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??



The Leprechauns came to visit

St. Patrick's Day came with some fun surprises!  Those silly Leprechauns moved our furniture around, sprinkled Leprechaun dust and left their footprints on our seats, BUT they also left us some yummy treats!!!!  Chocolate, Lucky Charms and some Leprechaun Floats!

For dinner we ate in green food style..sandwiches on GREEN rolls, GREEN grapes, KIWI, GREEN Caesar salad and Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds!  Fun night celebrating together as a family. 


I sure enjoy the time we spend around the dinner table sharing our experiences of the day, laughing and being together over a good meal.  I find that some of our best conversations are had here.  I hope our children will treasure this time we get to spend together...if not now, maybe they will appreciate it later when they are grown and have children themselves....after all, "The fondest memories are made when gathered around the table."

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??



Tender Mercies

Have you ever had one of those moments where you know the Holy Ghost has spoken to you, where you know Heavenly Father has answered your prayers? It's one of the moments you want to remember, to etch it in your brain for the next time.  I was blessed enough to have one of those yesterday.


I was applying for a new job.  I wasn't sure if it was Heavenly Father's will that I get this job, but I got down on my knees.  I prayed with all the power of my soul that I would know the things I should say, that I would have peace, that I would be confident, and that I would be able to share the light of Christ with the interview panel if it was His will for me.  I was so nervous as I was handed the questions I was to review for the next 15 minutes before I sat before the panel who would critique every word I said.  As I sat there writing my thoughts on that paper, the ideas and impressions flowed to my mind.  Before the time was up, I was confident on what I would talk about, but nervous to enter the room.  My time was up and as I walked in the room and looked at the 5 people who would determine my fate, a complete and utter calm washed over me.  I was able to think clearly and answer the questions without hesitation.  I was perfectly me!!


As I walked out of the room I couldn't help feel relieved, but more importantly so grateful for the tender mercy that Heavenly Father had shown to me.  In my moment of need He was there.  He lifted me up and He spoke peace to my soul.  I'm so thankful for this gospel, for answered prayers and for a loving Father who is always there when we need Him.

We're finishing our Basement!

The process of buying a house is LONG and frustrating.  We originally put an offer on another house, but when that deal fell through because the square footage was smaller than was originally disclosed, we were left looking for another home.  Our wedding was only 3 months away and we were getting a little stressed about having a neutral spot for everyone to start our new journey together.  We kept looking...and looking...and looking it seemed.  When we found this house, I was drawn to it.  I knew it only had 4 bedrooms which would mean we would have to either share or finish the basement.  I remember looking at it for the first time and something about it just felt like home.  The previous owners had put some work into the main and upper levels, they had reinforced the cement floor in the garage that is over the bonus room, and they had put in a deck and did some landscaping out front.  It seemed so inviting to me.  We looked at it a few times and had some inspections done on it.  I knew this was the house for us...and fortunately so did Rex!  When we put the offer in it already felt like it was ours.  The kids all liked it and were excited about what it could be for us all too!


Our basement was never, ever finished since the time it was built in 1979.  Having 4 kids and only having 4 bedrooms upstairs meant that someone had to share...2 somebodies in fact!  Thank you to Lucy and Cecelia for taking one for our team! 


So yep...we are finishing our basement! .....AND  it's almost done now!!  We are so close after a year of working on it, its almost finished!  We decided to use a contractor and there have been good and bad with that.  Some things have been smooth and some have been extremely frustrating...but that's all part of remodeling right!  If there is ever a next time for this, Rex and I would just use subcontractors to do specific jobs!  We have learned a lot through this process, which is the goal right!!


I know it was challenging to have such close quarters for awhile, but now...everyone gets their own room!  And we get an extra bathroom and a bonus room!!  Not to mention the washer and dryer moved downstairs and we have a mud room for our shoes and things!  Rex was able to put in our laminate floors on his own and now we are just having the last part of the carpet laid.  Soon the kids can all have their own spaces! 


Its been a long time coming, but it was so worth the wait!  I'm excited to have our house complete!


Here's a short video of some of the pictures I took during the process!

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Heather

Ready for Kindergarten

She's ready for Kindergarten, but her parents might not be!  We are excited for her to go to school and grow up, but it makes us a little sad too!  She is our last child at home.  Its a little bittersweet to have them all going to school now.  But, boy is she ever excited!!  She can't wait to start and 4 months is a little too long to have to wait for Kindergarten!  At least we were able to go to registration and she got to meet the teachers and see the classrooms and the school.  So glad she has something to look forward to!

Love this girl!




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Heather

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