Bonjour!!!!

I was called to sub in a Primary class last Sunday. It was the second Sunday in a row. The first one was pretty frustrating with Harper, wrestling her for 3 hours and trying to teach a lesson isn't the easiest thing to do. So, the whole week I had a pretty crappy attitude. I prepared the lesson, grudgingly. I wasn't very happy going in to Primary. Overall, I just needed an attitude adjustment.

Well, we had just went into Primary when our new Primary President (that is new in our ward and had no idea who I was or ANYTHING about me) came over to me and told me that, "you have a new boy in your class. I don't know how to say his name and, oh by the way, he only speaks French". She pats me on the shoulder, giggles and walks away. RIGHT THEN I knew why I was there.

I took 3 years of French in High School and 2 years in College. That was 100 years ago, but I can still hold a decent conversation. I felt a chill come over my body and I knew that I wasn't there to teach the lesson, I was there to make this little 7 year old feel welcomed.

Sure enough, he didn't speak any English but when I started speaking French to him, his eyes lit up!!! He couldn't believe I was speaking to him in his native tongue!!! I was able to keep him up to speed as far as sharing time and singing time went and then when we went to class, I was able to teach the other 4 children in the class some things to say to Xavier to make him feel more comfortable. It was so fun!!!

I saw his brother in the hall and spoke to him in French. He was confused. They just BARELY moved here from a French island down by Australia, so their family was the only ones they've been able to converse with.

At the end of Primary, I was able to talk to Xavier some more and I told him that we could be friends. He didn't need to try speaking English to me, I would speak to him in French.

It was such a cool day. Sometimes I doubt why Heavenly Father puts me in certain situations. This is one of those lessons that I shouldn't second guess Him!!!! So, I'm going to brush up on my church vocabulary and see how this Sunday goes when I see the family!!!

Since this happened, I have been thinking and dreaming in French. I LOVE it!!!! There are times when I pop off with a common phrase in French and I have to really think to say it in English. SO COOL!!!!! I have always loved the French language and I'm pretty good at it, so this is maybe just motivation to get me back to where I used to be!!!!

Remember, you don't always know the plan HE has in store for us!!!!!

Things I love.....

I am so lucky. I have a great home, a beautiful family, a husband that I adore, and good times. Seriously, what a great life!!!!

These kids are the best!!! I HEART them!!!

I love sisters!!! I have 5 of them and I love having lots of sisters!!!! It's so cool!!!

This is Blanche and I at the airport when her son-in-law came home from his Army deployment!!!

Me, Launa and Blanche doing what we do best... laugh!!!!

Haha!!!!! This picture cracks me up!!!!

Maddison trying to be SCARY!!!!

Oh my word.... THIS FACE!!! I love it so much!!!!

Harper is such a blessing to our family!!!! 

What a cool kid!!! 

Other than kissy kisses, which I ADORE, look at how Randy is holding my arm!!!

I LOVE that!!!!

A heart shaped bruise? Pretty cool, if you ask me!!!

Liam and Harper in wigs..... makes me laugh like crazy!!!

Cambelle on her 100 day of school. She's 100, you know!!!!

Lost teeth and brown eyes. 

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love Cambelle's eyes!!!! 

I love having cameras all over to document all these fun times.

I have such a fun life. Great people all around me, blessings pouring out all over.

Have a great day, everyone!!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLIE!!!!!

This is my friend and neighbor, Kellie. Today is her birthday and I just have to take a minute to tell you how lucky I am to have her in my life. She has been such a blessing to my family this last year. She has been so supportive to me and my family when I had Harper, had my heart surgery and every day in between. She truly is an angel on Earth!!! My family is absolutely blessed by having her in our lives. Heavenly Father put us in the same ward so we could become life-long friends, I do NOT doubt that at all.  She is such an example to me in so many ways. She is one of the most compassionate people I have ever known. She acts on the promptings of The Spirit. She wears her heart on her sleeve and reminds us that it's ok to cry and show love openly. She is pure and honest, loving and gentle. My life is better because Kellie is a part of it.

Kellie girl, I love you. Happy birthday!!!! 

The song is just because it's groovy :) Dance away!!!!

Out with the old.....

I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am about something I got yesterday. I have been using this phone for the last 2 years and it's been just fine, but I have wanted an iPhone SO BAD. We have Ipod Touches and to think of a Touch but with a phone, camera, video camera and 3G service makes my heart race. I struggled for a while because of the extra price each month for the additional data package, but yesterday, I am happy to report that I finally got over that hurdle and I went from THIS PHONE.....

 To THIS PHONE!!!!!!

I seriously wanted to kiss the phone right there in the store, but waited till I got in the car!!!! Randy  must really REALLY love me to get this for me on Valentine's Day!!!! I am SO excited about my new phone!!! Nerdy? Yes!!! Am I ok with that? ABSOLUTELY!!!!! Now, I'm going to go play with my new BFF, Siri!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

This is a heart shaped bruise that I had a couple of weeks ago. I don't know how I got it, but I thought it was cute and had to take a picture of it!!! The love just oozes out of me, not just on Valentine's Day, but everyday!!! haha!!! I hope you all have a great LOVE day and maybe Cupid's arrow will shoot you!!!

Thin THIS SUCKAS!!!!!!

Ok, maybe the title was a little over the top, but today is a GREAT day!!!! Yesterday I went to my cardiologist for the 6 month follow-up from my heart surgery. I had an ECHO, a bubble study and an EKG. EVERYTHING came back perfect!!! I'm so happy!!! I didn't have any doubt that it wouldn't, but it's a relief to see that everything is working the way it's supposed to!!!! The other good news? I get to go off my blood thinners!!! WAHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! I can NOT tell you happy I am about that. I hate those suckers. I bleed for hours after shaving, if I scratch myself, I have to debate going to the ER to get cauterized and let's not forget the 6 hour nose bleed. But NO MORE!!!!! I'm so happy!!! We got a letter from the surgeon that did my surgery, Dr. Sherman Sorensen that he was retiring. He is going to get more into the research side of PFO repairs and get congress and insurance companies to see things different. As of now, you have to have 2 strokes to qualify for the repair. Why put people through that? He is a good man and I feel blessed to have him be my surgeon. The #1 surgeon in the world did MY repair!!! That's some serious bragging rights!!!! So, I almost feel like this is the end of "my story" of my PFO repair and all the crap and blessings that came with it. I'm grateful it went the way it did, but I'm happy that it's all over with!!! I can go on and LIVE!!!!!

HAPPY DAY Y'ALL!!!! LET'S CELEBRATE!!!!

WE HAVE A BLEEDER!!!!

Being on a blood thinner isn't fun. I know it's not a ton of Plavix and I know it's not FOREVER, but I will tell you, it STINKS!!!! Every night, we play, "name that bruise". Your guess is as good as mine about where most of them come from!!!

Anna (she's been on a HUGE blood thinner for about 11 years now) warned me that it's the small things that will kill me. Potato peelers, cheese graters, paper cuts, ect. Another thing I have learned is that a razor cut isn't just a cut, it's life or death!!! haha!!! I shaved in the shower one morning, got dressed and went into the kitchen to do dishes. I felt moisture on the floor, thought I had spilled water, went to wipe it up and realized that it was BLOOD!!!! A pool of blood on the kitchen floor from a teeny tiny razor cut!!! Nice, huh?

Another thing I have had to learn is not to bite my hangnails!!! It's never been a problem before, but now that I'm on a blood thinner, it could be the end of my life!!! I SWEAR!!! It's so dumb!!! One day I bit a hangnail and it bled for 6 hours and all the way through 5 band aids!!! A few days later, I went to bed with band aids on 5 different fingers from bleeding hangnails!!! I HATE IT!!!




But all in all, I guess it's for the best. I would rather bleed like this for a few months than get a blood clot in my heart from my surgery. It's just a new way of doing things, is all!!!

Be careful of sharp objects!!!!

Happy 10th birthday Tyler!!!!

 It was Tyler's 10th birthday on January 24th!! Can you believe that? 10 long years of uncertainty and 10 years of miracles and wonderful experiences!!!!

For Tyler's birthday, he wanted to have a sleep over with his best friends, Connor McInnes. He wanted to play Laser Tag and just have some fun boy time!!!

Friday at about 5, Connor came over and we headed to IHOP!!! Yummy!!! We all ate till our guts hurt and even enjoyed Tyler's great, big ice cream sunday at the end!!!

The girls posing and enjoying their gigantic drinks!!!

Harper pulling the face that makes all of us laugh until we die!!! She is so funny!!!

Randy and I are scared. Well, we pretended for a minute!!!

I HOP, YOU HOP, WE ALL HOP FOR IHOP!!!!  I almost got them hopping all at the same time!

 Then Randy took the kids to Laser Mania. They played the arcades.... Cambelle scored BIG TIME!!!

 Got in a game of Laser Tag... the boys thought this was the funnest part of the night!

 And then ended up crashing at home!!! The girls didn't want to sleep in their beds as long as the boys were sleeping on the air mattress in the front room!!!  We have such good boys that they never make the girls feel like they're not wanted.

I will admit that I'm not a fan of sleep overs, but I AM a fan of good boys getting to have special time together. I'm so glad Connor was able to spent this 24 hours with us. He is such a gem and Tyler didn't want anything else for his double digits birthday!!!!

The next day consisted of eating crappy food, watching lots of movies and riding scooters all around the neighborhood.

What a perfect time for Tyler's birthday!!! I'm so proud of Tyler. He is such a cool 10 year old!!!!

We love you bubba!!!