Ponderize #1

I have to say that LDS General Conference has been amazing this fall.  I have listened to many amazing talks.  Elder Holland talk about mothers was amazing.  I also love the Talk by Devin Durrant. He challenged everyone to ponderize a scripture a week.  I turned to Kendall and told him it was a great idea and that I was going to do it.  During the next song, I pulled out my scriptures and chose the following to ponderize for the week.

Alma 7:11-12

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

Right after I printed my scripture to hang on the fridge. I started listening to Allen Haynie's talk.  Maybe it was inspiration on my part or maybe something that I need to ponder in my life, but Elder Haynie's talk included my chosen scripture.  I thought that it was pretty cool.

So after pondering this scripture this week I have a greater understanding of the atonement and how it applies in my life. Christ suffered for me.  He knows the pains and the hardships that I have.  Since he suffered for me, he will be able to stand with me on my judgment day and plead for mercy for me.  A song called "The Hardest Thing I Ever Loved To Do" has a verse that I just love.

The hardest thing I’ve ever come to see
is a man down on his knees in agony
a drop of blood falls down on olive leaves
and for a moment he suffers there for me

Christ did suffer for just a moment for me and I will be eternally grateful for him...my Brother.

Can I get a Hallelujah!!!!

We have been dealing with Medical Bills for most of the year.  First it was my ear infections.  Can I tell you that dealing with those for 11 months was a NIGHTMARE!  So glad that we finally got those under control. Then it was Aushlynn's elbow....and then Avery's elbow......and then Madison stomach.  Well, it lead to a big pile of bills. 

 

The stack is this high!  Ugh!  I have been slowly paying them off a little at a time each month.  In other news we are only $977.24 away from our $8600 out of pocket yearly MAX!

Anyway the reason for the post is......I paid the LAST....ONE....OFF....TODAY!!!!  Oh my gosh I am so excited!  Well, at least they will be paid off for a few hours and I will not owe anyone until after 4:00 pm when Madison has her ultrasound on her leg.

Well, this calls for a hardcore CELEBRATION!  CHEERS!
(I know pretty hardcore...but I gotta attempt to sleep tonight!)

63 Miles to Nowhere

I will do just about anything for my kids.  This includes driving them around on a Friday night, you know because I have nothing else better to do. Me and Kendall were watching a show when the request came......"Mom, can you drive us to the Crazy Corn Maze in West Jordan and then pick us up in a few hours"? Well, I think that I can handle this request.  It is about 10 minutes from home...fast and I will be right back.

 

I really should have went to the bathroom before I ever got in the car.  Hindsight is 20/20.  I ran to the car...no shoes or purse.  I asked Madi in the car if she had money.  Yes she did.  Phew, I don't need my purse...lets get the show on the road.  After picking up and additional friend, we were on our way.  When we almost get there it is discovered that the Corn Maze is not even haunted until next week.  Can you believe that?  No use in going to a corn maze when it is not haunted.  Now, in my personal opinion is that this would be a perfect time to go...no scariness...good friends...perfect.  No!  These ladies want to be scared!  BOO! 

 

After a lengthy discussion amongst themselves, and 10 minutes of driving around later it is determined that they want to go to the Nightmare on 13th.  Okay, this is downtown.  I told them, I would take them there, but was not about to hangout downtown for a few hours and I did not want to have to pick them up.  Calls were made and it was agreed another parent would pick them up when they were done.  I remember asking them if they had enough money..... of course they did.  They had plenty.

 

Well, we set off for the freeway and made our way downtown.  I had Madi call Kendall and let him know what was going on and that I would be home later. Twenty minutes later we arrived.......before I drop them off, I want to make sure they have enough money....Mom's are so embarrassing.  Long story short is that they were $2 short.  You have go to be kidding me!  Why I ever trusted 10th graders with money math I will never know.  Now, remember me telling you earlier that I did not bring my purse.  Yeah, we drove downtown for nothing.  One of the girls wanted to ask a complete stranger for the money...no way.  I told them maybe we could just try again next week.

 

We headed back home......Picked up Toni and then I taught the kids the Toni Chest Nut song..(Toe Knee Chestnut song) It was really a Win, Win for them!  I am pretty sure that I an now on youtube with my song singing ability!

 

Superhero

Madison has not been feeling well lately.  Her stomach hurts every..... single...... morning.  She cannot take it anymore and demanded that I take her to the doctor.  We have been going to the same pediatrician's office for the last 15 years.  Madison's favorite Dr. "Baldy" was not able to see her, so we saw somebody else.

 

But by far, the most exciting thing to happen for her was after 15 long years, she was finally put in the Superhero room! No more Princess room for her!  This girl is hardly a princess after all....she can belch louder than any man I know! She was pretty stoked on it so we had a photo shoot! It's the small things that make life awesome after all! Right?

After feeling around her belly the Dr. discovered that a cellphone was in her sweatshirt front pocket.  Alas, there was not a hard mass in her stomach the shape of a IPhone.   After asking a series or questions and poking around her torso we are going to go with the diagnosis of acid reflux.  Lucky girl!

We also had him check out the lump on her shin.... now we get to go and have a ultrasound on Tuesday to have a look at what it is........why not??....we have meet the deductible this year!

I'm a mess....

So, I have something wrong with me....surprise!  My friend's son Carson left for his mission yesterday.  She posted a picture on Facebook of them in the airport parking garage rolling his luggage to the terminal check in.   I cried.  Not a little sniff, but I cried a lot.  A little while later she posted another picture of him and said he left them an hour earlier then he had to because he was so excited to start his new adventure.  On my goodness....I had another good cry.  Then she posted that he was flying over Ecuador and I had a nice cry in the shower. Good Grief...this in not even my son!  Why are my emotions so close to the surface?  It could be that Aushlynn is going to the exact same mission as Carson and she is next in line to go. But, then I think about other missionaries that we have sent back to their homes and I get emotional too. How in the world can I get so attached to them in such a short amount of time.  I think that I might be pulling them into my heart because I miss Avery oh so much.  Maybe like if I take care of the missionaries around me, then others around my missionary will take care of them where they are serving. Problem is....I then turn around and miss those missionaries when they leave.  I want to keep them....but Kendall says that I can't. Sigh.

Aushlynn leaves to Peru in 40 days....did you hear that FORTY DAYS,  so clearly all my thoughts are completely rational.  My mom once told me the problem that I have is my tear ducts are connected to my heart.  So anytime my heart hurts the tears flow.  Hence why you never and I mean never want to sit next to me at a funeral.  I am a complete basket case and I will embarrass you.

 So, I guess I am not sure what to do with myself.  I am trying to keep busy...but I still have all night long to think about it.  And then I cry. I just wish I could fall asleep at night. Don't get me wrong.  I LOVE the fact that my kids want to serve missions.  I have found that missions seem to fix all the mistakes that I made when I was raising them.  Well, maybe not all.......but they are amazing people when they come home.  I look at Dyllon and think.....Man, you are pretty awesome!  I guess in a way I am pretty envious of my kids that they get to serve missions.  I like to think that if I had not been married when I was 21 that I would have gone, but Kendall snatched me up at the tender young age of 19 and we have been in bliss ever since. I think of how lucky that they are to spend such a long period of time devoting their lives to nothing but their Savior and serving others.  What a huge blessing for them and I am grateful that they get to have that opportunity. I would never want to take that from them.

I guess what my momma heart wishes it that I could have all my babies home for just a minute or two. I just miss them so MUCH!  When Aushlynn returns from her mission I will have gone 58 months straight of having a missionary or two out serving.  It will be two months shy of five years.  That is a long time for a momma to be missing her babies and hence why I am a freakaziod!  So if you see me crying know that I am really trying to hold it together.

Happy Birthday Aushlynn!

Today this beautiful girl turns 19 years old.  I cannot believe that all my babies are growing up.  Can you believe what a hottie that she is! This is one of my favorite pictures of her. It is a selfie that she took of herself a few months ago.  My selfies never, and I mean never turn out this good.  I sure do know how to make gorgeous kids right? 

 

It is a miracle that this girl is even here!  Aushlynn and her brother Avery are only 13 months apart.  I do not know how she was conceived.  Well, I do know how......but I had just had a baby, was breastfeeding him and was on a depo provera shots.  This girl was determined to come into our family and she did not want to wait. I always say that her and Avery are my twins that could not fit at the same time.  We did not tell anyone that we were having her until about 3 months before I had her.  Our families were shocked! 

This girl has always been a mystery.  I had two ultrasounds done while I was pregnant with her and we could never tell if she was a girl or a boy.  This baby was always so modest.  So, I went into labor not knowing the gender of the baby.  She was the only one of our kids that was a surprise at birth.  When I was in labor with her...for some reason nobody at the hospital believed me.  They kept telling me to go home and wait another month.  Well, I knew what labor was.....I had done it twice before.  Long story short she.... was born 2 hours later.... in a recover room..... with no epidural.  I remember telling the Dr. on call that if the baby was not a girl I was going to kill him.  He told me I was talking to the wrong guy and should take that up with my husband.  I assured him that it was him I would kill because he did not believe me I was in labor and I was having to do this without pain meds.  I told him that if it was a boy it was not worth it.  Anyway... he lucked out because we had out first GIRL!

Aushlynn was named by her brother Dyllon .  When I was pregnant with Avery we asked him what we should name the baby, he said "Aushlynn".  He had just turned two.  I loved it.....remembered it and then named my first daughter it.  Thanks for the awesome name Dyllon!

One of my favorite things about Aushlynn is that she has a tender place in her heart for those who have special needs.  Thru her high school years she participated with the Best Buddies programs and the Special Needs Olympics.  She is going to play basketball in a few weeks with the Special Olympics as a last hurrah before she leaves for her mission.

Anyway, I hope that this girl has her best BiRtHdAy yet!  I am so going to miss her when she leaves to Peru in a few weeks!  Happy Birthday baby girl!

Entrepeneurs

We have an awesome bunch of kids here in our neighborhood that are trying to earn a few bucks.  We found them on our corner when we arrived home from the grocery store.  We went to check out what they had to offer.

 

 

So for a meager  $25 you can come and take a look. We told them we did not have $25.00 on us, so we were charged 25 cents a piece.

 

Below you can see a video of the what you get to peek at.  You probably should send me $25 to 25 cents for each view...you know....what ever you can afford. I can get the cash to the kids.