For the Love of Tia Ana....(a kitchen makeover story)

After only five days of being home from Hawaii, I was on a plane to Bismarck, North Dakota to help my tia (aunt) do some home improvement projects. She had asked me a few months ago if I could go out there and help her get the house ready for my cousin, Ammon's, high school graduation open house. I really wanted to help and since I couldn't go out for Ammon's graduation, I knew that this would be a great opportunity to spend time with him, Sam, and my Uncle Al.
When my sister Evelynne, found out I was going out there she wanted to tag along too, but she wanted it to be a surprise. So when we landed in Bismarck, she waited until I met up with Tia Ana and we were loading stuff into her car. Ev sneaked up behind her and scared her half to death....it was awesome!
We landed at around 4pm. I went straight to work. The past few weeks Tia Ana and I have been emailing pictures, paint swatches and other ideas so that when I got there we could get started. We had only planned on doing some painting (kitchen, dining room and family room), but I realized right away that the kitchen was going to be my main focus and this is why....

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Here are some "during" pictures....

 

I really didn't realize I would be taking on such a huge project. I had done back splashes before but never a counter top. I usually have A there to help me out so this really was a big job.

We borrowed a tile saw from someone, but it has some issues...I had to have someone hold a part that was broken so I wouldn't get sprayed. Poor Ammon and Sammy had to be my helpers. 

Finally I couldn't take it anymore. My brother Ben found out about our tile saw problem and offered to put up the money to rent one as a "Mother's Day" gift to Tia Ana. So Uncle Al went and found one, the only one available in the entire town of Bismarck. We could only have it for 2 hours and it cost Ben 4o bucks, but it was sooooo worth it!

My Uncle Al is hands down one of the best men I have ever known. He has been blessed with many talents, but being handy is not one of them. He was in awe/scared of my skills.

While we were there, Ammon arranged for us to go to his choir class. He is an amazing singer and he is in two of the elite choirs in his high school. We got to listen to his concert choir sing. They were so fantastic. They performed three Chicago songs. I could have stayed all day and listened but I could only drag myself away from the work for an hour.

My other cousin, Sam, was in a play one night, so we got to go and watch him perform.

(he's the "girl" in the pink)

  

He was the lead and he stole the show! I am so glad we got to watch him perform.  Thankfully his play lasted only an hour so we were able to get right back to work again.

So I was in Bismarck for five days but only four of those days we were able to actually work. We didn't go to bed before 2am and we were up and working by 9am. It certainly was not Maui but I loved every minute I was able to be with my family. My Tia Ana and Uncle Al have done so much for me.

My love for them is deep...go here to read more about that...they helped raise me and they have supported me and loved me during the most critical times in my life. Doing a kitchen reno is the least I can give back to them.

So now you know where I have been and now I am back. I have lots of Maui to share and SO much more! Stay tuned...

Oh I almost forgot!....this is what was waiting for me when I got home last night...

Look closer...ignore the hideous picture of me...

Yes, I am going to Tim McGraw next week! Yeee Haaaw!

I. LOVE. MY. HUSBAND.

In the right place, at the right time...

A week ago today we were in fabulous Maui. We had an amazing time and I, of course, took tons of pictures and I have some entertaining stories to tell...but first I wanted to share this experience. It turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip and certainly one of the highlights of my life.

The last time Aric and I went to Maui we didn't go to church because we didn't know where the church was until it was too late. So this trip we made sure we had all the info we needed to get there. The meetings were supposed to start at 9am. We got a cab and pulled into the parking lot at 8:50am. For those of you who know us well, I'm sure you are shocked that we were so early...anyway we pulled into an empty parking lot. It seemed strange and our cab driver was hesitant to leave us. Aric saw a sign taped to the front door of the building so he went to check it out. While he did that another car pulled up. There were two sweet little grannies in it. The sign said that it was stake conference and the meeting started at 8am at a building that was far away. While we discussed what to do with the two older sisters, two other cars pulled up. We sent our cab away because we  had already figured out a ride back to the hotel.
By 9:05 we had over twenty people there. It was decided that we would have a testimony meeting. We opened the meeting with a song and a prayer. We all sat on the patio of the chapel over looking the ocean. For an hour and a half we bore testimonies of Christ and his gospel. Stories and scriptures were shared. The spirit was indescribably strong. I will never forget it.
One brother mentioned the scripture  Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
I know Heavenly Father blessed us with his spirit as we testified to each other of Him and His Son Jesus Christ.  As we sang, prayed and cried together we felt a closeness that only the spirit of Christ can provide. Each of us could have chosen to play instead of worship that day. We came from all across the country to vacation and yet we all knew that there is no vacation from the Sabbath.
We came from Arizona, Utah, Indiana, Washington, California and Oregon. For an hour and a half we were a temporary ward, we had Young Women and Young Men, Primary and Relief Society. Most importantly, we had the priesthood to preside and that was all we needed.
We closed our meeting the same way we began, but now we felt truly like brothers and sisters. We started out as strangers in a church parking lot, and left as brothers and sisters bound together by the thread of the gospel.
After the prayer I grabbed my camera, which I conveniently had in my purse and took a picture of our congregation of 43 strong.

 

I am so grateful for that experience. I feel the spirit all over again just writing about it. I know that we were blessed to be at the right place at the right time.

*****

To my temporary ward...thank you for sharing your testimonies with me and Aric. Our testimonies were strengthened by you and we are better people for having met you all. We will treasure our time with you forever...xoxo

Mothers Intuition and Other Stuff

First of all...sorry I have been absent. I will explain later...
So last week Maya got a bug bite of some sort, actually she got two of them. I'm no expert but they looked like the run of the mill mosquito bites. After a few days one went away the other looked a little puffy and red. Two days after looking puffy and red I took her to my backyard neighbor, who happens to go to my church, and also happens to be a dermatologist. He said it looked like an infected bug bite and to watch it over the next 24 hours to see if it spread or if Maya got a fever. The next day it didn't look like it had spread but the bulge definitely felt bigger. Maya was complaining of the pain and I just didn't feel right about it. So I called our doctor friend and he got us in the next morning.
After two other doctors consulted they all thought it looked like an infected bite and thought that doing a biopsy was a bit much but they couldn't give me a true diagnosis without one. The last thing I wanted to do was a biopsy. I hate taking the kids to get their shots, and A was out of town so I had to be brave. I told doctor friend that we were leaving for Hawaii in three days and I needed to know what was going on with her leg.
He agreed that we should do the biopsy. Oh it was awful. I will spare you the details but I was sweating, feeling woozy and I was holding on to Maya just as tight as she was holding on to me! Thankfully she was on her belly so she couldn't feel what was going on but when they stuck her multiple times with the needle to numb her up she was as still as could be but was her huge tears were killing me. She was the most amazing patient.
So the doctor did a cookie cutter slice (about the size of a pencil eraser) and started squeezing and it was GROOOOSSSS. There was definitely an infection. He thought it was staph but sent it to the lab for further testing. I was dying, I couldn't believe it. I was so grateful that I took her in.
Well today I got a call from doctor friend telling me that he was wrong. It wasn't staph. Oh no...it was MRSA! Seriously! He said the only way to get rid of it is to drain it, which is what he already did. It is resistant to most antibiotics. Thankfully Maya is recovering fine and has no symptoms that MRSA is still in her body.
I am a huge believer in mother's intuition, but what I really think is that is the whisperings of the spirit. I pray everyday, as any good Christian mom would, to know how to keep my children safe from harm, accident or evil. That is part of my prayer every single day. I am so grateful that my prayers were heard and that I was able to protect Maya from the harmful effects of MRSA.
Say your prayers sisters....say your prayers and more importantly LISTEN when you receive a prompting.
Okay now on to the very, very short version of why I have been absent...

Spring soccer has officially begun

I had a wedding dress that needed to be altered...

...for this sweet girl...

I had to say good bye to this sister...

Sister Bailey, she's on her way to Nauvoo to finish her mission.

I also had to say good bye to this sister...

Amy has left me, but we are meeting up in Hawaii...YAY!

We've had piano recitals...

...and sweet Mari's big 8th birthday celebrations...

I was honored to speak at her baptism.

This fabulous sister of mine has kept me busy with her kitchen reno take three...pictures will come someday.

And this little crazy cocoa puff is keeping me EVER so busy!

My Mother-Daughter dinner with Maya was definitely a highlight. She made the whole dinner with her Activity Day group. It was delicious!

I've also been busy with my dyslexia tutoring. I got to go here Susan Barton give a 3 hour seminar last week. It was amazing and so worth the time. I will do a post on that soon.

I've been busy sewing 16 dance costumes for the girl's dance classes. I am so done with that hobby for awhile.

Last but not least my marathon training has become a part time job. I am happy to report that I ran 20 miles today in 3 hours and 30 minutes. It was fabulous and I am so ready for my marathon!

Okay I'm done. Notice the time. I have to get on a plane in 2 hours.  I will be in Hawaii enjoying 6 days of sunshine, alone time with Aric, and fun times with the Sampson's. I will give a full report soon.

Mahalo!

A is for Aric

Last week we celebrated A's birthday. It looked a little something like this...

First we went to watch the Shock play their opening game of the season.

 

We got SAAAWWWEEEET season tickets this year. Yea, that's us in the background. Pretty cool huh.

We invited our fun friends the Mark and Cami to join us. Cami was a former cheerleader too. We went through two sets of thunder makers...

The game was so fun, even though the ending wasn't what we hoped for. We stayed til the bitter....and I mean BITTER end. The front row people took off for the last part of the game. We hopped up and took their spots and got to be helpers.

It was a fun way to celebrate Aric's birthday. He loves this sport and he loves this team. I love that we get to share these fun times together.
A's actual birthday was on a very hectic Monday. By the time the girl's got home from dance it was after 6pm. We went out to eat and then it was homework, showers and bedtime. Not much time to celebrate but we did the best we could.
Even though the festivities weren't spectacular, the day was an important one. Aric is such a great guy and many in this world are blessed by his life....me and my children especially.

Easter Goodness

It all started with some Easter manicures on Easter Friday... 

Camden got into the spirit of Easter by having snack time with Jesus...

Sharing his Teddy Grahams

This is C's "pretty face"

On Easter Saturday the weather was horrible. We are talking hail and snow. I ran seventeen miles in it. It was fabulous! This is Ryan R. modeling the hail for us.

A took M and E to an Easter Egg hunt while I stayed home with a napping C.

Last year we forgot to dye eggs. This year we remembered.

 

Easter Sunday was wonderful. Our church has a world wide church conference where church leaders speak to us. We watched part of it on Saturday and today we got to watch some more. We got to spend the day listening to inspired talks as a family. C was quite distracting for the morning session. The afternoon session was much more peaceful thanks to a napping baby. From the talks to the music, it was the perfect way to spend Easter Sunday. We got to listen to men and women bear testimony of Christ and his divinity. As we listened we were reminded of His love and his sacrifice.

For dinner this year we decided to keep it simple. I usually host a big shindig, but this year I purposely kept it small. Just me, A and the kiddos. I still made everyone dress up...

We had to get dressed up because I did invite one very special guest, Jesus...

The girls saw the extra place setting and were so excited to find out who was coming. After they were sitting at the table I had them close their eyes and then I pretended to open the door and lead someone to the table. They were definitely surprised to see our guest, it was not at all who they expected.

We spent dinner talking about how would act if Christ were always sitting there at our table. We've all had some issues with yelling, fighting and complaining. Clearly after my last post, I've got some work to do...So we talked about how we need to change some of our behaviors if we want a Christ centered home. We had a neat conversation and I loved the sweet spirit that was there.

After dinner the girls gave me and A these Easter gifts that they had made for us...

Then we enjoyed some banana cake with strawberries...MMMM.

M and E wanted to take pictures of their banana cake creations.

Here is A enjoying his non-chocolate dessert...this no chocolate diet of his is KILLING me!

After dessert and showers we had scriptures and prayers. Nothing out of the ordinary. But tonight as I sat there listening to Eden stumble over the big words, and Maya read more than she needed to (as usual), all while Mr. C was throwing toys and tripping over his feet, it was all I could do to keep my heart inside of my chest. In that moment my joy was full.

I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's plan that is so amazing and so perfect. I am so grateful for my Savior and what he did for me. Not only did He suffer for my mistakes and feel all of my pains and sorrows...he kept his promise and gave his life so that I get to be with these fabulous people forever.

I love my Savior. He truly is my rock and my salvation.

Behold the wounds in Jesus’ Hands

(This is my favorite Easter hymn, it is by John V. Pearson, I've only put the first and last verse. Go here to see them all.)

Behold the wounds in Jesus’ Hands,
The marks upon His side.
Then ponder whom He meant to save
When on the cross He died.
We cannot see the love of God
Which saves us from the Fall,
Yet know that Christ from wood and nails
Built mansions for us all.

Behold His wounded hands and feet!
Come touch, and see, and feel
The wounds and marks that you may know
His love for you is real.
Then as you fall to worship Him
And wash His feet in tears,
Your Savior takes you in his arms
And quiets all your fears.

 

*Monday is A's birthday. He is awesome. His birthday post will come later. You can go here to read a previous birthday tribute.

Not my best moment...

So I'm about to show a side of me that is rarely seen. Only my close family has ever seen this side. I have spent years taming the beast, but today I let'er go...

I have a temper. There I said it. It's not like I walk around an angry person but if so provoked on a subject that is near and dear to me than I can fly off the handle like nobody's business. I have been blessed with an ability to easily express myself with words. I am really good at fighting, and if there was such thing as scoring I would most likely win all battles I was engaged in. Thankfully most of me is kind, loving and generous. I give most people the benefit of the doubt. I do not seek confrontation, but if the door is flung wide open I, unfortunately, on occasion, will run right through it.
Okay back to this morning....8:30am to be exact.
So I was just finishing up my eight mile run. I was feeling good. As I approached my back gate, which opens up into my back yard, I see the neighbors cat on my fence.
(BACK STORY)
I don't like cats. You don't understand I LOATHE them! I'm not an animal fan period. I get that people love them, I really do and that is fine. I just have a very sensitive nose and no matter how clean your pet is, they still smell. The thing I hate most about pets is the poop and  the pee they create.
So our neighbors have a cat and a dog that frequently poop on our yard. My girls have even stopped playing on some of the outside toys because we found cat poop on/in them. Even though I cleaned it out, Eden can't get passed it. That same cat has gotten in our garage and peed all over my nicely organized rubber maid bins. It also messed with my sad excuse of a garden, so I am afraid to plant anything this year.
We've had these particular neighbors for about three years. We never had a problem until they showed up. They chain smoke and leave their butts all over the side walk. They smell up the neighborhood with their bad habit. They fight and yell obscenities all hours of the night and their daughter was recently arrested in front of our house because of drugs and domestic violence. Not your typical Beaver Cleaver neighbors.
They are known in the neighborhood for their obnoxious cat and their obnoxious ways. The husband is on disability because he lost his arm in a work accident so they are ALWAYS home.
(NOW BACK TO STORY)
So when I saw Mr. Poopy cat on my fence ready to pounce into my yard, I grabbed a small rock in my left hand and tossed it at the fence close to where the cat was. I had no intentions of hitting it, or believe me, I would have used my right hand. The cat scurried off, no harm done....or so I thought.
The next thing I know I hear someone YELLING at me. I turn down my ipod (Soul Sister -Train), when I realized Oversized One Armed Man was directing his ridiculously loud voice at me.
OOAM - Hey! Hey you! What do you think you are doing! You can't throw rocks at my cat!
ME - Um, I didn't throw it AT your cat. I threw it at the fence to get your cat away from my yard.
OOAM -  I saw you. You were throwing it at my cat!
(even if I was, he couldn't see me from where he was)
ME - Look, if your cat wouldn't poop in my back yard I wouldn't have to try and keep him out of my yard.
OOAM - How do you know it's my cat?! It's not the only cat in the neighborhood. Do you sit here 24/7 watching your yard?!
ME - I don't need to watch. I...
OOAM - Answer my question!
ME -  I know every stinking cat in this neighborhood....
OOAM - 24/7!  24/7!
ME - I know that their owners don't let them poop in other people's...
OOAM - Answer me!
ME - (at this point I have unleashed the beast) I am trying to answer you but you are too busy screaming at me! Just as loudly as  you scream at your wife! I have lived here six years and we have had no issues until you lived here! Other neighbors are just as annoyed as we are!
OOAM - Your kids throw rocks in my yard!
ME - EXCUSE ME!
OOAM - I'm sick of your kids throwing rocks in my yard!
ME - I have two girls who don't throw rocks. Are you kidding me!
OOAM - Yes they do!
ME - How do you know it's my girls? Do you watch your yard 24/7?!
OOAM - And your husband needs to fix the fence!
(we  had a storm a few weeks ago that knocked over a panel of our fence. It is attached just fine with some rope. He was going to fix it one of these days.)
ME - Don't worry. He will fix it. The last thing we want is any more poop in our yard! Maybe if I let my kids poop in your yard you would understand how frustrating and gross it is!
OOAM - You just need to calm down lady!
ME - You are the one that started screaming at me! Your wife may be used to being spoken to like that, but I am not!
Then I walked into my house. It was then that I realized my kids standing there with wide eyes. They were shocked. They kept assuring me that they have NEVER thrown rocks into his yard.
(BTW this was the short version of our conversation minus the swear words he lashed at me...)
Where was A you might ask? He was out in his car on the phone. He missed the fireworks. I'm sure he would have enjoyed me chewing someone else out other than himself.
Now I've had the day to let it all sink in. I feel dumb that I lost my temper and engaged in such a scene. I am mostly embarrassed that my kids saw/heard me. I'm pretty sure there was more Christ-like way to handle that situation but I'm blaming it on the endorphins!

*Oh and mom, leave a comment if you must, but  I pretty much already know what you are going to say...sorry I've disappointed you. Thanks for loving me anyway.

(UPDATE)
**The nice wife just stopped by and apologized for her husband. She also told me that she was going to buy some spray for us that will keep her cat out. She said her husband is a good man, he was just worried that I was going to kill their cat. I assured her I wouldn't and that I was sorry about the fight.