Welcoming 2012

Well since 2011 is history and 2012 is brand new, I am welcoming this year.  I'm still trying to figure out our word for 2012.

2011 was a lot of ups and downs for me.  It was my year of hope.  I lost it many times, especially with my last miscarriage in February, but tried to hold on to it.  I had a really hard time the last few months of 2011 especially.  I love the holidays for what they represent.  I love Thanksgiving for being thankful for all that I have been blessed with and for my present life.  I love Christmas for our Savior's birth and for His life.  But the holidays are also very hard for me.  Honestly, I get really depressed.  I hate to admit this but I guess it's not that shocking, I am so jealous of people who have children on Christmas morning.  I so badly want to play Santa Claus with Josh on Christmas Eve after we've tucked our child(ren) into bed and read Twas The Night Before Christmas to them.  I want to see their excited faces in the morning.  I may have romanticized in my head a bit but regardless, Christmas would be so much more fun. 

I'm glad the holidays over and it's time for a fresh start.

We're ready to try again for a baby.  It's taken a lot of time and a lot of prayer but I think I'm ready to put myself back on the emotional roller coaster.  I pulled the emergency stop on the roller coaster last time when I was going around loops and then plummeted straight down a deep dark hole.  I felt myself slipping further into a depression and knew I was fragile and couldn't take anymore.  So after building myself back up, I'm ready.  And I feel good about it.  I've been pregnant twice so maybe a third time will be the charm.  I feel like it's what I'm supposed to do here on this earth, I'm supposed to be a mother.  It may not come in a way I think but one way or another, we want to be parents.

Josh found this article by Thomas S. Monson in this month's Ensign and I love it.  It is my going to be my guide through this year.  I love it and feel like it was written for me.  I know it won't be easy and I am going to stumble a lot, but I'm going to try my hardest to pick myself up and keep going.  This message will be my guide.

Living the Abundant Life

At the advent of a new year, I challenge Latter-day Saints everywhere to undertake a personal, diligent, significant quest for what I call the abundant life—a life filled with an abundance of success, goodness, and blessings. Just as we learned the ABCs in school, I offer my own ABCs to help us all gain the abundant life.

Have a Positive Attitude

A in my ABCs refers to attitude. William James, a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher, wrote, “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”1

So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment.

Charles Swindoll—author, educator, and Christian pastor—said: “Attitude, to me, is more important than … the past, … than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.”2

We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.

Believe in Yourself

B is for believe—in yourself, in those around you, and in eternal principles.

Be honest with yourself, with others, and with your Heavenly Father. One who was not honest with God until it was too late was Cardinal Wolsey who, according to Shakespeare, spent a long life in service to three sovereigns and enjoyed wealth and power. Finally, he was shorn of his power and possessions by an impatient king. Cardinal Wolsey cried:

Had I but served my God with half the zeal

I served my king, He would not in mine age

Have left me naked to mine enemies.3

Thomas Fuller, an English churchman and historian who lived in the 17th century, penned this truth: “He does not believe that does not live according to his belief.”4

Don’t limit yourself and don’t let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities.

You can achieve what you believe you can. Trust and believe and have faith.

Face Challenges with Courage

C is for courage. Courage becomes a worthwhile and meaningful virtue when it is regarded not so much as a willingness to die manfully but as a determination to live decently.

Said the American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide on, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.”5

There will be times when you will be frightened and discouraged. You may feel that you are defeated. The odds of obtaining victory may appear overwhelming. At times you may feel like David trying to fight Goliath. But remember—David did win!

Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one’s coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve.

Have the determination to make the effort, the single-mindedness to work toward a worthy goal, and the courage not only to face the challenges that inevitably come but also to make a second effort, should such be required. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow.”

May we remember these ABCs as we begin our journey into the new year, cultivating a positive attitude, a belief that we can achieve our goals and resolutions, and the courage to face whatever challenges may come our way. Then the abundant life will be ours.

Here we go 2012, let's make it great!

Time With "My Kids"

I went to Shannon's to spend the night with the kids while she and Arnold had a work Christmas party.  We wanted to go see a movie and go drive through Christmas lights.  I wanted to take them to Temple Square but the air quality was too bad and we have to be really careful with DJ's asthma so we couldn't go down there.  We decided to go see Arthur Christmas.  We went to Jordan Commons (my favorite movie theater), got our popcorn, cotton candy and drinks then went into the theater.  The movie was super cute, I loved it.

 I know I've said it over and over again, but these kids have my heart.  They fill spaces in my heart I didn't know were empty until they came into my life.  I cry with each one of their accomplishments.  One, because we don't live as close as I wish we did so I can see them.  And two, because I am so proud of them and the awesome little people they are.
Noah is such a tween but he still gets excited to see me.  He will still let me love on him and still wants to show me stuff he can do.  Elizabeth is such a sweetheart.  She does have a sassy side but she is the sweetest girl.  She's doing so well in dancing and started tumbling.  She is working on her back handspring and aerial.  She's so much fun and I love love love her giggle.  DJ is still my little boy for the moment.  He is growing up and I hate that.  He is such a fun kid.  He has a major shoe fetish and looks so cute in his skinny jeans.  He still wants to play with me and first thing in the morning when we wake up, he wants to play and build his car ramp and jumps.  He still wants me to hold him and I always will.
I hope that we will get to be parents one day but if that is not in our plan, at least I got to be something close to that with these kids.
After the movie, we headed down to Thanksgiving Point to drive through their Christmas light display since we can stay in the car and not be exposed to the bad air.  We stopped at the Maverick and got some hot chocolate for everyone.  We pulled into the lights and listened to Christmas music as we drove through.  I've never been there before and it was pretty cool.

 After driving through the lights, there is the story of our Savior's birth with pictures by Simon Dewey that I love.

We got back to Shannon and Arnold's and relaxed in front of the TV for a while.  DJ fell asleep on my lap as we watched monster truck movies.
I came home Sunday morning after DJ, Lu and I built car tracks and spent some more time together.  It was such a great weekend welcoming a new little life into our family and spending time with "my kids."

New Uncle & Auntie

We have a new nephew!  Austin and Alicia had Landyn Friday night, well early Saturday morning at 1:06am weighing in at 7lbs 12oz and 19 inches long.

We now have 2 nephews on my side and 3 nephews and a niece on Josh's side.

I stopped by the hospital Saturday morning on my way down to Draper to spend the weekend with Shannon, Arnold and my kids.

Alicia's grandparents were just leaving as I got there, so I got him all to myself.  He is so squishy and cuddly.  I got to love on him for quite a while and feed him a bottle.  Austin was really good to just hand him over to me and let me take over while they watched TV.  

Landyn Quinn Haslam

Even though I loved seeing our new nephew, I left the hospital feeling inadequate again for the countless time in my life.  I was late getting down to Draper but had to sit in the car for a minute while the tears flowed before I got back on the freeway.  I was going to spend the weekend with Noah, Lu and DJ and that made me happy.

Welcome to the world little Landyn!!  Auntie and Uncle love you!!

Love Me Some Puppy Breath!

So for Tara's 31st birthday, Cody wanted to get her a new pug puppy.  He told her to get in the car a few days ago on a Saturday.  Not knowing where she was being taken, she got in.  They got to where the puppies were and she walked out with her new black pug puppy picked out.  She wasn't old enough to leave her momma yet so she had to wait a few days before she could take her home.
Tara left work early on Thursday to pick her up and give the tiny, stinky puppy a much needed bath.  Josh and I went over later that night to meet her and for me to take in a couple good doses of sweet puppy breath!
Tara named Athena after the greek goddess Athena, obviously.  So she wanted another goddess name for this puppy.  She and Cody talked back and forth about names and Tara finally decided on Phoebe.

It's a good thing Morgan left Ebony up here with Cody and Tara while she finishes up the semester at school and takes finals.  Phoebe loves Ebony and Ebony loves Phoebe.

 Welcome to the family little Miss Phoebe Belle!  And Happy (early) 31st Birthday Tara!

Trying To Smile With Your Cheeks Frozen

Tara wanted to do family pictures but we weren't able to do them in the summer like we usually do because Morgan was busy all summer and couldn't come home.  So we had to put it off until Thanksgiving weekend.  I was glad we didn't have any snow to go walking through, but it was freezing!  We couldn't keep our hands warm and kept wanting to put them in our pockets.

They turned out pretty good considering how cold it was.  We could only stand being outside for about 15 minutes so we busted it out!!

Giving Thanks.

Josh and I decided to have a quiet Thanksgiving at our house this year.  We have always tried to switch years with his family and mine.  It never seems to work out when it's his family's year so we always end up at my family's, and I don't complain.:)  But this year was Josh's year and we decided to stay at our house and have his mom up with us.  It was just great.  It was quiet and awesome.
On Tuesday night, we had Thanksgiving dinner with my family while my nephews were here.  We had a great time with them and a yummy dinner my mom prepared for us.  I made my great-grandma's creamed corn, which is my assignment every year.
Gavin and Branson love Josh.  They just want to jump on him and play, and Josh lets them.

 I love watching him play with them.  I hate having to split the holidays or plan the holidays around when we have them, but they make it so worth it.  I love those little guys so much.  It was a great holiday with my family.
Rosie rode the Frontrunner from West Valley to Ogden and I picked her up.  She was supposed to be dropped off in Pleasant View just north of Ogden and I drove around the area where the address was and did not see a train station anywhere.  It was after 9 at night and was getting nervous for her being alone in the dark.  She called me and said she got dropped off at the main Union Station in downtown, scary Ogden so I booked it there to get her.  She told me she would stand under a street lamp and wait for me.  I finally got to her and got her home!
We got up the next morning and I started dinner.  We bought a smoked turkey that was delicious!  I made PW's mashed potatoes and those babies were so dang good.  You can't go wrong with butter, half and half and cream cheese.  I know it's lame but I've never made mashed potatoes from scratch so it was kind of fun.  I remember watching my mom do it all the time growing up.

I also made my creamed corn again, mashed sweet potatoes, then all the other fixings.  We ate the delicious feast, then just relaxed and watched movies.  It was perfect!  I made a pumpkin trifle for dessert that was so good, too!

Here's some of the things I'm thankful for this day and everyday.
*My life*
*The Gospel*
*My Husband*
*Our Furbabies*
*Our Families*
*Our Jobs*
*A Warm Home*
*Our Health*
*Our Friends*
I hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Dracula

We went down to Cedar City this weekend to see Morgan in one of her last plays at SUU.
We headed out of town with Tara and Atty riding with us while Cody was golfing in Mesquite at about noon.  The roads were okay, there was a big accident through Ogden so we got detoured but got to Cedar at about 6pm.

 We went and checked into the hotel room and then went to get some dinner.  Morgan needed some more tights so we ran some to her then went back to the room to eat and meet Cody.
We were going to the 11pm show so we just relaxed in the room with Cody's niece while his dad, brother and sister-in-law went to the 7pm show.  I was dozing off a little bit on the bed while Tara watched movies with Eva.  They came back and told us how it was and then we got ready for our showing.  Somewhere along the way during the weeks before the play, we had heard that the 11pm show would be more gory so that's why we decided to go to that one.  That apparently was not true, but we headed in.  The theatre was really small, a lot smaller than I was expecting.  It seated maybe about 70 people.  The play was really good.  Morgan did a great job.  It was great to see her do what she loves so much.

We got back to the hotel after 1am and crashed.  We got up the next morning, went to breakfast and then hit the road back home.  It was starting to snow a little bit as we got back up towards home but nothing too bad.
We love you Morgan, you did great!