Seven on Sunday

1.So I got my hair done AGAIN! It's nice for $20 bucks I can get my hair cut and colored...plus my eyebrows and lip waxed. So due to this I seem to get my hair done every 2 months. This time I went a little bold and I LOVE it. it feels good to have someone make you feel beautiful...right ladies!

2.So Jared a friend of mine told me about this awesome park in downtown Boise located in the foothills, Camel's Back. So yesterday since it was near 60 and sunny and i was off work, me and the kids ventured on a trip. It was absolutely beautiful(and yes i am saying areas in Idaho are beautiful). There was a fun playground before you hot the trails. This picture is on top of one of the trails looking North away from the city. Took my breath away to think of all the majesty of our Heavenly Father's and Savior's creations!

3.this is a picture of the boys sliding down the Camel's Back. It was much easier climbing up this hill than coming down thus the reason for sliding:). My boys did so good at hiking. Brevan at 2 1/2 amazed me with his ability to go like the energizer bunny. Wish i could bottle up that energy and I'm sure I'd make millions. Kyle loves to show his little brother how to do new things. So it was fun for me to watch them slide together and of course Kyle had to go first. I pray that he will always want to show Brevan how to do the "right" things the "right" way!

4. The kids made it up the trails with little complaining. As you can see they are all smiling. They had fun running ahead of each other and then sitting down to wait for the rest of us. Mackenzie continues to amaze me with how much she can help out with the boys and at times like today actually enjoys it. My heart took several pictures and captured memories that the camera never will be able to do. Thanks to my kids for helping me find Joy in this journey that has been difficult the last few months. Picture of Kyle still going after our 3mile hike(i know some of you are thinking only 3 miles but hey it was a lot of up hills and I am not a pack mule so carrying kids back wasn't an option)

5. After all of our playing and hiking we headed back down old town Boise(btw is beautiful) and we found this adorable little ice cream parlor. So to end the day we stopped for ice cream dinner(we ate a picnic on our trails) about 5:30 pm. The ice cream is all homemade and is FABULOUS and fattening. It was SO good buck to be honest way too rich to eat to much. I sure felt sick afterwards. The place also sells homemade candies and the kids wanted to try everything, but mom had to say no!

6. Church today was GREAT! finally we sat through and entire sacrament meeting and I even was able to listen to most of the 2 talks. Brevan stayed after crying a little bit in nursery which is a bonus. He hasn't stayed in weeks. The thing I loved the most was being able to feel the spirit before and during church. The kids all got ready with no fighting and to church on time. I love it when all things seem to go smoothly. It was an answer to many prayers and tears. So here's to more great Sabbaths.

7. Faith....today one of the talks was about faith. The high counselor spoke of a man's love for his dear wife who suffered from Alzheimer's disease and hadn't recognized him in 5 years. The talk went on to say that she may not know me but I still know her and one day she will know that I still loved her when she couldn't show me the same love. WOW! I realized how much this is the kind of eternal relationship I want in my life. Since working with Alzheimer's for almost 8 months I see glimpses of this love. One little old lady brings her husband a milkshake every Saturday because that was their tradition. He still doesn't recognize her, but it sure warms my heart as I see him walking down the hall for minutes eating that milkshake and smiling not knowing who brought him this little piece of heaven. May we have this kind of faith in the eternal promise of eternal relationships and family.

Seven On Sunday

1. Okay so everyone comments how positive I always am and I really try to be happy about life. Well this once I am going to state something and I hope it makes us more aware of how we treat people or at least think before we speak. This past months has been challenging with very personal decisions made. What I will say is I know the Lord is aware of each of us our feelings, trials, and especially our needs. After being divorced for almost 8 months now a few things we as members of the church need to realize.

one-you cannot assume any reasons for peoples divorce. we don't know the story so let's not speculate.

two-most women who divorce for similar reasons go through a series of grieving processes, but the one that seems to come back again is that we would get more support emotional from our wards if our husbands had died.

three- read the article in the February ensign almost last page about single mom's. We feel awful for asking for help more frequently. sometimes it's nice when a person recognizes a need and volunteers to help....some obvious is the lack of priesthood we have in our homes, what can you do as a priesthood holder. So here is my venting!

2. Last week we had the most beautiful rainbow in the world after a freak rainstorm. I instantly thought of the song.....when I am baptized. How clean and pure the air smelled and then to look up and see the rainbow as a reminder of our Heavenly Father's love. What a feeling of peace I experienced.

3. Joy School. This months we are learning about the joy of trust and confidence and teaching our children these truths. we talked about seasons and mother nature and how we can trust mother nature....Kyle(who's the oldest) said, "mommy mother nature doesn't make the season Heavenly Father and Jesus do!" Wow they do remind of us simple truths. So I continued to teach something that I had to be STRONGLY reminded of at the moment that we can always trust Heavenly Father and Jesus and that builds confidence the eternal scheme of things. Especially when we are amidst a trial.

4. Mackenzie just participated in Jump rope for Heart last week. She really had fun practicing and then performing well. She is growing up into this young woman right before my eyes. She loves life and really tries to see positive things. As a result i was reminded that she is still yet my baby girl and I need to let her still be a child. I took this dilemma to the Lord because I have added more responsibility to her than maybe I should have when the divorce happened. After a couple of weeks of not expecting her to babysit so much...Wow! she loves her brothers again. I am grateful Heavenly Father showed me the way that I could still exercise and have that time for myself(which I feel makes me a better mom) without her feeling like she has to be the mom. Thanks for the small reminders that help us see the problems and find the answers.

5. Brevan continues to grow and become such a little man. I can hardly believe he will be 3 in a few months. he loves learning and having to mommy time 2 days a week. Still can pitch a hellacious fit but they are becoming fewer times a day:)

6. Anatomy....so we discovered that our female "blossom" cat is indeed not a girl at all. As we were scratching her tummy the other day brevan points down and says mommy look a snake! oh yea she or he had an erection. So now we have decided that he needs to get a new collar instead of the pink sparkly one with a bell. Can't change the name because he answers to Blossom! So i think there was a reason I went into nursing and not veterinarian career.

7. The Lord keeps opening windows when the doors seem to be shutting all around me. After telling Mike that it was over and to lose my number I felt lonely for a few weeks. Gave me time to forget about men and refocus on being a mom and what it is I really want out of Life. Do I just want to get married to someone because he is a member and holds the priesthood, or do I want that plus someone who cares for me and puts me first? I realized it's okay to be friends and date for a while. on that note I am dating someone else after not going on a date in 5 weeks. It's nice to have a friend. This time no child meeting until we see where we want things to go if anywhere. The good thing is that I have a new workout partner who is killing me in a good way...he's a marine who spent 2 tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. So physical fitness is important to him. so ending on a good note....thanks for not giving up on this bonehead girl. i will figure it all out with the Lord's help and all of your encouragement.

(okay one more thing my brother sean came up last week for a visit from texas...he's getting divorced so it was a needed break for him. so the picture of him and nate was a priceless one a captured with my phone)