A awesome suprise

I checked my email from my phone at work, and look who it is? yep it is Elder Logan Wells! A nice member Sabrina sent this picture from her iphone....It said, " hi Mom"... Boy do I miss my missionaries. I cannot wait for our Christmas calls... 12 more days, YES, I am counting down.

SNOW

So the last day, it snowed on and off all afternoon, so what do you so with kids when you can't go to a park? Hum, my idea was ice cream? Gracie and Gavin were excited, so we had ice cream and hot chocolate. What a combination.

Grandma time in Colorado

I can only go about 3 months without seeing my daughter and family in Colorado.

So the toss up was should I go before or after Christmas? What a thought process, I get so busy at Aardbark Grooming right before the holidays, so just decided to use my buddy pass, my Dad's Enterprise car rental discount, and a cheap hotel and away I went. It was a hectic 3 days, but I loved every second. We took the kids to North Pole, a visit with Santa, got haircuts, christmas shopping, wrapping presents, fleece blankets made, got Garen's 2 year pictures taken, and yummy pizza. On top of all of that, it was 25 degrees, and 2 inches of snow. Not fun for this Arizona desert rat.... So now I can concentrate on the rest of the holiday season.

This is a frozen pole, hench North Pole, that is frozen year round. Such a fun amusment park.

What would a visit to the North Pole be with out Santa?

I cannot believe Garen is going to be 2 years old.

He was so fun, and finally glad to see his Granma!

He gave me kisses, and hugs, aww I loved it!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

As Thanksgiving Day rolls around,

It brings up some facts, quite profound.

We may think that we're poor,

Feel like bums, insecure,But in truth, our riches astound.
We have friends and family we love;

We have guidance from heaven above.

We have so much more

Than they sell in a store,

We're wealthy, when push comes to shove.
So add up your blessings, I say;

Make Thanksgiving last more than a day.

Enjoy what you've got;

Realize it's a lot,

And you'll make all your cares go away.

Meet Garth

"You can take the girl out of the horse, but you can never take the horse out of the girl"


Yep, this is the newest member of the family. Could his name be anymore perfect? I am a huge Garth Brooks fan...He is a quarter horse. I am so excited to hit the trail, and be his best friend!

Cutest SKELETON in Arizona!

So here is the cutest skeleton in Arizona.... We love our Tristan. I sure wish my Colorado grandkids were not so far away. Hum....maybe my daughter will send some pictures! I am not holding my breath...


Hope your Halloween was fun, I love the fall, and hoping the weather will cool down... I am so ready!

Fun with Tristan

I had Tristan for the day.. What a great day we had! Here is some of our conversions..

Granma, you okay? ( I coughed)... Yep, Tristan I am okay. Granma... you choking? Nope just coughing. Okay Granma. Granma....you choking? No, Tristan I am coughing. Granma, you aren't choking?

Tristan, it is time for a nap. No Granma, can't want to. Where did that come from? He had me laughing all day.

We played on the porch with the trucks

We had mac and cheese

And...."can't want to" take a nap... (he even tired Maggie out)

We are going to miss you Daisy!

"One can get in a car and see what man has made. One must get on a horse to see what God has made."




Thanks Daisy for all the wonderful rides, Thanks Daisy for taking care of my Dad. Thanks Daisy for showing us what God has made!
We will miss you!

Conference Weekend

What a great source of inspiration, to be able to listen to such powerful speakers. I enjoyed every spoken word, the words and talks were awesome. It is nice to be able to feel the spirit as they conveyed their messages. I loved Sis. Elaine S. Dalton's quote, "In the strength of the Lord, I can do all things". Her talk was great, as she spoke of virtue. It seems we are losing virtue these days. She said that the Priesthood is the guardian of virtue, now that is a great idea to ponder. It was great to hear from Pres. Eyring, I love him and his humble nature! I also love having tivo, makes it nice to listen to the talks again. Hope you had a great Sunday.

Thought just for me!

"Too frequently, women underestimate their influence for good. Well could you follow the formula given by the Lord: 'Establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God' (D&C 88:119)."In such a house will be found happy, smiling children who have been taught, by precept and example, the truth. In a Latter-day Saint home, children are not simply tolerated, but welcomed; not commanded, but encouraged; not driven, but guided; not neglected, but loved."
Thomas S. Monson

SIMPLIFY LIFE

Since our move in the middle of August, I have been thinking hard about the word simplify, I realized this as I packed and tried to fit everything into
a smaller home. I found myself overwhelmed and stressed too the max, and something had to change...This stuff, that I had kept must go, I must dejunk, declutter and not look back....So bye bye to the "junk" in my life. The new Kim isn't going to be a pack-rat or worry about things she cannot control! SIMPLIFY!

Life isn't usually very simple but we can make it less-difficult, and find more peace by letting-go of excess baggage - both physical and emotional.

I read a neat article that reminded us that we only have control over a small circle of influence; our own. Our lives are large circles of influence over which we really have no control. As we realize that our sphere of control is only over ourselves and our immediate environment, then we can let go of the expectations (and weight) of controlling others', their environments, outward events, varied life experiences etc.

We live in a world where we are exposed to many things because of other people's choices. Some of the challenges and trials of life are because of the consequences of other people's choices over which we have NO control but which affect us. As we accept this fact we are able to worry less, and trust in God more. WE can't change other people, but we can change ourselves and the way we look at things and the Lord can help THEM to change.

The ability to simplify life comes from the recognition that we deal with our small circle of issues and not the whole large circle of everyone else's choices. We turn to the Lord for help in healing ourselves and our expectations and we trust that He knows us, loves us, cares for us, and will help us. We recognize, too, that he loves others and desires to help them as they turn to Him.

ANOTHER MONTH GONE BY....

August has come and gone... Here are some pictures from

my Michigan vacation.

visited the Detroit temple

Went to Frankenmuth, it is a neat bavarian village. This is the store called Bronners, that is a huge christmas store. Check it out on the web http://www.bronners.com/ You won't be disappointed.

Was just looking at my page, and cannot believe it has been a month since I posted. I guess time flies when you are having fun....
So here are some of the past happenings....
Went to some plays, Oliver and Honky Tonk Angels
Saw a movie... Mama Mia
Elder Logan Wells returned to his mission in Puerto Rico
Took our favorite Arizona Missionaries (Elder Keir and Elder Maxwell) to lunch
Went to the Temple
Found a new place to live

Wow, when you write it all down, kinda makes you tired.

Vacation.... Rocky Pt. Mexico

We had so much fun, it is great to be together. We rented a condo, loaded the rhino, the quads, and headed to Rocky Pt. Mexico. The weather wasn't too bad, we didn't spend too much time on the beach... jelly fish were all over. But we had plenty riding time, and swimming in the pool, and just relaxing.

Logan, Tina, Jayson and I

This is Everett's project, a fishing boat. He spent most of his time overseeing the progress on the boat.
Riding the Rhino, and quads

Shopping was fun
Food was yummy at the Thirsty Parrot
Jayson and Tina

View from the condo

Whats been happening with us?

Life is never dull around here...This is what happened the rest of June
* My SIL's Dad passed away
* Logan had knee surgery
*Said Good-Bye to Daniel Wesley, headed for the Pennsylvania, Harrisburg Mission
*New Church Calling... Primary Secretary
*My daughter Stacey, came to visit from Colorado

Father's Day

I guess one of our favorite family things to do is eat... So we took Everett to Ruth Chris steak house for dinner. It was Logan's first time there, and was nice to have 2 of our 4 children with us! Thanks for being a great Dad and husband!

I am glad you are my friend!

A friend is someone you hold dear:

Someone who is always there, through thick and thin;

Someone who is only a phone call away.

A friend is someone you can always rely on:

Someone who is there to share your thoughts with;

Someone to listen, no matter the subject.

A friend is someone you can feel comfortable with:

Someone you can sit silently beside, without conversation;

Someone you do not need to fill the quiet moments with.

A friend is someone you can trust:

Someone who will guard your deepest secrets;

Someone who will never let you down.

A friend is someone who is not judgmental:

Someone who will gently offer advice and opinions,

Yet, someone who is not overbearing or critical.

A friend is someone who can keep you grounded:

Someone who can help you see through your obstacles;

Someone to shoulder you through life's trials.

A friend is someone who shares unconditionally:

Someone to laugh and to cry with;

Someone to lean on, through both the good and the bad.

A friend is someone you choose wisely,

For a friend is your own mirrored image:

Someone to compliment your own self;

Someone who indicates who you are as a person.

A friend.... is what you are to me.

June Birthdays

So two of most favorite family members are June babies....My ( baby) Logan just turned 20 on June 7th, gone are my teenagers....My oldest (and only) Grandaughter Gracie turned 7 years on June 6th. What would I do with out them? Aww...Here they are in 2001, Logan was 13 years old, and Gracie about a year old.



Look at them now.... They are still my June Babies! Gracie has always called Logan her Uncle Lo Lo.

You know you are in ARIZONA when....

*You no longer associate bridges (or rivers) with water.
*You can say 110 degrees without fainting.
*You eat hot chilies to cool your mouth off.
*You can make instant sun tea.
*You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.
*The temperature drops below 95, you feel a bit chilly
*You discover that in July, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car.
*You discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window.
*You notice the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
*Hot water now comes out of both taps.
*It's noon in July, kids are on summer vacation, and not one person is out on the streets.
*You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
*You break a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m. before work.
*No one would dream of putting vinyl upholstery in a car or not having air conditioning.
*Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"

Amazing Jakes

A hectic week for sure. We closed the week on Saturday evening, by going to Amazing Jakes. Tristan loves being with Gracie, so anything she does, he thinks he can do. So cute.

Reason to smile!

My "princess" Gracie, is finally here from Colorado for a visit. She is definitetly a Grandma's girl. She will be here for a month, we will have lots of fun! Being a Granma is the best.

52 Blessings

I know I am way off from the weekly blessings project. So I am just going to post random blessings, if I catch up I do, if I don't oh well. This week I am grateful for earthly beauty...Hum, does that make sense? Sounded good to me. After we went to church, we always have a bit of down time, it has been awesome weather, so the screen doors were open, I could hear the birds chirping and making noise, the wind blowing, and I just thought how wonderful it was! As I checked my email this afternoon, a friend sent me this awesome poem, how fitting for how I was feeling. I love our beautiful earth!

We live in an awesome world.
Make it an awesome day.
Peace To All and May God Bless You Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.