R.I.P. Patrick Carrington July 24,1959-April 28,2010

SO yesterday had to be the worst day ever. I got up and went to water class came home took a nap and then got the call every person dreads...My stepdad who really was more like a second father to me, Died. It was sudden and no one seems to really know what happened. As far as I can gather Patrick was in his room and my little sister went in to ask him something and started screaming. My mother ran in to see what was wrong and had my sister call 911. Pat was purple. My mother started CPR on him and the parametics showed up five minutes later. They worked on him for 35 minutes and finally called him dead. They took him to the hospital where they gave my mother the news that he did not make it. She lost it at the hospital but pulled herself together enough to call my little brother to tell him she would not be going to his wedding in three weeks because of what happened. He called me and at first I thought he was lying. So I hung up on him and called my mother to find out if it was true and she said yes. I lost it. I never thought in a million years that I would have to experience the loss of a parent at this age. I thought we wouldnt have to deal with this for at least another 30 years. I just can't believe he is really gone. I cryed for ever. I finally fell asleep at 2:30 this morning. Im still not sure what caused him to die yet. Hopefully we find something out from the correner today.

Let me tell you a little bit about Patrick Carrington. He is a father to 12 children although not all bialogical we all thought of him that way and he did us to. He was a man who has over come alot in his life time and has come out the other side a better stronger man. He has a passion for Photography, yes this is where I get my passion from, and has recently finished collage and has started a business where he helps teens and young adult over come the addiction to drugs and achole and help them live long productive lives. He shows them that they can overcome this and really do something great with their lives. He also loves pit bulls. He has three at home and had bread and sold many many more. He believes as I do that they are a product of their enviroment. They are not dangerous unless you make them that way. He also loved hunting and working on his 1965 Ford truck. I love that truck by the way, and has also been working on building a new car with my brother. He is hard on his children because he wants them to succeed in life. He is also a grandfather to 10 beautiful grandchildren who he loved very much. He was an inspiration to anyone who knew him and told everyone that THERE IS NOTHING YOU CANT OVERCOME IF YOU TRULY WANT IT.

I know that he is up in heaven now looking down on all of us and waiting until the time that he can be with us again. He will be missed and loved. I personally don't want to have to go through this again for a very very very long time. It was hard enough when I lost my grandfather but I at least then we knew it was coming. This time we had no clue. I guess when heavely father calls you home you go. There is no fighting it. I know that it was his time to be in heaven but in some ways it doesn't make it better. I love you Pat.

Helping out a friend in need

So today was one of those days where no matter what I did I just didn't have the energy. I went to my DWA class and found out that one of our good friends Carmen is having a really hard time right now. So we girls ( me, Christie, Michelle, Holly, Christine, and Elaine) went and kidnapped her and took her out to lunch. She was pretty down when we first got there but by the time we dropped her off I really think she was in much better spirits. I have to say having the girls around to help out when you are down really helps. There is nothing like the love of your sisters to really bring you up when you need it. I am just glad we can all help.

Anyway when I got home I was exhausted. I tired to take a small nap but the kids came in just after me so there was no hope. I helped them with homework and then sent them off to do their chores. Dale came home a bit later and we all hung out together for a bit. Then the kids wanted to go play so they did and I went to take a small nap. Its nice to have older kids who can pretty much take care of themselves so that when mom needs a break for a bit she can have it. Anyway I got up made dinner and got the kids showered dressed and in bed ready for school tomorrow. Now I am headed to bed myself. Sorry so short but I think all this rain and bad weather is just draining me. I will be glad when its done.

Blog at you later.

Downpour and Markrista's Wedding.

Today was a day for the rains I guess. I woke up to nothing but a downpour and it continued on and off again all day. We were suppose to go to the park and hang out and play as a family today until the wedding but it never stopped raining.

Anyway we went to Marykrista and Justin's Wedding tonight. I am so happy that she is finally getting married. Marykrista and Justin have been together off and on again for a very long time. I'm glad they finally settled into each other. Although it was a downpour all day( which in turn is a perfect analysis of their relationship, they storm and storm and storm and at the last minute....beauty) and the wedding was suppose to be outside but they made it work. Everyone crowed onto the porch and they did the ceremony there. It was beautiful. Rosemary made MaryKrista's wedding dress as well as the flower girls dresses...of course Teya and Ava were the flower girls, and Hunter and Titus (I hope I spelled that right) were the ring boys. Anyway we stayed for the reception afterwards and talked with everyone then headed home at about nine o'clock. I will try to post pictures later if I can.

That's all for now...I'm beat...Blog at you later.

Spaghetti Dinner and Auction

Today was a day of all days. It started with me waking up at the butt crack of dawn and not being able to go back to sleep. Then I put the kids on the bus and got ready for the day. Once Dale was up we headed out to pay the car payment. Not only did we come up with this payment but we had enough money to put $500.00 down on the car. The owner was so impressed by us. We will have the car paid off in July and wont have to make another payment until June but we are going to keep paying each pay period so that we can get it paid off a whole month early. I am so excited about that. Anyway after we paid the car we went out to lunch ( just grabbing something quick) and headed out to Sams Club so I could meet Michelle and Ryan to do our annual Spaghetti Dinner shopping. It was great and we got it done in about an hour. Which is totally awesome considering the fact that in the years past we were in there at least two hours. Anyway after we left Sam's Club we headed out to pick up the last of the donations for the Auction that follows the dinner. Then headed to the church to unload everything. Then we started getting ready. I have to say I was a little dissapointed in the SMALL amount of people who showed up to this considering the fact that for the most part it was only the family members of girls going to camp and us leaders there. There were a few who came that didn't have kids going but I would have to say maybe 35 people total showed up. We didn't make very much money and are really worried we are not going to make enough by camp time to send all the girls to camp, and get all the supplies we need. For the main part we need at least 3 tents to replace the ones that were destroyed last year in the two big storms we had. They have to be big tents so that we can fit at least four or five girls in each one, considering the fact that we have almost 20 girls going again this year. That's still a few less than the past years but we are still the biggest ward going. Anyway to say the least I was very dissapointed with the turn out last night. Next year we are going to try something a little different and have a Chili Cookoff and Auction instead of Spaghetti. We will see how well that works out. When it was all over and done with we girls sent our husbands home with our kids and Christie and Myself took Michelle out for her Birthday (Yes It was Michelle's birthday today ( Happy Birthday Michelle ) ) to the Cheesecake Factory in Nashville. I have never been there before and neither had Michelle. We had a great time and got home about midnight. Now I am headed to bed and ready for tomorrow. Its Markrista's Wedding. Yahhhh so excited. I love weddings.

Blog at you later.

A trip out and Parenting class

So today started off with me waking up to the kids screaming at each other at the top of their lungs at 6:30 in the morning. Yeah not a happy mom. Finally I got whatever was the problem fixed and sent them off to school. I had Isiaha over night so I got him up and dressed and fed breakfast then let him play and watch his morning shows. James finally got him at about 1:00. After that I just hung out until Dale got up and then we spent some time together until he left to go get a message. We he got back the kids were home and we needed to run an errand in Springfield. On our way back home Dale said something about it being Thursday and I remembered that I had my parenting class tonight. I told him thanks for reminding me and we headed over to the church.

Now for the Parenting part. Tonight was on the love language and Parenting 101. Basically we talked about the fact that everyone has a love language. This is where you get you love from such as I am the type of person who really loves to be touched and have positive encouragement all the time. It really fills my love bank so to speak. Dale is also positive encouragement with a slight bit of touch. So the plan is to try and figure out which one you kid is.

There are 5 total. The first being...words of encouragement. The second being...quality time. The third being...gifts. The fourth being...acts of service. And fifth being...touch.

Then we also talked about really listening to your children when they are upset. Not trying to fix the problem or talk but just really listen. Then once they are done they feel better and can solve the problem themselves. Which is what they need to do.

We also talked about the F.A.B. system, I Feel....About....Because. Example.... I FEEL terrible ABOUT the the fact that you ate all the sandwiches that I made for my dinner party tonight BECAUSE now I have nothing to serve my guests.

We talked about sending I messages instead of You messages. I messages focus on your feeling while You messages focus on the child's behavior and the get defencive.

We talked about REFRAMING situations to make them positive.

We also talked about how this generation is so use to everything being given to them instead of them having to earn it that they are just gliding by under the bar instead rising to it. So in turn If you REQUIRE more of your children then they PRODUCE more. Meaning for example....Instead of giving your kids cloths all the time make them earn the money and THEY have to buy their own cloths. Which personally I think is a great idea. Then of course they will be more likely to take care of their things rather than trash them without thought. Also to create an environment RICH with opportunities.

Another thing is the Pay off has to be greater than that of selfishness...Example...AS SOON AS YOU finish cleaning your room properly THEN you can go out and play with you friend. Or something to that effect.

Anyway that was the sum of what we talked about. There of course was a ton of other things that were talked about but these things really stuck out at me. I am really learning a lot from this class and I am so glad that it is being offered.

Well I am pooped so I am going to bed....Blog at you later.

Dishwasher Drama

So today was an ok day. It started with me getting the kids off to school then cleaning up the house a bit...Then got ready for DWA class only to have the maintenance guy show up and tell me that he will be back at 11:00 to fix the dishwasher. Michelle came by and I got to watch her cute new puppy until she got back from DWA class. She is such a cute little thing. I really want one now. They only get to be about four pounds. Anyway after she left I did a little more house cleaning then relaxed. Isiaha showed up at a quarter to four and then the kids came home. He is spending the night. The maintenance guy finally showed up at almost 5 and finally fixed my dishwasher. He had to tear out the wall under the sink to get to the line to finally get it to drain. He had to bring in a couple of other guys to help him and they finished at about 6:15. Ya all that time just to change out a line to make the water drain. Now they have to come back tomorrow to fix the door because it wont lock shut. If they cant fix it they are going to replace it. That's what I thought they were going to do in the first place but whatever. As long as I get my dishwasher back and it works I don't care. After all that was done the kids took showers and went to bed. Oh ya we were suppose to go to church tonight because DJ had scouts but I got a big migraine so we didn't go. He was a little upset but he got over it.

Anyway after all the kids were asleep Dale and I got into a long talk about religion and why it is so important to me and why he needs to understand that to get what I need to get out of this he has to start to fully embrace it fully and start doing the things he is suppose to do so that we can get to where we are suppose to be. If that makes any sense at all. Anyway I am tired so I am going to bed.

Blog at you later.

My weekend

Sorry it has been a couple of days since I last blogged but I have been a little busy. I am also trying to heal my legs. As it turns out they are still hurting from our trip to the Zoo on saturday so I am trying to give them a rest. I have never had my muscles hurt this long. I tried to work out on Monday with my DWA class but I wasn't able to fully do it because the more I exercised the more they hurt so today I chose not to do Zumba and man it is killing me to not be able to do it. I love Zumba. Anyway my weekend consisted of recovering and church. Monday I worked out like I said but I hurt worse afterwards, and prepairing for my Girls Camp meeting with the girls today. I am also watching Isiaha and getting things ready for the Spaghetti dinner on Friday. Anyway thats all for now. I will blog later to catch you up on the rest of my day.

Blog at you later.

A trip to the Zoo

Ok so today I had to meet up with Ryan and Michelle for our Girls Camp meeting at the Boody Farm at 10:00 and then after that I came home and picked up Dale and the kids and headed over to the Nashville Zoo. Today they were having some kind of special where when you buy one adult ticket you get one child ticket free. Gotta love those specials. It usually cost us double what we payed today. Anyway it was nice to go again. We have not been in a long time and they had a few new things. Anyway here are the pictures from today. Enjoy.


These are just some random pictures from the day. I really liked this wooden mask that they had on sale but I just couldn't buy it this time. Next time though I am so getting it. It is of a Giraffe if you couldn't guess.

This one is of a Giraffe's skull. Kinda gross but cool at the same time. This on is of a Giraffe's neck bone. kinda cool to see how long it really is. If you have not guessed I totally LOVE Giraffe's. They are so pretty and cool to look at.

This one is of an Elephant skull. The only thing missing is the tusks.

This is DJ being silly at the end of the day. You sit in front of this picture and it looks like you have ears and antlers. Totally funny.

Ok in these pictures we are in a new enclosure for some birds called Lorikeet's. They are really pretty birds and you can buy these cups with nectar in them and the birds will fly onto you and drink the stuff right from your hand. It was the coolest thing ever.

These pictures are of Dale and the kids in the Meerkat enclosure. They were really impressed by this one.These are of us at the Elephant Safari. When you first go in there is this huge wall of pictures and we each took turns standing by the animal we liked best on the wall. Of course I am by the Giraffe. Dale is by the Tiger. Dj is by the monkey and Elyssa is by the cheetah I think.Ok here are some of the animals that we got to see today. I didn't put all of them on here just because it would take forever to load them all so here are the favorites from the Day. This Elephant was playing with that really big stick that you see next to him. It was so cute.

I don't know if you can see it but there is a small alligator in the bottom of the pool. It was cool to see.

This poor little leopard was so cute. As we were standing there looking at him a family with a toddler came in and they put him on the railing by the glass. When the leopard saw him he jumped on top of a piece of tree and started to stalk the little boy. Just when we thought nothing was going to happen the little leopard leaped at the boy and slammed into the glass face first and with full force. He tried again but this time he hit the glass with his paws and when he realized he couldn't get the boy through the glass he tried to bite the glass and then dig under it. It was so cute. He was bound and determined to get that little boy.

In case you couldn't tell these are bores.

Babysitting for the Temple

Yeah I know that title sounds funny but what really happen was Michelle and Christie wanted to go to the Temple in Nashville today and needed someone to watch their little ones for them. I was already going to have Isiaha so I said yes. Plus what are friends for right. If they can't watch your kids for you so you can attend the Temple when you wanna. I didn't mind though like I said I was already going to have one three year old why not add two four year olds to the mix. They were all great all day and really behaved themselves. I love it when kids do that. I got a few great shots of them playing today and a video of them being silly acting like bunny rabbits. Hummmmm wonder who started that...Ha ha ha. They also colored lots of pretty pictures but I didn't get any pictures of them doing that because I was making lunch for them. Anyway here are the pics that I really liked out of the ones I took. I hope you think they are as cute as I do. This is Katie playing with some chalk she found in the grass.

Here she is riding the neighbors bike. She kinda looks bored here but I think it is just because she was tired. It was winding down to the end of the day.

Here is Brently kicking the ball. It went pretty far to. I was surprised at how far he could really kick it.

Here is the three of them just running around and getting some energy out. Thank heavens for a big back yard. They all really enjoyed it.

This is of Brently trying to ride the neighbors two wheel bike. He never did get the hang of it but I give him props for really trying. He was at it for almost twenty minutes.

By the end of the day he was spent. This is him ready to crash. He didn't but I think if he layed there long enough he just might have.

Here is Katie and Brently coloring on the wall outside with the chalk. They had alot of fun with that stuff.

I think this is my favorite picture of Brently.

Here is Brently, Katie and Isiaha being silly outside.

here they are ready for the day. They had just gotten here and were still getting to know me.

Chillin on the Deck

And here is the video of the kids being bunny's

Random Dozen

1. How do you feel about "Gladiator" sandals, also called "Roman" or "Jesus" sandals? A fashion yea or nay? I would have to say Nay...never really thought they were that cute.

2. What is your favorite pizza? Not a big fan of Pizza but if I had to choose I would say Pinapple and bacon.

3. There are plans in the works to sell roughly 1,000 items from Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. This means you could buy Picard's chair for your family room. If not a Star Trek item, what prop, background, set, etc. from what TV or movie would you buy if you could? [Ex: Hurley's "I Love my Shih tzu" shirt from LOST, the plantation home "Tara" from Gone With the Wind, or Tracy's tambourine from the Partridge Family.] I don't know that I would want anything just because it is just a fanticy.


4. Name a local food or restaurant that your area is famous for. Joes crab shack I guess...Not really sure.


5. What is your current favorite snack? Oranges...I cant get enough of them.


6. Hypothetical: You are required to be a reality show contestant. Which show would you choose based on your probability of success? (You cannot choose "none.") A. Dancing with the Stars B. Biggest Loser C. Survivor. I would have to say Biggest looser...Just because I am currently loosing weight.


7. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being uninhabitable and 10 being cleanliness that meets the standards of OCD, how clean is your vehicle's interior? 6


8. Finish this Sentence... It doesn't feel like Spring until _________. The flowers start to bloom.

9. Something that made you laugh really hard recently is ____. That would have to be something funny my kids said or did. They are always cracking me up.

10. Tell me about a goal you're working toward. Losing weight/toning up

11. Share a thought-provoking or inspiring quote this week. Be nice to everyone you meet because you may not know it but they are going through something hard in their life.

12. Name one thing that you do as a parent that you absolutely know will make your kids happy. If you're not a parent, feel free to substitute "friend" or nomenclature that works for you. I really try to incurage their hobbies. You never know what it will turn into.

So So So....Nothing new

Today I had an early morning. Isiaha got here at 3:45 in the morning. Thank heavens he went right back to sleep. I got up and went to DWA and was on time for once. Then went with Michelle to the book store to pick up a couple of books then back home to feed Isiaha lunch and put him down for a nap. I cleaned up the house and got ready for tonight. I have to finish up the interviews with the Bishop for girls camp and be in class to help control the girls for Activity Days. I am completely exausted and ready to hit the bed now. Anyway thats all for today.

Blog at you later.

Nothing out of the Norm

Ok so nothing interesting happened today. I went to Zumba and then came home. Cleaned the house. Planned to go swimming with the kids but they decided they didn't want to go. Made dinner and got ready for tomorrow. I will have Isiaha pretty much all week at very early hours. Not so much looking forward to that but hey its money right. No Im done for today. So blog at you later.

Morning shot to heck.

Ok so I got up this morning with all intent on going to DWA this morning. I love that class and I really hate when I can't go. Let me explain. So after the kids got on the bus I got ready to go to class. I was waiting for Isiaha to show up but James was running late so I thought he wasn't going to come. At about 10:40 am I gathered up my stuff and headed out the door. Just as I got to my door the bell rang and it was Isiaha. I told James I needed his car seat because we were going to the Y so I could go to class. He said fine and headed back out to his car to get it. Once he left I got Isiaha ready to go and was just about to head out the door again when the bell rang again. All I could think was Man who could that be. Surprise it was the inspector for our apartments. We are under new management and so they are inspecting all apartments to see if everything is up to code and if there is anything wrong that needs to be fixed. Anyway I thought it would go by fast and I could still at least make the last half of class. Yahh no such luck the guy took forever to go through the house and he would not stop talking. He was here for almost an hour. By this point I have given up on getting to go to class at all. So I set Isiaha up with some colors and paper and went to the computer to work on my blog book until Michelle got here so we could have our meeting for Girls Camp. We are having our Spaghetti dinner on the 23rd so we have a few calls to make. Anyway that has been my morning. I will blog again tonight to let you know how the rest of the day went.

Blog at you later.

Recap of weekend at Time Out For Women

Ok so this weekend was the Time Out For Women event that I have been so excited about. There were six of us that road up there together. Me, Michelle, Niki, Christie, Ryan, and Erin. Niki drove us over to Memphis.We are such crazy girls. On the way Christie had a GPS to help us find the fastest way there so that we wouldn't spend a ton of time in the car. Erin and Niki sat in the front of the car since, well Niki drove and Erin gets car sick. Myself and Christie sat in the middle seat and Ryan and Michelle sat in the very back. As we were going along Niki noticed that she needed gas and we were on some back roads. The GPS said that the closest gas station was 4.3 miles and the gas gage said we had 3 miles left of gas. Yahhh can we say scarry. We made it to the gas station just in time. I had to pee so bad so I went in to use the bathroom but it was out of order. Man really. So all the girls were like go use the trees behind the station. Yeah, No. I don't pee in the woods. So we drove down the road and found another gas station that had a bathroom.We all went pee and then got snacks for the road and were off. As we got going again the four of us in the back seat thought it would be funny to freak out Niki a little since her driving was freaking us out. So we all got together and started swaying side to side to make the car rock. Niki freaked out thinking something was wrong with the car and we all started laughing. She was a good sport about it. He he he. Finally we got onto the Highway and then things were good. Erin thought it would be cool to get all the Semi's to pull their horns so she was hanging out her window. That girl is crazy. She fits in with our group great. Anyway we all chatted and gabbed until we got there. Then we checked into our room and put our stuff away and headed over for the first set of talks. I didnt take any pictures at that one because I wasn't sure if we were allowed to. Later I found out we were and so I took tons of pics on Saturday.Once we got there a few more people from our church showed up and that made a group of Ten of us that went out there and just had a blast together. On Friday night we went out to check out the area and got to see what the famous Beale St looked like. Man was it crowded. We had a blast together. Then we spent the night doing pedicures and face masks and chatting and having a great time. We didn't go to bed until 5:00 in the morning and I only got about 35 minutes of sleep all weekend. Anyway it was a great time and something I really needed. I can't wait to go again. Below are a few of the pictures I took. Of course there are so many more and I wasn't the only one taking pictures so I have to get those from them so that I will have the full set of pictures from the weekend. Here are some of them.

This first picture is a view of the city from the 12th floor of the hotel we stayed at. It was so pretty. Trust me the picture does not do it justice. I couldn't believe how pretty it was considering the fact that I am not a city person.

These next few picture are of Beale St and some of the things we saw. First is a sign outside the Hard Rock Cafe. I thought it was pretty funny.

The next is of the Hard Rock Cafe sign. This was where we were going to eat but once we got inside it was so loud in there we couldn't even hear ourselves think. So we decided not to stay there.

This next one is sort of blurry but you can see the stretch of signs that ran along both sides of the street. I almost looked like sin city instead of Tennessee. Ha ha.

This next on is of the place we stopped at and ate. It is called Little Anthony's Cafe. If you ever get the chance to go to Memphis you should so stop in here and eat. I think they had the best food I have ever eaten. Yummmmmm.

This one is of a Bar but I couldn't resist taking the picture because it was just to funny. I don't think I have ever seen one like this before. I got a kick out of it anyway.

Ok so the next couple of picture are of before we made it to Beale St. I tried to get them all in order but it just wasn't happening so here ya go.

Ok so once we all decided to go out we went down to the front desk and told them that we needed a van taxi to take us to Beale st. Truthfully it was only about a mile down the road but we couldn't walk because we had a girl in our group that couldn't walk that far. Anyway once the cab got there it already looked like it was on its last leg. Then all ten of us piled into the cab and all of the sudden we heard this hissing sound. At first we thought maybe the tires had gone flat but then all the sudden we saw flames coming from the front of the cab. We all piled out in a hurry and they put out the fire. We had to wait for another cab to come. We ended up getting a van and a car to take us. It was the funniest thing ever. I think they thought we might be bad luck because it took them along time to send another set of cabs to get us.

This one is of the whole group minus two. Me of course because I was the one taking the picture and Ryan because she was getting change.

After all the fun we went back to the Hotel and had a great girls night in. We did Pedicures and each others toes and face masks and talked a gabbed about just about everything. It was so much fun. Anyway the next morning we all got ready to go and this one is of Ryan, Michelle, and Niki doing their make-up. Lets just say the four of us were just slightly late to the talks. Ha Ha.

Ok the next set of pictures are of the people who gave talks on Saturday April 10, 2010. I will give you just a few of the notes I took from their talks. This first picture is of Amanda Dickson. She was so funny. Here are my notes.

Here talk was on Getting your Hopes up and Why we let disappointment keep us from getting our hopes up.

• Think about change in a new way.
• Change can be fun and playful.
• When you need more energy in your life, Change something like your hair or your cloths or your furniture.
• When things seem to be stale in your life make yourself go a new way so that you have to pay attention.
• One of the things we do in our life when it comes to change is we always go to the bad. Do you ever think the worst case is going to happen.
• What if the worst thing didn't happen.
• Or if you don't change nothing bad will ever happen. Not true. Bad things happen all the time.
• Or I'm not going to like the worst thing. Just think great things come from the worst thing that could happen.

Another point she made was that these next six words always fix everything. No matter what you are going through they truly make you feel better. Your mom use to say them to you and I'm sure you say them to your kids. They are, " Everything is going to be Ok."

Why do we feel better because of these six words, because they are true and they are possible because of CHANGE.

One of my favorite quotes she said was " If you never change your mind, Why have one."

Another is " Be the change you want to see in the world." you can change that a little to fit you such as "Be the change you want to see in other people." If you can't change why should you expect others to. It makes since. You have to respect others in ways such as their time, and their intelligence.

She also said that you have to "Change the spirit of the work" Let me explain what she was talking about. She told this story about her family. One day she went through all the effort to make this wonderful Lasagna meal for her family and for once in along time everyone was there. After they were done eating everyone darted for the den to watch tv and violated the golden rule that " Whoever makes dinner does not clean up" so she went to cleaning and was not happy about it. She was putting the dishes in the dishwasher very loud hoping that they would hear her and feel sorry for her and come and help but they didn't. All of the sudden she had the most inappropriate thought. All of the sudden she pictured Mathew McConaughey was there with her. All of the sudden she went from putting the dishes in loudly and angry to slow and with a little dance. He he. Now did her work change any...No but the spirit of the work did.

A few others that I really liked where:

"Your best is good enough"

"How do you know you are the right Mom for your kids, because you Are their mom." that can also be applied to your spouse, or parents .

" You are the perfect daughter for me, How do I know, Because you are My daughter."

"Gratitude gives us proper perspective."

Those are my notes on her. I hope you were able to get a little bit out of them also.

This next lady was so funny. She even made herself laugh which I think was the best part of listening to her. Her name is Mary Ellen Edmunds Her talk was about a lot of things so I will just highlight a few points.

• Resilience is the ability to bounce back
• Resilience is like contagious optimism
• When everything says you can't believe in the part of you that says you can.
• Old age comes at a very bad time.
• Wisdom comes with old age, Sometimes age comes alone.

The three things we all need in our lives are:

• Faith in God
• Love of family and friends
• Good health

Some times when you are in the middle of something in your life you can't see the shore and you want to quit. Don't.


This next woman was such a great inspiration to everyone. She has been through so much. Let me tell you a little bit about her. This comes from the hand out that we each received at the beginning of the day on Saturday. Her name is Mariama Kallon. She was raised in war torn Sierra Leone. I think that is in Africa. She saw many things as a young girl that might fill a person with fear and hatred. But soon after witnessing the violent murders of her parents an siblings and spending her youth fleeing from rebels, she was introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ and found hope in god and peace in a knowledge of eternal families. She was given a humanitarian kit by the Church, which became a treasured symbol of hope that she used to bless the loves of many as they again fled for their lives. After returning to her town, she was eventually called on a mission to the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission, and wept in gratitude to the the Lord as she visited the place where her humanitarian kit was made. Today Mariama stands as an example of the divine purposes of humanitarian work and tells her story to numerous audiences, urging them to participate in humanitarian efforts.

Personally I think she is beautiful and a wonderful person. She had me in tears when you told us her story. In her talk she quoted a lot of scripture from heart. Here are some of the ones I wrote down. I cried most of the time she talked so I didn't get many notes.

• Ester 4:14 The lord wants me here at this time and to be grateful for each moment of my life.
• 2Nephi 4:26 Rejoice with all my heart.
• D&C 84:87 Be a missionary
• D&C 31:31,6-7 I will bless you and your family even through your problems.
• Alma 7:11-12

Next she told a story about the first time she was at the temple and she was wearing these socks and walking on the carpet and as she walked down a ramp she went to grab the railing and got a shocked a couple of times. She turned to her friend and said the spirit was shocking her. Ha ha. After that her friend teased her all the time saying " Is the spirit still shocking you"

Some of the quotes she said were:

"Angels will be around you to bare you up"

"Never doubt the lord, Do as he asks you to do"

One of the things that her talk did was really make me think about things. One quote I got out of all this is " Remember that you are blessed, for there are others who have nothing, so be thankful for every small thing you have no matter how trivial.

This next picture is of the kit she received. Well whats left of it anyway. Ha Ha. She shared this kit with a few other woman who where very happy she did.
This one is of her family. I think that is her niece at her temple wedding and the family that adopted them.
This guy is Michael Wilcox. Here are the notes that I got from his talk.

• Look forward
• There are always going to be walls and giants to see the fruits
• God will help us bring down the walls -pray-
• Sometimes we get comfortable and the obstacles in front of us get harder.
• When will God give us the hope to face our Giant?
• There are lion and bear experiences early in our lives to prepare us for our Giants.
• How did I get here and where do I go from here.
• When you need hope look beside you
• All things are created to bare record of me.
• There are purposes to the Book of Mormon, we only get half of one of them.
• Even Sparrows don't fall without the Fathers knowledge.
• Look around you at your sisters and you will see all the hope you need.
• Love every man in every hour and every season until his is finished.

This is Emily Watts. Her talk was wonderful. I got so much out of it. Her talk also was on Hope. Since that was the theme of the weekend.

First thing she talked about was the three Hopes to Abandon once you become a mom.

• getting any sleep at all
• control over your own life.
• and having anything nice or unspoiled.

Then she talked about the three things you as a Mother should never Abandon.

• #1 That your children can progress, grow and improve.
• Remember that years fly by even when they seem to be taking forever at the moment.
• No matter how old a mother gets she never stops looking for the improvements.
• Romans 8:24
• Hope is "Waiting with Patience"
• #2 That this work we are engaged in is worth it.
• hope that this principle of the atonement applies to me.
• Our work is never finished and its worth it.
• #3 Somebody who is a lot smarter than me is standing by to help me in this calling.
• While we are teaching we are being taught.
• Help comes in unforeseen ways.
• Parenting is not easy.
• Be kind because everyone you meet is going through something difficult.
  

This is Hilary Weeks. She was our musical performer for Saturday and every time she sang a song she had me in tears. She is so good. Later I will put up a list of all the songs she sang but I don't have them right now.

These next few pictures are of us with the speakers and Hilary Weeks.

So that is our weekend. We had so much fun that we are planning on going again in October to the one in Atlanta. I can't wait. I really needed this weekend and it was so nice to go and really be able to get to know my sisters. Yes I called them my sisters because now I trully feel like they are more than just friends but a true part of my life. I am so blessed to have each and everyone of them in my life. The lord really knows what he is doing when he places us in our lives. I love you girls.

That's all for now. Blog at you later.