Why Hello :)

So grateful today that I got to see my Daddy! I may have only been able to see him for a little while, but it was so nice to get to chat with him about how life is going. I have missed my parents like crazy since we moved back to Cedar City. Don't get me wrong I love Cedar City, but I do miss all the people I love back in West Valley. It is hard to go from being close to family and seeing them whenever you want to moving 4 hours away again. I am a lucky girl to have such an amazing dad. He was always there for me and supported me always. I love watching one of my dance videos and you hear him yell "Go Bear!" Hearing that makes me smile everytime. I am lucky to know how much my dad loves me. I am also super lucky to have had a dad who was good to not only me but my mom as well. He showed me how a man should treat his wife and children and I have to say I chose someone who is great to us. I am so thankful that I had such a great example that has allowed me to have such a great life! I love you so much Daddy!

moving RIGHT along..

Okay so today I had an idea of what to right about and be thankful for and todays events have created more things to be thankful for. I was worried at one point along this challenge that I might have a day where I struggled with finding something to be thankful for and worried about repeating anything. Honestly though I could still possibly have that problem but I feel it is highly unlikely. For one, there are so many things to be thankful for. Two, can you ever really be to thankful for a person? Lastly, there are like a million reasons to be thankful for just one thing. At least that is how I am feeling now but we are only to the end of February and my challenge is running through October. I have enjoyed the "Attitude of Gratitude" this has always created. I think it is a positive head space to live in and I enjoy how it effects the rest of my life!

Okay so I was going to just write about how thankful I am to my husband. He is so romantic. Yesterday he just showed up with a dozen white roses just because he loves me. Is that not the sweetest thing ever? I am glad that he brings me flowers because he loves me and not because he feels like he needs to apologize or suck up. I love that he wants to surprise me and even more then that I love that he chose white roses. The reason for that is because the first high school dance we ever went to together he brought me a dozen beautiful white roses. I know cheesy right. I don't mind if people think that though. I love my husband so much and I could not be happier or luckier to have such a wonderful loving man in my life. Thank you Geoffs for just being you and loving me for me!

The other thing I was not expecting today was a blessing from our favorite doctor ever, Doctor Newman. In our house we love Dr. Newman. The boys look forward to seeing him and he is always so willing to listen to and explain whatever we need him to. We have been going to Dr. Newman since before Ian turned 1. Needless to say we all get along pretty well. He is also the doctor who took care of Owen and Dessa before they were ever born. We trust him and are so glad to have that amazing of a doctor! Today I had to go into the doctor. I am not currently uninsured, but I had no choice. He made sure that the visit was not to stressful on our family finances which I am beyond grateful for. Words cannot say how grateful I am to him for taking the time to care that much for our family. If everyone was lucky enough to have a doctor like him then kids would never hate the doctors office! Thank you Dr. Newman for being such an awesome doctor.

failed...

Just as I managed to get caught up I miss a day...go figure.

Okay so yesterday I had one of those moments that you can't help but be grateful for. As anyone who really reads my blog (which is like no one) knows I love my kids! They are my whole life and whole world. I wouldn't change my life at all. I gave up a lot of what I use to do and enjoy to take on being a mom, but it was well worth it. I eventually will get back into those things I know that so what is 18 or so years to enjoy such a sweet time raising such beautiful children for the world. I know they will move on and have their own lives and hopefully they are happy ones full of love and I pray that I will get to be a huge part of their life still, but I also know when they move on that I will be sad. I have no doubt that I will need something to do with all my time when that comes around.

Anyways sorry for the long introduction...There are so many sweet moments that I get to witness of my sweet babies alone and together. I am so grateful that I have a camera around to capture some of those beautiful moments. I really need to get pictures up on my blog but who knows when I will manage that. I am just so glad I can take pictures and get them printed. That I can share pictures with my family online and that I have them to hang on my walls!

Feb 25- I am so grateful that my little Owen bug is so willing to sit down and play fun educational games with me. Due to his delay in speech I put in a lot of time trying to help him catch up now that he can hear. Honestly thinking about the fact that it has only been a year come the 28th that he could really hear my little boy has made leaps and bounds. I know that is because he such a happy hard working little guy. He does enjoy the new games we make up to learn our colors and the fun little activities we pull out. I love that he is so willing to try. It is an amazing thing to watch a childs drive and determination. I am so lucky to have my sweet little boy!

iS iT oDd To Be GrAtEfUl

Have you ever had those days where life just didn't make a whole lot of sense. Well today is one of those. We went to a beautiful funeral today and listened to many people who cared for this man that passed away and heard how he had come so far in his life and was on the right path just to be taken from us all to soon. Isn't that just crazy!?

This week has been an interesting one as I have almost felt guilty to be happy, hungry, or grateful. How can I do all of those things when my friends lost their son. I have come to a realization where we must move forward in a positive way or we are wasting our lives which is not what anyone would want us all to do.

I am happy to say today that I am so grateful that my friends family is doing well. Yes they are heart broken and sad, but they are also in a way at peace because of their faith and they are full of love. The services today were a perfect send off to their precious son. It was such a wonderful thing to see them with a positive outlook even in a time of such pain. I love them all so very much and will continue to pray for them as they work to move forward in their own lives!

Not so Speedy Update

Okay so here it goes...
Since we moved Aiden has managed to read up to a fourth grade level and then he got switched to the Dual Immersion so he is now reading both English and Spanish. He loves the program and does come home and say some of the words he has learned. I love the most when I see him pull out the Spanish homework and he says "Mom, I know what to do." He is so confident and I love that. I hope that he gets to stay confident in both himself and school. He is such an amazing boy and a huge blessing. He is a great big brother as well. He has his moments, but then don't we all.

Ian up north was skating along in school. Since moving back to Cedar my sweet boy has been doing a lot better in school just in regards to class behavior. School work wise he came down into his class with no great handwriting. He has an amazing teacher who works with him at school and between her work and mine on pushing him to "do his best work" he has come so far in such a short amount of time. He has such a fun personality and though he still is clueless sometimes he is pushing himself to achieve more. I am so proud of my little guy and all that he has accomplished so far. He also has grown as a brother. He is a lot better at paying attention and playing careful. I have watched his love for his siblings grow as he has started to pay more attention to the world around him instead of being in his own bubble. I am so proud of him and I love him more then I could ever say. I will share one of my scary mom moments....

Ian rides the bus to and from school and has been doing so for about 2 months now. We have never had a problem until...
That one day :)
Ian gets off the bus with a little boy who lives across the street. I am a weird mom and I am usually outside when the bus drops them off but not quite to where the bus stops. So about 2 weeks ago Ryder gets off the bus and I wait for am minute and there is no Ian. I asked Ryder if Ian was on the bus at first he said "No." I thought okay he just stayed at the school and now we have to go pick him up. I hope he is okay and not freaking out. Then Ryder looks back up at me and says, "yes, he was." By then the bus had started to drive forward. I was freaked out a little but started to run after the bus. The bus had one more stop on our street so I started trying to wave the bus down when it stopped. I had no luck and the bus drove off. At that point I wanted to just sit down and cry as I couldn't catch the bus and who knew where my son was going to end up. I didn't because I wanted my son back so I ran to the top street hoping to catch the bus before it left our neighborhood. I did talk to the bus driver and he had said he dropped little kid off on our street and that the kid looked like he knew where he was going. So I started running back home. The bus driver had looped back around and dropped Ian off by our house. When I saw Ian I was so relieved and I did break down and cry and I think everyone here thought I was a little crazy, but I am so glad that my sweet Ian made it home to me. I have said a few times since then make sure you get off the bus with Ryder and so far we have not had any more problems. I hope it stays that way!

My little Owen bug. He is such a fun little guy, but oh boy is he a little spit fire. Part of me can't get made for him being a little wild, because it has been part of the development that he missed that first little while when he couldn't hear. I am so glad to see him grow and learn new things all the time. I am so glad that I stepped up and had him checked when he wasn't talking. He has been delayed by that, but now that he can hear he is catching up quickly. The only thing he is still  working on is self help skills which seem to improve on a weekly basis and his speech. The boy has caught me off guard a time or two because he will just all of the sudden say something so clearly that he couldn't say days ago. It is an amazing thing to watch him learn these skills and put them together so fast. In an odd way I am kind of glad he was delayed and that it is fixable. It is very interesting to watch a little bit older of a child pick up skills that such young "babies" have. It is amazing how the brain works honestly and the order things are suppose to fall in. I enjoy watching Owen bond with his sister and to learn not only how to talk and do all of those things, but how to become a big brother and a kind boy. I love him more then I could say. He is a spit fire and will give us a run for our money but the fun and loving moments will always be in more abundance!

Sweet little Dessa...
My little girl is still little, but she has grown a lot. It is funny to see such a tiny thing with such mature gestures and behaviors. I am in love with this little girl. Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he sent her precious soul to our home. All of us love her and our family wouldn't have been complete without her. Little miss Dessa is not a big fan of the baby stuff and wants to be as big as she can be. We sit her at the table in her booster seat which is where she wants to be. She will hold her hands up for you to put the tray on and wait until it clicks before she puts them down. She doesn't like the walker at all, and loves to crawl back to the boys and play in the room with them. She will crawl on their beds and just sit and laugh with them or at them while they are being crazy. She still won't walk on her own, but she did take a step today all on her own so I think that is coming along! She is full of personality and has a cheesy little grin which isn't shocking because personality seems to be big around here. Then again would you really want it any other way? I know I wouldn't. As much personality as she has she has a sweet heart. She is still cuddling me. She is a mommy's girl big time and I am so not complaining. She is so calm and quiet most times and just wants to sit on you and cuddle. It is nice to have one calm one. I am not holding my breath that it will last though. Not with crazy brothers like hers. :)

We are so blessed to have such amazing children and our lives would be pretty dull if we didn't have them around. They are our greatest blessing and such special gift from God. I love being a Mom and I know nothing else in my life will give me as much joy as these sweet spirits do. That being said I am also beyond lucky to have such an amazing and loving husband.

Aarron is an awesome dad. They love him so much and you know that he loves them as well. He is kind and loving and so willing to help them learn. He is such a hardworker. He doesn't always love everything that goes along with his job but he does it anyway. He puts in the time when he doesn't want to and when I don't want him to either simply because it needs to be done. He is such a caring person and applies that to his job. I love to see the man that he is on a daily basis. He is still working at Chrysalis and already making a difference in the house. He is good at what he does and I believe it is because he cares about the people he works with and wants the best for him. I am so blessed to have such an amazing example in my life for my children and myself. We have grown a lot as a family and individuals in the past 7 years and I look forward to seeing how we have grown in the years to come.

If you read through this I hope you weren't bored to tears, but it is important to me to keep track of this journey we are on and to express my overwhelming love for the beautiful people who bless my life. I love them all if you couldn't tell...I love them more then I could ever say to them so I will do my very best to always show them how important they are to me :)

Jibberish??

I am so grateful today to have wonderful friends to talk with. It has been good over this last week and the trials it has put on so many of the people I care about to get out and talk through our feelings and about what is going on in each others lives. It is so nice to have people to share the good and the bad with. People who love you and understand and are right there with you. I can't really say I have understood everything that has come about or why it has had to but I do know with all my heart that Our Savior and Heavenly Father do love us unconditionally and that they are right there with you to touch your heart and heal it and to hold your hand and guide you through all those tough moments that life does present. I am grateful to have had those moments in the week where I know my testimony has been strengthened and where I have also had the opportunity to come to terms with my friends death. This year was especially hard as I just turned 25 and he died at 25. I also have a weird perception on time now because Aiden was born just weeks before my friend died so 7 years seems so fast when I think about Aiden, but then I think about Brian and 7 years seems so long. I know he is in a good place and that we will meet again.

All of that being said my friends did lose their son on Monday and he happens to be 25 and his younger brother just turned 17 which is how old I was when I lost my friend. It definately made me confront a lot of what I had not yet done after he died. I think I had not allowed myself more because I didn't know how to. I had just become a mom and I was in a whole new situation trying to figure out how our lives needed to go, and because Aiden was sick my focus was not on grieving. I am heartbroken for my friends and there loss. I wish they didn't have to hurt so much and that there was something I could do, but I cannot. I am glad to say I have walked away from this week healed from one hurt and that even in the midst of a new pain I know that we have a forever and that "it's all good." I am praying that my dear friends can heal now and I will continue to pray that they have the love of our Savior to help them through such a rough time. Honestly rough doesn't seem to cut it in my mind but it is the best I can do as I don't think words describe what they are going through.

kEePiNg Up

I am beyond grateful for the amazing and inspirational stories that we come across through talk shows or that we read about. I love that it shows the good people we have in the world still because sometimes it seems like there is so much bad around in the world. I hope that I raise my children the right way and that they will add to the number of good people in this world. I also hope that I number among the good ones and strive to better myself daily. So to all those people who will probably not read this Thank You for being such good hearted amazing people!!!

Just a little behind

So my lack of internet has put me just a little behind right...a little uh huh. Here comes my list which hopefully means I can stay caught up from here on out. I have come to really enjoy this challenge of mine. It just puts life in a better perspective.
Dec. 14th I am grateful for warm blankets in cold weather.
15- I am grateful for the beautiful snow and how it blankets the earth in such beauty.
16- For sweet words that loved ones exchange
17- For that strangers smile on the rough days
18- Having a home to set up for the holidays.
19- To have gotten into our apartment before Christmas
20- For the beautiful spirit of Christmas season
21- For being in control of how I feel and not letting anyone else decide
22- For the book that my Mom helped me get together for Christmas
23- For our wonderful Christmas traditions
24- For my really pretty brand new Christmas tree
25- For being able to be more of a kid then my kids sometimes and waking them up early for presents
26- I am grateful that I am able to clean my home after the crazy holidays
27- I am grateful for the fun sleep overs we get to have on the weekends with the kids.
28- I  am grateful for the beautiful sun the warms things up a little after the freezing cold
29- I am grateful for fluffy pillows to lay my head down on.
30- I am grateful for the food in my fridge
31- For having been taught to cook
Jan 1- For music
Jan 2- For the ability I have to dance
Jan 3- For creativity
Jan 4- For Books...I love books!
Jan 5- For video games to play as a family
Jan 6- For hygiene products. That might sound weird but I am glad we live where we do.
Jan 7- For my beautiful baby who came into this world 7 years ago today.
Jan 8- For movies especially Disney
Jan 9- For puzzles that help children develop needed skills
Jan 10- For Stephanie Carpenter who has helped my sweet Owen baby so much
Jan 11- For amazing doctors who we are lucky enough to have back
Jan 12- For alarms that help me stay on track on the days I am a complete scatter brain
Jan 13- For people smarter then me
Jan 14- For hair ties that keep my hair out of my face.
Jan 15- For money to pay bills with
Jan 16- For bills because it means I have a home
Jan 17- For the Dual Immersion program that Aiden was able to get into even though we are half way through the year
Jan 18- For my wedding ring because it is a constant reminder that my husband loved me enough to promise me forever
Jan 19- For the wisdom of others
Jan 20- For my own life lessons...even though sometimes life is hard
Jan 21- I am grateful for paper to write my random thoughts on so I can try to create something from them later
Jan 22- For lip stuff especially when my lips are super ouchy
Jan 23- For lotion for our skin
Jan 24- For boots in the cold snowy weather
Jan 25- For nice clothes and shoes to wear to church
Jan 26- I am grateful for girls night outs
Jan 27- I am grateful that those girls I spend time with that all of our spouses get along as well
Jan 28- I am grateful for wonderful examples in my life
Jan 29- For the moments my kids still want to snuggle with mom
Jan 30- For the sweet kisses my kids give me unexpectedly
Jan 31- For Aiden still wanting to hold my hand because I know sometime sooner then I want he will no longer want to do that.
Feb 1- For being here still to share my life and love with my family
Feb 2- For parents who taught me how I should learn to let my kids grow and make their mistakes and catch them when they fall.
Feb 3- For the patience I have and that others grant to me
Feb 4- For the people who sit behind desks answering telephones so that I can get an answer to my problem
Feb 5- For the art class I took when I was younger that I still happily remember
Feb 6- For Matheson Jr. High because it is where I met the love of my life in a 4th period choir class.
Feb 7- For the shows I watch on T.V. that I use to relax after a rough day.
Feb 8- For my mom teaching me to crochet
Feb 9- For the opportunity to meet new people all the time
Feb 10- For Insanity because even though it is a killer workout I know it is helping me get healthy
Feb 11- For the knowledge that I get to be a great example to my children
Feb 12- For the help of a loving Heavenly Father to help me succeed to be that good example.
Feb 13- For memories that live on long after life has moved along
Feb 14- For a husband who wants to do anything he can for me to be happy...I already am but I hope we both never stop doing those things for each other
Feb 15- For having known Brian Miller who was a shining light in my life
Feb 16- I am grateful for hair brushes because my hair sure does get crazy.
Feb 17- For the amazing primary class we get to teach now
Feb 18- For the ability to do something for my friends who are hurting even though it isn't enough
Feb 19- For the safety of my children and I wish I could grant the same to my friends
Feb 20- For a Heavenly Father and Savior who lovingly comfort those of us in need and I know he will do that for all of us!

Sorry this is so long but I really did need to get caught up funny enough I feel like I could just keep going on. It is so wonderful to be able to be grateful for so many things in our lives!