Where's all the Onions?

I know that I've written about this many times before, but I was reminded again tonight how Tate is not your "TYPICAL PICKY EATER KID."

I made a Grilled Greek Chicken Salad for dinner. It was really good BTW. Tate LOVES salads and he was really hungry, so he ate his super fast. When he had maybe 5 bites left, he looked up at me and said, "But where's all the onions in the salad"? He then BEGGED ME to add some green onions to his salad, which I did. How could I deny him of his onions when he's begging?

Awesome Goal Met

My youngest Brother Thomas went to through the temple on Saturday! It was so special to be able to be there with ALL OF MY FAMILY.

Our TALKS on Hope

Bryan and I had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament Meeting today. I really enjoyed preparing for this talk and I learned a ton while doing so. I figured that I'd post part of my talk on my blog for my future reference.

We were asked to speak on a topic that everyone needs: (young, old, strong, weak, rich, poor).

That is the subject of HOPE

What exactly is hope?
In the Preach my Gospel Handbook it gives an excellent definition of hope,

“Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you”.

It goes on to say…

“Hope is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur. When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for your good. Hope helps you conquer discouragement”.

When I read this it reminded me of my cousin Christian Nielson and his wife Stephanie. Since 2005 Stephanie has offered hope to people all around the world through her blog. She has confidently and enthusiastically blogged about her simple life, the joy of motherhood, family devotion, eternal romance, and Christ centered faith. She has shared with others the true joy that she has experienced in her daily “Mommy Moments” and given them hope while doing so.

On August 16th, Stephanie and Christian were in a private plan crash in St. John’s Arizona. The pilot passed away soon after arriving at the hospital, Christian and Stephanie miraculously survived although Christian was burned over 30% of his body and Stephanie over 80% of hers. It was truly a tragedy! They both spent months in medically induced comas while doctors did everything possible to keep them alive (oxygen support, skin grafts, and many other delicate procedures. Thousands of people from all around the world (including dedicated blog readers) joined together in prayer for Christian and Stephanie. They have sent cards, provided financial support through benefit hope concerts, auctions, 5 K’s, and you name it. As Christian and Stephanie have awoken and realized their current situation, they have been blessed with the hope they’ve received from all around them.

Christian and Stephanie are currently living in Utah. Christian is doing well and is able to be with his 4 children. Stephanie is still in rehab and her children miss her terribly. At Christmas time they were promised the opportunity to visit with their Mother for the first time since the accident and to get to be together as a whole family. Their lives have changed dramatically by this terrible tragedy, and what is so amazing to me about this story is their decision. Christian and Stephanie have been given the choice to choose despair or hope and they’ve chosen hope. They choose to hope in our Savior, the resurrection, and in Eternal Families.

Each of us has been given our own individual challenges and hardships. The adversary uses despair which is the opposite of hope to discourage us and make us feel as though we are on a staircase that leads only and forever downward. We all need hope to help us make it through the hard times. I like how President Uchdorf put it, “Hope is like a beam of sunlight rising up and above the horizon of our present circumstances. It pierces the darkness with a brilliant dawn. It encourages and inspires us to place our trust in the loving care of an eternal Heavenly Father, who has prepared a way for those who seek for eternal truth in a world of relativism, confusion and of fear”. Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness. In the book of Psalms it states, “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God”.

Our Savior Jesus Christ is truly the one who gives us lasting hope. Because of his great atonement for us, we need not fear, but have hope. The Prophet Mormon taught, “Ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise”. So, by following Christ’s teachings and keeping his commandments we can have hope in a glorious future and the blessings that await us beyond this life.

We learn to cultivate hope the same way we learn to walk, one step at a time. As we pray, study the scriptures, follow our Savior’s example and truly commit ourselves to living the commandments, we attain hope.

I’ve definitely noticed a pattern of this in my life. When I make poor decisions I feel depressed, lonely and hopeless. Contrary, when I make correct choices my hope is brighter, I smile more, I’m more optimistic, and I’m just an all around happier person.

Sometimes we must make a courageous decision to hope even when circumstances around us seem bleak and depressing. We all know how things are right now with the economy. It’s not looking to good. Unemployment is on the rise. It’s basically just depressing to watch the news. Sometimes it may be hard to not allow the despair and gloom that is all around us, to overcome us and bring us down. We really have to make a conscious effort to look on the bright side of life and realize why we are here and what really matters in life. We have the wonderful opportunity to help prepare for the second coming of our Savior, who can bring hope to all.

In times of distress, we can hold tightly to the hope that things will “work together” for our good, and we need to trust that God is in charge. I find great hope in this, for God knows us best, He knows the end from the beginning. And it’s important to remember that, nothing will occur in our lives that He does not understand.

It is my testimony that hope sustains us through despair. Our Savior has said, “Fear not, little flock”. God will wait with “open arms to receive” those who give away their sins and continue in faith, hope, and charity. I know that Jesus Christ is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His purposes will be fulfilled and someday we will understand the eternal reasons for all things. I know this church is true. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God. And I’m so grateful to have a living Prophet on this Earth.

Yesterday was a very special day for us. My youngest brother received his endowments, and my entire family (I have 5 siblings) and their spouses got to go through a temple session together. As a small child, I can remember my parents anxiously awaiting and hoping for this day. It was a great blessing to have this goal fulfilled. Being in the celestial room together, I couldn’t help but hope that we can all be together in the eternities as well.

I know that Jesus is the Christ and that God is our Eternal Father. I know that they love each one of us individually and that they want us to be happy as we find a true hope through our Savior Jesus Christ.

It's Finally Happened!

With Tate's NEVER ENDING questions, I figured that it was just a matter of time before he asked something like...

"But Mother, how do you get pregnant" and then later "How does the baby come out? Does it come out the Mom's throat?" Tate is just too curious about everything!!! I'm officially scared for him to grow up, and in the mean time I feel so unprepared to answer his 4 1/2 year old questions.

The Story of a Boy and his 3 Sunbeam Teachers...

Once upon a time, there lived a little boy who LOVED his Sunbeam teachers-all 3 of them. He wanted to make them happy. Whenever he saw them he would hug them and say, "I love you so much. You're so pretty, etc". At the end of the year his Mother told him that he was only going to get to go to Sunbeams one more week, and he cried. He insisted that he wasn't ever going to grow up and that he wanted to stay in Sunbeams forever. After talking about it for a very very very long time, the little boy understood that sooner or later he was going to have to grow up and that he mine as well accept the fact. So, the little boy decided that because he would miss his teachers so much, he wanted to make some Christmas Goodies and bring them to his teachers. So he did. He was very brave and went up to Sister McCleve's house all by himself. She answered the door and he gave her kisses and hugs. He rambled on about how he was going to miss her. He gave her some Gingerbread Men and said, "Don't let the cookies drop or else they might run away". Next the little boy and his Mother went to visit Sister Stoker. The minute she answered the door the little boy said, " Guess what? We are going to play hide and go seek at your house"! His Mom was embarrassed, but Sister Stoker invited them in. Then the little boy randomly said, "I want an apple because I'm hungry. Sister Stoker, can I please have an apple"? His Mother was embarrassed again, and then they left. Lastly they went to Sister Peak's house. The little boy got out of the car to go give her her Christmas treats. He was scared to ring the doorbell because he thought "It was a bad guys house". But finally he gained courage and when Sister Peak answered the door, a HUGE smile spread across his face. The little boy thanked her for being his teacher. Then he walked back to the car where his Mother was waiting, climbed in, and shut the door behind him. He was SO HAPPY and ready to move up and be in the CTR 5 class-no more tears!

My Brother Thomas got his mission call!

He is going to the...

Washington Tacoma Mission.

The crazy thing is that Bryan's sister Andrea is actually serving there right now, so they will be in the same mission at the same time!

Tate's Preschool Nativity

At first Tate was so UPSET that he was chosen to be a lamb for his Preschool Nativity. He complained over and over and over. I tried to explain to him that being a lamb was one of the very best parts of all. He asked me why, and I told him that Jesus is the Lamb of God. He didn't give a darn. He just kept telling me that he wasn't going to be a lamb and that he wanted to be a Shepherd. So, for the past couple of days, I've been stressing over whether he was even going to cooperate. Well, tonight was the performance and he did excellent! I guess he had a change of heart or maybe it was the candy that I bribed him with. Either way, Tate was the most adorable little lamb I've ever seen. He was just perfect.

Utah ReCap:The REAL Story (aka Long Boring Journal Entry)

Our unplanned vacation was fun, for the most part!

Here's the story: Bryan got a call from his friend Chris last Wednesday asking if he wanted to go snowmobiling with him. So, we quickly cancelled all of our other plans and left on Thursday for Park City, Utah. On the way up, we were just inches away from hitting some deer that were in the road. Chris was driving and Bryan had been talking to me when he started saying "deer, deer, deer" in a calm voice. Bryan and I both saw them and Chris just thought that Bryan was talking to me. Finally when he saw them it was too late to stop, so he totally just dodged them. I thought that for sure we would hit them-but we didn't. So that was a HUGE BLESSING. We drove until really early in the morning and instead of driving for another hour to Park City, we just ended up staying at one of Chris' friends house in Provo.

Friday was boring. Bryan and Chris were basically just rounding up the snowmobiles the whole day and Tate and I stayed at Aunt Raette's house. She was still working the majority of the time, so I just followed Tate around and took pictures of him. He did get to eat his first snow so that was exciting for him. He also really liked playing with Raette's cats and dogs. Friday night was Raette and Dave's work Christmas party at Cabellas. So we got to come along. The food was great and we just enjoyed window shopping.

Saturday was a stressful day for me. Bryan left around noon to go snowmobiling and all I could do was worry about him. The weather conditions were really bad and I didn't like the fact that he had to drive in the snow and ice. When it comes to dangerous things, I would rather be there (right in the middle of it) then to be sitting at home wondering if everything is okay. So, poor Dave and Raette had to put up with me the whole day. Bryan had promised that he would call me by 5 PM because we had tickets to go to the Jazz Game at 7. Well, he never called. So, when 6 PM came along, I started making phone calls trying to get Chris' number. Finally I got it and he didn't answer either. So, I was just as scared as can be walking back and forth through the house. Finally Chris called me back about 8:30 PM. When he told me that Bryan never met up with him I nearly had a heart attack. Well, of course he was just playing with me and then he handed the phone to Bryan. Anyways, long story short, Bryan ended up coming home about 10. I wasn't that happy that we missed the game, but I was more than happy to have him home out of the storm.

Sunday morning we went to church at 9 AM bright and early. (It's a lot harder to get out of bed when it's snowing outside). After church we drove to see Dave and Raette's property by Heber. We got to play in the snow a bit. Tate enjoyed throwing snowballs and having Dave bury him in the snow. Then Dave let Tate drive up the mountain through the snow at top speed. Tate had the time of his life. Sunday night I got to feed "Miss Billy", Aunt Raette's pet Buffalo. It was really cute! She drank 2 huge bottles. Tate got to feed the goats and he thought that was pretty cool.

Monday was the funnest day! We woke up early and headed out to go snowmobiling. I was happy to get to go and especially happy that Tate got to come with us. Tate rode with Chris and Bryan and I both rode our own. It was snowing the whole time we were out riding and it was just beautiful. Raette let me borrow her snow clothes, so I was really warm. The only cold part on me was my hands. It was kinda scary coming back down the mountain pulling the trailer. The roads were icy and we drove down like 2 miles an hour. After that, we drove to Salt Lake and visited Temple Square. We got there just before it got dark. It was beautiful when the lights turned on. We had a good time telling Tate stories of our ancestors and their struggles crossing the plains, traveling to the Salt Lake Valley, and then helping to build the temple. Monday night we met up with one of Bryan's missionary companions-Elder Reyes and his wife and daughter. We ate dinner at Cafe Rio (seriously the best food) and then went to their house for dessert. It was definitely the highlight of my trip getting to finally meet them. We stayed till late and then headed back to Park City for the night.

Tuesday we slept in and then Raette made us the most delicious French Toast (she really did spoil us the entire time). We drove 2 separate vehicles to Provo. Bryan drove Brandon's Jimmy to get it back to him, and I drove "Cindy" our Toyota Tundra with seriously NO tire tread whatsoever. I was terrified the first time I tried to stop and I couldn't! And then to make matters worse, I got stuck in the middle of the road and Bryan had to leave Brandon's truck for the time being and come and save me. I don't recall ever being so scared in my entire life. So, we went to Walmart and bought chains. That helped a lot, and I was able to get almost all the way to Provo before the $75 chains broke on me. So, we stopped and took them off. I guess chains are only for "VERY" snowy roads. Supposedly Provo roads weren't snowy enough. (Lesson Learned). The rest of the ride home was pretty uneventful, just Tate watching Clifford for the 20th time, and we finally arrived home at 1 AM.

Family Snow Pic

I've always wanted a family picture taken in the snow. So, after church today I convinced Brandon to be our photographer and we had a little mini photo shoot. I'm so happy with the way they turned out even if I didn't plan in advance to wear my hair down. I just LOVE the winter background! Thanks for taking our picture Brandon.

SNOW!!!

We are having a blast in Utah. There is plenty of snow, in fact there is a blizzard happening as I write this. And of course Bryan is out driving in it, heading to go snowmobiling with a friend of his. Here's a picture of Tate in front of Grandpa Bloomfield's old tractor.

Throwing snow at Me!

And... this is what he's been waiting for and talking about for a very long time now. Tate was just as thrilled as can be to eat snow for his very first time.

New Garage=Huge Blessing

We put a ton of stuff in storage back in September when we moved. When I say storage, I mean the tiniest little area imaginable, with everything crammed in there from top to bottom. It was a nightmare! Since not everything fit, we ended up bringing some to my parents and some to Bryan's parents as well.

Being the perfectionist that I am, I was literally going crazy just wondering where I had put this and that. Sometimes I've just laid awake in bed thinking about it-I know It's probably just OCD or something. Anyways, we got on the waiting list for a garage in our Apartment Complex when we first moved in, and I'm so happy because one FINALLY became available! It's not just a 1 car garage either like the other ones, we ended up getting a 1 1/2 car garage with storage shelves in it for the same price!!! Yeah, can you tell I'm just a little excited? So, last Thursday we spent the evening moving all of our things from our tiny storage to our oversized garage. And let me tell you, it sure does make a difference. I'm still needing to go through everything and organize it, but just to be able to get to it all... I feel so blessed!

Tate is also excited to be able to ride his quad now (It's been at Bryan's parents). He's been riding it just about every day since getting it! It works out perfect to keep it in the garage:)

Merry Christmas from Us to You!

12 Blessings of Christmas

12 weeks in our new ward before getting callings. Bryan got called to the Primary and I’m going to be a Mia Maid Advisor. Fun!

11+ questions from Tate every hour. He literally asks questions non stop. Some examples are: “Does Heavenly Father say his prayers? Why do bridges not fall down? When an animal sheds its skin, then does the animal ONLY have a spirit left? Why does the Holy Ghost only have a spirit? Do some cars take the kind of gas that people toot out? Did Heavenly Father ever die before? Was Satan ALWAYS bad? The list goes on and on and on…

10 stores within walking distance of our new apartment. We absolutely love the location that we live in. We are within walking distance of Frys, Target, Costco, Walmart, Michaels, Toys R Us, Water and Ice, Kmart, Payless Shoes, and the Superstition Mall. It’s awesome!

9 AM Preschool three days a week. Tate is really enjoying this social time that he gets to be with other kids his age. He also loves learning and making fun crafts at Preschool.

8 hours of driving to California (including stops). We went to Disneyland, California Adventures and the beach back in August. It was lots of fun because Tate actually enjoyed and appreciated the rides. Bryan and I had the most fun just watching his face light up with excitement.

7 years of marriage in February. It’s amazing to think that we have really been married this long. We’re almost to 8 years now. Yikes!

6 Pool Projects this year. Yes the pool business has been slow with the economy, but Bryan’s found lots of ways to stay busy. He is also doing weekly pool maintenance for people.

5 Loaves of Bread every week and a half. It’s a fact, we like bread a lot. The good thing is that I enjoy making it.

4 year old Tate. His birthday was in August. I can’t believe that our baby is a big kid and will be in Kindergarten next year!

3 Bike rides a week. Tate and Bryan enjoy riding bikes together. They go riding every other day or so around the lakes at our apartment.

2 Family Reunions this summer. For the Manning Reunion, we went to Strawberry AZ and visited Tonto Natural Bridge, Rode Horses and quads, caught crawdads, had a family baseball game, and a karaoke night. For the Bloomfield Reunion, we stayed in a cabin just out of Cedar City Utah and went to Mammoth Caves, hiked to a waterfall, went fishing, and had a family talent night. Both reunions were a ton of fun.

1 House Sold. We were so blessed to be able to sell our home in Gold Canyon at just the right time (one week before the market went crazy). We are very happy to be living closer in town now and are very grateful for the blessings that we have received this year!

All I Want for Christmas is ???

Tate can't seem to decide what he wants Santa to bring him for Christmas. Every week it's something new. Four weeks ago, he told me that he wanted a baby "a real baby sister" for Christmas. After I tried to explain to him that getting a baby sister for Christmas wasn't very likely, he changed his mind and decided that he wanted "2 Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree". A few days later Tate decided that what he wanted for Christmas was a car "A Big Car with Lights and Lots of Noise". But then last week after we read the story of The Little Drummer Boy, Tate decided that he wanted a drum. Well, yesterday Tate changed his mind AGAIN as he informed Santa that he now wants a gun (the kind with foam bullets and a target so he can practice shooting).

I think that Santa might just need to wait until the day before Christmas to go shopping for Tate!

2008-Family Christmas Performance

This morning was our annual Family Christmas Performance at a Rest Home. We've had this tradition for as far back as I can remember. Basically we just go and sing, dance, or whatever and completely embarrass ourselves for about 1 1/2 hours. Then afterwards we visit with the residents and spread a little holiday cheer with them. Since I'm the shy one in the family, I usually can't wait for the performance to be done and over with, and then I'm happy because I won't have to sing for anyone for at least another year... This year is a little different for me, although I'm still quite happy to have Bryan's and my duet finished with, I think that for the first time I am actually appreciating this little tradition and maybe even beginning to like it. What an amazing feeling it brings to me just knowing that because I went out of my comfort zone for a few minutes, that I helped to brighten someone's elses day. And for me, it's totally worth it!

Happy Scrapper

Don't know why but I've loved scrapping with YELLOW lately! I've never really been a yellow fan before, but now I most definitely am...

Thanksgiving Weekend

Here are some of the things we've been up to...

1. Wednesday afternoon I Baked a gazillion Rolls (two batches worth). Since I doubled the batch, the dough got all weird on me, but thankfully they still turned out delish. I also made 2 pumpkin pies and I've now determined that pie crusts are my least favorite thing to make. They turned out as well, but seriously all the headache that goes into forming them just right...
2. Thanksgiving was fun. We spent it with the In-Laws this year. Everything was very yummy and we got to enjoy left overs that lasted throughout the whole weekend.
3. Thursday evening, Bryan and I went hiking in the Superstition Mountains with Brandon (Bryan's Bro). We had a good time. It was totally cold though since I forgot my jacket.
4. Thursday night Natalie (Bryan's littlest sister who is 9) spent the night at our house. We finally got to make use of Tate's bunk bed. She entertained Tate the majority of the time. They played with Tate's train set a lot.
5. That night Bryan and I stayed up late watching Bourne Identity. We watched Bourne Supremacy Friday night, and Bourne Ultimatum Saturday night. I never get tired of them! Bryan on the other hand, well he is just nice to watch them with me:)
6. Bryan's Mom watched Tate Friday afternoon and he stayed the night over at their house. He got to play with Aunt Raette's dogs (Sophie and Bugsie). Tate even talked Aunt Raette into doing his hair just like Sophie's (in a little ponytail)
7. Bryan and I got to check out the huge Mervyn's sale and we ended up getting a few things including some Christmas gifts.
8. Saturday morning Bryan went Mountain Biking while I went and did a few things that I needed to do,including going shopping some more. Bryan and Tate went shooting later that day with all of the boys in my family. Tate got to shoot a gun for his first time (It was a BB gun).
9. Bryan and Tate played "the tank game" in Wii Play a lot and Bryan made it to 62 points so he was really happy.
10. Sunday we went to church and just hung out at the house. It was our 8 year anniversary from when we got engaged. I tried to talk Bryan into going to the Temple grounds but that didn't quite happen. Tate didn't take a nap and ended up going to bed early anyways.
11. Today Bryan had to go back to work:( He's doing a pool remodel out in Gold Canyon.
12. I woke up really early this morning before Bryan left and went jogging. It's been awhile since I've ran and it felt really good.
13. Tate and I braved it this afternoon and went swimming in the apartment pools. Swimming felt great, the water was warm, it was getting out and driving home that was the way cold part. It was worth it though, we'll definitely do it again. Anyone want to come with us next time?
14. We also went to the library and checked out some books. Tate loves looking for the bar code and scanning them himself.
15. I forgot to take very many pictures this weekend. Not quite sure if that was on accident though. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and enjoy.

Tomorrow is back to the housework for me, laundry and dishes are slacking while I've been partying.

Family Proclamation: Page 5