Texas Trip

We had such a GREAT trip!!! The only thing that would've made it perfect would've been having Cory there. I had a made a list of three MUST DO's while I was there.
1. A trip to Sam Moon's in Dallas. Besides Charming Charlie's, it is my favorite jewelery/accessory store ever! My mom, my little sister Katie, her baby Callie, and me and my girls took a day trip to Dallas to buy way too much jewelery (plus an awesome new green purse I got...Carrie, you would be totally jealous), eat lunch at Braum's (another Texas favorite), visit the temple grounds, and splurge at Sprinkles Cupcakes (their cupcakes have no preservatives and all the ingredients are organic, hormone free, and the very best).
2. Eat at Spring Creek Barbeque. Mmmmmmm!! I love me some Texas BBQ, especially at Spring Creek. We met up with one of my mom's uncles who just happened to be in Dallas for business. It was fun to be with him and all the rest of my family while devouring the best rolls and brisket ever!!!
3. Go to the Dallas temple. We ended up not being able to attend the session we had planned on but at least we were able to go. We took lots of pictures of my girls and Callie touching the temple. Just being on the temple grounds brought me so much peace and happiness, and of course the memories of that August day came flooding back to me. I always love to see the temple, but especially the Dallas temple...where Cory and I's journey began. And, I learned something I didn't know. The temple is located on Willow Road. Oh, the symbolism. :)

The rest of the week we spent time in the pool (or sitting by the pool), paddling in the canal behind my parent's neighborhood, enjoying home cooked meals by my sisters, biting my nails and crying over BYU's loss in the Sweet Sixteen, laughing, shopping, cringing as I watched my dad driving around town with both Katelund and Cloey in the front seat of his convertible, staying up late at night with my mom, and just enjoying every second together,

I felt so blessed to be there when the Bluebonnets were out!!! There is nothing like a field covered in bluebonnets. Oh, how I LOVE TEXAS!!!! Sorry Tennessee, you just don't have quite the same appeal.










Here I am in the driver's seat, where I spent 30 hours. Although it was a long drive, it was worth every single mile. Gas for a trip to Texas=$400. Memories made on that trip =priceless!!!!

What am I thinking????

Saturday morning at 5 am I will be loading my girls into the van and we will start our 13 hour (with stops it will probably be more like 17 hour) drive to Texas (26+ hr round trip) for spring break. Unfortunately, Cory has to work but I was able to talk one of my friends into driving down with me (she is such a SAINT!!). Considering the fact that on our 16 (really 19-20) hour round trip drive to Fayetteville, I was SUPER sick (and puked my guts out a couple of times), ended up with a grand total of 3 tickets (yes, I'm serious), and had 3 extremely whiny children...I am REALLY NERVOUS about this drive.

So.......please pray for my sanity, my stomach, and no speed traps.

Thanks. Now the craziness of packing must begin. Whew...I'm tired just thinking of all I need to do. The only possible reason I would ever attempt to do such a crazy thing is because I will get to spend the whole week with both of my sisters (and their children) and my parents...totally worth it.

May the luck of the Irish be sent our way!

The Insignificant and Hidden Deatils

I know that my Savior knows me in a very personal and real way. He knows how to succor, uplift, comfort, and sustain me. As I pour my heart and soul out in prayer, I know that he hears me and knows exactly how I feel. I have had personal and sacred experiences that have witnessed to me of such a truth.

But, what about all the other details of my life? What about the hidden details...the fears and struggles that I wrestle with in the private chambers of my soul, the ones that are so deep inside that they are not expressed or uttered in my prayers or conversations? Or what about the details of my life that are insignificant...the randomness that circles around inside of my head each day? Are the little things in my life that are so important to me, important to him as well?

The other day I opened up my scriptures and began to read. After two verses, I stopped reading and the tears began flowing. I couldn't believe what I had just read. I kept reading to find out how this verse fit in to the rest of the chapter...but it didn't. In fact, I realized that my bookmark had been moved and I wasn't even reading in the right spot. It was a very random verse. So random, that if I didn't know better, I would think that it had been stuck in there just for me to read at that very moment. I know that in that single verse, which may seem very insignificant to anybody else, the Lord had spoken directly to me. He had spoken to one of those private chambers of my heart. But he hadn't just openly told me what I needed to hear, he did it in a way that only I would understand...a very personal, tender, and miraculous way. I can now say for sure that the Lord is not only aware of the unexpressed prayers of my heart, but he is also aware of the insignificant details of my life...

...and yes, they are important to him as well.

I'm a tree hugger!!!

Over the last couple of years, I have become obsessed with trees [okay not really obsessed, but really into]. I'm not really sure why. It is actually kindof strange. Even to the point that I get onto my children when they use paper towels in the public bathrooms if there is an option to use an air dryer, and if there is not an option they only get ONE paper towel. I have even stopped scrapbooking because I feel like I use SO MUCH paper. Instead, I'd rather just use my blog, although, I still use my cute paper for projects. I still use disposable diapers and I could never stop using wet wipes. And, I don't think I could ever get on board with a kindle for a book because I love the smell and feel of turning an actual page in a book. So, I guess I'm not an actual tree hugger, but, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to learn about and admire trees. As I walk through my neighborhood, I study them. I try to pick out which is which and discover different things about when and how they bloom and what colors their leaves turn and for how long. On Clairisa's first birthday, Cory's parents gave us a willow tree to plant in our backyard because they knew that everytime I saw a willow tree I thought of her. She is buried in the shadow of the most beautiful willow tree I have ever seen. I have babied my little willow tree. I have over watered, under watered, etc...because I am so obsessed with [my willow tree...I'm really obsessed with] it's good health. Last year we landscaped around it as a family project and this last fall I planted seven (seven is symbolic in Hebrew for perfection) pink tulips around it.

The class that I just taught at Women's Conference was about family history and how to get started. I LOVE symbolism so I taught the class with a parable that came to me one day last week as I was admiring my beautiful Bradford Pear trees in my front yard. It was called the Parable of the Trees. In the process of preparing for my class, I did a lot of research on the Bradford Pear trees and the Redwood trees (those are the two I compared). I learned so much and had so much fun doing it. As I came home this week, I decided to continue my researching. You see, unlike most girls, I don't day dream about what my future kitchen will look like or what my dream house would be. I day dream about what kinds of trees will grace my yard with their majestic beauty. Cheesy? Yes, I know. But, don't you already know that about me by this point? :) So which tree am I dreaming and studying about this week? The Japanese Magnolia (Tulip) tree. The tree of my dreams. [Scroll down to the last picture to see how beautiful it is at this time of year. Or click here to see an incredible upclose picture taken by my amazing friend Destinee who has one in her backyard.]

We stopped by Clairisa's grave in Asheville on our way home from Fayetteville. If you look closely, you can see the willow tree in the background.

Over the mountains and through the woods....

...to Grandma's house we went!!

We had such a great weekend in Fayetteville. We had been planning on going for quite awhile now, but something seemed to come up every single weekend. So when Sherrie asked me to come and teach a class at her stake's women conference, it was the perfect reason to make it happen. So here's the rundown of what we did...

Friday.....We started the day at the church helping Grandma decorate and prepare for the women conference on Saturday. My girls love to help decorate at the church, especially with Grandma. Cory and Hailey went to work with Grandpa to see some old friends. Later that afternoon, Grandpa picked up the girls in the salon parking lot so that Sherrie and I could spend the rest of the afternoon being pampered. We had a great time and we both came out 4 hours later (it was a beauty school so it took a little longer than normal) feeling beautiful with shorter and lighter hair. Then we met everyone at our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Saturday...Sherrie and I left real early to do last minute prep stuff before the conference started at 8:30. It was a WONDERFUL conference!!!! I love the sisters in Fayetteville. There is just something about that stake that I LOVE and miss. The stake that we are now in doesn't do women's conferences. What's up with that??!!! Anyways, during the conference Cory, Grandpa, and the girls played some baseball and then Cory spent hours trying to track down a nebulizer because Hailey was wheezing. She has had a cold for the past week, but Cory (who has had asthma since he was a baby) was starting to get worried. Later that afternoon, we had all planned on going to play putt-putt and race cars, but instead me and Sherrie took Katelund and Cloey to get started and Dad and Cory took Hailey to an urgent care. They told Cory that she was fine and that she just had a cold, but he kept asking questions and being a worried dad so they tested her for RSV...which she had. So, the rest of the weekend we spent at home playing games and having fun together while we babied our baby.

Sunday...I stayed home with Katelund and Hailey (Katelund threw up Saturday night) while everyone else went to church. We had a delicious dinner and then we played more games and ended the night with pedicures and makeovers (the girls gave Grandma a pretty scary make-over while she slept on the couch and then finally convinced Cory into letting them put make-up on him as well....of course, I HAD to join in on that. We were all laughing hysterically!!! Good times, good times.

Monday morning, Grandma and Grandpa walked to the lake with Kate and Cloey to feed the ducks and then Cory and his mom went on a bike ride together. Afterwards, we packed up and headed out on our long voyage back home.

For some strange reason, I can't get my pictures to post...but, I will have them up as soon as I figure it out.