A wonderful evening...

Last night I went to the General Relief Society Broadcast and it was wonderful! Don't you love it when all the talks are especially for you and it seems Heavenly Father knew just what you needed? In my notes I wrote down a few things that jumped out to me, or things that I knew I needed to work on.

Julie B Beck:

* Increase my faith
*Be faithful
*Choose the better part
*Be deeply committed
*Help those in need
*Value the temple
*Protect the home
*Sincerely care
*"It is our caring that counts"
*Strive with faith
*"It is for you to lead the world"
*Serve in unity

Sister Allred

*Enlarge your soul
*Let your heart expand
*Charity never failth
*Pray for the desire to have charity
*Charity is the pure love of Christ
*Feed my sheep
*Embody charity
*do your VT

Sister Thompson

*Stay close to Heavenly Father
*Remember the Savior
*Cleve to your covenants
*Joy & protection will come
*We will be free of sin
*He makes all things well
*Have faith in Christ
*After I die- will their be eveidence of my covenants?
*Greatly rejoice

Elder Uchtdorf
"Forget me not oh, Lord"
1. Be patient with yourself.
-Stop comparing your weakness's to other's strengths
- No one is perfect
-God is fully aware
-Stop punishing yourself
-God notices

2. Good sacrafices/ Foolish sacrafices
- Do what matters most
-Am I committing my time and energy to what matters most?

3. Be happy now.
-Stop searching for your golden ticket
-Do not put your happiness on hold
-There is nothing wrong with righteous desires
-Never stop striving for the best
-Enjoy the everyday moments

4. The 'Why" of the gospel
-sometimes we forget why
-Seek out the joy of the "why"

5. The lord loves you.
(I was balling during this part!)

-I was never forgotten
-I am his child
-He knows me

After the confrence was over, I just sat ther with my friends, Kara & Kristen, talking, crying and resolving to to better. The messages were powerful and I walked away realizing I need to be a better Mother. I need to talk kindly. I need to embrace the everyday moments more. I need to love myself more and remember that the Lord knows me, sees me and truely loves me. some of the struggles I've been facing were answered. Some of my pain was addressed. And what I forget the most was gently and kindly whispered into my heart- mostly that I have never been forgotten.
thank you Lord for an amazing night...

What are you doing at 5:30 AM?

Apparently I am making apple butter, pumpkin bars, doing laundry, organizing the pantry and planning a birthday party!
Trav's 4:45 AM schedule has taken a tole on my sleep, because evidently on Saturday, when I should be sleeping- I am not. I think I would give a body part to get a goodnight's rest! Seriously. These days I average 5 hours a night,which is pretty decent, but I toss and turn and wake up so much that I think that # goes way down. I just want to wake up ready to face the day- but I am so darn tired all the time.
I've always been this way though. Even in Junior high & high school. Even before I became a Mom and even before I became crazy in the head and worried about everything. Is there a cronic fatigue syndrome that I signed up for while in the womb? Or do I get it from my dear sweet Mother who was always up at 5:00 (if not earlier) doing laundry, getting ready, putting rollers in her hair, reading or cleaning?
One of these days I'll feel rested, right???

Pears...

I finished up my pears yesterday was was happy to get 21 jars this year. When I told Trav I wasn't going crazy this year with canning, he said, "you could have fooled me."
Really I'm not. I've done enough to make myself feel good about it, but not enough to completely wear myself out.

Applesauce...

Yesterday Kara & I had another fun day of making applesauce! We were able to can 39 pints and quarts! After she left, Trav helped me get 7 quarts of pears done too. We are happy with what we were able to get done considering we started late in the day, had kids running around, had to run to the store for a propane refill and a few other interruptions!

I am really tired today after a morning of errands, a trip into Boise for my 3rd chirpractor app of the week, a library stop and a few other things. I need to finish my pears- but I'm taking a hour break while Willow is napping and Grace is happily watching a movie. Oh, sweet rest, how I need you...

Little Miss Willow...

I cannot believe she is turning 2 next week! How in the world did my baby grow up? I just found this picture and thought I'd post it! I need to plan a party one of these days too!

Canning...

The other night we went and picked raspberries at Tammy's house (thank you!)it was kind of neat because some of her bushes/starts had come from Trav's parents years ago. I was excited to make some more jam!
We to the orchard again yesterday to get some more apples and we were thrilled to find more peaches as well!
Yesterday Kara & I canned 43 jars of applesauce. We will can the rest later today.
After she left, I made 14 pints of raspberry peach jam, 5 raspberry-peach freezer jam & 5 peach frezzer jam's! There's nothing like making jam at almost midnight (I was interuppted a 100 times because Trav was working on his 2nd security clearance for work and needed massive info that I had to search old journals for!)
Finally at 1:00 AM we fell asleep. My feet ached. Naturally Grace woke up twice and sure enough the alarm went off shortly after at 4:45 AM. Oh, the long days of canning! Gotta love it.

Grace's silly faces...

Grace is always taking crazy pictures of herself- here's her latest...

Canning Update...

Yesterday sweet Kara came over and we canned peaches together for a few hours. I had done 14 quarts before she arrived and then we did 29 while she was here. Can I just say how much "funner" canning is with a friend! It's wonderful.
Today sweet Angie came over and we did 14 quarts for Annikan who's still in the hospital after having baby # 4. She had a c- section and there was no way she was going to get to them after that and I couldn't bare the thought of her not having any or the peaches rotting- so we spent a few hours this afternoon doing hers. After Angie left I made a bunch of strawberry-pineaple- peach jam! I made 16 pints and I am thrilled to have yummy jam this year! ( and for gifts too!)


***Offical 2011 count***

Peaches= 78 quarts
Jam= 61 pints
Freezer Jam= 19 containers
Applesauce= 82 pints & quarts
Pears= 21 quarts

Grand Total= 261 pints, quarts or frozen.
My total= 172

The Peacock park...

A few weekends ago, we took the kids to the "peacock park' and had a picnic by the river. The kids had peacocks eating out of their hands! Crazy. it was a beautiful hot day and the kids had a blast riding their bikes everywhere. It was a lovely day.

The orchard...

Who has the greatest husband in the world? I do! I do!

Honestly, does anyone have a husband that helps during canning season? Trav is amazing. He helped me get a few quarts done today which i am SO thankful for!
We went to the orchard a few nights ago to help pick peaches. I almost didn't go because I wasn't feeling well, but I drugged up and went, which I'm thankful for. We were able to pick peaches for free! We grabbed a bunch that night and then the next day Shelly, Angie & I went out and picked A TON of fruit! I came home with 4 recycling bins full of peaches, a huge bag of apples and 2 1/2 buckets full of pears. We had fun!!
The kids and I have made a TON of peach deliveries to friends and family the past few days!
It's been fun making jam too. I made 20 pints yesterday. 16 cooked and 4 freezer jam.

Sore, but feeling better...

I am really thankful to report my jaw is a lot better. Although still sore and really achy- it feels a million times better than it did before. Almost a month later, a 100 ct bottle of Advil and a ton of ice packs seemed to help, I think! I'll be glad when it is completely gone because it is still really uncomfortable- but I'm relieved the stabbing, painful pressure has subsided.

I've been to the chiroprator 4 times this week and they worked on it a little (Who knows if it did anything) but I am grateful to FINALLY be going because my head, neck & back have been messed up- FOREVER! One chirpractor I saw years ago asked when I had been in a accident, and I replied, "Never."
I did discover this week that my spine is seriously messed up, my neck is a joke and my back is super sad as well. My head is literraly not on right, my neck has no natural curve to it- it's completely straight, 1 rib is out of place, my vertebre are crazy, 1 leg is longer than the other and in some places my neck and back and are out so much that the other side is straining 6 times more than it should. Well,NO WONDER everything hurts! No wonder I've had horrible headaches for 21 years! It helps when your head is on right for goodness sakes!

The Dr. thinks after a zillion adjustments, I should feel 50% better. I was shocked. I was just praying for 1% improvement! It's crazy what we live with most of our lives and what we allow to become "our normal." I'm trying to take care of myself these days instead of stressing about every cent it will cost. The truth is I want to be around a long time, so I better start taking care of things, right?
Thanks for caring, and thanks christy for the referral! They are truely the greatest!

Still Here...

It started close to 3 weeks ago, the pain in my jaw. Before my G-ma came out we were both complaining about our aches and pains. At the time my ear was bothering more than normal and she gave me a few tricks of hers. I started having jaw pain right after that and assummed I had been grinding my teeth at night more than normal. There was a week of mild jaw pain and I kept rubbing them thinking, "what the heck am I doing at night?"
But then the pain became a million times worse and I litterally couldn't handle it anymore. Not only was my jaw in MAJOR pain, but the back of my head and neck, even my arms felt really heavy & weak. Poor Trav had been rubbing my head & jaw for a week and 1/2 and I was consuming more Advil than anyone should admit to- but nothing was helping. I missed church last week and finally couldn't take it anymore- I thought possibly I had an ear infection because the preassure under my ear was out of control and I thought that antibiotics would be the cure- so I went into Primary Health (my home away from home!) to get checked out. After he looked me over he said, I don't see anything wrong with your ears. He suggjested the dentist next. I thanked him and drove home in tears. I just wanted drugs to make the horrible pain stop!!
I made an appointment for the dentist and went in a few days later and learned it wasn't my teeth eaither. Really? I asked. "I don't need a root canal or anything? And he said, "no- they look fine." I told him I'd pay him a million dollars if he'd figure it out but he referred me to a specialist instead. Again, I drove home in even more pain from having to have my mouth open FOREVER at the dentist!
I called the Craniofacial Pain Center as soon as I got home and the next available appointment wasn't until Sept 19th. I made the appoint,ment and begged her to call me if there was a cancellation. I just cried. Someone make this horrible pain stop!
I had a blessing, I finished the huge bottle of Advil and have been in bed every moment I haven't had to get up for something, I've used ice packs for weeks and alternated heating packs too.I'm on my 5th book- which is incredible, but it's been awful. I thought it couldn't get worse until I realized the pain was also spreading to my left side. I couldn't believe it. Seroiusly, just cut my head off! So many of my problems would be solved if it were no longer attatched!
It's been days later now and the pain has now shifted to my lower jaw, near my cheecks and not as much under my ear like it was.
I'm just whinning, but if anyone has had anything like this- I'll pay you a trillion dollars to help make this go away!!

Annikan's Shower...

Last night we had Annikan's baby shower and it was a lot of fun. She recieved tons of super cute things, which is great, because after having 3 girls in a row and now expecting a boy in 2 weeks, she needed it!
Lara graciously let us have it at her house and we all worked together to get things planned. The food was yummy, the treats were great and it was nice to see everyone come out and celebrate her pregnancy. I'm thrilled for her to finally have her little guy. Good luck my dear- you will do great, how ever it turns out!

Annikan's Shower...

Yard Sale Treasures...

Last week my awesome yard sale find was the super cool traffic light whitch really works! Only .75 too! It goes with all my signs- love it!

This morning I found a full pack of Pull Ups for $3.00 and 5 pair of training pants! Love it!!!