. Perfect. We are 100% compatible and compliment one another perfectly. His hardware is compatible with my software. It's like we are a computer and program without viruses. I KNOW that we were made for each other. I used to say that there wasn't just one right person out there for any given person. Sure, I used to say that. But that was before I knew Aaron. We were meant to find one another and live happily ever after. I don't understand when people say "The first year was hard". We just never went through it. We have other trials, but marriage just doesn't happen to be one of them. When we were dating he said the most beautiful thing to me that I will never forget. It was August. We were standing next to his car. The air was warmly blowing and the stars were shining down on us. We were holding each other not wanting to say goodnight. He looked down at me and said, "I've been waiting my whole life to fall in love with you."
It still makes me cry. I love you Aaron.

Have you ever wondered what a SWEET POTATO GOATEE would look like? Let your mind rest at ease and speculate no more...

Last year at this time...we were in Hawaii! It's going to be tough to top that Valentine's Day!!

Here's Aaron building a rock trail marker. It ended up being taller than him and he's 6'4". We hope it didn't fall on some poor hiker later! That could ruin a vacation.

Here we had hiked to a blow hole on the west side of Maui. My sweater was the same color as the water there. You can't really see it in this picture but trust me it was exactly the same color. It was unbelievable!

We hiked in to this gorgeous waterfall. Aaron actually continued hiking all the way to the top of it. He's crazy lucky to be alive.

Check out that water! He had a great time boogie boarding on Big Beach. I didn't do too much, if any being pregnant and all. Actually, the first time I felt Macey move we were laying on the beach. That was also when we still thought she was a boy!

This was us on our snorkel trip. By the time we got to the little island I was SO sick. I get motion sickness any way but on top of morning sickness, ughh, it's making me sick just to think of it again. We got all our gear on and jumped in the water to look for the huge sea turtles. I ended up puking in the water. It was pretty gross, but we attracted lots of pretty fishes!

Valentine's Photo Shoot.

It's been forever since I've put a new post on here. Life just keeps going doesn't it? Aaron and I went with some friends to see Fool's Gold for Valentine's Day. (Thanks Dan and Jaime!). The movie is definitely NOT a must see. It's more of a don't bother. Alright, Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey are cute together but the story line is pretty non-existent and there's a scene in the beginning that should be rated R. Lucky for Aaron he was still getting food so he didn't have to see it. So, if you're going to see it anyway, in spite of my good advice...GO LATE so you'll at least spare yourself the porn. Blahhhhhh! So much for PG-13's huh?! I guess I should've figured, seeing how the world is turning a blind eye to that stuff. We really are "peculiar" people now a days.
The day after Valentine's we went to our ward party. It was a lot of fun besides the fact we were trying to swing dance and slow dance with a baby between us! The food was good and the entertainment was fun. We had good company at our table. Our Bishop and his wife Jane, the Moores and the Sliders. The other girls were in bed by the time we got home so that was nice.
I spoke in church 2 weeks ago on "Blessings of Adversity". It went really well, Aaron said so anyway. It really made me think of all the blessing we've received during this time in our lives. I finished the book of Alma this morning. I used to think the war part of the Book of Mormon was unnecessary, but now I GET IT. I finally see that it totally applies to our lives, it always did, I just never put it together until now. I wanted to quote a verse. I read in spanish so I had to search for my english scriptures first.
First of all to preface, the war is finally over between the Nephites and the Lamanites. It had lasted several years and was very hard on them.
"But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility."
In the midst of afflictions we have two choices. Become hard or become humble. Granted we haven't experienced anything as awful as a war. Our problems haven't lasted for years either but over the course of almost one year it has gotten progressively worse. It seems the worse it gets the more we have learned to depend on our loving Heavenly Father. I know our problems are small compared to many others out there, but they have been tough and sufficient to humble us, which we're grateful for.
As the history goes on it states, "And the people of Nephi began to prosper again in the land, and began to multiply and to wax exceedingly strong again in the land. And they began to grow exceedingly rich. But notwithstanding their riches, or their strength, or their prosperity, they were not lifted up in the pride of their eyes; neither were they slow to remember the Lord their God; but they did humble themselves exceedingly before him. Yea, they did remember how great things the Lord had done for them, that he had delivered them from death, and from bonds, and from prisons, and from all manner of afflictions, and he had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies. And they did pray unto the Lord their God continually, insomuch that the Lord did bless them, according to his word, so that they did wax strong and prosper in the land."
What great examples! I like to liken this to us, (apart from the multiplying part that is) because I know that some day this will all be our own history and I know that one day we will be prosperous again. This was a trial but I think we have weathered it pretty well. I don't mean that in any way as a challenge to God to give us a bigger one either. At least not yet anyway, as I'm sure more WILL come I would just like a break for a while. (I never would've made a good Job-that poor man!) All that matters to me is that I end up with my dear, loving husband and our sweet little girls, all together when this is life is over. And I have faith that we will.

January Birthdays!

We've got two in January and two in July. Funny how things happen sometimes.

First is Jocelyn's birthday on Jan. 6th. Here she is with her big sisters who had a great time decorating the cake for her.

I was trying to give her a bite of her cake here-I think she wanted me to put the whole thing in-look at the size of that mouth. That comes from Aaron. As a matter of fact we played 'chubby bunny' with his family during christmas and I think his final number of marshmallows was 27!

Second comes Makell's birthday on the 19th of January. She was so excited to finally have boy barbies. "Now there can be daddies" she said.  She loves to go in her room and play by herself with the dollhouse Aaron made for them. She'll be in there for hours. Sometimes I think she must have fallen asleep so I'll go check-but she's awake and just playing with those dolls.

Now here's a sad story. Aaron made this awesome birthday cake for Makell-then he made the frosting. It was so runny that it soaked into the cake. I attempted to peel the layers apart to cut it and make it into a cute little cat shaped cake but it was stuck together. So I drizzled the rest of the frosting on top as best as I could making a cat face. It was pathetic. I gave Makell the first big piece and here's the kicker-she wouldn't eat all of it. What kid doesn't devour cake and then ask for more? Well, I guess presentation really is that important-even for a four-year-old.

We went to St. George with my family last week. We used our Worldmark points (which we love) so it was basically free. While the guys went to look for more real estate the girls (and kids) decided to pile in the hot-tub. I don't think we could've fit one more person! (Who said this was only a 6-man tub?) It was a blast and much needed R&R for my family! Thanks Aaron! (It was his idea to invite everyone a long and I was so happy-he's always so thoughtful.) 

Well here it is January. I made it through the holidays. The decorations are taken down, not to mention almost all my regular decor as well. Aaron is getting us ready for "the move" although we still don't know where or when. As far as where we're considering St. George for the moment. We found a cute little house there for only $1400/mo. 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms, fenced yard and a gardener (and it's not me-not that I did it anyway). Now we just need to find a job... Actually a general contractor called off an ad that Aaron has posted and said he wants to hire him to finish a 4500 sq. ft. basement. Yeah!!! If he likes him I'm sure he'll keep using him too. He'll like him-who doesn't? I sure do. :) He's also past his 2nd interview with Edward Jones. He's got one more and then he'll begin working for them. We'll see how that goes. He doesn't like the door-to-door thing very much from what he's told me but he's so great with people so who knows! My friend and cub scout leader partner Jaime brought us a huge plate of muffins a few nights ago. Seriously there had to be 40 on there! She's so sweet and this isn't the first time she's brought me sweet things. She's such a great example to me. I just love it here-it will be so hard to leave, if that's what ends up happening. We still haven't had any buyers for this house so I think it's going to go into foreclosure. So sad. What's worse is my entire family is in the same pickle we are. Rick sure did a number on all of us-we never should've trusted him with everything. He still says he's going to pay though-although he hasn't now for 9 months. Wow, I can't believe this has been going on for that long.
Macey has been sitting up and rolling over for a couple of weeks now. She's so dang cute. I'm actually really glad that she's a girl now. I was quite disappointed when we first found out but now...I just think she's great. She's sitting in my lap right now trying to help me type. When I put her on the floor she can be across the room in no time. She just rolls and spins and rolls some more until she gets to where she wants to go. I get the feeling she's going to be very independent. She's going on 7 months now and I've been trying to give her rice cereal. She hated it until I mixed it with a banana last night. She ate a little bit after that. She still is waking up twice in the night and it's killing me. I feel like a zombie all day. It probably doesn't help that Aaron and I stay up until almost 11pm every night either. I'm hoping that she'll cut it down to at least once. She was sleeping through the night for a few nights in a row but then she went back to this, hence the rice cereal. Any other suggestions? You'd think after having done this 3 other times I'd remember what to do-actually I think the other ones did the same thing now that I think of it. Thank heaven they all sleep great now. Jocelyn figured out how to get out of her crib two nights ago. Aaron put her in it and next thing we knew she was coming out her door. So I lowered her mattress to the last slot. She can't get out now but i'm sure that's not going to last for very long. I'm planning on moving her to a toddler bed and Macey into the crib as soon as we move anyway so it's not that big of a deal. Well this is getting quite lengthy and the girls need a bath before Olivia is off to school so I'd better go. Have a great wednesday-and go spend time with your family. Like my visiting-teaching companion says (who just found out her sweet 11 yr. old boy has cancer) "Go spend time with your family-you'll never regret it". I just love her, and if you're still reading this please say a little (or LARGE) prayer for her little boy, his name is Jacob. Thanks.

Merry Christmas from the Sharp's

We took a few pictures on sunday (thanks to Josh and April). When we tried by ourselves it was a sad experience. I almost gave up and decided to just print the ones where the girls were bawling or pulling hair or falling over or glaring or sticking out tounges, etc...but Aaron had a great idea. "Let's go to the Lindsay's." He's good looking AND smart! Lucky me.
Well, I don't usually send christmas cards so this will have to suffice. Merry Christmas to all my family and friends out there! We love you all so much!!


It looks like Jocelyn is reaching for a pretty little ornament doesn't it? Nope. I'm holding lollipops above them to keep their attention. Hee, hee

I figured I'd add a couple of photos of the devil-house (as Aaron puts it) and boat since a few friends have asked me to. The boat actually wasn't too expensive considering we went in on it with April and Josh, but I'm afraid it's still gonna go. Anybody want a boat? A house? I'll give you a great dealio....any takers? :) Ha, ha, ha..seriously though. LOL :)

Olivia's Miracle

Olivia and I experienced a miracle yesterday. She was looking for a ziplock bag that had a piece of paper in it from her teacher. The paper has a list of all the books she's supposed to read and then Aaron or I have to sign them off. Well, we couldn't find it anywhere. I think she probably could've simply asked her teacher for a new one. I pretty much remembered all the books she had read so it would've been easy to mark them off again. I normally wouldn't have bothered with such a simple thing and told her to just ask for another one. However, the Spirit prompted me to tell her to go and say a prayer that Heavenly Father would help her find it. As she left to go say her prayer I was nervous. I pleaded in silent prayer that He would help her find her paper so that her faith would not waiver and so she would know that she could ask and He would answer. She returned and told me she was done. I should've prefaced this saying, at first I didn't want to help her look, and I didn't. (I've been trying to teach her to be responible for her things.) However when she told me she was done praying I had the strong desire to help her. I went about doing my normal work but was constantly looking for it as I cleaned up. With in minutes, I found it. She never would've seen it. It was inside a book cover behind the couch that I just happened to see. I wasn't cleaning anything by the couch I just felt like I should walk over to it. I called her into the room and showed it to her. We both cried together, but then she said, "But mom, Heavenly Father didn't answer my prayer because you found it and I didn't." I then got to explain to her how prayers work. Most of the time He uses other people to answer your prayers. I quickly thanked God for helping us but forgot to teach Olivia that important step. About 10 minutes later I saw my daughters "The Friend" magazine laying open to the story "Ten Lepers and a thank you note". I immediately called to her again and told her to go and say another prayer to thank Him for helping her. It's so amazing to see that as I am teaching them--He is teaching me. I think that my faith was strengthened just as much if not more than her's was. She probably had sufficient to find it but He wanted me to trust in Him.

On with the saga....

So far we've cut up 2 credit cards, hooray!!! What a great feeling. It's going to take a while I'm sure but we'll slowly get all our debts paid and be back to normal. No credit cards (with balances that is) and no large mortgages. I can't say no more boat because that was the best thing we have ever bought for our family. We'll just have to be happy with one we can afford next time. I don't think we could live without one now--nor could the YM and YW of our ward (or the cub scouts for that matter). Although, we'll have to live without it until everything else is paid off. You know, as bad as being in this situation is, I still consider it worth it. We sure had a great time thinking we were getting all that interest. We made some wonderful memories over the last two and a half years that we probably wouldn't have. And we would've been able to afford all of it too if we just wouldn't have bought this last house, darn it. Oh well...at least we got to live in the BEST neighborhood and ward we've ever been in. I still know that we were supposed to be here. Perhaps it was because I really need to learn humility--and I am. And, I've really got to say that I'm so grateful for it. I love me more now than before. I'm a much better person for having to go through this. I know that sounds like pride, but I, like Ammon, "...do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God." I continue to see God's love for me and He has shown me my weaknesses and I am trying to strengthen them with His help. "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behod, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." (Alma 26: 11-12) I sincerely think this will be my all-time favorite Christmas ever because of this. I feel like I say more earnest prayers, I read my scriptures more diligently and I continually have a prayer in my heart and think of my savior Jesus Christ more often. Truly this will be the best Christmas because I have been compelled to be humble. "And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed are ye;..." Unfortunately I had to be compelled. Alma goes on to say, "And now, as I said unto you, that because ye were compelled to be humble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word." So my homework is to be humble without being compelled to do so. It's a lot less painful that way anyway.

Gee Whiz

Have you ever been on the verge of tears but you're doing a pretty good job of keeping it together---until someone gives you a hug or asks "What's wrong"? Well, Gabrielle that's what your response to my last post did to me. I just bawled. You've seen Monsters Inc. right? You know this part..."Keep it together man!" and then the little monster slaps the big one? If you've seen it you know what I'm talking about, if not...well, you should. I feel like I need a slap. (Please don't anyone take that literally or it would really just make matters worse.)
Now, get into your best downward dog pose and imagine with me.....Let's just say that you put some money into a bank account, ok not just some but ALOT, ALOT, ALOT of money into this hypothetical account. The bank says it's going to give you a great monthly interest rate. Said bank then begins making interest payments monthly to you. Life is grand right? The interest it's giving you is even more than you need or can spend so you reinvest it or you put it back into your account. Now the monthly interest is even more so you just keep putting it back in although you allow yourself to buy a nice house and a boat one year. Then a few more houses to rent out and then sell the boat and buy a really great boat the next year. You finally feel like you've got some elbow room. Those houses have a lot of equity in them so you decide to take that and put it in your bank account too. Now not only are you easily paying the mortgages but you can even reinvest the extra. Life is GOOOOOOD. But wait, suddenly your bank tells you that they aren't going to pay the interest anymore! Their timing is especially lousy because you just closed on a huge, nice home and moved into it. (Not because you felt you deserved it, it was only meant to be a great real estate investment) This bank then promises it will pay again "soon". So you continue with your perfect life but are slightly beginning to worry, but they said they'd pay so they will right. In the meantime you still have to make all your mortgage payments. Your husband starts working like a dog to pay the bills. Sure he was working before, but that was just side jobs because you didn't really need the money and you still had plenty in savings. Even though he works from sun up to sun down (literally) it's not enough...all those house payments...Little by little your savings is drained (which was substantial--being squirreled away for a rainy day). Next you begin to use your credit cards because you know your bank will give you the interest soon and you can easily pay off all your cards (and then some) with the great interest rate you are getting. Last to go is the money you've been saving on behalf of your darling children ($50 bucks a month for the past 5 1/2 years). There's not too much there but you still feel guilty (besides the fact it's yours anyway). Now your bank tells you the best news of all...they were never giving you interest at all, they were just giving you back your own money! Yes...just let that sink in...deep down. Your mind races, "but I took out all that equity, I used credit cards (which I NEVER do), I bought a BOAT for Pete’s sake--why, I never would've bought a boat until I could pay for it with cash...but I had all that interest and..." You must sit down before you fall down. Your heart races and you begin to sweat. "How can I make all my payments without that interest I was counting on?!?" Anger, remorse, depression, humility. You can't. Well, you can just barely pay for everything but that last stupid house if your husband works his butt off. (Which he does. Work his butt off I mean--he's lost 20 lbs. so far). You put the house and the boat up for sale, but no one wants it at the price you need to get. Now everyone wants to help you buy Christmas presents and food and it's humiliating. You don't really need the help, you think, I got myself into this mess by making a dumb decision to trust someone else with my money, and I can get myself out. Humiliating and embarrassing at first, then it's just so very humbling and you're so grateful.
"This too shall pass". You thank Heavenly Father that it's only money. It could've been something much, much worse that taught you this kind of humility. You're still healthy, you're family is all still alive and well. You still have your newborn baby that looks up at you from her place in the crook of your arm with angelic eyes and coos back at you. You feel a bit; ok a lot, weathered and a little wiser. You know it's not the end but at least it's more in the right perspective and you've gained empathy for a lot of other people in your same boat. (Man it was a nice boat too, to bad it’s got to go!)

life lately

Well, I read my profile and think back to the good old days when we were naive and happy. I don't write in a journal so this is it. If you're a friend or family and you can't handle black and white bluntness you might just want to skip this part. I get on my family website or my blog every day to just forget about my present life if it's only for a little while. As far as Aaron and I go--we're great, I can't state that enough. We are very much in love and I couldn't be more grateful for that. I know our girls know it too. We're all so happy when Aaron finally gets home. He's been killing himself working so hard lately. He gets up at 5:30 am and doesn't get home until around 7 or 8pm. He tries so, so hard to take care of his dear little family and it kills me to watch him. I am so thankful I've got such a good man for a husband. I don't know what I'd do without him. Christmas is around the corner. It's crazy, I NEVER thought in a million years that we'd be the family that people are helping. I know I am prideful but it's just so hard for me to accept. We used to be the ones helping. I guess what comes around goes around and I've had to eat a nice big helping of humble pie. We're starting to slowly pull ourselves out of the deep hole of debt we dug by trying to keep paying for this gigantic house. It's embarrassing to say that we might have to short sale or foreclose but we see it as the only way out now. My mom always used to tell me, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." Boy, was she right. We invested almost everything we had and what savings we didn't invest we used to pay our mortgages (we've got 5). We've been desperately trying to sell all of them but they all have prepayment penalties so we can't yet. As far as this one is concerned though, it's squashing us so between good advice and prayers we've decided to let it go. Who knows maybe we'll end up back in Ogden living in the ghetto. (It wasn't all that bad, actually we were happier there than living on the golf course here.) I have to look at the bright side and figure that way at least Olivia would learn spanish in kindergarten. I really hope that no one is still reading this, it is very personal but I posted it on the web so what did I think would happen? Oh well. Hopefully it will help my posterity out someday. We're not as bad off as it sounds on here. As long as we're not paying this mortgage we can afford more important things like food and diapers (yay for diapers, I can't imagine using cloth like my mom used to when I was a little girl, I remember poking April with one of those big pins. Ouch! Sorry Ape.) So, anyway that's my rant for the day. This is the first time I've written it down and it feels good. I know that within a year we'll be back to normal (other than credit scores that is). I guess I shouldn't feel too bad about it, we're not white-trash dead beats that refuse to make their payments (like soooooo many renters we've had in the past) we're just losing our home along with half of America right now. Thank heaven for a prophet and for food storage. We were very lucky that we listened to him and were prepared for this.
On a lighter note, although I'm admittedly not the best mom in the world, my kids are little rays of sunshine in this cloud of despair. They are so oblivious and therefore silly and crazy and funny. They make me laugh every day. Especially Macey, she's my littlest angel and her sweet smiles melt me. We've still got PLENTY to be thankful for! :)

Halloween '07

Hawaii

Aaron took me to Hawaii for Valentine's Day last year. My blog is totally out of order because this is when I was 4 months prego with Macey. Oh well, the only people looking at my blog are friends or family anyway so they won't care, right?

Here's our little "Chubby Bunny" dressed up for Halloween. So cute!!!

Macey's blessing day

As you can tell this was after church. The girls were hungry and weren't too excited to sit for pictures. All things considered I still think it's pretty dang cute.