Tender Mercies

As this summer has been difficult for us I have been thinking a lot about a conference talk given by Elder Bednar back in 2005. It is a talk that has always stuck with me and makes me think often about the little things each day that the Lord blesses me with.

What Are the Tender Mercies of the Lord?
"Since last October I have reflected repeatedly upon the phrase “the tender mercies of the Lord.” Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15)." -Elder Bednar

When I first thought of the Lord's tender mercies for me I had only lived in Colorado for a few months. I really hated living here. I loved being with my family but I missed the comfort of being in Florida. I missed my friends, my grandparents, my home. One Sunday I was having a particularly difficult day and my sister Kimmy said I should come to the singles ward with her. I hated the singles ward but needing that special sister time I decided to go with her. As we were sitting in Relief Society they announced the opening hymn was Come Come Ye Saints. I love that song and was happy to sing it. However, it wasn't until we sung the third verse that I realized why I needed to go to church with Kimmy that day.

3. We’ll find the place which God for us prepared,Far away in the West,Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;There the Saints will be blessed.We’ll make the air with music ring,Shout praises to our God and King;Above the rest these words we’ll tell—All is well! All is well!

As I sat there and sung those words my eyes filled with tears because I knew that I was where I needed to be. I knew that going to church with Kimmy and hearing the words of that hymn was a tender mercy. I knew the Lord had a plan for me and I was exactly where he wanted me.

It was only a few short months after that Sunday that I met Jared and I knew more of what the Lord's plan for me was.

This year has been a struggle for our family. With Jared being out of work and wondering how we were going to survive week to week. With help from family and our Bishop we have been able to stay on our feet. But even more recently I have seen many more of the Lord's tender mercies bless our little family.

When Jared and I felt it was time to have another little one join our family we were broke. I was working but not bringing in enough to support our family. We were in the temple and I just cried because I thought "how on earth can we afford to have another baby." Then the tears went away and I felt peace in knowing that the Lord would take care of us. I was terrified to tell Jared that I felt it was time to have another child but when I did he looked at me and smiled and said, "OK." I was shocked but then learned that he felt that same peace that I had.

As the summer rolled on things got tough but we have been so blessed. Cayden has been healthy. I have been healthy. Our little new one is growing just as he should. And Jared has been blessed to keep finding small job opportunities. I know that the Lord is watching over us and I am so thankful that He is.

Things haven't been hard for just our little family. My little brother Matt is struggling on his mission. He got so sick and no one to talk to. His companion,mission pres., and area authority don't speak English. He was in bed for 3 days sick as a dog with only his own thoughts to drive him crazy. He was ready to quit and come home. He was granted permission to call home and talked to my dad for over an hour. He felt better after talking to my dad though. We are waiting for an e-mail this week to find out how he is doing.

Then we found out that my Granddaddy was sick and had to be in the hospital. He was so sick he had no idea what was going on around him. He is better now and is home. My mom went down to help care for him.

With everything going so badly its hard not to get down. Just like the old saying, "When it rains, it pours." Satan is working really hard to make it pour and get our family down. But when I think of all of the Lord's tender mercies it helps to keep me from getting down.

I am so thankful for my knowledge of the gospel and thankful for the spirit it brings into my home. I am thankful to have a husband who honors his priesthood. I am thankful for the knowledge of eternal families and that I have been blessed with such an awesome family. I am thankful for my temple marriage and a husband that loves me as much as I love him. I am thankful for the blessing of being a mom. I am thankful for a little boy who makes me laugh EVERY day. I am thankful for Father's blessings that help keep me going when I'm down and for a father who is always ready and willing to give them.

So my challenge to everyone is, that no matter how hard things get, you take a step back and find the tender mercies that you are blessed with every day. It makes living life so much easier.

~LOVE TO ALL~

CASA BONITA!!

This past Thursday was our nephew's birthday. Kimmy and Tyson took the family to Casa Bonita to celebrate the occasion. Spencer turned 2 and was having a Handy Manny party so they felt that it was fitting to celebrate at our local and very popular Mexican restaurant. Its quite the restaurant too. If you are ever in Denver it should be a planned activity during your stay. There are shows, cliff divers, puppet shows, caves, arcades, gift shops, a mariachi band and the best sopapillas on the planet. The real food on the other hand you have to be kinda picky about. I'm not a big fan but the rest of the family sure loved it. Let's just say they don't put as much heart into their food as they do the rest of the restaurant.

When we arrived I had decided to just purchase a kids chicken plate for me and one for Cayden. However, this is one restaurant where they really do stick to the 12 and under policy. The lady would not let me pass unless I purchased an adult meal for me. (You can't get in unless you order food.) It was a HUGE mess. They finally let me order 2 kids meals for me and one for Cayden. It all worked out because Spencer ate my 2nd kids meal. Once we got our food we were escorted to our seats. We ate and everyone was up and down the whole time because of all the exciting things going in the restaurant.

We had a fun night. Spencer had a blast and was very pleased to have the mariachi band come sing to him. It was funny though because they didn't sing "Happy Birthday" they sung "Happy Verthday". It was quite comical and everyone had the song stuck in their head the rest of the night. Timmy still has it in his head and sings it constantly. After Casa Bonita we went back to my parents house for cake and presents. It was a fun evening but a very late one.

Cayden and Jared after a trip through the cave. (Mikey peaking from behind the rock.)

Cayden and Spencer playing

Behind the waterfall. ( Too bad you can't see it)

Cayden and me in front of Casa Bonita. (Me in all my 21 1/2 week glory)

Everyone minus Tyson (He took the picture)

I head back to work tomorrow. I'm SO NOT excited. I hate going back to work after a long break. I hate having to give up all my time with Cayden. Especially now when he is learning so many new things at once. I just don't want to miss out on it. But unfortunately I have to get back to work. I just pray this year is easier and less stressful than last year.

Jared is still looking for job opportunities. My OB actually called me on Friday and told me of a guy doing some woodwork for her and said he needs help in his shop. So she gave me his number and Jared called but we are waiting to hear anything back. He finds new studios to apply to every day and we know that something will come through soon. We know the Lord has a plan for us we just don't know when or where it will lead us. Until we know we are saying our prayers and doing our best to stay close to Him.

I guess that's it for now. We hope everyone has a wonderful week!

~LOVE TO ALL~

Learning with Daddy

Cayden is such a Daddy's boy. When I get him out of bed in the morning the first word that comes out of his mouth is "Daddy." All day long you can count on Cayden saying, "Daddy? Work." But he knows that when Daddy comes home he get the play time he's been looking forward to all day. I'm so glad that Jared and Cayden have such a great relationship.

Last night Cayden knocked over my one and only plant. Its an indoor orange tree that Jared and I brought home from one of our first trips to Florida together. It needed to be re potted anyway. Even though it made a huge mess when Cayden knocked it over I was glad that it could turn into a learning experience. Jared took Cayden with him to get the larger pot off the balcony and then together they replanted the little tree. Cayden was so gentle with it too. He was very careful when he moved dirt from one pot to the other. It was so cute to watch. I think Cayden enjoyed playing with dirt indoors. But mostly he enjoyed helping Daddy.

I am so grateful for a husband that loves spending time with our son. Even though he may be totally exhausted and it takes every ounce of energy he has left he still makes the effort to play with Cayden. What a blessing for Cayden and me to have such a wonderful man in our life.

Another Beautiful BOY!

We were so excited to have our ultrasound yesterday. When I first got pregnant I thought, " Oh, this one is going to be a girl" because all I could think about were girl names. But the past month or two I felt more that it was going to be a boy. And yesterday the tech "sorta" confirmed it. When I was pregnant with Cayden he willingly spread his legs to let us know he was a boy. But this baby was a little more modest and kept his legs tight together, but the tech said she was pretty certain its a boy. She pointed out his boy parts 3 different times so I feel that's good enough for me. Here are a few pictures, I was sad she didn't try to get better ones.

OK, now for a little update on life. We just got back from a last minute trip from Utah. Moroni, UT to be specific. It was quite the interesting experience for me. I am so not a small town girl. I felt so trapped there! Its a nice little town but I don't like the fact that there is NOTHING to do. There wasn't even a park to take Cayden to so he could play. I'm also not sure how I feel about waking up to a rooster crowing and a cow mooing. I did my best to stay positive while I was there. I drove into the surrounding cities and checked them out a little. But even in those towns there wasn't a whole lot to see. Moving there would definitely be a change of pace. Jared does have a job there if he wants it. However, we aren't sure yet if it would really benefit our situation. Lots more prayers need to be said before we make that decision.

Before we left for Utah last Sunday I decided to give my boys haircuts. That's right both of them. Cayden finally got his first haircut. It was so sad but I was tired of everyone getting on my case about his long hair. It was just so pretty. I didn't cry though and Cayden was so well behaved while I did it.

Before
After

So after our few days in Moroni we headed up to Jared's mom's house. We were just planning on staying there Wed. night and driving home on Thursday morning. However, neither of us were ready to come back home quite yet. We didn't come home until Saturday. Cayden had fun hanging out with Grandma. On Thursday we went in to Salt Lake and had lunch. Then we tried to go to the Hope Gallery but by the time we got there they were closed. They happened to close early that day because they had a special event going on. So we trekked back up to Temple Square in the wicked wind and made our way to the Church History Museum. We had a nice time looking around and Cayden and Jared enjoyed playing in the kids area. Then we went and looked at the Presidents of the Church display. That was pretty neat. It was a fun day but we were all pretty tired by the time we got home.

Jared and Cayden behind the replica of the conference center podium.

On Friday we were kinda lazy and stayed at the house while Jared's mom went to gather her things from school. When she got back we watched CARS (because that's Cayden's favorite movie) and then went to pick some apricots off a friend's tree. It was fun to watch Cayden pick them. Then we had dinner and went to the Drive-In. I was so so excited. I hadn't been to a drive-in for so long. UP was playing and we hadn't seen it yet. Going to the drive-in was the best way to take Cayden to the movies. He was contained to the car and fell asleep when he got tired. It was a great evening!

Cayden on Daddy's lap at the Drive-In.

Now we are back home and back to life. Jared is working with a guy from church doing landscaping and I head back to work next Friday. School starts on the 24th and I'm not looking forward to spending the day with other people's kids rather than with Cayden. But, we have to pay the bills. At least I know Cayden is in good hands while I'm at work. Ok, that's it for now!

~LOVE TO ALL~

Potty Time???

Or so he thinks!

So the past 2 days Cayden has been wanting to go to the potty instead of letting me put a diaper back on him. The first time he did it he wanted to try out both toilets. So we went back and forth between the bathrooms a few times. He hasn't had any success of course and I don't really expect him to. He is only 20 months old. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I can't imagine how wonderful it would be to have him actually potty trained by the time our new one comes along but I'm not sure he is really ready. He knows what the potty is. He recognizes when he has gone to the bathroom. But I'm not sure he is quite ready to put the 2 together. I guess all I can do is continue to take him to the bathroom every time he asks me too. Its just crazy to think that he may actually potty train himself.

Trip Across the Country

So Cayden and I are finally home. Its a good thing we are because my dad told me Jared was walking around like a lost puppy without us. ; ) We had so much fun with my grandparents and we will miss them very much. Cayden loves his "Elmer" (great granddaddy). Every time Granddaddy went to take a nap you were sure to hear him ask where "Elmer" was. He tried numerous times to sneak in and wake Granddaddy up. It was very cute. Great Grandmommy spoiled us all rotten. We celebrated 4 different birthdays while we were in Florida and Cayden got a gift at every celebration. We sure do love Grandmomy and Granddaddy Loso. We hope they will be able to join us in Colorado SOON!

Anyway, we left Wednesday to start our drive home from Florida. We didn't get out as early as we'd hoped because it seemed as if EVERYTHING was going wrong. But we finally made it on the road again. We stopped in Perry Georgia for the night. Thursday morning we got up and began driving again. We made it to St. Louis, MO and stopped just west of it so we could get one more good night sleep. Friday morning we woke up with the determination to make it home and we arrived home around 11:30 pm. Cayden was such a trooper. I'm so glad he is such a great traveler. We made lots of stops to get out and run around. And towards the end he got pretty good about telling me when he needed his diaper changed. We had so much fun driving home. I forgot how much I really do enjoy driving across our beautiful country. I'm grateful to be back home now, even if it means getting back to reality.

So on our drive home I noticed many different things about certain states in our country. I thought it would be fun to share my findings with you.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN _______ WHEN.....

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN FLORIDA WHEN...

• Almost everyone has a swimming pool in their back yard
• You get out of the shower and dry off but still feel wet
• You walk out the door and sweat instantly
• You need a jacket inside instead of outside because the air conditioner is set to freeze
• You check every body of water you come across hoping to see an alligator

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN GEORGIA WHEN...

• Every other billboard on the interstate is about peaches and nuts
• There is a cop in a speed trap every 10 miles
• There is a Chick-fil-A at every exit
• Chick-fil-A has flowers on the table and brings your food to you
• Every restaurant sells peach milkshakes
• The Hotels in Perry are packed because of the Jr. Rodeo

Chick-fil-A in GA

Yeah, the dang Jr. Rodeo really was in town

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN TENNESSEE WHEN...

• You finally see mountains again, even if they are green
• Every other billboard is about fireworks
• You stop at Taco Bell and they give you bouncy balls for change because they ran out of quarters
• The only Subway you can find is in a Wal-Mart
• The drivers are psychotic!

Tennessee change from Taco Bell

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN KENTUCKY WHEN...

• It only takes and hour and a half to drive through
• You have to sit in the back seat because your little brother is driving and you fear for your life so you try to take your mind off his driving by pulling out a Sesame Street coloring book and coloring a picture of Bert (Timmy actually didn't drive as badly as I thought he would)

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN ILLINOIS WHEN...

• You have to change interstates 3 different times
• You don't even realize you are in Illinois

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN MISSOURI WHEN...

• There is a Cracker Barrel at every other exit
• You can see the Gateway Arch from the interstate
• You have to drive in down pouring rain and everyone around you wants to drive 20 mph
• It is difficult to find a nice hotel just off the interstate (luckily we finally found a Holiday Inn)

Riding the luggage cart at our hotel in MO

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN KANSAS WHEN...

• You cross the state border and can smell coffee
• You can smell the manure outside even with the air circulator on
• The manure smell goes away and you smell fresh cut grass
• The fresh cut grass smell goes away and begins to smell like a sweaty soccer cleat
• There are corn fields on both sides of the interstate
• There are no more corn fields all you can see is sunflower fields
• There is only Cracker Barrel off of I-70 (that's where we decided to stop and eat)
• It takes all the day light to get through the dang state!!!

Cayden SMOKIN Timmy at a friendly game of Checkers

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN COLORADO WHEN...

• You see the sign that says "Welcome to Colorful Colorado"
• The speed limit FINALLY goes back up to 75
• You only have to drive 2.5 hours more before you get to Denver
• You stop outside of Limon and find a VERY ghetto Wendy's
• You pull in front of your home and your husband is running down the stairs to greet you

It was a fun drive but its good to be home.

~LOVE TO ALL~

Florida Vacation-Day 5, 6, and 7

This was really posted Thursday July 16, 2009 ;)
Monday of our vacation was a work day. Jared and Mikey got up early and began doing the small jobs that needed to be done and then moved on to some bigger ones. They worked hard all morning and then went for a swim in the afternoon. Jared was kind enough to take Cayden into the pool with him. Then we went to Arizona Pizza for dinner. It was a cute restaurant and the food was yummy. After dinner we headed back to the house for a movie. We let Granddaddy choose and he chose an old Clint Eastwood western, Pale Rider. Its a pretty good movie but once again I was so tired I fell asleep. ;)

Cayden watching Daddy and Uncle Mikey work.
Tim helping Jared dive.
His dives gradually got better.
Cayden had so much fun with the tubes!
Eating cheesy nachos at Arizona Pizza!

Tuesday was spent with a little work but mostly lounging. In fact Jared and Cayden took a 3 hour nap!!! What a way to spend your last full day in Florida huh? This was the day Jared decided to try out some new facial hair.

This is what he decided to stick with.

Later that evening my cousin Brian and his new wife came over for dinner. It was so fun to see them. After they took off we hung out and waited until 11:00 and then headed out to the movie theater. Me, Jared, Mikey, and Tim went to the 12:01 showing of Harry Potter. We didn't buy tickets early so we hoped that there would still be some when we got to the theater. Sure enough we walked right up to the ticket booth and bought our tickets with no problem. Then the hard part came. We had to wait in a line outside! It was so hot and we waited outside for 40 minutes before they let us in. Their system to keep things under control with little chaos failed. It was the stupidest set up I have ever seen. So after all the waiting we FINALLY got in and found good seats to watch the movie. We enjoyed the movie but all agreed that they left out WAY to much info from the book. I thought it was a great movie but I really was sad that so much was lost. So now I want to go and read the book again. We got home at about 3:15 am. When 8:00 am rolled around and Cayden was ready to get up I decided that midnight movies aren't really my thing anymore. ;)

Taking a 3 hour nap!

Yesterday, Wednesday, we were all EXHAUSTED! Jared got up with Cayden and played with him for a bit. Cayden came in to wake me up and then ran off again. Jared came and crawled back into bed. I wanted bagels for breakfast so mom was kind enough to go get some from Panera. Cayden wanted to go with her so I quickly got back into bed to sleep as much as I could. Mom returned and Jared decided he needed more sleep but I was ready to eat! They were such yummy bagels. After breakfast and some chatting Jared got up again and headed out to check out the work he did the day before. It looked great, of course, and after a little more touching up it looked perfect. When Jared was done we got ready and went to check out my cousins new house. He has a huge pit bull that Cayden was terrified of. I felt bad because he was shaking he was so scared. Kerry was kind enough to put the dog outside and then Cayden warmed up to him, but only because there was glass between them. Then it was time to head back so Jared could pack and get ready to go home. But not before one last swim in the pool. Cayden has had so much fun swimming in the pool with his daddy. 5:30 rolled around and it was time to head out to the airport. We walked Jared to security and hugged and kissed him goodbye. Cayden watched as Jared walked away. He waved and kept saying "Bye bye daddy, I love you." It broke my heart. Then to top it off when we got back to the house he SCREAMED and ran back to the front door and screamed "daddy." He was furious that we didn't bring Jared home with us. But, he'll be ok. We hooked up skype on my grandparents computer so we can still "see" him.

Cayden would throw coins into the pool and make Jared dive for them. They had fun playing this game.
Last float in the pool.

We are having such a great time here. We will miss having Jared with us but Cayden and I are excited that we get to be here another week or so. We hope everyone is having a great summer!!!

~LOVE TO ALL~

Florida Vacation-Day 3 and 4

Saturday rolled around and we were headed to Disney World for Jared's birthday. We made the trip there in three hours and when we parked we looked to see what row we were in-Daisy 28. Jared thought it was a little ironic. When we got there we had to go buy my ticket and pick up Jared's free ticket. They gave him a button that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY and gave Cayden and I buttons that said "I'm Celebrating." Then we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom. I was so excited to spend they day at Disney world with my boys. We rode the monorail over and were on our way. When we got into the Magic Kingdom and rounded the corner Cayden was so excited to see Donald Duck and Pluto. He kept saying "duck, duck." Our first ride was The Magic Carpets of Aladdin and we rode carpet number 14. It was definitely a day for Jared. After a few more rides it was time to eat. Then it off for more rides. Cayden was in HEAVEN!!! He loved every ride we went on, including the Haunted Mansion. Jared was grinning ear to ear and I loved watching his and Cayden's face as they experienced things together. Towards the end of the day it began to rain but it was not enough to keep us from playing. We went to Sleepy Hollow, just west of Cinderella's Castle, and got a funnel cake to share. He needed to have some sort of cake for his birthday. We enjoyed it and then headed to the Emporium to find Cayden a fun souvenir. It was a wonderful day and Jared said it was the perfect way to spend his birthday.

Cayden showing off his button.Riding the monorailHe fell asleep after the parade. He only slept for 30 minutes!Jared and GoofyWe took this picture with the timer while Cayden was sleeping.Playing with 3D glasses, waiting to see Mickey's Philharmagic.In line for Winnie the PoohThis is one of my favorite pictures from the day. (It's a Small World)Cayden was very excited to ride the carousel Cayden sat on the lamp post base and pulled Jared down with him. He was pretty worn out.

On Sunday we woke up early to head to church. We only went to sacrament meeting because my cousin was still here with his family and they were leaving later that day. So we went back to Grandmommy and Granddaddy's house to hang out. We played a bit, took some pictures, ate lunch, and then hugged them all and they were on their way. After they took off we all took naps. I LOVE SUNDAY NAPS especially at Grandmommy and Granddaddy's house. When I woke up I hurried and made Jared his carrot birthday cake. Once everyone else woke up we ate an enchilada dinner and then had cake and ice cream and a small family party to celebrate Jared's birthday. It was a great day and a lovely Sunday.

OK, more to come!!!

~LOVE TO ALL~

Florida Vacation-Day 1 and 2

I LOVE being back in Florida. Its nice to be home again. Its awesome being with my grandparents and being able to give them a hug and kiss before bed each night. I love sitting and hanging out with them and just talking with them. I really miss having them around.


We got here Wednesday night just after midnight. Cayden was such a great traveler. I'm so glad that he doesn't mind traveling. We had a 3 hour flight to Atlanta and then a short layover. Then we had an hour and 20 min flight into Ft. Myers. Thankfully he finally fell asleep before the flight into Ft. Myers took off. It was a lot easier to travel down here than I was expecting it to be.


When we woke up Thursday morning we were tired but excited to hang out. It feels as if the days go by so quickly here!!! We spent the day hanging out. Jared even got a little work done for them. They had to get a new dryer and when it was delivered the plug didn't match the outlet. So Jared went and bought a new outlet and had the dryer running in 10 minutes. Grandmommy and Granddaddy treated us to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Iguana Mia, for dinner. It was at dinner that we shared our exciting news with Grandmommy. Jared blabbed it in the car on the way over so Granddaddy knew but didn't say anything. ;) It was a wonderful dinner shared with perfect company. Then we went back to the house and watched Cat Ballou, which I quickly fell asleep watching. Its one of my all time favorite movies but I was SOOO tired.

Cayden enjoying his corn on the cob

Outside Iguana Mia-"Just look for the green building"

Friday was spent much the same way that Thursday was, just hanging out. Friday afternoon my cousin Tim, who lives in Michigan, came over with his family. They have been visiting Florida this week too. I was excited to see them because they have never met Jared and I haven't met 2 of their 4 girls. So we celebrated Tim's and his youngest daughter, Sophia, birthdays. It was a fun evening. Once the thunderstorm stopped we all headed out to the pool for an evening swim. We had an awesome time hanging out with them.

Enjoying the birthday cake

Playing in the pool-Cayden really enjoyed "jumping" in

But he really enjoyed pushing his daddy in!

We are having a great time! We will post more soon!

~Love to all~