HYSTHOTLROTBYOYFT?

This was a question posed to us last night at a gospel discussion class in my ward. Now that you are all wondering what that means.... here I will ask the question.

"Have you seen the hand of the Lord reach out to bless you or your family
today?"

That came from a conference address from Henry B Eyring. It's amazing to see changes within myself and my spirituality this past year. I have been having some personal trials where Satan is hitting me at where I am most vulnerable. Isn't it amazing how well he knows us and our weeknesses.

The member of the bishopric that was teaching the class last night said some things that really jumped out at me. He was on a cruise with his wife and happened to be on the same cruise as Elaine Dalton the General President of the Young Woman's organization. She was talking to him about some of the problems that young people are having today.

He said well yeah isn't self esteem one of them? She said yes, but that's a worldly term. He asked her what was heavenly term? She said its one of the young woman's values.... "individual worth". That really hit me pretty hard. Whenever we associate self esteem with anything, we associate it with negatives, stereotypes and stigmas. That's one thing I have been trying to better myself with. I have learned so much about myself, learned that I am worth a lot! I have dignity and self respect.

I have been hit hard lately with some old behaviors. How easy it is to fall back into old behaviors and patterns instead of starting new and better behaviors and patterns. I have seen then hand of the Lord in my life a lot especially in the last month and a half. When I stood accused of stealing money from an employer, my dad and I said a prayer and I felt the hand of the Lord there to comfort me and guide me. Last week, when I was struggling with some old behaviors trying to resurface, I felt I needed a blessing. It was a friday night and I had no idea who I was to call. Driving home from Wal-mart my car turned itself and took me to my ward building. I sat in the parking lot balling, because as I was pulling in, my bishops car was there in the parking lot. He told me that he is never there on friday nights. He said he knew the spirit knew he needed to be there and was there to comfort me and give me a blessing when I really needed it. About a month ago, my friend and I went hiking in Zion. It was pretty late when we were heading back and we happened to do a hike along the canyon rim. He had told me that the hike wouldn't be that bad, and so dummy me wore flip flops. Of course the sandals had no tred and we were hiking up sandy rocks to the canyon overlook. I felt impressed to say a prayer. We had to use our cellphones and ipods as lights because it was so dark. However, I knew since we said prayer that Heavenly Father would be with us. Needless to say we made it out safe, but there were a few close calls.

Another thing that Sister Dalton said to Brother Wittwer, was something that she was going to be introducing and purposing to the young woman. She simply said that she was going to ask everyone 3 questions.

"CAN YOU BE COMMITTED 100% TO DO 3 THINGS":
1. Personal Prayer ( 2 times per day)?
2. Read 5 mins in the Book of Morman per day?
3. Smile at least once a day?

That's one thing I have ALWAYS stuggled with.... the numbers 1 and 2. I think that may be why I have always struggled in the gospel. Even though I have the gift of the Holy Ghost with me at all times, I may not be as strong and faithful as I should be.

Thanks to all my friends and family who continue to love me and support me. You have no idea what your examples mean to me.

HALLOWEEN 2008!!!

Wow, we had a blast! On the monday night before halloween my friend Juan and I went to the corn maze. Then on Wednesday we went to this very well done haunted house at the mall. On Friday night we took Brendon to the trunk or treat for the city of Ivins and took him all around our neighborhood. Man, that pumpkin got so heavy to carry. The pictures below are from the trunk or treat and while we were getting ready to head out for the night. There was an ambulance and a fire truck. He is sitting on the gurney in the back of the ambulance and the driver's seat of the fire truck. He thoroughly enjoyed himself. There is a picture of Brendon and Grandpa....then you see the pictures of the ghosts... haha It was a very nice week. As you can see, Brendon was the red power ranger. Notice he is doing there stances and positions.

my new years resolution.... sorry for the punctuation or grammer

so as most of you have known me... i have been heavy the whole time. part of my new years resolution was to lose weight. so in february i started using ALLI... i have been really trying to watch what i eat and with the little excersize that i actually do. however i do work 2 jobs lol well from what i have been able to count and track i have lost somewhere around 65lbs. im headed to vegas this next weekend for a girls weekend and i was thinking, i have some of my favorite old pants in the shed i should go pull them out. i have about 20 more lbs until i get to the weight i was at when i was pregnant with brendon. i went to the shed and pulled out my favorite pair of jeans and a pair of off white ones. they were pretty much what i wore throughout my whole pregnancy. i tried them on.....AND THEY FREAKING FIT!!! i know that i know that i still have a long way to go, which gets very discouraging at times....yet this just makes it so much more worth it.

The Tire Swing....

Well, remember that tire swing that my dad made on mother's day weekend when Chick was visiting? Here's what's left of it lol We have become quite the neighborhood hang out:) The swing used to be about 2 feet off the ground!

Trip to Cali

The beginning of August we were able to go to Cali for a few days. I wouldn't exactly have called it a vacation since one of Brendon's grandma's passed away. But, here are some pics for enjoyment. Yes, that first one is a cop car... let me tell you the story. So I had just dropped Brendon off at his dad's for a few hours. Brendon had puked in my car on the way down. HA So, I decided I should go get my car washed and vacuumed out. My mom had called while I was visiting. As I pulled away I called her back. Well, we aren't in Utah anymore! There's this new law about talking on your cellphone and driving. As I was turning into this driveway there he was doing radar! I quickly hung up on my mom and of course he saw me and waved me over to him. Luckily he was wayyyyy cute and so we chatted for a while and he let me go with a warning. How ironic is it, that you can text and drive but you can't talk and drive?

Dustin's uncle came into town for the funeral and what do you know... he drives a semi truck! Brendon was so excited when he got to go for a ride in it!

Brendon also got to see his sister while we were there. Here's them being silly in the back seat as we were driving to go get my mom for the funeral.....

Food For Thought....

Continuing on from the previous blog I thought I would share this with you. Hyrum Smith in sacrament meeting last sunday told us to remember 3 things. For each person it may hit differently but they mean something to me.

1. You can not think deeper than your vocabulary will allow you to.

2. character- is the ability to carry out a worthy decision after the emotion of making that decision has past.
"doing what you say you're gonna do"

3. Pain is innevitable, Misery is optional.

Then he followed with a scripture... John 6:66-69

Paying It Forward

So, my mom tells me that my sister says I need to post more:p Well here's one... So lately I have been thinking about how truely blessed I am. When I had no where to turn my parent's were right there and took my son and I in. A bunch of girlfriends and I are headed down to Vegas for a little weekend get-a-way this next week. I have been saving money here and there to be able to afford a little fun. Recently, I had an experience at work that has truely put somethings into perspective. I was just getting off and I needed to pick up some stuff for Brendon. As I am standing in line, one of my immediate supervisors was in line as well. I over heard him telling is wife, "I hope we have enough to pay for all of this". My heart sunk and I knew what I had to do. With out him knowing I purchased a gift card and put some money I had been saving on it. I bought a Thank you card and placed the gift card in it. I left the card blank because I know how it is. Being a young married couple barely surviving. Having 2 young kids, and wondering if your next paycheck is gonna be enough to buy all the groceries that you need. Needless to say, I placed the card in a spot that I knew he would get the next day. A week had gone by and I really had no idea if he had recieved it. A few days ago, when I was alone with him he pulled me aside and said, "I know it was you and Thank You". I started to ball as he was telling me this is total gratitude. He had proceeded to tell me that he didn't know how he was gonna get some food for the baby and diapers. Then this envelope and gift card appeared. I know Heavenly Father was guiding me. I was in that line and that time for a reason. Last week in sacrament meeting, we had this awesome speaker Hyrum Smith and his wife. Hyrum for some who may knows, travels with Steven R Covey all around the world as motivation speakers. His wife had talked about characters in the Book of Mormon. When she was talking about one of the prophets it kinda hit me like a ton of bricks. Here I am a single mom and beginning to wonder if I will ever meet anyone new. She said.... being married is wonderful, and they help you along but when it comes down to it the only things you are accountable to the Lord for are you own actions. I never thought of it that way. How wonderful would it be if we could all do something nice for someone and pay it foward. Don't you think the world would be a much better place?

Brendon Pedalling!!

So, for like ever Brendon's been scooting around on his big wheel. You can see it in my sister's blog when they came to visit for mother's day and the kids were going around my mom's car. Well yesterday my dad bought this excersize bike from D.I. For whatever reason Brendon got right on and started pedalling it. I couldn't believe it, I made him go right outside so we could get on his big wheel. And wouldn't you know it? He started pedalling!