guatemala

on july 9th at 3:15 a.m. our dear friends, Kevin and Vickie Palmer picked us up for our 5:15 a.m. flight to guatemala city. Vickie offered to let us catch a ride with them since it was so early in the morning. thank you so much! it was very nice to be able to leave our kids sound asleep in their beds. plus my sister, tenery appreciated the extra hours of zzzz's.

when we got to the airport we met up with a lot of other people that were part of our group. we were all wondering why we booked such an early flight. we knew we would be able to sleep once we got on our plane.

we had a safe flight to dallas with enough time to grab a quick bite to eat, make a few phone calls and catch our flight to guatemala. i always love traveling alone with clate. we have so much uninterrupted time to talk. it's amazing to me how nice it is to have a conversation without having to stop to change a diaper or go pick someone up from a party or to turn the music down or to say, "play nice" or "answer the phone" or to stop to get someone a drink. . . you get the point. i also love the miracle each time we land on the ground safely.

as soon as we got to the guatemala city airport and had our luggage we went outside to meet Clate's parents. they were taking someone else home from the airport and so Manuel, our guatemalan tour guide, was waiting to pick us up. Manuel is the nicest man and helped us to feel safe our entire trip. he had a bus waiting for all of us and once we had all the luggage loaded up we were off. i think there were 16 of us & that is a lot of luggage. :)

i was very excited to get to our hotel because it is absolutely beautiful! clate and i came to guatemala 8 years ago and we stayed in the same hotel. it was called Quinta Real when we came 8 years ago, but now it is called Hotel Vista Real. even though it has a different name, it is still the same wonderful place and the breakfast is simply amazing.

as soon as we got to the hotel is was so much fun to see clate's parents. they are serving as temple presidents at the Guatemala Temple and this is the first time we have seen them since they came on their mission. mom looked cute, like she always does and it was so great seeing them in their element. they both love guatemala. they both served their missions there. i am grateful for the love they have passed on to their children. my dad served his mission in guatemala and i have a love for the people as well.

once we were settled, we met Dave & Karina Lee and Mom and Dad for some soup and bread. it was fun to sit and talk with them and catch up. after an early dinner, we were off to bed. btw, i LOVED all the fluffy pillows on our bed. it's the simple things in life that make me so happy!

Gratitude

This morning I am very grateful.

I am grateful for Ashley. She wants to earn some money for school clothes and so one of the jobs I gave her was to make sure I had time to say my personal prayers, read my scriptures, write in my journal and blog. She has been so encouraging and has asked me throughout each day what she could do for me so that I could do those four things. I have been really busy, but Ashley kept encouraging me to just write a little bit in my journal and to just blog a little bit - whatever I had time for. Sometimes I don't journal or blog because I feel like I don't have enough time. Ashley, I love you for your help. Shopping today will be lots of fun!!! I woke up early this morning and I have already done all four of my things. I wanted to surprise Ashley. She is going to be so excited that she gets a little bit more money for school shopping. :)

I am grateful for children who reach out to new kids on our street and help them feel welcome and loved. I know that is what Heavenly Father and Jesus want us to do and it is what They would do if They were here.

I am grateful for prayer. I know my prayers are heard. I know it because I feel the Holy Ghost while I am praying. I feel peace. I feel loved.

I am grateful for scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. I am grateful for scriptures like Mosiah 7:33 and Mosiah 24:16. The words of the Book of Mormon can bring such comfort when things are rough and I love learning about the people in the Book of Mormon.

I am grateful for opportunities to serve. I love to find a need and help to fill it.

I am grateful for the temple. I love the peace that I feel when I am there.

I am grateful for my children. I am grateful for hard working boys who are working on their eagle projects this summer. I am grateful they are respectful, kind, and fun boys. I love them both. I am grateful for Lindsay and Ashley and their desire to help around the house. I love listening to them play the piano. I am in awe at their dedication to read their scriptures for 20 minutes each day because that is what our bishop asked us to do. I love watching them write in their journals and tape things in their journals. I am grateful for Ellie and Bella. I love the joy and work they bring into our house. It would be very different without them. I am grateful that all of my children are sensitive to the Spirit and that they all have good hearts.

I am grateful for my husband. He is an amazing leader. I am grateful that he wants to do what the Lord wants him to do. I love him more today than I did yesterday. I am grateful the way he tenderly takes care of me. I love his desire to learn more about the Book of Mormon and his desire to teach our children what he knows. I am grateful for his example of hard, hard work. I am grateful that my children have such a solid example to follow. I am grateful that it is Friday and that means it is date night. It doesn't matter where we go or what we do, it's the fact that we get to be together that matters.

I love Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. I am grateful that they are all in my life. I am grateful for life and the opportunity that I have to be here and to try to do what is right so I can live with my family forever.

Today is already a great day!

Please, Thank You, & I Love You

ellie is working hard to say three simple phrases:

please

thank you

i love you

each night when clate comes home from work he gets an update on how she did for the day. he even made her a little chart that hangs on the pantry door. she gets to draw a mark each time she says please, thank you, or i love you. dad's are amazing.

i love those three phrases

i love ellie

i love clate for being such an amazing dad and husband!

Guatemala

Clate and I were able to go to Guatemala for a Book of Mormon tour from July 9-18th. It was a fabulous trip, we learned a lot, and had tons of fun! Many more details and photos to come. I sure love that guy I'm with!

Braces

Tanner has been asking for braces for a long time and the time has finally come. Doesn't he look like a stud? He will get braces on the bottom in a couple of weeks.

Happy birthday Emily!

On May 12th it was Emily's birthday. So Thelissa and Stephanie and I decided we would surprise her at school! Well, once we got to the school we found out that she was on a field trip to the zoo! So guess where we went? Yep we tracked her down at the zoo and got to wish her happy birthday! It was fun to see her for a bit on her birthday. This was only a few days after I had my wisdom teeth pulled and I was still hurting pretty bad. It took everything I had to smile as much as I did for our picture.

My little sister Emily is so wonderful! I love her so much and think the world of her. Love ya lots!

6 week recovery!

Today marks 6 weeks of recovery for me! And no it was not a 6 week recovery after having a baby. I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled 6 weeks ago. It has been a long recovery for me. I had one impacted tooth that has given me lots of problems. I'm pretty sure there was a lot of drilling that went on. This is a picture taken of me the day I came home from surgery. OUCH!! I still can't believe that was me.

I am finally feeling much better today and when I met with the oral surgeon today he told me I still have a while until I'll have full recovery on the left side of my mouth, but that things are looking good! I have been numb on that side of my face this whole time and today I can almost feel my entire lip! That is huge for me. I'm still tingly and numb on the side of my chin, but things are looking good. I'm grateful I am almost back to normal so I can really kiss my sweetie! I'm also grateful I can successfully eat a hamburger without cutting it up. I had many, many smoothies, cream of wheat, chocolate shakes, bean with bacon soup smashed up, mashed potatoes, yogurt, applesauce, ice cream, and my favorite was chocolate texas sheet cake. I could down that stuff so fast because it basically melts in your mouth! I'm now back to brocolli, fiber one, pbj sandwiches, hamburgers, and too many other things. :) It was kind of nice not really having a desire to eat very much. The desire is back and I'm on a roll! Tonight is my first date with Clate since my surgery when I can actually order something normal instead of a smoothie and soup(without chunks). I love Friday night date night!! I've learned that wisdom teeth should NOT be pulled when you are 35 years old with 6 children! The recovery is much quicker when you are 17 or 18 with no kids. Live and learn, right?

I'm grateful for. . .

the opportunity our family had to all be in the temple together. we went to the gila valley temple open house last week. what a sweet experience. i will cherish it forever. i love the peace we felt. i love the beauty we saw. i love the love we as a family feel for each other. i can't wait until we are all in the house of the Lord again.

families are forever. . . and i'm grateful this is mine!

Chocolate with sprinkles!!

Ellie's preschool went on a field trip to Krispy Kreme to see how donuts are made! All her friends got to wear a hat and go on a special tour. They even got to feel a piece of dough and see all the chocolate, sprinkles, and fillings! She had a lot of fun! When the tour was over Ms. Tiffany bought everyone a chocolate donut with sprinkles! Ellie loved sitting with her friends in a booth while they enjoyed their treat!!

Unfortunately we had to leave a few minutes early because Bella fell and hit her head pretty hard. This was taken right before she fell. I should have known by the look on her face that she wasn't going to sit still in the booth!

Gilbert District Honor Orchestra

Lindsay tried out for the Gilbert DHO and made it! She loves playing the viola and is getting really good. The concert was on April 10th at Mesquite HS. It was packed and I was amazed at how great they sounded with only a few practices. I am so proud of Lindsay and her love for music and her diligence in practicing both the viola and the piano. I love you sis!

Cornerstone Ward Easter Egg Hunt

Bella is so darn cute! She didn't find too many eggs, but she enjoyed picking the eggs up and putting them in her basket.