Be Thankful

I am sitting in bed tonight and thinking to myself what a wonderful weekend I have had.  I do not look at the positive nearly enough! I just want to record this weekend so I can look back and remember to be thankful for all the little moments I experienced! On Thursday I was able to spend the WHOLE day with Brandyn, the whole day!! Nothing to do, no kids, no responsibilities, just us!! It was so great to just drive around and when we saw somewhere we would like to go, we went! He and I searched and searched for the perfect birthday gift for mother Rhonda. It was just one of those days that made me feel like we were dating again! I loved it!! We stopped at Red Robin that night and my sister got to be our server.  she was a bartender that night and WOW.... I was SO impressed watching her! She seriously loves her job and it shows! It was fun because we know a few other people that work there so we were able to hang out and just enjoy that time! We rented Snow White and the Huntsman.... I don't think I had heard a single good thing about it, we liked it. I wouldn't necessarily buy it, but we liked it!  Friday I got to go get pampered in the morning and then shop with my sister and mother in laws.  I took them to their first Savers experience haha!! We had a lot of fun! And I even got to see my sis and Gus for a minute! And my hubs was here waiting for me when I got home! He's the best!!! On Saturday we were lucky enough to see the kids for about 5 minutes! Just long enough to wrap our arms around them and tell them how much we love them! I love their little faces and I am so lucky to be a part of their life!! It feels so natural to be in the role I am with them. I respect their mom because I wouldn't have them if it were not for her.  I would never want to be her or replace her, but I sure want to be the next best thing for those kids.  They should always love their mom and dad.  The bond between a parent and their child cannot be compared! I do however think about how much I love my 3 little step kids and I cannot imagine the love I will have one day when I am able to have a child of my own.  Rhonda turned the big 51 also, so the kids were able to run in real quick and tell her happy birthday.  It was so great to see my mom happy on this birthday.  She is in a pretty good place and that's always a comfort for the people who love her! My friend Candice has been really sick and so Joell and I decided to go give her a visit.  Well we call it a "Biotch fest" once a month after Bunco we sit at my house for a couple hours and sit here and laugh and cry and the whole nine yards!  Girls, I am so thankful for that "therapy" we have every month! We missed Candice this month so we brought it to her! Watching her family go through their trials over this past month has sure made me look at my life and the things that are important!!! It solidifies to me that Brandyn and I are doing the best we can for the children and our choices we have made as far as the values we are trying to teach them are in line with what it should be.  This post is meant more for me but maybe you will read this and get something out of it as well :)

As I was shopping with Chrys and Heather I came across a plaque that said

"Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad, is a full minute of happiness you'll never get back"
Love love love this!!

Thanks to all my friends, co-workers, family, my 3 amazing kids, and most or all my Husband! You all have made my life absolutely incredible.  Sometimes I forget that! Life is amazing!!!!

Honeymoon #2 Bahamas

After we were sealed and had dinner we headed straight to the airport to catch a red eye to Florida. 

Universal Studios

We are so bringing the kids here.

The Hulk! One of the BEST coasters out there.  

In the middle of that tunnel it shoots out and you are immediately upside down!

Entering Harry Potter Village

Looked so real!

We Boarded our cruise and treated us like VIP's. My hair was still done so for the rest of the trip we were the "Honeymooners" 

They had an amazing gym on board.  

Half Moon Cay.  The most beautiful water ever!! That really is our ship behind us.  

We did the stingray swim.... Awesome.  They were HUGE!! They look so graceful swimming through the water, but when they got up to you they were so so strong.  They could knock you right over.  We even got to feed them.  It was really, really fun.

On one of the islands we decided to find a local to take us around and show us some history of the Bahamas.  We buddied up with a few other people from our cruise and he took us all around and told us about their government and explained why the buildings are the colors they are.  It was one of my favorite parts.

He took us down to the shore where the locals go for some fresh Conch Salad.  They dive for them in the morning and prepare them right there for you.

The finished product... Conch meat, Tomatoes, Lime, Oranges, and Lemon.

This couple was the only ones who actually enjoyed it.

What it looks like fresh out of the ocean

Running on the treadmill, surrounded by ocean! So cool!

Spent some time at Atlantis!  It was an incredible place!  The cheapest rooms are $450 per night and the most expensive (The Michael Jackson Suite) was $25,000 per night with a minimum stay of 4 nights!  Just for us to spend the day swimming and hanging out was $150 per person.  I probably would not be booking a vacation to the Atlantis anytime soon, but it was so fun to go there and it is soooo much better than on the commercials :)

The room that looks like a bridge connecting the 2 buildings was the Michael Jackson Suite!

We love love loved the Bahamas and I would love to go back on another cruise there again. 

It's Eternal!!

As I sat in Sunday school last week I was able to reflect back on this amazing day.  It made me realize that I REALLY need to be better at blogging considering this IS my journal. 

Just a little background story leading up to this day.  Brandyn and I were dead set on a temple marriage last summer when we got married.  Unfortunately, cancellations and clearances were not achieved by our wedding date.  So after our honeymoon, we sat down and chose a date for the next summer.  July 18th was the date we had chosen for some personal reasons.  Over this past year we worked hard trying to get ex's to comply and it just seemed to drag on and on.  We knew it would all work out, but we got pretty discouraged a couple times.  As the day came closer and closer we still hadn't heard a status on whether or not we had clearance.  April....May....June passes by and we start to freak out a little bit.  Our Stake President assured us that it would get taken care of.  The first week of July comes and President Rose comes to us and asks us if we had heard anything, our response of course was no.  He informed us that the First Presidency takes the month of July off and Brandyn and I were so devastated.  The next week passed and still no word, by this time we had accepted that it just wasn't going to happen July 18th.  This just pushed us even harder to build a strong relationship with ourselves and our heavenly father.  We spent sooo much time on our knees together.  It was July 13th, I had gotten home from work, jumped in the shower, and when I got out all our mail was sitting on our bed.  I noticed an envelope for each of us from the church.  Brandyn wasn't home but I just couldn't wait to open mine.  It was the best letter ever!! A cancellation and a clearance all in one letter.    I was so excited to tell Brandyn, I was planning how I could tell him when he got home so the next few hours seemed to just drag on.  I get a call from Brandyn and he says "did you get any mail today?" and I was like "Why?" I guess President Rose had also received a letter and out of excitement called Brandyn to let him know the good news.  It was such an amazing day.  That night as we sat with our letters it hit us that our first presidency had held those papers in their very hands, they prayed for US personally, and then they signed them.  All 3 of them signed both our letters.  It was an amazing feeling!!  

Draper, Utah Temple

Carson felt like it was his responsibility to carry my dress for me.  THE CUTEST THING EVER!!

So much support from our loved ones!

My besties! I have gorgeous friends don't I?

And we like to play....ALOT!  

And do Zumba

And more Zumba

My beautiful McKenzie.  

My Monkey, Carson

Like I said, We like to have fun ALL the time! No worries, Bradley just found that the marble lining the stairs is like a slide.

As we planned this day for our own personal reasons we realized that it was Brandyn's parent's wedding/sealing date as well!!  My mother in law told me "This is the best way and the best anniversary gift I could ever ask for!"  She has just always been a sweetheart to me.  It was a great feeling knowing we were sharing special days with eachother!

I love my family, I love my life!!!