Trials

Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things

shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and

remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one

with another. --D&C 90:24

Life can hand you some pretty interesting things when you least expect it. I was just thinking the other day that things are finally starting to settle down for us. We moved into our new house and it's finally becoming a home. Kevin got a promotion at work that he has been trying to get for awhile, and we were feeling good about things. Then all the sudden something happens that changes your perspective in life. Naturally when challenges come our way we tend to go to our Heavenly Father for help, we try to be a better person and we commit to making changes that we know we already should be doing.

I recently read a talk by Elder Quentin L. Cook Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles "Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time".

As I read the title I new that immediately this applied to me. We all experience difficult things in life, and it's okay to go to the Lord and tell him "Hope ya know I'm having a hard time." I know that he cares about me and that he will see me through this hardship that I am facing, even though right now it feels like my whole world has come crashing down. A quote in this talk gave me some comfort...


“My son (daughter), peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”

I won't go into details of what happened, but I will say that this is one of the most difficult things I have had to face. I am on an emotional roller coaster..some days are good some days are bad. But I am comforted in knowing that I have a wonderful family and husband that cares about me and that they are there for me day and night. I have a good friend who has also been there for me, and I can't even tell her how much her friendship means to me. Life is challenging and stressful and even disappointing at times. But we must not give up we must press onward and make the best of what we have. We are often reminded that when we are struggling and when it's most difficult for us..is when we should be serving others.

President Thomas S Monson said.
“Find someone who is having a hard time, … and do something for them.”

We don't always know when other people are struggling and most likely we never will, but if we remember to be a friend..always, then we won't have regrets as to if we weren't there for someone when they might have needed us the most. This is a reminder to myself that I need to do better, and like I said most often we have to go through trials to remind us of these things. But there is a reason for all things and the Lord wants us to grow and to learn from these trials, and I hope that, that is exactly what I can do.

President Hinckley Stand A Little Taller:

Reach Beyond yourself (November 10)

And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. --Mosiah 4:16

October Fun

Besides getting our own individual family Pics..Kev's family decided it was time to get family pictures of the whole clan. Mind you this consist of about 27 people and 13 of them are children, so just picture this as you are looking at these. We went to Memory Grove behind the capitol. It was a beautiful day and the fall colors were gorgeous. I don't have one of the whole group yet these are just ones that I have taken. I also didn't get every family sorry Kris and Devin. We were not that happy with the photographer so I'm sure we will be redoing these in another few years. Oh well this is our family now.

We have been super busy this fall with moving and trying to get settled..but we did manage to get down to Gardner Village. Everybody is always talking about it and I thought Tyler might enjoy it. So last Monday we made the trek with my Aunt (who is also one of my good friends). We had a lot of fun..who would've thought, but Tyler loved the witches and all the pumpkins. We also went on a pony ride he thought that was pretty cool too. So everybody had the same idea we had because it was absolutely packed, but the kids still enjoyed themselves.

We Also managed to make it over the ward Halloween party for a few minutes. So needless to say Tyler wasn't dressed up since we came straight from family pics, but him and princess Aria still had fun. We were super busy that day, but we wanted to support the new Activities Committee since we've been there done that. And they did an awesome job, especially on such short notice.

This pic is for black mail later in life..aren't they so cute though

Our Family Photos

2008 Family Photos

On September 29, 2008 we went to Wheeler Farm, and had our family Pictures taken. We had so much fun, and our photographer did an awesome job. Thanks Melissa, if you are interested you can check her out here. Tyler was so energetic and loved looking at the animals and the various things that were going on. I'm so glad we did these photos, I can't wait to put them up in our home. And even though Kev wasn't too excited to take family photos, I think he is very happy with how they turned out. We also did some individual shots of Ty for his 3 year, which is coming up soon. I can't even believe it.

We've Moved

Our new address:

176 Boston Court

Phone 296-1619

I know can you believe the snow! Well anyway feel free to stop by anytime to see us. We are still a mess but it's coming along. And can I just say I love how much storage space I have!

Potty Training 101

So I have finally made the plunge to potty train. Mind you this is something I have been dreading since the day Tyler was born. I have heard so many horror stories about potty training and that boys are so much harder. I just haven't wanted to do it, but the other day we were almost out of diapers so my options were: spend $40 on diapers..or start potty training.

Guess what I chose..and am I regretting it..yes a little.

Items to get started..
*20 pairs of potty pants
*treats of Tyler's choice
*juice and lots of fluids to drink
*extra blankets and sheets
*Noah's Ark and a lot of animals
*Patience and TIME

What can I say there is no easy way to potty train your child unless you are Gina and you child does it herself. But it has to be done, so my friend Nikki at work gave me a copy of the book she used that's called how to Potty Train in 3 days...did it work might you ask?

Well kind of, he isn't completely potty trained, we still have accidents and he still can't make it through the night, but it's only day 5. He did however learn the concept in 3 days, and I agree with her methods completely. Her entire point of the first 3 days is to catch your child in every accident they have and run them to the bathroom in the middle of it..this trains them to recognize when they have to go potty and what it feels like. Tyler actually caught onto this really well. He just has trouble stopping what he's doing to go potty. You are also not suppose to ask them if they need to go potty, because they will most likely say NO. But you gently remind them at least 1,000 times a day to tell mommy if you have to go potty, after awhile when I would say this he would say yes I do, and it makes him feel like he made the choice. But like I said we aren't completely there, but I'm hoping another week will do the trick. Nikki trained her little guy in less than 2 weeks (even through the night) using this method and he is 2 months younger than Tyler. So cross your fingers for me because I'm hoping to have him trained before we move into our new house, so hopefully I can avoid the accidents on my new carpet.


The basket is full of presents which are animals that go to the Ark, so every time he tells me he has to go potty and he makes it..he gets to open a present. Luckily we have a lot of animals to go with it. But he gets so excited and wants everybody to watch him open it. I am so proud of you Big Boy!

Good News

Goods news..we have only one week left until we close on our new home. We are so excited..the stresses of doing sweat equity have gotten the best of us and we are so happy to be coming to the end. We have finally finished all the tile, the painting and the cabinets. They came and put in our counter tops, and appliances and we will be getting carpet tomorrow. So as much as you guys are probably done hearing about the house..we are done working on it and will hopefully be closing next Wednesday.

The finished product of the Kitchen, well we still have to get some bar stools and a table but it will come, hopefully soon.

This is the tile work in the Kitchen we also did 2 baths and the Laundry room. If you haven't done tile work before it is a big project and a very long process, but I think it turned out okay for beginners.

Tyler was very helpful when it came to cleaning the floors..in fact a little too helpful we had water everywhere, love you bug