The Sands Crew

Christmas Picture

2011-12-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

My sister Kim took this beautiful picture of us.

Happy Anniversary

2011-04-24T12:00:00.000-06:00

Today is Mike and I's 12th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe that it has been 12 years. There have been a lot of ups and downs, but it has all been worth while. When I asked him the other day whether he would do it all over again and he said yes. I have to xcsay that I am complete agreement. He is my best friend, and I am his.

We also celebrated the 10th anniversary of our adoption and our sealing to the boys. When we became an eternal family.

Our First Broken Bone

2011-03-30T21:03:00.000-06:00

Yes you read that right, we have our first broken bone. No id didn't happen on the rugby pitch it happened falling off his bike. Mikhail Casey was coming home from an errand last week and fell off his bike and broke the growth plate in his right thumb. Yes the child that only has one hand has broken that hand. The next several weeks are going to be fun.

Wizard of Oz update

2011-03-15T08:18:00.000-06:00

They boys will be in the Las Vegas Shakespeare Companies spring production of The Wizard of Oz. They will be munchkins and monkeys.

The dates of the play are:
May 13-15 and 21-22

The Wizard of Oz

2011-02-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

Last month Mat brought home a flyer for a school production of the Wizard of Oz, and as I am sooo not a fan, I conveniently forgot all about it. Then I got a phone call from a friend saying that the Las Vegas Shakespeare Company needed kids to play munchkins. So I called and got the boys an audition.

On Tuesday they went down and sang the song Ireland's Call, which they did acappella, when they were done they were told that they had perfect pitch and harmony. They then auditioned for the mayor of munchikinland.

Today we got the phone call, they got a call back.

One more audition and then we will know.

Grandpa Snyder

2011-02-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

In October we went to Utah to visit my Grandparents, after the recent string of deaths in the family we had a feeling that one of my grandparents was going to pass soon, and that it would be my Grandpa Snyder. It was a great day, he was able to be awake for a couple of hours and during that time he gave Mikhail his steel guitar, saying that he will be able to play that much better than an regular guitar.

3 weeks later he passed away. When we went to the funeral I wasn't sure how the boys were going to handle it, but once again they surprised me. Mat latched onto my cousin Lizzie that is a couple of years older than them, and Mikhail spent the time either holding my grandma's hand, or looking at all the things that were laid out. When his emotions got to much he went outside and threw snowballs.

As my grandpa was in the Army during WWII he had a military funeral. When it was time to close the casket after the viewing, the funeral director had Mikhail drape the flag over the casket. As we walked into the chapel for the funeral, he had to hold my grandma's hand, and be her support. He sat beside her and held her hand throughout the entire funeral.

My siblings, cousins and I were all the pallbearers and had the privilege of carrying his flag draped casket, as we stood beside his casket while Taps was played holding the flag over it, as he is saluted by two soldiers, one of whom is Lacee's husband Luke.

It was one of those moments that forever changed me and my children.

Reflecting

2010-10-02T20:13:00.000-06:00

As I have thought about this year and the changes that it has brought our family I can't help but think that the Lord has very much had his hand in everything that has happened.

When we left Albuquerque we knew thought we knew the road that we were on was the one that was going to take us in the direction that we had always wanted to go. I was going to be a teacher and Mike was on his way to getting on as a Marshall. How quickly those plans went up in smoke, leaving us floundering.

One year later and we have found our balance and are heading in the direction that we both feel is the one that we are suppose to be on. No it isn't the road that we thought we were going to be on, but it is one that we are very happy about.

I am not teaching I am the office manager of a seafood distributor and yes my doctor isn't happy about it as I am HIGHLY allergic to seafood. However I am really happy about working there. I love interacting with all the different people that call in.

Mike however has made the biggest change. The man that I nicknamed the anti sport has fallen in love with a sport, that he started out coaching as a parent volunteer. He has taken to coaching so much that he is going back to school and will be getting a degree in Sports Training. He has a goal to get on the national team as a coach and I have a feeling that he will reach that goal.

Overall it has been a year of changes and struggles and though I know that struggling is a part of life I for one will be grateful when this trial and struggle is behind us.

It has been a while...

2010-07-23T15:57:00.000-06:00

So I just noticed the other day that I have not updated this in almost three months and that is a lot of time to cover with two growing boys. It has been a great summer for us. We have been on an oceanography cruise were we saw a pod of dolphins and a blue whale. We have been to the beach and the boys fell in love with that and can't wait to go back. We have been to Disney (we earned free tickets by doing service). I have been to Denver for a romance readers convention.

As always there is rugby. Mike is coaching and loving and will be applying to UNLV to earn a degree in Sports training. Mike and Mat have gotten so much better, they have been able to meet Jamie Roberts of the Cardiff Blues, and Jamie Heaslip from Ireland this summer.

That is what we have been doing here in blazing hot Vegas.

This never happens in regular sports

2010-05-15T18:54:00.000-06:00

Thursday was just a normal day in our life, I worked the boys went to school, Mike looked for a new job, and we had rugby practice. Not so out of the ordinary, then we got to rugby practice and it wasn't so normal anymore.

As we got to practice we were told that a pro rugger (professional rugby player) from France was in town and was going to stop by the practice. I was then faced with the deliema of running home to find the camera or using Mike's phone because I had left mine at home quite by accident.

A little while later I was called over to translate as there was not one but four pro players there to play with the kids. They played a pick up game of rugby with them and the kids loved it. I got some great footage and will shortly be posting it to fb and on here. They guys are from the Montpellier France rugby club.

As we were talking after the practice all the parents that were there were saying that this never happens in other sports, where the pro's just drop by a little league team to play with them. The main coach is now trying to see if he can get some All Blacks (that's New Zealand's team), little Mike is wanting some Sprinboks players, and big Mike wants some Irish. Me I just want a little warning before hand so that I can have my camera ready.

Sneak Peak

2010-03-31T17:53:00.000-06:00

So our favorite photographer that we were very sad to leave behind in Albuquerque had a convention here in Vegas last month and so we had a session on the strip. We had a great time, trying to beat the rain, we thought it was a little ironic that two years in a row it has rained on our sessions. During the session I left my purse at the Bellagio and then lost the boys when they went to try and find the missing purse, we found both really quickly. Over all though I have to say that we had an awesome session, even if I have only seen two pictures, one where I think my face is huge, and one that is probably one of the best pictures of the boys that has ever been taken.

Here is a sneak peak of the boys picture and I can hardly wait to see the rest of the session.

Catching Up

2010-03-29T16:46:00.000-06:00

Where does the time fly? So the last time I updated this was in February while we were at 7's. That was a lot of fun and we were excited to see the USA win, they didn't win the big prize but they won the best for their division. As the team went around after they won and received their award they remembered Mik from when they had met them before the games and pulled him down to walk with them for their victory walk. Mat flirted with all the girls around us. Mik was excited to see his team South Africa go as far as they did, even though they had to play Fiji. The big winners were Somoa, they beat New Zealand.

Rugby continues to rule our lives as they boys season has gotten under way. Mat plays for the Blues and Mik the Chief's. Mat's team has won every game, which doesn't make Mik very happy. Mat scores at least 2 touchdowns with at every game and has been team MVP once. Mik scores most of his teams touchdowns and is team MVP every game. Mike is now one of the coaches for the boys team, I am the parent liason, for the league, and am playing for the womens team the Lady BlackJacks.

Mike and boys are also in the play Savior of the World, which will open at the end of this month and run for a week. Mike is a Roman Soldier, a townsman, Samuel the Lamanite, and the apostle Matthew. It has been a great experience for us as a family. We are hoping to make it an annual event, like a lot of the families have done.

I FINALLY finished my masters degree and am now just waiting on the final audit of my degree to be awarded. The starts the job hunt all over again. With all the budget cuts and NV's requirements for a teaching license I am going to be looking in the private sector and the colleges for jobs.

It has been a crazy month and April is looking to be just as busy. We were just looking at our schedule and realized that we don't have one free night this month.

USA 7's Day 1

2010-02-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of USA 7's Rugby Tournament in Vegas and we had tickets. It was definitely an experience. Everyone was so nice we exchanged names and visited through out the day. We saved seats when we went to get food and to go to the fan festival. The games were 14 minutes and very intense. Unlike in football when you constantly stop the game there is no stopping in rugby. There were several times when a player went down hurt and they played around him, or moved across the field and played away from them. There was no stopping of the game at all, no matter what. They only time the game stopped at all was at the end of the quarter. The most intense games, were between South Africa and Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, and Samoa and Kenya. England and Wales were also great teams. Here are some of the pictures that we took today, and some from yesterday also when they got to meet the USA Eagles and also happened to run into the team from Fiji. I'll post all the pictures and the videos on my facebook page.

Rugby

2010-02-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday as I was sitting with the other moms at rugby one of them told me that I should start playing with the women in Tue and Thurs nights. I laughed them off and told them that I was to old to play. However as I thought about it, and remembered my goal to get back in shape for 2010 I decided why not.

So last night I went thinking that I will do my best especially considering that I don't know much about rugby beyond what my kids have taught me. Well last night they brought in a guy that used to play professionally and with one of the worlds best rugby teams. He did the teaching and the drills last night and we had a scrimmage game.

I LOVED it. Yeah my body ached a bit but it was one of those feel good aches. I am excited to go back on Thurs. Next week I can't go at all as we have commitments those nights, but every other time I will definitely be there.

The acting bug

2010-01-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of January there was a flier in the Sunday bulletin for the play Savior of the World to be performed at the Henderson Pavillions in April. We had been told by a couple of Mik's teacher to get him involved in the theater because he does so well at it in school. So handed him the flier and asked if he wanted to do it. He said yes so that night I signed him up for an audition, I then though I had better ask Mat if he wants to do it also and he said yes but he only wanted a small speaking part so I signed him up also. We then got a copy of the script and spent the next two weeks going over the parts that they wanted to do.

Then I came down with the nastiest flu leaving Mike to have to step in and get the boys ready. The night for auditions came and Mike very grudgingly took them, when they got there they found out that all the boys were reading the same lines and these weren't the lines that we had been rehearsing. After the boys were done they called Mike in and informed him that if the boys are in the play than a parent has to be in the play, and he had to audition.

They handed him a hymn book and told him to pick a hymn. He choose The Spirit of God as that is in his key. Now Mike likes to pretend that he can't sing, but he has a beautiful tenor voice. As he was singing one of the people doing the casting jumped up and ran out, he came back in and handed Mike the lines for Peter and told him to read them.

As he told me all this when they got home (remember stuck on the couch with the flu) I had to jump up and down inside because this is something that Mike can share with the boys, he loves the theater and still talks about his theater teacher Julie to this day. The really cool thing also is that it works with his work schedule so he can do it.

Now we are waiting for the callbacks to see if they got the parts.

Flashback

2010-01-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Melanie and I went to the movies and there was this preview. The first 45 seconds of it gave me a serious flashback to when the boys were babies. One of them even looks like Mik did at that age. I have to share this.

Our new thing

2010-01-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

The week-end the movie Invictus came out we took the boys to see it, thinking that they would love the game rugby, which they did. The next week-end they were invited to a free rugby little league clinic because the huge rugby tournament is in Vegas this year. They holidays happened and they didn't have it for a couple of weeks, and every week-end they asked it they had rugby. Last night I told them that they that rugby was back on and they had clinic today.

So I went today and signed them up for rugby little league. After their clinic today there was three college rugby games so they got to stay with their best friends and watch three actual rugby games. One of which was BYU. As my boys are HUGE BYU fans they were super excited. From 10-5 today it was all Rugby and they loved it. We then came home and watched the movie Forever Strong which is a rugby movie.

I had to get a picture of Mat as he wore his BYU hoodie to rugby today not knowing that they were going to be there.

We were robbed

2010-01-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last night we came home to find our front door was open and we had been robbed. As we looked around at what was left we were amazed at what was taken and what was left behind. They tried to take the tv but couldn't get it off the wall, they left the blu-ray player and the xbox, plus my camera that was sitting on the shelf. They took almost all our games, Mike's gun, my jewelry box that had Mike's wedding ring and my engagement ring. They took an heirloom camera from Mike's dad. So far that is what we have found missing. When the cops showed up we found out that we were the 3rd apt in 4 days in our complex to be robbed and it looks like it was the same people every time.

Now here is the blessing part of this. We were suppose to come home at 7:30 last night, however Mike insisted on saying goodbye to him mom and so we waited about 15 minutes and then he said lets go. If we had left when we were suppose to we would have walked in on them and as they had Mike's gun it would have been a very different scenario last night. We talked about this with the cops that showed up, both of whom are members of the church, one is in Kim's ward and the other here in Henderson.

As Mike and I have talked about it we can plainly see the Lord's hand in our safety last night.

New Calling

2009-12-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

So on Sunday I recieved a calling, it was hilarious how it came about so I will start with that.

Two weeks ago we had tithing settlement and while we were there the Bishop a man that we have known for years, and so we have a very good relationship with him, goes "Before I forget Debbie (the releif society president) has asked that you be a visiting teaching something or other I can't remember the name" to which I responded "Visiting teaching supervisor?" he went "yeah that". So of course I said yes, talk about easy calling.

One Sunday our brand new counsler in the Bishopric did the releases and callings, per the course because it was his first Sunday doing it, he messed up. He did all the releases and released me, Melaine looked at me and laughed, the Bishop smiled and the other counsler tapped him and told him that he had messed up, so he says that he released me when he meant to call me, so he did the callings and called me to be a Visiting Teaching Supervisor.

Then I get to Relief Society and Debbie announces that they messed again in Sacrament and that I was not a supervisor, but the Visiting Teaching Coordinator. A calling that I am familiar with as I had it in the past.

I am very excited as I have a strong testimony of Visiting Teaching and it's power.

It's Christmas Time

2009-12-10T11:38:00.000-07:00

I love Christmas it is one of my all time favorite times of year. It is the one time of year when I bake, make goodies, and let my kids eat what ever they want.

This year has been a little different for us in that for the first time in years we are living by family and have to take them into consideration with what we are doing. It has been a struggle but I think that we are getting there.

One of our favorite things to do during Christmas is to see all the different Christmas decorations. In Albuquerque we were limited on what there was, however here now that is a different story. Starting the Monday before Thanksgiving, every Monday between then and Christmas we would go see a different Christmas thing, so far we have been to the tree at Town Square where they have re-created a Norman Rockwell Christmas, we have been to the Etherl M Gardens lights, Mike and I went on a date to the Bellagio to check out their tree(which is absolutely amazing, those that live here it is a cheap date, hot chocolate the water show and Christmas decorations).

The one thing that we do miss however is the snow. My boys get up every morning and ask if it has snowed yet. Maybe, it sure is cold enough.

Our Black Friday Experience

2009-11-27T12:02:00.002-07:00

So for the first time in my adult life I decided that I would brave Wal-Mart on Black Friday, the deals were just to much to pass up on the budget that I have. So I set me alarm and woke the boys up this morning at 4:30am and we went down. The parking lot was full and so I didn't even bother to fight for a parking spot and parked in the first spot I found.

When we got into Wal-Mart we found a spot and got into line. I din't realize that we were right in do the Rock BAnd Bundles that were $50, and that they had limited amounts of them. As it got close to the time to drop the rope the Wal-Mart employees were yelling to not push and be courteous of those around us. I hollered there are kids here to be careful. I told the boys that if they got trembled to drop whoever did it. We also designated a place in the event that we got separated. I told the boys that if we got a Rock Band we got one, but that isn't why we were there.

They dropped the rope and we got pushed into the Rock Band throng, I was being pushed around and got mad and started screaming that there kids in there and to get off my kids. All the sudden there were 4 Wal-Mart employees there and said we got him and grabbed Mat and pulled him out of the throng. I then had to fight to find Mikhail as he had bolted into the throng. I was yelling to not step on the kids and I hear this yell, I got it mom. I looked down between the legs of the people and there was Mikhail with his Rock Band for the 360.

I grabbed him and with the help of some employees got him out of the throng and then I planted them in an asile by an employee and went to grab the movies that I was there for. As I was heading back to the boys I felt a tug on my purse and looked down and there was Mikhail but no Mat. I asked him where his brother was and he told me he left him where I left him. I got back there as fast as I could to find no Mat. I started asking around and was told that he headed back towards electronics.

I knew that there was no way that I was going to find him in that mess so I asked an employee for help. Luckily for me it was a manager and he immediately called a code Adam and had the people at the doors on alert. After about 10 minutes I remembered that I had told the boys where to go if we got separated. I told this to the manager and he had someone go and check and sure enough there was Mat with the Rock Band.

So now Mat hates Wal-Mart and Black Friday, he hates it so much that when Grandpa had to run to Lowes Mat refused to go. He loves to go to Lowes with Grandpa.

I did score however of Mike's Christmas and so the objective was met.

Thank You

2009-11-12T00:17:00.003-07:00

I posted my tribute to all those that have served and will serve on my other blog but I wanted to post an link to it here.

I'm a slacker

2009-11-09T00:11:00.002-07:00

Yes you read that right I am SLACKER!!! The month of October was just a bad month for me. I got absolutely nothing accomplished. I was behind in all my school work, I didn't blog about anything that happened to our family this month. I was a complete mess. So I will try to do better this month.

Mike and Kerwin's Adventure in NM

2009-09-25T09:08:00.001-06:00

On Tuesday Mike and his brother Kerwin flew to Albuquerque to pick up Mike's truck. Everything was going according to plan. We had budgeted this trip and new exactly how much everything was going to cost. They had a great time, then yesterday happened. Half way between Albuquerque and Grants (a very very small town) and his clutch goes out. He is dead in the water. I was out running errands with my mom, so I had to go back to her house, look up a mechanic, call a tow truck.

Then Mike calls to tell my how much money it was going to cost, I about had a heart attack, but the work needed to be done. It meant that they would be home early this morning as they weren't going to be able to finish the truck until 10pm. Around 5 he called to tell me that it wasn't the clutch it was the transfer case, and they couldn't find. They finally found one, however it was in Albuquerque, and they weren't going to be able to get it until today. So they stayed the night and now I am waiting for the final word on the cost and that they are on their way home.

I do have to say that the people at the shop have been so good to Mike and Kerwin. They understand that they are stranded in Grants, so the owners wife lent them her car for them to use. They have back burnered all other jobs to get this one done and back on the road.

All of this and we have birthday party tomorrow for Mat.

Primary Program

2009-09-21T13:17:00.002-06:00

This years theme was Eternal Families, a theme that is very close to home for us. The boys have been listening to the music all year in preparation for the program, so I know the songs as well as they do. However yesterday as they sang a couple of songs I cried, and was so grateful for the principle of Eternal Families and the Sealing Power.

Here are the songs that made me cry.

You can listen to God Gave us FAmilies here the words are below...

1. Our Father has a family. It’s me!
It’s you, all others too: we are His children.
He sent each one of us to earth, through birth,
To live and learn here in fam’lies.
[Chorus]
God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be—
This is how He shares His love, for the fam’ly is of God.

2. A father’s place is to preside, provide,
To love and teach the gospel to his children.
A father leads in fam’ly prayer to share
Their love for Father in Heaven.
[Chorus]
3. A mother’s purpose is to care, prepare,
To nurture and to strengthen all her children.
She teaches children to obey, to pray,
To love and serve in the fam’ly.
[Chorus]
4. I’ll love and serve my family and be
A good example to each fam’ly member.
And when I am a mom or dad, so glad,
I’ll help my fam’ly remember:
God gave us families to help us become what He wants us to be—
This is how He shares His love, for the fam’ly is of God.

The second one was Families are Forever.

It was one of the best programs that I seen.

I remember

2009-09-11T12:58:00.001-06:00

I remember where I was and what I was doing. It is a moment in time that will forever be etched in my mind. Like my mom telling me she knew where she was on the day that Kennedy was shot, my grandma telling me that she can still remember where she was when she heard about Pearl Harbor. These are defining moments in our lives.

We were driving to work and listening to a CD when my sister in law called us and told us to turn on the radio. We couldn't believe it and so we raced to work to see it on the tv. We then spent the entire day listening to the radio, not believing what we were hearing. Later that day we discovered that Mike's uncle Steven was in the Pentagon when that plane hit. Luckily he wasn't hurt.

As I watched all the news coverage I knew that our life had just changed, just as it had when the Wall had come down, only this time it wasn't for peace. In a conversation with my grandmother later that week she said something that will forever be etched in my memory, she said after the end of the war (WWII) and all the sacrifices that were made to ensure peace, she never thought that she would see something this horrific in her life.

Today as my kids went to school, they made sure that they were wearing red, white and blue. I realized something, or rather re-realized something, they tried to take something from us, they tried to break us, to divide our nation, however they didn't succeed. We rallied, we became stronger, and our spirit was not broken.

This song has always been a favorite of mine, and I loved the pictures that are in it.

In celebration of spirit post something that you love about this great nation.

First Day of School

2009-08-24T20:31:00.002-06:00

I love the first day of school, both as a parent and as a teacher. Today one part of me, the mom part of me, got to take my kids to the first day of school in their new school.

They were at times excited and nervous. I felt so bad for them this morning as they were standing in the lines with their new classmates, not knowing a single person. They have gone from being the most popular kids in their grade to not knowing anyone. They were troopers however and off they went. Mat a little more confident than Mike. Mike was so nervous that he tracked me down in the cafeteria 30 minutes into the day to make sure that I was paying for their lunches.

As I went through out my day I kept expecting the phone to ring saying that someone had had a meltdown, it never rang.

When I picked them up, both teachers told me that they did great. Mat got a little nervous when he had to leave to go to the bathroom because he didn't know where it was. Mike did awesome, he teacher said he was great.

So another school year has started and so far we are off to a great start.

Memories of New Mexico

2009-08-11T13:35:00.002-06:00

On July 31st 2003 we piled into the Uhual and our car and taking Karey (Mike's brother) and Nick (Mike's best friend at the time) with us we set out for our new life, a life that we knew was temporary but essential. We moved to Las Cruces New Mexico, a little town on the New Mexico, Texas, Mexico border. We loved it there. The boys were enrolled in pre-school (where all Mik did was paint and draw). After a year there we had to move as Mike couldn't get a job, and I wanted to go back to school. so we moved to Albuquerque.

Albuquerque was an adventure for us in that we did our most struggling there. I went back to school and was working on getting my teaching degree, the boys were in school, and Mike was still struggling to get a job.

Mike was finally able to get into the field that he has always wanted to be in. He spent 2 years commuting to Santa Fe for the Sheriff's dept there, and then moved down to Sandoval Co (the county just north of Albuquerque), where he spent another 2 years. He loved it, and having to quit that dept was one of the hardest things that he ever had to do.

I graduated from UNM with a degree in Foreign Languages and Literature, and started my Masters Degree. I was able to teach both Italian and Spanish for APS, and I loved it. I loved my students, and constant changes that happen in a classroom. Leaving that school district was very hard for me.

Both boys started school, they had the same kindergarten teacher (Mrs. Zuniga the best k teacher in the world). They had amazing teachers at Sierra Vista Mrs. Zuniga, Ms. Lokken, Mrs. Burschardt, Ms. Chavez, Ms. Lamkin, Mrs. Hampel, Ms. Bowers, Ms. Hannah. The support staff at the school was amazing also, Leigh the school nurse who took Mat's disease in hand, and who knew Mik and when he was faking it and when he was really sick. Ms. Sharon the boys therapist from kindergarten till we left, who gave us so much insight into Mik and his struggles. Both boys loved them all, and are struggling with a new school.

Both boys were also baptized there. One of the best days of our lives as parents was when they decided to become members of the church.

From earlier posts you all know how hard the decision to leave NM was for us, we had so many wonderful friends and memories there. We spent most of our married life there. We discovered who we are as individuals and we we are as a couple. For all the struggles that we had I cannot regret our decision to move there when we did.

We are now onto a new adventure back in Las Vegas, so keep tuning in to see what adventures await us here.

Birthday Memories

2009-07-18T22:12:00.003-06:00

34 years ago today I made my entrance into this world. As I reflect back on the life that I have lived and the many birthdays that I have had, I have to say that there have been great birthdays and not so great birthdays.

Here are some of my more memorable birthdays.

5th birthday - okay so this wasn't my birthday but my best friends birthday that took place 6 days after mine. We were at the old city park in town (Cedar City) and I fell off the top of a twenty foot slide, was rushed to emergency room and ended up with 20 stitches.

8th birthday - this was a huge birthday for me for obvious reasons, for a month before my birthday I stalked my bishop for my baptismal interview. I had a Pete's Dragon birthday party and finally had my interview.

12th birthday - I went into young womens on my birthday.

16th birthday - this is suppose to be the best birthday ever for a girl, the sweet sixteen, however I didn't think that I would have a birthday party. My brother Daniel had just died, and I wasn't really good friends with anyone in my ward at the time, we were friends just not friends that would invite me to many things, however that night when I didn't think that anyone had even remembered my birthday I went for a walk by myself to my friends house and all the kids my age from the ward were at her house, I remember feeling very left out, however when I knocked on the door I discovered that it was a surprise party for me. For a little while that day I was able to forget that my family had just been torn apart.

18th birthday - I shaved my head, and celebrated my birthday at a family reunion.

21st birthday - My best friends Kristen, Cherry and Aspen took me out to the Hard Rock Cafe and then we went to Sam's Town to gamble my first dollar, three weeks later I entered the MTC.

24th birthday - Mike will never let me live this one down. It was my first birthday with Mike and he took me to see Mystere and to a five star restaurant that cost a lot of money. After dinner I got a ache in my back. After we got home a couple of hours later I start throwing up, I proceeded to throw up my five star all night long. Mike vowed to never take me to a five star restaurant again.

30th birthday - I asked to have a birthday party, however half of the family refused to go, and when we got there it turned out to be a party for Mikhail as his birthday is 3 days after mine.

34th birthday - We went to breakfast, went and saw Transformers, went to lunch, and saw Harry Potter. Came home and Kim had left me message on the phone wishing me a Happy Birthday, the only person in the family besides Melanie and John and Jeanne to wish me a happy birthday.

So another year has come and gone. Here's to the next year in my life.

Laman and Lemuel vs Nephi

2009-07-12T18:51:00.001-06:00

Have you ever wondered why it was so important to have the story of Laman and Lemuel and Nephi in the Book of Mormon? Until this week I have never wondered this or applied this to my life.

I have made no bones about the fact that I have suffered occasions of extreme doubt over our move to Vegas and why we have to move there, instead of New England where we really wanted to go and where Mike had some amazing opportunities career wise.

However I have gone along with it, applied to be a teacher (was hired however my license doesn't transfer and so I have to sub for one more year), got an apartment (and got an amazing deal on it also), and have begun the look for new doctors for Mat (he still needs to see a team of doctors for the next several years).

I have done all this with a definite Laman and Lemuel attitude. They left Jerusalem with the family and went into the wilderness, when the opportunity presented itself not once but twice to return to Jerusalem, they never once considered staying. They knew that their father was a prphet of God, they had faith in him, however they also murmered because they didn't want to go. I have become my version of Laman and Lemuel, wanting to know why we had to move back to Vegas, why it was so important. Doing the things that I needed to do, however not willingly, and with much procrastination.

On Friday, while I was talking to a friend about the move and doing my normal cripping about it, she mentioned the scripture in Ether about faith (we all know which one I am talking about), and I light bulb went off in my head, I have been acting like Laman and Lemuel instead of acting like Nephi. At that moment I decided that I need to change my attitude, I needed to stop acting like Laman and Lemuel and start acting like Nephi, I need to have the attitude that I will go and do.

It hasn't been easy, when people ask me about the move I have to say in my mind I will go and do. This has made all the difference.

At church today a sister was asking me about the move and how I felt about it, so I told her and she asked how I am dealing with it, and so I told her about my new attitude. She then told me that one of her daughters and her husband are having the same thing happen to them, however in the opposite. They have just finished school and want to leave the state that they are living in desperately, however every time that they pray about leaving they are told no they are to remain where they are. She told me that when she got home from church today she was going to call her and tell her about my thougths on the matter.

Back to my original thought, the conclusion that I came to was that the reason that Laman and Lemuel and their murmuring was in the Book of Mormon, as well as the fact that they did do what was asked of them, was because the Lord knew that there would come a time in each of our lives where we would have Laman anf Lemuel moments.

So from here on out my new creed is I will go and do and trust in the Lord, no matter what happens.

4th of July 2009

2009-07-05T12:07:00.008-06:00

Yesterday we had a great day. We went to the Corrales Parade. I loved this parade because it was an old fashioned 4th of July parade, like I went to as a kid in Cedar City. It had everything, men wearing revolutionary war era uniforms, horses, cars, floats, and fire trucks.

After the parade we went to a co-workers of Mike's place in Bosque Farms. He was kind enough to invite us to his families 4th party. We were welcomed as if we were a part of the family. It was like when I was kid I have to say, with the whole family together, the trash talking, the food, and the sports. However instead of playing basketball we played volleyball.

We also rode horses, because I am considered a seasoned rider, I rode the former championship rodeo horse, it took me a bit to use to being back in the saddle but eventually I did. Both boys rode the gentler horse by themselves (sorry that there are no pictures, Mike was in charge of the camera and didn't take any). Both boys loved it, and wanted to try our Truck (the rodeo horse), Mat rode him with Cox (Mike's buddy), and later I took Mik up, I sat behind him and let him guide him (with my help of course).

Just as we were getting ready for the fireworks the wind kicked up and a storm blew in, which delayed the foreworks for about an hour, it was a typical New Mexico storm, it blew in hard, stayed long enough to cool the temp and wet the dirt.

When we were finally able to do the fireworks, the pyro's that are Mik and Mat were right in the thick of things. They were able to light of most of the fireworks that were lite and had a blast doing them.

On the hour drive home Mike and decided that this was the best 4th of July that we have ever had, and that we want every 4th to be just like this one from here on out.

It is official

2009-06-24T19:41:00.002-06:00

Well it is official, we are moving to Vegas. We got our apartment this week, we are moving into the same apt that we lived in when first got married. I also received confirmation that I will be working for the school district as a sub while I work on getting my Nevada Teaching License.

So on July 31st we are loading the U-Haul and leaving here. 6 years to the day from the time we left Vegas for NM we are returning.

Mat Update

2009-06-14T20:57:00.002-06:00

After all the drama Mat finally had his surgery on June 10th. The alarm clock didn't go off and we woke up at 5:50, we had to be at the hospital at 5:30 so we were a little rushed. It was raining that morning and when it rains here well people are idiots. We got to the hospital in 20 minutes, without any accidents which was a miracle.

The good thing about that was that by the time we got down to the surgery we didn't have that much of a wait. The anesthesiologist that we had requested wasn't able to be there, however we got an amazing doctor in his stead.

The surgery took and an hour and a half. When the doctor came out he told us that there was damage to the bladder that they weren't expecting. It boiled down to if we had waited any longer we would have lost him.

He will have to have another surgery in about 5 years, and hopefully that will be the end of it.

After three days in the hospital we got an early release, and he was able to come home.

He is now doing great, however bored to tears. However we aren't letting him do much.

Surgery is Finally happening

2009-06-08T17:17:00.002-06:00

So after two cancellations Mat is finally having his surgery on Wed. After three cancellations we aren't even hoping that this one actually happens but in the even that it does here is the information for the hospital once again.

Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque on Central
The phone number is 505-841-1234
for peds it is 505-841-1819

My cell number is 505-515-5071
Mike's cell number is 505-340-6973

The surgery is suppose to start at 7:30am our time and last 1 1/2 hours. He should be up in his room by no later than 11:00am barring any complications.

We have allowed for friends and family to be able to call the hospital and receive info on Mat. We will try and update as soon as we can.

Mike's Father's Day present

2009-06-03T22:48:00.002-06:00

For Father's Day Mike got a Blu Ray Surround System. He has been going through all of our movies one by one to see which ones he wants to get in Blu Ray. In the last four days we have seen 300, Two Towers, Troy, X Men. The only movie that he hasn't watched is Transformers because we went to 5 stores on the day he got the system just to get that one.

So pissed off.....

2009-06-01T16:27:00.002-06:00

Just got a phone call that we have to reschedule Mat's surgery. I am so mad right now. When I called the doctors office to reschedule it the lady was upset at me like it was MY fault.

Okay so I stepped away from this for a bit as I was so upset. The surgery has been rescheduled for next Tuesday at 10:40.

Hospital Info

2009-06-01T09:52:00.002-06:00

Here is the information for the hospital...

Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque on Central
The phone number is 505-841-1234
for peds it is 505-841-1819

My cell number is 505-515-5071
Mike's cell number is 505-340-6973

The surgery is suppose to start at 7:30am our time and last 1 1/2 hours. He should be up in his room by no later than 11:00am barring any complications.

We have allowed for friends and family to be able to call the hospital and receive info on Mat. We will try and update as soon as we can.

Almost shut down the ABQ Airport

2009-05-26T21:18:00.002-06:00

Today was one of those days...

I went to the 6:30am session at the temple and I really hope that the person that I went through for forgives me for completely blacking out for it.

I then went on a 3 mile walk with the family that was really good. I am determined to be back in my pre-mission weight before I turn 35.

We then went to airport to send off a really good friend on her mission. While we were there Mik decided to go to the bathroom. Well he didn't tell me that was where he was going, so I turn around and no Mikhail. I go into all the stores and ask if they have seen him, no one has., Security is called and I have gone into the bathrooms at one end, the other people that were there to send off our friend have gone into the other bathrooms, one person went down to the baggage claim area. No Mikhail. Security showed up and I was a complete nervous wreck, I could barely describe him. Once the security guard figured out that I was Mom, he told me not to worry they were shutting down the airport and they were going to find him. At this point Mikhail comes out of the bathroom that 4 different people had gone into calling his name. However as he didn't recognize their voices he didn't respond. They canceled the closing and I held onto him for the next hour.

After that my boys were lucky to be out of my line of sight the rest of the day.

I ended the day by taking the boys and one friend each to a screening of the movie UP, which is fantastic.

Just another day in my paradise....

Catching up....

2009-05-18T09:08:00.002-06:00

So every time we log onto the internet, both on the laptop and on the desktop this page comes up. The other day I realized that I hadn't updated this almost a month. For a couple of reasons.

1- I love the picture of Mik that is the first thing you see when you bring it up.
2- It has been crazy around our house for the last month, why you ask? Well I will tell you....

For those that don't already know, on the 30th of last month we were served with foreclosure papers. Our landlord is apparently in foreclosure. We then spent the next week trying to get someone to tell us why our names were on the court documents. While this was going on our swamp cooler broke and we had record highs in the low 90's. So needless to say Mike was in a very bad mood for a while.

We finally got an attorney, and they are in the process of figuring out why we are listed on the foreclosure. So we have put the entire mess in their hands.

This week is the last week of school and so I am crazy busy, with grading papers and getting the final all ready to go.

Oh and in the midst of all this Mike and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.

As you can see it has been a really hectic week.

I probably won't update this again until Mat goes into the hospital, where I will update it daily to keep people that read this informed of what is going on.

Sealing Day

2009-04-20T14:10:00.003-06:00

So today is the anniversary of our sealing. It seems like only yesterday, that they were that small. We recently got out the picture box, and I can't believe how small they were.

Here are some pictures from that day...

And here is a recent picture of them....aren't they something??

Why do I do this...

2009-04-17T21:17:00.003-06:00

It has been one of those weeks and today I lost it. I made Mike and the boys walk around the mall as I vented and spewed about a variety of things. We normally walk the bosque however we had rain and snow all day. We then came home and I have spent the last three hours playing on line with my various blogs, avoiding my email, FB, and any other site where I may spew my venom on unsuspecting people. I vented my spleen on my ranting blog (yes another blog).

Anyways, I am now going to vent here. I started this blog as a way for our friends and family to keep up with what is going on in our life. However I have come to the conclusion that only a couple of people even read it, and so I am going to change the way that I do things on here.

This is now a journal for our family. I could careless if anyone else reads this. I am no longer going to be upset when I see that no one has posted a single comment on a post. This is a way for me record what is happening in our family, for our family.

So if you read this to keep abreast with our family keep doing so, just know that it is for us that I am doing this now.

What a day...

2009-04-08T20:44:00.004-06:00

So the day started off with me stressing about the fact that I thought that grades were due today, and I hate the gradebook that I have to use. I can't look at the grade book at a glance and see what assignments are missing and what aren't so that I have open every single assignment and when there are 22 assignments it is very annoying. So then I think that I have it, and come to find out I have told all my students there wrong grades.

Then I go to pick the boys up, and discover that Mike forgot to pick them up from school. He realized it an hour after school got out. Luckily a friend of ours had had to go back to school and saw them. She then tried for 20 min to get a hold of either me or Mike. I had left my cell phone at home and so I never got the messages until I got home from getting the boys. Unable to get a hold of Mike the boys told her where they go on Weds. and so she took them there and even dropped her own kids off there.

When Mike realized that he had forgotten them, he felt like crap, and has been beating himself up all day. At least when I have forgotten them I am only 5 min late. But hey these things happen.

They boys had scouts tonight, when I pulled out of the driveway I backed into a car parked across the street. Of course there was no damage to their car but I dented in corner of my back bumper. I am so upset.

Oh well that is life....crap happens. At least no one was hurt.

New website/blog

2009-04-08T19:02:00.002-06:00

No I don't have a new blog/website. I was catching up on Oprah today and at some point this week and she was talking to a mom that is also a blogger, I loved what the mom (Heather) had to say and so I went and checked out her site. I bookmarked her page and plan to be a regular visitor to her site.

Here is the link to her site www.dooce.com

2009-04-05T14:31:00.002-06:00

I saw this video this morning and I have to share. It brought back such poignant memories. I have to say that it was one of the best 18 months of my life. I learned so much.

Vegas

2009-03-28T17:47:00.002-06:00

We are home now. We had a good trip even if the boys were a little bored, okay a lot bored.

We were able to visit with Kim and her family, and see the new baby Owen. The boys loved being at Kim's house even if they had to play "true love" with a 4 yr old Maddy. They were very good sports about playing barbies with her. We went to the Children's Place to buy clothes and the boys were a great help, they carried Owen around as if he was the most precious thing that they had ever held.

While I was there I had the opportunity to attend a ti chi class with my mother-in-law, I have to say that for the first time in a long time I felt great. I am definitely going to try and find someone here that teaches it.

I drove around with Melanie looking for houses in their area, as it will make the mornings easier for us to be close to the school that we are going to register the boys in. They aren't happy about their new school as it is an international school and they will have some subjects in spanish, and that means that they have to start paying attention to what I am saying.

The thing that made the biggest difference though was that as I sat in the living room of my in-laws home, I got the most overwhelming feeling that it was time to go back to Vegas, that the Lord will prepare the way for us. At the same time Mike got the same feeling.

So that is the wrap up of the trip to Vegas.....

Interview Update

2009-03-18T18:31:00.002-06:00

I had my interview with the Clark County School District on Monday, I feel like it went well. It was the priliminary interview. Now it is a waiting game to see whether or not they hire me. Now I need to do all the stuff for my license in NV, and then wait and see what happens.

Boring and Mundane..

2009-03-15T17:00:00.003-06:00

It occurred to me this morning that I haven't updated this in a while and there might be one reader out there that is interested in what is going on in our lives...

So here it is in a nutshell, we are very boring and mundane right now. Mike is still at the jail, and loving what he does. I am teaching Spanish full-time and loving it. Mik well he is Mik and we love him for it. Mat is doing great so long as we don't talk about the surgery.

I do have an interview tomorrow afternoon with the Clark County School District (for those that read this and don't know where that is it is in Vegas). I am a little nervous, however I got a blessing and so I feel that if I am meant to teach there then it will happen..

....oh almost forgot the mohawk has made another appearance on Mat's head.

Blue and Gold

2009-03-02T18:14:00.007-07:00

On Thursday we had Blue and Gold. The boys love scouts and so they have worked really hard the last couple of months, and both of them got somethings. Mat earned 3 beads, and Mik earned his wolf. Here are some pictures from that night...okay for some reason I can only post this picture

Mat's Surgery

2009-02-25T17:19:00.003-07:00

Mat's surgery has been scheduled. It is on June 2nd at 7:30am. He will be in the hospital for between 3-5 days.

Had to buy...

2009-02-17T14:29:00.002-07:00

So Mike came home from work on Sunday night and informed me that my car was leaking something, and that he thought it was the water pump. He then told me that if it is the water pump he couldn't fix it, and that it would be cheaper to buy a new car.

So this morning we went down and looked at cars, and originally decided to go with the Ford Freestlye, their crossover vehicle, then I saw the price and decided that I didn't want to pay that, so we went for the Ford Freestar.

We weren't able to finish the paper work because Mike had to go to work, so we will go back tomorrow morning and finish the paper work.

So tomorrow we will have a car that was made in this century..wow what a concept..

The Next Step

2009-02-10T15:37:00.002-07:00

Well it is looking more and more like we are going to Vegas...
I have put in my application to the school district there, my license will transfer over, or rather I qualify for a license in NV, now it is just a matter of the interviews.

Michael is helping us find a house and I have to say that I never thought that we would be able to afford a house in Vegas again. Some of the houses that we are looking at are ones that we have looked at in the past.

So next month I am going to Vegas and we will see how everything goes. We have decided that wherever the Lord wants us is where we will be.

Life Changes

2009-02-02T20:23:00.002-07:00

You know it is interesting where life leads you. Mike and I thought that we had it figured out, we were going to stay here, buy this house, he would either stay at the jail is in now or go to the streets, I would start teaching with the school district here, and the boys would grow up.

However it is looking like our little dream isn't going to happen. The realities are that with today's economy teachers that would normally be retiring this year aren't, what does this mean for me, well it means that it will be that much harder for me to get a job here. Because of this I began to but out feelers around the country to see what there was out there for a Spanish teacher. I have been amazed about what is out there for a Spanish teacher, if I am willing to leave NM.

So we have narrowed our list down to 4 places. 3 we would never have even thought of, and 1 we swore that we would never do.

It is between the following places..now this is only is I can't get a job here..
1. Maryland
2. Virginia
3. North Carolina
4. Vegas.

We have our suspicions about where we may end up, however we aren't making any decisions until the interviews are done and a position has been accepted..

So keep tuned in and we will see where we end up...

Yeah!!!

2009-01-27T15:00:00.002-07:00

WE ARE NO LONGER A ONE CAR FAMILY!!!!!!

Mike has been looking for a car for the last couple of months. He had a budget as we were going to pay cash for it. He has looked at a lot of cars that were real lemons. However yesterday he found one and we went down and looked at it. Other than normal maintenance there was nothing wrong with it.

So I whipped out the checkbook and low and behold Mike has his own car that I can't drive. Not because he says I can't but because it is a standard transmission and I can't drive a stick. Course I am probably going to have to learn in case there is an emergency and I may have to drive it.

This is going to make our lives so much easier. I can't even tell you.

Today in History

2009-01-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

As I got up this morning I did something that I don't normally do, I turned on the t.v.. I usually get up take the kids to school then go back to bed to snuggle with Mike, as we can only do that in the morning as I am asleep when he gets home from work, that is our time. However this morning I had to watch. I didn't vote for Obama, however I have to say that I am excited to be able to watch history in the making.

As I dropped this kids off at school last week I heard the announcement that in every classroom in America this inauguration, including in Mik and Mat's class.

This is a day that will be remembered in history, and I am very glad to be able to see it in my life, and also for all of the implications it means for my boys.

Car Shopping

2009-01-15T22:17:00.002-07:00

So we began the long process of car shopping this week. We have known that we would need to buy a new car this year, as ours well it is on it's last legs. So we figured that by the time we got around to buying a new car the 2010 cars would be out making the 2009's cheaper.

We have been going to all the dealerships driving their top of the line SUV's as we know that that is what we are going to be buying. Holy crap all the bells and whistles in these cars these days.

We test drove a 2007 top of the line, and couldn't believe all the stuff that are putting in cars these days. You can get serius (sp?) tv, radio, camera's in the back for backing in, heating and cooling seats, and so much more.

So we have narrowed it down to 2 models. It is a toss up between the Expedition, and the Hybrid Tahoe. Now to decide when we are going to buy.

One of those weeks

2009-01-11T18:07:00.002-07:00

This has been a week. The boys went back to school YEAH ME!!!!

Mike may be going back up to Santa Fe, however this time as a street office, he hasn't made up his mind yet.

I had a job interview for a spanish teacher starting in Mar. I had only been home from it for a couple of hours when I got the call, telling me that I got the job. I am very excited.

And that is all from New Mexico.

2008 Wrap Up

2009-01-02T00:22:00.003-07:00

I can hardly believe that it is 2009. 2008 flew by so fast. It has been a very eventful year for us. So here is our recap...

Mike - is still in Corrections and loving it. He is in jail that is only 20 minutes from the house. He has debated all year about going to the streets. His calling at church is to check the building 2 nights a week. One night while he was checking the church, he had gotten there about 11:45pm, and the lights were on, and the doors open, so he was very carefully walking through the building with his hand on his gun, when he saw a movement, so he drew his gun just as the mission president and the missionaries came into his line of sight. The mission president stood there in shock, luckily the missionaries were our missionaries and had eaten dinner at our house so they recognized Mike and he recognized them. Once he got over his shock and Mike had put away his gun, the mission president was able to laugh about it.

One of the highlights of Mike's year was being able to baptize the boys. When he confirmed Mikhail Casey, he forgot to confirm him a member of the church and had to redo the blessing, the second time he did it, it was word for the same.

Heather - I finally graduated from UNM after a screwup on their part with a B.A. in Languages. Not an easy feet let me tell you. So with my degree in hand I then went on the job hunt. I got a job teaching Italian in one of the high schools by us. Unfortunately because of a screw-up at the Dept of Education my teaching license wasn't issued before the deadline set by the state to have it, after you start teaching, so I had to give up my class, this also happened to coincide with Mat's latest trip to the hospital, and we had decided that I needed to be at home with him.

I also started my Master's Degree in Education and so far I am loving it. I am also working on my book. According to Kim however I am not writing fast enough. One of the things that I started this year was I started a book blog, this has become a big part of my life as I have made some great friends through it, and discovered a whole other world out there that I never knew existed.

I had surgery in December to fix my foot, because after 5 months in an air cast it wasn't healing, so they had to go in and remove about 2" of the nerve in my foot. It has taken me longer to recover than I wanted it to be, but at least I am out of the air cast.

Mik - he has been full of surprises this year. We found out that he isn't on a 2nd grade reading level like we (us, his teachers, and his therapist) thought, no he is on a 4th grade reading level. How did we discover this you ask, on Constitution Day he volunteered to read the Constitution in his regular class, He read if by himself and didn't stumble over a single word. He is also a math whiz, when he decides to do his work.

Mik is also quite the artist, which we have known for years. He loves to draw, especially dragons.

Mat - he continues to exceeded everyone's expectations. He is doing great at school and is slowly catching up. He loves school and has decided that he wants to get all 4's (A's) on every assignment. He is also our very social child. He hates being stuck at home, he would rather be out with his friends, unless he can play the xbox, then he has to play Rainbow Six his current favorite game. He also loves basketball, the Boston Celtics are his favorite team, everything in his room is Celtics.

Mat's condition was upgraded to a stage 3 reflux, however as he is growing so much (4" in the last 6 months), the surgeon wants us to wait a little bit longer, so we are expecting his surgery to take place over the summer.

The boys got to spend the month of July in Vegas this year. They look forward to that every year. They are already asking when they get to go to Vegas for the summer. They were also baptized in October. We had a great turn out for it. It was great week-end, if only the weather would have cooperated.

The big news for us this year was that we finally moved into a house. We are hoping to be able to buy it this spring, (we are leasing to own right now).

As you can see it has been a great year for us, we can only hope that 2009 is better.

WinterWonderLAnd

2008-12-15T18:38:00.004-07:00

Today we got our first official snowfall. It started this morning while Mike was taking the boys to school and has continued all day. I have taken pictures throughout the day to show the progression of the snow. It now looks like Christmas on our street. It is still snowing and doesn't look like it is going to stop anytime soon.

at 11am this morning

At 4 pm this afternoon

The rest of these were at 6:30 tonight..

It's beginning to look like Christmas

2008-12-15T15:09:00.003-07:00

When we moved into our neighborhood we knew that they got into the holidays, however we didn't realize just how into Christmas our street got. There isn't a house on our street that isn't decked out for the holidays, ours included. Here are some pictures of our street, granted these are before the entire street was done but you get the idea...

This is our house..

Mat's b-day Party FINALLY

2008-12-09T12:01:00.004-07:00

On Saturday we FINALLY had his birthday party considering the fact that his birthday is in SEPTEMBER. It was really small, he only had 3 friends come over, however he had NO CLUE that they were coming over. I wish that I had had a camera on me when they walked in behind me carrying birthday presents.

Here are some pictures from the party...

Playing Transformers Monopoly...They had a blast.

Blowing out the candles...the cake was a last minute purchase that the lady at the bakery was kind enough to make into a birthday cake for me.

10 Years Ago

2008-12-06T22:07:00.003-07:00

10 years ago I gave into the nagging of my best friend Cherry and went to a pot luck dinner to meet this guy that she swore was perfect for me. When I finally got there and met him I thought oh he is kinda cute. We talked and then went to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, where he sat almost in my lap. We then went over to Cherry's house and played games and talked and he LIED all night long. 4 Days later we went on our first solo date. And that was it. I knew 3 days later that this was it for me.

Today as we went out and about we talked about what made us fall in love with each other, why it happened so fast. For each of us it was different things, but the one thing we knew for certain is that we would spend the rest of our lives together.

10 years ago at Dana Point California

2 months ago in Albuquerque NM

Surgery has been scheduled

2008-12-04T19:57:00.001-07:00

So my surgery has been scheduled for Tuesday December 9th. I am having about 2" of the nerve in my foot taken out. Hopefully this will correct the problem, if not I have to have another surgery.

Turkey Campout

2008-11-22T20:52:00.005-07:00

The week-end before Thanksgiving our ward has a Turkey Campout for all the men and their boys. This was the first year that Mike and the boys were able to go and they had a blast....well other than the fact that at 3am Mat woke Mike up because he was freezing and so they went and sat in the car. All in all they had a great time. Mike, Mik and Mat

They had a great turn out like always. As this was the 10th annual Turkey Campout and our ward has been split at least 4 times since we have lived here, there are usually at least 3 wards.

Playing football, Mat was in his element, as he loves anything to do with sports

Mik and soccer, what a surprise.

Mik and his good friend Mike

Oh look Mat is roasting a marshmellow, color us surprised.

Mike with Brother Lamb, Chad Brady (my foot doctor) and Phil Low.

Where there is fire there is Mike.

Poor Idryll

2008-11-16T20:50:00.002-07:00

Poor Idryll, her absolute favorite place to be is next to me, especially when I am sitting down and working on the computer. Before we moved into the house she was always on laying at my feet while I was on the computer, however since we have moved she has been unable to do this.

The other day I was sitting on the couch and had the computer in lap and she climbed into my lap under the computer, she had cozied herself up under the computer and was in my lap...

I wish that I could get a picture of it..maybe next time.

Foot Update

2008-11-14T22:06:00.002-07:00

I went back to the doctor yesterday, and got another cortizon shot. My foot wasn't and still isn't happy. If this shot doesn't work before I go back in on the 1st then I will be having foot surgery, to remove that portion of the nerve. As it is at the very tip of my foot, the only part that will be affected is in between my two toes. I told the doctor that I am not one to put off surgery if it is the best option, so if the nerve hasn't gotten better in the next two weeks, then out it comes.

It is a good thing that I am planning on having all my Christmas shopping for family done by the 5th as I have to ship it, and Mike knows what to get the boys from us.

Hanging of the Cards

2008-11-11T18:57:00.003-07:00

I was going through all the pictures that are on the computer and I found this one from last year. I also realized that because I joined a couple of Christmas Card Exchange groups I have twice as many cards to hang on the ribbon this year. Which means that Mike has that many more cards to hang this year. I guess I had better go dig out the ribbon and the cards and get started on them.

The next Emril and the next Picasso

2008-11-07T15:21:00.004-07:00

Ever since he was 3 Mat has loved to cook, and be in the kitchen. If we are baking or cooking dinner he is right there with his apron on cooking. By the time he was 6 he could cook his own mac and cheese and ramon noodles.

Two weeks ago we had our ward's trunk or treat and everybody made a dessert. Mat decided that he was going to make his favorite cookies pumpkin cookies from scratch (scratch being that we buy a pumpkin and make the puree from it). He made it all by himself, all I did was read the recipe to him.

He was so proud of those cookies and very mad that they were all gone by the time he got to the dessert table. I sampled them and I can tell you that they were in fact very good. He has asked to help make Thanksgiving Dinner and if he can make a pie.

So be prepared Emril Mat is a coming...

From the time that Mik discovered art he has been obsessed with it. All he does is draw. He would come into my classroom and draw the most detailed cartoon's on my boards.

He now has several how to draw books and can be found drawing, anything from dragons to ariplanes to battlefields complete with tanks and jets.

He has discovered my art supplies from when I used to draw and has completely taken them over. Crayoons, markers, colored pencils, they have all been taken over by him. It is so bad that we are painting his room so that he can draw on the walls.

So move Picasso and Monet there is a new artist in town.

Twilight Quiz

2008-11-03T23:01:00.002-07:00

Okay so I will probably go and see this in the theatres...My girlfriend Christie had this on her blog and so I took the quiz...I honestly can't remember who Esme is.

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I have a lot to catch up...

2008-11-03T19:45:00.002-07:00

Ok so I am a slacker and haven't updated in a while. That is my goal for this week. So bear with me as I go through all the pictures and catch up the blog....

Also I want to remind everyone to vote tomorrow.

Dang it Oprah

2008-10-28T22:20:00.003-06:00

I don't normally watch Oprah, however I recorded it today. It was all about the miracle children that she has had on her show and where they are now. She then showed this video about a little boy that has touched so many lives without ever saying a word., I missed it and the boys made me rewind it, so I did and then we all sat here and cried. The boys were crying so hard, you know how sensitive they are, so there we all sat bawling and I was able to turn it into a gospel lesson about the Plan of Salvation and Eternal Families.

As I have no clue how to post a video from the internet onto the blog I am going to give you the link for the video. This is definitely worth viewing so take a few minutes and watch it, I promise you won't regret it...

99 Balloons

The New Family Pictures

2008-10-27T17:45:00.003-06:00

The results are in and these are the pictures that we decided on as our pictures for this year.

Isn't our photographer amazing. We have more pictures coming, but these are the ones that are in so far.

Our Brave Boy

2008-10-23T19:26:00.002-06:00

So Mat had his annual check-up for his kidney today. Because we have been seeing the surgeon and not just the pediatrician he ordered the complete round of tests. Mat wasn't very happy about it, however they needed to see exactly how his body is working. He was so brave, he had an ultra sound that he was utterly fascinated by, and then the big test, the one where they insert a cathader and watch his bladder, this one hurts like HELL, and he lost it as soon as he saw the room. However this time the nurses numbed the entry hole so he didn't feel it. Also the doctor has a son the same age as Mat and so she knew how to treat him. This time it wasn't as tramatic for him.

Can I just say that from the time we started this whole thing till today the technology has improved so much. We were able to see every part of his body today in the test. It was so clear that the one thing we didn't want to see we saw.

We watched as the urine washed back up into his kidney. We were so hoping that he had out grown this, however he hasn't. So what does all this mean? It means that some time in the next couple of months, probably December Mat is going to be having major surgery.

He will be in the hosptial for at least 7 days, and then be out of school for at least 3 weeks. So after all of this I can see why my license had issues, why it had delays. Because I am needed at home. I guess Heavenly Father knows what he is doing. As much as I want to teach and keep my job, I am needed at home with my other job that of Mom.

And I am out of a job

2008-10-23T08:13:00.002-06:00

So I found out yesterday that my license won't be in by the deadline. I was missing a class in my masters program. They have known about this for over a week and yet have sent me nothing. I found out because I called the State to find out what was going on with my license as my deadline is Friday, and they informed me of this. So while I was on the phone with them I checked my University and guess what they offer this class, however it isn't in my degree program.

I called the University immediately after I hung up with the State, and within 15 minutes they had completely rearranged my schedule for me to take this class starting next week. They are also faxing proof that I am in the class to the State, so hopefully I will get my license in the next couple of weeks.

Unfortunately the umbrella that I have been working under expires. So I have no clue what is going to happen.

Veteran's Pictures

2008-10-18T21:33:00.002-06:00

I am in a choir that is putting on a huge Veteran's Concert next month, we do this every year and every year it gets bigger and bigger. We have a goal of having over 1000 pictures of veterans, with that being said I know that there are a lot of bloggers that have Veterans in their families, and I would LOVE to have their pictures. it doesn't have to be from the Iraq War, we have pictures going all the way back to the war of 1812.

So if you are willing and have the time, dig through your pictures and if you have a picture of them in uniform (any kind of military uniform), email me the picture with their name, rank, branch and if they served during war which one and where i.e. WWII Pacific, or WWII Europe. Also pictures of Units will be great also, just make sure put where they were and what time period it was.

My email address is mhsandsfamily@gmail.com . PLEASE NO SPAM MAIL!!

We always have a mixture of veterans, and they really appreciate the effort that we put into honoring them.

Boys Baptism

2008-10-14T11:01:00.005-06:00

On Saturday October 11, 2008 Mikhail and Matheu were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was an eventful day. Here are the pictures for those that were unable to come. There are a lot more pictures that were taken, however if I was to post them all this would be a really long post. These were the most important, there is one picture missing and that is Oh the boys and their cousin Maddy, for some reason I can't pull it off my camera.

Mike. Heather, Mikhail and Matheu

Mik and Mat

Mik

Mat

Mike and the Boys

Heather and the Boys

Three Generations of Sands Boys

With Grandma and Grandpa Sands

URG!!! Cable Company

2008-10-08T17:09:00.005-06:00

So we have been playing the run around game with the cable company since we moved. They have been telling us that we won't be able to have our cable turned on until the 9th, as that is when they will be turning off the service here for the previous renters.

I just got off the phone with the cable company and found out that they will be turning off the service here from the previous people tomorrow, HOWEVER they can't schedule the appointment to come turn on our service UNTIL FRIDAY!! So what does this mean for us, NO T.V. INTERNET OR PHONE FOR 5 DAYS!!!!

Can we say that I am irritated. It is a good thing that I can transfer my home phone to my cell phone.

This doesn't solve the problem of the fact that we have people coming to town this week-end and no t.v. or internet. Let alone the fact that I have a paper due on Saturday that I now have to write today.

Oh well I guess we'll actually have to talk to each other and visit.

Baby Megan in the hospital

2008-10-07T21:10:00.003-06:00

So for all those that know Jon, his new baby is in the NICU and will be for the next 2-4 weeks. Her lungs aren't quite developed and she has an infection. She had a spinal tap today to determine where and why the infection.

So please keep them in your prayers. I will update this as Jon updates me, however we know how Jon is about information right:)

2 new babies

2008-10-07T11:09:00.002-06:00

So both my brother Jon and Mike's brother Kerwin's wives have had their babies and that leaves only Kim left pregnant.

Jon and Stephanie's baby Megan Adelaide (hmm wonder where he got that name, Australia perhaps what a way to remember your mission) is in the NICU, she was born early and they aren't sure about her lung development. She was born last night, Jon hasn't sent pictures of her yet.

Kerwin and Angela named their little girl ZoeLynn, and she is home and doing well.

A temple in Rome

2008-10-05T14:26:00.002-06:00

When I went on my mission more than 10 years ago, wow has it been that long? It must be as my kids are getting baptized this next week-end.

Anyways back on topic.

So I was watching what I could of Conference last night as the internet was being stupid. I was able to watch President Monson's talk yesterday morning when he talked about dedicating the temples and then announced 5 new ones.

Calgary Canada
Kansas City Area
Philadelphia
and are you ready for it
Rome Italy.

The smile on his face was huge as he waited for that bit of news to sink in, and the reaction of the members. Can we say shock. How many of us ever thought that there would ever be a temple in Italy let alone Rome.

If everything goes according to plan and on schedule when I take my Italian III students to Italy I will be able to sneak in a session. I can't think of anything better.

Something Missing Today

2008-10-04T21:25:00.002-06:00

As we went about our day today I had this feeling like something was missing, something was off, and it was. I look forward to General Conference, all year. I love to be able to listen to the Prophet's voice and to be spiritually fed, and because of the move we were unable to watch or rather listen to Conference today, and won't be able to watch tomorrow either, as our cable won't be turned on till the 9th. I was finally able to get it online about 5 minutes ago. So now I am going to listen sit here and listen to Conference and work on my lesson plans for this next week and the week after.

President Monson is talking so I am going to stop writing and listen to his words. I love to hear his voice. There is nothing like hearing the words of the Modern Prophet.

Finally Pictures of the house

2008-10-01T17:29:00.006-06:00

The front of our house

If you look closely you can see that I have already decorated for halloween

Our room and HUGE walk in closet, the closet is the size of the kitechen and dining room in the apartment, to give you perspective, our friend Peter claims that the bedroom has its own zipcode

We ran out of bookcases and so this is where Mike and I's books are till we get some more, we think that we need 5 tall bookcases and we should be good.

Mik and Mat's room, take a guess at whos' is who's

My nice big kitchen and dining room

The family room, this room flows into the kitchen and dining room

My living room, it is huge, I so need furniture

Part of the back yard, my boys love the trampoline.

So there you have it, our home. We are loving being in it.

Exhausted

2008-09-30T15:22:00.003-06:00

Can I just say that I am exhausted. 4 days of moving and cleaning has made me very tired. I am so tired that I could barely do my job. I am hoping that I by tomorrow night I will be good.

On the upside, my entire house is clean, and unpacked.

Yes I am one of those kind of people

2008-09-28T18:27:00.001-06:00

It was moving week-end at our house. We got our keys on Thursday and I had to work on Friday, luckily I only teach 3 periods, but my day starts at 6am, so Mike took me to school, and then kept the boys home from school, and they started at 7am and had all the boxes moved over by the time that they picked me up from school. We then spent the afternoon unpacking all the boxes that were brought over.

On Saturday the guys from our church showed up at 9am however the truck was late so while we waited they pulled every piece of furniture out of the apartment and put it in the parking lot. By 11 am the apartment was empty and we began unpacking.

It is now Sunday night at 6pm and I have not got a single box in my house. I do have somethings in the garage and I have misplaced a CD case with about 100 cds in it, but other than that we are done.

Now it it back to real life, I have lesson plans to create and homework to do. I know that everyone wants pictures of the new house. I promise that I will get those up as soon as I find the camera.

It's Official

2008-09-25T17:38:00.001-06:00

We signed the papers and got the keys today. We have a house. We are very excited.

Today was a very full day as Mike was sworn in today as an officer.

Will post more after the move.

Family Pics sneek peak

2008-09-20T13:54:00.002-06:00

We took family pictures today and our amazing photographer already has some up on her blog. Here is a link to her blog to see the pictures. Also take some time to check out her other stuff. She is one talented lady.

WE HAVE A HOUSE

2008-09-20T12:52:00.002-06:00

I got the email last night. We have a house. WE LOVE IT!!!

We have looked at hundreds of houses in the last year, there have been a lot that we liked, however none that we loved. When we decided on which house to put an offer on, we decided that it was a house that we could live in for a couple of years and then sell.

Then everything happened this week and our stress level went through the roof. So on Tuesday morning Mike and I went driving around the neighborhood back behind our apt., we saw a for sale sign with a for rent sign attached. I called the number that night and left a message. We hadn't heard from them so I made some appointments to see some other houses. After I had made the appointments I got a call about this house. So I made the appointment to see it.

We went and looked at the other houses and I was disgusted. The were horrible. We then went and looked at this house. As soon as we walked in we all felt like we had come home. We told them that we would love to rent it, and if possible lease to own it.

Last night we got the email saying that it is ours. So this week is going to be a madhouse as we finish packing and move. I will post pictures as soon as we have moved in.

Move Update

2008-09-17T21:12:00.002-06:00

So we still don't have a house. Our mortgage lady called us yesterday and told us that the amount that we could get was suddenly $50k less than what we were originally told. Then all the big banks decided that they are going to be in financial trouble and suddenly the amount that we have to put down has doubled. Are you kidding me!! Mike is in Law Enforcement and I am a teacher, not exactly the richest professions in the world right. So now 10 days before moving day we have no house and are now looking for a rental. As we were advised to get a rental and wait a year for things to get stabilized in the market.

So now after months of working on our mortgage we are back to having to rent a house. So yesterday morning Mike and I went driving around looking for FOR RENT signs. We found one taped to a FOR SALE sign. It is in the neighborhood that we want, so that's good, and if we decided that we want to buy it in a year when everything hopefully settles down we can for the principle of the house. We have a couple of other houses that we are going to look at however we really want the one by us. We'll have to wait and see I guess.

All I know is that I paid my tithing this week, and we have to move. We are putting our trust in Heavenly Father that we will be led to the right home, and everything will work out okay.

Stress

2008-09-15T00:30:00.004-06:00

It is 12:30 at night I have to get up in a couple of hours to go to work, however every time I close my eyes all I can think about is all the stuff that is going on.

We have 15 days to be out of our apt, we have no clue where we are going. We have narrowed the house search down to two houses however we can't make an offer because we haven't heard from our mortgage lady in couple of days. We swore that we wouldn't ever let it get this close again when it came to our mortgage however guess what it did. I am going to call our realtor tomorrow and see if one of the houses is a turn key and if we can do a lease to own for 6-12 months.

Little Mik is driving me crazy, he absolutely hates change and stress however that is all that is going on at our house. He has decided that I am his personal verbal punching bag.

I may or may not be going full-time at work starting tomorrow or rather today, I can barely keep my head above water as it is between work, school, Mike, the boys.

Mike has put in for a promotion that will mean a whopping 50 cents more an hour, but he will lose out on OT, not that we have had any of that in almost a year. The crappy thing about the promotion is that he has almost gotten enough seniority amongst the officers to get Sundays off, however if he gets the promotion he will have mon-tues off.

Okay enough of my bitching...I paid my tithing today, I have to trust that Heavenly Father will guide us to where we need to be and help us find a home in the next week.

It's State Fair Time

2008-09-13T16:59:00.019-06:00

This is Phyliss the State Fair Mascot

It's September and here in NM that means State Fair Time. So yesterday we picked the boys up early from school and went to be the Friday night rush. We normally have gone on Wednesday afternoon as that was Mike's day off however as he currently has Friday's off we went yesterday.

We had a blast, between the food and the rides and all the booths it was a lot of fun. We even walked away with 2 Christmas gifts.

Mike, Mik and Mat horsing around waiting for the first show to start

A diving show that we have to see every year. The following pics are also of the show.

A new thing at the fair this year a living statue, the boys thought this was cool.

There were a lot of exotic and not exotic animals at the fair this year. So of course we had to see them all.

There will be more fun pics later as I have to go do the teacher thing now.

Foot Update

2008-09-11T16:19:00.002-06:00

I just came from the podiatrist and I have a pinched nerve in middle toe. So I got two count them TWO cortisone shots. If you haven't ever had one let me just tell you that they hurt like HELL!!! I am in a half boot and am still on the crutches for the next two weeks. Oh well what dos kill you only makes you stronger.

Mat's checkup

2008-09-10T17:14:00.002-06:00

Mat had a check up today. His white blood cell count in his urine is 2. That is the best it has ever been. Dr. Miller was very happy. Mat goes into the hospital next month for his yearly round of tests, They have added a new one this year. Depending on what those tests show he will either continue the medication or have surgery, in which he will be in the hospital for a week.

It must be September

2008-09-08T17:09:00.003-06:00

5 years ago when we first moved to New Mexico there was this smell everywhere we went, that we couldn't figure out. We finally asked someone and they told us it was the chile's being roasted. We so didn't get it. Fast forward five years and we can hardly wait for September because that means that the green chile's are ready for roasting and that means Green Chile Chicken Cheese Stew. Yummy. In fact that is what is on the menu tonight.
This can be found at every grocery store in NM plus at all the farmers markets.

For those that want a taste of NM here is the recipe.

3 Chicken Breasts
1/2 Onion
3 celery stalks
3 carrots
3 green chili's
4 cloves of garlic

Cut the vegetables into large pieces and place in a pan with the chicken breasts with a lot of water and salt. Let cook between 1-2.5 hours. Take chicken breasts out and shred. Place the vegetables in a food processor with a little liquid from pan. Add 3 roasted chili peppers. Puree. Drain broth from pan to get out all the little bits you don't want. Add half the broth back into the pan, add the pureed vegetables, and the chicken. In a separate bowl pour about 1 pint of heavy cream add corn starch and combine, once all the corn starch is dissolved add to the broth, add in 2 packages grated cheese. Let simmer, about 30 minutes. Serve with warm tortillas.

Mom's on crutches

2008-09-05T16:52:00.002-06:00

So the other day I woke up and my foot was hurting, I didn't pay to much attention to it and went on my day. The next day it was worse so I pulled out the boot from the last time my foot felt like this. I had open house that night and was on my foot, by the time I got home I was in a massive amount of pain. Wednesday I had to teach and so I was on my foot, the pain was so bad that yesterday I gave in and called the dr. I have to go to a podiatrist, they think that I have nerve and tendon damage. So I am on crutches until the pain goes away and I have to change all of my shoes, no more heels, no more flip flops. Mike wasn't happy as that means I get to replace all those shoes with new ones Yeah ME.

Tagged

2008-09-05T15:59:00.003-06:00

Answer the following

The Five

Ten Years Ago
1. I was just starting back to college after serving my mission
2. I had just started a new job
3. I was planning a road trip to Phoenix
4. I had just moved out of my parents house
5. I was enjoying life

Five Things On My To Do List Today
1. Grade papers
2. Catch up on papers to grade
3. Do my homework
4. Catch up my blogs
5. GO on a date with Mike and some friends of ours

Five Snacks That I Enjoy
1. Chocolate
2. Chips and salsa
3. chips and dip
4. veggies and dip
5. fruit and dip

Five Things I Would Do If I Were A Millionaire
1. Pay off my debts
2. Buy a couple houses
3. Create trust funds for the boys for college, mission and whatever
4. Give a few bucks to family
5. Lasik and the mommy makeover

Five Places I Have Lived
1. Cedar City Utah
2. Henderson NV
3. Encarnacion Paraguay
4. Seattle WA
5. Albuquerque NM

Five Jobs I Have Had
1. Hostess at Peter Piper
2. Receptionist
3. AP/AR
4. Substitute Teacher
5. Teacher

I Tag:
1. Kim
2. Emily
3. Michelle
4. Cher
5. Christy

Rules:Each player answer the questions themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags five people and post their names, then goes to their blog and posts a comment letting them know that they have been tagged and ask them to read your blog. Let the person know that tagged you that you have answered their questions on your blog......Good luck

Mat and the Spirit

2008-08-24T18:02:00.002-06:00

The other day Mat and I were coming home from taking Mik to scouts and he asked me about the spirit. They had been watching The Seeker and so I guess it was on his mind. He asked me if the warm feeling in his heart was the spirit. I told him that it is and that it will let him know if things are true or not. He nodded his head and said that he thought so.

We have been so concerned about whether he would be able to comprehend the magnitude of being baptized, now I know that in his own way Heavenly Father has been preparing this special little boy for baptism.

Hair Cut

2008-08-24T17:49:00.005-06:00

So Mat finally decided that he needed a haircut as his hair was driving him nuts. So this morning I cut his hair as Mike decided that he needed to lay in bed and read.

Before the haircut when he was trying for Joe Jonas's haircut

Today after deciding that he needed a haircut.

The First Day of School

2008-08-14T15:46:00.007-06:00

So today was the first day of school for the boys. When I went to wake them up, Mat had to drag himself into the shower then it was trama drama because *gasp* Mik has more new clothes on his side of the closet. It wasn't that he has more clothes it's that I hang all of the coats and jackets on that side so it looks like more. Then the brand new shoes that we bought two weeks that were a size to big, he could barely get his foot in them. He hadn't put them on since the day we bought them. Then we had to do his hair which he hated, hey if he wants it long it has to be done. Then finally he was ready to go.

Mik on the other hand was the complete opposite. When I woke them up I told them to get into the shower, Mat stumbled into the shower whereas Mik jumped out of bed and gathered up his clothes and shoes, ate breakfast and pestered Mat to get out of the shower. Where Mat took a 20 minute shower Mik took a 5 minute shower. He was dressed and waiting by the car before Mat had his shoes on.

Oh the joys of school. Tomorrow Mike gets to do the morining routine as I will be at school.

Here are the annual first day of school pics.

Mik and Mat on the stairs by our apt.

Mat..can you believe he is in 2nd grade

Oh so grown up for 8, and 3rd grade

Back to work

2008-08-12T17:34:00.002-06:00

Yesterday marked my first day back to work. For those that don't know I am teaching Italian at Volcano Vista High School. Today was the first day of school. I have to say that it was pretty good.

I am very excited to see how the year progresses. One thing for sure, italian will not be my weakest language by the end of the year.

Time to work on my lesson plan for tomorrow.

Mik's talk in Primary Today

2008-08-10T16:18:00.001-06:00

Mik had to give a talk in primary today, he wanted to share it with everyone so here it is....

My talk is about how I can show faith in Jesus Christ by being baptized.

In this month’s Friend there some questions and answers about baptism…

Why is baptism important?
It’s more than important—it is necessary. Jesus Christ said that people must be baptized to belong to His Church and enter the kingdom of God

Do I make a promise when I am baptized?
Yes. You promise to keep Heavenly Father’s commandments. He promises that you can live with Him in His kingdom. These promises are called covenants.

What do I need to do to prepare to be baptized?
Want to be baptized.
Keep the commandments.
Be willing to live the teachings of Jesus Christ and follow His example.
Be interviewed by your bishop or branch president.

What happens after baptism?
After you are baptized, you are confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. You are then accountable for your sins, and you need to repent when you do something wrong. Before you take the sacrament each week, you should repent of whatever you did wrong that week and ask for forgiveness. Then when you take the sacrament, you covenant to take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ, which means you will always try to remember Him, follow His example, and obey Him. When you do this, you are promised that His Spirit will be with you.
Jesus Christ was even baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan.

IN the Book of Mormon we read about the Nephites and Lamanites that showed their faith in Jesus by being baptized, Alma, King Lamoni and his people. Joseph Smith and the early saints of the church.

I can show my faith in Jesus by following the examples of those in scriptures and the early saints of the church by being baptized. I will show my faith in Jesus on October 11 when I am baptized with my brother Mat.

I know that the church is true, I know that President Monson is a Prophet of God, I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I can’t wait until I am baptized and can show my faith in Jesus Christ by being baptized and receiving the holy ghost.

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Meet the Teacher

2008-08-08T11:15:00.002-06:00

Today we went and met the boys teachers. Both boys have the same special ed teacher as they had last year. I am very happy with that. We haven't had any contact with Mat's teacher so we don't know anything about her. Mik has a teacher that is young and cute so he is happy, several of our friends have had her in the past and liked her, she is also right next to his special ed teacher who is also young and cute, so he should have a great year.

Another school year is about to start...YEAH!!!

The Snyder Family

2008-08-08T00:23:00.003-06:00

So I have to thank Uncle Larry for sending this to me. He has done a great job in finding these stories about our family.

The Snyders
Henry Edward Snyder (1833-1911) Chancey Alanca Snyder (1865-1945)
By Robert H, Snyder

The following account was written by Robert H. Snyder (Bob), Box 653 Silverton, Colorado 81433 (or Rico, Colorado 81332). Incidents here in concern the lives of his grandfather Chancey herewith and whereas called “Chan” to whit in this document. His great-grandfather “Henry Edward” and their families.The account herein was written in longhand American English by Bob as he visited with people when they worked in fields, roamed the mountains, rode in auto-mobiles, etc. Most of the content has come from verbal sources, such as friends, relatives who personally acquainted with the people in the stories. Bob lived in the same household as Chan in his early days, in 1940 they were together an entire summer, camping and doing mining claims in various parts of Colorado and Utah. Some experiences were written from this personal contact. A greater part of this material came through Bob’s father Robert A. Snyder who was close to Chan most of his life.In his travels, Bob asks people if they knew or were acquainted with the persons of which he is writing. Most are not, but a few are. Letter has been another way of getting accounts.AS to how these writings came about, Bob says, “mostly it’s because I have a deep interest in these things and like to do this sort of things.” “With me it’s more or less a hobby and I find ‘writing’ very relaxing, especially at the end of the day of physical labor.” “one other good reason is that the LDS church has asked us to do these things.”Editing, typing, and duplication of this material has been done by Bob’s cousin, Iona Snyder Hall, 5690 South 2700 West, Roy, Utah 84067, July 1973-1976.Put in digital form and added graphics by Lawrence G. Snyder 344 North 1500 West Cedar City, Utah, 84721. 2008 July 24th-?E-mail ddlsnyder@cedarcity.net

The Civil War
Very little is known of Henry Edward Snyder until about the time of the Civil War. He was in the civil war for the duration. 1861-1865. He had at least one brother who was in the war, a Captain John Snyder who marched with General Sherman to the sea. They were from Wisconsin and were volunteers. It is reported that John lost a leg in the war.Henry Edward Snyder was a sharp shooter and one occasion had an opportunity to shoot General Lee, however the commanding officer of the unit wouldn’t let him shoot.After the war Henry Snyder and family lived on a 160 acre farm he had cleared with an ox team. He planted 15 or 20 acres in turnips. This farm was located on the Wisconsin River and Henry worked as a timber pilot through the Wisconsin’s rapids. A saw mill was located about 20 miles above a settlement called Wisconsin Rapids. Henry’ job was to navigate timber trough the rapids to the settlement below. This being timber and lumber. He made several trips per day through the rapids and after each trip a fast horse and buggy would be waiting for him to take him back up along the river for another return trip down through the rapids. This job he had for about fourteen years, for years before the war to about ten years after the war.The Dakota time

In about 1874 the Henry E. Snyder family left Wisconsin Rapids and headed west. Not knowing for sure where they were going but eventually ended up in the Black Hill country of South Dakota. They arrived at the town of Deadwood in 1875. Henry operated a Wells Fargo stage station where the stage came trough every day.It was about this time that cattle started to arrive from Texas, some were headed for Oregon. One occasion a cattle outfit came through and Henry bought 14 head of lame stock, (Texas Longhorns). A short time later, two of henry’s boys (Chan & Bill) were put herding some of the cattle on the hills when they surprised by a band of Sioux Indians. Chan and Bill only had one horse between the two of them so they both got on the same horse and made a dash for the station with the Sioux in hot pursuit . They went across the Cheyenne River.About this time there were bandits roaming the Black Hills country. These bandits made several raids around Deadwood in 1875.On one occasion a Texan who happened to be with one of the cattle drivers gave Chan a buckskin pony which he later brought to Colorado. This Texan one time happened to be chasing a wild steer. His rope which Chan described must have been at least 75 feet long and a small loop in the end to be roping Texas Longhorns. After watching this Chan wanted to become a cowboy.On one occasion a mail, or stage driver gave Hank a pup, his method of presentation was to shove the pup in bed with Hank one morning. This dog grew into a hound that could catch deer.When Henry got ready to leave the Black Hill country his books and the stage line books checked out the same. Wells Fargo Company told him he could have any station he wanted to operate.Of interest: during the year they were around Deadwood was a person named Calamity Jane, also Pokes Alice who smoked cigars. Groceries were quite high, but the wages kept up with inflation. Henry and family left Deadwood in 1877 and had twenty thousand dollars in gold. Some of which he brought from Wisconsin.The morning they left Deadwood, one of their colts came up missing. After a short search Henry and Rob came to ranch house. They asked the rancher if he had seen their colt. The rancher told them he had not. They asked permission to look in the ranchers barn, but the rancher protested loudly. The ranchers two sons were present and they were quite husky young men. They tried to stop Rob from looking into their barn. Quick as a flash Rob hauled back and hung one on the largest boy and went to look into the barn. He found the colt he had been seeking. They took the colt, climbed on their horses and went back to camp where they proceeded to leave for the Platte River.

The Platte River Ranch
That fall of 1877 Henry bought a place on the Platte River and arrived there that fall of 1877. They bought a ranch and stayed the winter. Henry had an experience on the Platte River. It was in the spring time and the river was running high. Henry had taken a job of hauling passengers and luggage (mail) across the river. During one time when the river was flooding, the boat capsized spilling out a woman, three or four children also the stage driver. After dark around midnight, Henry managed to righten the boat, get his passengers aboard, then by swimming and pushing the boat ahead of him, managed to get it ashore. At this time the stage line couldn’t cross the river, so Henry was taking passengers and mail across the river.This was near Sidney, Nebraska.

Aztec, New Mexico
In the spring of 1878 they sold their ranch on the Platte for a nice profit and moved to new country. In the late summer of ’78 they arrived in Aztec, New Mexico. They met a rancher by the name of Cox whose ranch was located where Aztec is now located. Cox raised oats and other things. They also had some meat that was salted down in wooden barrels.Nephites or Jaredites.
Henry and family were of the Presbyterian faith. At this time Henry’s boys were scouting around Aztec when they came upon some very old Indian ruins. The rooms were constructed of stone and mortar with split cedar timbers on the roof/ The split timbers were used to hold mud (adobe cement) in place. The boys decided to see what they could find around, and inside the place. They started digging near a pinyon tree that was growing on the top of the roof. This pinyon tree was several hundred years old. The trunk was so large that a grown man could not reach around by using both arms.Starting at the top layer the boys went down through seven stories or layers of rooms. Finding several skeletons left from a battle. Many broken bones, spears, arrows etc., were found. One arrow had pierced a skull, others had severed other bones. In one room that had for some purpose been sealed off, or walled in, they found a man and a woman. Strange as it may seem, the woman had yellow hair, yet she was an Indian and had been killed long before the white man had come to this country.The woman had died first. The man had tried to dig through the first wall only to run into a second wall and had died in a kneeling position. This happened several hundred, perhaps thousands of years before their discovery.Going down into other rooms, the boys discovered a pumpkin hanging from the ceiling. When they touched it disintegrated into dust. One room contained 13 dead killed in the battle.Some time later another boy who had visited the ruins found a copper knife that had been tempered and so hard it could not be filed. It had to be sharpened on a grindstone.These Aztec people were quite advanced in agriculture. They had methods of farming that included canals that constructed and ditches and they practiced irrigation. The remains of some of their ditches were still in evidence in 1878.Charles Henry Snyder (Hank) had had married Carrie Crapo in 1891 and moved down the Delores river to the mouth of Summit Creek. He records that there was much evidence of Indian ruins. He then moved to Moab Utah.In the early days, before the Utes and Navajo moved into that area, the people that preceded the Aztec Indians had constructed a ditch out of the river for irrigation. These Indians were good farmers and had raised corn and potato’s on several flats (mesas) in that area. When Hank moved to the mouth of Summit on the Delores, he found wild potato’s in a variety of colors. They were growing where the ancient before Aztec people had left them. Since the Ute’s and Navajo were hunters and warriors, they probably sent raiding parties to steal from the farmers, the pre Aztec of their produce.

The Snyder’s meet the Mormons for the first time.
1878, also brought a group of Mormon men who had been working on the railroad to the south who had finished and were returning to Utah. These Mormons crossed the Animas River while the ice was in the river with wagons and teams. At this crossing there was a steep bank on either side of the river where the wagon had to lifted up by hand in co-operation with the teams pulling. With this the Mormon group there was a young boy. About 14 or 15 years old. This boy made the remark to Chan that the Mormons around Utah were not afraid of Indians, the army, or anyone else bothering them for if this happen “even the sage brush would rise up with guns,” in defense of their homeland.

The Snyder’s found Telluride, and Rico Colorado
1879 spring they moved to Ouray with 29 head of horses and 3 cows. They moved on to San Miquel City (Telluride). San Miguel City is about 1 mile from present day Telluride. The Snyder’s bought the land now where Telluride is. George Washington Snyder was born there. They stayed there about a month and moved to Rico for better pasture.Chan visits Hank and Carrie in the summer of the late 188o’s and their mother died from a stroke. Chan became acquainted with Sarah Crapo. Chan and Sarah were married Dec. 28, 1895 at Moab he being about 30 years of age and Sarah being about 18. Rueben and Robert were born in Moab.Chan and family moved to “the Pines.” Now called Dove Creek.

The founding of Craig Colorado
Chan and family move to Price Utah, and got some claims of Gilsonite. ( hydro-petroleum product). They went back to Dove Creek and Chan and family got a hankering to live in Idaho. They intended to go through Wyoming and travel west. Through Salt Lake City and then north to Idaho. Sarah wanted to see the L.D.S. temple in Salt Lake she being a Mormon.On the 8th of June 1904 they came to place called Craig Colorado. It was a one room cabin that served as a Post office, for the U, S. mail. The man that owned the cabin was Craig. This was cattle country at that time. In 1904 this was located at the junction of Fornication Creek of the Yampa river, and the Yampa River then flows into the Green River,Chan and his family wanted to go about 12 miles north of Craig’s cabin but met a man at the cabin by the name of Mulineux who offered to sell him some property next to Craig’s cabin. It was an 160 acre homestead that went near the bear creek. As things turn out, they remained there for 15 years. They raised some sheep, vegetable garden, potato’s, and milkcows. They also raised flint corn. (popcorn).1905, March 25th, Chan and Sarah had another son, Leland Henry they named him. (Grandpa Snyder) During this time Craig’s cabin was formed into a town named Craig. Chan donated some land to the new town. Chan was the only sheepherder the cattle men respected.