Good Friday

The Garden of Gethsemane. This is the place, where the Son of God, suffered for our sins, pains, afflictions, and sorrows. He bled from every pore.

“At the last moment, He could have turned back. But He did not. He passed beneath all things that He might save all things. In doing so, He gave us life beyond this mortal existence. He reclaimed us from the Fall of Adam."-President Thomas S. Monson

{photo credit: Anthony Rivera}

He didn't give up. He suffered the Atonement {Gethsemane & Calvary} because He knew it was God's will. It was His mission in the life.

Photo looks from the Garden of Gethsemane to the temple

{Photo Credit: Anthony Rivera}

And finally His suffering at Calvary. My perfect brother, Jesus Christ, did this for me! He suffered all for me personally. I will be eternally indebted for His sacrifices.

"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth.

Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse. On that day those men stood triumphant...

On that Friday the Apostles were devastated. Jesus, their Savior—the man who had walked on water and raised the dead—was Himself at the mercy of wicked men. They watched helplessly as He was overcome by His enemies.On that Friday the Savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised, abused and reviled. It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest...."

"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, in this life or the next, Sunday will come."-Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

Flight Booked.

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Sat 21 APR

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We are pretty excited for Evan's upcoming trip and hope for the best!

He did it!

The past two years of school came down to this one test called the BOC {a national exam}. It took him 2 hours and 45 minutes. When he called me to tell me he was done, of course I asked, "how do you think you did?" He responds with, "I just don't know. I knew some things I didn't know some things. I just don't know." WIth that vote of confidence we wait.We get results at the end of the testing window, which is the end of the month. Boo for having to wait! Its going to be a long month!

First there were..

33 and now there are 12!
On March 15th, Evs received two phone interviews. The first he said he was caught off guard, a little nervous at first, but calmed down as it went on. The second he knew he was getting so he expected it and was calm and confident. After the calls he was told that he would hear back in a couple weeks if he was one of the top 12 or even if he wasn't.

Friday came--Evan got the awaited call from Emory {remember this} for a formal interview in Atlanta,GA. He was getting anxious as the two week mark came and went yesterday, in fact, he even tried to pull reverse psychology on himself by saying, "No call yet...I'm thinking I probably didn't get an invite...I'm not too worried."
He called me at work to tell me. I answered and he said,"Guess what?!?!" I said, knowing in his tone that Emory called, "You are off work early?" HAHA I tried to drag it out but his excitement was too much for me. I am a proud wifey that he made it to the top 12. I have full confidence that he will do his best at his formal interview and if he gets it, it was suppose to be.

Final Hurrah

Love these kids! Evan & I went over after work on Friday night, ate dinner with them, played speed {a game Jenny taught them} and brushed their hair after bath time. I loved watching them get excited about little things all week! I will miss them! Time for them to go back to Oregon! Spring break is over!

I will miss my sister. Its hard not to see her very often. We talk all the time, but its just not the same. I missed her like crazy, but I am glad I got to see her for the time I did. 

The truth about pickles

Even Cole, a 9 month old, knows where its at. Another pickle lover for team Greco. He gummed his way through the goodness.

Final Gathering

All of my siblings {minus Corey we missed having him and his girls around} met up at J&B house for dinner and playtime. We chatted, laughed and few kid tantrums and fights, but all in all it was such a great night! I love my family so much and I am so glad that we enjoy each others company enough to get together often. With Jess, Chad, and the kids in So Cal for spring break, this week was a lot of driving, meeting up at different places, late nights, lots of food, organizing activities and times, and fun games. So glad we could all get together a lot this week and make the most of the J&C & kids visit. Loved all the family time!

Mani, Pedi and laugh

We started our mother daughter/sister date out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. Where we all,mostly Mom,  struggled to read the menu because the lighting is really bad in that place. We laughed about that. We ate our food and chatted about life and laughed some more especially when Mom tried to talk about her sex life..TMI. We headed to the mall to get pedicures. They laughed at me because I got stuck with the guy doing my feet, but he had strong hands so they missed out. We headed to Target and picked up some odds and ends. Had a little fun with Mom too.Love that women. And I love my sisters too. We are all so different, but I am glad we had a chance to hang out. I sure love them!

Oregon kids visit

A day outside with the kids

Jenny playing DUCK DUCK GOOSE with the kids

4 years ago

Its been 4 years to the day, when my mind wasn't clear. I didn't know what to do. As Evy says," I had too many men wanting me." Even though I say, "you were still crushing on this one girl." He sent me a text after our first date (yesterday 4 years ago) and asked,"well, what are we going to do?" I answered, "Lets talk tomorrow. I need to think." Apparently, one real date the day before took us from category one "best friends" to category two "possibly wanting to get involved". Even though I had a lot of baggage {too many tears and too much history with another guy} and uncertainties about starting a new relationship after kinda recently being in one, two, or three of them, I decided I wanted to try it. And I was right. You my sweet, Evan, were worth my time, energy and heart. You made it easy. Thank you for your trust and love. You were and still are very much the relationship I am glad I pursued. Thank you for being such a great boyfriend and hubby. I love you!

Its been 4 years

Four years ago today, I went on my first real date with Evan as "best friends". We had the best time. We have done so much together in that four years its seems unreal that so much time has passed and so many memories have been cataloged. Thanks for going with me on that Prince Kuhio day in Hawaii my Evan. I know you always had a thing for me!

Hunger Games Hype

We joined in--Just not at midnight opening day. We waited til the Friday night 8 pm showing instead. There were just as many people there, but Britt & Kayla got us prime seats so we had a great time. Excited that we got to spend time with Kayla {she read the books and was ecstatic to get to see the movie so soon} She has grown so fast and she was so cute during the movie. We tried to give her a night to remember and bought her whatever she wanted at the overpriced concession stand, but why not right?? Its not like we get to take her to the movies that often.

Love family time!

I love when I get to see them

Skype and phone calls only go so far. Nothing beats seeing my Oregon nieces and nephews {all 5 + 3 fosters} Lots of HUGS in this house!

{picture credit: jenfallanphotography.com}

My young mother

Happy 59th birthday MOM! I love you and I am so thankful for you in my life! You are a rockstar and one hot tamale!

I heart this boy

 He sure brings out the best in me! {and the crazy sometimes too!}

I <3 you!

Choices

Lately, for some reason, my mind has been pondering choices. Whether its all the political mumbo jumbo going on, the negative news on the tv, the poor economy, the homeless beggar I see in the same spot everyday from 7am-5pm expecting money from people, people losing their jobs, their families, people dying..its unfortunate our world is the way it is because I think Adam & Eve enjoyed much more serenity than our world would like us to..this has led me to ponder choices.We make them everyday. Often times we {I} choose to hit snooze on the alarm {once,twice, maybe 3 times} to get just 5-10 more minutes of sleep and snuggle time. This choice then results in a very quick shower, a lnon thorough tooth brushing, a very last minute breakfast and a very crazy non-speed limit drive to work, just to get there on time. Why does this happen every morning?!?! I choose to let it happen! If I would go to bed a little earlier and have the know how to get my butt out of bed the first time, my morning might be less chaotic. But really back to choices. The action that lead us in the right way or the wrong way. The best or better path or the mediocre path. Or sadness.

President James E. Faust said it best," The choices we make, however, determine to a large extent our happiness or our unhappiness, because we have to live with the consequences of our choices. Making perfect choices all of the time is not possible. It just doesn’t happen. But it is possible to make good choices we can live with and grow from. When God’s children live worthy of divine guidance they can become “free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon."

     Unfortunately, some of our poor choices are irreversible, but many are not. Often we can change course and get back on the right track. Getting back on the right track may involve the principles of repentance: first, recognizing the error of our ways; second, forsaking the wrongful conduct; third, never repeating it; and, fourth, confessing and making restitution where possible. Learning by experience has value, but the “school of hard knocks” is deserving of its name. Some choices present good opportunities no matter which road we take—for example, when deciding which career path to follow or which school to attend.

     Some of our important choices have a time line. If we delay a decision, the opportunity is gone forever. Sometimes our doubts keep us from making a choice that involves change. Thus an opportunity may be missed. As someone once said, “When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that in itself is a choice."

     As we look into the future, we are going to need to be stronger and more responsible for our choices in a world where people “call evil good, and good evil.” We do not choose wisely if we use our agency in opposition to God’s will or to priesthood counsel. Tomorrow’s blessings and opportunities depend on the choices we make today."

I think about what causes some to make the decisions they make. Like what went wrong? Did they have a mental breakdown? Did a traumatic event act as a trigger? {maybe I just watch too much Criminal Minds!} It gives me a little anxiety to try and figure out what people were thinking before they made a certain decision. Not that I really want to know, but I do find it interesting. The mind is an amazing powerful tool we have, but it can also be WWIII inside our heads sometimes as well-a battle between good and evil.

I always want to stay close to my Father in Heaven so I can feel the distinction between the right and wrong. I dont ever want to be that far away from the Spirit that I feel alone and unable to make good decisions. I hope you do to.

And they're off..

 Evan has 2.5 weeks until he takes his National BOC exam for Athletic Training and 7 weeks until he graduates with his Masters in Athletic Training. The job search has begun, but he has just applied to two programs for an amazing Orthopaedic Residency Fellowship(Emory-Atlanta,GA and Steadman Clinic-Vail,CO}.They probably get hundreds of applications each year and only 5-6 fellows are accepted. Most people accepted have been a Certified Athletic Trainer for a couple years and have more experience under their belt than a fresh grad student with lots of experience yet most of it was "supervised". So we will see. We are praying that whatever happens happens. We did our part, now let the good Lord work his magic and place us where we need to be for our little family, wherever that may be.

Family dinner.

Mom has been out of town for a couple months visiting her Oregon kids and grandkids. We missed her while she was gone, but she came back and we had a typical family dinner to reunite.

 Happy to have Grandma Mags home to spoil them.

 BBQ hot dogs & chicken for dinner. Love me some burned hot dogs.

 Rubi had to go potty, so of course Bria had to go with her. I hear Bria ask Ru,"You have to go poop?" Ru replies, "No just pee." Love these characters.

 Rubi being a BIG girl going potty!

Dad found a new love for his iPhone. He can categorize all the movies he has at home-so if ever in doubt-turn to technology-never thought I would see this is in Dad's future.

I think Mom has shrunk! Poor thing. She is the child of 4ft Gloria Ballantyne.

Beach

I wanted to go when it was warm, but ended up getting there as the sun was setting. We had a blast. Just me & my poochies.

A Special Art Class

This is the way I spent my Saturday!

Such a proud wifey

Out of all the grad students in his class he was the only one to submit his study for review and it was accepted. I love my husband for all his hard work and determination!