I'm Back

This blog is always the first to go when things get crazy. I hate that - I love having this outlet and getting to look back at what we've been doing. But I still haven't figured out how to keep it going when life gets nuts...
We've had a lot go on since my last post.

• Ethan turned 8 and will be getting baptized in a couple of weeks. He got a wii - and was thrilled - we celebrated with a few of his friends at Peter Piper Pizza (its like chucky cheese)

•  Lynsey took me to my first concert (I know...I have lived a sheltered life:) And we had an amazing time. I felt like I got a taste of a true college experience. I got in bed at 2:30 am and had to get up at 5:00 am for graduation.

 We now have a cub scout.

 The boys finished the school year and are home for the summer. I cannot believe I have soon to be 1st and 3rd graders. It really feels like they were just little diapered babies a few days ago.We've been keeping ourselves busy and cool with puzzles and trips to the Science Center.

 These pictures make me smile. Tyler's smile is just infectious...

  I graduated!! And then a couple of weeks later started my graduate program. I took 6 credits in 3 weeks and it was one of the toughest things I have ever done. However, it was worth it. I will now be able to be home with my kids every evening in the fall.  I am off school until August 17th and we are going to LIVE IT UP!!

  Ethan's class had a Japanese Tea and I, as the room mother (do not ask me how that happened) was in charge of it. Isn't it adorable??

• I got a new calling as a Relief Society teacher. I am very excited and a little nervous. I love teaching - it forces me to stretch and grow - but I get so nervous. Every time I swear it takes a couple of years off my life. 

• I have gotten the "decorator" bug and have been working on my bedroom. So far I am pretty pleased - but I still have a ways to go. Stay tuned for the reveal..

Okay, this is the most disorganized, haphazard and chaotic blog post ever. If you read this you must have whiplash. From Japanese Tea's to bedroom makeovers, graduation and relief society...Wow! But I just needed to get that off my chest. I wanted to remember it all. Next post will have one topic - I promise!

Stand with Him

Every morning while I am getting ready I try to listen to audio scriptures or general conference talk. I listened to this today....and it really touched my heart.

Heaven Is For Real

Heaven Is For Real
By Todd Burpo

I have absolutely been loving my vacation from school. I have been reading at the pool, any free moment I have during the day and into the wee hours of the morning. And it is wonderful. I love getting to read what I want for fun instead of cramming in hundreds of pages of text books. So I have a few book reviews I will be posting today and in the very near future.

This book is the account of a 4 year old boy who dies during an emergency surgery and then later recalls what his experience in "heaven" was like. I have always been fascinated with "Near Death Experiences." I have read a few over the years - some seemingly pure and some not so much...

This book was a quick read - I read it in one evening and it was a fascinating account of heaven from a little child's perspective. I would love to discuss this with someone...so if you've read it pipe up!!
What did you think?  Was there anything that you believed? Didn't believe?

Overall, days later I am still thinking about it...which is a telltale sign for me that it was a worthwhile read. I hope you hurry up and read it so we can discuss!!

Amazon Description:

Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear.

Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us.

Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.

Unearthly

Unearthly, by Cynthia Hand, came recommended by a high school English teacher, who said the teenage girls would like it. We got it in at school and I had several students read it, getting their reactions. They all loved it. This meant I should probably see what it was all about. If you were a fan of Twilight (it was okay), you will enjoy this. One of the enjoyable parts is that the bulk of the story takes place in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. They even venture into Idaho to shop at the Grand Teton Mall. I am not a fast reader, but made it through in a day, as it's a quick read, big print, fast moving story, lots of white space. Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on the earth to do. Figuring out what that is though isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place--and out of place at the same time, because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side (Okay similar to the Twilight love triangle). \

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understand, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil.

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following you heart. This is just book one of a trilogy.

Over and Out

This will have to do until my graduation next Friday. Anyway, I can always use an excuse to put this picture up. Isn't he adorable!!

 Today I finished my undergraduate career. It was a big deal when I submitted that last exam. Bigger than I thought it would be.

There were a lot of years where I didn't think this would happen. I was knee deep in life and kids and babysitting and although I ALWAYS had this dream of doing this - Always wanted it -Just wasn't sure it would happen.

And then it did. I finished. And got all my final grades today. So its official. Nothing can stop it now. I kept thinking I was going to get this call telling me there was a big mistake and I was a credit short. But its really happening.

I get a whole three weeks off before my Masters program starts. I am going to really "live it up" these three weeks. Doing crazy things like sleeping in(well until I have to take the boys to school :) and refinishing dressers and baking - you know crazy things like that...we single moms really know how to have a good time.


Tyler will be graduating here soon. And I want to get a picture with me and the boys in our caps and gowns. The boys will not like this idea. This is the kind of thing that puts them in very GRUMPY moods. But this is the kind of thing that makes moms very happy. So be looking for that. A picture with me in my cap and gown smiling ear to ear - while Ty and Ethan are in their caps and gowns looking very very annoyed.

Happiness is...

 Because happiness is what I felt when I found out I live just minutes from sno cones! Oh how I have missed sno cones for the 4 1/2 years I have lived in Arizona. So needless to say as soon as I found out I had to get one. Summer will be a much happier place now!! 

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 ‘Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.’ - Groucho Marx

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Feeling Blessed.

Remembering how blessed I am. Sometime I forget. I think that’s normal. To forget how amazing my life is. How painfully, beautifully perfect it is. And then I look around. And sit and feel and remember how amazing life can be.

I am blessed.

Blessed to know the source of Peace. Blessed to really really know this. And know, that no matter what. I can always find peace in Him.

Blessed to have these little boys. I have such a bright hope for them. For the men they are going to be. The lives they are going to lead. The things they will learn and discover and become. There is this line in a movie that always makes me roll my eyes. The lead character says to the woman he loves, “You Complete Me.” I don’t think it works that way. No one can complete you. That is something you have to be on your own first…But these boys…they COMPLETE ME. They give me this picture of what God must feel for His children. This belief in unconditional love. I love that Ethan gets in my bed early every morning and we read “Harry Potter.”  Although this means I am waking up an hour before I” have” to I LOVE every minute of it. It’s our time. And I love that. Love watching his cute little eyes widen during the intense parts and love his little giggle at the silly parts. Ethan – one day when you read this – I want you to know how very much your mom loves you. Every little bit of you.  And the more I know you, see the challenges that are yours to face – the more excited I am to see you develop into who you are meant to be. 

Blessed to have this Tyler boy. I always think to myself, “I know that God loves me…because He gave me Tyler.” Tyler makes you smile. Everyone smiles at Tyler. Because there is something about him. Something so pure and happy and innocent. And it reminds me of everything good.  He loves everyone. Sees everyone as a “new friend” and he is fiercely loyal and protective of those he loves. When a neighbor girl told him he had a “small mom” (whatever that means??) it broke his heart. He came home crying that he could never play with her again because she “was saying mean things about my mommy.” Yes I am blessed to have Tyler.

Blessed by the temple. And what it means for me. I was in the Salt Lake and Mesa temples this week and reminded again of how bright and beautiful life can really be.

Blessed by friends. Good and loyal and constant. Who teach me and love me. And in many ways save me. 

Gratitude changes everything. I think it could possibly be the secret to life. I have days where things just feel hard. Uncomfortable and uphill and frustrating. But then I take a closer look. Looking away from those hills… And then I see my bed with clean sheets, or while taking out the trash catch sight of this amazing sunset. I float in a swimming pool while Ty tries to jump and “sink mom.”  I smell clean boys after a bath or listen to music that makes me sing too loud and more than a little off key. I sit on my porch with a Popsicle in one hand and a book in another and think about what happiness is. And know that I don’t have to “wait” any longer for it to come. “It” is already here.  And as long as I choose it…it’s not going anywhere.

Singing With All His Heart....

Okay the video quality on these are bad. I mean really really bad. Like get you seasick - kinda bad. But I just love Ethan's little "opera" singing in these. On both videos watch around 10 seconds to about 20 seconds. It's priceless.