Spiritual Food

One day, I was reading and realized how blessed I am to have records of our Savior Jesus Christ and to know about our Father in Heaven.  With that, we have modern day prophets to lead and guide us through this unstable world.  To have access to all things such as scriptures, literature, temples, constant nourishment to worship at church on the Sabbath day, and many more resources at my finger tips...  I also realized the importance for daily sustinance that our souls need.  Our bodies need to eat to function properly and at it's best, our souls are no different.  Sure it could skip a day or two, but it won't perform at its potential.   I still find myself wavering or forgetting to Trust God, because distractions become to great.  But I can only hope I will always turn back to Him and recognize that He is always with me and wants me to succeed.  Things have become so complicated in my life.  I long for the days I don't have to worry or evaluate so much.  Peace is a luxury I aim for.  I know He is there and I know I have to be patient.  He is teaching me and molding me into something so much better.  Its a painful process, but I know, it will be worth it.  I hope to be strong and become what I know I can become. 

Long Hair

My little cutie wants to grow his hair out.  He has a friend who has his hair longer.  We compromised and said he could shave the sides and grow the top out for a bit.  Today, he wanted to show how he could put it into a pony tail.  He's pretty excited about it.  Goof ball.

Diamond Fork

Melissa and I tried out Diamond Fork Canyon.  I hadn't been here in almost 20 yrs.  The hot pots are pretty cool, especially when no one else is around.

There was a man there that comes now and then to check on the place and clean up.  It was nice talking to him and learning how he tried to take care of the place.  Good to know there are people who care.  These rocks help to dam up the hot spring water and make little pools.  Really cool place.

Two Headed Monster

Trent left for Florida early, so we wanted to send him greetings from church.  This is my extra head coming out of my sweater.  Its a cute head, isn't it?   This is what I would look like with an extra head and 60 lbs heavier... and a photo bomber.

17 yr Anniversary

For our anniversary of 17 years of marriage, Trent had found cabins that the National Forests have.  He was so sweet to reserve this in Midway, a cute little town in the Wasatch Mountains.  He didn't realize how 'simple' it really was.  No bathroom attached.  There were community bathrooms back behind the cabin on the other side of the parking lot.  Oh, well, I didn't mind.  But the sign by the front door says "no peeing off the deck".  We understood why when we realized the circumstances.  I thought it was sweet and charming.  The view from the deck was awesome and secluded. For dinner we went to a Mexican Resturant.  It was really good.  It was raining so I didn't catch a pic of it to remember what it was called.  Oh well.  Afterward, we drove around and looked around.  We stopped at Walmart (I know, romantic, right) to grab a few things the cabins didn't have, like a blanket... ;o) and then basic groceries.  Doing the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace, we were on a tight budget and were ok to not have to eat out at every meal.  It was nice to work together on that. Then we stopped for ice cream at the local Dairy Keen. Next morning, we had breakfast and played some scrabble.  You can see it was a close one, but... I keep the title. :o)  Someone wasn't too happy about that. After breakfast, we headed back into Midway and explored.  This is something I wanted to check out.  Homestead Crater  From the outside it's just a big hill.  At the top there is a hole to look down inside.  We went inside on a side entrance. On the inside its a dome filled with 90 degree water.  The color of the water was spectacular and this feature was simply amazing and wonderous!  I loved it.  No, we didn't go swimming, but it was something I had heard about and wanted to check it out for myself.  Its a prime spot for scuba diving, because its warm year round, its like 90 feet deep, or something, and just a great environment.  Looking up Pano view... no, that is not Bemax from the movie Big Hero 6.  Kids joke about that... poor guy. Up top, the view is just as enjoyable.  Midway is a beautiful town.  A bit rainy that day, but the low clouds added to the charm. Later we hit the outdoor expo.  It was interesting.  Got a few things and tried a few things too. Watching the dog run was pretty impressive too. A simple but enjoyable weekend getaway.  The kids did great on their own too.  Happy Anniversary Babe.

Softball Season

Trent has played softball with his company every spring and fall.  He loves it and I had to get a picture, even if he didn't want it.  He's up to bat and hit it way out in the out field.  2 base hit.  No injuries that night, a good night. :o)

Big Step

Ammon rode his bike to his friends house.  It wasn't too far away, but enough that he wasn't too sure of himself.  I followed him in the van to keep his spirits up.  He was proud of himself to do it by himself.  My big boy!

Yellow Fork Canyon

This week, I invited my neighbor Jitka to go on a hike with Melissa and I.  I had never been in Yellow Fork Canyon, so I was glad to try it.  Its up the hills from Herriman.

This is why it was named Yellow Fork Canyon.  The moss on the trees are yellow and so pretty.  Because the leaved haven't filled in to much yet, you could really see the beauty of it.

I love Melissa's dog Goldie.  She is perfect and made me think about getting another dog to go hiking with.

Melissa, me and Jitka

Such great company.  A perfect day.

Trees In Our Yard

Costco was having a great deal on these non-fruit pear trees.  A few other neighbors had planted them on the strip of grass by the street, so we decided to also add to the charm of the neighborhood.  I don't have a membership, so I went with a few friends to get them.  I planted the first tree, but Jarom and his buddies helped with the second one.  Later Trent planted the last one.  The dirt was hard and rocky, so it was a lot of work.  But I sure love having more plants in our yard.

I love trees.  Hope to get more.

The Lie Monster

This was a fun FHE teaching about lying.  Each tenticle or lie made the monster bigger and scarier.  Undoing the monster was being honest and making things right from the lie. 

Breaking In, The Clip In

This day was a bit rough.  I'm still getting us to being clipped into my pedals, and as you can see, I had an incident where I was a fool and fell over.  I road south down Redwood Rd trying to make a personal best on distance.  This spot was 15 miles.  So in my mind that would be 30 round trip.  I pulled over to eat a snack and enjoy the scenery (desert but great mountains).  As I pulled off, I un-clipped my right foot, but leaned too far to my left and started to fall.  I wasn't able to un-clip my left foot in time...  down I went, like an idiot.  Glad no one was around to see the funny girl tipping over on her bike.  Sadly, my knee hit the edge where the road meets the gravel, so jagged rocks and rough edges cut through my pants.  Wow, this was painful.  I had nothing on me, so I had to just gently tuck my pants over it and hope to make it 15 miles back on a painful knee.

This would be a first of 4 more times I re-injure this knee!  You can see the pain in my eyes as I try not to look so painful.  hahaha  All alone trying to figure out if I could make it back.  Luckily, yes I did.  Trent actually sensed he should come looking for me 4 miles from home, because it did take me awhile.  I was so glad to see him.  Mentally I was done and the wind had kicked up.  He was a blessing.

Soccer

Needed to grab a picture of Ammon and his team.  Having half time treat.  He's doing a great job this season.  Having dad for his coach is always fun.

I had to add this...I will miss when Ammon stops bringing me these cute bouquets of flowers.  He makes me feel so special.  I love me sweet heart Ammon.  Please don't grow up too fast.

Hope Of America

Raegan was top middle, in yellow

I love going to this.  Last year it was Tarin, and Raegan couldn't wait for her turn.  Tarin came with me this year to see as a spectator.  Brought tears to my eyes to be apart of such a great country.

Raegan and Lindsey

March Maddness

Another round of good family competition.  The winner is...

Jarom won a giant cookie from Dad's famous cookie dough.

don't look to closely 

Snowy April

This just happened...  Weird weather we had this past winter.  It was very mild with little snow.  So this was nice, but strange.  On top of it, the wind brought all the tumble weeds and parked them into our window wells.  Lovely...  there were so many, I had to break out our huge tarp and pile them on and drag them out over the back fence, hoping they wouldn't return.  It was hard work and I froze.  But nice to have it done.

Enough snow fell to break out the snow gear and do some sledding.

Also, it was great packing snow for creative minds...

Post Birthday Festivities

Sunday, being back after a long week, Trent made me a birthday cake.  It was good to be home.

For my birthday, Trent took me shopping and I had gotten some shoes for my road bike and some clips for the bike.  I can't wait to try them out!

The Simple Things

Ammon loves to write notes.  I love this phase that all of my kids have gone through.  Ammon being the caboose in this family,  this will be the last of the cute notes.  My heart melts when he writes these.  Brings a sweetness to being a mother.

Spring Break At Palmer's

Thursday, we drove down from the cabin and visited my parents.  My dad was fixing tires on old bikes, so my kids took them for a spin to test them out.

That night most of my siblings came over for a BBQ to visit and eventually sang Happy Birthday.  It was nice, but I don't like being the attention.  I liked seeing my family.

Next day, my mom took us to walk around the Gilbert Temple.  It's such a beautiful place.  Love it there.  This picture is Ammon messing with my phone, he decided to take on of me. :o)

Came back and let the kids play in the cool water and warm themselves on the warm sidewalk.

Of course they got creative... slide+ slip-n-slide=awesome!

That evening we we hung out with a few of my brothers, because next morning we were up early again heading back to Utah.  A great week for sure.