The Power of Prayer

Yesterday on Oprah (yes, I love Oprah…come on, you know you do too) a woman named Marianne Williamson was on. I have read some of her books. She is an amazing woman! Anyway, Oprah read a card that Marianne had written to her when the big O turned 50. This is what it said:

“In that holy place where you tell Him everything and He understands, there are angels who stand in wait to hear His every command. How may they serve you and increase your joy. I stand with them, for this you have done for me.”

Ah! That may be one of the most beautiful quotes I have ever heard! And, it is so true for everyone on earth. God hears and answers prayer!

Another quote I love along the same lines…I cannot find right now. But it says something like: The forces you come up against every day are never as strong as the power behind you. That is not exactly it…but it was given in a General Conference talk a few years ago. If anyone knows the right quote, please share.

Amazing David Archuleta

This kid is incredible! So beautiful!

Some Pictures of my Cute Beau

What a hottie! Who cares that he graduated in 1986!

(he turns 40 in 2 months)

Aaah! This is Annette and Beau at Half Moon Bay in San Francisco.

I had to include this picture because Beau is always complaining how much he can't stand my dog...but, as you can see, when he thinks no one is looking, he cuddles with that sweet pooch!

Aaah! Aren't we Cute

I decided to take the baton from Dawn and find some cute old pictures of my blogging buddies! Oh, so cute!

From the Young Women's Presidency

Last night I was going through some old pictures and came across this. I laughed as hard last night as when I first got this postcard in the mail for my 17th birthday. We had a funny advisor in young womens from one of the Scandanavian countries who sent it. If you look very closely down at the writing in black it says, "Written by a bunch of sickos". I bet none of you got something so special from your Young Women's Presidency!

I Want to Zip Line

In Hawaii (Maui, I think) they have this cool zip line course through the trees in the mountains. It looks so cool! Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am a scaredy-cat baby when it comes to just about everything. But I want to do this!

I told Beau and he said, "No way! You would never do that!" So I said let's go for our 15th anniversary (a few years away, but we have a few other goals first...build a new house, 4-wheel drive vehicles for this snow filled, back hilled place we live). Doesn't it look like a blast??!!

Earthquake

Hi everyone. For those of you who haven't heard there was an earthquake here this morning. The epicenter was about 50 miles from here so it was fairly minor for us. We felt it and the chandeliers were swinging a little bit, but that's about it. Apparently it was a 6.3 on the Richter Scale at the epicenter and caused quite a bit of damage there. But none here that I have heard.

I have had several calls this morning asking if Beau was at work. We are all thankful that he was not. (Some of you may not know that he works in an underground mine.) The mine he works in is another 30-40 miles away from the epicenter. And, there haven't been any reports of damage in any of the other mines around, so all is well!

Scary!

Can you see part of the yellow bumper under the car?

Yesterday (Valentine's Day) morning I was taking my girls to school and this is what happened! Urgh! I was on a main street when this little yellow car, trying to cross the larger street on a side road t-boned me. It turns out that the 16-year-old girl was,

"in a hurry to get to school and just didn't see any cars"

Her exact words to the police officer. I'm not sure if they tell you in drivers ed not to tell the police officer at the scene of an accident that you were just in a hurry (and probably on your cell phone) but I would think that even a young girl would figure that out. To her credit, she was in a lot of pain and possibly in shock when the words came out of her mouth...but I have to admit that I was very happy by her admissions! It was clearly her fault. She had a stop sign, I didn't.

Megan and Brooke were both in the van and thank goodness, they were both sitting on the passenger's side that didn't get hit. None of us were hurt. The teenage girl I think ended up with a broken arm and hopefully nothing more serious.

I am so thankful to live near family! I was able to call my mother-in-law who came and rescued me!

But, there is still more to my Valentine's Day story.

When I got home, I had to call Beau (who was in class at the local college for work) to bring me his truck so I could get Chase to school and get the kids home from school. On my way to take Beau back to class he says, "Oh man, I was going to get you something for V-Day at lunch." (Totally OK that he waited until yesterday...I did too :) So, nothing from Beau. Understandable. It gets worse though! When we went to pick Beau up, each of the children had a special Valentine's Day surprise for HIM and nothing for their MOM! WHAT! I started some mock whining and got some positive attention. The children each dug into their goody boxes from their school parties to find me a sucker or cookie...so I guess it didn't turn out so bad after all.

My Favorite Gordon B. Hinckley Tribute

Tagged

What were you doing 10 yrs ago:
Megan was 3 months old. We had just moved to Ogden, UT. Beau had just been put in as the 2nd counselor in our ward's bishopric which proved to be a pretty wild ride.

5 Things on my to do list Today:
Dishes, Dinner, Laundry, Pick up kids from school, Bathrooms (in no particular order) Probably the same as everyone else's list

Things I would do if I suddenly was a Billionaire:
Pay off debt, take care of family and travel.

3 of my bad habits:
1-Mountain Dew (working on that)

2-Making excuses for not running (slow jogging-although a friend just told me the other day to never call your slow jogging "jogging". If you are moving faster than a fast walk you are a runner!)

3-Doing things for my kids because it is easier to do it myself than take the time to teach them (working on that too)

Places I have lived:
Too many to list...I will just list states.
Washington, Idaho, Utah, Texas, Connecticut, Arkansas, Nevada (and I plan to stay here til I die!)

Jobs I have had:
Again, too many to list...this is embarrassing! I will list the jobs I have had in the past 10 years! Trugreen-Chemlawn, Winegars (a grocery store), Lexington Law Firm, IHC Urgent Care

Things most people don't know about me:
I hate eating off of glass plates and I especially hate glass cups...weird, I know, I am a licensed Kindermusik teacher, I am going back to school, I hate leaving the country. Even being in Hawaii (I know that is not leaving the country) gave me a sick feeling, but I love road trips!

Watch Out!

Beau taught Megan how to drive the 4-wheelers a couple weeks ago. She has been begging ever since we got here. Then he was brave enough to get on the sled in the back and let her pull him! I am such a stick in the mud...never that brave. This past weekend on our trip to St. George she asked my dad in all seriousness if she could drive the car. I guess she figures since she has the 4-wheeler mastered she might as well move on, right? She's a happy girl!

More Fun in the Snow

Chase and our cute nephew "B"

Beau pulling the girls.

Megan and Brooke

Chase and Grandma (Beau's Mom)

Loving the snow! I think my kids have the funnest Grandma around! It's a good thing because I am never this adventurous!

Love Nevada!

Snow Mountain

This huge mountain of snow is in our Albertson's parking lot. The kids saw it and had to climb! So, I did what any witty mom would do...I bribed them. Make good choices in the store and you can climb the mountain. It worked.

NAUGHTY Dog!

If anyone has any tips on how to prevent this from happening, I would love to hear them! Sadie Lu is a mess maker!

Sorry Lance

I found these funny pictures today...too fun not to share. My brother Lance and I were in an elementary school production of Cats. I am quite sure Lance will never see my blog and I figure what he doesn't know can't hurt him. Right?

Finding Pictures on My Camera

I try to keep a camera with us all the time. You never know what kind of fun you'll run into. When I load the pictures onto the computer, though, I keep finding pictures my kids take of themselves (or whatever they can find) that I didn't know they took. They make me laugh!

St George Super Bowl Weekend

Every year my family (Dad and whatever brothers and sisters can make it) get together for Super Bowl weekend. This year we went to St. George. Wow! It is breathtaking there. We visited Brigham Young's St. George winter home, the Mountain Meadows Massacre Monument, the temple visitors center and played lots of games and made lots of noise! We had a great time! Beau and Chase didn't come this time if your looking for them in the picture :(

Look-a-likes??

My cousin Dyana suggested that I post some pictures of myself at Megan's age because EVERYONE tells us how much alike we look. We are definitely shaped the same. But I don't know if we really look as much alike as people say...I think when you look close, Brooke and I look as much alike as Megan and I do.

What do you think?

(I would put the picture of Brooke and me at the bottom-it's at the very top-but I'm too lazy to take the time to switch them all)