October

October, what do I say. This has not been one of my most memorable months. It seemed as if the burdens just kept piling on all month long! However, things eventually turned around and this has been a good, no, a great week.
Last Sunday, October 18, Lily was blessed by her sweet Daddy. Wes gave such a beautiful blessing with so many wonderful promises. I can't even begin to express my gratitude to him for his worthiness to hold the priesthood and bless all 3 of our children. Lily's dress was amazing, thank you Mom! And thankfully we didn't have another "dropping" incident, with the way things were going this month I was fully expecting a repeat of last time.:) Afterward, we had family and friends over for a waffle bar dinner. It was excellent! I honestly think it was one of my favorite family gatherings yet.
Then on Wednesday, after a lot of persuasion from Wes, I got my hair done. I didn't want to do it because the brown was free to keep up and blond hair is expensive. I explained this to Wes many times and told him the only reason why I would go blond again was for him...his response, "Sound like a good reason to me." So I did it and guess what he LOVES it and so do I. He keeps telling me it reminds him of when we first started dating. The coolest part, he's acting like he did when we first started dating- I never knew hair could do so much!Last night Wes and I had a date night. I love date night. I used to love it when I was single, but it's so much better now that I'm married.:) We went to the Cornish Pasty Co. It was so yummy, I'm sure I gained 5 pounds. I got what they call the Pilgrim. It's basically a Thanksgiving dinner stuffed into a bread pastry and baked in the oven. It was so delicious and got me all revved up for the holidays!
Finally, as I was reading in the Book of Mormon this week, Alma talked about turning to the Lord and that through your faith your "burdens may be light"- it's true. All that has happened this month brought me to my knees and by turning to my Heavenly Father I found peace in the Atonement. This week only made me realize that more. Although October started out to be a crummy month, my burdens were lightened and it's turning out to be a very memorable one!

What Is Important and What Is Not

Wes and I had a little trial this week. Let's just say it involved a misunderstanding, $1600, a lot of frustration and quite a few tears. I prayed hard to find some reason that this would have happened and a way to fix it, but I don't think I was praying for the right things. I should have been praying for peace and showing my gratitude that all we lost was money.
As I left my house yesterday with Gideon in my arms the thought came, "At least I still have my children and Wes. It's only money and what is $1600 going to mean in the eternities? Nothing." I will be honest, it still stinks, but President Monson says, "I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon this earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not." Perhaps this is just such a lesson for our little family.
We are here on this earth to gain experience, not to "get gain" as it says in Book of Mormon. I have gained a little more knowledge and a little more experience from this and was reminded that money is not everything, even if the world would have you think so. I also know I have a long way to go and each trial/experience only reminds me of the long path ahead of me. Thankfully we have all of eternity to learn, because I'm going to need it.:)

PS- I'm so excited for General Conference. This is my favorite time of year, I feel like it kicks off the fall and holiday season! Nice weather- here it comes!

Anti-Depression Video

I posted this on my Facebook Page, but thought I would post it on my blog as well for those of you who don't have Facebook. This video will make your day, in fact it almost makes me want to have quadruplets just so I could experience moments like this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hooid1LJ9Kc&feature=related

Wes

WARNING: Lots of PDA in the following post, stop now if you don't want to become "love-sick".
Most of you know Wes and some of you know him pretty well, but no one knows him as well as I do.:) So let me tell you a little bit about what you might or might not know...

1. Wes is an AMAZING cook- he definitely has me beat and I'm okay with that because I would much rather clean up than cook.
2. Wes is always trying to do better. Every time he comes home from a church meeting he says, "I can do better." Yet in my book he has most things in order and is doing great, but thankfully he is humble, a quality I lack and am learning from him.
3. Wes is the BEST Dad...well at least I think so and so do his kids.:) If you could only see the way his boys watch out the window as he leaves in the morning, only to return to the same spot to wait for him to come home. Steele's reaction is the best, he literally runs to Wes screaming,"Daaaddyyy" the whole way until he reaches Wes' arms. It's the highlight of my day to see my children and husband so happy.
4. Wes is a romantic. Let's just say the honeymoon isn't over.:)
5. Wes is a great friend. Every where we go people know him and love him! I'll never forget one of his friends telling me that I had the "coolest" husband. I agree.
6. Wes is a dreamer. He always has big ideas and big plans. Who knows, maybe some day he will be made famous by making drums or playing them. Either way, I fully support his dreams.
7. Wes LOVES UFC. In fact he is watching a fight as I am writing this, otherwise we would be watching Law and Order together here at home.
8. Wes is a teacher, but not just any teacher a PE teacher on the reservation. That is not an easy job, but he works hard and is providing a great life for his little family.
9. Wes likes to sleep. This shows his relaxed side and although it was hard for me to get used to at first, I enjoy taking naps whenever possible. (I was never a napper before I met Wes.)
10. Wes loves me. I know this because he shows me and tells me every day! I'm a lucky girl!

Those are just a few of the MANY qualities of my amazing husband. Thank goodness we have forever together because I don't know what I would do without him. So here's a shout out to Wes... I love you, I love you, I love you.

Big Plans

Lily will be 3 weeks old tomorrow which means it's about time that I start working out again. Wes and I decided that this time around part of our workout schedule will be a training program for a half-marathon. There is a half-marathon on January 30 in Queen Creek that we plan on doing, it's called the London Run, check out the website- www.londonsrun.org.
I'm questioning whether or not I can get back into running shape in 5 months, but it's been so long since I've trained for anything that I really want to try. Plus, Wes said he would do it with me and I can't pass up having a running partner.
So with that said training starts tonight. This first few weeks Wes and I will only be walking, but after that we have a somewhat rigorous training schedule that will look something like this...

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
1	3	Rest	3	3	Rest	4	Rest	13
2	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	5	Rest	15
3	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	6	Rest	16
4	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	8	Rest	19
5	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	10	Rest	21
6	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	11	Rest	24
7	4	Rest	6	4	Rest	12	Rest	26
8	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	9	Rest	22
9	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	8	Rest	18
10	3	Rest	3	Walk 2	Rest	13.1	Rest	21.1

It should be fun. I simply need to keep thinking of the Nike slogan- JUST DO IT! So here we go- wish us luck!

Candy Thief and Other "Stuff"

I walked out of the bathroom yesterday to see Gideon sitting in the corner of my room very intent on getting into something. Well it didn't take me long to realize what he had found...Dots...

Trying so hard...
Just a little more... Yum...

These next pictures are not for the faint of heart....let's just say I've been inducted into the "Mommy Club" again. I wish I could have gotten Wes' face on camera, it was priceless!

Children

I love nap-times. Today while Gideon was asleep I laid down with Steele. It was a bit of a battle at first, but he gave in and eventually crawled up next to me so he could cuddle with Lily. After he fell asleep I had the opportunity to lay there and ponder. The house was quiet and I knew I had better take a chance to enjoy it, so I didn't move.
As I pondered I looked over at Steele and started to cry. (I'm sure the after-pregnancy hormones didn't help.) I understood at that very moment why my sister has 6 children, why my mom has 9 children and why some people have 18. They are wonderful! They are sweet, forgiving, teachable, honest, loving, pure, innocent and God-like. There is nothing better than to see them learn and grow and yet I am humbled every time I lose my temper and they are so quick to forgive me for it. I know I am blessed and although chaos awaits me at every turn and I at times I feel like I'm going to lose my mind, I still know that I love my children and that they love me.
On my Facebook page I have a quote from Elder Russel M. Nelson that was taken from a talk he gave at a conference in the Netherlands on Families. He says, "Our children are our wealth; our children are our strength; our children are indeed our future!"
I feel like this says it all. I am not a rich woman when it comes to money especially now that we have three children that have monetary needs. However, each child is a wealth untold and I have three, making me very rich indeed!
As for strength, thanks to my children I have become better at praying and reading my scriptures because I know that they are watching. It says it all when you turn around and your 3-year-old is bowing his head over a bowl of cereal in the morning and silently praying.
Finally and possibly my favorite, "children are indeed our future". I know that our posterity depends on us having children. How sad would it be to grow old without having someone to love you. Plus, our children bring grandchildren and from what I understand, grandchildren are the best!
I guess to summarize this entry, I love children- every shape, size and personality and "happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them."