Share Goodness

Lately I have been inspired to do more, to share more of my life experiences with other people, to be open and authentic, to just share more!  I have to be honest, sharing my personal experiences with other people, people I know, people I don't know, people who may or may not judge me, people who have similar or different experiences...you get the point 😉 ...but it scares me to death!!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE sharing my experiences with people when it happens organically through conversation, but to just put a thought or experience out there is a little frightening to me!

I have been thinking alot lately about what my contribution to the world is.  What am I doing that could benefit someone else??  I feel like I live in a unique situation.  I am the wife of a widower and a stepmom to 3 adorable kids, a mom to 1 amazing daughter and a survivor of someone close to me who ended his life by suicide.  I know that none of these experiences are unique alone, but together they give me a perspective on life that few people have experienced.  I am feeling more and more that I need to share my experiences with others to lift and guide others to a positive place in their own lives.  To spread goodness to all that I can.  I know that life can get hard, but I also know that there is so much joy to feel too!!

I am kind of new to the podcast world, but I have been listening to some that have given me courage to do what I didn't do before...begin sharing...and know that its ok that it might be messy as I'm learning how to do that and I don't have to be perfect in doing it, and it's ok to fail and start over again.  It will be more real and authentic as I find my way through this and share my thoughts, feelings and experiences as I go along.  I want people to remember me for trying to do good, to share real feelings and experiences and to love and help people through my journey so they can also see the goodness inside themselves!!  There are soo many good people out there and it's been inspiring to me to hear some of them through these amazing podcasts that are out there!!  I'll start sharing them as I listen to something that has lifted me up!!

So for today, this will be enough!  I am starting on the journey that I hope will change my life and your life, if anyone is reading this, for good!!  I will post a little get to know me soon!  Go out and do something kind for someone else today!  A small good deed can change someone's life 😊

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Heather

Updated: Blended Families Part 3

Here we are again...another year gone by and more lessons learned in the world of blending families.

We have been married for 3 years now.  This year has had it's up and downs too.  I feel like this year has been smoother in most aspects.  Everyone knows the rules and has their own space.  They are integrated into their schools and social lives.  They are thriving and are such great kids.  Rex and I always comment on how our kids have been through so many hard things and yet, they are great kids.  They don't have major issues, just the normal growing pains.  They might be intensified by their losses, but they are amazing and always find a way to cope.  We feel so lucky to be their parents.

This year our oldest daughter, Lucy, graduated from high school and left for college.  This totally changed the dynamic of our home.  She was the most responsible one.  The one who helped and nurtured our youngest the most.  She was the one we knew we could rely on.  BUT...it was time for her to start her own journey, which we are thrilled for.  She has been looking forward to this for a long time and we know she will do great!

The other kids are adapting to life without Lucy.  They are building their relationships with each other much more.  They are coming closer and learning more about one another, which doesn't always result in happy endings.  There is still teasing and fighting and learning that they aren't always right, but I would say that overall they are doing great!  Cole is now the oldest child at home and he has taken that role on willingly and does what he can to help his siblings and us, the parents as they like to call us!  Kaylie is becoming the fun sibling that Cecelia needs and entertains her and does fun things with her.  Cecelia is growing up quickly.  She is curious about the things around her, which sometimes gets her into trouble because she is always wanting to try new things!  There are small changes in the household like chore charts and other household responsibilities, bedtimes, who gets to stay home and watch Cecelia instead of going out with their friends, and who gets to pray or read scriptures AGAIN since you just did it at the first of the week, but it's your turn again.

Rex is amazing as always.  His patience with all of this is almost superhuman.  He is constantly building me up and helping me through the challenges of life.  We still make all of our decisions together...kids, house, work, everything really.  It makes it easy to support each other and our family because we both have ownership of the life we are building together.  I know that doesn't work in everyone's situation, but for us that has been essential.

We are excited to see what great things are to come this year!  We feel lucky to have so much love and support from our families and friends!!  This blended family business is challenging at times, but it is so worth it every day!!  Here's to another year!!!

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Heather

15th Birthday

This girl is officially 15!!  She brings soo much joy into our family.  She is happy, kind and loves a good blanket...no serious....she has 14 of them!  Her favorite gift this year was her new Minky Couture pineapple blanket! She is getting ready to take her drivers test to get her learners permit (WHAT?!?!?!), busy dancing her way through life and squeezing in as much time with her friends as she can!  We are so proud of you Kaylie!  We can't wait to see what great things you are going to accomplish!! 

Happy Birthday!!!!

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Heather

Spreading Love

My sweet friend lost her dear mom over the weekend.  To brighten her day after the long, grueling day of the funeral, I had the young women and other leaders I work with in my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, write little notes of love and appreciation for my sweet friend and her daughter.

On the day of the funeral, I snuck over to her house with my little 8 yr old and we put them on her door!!

Just one small way to show her how much we love and appreciate her.  I hope it was a little moment of happy in her day.

"Never suppress a generous thought" -Camilla Eyring Kimball


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Heather

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Us!

I can't believe I've been married to my dream man for 3 yrs.  3yrs on the 3rd....Isn't there a special name for that...when your anniversary falls on the date you were married?  Well in my world its a celebration!!

This year it was on a Sunday!  So...we did the things we would normally do, like church and hung out with the kids....all except when our youngest threw up at the dinner table!  Not awesome!!  We made sure she was alright and then it was off to Anniversary Inn...(check it out if you haven't been, it was awesome).  We had treats and watched movies & just enjoyed our time together.  Since our anniversary falls over Labor Day, we had Monday to hang out together.  We checked out a reclaimed wood store we have wanted to visit, but it was CLOSED!  So being our fun selves...we headed home!!

I love that we can have fun just hanging out together, doing the normal every day things that a family does.  That is what a real relationship is to me.  Its not just the going out every night, spending money and impressing each other...its the real things of life...the good and the hard things, but we face them all together.  Thanks for sticking with me Goodman!  We make a great team!!

Happy Anniversary!


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Heather

Family Pictures 2018

Each year we do this...each year there is finding a photographer, (we used Whitney Charles Photography...and she was FABULOUS!!!)....planning color schemes...coordinating outfits....searching till the last minute to find things to wear....less than excited husbands....kids crying....kids making faces or scowling....laughing...You all know what I'm talking about.  Family pictures are not what they look like in the final project...but we do them.

We do them for the memories....

We do them for the good times we remember when we aren't posing for the camera....

We do them to remember what otherwise we would forget...

We do it to remember the different stages of life our kids, nieces and nephews go through...my nephew is cuter than your nephew!!  😉.....

We do it to remember the photobombing teenagers....

Mostly we do it to remember the loves of our lives...the precious moments and memories we share with these beautiful people we share our lives with ❤

And somehow at the end of all of the chaos and the tantrums and the smiles, we are left with something beautiful...something we can cherish for a lifetime.

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Heather

Families are Forever

Today is one of my most favorite days!!  Ever since she was born, I hoped for a day when I would get to have my daughter sealed to me forever!!  As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we believe that we can be with our families forever.  Through the sacred ordinance of sealing, we can have this blessing for our family....and today was that day!

It was such a special experience to have all of our children in the temple with us for the event.  We were all able to participate in Kaylie's sealing.  The temple workers were incredible and were so excited to have children in the temple, since most times the youth are only there to do baptisms for the dead, which is in a different part of the temple.  Our kids felt like royalty and were definitely treated that way!  They had their own special changing rooms and things to do while they waited for Rex and I to get ready.  Then we were able to meet together in the special sealing rooms.  We all dressed in white.  We all felt the Holy Ghost.  We all knew that this was God's will for us.  He loves us and wants us to be happy and return to Him someday to live as families with Him.

After the sealing, we of course took pictures outside of the temple.  Then we went home and had pizza with our family who came to witness this special time in our lives.  We laughed and ate and enjoyed the time we had to spend together.  Families are a gift from heaven.  They are there to celebrate the good times and help us through the bad times.  They are what brings meaning to our lives!  We are so thankful for all of the love and support we get from our families.

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Heather

If you want to learn more about our church...click on the link here.

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! ❤

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Heather

Rainbow Love Notes

Sometimes as a stepmom I wonder if I'm doing it right, if I do enough, if I am enough, if these littles (and not so littles) entrusted to me feel enough love and support.  Its a challenging situation when you are blending families.

This weekend my daughter and I were out of town at a dance competition.  And when we came home, this is what we found....

What a precious little gift.  My cute little 7yr old made this adorable card for us during sacrament meeting and had each of the family members sign it.  Such a sweet sentiment for this mom!  I love this family.  I love being a part of it and I love that as time moves forward we are able to share more love and kindness with each other...especially ones with handmade rainbow love notes!!

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Heather

Highlights of 2017

2017 has been a good year for me.  I know there is a lot of bad happening in the world, but I try to find the good in things despite the bad things going on around us.


We've had some milestones as a family and individually!  We have all gone through some hard times and had some really good times blending our family.  I feel like this year has been the best year yet in terms of blending..hard, but getting stronger as a family, accepting each other and trying to find love for one another.  Here are some of my favorite moments from this year.....




In January 2017 our oldest daughter got her driver's license!!  OH No!!  Look out world here she comes!!!!!

Also in January, our 2nd oldest daughter was able to go to the LDS temple for the first time and perform baptisms for the dead!  It was such an awesome experience to have all of our children who are old enough to go be there all together for this experience!

For Spring Break in April we took a trip to California!  I was able to go to my inlaw's almond farm for the first time, Newport Beach (which was Kaylie's first time to the beach...at 13...epic mom fail!!), Disneyland and Las Vegas to visit some family!  It was a great trip...with LOTS of driving....but a week of fun!!

In May, our son Cole finished his Eagle Project.  He fundraised, bought, tied and delivered fleece blankets to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.  He did this to pay back and say thank you to them for all of the support and care they gave to his mom while she was undergoing cancer treatments.  He hopes in some way it will bring some happiness to others in that situation.  It was so rewarding as a parent seeing him not only give back, but give back to something that touched his life so deeply!  Way to go Cole!

In July I finished my VERY FIRST furniture restore!  It was so fun for me to try something new and something out of my skill set!  I enjoyed it and have done a piece or 2 since!  Check out my journey with chalk paint HERE.

In August we took an end of the summer family road trip to Bear Lake.  It was the first time some of us had been there...Check out my post about it HERE. 

In October we did family pictures!  I LOVE THEM!!  I'm grateful to my husband for putting up with this sometimes stressful addiction of mine!!

In December we started what I hope to be an annual gingerbread house/people/train decorating extravaganza with my mom and sister.  Heres the 1st annual....

And lastly, also in December is our annual Christmas Eve family selfie...it was a record this year I think we only took 5 photos!  Love this crazy tradition!!

As I look forward to 2018, the word that has become my goal is Balance.  Life is all about balance.  I need to find more of that in my life.  And I think what it really comes down to is just trying to be a little better this year than last.  Life is a progression and I want to keep moving forward, trying new things and becoming a little kinder and more centered so I can focus on what really matters to me...and that is my Family and Friends...people are what really matters in life, but all of the other distractions cause me to lose sight of that at times.  So balance has to be a priority for me this year!  Lots of new experiences are coming our way this year and I am excited to see where they take us!


Happy 2018 Everyone!!


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Heather

What's your Why??

Today while scrolling my Instagram feed I came across a post from @mintarrow asking "What's your Why?"  It got me thinking about why I do what I do in my life.  Why I married a widower, why I raise these adorable kids, why I go to work every day, why I try so hard to treat others with kindness, why I work so hard in my church callings and share my feelings about God.

I do it because, like many others I'm sure, I feel good and successful and blessed beyond measure.  I want to share my experiences with others and hope that it helps someone else. I raise these kids because they deserve as much love as they can get...even when their biological mother isn't me, but I love them (and my biological child) and they are my kids none the less.  I love my husband beyond what I thought possible.  I can't imagine my life without him & so of course I want to do as much as I can for him.  I work hard so we can all play hard, so I can learn new things & meet new people.  I love my church and the people I meet there.  I love the teachings and lessons about God.  I am forever grateful for the knowledge of my Savior and the wonderful blessings I receive because of HIM.

So the underlying message here is LOVE.  I live my life in hopes to show others love.  I have my weaknesses though and love doesn't always win out.  I'm moody, tired, stressed, overworked and underpaid just like everyone else, but I'm trying to build people up instead of drag them down.  I love my family.  I feel so blessed to call them mine.  I have so much fun with them and I love the time we are all able to spend together.  I love the stages of life they are at, I love to see them learning and growing.  I love hearing them laugh and building these memories with them.

So tell me...what's your why??



Its Easter Time Again

I don't know about you, but Easter is one of my favorite holidays.  The beginning of Spring, time to spend with family, coloring eggs and Easter egg hunts, lots of food and my favorite part about Easter??  Its remembering the Savior Jesus Christ, the Atonement, the love he has for each one of us, the opportunity we have to repent and try again.  Because of Him all of these things are possible.

My Easter day usually consists of my church meetings, an Easter egg hunt with my family and lots of yummy delicious food!

We usually try to color our eggs the day before Easter and that silly bunny ALWAYS hides them from us!!  We used a dye kit this year and did some of them that way, but then we also used whipping cream and food coloring and let the eggs just sit in that for awhile.  Some of them worked!  It was fun to try something new this year!!

This is a few of us after the Easter egg hunt sorting through the spoils of the day!!  We have the Easter egg hunt at my aunt's home.  She has a lot of property with horses, a barn and a chicken coop and is the perfect place for the egg hunt!  We are so thankful she hosts this event every year!!  Candy, money and an Easter basket for everyone!!  That sneaky bunny really knows how to help us have a good time together!

The day isn't complete without a family picture to remember the event!  Thank goodness our kids are all accepting of my photo obsession!! 


I hope your day is filled with the memories of a loving brother, Jesus Christ and his atonement, with food, family & lots of fun!  HAPPY EASTER!!!


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Heather

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!!

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Heather

Provo City Center Open House

Today we were able to attend the Provo City Center Temple open house.  It was FREEZING!  But soo worth it!  I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  We believe that sacred ordinances are performed in temples.  Learn more about temples HERE.


This temple was so beautiful.  It is the 2nd temple in Provo and was previously the Provo Tabernacle until it was destroyed by a fire.  Read more about its history HERE.  I am thankful we were able to walk through it with our family before it was dedicated.  Our kids loved the baptismal font and the celestial room.  I think what they loved most was being able to experience it with their cousins!


I'm thankful for my beliefs and for the Savior Jesus Christ and for all of the people who worked so hard to bring this blessing of the temple to us all.

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Heather