And down from the heavens came a TORNADO!

Okay, I know I am a little behind the times.... here is a quick update for you "out of towners".

Picture this:
1. At the beginning of June we were sitting in Sacrament meeting (the first hour of our church services). When we were interrupted with this announcement, "Ladies and Gentleman, if I could get all of you to stand up and move to the sides of the chapel, right now, there is a tornado forming right above our heads."

We quickly obeyed, there was no panic, but a few tears from Tyler, and we waited out the sounds of golf ball sized hail and wind pounding on the roof of our church. Of course my concern was to keep our family safe and together, and Martin's thought was, "Cool! Let me show the kids! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!" So unknown to me, most of my family were outside checking it out.

2. Once we were safe, church was canceled and we went home to look at the damage. Our tree had been shredded as if it had been placed through a paper shredder standing up, and there was pea to GOLF BALL sized hail everywhere as if it had snowed. We made sure everyone was safe and we marveled at what had just happened. Here is a picture of the tornado.....
So after we calmed our nerves and talked about what a cool story it was, the excitement kind of fizzled away...

UNTIL TODAY.....

We had our most awesome insurance USAA, come out and look at the damage. This is a incomplete list of things that the adjuster mentioned in his report:
1. A new roof
2. A new back fence
3. New window screens
4. A new trampoline (at least the net and pads, etc)
5. Pressure wash and seal the back deck
6. New patio furniture
7. Painting of the front of the house
8. A cracked upstairs window

Can someone say YIPEE?!!?

Let's just see if all this is going to happen. Ask me again in two weeks when we get the report back.

Has anyone else in my vicinity already gone through the process? If so, what should I expect?

Poll Results

I know you have been checking back daily on what I decided to do... well the results are... Pray for me on September 16th! :)

Thanks for all of your words of encouragement. It was fun to see the different points of views and experiences.

Time to take a poll

Should I pay the 125.00 and take two points on my license for something that I did NOT do, or should I go to court and try and prove my innocence? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't I be considered innocent until proven guilty? Then why do I feel as if all of the cards are stacked up against me and that I have lost before I have begun....

So....

In your opinion....

Do I go to court on Sept. 16th?

Or....

Pay the stupid fine and take the points on my license when I KNOW I didn't do anything wrong....

Oh the anxiety!!!

Fear or Faith

Have you ever had the best intentions to post and life just gets away from you?! My hope is that you will just love me anyway.....

Thursday was the day where I had hope, but that hope would often get replaced with fear. I tried to hold my head up high and succeeded, only to have my head droop in memories and anxiety. An apostle once said, "Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time." I completely agree.

Thursday was the day where what I have been experiencing would become a reality. Either it would end with tears, or with another "hurdle crossed", as my honey said it.

You see Thursday we got to see this....


























You know what the best part was?! The heart was beating. Can I tell you what happened to my heart before the baby came into view? It stopped. I couldn't really see the screen but my husband could. When he said, "There's the heart beat", my heart literally jumped into life again as if it had received a defibrillator.

Thursday was the day where I saw a new little one. So what's it going to be for me? Fear or Faith. I hope for the latter.

TODAY IS THE DAY.....

Perspective in hindsight

Is that even possible?

The day after I posted my "Perspective" blog, I was venting to my good friend of every thing that I had on my plate and the impossibility of giving any of it to anyone else. I just had to push through it. And then I got a call. One that made EVERY single bit of worrying I had to shame. My perspective had been clouded over again, so quickly.

A friend of mine in our ward lost her baby who was 5 months old. I posted on Phoebe's blog (link is one the right) about my feelings on all this.

Do you know how quickly that eternal perspective came into view? Immediately. All those things I was stressing about didn't really matter. Not at all.

I guess this will always be a struggle for me, to be able to see things from an eternal perspective. My youngest daughter sure helps that a lot. Thanks Phoebe.

Perspective

I was driving home one night from shopping by myself. What is it about going alone, not stressing if your kids have wondered a little too far, or saying "no" for the millionth time to something the kids want to buy, that calms the soul?

As I was coming over one of my favorite hills I caught a glimpse of this sunset. I wished that I wasn't driving because I would have just stared and stared. I DID however have my camera... so yes, while I was driving I took the above shot. Of course it doesn't do justice what I really saw but it does give you an idea.

I realized as I came down from my "high" place that I would not be able to see the big picture the closer and closer I got to home. I wanted my family to join me in what I see. It was just so majestic.

Here are the pictures that I took close to home. The last one was on my driveway.

The one by my house was brilliant enough. I love the way the sun is cradle in a bed of clouds. It was not the same view as what I had seen earlier.

It made me think about eternal perspective and how sometimes I get so closed minded in my current circumstances that I forget it the bigger picture.

President Monson said to the Young Women at last conference this: Maintain an eternal perspective. Be alert to anything that would rob you of the blessings of eternity.

I feel a constant pull to allow things to crowd in on those things truly important like reading my scriptures, going to the temple, spending quality time with my children. Nothing else should really matter more.

I would rather have the first picture than the last.

Have you ever felt....

Like this?

--Sweet Aaron feel asleep on the stairs the other night.
We were surprised to find him on the stairs when we were going to bed!

Ironically it about sums up how I feel! Wondering what I have been up to lately?! I know you have... :) Well, lately I have been wearing many hats. You know the kind where you are not sure what to put on because there is so many to choose from?

Hat #1: Being a Mom....

I have had a perpetual 2 year-old since Ammon was two. That means that I always have messes like this to clean up.

I love this boy dearly. He lights up my life, makes me laugh hourly, and gives the best hugs in the world. But man I gotta tell ya, WHY do I get blessed with such um, curious, children?!

Hat #2:

I am a working mom. I don't know if you know that or not. I am CFO managing our 10 units of rentals. The biggest project being this....


Being turned into this:

Yes that IS the same house! It is still a work in progress, but hopefully we are almost finished! I have been working many hours making sure everything is running as smoothly as possible.

Is it possible to wear more than one hats at the same time? Sometimes I try.

Hat #3:

Being Stake Primary President has its perks. It is so much fun traveling to other wards, seeing the different ways Primary is run, and yet the same message is being taught. I love the ladies that I work with and am SO blessed to have them all in my presidency.

This isn't a hat that I mind wearing. It's just when I need to wear it, I need to focus on it. (See Hat #1 picture) Sometimes it is difficult! :)

Hat #4:

I am room mom for Tyler's class. Why you may ask? Because I signed up before I knew about Hat #3. We are counting down to the last few days of school and lets face it, it's busy! I am making a scrapbook for Tyler's teacher as her end of the year present. Just something else to juggle!

The rest of my "hats" are all the normal things that everyone has to balance. My washing machine is broken and the clothes are starting to smell that were in the washer. I need to do my visiting teaching, read my scriptures, blog :), exercise, eat right, oh yeah, spend time with the honey who is working overtime, have individual time with each child, stay on top of the house, plant flowers, make posters for youth conference.... you get the picture.

So back to the very first picture.... Doesn't that sound good right about now?!

Thank you for your listening ear. I will survive, I know. By no means am I complaining just learning. Learning how to not run faster than I have strength. Learning how to rely on an arm stronger than mine, and to give thanks for all the things I GET to balance, and clean up after, and to love and snuggle.

Any suggestions as to how to accomplish so much in 24 hours? I know you do! Share, share share! :)

A night out with the Rockies

We got some tickets to the Rockies game and decided to get a babysitter for the younger two. We had a lot of fun hanging with the older boys. I can't believe how much they have grown up!

The last time we came, we didn't expect to stay the whole time, due to attention spans, and to not be able to watch the whole game due to run-aways. The boys did great! It was nice to get away and relax with our kids.


It was pretty cold near the end of it. That's what I get for getting tickets in April in Colorado! Below is our view from our seats.... Not too bad! We were right in home run zone.

Ammon, the missionary

Have you ever met someone that has been give the perfect name? Our eldest has such a name. Ammon was a great missionary in the Book of Mormon.

Our Ammon has always lived up to his great name. Here is the most recent example. We were at a going away party for one of Martin's work friends. The first thing that Ammon does when he walks into the house is ask of the guests of the party if they went to our church. She said, "No." He said, "Would you like to?". She responded with a smile, "No sweetie, I am Catholic." Her 4 year old daughter heard this conversation and said, "No you're not! You are Mommy!".

What I love about Ammon is the fact that he is not afraid to open his mouth. He takes no offense when people say no, and really would like to see people come to church with him. He is a fantastic example to me.

Sometimes I think we don't open our eyes for opportunities to share what is so precious to our hearts. My goal is to be more like my child.