I'm Moving to Arizona!!!

The last week it has been officially spring and I have needed a coat and sometimes gloves. Today I woke up to about three inches of snow. Braxton thinks it's great and he wants to go and play in it. I don't want to stay outside in the cold all bundled up. I don't want him all wet and I definately don't want any more snow tracked into my house. I've had it and I've decided I am moving to Arizona. Blasted SNOW go away! Didn't anyone tell you it is SPRING!!!

College Terrace on fire

You read that right. College Terrace (where I lived my first two years of college) went up in fire yesterday afternoon. It happened due to an unattended candle. Apparently the fire started in the last building on the third floor. In fact from what I can tell from the news report I believe it was in the apartment that my good friends Chad, Dale, Jeremy, Nate, and Ben lived in. Can you believe that? I spent many hours in that apartment and now it is burnt to a crisp. To me it is just surreal. I just thought those of you who lived there with me would be interested to know.

big, Big, BIG weekend

Wishing you a VERY spiritual Easter Sabbath!

Let's not forget to reflect on all that our Lord and Savior has done for us.

There's too much to say about this weekend. So I'll share my pictures with you and leave captions and see if that tells enough of the story

Once we got Braxton from his sleepover and he'd had a nap

we took him on his own Easter egg hunt.

Braxton finding his first egg.

Look at me I'm finding Easter eggs.

Put it in this bucket?

Ha! I've found you.

After the Easter egg hunt Daddy took us out to see the loaders and backhoes.

Daddy I'm not sure about this big truck.

Even though he loves trucks and loves reading about them

he was a little nervous about this trip.

The whole family crammed into the dozer for Braxton.

He was actually more interested in the airplanes than the truck so we took him out to the airport.

Watching the planes come in.

Waiting for another airplane.

It may not have been the best timing after his big sleepover, but we decided to show him the toddler bed down at Cheryl's and he seemed to love it so we moved him into it last night.

This is him when he still thought the bed was great.

Climbing up and down since well...he can!

This bed is cool mom. At least that was the thought until we tried to get him to sleep in it. He cried by the door last night until he fell asleep. We put him in bed and then it was a very long night as we had a sad boy every time he woke up.

Braxton the Bucket head!

This was his first thought he had when we bought the bucket from the store.

There he is!

Kent made himself a King sized pancake at the ward activity last week and I had to add this picture in.

Happy Fifth Anniversary Babe!

Five years ago I married a wonderful man. He is caring, strong, loving, understanding, hard working, handsome, good hearted, a great father, and an excellent husband. Thank you for spend five fabulous years with me. You are always so willing to listen and compromise and for that I love you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For our anniversary this weekend we had a fabulous date night. We went up to Bountiful and out to dinner at the Mandarin. It was a very good Chinese restaurant. I would highly recommend it. After that we went down the road to the Rodgers Memorial Theatre for a musical. It was called Big River and it was such a good musical. It was the story about Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. It was really well done and it had some really talented actors. I felt blessed to enjoy their talents. My favorite actor was the man who played Jim. His name was Greg Boarden.

After the play we went to a hotel downtown to feel like we were really getting away. It was a lot of fun. Even though we didn't make it back in time to go sit in the Jacuzzi we still enjoyed a wonderful weekend that we will not forget. We were able to cap off the date with a breakfast buffet at JB's this morning. I am so thankful to be able to have a quick, close getaway that my spirit was just more than happy to receive.

Thanks to Cheryl we had a wonderful weekend and Braxton was able to enjoy his very first sleep over. Thanks again Chez! I love you and your family!

The Lord Qualifies Those He Calls.

Saturday we had our ward activity. It was a breakfast and Easter egg hunt. It came off fabulously. I was really quite happy with the results. We had about 70-80 people attend. For breakfast we served pancakes, eggs, and ham. The egg hunt we did went over well too. We had all the kids stand on the sidewalk to start. We told the kids they could find five eggs and then they needed to come back to the sidewalk and wait. When everyone was back they could go find the rest of the eggs. I felt that it was a very fair way to run things.

These are the things I learned this activity that have helped me to be a better leader. I had plenty of time setting up tables and chairs since we set up the night before. I also had plenty of help with six of us (including myself) setting up. What I thought would take me 15-20 minutes Saturday morning took me nearly the whole hour because I was able to work and visit with my committee members and it just took longer than I thought. In the long run it was OK because I had enough help again in the morning. The key to the success of this activity was all the help I received. It was so nice to be able to delegate and not feel the stress of doing it all myself. Another thing that I did to help it run smooth was to go through the cooking and think about all the things I would need before hand. I wrote up a list of the things I needed to bring and the things I would need to do in the morning and I was able to remember all of it. So as the title says, the Lord qualifies those he calls. I don't feel that I was really the most qualified when I started, but I am beginning to feel that with each activity I am becoming more and more qualified.

O remember, remember!

I have been meaning to write this blog for a few days now, but I have been very busy. Thursday began very slow again for Braxton and I because of dreary rain and the difficulty of adjusting to day light savings as I have said. On Friday as Kent and I were discussing the event I will relate to you hereafter I realized the blessing and the hand of the Lord in my life and for that I am truly grateful. In admonition of President Eyring's last conference talk entitled O Remember, Remember I am writing these experiences down so that I and others can see the what the Lord has done for me a my family.

Thursday I had planned in my mind to go out for a glorious walk and take some fliers out to some of the less active people in the ward inviting them to our Easter breakfast and egg hunt on Saturday morning. As I woke up to the rain it really took the wind out of my sails. After much debating as to what I was going to do I decided that I would get ready for the day and then take them out in the car. As it happened Braxton got tired early that day so I put him down for a nap early and went out after. As I drove around to so many houses I would leave Braxton in the locked car (I was feeling very uncomfortable leaving it unlocked) where I could see him and run the flier up to the door.

When we were finished delivering fliers I returned home and Braxton realized that there was a helicopter hovering overhead. I took note and said "yeah it's a helicopter" and moved on. Five minutes past and that helicopter was still there hovering. About ten minutes past and I heard another helicopter flying even closer to the ground as well as that helicopter still hovering. I was going nuts trying to figure out what all the to do was about. Come to find out there had been a man considered armed and dangerous who had kidnapped his estranged wife leading to a police chase. The police chase ended in a standoff at the park only a mere three blocks directly East of our house. The helicopters were there with the news station covering the story.

Here is where I realized the hand of the Lord. If I had been able to walk around that day Braxton would have been in the stroller. As I am inclined to curiosity I would have probably seen the cops and the road taped off as I was close to that area and I would have gone to investigate. Now there were never shots fired and as I said the police did have the area secured in case there was a threat to the public, but I believe that the Lord kept us away from that scene that day by things such as the rain and giving me too much to do to be curious. I know that the Lord wanted my son and myself to be protected from the physical dangers that were just outside our front door.

As Kent and I discussed this event Friday I realized that wherever we live there will be dangers. Some family members will say that Kent and I live in the heart of the city. Which is to say that we are more surrounded by danger than even downtown Salt Lake. As we discussed this we realized that there are just as many dangers outside of the city. They are just very different dangers. They tend to be danger involving nature and wildlife more than the threats of man. Our family is in an area that tends to have a little more crime, but I know that regardless of where we live I do not have to fear. If I choose a home with the direction of the Lord I know that whatever I am surrounded by he will watch over and protect me. I know that to be true. Will I try to find safe places for my family to live? Of course I will, but I know that if I have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ that he will direct my paths and watch over me day after day. Never will I have to fear what man, the elements, or beast may do to me because of my faith in the Lord and the knowledge I have to protect myself from many dangers.

Day-light saving what?

It's Friday and Braxton and I woke up at quarter to nine when my neighbor called. I was so embarrassed to just be getting up, but I am just not having a good time adjusting to this day-light savings stuff. I feel like instead of gaining one hour of day light in the evening I am just losing an hour in the morning. I am still tired at night, but now I sleep longer in the mornings. In fact tomorrow we have a ward breakfast and Easter egg hunt and I have had dreams twice this week that it's 8:30 am and I am just waking up and have to be to the church and get tables set up and breakfast going to be ready at 9:00 am. Don't worry I plan to set up tables tonight and start cooking at 7:45ish on Saturday. I am just going crazy trying to get Braxton on an earlier schedule.

The problem is that I have been wanting to get up and go walking then shower and get out the door with enough time before nap that we can go do something. Pretty much everyday I make it out the door at 11:30 am (at the earliest) without exercise and I have to be back in an hour to an hour and a half for nap. Here I am today and it is 1:30 pm and I still haven't exercised or showered and I am still in my pajamas. Why am I blogging then? I don't know! I think I am going to go work out and pray that this weekend will shock us into adjustment. One can only hope. Wish us luck all you Arizona people with your standard time all year long.

A Birthday Tribute

I don't really have a lot of digital pictures of Cheryl so this one will have to do.

Happy Birthday Chez!!!

How do I begin? How about a few quotes to get me started...

"I know some sisters who only see each other on Mother's Day and some who will never speak again. But most are like my sister and me... linked by volatile love, best friends who make other best friends ever so slightly less best." ~Patricia Volk

"A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life." ~Isadora James

Growing up I always wanted to be like my big sister. There were many times where I would revise a comment in order to gain the approval of my sister. Wherever she went I wanted to go. Whatever she did I wanted to do. I thought the world of her and still do. As a little girl I would love that my mom would make me a dress out of the same fabric she made Cheryl's dress. There was virtually nothing she could do to become less in my little eyes. She was my sister.

Cheryl has always had a fun bubbly personality that was attractive to so many people. In school she was my mom's little social butterfly. The amazing part was that even through her socializing she still was able to pull good grades. Withing the realm of our extended family Cheryl was "the" cousin for the younger girls. There were three other cousins between Cheryl and I and those cousins also thought the world of her. Sometimes it was hard to try and measure up to Cheryl.

It's hard to talk about Cheryl in the earlier years because I would never want to make her feel bad, but she and I were not as close as I would have liked. Many times she saw me as a tag-a-long (which I was), a boob (which I also was), and an annoying little sister (yes, I was that too). Despite it all I was still always on her side when she and Brian would fight. It would really upset me that Brian would treat her that way and I was always trying to defend her as I yelled at Brian to leave her alone. Sometimes, as sisters do, she would make me mad. One such time I recall pulling all of her clothes out of the dresser drawers and throwing them all over the room which we shared, but I also recall many nights in that room when we would giggle and giggle until my mom got after us to go to sleep.

Another time I recall vividly with my sister was when she invited me (as a twelve-year-old) to go to the mall with her. That made my day. She had just recently received a drivers license and wanted me to go with her. That was the best thing she could have ever done. As we were leaving I recall there was a guy flirting with her in the parking lot and I'm sure she would have liked to flirt back, but didn't too much with me there. I felt so grown up to be hanging out with her.

Our relationship really began to blossom when our family moved from her friends and boyfriend (now husband Erik) in Utah to Oregon. We had just sent Brian to the MTC (missionary training center) and so she was there her senior year without any friends except her little sister. It was then that she started to see I wasn't so bad (I really was growing out of the annoying sister phase). I could see how much she liked me when she returned the summer after her first year of college and wanted to share a room with me even though there was a room she could have all to herself.

Since those days Cheryl and I have grown very close. She truly is my best friend (after Kent of course) and I enjoy talking to her often. Cheryl is the friend I love to discuss many things with including our knowledge of love languages and how they apply to our family members. Since I know Cheryl's love language is words of affirmation I would like to share some true words of affirmation with you all regarding her. Cheryl is very gregarious. There isn't a person I have met yet who doesn't like her. She is a loyal friend. She is a beautiful strong woman. She is a faithful and devoted daughter to her Heavenly Father and she has such strong desires to be the best mother and wife possible. She seeks God's will in order to be that for her family. She has been there for me through some very rough times and she has been my shoulder to cry on. She is the first person I think of if I want to go shopping or go out to lunch for celebration. She is the one I want to play with and celebrate with. I wish I could have celebrated with her tonight. I am so thankful for the wonderful gift God gave me of having an older sister. Because of her I have a hard time imagining anyone living life without a sister. She's been such a blessing to me and for that I am so grateful. Happy birthday Cheryl, I love you!

Kindred Souls (vol.4)

This one is my last one for a while. This is for the wonderful grandmothers in my life who have become my friends. These women just happen to be the age of my parents or more, but still are just as much my friends as are the women my age. This is to the prestigious and experienced women in my life.

* Kent and I have some of the best friends in our ward and it amazes me when I realize that we are the same age and younger than their oldest children. Kristi has worked with us in Primary as well as the Enrichment committee with me and Bob has served for many years in Young Men and scouting with Kent. Kristi is also the inspired woman who asked me if I knew anyone who might be looking for a job at Eddie Bauer. If not for her I wouldn't have found the job that I wasn't looking for that I definitely needed. She is one of the classiest ladies I know. She always does things so well and so nice. She always looks put together and she also puts things together so nicely. I have also never heard an unkind word from her about anyone. She always uses such discretion when discussing others and their imperfections. She is definitely an admirable woman whose example I'd like to follow.

* Interestingly the next woman and the first woman are great friends. Jaline and Kristi have so many positive characteristics in common and yet they are so different. Jaline is also a woman who does things well and puts things together in a very classy way. She is also a woman who I have served with on the Enrichment committee as well as in the Primary and she worked hard in both organizations. Jaline is also a woman with some spunk as many women of her stature are. She is a go with the flow kind of woman when it doesn't flow how you want it to. She is very reliable. When she says she'll be there you will see her there at least five minutes early. She feels that it is very rude to make people wait and I admire that about her (since I have a hard time being on time...sorry Jaline). She is just such a pleasant person to be around and I am so thankful to have her as a friend.

* The church has blessed me with many opportunities to serve and when I was in Young Women's I was blessed to serve under Joan. Joan is so talented. She has the greatest talent and hobby of making homemade greeting cards. Every card is absolutely adorable and embellished so well. She is also a woman with a heart of gold. I remember that there were some girls who had a hard time with Joan as she first became the YW president, but because of her love for the girls it was only a matter of time before the girls absolutely loved her. She is quite a trooper. When we went to girls camp we were given the choice to have tents or stay in the lodge and our girls wanted to stay in tents. Joan could have said no way is this body sleeping on the ground and being uncomfortable we are going to the lodge. She could have said that, but she didn't! She stuck it out for the girls sake. She is also very organized. There was never a detail that slipped her mind. In fact there were quite a few that slipped my mind and she called me and reminded me of those details. Joan is a wonderful woman whose friendship is valued greatly.

* Even though these posts are about friends and not family there is one family member who needs to be spoken of because she is also my friend. My cousin Sandra is closer to my dad's age than mine so growing up I didn't really know her. At least not as a friend. I had the good fortune to live with her as Kent and I were dating and became engaged. I have so enjoyed our associations since then. Sandra is one of the Kunz' and with that came awesome genetics. (Yeah so no skinny jeans for us) Despite her genetic make-up she has decided to make some healthy changes in her life and that is inspiring to me. Especially since she did her best to get me up to exercise with her at some horribly early time in the morning and while I can't get up before 6 am now she still does wake up early religiously. She eats healthy and exercises pretty much daily. In addition to her healthy habits she is a good communicator as well as a deep spiritual person. She is definitely someone I would pick as a friend if I didn't also have her for a relative. I am so glad that I was able to live with her and get to know her so well as a friend. Thanks!

* Val is quite possibly the woman I have learned the most from outside of my family members. She is an amazing woman. I worked with her the year I was pregnant with Braxton and I learned so much. She taught me how to treat people as valuable as they are. She always made me feel like I was the best teachers assistant she had ever had. She also taught me to expect the best from the students. They would obviously disappoint you, but you still had to expect them to do their best. I also learned to empower myself. She taught me so much about overcoming my obstacles. I never knew how talented I could be in Math and Science, but she made me have such a desire to learn more in those areas where I had previously been so intimidated. She also taught me about style. For a woman a few years older than my parents I never would have guessed it. She dressed in such a way that made her look youthful while still sophisticated. She continues to inspire me today as I receive emails from her on her mission in Africa working in the temple. Her experiences inspire me and make me desire so much to serve a mission with Kent one day. I have learned more from her than can possibly be captured in a paragraph. She truly is a woman who has bettered my life and I am SO thankful to have her influence in my life.

Picts of Braxton

Braxton is reading a book to Splash (the Koala)

and taking him for a ride on his horsie.

Splash is our first child Kent and I created at

build-a-bear on our first anniversary.

What a good brother Braxton is.

Daddy wears a big crown.

I don't know if Braxton can wear the same crown.

He is way too big for the bumbo seat. Look at the way he fit in it when we first put him in it.

Doesn't even look like the same person.

Brian's family. Brianna, Ashlyn, Shanalea, and Austin, with Brian's arm holding the shoe.

May the force be with you both.

"Here Braxton this is how you use a light saber"

Playing at his cousin's (Uncle Spencer's) house

Little ham playing with his train set. He LOVES this toy.

I made the track, but he is good at driving it.

The other day I was alerted to how much I put my hands on my hips.

His shirt says "I tried to be good but I got bored." It's perfect for this picture.

Where's Braxton?

There he is!
He LOVES these boots. They're actually a little too big,

but he always wants to wear them.
This morning daddy was going to feed the horses and when Braxton

saw him put his coat on he immediately grabbed his boots.

Long time comin'

Here are the pictures from Brianna and my birthday party.

Braxton is going to sit down like the adults.

Uncle Kent teaches Brianna how to lasso.
Caught something!

Now it's Michaela's turn.

Got ya Levi!

Cute little Ashlyn and her Grandpa Edwards.

See the two bills? I told Brianna it was a joint birthday party so she had to give me one. The little sweetheart agreed and offered it to me. I laughed and told her I had my own money from Grandpa and Grandma.

Make a wish.

My wish was for world peace. Not!

Cheryl has realized her true calling in life.

It's a good thing it's a strong horse.

Aaron wanted to wear the chaps too.