Jackson's Testimony of Faith

At the desert Jackson ate some fudge which contained walnuts.  Oops!  Who could blame him though for not wanting to turn down fudge!?!?  Needless to say, that greatly affected his ability to breathe and required not one, but two Benadryl pills.  Good times.  The boy had a raspy voice the remainder of the evening.  But, to make matters worse, Jackson is already sensitive to dirt and desert air because of his asthma.

Sunday night the poor kid could not sleep.  The coughing was out of control despite having two breathing treatments.  I did all I could with oils and what not, but as soon as Andrew returned home I asked him to give Jackson a blessing.

Tears poured out of Jackson's eyes during that blessing.  Once Andrew finished, Jackson looked up at him and said, "I have no idea why I am crying!"  Andrew took this opportunity to give Jackson another lesson on the Holy Ghost to which Jackson thoroughly absorbed.  He slept all night!

Today I asked Jackson if he knew what faith is.  He asked me why I asked him and I told him I think he has strong faith because he got better after his blessing.  To which he replied, "Well, yeah, I believed I'd get better because of all the powerful worlds dad said.  Faith is the best way to make things happen."

Soccer with Juana and Ito (and Bri!)

Stinking camera is such a pain!!!  Hopefully when I make my blog book I can rotate these suckers.  Anyway, we were lucky enough to have the morning game at 9:45am instead of 8:30; super nice!  Although, it was so hot.  The kids played well and had fun and we all enjoyed watching... despite the heat.

Seriously, have I mentioned how fun it's been watching Ryan develop his soccer skills!  So fun!

After the game we hit up Johnny Rockets and it left me wondering why we never go there - it's delicious.

Poor Jackson has so few pictures from his games because I'm too into it to take any.  Luckily we have a great team mom that takes many and posts them on our FB page.  Here are a couple I stole:

1 - Here the poor kid is sitting out cause he really took our his knee.  They keep them out for the entire quarter which is kind of a bummer!

 2 - This boy really has a drive to do his very best not only for himself but mostly for his team.

Saturday was a good, good day!

October... Almost Over

I am sorting through pictures I have taken on random cameras throughout this month and I feel as though so much has happened since then...

For instance, these soccer pictures seem way outdated.  Here are the kids, posing in their uniforms back when we could still find matching pairs of socks for each child.  Then there's the first set of games Juana and Ito attended.  They'll be the first to tell you just how much has changed in the games since that first one they watched.

 As it turns out, Andi is so aggressive and fearless as goalie and Ryan is a fantastic defender.

During Fall Break, we did next to nothing.  Andrew was still working on Arksey and so we had to cancel our trip to Vegas.  I was so grateful for our gift from Jenni, to visit the Wildlife Center in Sylmar.  It's a quaint center rather nearby and the kids loved every minute we were there.  The animals were so close the kids really enjoyed observing them.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  They're still talking about it.

With school back in session the following week, we engaged in our Fall traditions.  First off was the Lombardi Preschool trip for Andi.  She had a blast and it was surprisingly not stifling hot.

Every day I am so grateful for my car; the car I bought on a whim without having a inkling that those eight seats would be used more than not.

Soccer games really have become intense and with each one we have had the chance of watching the kids grow and develop. 

 Jackson had a stellar game last week and this week he played well, too, but had a rough go.  He started the game with a goal but towards half time, while defending goal, an error led to ridicule from his teammates and stand in coach.  The ball went out but the whistle wasn't blown - he assumed it was a dead ball which resulted in the other team scoring a goal and it counting.  His team and everyone else was so upset and I felt awful for him as his entire body sobbed carrying the disappointment of everyone around him.  Oh man, I so felt his pain.  He sat out until after halftime and came back in slightly hesitant.  I hope that boy can manage his perfectionism a little better than I have over the years!!

 GOAL

My 32nd Birthday

To be honest, I didn't want to do anything this year.  I really, truly, just wasn't in the mood to celebrate.  Man, doesn't that sound like an awful spoiled brat!?!  I mean, I've been given 32 wonderful years, many blessings, and I didn't even want to celebrate.  Ugh!  But I have to say, my good friends and family turned that attitude right around.  It started Monday when I was interrupted doing the dishes due to a ding dong ditcher... or two.  Then Tuesday I came home to find a gift on my dining room table.  And then, HELLO, Wednesday, day of my birthday, I had a fabulous surprise waiting for me when I got home from preschool pick-up.  My sneaky, sneaky, friend!

It's funny, the older I get the  more I love receiving flowers.  I truly would love to be that person that has fresh flowers in her home always :)

 These girls are so good to me and I am grateful for the time and effort they always make to be such fabulous friends.

 On my actual birthday, Jenny put together and surprise lunch before preschool pick-up.  I know lunch time can be rough for us moms to get together and so I am so grateful for all those that made the effort to come out.  It was delicious and a nice way to break up the day.

That night I was blessed enough to have my grandparents make the trip all the way here to celebrate with us.  They always make the "party" just that much better and we're grateful for that.  My parents were so awesome to take us all out to one of our favorite places, Mom Can Cook.  And then to top it off, The owners of the restaurant gave us a complimentary dessert and gave me a t-shirt.  They were so cute we love them even more, now.

 After our family dinner, Jenny took me out for massages and a pazookie.  Truly a fabulous combination.

The best part about birthdays, is they don't have to end at midnight.  Jena made my "day after" and I can't wait to go shopping ;)  And hello, Fran and Laurel spoiled me Friday night on our impromptu escape (haha, literally!  Laurel picked up Fran on the corner of her street and they pulled up laughing hysterically as I had already walked three or four houses down from my house.  By Friday, you really are ready to make a run for it!)  I am so grateful to everyone that dropped by with gifts, cookies, cards and hugs and everyone that did so through technology, as well.  Truly felt blessed and lame for being so anti-birthday!

Wednesday and Thursday we had the chance to hang with the Milhoan clan at about 5:45am.  I kid you not, the kids were so sad when the Milhoans did not show up Friday morning.  We just love the way they feed off one another and truly enjoy one another's company.

 Friday right after school, we met up with grandma shopping, Juana and Ito at Lombardi Ranch.  It was sad that during this crazy visit, there wasn't a time we could all get together and go but I'm glad we made it regardless.

 One of my favorite things is how Ito always gets down on Cole's level and genuinely visits with him.

 Juana was over the moon with the pumpkin she found this year.

 Can't break tradition.

Ok, I still have more from last weekend and now this week's Halloween festivities but it'll have to wait.  I'm all blogged out.  This is the very reason I hate falling behind!

Lessons of Arksey

The kids and I have been on our own for the past couple of months.  It's not what it was supposed to be, but hey, life never is.  During the journey of Arksey, Andrew missed too many classes and therefore has to start again in the Spring.  The good news is the University Center is telling him he could still accept a job in the Fall on this particular path.  That is exactly what I needed to hear.

Andrew does not want to retire from the flipping business - who would have thought.  He sees this all as a learning experience and hopes to apply said lessons on future flips.  I'm not sure how I feel about it at this point.  It's kind of like after you have a kid and you swear you'll never get pregnant again but then, psh, you do.  Time will tell; time will tell.

The lessons I have learned during his absence is I think I'm a better single mom than I am a partnered one.  With that said, it sure was lonely without him here.  Go figure, such a woman I suppose, I can't make up my mind.  Life was smooth and simple and orderly when it was just the five of us.  Truly, it was an enjoyable time with my kids.  But in looking back, now that the single mom fog has been lifted, I think I became more of an introvert.  I put my head down and charged forward focused only on my duties.  In a sense, you lose yourself and that in turn is rather lonely.

So as always, balance is key.  Moderation in all things, I suppose.  So yeah, I'll probably go ahead and let him do it again (haha, who am I kidding as though I have a choice), but I think I may take over some aspects the next time around.

PS.  Thank you to all who were patient and kind during the process :)

The Atonement and the Game of Pool

I haven't been able to turn on my computer for almost a month.

Probably lost all my pictures.... again.

Do not have a working camera for over a month.

So why blog now.... well, no, computer is not working and no, I haven't replaced my camera.

BUT, Jackson taught us a lesson on the way home tonight that I had to record.

He said:

I was going to share a lesson for family home evening tomorrow night, but I think I'll do it right now.  (This is when I, mom, turned off the music in the car).  I was playing with the balls on the pool table and I rolled one ball.  It started rolling slowly towards the hole so I used another ball.  I rolled it and it hit the other slow ball and the slow ball then rolled faster and went into the hole.  

I was thinking that's like Jesus dying for us.  The ball I rolled hit the slow ball and give the slow ball power to make it to the hole.  Jesus Christ is like that second ball I rolled to help the other ball.

Did you know Andi and Ryan brought cookies and candy corn from grandma and grandpa's house?

Yeah.... it went like that.  Andrew and I were pretty much speechless the rest of the drive home.