Highchairs and Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Now some of you may have already heard but the company that Jimmy works for has slowed down and they cut everyones hours and salaries so we have been in a bit of a stress mode around here. He is working on finding a part-time job to make up for the loss in pay, I have been doing my part by cutting back on everything we can around the house, i.e cable, water delivery (that one kills me), changing phone service and then trying to bring a little money in where I can, garage sales and rolling coins that I have been saving! We are staying positive and we know that things will work out, it may not be fun or easy but it will all work out.

Well this past Sunday as Jimmy was writing out the check for our tithing he was very stressed knowing that things were beyond tight, I just looked at him and said that I didn't know how, but that the Lord would provide the way for our bills to be covered, if we did our part. As I had said earlier I had sold some things in a garage sale over this past weekend and we had initially sold things so that we could get a highchair for James, well with other needs not being met, the highchair was going to have to wait a bit.

So skip to Tuesday night, I was in the mood for chocolate chip cookies but we were out of some of the ingredients so I just figured I didn't need the calories and I would clean instead.
Today my Visiting Teachers came over (I love them) well when I opened the door Judy was standing there with a huge (I am tearing up again, gosh pull yourself together girl) plate of CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES! Then as they were getting ready to go Karen looked around and said "Do you need a highchair?" I could barely speak but I managed to say "Yes, that would be wonderful!" she said that she had one that was going to go to D.I and that it was almost brand new and she would drop it by tomorrow.



I teared up as I loaded the little kids into the car to get Lexi from school as I thought about the fact that in those small gestures by two, in tune, Visiting Teachers I knew that my Heavenly Father knew me, he even cared about my love of chocolate chip cookies and a highchair for my little man. They weren't piles of money left on the doorstep (although that would be awesome) they were little reminders that He is looking out for us.

The money thing was worked out also, we have been able to cover our bills. I am soo grateful for the relationship that I have with my Heavenly Father, I know that He loves me and cares for even the small things that will make me happy and give me joy amidst a stressful time. I know that He is teaching us, as only He can, it might not be the way we want or expect but we are in His hands and that is the safest place in the whole world to be.

D&C 6:34-37
Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail......
Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not........

Boy Lys We are in TROUBLE!

The highlight of our track break was having my two AMAZING nieces here for a few weeks! They live in Texas so we don't get to see them as much as we would like. Alexis and Amy are only 3 months apart and love each other soooo much, one evening we decided we better get some pictures of them together and without much direction from me they gave me some great shots!! I just told them to keep it movin and that is what they did. They are only 9 so it does frighten me a bit to think what 12 could bring.

Fun Photo Shoot!

While I have had time to post some, I haven't really gotten into all that we have been doing as of late. Well, my sister Emily has had her awesome friend Ashley visiting for the last couple weeks and we also had our cousin Madi visiting so one afternoon they asked if I would get some pictures of them together. Since I love to take pictures and they are great girls to take pictures of it was the perfect combination!

Only a Few Issues

As of late I have had many the lad ask me how I have managed to keep in contact with so many old friends. Well, to answer that I honestly have no idea other than I (as my husband says) have a memory like an Elephant so that helps a bit because I remember just about every human I have come into contact with. Now lets take that a step further and with remembering people, there have been a few chosen individuals or events that I have, let's say memorabilia, as in pictures, movie stubs, newspaper clippings, letters, those sorts of things that I have kept. Well last night I was looking through an envelope that had pictures from my church history trip when I happened upon a newspaper clipping from when I was in the 6th grade. I am not quite sure how it ended up with the pictures but all I could do was chuckle a bit because you see this newspaper clipping is no ordinary clipping it is actually, well let me just put it up here for all to see.


This is a shot of the band at Matt Kelly 6th Grade Center, both Jimmy and I were in the band, he played the Trumpet and I the flute. We use to catch each other staring at the other, smile and then turn away a little embarrassed. I saved this all these years because you see Jimmy is in the back row and 3 over and it gave me butterflies even though it is the back of his head! I am somewhere in the front two rows but who really cares about that, it is all about the TRUMPETS!!

Yes, I have a few issues and the older I get the more apparent they become! Maybe one day they will take me away and lock me up, but until then I'll blog! :)

"But they is Rueberries"

This morning I was up early selling some stuff at a friends yard sale and so when I got home this afternoon I was exhausted! I decided that James and I would take a nap (provided by Jimmy) which was awesome, well I came out of my room feeling rested and Grace is standing in front of me with a bowl that had some lovely red beads in it. I focus my eyes and realize that the beads had once (as in earlier today) been a bracelet, my bracelet. I sent her to the "Naughty Spot" (thanks Nanny Jo) , she waited the 4 required minutes and then I came for "the talk", I explained to her that we do not cut mommy's jewelry, and she says "I know, I sorry, but they is Rueberries."

Now for those of you that are not familiar with the species of "Rue" in the berry world, it is a cross between Raspberries and Blueberries. It is the specified word for just about anything that mildly resembles a berry in the Grace dialect.

As much as I had enjoyed wearing the bracelet, it seems to function better as a Rueberry and in the scheme of important things it IS just a thing. Se La Vi

Before (Last night)


After



















Oh Grace what are we gonna do with you?!

Just a little bit longer.

Well James turned 6 months yesterday! I know that I say this every time I do these posts, but I really can't believe that my boy is here with us and he is 6 MONTHS old!!! Crazy! I have been trying to revel in every moment with him, I take mental pictures when I look at his toes and his fingers or when I am giving him a bath, I want to remember it all.

To my James, can't you stay small for a little bit longer, can't you be my baby always!? I love your smile, your laugh and that little growling thing you do. I love how after you eat you lick your lips as if it was the best meal yet. James you bring so much joy to our home, your spirit has been greatly needed, you are calm and happy and those shining eyes make me melt! At night when you sleep I smile at the thought of your face when I peek into your bed in the morning and how your face lights up. I miss you while you are sleeping. I love being your mom and one day when you grow up and find someone to love I promise to love her too. I give you my word that I will do my very best to raise you to be the Father and Husband that she will deserve and perhaps her Mommy is making the same promise to her. But for now I will love you as my boy who is 6 months and 1 day, I will kiss your cheeks till the rose comes out and your giggle bursts. Most importantly I promise to be the Mommy that YOU deserve! I love you James.

Was it like Picking a Track?

This is a bit long but totally worth the read if you ask me :)

After spending the past week with my family, both immediate and extended, I was reminded of how blessed I am to have these amazing people in my life. We had a long drive home and being as that I did not have to drive I was able to spend time looking out the window and just think, I thought much about the previous days events. My mind drifted to thoughts of Heaven and what my Aunt might be doing at that moment, and then the idea came to me. When I was in pre-mortal life and they were assigning families, was there a form to fill out with spaces for 1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice? Did we have a list of names to look through and choose who we wished to be in our charge? Were there conversations with our closest friends to make similar requests so we could be in the same family or at least extended family? Were there Zone variances for special situations? Was it like when I chose the track Alexis would be on for school?

So let's say it was (probably not but just for fun) let's say I got the list of names and it said (in random order) Jack Holler, Amy Novakovich, Amy Jenkins, Merle Bowman, Hilary Novakovich, Rachel Bullough, Alyssa Holler, Lyle Hileman, DonAnn Mortensen, and a whole host of other names, and if I chose this list than that meant we would be family. Perhaps it didn't say who would be my sister or mother or father or cousin, but in some way shape or form, for better or worse we would be family. If this was the case then I bet I scanned the list for names for what I thought were "good ones" and then swooped it up so no one else could take it. I can picture myself quietly folding it and walking away from the crowd that had formed when they announced that the lists had been posted. Maybe I located my close friends and we compared our lists to make sure we would be connected somehow or we asked Heavenly Father to provide a way for us to meet up on earth.

Perhaps the lists were assigned and we had to wait for our names to be called to find out who we got and then we all got together to see if we had some of the same names. When I was younger my sisters and I use to talk about how the birth order was figured out, did we stand in line and wait our turn, did Alyssa cut the line? Did Janna get confused and think that the front was the back? Did Emily get in the wrong line and not figure it out for quite sometime and did Jack worry when he realized he was the only boy in our line? I guess I have always found the thought and images of it all to be entertaining and fun, I can just picture all of us up there working it out!

So however it worked out I am so grateful for all the names that ended up on my list or maybe the list that I was added to. It was wonderful to be with many of my family members during the funeral, being in their company was comforting and easy. On my Mom's side it seems as though there are millions of us, many of which share the same name, we have all ended up with a very sarcastic sense of humor and it turns into a comedy club when you get us going. There is much laughter and light hearted teasing that makes being family a joy not a chore! No matter how long it has been since our last visit we can pick up where we left off and all because we share a bit of DNA! There are doctors and hair stylists, artists and teachers, stay at home mom's, real estate brokers, military servicemen, nurses and fisherman. With so many different personalities, interests, talents and looks, it seems like we wouldn't have enough in common to be friends but none of the differences seem to stand out, it's more about what we have in common and that's our gene pool! What a gift and a blessing to know that these are the people that I will spend the eternities laughing and learning with! To all my family I am so glad we were on the same list!!! To all my friends who are like family I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for knowing I would need you to get through this life easier!!

Now go have peace all over the world and do yoga. Hummmmmmmm Hummmmm (in full lotus) :)

Joke aside to learn more about being an eternal family click here

Link to Web album for Aunt Annetta's funeral

Flashback Friday! Photo

So I have fallen way behind on my Friday Posts. I thought just a photo would do for today, a little something from a few years ago :)

That would be me, the smallest one and those are the cute dresses that were made for me and my two older sisters.

Her Legacy

Well we returned home last night from our trip to Utah for my Aunt's funeral. It was an emotionally draining time, there were many tears and yet we found our selves laughing and celebrating her life. So many people had been touched by hers, my Uncle Mike spoke during the funeral and shared memories of my Aunt, most of them funny ones. I will share just one of those, he spoke of a time when Annetta decided to teach him to drive the family car, she told him to put the car in drive and then push on the gas, well I guess she failed to explain the process of stopping the vehicle and as he reached nearly 50 mph on their dirt road he realized he was gonna have to figure out how to stop the car or he would be driving directly into the house. He managed to find the break and brought it to a screeching halt just feet from the house, he said that a cloud of dust flew past and it was then that learning to drive would have to wait a bit longer.
My Aunt really lived her life, she was not a watcher but a doer, my cousin's husband Bob described her laugh perfectly "Part cackle,part explosion" she inspired the joy out of any situation. Annetta was a collector, she filled her home with treasures, rocks, fairies, birds (particularly cardinals)glass bottles, pictures and many other lovely things. She loved to work in her garden and to watch the Price Is Right every morning, every time I heard these mentioned it made me think of my Grandma Amy Novakovich (Annetta's Mom). Grandma was also a collector and a lover of the Price Is Right and gardening, it was amazing to me that my Aunt had held the traditions of her mother (my grandma) in such high esteem that she too loved them and then passed them on to her children and grand-children. What an amazing way to honor her Mom! During the events of the past few days I spent some precious moments with my extended family, we hugged and held each other up during this hard time. How blessed am I to have a strong family unit, I really felt overwhelmed knowing that while we all live some distance from one another, if I ever needed them they would be there one hundred percent!! For my family that was not able to attend the funeral I decided that I would post some pictures from one of the viewings and the burial. I have many more and once I get them uploaded I will make a link available to view them or save them to your own computer.

We watched a video of her life

So many that came to honor her

They gave little stones to each of the children as a reminder of Annetta

My uncle Lyle and his son Glenn

Heavy Hearts

Well this week has been a really tough one for our family, particularly my Mom. After being sick for quite sometime my Aunt Annetta was finally diagnosed with "Anterior Horn Cell Disease" it is similar to ALS (or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). By the time she was diagnosed it was so far advanced that there was not much that could be done. This disease is incurable and gets progressively worse over time, had they correctly diagnosed her three years ago they may have been able to slow it down giving her more time. Well early this week she collapsed and never regained con'sciousness, she remained on a ventilator until yesterday afternoon when they made the difficult decision to remove her from life support. She passed just moments later and our family is so saddened by this event. She was my Mom's oldest sister and I know that she misses her deeply. Annetta lived a life of service, she worked in the SLC Temple for years and she and my uncle served two missions. She was an amazing women whom we all loved, her laugh could fill the room and she was fun to be around. Her family was the most important thing in her life, she loved spending time with her Grand kids and Great Grand kids. Annetta left behind her sweet husband, 4 children, 18 Grandchildren, 7 Great Grand Children and many nieces and nephews, as well as her 2 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters. There were so many lives touched by hers.

I was was blessed to have seen her just a few months ago, she was able to meet my little James and we enjoyed being in her company. That visit will always stand out in my mind because she and I sat together and looked through old photos, she was able to recall the names and faces of everyone in them. It was truly a gift to have those precious moments with her, she was so sweet to my girls and always had a little treat for them when we came to visit. Our trips to Utah will not feel the same without her there, there is a missing piece to our family. Aunt Annetta was always such a staple to any family get together. I love you Aunt Annetta and miss you so much!

From left to right: My Aunt Marylin, Aunt Annetta, My Grandpa, My Mom, My Aunt Jone,
My Grandma & Cousin (in front)

Aunt Annetta, Aunt Marylin, Uncle Steve, Grandma, Uncle Mike & Mom

Left to Right: My Mom, Aunt Marylin, Aunt Annetta Womens ( Conf. '06)

Aunt Annetta's daughters (my cousins)

My Aunt Annetta ( May 2008)

Mom & Aunt Annetta

Just some of the people that love and miss her

My last visit with my Aunt (May '08)