Saturday, November 29, 2008

Thanksgiving

I am so lucky because ever since we have been married (10 very short years) we have always spent EVERY holiday with my side of the family. OK, maybe I have missed like 2 dinners, but hey, who cares? We spent this Thanksgiving in Provo with the Russell's. Their son, Calvin, came home from his mission on the 14th of November so they had this massive Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lot of fun. Something that I have never done, is put together hygiene kits--I did this finally! We put together 200 kits and boxed them off. I loved it because even Logan and Jensyn were able to help. It may have only taken 10 minutes, but it was something that made us feel good. Wow! We are so fortunate to have the LUXURIES that we have! Here we are putting a small warm blanket, 4 cloth diapers, diaper pins, a bar of soap, a cotton t-shirt dress, and a few other small necessities in these zip-lock bags that are no bigger than an 11x14 photo! I guess I am just so oblivious to the world and their needs! I feel like I am only focusing on myself! Here I am thinking that I need...everything. We take so much for granted just the small things that are needed, and that we have all of the time. I have had things put into perspective a little more because of this fun activity. THANK YOU RUSSELL'S! We love your family SO much! I did miss my family. I have the funnest family in the world. I am so glad to be a part of them. I sure did miss my moms yummy stuffed mushrooms--the best in the world.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


Leave it to Becca to get my kids to sleep! Thank you for all you do, Becca-I LOVE YOU!



Jensyn and CeCelia


Logan and Nicole working on the kits




Logan, Jensyn, and Nicole playing Rock Star-or whatever the heck it's called.











Wednesday, November 26, 2008

November 26, 2008

Today, I am thankful for:

1) Pretty Christmas Decorations. I love them! I can't believe I was so late in getting them up this year. I think they were all up finally by about the 15th. Christmas decorations make me happy.

2) Smiles. I consider myself a really good driver. What does this have to do with smiles? So, today I was pulling out of Costco and turning left. There were 2 cars-I thought they were both turning in to Costco. The first car did, but the second car didn't. I totally pulled out in front of her. It definitely wasn't an almost miss, but I still pulled out in front of her. I waved and smiled at the lady driver, mouthing the word 'sorry'. She SMILED and WAVED back! Seriously, why isn't everyone like this, cause I am!?(--unless you are a lame driver, you don't know how to drive, and you make me mad!) She just made my day. Dumb, huh!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Being Thankful

Today was quite an eventful day, to say the least. Every day I go into Logan's classroom to help her teacher for 20-30 minutes. Today was no exception. I love to see what Logan is learning about. She is doing so well! I also was able to help John get some mulch delivered by our supplier for a big job tomorrow. Although I did a lot, I still don't have much information to jot down. It is really interesting on days like today to really find something that I am thankful for. Sometimes the days just don't end, and it seems almost unbearable. Underneath it all, I know now what I am thankful for today...it has been under my nose all day.

1) My Parents. They saved my day today. I needed some help, they dropped everything they were doing and came to me. They trusted me with a no-questions-asked type of deal. Although it was nothing major, for me it was. My mom and dad have always been so willing to help wherever they can--and they have helped me in my life more than they will ever know. I hope that one day, I can either help them, or be as amazingly wonderful as they are to my own children. Really, my parents are one of John and my very best friends--and I have some pretty dang good friends. Mom and dad, if you read this, THANK YOU! We love you so very much.


2) Life. I am thankful for my life, for the life of my little kids, and also the life of John--among all of my wonderful friends and family. I have always been a worry wart. I worry when the phone rings that it is John and he has been in an accident. I worry that I will lose someone that I love. All. The. Time. I am also thankful that I care so much about those that I love. I could not imagine life without the amazing people that surround me. I remember a thought that I once heard that said "How wonderful it is to have someone that makes saying goodbye so hard." I have so many fabulous people living around me. With that being said, I am so very thankful for each and every day that we have. We never, ever know when we will run out of tomorrows. I am so thankful for today-and for the time I have been able to spend with the people that I love. Today. One of these days, I won't be afraid of death... or maybe I won't--but I am very glad to be alive. (Is that gloom and doomy?) Sorry.
i love dad

Monday, November 24, 2008

I Am Thankful Part II

Since I don't have much to write about, I will just dive right in to the two things that I am thankful for today.

1) Work. John still continues to be busy and it is the 23rd of November. We usually have him scheduled out until about the 10th of November where he gets snowed/rained out. I don't think ever, he has been able to do fall clean-ups and property projects this far in to the season. Now I know that we actually have something to bill out for next month. I would assume that the snow will start hitting us right away-then I can bill for that. I am thankful for work.

2) My Church Calling. I have learned so much over the last year and a half, and I have grown in knowledge tremendously. I am grateful and humbled that I have been entrusted with such a special calling.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

I Am Thankful.

In Relief Society today, the lesson was on President Monson's general conference talk! I thought that I knew it like the back of my hand--she brought up so many new points. I do think it is very interesting that given the same information, many people have differing views on it! What the teacher found in the lesson was so much different that what I have been focusing on. ...and remember, I was drenched in tears when I made the post a month ago on this talk because I knew it so well! Very interesting.
She said how important it is each day to list 2 things at the end of the day that we were grateful for. I think that I will take up that challenge. I do have so much to be grateful for on a daily basis. Some days, it might be hard to figure those out-but I hope not. I guess I will soon find out.

Today, I am grateful for: (in no particular order)

1) My Home. I feel so safe and so secure in the walls of my home. I thank John for who he is and providing such a safe and wonderful place for us to be. We are so blessed to be where we are!

2) John. Really. He is so amazing. I have never seen anyone who is full of selfless acts as he is. He may not believe so, but his countenance is the most pure of any I have ever been around. I love him so much and am so happy and HONORED to spend forever with him. Have you seen his way with my kids? Totally priceless.


Saturday, November 22, 2008

Did I blow it?

Jack-man's hair has been so hard to do in a little faux-hawk because it has gotten so long and stringy. So...I took him in to my hair stylist and had her cut all of the baby hair out. He looks like a little man now! Really, I wanted the sides cut--but the top, I really wanted at least an inch left on there. Luckily, boys hair (and especially Jacks) grows like a weed. I will miss his curly locks of hair for a few months!



Friday, November 21, 2008

Dinner Group

Our Bishop recently asked the Ward Activities Committee to put together dinner groups for the adults in the ward. Several people in the ward will host each dinner. Well, tonight was the first run at it. John and I had one of the groups at our home. We did get to know some very fun people whom I have been wanting to get to know. It turned out to be a fun evening. Most stayed tonight until almost 10:00-just sitting around the table while eating and talking. I think that these are the fun kinds of things to do as ward activities. Luckily, I have the gumption to decorate for Christmas early each year. We were able to eat off my mis-matched Christmas dishes--(can't even do matchy-matchy dishes! I have to buy 8 different sets of dishes just so I can switch them up on a table setting!) My Christmas trees were decorated, as was my mantle, AND my cute windows were up for the season. John also started a roaring fire in the fireplace. I have several more totes of decorations that still need a home, but for tonight it was great. I really love to have people in my home. I was glad for the fun opportunity.


Diaper Rashes?

Any thoughts on what causes diaper rashes? Do you think spicy chili might be the culprit? Whoops! Sorry, buddy!



Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I wonder where she got THIS idea...

Jensyn jumped off my bed with a handful of things and ran into the bathroom...nothing strange. A little while later, I started heading for the kitchen. I looked down the other hallway in my journey to the kitchen and this is what I saw! She turned over a laundry basket and starts using it as a table, coloring papers.

When it comes to me and the potty, let's just say I don't waste much time. I'm down and up faster than I can--do pretty much anything! Jensyn must have just wanted to spend a little bit of her time there. Maybe she gets it from John. I'll have to ask him when he gets home. haha.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

October's Lesson Thought

"It was meant to be that life would be a challenge. To suffer some anxiety, some depression, some disappointment, even some failure is normal. Teach our members that if they have a good, miserable day once in a while, or several in a row, to stand ready and face them. Things will straighten out. There is a great purpose in our struggle in life."

--Boyd K. Packer--

It's over for another month

I presented my lesson today. I think that it went over fairly well. To the side bar, I posted a quote for this time which I really like. It came from a talk by Richard G. Scott in 1993 during General Conference. I also used Chelsey's input in my closing remarks. I actually read my closing remarks (which was partially my testimony on the subject of knowledge.) Here it is for me to remember.

"We live in a very interesting time. We are being plagued by a society who thinks that the blackest black is white. That white is black. Take prop 8. We are being protested against for our beliefs on pro-family. We are involved in a modern day persecution where our beliefs are under scrutiny. Our places of worship are being targeted. We are being called haters and bigots. Times are going to get very rough and tough. We cannot afford to be sitting on the fence. NOW is the time to obtain the knowledge that we need to receive salvation. If we are not constantly learning, the darkness of society will bring us down. We will begin to not be able to differentiate the truth. We will fall away. We are told that in the last days, there will be wars, and rumors of wars. An interesting thing to consider is that the wars don’t/won’t always consist of bows, arrows, cannons, guns, etc. They might be wars in our own hearts, and wars of values and morals! Prop 8 is doing just this. We are losing members of our church due to the knowledge that they never continually gained!"

Until next month...!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Filling up the Yukon

I have a secret! No need to go to Costco anymore for "cheap gas!" Before heading downtown tonight, I went out of my way to get Costco gas (I was excited for the possibility of it being like $1.90). I did score and get it for $1.97 per gallon, but as I was heading back toward South Towne Mall, the Conoco on the corner was also $1.97. While this is good news, I know that in the future, Costco is not necessarily the cheapest anymore. My Yukon (within 2 months ago) cost about $90 per fill-up. TODAY!!! $42.00! Wow. That is a huge difference! Was it the election? Is that possible? I can handle gas at this price. I remember when John and I were dating, 11 years ago and up to when we got married 10 years ago, we were only paying $.98 per gallon. That was some cheap gas! So much has changed since then, I am realizing. Anyway, I am just excited. I am sure I'll look at this post in a few months and wish that we were back to these days.

(Update: I should have gone up the street to the Sinclair by Harmons. The gas price is the cheapest in town--$1.86--and I have a $.05 off per gallon since that is where I shop! Maybe I'll fill John's truck up tomorrow, just for fun.)

And.....it's definitely time for bed because all I am doing is rambling.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

My Lesson on Sunday

I have been thinking a lot this past month on my Relief Society lesson that I will be giving this Sunday. I will be teaching on "Gaining Knowledge of Eternal Truths." OK, seriously-I read and re-read this lesson and I could never find the basis of my lesson. How would I present this? I feel like these Joseph Smith lessons are very hard! What ever happened to the lessons on Charity, Love, Forgiveness? I could teach on those. I sat down late one night and started preparing. I got a good portion of the lesson all prepared and then went to sleep. What happened next is beyond my imagination! I had a dream. I dreamed that I was at church, teaching my lesson. It was all laid out for me, but it was nothing like the one I had prepared that evening--and might I add, that the lesson in my dream went over fabulously! I woke up the next morning, basically scrapping my previous night's efforts. I know now how I am going to present this lesson. Honestly, this kind of stuff never happens to me. Weird. ANYWAYS, back to my thoughts and purpose. In light of our current situation with the government and specific propositions, I am taking that perspective. In a world like we have today, I am becoming completely obsessed with the way that (the people against Prop 8) are treating our church. I guess I call it "modern day persecution."

It scares me.
Are we strong enough to withstand this?

We have to be.
Gaining knowledge of eternal truths will allow us to not falter! In today's society, black is becoming white. What is the truth? So many people believe many things, and it is very obvious that the rest of the world thinks that our truth is a horrible lie. If we do not have an extensive and growing knowledge of the truth, we will lose it. This is where we get those who "resign" and fall away from the church.
In my lesson, I will be mentioning prop 8. So, to all my fans reading this (ha ha, just kidding) I need your input. Am I OK to open this up to discussion, or is it better left as it is? Will the RS ladies be offended? (I don't think that this touches home to anyone, but I don't want to offend.) Although, the church DOES say that we cannot be worried about offending a church member because of the truth. We cannot sugar-coat things that are wrong. How should I handle this? If you dare, let me know!

Disney on Ice

So...tonight, Leslie invited the girls and me to go see Disney on Ice. When I ordered the tickets only 1 week before the show, I didn't think it would be possible to get a decent seat. Well, my luck was on my side! We got 5 VIP tickets-row 5, seats 1-5. It was great because the row that we were on were in the corner of the rink, there were only 5 seats on that row so we never had to climb over people, or be climbed over! That was probably my favorite part!
Logan said that she loved the whole thing, but mostly Cinderella. Jensyn said that she loved Ariel. (She said that she is Ariel.) I love spending time with those girls. They were on their best behavior (that doesn't change much) and were just fun to be with. I was able to leave Jack with John, and Leslie was able to leave Fischer with Kirt. Cute dads!
(On a side note, I want to say that I love my John!) Though I dread the winters, I love that he generally gets to be home with me all winter. We usually will drop the kids off to school and then go out to lunch together. It is the best! The last week while the rainy weather was hovering, he stayed home. I had so much going on that I was constantly leaving the house and having him stay with the kids and even drive them to school. He has not complained once. (Like I said, though, we really do have EASY kids.) I love you, John!
Back to the Disney on Ice. We had a great night with Leslie and Grace. I am thinking that we will have to make it a tradition. Thank you, Les!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Veterans Day

I have, as you know, signed up to be the PTA Historian. It really does consume a lot of my time. Well, today I had the pleasure of attending the schools assembly in honor of the veterans of our country. The school did sing-a-long songs and waved flags. The kids, teachers, and all in attendance stood up and sang the National Anthem. Seriously, they sounded amazing! I had to stop singing because I was choking up. (Really though, does this surprise anyone? I cried in the movie King Ralph, like 15 years ago--it has been all down hill from there.) My eyes welled up with tears. I really couldn't make it through the song. Anyway, being the BEST historian that I am, I contacted the 4 major news stations via e-mail. When the assembly started, it appeared that they really didn't care what we had going on at our school. About half way through, to my major excitement, the PTA president runs up to me and said, "How did you do that?" I was so confused. "You got the news here!" Again, I welled up with tears. I felt so happy that for once, my efforts paid off. It was Fox 13. So, in the past, I have always made fun of that news channel, I mean really, does anyone even take them seriously? Well, for today I do. They supported my school-and made me look good in the process...!
Thank you Fox 13!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Don't tell Chelsey that I know her secret.

I know the juicy secret that Chelsey is going to post about on Friday. (to all you out there who have access to her blog.) Seriously, hold your pants on for this one! You WILL NOT see this one coming.

Obama

lllloooonnnngggg sigh. I guess the time has come where we know our new President of the United States. I was cleaning yesterday and listening/watching the reports. I even sat down for a minute to even see if it was possible that McCain would win this election. It was possible, but it would have almost taken a miracle, but it was possible! I glanced back up a while later to see the big TV screen say, "Barack Obama, elected the 44th President of the United States of America." Although I knew what the outcome would be, I still got choked up and shed a tear or two. I was sadly disappointed, concerned with the way that he will lead our country. Although I think that he is a fairly good looking man, I didn't want him to win. ( I will say that when Hillary and Obama were fighting for the Democratic nomination, I DID say that I would much rather have Obama be the president versus Hillary.) So, with that being said, at least Obama was elected and not her! I do know that this country will still survive, heck, we survived Bill Clinton--for 8 years!

I really do have a lot going through my mind with the elections, but I do need to focus my energies in different areas. So, hopefully with this little post, I will be able to get it on the table and then off my chest! (As you all probably know, I've got enough there as it is! haha)

I feel bad for George Bush. Although I know that he has done some things that caused problems for the country, I do think that for the most part he has done his best. Leading the country would be a hard job! I give him credit for being the president during 9-11, what a disaster that would have been had Clinton still been in the White House. I do feel bad for him because I generally think he has done a great job.

Writing this post makes me look kind of like I know what I am talking about, and that I might know a little politics. Really? I don't know anything. I am just a good pretender!

Here's to Obama, he finally has my support (kind of) and we will wait until the next elections.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Fischer

Today my family gathered at Kirt and Leslie's ward and home for the blessing of baby boy Fischer Koehn Hansen. He is so dang cute! Kirt, like Tony and John, gave him a wonderful blessing. These little babies are so lucky to have such great parents and families. Leslie bore her testimony about how not too long ago, our babies were with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. How thin the veil must be for infants-and for that matter, even small children. That chills me to the bone. They know Heavenly Father very well at this point, I am sure.

I look into the eyes and sweet spirits of my little kids, and know for a surety that they truly have Christ-like attributes, as children should. I am so glad that they have the light in them. I know that they always will. These children are given to us as the most perfect gift from Heavenly Father.

I know that I am grateful for mine.