The Deter's

MERRY Early CHRISTMAS!!!!

2011-11-30T22:55:00.000-08:00

I don't know if any of you have been able to tell, but I really LOVE every holiday and I am ridiculously gitty as each one approaches. We had a fun Halloween with WAY too much candy. Thanksgiving was incredible. I really enjoyed every single food that we had and ate till the button on my pants should have flown off. Now it is time for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!! Christmas is my FAVORITE! I love the music, the lights, the weather, the hot chocolate, but most of all, I love seeing my girls faces light up when they see Santa and we get to teach them what Christmas is really about. Since I could not wait, I found out that MV library was having a FREE Santa's workshop. FREE makes everything sound better, and even taste better in my opinion. Santa was there with Mrs. Clause, and he had elves that helped move the line along. They wanted everything to be free and low key, so the kids could sit with Santa and you could snap as many pictures as you wanted to, since they did not have a photographer. They had free hot chocolate, with marshmellows. The kids could decorate their own cookies and eat them of course. They had movies of Charlie Brown playing. They had a huge train track set up, with buttons for each track that the kids could push to get the trains moving. They had a snow machine going as well, so it looked like snow flakes were coming down. They also had Rudolph walking around, as well as Frosty the snow man. Oh, and Santa has a mail box out front where you can drop off your child's picture to him and list for Santa and Santa will mail a letter to your child in response. Did I mention that all of this was FREE? I seriously love this library. They have the coolest children's play area and the best story time as well. Basically I highly recommend taking your kids if you are in the area. Click here for the link, so you can get the schedule.

Madeline was elated to be there with Santa and show him her list.

I LOVE all their faces in this one, but Myla seriously cracks me up.

I know it is bad and evil, but I for some strange reason love screaming pics of kids when they are terrified of characters. Myla was such a good sport. Even though she was horrified she stayed on frosty's lap for the pic. I could not believe that she sat there till we told her to get up. Poor thing.

I had to mention the cutest prayer that Maddie said the other day: "Please bless Myla that she feels better. We are grateful she is feeling better. Please bless the bad germs go out and that the good germs come back, so that she can have a lovely day." I LOVE my girls. Maddie is a sweet heart who tries so hard. Myla is so hilarious and entertaining. Her personality has always been a strong one, but it has blossomed recently and I am once again smitten. Myla loves pointing out all her body parts, especially the belly button. And not just hers, she would be more than happy to point yours out as well if you ever have trouble finding it :) Well, Merry early Christmas from the Deter's!

Finally Right?

2011-10-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

So, I know that it has been forever and hopefully there is someone still out there who reads our blog. If not, it is ok, as most of us Mom's do now days, we plan on turning our blog into a book as a journal for our family.

First of all I wanted to say that I AM DONE! With what you ask? I've finished raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and have surpassed my goal of $3200. I don't want to sound braggy at all, I am just relieved and excited all at the same time. I also want to express my gratitude for all those who helped out, you know who you are. Doing stuff like this really makes you realize how blessed you are and helps you see the amazing goodness in people. Now the tricky part will be running the actual marathon in SF on October 16. My body aches quite often, but this has been such an awesome ride and I've met some great people.

The Deter household has not changed much. Matt is still absolutely loving his job and I can't tell you how much that means to us after the events that took place in 2010. I am so happy and proud of him!

Madeline and Myla will not stop growing. Madeline is this intelligent, thoughtful child that speaks beyond her years. She notices all the simple things in life that no one else would ever think to pay attention to. Rose is such an appropriate middle name for her, since she literally and figuratively, always stops to smell the roses. I love these attributes about her and find them so admirable. She is my little lover girl who thankfully still allows me to smother her.

Myla is my crazy, happy, lovey, intense child, yet chill and easy going all at the same time. She is soooooo mischievous, but I love every second of it, well, most of it. Myla is so strong and physical and can totally hold her own. No one will mess with Myla :) She has this maturity about her and seems like she gets adult sarcasm and is quite sarcastic herself. There is this intensity and energy that both my girls have. It is different from each other, but it is so addictive and infectious, which makes them impossible not to love.

So, these pics are not in the order I intended them to be in, but oh well. Yes, we already went to the pumpkin patch, the second it opened, October 1st. You can guarantee we will be returning. I love the imagination and wonder and beautiful colors that Halloween and Fall have to bring.

Madeline is such a girl. She goes through such extremes; sad and dramatic one moment and then ecstatic the next.
Look at those eyelashes. I see Latisse commercials in her future.
Madeline thinks her pumpkin is her baby, she even brought it home and brushed its teeth that night.

Extreme happiness, it cannot even be contained!
Then drama. Gotta love it.
Madeline is OBSESSED with trains. I think Myla is too, since when Thomas the Train comes on she squeals with delight and dances like a mad woman.
Our very sad attempt at fam pics. It is next to impossible to get us all looking at the same time.
I love how this one turned out. My parents are awesome!
I cannot express the excitement that overwhelmed Myla when she was allowed to ride the cars. She is a big girl trapped in a toddlers body. She is ready to go out and tackle the world.

How blessed am I!

This picture about sums up Myla :)
This pic sums up how I feel about my girls!
I got to meet up with one of my old mission companions at the mall with our kiddos. Brings back some of the most cherished memories I will always have :)
First day of school! I am doing that co-op school again this year with some girl friends and it is going great so far. We are using the mother goose program, which I think is amazing and so much fun!

One more thing, I had to share some funny quotes and stories by Madeline. This age cracks me up:

*My parents are having plumbing problems, so their wall is ripped open, exposing the pipes. Madeline said the wall should not do that because it is showing its privates.

*I would like to publicly thank Repunzel for her long hair. Madeline will now voluntarily eat veggies since she believes that with each bite her hair will grow. These are healthy fibs right? She asked me the other day however, when her hair was going to start dragging.

*Madeline put on her Repunzel dress up shoes the other day, grabbed Matt's hand and said, "Come on Eugene, lets go, we are going to get married in the temple!" She then proceeded to do the wedding ceremony, which for her is dancing around in a circle and "twinkeling."

*When her foot feel asleep, while taking FOREVER to finish her dinner, she told me that her foot was snoring.

*At the pumpkin patch Madeline went up to a group of teenagers, asked them if they were teenagers and if they were old enough to eat salad. One of the girls responded so sweetly and showed her long hair to Maddie, which confirmed that she in deed must eat salad.

AMAZING RAFFLE!!!

2011-07-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

These amazing vendors (In n Out, Laguna Surf & Sport, Trader Joe's, BJ's restaurant, Mrs. Field's Cookies, Jersey Mike's Subs, Bagles and Brew, Marie Calenders, Paradise Bakery, Mangia Bene's restaurant, Costco, El Toro Meats, Spaghetti Factory and Spic n Span Cleaners) have donated more than $700 in prizes, ranging from gift certificates, clothing, gift baskets and delicious food. You do not want to miss out on this amazing raffle!!! Prizes will be mailed out Sep. 16, 2011, so hurry and get your raffle tickets.

To participate in this Raffle you can either mail a check, or pay cash, for the amount of raffle tickets you would like to purchase. Please make the check out to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and send it to, 7 Willow Wind, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656.

Otherwise, you can make a donation according to how many raffle tickets you would like to purchase on my Fundraising Webpage. All you have to do is click the donate button and you will be directed from there. Please contact me if you have any questions; phone #: 949 378 7547, email: marcellapeach@hotmail.com. Prices are as follows:

1 Raffle Ticket $2

5 Raffle Tickets $8

10 Raffle Tickets $15

20 Raffle Tickets $30

MOVIE NIGHT!!!

2011-07-16T23:32:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED:

What: Outside Movie Night playing Despicable Me.

Why: To delight your taste buds with homemade goods and donate to a good cause at the same time.

When: Friday, July 22, 2011 at 7:30pm.

Where: Grand Park Town Center (Aliso Creek Rd and Pacific Park Dr

Aliso Viejo, CA 92656)

Hello Everyone,

Aliso Viejo is having a FREE, outside movie night at the Grand Park Town Center this coming up Friday, July 22. In addition I will be hosting a bake sale there for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Outside movie night is so cool because you feel like you are in a convertible theater, since the surround sound is so incredible and the movie screen is HUGE. They will be playing Despicable Me, which is absolutely adorable and definitely appropriate for kids, as well as entertaining for the adults.

Aliso Viejo Community tells everyone to arrive by 7:30pm, however the movie does not start till it gets dark, which is usually 8pm-ish. I recommend getting there early for good seats, the fun activities they have for the kids, but most importantly, so you do not miss out on the delicious homemade goodies from the bake sale. The highest priced item will be $2 and trust me your taste buds will thank me.

The menu consists of: mother load cake (donated by Claim Jumper), cookies (donated by Jersey Mike’s), homemade red velvet bars, cinnamon buns and cinnamon bites, orange rolls, cupcakes and more. My Mom and amazing best friends have volunteered to bake these homemade goods and I cannot even tell you how much these girls really just need to open up their own bakery.

PLEASE come Friday night and join in on all the fun and yumminess. Thanks so much and I really hope to see all of you there J

Marcella (Peach) Deter

MMmmmmm Rubio's! Some late Easter pics as well.

2011-06-15T23:03:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I wanted to let you know that I will be hosting a Rubio's Fundraiser event on July 2, 2011 from 11am-close. If you go to the Rubio's with the address below and present the attached flyer, 20% of the proceeds will go towards the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). The flyer must be presented in order for LLS to get the donation. I don't know about you, but I absolutely love Rubio's and to know that the proceeds will go towards a great cause is just the cherry on top, or the salsa on your chips in this case :)

As you know, through my many emails, that I have pledged to raise $3200 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Fundraising for this event has been amazing and is going really well. I still need your help however and I thought this would be a yummy way to ask for it.

I will post again as the date gets closer. I wanted to make sure you "saved the date." :)

Please call, or email me with any questions.

If you would like to make a personal donation please go to my fundraising webpage.

Please know how grateful I am for all your support!!!

Marcella (Peach) Deter

949-378-7547

FUNDRAISER LOCATION:

Rubio's - Mission Viejo - Alicia and Jeronimo

23981 Alicia Parkway, Mission Viejo, CA 92691

949-859-2330

FUNDRAISING WEBPAGE: http://pages.teamintraining.org/ocie/nikesf11/mpeach

Here some Easter pics I don't believe I ever posted:

Isn't it impossible not to smile when you look at this pic of Myla and my Dad?

Myla's First Year!

2011-05-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

Myla Peach Deter was born May 24, 2010, weighing in at 8lb 1oz. She was a large baby for her small mommy to have, but definitely worth every little ache and pain. Nothing worthwhile is easy, at least that is my philosophy :)

Myla is really the light of our life. Her smile is the most contagious grin I have ever witnessed. I really think that Myla could bring about world peace with her incredible magnetic happiness alone. She started smiling at about 1 month, which I consider pretty young. I just figured that she was no longer able to contain it. The day she was born there was an incredible spirit that Matt and I felt in the room. I know it was because Heavenly Father wants us to know that he was sending us a special daughter of God and that we are responsible for nurturing her and raising her right.

I've never met a baby like Myla. I feel like her goal every day is to spot as many people as possible, draw them in with her inescapable gaze, give them a smile they will never forget, therefore helping everyone that crosses her path remember what life is truly about and what really matters.

Myla is still not walking yet, but she is pulling herself up on everything and walking along that way. I am estimating that she will walk at 14 months like her sis. She is crazy and into EVERYTHING. I really think that she has lightening speed, even if I run I cannot stay up with her. She is fascinated with doors and every time she opens and closes them she gives us a look of astonishment and then laughs. She loves being chased and I am nervous of what a dare devil she will become. She will allow Matt to throw her in any direction and just casually laughs and smiles all the while. She is an amazing eater and therefore weighs about 21 pounds right now. She can say mama and dada, that, and amen, which cracks me up. She is very communicative, which is to be expected considering my large mouth. She is a wonderful performer and will do muscles, touchdown, blow kisses, wave and make the stinky face with the hand when I say something is stinky.

Our life was incomplete without you Ms. Myla. This world is a better place because you are in it. I can't imagine the many lives that have already been touched and will be touched by your presence alone. You are an incredible gift from our Heavenly Father and your Dad and I cherish every moment with you. We cannot wait to see what the future holds for you!!!

I am going to try and add a slideshow of her bday on my blog, so stay posted :)

Myla's First Year, from 0-12 months:

Much to report: Marathon, Wipeout, and Myla's 1st Birthday!

2011-05-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

So, I hope all of your emails, blogs, tweets, and linkedin's, have not been overly bombarded with updates from me. A lot of fun stuff has been taking place and I am excited about all of it. Top of the list is Myla's First Birthday. She turns one on May 24. I will definitely dedicate a post to her with pics of her Birthday and all that, but here are some adorable pics to hold you over. Myla is the light of our family. Her happiness and huge smile are magnetic, sucking everyone in with her genuine lovey self. I smother her all day long because a million kisses a day is just not enough for me, I am always left wanting more. I love and adore her and thank God every day for her.

Next on the list is the marathon that I will be running. I am running the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, CA on October 16, 2011. More importantly however, is that I decided to join The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training and run on behalf of two of my family members and all those who have battled with blood cancers. As I've mentioned before my Uncle suffered from Leukemia and lost his life when he was in his 30's. He left behind my beautiful Aunt and their two boys, my amazing cousins. Although my Uncle is not here I know that he is in a better place. I am grateful for all those who dedicated their time and effort on his behalf.

My Father-in-Law also battled with Lymphoma for many years. It was an extremely difficult road for him and his family to say the least. And in the end it was a battle that he won. He is a happy, healthy and very loving Husband, Father, and GrandFather. I am indebted to this wonderful charity for what it does for others who suffer these serious illnesses and this is a small way I can give back. I really do need help from all those who are willing and able to.

By joining the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training (TNT) I've committed to raising $3200 for this charity. If you would like to contribute you can help in one of two ways, or both if you would like. Professional Choice Insurance (PCI) has volunteered to donate $1 for every "like" on the PCI fb page, maxing out at $500. Please go to the PCI fb page by clicking here and press "like." If you would like to make a personal donation please go to my Fundraising page by clicking here. I wanted to thank everyone in advance for their incredible support!

Ok now, for those who missed my previous post about wipeout. I MADE IT! I actually do the course this Wednesday. Here are some of the pics of when I went to the final audition. It wont air for a while, since they film ahead of time. However, I will be sure to post the date when it airs as soon as I find out.

I made WIPEOUT!

2011-05-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry, the pics below are not too clear. I will get a better version of them soon. These are some ever-so-lovely pics of my Wipeout tryout outfit. I wanted to relay a little of my wipeout experience thus far. So, I went to the open auditions for Wipeout at the ESPN zone Feb 5. I dressed as you see me in these pics. They invited me back for the closed auditions after that. I made it past that and they said they would give me a call if I made the show. I waited and waited and then they called me about a week ago and said I made it. May 25 will be my day to further embarrass myself and wipeout on the big balls and many other places I am sure. The pics below are of when I went to the closed auditions. My bff's parents drove me there and they were so awesome. On the way there I was hanging out the window mooing at people trying to get myself all pumped up. They were not embarrassed at all. They just sat back and enjoyed watching me make a fool of myself. I love her parents! Momma wants a new mini van, so everyone keep your fingers crossed that I win the 50k!!!!

This is me yelling "I made it to WIPEOUT!" You know, like they say "I made it to Hollywood."
So, I got hungry, sew me, their fertilizer was amazing there :)
That's called cow tipping.
The paparazzi just would not leave me alone. Us CA cows are just so HOT!

Ragnar Relay - 200 miles from HB to Coronado Baby :)

2011-04-22T16:21:00.000-07:00

In 2009 I had the opportunity to run the Ragnar Relay in UT. I absolutely loved it and once I found out that they also had the Ragnar here in So Cal. I had to run it here as well. I decided to captain it and invite all the people who I am obsessed with. Some of course were unable to, or simply did not want to, however we had an awesome team.

So, the Ragnar Relay is different than the other traditional races like the 5k, 10k, marathon, etc. It is a relay and it is ongoing, so you have run some legs that are in the middle of the night. Your team consist of 12 people and each person runs 3 legs (not at one time). Each team must have 2 vehicles, since it is too hard to fit 12 people in one van, therefore there are 2 vans of 6 people.

Runner 1 takes off and finishes her leg while the van drives to the end of her leg and drops off runner 2. This continues till all 12 runners run their first leg. After that it starts over again with runner 1. You repeat this pattern a total of 3 teams. All the legs vary in distance and conditions (meaning weather, pavement, or trail, or daytime or night time). You don't really sleep so you are all looped up on adrenaline and whatever crazy foods you decide to eat.

In our second van one of our teammates was actually injured, so I had the honors of running her last leg for her :) I ended up really enjoying it and I ran a total of 22 miles. It was so cool because my friend Melinda flew out from UT to run it with us and she also ran 22 miles, if not 23. She is a stud. Matt shockingly volunteered to run the race as well, which still blows my mind, however he did amazing. He actually puked after his first leg that was 5.3 miles in 94 degree weather. Matt ended up running about 15 miles and so did his bro-mance Jason. Allison, my BFF as all shall know her, ran it with me as well. She was running crazy 7 minute miles.

She's insane! Then I wooed my neighbor and good friend Rachel to run it too. She had to run these insane up hills and I am sure her bum still has not let her forget it.

My Dad sponsored our team by volunteering to assist in setting up parts of the race and getting all of us shirts to market his company Professional Choice Insurance. I am actually my Dad's new Social Media manager and I've been writing blogs for his company as well. I've written two recently, so you will have to check them out and let me know what you think. I really enjoy it and have been learning a lot.

We all had an awesome time and I am excited for my next race which I will talk about soon. Enjoy the pics:

Our start time was 8 am on Friday and we finished at about 6 or 630 pm Saturday.

Our BLING!

Our shirt.

Getting some last-minute nutrients for the race.
A cost efficient blue tooth.

Matt puking.

Me waiting for Matt while he was puking.

My Rachel :)
I loved this team of girls. I kind of wanted to ask them out and see if they wanted to be my friend.
Matt running.

My Dad is awesome and volunteered to help out with the race.
Yoga head lamp modeling.
HOT on so many levels!
Coal-mine extraordinaire.
Bob's Big Boy being groped.
Melinda and Rachel.
The girls in van 1.
Ragnar girls gone wild.

Bro-mance :)

My first love :) I heart you.

My toes are still in so much pain.

My team mooned me and made my last leg the most memorable.

Pray if you want to!!!

2011-04-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

We can't give up on this issue.
Andy Rooney and Prayer

Andy Rooney says:
I don't believe in Santa Claus, but I'm not going to sue somebody for singing a Ho-Ho-Ho song in December. I don't agree with Darwin , but I didn't go out and hire a lawyer when my high school teacher taught his Theory of Evolution.
Life, liberty or your pursuit of happiness will not be endangered because someone says a 30-second prayer before a football game. So what's the big deal? It's not like somebody is up there reading the entire Book of Acts. They're just talking to a God they believe in and asking him to grant safety to the players on the field and the fans going home from the game.
But it's a Christian prayer, some will argue.
Yes, and this is the United States of America and Canada , countries founded on Christian principles. According to our very own phone book, Christian churches outnumber all others better than 200-to-1. So what would you expect -- somebody chanting Hare Krishna?
If I went to a football game in Jerusalem , I would expect to hear a Jewish prayer.
If I went to a soccer game in Baghdad , I would expect to hear a Muslim prayer.
If I went to a ping pong match in China , I would expect to hear someone pray to Buddha.

And I wouldn't be offended. It wouldn't bother me one bit.
When in Rome .....
But what about the atheists? Is another argument.
What about them? Nobody is asking them to be baptized. We're not going to pass the collection plate. Just humour us for 30 seconds. If that's asking too much, bring a Walkman or a pair of ear plugs. Go to the bathroom. Visit the concession stand. Call your lawyer!
Unfortunately, one or two will make that call. One or two will tell thousands what they can and cannot do. I don't think a short prayer at a football game is going to shake the world's foundations.
Christians are just sick and tired of turning the other cheek while our courts strip us of all our rights. Our parents and grandparents taught us to pray before eating, to pray before we go to sleep. Our Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. Now a handful of people and their lawyers are telling us to cease praying.
God, help us. And if that last sentence offends you, well, just sue me.
The silent majority has been silent too long. It's time we tell that one or two who scream loud enough to be heard that the vast majority doesn't care what they want. It is time that the majority rules! It's time we tell them, "You don't have to pray; you don't have to say the Pledge of Allegiance; you don't have to believe in God or attend services that honour Him. That is your right, and we will honour your right; but by golly, you are no longer going to take our rights away. We are fighting back, and we WILL WIN!"
God bless us one and all...Especially those who denounce Him, God bless America and Canada , despite all our faults, We are still the greatest nations of all. God bless our service men who are fighting to protect our right to pray and worship God.

Let's make 2011 the year the silent majority is heard and we put God back as the foundation of our families and institutions. And our military forces come home from all the wars.
Keep looking up.

Some more family pics :)

2011-03-09T06:38:00.000-08:00

We had some more family pictures taken. I know, again right? I just have to capture every moment possible and it helps to know and have friends who are awesome photographers. I wanted to get some casual ones on the beach and then some classy ones in San Juan Capistrano. If you like what you see please feel free to look up Jason Graney on fb. He took the pics on the beach. Then click on Tyler Colopy, who took the pics in downtown San Juan. I also have a button to Tyler's website, called Earth to Tyler on my page. Let me know if you want the button for your blog and I will pass along the code to you. Enjoy :)

Journals to my Ladies :)

2011-02-19T08:22:00.000-08:00

2/17/11 Myla Journal

So, my little lady, you are about to turn 9 months. I always used to get a little annoyed when people constantly talked about how fast time goes. It seemed to always be the go to statement and I felt like people didn’t enjoy the current time they were in enough and that is why it passed by so fast. However, having my second child has helped me realize that life does become so busy and really if you don’t slow down enough, it will just pass you by. I had all the time in the world to dote on your older sister. However with you, I feel like I am constantly throwing you in the car to go to our next location. You are soooooooo easy and sooooooooo perfect, sweet and happy about it though. You always just go with the flow and you do it with the hugest smile that your cute little face can possibly handle. I feel like I just have to blink my eyes and you are older.

Since we moved here and I was pregnant with you we have always gone to this class at the church called music makers. Your sister has absolutely loved it from day one. Now that you are older and can interact more, you love it as well. You are absolutely enthralled with everything that goes on around you. You soak up every movement, noise and sound that is around you. Your poor little neck, you are constantly turning your head in every direction, just making sure that there is not one detail that you will miss out on. You are incredibly animated and communicative as well. You soak everybody in with your gazing eyes and HUGE grin. When we sing songs you truly attempt to sing them with us. Even with your sister, when you two are in the car you really try to have a type of conversation with her. She adores you! She try’s to make you laugh all the time, and she does everything she can to get you to be happy when you are crying. You adore her as well. You constantly observe her and take it all in and stare at her with wonderment. I would love to be in your brain just to hear what you are thinking. However, you are so amazing at communicating with your expressions I almost feel that I know exactly what you are trying to say. You are so happy and easy all the time, but at the same time you have no problem voicing if there is something that you want, or if something is bothering you. I love that about you. You are super low maintenance, yet you are strong and already stand up for yourself. I hope you always stay that way.

I need to record your face just to show you how smiley you are ALL THE TIME. Words cannot describe how happy and sweet you are. I really do get frustrated because I feel no matter how many times I write it, or say it, I will never be able to express how much you stand out and that your sweet demeanor is just not of this world. I feel like you are this magnet sucking everyone in with your innocent purity. Everyone just gravitates to you.

I pray you know how much I love you and that I am always really trying my best and I pray that I never let you down, or that you feel neglected in any type of way. You are my angel.

So, right now you absolutely love it when we clap our hands, play patty cake, or move our feet. I almost feel bad because I know your little brain wants to do everything, but your little body is not quite there yet. You crack up when you watch your sister run circles around you. Madeline is always entertaining you in the car and your giggles melt my heart.

So, you have two teeth now. You are sitting up very well and you are still rolling around. You are not crawling yet, but I don’t mind that, we still need to do some baby proofing before then. You are a really good eater, but you are very messy. Your first official word was Dada as well, but you still don’t know what it means quite yet. I’ve been trying to get you to say Mama, but that may take a while. You are always flailing your arms around out of pure joy and excitement. You love to try and imitate all the sounds around you, like when we are talking, singing, or if Madeline is tooting her horn. You are extremely observant. It is funny, if I have my hair in a different style, like in a ponytail, or down, or if I have a head band on, every time you just stare at my head, or hair with wonderment in your eyes. You really do absorb everything. You are already so intelligent.

I love you Myla Peach Deter. You light up my life. I am honored to be your Mom. I pray that you always stand up for what is right and that you will always be your own person no matter what the crowd is attempting to persuade. Always stand strong and remember why we are truly here. This life is a probationary state to see what we will do with it and who will we choose. We must never loose sight, no matter how foggy it may get, of which path, the straight and narrow, we will take.

I LOVE YOU FOR TIME AND ALL ETERNITY,

Mom

2/17/11 Madeline Journal

So you are about to turn 3, which is so exciting and scary at the same time. Lately it has been constantly on my mind how much I needed to write you and your sister. Life has been a lot of fun with you two girls and I get to imagine all the time what the future will be like with you two beautiful ladies and hopefully another sibling sometime down the road. I always call you my little sassy pants and your sister is my happy, easy baby. I hope both of you know that does not make one of you better than the other by any means, you just both have something that adds pure perfection and completeness to this family.

You are so wild and crazy all the time. You always want to sing and dance and have fun. You are an absolute joy to be around and such, such a good girl. I really can’t believe how behaved you are and how well you listen. Don’t get me wrong though, you are very sassy and sit in time out quite often every day, but I love that you are your own person. I’ve always been a pretty confident person my entire life and always held my own for the most part. However, I definitely have had and still do have much insecurity. I get upset when I question myself. I know in my head and heart that God made me and that I try very hard to follow the commandments and be a good person, so if there is something that I want and it is a righteous desire then there is absolutely not one reason that I can not have it. However, I second guess myself and get scared of failure and that feeling of rejection. I get worried a lot that I will, or may pass that down to you girls and I do not want to. The possibilities in this world and in the next are endless for the two of you.

Every night before you go to bed we read the scriptures with you. The Peach Grandparents got you the coolest kid scriptures. You love them and so do I. Anyways these scriptures are mainly about Samuel the Lamanite and his prophecies of Christ birth. You made up these songs about Samuel and also about Valentine’s Day tonight. You seriously have rhythm. It still blows my mind how musically talented you are and I am curious if you will want to do something with that talent in the future. Your Dad and I bought a video monitor for you because when we put you in your big girl bed we just wanted to make sure you were staying in it. You’ve never gotten out of it once; that is how obedient you are. Anyways, I wish the monitor would record all the silly things you do all the time. You sing pretty much the whole time. Lately, you’ve been really into your baby doll and I assume it is because you’ve become more and more into your baby sister. You fall asleep with your doll in your arms almost every night and it is precious.

So, as you know, Valentine’s just passed and it was cute because you got to go on a special Daddy/Daughter date. What is hilarious is that you wanted to go to Burger King of all places. They have a really cool play area that you love. Every time we’ve gone there you’ve met friends to play with and you have a blast. It was cute because your Dad came around the front door, knocked and we answered. He came to pick you up for your date and the two of you exchanged Valentine’s cards. I love how excited he gets to spend one on one time with you. He really is just smitten with you, and knowing your Dad, none of us would have guessed he would be such a sucker for his girls.

Your Peach Grandparents also got you some primary hymns to listen to in the car. You don’t want to listen to any of your other kid music, just the church cd’s lately. My heart melts and I almost get teary eyed every time I hear you sing those hymns. I can’t imagine how much love fills our Heavenly Father’s heart when he hears you sing as well. Growing up my Mom got me those songs as well on a cassette player. I loved them! I would sit in my room for hours just singing them. It amazes me at such a young age you can recognize the spirit that you feel when you sing those songs, or read your scriptures, therefore you desire to do those things all the time. Us adults should really take note and do the same.

So, I don’t know if I ever mentioned to you, but a couple friends of mine and I decided to do a little co-op preschool between the four of us. All of us have kids around the same age and all of us have a younger baby/toddler as well. The kids in your class are Ellen, Ollie and Thompson. We did this to save money because preschools are so expensive, especially here in CA. We all noticed that our kids needed further stimulation and even some more socialization. I did not love it in the beginning when it was my turn, it was actually quite stressful. However, I feel that we’ve been doing it for a good amount of time now and it just seems that you kids have gotten it. Plus you guys are a little bit older and therefore take direction a little better. I have to say that I love it now and it makes me feel like a decent Mom that we are doing this for you kids. It is really cute too, because I think the little boy Thompson has a little crush on you. It’s fun just to sit back and watch you and see what you will do sometimes. We go to the park sometimes with these kids from school and it is so cool to see how you can just hang with the boys. Lately you have gravitated to the boys more and that makes me a little nervous. The boys are kind of rough with you sometimes and you think that it is hilarious and don’t mind it at all. You play with cars and trains all the time and I think the boys think that is cool. I was a tomboy growing up, so I am sure you can imagine that this makes me kind of proud. I love being a girl and I actually think that I am quite girly, but it is fun to be multidimensional and be a little tough too. I am your Mom, so I am partial, but I just love how awesome you are. You are intelligent beyond comprehension, you are GORGEOUS, you are musically talented, you are loving and caring and desire to do what is right, and you are just plain FUN. I don’t think that it gets much better than this. I forgot to mention that you have your entire book, the scripture book your Grandparents got you, completely memorized. It astonishes me. You just spat it out verbatim. AMAZING!

I love you Madeline Rose. I pray that you always stand up for what is right and that you will always be your own person no matter what the crowd is attempting to persuade. Always stand strong and remember why we are truly here. This life is a probationary state to see what we will do with it and who we will choose. We must never loose sight, no matter how foggy it may get, of which path, the straight and narrow, we will take.

I LOVE, LOVE LOVE YOU FOR TIME AND ALL ETERNITY!!!!

Mom

What has been goin on in the Deter Home :)

2011-02-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

So, we recently had family pics taken. We had some taken on the beach and just yesterday we had more pictures taken in downtown San Juan Capistrano. I wanted some casual ones on the beach and then a little nicer ones done as well. San Juan is so beautiful. I could spend an entire week there just walking around and looking through the shops. Our friend Jason Graney took our pics on the beach. He does photography, but he normally only takes pictures of scenery and animals. This was his first photo shoot with people. I thought he did a really good job. Our pics we had taken in San Juan were done by Tyler Colopy. He is amazing. He normally does not taken pics of people either, but he did a fantastic job. He had his beautiful wife Amber helping, which made it even more fun. They are so cool to work with. If you would like to check Tyler's work out click here.

Madeline was in heaven because of the trains in San Juan. She tells me that she is Wilson all the time from the Disney show Chuggington. Lately she has told me that she either a dog (because our neighbor has an adorable dog named Scout), or she is Wilson, or she is Lightning McQueen. Her imagination is just flourishing and I am in love with it.

Friday night Matt asked me if he could take Madeline on a Daddy/Daughter Valentine's date. I of course was ecstatic for this. I absolutely love their relationship and am so proud that Matt is raising her to be a confident, loved, little lady. So, they made each other Valentine's cards and then Matt came around the front door to pick her up for their date. They went to Burger King, aka "The King," as Maddie calls it. I know that sounds a little ghetto for a date, but Madeline is in love with their chocolate milk and their biggest slides in the whole world. They had a blast needless to say.

So, I recently tried out for the show Wipeout with my best friend Allison. Yes I said it, WIPEOUIT. If you do not watch that show already I kind of think something is wrong with you and I am surprised we are friends and or family :) I am partially kidding of course. There is not a whole lot I can share about the process, but I can say that I did well with the auditions and I pray that I make the show. It is seriously my dream in life, as well as Allison's. I've figured that one day my obsession with embarrassing myself would pay off right? I can't tell you how much fun we had at the open auditions together. She did AMAZING of course! I will post some pics soon of our amazingly HOT outfits. However, the ever so famous cow outfit did make its appearance once again. It was such a cool experience though and I am glad that I did it. I've been waking up every morning still thinking about it and all the other crazy things I could have performed to get on the show. We will see what happens, but keep your fingers crossed for us.

Here are the beach family pics. I will post the other ones when we get them back. Enjoy:

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-12T07:55:00.001-08:00

I thought it would be fun to do a little flash back :)

Maddie 2008; Maddie's first Christmas.

Maddie 2009.

Maddie and Myla 2010; Myla's first Christmas!

Madeline told Santa that she wanted candy canes for Christmas. Myla loved him and just snuggled with him. It was so cute and the first time Matt got to be there. Love these girls!

Got Milk???

2010-10-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE HALLOWEEN. I was about to say that it is a time for my inner child to come out, however my child is not inner and it is always out, so maybe this season really just gives me an excuse to be how I always am.

Life has been way too much fun lately. I know that California is not renown for its change of seasons and its fall weather, however there has still been a nice chill in the air and in fact a good amount of rain. All the stores have pumpkin everything and the colors are absolutely beautiful. I feel so warm and cozy and mushy inside during the fall, I don't know why, but I love it! Anyways, we have been visiting the pumpkin patch often and today we got to attend a Halloween, Costume, Birthday party for our neighbor who turned 5. IT WAS A BLAST. I know it sounds kind of bad, but I can actually understand how that Mom in the movie "Problem Child" wanted to adopt a kid so bad, just so she could get invited to all the neighborhood parties. Madeline is at such a fun age, where she has friends now and gets invited to parties. Basically she has assisted in making us popular :) I am partially kidding of course, Madeline is a party within herself and provides entertainment non stop. Myla just adds to our happiness everyday, with her super chill personality and a smile that never ends. I don't think I could be anymore blessed! Anyways, I've become a pictureaholic and I am going to post a ton of pics. I just cannot stand the thought of missing out, or not capturing one moment of our lives with our beautiful girls!

Regarding our costumes I keep thinking that maybe Matt's cow costume has been overdone, yet we seem to bust it out again and again each Halloween and it brings guaranteed smiles to everyones faces. Now, after tonight, Matt has won twice for best costume, once on the Caribbean cruise we went on in 2007 and tonight at the Birthday party. We went to Walmart when we were dating and got that costume and he was the cow and I was a milk bottle. It was pretty funny. Since then I decided to be a cow girl because it is an easier costume to pull off last minute. Matt's Aunt got Madeline the Cindarella costume for her second birthday and surprisingly it still fits. My Dad also got her the Snow White costume that she had on in my previous post. I figured she could switch off between the two for her different Halloween parties. I actually got a princess costume for Myla too, but it was so cold outside that I decided to put her in the cow costume at this party. Plus it is fun to compare pics of Maddie and Myla in the cow costume.

I am going to post the many diff occasions the cow costume has made an appearance in the Deter family. I am not doing them in order, so I will put a heading under them with the year. Enjoy:

So, this first one was when chic-fi-la was having a deal that if you were a cow costume you would get free food. When I hear the word free it does something to me :) Oct. 2009

So, here I was prego with Madeline and we were on a cruise in the Carribean. Can you see my prego belly? I was 24 weeks in this pic. Oct. 2007

This one is my fav. We were right in front of a cafe on the boat and took this. All the people in the cafe were cracking up.
So, this is when Madeline was no longer in my tummy and we went and visited Dad at work in our costumes. Oct. 2008

I wanted to show the comparison of Madeline and Myla in the costume. This was today, so Oct. 2010.

Now, some more of our second trip to the pumpkin patch. I kind of overdid the Halloweeness of Maddie's outfit, but I loved it.

I love this one, Maddie struck a pose :)

So, now we are at the costume, birthday party pics. Maddie makes a beautiful princess.

Myla, my precious little angel, well, actually cow right here.
We are so meant to be together :)

I am obsessed with pics where food is all over children's faces. To me it captures how yummy their food was and how much they enjoyed it.
I love this beanie, it looks like her brain exploded.
Now that was one good cupcake and one happy little lady. She looks a little high from the sugar.

Recent Happenings...

2010-10-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little crazy this year; a whole lot of fun, with some trials and blessings mixed in between. I've told the story many times on my blog on how we landed here in CA and ended up getting a house, which was my dream. Well, for the third time this year Matt was on the job search once again. I freaked out a bit, but this time I guess it was a little more expected. The lack of insurance for our kiddos and our mortgage and car payment were definitely on my mind. I didn't blog about it, because at the time I was not in the mood to share. However, we have been blessed once again and Matt has received two job offers. I think Matt should be a professional job finder. He is a man who knows how to interview apparently. Matt is still titer tottering between the two, however he is supposed to start one of them on Oct. 18. In between this speed bump in our lives we have tried to have as much fun as we could, while not spending money. My AMAZING friend Allison gave us three tickets to lego land. My Mom said she would babysit Myla and we were off. It was so much fun and really just what we needed. It is not a place I would probably get a season pass to, but the mini lego lands that they made were so cool to see. I can't believe what they made with those legos and how real they looked. Madeline was tall enough to go on a good majority of the rides, so that was helpful. Their water areas were her fav though, especially since it was about a 100 degrees outside. We also recently went to the new Disney store in mission mall, which I would highly recommend to those who live near by. They built a new princess castle in there and if you wave a princess wand inside, it plays clips from the princess movies in the mirrors. The people at the store told us that Mickey and Mini were coming to the mall and we could get pics taken with them. We went, did not have to wait too long and Madeline fell in love with Mickey once again. Later that day we headed to the pumpkin patch at Laguna Hills mall with the counsin's. Needless to say life has been hard, but a blast at the same time. Most of all, we are mainly healthy and really happy!!!

This was a boat ride through all the fairy tale stories, like three little pigs.

We were cracking up here because how much I look like lego lady. So sad :)
Matt said lego man was ripped.
Totally soaked and totally happy.
Trains are Maddie's life right now.
Hot lego woman with my man.

One good day!!!
This is the princess castle inside the store.

I wish Madeline was smiling in this pic. She had just cried before we got up there because she could not wait any longer to see Mickey, therefore her eyes are all watery in this pic.
I think this was her and Hailee's fav ride at the pumpkin patch.
Most of the cousin's. Myla was sleeping.

Tea cups with Matt. Hailee went pale on this one. She was a little scared. However Matt ended up holding on to her and she loved it. Madeline was clutching on for dear life, but with a huge grin on her face.
Madeline sang her choo choo soul song a good majority of the time. She was in choo choo heaven.

Do you love her pumpkin head band that I got for $1 at target? I'm obsessed.
She woke up. She looks so big in this pic.
Almost all of us. Auntie Kristina was taking the pic. Madeline could care less and was climbing through the pumpkins. It is like a where is waldo boook with Maddie's head band making her blend in. We will be going back, it was so much fun!!!

Are you ready for some......................PICTURES???

2010-09-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

I bet you thought that I was going to say football. I DREAD football season with all of my heart. To a point I think that Matt's sport obsessions are cute, however they are so overdone they have lost their cuteness. I will however always support him watching his teams. I just don't get it; men feel the need to watch every other team playing as well because for some reason if they don't watch the all the other teams too (and not just find out the score at the end) then when their team plays them they will not be properly prepared. As if their personal watching has something to do with their team winning. Then after the game they have to listen to them talk and analyze the whole already ridiculously long game that they just watched. Ok, I am done.

I decided to finally update my blog since a few little birdies (Candice and Allison) whom I will not mention by name have been bugging me about it. Ha! I am just going to post a bunch of pics and I will post some videos next time.

Most recent pic of Myla. After she turned 3 months. She is almost 3 1/2 months now.

Below are pics of Myla's blessing. It was such an amazing and perfect day. We are so blessed to have her and she is the perfect addition to our fam!

My sister in law bought the girls little sister and big sister shirts. I am obsessed with them!
My friend Candi came to visit with her little guy Mason and we went to the beach and had a great time.
We went to DisneyLand and had an AWESOME time!!!
Matt and Madeline went on a Maddie, Daddy date to DQ. She obviously had an amazing time!
Madeline's BFF's

Madeline for some reason found this hat and said that it was Jesus's hat. I LOVE what this girl comes up with.

My Wish List. It's not too much is it :)

2010-06-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

My Birthday is coming up July 27th and this Thursday is Matt's and my wedding anniversary, so I thought I would come up with a wish list. This is purely a WISH list that will definitely remain a WISH most likely, however it is fun to dream sometimes don't you think?

1)My first and most greatest desire is to get a pass to this gym: click here. It is literally right around the corner from our house and it is beautiful don't you think? I want to lose this prego weight asap, it is driving me nuts. I just want to be normal again and back in shape. Of course to look good, but mainly just to feel myself again.

2)Get a necklace made from this site: click here. I want one heart to say Madeline and one to say Myla. I think they are so beautiful and want one so bad. This is probably one of my few realistic desires, however patience is a virtue right?

3)I want to go to Magic Mountain with my Dad for the day.

4)I want to take Maddie to Disney Land for the day; just me and her, or the three of us and get a babysitter for Ms. Myla. I just really think that she deserves a day alone with Mom and Dad. She has had a hard time adjusting to the new sister, but has done a wonderful job of it and we are so proud of her and I always want her to know how much we are obsessed with her.

5)I want this tent for the beach: click here, or here, or here. The last one is my favorite. I think it would make life at the beach so much easier, especially going with our new little one.

6)I just want to go after prego clothing shopping. My wardrobe is slim and has lost its excitement. After you have a kid you do not feel the most attractive, so it is nice to get some cute, and yes vain, things in your wardrobe (I don't mean vain as in expensive, just new) to make yourself feel a little better.

So, those are my desires. I must sound like the most selfish girl, but again, they are just wishes, I do not expect them to come true, at least for now. I have some even bigger wishes like going on a trip alone with my hubby, however since I am nursing those dreams will have to wait for a while and I could go on and on about my dreams to travel everywhere with him. Matt is the best travel buddy. I hope you enjoyed.

What do you want??? I love to hear other ideas.

Reader/Viewer Warning: Detailed birth story with a detailed picture (not of me of course).

2010-06-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

So, I have been asked on several occasions to write about my birth story. I always like to hear other people birth stories, so I can understand the inquiries. I decided I would appease those who asked and blog about it. However, I do want to apologize for any gross details and pics. I am probably giving a lot more info than some were looking for, but it just how I am and most of you should know that by now. I am not forcing you to read, or look, so honestly I don't feel all that bad :)

So, I was hopefully going to go into labor naturally, but we scheduled an induction date for about 4-5 days after my due date just in case. They ended up calling me and told me that we had to up the date since there was another lady who actually had a medical reason for needing the date I had chosen. The date was changed to May 24th, the day after I was due. This was not ideal for Matt's work schedule, since his boss (who I am not the biggest fan of) only let him have 3 days off. However, I was not sad to get that baby out of me, I was soooooooooooo uncomfortable and so sick of people telling me how big my belly was. I did not get that big with Maddie, so it was annoying.

I went in at 7am to be induced. I was dilated at a 4 already, so I was doing really well. However, Myla did not want to come down, which was the same problem with Maddie. I was at a -1 forever. I insisted that they have the epidural ready if they were going to give me the petocin. The anestegiolagist was busy, so they said I would have to get the petocin and then the epidural a little later. I still pushed it and my nurse was awesome, so she made sure he came quickly. I got the petocin and then the epidural about 2-3 hours later. I forgot to mention that they broke my water first thing at about 8:30am. The contractions were pretty painful, but totally tolerable. The epidural was AWESOME! It kicked in right away and it was not like the first time. I could still totally move my legs and feel all the pressure. I loved it, cuz I still knew what was going on.

I quickly progressed to a 10, but I don't remember what time it was. Myla was coming down, but they told me that I was really going to have to push hard for this one to come out. I literally pushed with everything I had. Towards the end they were pretty sure they were going to have to get that vacuum thing and suck her out. I DID NOT WANT THIS! I pushed so hard that I have to say that my doc was pretty shocked. I tore pretty bad where I had my episiotomy the last time. I was really bleeding a lot as well, so the doc was pretty concerned. I guess that I spraid blood all the way across the room onto the wall. Pretty nasty.

Myla's shoulder ended up getting stuck on my bones as well, so we were not having any luck getting her out. I was still determined though and gave it all I had and their she came, flying out after about an hour of pushing at 12:47pm. She was 8lb 1oz and 19 inches long. Since, most of you have seen my midgetness, you know that is a pretty big baby for me.

I also forgot to mention that when I was prego the doc found an extra lobe inside of me. They were concerned because they were not sure if the umbilical cord was going into that lobe instead of the baby. They checked things out further and it turned out to be fine and the lobe was not affecting me, nor the baby. The doc just told me that they were going to have to do quite a bit of digging around after I had the baby, therefore she was relieved to know I was getting an epidural.

So, once the baby was out she had to be down there for about 45 min or so. She was sewing and digging. She first brought out my placenta that Myla was in. It was HUGE, she said. She said that Myla had quite the condo inside of me. Then it was time to get my lobe out. It turns out that I had an extra placenta. It was also enormous and the doc was very surprised. She had never seen anything like that and it was definitely not normal. I asked her if it was possible that I was prego with twins. She said she could not say yes or no and that they would never really know, or be able to tell. However, all that stuff inside of me explains why my belly got quite large in the end she explained.

Matt was absolutely wonderful through the whole birth. With Maddie he held one of my legs, but this time he kind of just cheered me on, while the nurses were holding onto me. I liked it that way too, I felt like he could enjoy the moment a little more that way and I could enjoy it with him. He said that this time he got a little more emotional maybe cuz he got to witness more, than have to work. He really made me feel good the whole time though and he always handles everything with such calmness.

Afterwards I kept throwing up and I swelled up like no tomorrow. The doc and nurses were pretty concerned and said I had to stay an extra day, which was fine. They agreed that I set the record for being the most swollen (down stairs if you know what I mean) that they have ever seen. I was in A LOT of pain, even more this time around. I have to say that this recovery has been a lot more difficult for me than the first time. The bones that Myla got caught on are constantly aching and the pain wont go away. I am mending though and doing A TON better.

Myla is sooooooooo beautiful and we love her very much. She has only been here a little over 2 weeks and I already feel like she has always been here. Having children and the very moment of giving birth is a huge reminder to me what an incredible gift and power our Heavenly Father has given us; the ability to create human life, and it IS NOT TO BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED. I absolutely just love my girls :)

I am posting pics of the placenta's (they are super nasty, so again don't look if you don't want to be really grossed out) below and then of someone a lot more beautiful; Myla.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO MY MOM AND ALL THE OTHER WOMEN WHO HAVE SET AN EXAMPLE TO ME!!!

2010-05-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

Some fav quotes and scriptures:

"Young women, your mothers adore you. They see in you the promise of future generations. Everything you accomplish, every challenge you overcome brings them pure joy. And likewise your worries and heartaches are their worries and heartaches."

"And so, my dear young women, with all my heart I urge you not to look to contemporary culture for your role models and mentors. Please look to your faithful mothers for a pattern to follow. Model yourselves after them, not after celebrities whose standards are not the Lord’s standards and whose values may not reflect an eternal perspective. Look to your mother. Learn from her strengths, her courage, and her faithfulness. Listen to her. She may not be a whiz at texting; she may not even have a Facebook page. But when it comes to matters of the heart and the things of the Lord, she has a wealth of knowledge. As you approach the time for marriage and young motherhood, she will be your greatest source of wisdom. No other person on earth loves you in the same way or is willing to sacrifice as much to encourage you and help you find happiness—in this life and forever."

"Throughout the history of the world, women have always been teachers of moral values. That instruction begins in the cradle and continues throughout the lives of their children. Today our society is bombarded with messages about womanhood and motherhood that are dangerously and wickedly wrong. Following these messages can put your daughters on the path to sin and self-destruction. Your daughters may not understand that unless you tell them or, better, unless you show them how to make good choices. As mothers in Israel, you are your daughters’ first line of defense against the wiles of the world."

“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say” (see Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verifier [2006], 56).

“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9)

"But the home is the most important place to prepare the youth of today to lead the families and the Church of tomorrow. It rests upon each one of us as mothers and fathers to do all we can to prepare our youth to be faithful, righteous men and women. It is in the home where we must teach the gospel by precept and by example."

For the entire talk go here.

I feel like I am drowning.

2010-05-06T15:56:00.001-07:00

I know this may be totally unnecessary and whiney of me to post here, but I really felt the need to, so sorry if I depress everyone, but I needed to vent somewhere.

I have been so torn lately. Sometimes I feel like we really just can’t win, but on the other hand I am so incredibly blessed and really should feel like I have nothing to complain about. I’ve really tried to keep positive, I really have, but there are moments where I feel like I have lost it and just can’t handle it and I want to just stand in the middle of the street and SCREAM!

When Matt lost his job in UT it was a little freaky. It was when we were trying to get pregnant, and we were not pregnant quite yet. I have to say that it was a blessing that we were not quite yet, due to the lack of insurance. We received no severance package, so that kinda sucked, but we were going to be ok. Matt quickly got a job offer in NM about two months after losing his job. So, sweet for the job offer, but suck, NM, are you kidding me.? We went and checked it out and while the scenery is nothing to be desired the people were absolutely AMAZING! So, onto NM right, a new start, a better job, and a bigger house to rent and definitely pretty low cost of living. We were there two months. I was still struggling a little, feeling a little lonely, but trying to keep my head up. We found out we were preggo there and we were happy since our insurance would kick in after 30 days of Matt’s job.

It’s now Nov. and hubby comes home early, he lost his job AGAIN. This was after working there for 2 months. Crap, no insurance now, what will I do for this poor baby on the way. Madeline, what if she gets sick, what should we do? It will work out, it always does, right??? My amazing husband gets on the phone immediately looking for jobs. I go home to CA to hang out with the fam in the mean time and wait for what is to come. Matt interviews EVERYWHERE; NM, UT, CA. He gets two offers in CA. SSSSSSWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTT! Life is looking good, that has always been my dream to move back to where both of us are from and be with our families and live near the beach and raise my children with some diversity.

However, the job is not quite the money that we need to live in such an EXPENSIVE state. We’ll take it anyway, cuz Matt will excel at it, we will get insurance and we can stay with my parents for a while till we save up some dough.

My parents then find this short sale that I think that we can afford. We go for it!!! Wow, a house in CA! So expensive by comparison to our previous places we lived, but doable and worth it in the long run. The house is a short sale, so it needs some TLC. We anticipated the basics, but as we got into it there was A LOT more work than anticipated. CRAP, can we afford this? We ended up doing a lot of the work ourselves to save money, but still it was SO much more than we ever would have expected.

However, I can’t even begin to explain the INCREDIBLE generosity that we received from Matt’s friends, my parents and Matt’s parents. Friends and fam were constantly coming over to help paint and help with the work and moving and everything. I did not feel that we were worthy of so much generosity. How could I complain about anything, considering what everyone has done for us? I want to pay everyone back and thank them so much, but WE CAN’T and it bugs me so much.

We are about to have a baby in like 2 weeks and I am just not happy. Matt’s boss is being a total butt about things. She chooses him out of everyone to pretty much threaten his job and make life miserable everyday and make him feel like he is not doing good enough. He works soooooooooooo hard. He is an amazing, patient husband, an incredible father, and will do anything to provide for his family. I keep thinking, “why him, why does he deserve to feel like his job is on the line everyday, why can’t he catch a break?” I tell Matt that I want to kick his boss in the crotch. Sorry so blunt, but it is true. It’s ok though, maybe they just see his amazing potential, and so they are working him even harder to bring that out. As much as I DISAGREE with bossing someone by fear, maybe that is there way and we need to be humble and deal with the situation with patience.

Our expenses seem to keep adding up. The shower head plumbing piece (sorry I am a girl and this is how I explain things I don’t understand) just breaks in half and it is so corroded we can’t get it out. No shower now. We need a plumber, but he would have to tear down the entire wall to fix it. SO EXPENSIVE! Our air conditioning doesn’t work, we don’t even own a kitchen table, Maddie needs a mattress for her big girl bed, we need to renew out Costco membership cuz Maddie needs more diapers, we need a double stroller and many other new baby things, oh and we need to pay for the baby itself when she arrives in the hospital. HOW IS ALL THIS POSSIBLE? Everything will be ok though; Matt will make some commission’s cuz he is working so hard, right? Matt mentions to me that night that maybe I will have to go back to work. I was overwhelmed with sadness when he said that to me. I feel VERY strongly about being a SAHM (Stay at home Mom). Mentally and emotionally it is wearing on me, but I know it is what is right and this time is for my kids and not for me. I decided to bring them into the world and therefore need to make it possible for them to be raised by the person that brought them here and for them to feel all the love that I can possibly contain inside for them. I don’t care if we can’t afford everything that I would want to, I brought them here and I will make this world the best for them that it can possibly be and try my hardest to set an admirable example. I could go off on this subject for hours, but that will suffice.

We wake up the next morning in our brand new house and community and both of our cars are gone; they towed them. $500 to get them out. My WONDERFUL neighbor from church lets me borrow her car seat, since that was in the car. My amazing Dad zooms over and drives us everywhere, so that we can have cars for the day till we get our cars released.

Do you see how I am torn? Look at all the blessings I have. I have the most incredible fam and extended fam. I have an amazing husband and a daughter who brings light everywhere that she goes. I have another bundle of joy on the way. We have the best friends who are there for us WHENEVER we need them. People from church are constantly calling and coming up to us to see how they can help. Really I have nothing to complain about. I HATE, HATE feeling sorry for myself.

Yet at the same time I still feel like I am drowning. Did I do something wrong, is Heavenly Father angry with me and all the difficult stuff that has happened was well deserved? Is he testing me to make sure that I will keep the faith? I feel so scared to bring another child into this world. I can barely balance life right now. Can I balance two kids? Can I give them the amount of love and attention they really deserve? Can we make ends meat here? Should I have never pushed the topic of living here in CA? Matt was willing to do anything to make me happy and did I just put him in a bad position and we ended up here and dug ourselves into a hole we cannot get out of?

Please do not feel sorry for me, or feel that I need a handout in anyway. Please also do not judge me and think that well, it was all your bad decisions that have lead you here and these are the consequences you have to pay. I was just looking for a place to vent and a listening ear. Some understanding I guess, cuz I feel like such a horrible person for feeling this way, but I do and needed to vent a little. I will ALWAYS keep my faith though and I KNOW that Heavenly Father always has our best interest at heart. Sometimes it is hard for me to understand what he has in store for us, but it has and will always work out if we stay strong, obedient and faithful.

Thanks for letting me vent and SO SORRY for the LLLLOOOOONNNNNNGGG post.

Feel free to vent w/me. I love to hear others stories, especially right now. Not that I hope anyone is passing through any difficulties. Don’t worry either, I know that the majority of people are probably enduring much more difficult hardships than me, I am not that vain, however, again, I just needed to vent.

Final Girls Bedroom Decisions.

2010-04-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

After a lot of searching I finally decided on what decals and design type stuff I will putting in both of the girls rooms. I will show pics when everything is all said and done, however I wanted to show off what I finally chose. Some of the decals that I ideally wanted were already sold out, however that is my fault since it took me way too long to choose. We move in this Saturday, so I will include some pics of the house when everything is clean and ready to go. That might be a while however, since I am about to explode with this baby and unpacking will definitely not be quick. Enjoy:

So, Maddie's room is a lilac type color. We are keeping the little girl below white, but the flowers below will be blueberry blue and tangerine. The letters are the letters I already made for her before she was born. We might be changing the colors on those depending on what bedding I choose for her, but we will see.

So, the butterflies are for Myla's room over her crib. Her room is actually a light pink color to go with her bedding.

These flowers and the letters below are also for Myla's room. I will hang the letters on a string, or something like that. They are pretty small as well, the pic is a little misleading.

I hope you like them, but most of all I hope the girls like them. I am pretty sure they wont care much, but it makes me excited to decorate a bit. I am just not a stylish or creative person, so this stuff does not come naturally to me. We will see how it turns out. :)

Our Little Princess; Thank You Aunt Barbara :)

2010-04-25T21:34:00.000-07:00

Matt's Aunt Barbara was so sweet and got Madeline a Cinderella dress for her 2nd Birthday and we wanted to show her how ADORABLE she looks in it. She loved it! We are including a little video as well, as long as it will download. We of course had to include Maddie's famous nakie pic and her obsession with singing to us at all times.

A week or so ago Maddie and I laid down on these double slides and stared up at the sky and just talked for a while. Ever since, she always wants to lay down outside, when it is starting to get dark, and stare at the sky, or stars. She did it with Matt tonight and I had to capture the moment.

Sorry the pics and the video are in no particular order. Enjoy :)

Real Love, True Love.....

2010-04-16T08:09:00.000-07:00

WOW, this was much needed and was given by ONE of the men in this world that I admire most. Click here.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"Lust is an unsavory word, and it is certainly an unsavory topic for me to address, but there is good reason why in some traditions it is known as the most deadly of the seven deadly sins."

Lust is a subject that is taken so lightly in our world today. Its goal is to destroy the family and it has been pretty successful at that.

"Someone said once that true love must include the idea of permanence. True love endures. But lust changes as quickly as it can turn a pornographic page or glance at yet another potential object for gratification walking by, male or female."

"Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control. Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you. If a TV show is indecent, turn it off. If a movie is crude, walk out. If an improper relationship is developing, sever it."

This would have to be my top fav quote. Something I believe that this world lacks so much of (including myself) is "self-control" and the constant need to blame someone, or something else for our inappropriate actions. I am guilty of watching tv shows, and even movies that are not necessary and tend to have rationalized my actions. Don't get me wrong, I am not out there watching NC 17 and pornography, but I would have to say that most of the shows on television today, even the ones during the day, are in fact pornographic. I am sure many believe that I need to be more open minded and some of these shows are just trying to be realistic and it is for the sake of "art." Pornography is not art, it is the most traitorous and horrific thing that can ever be displayed.

Last, but definitely not least: "So let us work a little harder at remembering Him [Jesus Christ]—especially that He has “borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows . . . , [that] he was bruised for our iniquities . . . ; and with his stripes we are healed.”9 Surely it would guide our actions in a dramatic way if we remembered that every time we transgress, we hurt not only those we love, but we also hurt Him, who so dearly loves us."

This was going through my mind right before he stated this quote. If we remembered that every time that we sinned that we caused Jesus pain, would we do it as much? I would hope not.

I REALLY REALLY loved this talk and needed to hear it and wish that it would be displayed all over the television and media rather than the other things we are constantly exposed to. Please take the time to read this and as a treat I will throw in some pics of my adorable munchkin below :)

This is from Maddie's "Mommy and Me Princess Ballet" class. She loves it!

The two above are from when Brit and Luke came to visit. Maddie still asks for them.

HAPPY EASTER!!!

2010-03-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

Last year:

This year:

She has changed so much. I can't believe how much they grow in a year. We love this bunny at Fashion Island and so does she. I went to choose what pic we were going to buy and pay for (which is not a very good quality this year btw) and Madeline decided to stay in the bunny's lap and cuddle with him for an extra 5-10 minutes. I love Easter! I guess I really love all holidays. I love seeing the beautiful spring weather and flowers and all the yummy eggs filled with candy. However, most important, what an incredible time to remember our Savior who laid down his life for us and resurrected, so that we ourselves could return to our Heavenly Father's presence once again. We are so blessed and probably tend to take this incredible time of year for granted. Madeline and our little girl on the way give me constant reminders of what a miracle life is!!!

2 years old :(

2010-02-19T16:03:00.000-08:00

This is our Maddie last year:

Now she is two. We have not had her Birthday party yet. I will post pics of her Birthday later, but here are some pics I took, so I could get her Birthday card out. I love every moment with this little girl. Enjoy:

Justice is served!

2010-02-15T07:55:00.000-08:00

THIS IS SO VERY INTERESTING!!!!!

Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it?

Did you know his trial is over?
Did you know he was sentenced?
Did you see/hear any of the judge's comments on TV or Radio?

Didn't think so.!!!

Everyone should hear what the judge had to say.

Ruling by Judge William Young, US District Court.

Prior to sentencing, the Judge asked the defendant if he had anything to say. His response: After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his 'allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,' defiantly stating, 'I think I will not apologize for my actions,' and told the court 'I am at war with your country.'

Judge Young then delivered the statement quoted below:

January 30, 2003, United States vs. Reid.

Judge Young: 'Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now to the sentence the Court imposes upon you.

On counts 1, 5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the custody of the United States Attorney General.... On counts 2, 3, 4and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run consecutively. (That's 80 years.)

On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory 30 years again, to be served consecutively to the 80 years just imposed. The Court imposes upon you for each of the eight counts a fine of $250,000 that's an aggregate fine of $2 million. The Court accepts the government's recommendation with respect to restitution and orders restitution in the amount of $298...17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to American Airlines.

The Court imposes upon you an $800 special assessment. The Court imposes upon you five years supervised release simply because the law requires it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I need go no further.

This is the sentence that is provided for by our statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a righteous sentence.

Now, let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators, Mr. Reid. We are Americans. We have been through the fire before. There is too much war talk here and I say that to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice.

You are not an enemy combatant. You are a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a soldier, gives you far too much stature. Whether the officers of government do it or your attorney does it, or if you think you are a soldier, you are not----- you are a terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not meet with terrorists. We do not sign documents with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring them to justice.

So war talk is way out of line in this court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big. You're no warrior. I've known warriors. You are a terrorist. A species of criminal that is guilty of multiple attempted murders. In a very real sense, State Trooper Santiago had it right when you first were taken off that plane and into custody and you wondered where the press and the TV crews were, and he said:'You're no big deal.'

You are no big deal.

What your able counsel and what the equally able United States attorneys have grappled with and what I have as honestly as I know how tried to grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What was it that led you here to this courtroom today?

I have listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty and admit you are guilty of doing? And, I have an answer for you. It may not satisfy you, but as I search this entire record, it comes as close to understanding as I know.

It seems to me you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom, so that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf, have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges.

We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties.. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms. Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The world is not going to long remember what you or I say here.... The day after tomorrow, it will be forgotten, but this, however, will long endure.

Here in this courtroom and courtrooms all across America , the American people will gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice, not war, individual justice is in fact being done. The very President of the United States through his officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out evidence on which specific matters can be judged and juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine our sense of justice.

See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America . That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always will.

Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down.

So, how much of this Judge's comments did we hear on our TV sets? We need more judges like Judge Young. Pass this around. Everyone should and needs to hear what this fine judge had to say. Powerful words that strike home.

Update. It has been FOREVER!

2010-01-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

I believe that most of you have heard the news, however I will update the rest of our very few blog followers :)

As most of you know Matt and I recently moved to Albuquerque, NM last September. Matt got a really good job with Qwest. I was not too excited about NM I have to say. NM was on my list of places I was never willing to move to, however when your hubby is jobless you got take what you can get. Things were going well there, I was somewhat starting to make some new friends, but then on Nov. 18, I believe it was, Matt came home early from work. There was only one reason he would come home early and he had that same look on his face that he had before. He got laid off AGAIN. I didn't even shed a tear. I was laughing somewhat in fact. My poor man was laid off twice in 4 months. We had picked up and moved our entire family to NM on our own dime for this job. We just got insurance, so I was able to see the doctor for the first time since I found out I was pregnant. I was in total shock and had to giggle because of the irony in the situation.

Matt was amazing though. He didn't even blink an eye, or feel sorry for himself at all. Right when he got home he started making phone calls to reach out to all his contacts and once again find a new job. By-the-way, as bad as it may look, Matt did not get laid off for any reasons on his part. Due to the lovely economy Qwest decided to completely abolish Matt's position and department, in all of Qwest throughout the US. Even the man who hired him got laid off. Anyways, Matt got interviews set up right away in NM, UT and CA. I am sure all of you know which one I was rooting for :) All the interviews went really well, however he got two offers in CA. How ironic once again right? The other jobs were not hiring yet, since most of them were having to reevaluate their owns staff's due to the economy as well. Matt accepted the position with Tele Pacific in Irvine, CA. We are now staying with my parents for a little while till we are able to find a place. I am sooooooooooooooooooo happy to be here, however the cost of living is definitely an adjustment for the two of us. We are so blessed to have found another job.

On the baby front, I was finally able to get some insurance through my Dad and yesterday I was able to go to the doctor for the second time this pregnancy. She was absolutely wonderful and we will finally find out the sex next week, on Thursday. I am 20 weeks right now and the baby is very healthy!!!

I hope that this blog does not sound like I am throwing a pitty party for myself and my family. I hope it comes off as just the opposite. Things have definitely been rough, but it just goes to show us how absolutely incredible and generous our Heavenly Father is. We had confidence that everything would work out and it absolutely did. It never ceases to amaze me that the plan that I have in mind for myself tends to be quite different than the plan our Heavenly Father has for me. However, his plan is always what is right and makes me the happiest in the end. We have ben so blessed this previous year and are very excited to see what is to come in 2010.

Here are some pics to go along with all my jibber jabber. There will be more to come.

I really just can't get enough of her!!!

2009-12-08T22:41:00.000-08:00

Oh, and the birthday pics are not for Maddie's birthday, it was my Mom's. I am just so in love with this girl and thought I would post some over due and needed pics of her :)

"What are YOU thankful for?"

2009-11-22T06:29:00.000-08:00

THANKSGIVING:

One of my favorite times of year. It is not crowded with the stress of buying presents and the forgetting of why we even celebrate these holidays in the first place. It is purely a holiday where you sit around with the people you love the most and celebrate everything and everyone you are grateful for.

I am thankful for my family and to know that we are an eternal family. My husband and daughter are my world. Waking up to them everyday makes my life already feel complete. I feel so complete with them, I cannot even fathom why the Lord is so gracious to bless me with another perfect little gift from him.

I am thankful for trials. By no means are they punishments from God. They are disguised gifts that make us stronger, more humble, more grateful and closer to those who really matter. They help us to realize our potential as children of a perfect being.

I am thankful for the sheer knowledge that God lives, loves us, and wants nothing more than for us to live with him once again and for us to be eternally happy.

I am sooooooo blessed and do not have ONE thing in my life to not be grateful for.

I would love for you to share what you are grateful for?

Click here for a sweet Thanksgiving message.

I LOVE THANKSGIVING!!!

We have no need to apologize!!!

2009-11-18T07:32:00.001-08:00

Our European arrogance in alphabetical order

1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne , France . A total of 2289 of our military dead.

2. The American Cemetery at Ardennes , Belgium . A total of 5329 of our dead.

3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France . A total of 4410 of our military dead. Excuse us.

4. Brookwood , England American Cemetery. A total of 468 of our dead.

5. Cambridge , England .. 3812 of our military dead.

6. Epinal , France American Cemetery. A total of 5525 of our Military dead.

7. Flanders Field , Belgium . A total of 368 of our military.

8. Florence , Italy . A total of 4402 of our military dead.

9. Henri-Chapelle , Belgium . A total of 7992 of our military dead.

10. Lorraine , France . A total of 10,489 of our military dead..

11. Luxembourg , Luxembourg . A total of 5076 of our military dead.

12. Meuse-Argonne. A total of 14246 of our military dead.

13. Netherlands , Netherlands . A total of 8301 of our military dead.

14. Normandy , France . A total of 9387 of our military dead.

15. Oise-Aisne , France . A total of 6012 of our military dead..

16. Rhone , France . A total of 861 of our military dead.

17. Sicily , Italy . A total of 7861 of our military dead.

18. Somme , France . A total of 1844 of our military dead.

19. St. Mihiel , France . A total of 4153 of our military dead..

20. Suresnes , France . a total of 1541 of our military dead.

Apologize to no one.

Remind those of our sacrifice and don't confuse arrogance with leadership.
If I added correctly the count is 104,366 dead.
And we have to watch an American elected leader who apologizes to Europe and the Middle East that our country is "arrogant"!
HOW MANY FRENCH, DUTCH, ITALIANS, BELGIANS AND BRITS ARE BURIED ON OUR SOIL, DEFENDING US AGAINST OUR ENEMIES?
WE DON'T ASK FOR PRAISE ... BUT WE HAVE ABSOULUTELY NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE!!

Actually if you want to help out our troops, please go to my friend Kelly's blog here. The troops in Afghanistan are cold and need the help of your knitting fingers.

Inquiring minds want to know.

2009-11-06T06:42:00.000-08:00

This is not my ultrasound, I just always feel the need to post a pic.

So, I know I told all of you that my appointment was on the 4th and it was, however they scheduled the ultrasound for the next day. I guess the ultrasound person wasn't in on the 4th, or something like that. So, I had to wait YET ANOTHER day to find out how far along I am. Since most of you probably know me pretty well, you know that patience does not exist in my vocabulary. By Halloween I am dying to know what I will be getting for Christmas basically.

Well, I know all of you were probably pacing your rooms all night last night and even biting your nails, so your fingers are probably just little nubbins now, as you were dying to find out the results.

The results were quite unexpected actually. After I had Madeline I got an IUD (a form of birth control for those who are not familiar). When I got it out I was totally fine, but my woman stuff was all irregular. Well, it turns out there was good reason my woman stuff was acting all weird. I actually got pregnant while I had the IUD in and I was lucky to have not lost the baby.

So how far along am I? Drum roll please..............

I AM 21 WEEKS!!! and there is more. THERE IS MORE THAN JUST ONE IN THERE. THERE ARE TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES, I SAID IT, 2222222222222222, IF YOU DID NOT HEAR THE FIRST TIME, OR IF YOU VISION IS GETTING A LITTLE BLURY.

Both Matt and I almost passed out together. Good thing he didn't though, because he was holding Madeline. I am still in shock. I still really can't believe it myself. But, the main reason it is so hard for me to believe is that I am so full of crap. I had to keep you on the edge of your seat. Ok, the truth is I am 11 weeks and 5 days and they are not sure of the sex quite yet, but they said I will be able to find out in a couple of weeks when I go in for a different test. Ha, I had you going didn't I? I am good! Really though, the baby was so cute and it was so exciting. Even though this is the second time around, it is still just as amazing. So, the winners of the pole are all those who guessed 12 weeks. They were the closest. Congrats to those who won. You get a whole day of bragging that you are always right, well, that you are right most of the time! Do what you want with your win. I think you should go out and celebrate your rightness!

I will post the pics of the ultrasound soon :)

How far along do you think I am?

2009-11-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

fyi: This is not my belly of course.

So, Matt and I have been betting each other on how far along in my pregnancy we think I am. I wont tell you how far along I think I am. I will however give you some helpful hints.

Hints:

-My woman stuff was totally off before I got pregnant, so I really have no idea when my last woman thing took place.

-I have been throwing up for about a month now.

-I have been off birth control since July and I know I did not get pregnant right away.

-My belly is poking out a tiny bit. No one else would probably notice in clothes, but I am showing a little.

I hope that helps. The winner of the pole gets absolutely nothing. Sorry. I am not very creative, so I have nothing amazing to make that I could send you. If you lived near me however I would make you very yummy cookies. All you will get is the satisfaction of being right, which I think is a wonderful feeling anyway.

I am going to the doc Nov 4th; that is this Wednesday. I will tell you the results then.

Grandpa's visit to NM

2009-10-16T06:48:00.000-07:00

So before Gary headed off to a business trip he stopped by for a few days to visit us in New Mexico. Madeline fell in love with her Grandpa during this trip. It was hilarious when they would wrestle around on the floor Gary kept saying "oh my." Even the day after he left she came down stairs looking for him and kept saying "oh my" as well. Now if you want to wrestle around with her that is all that she says. We got to go to the balloon fiesta, which was so amazing to experience. The fireworks were absolutely gorgeous. Madeline was a little scared of them at fist, but this time Grandpa held her and she LOVED it. I stayed home while the men took Madeline to Santa Fe, but they had a great time and took some beautiful pictures. We really had a great visit. Here are the pics. I know most of them are of Madeline, but really who else would you rather stare at?

Madeline went crazy on the bus. She loved it and screamed with delight the whole time.

I looooooovvvvveeeee that smile.

Precious!

A camera can never capture how gorgeous fireworks are. Well, maybe a professional one could. I love fireworks.
Don't you love her crazy hair. Those were in for like 3 days.

I think she is going to be weird like her Mom. The faces she makes cracks me up.

These were all taken in Santa Fe.
So, if you put lotion, or sanitizer on Maddie's hands she thinks that her hands are stuck together or something. She will not take them apart for at least a half hour or so. I have no idea why, but it cracks us up. If you feed her during this as well she will just pick everything up with her mouth, while keeping her hands together. I wish I knew what was going on in that head of hers sometimes.

Love this talk!!!

2009-10-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

Safety for the Soul

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world . . . that the Book of Mormon is true.

Prophecies regarding the last days often refer to large-scale calamities such as earthquakes or famines or floods. These in turn may be linked to widespread economic or political upheavals of one kind or another.

But there is one kind of latter-day destruction that has always sounded to me more personal than public, more individual than collective—a warning, perhaps more applicable inside the Church than outside it. The Savior warned that in the last days even those of the covenant, the very elect, could be deceived by the enemy of truth.¹ If we think of this as a form of spiritual destruction, it may cast light on another latter-day prophecy. Think of the heart as the figurative center of our faith, the poetic location of our loyalties and our values; then consider Jesus’s declaration that in the last days “men’s hearts [shall fail] them.”²

The encouraging thing, of course, is that our Father in Heaven knows all of these latter-day dangers, these troubles of the heart and soul, and has given counsel and protections regarding them.

In light of that, it has always been significant to me that the Book of Mormon, one of the Lord’s powerful keystones³ in this counteroffensive against latter-day ills, begins with a great parable of life, an extended allegory of hope versus fear, of light versus darkness, of salvation versus destruction—an allegory of which Sister Ann M. Dibb spoke so movingly this morning.

In Lehi’s dream an already difficult journey gets more difficult when a mist of darkness arises, obscuring any view of the safe but narrow path his family and others are to follow. It is imperative to note that this mist of darkness descends on all the travelers—the faithful and the determined ones (the elect, we might even say) as well as the weaker and ungrounded ones. The principal point of the story is that the successful travelers resist all distractions, including the lure of forbidden paths and jeering taunts from the vain and proud who have taken those paths. The record says that the protected “did press their way forward, continually [and, I might add, tenaciously] holding fast” to a rod of iron that runs unfailingly along the course of the true path.⁴ However dark the night or the day, the rod marks the way of that solitary, redeeming trail.

“I beheld,” Nephi says later, “that the rod of iron . . . was the word of God, [leading] . . . to the tree of life; . . . a representation of the love of God.” Viewing this manifestation of God’s love, Nephi goes on to say:

“I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, . . . [who] went forth ministering unto the people. . . .

“ . . . And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; . . . and they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.”⁵

Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times—including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of despair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.”⁶ That phrase—taken from Moroni’s final lines of testimony, written 1,000 years after Lehi’s vision—is a dying man’s testimony of the only true way.

May I refer to a modern “last days” testimony? When Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum started for Carthage to face what they knew would be an imminent martyrdom, Hyrum read these words to comfort the heart of his brother:

“Thou hast been faithful; wherefore . . . thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.

“And now I, Moroni, bid farewell . . . until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ.”⁷

A few short verses from the 12th chapter of Ether in the Book of Mormon. Before closing the book, Hyrum turned down the corner of the page from which he had read, marking it as part of the everlasting testimony for which these two brothers were about to die. I hold in my hand that book, the very copy from which Hyrum read, the same corner of the page turned down, still visible. Later, when actually incarcerated in the jail, Joseph the Prophet turned to the guards who held him captive and bore a powerful testimony of the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon.⁸ Shortly thereafter pistol and ball would take the lives of these two testators.

As one of a thousand elements of my own testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon, I submit this as yet one more evidence of its truthfulness. In this their greatest—and last—hour of need, I ask you: would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives, their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book (and by implication a church and a ministry) they had fictitiously created out of whole cloth?

Never mind that their wives are about to be widows and their children fatherless. Never mind that their little band of followers will yet be “houseless, friendless and homeless” and that their children will leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers and an untamed prairie floor.⁹ Never mind that legions will die and other legions live declaring in the four quarters of this earth that they know the Book of Mormon and the Church which espouses it to be true. Disregard all of that, and tell me whether in this hour of death these two men would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as imposters and charlatans until the end of time? They would not do that! They were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history—perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died—from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.”¹⁰

I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work—and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times—until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies. If anyone is foolish enough or misled enough to reject 531 pages of a heretofore unknown text teeming with literary and Semitic complexity without honestly attempting to account for the origin of those pages—especially without accounting for their powerful witness of Jesus Christ and the profound spiritual impact that witness has had on what is now tens of millions of readers—if that is the case, then such a person, elect or otherwise, has been deceived; and if he or she leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make that exit. In that sense the book is what Christ Himself was said to be: “a stone of stumbling, . . . a rock of offence,”¹¹ a barrier in the path of one who wishes not to believe in this work. Witnesses, even witnesses who were for a time hostile to Joseph, testified to their death that they had seen an angel and had handled the plates. “They have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man,” they declared. “Wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true.”¹²

Now, I did not sail with the brother of Jared in crossing an ocean, settling in a new world. I did not hear King Benjamin speak his angelically delivered sermon. I did not proselyte with Alma and Amulek nor witness the fiery death of innocent believers. I was not among the Nephite crowd who touched the wounds of the resurrected Lord, nor did I weep with Mormon and Moroni over the destruction of an entire civilization. But my testimony of this record and the peace it brings to the human heart is as binding and unequivocal as was theirs. Like them “[I] give [my name] unto the world, to witness unto the world that which [I] have seen.” And like them, “[I] lie not, God bearing witness of it.”¹³

I ask that my testimony of the Book of Mormon and all that it implies, given today under my own oath and office, be recorded by men on earth and angels in heaven. I hope I have a few years left in my “last days,” but whether I do or do not, I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world, in the most straightforward language I could summon, that the Book of Mormon is true, that it came forth the way Joseph said it came forth and was given to bring happiness and hope to the faithful in the travail of the latter days.

My witness echoes that of Nephi, who wrote part of the book in his “last days”:

“Hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, . . . and they teach all men that they should do good.

“And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day.”¹⁴

Brothers and sisters, God always provides safety for the soul, and with the Book of Mormon, He has again done that in our time. Remember this declaration by Jesus Himself: “Whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived”¹⁵—and in the last days neither your heart nor your faith will fail you. Of this I earnestly testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

NOTES
1. See Matthew 24:24; see also Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:22.
2. Luke 21:26.
3. See History of the Church, 4:461.
4. 1 Nephi 8:30.
5. 1 Nephi 11:25, 27–28, 31.
6. Moroni 10:32.
7. Ether 12:37–38; see also D&C 135:5.
8. See History of the Church, 6:600.
9. Joseph Smith, in History of the Church, 4:539.
10. George Cannon, quoted in “The Twelve Apostles,” in Andrew Jenson, ed., The Historical Record, 6:175.
11. 1 Peter 2:8.
12. “The Testimony of Three Witnesses,” Book of Mormon.
13. “The Testimony of Eight Witnesses,” Book of Mormon; emphasis added.
14. 2 Nephi 33:10–11; emphasis added.
15. Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:37.

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