Tuesday Happenings

I got up and decided to make me some fresh Orange Juice for breakfast....it's so yummy!   I really needed to go visiting teaching before Easter but hadn't made appointments and figured today would be the best day to do it. I had thought about texting my sisters but changed my mind and chose to take my chance instead.  (I didn't want to be told no) I had cute little pails with Treats for my sisters and for my visiting teacher who also came today.   I was able to catch my sisters and at least say "hi". I really love the ladies I get to visit...they are pretty great!  I adore my visiting teacher too..she's awesome!

The insurance gal called to check on me to see how my blood pressure is and to make sure I am exercising.  I decided to cut back on my soda this month...my new goal.  My blood pressure is actually pretty low in the morning but still in range according to the machine we have. It was a quick visit.  

When I was walking Ruth (my visiting teacher) out to her car I noticed a nice little nest in our courtyard with seven eggs in it.  I know for certain it was not there on Sunday when we had our Easter Egg Hunt.  The mamma didn't show up until dark to sit on them.  I decided to spray the weeds around my yard and sprinkle preen and while I was doing that Larry called to let me know that Kimi's car had stopped and that I needed to go rescue her.  It was actually time for me to go get my hair done so I was a little late for that.  It worked out okay though because Dana was going to have to run to the junior high to take her son his track shoes but Kimi did it for her.

I went home and did my hair and then me and my kids went and got some pizza on our way to Mya's piano recital.  I had to miss last year because of SNAP.  Mya has improved so much and I really enjoyed the recital.

It was a fun filled day.

If We Were a Painting

Family Easter Egg Hunt

Today was the week all our kids come for dinner and so we decided to have our family Easter Egg hunt and dinner.  We kept it simple....I like simple!  I totally forgot to take a picture of the yummy desserts Natalie brought and it's because they were on another counter and there was a lot going on.  I also forgot to slice some oranges that I was going to since I have a case of them. (cRazY eYeS)  Everyone brought something for our dinner which is really nice because it's a little crazy trying to hide all those eggs.

We thought it might be too cold outside for the littlest grands and so we hid some for them in the piano room.  (it wasn't too cold) Everyone got to hunt outside and this year we didn't have areas for them...it was a free for all!

I enjoy running around with the camera trying to capture the fun.  This activity with our kids and grands makes my heart smile.  I love it!

While the grands were playing and it was mostly adults gathered together chatting we discussed Easter.  We talked about the events leading up to Christs crucifixion, His atonement and the Resurrection.  This is seriously the biggest thing that has ever happened and I do think that quite often it is overlooked and not focused on as much as it maybe should be.  We encouraged our kids to teach their little ones.  I remember when I was little and just knew that Easter was a scared holiday.  My family didn't talk about the real reasons but I must of learned in Church because I knew.  I hope that my kids and grands will also just know.

I cherish our family time and the traditions that we have.  I love these people so much.  They really are my favorite!

Healing Hands....

Trichelle and Kimleighel's cute friend, Sara was speaking today and so we went and listened to her.  Some people's journeys have some big lessons and it was great listening to Sara tell hers and how she got through them.  Sara is awesome and did a great job.  She said she always wanted to speak in public but now that she has she doesn't necessarily care to again.  She prefers working with others one on one. While we were there we also heard from Ms. Bluffdale.  This gal talked about labels and being labeled.  She had us do an interesting activity.  We wrote down three labels that were placed on us in our life on little sticky name tags.  Those labels brought up negative emotions but the worst part was we had to then go place those labels on someone else.  Wowzers....not an easy thing to do.  "you aren't good enough", "you're fat",  "you're not very smart", "you're lazy", "you don't measure up", "you waste so much time"....etc.  Those were some that I remember hearing.  As those labels were placed on me I didn't care and they actually made me laugh.  But, placing them on others was hard.  Yet, we do that so often in life.  We might not say negative things to ones face but often we do label others behind their back.  It would be so much better for us all if we stuck to the positive things...looked for them and mentioned them out loud to one another.  The best part of this day was spending it with my cute daughters.  I actually had to change some things around so that I could be with them and it was worth it.  I have such beautiful girls...inside and out they are pure Princesses.

I love that cute Krysta photo bombed us in this picture.  She is a beautiful soul!

Food For Thought Friday

Food 4 Thought Friday! 

A little feast without the calories!! 

Feel free to play along for some yummy fun! Go Here to JOIN IN!!! 

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Breakfast ~ What is the scariest thing you have ever done? Hands Down it would be Sky Diving! When people talked to me about it I would have a hard time breathing.  I didn't think there was any way that I would ever to it but when I put my mind to it and focused on the good things people told me and pushed away my fear it was awesome! (the fear has returned)

Lunch ~ What places (city or states) have you lived? I grew up in Washington Terrace, UT.  Lived in Ogden, UT in a basement apartment when I married.  Moved to a trailer house then a basement apartment in Malad, ID and eventually built a home in Samaria, ID Moved back to an apartment on 2nd street in Ogden.  Bought a home in Roy, moved up the street a few years later and finally built our home in Hooper, UT.

Dinner ~  What is your current favorite TV show and why? I don't watch TV and have no idea what is even on.

Midnight Snack ~ What do you wish you had more time to do? Vacation ☺ Even though we go quite a bit, it would be fun to be able to go more.  I have time for everything I need to do but I don't always make time for everything I need or want to do.

Recipe for the Week ~ (instead of your recipe for life, what is it just for the week?)  Think Positive!  Positive thinking eliminates: fear, judgments, stress and anything else that makes us unhappy.

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Palmyra

Over Conference Weekend and Spring Break we took Jared to Palmyra.  It was a wonderful experience for us all.  We walked through the Sacred Grove before conference on Sunday and felt the spirit.  The morning light was shining through the trees and it was glorious.  We decided that the grove might have looked very similar to what it's like right now.  It's early spring just like it was when Joseph Smith went to pray.

We watched the Conference at the Palmyra Inn where we were staying.  I really enjoy conference.  A lot of talks spoke to me but President Uchtdorf's brought peace to me as he spoke about much of what I learned at the conference I just attended with Trichelle.  The event I went to wasn't sponsored by the church but it taught about things that will help us get closer to our Heavenly Father and so it was perfect.  After Conference we visited the Hill Cumorah  visitors center.  We looked around and watched a few video's.  Jared went to the top of the Hill but Larry and I only made it part way.  It's steep and we chose not to.

 The next few days we visited the Sacred Grove again and got to see the inside of some homes that are replicas of what the homes might have been like.  We enjoyed the sister missionaries that taught us.  We visited the Whitmer  farm and the Susquehanna River where Joseph Smith was baptized.  So many good things happened there and the spirit was serene.

We went to the Printing Press and enjoyed the tour there and some more inspiring video's.  The spirit testified again to me that Joseph Smith was a true Prophet and this work is true.  I have never doubted that but was reasurred anyway.  I felt a soul connection with a darling missionary from the Dominican Republic.  She lives in the mission Kevin served in.  When she first saw me, she grinned and said "have we met?...I feel like I know you."  It was fun visiting with her.  The sister missionary that showed us through the Print Shop reminded Jared of our good friend, Emmalee winter.  She really was very similar in looks and actions.  We shared their pictures with each of them. ☺

Our little vacation was relaxing and low key.  We weren't in a hurry to get from one place to the next and I liked that.  We just enjoyed where we were and the events that took place there.

We met a cute family from Farmington and enjoyed a hamburger and some ice-cream with them at the Chill and Grill one night.  Those little cones were "kiddy" cones.  This family was spending a week going to all different places.  I think Elizabeth is brave for taking her kids by herself.  Her oldest son, Nathan, would love to join Jared on his mission in a year when he graduates.  Alaska is Nathan's first choice of places he'd like to serve.  I know that made Jared feel even more blessed than he already does.

Since we had seen everything in Palmrya we decided to take Jared to Niagara Falls our last day.  I was pregnant with Jared the last time we went.  It was an enjoyable day.  Our time away from home was enjoyed and well spent.  It was time to head home...or at least we thought it was time.  When we got to the Chicago airport our flight was delayed because of the yucky weather occurring around the states.  We were fine with that but then it just kept happening.  Our plane did make it in but someone found a nail in a tire and so the tire needed to be replaced.  I like that the plane is inspected so well.  Anyway to change the tire the plane needed to be taken to a hanger where all the tools are which takes a lot of time.  We got delayed again but before the tire was changed it was decided that our flight would fly on a different plane out of a different terminal.  Alrighty then....everyone moved to the new gate in the new terminal.  We were ready to board this plane but again were told that there was a problem with one of the emergency doors and it needed fixed.  I really like how thorough the planes are checked out.  This problem didn't take long and we actually got to finally board.  By this point we should have been home and in bed but at least we were boarding.  We arrived home about 3:00 am.

I really enjoyed our time away and I'm excited for Kimleighel to go with the young adults to these sites and others this summer.  We were going to take her with us until the young adults said they were going.  She will get to see and experience more but I think this was perfect for Jared right now.

I'm grateful for Joseph Smith and his prayer.  I'm thankful to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knows each of us by name.  I'm grateful that a path was made so that we could all be guided back "home".  We are very blessed to have the Bible and the Book of Mormon to be taught from and to be spoken to.  We really are loved so much!  I love Heavenly Father, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. I'm happy for the journey that is mine.  It's unique to me as everyone's elses is to them.  Life is pretty darn wonderful.

Awaken

 Trichelle invited me to another great seminar.  This one is similar to Limitless but I enjoyed it more.  Gerald use to be involved in Limitless and that's where my girls met him.  Both of my girls really connected to Gerald when they met him at Limitless.  Gerald decided to start this conference because he wanted to focus on different things.  This conference was more spiritual and I felt so love and got to really know so many others that were there.  I had a great time being with my cute daughter and TJ too because they are awesome.  At this seminar we were taught many tools that help us change our way of thinking.  I really dug inside myself a few times and liked what I learned.

The speakers were awesome and were all in alignment with each other in what they taught.  It just went hand in hand with the other speakers.  One speaker got me thinking about how I judge and why I let something she said try to offend me.  I quickly worked through the "why's" and moved on and enjoyed her presentation and seriously felt a love and connection for her.  I thanked her after and she gave me a nice hug.  One thing I thought was "We All Rock Our Journey".  Every one of us is doing our absolute best and we are all on such different journey's.  There really shouldn't be any negative judgement.  I was able to really see the greatness in these people and they saw it in me.  We shared the "greatness I see in you" a lot.  

I demonstrated breaking the arrow with my neck by letting go of a believe that was holding me back and owning a new belief.  The last day when we broke boards my experience wasn't as good.  I couldn't break my board and I was seriously bugged by it.  The first time I hit my board I was shocked that it hadn't broke.  I stood there in unbelief and let some negative thoughts flood my mind.  I realized that the reason I couldn't break my board was because I didn't believe the new belief I was saying.  I couldn't lie and I couldn't break my board.  I had so many people encouraging me and trying to help me but I was a mess and could not get rid of the negative in my head.  It was painful...seriously my soul hurt as well as my poor hand.  I learned a lot from that experience and so in reality it was a good experience.  I didn't want to take home my unbroken board though and when I went over to talk to some kids that had came I got some help.  I really felt like I was inspired to go talk to those kids and let them know that I was happy to have met them.  One of the boys had let me lay my head on his tummy during "laughing yoga" but the other kid I hadn't talked to at all.  He was the one that was inspired to tell me a few things.  He asked me if I had heard of Elder Bednar's talk on faith.  Faith to be Healed and Faith Not to be Healed.  Something in that comment struck me and more things went through my head.  I asked this kid if he would help me break my board.  Of course he wanted to help.  TJ got out some gloves and David (the kid) told me that I had to state my new belief and mean it.  I said it a few times trying to really feel and believe it.  David hit the board and nothing happened.  In a way I was glad since I had such a hard time.  Then he said "Dawn, you have to believe it...now say it like you believe it."  I raised my voice stating my belief and he said "No..louder".  I repeated it a few more times, increasing my volume and feeling the belief and convection as I did.  This time the board broke and I felt the same wonderful feeling when I had broke my board in the previous conference I had participated in.  David told me it was my belief that had broke the board and I believe he is right.  But because I had help it made me think about life and how we do need "friends" to help us get through some hard times at times.  I'm still thinking about my board and the many lessons it has and is teaching me.  (I wasn't suppose to break my board)

I loved this conference and feel like it is such a great event and could benefit anyone.  The things I learned go right along with the things I learn each Sunday.  In fact, President Uchtdorf's talk for Conference was exactly what this event taught.  (I'm recording this about a week late)  It was super fun getting to know my team and spend those days with my cute daughter.  I felt so loved by so many.  Even Gerald and his darling wife Krysta (The leaders of this event) looked into my eyes and told me wonderful things.  It was very personal and wonderful.