With the up coming Election in mind!

I couldn't resist sharing this with Halloween tomorrow and the Election coming up next week!

My little boy a Daddy once again!

I couldn't help think of a day long ago in a different place, a different baby, one baring the resemblence of a baby born today! EBN was born just over a week late in December of 1981, he weighed in ate 9lb 7oz and was 21 inches long. The nurses could not believe that he was not born by C-section because he had the most perfectly round big head and they insisted he looked like he was 2 months old. Brent was what he was called even though his full given name was Edward Brent Nelson, when he was about 1 year old he had a rag doll that I made him that he called Dada, he was always doing things a head of schedule in life, started walking at 9 1/2 months old, graduated a year early from high school etc. I always knew he would be an outstanding Dad because he was such a good brother and very responsible. Who would have ever known that this little boy would grow up to be the wonderful father that he is to two beautiful boys of his own, Brighton and Seth. Congradulations Brent and Shayla you have a wonderful family and a beautiful home!

Feasting upon the Spirit!

Once again it seems our weekend was full, with trying to get to the Temple and then to the Ward Harvest Feastival, which we were paritially in charge of, being on the activities committee. We had planned to try and get to the temple right after I got home from work on Saturday morning, but due to a very long work schedule Friday, working all but a couple of hours, when I got home shortly after 6am, I crashed and did not wake up till almost noon. Darin and I were still determined to get to the temple and do inititories even though we had to be to the Stake Center by 3:30 to set up for our ward Halloween party.

We had decided that this week we were going to do 10 names no matter what, well when I got back to inititories they were very busy and only wanted to give me 5 names at a time, which meant that when I got done I would have to be put at the end of the line and wait for others to go before me. Well I got my first 5 names done and got put back in line for another 5 names, during the time I was waiting, I started reading from the Doctrine and Covenants in section 122, it seemed the spirit directed me to this chapter and I found myself caught up in a lesson from the Lord given to the Prophet Joseph Smith. It taught me much about what the Lord expects us to endure in life to be worthy of him, it also taught me that we should never complain when we have trails to go through or feel like that means that we have done something wrong or that we are not worth it, after all who descended below them all, but our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ! After about 30 minutes waiting I started to worry that Darin would be done way before me, since generally he can do 10 names in a hour and it had already been an hour and a half and I hadn't even started my last 5 names, it was 2:30 and we had to drive back to Kaysville and be to the Stake Center by 3:30, so I decided not to do my last 5 names, well I came out to the waiting area and Darin was not there yet, I waited for a long time and started to feel bad realizing two things, first we had committed to do 10 names and I should have followed through and secondly since being my husband he had directed me to do 5 names and I should have had the faith to do it and not to worry about the time, this was a great lesson to me, because as it turned out he was finished about 2pm, had I stayed and done my other 5 names I would have been out only a few minutes later then him.

We did not make it to the Stake Center by 3:30 but closer to 4 and all was well there as we decorated and set up for the carnival part of the activity, we were in charge of a ring toss that involved throwing rubber rings over the top of 2 liter bottles of soda, if you ringed one you won it. We had a wonderful time running that booth throughout the night and visiting with the ward members, afterwards I had to get ready and head for work to do my graveyard shift.

I love Sundays, but getting off of work at 8am (generally the staff that relieves me comes in early so I can be gone at least by 7, but not today, I had to work till 8) and having our meetings start at 9am can be a challenge, mainly because I have a hard time staying awake through Sacrament meeting. Luckily because I teach Primary I don't have a problem that last 2 hours of meetings. It seems to me that every Sunday it seems that all the lessons fit so well together! Today we learned about praying through Christ and the sacrament, these two things fit very well together. I am always amazed at how smart my 9 year olds are in my class and I am sure I learn as much from them as they do from me.

After church as we were driving home we passed a couple in the wards house where the husband is bedridden and the wife pretty much is having to care for him by herself, my mother in law, kept a watchful eye on this sister and would check in on her and her husband almost daily, I am ashamed to say though that since mom and dad have been gone on their mission this last year we have only checked in on them maybe 3 or 4 times. Today as we were passing I said to Darin we needed to go visit them, he quickly pulled into their driveway and we got out and went in to see them. As we came in a couple of Priest were leaving from bringing the sacrament into them, we were happy to see that, but we noticed that Sis. Shoemaker had been crying, as we visited with her we found out that her husband had been just sleeping for the last couple of days and had not been really waking up, she was worried that he was going to pass on soon, mostly we could tell she was just lonely, I am grateful that we listened to the spirit which prompted us to stop and can't help but wonder how many times I have ignored that spirit for my own selfish needs, I pray that I will be more aware of the spirit and act on it's promptings, so that I am not the cause of lonliness in the future.

All in all this was a wonderful weekend and our lives were blessed!

A Tribute to Timmy's Big Sixteen!

What can I say that these pictures don't already say, except Happy Birthday Timmy!!!! Look out girls cuz he's a heart breaker, sesitive, good looking, spiritual and funny, what more can you ask for in a date? Timmy if you get to read this (not sure he reads my blog) I just want to tell you how much I love you and am sorry that I can not be with you on this your Birthday, especially to share with you your ordination to become a Priest and to hear your first Sacrament prayer. I am so proud of how much you have grown in the gospel and what a good brother, son and friend you have become, thank you for texting or calling me whenever you need comfort or advice, I love you and wish you the best!

A Tribute to My Daughters!

Lately I have reallly come to appreciate my beautiful daughters (Kerstin, Cynthia and Shayla). As a mom when they were younger I know I didn't do them justice, not having any sisters of my own and having 5 older brothers I think I was just more comfortable around my boys, I had high hopes and dreams of what having girls would mean, but since my girls had their own personalities from the start, I was taught very quickly not only can you not live vicariously through your children, but that you shouldn't, because they each are unique. I think I also kinda had the false impression that my boys would always be there to talk to and share things with (when they were younger they did share more with me then the girls). I have found though that as my girls have grown they have become my best friends, they are the ones who call me to see how I am doing, they are the ones who recognize the reason I do blogging and take the time to comment and make me feel like it is worthwhile. I want all three of them to know that I love them and am very thankful to be a part of their lives! I have a new found love and respect for daughters and wish I had had more!

What I learned this weekend!

This weekend was a very full one, which both Darin and I are greatful for, this time of year can be tough for both of us being so far away from our children. At any rate our weekends generally start after we get off work on Thursday morning since we work 4-10 hour graves a week, I actually work 7, but I don't really count my last 3 because I can get some rest during those graves, but this week on Friday I had to work an extra shift pulling in an 18 hour shift at that job, so I will start my weekend with Saturday morning. When I got home from work on Saturday morning we hurried and got ready for the Temple, we have been trying to get there every week and since we had been assigned to volunteer at the Grand Opening of the new Deseret Industeries from 12:30 to 4:30 we knew we would have to go in the morning. I had also realized that I had forgotten about a baby shower for Darin's cousin when we had signed up for the volunteer work, so we decided if we went to the Bountiful Temple then stopped on our way home at his cousin's to drop off a present we could still get back to Layton to do our shift at DI, so that was our plan.

We arrived at the Temple at about 10am, we had decided that we really enjoyed doing Initatories and renewing that experience so that is what we did this day, it was a very special experience doing the work for those who have gone on before us without the gospel, many times I have felt the spirit of the indiviual I am doing the work for there with us, especially when I take the time to fimiliarize myself with the person, their name and where they are from, before I do their work. We were done and to Darin's cousin's house by 11:00 and had a very nice time visiting with their family for about an hour before we had to rush off for home and then to the DI. Then new DI is great, big and very nice, we could not believe the amount of people that were there during the Grand Opening (Thurs, Fri, and Sat)it was seriously worse then Christmas. When we got there to help, I was assignned to pass out helium balloons and Darin was assigned to work the floor. It was great, I must have passed out about 300 or so balloons and later when we were grocery shopping a mother had to stop me and ask if wasn't I just at the DI passing out balloons, cuz her kids were like look mom there's the balloon lady! It truly was a great experience to help out.

Today after work we headed down to Lehi for Darin's cousin Karlin's sons talk after his mission. The thing about Rodney is his family were never really active and so when he was in High School even though he wasn't active at that time, his wrestling coach kept telling him that he was going to go on a mission and continued to encourage him, finally somewhere along the way of his re-activity he read the Book of Mormon and recieved a testimony of his own and decided that he was going on a mission. He gave a powerful talk and was and is a great example to his family and I believe someday will be the key to bringing them back to activity in the church. While at this ward though, I learned a few other things that touched my heart. First when the Sacrament was blessed and passed there was a Priest who had some speaking handicaps (not sure what, maybe autisim or some other disability) at any rate one of the other Priests slowly said the prayer and this young man followed after him saying the sacrament prayer, what a great loving service this Priest did to help give this other young man an opportunity to experience his role in the Priesthool, I also realized once again how very much our Heavenly Father loves ALL of his children. I realized during Rodney's talk what a great opportunity we have to bless the lives of our friends and families by our example if we but follow God's plan for us. Then finally the talk given after Rodney's, the sister talked about our trials and tribulations in our lives and how we decide whether to use them to make us better or worse, I think I always knew this, but something that both Darin and I have been feeling in our lives lately as we face our trails is that we are not alone and that there is someone who really does know exactly how we are feeling as we face these trails and that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to realize that he had a choice and chose to go through these experiences just so that we would not have to go through them alone is the most incredible gift that we could ever be given. So with that said I would like to share with you my gratitude for these things from this weekend:

1. Temples

2. Family

3. Service

4. Being a Child of God

5. Good Examples

6. Trials

7. A loving Savior who has shared all my trails with me

A Fire Rainbow

Just wanted to share with you this very rare occurance in nature it is called a Firerainbow and does not happen very often, this picture was taken this week on the Idaho/Washington border and lasted for about 1 hour. I hope you all enjoy, only God could create something so beautiful in nature.

Our first snow of the season!

So this morning at work an hour or so before it was time for me to get off work, I looked out the window and saw that it had started snowing. Anyone that is fimiliar with Utah knows that this is not so unusual getting snow this early, but since we have had such a hot summer and really until

last week the tempature has not really been below 50*, it was kind of a surprise, especially since the weather reports have not been right very often. We were happy to see Brent, Ben and Ed yesterday before they went to the BYU football game and hope that they don't have any problems traveling today! The snow does kinda excite me for the season this is my favorite time of year! Happy Sunday everyone!

Listening to the spirit

Tonight while at work the wind started to pick up, I had been dosing and when I realized that it was quite windy, the still small voice said get up and go move your car, well I really didn't think much of it but thought that I'd rather be safe then sorry, so I got up went outside and move my car out on to the street. Well about 30 minutes later I hear a noise and look out the window and the basketball hoop which was in the drive way had been blown down right where my car had been. I know this sounds like a small thing but it is just another testimony that the Lord loves us and wants to direct our lives if we but will listen, for those of you that don't know our car is the only one we have and we have only had it for a month, so to have it damaged or out of commison would not have been a good thing. I am grateful to know that the Lord knows and loves me and cares enough to tell me to move my car!

My Seven Elevens

Cynthia quoted her crazy 8's so I thought that I might do my 7/11's!

MY ELEVEN GREATEST BLESSINGS

1. Darin

2. Brent

3. Kerstin

4. Matt

5. Cynthia

6. Ben

7. Tim

8. Logan

9. Luke

10. Macie

11. Carlee

SEVEN MORE THINGS TO BE GRATEFUL FOR

1. Jared

2. Shayla

3. Joe

4. Landon

5. Brighton

6. Toriynn

7. Ellalyn

ELEVEN FAVORITE SHOWS (if I can think of that many)

1. Without a Trace

2. Cold Case
3. Law andOrder

4. The Office

5. House

6. Bones

7. Sienfield

8. Trauma the untold stories of the ER

9. Flip this house

10. What not to wear

11. Forensic Files

MY SEVEN FAVORITE ACTIVITIES

1. Talking to my kids on the phone

2. Seeing pictures or videos of my grandkids

3. Shopping with Darin (usually electronics)

4. Reading scriptures with Darin

5. Going to Temple with Darin

6. Playing games with the family

7. Going on an adventure in the Jeep with Darin

Last but not least is my true 7/11 where I go to buy my 64 ounce Ultimate Gulp to get me through the long nights on graveyard!

A Legend in the making -18 years coming!!

I would like to take this moment on this special day of celebration to recognize 18 years of excellence in that of Benjamin David Nelson. As a mom I have a hard time expressing myself, but there is not a day that goes by that I don't thank my Heavenly Father for the greatest blessings in my life-that of my family and more especially my children. As I look back at the precious memories that I have of each one of them, I think this day of Benji, who from the start had a very special and compassionate spirit, as a very small boy he had a way of making you laugh and his smile was contagious. As he grew he recognized the underdog and almost always he would be cheering them on (that would not be the case with BYU football I am proud to say). I watched him go through very difficult times and saw how close he stayed to his family and more importantly to his Heavenly Father. I remember before his brothers went on their missions he would be found studying the scriptures and other materials with them as they prepared and was surprised when he started quoting scriptures and other quotes from prophets in attempts to teach others about life and the course that they were on. ( you are a huge example to me and have taught me tons!) I have seen him turn into a sensitive and loving Son, Brother, Uncle and Friend and am sure that all reading this would like to join in with me in wishing him a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! We love you Ben and are very proud of the man you have become. As a baby we knew there was something unique and special about this child

Over time he grew in stature and wisdom!
A Happy Boy!

A wonderful Brother!!!
A great Friend!
Popular with the Girls!!
An Avid Sportsman!!!!
Is there any wonder that this is a man to be reckoned with?

The gift of modern revalation

Yesterday and today is conference, something that I have watched and enjoyed for all my life, but I think just the past few years I have come to REALLY be grateful not only for having a living Prophet on the earth, but to have these special General Conferences where the Lord can speak through a living Prophet to our day. As most of you who know us, know that this past year has been especially hard for us and that we have had a lot of heart ache and pain in trying to decide what the right thing for us to do in regards to a difficult situation with visitation and custody of Darin's girls. Well for the last year we have fasted, prayed and attended the temple in seeking an answer as to how to handle this situation. We both recieved the same answer each time, but because of the influence of well meaning family and friends found it hard to follow through with the answer that the Lord had given us. Well this last month we had finally came to a point where our lawyer and we thought that perhaps we could come to some workable resolution. The interesting thing was we attended the temple again and fasted, then had Stake Conference, we recieved the same answer once again and so decided that if we did not get the results from the mediation that we felt was right we would have to follow through with the answer we had recieved which was to step back and not waste so much money on legal fees and have so much contention in the girls lives. Well if you have been following this blog you know how the meditation turned out and we had to follow through and step back, we do not know when we will see the girls again, but we have been given a wonderful gift and that is the comfort that we are doing what the Lord wants. As we listened to Conference yesterday and then again last night for Darin at Priesthood, it was if the Lord was reaffirming to us that we had made the right decision and that he loved us and would be there for us through this difficult time, our testimonies have grown so much as we have seen the blessings of the Lord in our lives in everything we do! And so I am VERY grateful for the opportunity to have Conference available to me not only to watch, but to read the messages over and over again!