Its gonna be a good week!!

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

Besides the obvious strength and relationship that this man has with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to overcome such a great trial in his life, the following statement he made really stood out to me:

I am grateful that God allows tragedies and trials to occur in our lives--not because they are easy or because they are desired, but because they help us love.

Love. Charity. The Pure Love of Christ. Such a powerful tool. I hope that I can be more loving and compassionate. More Christlike. That I can always forgive others in such a way that I can love them for being in my life and allowing me to become so in tune with my Savior and to feel the power of his Atonement.

Saturday is a Special Day!

Saturday was a lazy day! We like lazy days! We met up with my friend Kimber and her cute little family at Huntington Beach to just kick back and hang out. We played a little volleyball (just bumped the ball in a small circle). The water was freakishly cold, so I was not even going to pretend it was a warm like Hawaii. This was Evs and my first time to a mainland beach since we have moved to California and it was very weird that we had to drive an hour and that it was like I said, "freakishly cold". But we enjoyed one another's company! We watched and listened to Hudson as he observed everything going on around him and what caught his eye. It was funny when he would just randomly lay on the sand while playing, almost as if it felt good to just take a load off. Even though we were only there for a couple hours and had to head back home, it was well worth it! We had ourselves a fun day in the sun!

Meet Hudson. He is a sweetie pie!

Hudson really wanted to be apart of our picture and he was smiling so cute! And no one even forced him to!

Such a little cheese ball! Adorable!

After coming home and having the missionaries over for dinner, we went to a game night with some of Evs classmates from CBU. We played Taboo and our team didn't do so hot, but then we played Cranium and our team (Evs, Cydney, and I) dominated and won the game! We had a ton of laughs and man those "CLUB CRANIUMS" really kept the game going on for a while! We had a good time and I am glad that Evs enjoys the people he goes to school with and has the opportunity to make great friendships. We had a great day!

Fun day!

With school starting back up my work schedule has adjusted on MWF, so I have more "leisure" time (I guess you could call it that). Well today I called up my Mom to see what she was doing since I had to go into work later on in the day. Turns out she and Jenny were going to be going to the mall to pick up something and then going to see Charlie St. Cloud. So I hurried to finish everything I needed to do, took a super fast shower and headed to Moreno Valley, wet hair and all, and met up with my Mom and Sister. I had seen previews for this movie, but it wasn't one of those HAVE to see movies. So going into it I really had no preconceived expectations. It turned out to be a really good movie. Kinda sad, definitely sad. I didn't cry, but it did touch me and I could have cried had my emotions been on edge, but I just took it all in and really enjoyed it.

We had a fun girls day hanging out. Thanks for a good day Mom and Jenn! Thanks Mom for treating us to a movie and buying me two $1.00 shirts and Jenny two $30.00 shirts =) My Mom is such a fun Mom! She has always been so good at taking us out to do stuff or just spending time with us. I love her!

Fascination??

I would say...YES! If a piece of clothing is on the floor Sage likes to take the opportunity to treat it like his prey and shake it to death. He even pulls out the towel we have in his bed to have some chew time. He has so many toys but prefers clothing, towels, socks, and my bra..oddly enough..He is such a funny dog!

I love him!

I love when I wake up every morning and my hubby gives me nuggles and then says, " I love you, you're beautiful." It makes me happy that my crazy hair, eye boogies, and toothless smile never phases him from seeing my beauty. He is my favorite! I love him!

Date Nite

I love date night with my hubby! Especially now that he is back in school and I am working more hours; Sometimes we pass like ships in the night. I am thankful for the time I get to spend with him even if it is just renting a movie and getting some candy. Last night I rented, Bounty Hunter, I know Evs has been wanting to see it. We sat and watched it while he ate his hot tamales and I ate my strawberry sour punch, then I started to fade and fell asleep on him. I'm such a boring date, but he rubbed my back while I fell asleep and then helped me to bed after the movie was over. Man did I get lucky. My hubby is the best!

Cruisin' in da car

Driving in traffic in the morning or really any time for that matter stinks. I despise having to sit in traffic, but every Tuesday and Thursday when I head into Yorba Linda I hit the morning traffic. Well I was so proud of myself because I actually stuck to one lane today the entire way down. Normally I switch lanes back and forth with whichever lane seems to be going faster (when in reality we are all going slow and it doesnt matter which lane you get in). It was very hard for me to not move, but I did it and I have to say that it made for a smoother/faster ride (or the traffic just wasnt that bad today)

Funny thing I noticed while driving today..I was listening to the radio and the song, "Staying Alive" came on and then these people were walking down the street. It was pretty funny that their cadence went right to the beat.."ah ah ah ah staying alive, staying alive, ah ah ah ah staaying Alllive.."

Oh how the small things we pay attention to make all the difference in our day!

Movie Nite @ the Drive-In

We finally made it to the drive-in with the Uda kiddos (our niece and nephews--and their friends) and our sister, Erin. We grilled up some yummy hot dogs then foil wrapped them. Grabbed the ketchup and mustard and headed to Albertsons for drinks and candy! We were so excited to see Despicable Me! Even more excited to have our family with us. The kids seemed to enjoy hanging out in their pajamas, getting to eat warm hot dogs, and lots of candy and that they were able to bring their blanket, pillow, and a chair to the MOVIE. We had such a good time! Thanks for sharing a fun night with us guys you rock!

Dad Stubbs visit!

We got a call on Friday that Dad Stubbs was in town..Such a random surprise, but a good one. He was in Nevada for a business trip so he drove to come see us. Dad stayed with us on Friday night and then we headed down Saturday so he could see Erin, Marc, and the kids. We tagged along with their errands they had to do for their new house and then we hung out with them at Karen and Bob Uda's house (Marc's parents). We enjoyed good food, laughs, and they watched a movie, while I..well..fell asleep. It was a quick trip, but we had a lot of fun! Thanks for the visit Dad!

Sage barked at Dad when he was at our house, but took to him well. He listened to sit, down and stay..Dad got those three commands down pretty well with him.

Sage get cozy and getting scratches.

Made sure Dad got him some In-n-Out while he was here too.

Sunday Dinner at Mom's

These pictures say it all!!

We have us a good time!

Hot Dogs

I was at target with one of my kiddos and his family working on behaviors in public places...Well we were working our way through the list of things to get and happened to be in the lotion aisle. My kiddo looked up, saw the above picture and said in the most excited yet serious voice, "Mom, Mom, look its HOT DOGS!" I about peed my pants... it was hilarious..Man this kiddo never ceases to amaze me or give me a good laugh. I suppose if you really look at the picture it could definitely look like a bunch of hot dogs!

Slumber party with the Uda's

Evs has a sister, Erin and her husband Marc and their 4 kiddos, that live in San Marcos, CA. We have had so much fun getting to play with them now that we live here. We have gone to San Marcos the last couple weekends to help them with some house makeover projects they are working on for their new house they just bought. It has been so much fun spending time with the kids and seeing their personalities and getting to really know them, instead of just being Auntie Darcy and Uncle Evan on the phone or through cards, we can actually really play and interact with them. Well, this week they decided to come up to visit us and sleep over. We live across the street from a drive-in movie theater, which is such a blast and its way cheap! Well the kids have been wanting to see Despicable Me, so they came up to see it, however they got up here a little later than planned and missed the first showing. We hung out, ate dinner, and they watched videos on demand with us. They decided to try to go to the midnight showing even though everyone was super tired, but for some reason it ended up that they weren't having a midnight showing..bummer..so they just hung out and finished watching Madagascar 2. We had a fun time with them and they were even able to get some tile from my family's shop for their new house. Good times..We were so happy to have them here!

before the movie..

In a bit of a rush to get out of the house, Kade had two different slippahs.

In the ZONE..the TV ZONE.

Movie Nite @ the drive-in

We met up with my brother, Tony, and his wife Michelle and one of their kids, Bria. We finally watched the saga movie, ECLIPSE. It was lots of fun and great to spend time with them. I had mixed feelings about the movie, personally I wished they didnt end it right where they did, but I suppose its a cliffhanger for the final movie. I liked the movie, but I dont know I guess I just didnt feel the LOVE like I felt when I read the book. I suppose the saying is true the books are always better than the movies, there are things that writers definitely can depict through words that directors just cant depict.But it was an enjoyable movie and time spent well with my hubby!

Momma Stubbs California visit

My mother-in-law was here in Southern CA for a short couple day visit. She was able to see all of her grandkids (even her only grandpup, Sage) while she was down. Evs sister from Nevada drove up too see her as well. It was a nice little family reunion, we were sad Megs and Rob werent down here with us too, but Mom was able to see them while she was at her conference in Northern Cali (her whole purpose for the trip). Mom, Erin and the Kids, and Colee, Tyler and their boys all went to Legoland. Then the next day we were able to be graced with Moms presence in good ole Riverside, CA. We just hung out, then I had to head to work, but Evs showed him around to his school and then they just hung out until I got home and we had yummy dinner and just talked story. It was so nice to see Mom and we miss her so much already! Thanks for the visit!! Give Hawaii a hug for us!

Momma Lolly and Sage.

Excuse my crooked smile, I am still healing from the surgery.

Mouth Surgery

Since 2007 I have battling this infection in my mouth that no dentist could seem to solve. It wasnt the kind of infection like "bad breath syndrome" or anything like that, but well no one quite knew. I saw an endodontist on my mission who said I had broken some bone from getting hit in the face playing soccer or even by a little kid when they throw their head back, but that I needed to have a root canal to solve it to help rebuild the bone..long story short..the infection came and went. I went to many dentist who took x-rays and well saw that there was an infection but cleaned out the canal once again and figured it was good to go, if it "didn't hurt" or if it wasn't causing me any pain. Unfortunately, all the dentists were wrong. The infection came back once again right before we moved from Hawaii to California and I waited it out until we got a little more settled. Well I wasn't sure where to start because no one seemed to be able to help me before. I checked my mail one day and received a brochure for a Dr. Muna Soltan. I called to see if they would a free consult, which they did. So I made the appt. I went in had x-rays done. Before even looking at the x-rays Dr. Soltan wiggled tooth #7 (the problem tooth) and said, "You have a fractured tooth." Upon looking at the x-rays she confirmed her assumptions. Anyways after reviewing the cost of the entire procedure (which made me bawl my eyes out because I knew it would be impossible to pay for it) We knew we would find a way because I needed to have it done right away. Long story shorter...I had the procedure, it was very very painful, not gonna lie. I had a tooth extraction and a bone graft. The infection that started in 2007 had grown for the past three years without anything killing it and it just completely ate away a large majority of the bone in my gums. I was given Vicodin and sent home, with a pat on the back for being a good patient and for having a jaw dropping amount of bone missing, so much that the Dentist took pictures for research and teaching because hse had never seen anything like it before ( I guess I felt special...). Well I came home and took some meds and slept..I woke up to go to work, not feeling sick or tired and went on with my day. My sweet husband begged me to left him drive me and he would sit in the car while I worked..but I assured him I was fine...Well about an hour and a half later I was being taken by ambulance to the hospital because I passed out during one of my sessions.,,(extremely embarrassing!!) Guess the mouth surgery did a number on me and I didn't even realize it. Since my heart rate and blood pressure was at an all time low, they kept me until it got to a normal level. They ran blood tests and all that good stuff, but after 2 hours or so I was on my way home. Of course my husband was here with me to drive me home..funny thing I was playing water balloons with my kiddo when I passed out and well...the balloon lost..it popped in the general area where it looks like someone wet themselves...but I didnt I promise..

Attempting to stay awake..the vicodin was really working!

Catching some Zzzzz with Sage after my crazy day!

Oregon Photo Shoot

My sister Brittanie (BIG Photography), took our pics as we tested out the lighting for the photoshoot she was going to do for the kids. She did a great job! Thanks Britt.