Warrior

This year was such a year of growth for Kaylie with her dance life.  She amazes me.  She was invited to audition for a ballet routine, which was by invitation only.  She made the cut.  She was so nervous to dance with these other extremely talented and longer tenured dancers, whom she admires so much.  They are beautiful dancers.  She also was introduced to the world of guest choreographers.  Jacki Ford of Jo and Jax choreographed this piece.  It was stunning.  They competed it so well each time this year.  I'm grateful for the opportunities Kaylie has had while dancing this year and for all of the amazing teachers, friends, fellow dancers, choreographers, and directors she had learned so much from.

Congrats Kaylie!

💗💗💗💗💗💗
Heather

PS...Isn't this picture gorgeous!!!!

God Loves Broken Things

I am constantly looking for other women who are going through or have been through the same things I am struggling with.  Blending families, divorce, remarriage, raising kids...whatever it is.  It seems like it is always easy to find the negative or discouraging things out there, and I know that is part of the journey, but its so special and uplifting to me when I find someone who can be in the midst of a trial, but still be trying to find happiness. And can show that happiness throughout their struggle.  Not every day maybe, but more than they are projecting negativity, and also that they can show they are making it through and so can I.   It's the way I want to live, the way I am trying to live, although I know I need to work on that a lot!

Yesterday I came across Calee Reed.  She is a motivational speaker and a songwriter, singer.  She spoke in Time Out for Women in 2017 and talked about a song she absolutely loves called "Broken" by Kenneth Cope.  She also talked about a form of Japanese art called Kintsugi.  It means to repair with gold; the art of repairing pottery with lacquer and gold or silver powder, understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken.



She goes on to say that she hopes that as she comes closer to the Savior that He can make something beautiful of her broken pieces.  And I just LOVE THAT!  Don't we all feel like we have so many broken parts of us?  There are so many things that we find ugly within ourselves..things we want to just hide away, but with the love of our Savior and His refining power He is able to put those pieces back together in a way that is beautiful and powerful and we can see His light within ourselves.  I love this image and imaging His love woven through the cracks in our lives and the love that we feel knowing of His love for us.  And hopefully others will be able to see that too!

I love this message.  I love that others help us on our journeys.  I love that God loves us so much that He uses us to help each other.  I love that through our brokeness (Is that even a word??)  that we become better beings and closer to what He wants us to become.


Here are the words to "Broken" and also a link to her cover of the song:

BROKEN (Words by Kenneth Cope; Music by Kenneth & Eliza Cope) —inspired by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Broken clouds give rain
Broken soil grows grain
Broken bread feeds man for one more day

Broken storms yield light
The break of day heals night
Broken pride turns blindness into sight

Broken souls that need His mending
Broken hearts for offering
Could it be that God loves broken things

Broken chains set free
Broken swords bring peace
Broken walls make friends of you and me

To break the ranks of sin
To break the news of Him
To put on Christ till His name feels broken in

Broken souls that need His mending
Broken hearts for offering
I believe that God loves broken things

And yet, our broken faith, our broken promises
Sent love to the cross
And still, that broken flesh, that broken heart of His
Offers us such grace and mercy
Covers us with love undeserving

This broken soul that cries for mending
This broken heart for offering
I’m convinced that God loves broken me
Praise His name—my God loves broken things
So, broken cloud—Give rain
And broken soil—Grow grain
And broken bread—Feed man for one more day

Calee Reed cover of Broken



Happy Wednesday Everyone! ❤

💗💗💗💗💗💗
Heather

Spring Break 2018

This is the last Spring Break before our daughter heads off to college.  We offered a few choices of where we might go for spring break and she chose to see 4 National Parks; Kolob Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Park.  They were awesome!!  So amazing that these places exist....Beautiful beyond belief!!  Make sure to see the petroglyphs in Canyonlands at Newspaper Rock.  We all loved seeing those.  Amazing that they have survived this long!!

We decided to get the America the Beautiful Pass.  It's basically a year of unlimited access to any National Park.  It was $80, but well worth it.  It saved us time when entering the parks and we only had to pay once!  If you are visiting enough parks to make it worth buying then you definitely should.  They sell them at most of the visitor's centers.  I have linked the website to the pass above that you can check out and see where to buy them!!

We did 4 parks in 5 days with 4 kids, 2 parents stuffed into a Toyota Highlander, 24 hrs of driving, 2 stopping places and LOTS of fun!!  The kids were great!  I prepared ahead of time with some car games.  I found some great websites, Landeelu.com and Mum in the Madhouse for some games to play while driving.  And of course we played some of the classics..the alphabet game, the name game using the alphabet, and the license plate game, which we found all but 12 states!  Everyone wanted Hawaii, but no luck!!  We even drove around the outlook parking places looking for different license plates!!  We had a lot of fun just being together and seeing all of the beautiful landscapes of the national parks!  We had to stop at the Visitor's Center of each park and get a window sticker for our oldest to put on her hydroflask.  Of course there was time for sleeping and also for using their electronics.  I did like that most of the time there was no cell service.  It really gave us a chance to interact and spend uninterrupted time together!  Here are a few of the sites.....

Kolob Canyon

Bryce Canyon

Mesa Arch at Canyonlands

Capitol Reef

It was so much fun to hang out with our kiddos and make some memories!!  I treasure each family vacation we take.  Not only do we get to see cool things, we get to grow closer together as a family and build our family relationships.  If you read my blog you know that we are a blended family.  It is essential to me to spend as much time together as we can.  We only have a few short years to live all in the same place & build our relationships so these times are priceless to me!  Love this family of mine!!

💗💗💗💗💗💗
Heather

In the Details

I have been blessed with some tiny miracles, some tender mercies, some little experiences that show me that God is in the details of our lives.  That He wants to be in the details of our lives.  He knows us and loves us individually.


As I have said in the recent past, I am a newly called 2nd counselor in our Young Women's presidency and I have the privilege of working with the 12-13 yr old girls in my church.  I love them!  They are full of life and energy.  They are funny and caring and kind.  It's such a joy to be able to share experiences with them.


As a challenge to them and to help them complete their personal progress, (Click on the link to find out more about that program) I have issued them a challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days.  I have reading schedules and a book where they can write down their thoughts, feelings and favorite scriptures as they are reading, treats to be earned, a group text to share our thoughts with each other or to share on social media and other fun things to get them motivated to read!  (If  you are looking for some great ideas on this, check out The Red Headed Hostess!  She has some great stuff)  When I was preparing this, I kept looking for talks by our church leaders about the Book of Mormon and the blessings we receive from reading it.  I prayed for experiences outside of what I was going to do for the girls so that they would see how important it really is to study the Book of Mormon.  Each time my prayers were answered in little small ways...ways I couldn't have imagined.  Of course...because the Lord knows what each of us need to hear and how it will impact us the most!  Time after time they came....people bearing their testimonies in church about the strength the scriptures, specifically the Book of Mormon, gave to them.  At a fireside our bishop's closing statement was almost an exact copy of what one leader taught the girls in our Sunday school class about how they needed to not only know the scriptures in their minds, but they needed to feel it in their hearts by witness of the Holy Ghost that they are true. 


Then there were messages in our group text about what the scriptures meant to them and why that particular verse stood out to them.  I love hearing their thoughts and feelings.  Then one girl shared her favorite verse for the day...1 Nephi 4:6 "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." She then said that we should follow the spirit the first time it prompts us to do something.  It reminded me of the blessing I received when I was set apart for this calling..that I needed to act on my first impression.  Then again at a fireside I attended last night, where the incredible Josie Solomon spoke.  She too quoted that same scripture.  We need to trust in the Lord and follow Him and serve Him and our fellow man.  We never know whose live we need to touch.  We may be the only person who can touch that person in a way that will change their lives for the better.  But if we ignore that first prompting, we may miss our chance.


By the way...if you haven't read or heard Josie's story...you should!  Here is a link to her blog.  She is inspiring.  The things that she has done with her life are incredible.  She is truly amazing...a light to people.  I can't say I would fight back as hard as she does if I was in her situation.  She is a true disciple of Jesus Christ.  Just BEAUTIFUL inside and out!


I guess in short...I am saying that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father love us.  They want to help us and they are there for us always.  Even if we can't see it at the time.  They are woven into the details of our daily lives.  I'm so thankful for this knowledge, for this inspired help and for the opportunity I have daily to make a difference in the world around me.

Bear Lake for the Day

This year for our end of the summer family vacation we all decided to go to Bear Lake.  The kids have never been there and I haven't been since I was a kid!  So we packed them up and took a trip!  We actually stayed in Paradise, UT because we have a family home there and also because I didn't realize it was Raspberry Days in Garden City and there were no hotel rooms available at a reasonable price!  But it was only an hour drive from Paradise to Garden City, so you can't beat free!  Even if there is a little more of a drive!!


We started our day off at Minnetonka Cave.  We had heard so many great things about this stop.

It did not disappoint!  3 out of our 4 kids had never been to a cave before and they didn't know what to expect.  They loved the rock formations and the history of the cave.  Our tour guide, Kinzi, was awesome!  She answered questions and gave us a great understanding of the cave.  Their favorite part was being able to touch the 1 rock that you're allowed to touch in the whole cave!  Their least favorite part???...They all forgot jackets and it was a toasty 40 degrees in the cave!!  And 888 stairs!  And they are slick!  We all took our share of almost falling on our bottoms!!  Overall, what a great time spent at Minnetonka Cave!


The next stop on our trip was actually on the way down from the cave on the Minnetonka Cave Road, Blue Pond Springs.  Its just a little turn off on the main road...if you blink you might miss it!!

It was a fun little shallow pond.  It was literally 2 mins off of the road and beautiful.  It was clear and clean.  Very easy to see the bottom of the pond and fun to skip rock across.  We only stayed for a short time.  We had heard there was a moose that likes to frequent this pond and bask in the sunshine.  Unfortunately for us, there were no moose sightings!  But still a nice place to visit.


Next stop...Paris Ice Cave!!  We have been told so much about this place too!  Some of our friends told us about this quaint little place when we told them we were going to Bear Lake.  They told us how much their kids enjoyed it and how cool (literally) it was when they entered the cave.  Another friend told me that her Grandfather used to go to that cave back in the day and actually carve ice out of it to take home for his freezer.





I honestly wasn't expecting that there would still be snow there, BUT there was!  And it was definitely cooler in the cave.  There are 2 parts to this cave...the first one is the room you walk into from the outside, which has a big opening in the rock so its only a partial "cave".  You can then make your way around some other rocks to a small opening where it then opens up to another room with more ice and snow.  Keep in mind if you are going to do that, be sure to wear clothes you don't care if they get a little dirty and wet.  And its slick!  There is still a lot of ice covering the unsteady rocks ( and this is August people!!) so BE CAREFUL!  I loved this place and knowing a little bit of history of the cave.  It isn't a guided tour cave so it made it a little more fun to be able to see it at our leisure!  The drive to it took about 45 mins up Paris Canyon and not right off of the main road, but it was worth the drive.  The top of the cave was covered in wildflowers and grasses.  Very pretty!


Next on our list, and my favorite part of the day, was Bloomington Lake.  This fun place is about 12 miles up Bloomington Canyon.  The road is very rough and is dirt the entire way.  It is a popular spot to go so there was a lot of traffic & the roads are narrow.  It took us about an hour to get up to the trailhead, but it was Raspberry Days so I am sure there were many more people than normal.  It was about a half mile hike into the lake.  The trail is fairly easy though & our 7 year old made it with ease!  But check out this view.....

It was so beautiful...this picture does not do it justice!  The rock cliffs behind it..the clear water...all of the green grass and wildflowers.  And snow!!  It was so amazing!  This is quite the place for kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, cliff diving...and there is even a rope swing.  Although there were many people there, it didn't feel over crowded to me.  There was plenty of space to enjoy some time with your family.  I could have spent all day there.  It was really fun!!


Last stop of the day was Garden City.  We took advantage of being in the place with the world famous Bear Lake strawberries and ate at the Quick N Tasty and of course had the raspberry shake!  Then we walked around the town days booths and stopped at the beach to take in some of the lake!  Because, that is what we came for!!

It was beautiful, peaceful and relaxing!  The kids had a blast just playing in the water & sitting around talking after a long day of exploring!  I had forgotten how blue the lake is.  And I seem to remember it being very cold...but not so much this time!  It was perfect!




This was the perfect getaway for a quick trip!  I definitely want to come back to Bear Lake!  Its so close and well worth the time to take in all of the beautiful scenery and fun small town feel.  I have so much fun with this family of mine and I can't wait to plan the next trip!  He's having fun...I promise!!

Here is a video of our trip!



1st Day of Spring

I don't know about you, but there is something about spring that I love!  Maybe its the new flowers popping up, or the warm afternoons, no coats, flip flops, the beautiful sun shining again, the laughter of the kids exploding through my kitchen window from the backyard.  I think my favorite thing about spring is the renewed hope it gives me...a new year waiting to be lived....to be enjoyed...to be shared with the people I love!  Hope in the journey.  What's your favorite part of spring??



Brighton 2016

This year we got the opportunity to stay up at Brighton Ski Resort in a cabin with my sister and her family.  It was just an overnight trip, but it was just what the doctor ordered!  Lots of R & R, games, laughter and some snowshoeing....and food....LOTS of food!!  Kaylie and I were the only ones in our family that had been snowshoeing before!  And we LOVE it!  It was fun to sharing something we like with the rest of our family who hadn't done it before.  I think for the most part everyone enjoyed it!  We snowshoed around Brighton on the flat part of the lake.  Cecelia had a bit of a hard time because she doesn't like to walk that far, but even she soldiered through with us having her strike a pose for a photo when she was getting a little tired!

It was a beautiful day for snowshoeing!!  The sun was out and it wasn't too cold!  What I loved most was spending time with my sister and her family, my mom, my brother-in-law's sister and her family, his mom and my cute little family.  I love the memories we make together and I hope they last a lifetime.  It's important to have memories as a family and I love making them with my crew!

No trip with my sister is complete without a group selfie!!

Sleeping baby!  Man did he ever work hard up there on Dad's back!  Cute Owen!

The scenery!  If you haven't experienced Utah in the winter...its a MUST DO!

The kids at the finish line!  They all made it!  YAY!!!

The adults have to pose too!

Love this fun family of mine!!!  If you've never been to Brighton or never snowshoed...you should!  It's a blast and something the entire family can do!!  Happy shoeing!!

💗💗💗💗💗💗

Heather

Moab for the Win

We are officially only seeing each other and we decided to take a trip with our kids to Moab.  We know it's only February and we were probably insane, but it all worked out!! 

The weather was almost perfect & not very crowded this time of year!!  We walked right into every arch and didn't have to wait for any people.  The kids got along and there wasn't any fighting.  Rex's youngest is 5 & she got tired of walking during certain parts, but we tried to help her and carry her some so we could see the things we all wanted to see.  We ended up getting a condo instead of 2 hotel rooms.  It was cheaper and more comfortable to everyone.  I would definitely recommend doing that if you have a big family.  Everyone can have their own space and enjoy the trip.  Also, cooking is ALOT cheaper than eating out for every meal.  Since we went over President's Day, entry to Arches National Park was free. However, its only $25 for a private vehicle with up to 15 passengers, so still really affordable! 


Here are some pictures of Arches!  Did I mention, its absolutely beautiful!!

This is Double Arch

This place was really cool & the kids LOVED it!  Especially Ceceila!  You hike into it and then there are sand dunes to play in and an arch...hence its name, Sand Dune Arch.  Really a fun place if you have smaller kids!!

Landscape Arch is in the distance.  The kids think they are so cool in this pic, (and lets be honest...they are!!) they got the perfect photo bomb!  But we LOVE it!  I think this is one of my favorite memories of Arches!  I love that they did this!

We also went to Dead Horse Point State Park.  This is where the "almost perfect weather" comes in!

Yeah..it snowed!  We tried to get out and walk around and see the visitor's center and the outlook points, but it was just plain too cold and wet!  So, we didn't get to see as much of it as we had hoped.  We also had plans for Canyonlands, but it was in the same proximity and was getting snow as well so we bagged that!  I will say that the snow falling around all of the red rock made a beautiful sight.  We'll have to make that trip again!


Rex's sister and her family also came out for a few days too and it was fun to get to spend some time with them and get to know them a little bit better.  We were also able to see his parents for a little while.  They were on their way to serve their mission in New Mexico.  I'm really glad that we decided to take this trip together and get to know each other better.  It was a great way to spend President's Weekend!

💗💗💗💗💗💗
Heather





Stacie & Joe

 

 

 On January 11, 2014 my sister married her soulmate, her best friend, her other half.  It was a day filled with family, friends, but most importantly love.  Everything about the day was amazing.  They were married at Wheeler Farm.  After months of planning, the big day was here.  The decorations were perfect.  It was a beautiful event.

 

 

Our family photo with Grandpa Howells

 

Her bouquet!  She made it herself with old broaches and other jewelry from our family, friends and some new ones to build memories with.  Both of our grandmothers are deceased, but they were both in attendance through this beautiful tribute to them as well as in spirit!!

 

Our Brierley Family

 

The view from the balcony.  Beautiful and Perfect!

 

The day was just as amazing and filled with love as they were.  It was a fun and special day with a photo booth and all!  I mean what kind of a party would it have been without that...Stacie LOVES pictures!  I love you both and am so lucky to have you in my life!