General Conference Day One

I love General Conference weekend.

This one was historic.

We were each able to take part in the solemn assembly.

We raised our arm to the square to sustain a new prophet, President Russell M Nelson. 

Light poured through our windows and out of the TV. 

I watched as the choir sang after he was sustained and some had surprised looks on their faces as they heard what I heard.

Heavenly voices adding their parts.

It was amazing!

My favorite talk of the day was Elder Renlund's.

He spoke of family history and the blessings that are associated with that work. 

I also appreciated Elder Ballard encouraging us to unplug on Sunday's so that we can feel the Spirit with no distractions.

We ate conference nachos and were filled both physically and spiritually.

 

Technology

One thing Afton loves, probably more then almost anything, is devices.

If I move away from my phone for even a few seconds and it is within his reach he has it and can maneuver through it. 

He's two!

Today he took over 30 pictures of his peanut butter toast before I got to him.

Then he was playing with the toys and I got up from the couch to go to the kitchen.

He was really occupied so I though the TV remote would be safe.

Nope.

The second I stepped two feet from the couch he was headed there, toys forgotten, to get the remote and push buttons.

The same thing happens with my computer mouse.

I thought it was a button thing so we gave him a remote without batteries.

He's not interested in that.

Good thing he's so adorable! 

 

Front page!

I have been asked several times to write articles for the local paper in our town.

I had time this last couple of weeks to submit an article about my ancestors and how I have gained strength from their life experiences.

Well, I made FRONT PAGE of the faith section!

I am pretty excited about that.

The paper is called the Frontiersman.

I will link it once they get it online.

Saturday Stuff

I love Saturdays.

I love sleeping in.

I love the feeling of freedom.

Today I ran into Anchorage first thing and did some shopping at Costco.

It was a record trip.

I only spent $187.

That's a big deal.

Then I worked in the greenhouse for a little, watched a movie with the kids and then fed the missionaries.

The sun was shining.

It was wonderful.

I went to bed early because I was tired.

I love that the sun was still up a bit when I tucked myself in.

Saturdays are wonderful!

 

Korean BBQ

Tonight we decided to check out the new Korean BBQ place in Wasilla.

Now that the little kids have all left us we are back to just our three big kids.

Brittan and Makenna were gone doing there own thing so we told Corban he had to come with us.

He complained a little and then I told him it wasn't our fault that he decided to come down from heaven last and that he was going to have to hang out with his parents a lot over the next few years.

He didn't think that was funny.

But he did enjoy the food at the place.

He ate kimbap, a soup and bulgogi.

Matt said the food was okay, not authentic, but it was mostly fun to hear him speak in Korean to the lady that owned the place. 

He wants to go back to Korea someday.

I told him I won't go with him until all the kids are grown.

But it could be fun!

Effort

I decided to put forth a little more effort to healthy living.

One of the things I have been trying to do more(this week) is workout.

Last night, my friend Christina was teaching spinning at the local gym. 

It was family fun night so it was free.

I convinced Makenna and Bri to go with me.

I was actually a little worried about myself.

I haven't been to a spin class since I stopped teaching those classes myself.

Plus, I have gotten kind of fluffy over the winter and well...ya.

I was kind of delighted after the workout that I was not dying.

Maybe it is my effort to eat plant based that helped out there.

I am just glad I didn't die!

Also, we have had a ton of light this week.

I am loving every second of it.

I was walking down the hall in our upstairs and had to take the following picture:

 Also this morning I listened to this incredible talk by Pres. Ucthdorf called Bearers of Heavenly Light.

Click on it and read it for some great stuff! 

Full Day

Today we said goodbye to Jamie.

I'm going to miss her around the house.
We will have sleep overs though.

After dropping Jamie off, Corban and I ran some errands.

Then we did some running.

Actually he did some running.

I just walked and did stairs.

I gave up running years ago.

It is nice that our town has an indoor track for those times when there is still tons of snow outside.

However, it is melting very quickly and I am a little concerned we are going to have a massive Lake Hale this year on the driveway.

It was fun hanging out with him for a bit.

 After we got back home I had some stuff to do in the greenhouse.

It was seriously wonderful in there.

Summer is coming and I am so excited.

This entire week the forecast is SUN.

Beautiful sun!

Missing teeth and garden beds

This morning Jamie came to me and wanted to take a picture with me.

We took several.

Probably like 10.

After we took the pictures she mentioned her missing tooth.

What?

I asked her where it was and she went to the back door and started looking around. 

She said she didn't know where it was.

We looked and found it on the floor.

She was excited.

This is tooth number two and now the tooth fairy will hopefully come.

We don't have a good track record of the tooth fairy in our house. 

Tomorrow Jamie gets to go and be with her brother and sister.

All three have been placed with another family member.

We will miss her here.

However, there is LOTS of stuff to fill our time.

The greenhouse is thawing nicely and soon we will be planting in the ground in there.

Today I cleaned up the old kale beds and the turnip bed.

It felt good to get some dirt under my nails again.

I contemplated taking off my boats and pushing my toes into the dirt but it is still a little cold. 

If you look at the picture you can see the snow piled up on the outside wall.

There is about two feet out there.

Soon I will push my toes into that dirt.

 

Corban Post

Last night Corban, Jamie and I went to Rissa's to hang out for a couple of hours.

I had quite a bit of fun playing with the dress up clothes even though they were all a little too small on him. 

All the kids, there were 6 of them, would dress up and then walk around the circle of the house like they were putting on a parade.

Everyone time Corban passed me, as the head of the parade, he would mouth the words, "Save me!"

Haha

I really adore this kid. 

He is funny and loving.

He will be 13 this summer and I can't believe it has gone so fast.

He is growing up and every day he will do things that remind me of his brother, Dallin.

Mannerisms.

He is his own person though.

I feel like everyone needs a little Corban in their lives.

Big Changes

There are some big changes that are coming to our lives.

Changes that include a shift in the way we have been living. 

I had already determined that we needed to cut back on spending. 

In spite of that I needed some rain boots to work in the greenhouse.

See, the snow that is on the roof is melting now that we have the heater going and the sun is out a little more.

This means that there is a lot of water in certain places since the ground is not fully thawed in there.

I went to the thrift store in the hopes of finding something.

I see it as a tender mercy that I found some super cute ones that were in my size and they were only $9.99.

Hooray for the little things. 

And they work great.

I'll reveal the changes soon, but for now I am holding my breath a little and hoping my faith holds out.

On a side note, when I was looking for the picture of my boots on my phone, I found these gems. 

 

So many answers

There is all this commotion in my world about a hair care product.

I use it and have for almost a year.

I think it's a great product.

I don't sell it or anything but one of my friends does and she posted on facebook how the product isn't for every one.

Then she said, "What in life is? (Except Jesus. Jesus is for everyone.)"

I LOVED that!

And agree wholeheartedly.

I had an experience today where He once again answered my prayers.

Kenna, Jamie and I were leaving Fred Meyer.

I had paid for the groceries and then tucked my wallet into the cart.

By the time I got to the car the wallet was gone.

We retraced my steps.

I said a prayer.

I went into the store and stalked people to see if anyone was carrying my wallet.

I asked the drugged out homeless guy on the side of the store if he had seen it.

I walked through the store like 3 times, asking customer service the same number of times if it had been turned in.

I checked my accounts to see if anyone had used the cards. 

No one had.

As I was about to give up hope and leave the parking lot, I got a call.

Someone had picked it up and had it.

I was so grateful.

I drove over to where he was parked and knew that Heavenly Father had answered my prayers. 

Jesus really is for everyone!

 

Sunday Dinner

Our neighbors have been heaven sent as we have tried to navigate having Jamie and Jacob with us.

When we had Bellamy, Amy would come over and just hold her for hours on end.

She even took her for a while so I could sleep.

There are people in this world that are just amazing and it is the Hobbs family for sure.

Josh comes over and plows our 1/2 mile driveway every single time it snows.

Tonight they had us over for dinner.

It was fun to sit and visit while the kids played.

Jamie especially loves the girls. 

I am so grateful for them.

They are the best! 

And just for fun, here is Jake as Batman-

 

Saturday Fun

Matt has gotten the heaters in the greenhouse worked out enough that things are warming up in there.

We now have lettuce and kale in the beds. 

We spent the morning transplanting the kale and planting flat after flat of other stuff. 

I am excited for this growing season.

It is going to be interesting because Matt is going to most likely quit construction completely and that will be our only income.

It was really nice to get dirt under my nails! 

 Even though it is spring in the greenhouse it is definitely not outside.

We have about two to three feet of snow all around the property.

I'm looking forward to plowing up the garden area when it all melts though.

 After working the morning away we headed to town to catch a movie.

We saw A Wrinkle in Time.

It was okay.

I don't really recommend it to see in the theatres.

Wait until it comes out.

Is Spring actually coming?

It just keeps snowing here!

I went into my girls room and they had the curtain pulled back. 

The snow is about a foot higher than the bottom of the window. 

It's spring break next week.

That really doesn't mean much in Alaska.

It's that glorious time of the year where I want to live somewhere else.

However, I am getting excited that we have little green plants growing.

Plus I've been kind of busy driving those littles to appointments and visits. 

We will most likely only have 10 more days with them.

And then we will move into another phase of living this human experience.

Afton, Brittan and Planting!

I got some much needed Afton time today.

I haven't been able to have him over the past few weeks with everything going on.

I won't get to have him back for a little while since he and Jacob do NOT get along.

There was a lot of screaming and hitting and even a little blood.

I was exhausted by the end of the day. 

Even still, I went out and worked in the greenhouse for a few hours transplanting lettuce.

I love the quiet out there.

I love the smell of dirt.

I love the happy green plants.

It was 3 degrees outside and about 50 inside.

I am excited to see the oasis that it becomes in the next few weeks.

 Also, I took this adorable picture of Brittan on Sunday.

I really do not love her hair so short but I do love her!

 

A Bit Happier

Things have been better around the house.

Amazing what a little sleep can do for my soul. 

I just need sleep.

Period. 

Jacob is getting more of the attention that he needs and things are going better. 

I think we are going to survive. 

Haha

And then there were two

A meeting was held on Thursday and it was determined that Bellamy would be placed in the custody of Erin, my sister.

She left our home yesterday.

I feel good about this.

I have concerns but I had a neat spiritual thought (ya, we'll call it that) that this is what should be happening.

It still will be determined if Jamie and Jake stay with us.

The date was set for March 19th for the decision to be made.

It could not be made at the meeting because their dad is incarcerated and was not in attendance at the meeting. 

Bellamy's dad was there.

So, I feel rested this morning.

I feel like I can better spend time with J&J without being torn in all other directions.

For now, we will enjoy the time we have together.

I imagine they will all be placed with Erin on the 19th but we will wait and see what happens.