Let Freedom Ring!

I love this awesome country! Sometimes I wonder with the government we have and the leaders of this country making choices that I don't agree with but i still love this country. I loved in a country with socialized medicine and don't want that, I have visited places where the government is corrupt and has lost a lot of control and I don't want that, and I know that even with all the "stuff" going on I don't like this is still a blessed country. We sang the national anthem yesterday in church and I had tears come to my eyes. What a great song to remind up of all that has com into making and keeping this country free. Free to choose, free to live, free to speak and free to worship. We are free to raise our children how we want to, free to defend our home and family. My sister has a brother in law that just arrived in Afganastan and he has been sending letters telling about the conditions there and what they are having to live with and endure. I am so grateful for those who are willing to leave their home and family to defend our country and those that cannot defend themselves. SO with that I just want to day!

I am so thankful for the beautiful land in which I live! And I truly hope that God will continue to Bless America!

Get Real!

OK So my sister and I were talking today about how women need to get more real with each other! We all struggle with different things everyday! We have good days and bad days but we keep them to ourselves! We need to share these parts of ourselves, we need to know we are not alone in this. I am sure most of you know several women that you see and just think, "Man they really have it all together, their house is always clean, they always look amazing, their kids are well behaved and quiet and nothing seems to frazzle them." I am sure that there is something about them that is not always perfect! We all have those things.

I for one have many things! Now I am not saying whoa is me or that my life is hard (it certainly could be harder) but I am saying I am a real mom that lives in a real, usually not clean house who on most days has something smeared on my shoulder or pant leg. I love stopping by a friends house in the afternoon and seeing that they too are still in their PJ's! Or talking to a friend and hearing them admit to taking some kind of medication that helps them be a better wife and mother. Or having another admit that they don't really like their 11year old today! I love it when we can talk about struggles we are having with our kids and the things we are trying so that our child will not sound his siren type cry that can be heard from across Costco! WE ARE REAL PEOPLE WITH REAL LIVES AND REAL STRUGGLES! We need to embrace these and help each other realize that we are not alone in this. We have each other! We need to stop comparing ourselves to others and start embracing the people that we are at our best and worse! We all have those days when our husband gets home and we grab our keys and holler GOOD LUCK as we walk out the door. ( We also have the days when life is Really really good and we wouldn't change a thing! I love relishing in the fact that this is real life! Not some Mormon mommy blog where our house looks AMAZING all the time, there is fresh baked bread or cookies coming out of the oven everyday and our children are perfectly well behaved scriptoriun who can teach Gospel Doctrine with the best of them.

I am glad there are some moms out there that do seem to have it all together! I am glad for the ideas they share with us of how to make our lives better and I am so glad there are beautiful women who inspire and encourage us to be the best we can! BUT I am so glad for the people in my life who are real!!!! Thank you and Keep on Keepin on!!!! I LOVE YOU GIRLS!!!!

what we have been up to!

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to lately! Totally random and not really in order but that's how life goes right?

This is tolsons new favorite thing. He loves to do the dishes! He is actually pretty good at it now. It does use a lot more water then when I do them but hey I guess he is having fun learning how to clean! Can't argue with that!
Adalee's new talent is that she can pull herself up to standing and loves to do it. She is still learning how to sit back down without falling but hey its a work in progress!

She also loves to crawl into things. She is trying to get the plug/cord that is behind this little table.

She also loves to be under the coffee table. She will crawl all over under there and likes to do zerberts on the bottom shelf while lying on her belly! Funny girl!!!

Ok he looks really really skinny here but he is sucking it in ( I promise I do feed him). He was washing the car and showing me his muscles! what a hunk!!! Love this boy!

And yes we got snow at our house a few weeks ago! This is the view from our front yard of the park. You can't even see the mountains in the back because they were all white. So fun! Tolson said that it really was winter because it snowed! He keeps asking if it is going to snow again!

Adalee keeps making this smunchy face and I love it! most of the time she will have one eye closed more then the other so she looks like a pirate! She is so happy all the time and does a pretty good job of keeping up with her brother!

Two very sharp teeth!!!!

I love these cute kids and love being a mom! There really is nothing I would rather be doing then be home with my kids! I love them so much and am so blessed!

8 wonderful years!

OK so I don't have any pictures from our wedding on my computer so I guess this will have to do. 8 years ago today Jason and I were married in the Mesa Temple. The day before Jason was so sick and was not sure he was going to make it(to the wedding). I was a little worried but we got him up to mesa and hoped for the best. The next morning we went to the Temple, took pictures (best idea ever) and got married at noon. I don't remember a lot about that crazy day but I do remember the feelings I had as I knew I would be with this man I loved forever. We had a fun reception that night and danced and laughed like kids. Spent a wonderful week up in the snowy mountains and began our life together. Now 8 years and three kids later we are even more in love and still make each other laugh.

Thank you Jason for 8 amazing years. You really do make my life the wonderfulness that it is!

I LOVE YOU!

Funk!

WARNING* I am venting!!! read at your own risk!

OK so lately I have been feeling in a funk. both physically and mentally. I am so done with the post pregnancy body of mine. I can't fit my clothes, I really don't like the way my body looks right now and don't get me started on the roll of bread dough I am carrying around on my middle. My skin is being funky (who sold us the lie that acne is only for the teenage years) I get headaches all the time and I am just tired. I try to exercise and feel like it is doing nothing for me. I just feel like some days I am sinking into this place where I am not happy! I do realize I am so blessed and should be so happy but really I just get grumpy and frustrated when I think about me. I feel stuck with my body I feel stuck with my life and I feel like I am not making any progress. I know I will be fine. I am just in a funk and I know this will pass too but oh how annoying it is to be in it. ugh! I just want to scream and cry and run and have a little pity party and then feel better but I know those things won't make me feel better. Not really sure what the solution is yet but I will keep looking.

I am sorry to vent but I guess I just needed to get this off my chest. Thanks for listening!

Gratitude!

Ok so today in church there were several talks about gratitude. I realized that I have gotten out of the habit of posting my list! so I am going to try to get back into it! I really appreciated the talks. They were very uplifting and to make it even better, I had a sweet baby girl asleep in my arms. So here we go

I am grateful for Tax returns and hard work! with these two things we have been able to pay off ALL of our debt! The only thing we own money on right now is our house! we had collected a small amount in debt over several years and I was tired of having to pay so much interest on it and having another bill hanging over us so we made a goal to pay it off as quickly as possible. so we snowballed our debt (taking the smallest amount and paying the most we could on that one until it was gone then going on to the next and doing the same) It was great. within a few months we had paid off one card and then with selling the piano and a few things we paid off another and then yesterday we paid off the last of it! and now we are FREE FROM DEBT! And if at all possible we will never go back!

Second I am grateful for talents and ambition. Yesterday I started a project that I was a little unsure about. I am attempting to recover the bench swing in the back yard. we got it as a gift several years ago and the fabric on it was really thin so it did not take long for it to rip and fall apart. So when Joann's had a big sale on outdoor canvas I got a bunch and am now trying to re make the bench and top cover/canopy for the swing. I am not an experienced seamstress so this is all guessing but my mother did teach me a few things about sewing and I have made a few cute things that turned out pretty well so I am hoping that this will work too!

I am so grateful for good friends. We have spent time with friends a lot the last few weekends and I love it. I must say I am missing Jessica and Tolson is really missing his Brady (as he says it) today when we woke up to snow he asked me if it snowed all over the world last night. I told him I didn't know but it snowed by our house. He then said well it snowed at Brady's house too! I am sure it did! He loves and missed him. In this I must also include my sister as she is my best friend. I am so glad she is close by so we can spend time together and so that our kids can play too! I just really am so grateful for the good people I have in my life! I can't imagine what life would be like without good friends!!!

and last (for now) I am grateful for Sunday afternoon naps! In fact I am going to go take one right now! Enjoy your Sunday! ( I know I will)

Boogers and Babies!

First I would just like to say... I love the exclamation point! Its my favorite thing to use at the end of a sentence! I use it all the time while texting! and if you notice most of the titles on my blog posts end with it too!!!! its just makes everything so much happier!(in my mind anyway!)

So on to boogers and babies! Right now I have both, I have boogers stuffed inside my head and I have a baby that has boogers coming out of her head! (I also have a little boy with boogers but that's a whole nother blog post) I really don't like having a stuffy nose but even worse is having a baby that has a stuffy nose, can't breath, can't eat well, can't sleep well and sounds like an old smoker, and there is not a whole lot I can do for her. She hates getting her nose even touched so trying to get her to let me wipe, suck, spray or even smear off is a huge challenge! and two days into it she got an ear infection! I hate when babies are sick! Hate, Hate, Hate it! Lets just hope it is short lived and that we are all back to our Booger free selves soon!