An added note :)

I realized I didn't mention that I'm going to patch the foundation and paint it the same tan as the house.

I didn't want you to lose sleeping thinking about how our ugly blue foundation doesn't match the house!! Ha :)

A little more exterior

Well, the new siding is mostly on now. Tomorrow they will put new windows in the girls' room upstairs and put siding around that small part then it's done. Well, their part anyway :) I need to caulk all the nail holes in the window trim and touch up paint. Then take a deep breathe and paint the front door cranberry red. Is that crazy? I know it will look good so I just need to do it!!

In a week or two the workers will be back to redo the front porch. I need to get that UGLY blue carpet ripped off.....Yeah!

I will put before ( when the house was blue and pitiful :) and after pictures up when it's all done in a couple weeks.

Have a beautiful day:)

New Exterior....gone with the blue!

It's been a long time since I blogged but I wanted to show pictures of our new exterior :) Well, in the process!

It's just about 8 years since we bought our home and the old blue vinyl and I have never become friends :) Oh happy day that we can finally kick it to the curb!!

We chose a warm tan color for the new siding with white trim boards around the windows and doors. I think I'm going to paint the front door a deeper cranberry color. Then we'll have a rustic brown mailbox, house numbers and exterior light.

The blue carpet on the front steps is getting ripped off and the wrought iron pillars are getting wrapped in wood and then there will be new wooden handrails on both sides of the porch. The pillars and rails will be white.

I think the finished product will portray some nice curb appeal!!

Will add more pictures as things progress..................

A Heart Heavy For The People Of Haiti

I can't even begin to imagine what the people in Haiti are going through right now. It's hard to relate to what kind of chaotic nightmare they are experiencing.

My heart hurts for them and I just want to scoop up all those precious children and bring them in out of the storm they are in right now. My heart aches for the moms and dads who are desperately looking for their children.

I'm beyond grateful to have a Father in Heaven who hears our collective prayers for Haiti. He alone is worthy of all praise even when life is falling down all around us. He is our Hope!

There are so many ways to help Haiti. I wanted to share with you two organizations I feel strongly about and trust in case you're looking for ways to contribute.

1. Compassion International - www.compassion.com
You can sponsor children all over the world. It's $38.00 a month for one child. This provides them with food, clean water, medical and schooling. They also hear the wonderful news that Jesus loves them!

2. Samaritans Purse - www.samaritanspurse.org
This is run by Franklin Graham ( Billy Grahams son). They go all over the world and provide temporary shelter, food, water, etc in times of crisis. They also share with people what they need the most....that there is Hope found only in Christ.

Both of these organizations have great websites where you can learn more about them and what they are doing in Haiti. You can donate money on both websites for the Haiti people.

I hope today we all take many moments to mentally list all we have to be grateful for. Do you have clean water, a warm bed at night, enough food, do you know where your loved ones are? If so then you are truly blessed .

First Win!

Tuesday night Ben had a wrestling meet up in Hyrum.....The drive up there was so beautiful. As we came down the hill into Cache Valley this is what our eyes were treated to!


Ben, in navy blue w/ white trim, lost his match but looked better than last week ( to my oh so inexperienced wrestling eyes! Ha :)




Tonight Ben had a meet over in Morgan....and....HE WON!!!! his match :)




We are counting the days until DJ is home for Christmas! 2 weeks :)

Wrestling & the Holiday Electric Light Parade

Wrestling has started.

Ben had his first meet last week and lost his 3 matches but he learned alot. He loves wrestling more than football which is saying something. It will be fun to watch him progress :)





Last night Ogden had its Holiday Electric Light Parade w/ Fireworks afterward. It was fun to see all the floats and kick off the Christmas season in a festive way!









I hope this holiday season is filled with moments that create special memories for years to come for you and your family!!

Living With Purpose and Passion.........

Yesterday the most wonderful thing happened!!

After almost 2 years of being lost I found my wedding ring and my mothers ring!! I was sad to have lost both but was most sad about my mothers ring because it has the 4 kids' gemstones (including our son, Joshua, who went to be with Jesus when I was 6 mths pregnant with him in 1995) plus DJ's and mine.
I found them in a basket in the basement. I used to use the basket in the kitchen and didn't realize my rings were in there. I almost threw the basket w/ greenery in the get rid of box then for some reason decided to take the greenery out first and.....there were my rings! God knew :)

We are excited for the holidays this year as always. The kids and I are going to help serve Thanksgiving dinner at the homeless shelter then come home and enjoy our dinner together.

I'm grateful to have kids who have a heart for others. We've started having family movie night on Thursday nights. We get Costco pizza and cell phones and computers are set to the side for that time.
We've been trying to watch some meaningful movies. The last 3 weeks we've watched The Ultimate Gift, Amazing Grace, and last week was Beyond the Gates.

The Ultimate Gift with James Garner is about a grandson whose grandpa dies. To receive his inheritance the grandson must complete a series of tasks. Very good!

Amazing Grace is an incredible story based on true events. It's the story of William Wilburforce, an 18th century politician who fought for the abolition of slavery. He was friends with the man who had written the hymn Amazing Grace 20 years earlier. It left me thinking "Wow.....what passion has God placed in my life and what am I doing about it?" The kids also were touched by this story.

Beyond The Gates will leave you in tears but what a story. Even Ben was brought to near tears and was upset at the injustice he saw in this movie.
It's based on true events during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. A British priest ran a school for the children in Rwanda along with the help of a young British school teacher. They had an amazing impact on the lives of those children. The school compound was guarded by the UN and when they were told to pull out the priest and school teacher each had to decide whether to leave with the UN or stay with the children.
It was an eye opening movie but left us all in tears! It's very graphic so wouldn't be appropriate for younger kids.

There really is so much more to life than what goes on in our little corner of it. It's inspiring to see other people passionately living out what it is God's called them to do. I have to ask myself "How far out of my comfort zone am I willing to go to do what God calls me to do?"

We aren't all called to go to Rwanda or be in the political arena (though we all have the responsibility to be aware of what's going on and at least vote!).
God does call each of us to live our lives with purpose. That's different for each of us............

I'm going to ponder that while I fix dinner :) Corn bread baked in flan pans then topped with taco salad. One of our favorites!!