Speaking of scoring...soccer is half way over! We have enjoyed this soccer season as the temperatures have started to get nice. The first weeks are not so fun as the heat makes it somewhat unbearable but once October is here we enjoy being outside! Chris is coaching Cody's team this year and has done an outstanding job. I wish I had a picture to post of him coaching but he is a bit camera shy.
Blake is the one in the center.
This is our Cody.
Erin is the one in the green shirt, standing to the right.
We had our good friends, the Beebe Family, over for F.H.E. and had a "Halloweenie" roast. The kids enjoyed this very much. The only sad event of the night was that I had accidentally killed the Beebe's youngest sons "pet grasshopper" that he had caught while being at our home. I felt pretty bad but my sweet Cody caught another one and thankfully it helped him to feel a little better. I've learned to make sure that the juice bottles do not have any "pets" in them before I put juice in them. What was I thinking?!
Over Fall break, Zach was a real helper and spent a whole day helping me clean and organize our garage. I wish I had before and after pictures to show you but what I do have is the result of bringing in the extra mattresses we had stored in the garage. The kids had a blast sliding down the stairs before going to bed.
This is Blake enjoying a ride before nighty night!
We spent this last weekend in Freedonia, AZ , attending the funeral for Chris' grandma. Funerals are interesting events. We come together to remember the one that has left and then enjoy the company of those that are still here. I hope this doesn't come across wrong because we do mourn those that leave and tears are always shed but what a comfort to be with family. I am so thankful to be a part of such a wonderful family. I am thankful my children love and enjoy being around their cousins. Their cousins are becoming such an important part of their lives, just as mine have been in my own life. Words cannot express how grateful I am for family. I am so thankful our Heavenly Father has given us such a place to be while we are being tested here on earth. My family makes my life unbelievable!!!! I wouldn't want to do it without them.
Last but definately NOT least is the fact that today is my anniversary. I have been married to Chris now for 14 years and the years we have spent together have been the best years of my life. Not to get too mushy but I want to share with you a bit of what my heart feels. Many of you have known me most or all of my life and you have seen me as I have made choices along my lifes journey, some good and some not so good. I want to share with you the experience I had that changed my life forever.
As I struggled in my late teens, I longed to do the things that my Heavenly Father wanted me to do. I felt such a pull between the two forces of good and evil. When I gained the strength and courage to finally shun the evil and anchor myself to the good, my life changed dramatically.
I was dating a young man who was not a member of the church. He and I had been "pretending" to be engaged for reasons that are quite silly nevertheless it was something that was going on in my life. After some time I began to tire of this silliness and told this man that I wanted to stop the games. At this time he looked at me in all seriousness and asked me the question that helped put me back on the path I needed to be on and it was, "Well aren't we going to get married?" This question had the same affect upon me that I am sure an angel would have had, had one appearred to me. All of the teachings from my youth of temple marriage came flooding to my mind and I finally had some sense knocked into me! All of a sudden I realized that what I wanted most was not what I was living for and I wanted a temple marriage! This man was not one who was worthy to take me to the temple and definately not one I would want to spend forever with. Immediate changes occurred in my life and miraculously over a very short time I came into contact with my future husband.
