Oh Dear.......

You know how you have your whole life on your phone??  Millions of text messages that you have saved, contacts of people that maybe you met once but need to keep their number, "just in case" or maybe people you have known forever, dear friends, old neighbors, relatives, etc.....what happens when they are suddenly gone??

A sweet little child gave me that experience last week!  It was not planned, it was not asked for but it happened.  In less than 5 minutes, my entire log of texts and all contacts were deleted!  Also 2 calls were placed to 911!  My background was changed as well as a few of my other settings!!!

I don't even know how to do any of that!!!!!  Let alone in that amount of time!!  I could figure it out but it would take a few more minutes than that to do it!! 

I was so frustrated.  I had not saved all my info to my SIM card (don't even know how to do that), nor had I linked it to my Gmail account (the only other way to retrieve contacts).  Text messages are gone forever so there was no way those were coming back regardless but those are what I miss the most. 

I had messages on there that were funny, inspiring, sad, special in some way.....but now they are gone. 

I'm not your normal pack rat.  I don't keep material things, I like things in my home to be neat and tidy (a place for everything and everything in it's place!) But when it comes to notes, drawings, pictures of my family, etc., I keep it all.

So for now, some of those special texts are tucked away in my mind and heart, I know they will fade with time but I'm glad for the experiences that brought them in the first place and I will move on from there.

Slowly I am getting my contacts back....I think I have 8.......I used to have a few hundred.  Sigh.....it will all work out in the end.  :)

Where Are You Sunshine???

It has been a long time since we have seen the sun.....and grass for that matter!!  It's very unusual for this area to be so cold for so long....our 85 year old neighbor said it hasn't been this cold since 1865 (or somewhere around there....).  People everywhere are talking about the weather and how out of character it is for this area.

While all of that makes me feel a little better that this isn't normal, it doesn't change the fact that this dumb snow has been here since Christmas day.  I'm a "have it snow today and be gone tomorrow" type of person!  I love the snow, it's so pretty coming down and makes for a fun snow day but then let's just move on!!!!  And when temperatures drop to 1,2 or 3 for a month, that's just too cold!!!

We saw the sun a little bit yesterday and it melted some ice but then the snow started back up last night.  And as if to make my point, I just glanced outside as I type this and.....you guessed it.....it's snowing again!!!

Well, it can't last forever....right???  I could sure use a tropical vacation right now!!!  Who's with me????

New Beginnings

With the start of a new year, comes new beginnings.  So much has happened this past year.  When I think back to this time last year, I had no idea the changes our family would go through.  I had no idea the ups and downs, the joy, the pain, the immense love we would feel for a tiny little angel, the heartache we would feel from losing him, the joy we would feel with the birth of our first grandson, the happiness watching our 2nd oldest graduate from high school, watching our children adjust to a new area/schools/new friends, etc.,

I'm so glad we don't know the future.  If someone had told me what this past year would hold in store for our family, I don't know if I would have believed it.

How thankful I am for new beginnings.  How thankful I am for a loving Heavenly Father, who has so much trust in each of us that He allows us to experience things, hard things and then He stands by with outstretched arms, waiting to comfort us, waiting to encourage us to persevere.  He knows we can 'do all things' if we will seek Him out.  So many times this past year, I tried to do it by myself.  I thought I needed to be strong and get through it by myself. When I would fall to the lowest point, I would remember I needed His help.

When I look at each of our children, I see just how much they have grown.  They experienced a loss of a sibling this year, something that most children their age will never experience.  They have cried tears of pain and heartache and loss, they have laughed together as they remembered good times, they have had to step up just a little more than most kids as they have worked through their feelings and sadness.  They are going to be alright. They are strong.  They are not afraid to talk about things they are feeling.  They have taught me so much as we have gone through this process together.  They have given me extra hugs when they knew I needed them, they have helped me laugh and told me funny stories.  Yeah, they're gonna be alright.

So, here's to New Beginnings!  I can't even begin to imagine what this year holds in store for each of us!  But I'm excited to experience it all!!!

Hair....It's What We Do!!

Christmas break at our house always means 'hair'.  We are taking braids out and putting braids in.  You need a couple of days to complete the process and that means a couple of days of Mom doing nothing but hair.  That translates to "the house gets left behind".  Laundry, picking up, vacuuming, etc. gets put on hold.  Even meals are affected (thank goodness for "Taco Tuesday at Del Taco! $15 bucks buys us 45 tacos! Just enough for dinner!!) 

But I'm happy to report that Talisha's braids were taken out and her hair was relaxed (a special thank you to Sabrina for relaxing both Talisha and Vanessa's hair!!).  She loves having 'straight hair that isn't poofy!"  Vanessa's hair got relaxed and then I spent hours plaiting her hair.  She went from super short afro to shoulder length plaited hair!  She loves it!!!!

I have been trying to post pics but blogger is having issues....so I will just post this for now and will keep trying to post their cute pics!!

Such A Merry Christmas!

Another Christmas has come and gone and I am reminded once again how blessed we are!  It was so fun having family here!  We ate so much food, laughed until we cried, talked about everything under the sun and just had an amazing time.  I have tons of pics to post eventually but tonight I just wanted to share these particular ones with you.

The very last gift Scott and I opened actually came as 12 individual gifts, all stacked up!  I had no idea what they could be. They were from Sabrina.  As we each started to unwrap them, one by one, my heart was full.  There were no words to describe how I felt as I realized the love, time and thought that went into this project.  She had created a priceless gift that I will treasure the rest of my life!

She tells me that she went to the "wood store" and told the guy she needed some wood "about this long". He cut it for her and home she went to sand and paint.  She went back a week later and asked him for another piece, which she took home to also sand and paint.

When she came home for Christmas break, she took each of her siblings out to her little guest house in the backyard and had each one of them put their hand print on their block of wood.  Amazingly, none of them spilled the beans about the project she was working on!

Anyway, back to Christmas morning.....after opening the other 10 packages of each child's hand print, she handed me the last package to open. As I opened it up, a sob caught in my throat.  She had framed my favorite picture of Zachary.  I stared into his beautiful eyes for a few minutes. When I looked up, I realized Sabrina had brought over the last part of the gift.  It was only then that I saw how it all went together. I broke down and just cried when I realized the extent of her gift.  One word:  Amazing.

Here are a couple of pics. The first will show you just how big it is and the next one will show how it looks hanging on the wall.

Of course you all know how much I love that song!  I also love how she incorporated a heart into each of their hand prints!!  She tells me this idea came to her through divine inspiration. It was healing for her as she worked on it.  Zachary continues to touch our lives each and every day, and on this Christmas when he was supposed to be laughing and giggling while he opened his first Christmas gifts, he wasn't here but his memory continues to live on in our hearts.  I know he celebrated with Him who sent His Son and I honestly couldn't ask for anything better than that for our sweet baby.

It's Almost Here!!!!

I don't know about you, but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas over here!!!  I can't even begin to tell you how excited we all are!!!  I love this time of year and the opportunity it gives us to spend so much time together as a family! 

This year was the first year.....(ever??) that I had no motivation to write up our annual Christmas letter and organize a family picture.  Between our family blog and FB, I feel like you are all up to date on our family happenings and to be honest, there are a few "highlights" from this past year that I really don't know if I have the courage to write about again.  I would like to have a family picture taken but I just couldn't muster the motivation to coordinate everyone's outfits and hair, not to mention the fact that I don't feel like a picture would be a complete family picture and that makes me sad.

Regardless of whether or not we send a picture and letter out this year, we want you all to know how thankful we are to have you in our lives! Being on the receiving end of so many prayers, kind words, love and support when our sweet Zachary passed away, reminded us of just how blessed we are to call you "friend".  Thank you.

We hope this Christmas you are blessed to be surrounded by those you love, remembering the Christ-child and all He did for each of us!  We love you and wish you the Merriest Christmas and the Happiest of New Years!!!

70 Years Young!!

This past week, we celebrated my dad's birthday!!!  Hard to believe he turned 70!  You would never know it by looking at him!  He works harder than anyone his age I know!!!  He can usually be found out in the pasture, fixing fences, shoveling poo, mowing the yard or helping with some project!  He recently helped Levi with his Eagle Scout project, which involved cutting, hauling, loading, chopping and stacking 8 cord of wood! He worked just as long and just as hard as the younger crowd!

Having my parents live with us is such a blessing in our lives!  They are such amazing people.  They teach our children, love our children and create memories with them that will last a lifetime!

My dad has the best sense of humor!  He is always cheerful with a smile on his face! He has a can-do attitude!  He is always so patient with his grandchildren.  We are blessed to call him Father/Papa!

We love you!!!