Dare to Stand Alone

We had an amazing lesson in young women's today.  So, amazing that I am actually blogging about it.  Wonders never cease!  We have a "guest" teacher come in one the first Sunday of every month (except the last 3 months, cause I wasn't on the ball) to teach the girls.  Today's guest teacher did so awesome.  The lesson was titled: How can I be in the world but not of the world?  (Link provided).  This dear Sister did such an amazing job of getting that point across.  We in this world, we were born here, it's where we live.  Can't do much about that.  But how do we keep from being OF THE WORLD?  She told us about chocolate chips, they are in a cookie, but they still remain separate. When you mix a cookie, all the ingredients become one. You can't pick out the flour, eggs, sugar or butter. Then you add the chips....they are in the cookie, but you can still pick them out from the rest of the ingredients. So we need to be like the chip. We need to stand apart from what the world says is important and remember what we KNOW is important. The hand out was awesome....COOKIES!! So just remember...Don't try to fit in, you were born to stand out. Be the CHIP!  We also watched a video about Thomas S Monson.  I LOVED IT.  Such a good story and an awesome message. 

It's the Simple Things

The last 2 weekends we have been able to go camping as a family.  I find myself getting caught up in the packing, list making, menu options and not really enjoying myself.  We get to our destination and I find myself caught up in keeping our camping area picked up, cooking, cleaning and I don't stop and cherish the moments.  Over the 4th of July we went camping and we ended up playing games around the dining room table.  I LOVED IT.  It made all the other stuff worth it.  (Maybe not in the moment, but looking back).  This last weekend we went to Bear Lake and spent a few nights there.  I have a hard time with clutter so I was picking up after everyone and not really relaxing.  The last night we were there Chrislyn cuddled up to me and said "I love camping, Mama."  It made me realize that I am missing things that my kids love.  I stopped what I was doing and was just there, present in the moment and found myself enjoying the quiet time with my family.  Hopefully, I can make it so my kids remember all the fun times and things that we get to do as a family and not that we went places and mom was cranky cause she was cleaning/planning/blah/blah/blah the whole time....

A bit of this, a little of that....

I go so long in between posts, I never know what to title them!  Ha.  Darn that facebook, it keeps me from updating my blog in a timely manner!!  By far the most important thing since my last post is:  Carson turned 12!  He was ordained a Deacon and received the Priesthood from his Dad.  I can not express how wonderful it is to see him in his white shirt passing the sacrament.  I about started to cry when he handed me the Bread Tray!!  I got so lucky with him.  He is doing an amazing job of raising his parents.  :) 
Over Memorial weekend, I was able to meet Mom, Dad, Julie, Jennifer, Jana, Melanie and Jalynn for a girls (and Dad) only weekend.  It was so nice just to hang out and visit with them.  I LOVED IT.  I really missed my kids and Ted though.  Maybe I need more weekends away to remind me how much I really do love my family...logical thinking right!?  We spent the weekend in Midway, Utah.  Amazing!
My Mom, Kortney and David spent some time in Garden City, Utah (Bear Lake) not to long ago.  I loved having them so close.  The night they got there (not including David), Ted, the Kids and I met Mom and Kortney for dinner.  Watching Chrislyn use the steps as a stage was so fun.  She sure is a cutie.  I went back later that week (without Ted or the kids) and watched a show at the Pickleville Playhouse.  It was so fun!  Ted is now expected to take me there on a date...SOON. :)  The girls I and I went another day and had shakes and went swimming.  CAN YOU TELL I LOVED HAVING THEM SO CLOSE!! 
Our family bought a camper a while back and I am so excited because tomorrow we are finally taking it camping.  We are going to spend a few days camping and boating at Lake Viva Naughton, just north of Kemmerer.  It will be nice to get out of town and just relax for a while.  I have got my kindle charged and packed with new books to keep me company. 
Next weekend we are taking the boat and camper back out, but this time to Bear Lake.  Chrislyn is turning 3 and she had a list of things she wanted: To sleep in the Camper, to go swimming, to have a pink cake and to have a fire...I heard "Mom, lets go to Bear Lake!"  She is so excited and has been talking about it for literally MONTHS.
Carson has a busy couple of weeks coming up, he will be headed out to Camp Lowell (I think) on the 15th for 6 days.  The week after that Football starts.  He will be going into the 7th grade this year. YES I FEEL OLD.  Carson has been spending most of his summer under the hoods of several cars at the Grandpa Ed Carlson household.  He is learning from the best!     
Nick has been working on anything he can get his hands on this summer, he comes home covered in grease and oil from the garage and is loving every minute of it.  Most kids want to play all summer....mine go to work in garages working on anything that has an engine (or should have an engine!)  Nick will be going into the 5th grade this fall.
Mica is 100% girl and spends NO TIME in the garage.  She has been reading and playing her summer away.  She is headed into the 2nd grade and will be baptized this coming September.  She loves playing with Chrislyn and is a very good sister.
Chrislyn...is Chrislyn.  She is stubborn, loving, funny and quite the chit-chatter.  She will be in Pre-School this fall (if she ever gets potty trained....)  I am sure she would do it if I was more consistent with it.
Ted and I are both just working away.  He is adjusting to being a boss, sometimes it leaves a sour taste in his mouth.  I am still working away at the counseling center, dreaming about winning the lottery (without actually ever playing it) and paying off all our bills with said lotto win so I never HAVE to work again.  We are both enjoying our callings (him more then me some days) he is in the Young Men's (Priest Advisor) I am in the Young Women's (President).  Girls Camp is coming up soon and I am starting to get excited.  (The stress is laying low for a bit but give me a couple of weeks and it will probably be over whelming!)
So there you go...a bit of this, a little of that and I think we are all caught up! 

Influenza B

Has officially hit our home.  I think Mica actually had it a few weeks ago but the the test came back negative. (Apparently there are a lot of false negatives, yay) she had a high fever, sore throat, cough.  But didn't always act sick. I actually thought she was faking, made an appointment and when we got there her temp was 104! Oops.....
So after 5 days she was back to normal and on with our lives we went.  Last Thursday night I had a sore throat.  Friday I was sure I had one heck of a chest cold.  By Sunday, I was in the emergency room, cause I knew I was dying of said chest cold 😷 {dramatic much?} they did the flu test and I tested positive.  I was pretty dehydrated so I had to stay a while and get pumped full of fluids. I have several bruises to prove the dehydration, because they had a hard time starting an iv.  Ouch! Once I was all hydrated up, back home I went.  The headaches, body aches, sore throat, coughing, lost voice, sinus, fever ridden days that followed were pretty much a blur. I didn't always know what day it was or what time of what day it was.  Ted's parents were amazingly helpful and I am so grateful to them.  They helped get kids to and from school, to and from dance lessons, checked Carson out of school when he got sick, took care of Chrislyn for me, went shopping for us and kept me stocked up on meds.  They were so wonderful! Nick and Carson got sick and they are taking a while to recover as well, they both have fever and coughing.. Ted got sick, but he was out at a snowmobile school for search and rescue, he thinks he sweat all of his sickness out in a couple of days. {I am jealous!} I am on day 8, I am finally back to work but boy am I miserable!! I am so ready to get back to normal, have my kids back to normal, soak my house in Lysol and Clorox and get on with our lives!!

Change

Times.....they are changing.  And for our family, very quickly.  Last week Ted applied for a new position out at the mine.  Monday, he had an interview. Later that day he had an offer.  Tuesday he accepted the offer and this coming Monday, he starts his new job.  What's changed with the job....everything, except he will still be out at the mine.  He will no longer be a union represented employee, he is now working for the company side of Westmoreland Coal.  That also means, he is now salary, instead of hourly.  His benefits changed. He will be a Maintenance Foreman, so no more welding.  He will still be on shift work, he is assigned to a crew.  He will move from working on B crew to A crew.  Hopefully, we will all adjust well to these changes.  We are excited to see what our future holds!

The Plan

Today, I feel that I need to express my gratitude for the great plan of Salvation.  Yesterday, was a tough and emotional day for our family.  We were informed that Ted's Aunt had passed away.  Aunt Viv will be missed.  She was close to us and our children.  I loved her dearly.  Thinking about her today, brings tears to my eyes and a smile to my face.  I have cried A LOT the last 24 hours.  I am sad.  BUT, I want to share what this has done for me personally.  Viv and I had several religious discussions.  I loved her honesty and she loved me...even though I was one of those Mormons!!  We did not see eye to eye where our beliefs were concerned.  She came to church with Ted and I a couple months back.  She was so funny.  She said that she loved it, loved being at church.  She also said that Her Mom was probably rolling over in her grave.  (I thought...yep, for joy!!)  but didn't share that with Viv.  Viv didn't make it to church with us again, but I know where she is.  I know who she is spending her time with today.  I know that I will see her again.  I know that her family, left here on earth has work to do.  I am excited for the day when I get to see her again.  I know, that when we have the work done for Viv, she will accept it whole heartedly.....and when I do see her again, I will try not to rub it in that I WAS RIGHT!!!

Trying to be Crafty

I have been looking at blank walls in my office for the better part of a year.  I don't want to spend money on my office, but I want it to look nice as well.  So I am trying to be crafty.  Our office was getting a face lift and somethings were going in a junk pile.  I searched through them and found some things I thought would be cute.  My co-workers looked at me like I was crazy!  BUT.....I think things turned out amazing!

The shutters came from work, as did the frame.  All I had to provide with the pictures, the small frames, some paint, ribbon and the flower arrangement.  The picture that was in the huge frame was something dreadful.  When I came into my office with it, I could see the looks on people's faces.  They were trying to be kind, but you could tell they were thinking "I would NEVER hang that in my office."  The looks got even better when I ripped the painting out and threw it away!  All I wanted was the frame.  I got the same looks when I asked the painters not to throw the shutters away, when they were taking them down.  I brought some pictures from home, painted the frames red and hung them on the shutters with ribbon.  Here is a close up of the shutters:

I think they turned out awesome.  I love looking at my wall now!!

There were some branch looking things in our office as well.  No one wanted them and I got more strange looks when I salvaged them.  I added some frames and ribbon, hung them on my wall and....

My wall still has a big blank space, but maybe after some bargain hunting I will find something cute to fill up the space.  I am loving the way they all turned out!  AND.....It was super cheap.  :)