Sacramento Family Trip 2

Sacramento Family Trip

Here are pictures of Morgan on our little trip. She was so good while we were there. She is always good. We are so blessed to have her special little spirit bless our home.

She is almost 11 months old now. She took her first steps at the beginning of her being 9 months and was walking in the later end of her 9th month. She is so cute to watch walk because she is so little.

Backyard Update

Yes, I am well pleased with the yard this year. It is so fun to see things grow and get bigger and better with each year. Since Michael and I have married this is the 3rd backyard we have put in from scratch. The previous homes we never got to see them the year after we put them in!

I am getting tons of zucchini! I love zucchini they make me feel like a successful gardener. I am getting tomatoes and cucumbers too. We are going to have watermelon too, to my surprise. (I wasn't sure if it would grow.)

Our trees have done really good too! We have fruit on all of them. The peaches have already come and gone. And the nectarines are done and the peaches and apples I think are almost done.

A Buffalo Named Cassie

So that nasty piece of fur you see on the ground there is a buffalo that Michael shot back in February. I was very happy that he got to go and do something he really wanted to do. However, I was not anticipating the hide he would want to display proudly somewhere in the house. The boys were very excited about it and wanted to name it. Cole came up with Cassie. (Cass, I have no idea why he chose that name but I guess you could consider it a complement!) They wanted Mike to hang it upstairs on their wall. Disgusting......

So because I was putting up such a fuss about having it in the house the boys decided to really push my buttons and started laying on it and rolling around on it. I am happy to say that it is boxed up in the garage. One day Cassie will be able to take her rightful place and be displayed proudly on our garage wall.

Are you a right wing extremist?

You are if you can answer yes to any of these questions:

1. Do you want our borders closed not because you are a racist but because you believe in upholding the LAW?

2. Do you believe its important to protect our 2nd amendment right to bear arms?

3. Do you believe in God and that its our God given right to worship how and where we want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone?

4. Do you believe that the Constitution should still be the law of the land? And if so, that it should be interpreted the way the founders intended it to?

5. Do you love the flag and like to show it off?

Well, if you answered yes to any of these questions welcome to the right wing extremist club! Our government thinks we are crazy and out of touch. I'm being facetious but this is what they truly are using to draw the line in the sand between who is normal and who is crazy.

I was amazed to watch how the media described the tea party attendees on tax day. They were called every name in the book and I thought then can they really be missing the mark that bad or are they being deceitful in order to fool the masses that rely on there coverage for the truth. I have come to the conclusion that they are being deceptive intentionally because they are doing it again.

Has anyone seen the coverage of the town halls that are erupting all over the country? It is truly interesting to watch normal citizens, like us, not buying the BS about ObamaCare. (I think the better title for the bill, as some say correctly, would be Obama Control.) Here are the representatives of the people trying to talk them into this monstrosity and they are not buying it. I LOVE it! Now once again the media are painting the people in attendance as "mobs". Why don't they see it for what it is? A grassroots movement that is sick and tired of not being listened too. Not the "AstroTurf" mob that they are used to assembling through ACORN and other illegitimate organizations they fund with OUR money.

I am concerned but also encouraged by what is going on. I love our country and the tenacity of the citizens that make it up. I choose to believe everything will work out as long as all of us do our part by becoming informed on the issues, learning about how our government works, participating in our great Republic, and then having faith and relying on our God. What an exciting time to be alive!

Random Pictures

Michael took us girls out on the town last night. It was really nice to get out. As you can see Morgan was thrilled!

These are pictures Mike took with his camera when we were visiting his family in Utah.

I just saw this one yesterday and thought it was adorable. Morgan with her Grandma Pressley.

Where Heaven Meets Earth

I have to admit that my temple experience since being an endowed member has been nice and I have enjoyed attending and feeling that peace. However, it got to be a little boring. I have found that I was just showing up and participating in the ordinances without ever "seeking" for new knowledge. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy it but it was not a feast like we are taught that it can be. Until about a month ago.

I had to teach a lesson on it in church and in my preparation for the lesson I started reading Truman Madsen's book entitled, "Where Heaven Meets Earth." This along with conference talks and attending the Reno temple weekly for the last three weeks has expanded my mind with new insights that I have been wanting for a long time. When pondering why had I not had this happen before the thought came, "Because you took no thought but to ask". That was it! I was going with the hopes that I would be taught some new thing with only a prayer before I went. I was not studying things out on my own before hand.



I love the principal of faith. Faith is the key to all that we want to know and become. With this great principal all things were and are done. It is the principal of power and ACTION. We can say we believe all day long but if we are not acting on that belief then its faith without works. I say this because in reading and studying about the temple it increased my faith, which in turn I wanted to increase my action, which in turn leads to greater manifestations of my faith. Its a wonderful program. I love the gospel with all my heart and am so happy that I can keep gaining new understanding and get stronger and stronger in my testimony.

To think that the temple is where we learn about all our eternal possibilities and how we can achieve that. There is no guessing on how to become good, happy, eternal beings we are taught all we need to do and become in the temple.

Madsen says in his book that members say a lot of the time they are going to go through the temple but that is really not the case, the temple goes through us! That line has touched me deeply. Along with the eternal truths that Heavenly Father and His Son love us so much that they go through all the trouble of trying to teach us how to become like they are. I used to look at the temple as like a side dish to the gospel ...not anymore. I see it as the main dish now and want to go all the time.