Tender Mercies Tuesday

Whelp sorry to leave you all hanging on Monday! Yesterday was busy!


Okay so here is what happened...as we pulled around the corner and started opening our garage we started leaking anti freeze. By the time we parked the car Anti-freeze was pooling under the car and rushing towards the curb and gutter! Yeah talk about good timing, that would have been terrible if it would have happened half way through the trip! Turns out a hose just came loose randomly right then. We waited for the engine to cool down then checked everything and noticed the hose. Matt reconnected it, put in more Anti-freeze and drove the car around the block long enough to make sure it wasn't going over heat... it didn’t, so talk about a miracle! Easy fix along with perfect timing for the so called car troubles! I thought for sure we had a big hole somewhere in a hose so we called Preston and Suzanne so they could drive us to an auto parts store to buy a new one before we needed to go to work on Monday. By the time Matt saw the hose was just loose they were all ready there. I was glad they could help at the drop of the hat and felt bad that we didn’t need it after all.

Second one is we cancelled our cable about a month ago... we don’t have TV anymore, just movies that we own and Netflix on my lap top (it's pretty much killing me but its forcing me not to turn on the BLAH that is on these days) ANYWAYS Matt returned our cable box to comcast forever ago and when he returned it they said he forgot the "plug" and the remote... we looked forever for some sort of power cord that plugged into that back of the receiver but we couldn’t find one. I dug out the remote, then Matt, after a few weeks figured it was a cable not a plug they were looking to have returned. So yesterday I grabbed them on my way down to SLC for my meetings. It was a long day at work that I didn’t expect and I didn’t pack ANY food and after having a weird morning I never ate breakfast... so I was starving and tired on my way over to pick up Ty. I decided that I should still return the stuff and figure out why, since they cut our cable a month ago, they were still charging us for it. It took forever to get there, mainly due to the fact that construction in Utah in the summer is unbearable and at one point I swear I didn't move for about 10 minutes on a random side street. I finally found the building and walked in, I told myself to calm down and be nice because I just knew I was upset. I was hungry tired and had been stuck in traffic for about a half an hour... the place was kind of like a bank with reps lined up behind a long countertop. I had to wait about 10 minutes before someone helped me and I was listening to all of the customers accuse, curse and be down right rude with the reps. It was then I resolved that being snippy wouldn’t help my cause and annoyance so I should try to be as nice as possible. I went over to the rep who called me over and I told her I was here to return the 2 items, she looked at everything on my account and thanked me for bringing it in. She asked if there was anything else she could do for me and I mentioned my bill. As she was looking up that bill I made small talk by stating how stressful her job must be with people cursing and yelling at her all the time. She said “Yeah, it's not bad. You learn to deal with it.” She finally found my bill and assured me she would fix it and give me a new one right then, back dating it to the day we cancelled. I waited a little longer making more small talk and finally she said it wasn’t working that she fixed the date but they new total wasn’t coming up. I told her that was fine as long as the total changed on-line when I went to pay it. She said it probably would be, I told her that was okay and was about to leave when she said “Ohh and since we messed up your bill, I'll go ahead and change your phone and internet to 19.99 a month for 6 months. Sorry about the inconvenience of coming down here twice.” I thanked her and smiled as I left.

I got in the car and took a deep breath glad I decided to be nice instead of grouchy... see look what happens when you are nice, cheaper phone and internet bill for 6 months what a tender mercy :)

Jordans Birthday Weekend

On Saturday was Jordan'sBbirthday so Matt, Ty and I headed up to Rexburg to celebrate with him and the rest of the family.

Friday night we watched a movie, talked and munched.

Saturday Michaela made the most amazing waffles I have ever had. I was shocked I downed the whole thing it was so big, then I come to find out Matt ate THREE! Holy cow! Buttermilk waffles with homemade syrup, Marshmallow creme whipped with cream cheese and fresh strawberries were delightful.

The boys went golfing afterwards while the little guys took naps and Micheala prepared lunch and dinner.

When the boys returned from their golfing we packed up a picnic lunch and headed down to Idaho Falls to see the air show featuring the "Blue Angels". They were pretty cool, Matt was going CRAZY running around watching them, he is such a little kid sometimes.

After the show we stuck around at the park for a while and played while the crowds were dispersing. When we got home no one was hungry for dinner yet because we just ate a huge lunch and breakfast so we all went over to the park and played for a while.

The Dads took all the boys on the Carousel ride at the park.

Calin wasn't so thrilled with it.

Ty is ready to go!

Hey look it's all the boys.

Matt moved Ty to a bigger horse and he was SO excited. Matt had to peal him off when the ride was over. I think he could have done it about ten more times!

Ty and Dallin getting a good push from Matt.

Tanner swings so high on his own!

We headed back to Jordan and Michaelas place had some BBQ Kabobs for dinner and then had Jordan's Ice Cream cake from Cold Stone.

Sunday we headed over to H.D. and Britany's to visit for a few hours before church. Ty liked playing with Baylee and Laycee. Laycee was so funny walking around in my shoes.

We went to church with Jordan and Michaela. Michaela spoke on the service of motherhood and did a fantastic job.

We headed out right after Sacrament meeting and had a good drive home, well until the end...more on that part tomorrow.

Thanks to Jordan and Michaela for playing host to us, it was so fun to hang out all weekend!   

P.S. While we were there one of the Twilight DVD's was laying out and I said "Hey Matt, maybe Michaela will let us borrow her Twilight movies so we can see what all the buzz is about" (No I havent read the books or seen any of the movies) Then next thing I know Michaela is pulling out all 4 THICK books and told me I CAN NOT watch the movies until I read the books. So she sent them all home with me... I guess i'll have to read them soon so I can watch the movies...

Ty

Ty likes to eat nectarines and peachs

He likes to eat cookies with aunt Zan

He likes to help me put away (?) the dishes

He likes to try and eat with his own fork and spoon

He likes to look sharp after his dad gives him a hair cut.

Oh and he likes to hang out with his mommy :)

Final Night Pictures

Opening Scene... "Call on Dolly", "I put my hand in" and Band Members Practicing for the 14th st. Parade.

"Put on your Sunday Clothes" I dont change at all Suzanne just adds her apron and bows...

She was HANDS DOWN BEST DRESSED! Her costume was GORGEOUS! Oh and she is too of course.

 

"When the Parade Passes By" All the Band Memebers in the 14th St. Parade. (Amber, Janae, Me, Suzanne, Markus and Kim)

Snooty waiters at the Harmonia Gardens Resuturant... We were supposed to have our noses up the whole time until the end when Dolly comes, then during "Hello Dolly" we were supposed to smile REALLY BIG.

My Polka costume for the Harmonia Gardens Polka Contest... nope we never won haha

Sweet FEATHERS Huh! Thanks Jac! I'll get them back to you shortly, thanks for letting me borrow them.

Thanks to all who came and saw the show it was a TON of hard work and time putting it together, glad some could enjoy it.

Tender Mercies Tuesday: Perfect Match?

I think it, Matt says it... I get up to do something before he even has to ask me... Seems like I lucked out by finding my PERFECT MATCH!

I was reading an article talking about putting your marriage F I R S T. Which is something I feel Matt and I do pretty well with. In the article Dr. Hale said that typically one person is the big spender while the other is a saver. I thought about it and I don't think we have those opposites, we both spend and we both save. We are always on the same page when it comes to money. We always have been even since before marriage, having shared a bank account for about a year beforehand.

Also, I was thinking about how we parent; this was discussed in the article too. It was interesting because it talked about parenting styles. Matt and I are on exactly the same page when it comes to parenting! I mean (talk about creepy) I was bringing Ty upstairs to put him down for a nap one morning. He has come to know when Nap time is and when you scoop him up and walk up the stairs and turn the corner to his room he used to start whining a little because he KNEW he was going down to bed. I thought to myself, "I should spend more time with him playing in his room so he doesn't think that he is going to bed every time we are in here. Maybe I'll move some toys upstairs to play with in here" Then with in 10 minutes Matt and I were talking on the phone during his break and he says out of the blue, "I think we should move some toys upstairs into Ty's room and play with him more in there so he doesn't whine every time we take him in there." WHA?? Weird right? This has happened on NUMEROUS occasions! It definitely makes life easy that we have ESP with one another regarding parenting, okay I wouldn’t take it that far, but it's close :) If we ever have differences in our opinions we come to a quick middle ground and both feel good about it.

Not only with parenting does this happen but when we are praying about changes, goals, plans or troubles in life, both of us get the same answers and feelings and can confirm with one another exactly what our answer is and what we should do. Nothing has ever been conflicting regarding answers to prayers, that is pretty amazing!

I am SO thankful that I found my perfect match (or we both made sure to change and adapt to make ourselves perfect matches) it makes life so much smoother when bumps and sharp turns come along in our path. What a tender mercy my husband is to me every single day that I live and breathe.

Hello Dolly Clips

These are for all those who couldn't come to see the show... Matt took a few random videos of Suzanne and I.

First up is a scene right after the Hat Shop, it's called Dancing. When we zoom on our camera the auto focus goes haywire for a minute there, sorry! I am in the lacy cream colored dress.

Did you hear a few chuckles from Matt? Yeah I am guessing he was laughing because of this,

Ty was on his lap trying to grab the camera the whole time.

Next we have "When the Parade Passes By" Suzanne and I are band members marching in the 14th St. Parade. I am playing the Trombone, Suzanne is playing the Clarinet.


That is all Matt got from the first act, Matt couldn't find the camera until I came out and showed him where it was, Suzanne and I are in other scenes (like Put on Your Sunday Clothes) that he didn't get on camera. That's okay though.

The second act we are waiters at the Harmonia Gardens.
This is a quick one, it's of us doing some bell hops and my favorite move... funny thing was I found out just a few days before Suzanne admitted she can't do bell hops so she fakes it... the video just doesn't do it justice comapared to the real thing. I am in the back and mess up the whole time because I am laughing so hard at Suzanne.


The rest are just random parts from the Hello Dolly dance, yeah that's me with the shirt untucked the ENTIRE TIME! Dang wish I knew!






There is more after those scenes but again, that is all Matt took video of... I am also in the polka contest at the end. I get to wear a feather in my hair, i'll have Matt take a picture of me in my costume tonight. Tonight is the last show! I am happy it's over, but somewhat glad Suzanne and I did it, quite the adventure I would say...

Big Boy

So Ty has decided that it's time for him to grow up, okay well he's been doing that for over a year now but yesterday he really rubbed it in.

We went and bought him THIS:

Oh I can't even tell you how excited he was to sit FORWARDS and see me driving, he was looking out the window and squealing the entire way home.

First Times at Seven Peaks

Some good friends were here in town and they told me that they were going to Seven Peaks today. We rounded up the troups and joined them.

Today was the first time Sierra was completely lost, I mean we had 6 of us running around the park looking for her, we lost her at the tadpole pool. She was all the way up on the waterslides telling people she was looking for her mommy. Luckily some 15 year old girls new something fishy was up and they carried her all the way down to the First Aid station where Matt was there and saw them... sheesh that girl scared the junk out of us!

(Ty trying to crawl to the Lazy River with Kristin and Sheri chatting in the tadpole pool)

(We found her!)

(We stuck Sarah on her so she wouldn't ever get away again, Sarah was GREAT with Jason and Sierra)

Second Preston and Matt FINALLY touched the top of the Boomerang!

(Keith and Christian went and didn't quite touch but had a good time trying)

(Matt and Preston STOKED that they touched)

~Third is when Matt was running up the ramp to the waterslides and a group of 16-17 year old girls were standing around he heard one say "Hot body alert" as he was rushing up, he didn't pay much attention until he heard the friends say, "What? Where?" then the girl that said it had the NERVE to slap Matt's bum and say, "right there!" Uhh little did she know he is a decade older then her with a wife and child... wow that is pretty daring of her if you ask me! First time Matt has had his bum slapped by a minor! Yeesh! That is terrible! 

and Fourth, (Sorry I took the video sideways, I wish it was the other way just turn your head I can't figure out for the LIFE of me how to rotate it anyone know?... anyways it is super intense) Matt and Preston pretty much broke all distance and height records on the "Skyscraper" waterslide.

Keith went first, and I didn't get video of him, my camera ran out of space right as he was coming out...so I had to hurry and make some space for the rest of the boys.

Christian went second and I think he was a bit nervous but did it somewhat gracefully...

Preston went and got the croud pretty stoked about his run! Yeah that was crazy...sorry it is so short! Again I had to clear memory. Some girls asked after Preston went, "DID HE DO THAT ON PURPOSE??" Preston said "uhh yeah I did it on purpose" :)

Then Matt went! YIIIIIKKKKES! He is INSANE!!! He came SO FAR OFF THE SLIDE! This video doesnt even do it justice. 

Tonight was the BYU Sports Camp evening too so there were probably about 600-700 kids ages 12-18 watching them... After Matt got off he immediately had about 10 teenagers surrounding him and highfiving him for his awesome slide... watching it again pretty much scares me to death! He is CRAZY!

(The girlies, caught off gaurd)

All in all it was good times with family and good friends. Matt and Preston are excited to go BACK to Seven Peaks for me to get better video footage... I'm not sure I like that Idea... someone asked me how good of a life insurance policy I had on Matt. Not good enough I guess! I better up the amount if he keeps doing crazy stuff like this!

Tender Merices Tuesday: Faithful Friends

I have been thinking about the friends I have for the last little while. Outside of the family I have a few dozen good friends. For some reason I have been able to make friends easily but I am an "out of sight, out of mind friend"- meaning if I don't see you or talk to you on a daily basis or if either of us move away, generally I don't stay in contact. I got to thinking one night, that maybe it doesn't matter where they live or if I see them every day or not; a friend is a friend and I never know when they might need my help. I should stay meaningfully connected with these people I have had a bond with so that I can be in tune if the Lord ever needs me to help them. What if I had an experience that I have all ready overcome that a dear friend is going through that only I can share special encouraging strength with? I may be playing the what if game a bit too much (hey it was 3 am! That’s what you do in the middle of the night) but I feel like it is something I need to work on.

To my surprise I flipped through the Ensign and saw the first presidency message this month and THERE IT WAS! What I had JUST BEEN PONDERING! Isn't it crazy how that always seems to happen? Exactly what you are thinking right there on the page?

President Henry B Eyring said:
"One of the great tributes the Savior can give is to call us “friends.” We know that He loves with a perfect love all of His Heavenly Father’s children. Yet for those who have been faithful in their service with Him, He reserves this special title... We become His friends as we serve others for Him. He is the perfect example of the kind of friend we are to become. He wants only what is best for His Heavenly Father’s children. Their happiness is His happiness. He feels their sorrow as His own because He has paid the price of all their sins, taken upon Himself all their infirmities, borne all their troubles, and felt all their longings. His motives are pure. He seeks no recognition for Himself but to give all glory to His Heavenly Father. The perfect friend, Jesus Christ, is completely selfless in offering happiness to others.

 In the next few days you will have many opportunities to be a friend for Him. It may be as you walk on a dusty road. It may be as you sit down in a railroad car. It may be as you look for a place to sit in a Church congregation. If you are watching, you will see someone carrying a heavy burden. It may be a burden of sorrow or loneliness or resentment. It may be visible to you only if you have prayed for the Spirit to give you eyes to see into hearts and have promised to lift up the hands that hang down.

The answer to your prayer may be the face of an old friend, one you have not seen in years but whose needs suddenly come into your mind and heart and feel as if they are your own. I’ve had that happen to me. Old friends have reached out to me across the miles and the years to offer encouragement when only God could have told them of my burden."

Lucky for me I know a person that exemplifies this selfless friendship President Eyring spoke of, (I hope I don't embarrass her too much though) She is my husbands cousins wife Melissa (but I just call her my cousin too). Talk about a Christ like friend! She keeps in contact with everyone and has a heart the size of... hmmm what is the biggest thing you can think of??? Well it's bigger! She is ALWAYS offering words of encouragement, always wanting to know the latest and greatest in your life (not in a nosey way at all, but so she can share in your joy) and stays connected with people she was friends with in KINDERGARTEN! I find it fascinating how she even keeps everyone straight. I could list all the kind services and gestures she has done for my family but it just may be too long! I laughed when I found out how many Christmas cards she sends out each year. :) I am so glad she has become my friend over the years and I hope that someday I can learn to be as good a friend a she is to others. I want to be in tune when others need my help, time or talents so I can be called one of "His friends as I serve others for him".

It's BBBAAAAACCCK!

Oh hey guys, got my camera back! Special thanks to Kelly, for getting it fixed!

Ty has been a stinker the last 4 or 5 days... We figured out on Saturday what was going on... he is cutting all four of his first year molars at once. His teeth don't come in over night though, they take about a week! It wasn't until last night that he was SOME WHAT normal. I am thinking he may have more then just those 4 coming in too. We'll see in the next few days. For now we've been using lots of baby oralgel, cold grapes, blueberries and Motrin to ease his pain. Poor kid!

Yesterday Colton was trying to teach everyone the awesome-ness of the "Mean Mug"

Hello Dolly Opening Night

After LONG hours of rehearsals, Opening Night is FINALLY here! Our Director, Stephen, put together a little teaser video of a couple Dress Rehearsals put together. Oh and no you can't see me or Suzanne in any of the video really, so if you want to see us, you gotta catch the real deal :)  

Come see the show!

Tender Merices Tuesday: Impossible

I didn't realize that I didn't post yesterday!


Something impossible happened last week. I can't go into great detail, but what I will say is this, there is no possible way it should have happened.

We have been dealing with a certain issue the last few months, scratch that years... and I finally called Matt a couple Thursdays ago, in tears. I said I was tired of trying to be optimistic about it all and I was done. I said I couldn't take it any more and I didn't know what else to do. I told him I had been praying and fasting about the situation for what seemed like forever and nothing had been changing despite so much thought and prayer. Matt decided that it was time to really start taking action. He decided to re-arrange his plans and attended a temple session that afternoon right after work. He has been attending at LEAST 2 times a month but this issue required special thought, attention and spiritual guidance he felt he could receive in the temple. He thought and prayed and promptly received an answer to our constant prayers pleading and he told me about it when he got home. He actually got a little choked up while telling me, the spirit was so strong.

Wow, how did we not think of that before? The answer was right in front of our faces! So we went to work setting about the change our Father in Heaven had directed us to make. While making that change last week we kept running into road blocks... things to seemingly make this change impossible. Matt said "I don't understand, the Spirit of the Lord told me this will happen, and there is no possible way it will..."

I told Matt we should be optimistic (again) and have faith that the Lord answered our prayers and that he would make a way as long as we did all we could on our end. Finally after a few more days of waiting and worrying, Matt threw up a "Hail Mary" (I thought the phrase was appropriate, even though I am using it in the sports analogy sense...not literally, all though that probably wouldn't have hurt at that point) it worked. We don't know all the details and we don't want to know. All we know is that a miracle happened last week and now Matt and I can breathe a bit easier and say SO MANY thankful prayers. That particular stress is gone and now we need to move on and keep up with the current changes we have made.

I have known for sometime, but this last week re-affirmed once again that I know for a fact that Heavenly Father knows us all individually, and he wants so badly to give us blessings that we need. He knows us best, and loves us most, so why would we ever think that he doesn't care or wont understand. We need to constantly turn to God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Proverbs 3: 5-6 says:
5 Trust in the Lord with all (our) heart(s), and lean not to (our) own understanding.
6 In all (our) ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct (our) paths.

The Lord himself said in Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Thankfully our yoke is now easier and our burden lighter. I don't know why we didn't just turn it all over to the Lord sooner :)

4thof July Weekend Pictures and a ton of them

Since my camera is still out of commission (word on the street is it should be done soon) Suzanne took a ton of pictures for me this weekend.

July 3rd, we kicked off the morning with some shooting courtesy of Preston and Suzanne

Matt the sharp shooter

Ty guy hung out in the back of the car while they shot, he loved it.

Preston striking a pose!

I took one too many Benedryl, and was a bit tired. I took a nap while they shot the clay pigeons.

Matt was throwing for Preston

Here he is again, hanging out in the trunk.

After shooting we met up with Will and went to Tucanos for lunch. We had quite the surplus of BoGo coupons and we had some extra cash from selling some concert tickets on KSL that I won for free. It was Preston's first time and he loved it. Ty wanted to eat the lemon so bad... and he would make such a funny face them go back for more.

After Tucano's we went over to Seven Peaks water park.

Nice Preston...

I kept trying to wave for Suzanne, this is the shot she got.

Woo Hoo Will!

Nice shades :)

Dang, isn't he good looking?

Ty crawls around and picks at everything, it's pretty gross so we have to watch very careful.

Ty and Matt in the wave pool.

July 4th, we went to church then we had a BBQ with the Readings and the Walkers. Will spent the day with his parents.  (Kristin and the kids are in Oregon so he has been alone)

Ty got to the S'mores and then wanted to hug Suzanne, she had a white skirt on and was nervous.

Chris (Stephanies brother) and Matt roasting Starbursts and Marshmallows.

Ty employing his famous grass crawling technique.

Hey Preston, thanks for getting in the Family 4th picture.

We made SO MUCH FOOD for the dinner, Ryan Walker smoked a chicken, I made potato salad, fruit salad, avocado chip dip, veggies and dip, american flag Jell-o, Raspberry Lime Rickys and Lemon Berry Trifle! It was my first try and it turned out tasty... obviously. 

After gorging ourselves we lit off fire works courtesy of the Walkers they were TNT ones that were duds sometimes. We all thought it was hilarious.

Yay! One worked!

Our neighbor friends the Walkers, (Sam, Ryan and Steph)

The Grand Finale!

Sam LOVED watching the fireworks.

Ty liked them too, he didn't get nervous at all.

We did Sparklers at the end.

July 5th, The morning of we did our annual Freedom Run in Provo.

I ran with Ty in the stroller. YES he wore the same outfit 3 days in a row. I figured he needed to get as much use out of his special 4th of July outfit, plus we werent sure which day we REALLY celebrated the 4th...since we all had the 5th off of work too. :)

It was SUPER early considering we went to bed at 1 or 2 A.M. The race started at 7 A.M. so we woke up at 6 ish. Matt didn't bother to get ready beyond putting his clothes on...

The national anthem proper stance.

After the race we received medals!

The group all together, Matt must have smelled or something 'cause Will doesn't want to stand too close.

After our run Will treated us all to breakfast at Denny's!

After breakfast we all split or separate ways. Matt and Preston went back to Seven Peaks, Will went to lunch with his parents, Suzanne, Ty and I took naps. Then all the boys went golfing while Suzanne and I went to play practice for Tech week.

It was a busy and fun weekend, I am still recovering with the laundry, dishes, and other misc. chores. This week is REALLY busy with work and play practice (OPENING NIGHT IS FRIDAY!) So we'll see how well I survive it...