Chillin with Chelsey

I was sitting around when I got a TEXT from Chelsey letting me know that she was moving... I called her right away and told her... ummmm a text is not how you tell someone you are moving.. hellloo that is serious.

I'm so bummed Chelsey moved from Florida only being here for a little while. I was blessed to be her Visiting Teacher and friend. We had fun times Going to the beach, a basket ball game, girls nights and the pool. It was so nice to join in on the prepration for her sweet baby girl. Chelsey will make an amazing mother, so loving and caring.

Chelsey is amazing, she is so easy going and she was like a sister to me. Really she was just part of the girls when she moved into the area. I will miss her for sure but look forward to being blogging buddies. Chelsey will always have a friend in Florida.

Summer is here!

I just love Summer Time!!
The smell of sunscreen, having fun with friends at the beach and pool...

BBQ's and FIREWORKS!!!!

July 9th...

Hi Friends and Family: Some have asked me when my surgery will be scheduled. I will have the surgery to remove the cancer once and for all hopefully on July 9th....

Things you don't want to hear during surgery:


Better save that. We'll need it for the autopsy.


"Accept this sacrifice, O Great Lord of Darkness."

Bo! Bo! Come back with that. Bad dog!

Wait a minute, if this is his spleen, then what's that?

Hand me that... uh... that uh... that thingy there.

Oh no! Where's my Rolex.

Oops! Hey, has anyone ever survived from 500 ml of this stuff before?

There go the lights again?

"Ya know, there's big money in kidneys? and this guy's got two of 'em."

Everybody stand back! I lost my contact lens!

Could you stop that thing from beating; it's throwing off my concentration.

What's this doing here?

I hate it when they're missing stuff in here.

That's cool. Now can you make his leg twitch by pressing that one?!

Well folks, this will be an experiment for all of us.

Sterile schmerile. The floor's clean, right?

OK, now take a picture from this angle. This is truly a freak of nature.

This patient has already had some kids, am I correct?

Nurse, did this patient sign an organ donation card?

Don't worry. I think it is sharp enough.

FIRE! FIRE! Everyone get out!

Oh no! Page 47 of the manual is missing!

"See" A Good Day Challenge - Day 17 - Sisters

I just love this girl! My sister Emily and I are best friends. We talk just about every day, laugh and cry together. The lord knew exactly what he was doing when he put us together in this family. We don't get to see each other as much as we would like so when we got together over the memorial day holiday we just cherish the time. Our children adore each other. Hunter and Jocelyn laugh so much you can just see from the pictures the adorable friendship that they share. Braxton and Henry are only 10 days apart, it will be fun to watch them grow up together aslo. I'm grateful for my sister and I love being Auntie to her children.







Sister quote graphics

"See" A Good Day Challenge - Day 16 - Model Man

As I was walking thru Target I ran into a friend and she says to me.... did you know your little guy is displayed in the mall? When we got his 1st yr pics they asked me if they could use him and I said sure but didn't really think they would... so i was surprised to hear it was up... I was so glad I ran into Gretchen.

Of course I had to go right over and check it out.. this is what the display looked like... pretty dang cute!

You can only imagine that the smile on my face got real BIG... I was a proud momma! Henry's little smile just melts me every time.. he is such a sweet little guy.
Check out our little "Model Man".

The wise man built his house upon the "ROCK"

As I was reading the conference talk by Elder Wilford W. Andersen "The Rock of Our Redeemer", my mind thought about the song... "The wise man built his house upon the rock". Is my foundation of my life built upon a rock so that when the trials come I won't be washed away?!

The begining of the talk shares stories of the early saints that went thru so many trials. :

There the early Saints had come seeking refuge. Many had lost their homes and their farms, and some had lost their loved ones to the growing persecution. In Nauvoo they gathered and built a new and beautiful city. But the persecution was relentless, and by 1846 they were once again forced to leave their homes—this time in the middle of winter. They lined up their wagons on Parley Street, awaiting their turn to cross the frozen waters of the Mississippi River into an unknown future.

As we stood on Parley Street reflecting upon their desperate conditions, my eyes were drawn to a series of wooden signs nailed to fence posts upon which were etched quotes from the diaries of these suffering Saints. As we read each quote, to our amazement what we found in their words was not desperation and discouragement but confidence and commitment and even joy. They were filled with hope, the hope that is reflected by this quote from the diary of Sarah DeArmon Rich, February 1846: “To start out on such a journey in the winter . . . would seem like walking into the jaws of death but we had faith . . . [and] we felt to rejoice that the day of our deliverance had come.”1

These early Saints were indeed homeless, but they were not hopeless. Their hearts were broken, but their spirits were strong. They had learned a profound and important lesson. They had learned that hope, with its attendant blessings of peace and joy, does not depend upon circumstance.

They had discovered that the true source of hope is faith—faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His infinite Atonement, the one sure foundation upon which to build our lives.

As I sat there reading the talk...I thought WOW these people were amazing... the strength they must have had to overcome trials.

Then I realized, how we in 2010 have our own stories, our own diaries that we write. We are also a group of pioneers, saints that are overcoming SO many trials. I look around me and I'm just amazed at the woman and families that are just keeping the faith and hoping and praying that things will work out. Some have buried a loved one, depression, lost a job, carry the saddness of not being able to get pregnant, have bad health, worry daily about a wayward child, pick up the pieces from a destroyed marriage, debt and addictions, and just have the strength to get up and deal with daily stresses.

My heart was filled with peace when I read this talk. I wanted to post some of my favorite parts of the talk. It really helped me to know once again the lord loves me. He loves all of us.

Hope and happiness and joy are not products of circumstance but of faith in the Lord.

The prophet Mormon, himself no stranger to difficult circumstances, understood and clearly taught this doctrine:

“And again, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you concerning hope. . . .

“ . . . Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ . . . , and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.

“Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.”

Hope comes from faith in Jesus Christ. He has already overcome the world and has promised that He will wipe away our tears if we will only turn to Him and believe and follow.

Faith grows by keeping the commandments.From the Bible Dictionary we read that “miracles do not produce faith but strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ; in other words, faith comes by righteousness.”5

When we strive to keep the commandments of God, repenting of our sins and promising our best efforts to follow the Savior, we begin to grow in confidence that through the Atonement everything will be all right. Those feelings are confirmed by the Holy Ghost, who drives from us what our pioneer mothers and fathers called “our useless cares.” In spite of our trials, we are filled with a sense of well-being and feel to sing with them that indeed “all is well"

“Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”

I testify of Him, that He has overcome the world, that He will never forget or abandon us, for He has graven us upon the palms of His hands.8 I testify that those who keep His commandments will grow in faith and hope. They will be given strength to overcome all of life’s trials.

"See" A Good Day Challenge - Day 15- Palmer Party

Our family got to see a great day while spending it with our dear family and friends. We are so blessed to be surrounded by amazing people. Justin and Kira came into town and what better way to celebrate than a BBQ and pool party! I know I miss seeing Kira over at the Lowry's house and just chatting with her. They are an amazing family, so full of life and love. Everyone had a fun afternoon in the pool.