I'm back on the Blog!

Thanks to my wonderful, sweet and oh so smart husband I have the pictures from my broken camera to post for everyones viewing pleasure. He is my hero and I will love him forever for his wisdom and love!!

Saratoga Springs House

This may be all you hear from me for awhile.

I'm sure all my blogger friends are getting real bored with my blog, never having a new post or pictures or anything. The fact of the matter is I had been so busy last week, taking lots of pictures of our fun day at Discovery Gateway with Kim and her kids, we had Stetson's last soccer game and first baseball game to post pictures from, funny pictures of Matt and the kids on Fathers Day I wanted to post, and pictures of our house we are preparing to leave. Then as we were loading things up to leave Matt's mom and dads house on Sunday night I was trying to carry too many things at once and my camera fell to the ground. I really wasn't too concerned at first, I mean who hasn't dropped a camera before; but this must have been a pretty fatal fall because my camera won't even turn on now. My brand new, two week old camera with a little ovar 100 pictures on it.....GONE!!
So please forgive me for not posting anything new and exciting these days, I'm just a little depressed with all thats going wrong in my life presently.

Gloom & Doom!!

I really hate to put a post on here with such sad news, but I just need to get some of it off my shoulders. Our home in Wellington was in the process of selling, and we were so excited! We were actually looking at becoming Debt FREE!! Well, Friday night we called our realtor to see how things were progressing and found out that the bank did not approve the buyers for financing the loan; so that's a NO GO. Then on Saturday we had the owner of the home we have been living in this past year come do an inspection on the home so she can try and get it sold ASAP. And were told we have to be out by the end of the month, Boo-Hooo-Hoooo!! We absolutely love our neighbors and the ward we live in and are very heartbroken about having to leave. And as if that wasn't enough we are going to be forced to move our family of six into Matt's parents spare bedroom unless Matt can find a much better paying job in the next week or two. So all your prayers in our behalf would be much appreciated!

Update!!

Well, I don't know if any of this info will be of interest to my fellow bloggers, but for my own benefit I want to journal some of the things that have happened in the last week around our house. Last week being the end of the school year was quite busy as always. Sydney and Stetson both had their end of year programs; Sydney's was all about the state of Utah and what they had learned through the year regarding our Indian and Pioneer Heritage. Stetsons was about the geology and geography of Utah, and about the importance of families and friends. They were alot of fun--I am so proud of my kids and all their hard work! I was also able to attend Sadie's preschool picnic with her, which was alot of fun; all the kids got to go for a little ride on a horse named Two-Bits. This year in preschool Sadie has learned so much more than I would have ever expected. Not only can she name all her numbers, letters, and sounds; but she also learned a great deal of sign language! Good Job Sadie!:)
As for Matt, ward softball started a couple of weeks ago; which we all love. Except for when someone gets injured--like Matt! He was trying to catch a ball that was overthrown to the pitcher (Matt always plays first base) when he got tripped up and dove for it, crashing to the ground with his right arm being pinned between his chest and the ground. He was pretty sure he broke a rib, again; but the x-rays didn't show any fractures. That doesn't mean he wasn't in a whole lot of pain though! It's been a week now since that happened and he is moving around quite a bit better, IF he keeps himself dosed up with Ibuprofin.
My life pretty much stays the same...cooking, cleaning, laundry, chasing kids around the block, and cutting hair. I do have the occasional highlight of going out with my girlfriends, and I'm totally looking forward to going to the Parade of Homes this week with my mom and sisters-YEAH!! One major highlight for us right now though is the possibility of our home in Wellington being sold, we're just waiting to see if the couple interested will be approved for the loan from the bank; so everybody please pray with us!!
More exciting things to come soon (i.e.--pictures), I just got a new camera!!!

What Your Flip Flops Say About You

You are a very sweet and sensitive person. You connect with other people easily. You're the type of person who feels bad about killing bugs. You hate to see anyone - or anything - in pain. Your ideal warm weather place: Thailand

The Flip Flop Test

Memorial Weekend

What is Memorial Day for? All my life we've spent at least one day visiting cemeteries and decorating graves of loved ones; while it seems like the rest of humanity goes on a weekend getaway. When I mentioned to some friends of mine about my plans for the weekend they seemed to have no knowledge of this tradition. I fear that in the not so distant future we'll pass by the cemeteries on Memorial Weekend and find them to be bare and desolate, with no one there to remember and honor those who have gone on before. That is why I am making it a priority to instill these traditions into the lives of my children as they were instilled in me.

I wanted so badly to take pictures of my family spending time at my Dad's grave, but McCrae broke my camera just before we were going to the cemetery. I also would have loved to share some old photos of him and type up a little Memorial to him, but I don't have that priviledge on the laptop. So, these are just a few of the wonderful things about my Dad that I wanted to share with rest of you!

1. He was always good for a laugh; whether it was in his incessant teasing, witty remarks, backwards talk (One of his favorite comments: "Go **it in the gower!") or Donald Duck impersonations. Everyone loved having him around.
2. He was very soft-hearted; anytime we watched a touching movie he would tear up with the rest of us. But don't expect him to admit it, there was just something in his eye.
3. He loved ALL people, and he loved to serve them. He was always doing something for someone else, which is why he made such an excellent Bishop. He was a great example to me by the way that he would never say anything bad about anyone.
4. I loved the times that he would leave little notes on my pillow, thanking me for the little things I did to help out around the house. Or the one on one talks we would have.
5. He was the worlds GREATEST Dad! He taught me so much by his example of love, patience, kindness, and hard work. I miss him so much, and my heart aches knowing what my kids are missing by not having 'Papa Rulon' in their lives.

I Love You Dad!! See you in Eternity.

Things Kids Do

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly my kids can get into something they shouldn't when I'm not looking. These pictures show what an artist Sadie is becoming.



While I was upstairs getting ready for the day Sadie found the black paint which I had gotten out for Stetson's pinewood derby car. And being the budding artist that she is proceeded to squeeze it all out onto the notebook, paint it on the floor, and make nice footprints with the paint.



This is just one of her many works of art; the others have all been done on the downstairs wall at Nana's house. It's just too bad that Mom and Nana aren't as pleased with the work as Sadie herself is!

Down & Derby!!

Here's some old news I'm catching ya'll up on since I found my camera cord.
With Stetson's recent birthday he made it into Cub Scouts just in time to participate in this years Pinewood Derby; imagine his excitement!! It was all he could talk about after finding out he got to do it.



As you can see from the photo here he is all decked out from head to toe in complete scout uniform thanks to Grammy & Papa! The car which he dubbed Lightning is his own original design. He chose the shape, the color, the details; and Dad did most of the work.



Although it didn't win its races we had alot of fun. I was very proud of Stetson for his good sportsmanship!



He did get an award for having the most "Angled" car; and we all enjoyed the evening with friends.....but watch out for next year!!!LOL!

It's a Miracle!!

For never being much of a reader all my life I can't hardly believe I read a complete series; consisting of 9 books with 500+ pages each. It all started with a book titled 'These Is My Words' which I borrowed from my mother-in-law. It was so enjoyable to read that I couldn't put it down and when I finished it I was left yearning for more. So, I went for what was readily available; which just so happened to be The Work and the Glory. Again I was so caught up in the story that I just couldn't get enough. Matt was thrilled that I was becoming such an avid reader, until it got to the point that I was letting everything else fall by the wayside. I was completely enthralled with the story of the restoration through our prophet Joseph Smith. I loved learning more about their trials and hardships and realizing all that our pioneer ancestors sacrificed. It is amazing to me knowing all that they went through for what they knew to be true. I don't know if I could ever have the strength or courage to do half of the things they did or suffered. I am so grateful and also feel so blessed to be living in a time and place such as this. The closing remarks made by Joshua in the final book sum it up so well....

"For almost four months on the trail I kept thinking of the Valley as being the end of the journey. Now I realize it is only the beginning. Think what this valley means for our children; the nearest mob is now more than a thousand miles away. Our littlest ones will never know a Far West, a Haun's Mill, a Carthage Jail. They may go to bed hungry this winter, but they will not go to bed afraid. The Valley represents much more than that, though. Like Israel of old, we have come through the wilderness and entered a land of promise....a promise of renewal, of growth, of vision--of Zion. Think of this. Our children will raise up children who will never know any life but life in this valley. Think of that, and rejoice."

Those words are so powerful to me, I can't say enough how blessed we are to know none other than the life in this valley.