2011

The new year rang in with an asthma attack and bronchitis! The kids think my voice sounds funny and keep asking why I am talking like that. Thanks to a Dr. and some steroids I am starting to feel better!

This little girl is getting so big!! Some of the funny things she does:
She calls our dog "Tinker" or "You TInker." meaning.. "Stinker. you stinker." She gets it from when I call her a little stinker if she is doing something she knows she isn't supposed to be.
She has a friend named Isabelle. She must only hear the "Belle" in her name because she runs to hug her everytime she comes over or she goes over there and yells "TINKERBELL!"
Lately she tells me "See you Lader huney." - See you later honey. Dunno where she got that.
I haven't edited these photos and had to hurry to take them, I tried to find the basket so we could put "toto" in it but I couldn't. If you notice the dog has been nippin her, so she keeps her distance when he does.

As I welcome in the new year, I have come up with some of my own goals for the year. I can't believe how fast 2010 has gone by, but happy to welcome in 2011. This year, each month I am going to have an affirmation that I is going to be my theme.

January:
If any of you have ever flown in an airplane, you know that if an emergency was to happen, the crew tells you to take care of yourself first, then help someone else. So, for January my affirmation is just that -

"Follow not others in your life.Follow your heart and each day will be yours, not somebody else's."
Some other goals are:
I want to read the scriptures to learn, not to finish the book
I am trying to do something I really enjoy. So far I have called three hospitals and yet to find what I am looking for. So wish me luck on that. After I get an "IN" I will tell you what it is.
I am taking a little break from the busyness of life and spending more time with each of my kids. I can be so busy before I know it when time is ready to slow down, my kids will already be gone. I am slowing down.Today was great I did just that.

Christmas time was here..

Happy Christmas to all, and all a goodnight!

what we have been up to

Dancing! Makeovers
Two friends gave me these ore's from my analogy I posted awhile ago. One was made by hand from a guy in her ward, the other is a keychain! I am so excited. Crafting: I wanted a changeable holiday piece. for Jan I made these snowflakes, then I can take them off and put hearts in for valentines day and so on.
Fun times with Charley:

Modern day Good Samaritan

So it finally happened, I have lost my phone~ if you have texted or called me since before xmas eve, I didn't get it. You can email me or send a message on here if you need to get ahold of me! Thanks

You're A Mean One...

Yesterday, was Trent's family party. His sister had given his parents a Grinch and book, and it gave me an idea. I made up this poem for my visiting teachers. We are getting these to go with it:

"We’re sorry that we have slacked “Visiting” this whole Christmas season!
Now please don’t ask why, we don’t quite know the reason.
You might have thought it was that our heads weren’t screwed on just right.
Or that maybe our shoes were too tight.
Please don’t think that the most likely reason of all,
Is That our hearts are 2 sizes too small.
.
“They came with out ribbons! They came without tags!”
They came without packages, boxes or bags!”
We have puzzled what to give you, till our puzzler was sore.
But finally, here is our Christmas message that we haven’t thought up before!
“Maybe Christmas,” we thought, “Doesn’t come from a store.”
“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”

And what happened then? Well we wanted to say,
That even though Christmas is for only one day,
We know it’s Because of one man, who makes the reason for the season of all,
And we know that he is here always to heal hearts that are 2 sizes too small."

Have a Merry Christmas,
Love Jamie & Teresa

Trent gave me an early christmas present! He traded a guy who had a yorkie he was wanting to get rid of. Trent brought home the newest member of the family- "Buba" He came home in a sweater with a harley davidson hat! It was so cute! Faith of course has been mawling him all night! He is so calm and mellow. Trent told me that If I were to ever get baby hungry he would supply me with a dog. I think it worked. :) jk

Love this version

No more teachers, no more books...

I took Hannah to Primary's Friday, she keeps having uti's and I know reflux runs in the family so I took her in. Sure enough one kidney is bigger than the other and after meeting with the radiologist I will go back in to urologist on Tuesday to see if she has to have surgery. She did so good during the tests. I talked to the child life specialist and found out that I can do my bachelor's online then go to the U for two courses and an internship for a sem after I get it. However, while I was there I was more interested in what the nurse was doing, and have been thinking about going into nursing, *mine as well join the family right? My sister and some cousins, grandma are nurses, and my brother is a dr.* I would work with the newborns and postpartum moms. Hey, then I could get my baby fixing everyday. I have a friend named Heidi who I sometimes watch her baby boy *who is a big boy* to do just that!! Taking care of little babies, I used to say when I was little that was what I wanted to be along with teacher, mom, and cosmologist. I already was a preschool and daycare teacher, I am a mom so I might just do both, and wait to get my nursing when my kids are grown and gone so my clinical don't intervene with my family life during schooling. I mean heck, when my kids are gone I will be my sister in law's age.... early forties. Speaking of school, I just finished and got a 4.0! Whu Hoo! I am taking math next sem. That is scary for me. I like English and consumer sciences, not Math!! Wish me luck. Other than that, we have been enjoying time with Trent now that he is home :)

random

I have so much to write, and yet life has been so busy for some reason. Is it just me or is the year flying by even faster!? I do need to say though for these holidays, "Thank You" to whoever you are. :) I am humbled and can see the light of Christ in the world and hope it can stay with me always.

If you are doing Christmas neighbor gifts, I saw these in the store ad:


And thought you could use it as : "You're getting "Nut Thins" for Christmas".

Sad, but good message

Who me?

We went to a fun Christmas party o Friday night. While I was sitting down I saw a woman who looked somewhat familiar, come up to me. She smiled and put her arms around me and said, "Jamie, it's been a long time, do you remember me?" I looked at her and tried to rack my brain how I knew her. I was speechless. I normally remember faces, and I couldn't put a finger on it. She then whispered "I used to be married to Paul." I am trying to think of all the Paul's I knew. Then she said, what's your last name? I told her both my married and maiden name. Apparently, I was the wrong Jamie, but there is someone who looks just like me with my name walking around close by :)

holy crap, people must be looking for dog snuggies for Christmas, because normally I get maybe 8-13 hits a day. Since I posted it, I got 93.

A Child's Perspective

"One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to a country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On the return from the trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"oh, yes." said the son.
"so, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lantern in our garden an they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have servants who serve us, but they serve each other. We buy food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then the son added," Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are." Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have."

Our relief society teacher gave us this, and I love it.

Dog Snuggie

Why Trent won't let me have a dog....

You may have heard heart warming stories around Christmas time, they are all over the tv, radio, and even songs- like the "Sir I want to buy these shoes for my Mama please..."Christmas Shoe song. Well this year I experienced my own. I had to run into target to get some medication. I was taking my time just looking around so I didn't have to go back to screaming kids. I heard this man on the phone trying to whisper so no one could hear, but a lady next to me and I did. He said " I am going to have to tell my wife we have no where to sleep tonight then." He turned his head I could see the tears in his eyes and he tried to hurry and get out of there. My heart ached for him. I wish I had even twenty dollars to give him. I prayed in my head that someone did. I felt so helpless but I wanted to do something.. Just then a lady came up to him and asked if he was ok. His face turned bright red and he tried to act composed. He said that he had been better,but she wouldn't take that for an anwser. He said that his family just came from Texas, and their daughter had rsv and was in the hospital and getting released, and his wallet was stolen earlier in the day. THe lady told him to wait while she ran to an atm. It really brought out that there are still good people with good hearts out there. I think the Lord gave me my present that day, to know just that. Some say I trust too muchm but I honestly don't believe this was a scam. I have seen that face before, full of not knowing where to go and provide. My mind wondered off as I walked back to my car, all the wonderful things I am grateful for that we honestly take for granted.I was shaken by seeing this and needed it. I have a roof over my head, and If I didn't I have friends and family to call. I am not alone. It made me think of a woman who needed just that, a roof over her head. The painstaking responsiblity of her husband to know he couldn't provide that for her must have been unbearable. The anxiety that both the man and wife felt must have been overcome by peace and love. Sometimes it's the little things we take for granted, maybe it wasn't by accident that man and woman found a stable, a humble place to give birth to the son of God that night. May you see all that God has given you this Christmas season, and to know that you really are never alone. It's the little things that humble us and bring us back to our knees.
I am grateful for my: Savior, family, friends, health, womanhood, motherhood, and the material possessions I do have, and paths that God lead me to.

There has been so much to blog about, and yet so little time. I will catch up and finish the cruise pictures soon.

tear jerker

Today I am grateful for the letter 'f'
1st- Friends. I honestly think God gave us friends because they see the good in us that we are blinded to see. We strive to be like their example, and are grateful for their tender mercies and love, that many times they don't know they give. Each friend brings something new to the table, and much more.

2nd- Forgiveness. Not only from Our Savior, but from others. When we are stressed in life and say stupid things, only to realize we really are imperfect, and to have another, even though hurt, understand and have open arms... is humbling.

ShArK

Those of you who watch "MythBusters" know that the shark capital of the world is in the Bahamas. This is my favorite picture:

Too bad it's not really my picture then eh?

Yesterday in church a lady gave a talk about how her friend posts five things she is grateful for each day. I honestly agree with her that it really does make a difference. I am going to post three things or a scripture that I turn to. IT does two things ... A. gets me to open the scriptures more. and B. Good attitude. So here are my three things today:

1. I am grateful for children who want me to teach them how to play the piano. ( I keep telling them later, because it is kind of a pain. But I am grateful they have the desire to learn and I need to jump all over that.)

2. I am grateful for a soft pillow to lay my head on. I sat in between two people on all four flights in the middle of the night, I realized how easy it is to take the little things for granted.

3. I am grateful for a mischievous little girl. It would be weird to imagine that without her, both my kids would already be in school and I would be all alone. (Again, I have to remind myself this when she pulls my hair.)

Learn to flush ...

What do these three things have in common:




I just came out of the kitchen and heard Austin saying " Who keeps squirting me? I'm getting wet" I look behind him ( he is sitting on the couch watching a movie) and see Faith with a squirt gun. I thought Trent filled it up for her and told her to come squirt me, I was about to tell her to go get Trent, when I asked him when he filled it up for her. He said he didn't. So we both watched as Faith went into the bathroom and filled it up in the toilet. It did teach Austin a very powerful message- learn to flush.

Coco Loco- Day 1

Trent and I had the opportunity to go on a cruise last minute. Besides our honeymoon to bearlake 8 1/2 years ago, this was our first and much needed get away. We found a great deal, but that meant that we had redeye flights. We left Sunday at 8:30 and dropped the kids off. Then we sat in the airport until our flight left at midnight. We got there early because we thought TSA would have Trent fill out paperwork, because his name was TRENT on the ticket and they needed TRENTON. We got in without anything wrong. I had to laugh as we both went through the body scanner, and the security had to pat down Trent. As he was patting down Trent's arms, he flexed and said "Those are my guns." Next time I go through the body scanner I think I will strike a pose. jk. I must say that Trent wanted to bring our camera, and I didn't want it to get stolen so I said lets just do disposable camera. I SHOULD'VE LISTENED!!! The pictures didn't turn out good at all, and the ones I thought would turn out were black. So we don't have any pictures of our formal night, or our dinner with the friends we met. Oh well. I guess we have the memories. We had a layover in Atlanta and then flew into Orlando. Florida really is a swamp from the sky. We bored ed the ship and set sail for the Bahama's. The pictures I posted yesterday were from my phone, after those pictures it died. My first cruise with my sister had better activities. We felt like we were in a nursing home. Everyone migrated to Florida in the winter and went on cruises. I think we could count on one hand how many younger people there were. I was so hoping for drunks to get up and make a foll of themselves during Karaoke. Didn't happen. However, the beaches were so much better here. On the second day we went to "Coco Cay" we told the kids we were going to "Kokie Island" from Dora. This was Royal's private island and beautiful. It was a small island and decided to go Jet skiing. We got to go first in line in the jet skies and were able to go super fast. We had to have a guided tour because it is so shallow. The Bahamas mean "Shallow" and the guide said we could walk from one island to the next. The water was beautiful and crystal clear, then all of a sudden it was dark from all the coral. He told us about the pirates that would come to the island we went to. WE then got out in the ocean and the coolest thing happened. We saw a bunch of starfish and were able to dive in and pick them up. I was surprised how sandy it was clear out in the ocean. It felt great on my feet! While we were jet skiing a couple fell off into the water, I guess his head hit hers as they fell in and she had a huge goose egg. After our jet skiing we played in the ocean where all the tropical fish came in and swam between us. It was beautiful. We wish we had time to go snorkeling, because in coco cay they have a hidden ship wreck that you can go see. They also have a bouncy slide playground in the water. I think I could have stayed there forever! We were able to take a nap in the sun, and the weather was perfect. I would never go somewhere hot in the summer, I hate the heat, but going in Nov the weather was 80 degrees with a slight wind that made it perfect!!! The "Coco Loco" were the local "Drinks" we wanted to hold one and take a picture as if we were drunk and then put them on Christmas cards that say, "Eat Drink and be Merry" Merry Christmas. But we forgot. The second day was by far my favorite!

come back come back wherever you are sun...

I'm Still a rockin' and we are on land!

Today I am grateful for the simple little things we take for granted. In my history book there is a story of a teacher who sent a girl home because she was so weak from starvation in the summer of 1933. The little girl said " It won't do any good for me to go home, it's my sister's day to eat." Wow. I can't even wrap my brain around that. America is rich in food, housing, vehicles. Our poorest of the people all of us know, is nothing like some child in Ethiopia. Again, in my history book, I am grateful for equality for all. I am grateful that we aren't shoved into concentration camps like many before us have. Many before us have suffered the insufferable, and we have yet to hear their stories. I could go on and on how it wasn't too long ago all of this took place, and how the world has always been corrupt and not fair. I like to look at Job. He lost everything. But he still had God. I hope that no matter what comes my way, I can build to have that kind of faith. We may think we have it bad. I like the quote " had no shoes and I complained, Until I met a man who had no feet. " Then there are some who think they have it good. It's all about attitude and way of thinking. So that quote could go on to say " I, the man who had no feet felt lucky, when I saw the man who had no legs." The quote of the day for me is from FDR " The only thing to fear, is fear itself"

Thankful...

I remember back when I was an 8 year old girl, waiting for her dad to come home from Desert Storm to baptise her. Although my dad was gone only 6 months (I think) it had an impact on me. By seeing his example of serving his country, it gave me a love for history, patriotism, which in return gave me a love for my country. I received a scholarship based on my answers of my patriotism. I remember putting the yellow ribbons around the tree the day we were going to pick him up from the airport. I remember being in a crowded airport with my family and some extended family. The soldiers came off the plane and my sister Kelli went in the front to find him. I remember seeing her come back with my dad. I think that was the second time I saw him cry. (First time was him leaving.) I have seen him tear up times after, and love how I can feel his love when I see that. Anyways, I remember seeing my aunt hug him, and seeing my mom and dad embrace. My mom had a long time being a single mom, waiting for his calls during the middle of the night with five kids. His absence affected me, but I loved him more for it. Every night he would sing the song "Around her hair she wore a yellow ribbon" to us. Fast Forward 19 years later.... Although my husband's life wasn't in any danger, and he could come home on the weekends, I see in my almost 8 year old daughter's eyes the light of relief as I told her today that Dad was coming home for good. For an instant I saw myself. I don't know how my mom did it. She made us feel safe and I knew I would see my dad again. He was able to baptise me when he got home and I am glad I waited for him. I am thankful for Father's and all they do to provide and protect the ones they love.

I have been getting weird emails, and weird blog links from friends and family. I now have the virus, it goes out to everyone in the contact list with a link and my name in it. Don't open the Link and you will be fine. Some of you have already sent me emails as well, so check your sent box to see if you have one too. it's been going around

Day 4

Today I am grateful for the new band I have fallen in love with. I have already posted some of their video's on here, but Tenth Avenue North is ... Awesome. Music is a huge part of my daily life. I love listening to the music in the car whenever I go somewhere. My kids will sing the songs, and it's nice that now I am not afraid of what they are singing along to ;) I also love Sanctus Real- his song plays over and over in my head -Lead Me. If you don't watch any of the video's I post, at least watch this one.. Amazing song. I am glad they are real.


I also found a song by Bruno Mars- the words and video are pretty cool.