What Brenda SPEECHLESS??? Yes people...read on

Sometimes we are blessed more than we think. I cannot remember the last time we had any kind of beef in our house. Some people who know our family have given us a gift which we were so surprised by...even Brenda was speechless....

Now anyone who knows our family to have Brenda speechless for any amount of time is like a blessing in disguise. Seriously that girl never shuts up. Whoever marries her is going to have to have some ear plugs or something. If she isnt singing she is shouting or being Obessive Compulsive about something...there is always music going and usually i ask her to be quiet. Heaven knows i love the girl but seriously...just one day quiet would be nice...

Any way back to my story

That big hunk of meat in the back is actually a Prime Rib!!  PRIME FREAKING RIB MAN!!! (Rachelle I expect T to be very jealous) the one in front is a roast....what you want to see more???

There is another roast right there...this is beautiful RED meat that is from a COW!!! this COW meat has made all of my children sigh with great amounts of joy and happiness....

This my friends is London Broil steak....STEAK...ok i know i am yelling (via caps lock) but this is something to yell about. 

Now I have no idea who these "guys" are but Shane apparently works with them. They also gave him a gift for the kids which they dont know about yet and a gift card to the grocery store in case they "forgot" something...

There are potatoes and i forgot some of these because Shane didnt get to go on his Buffalo hunt this year....

Our kids are excited to have fries and burgers. Not to mention Shane. These men who provided us with such a gift are not members of our faith, in fact i dont think they are of any faith. They just saw a  man who works hard, loves his family, sacrifices for others and thought he deserved something special. One of these men has been to visit our family and loves our children (we must be doing something right)! They tell Shane all of the time how impressed they are with us raising our kids the way we do. I cannot wait to give them the other gift these men have given each one...(yes this means there will be a christmas post). 

All in all these last 2 years have been some of the most stressful. We have gained so many friends in our journey to where we are. Heavenly Father watches over us in many ways. Sometimes I get so frustrated, why cant we just make it through this trial? then its why does this one have to come now? I can only hope my children do not have to go through all that we have in the last 15 years of our marriage. Surely we have taken all of the trials for them (at least it feels like it) and they can thrive with their spouses and maybe throw us a bone every once in a while. 

What would make these men think to do something for our family? I guess I have an idea but in reality I do not feel worthy to have such a bestowal of gifts upon us. Sure its food but the last time we had any kind of beef in our house was about 5 years ago. The joy on my children's faces is something I cannot explain. I guess going without is not a bad thing really, you learn the joy of receiving, and how to give when it is time. 

Merry Christmas people, and if you have enough, go give it away, you may be bringing joy to someone who has gone without for a long time....the joy is boundless...and you will get more than you give.....

Now onto Buffalo Burgers and fries for dinner......

kid update

Ummm, I dont like a lot of things. One is teaching in front a of a group of people who I dont know. Today I had to teach in Relief Society (an hour of time in church where all the women-folk hang and learn some stuff together). Last month the Bishop asked me to teach once a month. I said yes, I mean really who can say no, he seems like a really nice guy. The lesson was on Mary and the birth of the Christ child. I have often wondered what it would have been like to ride a donkey 9 months pregnant knowing that I am carrying the child of Heavenly Father. I cannot imagine riding a donkey man, I am stuck on the donkey riding.....

In any case I am amazed at her resilience and stamina to bring in the world the Son of God. I think back on my pregnancies and how difficult they were. Frankly, I was not a nice person and life was tough for me. But as I sit here know i see my kids and they are amazing.

Brenda is working hard. She is accomplishing so much in her short time away from Connor. Granted she misses him so much and loves him, it has to be tough and she wants to be ready for him when he comes home. He writes some lovely letters to her and lets her know he is thinking of her and prays for her strength in the Gospel. I am so grateful for a Young Womens leader who took the time to be real with Brenda, giving her good advice and helping us raise her in the best way possible. Without that woman in Brendas life I fear where she would have ended up. Now look at her just getting ready to move forward with her life...she is pretty cool

Makayla is getting ready to go get her license. I am so glad she is the way she is. She makes our life fun and happy. She loves the classes on auto mechanics as well as auto body. It is something she thrives on doing. She and her dad have already changed a heater core in the truck we have. It was exciting and wonderful for them to accomplish that together. 

Laura is my art girl. Her art is coming a long so beautifully. I dont have any pictures right now she tends to hide them. But when i get a glimpse they are absolutely lovely. She is talented, but she doesnt think so. Her hair is awesome too...i love her hair. 

My boys are my boys. John is smelly and 12 and Jake is smelly and 10. John is working so hard on his scout stuff it looks like he will have his Eagle by the time he is 14. Who does that? I will keep you posted on all of that stuff. 

Life is a tough thing. We as a family have been under a huge amount of pressure. I have been working a lot and I am tired a lot. We have some other things going on as well but i dont want to publish them here. If you think you cannot take another step further ask yourself do I have to be 9 months pregnant riding a donkey across the desert? No? well then i think you will be ok. Mary had a ton more work a head of her then i did so I guess I will be ok. Somehow we will make it through it all.....

So as another aside if you feel prompted to help someone this holiday season, do it. We have been blessed many holiday seasons by people who have felt a need to bless us. Someday we will give back, right now we cannot. But if  you feel so inclined help others, anytime and all of the time. The goodness of life will come back to you...

Moon, Village, Cards and Christmas

I took these pictures the about a week ago. I came home from work late the shadows on the house were so beautiful. Full moon and clouds going over the moon. I dont have an awesome camera but I played with  my phone for a bit and found this setting that lets me take photos at night and makes them sharp. The middle one is by far my favorite. Just so clear and lovely. I thought about my niece Rosie, my brother Malcolm and my Mum. I felt like I could be close to them all for a moment in the silence of the night. I sent a little prayer out to heaven for them. It was nice to have a quick moment alone with the beauty of the night. It was a nice moment. 

There is a place in Meridian called the Village. It is quite lovely. Shane is not a fan cause everything is so close together. It is kind of a hoity toity place but they have some beautiful fountains. There are fire places around as well so you can warm up and some seating as well to watch the fountains. They have an ice skating area as well. 

Erin came to visit us for Thanksgiving (as an aside it is always a pleasure to have her with us.) We went to the movies and had some fun time doing some shopping on Thanksgiving night. I know people get upset about that but in reality life is full of opportunities. We had a lot of fun just being together. It made for some fun times. Oh and ERIN I had to wrap what you left and well you are wonderful to us more than you ever need to be. You have a heart bigger than your....well you know...and trust me i wont tell anyone, just know that we love you more than you know. 

This time of year is always a bit difficult for me. I have struggled for years. I know part of it is the death of my mum the other part is basically the winter time sucks?! But every year i get a card from a fabulous woman. I had the joy of having my Aunt Iris and Uncle Ron at our house 2 summers ago. It was so much fun. I wish that I had taken some pictures. I didnt and I will be sad for that forever. 

This is the cover of the card she sent this year. I actually wait all year for her to send one to me. Somewhere in my house i have other cards from years past because i love them. Her writing reminds me of my mothers. It must be the way they learn to write in Europe. Its nice to feel so loved from my mums family. I know my other aunts and uncles and cousins think of us as well. Some day i want to go to visit. I am afraid it may be a few years down the road but my goal is to see the smiles of my aunts and uncles. Visiting a few beautiful countries would be nice as well. 

We got out the stuff for Christmas and Jake was so happy. See that Kohls box? its full of presents from aunt Sarah (to whom we can never repay anything) She has made Christmas a wonderful season for us every year. Our life has not been one of ease. It has been difficult to say the least, she has been the one constant in my kids life. She gets really upset at the kids every year because they never ask for anything. This year she called and made them write a list of 10 things they actually wanted. They were excited to write a list. I have never asked for a list from them. They still put very practical things on the list and i had to make them re write it so there were things they really wanted. We shall see in the end if they got what they asked for! I think they will be pleasantly surprised. 

As we go into the Christmas season I am tired. I have been sick for the past 3 days. Violently ill for one long night and then just really tired. But i see a few vacation days coming for me in the next week or so, that will be nice. Just some time to hang with the kiddos. Maybe some funny stories to come out of it. Who knows...it is Christmas after all.

Turkey, Thanksgiving, Wood, Black Friday

I havent been in much of a mood for blogging. The last few weeks have been up and down mostly down and frustrating. The house we have been in is pretty cold first of all. I hate a cold house. Turning up the heat doesnt seem to help cause the furnace is always going..ALWAYS going. All I hear is money going out the window and that makes me frustrated.

So I am sitting here thinking about our thanksgiving and it was fun. Before thanksgiving my kids wanted to give some turkeys away. So Shane got up and with the help of the boys smoked a bunch of turkeys and gave them out to people.

He also made one for my work. We have a pot luck once a month and people loved the turkey. At least they said they did. You never know really....people are people you know. I was glad that Shane did it. He is pretty talented and I like to show off his talents. 

I only took like 2 photos of the dinner but it was delicious.

 The kids and Shane helped one of his Home Teaching people with their wood. You all know how much he loves doing wood....its in his soul....
The lady in one of the pictures is a sister missionary in our ward. She is from Samoa and quite the woman. It is nice to have her around. She was quite good at the wood chopping.

On Thanksgiving night the girls and I and Erin went to see the Hunger Games movie Mocking Jay. It was good. After they wanted to go do some shopping something we have never done so we went and enjoyed the time. Found some nice deals and bought some presents. The above pics are at the Village in Meridian. It is a nice place. There are some fountains and other decorative stuff especially for Christmas. It was fun and festive...The girls really had a good time. We ended up going to Walmart Target and Khols it was fun. I enjoyed the time, not sure i want to do it again....without money. 

The valley on Black Friday evening was nice and I love seeing it. Here in Meridian there are not enough places high enough to take some pictures but on Federal Way there is a nice view.

Fall in Boise is done and Christmas is coming time to reflect and make some new choices. The changes are coming for our family. Stuff I havent written about here and not a lot of people know....but you will soon....

Stay tuned for all that is coming, what about you and the new year? What is going on with you? Will it be amazing? I hope so....