Buck Skin Gulch

For the last few years Nelson’s brother Spencer has been planning a Boys back packing trip. This was the third trip. Spencer plans trips in different places and gets as many family members and friends to join along that want to. This year they went to Buck Skin Gulch down on the border of Utah and Arizona.
Max is now 8 and Nelson thought that was a good age to let him start joining in on the guy’s trips. It took us a bit of time to talk him into going. He is a studious kid and wanted to stay behind and go to school. He was afraid he was going to miss out on something. We kept telling him that the memories you build with your family out way the few things that he might miss at school. He made it to the science Olympiad at school and the competition was going to be during the trip. This was a hard blow for him to take because he really wanted to be a part of the science competitions. He did finally agree to go.
When Max got home he could not stop talking about the trip. He was the only kid that went but he was such a trooper. The guys could not believe how well he did. Max was so glad he went and is now signed up to a part of every guy’s trip. He is even asking us to get him is own backpacking gear, he must have had a great time. Hope in the future trips the guys will remember every story, every silly thing that happened, every poo that was named my 8 year old remembers. He made some awesome memories on this trip and enjoyed every minute of it.

Nelson, Spencer & Max All the guys bags

Asher and the movies

I have been very behind on my journaling so there are many things that have been missed. When our cute boy Asher hit about two he hit a pretty aggressive stage. If he was mad or did not get things his way he got aggressive. We were sure that when he hit the age he is now (6) and was in school we were going to be in the principal’s office because of him getting in a fight or what not. He has since then turned that aggression around and is a great kid.

The one cute thing about him is that he is very sensitive. If he thinks things are not going to work out or thinks someone is hurt he gets very emotional. I can’t tell you the last movie he saw for the first time that he did not cry in. We can count on him being brought to tears at one point or another because he is worried. I think it is cute and would much rather deal with the compassion then the aggression.

My Headaches

Over the years I have gained a better understanding and stronger testimony that we go through and experience different things for a reason. I can’t even tell you how long I have really suffered from headaches. It has been years (during my married life) that I have had bad headaches. In the beginning I would never of thought that they were migraines I just thought they were really bad headaches. I could guarantee that every day I would wake up with a headache. When they were at their worse I would either be ready to pass out, throw up or be crying because of the pain. I think for years I had just dealt with the pain but never done much about it. I think half my problem is my mentality was “just pretend they are not there and keep going”. I often can get myself in the auto pilot mode because I have way too many other things to accomplish and don’t have time to slow down.

Throughout the last year or two I finally decided I needed to get a grip on things and figure out what was going on. Here are a few things I have learned from the experience:
- I was always in pain and was easily irritated. I was so concerned that I did not want my kids to remember me as the mom that was grumpy or the mom who did not do anything with them. I just tried pretending that I did not have headaches, kept going and really tried not to complain. I found that complaining never made the situation better.
- I gained a much greater understanding and appreciate for our Savior and the Atonement. I have to admit there were many and I mean many times I was on my knees in prayer asking my Father in Heaven to take this away from me. I know that it does not work that way, but when you are in pain you get pretty desperate. When I was truly sincere and tried working with Heavenly Father I realized a glimpse of what our Savior suffered for me and the pain he must have felt. That truly helped and humbled me in many ways. Helped me to be more tolerant as well.
- Even today as my headaches are doing better, I know that I need to keep myself humble and realize that I need my father in heaven and He knows all things to help me through my situations. I also need the bad days to help me be patient and be more appreciative of the good days.
- Priesthood- oh how grateful I am for the priesthood and power of prayer. I learned from this experience that Heavenly Father is always in tune with what is going on with his. There were many times I did not even tell Nelson what I was struggling with and the pain I was in but in the blessing he touched on all the thoughts and feelings I was having.
- I learned that stress is something that made things worse for me. I admit I can be a bit of a time freak. I can over budget my time and definitely try to accomplish to much in one day If I ever got to this point I would end up getting my neck and head in great pain.

There are times that I would not say I have loved going through this, but the blessings and lessons out weight everything. What a blessing I have been given to have a stronger testimony and relationship with our Savior. It helped strengthen my appreciation for the gospel and all we go through.

I do still continue to have headaches but have learned better how to control them and be more patient with them. I also want to work through them so I can be me and not feel like I have to pretend that I feel great!

Nelson Biking

A few years ago a good friend of ours Dave helped get Nelson interested in road biking. Dave has been great to us. He would invite Nelson to go on rides, help him with his riding technique and most of all give him any biking supplies he needed to help him with his biking.

One of the craziest things they did was left for a ride later in the night and decided to go up Sardine canyon. This was when Nelson was new to biking and did not have all the required gear and accessories. He told me that at 10:00 at night they were headed down the canyon with Dave having the front light and Nelson had the tail light. Probably not one of the smartest things he has ever done. He then said if you don’t have crazy friends you never do crazy things. I have learned there is a lot of truth in that statement.

People have asked me many of times while he is out riding if it worries me. Tell you the truth… no. I usually don’t even know where he is heading on his rides. I figure it is just better not to know, thus less worrying. It is a passion that he enjoys and I truly feel it is something he deserves to be able to do because of all the other pressures he has to carry.

Dave told Nelson about a fun bike race from Logan to Jackson Hole that is held every year. This race is a 206 miles done in one day. Nelson did it last year and loved the experience and challenge. It is pretty grueling due to the mountain climbing but a great challenge for him.
We have enjoyed watching Nelson participate in bike crits, few bike races as well as just hear his stories when he returns from a ride. I am so glad he was able to join the biking world and find something that he really enjoys to do.

Running

Well I have added a post about one of Nelson's passions I guess I should add something about mine. When I was in Jr High and High School I decided to try out for the track team. I ended up running the 800 meter and the 1 mile. In Jr high I am not sure I really took it serious. There were times when our coach sent us on a run, the group would run to the local convenience store and get an ice cream cone and then run back. Shows how my mentality was back then. In High School I trained with the cross country team but never raced. The races conflicted with the Soccer team so I could not do both. I enjoyed running but ended up stopping my Senior year because I hit a rut and did not enjoy it anymore.

I have always enjoyed working out, but probably 3 to 4 years ago I picked up running again with my sister and some friends. It first just started out casual and a form of exercise. It has since been used to push my self a little harder to see what I really can accomplish. I don't race a ton just because I would rather put the money towards something I want instead.

I have enjoyed my time running and the many lessons I have learned from it. We run early so we can be home before our kids are up. This allows for some pretty quite mornings. I have often been able to look at the stars in the sky and reflect on all the wonderful things I have been blessed with in my life. Always gives me a better perspective and definitely helps me start my day off right.

I have definitely had hard times in my runs as well. We all run into mental blocks and have to figure out how to get through them. I have figured out how far I can push myself as well. One day while reading the new era I ran across a quote that said "To appreciate the height, you have to experience the bottom". That is so true with all life experiences. I can definitely relate it to my running experiences the most. To appreciate the good runs I do have to have the other runs that challenge and push me to be better.

My twin sister Lisa runs marathons (she has done 2). The best part of running for me has been meeting her at mile 22 or 23 and helping her finish her race. I am not sure why I say it is my favorite because in my honest opinion that is when the runner is at their worse- the are struggling. I have enjoyed being able to meet her and help her finish her long hard journey. What a big accomplishment for her. This is Lisa in her first Marathon in Ogden - 2009. At this point we are right by the finish line. Good thing because she looks beat.

This is me after the Ogden Half Marathon 2010 with my family.

I am definitely grateful for the health I have that allows me to enjoy running. This year Max has started asking to be involved in running 5ks. It has been fun to be apart of that with him.

Road Bumps

In a way I can’t believe I am putting this information on here. This year I experienced a few things that I would rather not have to experience. I feel like I am a pretty friendly, nice, easy going person. This year I found out that I had offended two different people. I had an extremely hard time with this. No one likes to hear they are doing things wrong and I felt like I had been a pretty good person. I even got to a point that I started worrying that with me being the bishop’s wife who else did I offend?
I cried and prayed a ton during this time. I did not know what to do because I had never gone through this. Seems weird at thirty four this still happens, but I have realized that it can happen all the way until I die. Anyways with lots of prayer and help from Heavenly Father I knew what I needed to do.
I had to put trust in Heavenly Father and realize that things will work out the way they need to. I know I needed to go through this experience for a reason. The adversary would have me doubt myself and say I give up (which at one point or another I did think all this) but I know that is not what I needed to do.
I heard a talk given by President Monson at the Women’s broadcast which was exactly what I needed. In it he says a picture does not show who we really are. He said it is the inside, our willingness to serve etc that makes us who we are. It was then that I realized that people may see me one way but it was the actions of what I was doing that really counted. Helped me remember that I need to make sure my actions are speaking louder than my words in all that I do.

Asher and Preschool

Both of our kids at some point or another dealt with some behavioral issue during their toddler years. The toddler stage is tough as it is let alone other issues. Max was very hyper active and Asher was aggressive. Someone once told my sister that my kids were the way they were because of what they learned from me. I jokingly said you are right they see my in Wal-mart all the time smacking and hitting other people. I firmly believe that each of us is given different things so we can learn patience and learn how to work through them.

Asher is a very strong kid and I partially wonder if he knew that. He could use his strength to work against us. During his toddler years I think I had my face slapped many times and my hair ripped out many more. There were even times that while Nelson was sitting on the stand at church, I had to take Asher out because he was acting up. Men in the ward would come out and take Asher because he got so worked up. It was a little embarrassing because I did not want it to look like I could not take care of it. However, I am thankful for the kind people in our ward who were just trying to help out.

We worked and worked with Asher to get him out of this. I can’t tell you one easy thing we did or any magic medicine that instantly cured it. We spent many times on our knees asking for direction. As soon as we received our direction or had promptings of things to try we had to remember to be consistent. Those few things were our magic medicine to help cure the issue. It was definitely not corrected over night but was taken care of.

When he was almost four we signed him up for preschool. I was turning in the registration form and the boys were in the car. I was telling the teacher that Asher was a little aggressive but we thought he would be good. She proceeded to tell me that in the preschool they don’t tolerate any hitting or they would be kicked out. I replied “we should be good he has come a long way.” Right as I said that we could hear screaming and yelling coming from my car. We both went to check and found Asher hitting Max as hard as he could, and Max was sitting there crying.
Really- what do you say at this point there is nothing you can say to help this situation. I got in my car and left. I immediately picked up and phone and started crying to Nelson that our kid was going to get kicked out of preschool. Nelson’s reply was go back and ask if we can pay daily instead of monthly. I am glad he could joke at a time like this because I was still mortified at the thought of what we would do if he did get kicked out.

Asher ended up going to preschool and we are proud to report he never got kicked out!! He passed preschool with flying colors. In fact each time we always heard what a great kid he was.