Just stuff...no pictures

I have been thinking a lot today about Gratitude. Not a big surprise since it is the Thanksgiving season. David has been gone a week now and even though I miss him terribly things are okay. He sacrifices so much for our family. I am eternally grateful to David. He is the most wonderful spouse, father and friend. He does so much for me and gives so selflessly. I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for so many things. I am grateful for my calling. This Wednesday we had activity days. I was super nervous because I was the one in charge and I was teaching the girls a family home evening lesson on the First Vision and prayer. We had nineteen of us squeezed into a little classroom. We have serious room issues. Two wards and a branch all have all the youth activities on the same night, so there are lots of kids at the church and our poor activity group are the ones that are kicked from room to room. We make it work though. Back to my gratitude, I wondered how much the girls got out of the lesson and if they had a good time. A few of the older girls kept complaining that they have had this same lesson three or four times. These same girls bring their electronic devices and disrupt the activity. Overall the activity went well. I enjoy our activities (most of the time). Thursday was our wards Relief Society meeting (or whatever they call them now). The Bishops wife approached me and told me how excited her daughter was after our activity days and how she couldn't wait to share the lesson with her family for Family Home Evening. It was her daughters first activity. The bishops wife's words made me feel so good! I am grateful that I have the opportunity to work with these girls and maybe teach one or two of them more about the gospel. Yesterday I went and bought a car window marker. I wrote for sale on the Fords windows. We have been having some issues with the Ford. Both David and I dislike the Ford. I refuse to drive it so David has been stuck with it. We have been talking about selling it since we have another car that was being repaired and we defiantly don't need three cars. The check engine light has been on in the Ford for quite some time. We took it to Pep Boys and they checked it out and told us that there are two codes that account for the check engine light being on, the water pump needs replaced, the heater doesn't work, one tire needs replaced, the arm rest in the middle of the two front seats busted off and only half of the lights on the dashboard work. So around three in the afternoon I wrote for sale on the windows, not really thinking that anything would happen right away. By five thirty I had sold the Ford for $1000 cash. I know that's not a lot of money and I might have got more had I waited to see if anyone else came about the car, but I felt good about it so I went ahead and sold it. Today Christy and I had a great day. It's been a while since I can say that that has happened. We butt heads so much. But not today. Tonight we went to the movies and tomorrow there are some fun activities going on at two of the bases. This morning I went visiting teaching. I just became a visiting teacher and I am excited about it. I am looking forward to getting to know more women in the ward. The message that was given was about Gratitude and how we should not just be thankful but live a live full of gratitude. We talked about different ways that we can daily live a gratitude filled life. This week two different ladies in the ward have given Christy clothes. One lady gave me three bags full and the other lady gave me a bunch of dresses for Christy. Christy already has plenty of clothes. She has so many that once she wears each article I wash it and set it aside until she cycles thru all her clothes. I am so grateful to these women that thought of Christy and decided to share these clothes with us. Even though Christy has tons she was so excited to get some new to her stuff. Also on Thursday I was able to attend the food exchange and receive food for my family. The extra food we get each month really helps supplement and stretch my food budget. I am grateful though that I do not have to depend on the food exchange and other food sources to feed my family. I offer my thanks so often that we live in the comfortable circumstances that we do. Daily I am reminded of what it would be like when I pass the homeless on the streets. I am grateful that occasionally I can afford to give them a small monetary donation. I am so thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I would not want to live a life without the Church. So many times members of the Church have reached out and touched my life whether they were aware or not. Also the many blessings that come from being a member bring so many daily blessing, both large and small. I am grateful to the knowledge I have that I can pray and speak directly with my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful to my earthly family both immediate and extended. Families are such a great support system. I love my parents for all that they have taught me and continue to teach me and for the examples they are to me and my siblings. Because of the things they taught me and the lives that they have led their future generations have been blessed. This is my most favorite time of the year. I love the smell, the colors, the grateful attitudes, the gifts both given and received (not just worldly gifts) and the love. Oh yes and we can not forget to be grateful to modern medicine! Well that's all of my ramblings for now. I hope as Thanksgiving Day approaches that we can take a quiet moment and think over all the things that we have to be grateful for and how we can live a gratitude filled live each and every day!

Just stuff

We have been busy lately, but then we are always busy. David was signed up to go to Field Exercises. He left on Friday the 12th in the morning. He is scheduled to be back on the 22nd, but with the Military you never know. Things are always changing at the last minute. We picked up Shadow on the 11th. I will be taking her back to Barstow tomorrow after church. It had been two months since she had been with us. Every time we see her she has grown. I took Christy to her last counseling appointment on Thursday. After she meet with Dr. Deisy I went in and told her that I would no longer be bringing Christy to see her. I had finally had enough when she told Christy that I had no right to put my own child in timeout. We just never seemed to mesh with Dr. Deisy. Oh well. We decided to let Christy take a break from counseling. Maybe I have been putting too much into counseling. I guess we will see how she does over the next little while. It seems like all I have been doing lately is going to doctor appointments. I finally got some answers to all my womanly problems. Hopefully soon I will be able to have the last test needed at this point in my diagnosis and then we can get on to the good part! :) I finally had to turn the heater on in the house. It has finally started to cool off. It still doesn't feel like November though. I can't wait to go to Utah for Thanksgiving and go spend some time in Pine Valley, I know that will help me feel fallish. I miss David immensely even though he just left yesterday :( I am thankful that now when David has to go out that it is only for short periods of time and so far he hasn't gone far away. This time though he wasn't allowed to take his cell phone so I will not be able to communicate with him at all. It will be nice when he comes home we will get some alone time :) The girls and I went to the swap meet today. I love going and looking at all the stuff that people bring to sell. I would have loved to spend more time looking at all the dishes but the girls got bored really fast. I guess next time I need to go alone then I can take all the time I want. There was one lady selling a bunch of precious moments figurines but the girls didn't want to wait around while I looked at them. I got a quick peek and there were none that I just had to have so I guess it's okay. Here are some random pictures that I have taken lately.

Miss Shadow, she has the prettiest blue eyes.

Cute!!

As David was packing to go he let me try on his bullet proof vest and his back pack. He will be required to wear both at all times on the field exercises. The only time he can take them off is when he is in his tent. He also had another backpack and his sea bag that he took with him. His seabee issued sunglasses are pretty cool. They would be great for winter/snow activities.

Cute!!

I just love this girl with all my heart. She is so beautiful!! If you will notice Christy and Shadow have the same hairdo, that's what they wanted.

She was all dressed up for a school field trip to the symphony. Her shorts look super short but they really weren't. She pulled them way up cause they were too big and I hadn't had time to put some safety pins on yet. Don't worry I fixed it before she went to school.

This is what Christy wore for school pictures.

Silly girl wearing two flower headbands.

Dad and Shadow

Getting ready to take dad to base so he could leave for field exercises.

These girls have the best dad. He loves them so much!!!

I have such a cute little family!

Knott's Berry Farm

This past Saturday August 6, 2010 we went to Knott's Berry Farm. In November they have a Military special. They service member and one other person gets in for free and then the service member is allowed to purchase six additional tickets for $15. Miguel and two of his friends came with us as well as Christy's friend Morgan.It was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect. This was my first time to Knott's Berry Farm, and I can honestly say that once was enough to last me a lifetime. David and I got side on the Sierra Sidewinder. And one of the lenses in David's glasses fell out on the pony express ride. Miguel and his friends went and did their own thing. Christy and Morgan had so much fun. I am so glad that Morgan came with us. It was nice for Christy to have someone her age to go on rides with. Plus it made it so David and I could sit out the rides we didn't want to go on. Overall it was a great day.

David does not look to thrilled to be on this ride.

Morgan on the swings. It only took like ten tries to get this picture. Christy wouldn't ever sit on the outside so I couldn't get a picture like this of her.

Here's Christy waiting for the swing ride to start.

She had such a great day. It's so nice when we have days where everyone gets along!

Christy loves getting her picture taken.

Christy and Morgan on the oil truck.

The bench girls!

The pony express ride. A seriously uncomfortable, short ride.

Silly girls.

Morgan was a little unsure of this, but she's a good sport!

There were several pictures taken with this particular garbage can bear. At one point he was wearing Christy's sunglasses.

Our Family

David on the swings.

Awww, aren't we so cute. I sure love this guy!

Europe and Books

I just finished reading two really good books. Both are based in World War II, one is fiction and one is non fiction. The first one I read was "Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. This is a fiction novel about a foster girl in World War II who steals books and befriends a Jew who lives in her basement. The second book was"The Zookeepers Wife" by Diane Ackerman. This is true story about a zookeeper and his family in Warsaw. It follows them as they live in and lose their zoo during the war. Both were excellent reads. Reading these books made me think back on my trip to Europe in 1998. I went with Frau Braumberger and other German students and a few chaperons. I had such a great time and enjoyed seeing new parts of the world. Here are some pictures from my trip.

This was our whole group. This picture was taken in the courtyard of the castle that we stayed at for a few nights. The man on the far left is the current owner of the castle.

This group shot was taken close to the end of our trip. At this point Ann Esplin and her mom had already left. They were two of our chaperons.

One night the girls got bored and we decided to play salon. Amanda Dabney cut my hair. This is when she was half done, it was quite a change.

My hair from the front.

We did all this in the bathroom at the castle. Frau Braumberger got her hair cut as well. I remember that I didn't even ask my parents if it was okay for me to cut my hair. My dad has this thing about girls and long hair. I loved my hair cut.

We stayed upstairs in this building. The downstairs had a huge kitchen and dining room for guests. I can't remember what city this was in.

Me on the Swiss Alps. We rode cable cars up to a certain point on the Alps and then hiked a little farther. It was so very windy.

The gates at Dachau Concentration Camp.

The first stop we made when we got to Germany was to Dachau Concentration Camp. There are so many stories about the treatment of Jews and others during World War II so before getting there you have an idea of what happened here. When we passed thru the gates there was a solemn, quieting Spirit that was with us. There was a certain reverence as we were on the grounds as well. We walked thru the museum and watched a short film.

Each one of the squared areas was where a bunker had stood. There were hundreds of them. You can see one of the watch towers in the background on the left.

We got to visit the Salt Mines. I can't remember where they were either. When we got there we met with a worker and were given a brief history of the Salt Mines. Then we all had to dress in coveralls. After dressing we rode on a train to the opening, then we got to slide down earthen slides deep into the mines. It was so cool.

My pictures are out of order, sorry. This is a picture of the ovens at Dachau Concentration Camp. This room had a different sort of feeling. I remember the hairs on my arm standing straight up. While at Dachau I couldn't help but think of how evil Adolf Hilter and others had been to be able to do this sort of thing to other human beings. I am grateful for the chance that I was given to visit Dachau. It gives a real picture and feeling to all the books that I had/have read.

This is a castle in Vienna. I loved Vienna. It is a huge city. We saw so much art as we strolled thru rose parks and around the castle. I remember they were having some sort of celebration while we were there, and one park we visited was showing a movie. We also got to practice riding the subway. That was an experience. I was glad to be with others that spoke and understood German so much better than I.

I am so grateful that my parents allowed me to go to Europe. I was able to spend 18 days in Europe. We visited Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. We saw and toured so many castles. I had so many wonderful experiences. I have a whole scrapbook with pictures and momentos from my trip. Enjoy!