Maddie learns to ride a bike!

Like her mother this little girls determination to do anything  amazes me every day!  We fixed the bikes  so the kids could have fun this summer with them!  Previously Maddie had a little trike,  that she road like crazy and we kind of just figured that she would keep riding it, she was content.  Or so I thought until I woke up this morning to Maddie saying "mom I am going to learn how to ride a bike."  I thought well if it is anything like the way she said she was going to tie her shoes in April and 5 min later she had her shoes tied, then I was sure she would do it.  So with no help at all she climbed onto that bike and a few falls she is now a pro at riding her bike.  Me and all the kids are now going to go on a bike ride after lunch!  Although I wish there was a nice bike path to ride on here like there was in Boise we will make a fun path to ride and have a fun time just being together!!  Maybe we will take our bikes camping this weekend!

Last summer was fun making memories with my Family in Kansas.  This summer will be fun making memories with the kids!  We plan to go on many adventures and begin a life of exploring!  Love these kids of mine!

Healing in His Wings!!

You know that there has to be something wrong when for the past 5 years you have been trying to loose that baby weight and to no avail it does not come off, no matter how much you work out or watch what you eat or anything.  Then within 6 months you go from 155-160 to 130 to 135.  What in the heck.  5 years of work in 6 months....  Well I have come to find out that depression is not the best way to loose weight and I would not recommend it to anyone.  I have been struggling with depression for the past 5 years, but have struggled more recently with the loss of my mother and some other family issues, which have intensified the feelings of depression, loneliness, despair, hurt and anger.  I have withdrawn myself from all that love me and have built up a brick wall not letting anyone in at all.  I have tried to stay close to my Father in Heaven and know that he has not forgotten me.  I felt his love by all that have tried to reach out to me.  Their kind words and thoughtfulness.  It has not gone unnoticed, or felt.  I just did not know how to accept it.  I have felt that I have needed to write this post today as a way to begin to heal.  To let the joy I know I can feel come to the surface of my emotions and let it out.  I am who I am and nobody can change me.  I make my decisions along side with the Lord and follow his wisdom and guidance as I receive the inspiration.  Though scary at times the decisions may be, I do not see the Lords path for me like he sees it for me.  I must trust in him who will never let me down.  For he has known me much longer than I think, and knows all to well what is best for me.  I know that there are pivotal points that we come to in life where trusting in him may seem impossible and will take our everything that we have and think we will ever have and give it to the Lord.  The Lord will not leave us alone he has promised this to us.   There may be things that are to hard for me to handle by myself, but there is nothing that is to hard for the Lord to handle.  We must go to him in perfect faith and trust him enough to trust in his timing.  For me this has been a struggle.  But as I have sought answers from the Lord and received the same answers with the same burning in my heart time after time, I know that the Lord has answered me and it is now up to me to trust in his answer and move forward, looking forward and continue in patience.  I love my Savior and know that he has not left me alone.  And as I begin to let others into my life again and listen to them I will feel more of my Saviors love.  For it is through others that he often works.  My Aunt the other day was talking to me and she was at a loss as to how to help me.  I am guessing that she felt everything she would say I would disregard, not wanting the help.  I do have a stubran personality.  Anyway she said something to me that made me think and realize that she did love and want the best for me.  She prayed to Father that my Mom and Aunt would be able to influence me in some way.  It was then that I realized that the 2 most influential women in my life though they were on the other side of the veil had already been a huge influence in my life the past 6 months.  I just needed to heed their counsel.  I often will have dreams and in the past few months both of these amazing ladies have come to me with what I need to do, I was just not ready to heed their counsel and advice.  Patience is the answer, though some of the words they have spoke to me have come with much more force, but in the end it is patience.  The answers from Father are the same but with patience I will be able to follow through with these hard steps ahead of me.

Today I feel like I am bursting from the cloud that has hung over my head for some time.  I saw a slight ray of sun shine today and it felt good.  I know that I need to stay close to Father and let him help me remove this cloud as to see the light that awaits.  I read in the ensign today that though Father gives us hard trials to go through he often overcompensates in the end result of the blessings that await us.  The key is that we must endure and in my case endure with patience to the end when ever that may be!

For those of you that feel you are lost and alone please know that you are never alone though hard may be the road, I promise that Christ has felt your pain and wants to help you.  In time you will know how he can help you.  I can not say that it will come all at once but it will come as it has for me. Now when it comes you will find feelings of despair creep in and loniness come to you but remember not to fear for those are feelings that Satan would have you feel.  Just be prepared for those feelings to come and have a plan of when they do come of what you will do.  Whether that is to kneel and ask for more strength, sing a song or open the scriptures.  Surround your self with friends that will uplift and support you even when you feel like not going on.  It can happen for each of us to feel peace and joy once again.  I love the Savior and again share with you my testimony that there is nothing to hard for the Lord to do.  He is all knowing and all powerful!

I love life it is good and great and wonderful!!!  Healing is also a gift I accept from my Savior!  After all he is the great healer of all our wounds, I will let him heal and close my wounds.  I make that choice!

A star in the making

I was going through some old SD cards trying to find a video that we did last summer of my mom, but to no avail it can not be found anywhere....  But in the process I did find a way cute video of My Maddie singing a favorite song of ours!!  She is so stinkin cute!

A family adventure

Today I was feeling yucky had a lot of packing to do and then said "the heck with this, I am going up to the mountains."  So we cleaned up the house , packed a lunch and headed up high way 55 to Lowman.  A friend of mine told me about a really nice little hot springs, I had been wanting to explore this area so we did today.  I am also taking the girls here this weekend while the boys are on the father and sons campout.  Camping and being outdoors is who I am and I will do anything to be out in the nature, where peace and serenity are all around.   Here are a few pictures of our day adventure!  It was so fun!

Allison and Spencer on the trail!  

Joseph on a beach by the trail next to the river! 

Michael did not want to be left out, Smile little guy you are to hard to resist!

Daddy and Sammie.  Sammie having the time of her life! 

 We found a swarm of butterflys on the trail there had to be 15 of them!

They were beautiful!

The Mountains trees and river all a view from the trail!

These are my kids climbing over some rocks to get to the hot springs

Mommy and Sammie and Allie having watermelon after our hike! 

 Mommy and Sammie caught looking at the nature and just enjoying the peaceful moment

Mommy just enjoys being in nature, Peace is all I asked for and I got it!

 We love to just ENJOY!

 Allison as she enjoys the view!

 Allison my little exploring buddy, years to come of this my daughter and friend!

 Maddie on the trail next to the river she is an adventurous little girl!

 Allie and Sammie the cutest sisters ever, Love my little explorers!

Listening to the Spirit

A few days ago I was at the store with my 3 little ones.  We had finished all our shopping and we were on the way out of the parking lot.  As I drive out the same way of the Walmart parking lot to the stop sign, there was a man that held a sign: 5 kids any help will do, I need to feed my children.  I usually turn my eye and try not to look at those kind of people.  But I had a strong feeling that not only did I need to look but I needed to give him something.  I reached into my purse and gave him all the ones I had.  My Maddison asked me "mom why did you give him our money?"  It was there in that moment I was able to share my testimony of the Savior and how he always went after the ones with less.  He loves all of us even the ones that do not have homes.  For me this man was just as special as I was;  he was a child of our Father in Heaven and I needed to love him not judge him.  In the back of my mind as I do many times think what must this mans life be like what is it that makes him stand here and have to beg?  Then my mind begins to wonder will we ever be ever to accept all people for who they are let just a little bit of our hearts into others hearts?  Will there be peace in the land, will there be a time when we can have our own opinions but still know that others will respect our opinions?  I pray that we can be understanding of each others thoughts and opinions.  I know that as we do this we will be that much closer to having a happier world.  The Lord called his people Zion because they were of one heart and one mind and there was peace among them.  We can start out by doing this in our own homes.  As we strive to do this then we will be able to let this example shine and give light to those that we our around.

So I am grateful for the experience that I had, though I do not make it a habit to give money to the begger on the street.  I do when moved upon by the spirit.  I felt happy and good about doing this.  I know that the Lord blesses us for doing what is right and following the promptings of the spirit.

Preparing to sell our house is a chore

I have been painting for the past week and it has been  a chore in its self.  After living here for almost 8 years it seems like there is so much to do that it can seem overwhelming.  I have a wonderful Cousin, Jessie that has helped out in this daunting task.  Today we did the ceiling, well most of it.  There are a few places that need some work but all in all we are just  about done.  The kitchen and living room and hall way are just about done.  I have the family room left which should be petty easy.  Just out of gas and no motivation to paint.  Looking for a house to rent in UT is my next step then maybe I will have a goal to work for with a time limit.  I need that sometimes as a motivator.  I will accomplish things, it just takes some time to do what I want.  This has been test of patience and a trail of my faith.  But through all of this I know that Father knows my needs and will in his time make sure they are met!

An adventure with Allison

Allison's 4th grade field trip was an overnight Idaho history field trip. An experience that I will never forget,and I hope that Allie will never forget right now!  We started out Thursday morning at s7am.  Allie road the bus and I was able to ride with some amazing ladies in the chaperone rig! Allie loved the bus; it was chartered which meant that it had a TV and a bathroom, plus all her friends so she was in heaven!  I had a good time getting to know all the chaperones that I road with!  Allison is part of a ALP program and it is combined with 2 different schools so both classes from the two schools went.  I was with all the ladies from the other school.  We all laughed and had so much fun!  I loved it!  We all had so much in common.  We were all out doorsy camping hiker type of girls.  We had a blast sharing our adventures we had been on, and the ones we wish to someday do with our families!

OK our first stop on the trip;  Brueno Sand dunes, we talked about how the sand dunes were formed, then the kids were able to run and play and climb the dunes that was fun for them!  They had sand all over them but they thought it was the coolest thing to roll and jump and slide in the sand!  Back on the bus we went, headed over to three island crossing where we learned that the Indians knew the land and river well and as the pioneers would come to the river the Indians would help the pioneers cross to safety.  There was also a lot of trading going on between them as well.  They were friendly to each other!  The kids were able to walk down and see the crossing site at the river!  We loaded up the bus and headed down the road again to the Malad gorge.  Where we walked out to a long narrow bridge and stood over the huge gorge.  It for me was a bit frightening cause I am scared of heights but for Allie and many of the kids it was so cool.  We then did a bus tour and stopped at a few other places and got out to look at different things.  The ranger asked the kids what they thought this plant was that was a sage green color and flat and shaped like a cow pie, it was cow pie buck wheat, and if stepped on would die within a year or so.  We finished the bus tour of the gorge and then got back into our SUV and drove down the road to the Hagerman fish hatchery where we learned how fish were made and taken care of at the hatchery, they are tagged and tracked from the time they are eggs.  They then are released and you can tell if they are from a hatchery because they have a clipped fin.  The kids were then able to see some large sturgeon fish and touch them, they thought that was a lot of fun!  We had fun there and then headed for the bus to go to the Hagermen fossil beds visitor center.  We saw the Idaho horse, we were unable to go to the fossil bed dig site due to the distance it was from the visitors center and the time we had.  We loaded the bus and headed to Shoshone falls!  We ate dinner there and looked at the falls, the kids were able to explore and wander a bit! It was relaxing to just sit and enjoy the sun and to catch our breath a little.  We then got back on the bus and headed for the church where we would stay!  We unloaded all the overnight stuff, had the kids lay out there beds and then they played around a bit till it was time for us to load the bus and head to the Harret center at the College of Southern Idaho.  We spent the evening star gazing and looking through the telescopes at the the different planets and even saw Saturn and Venus and a star cluster.  We had a great time! We boarded the bus and headed back to the church, got the kids ready for bed and turned out the lights and it only took twice before all the kids were quiet and well on their way to sleep!  And we adults sleep as much as we could before 6:30 came around.  I got up dressed and ready and then the kids all started getting up by 7:00.  Allison was up and ready to be the first to eat breakfast!  The kids all were ready to leave by 8:00 amazing!  We headed back to the Harret Center, where we were able to see some reptiles(snakes and reptiles)  the kids were all so tired still. The thought that the reptiles were pretty cool!  We then were able to go back to the observatory and view the sun through a special solar lens.  We saw sun spots and gases that were be expelled by the sun!  It was pretty cool!  We then saw a planatrium show Venus transits the Sun.  By the way will happen on June 5th.  So that was pretty cool for the kids to know what to expect!  We looked around at the museum after the planitrerum show for a while longer and then it was time to head back to the bus!  We all headed out to Craters of the Moon.  We arrived there and had a brief explaintion of how the lava came to be and then we were drove to the trail where we did  a 2 mile hike.  It was fun, there were markers on the trail and a brief description about each site that was marked.  The kids had a fun time being able to explore and look at the beauty of what nature creates!  We then finished the hike and traveled a mile or so to the caves.  We hiked to a cave and climbed down into it walked through it and then climbed out of it!  The kids were afraid that they would see a bat but we never did!  It was a fun little adventure!  A place I would love to take the kids!  We then loaded up again, and headed to dinner at Zeppes Pizza.  It was nice to be able to relax.  We ate and talked and the kids all played in the game room.  We then loaded up again and drove to our final destination!  We took all the kids swimming at 1000 springs, it was a large swimming pool heated by hot springs!  We all swam, and had fun!  There was volley ball, keep away foot ball, and there was a large log that we all played on as well.  1 hour of fun and then we were all tired and ready to be home.  We loaded the bus and from what I hear most of the kids crashed on the bus!  We pulled into town about 11pm.  Let me just say that we were all so tired we crashed when we got home.  I do have to say that this is a trip that Allie and I will never forget!  This trip makes me excited for Home School because I can plan trips like this for the kids, knowing that we will be having many more opportunities to explore due to a more flexible schedule.  I can not wait for this fall to start school with the kids!

That was our trip in a nut shell!  We all had fun and enjoyed ourselves and made new friendships!

I was going through my purse, cleaning out recites and entering them into the computer, I came across a recite that I wrote something down on.  I was in UT.  with my two little kids Sammie and Michael. We were hanging out with the Neratkos's.  Michael was telling 2 of her kids about his birthday.  He was also telling them that when he turned 8 he would be baptized.  He informed them that the place where you get baptized is the water Jordan.  I have an almost 5 year old, that is so excited to be baptized.  He has such a strong testimony of Jesus.  He has such a determination to share the gospel with all that he is around.  He truly feels the love that Father in Heaven has for him.  I just hope that as his mommy I can keep giving him opportunities to let his testimony continue to grow.  I know that for me as a mother helping him see who he is as a child of God is a goal that I have had sense I was a little girl, I dreamed of having children of my own, to teach the gospel to.  I am grateful for the knowledge I have of the gospel.  I love serving God by raising righteous children.  I know that one day they will make choices of their own.  I just want to make sure that I am giving them a firm foundation where when they grow up they will have a love for God and his church more than a love for the ways of this world.  Something that with time and the changes of society it continues to get harder for these children that we are raising.  Satan seems to know how to test each of us and knows our weaknesses just as much as Father knows our future.  I know that as we trust in God and follow the promptings we will be blessed with the guidance that we need to make it in this life.