2016 Presidential Election

This has been the craziest election in all of History!  There was more finger pointing and cruelty than ever before. It seriously was a "fight".  It seemed that no one was happy with the two candidates for President but the funny thing is that "we" as a country chose them.  Both these candidates are strong, opinionated people.  They have strong beliefs and would not be swayed. I had a hard time watching their debates because they are also both hot heads and would lose their composure and it seemed ridiculous to me.  For most of the campaign I didn't know what to do as far as voting.  I never wanted Hillary because of her strong belief in abortion.  An innocent child should not suffer the consequence of others behavior and lack of responsibility.  Abortion should not be a form of birth control!  I think Hillary has so much that is hidden.  I don't think she is honest or trustworthy.  However, then there's Donald. Donald is about as arrogant as they come.  He has confidence though and believes in himself more than most people do. Donald is more of an "open book" kind of guy.  What you see is what you get.  Not the same for Hillary...she's more of a mystery.

I did a lot of praying and listening.  I paid attention to my gut and my spirit.  At one point another candidate was brought into the picture and at first I thought he might be someone I could feel good about voting for even though he had no chance of winning.  That thought and feeling of this other guy didn't last long. I felt like there is also more to him than we see.  I had finally decided I was going to vote Republican which was for Donald Trump.

The media had already chose our President.  The media was for Hillary Clinton the entire time and I believe they thought they would influence the people to go that way too.  I was like most of my friends and believed that Hillary was going to win because that is what was heard over and over.  We voted and waited and then watched the news as the results started to come in.  Hillary had the lead.  At this point I need to share a post that Jaydan had shared earlier on face book.  It said:   "the Democrats take an early lead in the votes today, but that should change when all the Republicans get off work."  ☺ Funny but that is exactly what happened.  As the night progressed Donald began to gain ground.  The votes were close the entire night.  This was not a blow out by any means.  It went back and forth all night but  then Trump took the lead.  America was in unbelief.  The people were making a statement.  We as a people want change and change in the right direction.  I found myself smiling and happy with the results being shown.  I forgot about the negative feelings I had towards Mr. Trump.  I really wanted him to win.  We needed him to win.  The battle continued all night but in the end Donald Trump won the votes and will be our President. It's a miracle!  Hillary Clinton fought hard and paved a path for another women to have the opportunity to be the first women President.  When I went to bed tonight I can honestly say "My soul felt peace".

My soul was at peace but the country was not!  Everyone was so certain that Hillary would win and all her followers were more than ticked.  I can't blame them...anyone in that position would have been.  But, this country is great because of the people and we need to unite and support each other.  It's up to all of us to make and keep it great not just the President.  

Since Donald Trump has been elected I have watched and read things about him that make me believe in him.  I seriously believe he ran for President because he truly cares about America.  Donald is a successful man and knows about business.  From the things I read he is also a caring man, and that has never been portrayed.  I don't think Donald even cared what was being portrayed.  He knows who he is and what he is about.  

No matter who would have been elected there was going to be change.  I'm glad we wont have to deal with some of the change that Hillary would have made.  Standards of this country would have been lowered.  I'm hoping that with President Trump the things that were changed by President Obama will be reestablished.  

Through it all though, no matter what comes our way, I will have faith in our Heavenly Father and older brother, Jesus Christ.  I believe in Them and I know They will continue to guide and direct us.  One Nation Under God!

Kathy's Birthday Breakfast

My cute neighbors met for breakfast this morning to celebrate Kathy's birth!  I'm so glad all of these sweet ladies were born and that we ended up being neighbors.  I admire them all so much and learn so many good things from them.  I am thankful for Kathy and do count my lucky stars that we are friends. (I gave her a gift that said that) Kathy has been a wonderful friend and one of the first ones I had since moving to Hooper.  We have so many fun memories together...all involve lots of laughing.  I'm blessed to have these women as my friends.

The hours quickly passed and we needed to hurry out because Susan works in the Temple and Robin had appointments.  We discussed the election and expressed our concerns and feelings.  We talked about the Book of Mormon and how the cycle is just happening again.  We talked about all the good things happening in our world as well.  Tonight a new President will be elected and no matter who wins this election the result won't be good.  Neither of our candidates are good people yet they are the ones "we" chose.  That's a scary thought that we are becoming so desensitized as a nation that we actually voted for these two remaining. (Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump)  The one good thing though that I can think of is more people will likely turn to God.  We are going to need God more and I think with all the good people in this world more will feel that need and change their lives to follow Him.  I think the Gospel is going to flourish and bring peace to everyone that chooses to follow the Savior.  That thought alone brings me peace and comfort that maybe all this is just part of the big plan.

Family Night

We decided that since Amy works on Monday nights only that we would go to dinner with the kids for our family night.  We love this girl.  Amy is bold, direct, honest, kind, funny, and a really hard worker.  This  weekend she went to Trichelle's home that she is fixing up to sell and did a lot of the odds and ends.  She cleaned the bathrooms and vacuumed all the floors again and cleaned the windows inside and out.  She wanted to help Trichelle out because she is a great friend.  I have always loved Amy.  When her and Trichelle moved out on their own just after graduating I didn't worry as much about Trichelle because I knew Amy would.  I knew Amy had her best interest at hand and that made it a lot easier for me to let my child go. I love that when we asked for her take our picture that she also took a few selfies.  Amy is so stinkin cute!  We had a good time and a wonderful dinner.  I love these times with our kids.

Amy gave her discount so we gave it right back to her.  We didn't expect a discount and it's kind of funny that Larry even noticed.  He usually doesn't check the bill so closely.  Maybe since Amy brought us all ice cream too he decided to check....not that he would think we'd be charged for it. Amy is just a sweetie and she was going to get a good tip no matter what because we love her.  When we left we were surprised with a parking ticket.  Oops!  We parked between two cars on the blvd and obviously those cars were illegal too.  We should have paid more attention to the curb and the paint on it.  Oh well....it was a good place. haha!

Happy Anniversary to Us

On November 5, 1980 Larry and I went to the Salt Lake City Temple and were sealed for Time and all Eternity.  It's been 6 years and we still like each other.....we like each other a lot!  We traveled to more places than I could have ever dreamed of.  We have seven wonderful kids that have enriched our lives and gave us purpose.  We now have been blessed with eleven of the cutest little grands ever born and one on the way and many more to follow.  We've learned a lot from all of our experiences.  Our faith and trust in God has been strengthened.  We try to focus on the positive and good things happening which makes us realize there is so much of it.  We really don't have much to complain about .... (it doesn't do any good anyway).  We have a lot of fun together and enjoy our time together.  We truly are living our Happily Ever After. We look forward to many more years of making memories.  We think there might be a mission in the future and possibly a change of location. (we want to downsize eventually) Whatever life brings we will be okay as long as we are together.  I love my sweetie and I'm thankful that we both took a Courtship and Marriage class in college where we were introduced to each other.  We passed the class! ☺  Life is pretty darn fun!

Even though we went to Hawaii in October and was going to count that as our Anniversary get away, we ended up going to Logan and staying the night.  Larry got us a nice suite and we ordered room service.  It was really relaxing and quiet and pretty wonderful.  We both have needed that...of course I think everyone does every now and then.  Larry's a keeper......good thing too.....because I get him for ever.....even for the eternities. ☺

Sleepover with Zaden

Birthdays are so fun to celebrate.  Life should be celebrated every day and today was our day to celebrate Zaden!

I picked Zaden up after school and we headed to Toys R Us!  I love watching my grands explore the store to find their gift.  We look at everything and then they decided.  I'm impressed how fast they are able to decide.  Zaden had looked at the toy he chose right when we entered the store.  We looked around and he even had something else in his hand but when I told him he could choose something else too he then decided that he would really love the first toy he had looked at. So, he put the other thing back and was happy as could be.

We stopped on our way home and got Zaden a sugar cookie from Swiggs.  This boy is easy.  For dinner he just wanted Mac and Cheese and 6 chicken nuggets.  Good thing he only wanted 6 because that's all I had left from when all the grands were over.  He wanted pancakes in the morning and the rest of the time we had him he just played with his new toy and watched Garfield.  I did get him to take a bath in the morning so we could send him home clean.  I love this wonderful one on one time with my  grands.  I love sleeping out in the front room with them and listening to them and watching them.  They sure make my heart happy.  This young man is so fun and silly and awesome.

Celebrating Tammy

This cute, silly, full of life friend of mine had a birthday and today we were able to celebrate her!  I love Tammy!  I love all these wonderful friends.  They are all a lot of fun and seriously wonderful.  Lorraine was sharing some experiences she has had lately of her daughter leaving for her mission and every time she did I got chills.  Her cute Crystal is now the "granddaughter" to Ardeth Kapp.  Sister Kapp was in the same store Lorraine and Crystal were when they were buying clothes for Crystals mission.  Sister Kapp insisted on buying Crystal something and later called Crystal at her home saying that her husband was disappointed in her for only getting her a shirt.  Sister Kapp asked Crystal and Lorraine to please meet her again at that store so she could get Crystal something else.  Now they are exchanging letters.  Sister Kapp never had children and so doesn't have grandchildren other than those that she has chose to "adopt".  She has chosen Crystal which I think is so cool.  I'd choose Crystal too though...the girl has the most amazing spirit!  Lorraine shared more and my body literally tingles from the chills. (that's how I feel the spirit)  I just love sharing and talking and having fun with these gals I call the Hooper Honey's.  My life is blessed with the most wonderful friends.

I am thankful to Natalie (my daughter in luv) for taking Behr for a few hours so I could go to lunch.  I was helping Trichelle out again but really did not want to miss Tammy's birthday lunch.  In fact, this group has changed the day of lunch if I couldn't make it.  They make me feel loved and important and so I didn't want to miss. We went to MacCools in Layton. It was fun trying a new place. Our waiter was fabulous and so friendly.  It was a fun time!  Have I mentioned how much I love these "Honey's"?

Zaden is 8 Today

This cute little guy is eight years old.  Zaden is a smart child and quite the thinker.  He's funny and creative.  This sweetie loves lego's and video games.  I just read a memory of last year when I took Zaden shopping.  He chose something with tiny pieces as his gift.  Not lego's but something similar.  When he got home and opened the package and saw all the little pieces he looked at me and asked me why I had let him get them. ☺  Zaden is kind and a very good big brother.  He loves to watch movies and play on the computer.  He likes his back rubbed.  Zaden is a good dancer and can really shake things up when he wants.  Zaden has a strong personality and knows what he wants and isn't easily persuaded which I admire.  Zaden is such a blessing to our family.  Last night I was laying in his bed with him (his mom and TJ were working on the other house to get it ready to sell) and we were talking.  I told him he was the best thing that has ever happened to his dad.  I let him know that he truly was a blessing to us all.  This little guy is great fun and we are so blessed to have him.