Snow fun part 2

As promised, here are some more fun in the snow pictures. I am so thankful that I am able to sit long enough to be able to post, even if sometimes I need to break it up in different days, it gets done nonetheless! I have so many blessings to be thankful for in my life!

Apparently the sticking out the tongue seems to make you go faster....

Superman Jerry getting ready for launch...

And we have take off! Up, Up and Away!

Getting ready to tag team sidekick Brayden...

Going faster than the speed of... a dog!  Look out Samson, I am on the case... never fear, Jerry is here, ready to fight dog crime...lol

As you can see, he almost went into the little ditch at the bottom of the hill... then you could have said that he "ditched us"...lol Anyway, I am so thankful that we are able to take advantage of the snow while it lasted.

All these things shall be for thy good...

We have all heard before that it isn't what happens to us, it is how we handle those trials. Or the famous saying, attitude is everything. All of the above is true. It isn't when the times are good that our true character is shown, it is in the midst of the challenge that reveals who we really are. A lump of coal would remain just that if someone, whom knowing exactly what that coal can turn into, and then carefully taking the necessary measures and time to put intense heat on it to reveal what it's true identity really is. Sand would be just plain ol sand if the heat wasn't turned on to it to create beautiful glass. So why then is it hard sometimes to remember that when the pressure is on us,meaning that we are undergoing a transformation process when life's challenges, experiences and trials are presented to us,that this is all but for our good? It isn't always easy to remember that that is how we become the sons and daughters of God that He desires and sees us being, and that it doesn't mean that we have necessarily done anything wrong or that we deserve those hardships, but it slowly begins to mold us in to who we are today and whom we desire to be.

I honestly have never asked why me. I don't know why, maybe I am just weird that way. (No comment please..lol). I am constantly told that I am way too young to be going thru what I am and have in my life... although I am not so sure that any age is a good age or bad age so to speak, to go thru hard things and as many as I have been asked to do... I know what they are saying though and it is taken in the right context. I am truly amazed at how much your eyes( especially mine...) tell all. I try so hard to put on a good face and smile and to have as best of an attitude during challenging times, but it never fails that someone will say that they can tell by just looking at my eyes that I am not my normal energetic, enthusiastic self and I look forward to returning to that more than you know! It has been almost 4 months since I have been able to attend Church, except for Christmas Day, and I miss it more than anything!! I miss the interactions with others, which if you are a social bug it is very hard to not be around people, don't get me wrong, I enjoy time alone but thrive off of being able to be around people. I miss the strength of each others testimonies and faith. This Sunday I plan on being there just long enough to take the Sacrament while kicking my feet up on the couch and then heading home. That will do wonders for me I am confident. I know this too shall pass. I just want it to pass a little bit quicker than it is. I have a year under my belt and up to 7 more, but will keep praying and believing that the time will quickly come when I can live more normally and be able to enjoy even the simple things of life more than I do now. I am grateful for all the service my family offers me. It is humbling to ask for help when needed, or prayers when needed. I know that I will be better and stronger because of this. I am thankful for my challenges, but am ready to move on and to feel good and less pain once again. I am thankful for my Savior, for the Atonement and always knowing that I can rely on Him to lift me up on the days that I can barely lift myself up ( spiritually,emotionally and sometimes physically). I can always count on Him to be there for me, to listen and to be my best friend. I love Him and my Heavenly Father with all my heart. I know that they have a plan for me. I thank them for sending my family to me. I couldn't have asked for a better, more loving,selfless, dedicated family than the one I have. They have the patience of Job with me. They have been asked to go thru a lot on my behalf and never once have they complained about the service they render. I love them with my whole heart. I know that they believe that one day I will be able to do the things with them that I desire to do, but they are patient with me in the mean time. It isn't easy being a husband or children to me, but they love me unconditionally inspite of things and my heart is full of gratitude for them. I love my extended family with all my heart. They too have had to put up with a lot and still love me unconditionally. Same goes for my friends, who sometimes know me better than I know myself! I love them dearly and are thankful for them. I am thankful for this blog, it allows me to have a journal and to be able to share it with those whom I care about so very much. Thank you for not judging me. For accepting me, faults and all. Thank you for taking the time to read and support our family and our adventures, smiles, hurts and just our plain silliness at times! Know that you are loved and thought of all the time.

Our family addiction...

Ok, so maybe it isn't quite an addiction, but it is something that we have come to really enjoy as a family. For Christmas we got the family some Wii games since that is something that we enjoy doing together. Also, it is something that allows me to participate in as a family without injuring myself! Well, we ended up taking back a couple of games ( Game Stop is amazing!) and exchanging them for different ones. One of them happened to be the game Wipeout just like the TV show. (Side note... we never even seen the show until after we played the game):).

I can honestly say that we have never had so much fun playing a Wii game as a family as we have had with this one! One time the kids and I were playing and since it wasn't Jerry's turn he decided to go in the kitchen to grab a bite to eat... now, this only has happened the one time, but it was halarious!... we were at the last stages of the game and Rae's character had a slight glitch, for some reason her arms were waving all over the place as she was running, but they were facing backwards! It was soo funny looking and so you know, not expected that I started to laugh, then I was laughing so hard I couldn't even get "Jerry" out of my mouth to get him in here to watch.... this went on for quite some time and I seriously have never laughed so hard in my life! I was crying, my stomach was hurting and yes, I even snorted a couple of times... The kids started laughing really hard because, 1.. the player was just down right funny looking and 2, they enjoyed seeing me laugh so hard. I know, it was one of those things where you had to be there to get the full effect, but, it was fun to experience that as a family.

So now we have a new tradition, on Thursday Nights at 7 we sit down for an hour and laugh at the people on the show and enjoy each others company. ( No, we aren't laughing at them, believe it or not, we are actually laughing with them!) I tell you what though, they get the world's most cookiest people on that show! This is the only show we watch on tv.. the rest is netflix or movies, or playing the Wii or other fun games that happen to be non-electronically involved.

I am thankful that we can enjoy one another's company. We are definitely not a perfect family, but then again who would want that... sounds too boring to me... not to say we aren't striving for perfection in this life, but that we recognize each others weaknesses and try to focus on our strengths while praying for one another to be just a little bit better than the day before.

So, I or we recommend this game very highly and know that you will have fun wiping out and throwing things at your opponents!

Snow Fun part 1

Brace yourselves... not that everyone may read this, but yes I am actually posting....

Because there are quite a few pictures I would like to post, I decided it would be better to break the posts up a bit.

Last wednesday was really the first day that we got snow...and we even got enough worth playing in!  Fortunately, my family was able to enjoy it long enough to satisfy their love of snow and mom being able to have some fun pictures taken, before it melted that night.

Also, I honestly cannot believe how much Brayden LOVES the snow!!!  More than any child I know,  and it does my heart good to see him enjoy it so much with great intensity...

What a fun big brother!  Mush Jerry, Mush! LOL...

 This is Brayden with our neighbor's little guy.. Dalton... could say they are snowbuddies!

Ok watch out, you  just might get hit by a professional!  Warning!  Cold front coming your way... with a chance of flying snowballs!

 I just love the grin on his face!  A picture IS worth a 1000 words!

Halloween Dress-Up Fun

well it was another year of dressing up and Raelene decided to dress up as a vampire and in that picture of her by herself she even looks like the undead. Brayden naturally decided to be strong like his dad so he picked batman and he absolutely hated the mask.  I wanted to be original so you first try to guess who I dressed up as. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................no cheating now..........................................................................................................................................................
 if you guessed Phantom of the Opera then you were right. Believe it or not at our ward trunk or treat I had a lot of people asked me if I would sing. Naturally I said no. 

Christmas Devotional

Every year I look forward to the Christmas Devotional put out by the General First Presidency.  I love the Spiritual messages that are given.  This year was even better for we were able to watch it from home.  I was so thankful because I knew that I couldn't have gone to the Church to watch it, so I was especially grateful to have watched it at home with my dear family.

I hope that I can maintain the Spirit Of Christ thru this season and thru out the year to come.  We try to do our part in teaching our children what Christmas is really about.  And they have never ever asked for much at all.  In fact sometimes it is hard to find out what they want because they have a very short list and want us to know that they know that it isn't about the gifts.

I feel very blessed to be here with my family.  I love this time of year when hearts are softer than usual, people tend to forget to hold a grudge and go out of their way to serve.  I am thankful for the greatest gift of all, my Savior.  His love and sacrifice, his example are what I treasure up most.  I love all of you and wish you the most wonderful Christmas season and to feel of our love and His love for you.  Thank you for putting up with me this year, I know it's not an easy task, but I truly appreciate your love!

If I only knew...learn from my mistake please, saves pain....

I had no idea that by simply digging in my ear with my finger what it would cause.  A few nights ago I was laying in bed and couldn't sleep, so I decided to try to clean my ears.... but I ended up going a bit too far, it hurt but I thought nothing of it.  Then thursday morning I woke up with my ear hurting, along with the side of my head and face.  Apparently I caused an infection in my ear and it spread to my brain affecting the nerves.
Then last night my eye started to hurt, along with my throat and I was losing my voice.  This morning I woke up with my voice completely gone, not even a peep, I thought my kids would be happy but they said they wish I had my voice back!  Went and saw a dr and it spread to my throat and caused inflamation around my heart.  I am doing as good as I can.  There is a lot I am doing for it and had a blessing so I know this will go away with time.  But I learned something of value... never use your fingernail to clean out your ear!!!  Its not worth it!

Things are good here, I have many projects to get done before Christmas!!  We haven't got a tree yet but next week sometime we will.  The rest of the house is decorated and I LOVE this time of year!!!  Hope all are well!!!