Put a little Priesthood in it!

Danny has been pretty sick this weekend, he says he has Swine Flu, but he is just a big baby! To be nice though, Danny doesn't slow down unless he really is sick, so I know he really doesn't feel well. This morning I tried to be nice and let him sleep in, church does not start till 11:00 so he slept till 10:00. I tried to wake him up to see how he felt and he kept saying he could not get up. I was concerned about how he felt, however, we teach "Sunbeams gone wild", so I was also concerned about teaching by myself and having Sammy!!! I say "Really you feel that bad?" He just kinda nods and groans, tears honestly well up in my eyes, cause there is just one little boy that there is nooooooooooooooooooooo way I can handle without help, even if Sammy wasn't part of this. This little cutie-pie needs one on one the whole time! "I can't teach those kids by myself" I say and the response is "Sorry".

I hang my head and walk out of the bedroom, in search of any Dr Pepper we may have in the house, normally I can wait till after church. In fact normally the class drives me so nuts that I force Danny to go through Sonic on the way home for the Supreme Dr Pepper, it is Happy Hour after all! The thought of being locked in our little room with this class and Sammy alone sends me on a DP hunt immediately. So, I find a 2 liter in the fridge, almost gone I know it will be flat but I need this, I decide it will be ok. However, when I put the lid on after the last drink I really tightened it, so it wouldn't go flat. hahaha I can not get it open, Kody happens to be near the kitchen, I ask for his help. I tell him "Come on your a strong kid, open it!" He can not. By now I am trying to decide what excuse I can use to get out of teaching, all alone and even without DP is worse. There must be a way out!! Kody is about to give up, I decide to cheer him on! "C'mon Kody, use your muscles, you can do it!" Kody has now ran the lid under water, (not sure what for) and even tried to use a towel as a grip. Nothing is working, the lid won't budge! More and more excuses are running through my head, I am getting desperate quick! Finally I try one last push, "You are a strong boy, put a little Priesthood in it!"

Kody laughs he has tried everything, with a glint in his eye, he lays his hands on top of the bottle and closes his eyes, pretending to give it a blessing. When he trys again it still won't budge. Danny has now risen from the dying postition and says "Oh just bring it here!" I give it one last chance, and HALLELUJAH it works! I fill a glass with the last of this fabulous nectar, and take a drink, it is FLAT. So, is this my reward for using my 12 yr old and his Priesthood power? Probably, I guess the Lord has a sense of humor also. I could just picture Him elbowing Jesus in the ribs and going "Watch this!" Then they both fall over laughing.

Danny rises and decides he will give it a shot, I know I should tell him don't worry, but I can not. I am actually glad that he is coming and will even teach, though it his week. While we are in sacrament we look around for our little rays of sunshine. We can only find one, he's not the one I was worried about, so I begin to feel better. We spot one more, but again not our buddy. So, I ask Danny if he wants to go home after sacrament, and he says he probably will. Sammy actually fell asleep in his arms, so he takes him home also. SCORE! One of the guys go home, I still ended up with 2 kids, on account of a visiting family. I guess the Lord also knows our breaking points, I don't know where our little man was, but I am thankful that he was not there today. I am thankful that Danny got to home and sleep and Sammy got a nap. I was even rewarded with one of the most sweet little girls ever, I wish she were in our ward! I believe her family will be here for the summer, so i will get to see her again. I had a great class, we were able to discuss our eyes and why they are good. Enjoyed snacks and they even colored thier pictures beautifully. Wyatt even answered a question at the end of class, so I know he was listening. Let me tell that story too, cause it's funny. I am showing them pictures from the manuel and asking what thier eyes see, I get to the pic of Jesus healing the blind with mud. I explain that man can not see and the Jesus made mud and put it on his eyes, then when he rinsed it off, the man could see! At the end of class, while we are cleaning up, I ask how we would feel if our eyes did not work and we could not enjoy all the beautiful things on this earth? Wyatt does not miss a beat and says, "That's ok, we will just put some mud in our eyes and then they will work!"

All in all it ended up ok. I will not abuse the Priesthood Power again, I HATE flat DP! That was a lesson I will try not to repeat!My little "Muscle Man"

Willow Lake 5/24/09

I'm back! Did you miss me? I have been ignoring my blog I know and I apologize, but I have alot to catch up on! I thought I'd start with last Sunday. After church we drove over to Willow Lake. We had a blast! The lake goes through the Dells so we had ALOT to explore! We spent the afternoon climbing on the rocks. It was pretty

cold and windy so no one got in the water. We set up camp on the bank of the river, here is Danny finishing up. It was beautiful here, it was around 3 pm, the sun was still high overhead, but as it drifted down, man did it get fantastic out!

We brought a big sub to share and chippys. Some fruit and it was a perfect Sunday supper by the lake. Sammy decided he only wanted chips and took over the BBQ bag! He loved it. Hope everyone likes cheddar and sour cream, because he was not sharing! Of course Lolo got some, because she is immune to his cry to stop. Especially since she invinted that cry!
While we were eating I discovered a scary looking bug crawling along my leg. I screamed of course because I did not recognize it at all, Danny reached over and mushed right on my pants! Danielle decided we needed a pic of it. That is the black gook on my knee! Danny then launched into "I can't believe you are my farm girl who would do anything and get dirty! You used to laugh at the girls who screamed like that!"

I had to inform him that I had never seen that thing on my leg before, so therefore HAD to scream like a sissy lala!

While hiking through the Dells we saw this lizard sunbathing. This new camera that mom and Shelley got me for my bday rocks! I was able to get a close picture without scaring it away, he was a fat ole thing and everyone loved seeing him!



After we had eaten, Sammy turned around... this is the look of discovery! WATER!!!! He found the lake, and all he wanted after that was to play in the water. Unfortunately it was too windy and chilly. So we all had to keep and eye on him and take turns getting him away from it.

Sammy has this funny little butt scoot that he does, when you tell him not to do something. He plops down and smiles then scoots into whatever you told him to stay from. He was attempting such a feat when Danielle grabbed him here! He was not happy, since the smile and cute little butt scoot usually get him what he

wants, since he is too cute to resist, normally. So Danielle had to fight with him to get away! I thought it was funny, she did not. But I believe I've been here before with a few of the others, even when they were older. It's always fun to see them struggle with it. This must a small taste of what grandparenthood is like. hehehe

Kody was the first up to the top! He does not need a trail, he goes right up the side. I think he must be part spider man. The Dells are fun and easy to climb, kind of like the Papagos in Phoenix. Just giant rocks. The girls were right behind him, only not as fast. Lolo gets a little skittish and needs to prodded along. Danielle always steps up and helps her along so she is not left out! I really love them about these 2 girls. As I watch Kody and Sammy they are quickly following a similar path. Kody will follow Sammy and help him all he can. Just like Sammy will follow Kody and try whatever he is doing.

Danny carried Sammy around as we explored, this pic was taken right before I slid down the rock to get to where they are. The rock I chose to slide down happen to have a small patch of cactus waiting to bite me in the butt! OUCH! I had to drop drawers right there to get all the stickers out of my butt and pants. Luckily I had control of the camera and no pics were taken of this event. I did have a nice bruise and what the kids lovingly referred to as lumpy cactus butt all this last week.

Kody is so quick, it is hard to get some pics of him just standing still, unless he is in a goofy pose of course. I turned after pulling up my pants and saw him standing and watching the water, I wonder what he is thinking? Is he contemplating the meaning of life, a way to end world hunger, how the President is going to fix the economy? Or is he just trying to see if he can jump in and swim across without getting caught, or where the perfect place to push Danielle is??? Guess we'll never know!


Here are some more pics of Danielle helping Lolo climb. I love this! Danielle stays so calm, most of the time, and just shows her where to put her feet and hands. It this doesn't work, she just says, "Fine, Lolo just sit there and don't have any fun today!" That usually does the trick and Lolo gets to wherever she was going!


Once again Kody found his way up top! No one else made it up there! He did say there was alot of cactus hidden on his way around, so I decided to stay away, since the little blood thirsty monster had already got a taste of my blood, and we all know what happens when monsters taste blood...

After we were done and the wind was too much to bear, not to mention that the trees had hit Sammy's allergies hard and his eyes were red and puffy and his nose was disGUSting, we headed to Dairy Queen for a chocolate dipped cone.

Everyone enjoyed thier cone, it was the perfect treat after a great picnic.

Danielle dug right in!

So much for me eating healthier! But who can resist a chocolate dipped vanilla cone? Not me thats for sure!

Sammy even got one of his own, this is Dairy Queen's idea of a "baby cone". He had never had his own ice cream before and he loooooved it! I took a million pictures of him eating and getting messy, I'll post them on their own soon. But I caught this ultimate look of pure joy and knew the world needed to see it.

A good day was had by all, we got home and Danny tried to relax on the couch. However, the kids weren't as tired as he was. Kody wedged himself behind Danny on the loveseat, then Lolo felt the need to come over the top and Sammy was trying to figure out how to get in on this fun!

I feel that this was a fantastic way to spend our Sabbath Day. Out enjoying the nature that Heavenly Father blessed us with, making fun memories for the kids to always have. Enjoying each other's company. This is where lasting relationships come from. The stories we hear told year after year at family functions and lunches. This is how as siblings we learn to love each other, by being together and sharing a lasting memory. Try to take a small amount of time each week to sit at the end of the dock and enjoy each other!

Deal of the Weekend!

This Saturday only! (Tomorrow) Old Navy has thier solid color flip flops for $1.00!! This is perfect to catch up on the missing colors in your collection! Last year it was a limit of 5, so take cash and the kids or hubbys so each person can buy 5!!!

SK8 Comp 5/8

Sorry, I can't get the slide show to actually load on the blog, but if you click on view all images, you can see the pics!!!

Better late than never!!! Here is a slide show from the skate competition on May 9! Kody had a great time. However, he didn't seem to do as well as the last one. He took a couple big spills. He ended up with a nice swollen and discolored elbow, he didn't want to leave the comp to get it looked at, so we waited for Monday and he saw Dr Bryan. Nothing major was wrong, just some pretty deep bruising. I think he will continue to do better, he asked for a helmet and pads. I think he's ready for the BIG tricks! We'll see. I have alot to catch up on, but it will have to wait til later!

Mother's Day

What makes us mothers? The latest fashions? Cool shoes? Hair? A job? Unfortunately no, because those are the easy things. Being a mother is dressing kids up for 80's day, putting 6 cousins on a trampoline and running around to catch any that fly off. Watching the first softball game of the season, and being surprised by self taken pictures of our "handsome" boys when we upload pics off our camera.

Being a mom is defined by our kids, my sister always says "you are who your kids are." I agree. So what do these kids say about me? I'm a little worried to think about that, but lets try. It looks like I like to have fun, and can be a little goofy. That I am a happy person, I like softball
and soccer. That we all like to use the camera to take goofy shots of ourselves.

I believe all 4 of my kids do a pretty good job of showing who thier mother is. I would like to think that I can be athletic, although at the moment I am a "little" out of shape, but adult co-ed softball starts this week, so I should get a little in shape. I like to think that I am easy to get along with. I try to get to know everyone around me and make them feel comfortable. My kids have seemed to also have this talent, each in their own way. I like to show school spirit, I think it's important to be happy where you are and help others with that. I try to teach the kids that family is most important and that even though we tease mercilessly it's still important to help boost each others confidence when it's needed. My kids understand backing each other up when someone is being mean to one of them. Even if you feel your sibling my be at fault in the situation, you still need to be on thier side. It's important to work together. I feel that I have given each of the kids my love of dance and music, with those two things you can keep yourself happy. Nothing beats humming a favorite tune when your feeling down, or swaying back and forth to your own beat. (Even if this is in the supermarket or your car)

I have tried to teach them that life is too short to worry about everyone's opinion. Even though, I get my feeling hurt sometime I try to get over it and move on. I have taught them to accept everyone for who they are, that you can't change them. Even if they don't follow the same beliefs we do, they are still Children of God and deserve to be treated that way. As I look at my children in all their goofiness I know that when they think I'm not watching they try to do what I have taught. That even though they can be obnoxious they still know when to be calm...well most of the time. :)

I hope so far I have done a good job. I hope my Heavenly Father is proud of me and my children. I hope my children know that I love them for all that they are and all they will be someday.





I wish you all a late Happy Mother's Day and that as you look at your children you see the good in yourself! Good job and keep raising America's future to be strong and proud!

Highs and Lows

Due to a question left on that last post I wanted to share what I meant when I said that the house had been Kody's high the last two nights. Have you ever seen The Story of Us, with Michelle Pfiefer and Bruce Willis? In this movie as the family sits down to dinner they discuss thier HIGHS and LOWS. Each person tells one good thing (HIGH) and one bad or less good thing (LOW) that happened that day.

I thought this was great and about 3 years ago instigated this at our house. Every night before family prayer we discuss our HIGHS and LOWS. It is so much fun. It helps everyone unwind and we hear a little more about everyones day.

Lolo has one of my favorite highs ever, one night she has this big smile on her face, we get to her and Danny asks, "So, Lolo what is your high?" She gets a big grin and says "In about 5 seconds..." We all just stare not knowing what she means when she lets out a giant fart! I think she actually shook the walls of the house with this one. LOL

It also helps with getting feelings about each other out. Some nights someone's low might be one of us and we try not to be the low ever again. Others might strive to be the low depending on their mood. But it's great and everyone always looks forward to it. Some nights after baseball or a long night we try to skip it and have a quick prayer and go to bed, but some little one always asks to give just 10 minutes extra so we can hear about each others day. Try it, you might like it!

Good things about the new house.

1. Removable shower head!!! (The shower in the old house was too tall for me and I kept asking Danny fora removable one)
2. Sammy slept til 2:30 this morning!! (He has never slept through the night, but was getting up at 11:30 the last 2 wks)
3. It cools down quickly.
4. Sammy is having fun exploring everything and helping to unpack all the bags.
5. It has a room for Jim, which should've been my craft room, but he is happy there.
6. Lolo loves having her own room.
7. A breezeway between the garage and house.
8. A HUGE back yard.
9. It has been Kody's high for the last 2 nights.
10. 3 bathrooms so we don't have to fight!

Wow! That's all I have to say about that, WOW!

I'm not real sure how to start this post...I guess I'll just start and hope that I make sense.



I've had what I would call a life changing weekend. I have let myself get run down with negative feelings. About a lot of things. Number one is my ward. It seems that no one shows up to the activities that Danny and I plan, my visiting teacher partner and I just threw a ward baby shower for one of our ladies and only 4 women showed up. The baby shower before that that my partner planned only 6 showed up. Of course being a little too sensitive, I take all this personally. With the ward activities, my feelings come from hearing everyone say they were so excited about Danny and I getting the calling, because they know we will do "fresh, fun" activities. "We're all so tired of the same-o same-o" they said. Well it seems that "fresh" was not what they wanted. With the exception of the Territorial 500, very few have shown up to the others. No one ever gets there on time who has keys to the library or activities closet so we can decorate or test meachinery before we need it. blah blah blah This is where the negativeness has started, I let it grow to where lately I feel that the YW leaders are being lazy, because they have been canceling Danielle's activities in lue of Stake activites, or not wanting to have fun. I didn't get on here to complain and I promise this gets better, more optimistic.



On top of all this, we are moving due to some financial trouble and not getting along with the people we were renting to own the house from. I let myself believe the Lord would "miraculously" send me a check for everything I needed, because thats what I thought I needed. However, that is not what matters, it's what the Lord wants. So, when I finally gave in and let myself understand that we would not be getting the money and that moving was inevitable, that was last Friday, we started to move on Saturday into a 5 bedroom double wide. My negativeness seemed to grow as we actually unloaded the car from the first load. I just knew I wasn't going to enjoy this place, that it was not "my" house. After the second and final load of the day, because we were due at a graduation party for a dear friend who just graduated from ERAU that morning, we were sitting on the floor of the living room of this new place and everyone else was happy. The kids were playing and laughing, Danny was enjoying watching them, I started to feel happy again. I realized that the kids didn't care, that as long as we were together they were happy, that this place might be better for us after all. It sits on a 1/2 acre and we can plant grass, my one gripe with the current house is no grass for Sammy to play. We can plant a garden, do yard work, be outside, things we have not done since moving into this house just over a year ago. I could feel the spirit telling me it was ok and this was the answer I was waiting for, not some "miracle check" to arrive in the mail.



So we clean up and head to the graduation bbq for Daniel Adul, for those of you who don't know, Daniel is Walter's brother our very good friend from Kenya. Daniel's parents are in town, whom we love, his older brother and wife, and a cousin we have not got to meet yet. We enjoy a wonderful meal, good friends as the rest of our Kenyan friends who attend Embry Riddle are all there also, of course Beth, who is married to Walter is also there. As the night went on and people slowed down thier eating, Ann, Daniel's mom calls everyone into the living room of where they are staying and tells us she would like to talk to all of us. This turns into a Family Home Evening type of thing. Ann, and the other girls sang a hymn, in English and then Swahili, where the rest of the Kenyans join in, it was beautiful, immediately the spirit enters the house. I really needed to feel the spirit, as I have been negative and not let it in lately, at church or from my mother who I have not shared my feelings with for fear of letting her down or her trying to "fix" my fiancial problems. Ann then pulls out her Bible and says she wants to read to us from it. She launches into a story about the prophet Elijah from either 1 or 2 Kings. I'll just summarize what I got out of the story, thier was a gate at the castle and 4 lepers decided to go and let the King know that the army that was due to attack them had run off, that the gatekeeper opened the gate to them even though they were lepers. The Lord told the 4 men to go and it would be opened. Ann told us how they let Daniel leave home at age 19 and sent him to this land that they did not know much about, how they had faith that things would be ok, that many "gates" were open for him. She told us how much she was thankful for all of us who had befriended him and taken him in, helped him along the way. Her husband, Elijah, also told us how much they look forward to coming to Arizona every year or so. I knew right away that the Lord inspired Ann to talk about opening "gates" for us, I knew that the move would be ok, that we could survive as long as we had faith that the Lord was there for us. I had not talked to my mother about my house problems, I had kept my negativeness for the ward so long that the spirit could not reach me there, so he sent this wonderful woman from another contintent at this exact time to teach me what I needed to hear! How wonderful is the Lord for this. I am so thankful that he knows me and my needs personally. I gave her a big hug afterwards and told her she helped me sooooooo much, how grateful I was to have her in my life, that she knew to bring everyone in on this night and discuss the things we did. She looked me in the eye and said " I know you did, Kristi, I know" What a wonderful woman! What a wonderful Lord to still try to reach me when I had closed the 2 gates I use to recieve his guidance, and still find me!

So on Sunday I bore my testimony, in Fast and Testimony meeting, so that I could let the Lord know how thankful I was. When we left church at the end of the block, we found Danny had 9 messages and 4 texts. Thank goodness he had his phone with him, even though it was in the car. Danny's dad had tried to commit suicide. Jim's partner and one of the mechanics had been trying to reach him for the last 30 minutes. The mechanic had decided to go in and fix his personal bike that morning, thank the Lord again, and found Jim face down on his desk. I won't go in to alot of details, in fact I shouldn't say much because I know Jim does not want a lot people to know. But he does not believe in God or anything spiritual at all. How sad and lonely he must have felt yesterday morning without realizing the Lord loves him. My heart ached all day, especially after having such a spiritual event the night before. When I was able to see Jim in the hospital I told how much we love him and need him, that God loves him and even though he tried to ignore me I know he heard me. We also snuck in some missionaries and gave him a blessing. He was already out of it and wasn't real sure what was going on, but I know he needed it. Needless to say he is fine and even gets to come home today from what was supposed to be a 72 hour psych hold.

What an emotional weekend! I have been all over the spectrum of emotions the last 3-4 days. I am still battling a little with the ward and activities, but I am inspired to plan something with the Lord's help that the people will want to attend, I know I can do it! All I can say is that in the end I am thankful for my Heavenly Father's love, thankful for a mother who raised me to believe in Him. My life is good, that is why I typed the last post, so I would like to add a #21 to the list:

#21 A roof over my head.

I feel the need to remind myself of my blessings.

1. 4 healthy kids
2. A husband who loves me.
3. A good job
4. Danny is working
5. A happy marriage
6. Good friends
7. A normally optimistic attitude
8. My Savior's love
9. A wonderful bishop
10. Sammy's walking
11. A great mother
12. A good family
13. Being able to see the Adul's this weekend
14. 2 priesthood holders in the house
15. Smart children who don't get into trouble (away from home :))
16. Clothes on my back
17. Knowledge of the true Gospel
18. Being able to use the computer to let out my feelings
19. Teaching Sumbeams
20. Food to eat.