Finding Joy in the Journey!

I downloaded Conference onto my MP3 player, and I have been listening to it as I do things during the day and when I'm trying to get to sleep at night. It works wonders let me tell you. Anyways, back to the point! I know most people remember Pres. Monsons talk the best, but since I have listened to it like 5 times now, it's the one that is most on my mind. I changed our blog description to go along with his talk because I really feel like we need to enjoy the stage of life we are in now, and not wait for tomorrow, or as Pres Monson quoted from The Music Man, "You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays."
To go along with my method of thinking, I would just like to share with you something else that has touched my heart, and helped me to realize that life is too short...enjoy it NOW! I was reading a friend of mines blog and she had a link to a friend of hers that was in a plane crash and was burned over 80% of her body. You may know of her...Stephanie or NieNie as she is more commonly known. She was and will still be (hopefully, when she is able) an avid blogger. After I visited her site through my friends link on her blog, I came to see why she has been an inspiration to so many people, and why her story has been so widely distributed and followed. Follow these links (the highlighted words) to see what I am talking about...don't be surprised if you cry a lot and find yourself on the computer for a couple more hours. There's NieNie's blog that is now dedicated to re-posting some of her archives and to keeping her blogging spirit alive, or there is Her sister's blog, where she gives updates on the kids and on NieNie and her husbands recovery, or there is the now famous Today show spot where most people became acquainted with the story (make sure you watch the video). I spent the better part of a day reading through everything and I was very inspired by her attitude about life.
Alright...so with that said...I know it was a lot, but I wanted you to understand where this is all coming from. One of my favorite things about NieNie's blog is that she frequently posts things that she is thankful for, and they are so simple and crazy, but so touching. I think it goes right along with what Pres. Monson was talking about when he said. "Find Joy in the Journey...NOW"
For the last week or so since becoming acquainted with NieNie and since listening to conference, I have been thinking a lot about my blessings and I'd like to share a few of them with you now! Here they are in no particular order:

1. I am grateful for DOVE chocolate! I mean, come on, how can you NOT be grateful when you open up your 10th chocolate (for the day) and read something like this..."Promise yourself a smile today"...How can you not smile when you have one of those babies melting in your mouth! YUMMM

2. I'm grateful that my kids can make their own beds! One less thing for me to worry about, and the kids actually enjoy it.



3. I'm grateful for the dang Moles in my backyard that give me daily exercise from stomping down their tunnels!


4. I'm grateful that my kids still want me to give them kisses before they leave for school and before they get on the bus (even in front of everyone) and when they come home from school and before they go to bed and sometimes just because!

5. I'm grateful that almost everyday my husband makes our bed...it's just one of the many ways that he shows me that he loves me!


6. I'm grateful that my kids still love to do family movie night, and they look forward to every Friday, so we can spend time together eating homemade Pizza (when I'm not sick of it) and watching whatever movie we got from Netflix! Last week it was Return to Witch Mountain, the kids LOVED it!

7. I'm grateful that Karlee's prayers are sometimes more "heartfelt" than mine. It's a reminder for me to do a little better next time. She just really took that FHE lesson on Prayer to heart!

8. I'm grateful for STICKERS! What better way to get kids to do things, than to give them a sticker!


9. I'm grateful for MP3 players! They are the best! You can listen to conference that you download off the church web site. You can listen to work-out music while you exercise, or watch the TV at the gym and listen to what they are saying via the radio on...guess what... your MP3 player. Or just jam to your favorite music in the car as you drive to...wherever. They sure beat the big huge boxy things that we used to carry around! Isn't technology great!



10. I'm grateful for kids that just want to make me and Erik happy, and they do...EVERYDAY! Love you Kids!


My list could go on and on and on! Maybe I'll do more later, until then make sure you look for the little things that you are grateful for everyday! It will surprise you how many you can find!

Trunk or Treat!

We went to our wards "Trunk or Treat"/Fall Festival on Saturday. It was so much fun. The kids had a blast and of course, right before we went out for dinner and trunk or treating, my camera battery died, so you'll have to use your imagination!

When we first got there, the kids immediately got in on the cake walk action! Lizzy won right away, and she picked this awesome Pumpkin cream cheese cake roll. Good Job Lizzy! She disappointed a lot of the adults there that were trying to get that cake! As you can see from this picture, Karlee has not won yet and she's not so happy about it!Whenever I get out the camera and say "Smile", Jordan gives me this forced smile and never looks at me, so this is pretty much what you get from most of his pictures!

After everyone finally won something in the cake walk (it took Jordan a very long time, and he wasn't being so happy about it either!), they tried out the doughnut on a string booth. Karlee was really good and so was Lizzy, but Jordan sure had a hard time!Karlee had to work hard for that doughnut. The evidence is on her face!

What you don't see before this video, is that Jordan had been there trying to eating this doughnut for like 5-10 mins before I finally came over to video tape him. The little girl was having pity on him! He sure was cute though!

After our work out with the doughnuts the kids tried out the bean bag toss. Jordan got all three inside the pumpkin and so did Karlee. Lizzy had to stand at the farther line, so it was a lot harder. Good job Guys! Aren't they cute!

After all the games were finished, we went outside for hot dogs, chips and drinks. Then the kids went trick-or-treating, or as Elizabeth kept correcting us..."Trunk or Treating!" Karlee ran around so fast I couldn't keep up with her. She was so excited!
We had a lot of fun, We love our ward, it was well done. Kudos Jana and the ward activity commitee!

The Pyne's have gone to the Dogs!

Our friends the Bastian's went on vacation and we are watching their dogs for them. There is Zoey, a Beagle about 4-6 months old, and Ceasar, a Maltese that is very...what's the right word?...polite. He reminds me of a child that comes over to your house and is so polite that he asks nicely for everything, even for permission to go to the bathroom. I have seen the playful side of Ceasar though finally. Poor Ceasar is resting after Karlee, I and Zoey played with him this morning! Also, our backyard really gets this poor dog dirty, and I'm not the most skilled dog bather. He's usually not this dirty. I'm sorry, Tina. I really did bath Ceasar, but one trip out in the wet morning grass, and you can't tell that I bathed him!I've been going over to the Bastians for over a year now, and only seen Ceasar playful once. Usually, he will barely give me the time of day, and now he follows me every where. The kids are jealous, but they have been getting plenty of attention from the playful puppy Zoey. Holy Cow that dog has energy! Her favorite thing to do is to find something she's not suppose to have and run off with it. If you chase her, she runs even more. It's great, unless it's something you really don't want her to destroy, in that case you do the reverse psychology thing with her and pretend it's no big deal, which is not so easy for kids. She can see through them!

Anyways, we have been having lots of fun with their dogs, but it just reaffirms to Erik (who has refused to help in almost every way, but he made that very clear when I agreed to watch them) that he doesn't want pets. I must admit that I won't miss rushing to clean up the pop before Zoey starts trying to eat it....eeeewwwwwww! *Sigh* Yeah, I don't think I'll miss that, especially when she tries to lick you afterwards! TMI!!!!