Any Excuse

Now that my brother Trevor and his adorable family have moved to Henderson
 :( we find any excuse to get together if we are going to be in their neck of the woods. For example if we are going to Costco....We will call them up and have a family reunion at Costco. Can't you just picture it, 3 shopping carts, 5 kids, and 6 adults all shopping together :) It is a site to see.
Last week Amy and I wanted to get the kids out of the house, besides the grocery store. We decided to take them to the Ethel M's chocolate factory and cactus garden or as some else called it "Fall Cactus" (lame). It was close to Kate and the girls and so we invited them too, because everyone needs an excuse or someone to go out with when you have kids. We also invited our new friend Alisi! However when we went to go pick her up, she was still babysitting. We tried to wait for a half an hour to see if the mother of the child would come, and unfortunately she didn't. So Alisi was unable to come with us :( next time!
Trevor though had gotten off work a little early and he was home when Kate was getting ready to leave and He came along with us. Although we sure missed Alisi company we had a nice time.

The weather was nice and and the small chocolate sample was great too!

Not quite But close

I've had my halloween decorations up for awhile now :) I just recently took pictures though so now I will share what I have created.

And there it is! Not quite like my pictures from previous posts, but close enough for me! Next year maybe I will have more bats!!

A Mother's Kiss

Talking with my sister this morning helped me realize the power of a Mother's Kiss.
Julie came inside crying, again, because she bonked her enormous head for the 4,000th time. Amy had kissed it better and she went about playing again.
Now yes, Amy is not Julie's mom, but the act of a mother's kiss making everything better for a little child is something funny and amazing.
How much better would this world be if mother's everywhere gave their child a kiss everyday. And Mother doesn't always mean you have your own biological offspring. Aunties, Sisters, Grandmothers, Friends, and Cousins may at times be acting mothers, second moms, or the one that a child goes to for comfort.

Woman everywhere!!!!! unite and kiss your child, niece, nephew, grandchild!! We can make the world a better place if we never forget to kiss our children and tell them that they are a child of God!!!

It Went Where?

So I have been debating about whether or not to write the things I have been going through. I didn't know if I wanted to write it now or later after a few more things happen :)
However, here I am and here I am typing.
We, James and I, have both had the impression that we are to prepare for another child in our life. I am excited, James is nervous, scarred and feeling a bit overwhelmed. No matter the uncertainty, we have always listened to the promptings of the Lord and we have always been blessed.
After having two children within the first two years of our marriage we felt it was right for us to have some form of birth control. After discussion and prayer we decided on an IUD. So for are first step to follow our prompting from the Lord there was a need to have it removed.
Everything I read stated that removal was quick, simple and less painful then insertion. I went into my appointment prepared to come home with knowledge and satisfaction that we could start preparing for a child. However, I left the appointment, nervous, a bit upset, a referral to have an ultrasound, another appointment in two weeks, and as I knew string-less with a mirena iud still in me.
How wonderful it would have been to have just had the ultrasound in the next room over and not have need for the nervousness, referral, or other appointment, BUT insurance always seems to get in the way of something.
The ultrasound went quietly, since the tech is not aloud to give any information about what is seen. Which again was unnerving.
I can tell you that I was at home searching everything I could find about no string on iud, lost iud, doctor can't find iud what's next, and anything and everything between. I had no idea what was to happen.
The day of my appointment finally came and as I sat in the doctors waiting room I stayed calm, and I know that was because I had received a blessing the night before from my husband. 40 minutes after the scheduled time of my appointment I was finally taken to an exam room with a weird looking contraption that basically had binoculars with many lenses and a light and well, they need to find a less bulky less intimidating contraption. As I sat in the room for 10 minutes a nurse came in to inform me that they were waiting for the ultrasound techs, at the location I went to, to fax over the results. So I sat and I waited and I started to watch SVU on my phone, but then felt a little awkward watching that in a gyno's office with that huge contraption that I swear you would see on that show in the medical examiners office. As soon as I turned it off the midwife came in and sat down. She started off with informing me that everything looks great and healthy, but that there was no IUD in me.
WHAT!!!!!Where did it go? Are you serious? These were my thoughts and words that I used.
I was informed that sometimes the iud can come out. But wouldn't I notice that?!?! I mean hello! I sure noticed it going in and I am pretty sure I would notice it coming out. Apparently I didn't though. How long had it been out? Who knows!
I left the appointment grateful for the fact that I didn't  have the contraption used on me, and that there was no pain of probing and prodding to try and get something out. I also left with the thought that God has a sense of humor and knows all things. The timing of us, James and I, praying and being conformed in our desire for another child and the timing of the IUD just being gone is not a coincidence to me.
Now with the IUD being gone and knowing it is gone it might explain some of my mood swings I have been experiencing for the last month or so. I have been looking again online for hormonal changes after a removal, but everything is so vague or the link I click on doesn't even talk about it, when it says it does. For a few weeks (the weeks before my suppose to be first appointment removal) I was feeling depressed, overwhelmed and just plain tired of everything. Then I went to waking up okay, to being irritated by everything, to say something to me and I'll snap your head off and eat it for dessert, to just leave me alone, to I don't want to do anything, to I want my husband. Hormones are so not the business when they are all out of control!!! Yesterday I finally started feeling normal and it lasted the whole day. I am hoping that it stays that way for awhile, but with us trying to get pregnant who knows how soon or fast that will happen and when those pregnancy hormones will start to kick in.
As of now we are not pregnant. Some may think that we should not be having another child in our circumstance, but to them I say "keep your thoughts to yourself! I was counseled and told that the decision to have children is a matter between Me, My Spouse, and the Lord. I have taken care of, nurtured, and provided for my family and their needs. If you think you can receive revelation, guidance, or know what is best for me and my family you are mistaken."

Busy Busy

I still need to update with pictures from when we went camping over Labor Day weekend. However this was not the day to this.

Today was a day of baking and running errands. It started off with my Mormon Mimosa and an almond poppy seed muffin ;) I needed a pick-me-up after an early morning.

And of course tonight is Young Womens, which I am excited about, and I was asked to make cookies. I have wanted to try this new recipe for awhile, but I haven't had some of the ingredients or I wasn't in the mood. So my young women are my guinea pigs. With my list of other things to do I decided to make these first.

Next on the list was cinnamon rolls. I usually would not decide to make them unless I was asked, and well last night we had the missionaries over for dinner and it was transfer day and so every transfer I make cinnamon rolls for the missionaries...however...the only thing that Elder McClure said he wanted was cinnamon rolls and I needed the oven for tater tots to finish off the dinner, you can guess what won. I promised the Elders cinnamon rolls for today for lunch.

After the baking was done and the Elders had come we (Amy, all 3 kids and I) went to Michael's. We needed to get a few things for a cake we are being hired to make!! Yeah!!!! My first paid cake!!!
On to the craft store that carried butcher paper for my fence in the front room :) (that will be another post)
 So my day wasn't totally swamped, but we came home and I left to head to the dentist. I had gotten two teeth filled recently and may I say that before I went and got them filled I was in NO PAIN. However I have been for the last week. He ended up filing down one of the fillings and that has helped a lot, but he informed me that it will still be sore for awhile. Dang it!!!! I guess that means another Mormon Mimosa to help my day start off good is calling my name tomorrow morning. Yes I can hear into the future :)

Halloween is a coming!!

You may find me wierd, and well I may be a bit, but I love halloween!!! I LOVE Halloween!! I think I love the decorating, the candy, the haunted house, the trying to be brave, but hoping to be scared, and making cute outfits for my kids!!!
Talking with my Sis, Kate, we decided we want to have a halloween party this year! I have been so psyched since then! If I could I would start putting up decorations right now!!! I want to sell everything I can to get money for decorations, meaning fabrics, candles, fake bones, and paint to make my own tombstones.
I know my front yard would be perfect for a grave.

I have rocks throughout the whole front yard, not to mention the perfect tree for my ghost to play.

And of course you know that every spooky graveyard needs bats!

And that is only for the outside! In the front room I want to put up a fence along the walls.

I have, well...the best way to describe it is plant hanging hooks in the front room. What better way to put them to use than to put chandeliers hanging from them.

Other things I am in love with:
   


I am going to make the candles (already have the white candles from my wedding) and yes I want the candle holder too.

James thinks this next one would scare the girls to death, and well my plan would be to put it right on the walking area into the kitchen :) (kind of like a do not enter sign for the girls)
  
This would be perfect for an invite to the party that Kate and I want to throw.

And there it is, a small portion of what I want. Yes I know there is a difference between wants and needs, but one day I will have some of these things.

Happy 50th

Saturday we celebrated my Uncle Henry's 50th birthday. His birthday was almost 2 weeks prior, but it was a surprise party :) The whole theme was a luau. When he came over to the house across the street to help move something on the patio we were off to the side with the Hawaii 5-0 theme music playing and yelled surprise!! He truly was surprised!
Since it was a luau theme I was thinking of doing a volcano cake, but Helton convinced me to do a roasted pig cake instead (since they weren't going to have one).
It didn't turn out how I really wanted, but it still looked good. Some people said, "it looks to gross I just can't eat it," some one else said "that's to real for me." So I guess it looked better than I thought.

James had asked a few boys from the Samoan branch to do a dance and they said they would, but it was ill planned and much more ill executed. So James and I ended up doing some dance stuff. We started off with helping my Uncle Henry and Aunt Geneal do a lit bit of a "fruit salad," as James called it. He would say pineapple and you would move your hips to the right, orange for the left and banana for the front. Everyone got a kick out of it. Aunt Geneal said "how do you do banana?" She tried to do it and then Uncle Henry said "I've seen you do it better than that." :) So after their short little dance, James and I did a bit of a Tahitian dance. I did pretty good until the music started going really really fast and my thighs decided to burn like crazy. Everyone enjoyed it though, including us.