Happy Thanksgiving

Went out to Mike's family's home today for Thanksgiving. We drove by our house on the way and was so super excited to see that they had started some of the plumbing and most of the windows were in. Can't wait to see what happens next:) I talked my sweet sister in law, Juliet, into getting some "stuff" for me during the great sales on Black Friday. It's nice to have most of my Christmas shopping done already. I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Fun times....

I made a slideshow of our busy weekend. Cody had a couple friends come over and stay the night on Friday. I think it went ok for our first sleepover. The next morning though Dallas and Cody decided to roast marshmellows on the fireplace-needless to say it didn't go over to well with mommy and daddy and they had a fun time cleaning that up after we took the boys home. Mike and Dallas also went on a chilly motorcycle ride on Saturday up to mom, dad, and Tam's home to watch college football. Needless to say it was a chilly trip. Today after meetings and church we headed out to walk through our house. It is really starting to come together and we can't wait for it to be finished. We already got a call from the school tonight about a 2 hour late start tomorrow because of the weather. Should make for a fun week if the weather continues like this. We are really excited for Thanksgiving the end of the week and for the chance to get a day off work. My wonderful grandpa Bob is also celebrating his 80th birthday today so Happy Birthday Grandpa-we love you!!

Free slideshow design personalized with Smilebox

We drove by the house tonight and the workers were still there so we decided to sit and watch them working on the roof from across the street in the church parking lot. (Hence the reason the picture is a little fuzzy-but you get the point) We are getting so excited to see what happens next.

House update

I promised my sister in law that I would post some updated pictures of the house upstairs. The darkness was creeping up on us fast so I do apologize that they are a little dark. We went by again tonight and looks like they will be setting trusses tomorrow which is very exciting. Maybe we'll even have a roof by Thanksgiving.





*On a side note Dallas got back from his little vaca with Uncle Aaron, Aunt Juliet and Kingston to the Great Wolf Lodge. He had a blast and I can't wait when we can all go as a family!

Love With All Our Hearts

I wanted to share an article that I read while studying D&C 42 which I thought was really good and well put. (I am taking a D&C History class right now through BYU)

What does it mean to love someone with all our hearts? It means with all our emotional feelings and our devotion. Surely when you love your wife with all your heart, you cannot demean her, criticize her, find fault with her, nor abuse her by words, sullen behavior, or actions.

What does it mean to "cleave unto her"? It means to stay close to her, to be loyal to her, to strengthen her, to communicate with her, and to express your love for her. (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Nov. 1983, p. 43; or Conference Report, Oct. 1983, pp. 63–64.)

In latter-day revelation the Lord speaks again of this obligation. He said, "Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else" (D&C 42:22). To my knowledge there is only one other thing in all scripture that we are commanded to love with all our hearts, and that is God Himself. Think what that means!

This kind of love can be shown for your wives in so many ways. First and foremost, nothing except God Himself takes priority over your wife in your life--not work, not recreation, not hobbies. Your wife is your precious, eternal helpmate--your companion. (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Nov. 1987, p. 50; or Conference Report, Oct. 1987, p. 61.)

Elder Delbert L. Stapley of the Council of the Twelve quoted D&C 42:20, 22, 24 and then gave this informative counsel:

These commandments also are very clear, forthright, and understandable. What applies to the man cleaving unto his wife and none else applies with equal force also to the wife for her husband. There is no double standard in the Church. Both man and woman are responsible for their personal acts.

I often wonder why a man or a woman will give up wife or husband and children for an adulterous relationship. When sin is the foundation of the marriage relationship, the chance of a secure and happy companionship is very remote. Surely the Spirit of the Lord, neither God's laws to man, sanction such behavior, nor can the blessings of the Lord be expected upon such a union.

It is difficult to understand how church members who know these commandments can cast aside such knowledge and yield to the lusts of the flesh. Small violations lead to more serious and devastating sins. Those who play with fire, ultimately, if they persist, will be burned. (Improvement Era, June 1963, p. 482; or Conference Report, Apr. 1963, p. 35.)

Other Brethren have given us this excellent counsel on these verses:

Marriage is a divine institution, ordained of God. Achieving success in the home is a supernal challenge--no other success can compensate for it. (L. Tom Perry, Ensign, May 1995, p. 72.)

And, when the Lord says all thy heart, it allows for no sharing nor dividing nor depriving. And, to the woman it is paraphrased: "Thou shalt love thy husband with all thy heart and shall cleave unto him and none else." The words none else eliminate everyone and everything. The spouse then becomes preeminent in the life of the husband or wife, and neither social life nor occupational life nor political life nor any other interest nor person nor thing shall ever take precedence over the companion spouse. We sometimes find women who absorb and hover over the children at the expense of the husband, sometimes even estranging them from him. The Lord says to them: ". . . Thou shalt cleave unto him and none else." (Spencer W. Kimball, Improvement Era, Dec. 1962, p. 928, or Conference Report, Oct. 1962, p. 57.)

Brethren, our home can never be any better than our selection and care of the one to be the queen in our castle. This sweet and hopefully eternal companion needs particular attention, for she is so tender and so special. "Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shall cleave unto her and none else." (D&C 42:22.)

If you really love her, you are more concerned for her welfare than for that of yourself. Do you see that she has opportunity for her self-improvement? She has the same God-given desire for perfection as you do. A regular day of diversion whereby she may pursue this goal is so vital. But do you know what she wants most from you? Your companionship, your courtesies, and your communication. And least? Your selfishness and silence. Each couple must constantly cultivate the art of communication. (Russell M. Nelson, Improvement Era, Dec. 1968, p. 87; or Conference Report, Oct. 1968, pp. 89–90.)

-I know this article states loving and cleaving to your wife but I think that husband can be replaced just as easily-

Our New House!!!

Exciting times for our family:) We are building a home in Graham on 224th in a new development called Thrift Pond. We actually started this process back in March and finally-finally after weeks and weeks of waiting on permits, plans, etc. we are seeing progress. This week they started framing the bottom floor (it's a split level layout)and can't wait to see how much gets done next week.

Chicken Party

Yesterday we went out to Graham and worked on pressure canning chicken. It started out by cutting all the fat off of approx. 120 lbs of chicken and cutting them into about 1 inch chunks. After about 3 hours of cutting we had chicken going in the pressure cookers and had fun doing it! Now I'm excited that I have so many jars of canned chicken in my food storage.

And it continues...

I woke up to the sound of my poor husband throwing up this morning around 4:30 a.m. Mike got a flu shot a couple weeks ago so I don't know what is going on around here. I think it is just something going around. Dallas and I are the only one who haven't thrown up....hopefully we won't either.

What a Night-

I spent all night getting up about every 30 minutes tending to sick boys last night. Cody started throwing up around midnight last night (at first we thought it was because he had eaten to many donuts or something) but when Brandon started about an hour later we figured it must be some kind of weird bug. Sunday morning about 2 a.m. Elijah woke up feeling sick and threw up. Mike and I hadn't even gone to bed yet since we had only got back home around 1 a.m. from his Halloween gig. Then after throwing up one time he went to bed and was fine yesterday. Poor babies were puking around once an hour-thankfully they took turns though-I would help Cody, put him back to bed, lay down close my eyes and then I would hear Brandon starting to cough so I would jump out of bed, grab him and rush him to the toilet. Brandon was so sad while he would be standing in front of the toilet throwing up. He was crying saying he was tired:( Mike started feeling sick after Cody started so he took NyQuil and was pretty much out of it after that.
Cody is home today resting and Brandon and Mike are laying on the couch. Poor babies-to bad they don't have a superior immune system like their mom:) Eeee heeee! Now it's laundry duty to get rid of the smell and watching the office. Now that I took my midterm I can finish up the rest of my D&C History class.

On another note-we drove by our property yesterday and they dug the hole for our house and the forms are there so they can start cement work. We are soooo excited to see something happening on the lot now. We will keep you posted on the progress!