The Holy Ghost

Today was ANOTHER one of those great days at church, the lessons were WONDERFUL. In RS we talked about the Holy Ghost and while MANY of the ladies were sharing their special experiences with being prompted by the spirit...I didn't lack on having SEVERAL experiences myself. So...I just wanted to list a few of those here:

• When Brock was about 2 1/2 years old he had a little Power Wheels 4-Wheeler that he would ride around the neighborhood. One day I was out doing some yard work, Kory was being content in his little bouncer chair and Brock was riding his 4-Wheeler. Well...Brock kept heading down the street to a HUGE dirt hill and wanted to climb it. I wasn't too worried about that, but from where I was...I couldn't see him and I wasn't comfortable with that. So time and time again I would have to walk down the street and guide him back to riding in front of our house where I could see him. However, one of the times that I went to get him..he was not there! At first I didn't panic and I just started calling out his name, but of course...no answer! So then my calmness did however turn into a panic mode...and I began running up and down the street yelling his name, I was so terrified. Finally I decided to stop for a minute to listen...I don't really know what I was listening for, but here came a voice, clear as day, it said "He is in State Street". My heart dropped! I immediately ran back to my house, grabbed Kory and jumped in the truck to head towards State Street (which was about a block and a half from my home). When I came around the corner to where I could have a view of State Street, I couldn't see Brock but I did see all of these vehicles stopped in the middle of it and people standing out of their cars. My heart stopped! My first thought was that he had been hit by a car and these people had all stopped to help. I raced up the road and when I finally stopped, I finally saw Brock riding around on his 4-wheeler, in the first lane of State Street. I ran up there to get him and some lady said "I am sorry we are in the way, but this little boy has been riding his 4-Wheeler in the middle of the road and we are trying to get him to stop". I was EXTREMELY embarrassed but also SO relieved that he was safe and that nothing bad had happened. And when all was said and done and we returned home, safely, I asked him what he was doing...he replied "I was going to see Daddy at work".
• When I was pregnant with Kory, we had a scary experience where I went in for my sonogram and we could see that his little heart was skipping every fourth beat. I was told that these could be signs that he would need a heart transplant or that he may have downs syndrome. I had such a feeling of despair and sadness that my baby wasn't completely healthy and I remember sobbing for days. I was told that we would need a follow up sonogram appointment to have a second look. My Mom was so great and checked in on me A LOT to make sure that I was going to be okay and my dad gave me a BEAUTIFUL blessing and said that everything would happen the way that we wished for it to happen. I prayed A LOT for some comfort at this time. I had a doctors appointment a few days later and I remember laying on the table, waiting for the doctor to come in and check the heart beat...I was so scared and nervous! Just then, I felt peace and heard a quite voice say, "If the heartbeat sounds normal, you will not need a sonogram". Sure enough, the doctor came in and the heart beat was PERFECT! After I was checked the doctor asked me when I wanted to schedule my second sonogram, I told him that I didn't want one...and that I felt that everything was going to be okay. It was!
• When I was pregnant with Rachel I remember thinking...uh oh, this girl is going to be on the GO, ALL THE TIME...just like her Brother Brock! She was such a wiggly little baby in my tummy, it actually made each day a little fun and exciting just to see her little personality even before she was even born. When I got down to my final weeks of pregnancy with her, I noticed a significant change in her movement. At first I wasn't so concerned, because I know that when the baby gets bigger that they just can't move as freely like they did before. However, as the days went by I would notice less and less movement. I went to my doctors appointment that was a week before my scheduled C-Section. I expressed my concerns to my doctor and he assured me that it was perfectly normal to feel less activity. The second that I said "Oh, okay" I heard a voice in my head and felt a strong feeling in my heart that said "NO! This is NOT okay". Just then, I began to cry. I told the doctor that I just NEEDED to have Rachel! He must have felt SOMETHING because he did not argue and we scheduled the delivery for the next day. There was in fact something wrong! Rachel had the cord wrapped around her tiny neck THREE times. The doctor told me the next day that if we would have waited another week that she probably would not have lived.

So, as you can see...the Holy Ghost has played an EXTREMELY important role in my life. The Holy Ghost is a gift that I TREASURE and is what truly motivates me to be a good person and to do my very best each and EVERY day so that I can stay in tuned with the guidance that I receive almost daily!

Chocolate Waffle Cookies

I am posting this *just for you* Shannon. We made these YUMMY cookies at Shannon's house the other night and I told her that I would get her the recipe (I hope this is okay). Oh...and BTW, we made some yesterday too!!!!! We make these and eat them just as fast as they come out of the waffle iron...this is a GREAT FHE treat!!!

~Chocolate Waffle Cookies~

3 squares Unsweetened Bakers Chocolate

1 Cup Margarine

4 Eggs

1 1/2 C. Sugar

2 Cups Flour

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 tsp. Salt

Melt Chocolate over low heat. Add butter and melt. Beat eggs and add sugar. Combine eggs and sugar to Chocolate mixture. Add flour. Mix well. Cook for 1 minute on medium heat in waffle iron.

~Frosting~

1 square Unsweetened Bakers Chocolate (melted)

5 tbs Butter (melted)

1/4 cup Milk

2 cups Powdered Sugar

Note: if frosting is a little runny at first, let it set while cookies are baking.

Just what I needed!

The past couple of days have been sort of moody for me...sheesh, what is up with that anyways??? ha ha. Yesterday we went to my good friend Shannon's house for a BBQ with our family and their family, it was so great and it was so fun seeing Shannon's BEAUTIFUL home and getting to witness what a talented girl she really is...with decorating, scrap booking, being a great Mom and most of all with her talent of being so organized, WOW! (Can you say maybe a little touch of OCD??? he he...kidding!) Anyways, during our visit I was so amazed with how mild mannered Shannon's adorable little girls were and how ENERGETIC my kids were...yikes! It actually kind of got me down and made me feel like I have done something wrong not to teach my kids better manners, hmmmm? Anyways, while we were there...I was discussing this with Shannon and I told her that I was a little embarrassed and shocked of how my kids were acting...she said to me "Remember, God doesn't give us more than we can handle". It is funny because I bet I have been told that EXACT same phrase over 50 times since becoming a Mom!

Today wasn't much easier. For some reason I was EXHAUSTED and the fact that I had two meetings to get ready for...Leadership mtg., then church and the joy that I get to face every week with my kids fighting me about going to church just wasn't sitting well with me. I really went through the emotions this morning and really wanted to just crawl into my little hole...with some Chocolate, of course. However, I pressed forward.....I made breakfast, typed up both programs for both meetings, went to my first meeting, came home, made lunch, bathed and dressed ALL of the kids and went to Church...whew! Then here came my aha! moment. It is funny how rough the mornings are on Sunday when the lesson at church is EXACTLY what I NEED to hear...funny how that happens! Anyways, the lesson in RS was about trials and about how we should embrace them and lean on the Lord to share our burdens and to help us through them because after all...what was the purpose of the Atonement for anyway? Right? It was such a great meeting and I was truly grateful that I made an extra effort to put aside my frustrations this morning and make it to the meeting. Now, I am not going to say that I came home and all was happy, happy, joy, joy...because it WASN'T. I first had to throw my monthly tantrum about how I am the Mom and I do EVERYTHING and NOBODY helps me...wah, wah, wah, he he he. But I am better now...I swear! No more poor me...I am going to "EMBRACE" my challenges & trials and just know that I must be a pretty special person to be so picked on as a Mother! (he he *wink*)

April Pictures

WOOHOO! My computer is FIXED...finally! So here are some random pictures from the month of April.....

This was SO cute! Kory and Rachel decided that they wanted to build a car out of our stools and pillows...I just HAD to take pictures!

Kory gets to go to the Library at school every Tuesday. On the Tuesday before Easter he came home with this Homemade Craft Book because it had different ideas on how to decorate an Easter Egg...I thought is was SOOOOOOO cute that he would think of that!

Here are the kids...doing the annual coloring of the eggs, they had so much fun doing this!

Here are the kiddos Easter Morning...checking out the goodies that the bunny brought to our house!

Here they are in their *NEW* Easter clothes...ready to go to church for a very special Easter meeting!

The annual Easter Egg Hunts were GREAT at both grandparents homes, it really is a time that the kids look forward to and treasure throughout the year!

Here is Brittney Spears...at the concert! (sorry the picture isn't very good, my camera doesn't have a very good zoom apparantely...bummer!)

And...here are the Pussycat Dolls!
And here are us girls, waiting for the concert to start!

Wow...time has REALLY gone by! There has been A LOT going on in the last little while! So where do I start?

• Easter was WONDERFUL! On Easter Sunday we woke up to some gifts from the Easter Bunny, we went to church for a wonderful meeting, enjoyed lunch and an Easter Egg hunt at Clint's parents home, then ended the day with dinner and ANOTHER Easter Egg hunt at my parents home.
• Last week was Spring Break for the kids...NO SCHOOL! (YAY) On Monday and Tuesday we just hung out around the house, but on Wednesday we drove to St. George to spend some time at a Home that we borrowed from Scott's (my BIL) Uncle. On Thursday we went to the Dinosaur Tracks in St. George and went swimming at the Aquatics Center after. We had such a great time at both places! On Friday we went to Snow Canyon and did some hiking, then me, Clint and Skyler went SHOPPING! That night we drove to Mesquite to Clint's grandparents home, so that we could spend some time with them also. On Saturday and Sunday we stayed with Clint's family, did some Rhino riding and ate TONZ of food...woops! Overall, we had a pretty GREAT vacation...it was super fun being able to share it with ALL of our family!
• Oops...I almost forgot, on Tuesday night I went with my MIL (Miriam) and my Sister-in-laws to the Brittney Spears/Pussycat Dolls concert. We had a GREAT time and the show was pretty amazing!
• And here we are to this week....washing clothes, cleaning and recovering from a vacation hangover! Oh...and Brock and Rachel are home today, sick...BUMMER!

I know that seems like A LOT in just a few words...but I don't have much time right now, sorry! My computer that can add pictures is still having it's moment...so I will try to add photos when it decides to cooperate! Hope everyone else is having a wonderful week and enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather!!!!

Brock's in Little League!!!

So I am so EXCITED that our procrastonation didn't have a bad ending. Brock was able to get on a team...YAY! He will be playing this summer as a Cardinal! He was so excited and happy to see that not only did he make it...but he also has a friend on his team. I know a few of the other boys on the team and I think they are going to be GREAT this year. Have I said how proud I am of how Brock gained the courage to try out???? Well, I most definitely AM! Way to go Brock!

I can't believe that Brock is actually old enough for Little League Baseball ALREADY! He was a little nervous for this big step...only because with Little League you are required to try out to be able to be chosen for a team. You STILL get on a team, you are just picked according to your skills, I guess.

Today was the day for tryouts. Now I am not very familiar with how everything works and since Brock wasn't sure if he wanted to even play I hadn't really thought much about it, nor looked into everything that was needed to sign him up. Before today, I THOUGHT we had decided that he wasn't going to play...BUT at 5:00 PM today he came to me and said "Are we going to try-outs today Mom?" Note: tryouts were at 5:30 PM...YIKES! We hadn't exactly practiced, I didn't have a plan for where Kory and Rachel would go during the try-out process, Brock didn't have all of his baseball clothes together, etc. HOWEVER...I called my Mom to see if Brayden (my little Bro) could help and he wasn't home...then my sweet Mom just said to drop off the two younger kids...which we did and me and Brock headed for the ball fields. When we arrived there was a HUGE line of boys and their parents and EVERYONE seemed to know what was going on...but me, *gulp*. I asked around and found that we were supposed to pre-register and that the league was full...but they also said that they would allow him to try out and let us know if they could fit us in. At first Brock was EXTREMELY nervous and sort of threw a fit. I told him that I didn't want to deal with his attitude and we left the field. When we were turning the corner to my Mom's house, Brock spoke up "Mom, turn around...I want to do it!" So, we did just that and turned back for the fields.
The first task that Brock was tested on was to catch a ball that was hit to him and to throw it to first base. He was given three hits. The first was a fly ball, which he BARELY missed. The second was a FAST line drive right to him and he caught it!!!! The third was a grounder ball, which he also stopped. I must say that for a little guy like Brock...he sure does have power behind his throw! Each of his throws to the first base were powerful and right on task...go Brock!
The Second task that Brock was tested on was his hitting. He was pitched four balls. I felt bad for Brock because ALL pitches were a little high for him so he couldn't really show his FULL potential by hitting the ball into the outfield...like the previous years. However, he got a piece of each pitch and had an AWESOME swing!
I was so proud of Brock today...not only did he make the decision that he wasn't going to be a quitter...but he built up the confidence to shine in this somewhat scary moment. I love you Brock and am so so very PROUD! Now...I just hope he can make it onto one of the teams, because I know that he sure does deserve it!