Family

These three are my world.  I am so blessed to have them in my life forEVER! 

Austin: An amazing Father and a wonderful husband. He works so hard to support our family. I have said in the past that he is like a cockroach: he will do anything to survive. He has been going to school for the last five years and has always had at least one full-time or two part-time, and at one time, THREE jobs. He never ceases to amaze me with the things he can do. I love how much he loves our kids and desires to have great relationships with them. He is my best friend, my companion, and my rock. I love him so much.

 Titan: He is such a sweet boy. He has brought such a spirit into our home that only a sweet baby can. He is quick to smile (except when it is freezing cold outside, like when we were taking these pictures) and he is really a content little boy. He does NOT like to take naps. 15-20 minutes TOPS. But he sleeps pretty well most nights. He loves to suck on his hands and "blow bubbles" with his cute little lips. He is definitely a Momma's boy and always has to make sure I am close by. When he is being held by a "stranger" it doesn't last very long before he shows us how loud he can be.  He loves his big sister! His "nick names" are Titan Boy, Bubba-Do, and Buddy-Ol-Pal.  We sure love him and can't imagine life without his sweet presence.

 Sedona: This picture pretty much sums it all up. She is goofy, happy, super super smart, musical, tender, feisty, and just a really great kid. She is loving pre-school and has lots of friends. She is for sure a Daddy's girl and loves every chance she has to be with him. I am amazed at how much she loves her baby brother and is always eager to be a helper. The other day, she "rawr-ed" and it scared Titan and he started to cry. She did too. She felt so bad for making Titan cry that she started sobbing and it took us quite a while to get the two to settle down and realize that everything was ok.  It was funny and cute.  We love having Sedona in our family.

These photos were taken by my amazing and talented Sister-in-law, Michelle Teichert @ michellephotodesign.com.

I Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet

I need to get something off my chest.  I don't want any arguments here, which is why I decided to write this on my blog and not on Facebook.  I know God calls Prophets for us in this day. I know what they teach is inspired by God. I know they are the mouthpiece for. God here on this earth. But let's get a few things straight:
1) I do not follow anything blindly. Never have. Never will. So, to those of my beloved extended family who think I follow a Prophet because I am told to: you are wrong. When I was a kid and President Howard W. Hunter passed away, my Dad and Mom told me how neat it was that now I would get to pray and ask God if President Hinckley is indeed a Prophet. I did. And guess what? After a lot of prayer and listening to his words, I found out FOR MYSELF that He was a Prophet. No one told me to just believe.  I spent 18 months of my life asking people to find out for themselves if Gordon B. Hinckley was a prophet of God. Do you think I would ask them to do that if I hadn't done it myself?! And when Pres. Hinckley passed away, I went through the same process again. Prayer, study, more prayer, temple attendance, and guess what? Yep, same answer. He is a Prophet of God.
2) I am not dumb.  I resent that people assume that because I don't believe in gay marriage, I am uneducated on the subject and have no place expressing myself or stating my opinion. Just because we disagree on the subject does not make your opinion more valuable or right, for that matter. I am an educated woman. I have a Bachelor's Degree for crying out loud. I can and do think and act for myself. I also have had a lot of life experience. I have had my own struggles with Principles of the Gospel and my life experiences and my desire to find peace and understanding have all led me to my beliefs I hold so dear.
3) And last, but not least, I am so sick and tired of the double standard of "Love me and accept me for who I am, but don't expect me to do the same for you (unless you agree with me)" Why is it that those who believe in gay marriage and fight for it are so offended when those of us who don't believe in it are doing exactly as they are. Why is it that because I do not believe gay marriage is sanctified by God that I am not allowed to stand up for what I believe in without being called "judge-mental, closed-minded, inconsiderate, condescending, un-educated, hateful, and most hurtful: not Christian." My belief in God is directly related to my belief in His living Prophet. And my freedom of speech is just as "free" as theirs, is it not?
Phew. Okay, rant over. Now, with all that having been said, I also believe that we must love and respect one another. While I personally do not believe in gay marriage, I do believe that. God does love all His children and I am expected to do the same. I was taught by wonderful parents who taught me to love all people, despite our differences. And that was also a strong message conveyed in general conference last weekend.
Now, a bit of really happy news that has nothing to do with the above content...
Last winter we moved to Laramie for Austin to attend school at UW. We paid out-of-state tuition. A whopping $9,000. We had to get a personal loan to pay for half of it. This semester, after being given the run-around about all the piles of paperwork it was supposed to take to happen, we were blessed to be awarded in-state tuition. Austin appealed to the registrar's office about the fact that all he needed to say was that his wife is from WY and attended UW, and he would have been given in-state tuition last January. They reviewed his case two times. Denying it once and then awarding him a refund the second time. We have been so blessed! Moving here has been so hard for me. Austin loves it here. I am learning to love it. We have had some difficult challenges the last ten months. But with a lot of prayer and study and faith, we have seen the great blessings in our struggles. Our Heavenly Father loves us. So much. Of that, I am certain :)