Somehow you find a friend!

Keira and Raynee are really good friends. They LOVE to spend time together, when they can, (I'm not so great about playdates during the school year) and they usually end up singing at one point or another.

One day Keira informed me that her and Raynee sing to the kids on the bus on the way home. I asked her what they thought and she said "Well, they must like it because they just sit and smile at us!" Hahaha! "I'm sure they do, Keira"

 Here is a video of Keira and Raynee singing a song from one of their favorite Barbie movies!

 

Way cute hu!!!

I'm so glad that Keira could find such a great friend that does not judge her because she looks different than everyone else.  In fact I think most of the time Raynee forgets just like the rest of us!

Thank you Raynee!

Love these girls!!!

 

Where have I been??

Well.....to be honest.....no where!

 Just busy with life!

I've been feeling kind of  BLAH about blogging lately for a few reasons.

The first being that I lost my brand new super nice camera....  :(    It makes me want to cry just thinking about it!  This is what happened.  In March, Eric and I went to Vegas with 10 other members of his family! (I will post on that later)  We had so much fun.  It was a short but sweet trip, we rented a 12 passenger van and drove all the way down on a Friday and back on the following Sunday.  Like I said short but sweet.  Anyway, on the way home we decided to put all of our Vegas pictures on my Sister-in-laws laptop so that we could look at them. (A blessing in disguise)  On Monday after arriving home I realized that my camera was missing.  I called my Mother-in-law because we rode in their truck home after dropping off our rental van.  No luck!  I called the rental car place and they said that the lost and found department closed at 2:00 (it was 3:30) and to call back tomorrow.  So I did.  They sent someone out to look in the van (which had already been cleaned out) and didn't find it.  But said that they would talk to the people that cleaned it out the day before and call me back.  On Wednesday around 1:00 I still hadn't heard anything so I called them again.  They said that the people who cleaned it out didn't find anything but that Tuesday night the van had been sent back to Salt Lake City.  So they gave me the number for the SLC office.  Which I called right away.  I got an answering machine and left a message.  The next day, Thursday, I called again.  This time I got a very nice lady named Michelle (I know you wanted to know that) who informed me that the van had been sent to an auction Wednesday night.  UGGG!  You have got to be kidding me!  The auction was going on on Thursday so she sent someone over to the auction to look through it really good and make sure my camera wasn't in it.  When she called me back about an hour and a half later to tell me that there was no camera in the van I completely broke down crying!  Even though I knew it was no use I told her that I really didn't care about getting the camera back (even though it was a nice-not-cheap camera) I just wanted the SD card out of it.  Because it had 3 months worth of pictures on it!!   She was very nice and I could tell that she really felt bad about it but could do nothing.  I hung up the phone and went to my room and cried for about an hour.

Which brings me to my second reason I haven't been so great a blogging lately.

Kaiden played basketball this year with the community basketball program.  He had so much fun and did really good and guess what!!!  I HAVE NO PICTURES OF IT!!  I actually had some really good pictures of him and some super fun videos, one of which I had of him making a "Hoop" as he calls it.  He was so proud of his "Hoop" video and kept asking me to put it on the computer so that he wouldn't have to keep watch it on the camera anymore.  Well guess what.....I never did!   Just before leaving to Vegas I thought "I should put all my pictures on my computer before we leave" and then I thought "No, because when I get back I will be doing it anyway, I might as well do it all at once".  Well, when you have no camera it is awfully hard to put pictures on the computer.  I am so sad!!  Kaiden's basketball pictures were not the only pictures I had on my camera either, they were only some of the 360 something pictures that were on there.  Yes, I take a lot of pictures!  I just feel so bad about loosing all of those pictures and those moments in my families lives that I haven't really wanted to blog.  :(  It makes me sick to think that who ever cleaned out that van and found the camera could not be honest enough to return it!  I wish we could just trust people!!!!

The third reason I haven't been blogging much lately.......Well.......I'm worried about offending people.  I'm worried because there are things that I want to write about or talk about and I am worried about saying things that I strongly believe and offending someone who doesn't believe the same.  I realize that this is my blog, that I shouldn't worry about it, that I shouldn't care if someone doesn't like what I am writing about, but, I do!  I do care!  And I am so torn between what I want this blog to be for me and my family and what other people will think about it.  Dumb, I know!!!!  I know that  I am just going to have to do what I want and not worry so much but it is hard for me.

We will see how it goes.

 

~Thoughts and Beliefs~

*CAUTION*

This post is full of my personal thoughts and beliefs.

Lately I have been thinking about a lot of different things.  And then reading a friends blog the other day has made me think even more.

Some of the things I have been thinking about are:

*How do I help keep my family strong in a world that is so wicked and corrupt?

*How do we as a family keep the "world" out of our home? 

*How do I as a Mother teach my children to stand up for what they believe in?

*How do I teach my kids that they are Sons & Daughters of God?

*How do I teach my children not to lower their standards for anyone (boys, girls or friends)?

*How do I teach them to have courage when everyone around them is giving in?

*How do I teach my son to respect women?

*How do I teach my daughters to help boys go on missions instead of being part of the reason they don't go?

So many thoughts...

Sometimes I feel so alone.  Like even those that I should be able to turn to for answers or other mothers that should feel the same way are going against what we have been taught or believe.  Or even feel like some of the standards that have been set are too hard or aren't really important until their kids are older.

I, even at times have been told that "I look like a 'Mormon Mom'".  And it hasn't been said as a compliment.  Or the world in its own way makes being a mother seem like an undesirable thing, like families aren't important.

Sometimes, I let it get me down and make me feel like I am doing something wrong.  Like maybe the world is right and I don't really "NEED" to do everything that has been asked of us.  That some things aren't as important as they seem to be.   So, if I as a mother struggle with these kind of thoughts then how do I help my kids?

I am coming to realize that I need constant inspiration.  I need little messages of hope.  I need the reassurance of church leaders that what I am doing is right, worth it, and important.  Maybe that means that I am weak.  Maybe that means that I am not a strong person.  I don't know.  But what I do know is that if I go for a long period of time without those things I begin to feel alone, depressed and worn down by the world around me.

I have put a lot of videos on this post mostly because I feel like they help me from day to day.  Some I watch often and some I recently found.

This one was on a friends blog and I felt like it answered a lot of my questions and concerns I have had lately.  Sometimes our Heavenly Fathers answers our prayers in ways that we never think of.



We need to defend our homes.  We need to protect them.  We need to keep them clean and free of the temptations and sins of the world.  Our homes need to be a place of peace and security.  Sometimes things come into our homes because of others things that are unknown to us at the time and we need to always be on guard for who and what is being allowed in.

This video is wonderful.  Most of the information is from 1979.  Just imagine how much more corrupt the world is now then it was back then.


I believe that modesty is one of the most important things to teach our children at a young age.  It teaches then to have respect for their bodies, respect for themselves, respect for others around them.  And I believe that the more we help them to understand the importance of modesty at a young age the easier it will be when they are forced to make some tough decisions later on.  Just like deciding now not to drink, smoke or do drugs.  Deciding now is so much easier.



Here is a study that was done on women and modesty and how mens minds work.  Makes you really think!

I read this a while ago and loved it.  This is something that I really want to teach not only my daughters but also my son.

I can only hope and pray that I will be able to help my family through my example to become all that they can.  That my home and family will be able to say strong against the temptations of the devil.  That I will become a better mother and wife.  And that if all I can do is go to bed each night and honestly tell my Heavenly Father that "I am doing my best and rest is in His hands" then that is good enough for me.

I don't want anyone to think that I feel like I am perfect.  Because I am so far from being perfect that it is ridiculous!  I mess up all the time.  In fact there are days when I feel like I have done everything wrong.  That I have been a terrible wife, mother, daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece and aunt.  Like I don't deserve the many blessings that have been given to me.  But it is days like those that I need to take a step back take a deep breath and realize that tomorrow I can start over and try to do better.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't but that is just the way this life is.

~Grandpa Heiner~

Eric's grandpa Ralph Schwab Heiner passed away on December 5th.  I was a sad day.  We have known for a little while that he was going to be going soon but even when you know, it's still hard.  We all miss him VERY much!

Grandpa Heiner is the first of both Eric & I's grandparents to die.  I know I have talked about this before but we have been so very blessed to have all of our grandparents alive.  Our kids have had 8 Great Grandparents until now.  How wonderful is that.  What a great blessing it is to not only have 8 Great Grandparents, but to know and be close to all of them.  Granted, as the years go by they will probably not remember much about them but they will have some memories.  And that makes me so happy!

Grandpa's funeral was beautiful.  He was so very thin but looked good.  It was a wonderful meeting and I don't want to say that it was a happy time, because we were obviously not happy that he was gone, but it was a peaceful and good.  (If that makes sense?)  Grandma looked sad but beautiful.  She is such a wonderful person!  Grandpa was a great man!  Someone to look up to, someone to pattern our lives after, he was happy and funny.  He lived a good life, followed the teaching of the prophets.  Loved the church and always asked if we were "tending to business" while giving a cute little sideways smile and a nudge to your side.  Those are the things that I am going to miss the most!!    

Here are a few pictures of the graveside services.  It was a beautiful day (but FREEZING!)

Grandpa was a military man and was honored by the Honor Guard

The headstone!

It is very nice looking!

Grandma

The pallbearers

Gun salute

Giving grandma the flag

Grandpa's casket was beautiful!  Black and gold! 

Hands in prayer

The funeral was wonderful.  Eric gave the opening prayer and brought me to tears!  Then after the 4 boys spoke (which was fun to hear) the grand kids (all of us immediate and married) sang "As Sisters in Zion/Army of Helaman" medley.  It was beautiful.  I didn't make it all the way through it.  I was a blubbery mess.

After the graveside services we all went back to the church for lunch.  And a few pictures.

Here is Grandma with all of the the grand kids.  Everyone was there except for one who lives in Florida (I think) and one on a mission.  AMAZING!!!

Here is one with all the grand kids (immediate and married)

And one of all the family that was there.

What a wonderful family!  I feel so blessed to be a part of this family.  We are more than a family, we are friends too.  What more could you ask for?

~Return from Iraq~

In September my Brother in Law returned from serving 1 year in Iraq!! It was such an exciting day. I took the kids out of school early and we made a quick drive to Pocatello so that we could be there when his plane landed. My sister and her kids were so excited to finally get him home. I was so glad that we could be there with them and to get to see him for just a bit.


(Again my pictures are all blue. The setting was still wrong on my camera but the sun was so bright that I didn't notice until later :(
We waited!
And waited some more
Until FINALLY he was there!!!

And of course there was some of this!



HAHAHA!!! I made up this sign for Tami to hold. It got a lot of laughs!

Ok lets face it....there was a lot of this!!!!



I don't think my sister ever stopped smiling......


Ok maybe once!!!
(Oh man is she going to kill me.....love ya Sis)


After he got off the plane and said "Hi" to everyone, we all headed over to The Pizza Factory for dinner. It was good to get to talk to him even if it wasn't for very long.

After that we loaded back up and headed home. It was a quick trip there and back but soooo very worth it.

Welcome home Nick!!!

We are glad you made it home safe and sound! And we want to thank you for all that you did in Iraq and all that you do here in the states! You are awesome!!!

~Labor Day Weekend~

School started the first week of September this year which I loved!! The nice thing was that we got a long fun weekend in before school started. You know, one last real "HURRAH" before the cold weather moved in. And we all had a good time. We went with our friends the Robinson's, Eric's parents and Rob & Rachel's family. Talk about a party!




The kids had so much fun playing with all of the other kids that were there. (Rob's kids, Tyler's kids & Todd's daughter, Ashley, came with all of her kids and they all played great and kept each other entertained the entire time!

Kaiden's home made bow.

The girls all playing together!!
Rob blowing bubbles with Kelsey! Too cute!

Sandy had a bunch of different games for the kids to play.

This one they had to stack ding dongs on their heads and see who could get the most!
Kaiden almost got 4!!
Michael won with 7!!!
Scooping penne noodles on spagetti noodles.

It was a very fun and relaxing weekend for me. Which I was really needing. I was able to have a good talk with Ashley, who I have never talked to before, about adoption and just regular family life. She has an adopted son that is 7, I think, and it was good to talk to someone who understands a lot of things that others just don't get. I was amazed at the similarities between her son who they adopted as an older child and Keira. CRAZY!!!

Ashley!
We did a whole bunch of this!!!
Grandpa Todd!! He is amazing with my kiddos. I think he really thinks that they are his!! LOVE IT!!!

I got a new camera the weekend before this so I had to try out a bunch of fun stuff. I LOVE MY CAMERA!!! It's way nice and fun!!!!
Skipping rocks.
Love how these turned out! So pretty.

The weather was a little chilly but beautiful. I would have to say that it was a perfect ending to summer.