A great way to start the day.....

This morning our Stake had a Women’s Conference. It started with a beautiful spread of fruits and muffins. They set up half circles so you can visit. It is interesting how often I see ladies from one ward in a circle. Ladies from another ward in the same circle. We don’t seem to mingle circles very often.

Fran from our ward motioned me over to where ladies from our ward were sitting. Sarah and I stopped by the Chapel first to maybe save a seat but it was already too late and we got there at 8:40 a.m. Lucky for me, Fran also saved me a seat in the Chapel. I have a hard time sitting on the chairs. Fran is a good friend who always takes care of everyone. Last year during my marathon of surgeries, Fran made it her job to do cleaning for me. She came over once a week for months to vacuum my house. Let me just tell you that the vacuuming my kids do is nothing compared to Fran’s vacuuming. She would have cleaned every bathroom and windows and anything else if I let her. I kept her to vacuuming. She also changed my sheets every week. She is my great friend and no matter how hard you try to convince me, I will not introduced her to you!

At 10:00 we met in the chapel for a few talks. The first one was the wife of Russell M. Nelson. The second was Sherri Dew. I have never heard her in person, so it was enjoyable to be a couple of rows from her. I could have sworn that she was looking and talking just to me. I left feeling lifted and spiritually fed! I still have some things that she suggested that we could work on, so I will.

Now we have three little boys and a little girl running around the house. Sarah has a way of getting them going wild. I am watching the kids so that my sister and parents could go watch Ken’s play. Tonight is closing night and this afternoon they added a matinee. They also added one last Saturday to get everyone in who wanted to watch the show. Have a wonderful rest of the day!

Who do I think I am kidding?

This morning I went to step aerobics! I know crazy! My last surgery was this past August. I have been to physical therapy and cleared for physical activity. Actually I was cleared probably early December. I have been to the rec. center a couple of times since then but nothing on a regular basis. I decided last night, that I was going today and I did it. Of course I was not able to keep up but I think I did an okay job. At the end of the class the teacher came up and introduced herself. She said it looked like I had done step before. Sounds like flattery to me! I told her I had 15-20 years ago! She said she hopes I’ll come back next week. I hope I am still alive next week. lol Every day at the same time is a different class. I plan to go tomorrow, I hope. I am subbing tomorrow but not until noon so it should work out. My doctor said that the best thing for me now is aerobic activity. Step aerobics is nothing like the treadmill I have been walking on. This is a whole new level that I haven’t exercised at in years, I mean.........years!

The one sure thing in life is that it is ever changing!

(Spencer and Avery showing off their muscles - 2007)


Tonight was Family Home Evening. Nate came by after work today and ate dinner with us and stayed for Family Home Evening and for the activity. He just left a few minutes ago. After a long hard week of not knowing what he should do next and loosing eight pounds due to the stress, he broke up with Kristen yesterday. He has really had a hard time coming to that decision. Nate loves with all of his heart. When he finds someone that he likes, he throws himself wholeheartedly into that relationship. It will take him some time to recover. I support him in his decision and hope he finds that love he is still searching for!

Ken gave a lesson tonight on tithing. Ken and I have a strong testimony of tithing. I think that I already had a testimony of tithing as a youth but when Ken and I married I was able to strengthen that testimony. When we were first married I was the breadwinner of the family and carried the insurance that we needed. Ken went to school full time and worked on the weekends. I worked five days a week at an insurance company. I really enjoyed working but knew that when we had children, I wanted to be home. We were always able to pay the rent, pay for school and our basic needs. We didn’t have a lot of excess but we had everything that we needed. We were able to put money away in savings and build a decent food storage.

I gave birth to our first child a month before our second wedding anniversary. I was able to work up to the day before giving birth. In fact, I went to the doctor the day before and he told me to go home and put my feet up until Monday. He said that on Monday he would decide if I needed a C-Section. My blood pressure was rising to an unsafe level. Instead I gave birth early the next morning, which was a relief! From that point on I have never worked full time. I have worked seasonal jobs, night jobs and part-time day jobs.

The month after Amanda was born, Ken started his student teaching. The only income we had coming in was the $300.00 a month Ken was making sweeping parking lots on Saturdays. The three months of student teaching we lived off of our food storage and our savings account and the $300.00 a month. The money seemed like it would be gone but then something would always happen that we had enough money for our needs. Ken got a teaching job just days after finishing his student teaching. It was in December and not a common time for a job opening.

When he interviewed for the job at Viewmont, they needed a Senior English Teacher. English was his major and he was well qualified. They also wanted someone who could be the Senior Class Advisor. Ken was senior class president his senior year and felt very comfortable with that. They also wanted someone who could be the assistant wrestling coach. Ken wrestled in High School and knew he could do that too. Each of the extra curricular activities brought in a little extra money. He has never left the Davis School Dist. He taught English until he earned his Master’s Degree. At that time he was appointed Assistant Principal at Viewmont High School. He did that for a couple of years. Being an administrator for the High School took him away from home a lot at night. When he saw an opening for a Junior High he applied for that so that he could be home more at night.

He was Assistant Principal at Kaysville Jr. High for a couple of years. When the Principal position opened up he was appointed as Principal of Kaysville Jr. High. He was there for 15 years. During that time he also earned his Doctorate Degree. Just last February he was appointed Principal of the newest Jr. High in the District. He worked towards hiring all of the teachers and staff and over saw the construction of the new school. The school is in West Layton and is named Legacy Jr. High. It has only been open since August but the school has received several awards for the design and building of the school. It is really an exceptional Jr. High!

Things have always seemed to fall into place for us. Sure there have been many challenges and up and downs but as a family we know that we have been blessed. We can feel the Lord’s hand in our lives and that of our family. One hard experience for us was when Avery was born. He was born with Lung Disease. He was Life Flighted to Primary Childrens Hospital when he was two days old. The hospital he was at did not feel like there was anything else they could do for him. Primary Childrens knew exactly what to do for him. They put surfactant into his breathing tube. It is an artificial lung coating. One of his lungs had collapsed due to the speed in which they had to run the respirator. We were able to take him home when he was 11 days old. He was attached to a size D oxygen tank for five weeks. He was attached to it by a 50 foot cord. I could get around the upstairs of our house but I couldn’t make it downstairs with him. He was also on a sleep apnea monitor. The first year of his life were filled with worry, sickness, Dr. Appointments, etc. When he was 3 months old he came down with RSV. When I took him to the hospital, his oxygen level was 54. They told me he would have been dead in an hour if I had not taken him to the hospital. They immediately put him back on a respirator and into the ICU. I cried and felt like a terrible mother! After a couple of weeks he was able to come home again but was sick most of the winter with pneumonia.

The neat thing about a child’s lungs is that they can repair themselves with a couple of healthy years. Kids continue to grow lung tissue until around the age of eight. Looking at Avery today it is hard to believe he was ever that sick! When he was three he was run over by a car in our circle. We hadn’t lived here for very long and nobody really knew about his health history. Luckily the car wheels never ran him over. He was on a skateboard and when the car dropped down into the driveway apron, the skateboard he was sitting on, flipped up and hit the underside of the car, which made the car stop. The teenage girl driver got out of the car to see what the noise was only to find Avery under the car. Later he talked about the heat of the exhaust coming out of the car. He also talked about the people under the car with him. He mentioned that there were lots of people with him under that car. When I told him he was under the car alone, he insisted that he was not alone. I told him they were his guardian angels. Someone like Avery needs a host of guardian angels to keep him alive! He walked away with cuts and scrapes. He was monitored at the hospital to make sure there was no internal damage.

Like I said there have been challenges in our family and in our lives. Some of them have been too hard for me to ever share but I have always known that we are blessed. We pay a full tithe and that is a priority for our family. We also have always contributed to other church funds. We were promised by our church leaders that if we doubled or even tripled our donations, that we would see even more blessings in our lives. I am here to testify that those blessings have flowed for us. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me. I know that I am a daughter of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that President Thomas S. Monson has been chosen to lead our church today just as was Joseph Smith. This life is a test and I am not sure how I am doing on that test so far, but I know that through the Plan of Salvation I will be reunited with my parents, brothers, sister, uncles, aunts, grandparents and children if I but live my life worthy of such blessings. These things are true and I leave them with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

We are at an important time in the lives of our children. Amanda who lives in Ogden, works at Weber State University. She is the coordinator for the Math Dept. tutoring program. She does that full time. She usually has more work to do than can be done in one day. She also teaches Math 960 two evenings a week. Along with those she also went back to school last semester to start working on her masters degree. She has a long distance relationship with a guy she met while she lived in Spokane. We have not met Al but hope to in the future. Her life is very full and fulfilling!

Nate has been home from his mission for 2 1/2 years! While he was gone on his mission I never thought he was coming home, now the time he has been home have flown by. He works for the LDS Church working with the AV Dept. at the Conference Center. He loves it! He really wants to be hired on as a full time worker but because of the hiring freeze and other requirements he is not able. They work him like crazy, he is a valuable resource for them. He is really an amazing guy! If he doesn’t know how to do something, give him a minute and he will figure out how to do and or fix it. He lives in Layton. The other day when he was here after work he came out of the bathroom asking for a twisty tie. The back bathroom toilet requires that you hold down the handle until it flushes. It has been that way for a couple of months. Give Nate a twisty tie and now the toilet flushes like it should. He has been dating a lady named Kristen since the summer. She is Relief Society President in their Single Adult Ward. She is a nurse at Lakeview Hospital. She works in pre-op and post-op in Same Day Surgery. We all like her.

Sarah lives at home and is attending school at the U of U. She is in her senior year there. She is working on getting her licensure application completed so that she can do her Student Teaching in the fall. She is working toward her Early Childhood Education degree. She has 15 credit hours this semester. All except for one summer she has been carrying full time credit hours. She takes the UTA bus there for the most part. Riding the bus gives her the opportunity to catch up on reading, sleeping etc. Sarah is dating a newly returned missionary. They did not know each other before his mission. Josh went on his mission to Korea. He has been home since August. They met at the Institute up at the U of U. He is working toward a degree in Electrical Engineering. He is crazy about her. They spent every day of Christmas break together. One of the projects they did was to make a Gingerbread Salt Lake Temple. They never completed it because after 15 hours they decided it looked fine how it was. Josh did all the figuring and designing. Sarah is Young Single Adult representative for our ward. She also works in the nursery during the third hour. She also is an Advisor for the Special Needs Mutual of South Davis County. She is one busy girl!!!

Spencer is in his senior year of high school. It is hard for this mom to believe that after June I will only have one child left in public school. Spencer is a lady’s man. He constantly is fighting off the girls. This is his first year that he has not wrestled since he was eight years old. Last summer he fractured his clavicle and separated his shoulder. That clavicle has started breaking down which will likely cause him shoulder pain for the rest of his life. He has wanted for years to be a firefighter like his Grandpa but is now making other plans that don’t include need for a strong shoulder. He is still a very strong and fit young man but the shoulder limits his activity. He is now leaning toward becoming a teacher like his dad and sister. He will have almost a year between graduation and a mission. He is making plans to attend Weber State for that year and then he plans to serve a mission. Spencer is a motivated young man! He was recently released as 1st assistant to the Priests quorum in our Ward. He has served in that position for the last 1 1/2 years. In total he has been in the Teachers and Priests Presidency for the past three years straight. He was excited and ready for the release.

Avery is in his 8th grade year in Junior High. Last year was a struggle for him. This year he seems to be better in the groove of the Junior High scene. Wednesday of this week started the second semester of the school year. This semester he has Guitar and Gym which will be two good outlets for him. Last year he had a full year of Gym with the approval of the school Principal. Not all kids would enjoy that but Avery loved it! I think he is dropping out of wrestling too. I support him either way but I will miss not watching him. He really is good. His years of Gymnastics helped him to build a strong upper body. He has not had any major growth spurts yet. Last night I went to watch him play Teachers Basketball at the Church. He looks like a little kid compared to the other 14 and 15 year olds. I think he sensed his size compared to the other guys because he tried to stay out of the key so he would not be trampled! They really were playing jungle ball!

Well I guess I have shared enough for the day but I will leave some pictures of our recent adventures. Peace out!

So I guess I am starting out on a new adventure, blogging! I follow several blogs and enjoy reading about other families. I really don’t care if anyone else follows or enjoys my posts. I figure that if nothing else it will be a good addition to my personal history.

I started going to a personal history class last week. I missed the one today because I was substituting. It was fun to talk to other women around my age. We all seemed to have played the same games at school, dressed the same way, remember things about the same way. That is all except Stacey Smoot who doesn’t remember playing hopscotch with a hoppy taw. She only remembers it as a taw. We all had one!

I am the mother of five. The oldest is 25; Amanda, 23; Nate (who now goes by his middle name of Jack), 20; Sarah, 17; Spencer and 14; Avery. My husband Ken and I have been married for 27 years. Wow, that is a long time! I remember when we had been married for 19 years and I had been married for as many years as I had lived at home with my parents. That is quite a pinnacle point in my life.

I am a substitute teacher. There was no school Monday or Tuesday of this week but I did sub half a day yesterday and two hours today. What is nice about that is that even if you only sub for two hours I still get paid for half a day. I like that. Usually the money I earn substituting I am able to use as fun money. Since the starting of this school year, subbing has been few and far between. Over the last couple of weeks things have picked up and I have been subbing more. Over the last four years I have had several surgeries and teachers had stopped calling me as much and started depending on other subs. Every time I am subbing at least one teacher stops me and askes if I am up to subbing again and how am I feeling. I also always get another subbing job for another day when I am there, so it is good to get out. I really enjoy it! Most of my time is spent nowadays at J.P. Stewart Elementary. Yesterday I worked in the Library and today I was with Mrs. Thomas’s 5th grade class. Over the last couple of weeks I have subbed a lot in the Functional Skills Class which is the class for kids with Special Needs. That has also been enjoyable.