Sunday Thoughts

When I was on my mission I read a talk by President Kimball that talked about fear being a form of pride. Well last night James and I were talking about fear and how it hinders us. It's a strong tool that Satan uses on us in certain situations or during certain times in our lives when he knows our progression is at stake. For example James and I have been talking about starting a family and it's getting closer to the time when that going to become a reality. He is getting very scared and he keeps saying he's not sure if he really wants kids. We talked about how this was a big step in our lives and in our progression and how fear stops us from doing these things. It occurred to me that fear is like cigarettes. It's something that people cant quite let go of and they do silly things like stand outside in -10 degree weather just to get their fix. Fear is the same way when we are afraid of something we hold onto that fear...maybe as an excuse, and even when we know that it's silly to be afraid of a particular thing. For example I am afraid of people because of what they will think of me. But that's a great hindrance cause I could meet some great people and make some great friends. but I use my shyness as an excuse. Fear is something I battle with everyday and I am sure we all do. But it's an obstacle that I am really going to try and get over to try and better myself. I think the first step for myself is to pick something to work on and then make a goal for that thing....like try and say hi to as many people as I can. Or try and talk to the person I sit next to on the bus. If anyone has any other suggestions I would love to hear them. :)

Babies

Congratulations to Erika and Craig!!!
Yesterday my niece had us over for dinner and to see her ultra sound pictures. So after we got the car we headed over to their house and was able to find out that she is having a cute little baby boy. :) We are very excited for her. She really wanted a boy.

Congratulations to Karen and James!!!
It has been awhile and I am sorry for the delay but I want to congratulate you too. Karen and James are our good friends from the printing division and they are going to have a cute little baby girl. They are very excited.

Congratulations to Nikki and Justin!!!
I know everyone probably already knew this too. Nikki and Justin are going to have another cute baby boy. She was hoping for a girl since this is her last and she already has 2 boys and only 1 girl. But she is very excited as well.

If I have missed anyone I am sorry I know we have quite a few friends that are expecting right now. So Congratulations to all of you and good luck in your pregnancy's.

Listening to that small voice inside

For awhile now we knew our little Saturn wasn't doing so well. It seemed like every month we had to take it in for something. Well yesterday we needed to kill sometime so I jokingly suggested we go look at cars and buy a new one. As I waited for James' response, (which I thought was going to be a laugh or flat out no) I got quite the shock. He said that was a good idea and before I knew it we were talking about where we wanted to go. For some reason Carmax just stuck out to us. So we headed for South Jordan. It was nice to cause I was able to take the "scenic" route so I could show James where I grew up. When we got to Carmax I kept telling myself to not get excited about a car cause we're only here to look. Well before we knew it we had looked through a number of cars and narrowed it down to 2. We took them for a test drive and really liked this Kia that we were looking at. So again I'm thinking "well at least we are getting an idea of what we want." But next thing I know James says he wanted to get it. The whole process went by really smooth. James told me later on that he's had something inside him telling him for the longest time that we need to sell the Saturn and get something newer. He also said when I made the suggestion to go look at cars he again heard something inside him tell him to do it. Then when we saw the Kia and took it for a test drive he said he really felt like we needed to buy it. We started to notice just how smooth everything went. for example... We didn't have the title. So Josh (the guy who helped us) told us that we could drive down tomorrow and pick up the car and leave the Saturn with the title. The he said we could just take both cars and bring the Saturn back the next day with the title. But then while we were waiting for the paperwork and for the car to get cleaned up Josh came back again and told us that he just found out a way that we could go ahead and trade the Saturn in that day get that money to put a down payment on our new car and they could get a copy of the title. I still cant believe we have a new car. We've been planning to get a new car but we weren't really planning on that day. We do feel really good about our decision. We were a little shocked because of the style of car we got. but we like it. :) I know it take me a long time to tell stories and I apologize I'm just so excited that I didn't want to leave any detail out. :) Here are some pictures...

Camping, Family and Friends

Well Sorry it has taken me so long to post. I had Monday off and then my computer at work wouldn't download pictures from my camera. We had such a fun weekend. I had Friday off and I was able to get so much done. By the time James got home all we needed to do was stop by Walmart to get propane and ice then pack up the car. We went to a camp site by Monte Cristo called willow (or willows) Nikki, Justin, the kids, Bob , and mom and dad were already there. They got this neat camp site that had lots of space and was close by the Ogden river. After we got the tent set up we pulled out our new air mattress (yes we finally got one) and realized we forgot batteries for the pump. :p Luckily we weren't to far away from town so Nikki, Dad and James made a battery/coke run. :) Once we got everything set up it was nice just to sit and watch the kids run around playing and squirting each other with squirt guns. They seemed to really enjoy having the river right there. After awhile thought everyone started to get hungry so a fire was started and out came the hot dogs. :) We had quite a bit of food. We had hot dogs bratwurst and hamburgers. Then after that out came the s'more stuff. :) It was fun just sitting around the camp fire talking and roasting hot dogs/marshmallows. James brought his guitar up and him and Bob played a few songs. Abby wanted to sing and tell ghost stories and Nate wanted to play the guitar. Gavin fell asleep but woke up crying and no one really knew why. We thought he got hurt on his leg but after awhile we thought that maybe he just got really cold in the tent. He did quiet down and go to sleep again. It started getting late and mom and dad went home. The kids fell asleep in their chairs. They looked so cute. So we decided to call it a night...or so we thought. :) It got so cold and James and I only brought 3 blankets between the 2 of us. we cuddled up the best we could but needless to say it was a long night. We finally woke up around 6:00 o' clock cause we were just to cold and we heard that Nikki and Justin were up and had started a fire. So we all huddled around the fire for awhile till the sun got higher in the sky. Then we cooked and had breakfast. The kids wanted to play in the river again so we all got in our swimsuits and played in the river till it was time to pack and clean up. It was a really fun time. James and I got home around 2. I got a little sunburn on my back and a bad headache from the heat. So we decided to take it easy for the afternoon. Well during all of this my old mission companion was in Utah. It was her first time to the states...well the mainland. She's from the Philippines and is going to school in Hawaii. Anyway, before we went to church she came by to say hi. It was SO good to see her. It was a little weird I have to admit cause the last time I saw her was 2 1/2 years a go in the Philippines. It was good though. She didn't get to stay long thought cause she was going to church with her friend but it was really nice to see her. I also had Monday off so I was able to go say goodbye to her at the airport too. Over all it was a really good weekend. It was really nice to be able to get away from work. I also got to do some deep cleaning in our house which was also very nice. Here are some pictures of the weekend...The kids were playing in their tent and I snuck up to surprise them. :)

Dad, Bob and Rosko
Mom and Nate
The kids had so much fun that they fell asleep real quick.

The morning after
Playing in the river
James wearing the kid's life vest.

I think I need to explain this video a little. :) Justin and James dared each other to float down the river and before I could get a picture or video or anything it was all over. So I asked James to do it again. In the video it sounds like he's swearing but he said that the water was so cold he gasped in between words.

Abby decided she wanted to try floating farther out. She already tried it once closer to shore but she kept bumping her bum on the rocks. :)

Art

I love museums and seeing all the different things they have to offer. I love the way painting make me feel and think. When I lived in Washington I saw this painting of Seattle that was very interesting to me. It was a picture of the ocean at sunset, but if you looked close you could see the top of the space needle and a whale was jumping over it. I was in Pike's Market when I saw this picture. The artist (who was sitting at his booth) had made another painting similar with the exception of on this picture you could see under the water. This was the painting I found very interesting since you could actually see Seattle under the water. With fish swimming around the space needle and such. It's hard to describe. But I found this picture below and it reminded me of that picture.
I don't know if it's by the same artist or not but I think these pictures are just neat. I don't know why. I guess just the thought of something that seems so big being under water like that. I don't know. I just thought it was neat and wanted to share

Sunday Thoughts

Happy Fathers Day!!!! I have to admit fathers day kinda snuck up on me this year. I am very thankful for my fathers. On the weekdays my dad was gone a lot and when he got home he would usually unwind by working in his yard. When he did this we usually stayed away from him or he would have put us to work. :p But I can remember that every morning we would get up and have a family prayer. Sometimes this meant getting up at 5:00am so that we could say prayers before he went to work. But it help build my testimony about the importance of prayer. He would also make sure that before every school year we would start the first day of school with a blessing and sometimes it just wouldn't feel right going to school on the first day if we didn't receive that blessing. I have also been blessed with a wonderful father-in-law. He has helped both James and I in many ways since we've been married. He taught me the importance of a job interview and how to present myself. He also taught us the importance of keeping the spirit in our home. He has always been so kind to help us out with home projects. I am so thankful for these wonderful fathers and for the examples they are to me. I am thankful for the spirit they bring into our lives and for the priesthood they hold and honor. So to both my fathers I hope you had a great fathers day.

Sunday Thoughts

This past Sunday I didn't go to church with James and I actually stayed home and slept. I wasn't feeling very well..but still well enough that I could have gone. Anyway my Sunday thought is the feeling you get when you don't go to church. It's just amazing the feeling you get and the way the rest of your week goes. I have noticed how much our attitude changes too. James gets really stand-offish and I get kinda sad and ornery. which causes us to fight a lot more. : So the lesson I have learned for this week is when you don't want to go to church. That's the most important time to go. I really need to remember the feeling I get when I go to church and that I continue to have the rest of the week.

On a side note I just want to say how thankful I am for the Temple and for the members who go to the temple and keep the ordinances sacred. Today while I was looking for a picture of a church (the one up top) I stumbled across a member who took pictures of themselves outside the temple (some where literary outside the gates and the others it looks like they are outside their house) in their temple clothing as well as pictures of different signs that are given in the temple. It was very shocking at first to see those things on the Internet. Then it made me afraid for them and also a bit sad. It seems that if we have learned anything in the scriptures it's that when the Lord gives us a commandment and tells us to obey. He means it! I hope these people just missed the part where it said that the things we learn in the temple are not to be revealed outside of the temple.

Addi in Argentina

Well I know I've talked about Addi and Lexi (my niece and nephew) on their missions but I wanted to share some pictures that he sent. They are both doing really well. Addi has been out 6 months now and Lexi will be home in November. Lexi is in long island and is training a girl from Salem, UT. Addi is... in Argentina :p I don't know where I realized today that I think we only get half of his e-mails. Anyway he's doing good. Nancy (their mom) told us how they did a conference call on mothers day and she said it was neat to hear Lexi and Addi talk to each other in Spanish. It's so neat to learn a different language and a different culture. I am really proud of both of them. I wouldn't trade my mission for the world...I would like to remember it more in detail though. oh well I guess that's what journals, old letters, and pictures are for right. Well I have pictures of Lexi but they're on my wall and not in the computer :p But here are the pictures of Addi...or I guess I should say Elder Peterson and Sister Peterson (Hermano and Hermana)


Addi is the one in the green tie and it looks like he's the one that's always on the left. :p The top two pictures are of some baptism him and his companion had and the last two are of him and his companion. :) Enjoy.

Doing what is right?

There is this lady I work with that I have a hard time with. She is an older lady (she'll be turning 65 this Oct.) and as far as I can tell she's never been married and lives on her own. I have tried to get a long with her for a very long time. I have asked the Lord on numerous occasions to help me remember that she is a daughter of our Heavenly Father too. I do pretty well for awhile then it all seems to come rushing back. She does things that I have tried to talk to her about but she seems to blow it off and act like it's nothing. She can be rude and dis respectful. maybe she thinks cause she's older that she has the right to treat me ( a immature kid who doesn't know anything) as a kid. Well James and my co-workers have told me that I need to talk to her about it or let my boss know. Well when I try to talk about it with my boss he makes me feel like I am a mean, heartless person who just needs to be more Christ like. Yes everyone can grow and become more like Christ everyday and I am not saying that I don't need to. I just wished they would take me seriously. The point is, this past Monday I had had enough. Last week this woman had me close to tears and I hate crying in any other place beside the comfort of my own home. Anyway that's besides the point. This last Monday I had the perfect opportunity to talk to her about one of the things she does that bothers me. (she listens in on my conversations with people here at work whether it's on the phone or in person...she even listens in to personal conversations.)Lori from registration came to talk to me about her schedule and this lady got right into our conversation and took it over. Now she does this all the time. Someone will come in look right at me and ask me a question, she'll answer get up from her desk and stand in front of me and this person and I am no longer in the conversation. It was really getting on my nerves. Anyway by the time I figured out how to approach her the moment had long gone. My friend told me I should send her an e-mail and after many drafts and many corrections with the help of my friend and James. This is the e-mail I sent to her yesterday...

Yesterday and on multiple different occasions I feel like you are listening in to my conversations that are personal and business on the phone as well as in person. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't do this. I feel like it belittles me as a person and co-worker. I value the work we do together and would want both of us to feel comfortable in our work environment.
Thank You.

She read it yesterday and yesterday and a so far today she has been giving me the cold shoulder. James says the first time you start to stand up for yourself it's hard and you may feel a little guilty. But I am kinda a people person. I want everyone to at least think I'm an ok person. But I feel so guilty still. Am I in the wrong? Please I am really interested in what everyone who reads this thinks. Please leave me a comment and let me know. Thanks

Sunday Thoughts

This Sunday we thought we'd give our Sunday school kids a break from the manual and have a movie. We decided to give a lesson on faith and to watch "Finding faith in Christ." It seemed to start out well we let them tell us about they're week and all the fun stuff they did over memorial day weekend. Then we told them that we wanted to talk to them about faith and we had the movie for them...well the movie was only 28 min long so we figured we would have some time after class to talk about the movie and how we can develop our own faith in Christ. Well we started the movie and they were talking a little bit but we thought they would settle down...they didn't. Finally after trying to ask them multiple times to watch the movie. James turned it off and we told them that since they were not interested in the lesson and had to much energy to just let it out...(without yelling of course). Well to make a long story short some how we got a good way through the movie before the second bell. This is the part that I love. James got up and turned off the movie and told the kids that the reason for the movie and what we were wanting is for them to know for themselves that Christ lives and to gain they're own faith in him. Then James gave a VERY powerful testimony about how he knows that Christ lives and about the Loves the Savior has for us. Maybe it was just powerful to me but it was a very strong testimony that you could just feel the power of the spirit that came from his testimony. I am so proud of James. He has come a long way in the past 6 weeks. The Book of Mormon is amazing and has such power that it can literally change peoples lives. I have seen this and know it to be true.