Mady's First Testimony

Today was such a special day. One that I want to remember in the years to come. My sweet little six year old bore her testimony for the first time in sacrament meeting. Just a few weeks ago, we had a family night about testimonies. Mostly because she was giving the talk during Sharing Time in Primary.

So during fast and testimony meeting today, she asked me why there were so many speakers. I explained to her what is was and why we do it. After a moment of pondering what I had said, she turned to me and said, "Mom! I know how to bear my testimony. Can I go up there and bear mine?"
"Yes, anyone can who wants to and is guided by the spirit to share."
"Ok!" She stood up and looked at the stage. "Um, maybe after that person goes."

I didn't think she would do go up there. So I turned back to focus on Carson, who was on the verge of a meltdown. After a few people, Mady's friend, who is 8, got up and gave her testimony. I kept on hearing Mady try to gain the courage to go up. But she always ended up sitting down.

There was only 5 minutes left and one last person got up to bear their testimony. And it was then, during this person's testimony, Mady got up and sat on the stage waiting her turn. I nudged Ray and nodded to Mady. He had a worried look on his face, as if trying to see if he could get Mady to come down.

Then it was her turn.

"I'd like to bear my testimony, that I know this church is true....." She then told everyone that if they need help with anything they should always ask their parents. "Because if something is lost or something, they can help you find it, because they love you. And then you will have a special experience because you asked for help. And it will be like a treasure. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

She was beaming as she came down from the stage, and I couldn't help but smile back and give her a hug and tell her how wonderful her testimony was. It wasn't till later when I found how impactful her simple, yet strong testimony was to those in our ward.

Sacrament ended and Ray and I scrambled to get the kids to their classes, and trying to round up the kids who were in our primary class. Tyson was super tired so I ended up leaving Ray to teach our class while I headed over to Gospel Doctrine to rock Ty to sleep.

The class was discussing being foreordained in this life and how the priesthood goes along with that. The teacher asked if this church was hard church to follow. Some said yes, others no. The teacher went on to say, "It is simple. If it was hard I wouldn't be a member. But it is simple enough for a child to understand it. My favorite testimony that was spoken today, was from the little girl who held the microphone at the very end. She gets it. She understands. When she said that if you need help, ask you parents. She knows. And just like us, we need to ask our Father in Heaven for help."

Then another member, commented, "You know you say that is the part that touched you the most, but its what she said after, that hit me. When she said, 'and it will be a special experience'. That is what stood out to me."

I stood listening to their comments, hearing my daughter's testimony again through a different perspective. And it hit me. She does understand. She knows that no matter what there will always be someone there to help her. She truly believes that.

When we got home, I talked to Mady about what others had said about her testimony. Her reply was, "I'm so happy I was able to touch someone with my testimony. And I know that Heavenly Father is my father who will also help me. Why do you think I pray to him?"

Such a simple statement, yet so profound. Why else would we pray to him, if not to show our love, gratitude, and ask for help. Just ask a child asks their parent.

Christmas in August

This year, my Grandparents decided to do something different for Christmas. They love making memories. And what better way to make memories than to do it with your family? So my sweet Grandma and Grandpa decided that they would rent a vacation home at Bear Lake as a Christmas present to the whole family.

Now when I say the whole family, I don't mean like 10 people. My family has 60+ people in it. My grandparents had 5 kids, who had kids, who have had kids. So trying to find a place that can house that many people (maybe not all at once) can be difficult and pricey. Mostly pricey.

However, they found this beaut. A 9 bedroom, 6 bathroom, three floor,  giant theater room, indoor gym and playground, sleeping 45+...... cabin. And let me be the first to tell you, it was a dream. (Note: since we have stayed, they have done the backyard, when we were there, the yard was still weeds).

One of the more fun features for the kids was a slide built into the walls to each floor.

Unfortunately, they needed a sign for some of us "older" children who pass as adults. "The slides are only fun for children. You may get stuck!"

And as one of those "older children" who tried, it was not fun. And it hurt. And you do get stuck.  

Ray and I were only able to come for the weekend, due to work conflicts. But both of us were so glad we were able to make it to at least a few days of the grand adventure and spend time with the family.

The best part about the trip was that there was always something to do. My uncle and cousin brought their boats and took people tubing, wakeboarding, wake surfing, kneeboarding, etc. 

Some of my other aunts and cousins drove kids down to the beach to play in the sand and water for a few hours.

And others went on hikes to amazing ice caves.

Of course, with the house my Grandparents chose, you didn't even have to leave the house in order to find something to do. This house had it all. Especially, for the kids. With an indoor playground, tramp, and basketball court, the kids were in heaven.  

But probably, the best part was simply, just being with our family. 

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Mady loved being with her cousins 24/7.

These three are were all born within a week of each other. And they are just too cute when they play together. Mady could not wait to wake up and play with her cousins. Sometimes, it was a fight just to get her in bed. 

But we lucked out with her sleeping arrangements; and with her going all day long, it didn't take long for her to be out cold. 

My kids don't lack for attention when my family is around.

Espeically, Carson.  

Which was fine by us - he is still quite the colicky child.

When we could pull Mady away from her cousins, she loved going on the boat. Especially, when Grandma came with. 

On one trip, Mady actually fell asleep on the boat. She is like the energizer bunny sometimes, she keeps going and gong and going. But when she crashes, she crashes hard. 

Ray and I were able to enjoy some kid-less time while on the trip. My family was always so willing to take the kids for us.

 

We had such a fun time getting to know my cousin, Kylie, and her husband, Chris, better. Hopefully, we can continue to get together, despite how far apart we live. They are so fun and awesome. We loved every second with them. 

Even though Ray and I weren't able to stay the whole time at Bear Lake, my Mom and Dad offered to take my kids for the remainder of the trip. Mady was way too excited to give us a proper goodbye and Carson as just happy to have Grandpa's attention. 

It really helped us out, since both of us are working, we have babysitters for the kids. This way, we were able to save some extra money, and the kids got to spend more time with my family. 

Words really can't say how much everyone truly enjoyed this trip. It was fun to see all the goofy personalities come out and to always hear at least one person laughing at all times. 

I loved making my relationships with my family grow deeper, as well as the love I have for each of them.

I am beyond grateful to my Grandparents for giving us this amazing gift and opportunity to spend time together. I'm blessed to have such wonderful examples of true love and charity. THey do so much for all of us. And year after year, have made it a point for all of us to get together a few times a year. 

There were times when I complained about having to go to the Wayman Get-togethers while I was young. But I'm so grateful for them now. I love the support and love I feel from each of my family every time we get with them. I love seeing the love that just fills the room each time we are together. My grandparents have taught me the true meaning of family and the love we share, and they continue to do so. 

We love you all so much. Thank you for the most amazing trip and the wonderful memories. We will cherish them in all the years to come. 

Lake Powell

If you had to ask our family what the top 5 best things that happened during the year, Lake Powell would on that list every year. Mady was so excited to go this year, she helped me pack her bag. She couldn't wait to swim with Aunt Naketa, build a sand castle with the uncles, and give Grandma her birthday cake.

Ray and I have decided that since we usually go to Lake Powell on Mom's birthday, we would bring an ice cream cake and make homemade root-beer to celebrate her. Making the ice cream not melt is quite the feat when you have to drive 4.5 hours to Lake Powell. Hence the dry ice and the homemade root-beer.

This year, we were over prepared. We had to leave the cake out for a bit before we could cut it.

Every year we go to Lake Powell, I always have one regret - that I didn't take enough photos. And this year was no different.

We did go on a three mile hike to the arch, which was as beautiful as ever.

Mady hiked with us a little bit, but mostly had Ray and I take turns carrying her. 

There were tons of little frogs up by the arch.

 And Mady was so excited when she caught one

Joey, Naketa, and Kaslo hiked with us. We love that they are always up for an adventure with us! 

I really missed Carson not being with us. But at the same time, it was so nice to get some one on one time with this cutie. 

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Mady is such a fun, sweet little girl. And time is getting away from me. It was nice to be able to play with Mady without Carson interrupting us.

We always say that a week at Lake Powell is perfect. Its just enough time to have fun, enjoy the beauty, and then want to go home to A.C. and real life. But the best part is, in three weeks, we get to go back!

Our Crazy Hecktic July

I wish I could find one word to fully describe how crazy, hard, exhausting, but fun our July was. It consisted of parades, commuting to work, training, job searching, weddings, family and friends, birthdays, and moving. I don't even want to know how many miles we put on our vehicles this month....probably all the previous months this year combined.

I started training at my job in Spanish Fork the first of July. Since I was still training my replacement at Snow College, I wasn't able to commute everyday. Depending on the week, it was 2-3 times a week at the most. Ray's family was able to help us out a lot during this time. Mady loved spending time helping Grandma with the orchard. This particular day, she helped Grandma pit cherries.

 Manti puts on a really cute 4th of July day, here in Sanpete. My family always loves going to the parades and getting bags full of candy. Then in the afternoon, we head over to the Manti park for the festivities. Mady is obsessed with getting her face painted.

 I love how a simple thing can just make this girl beyond happy.

 Mady was also super excited about the coin in the hay game. She found .42 cents and was super proud of it too.

And of course, you can't celebrate the 4th without fireworks. Mady loves sparklers so much. Carson was quite intrigued. Ray and I just sat back and watched how cute these two babes are. 

 I mentioned birthdays too, didn't I? We have 4 birthdays in my family in July, and mine just happens to be the first. I sure got spoiled by my family.

We always do a birthday dinner, and Papa Murphy's was the winner tonight. Sooo good! 

And of course, the happy cake! Have you tried the ice cream cake from Walmart? It is sooo good! I can't even.....just go get it now.

 And guess who was sweet enough to show up with a cake for me? Only my best friend ever! Seriously the sweetest most thoughtful girl ever. Love her!

 And this hunk. Where do I even begin with him? He has done nothing but put his family first in all he does. He is the sweetest father and husband. He has always made sure I know he loves me. I couldn't ask for more.

 After a few weeks of commuting, finding out the person who hired and was training me was going to leave the company, and having lots of stress and weight put on my shoulders from Snow, we decided to move the first of August. Which meant even more craziness.

We tried to do a lot of packing every day. It was SO hard. There were a lot of tears...mostly from me. The house was so chaotic.

Every time I worked up in Spanish Fork, I would take a load and drop stuff off at Ray's house. And when Ray wasn't working, he would be packing and loading and driving. Thank goodness, my family wasn't in school yet, and they could take Mady and Carson for us.

Also, my best friend, KayLa was getting married the end of July. A few weeks before we had a bridal shower for her in Cedar. It was a perfect excuse to get away from the crazy hectic that was our life. We were able to stay at our other amazing friends, the Munks. I can't say enough about this lady. I love her sooo much.

Mady and Dori grew up together and are still the best of friends. They are just too cute when they get together.

After our quick trip to Cedar, it was back to this....Don't worry, it makes me sick too. 

The next week or two before the wedding seemed like a blur. It seems like all we did was work, pack, drive, and sleep. The day before we were to leave for the wedding, I hit my breaking point. I was so stressed out about moving up north and getting trained for my new position that I had to call it quits with Snow. 

It was hard for me to be the bad guy. But I kept telling myself it wasn't my fault. They had fired the only other person who knew how to run their payroll back in June. Because I was part time, I was only required to give them a two weeks notice before I was to leave. But I had stayed over a month trying to train the new person. And while doing so, they were (whether intentionally or not) putting much of the blame as to why we were in the situation of only one person knowing how to run payroll, the guilt of me taking a new job, and pretty much making me feel like the worst human being alive. 

I cried countless times on my way home from Snow. But after weeks had past being treated this way, I had to call it quits. I did feel some major guilt in doing so. But I knew that I couldn't continue like I was. I felt like I wasn't drowning anymore and could actually tread the water I was in, instead of gasping for air while getting pounded by waves. We were able to leave to the wedding with only the cleaning left to do at the house. 

And the wedding. KayLa looked so amazing. Her decorations, the ceremony, the food, everything looked just so perfect. Her and Cory, her new husband, were so cute. I was so happy to be able to be a part of her special day. 

I love you more than I have words to say. Thanks for being such an awesome friend. I wish you the most happiest and full life!

When we weren't involved with wedding stuff, we got to fill our time with other great friends! I don't know what I would do with out these people....especially the crazy one with the tounge. 

And while we were in Cedar, guess who learned a new trick? 

Carson can sit up now! 6 months old and rocking it!

It was a fun filled trip. We seriously loved every second of it. But the closer we got to home, it started dawning on us that we still had a huge house that needed cleaning. And we only had one day to do it. The worst part was that the only day we had planned to do it was the day that all my family was at a reunion. So my babysitters and potential helpers were not able to be there.

As Ray and I drove over, we were having the same argument that we had been having for the last few weeks: bringing Carson to Lake Powell. In just two days, Ray's family was heading out to Lake Powell for a week. I was having a hard time with the thought of leaving Carson with my family. I knew that it would be sort of an inconvenience for them. And Carson is such a ....... hard child. Still so very colicky. And he breastfeeds. I knew it would be super hard to bring it to Lake Powell. But I was going back and forth about leaving him. Ray on the other hand was all about it. I mean I couldn't blame him. If it weren't for my mama instincts, there would be no doubt that we would leave him. 

So our arguing made our moods even worse. And as we pulled in, we had succumbed to just not talking to each other. As I was grabbing the cleaning supplies, Ray took Mady and Carson inside. Once I entered, I was astonished. There were no boxes, no dirty carpets, no dirty floors, in fact just no dirt at all. Ray was staring too. There was a present on the counter along with a poster board. 

While Ray and I and the kids were at the wedding over the weekend, my family and worked their butts off cleaning our entire house. Ray and I got very emotional and it took us quite sometime to collect ourselves before we could make the call to my family to thank them. And on top of it, they also gave Ray the best birthday present he could ask for: a Lake Powell trip without Carson. 

I don't know how many hours I spent crying to my Mom over the situation we were in. She was so supportive and was always helping us as much as she could. As was my sisters and Aunt. Breanne, Tiffany, and Annette were so helpful in watching my kids whenever we needed help. They all have the biggest hearts.

We couldn't thank them enough for helping us out in our time of need. They are what true family is all about. We love them more than we could ever say. Hopefully, one day, we will be able to return the favor. 

We are leaving to Lake Powell tomorrow. It will be such a welcome vacation. One that we truly need. The only sad part is that I wasn't able to give the one I love most, the birthday he deserves. I made him a quick dessert and we sang happy birthday. But he didn't get a birthday meal, or that good of presents. Maybe down the road I can celebrate it.

But for now, we are just going to breathe. And be glad that this month is finally at a close.