Smile.... your eyes are closed...and closed... hum

So during Christmas day I tried to take a picture of my cute husband, however no matter what happened, his eyes were closed. I laughed so hard looking at these, I just wanted to share them.

So these are looking really horrible. Not his best, however because of his poor sensitive eyes, he just can't keep them open when the flash went off. LOL!

Snow for Christmas in St. George

Happy Holidays from the Mower, Garretson and Stevens family in St. George!

Dale and I like to go to St. George for Christmas for 2 reasons. Main reason is family Dad & Sue, however we also were hoping to be able to enjoy warmer weather. Here in Salt Lake we were freezing and excited for a warmer climate to hopefully ride our motorcycles. Well, neither happened. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas with family. Maren and Mikey came down to spend Christmas with us. Dad and Sue had the house decorate beautifully and the Christmas spirit was abound.

Christmas Day Photos of Dad, Sue, Maren, Mikey, Dale and I. December 25, 2008

It was a chance of a lifetime that it actually snows on Christmas Day in St. George. Dale and I decided to go for a drive and take some pictures of the snow on the beautiful red rock. Our tradition is that we go climb on the red rock and take our family pictures and have a great afternoon, however it was freezing and snowing, so it didn't happen this year. The first 2 pictures are where we usually climb and take pictures. It's the first time in almost 18 years I have ever seen snow on these rocks.



This was amazing because I love Snow Canyon, I had to take a few pictures.

Las Vegas Trip

Dale and I received an opportunity to fly to Vegas and have a little 4 day holiday. I called and got us a great day at the Venetian Hotel. Military Discount is great sometimes. We then stayed in a free hotel. Quite a difference, however sitting for an hour presentation is worth a free vacation. We flew down early in the morning. We got our rental car and drove to the venetian hotel. It had been over 14 years since either one of us had been to Vegas. I will say this... a lot has changed. We parked in what we thought was the Venetian hotel parking lot. Well, we were in a different hotel all together and ended up walking about 1/2 to just our hotel. We were both exhausted by this time and very overwhelmed with the beauty of the hotels. I knew that it would be OK once we got into our room. WOW! Our room was a 450.00 room that I paid 79.00 for. Once again thanks to that military discount.

These are some pictures of our beautiful room at the Venetian, including one of Dale chillin' in the robe provided. I understand why they are so expensive because everything is marble, you have your own pair of slippers and robe(as you can tell from the robe I was wearing while shooting these pictures. LOL!!! In the bathroom we had a big tub, which was wonderful and a dressing table. In the dressing table drawer were all the fun things you could use. Of course I had to take them all, toothbrush, floss, wonderful lotion, etc. I wished we could have stayed there for more than one night.

We slept in the morning, the bed and pillows were like sleeping on feathers. We didn't want to wake up. We had an early checkout (probably because of the big, huge discount we received). We got up and went to the hotel restaurant and had a wonderful buffet.

I have always wanted to take a gondola ride through the hotel so we walked around and the following are a couple pictures of what we saw while riding the gondola. It was great to be sung to, even though it was a fake accent, just for one moment I could see what it would be like to be in Venice. The hotel was beautiful. The one picture below is Dale 3 floors up on the phone, I was sitting at a base of a beautiful waterfall.

We stored our luggage at the hotel because we had a huge walk in front of us to our car. We got to the parking garage and due to us being so tired the previous day, neither one of us could remember which parking level we parked on. Oh boy! It took us nearly 2 hours trying to find our car. Finally we found the honking noise (we were grateful that the rental car had an alarm) and new it was our car. The only thing was, we could not figure out where the honking was coming from. People were yelling for someone to turn the horn off. We walked around like it wasn't us and I have never prayed so hard to find a stupid car in my life. We found the car, both of us blaming each other and drove our grumpy self's to get our luggage. We decided to make a new start and made a plan to do a voice memo when parking so we would never forget where we parked. LOL!! We drove to our off the beaten path hotel excited to start our next adventure. We pulled up to our hotel and thought that we were in the ghetto...yikes!! I was ready to get on a plane and fly home. Well, we braved the walk from the parking garage to the hotel. We for sure could remember where we parked the car, there were only 2 levels. LOL!! We checked in and walked into our room. Below you will find, our new room. We definatley were not at the Venitian! It was free and we didn't care.

We decided that we would venture to the strip, we found out if we walked a 1/2 block we could catch the monorail and it would take us the whole way down. We decided it would be better than driving in all that mess. We went to the M&M and Coke store, we walked down the strip just looking at all the changes. I took the picture below because I have always wanted to go to the Statue of Liberty and I finally saw a model of it. Not the same, however it was good enough.

One thing I was really dissappointed with is how dirty the city streets are, the longer I was there the more horrible feelings I recieved. The people flicking cards in your face, the cards of the strip joints on the ground. I just realized that I won't care if I never go there again. Our hotel we were staying at had a karoke night and we decided we would drink our orange juice and coke and listen to the people singing. I believe that was what broke the haystack. One night there was a scream and we looked over toward the scream and what we saw was not what I ever want to see again. I wont go into details, however the security guard promptly threw them both (guy/girl) out and told them not to come back. It was disgusting and I told Dale I was done with Vegas, no longer have a desire to come back again. He agreed! Although all different things happened, Dale and I had a good time together. We enjoyed ourselfs and made the best of it. We went to Nellis Airforce Base and shopped there and just talked. We were glad to come back home from a crazy vacation.

Dream

I had this strange dream last night which is very unusual because I do not dream due to my sleep apnea. I woke up and checked my cell phone it was 12am. I laid down and went to sleep. This is when my dream started. I was with my family and we were living near a very large mountain. I remember we were told to climb the mountain. As we were climbing very large rocks began falling down the mountain. We started down the mountain and as we got down to the house we glanced back to see cracks and crevices appearing in the mountain. Then molten lava began to appear and come down the mountain. At this point the dream put me into our current house. Dale came running in and told me we needed to leave and fast. We only had a short time to pack everything we would need to survive on for quite some time. I remember being so mad at Dale because I always wanted us to have at least a1/2 tank of gas in his truck at all times for emergencies. So as he was syphoning gas from my car to the truck I was running around getting all our camping gear, extra clothes, food, water, and more loaded into the truck. I remember being so mad at myself because I didn't put together all our medications into a single container and I didn't have a container with extra clothes and shoes that was easy to access. I saw myself not taking the individual cans of soup etc, however I was taking the #10 cans of dried food, soups, meat, flour, sugar. A funny thought was that I was so glad I had flour (which I had just bought yesterday). However, I was grateful I had a good of food storage and water storage to last for 2 months if we really stretched it. As I could watch myself go through the process, I realized that this is why we are told to follow the prophets heedings to have storage of some kind. I also realized that if we needed to survive longer than Heavenly Father would definitely watch over us and make things last longer if needed. I relate this to the story of the 3 loaves of bread and the basket of fishes and feeding the multitude. I suddenly woke up and looked at the clock and it was 2:37am. I was pretty scared and felt so out of breath like I was really living it. I got closer to Dale and just had to have my hand on him so I could relax. I was wanting to understand why I had that dream. Usually it is really rare I have a dream and when I do it is about the 2ND coming or dealing with Satan. I realized this is not the usual dream. I am still quite disturb about this dream. As I sat in church today, I felt a great peace, yet .... still a worry. As we were singing the closing hymn in Sacrament meeting "I know my redeemer lives", I could feel the spirit telling me that I must focus on being prepared. All the stress I felt in my dream, I need to make sure that does not happen if/or when something like this happens. I have set some goals for my food storage:

1. I want to put together a bin with sweatshirts, an old pair of Levis, Jammie's, a few undies, and socks/shoes and throw in a few summer clothes.

2. I also am going to get all the medication and first aid kits together in a bin.

3 I am going to continue to buy the dried foods that I could actually use as a meal and focus on buying cornstarch,baking powder/soda.

4. Put together all important documents in the binder and put into a fireproof bin that we would take. Included in there I want to put a few memory pictures, and scriptures.

I understand why the prophets have continued to instruct us to get food storage. It is tough escpecially during these trying times. I know that there is no way I can have 3 months storage at this time, however Heavenly Father will help us in this endeavor as long as we try. I am amazed at how he has helped me so far in starting a good food storage.

Sorry this has been such a long blog entry. I just feel very strongly I needed write about this dream.

Teaching 7 turning 8 in Primary

I am now teaching the CTR 8 class in primary. I can't tell you how great these kids are. They are getting ready for baptism and I am grateful that heavenly father believes in me in helping these cutes kids about Joseph Smith. I am learning so much and my knowledge and testimony of the gospel and Joseph Smith has grown in leaps and bounds. There is nothing better than walking down the street and these kids running out of their house to come give me a hug. I just had to share my love for these kids.

WII

So for Christmas I bought us a family gift. A WII!!! I tell you it has been so much fun and we have been exercising so much more than we ever did. Dale and I have found the team tennis against the computer competitors so challenging. Dale and I played for 2 hours last night and I arm and shoulder will never be the same. Now many of you may ask why am I sore. Well I actually stand up and move like I am actually playing tennis. Crazy you may say, however it really is great exercise. We have also found Tiger Woods PGA Golf a great treat to do after a stressful day. I just finished playing, of course I do have my Caddy (my pup) to help me. I actually have finished 1st in 3 Tournaments and have many sponsors. We really seem to have a really fun and bonding time. If you haven't a wii, I suggest doing what I did. Save for 6 months and go out and splurge. WII Fit is also a must!

Change!

I keep bugging people to update their blogs and then I just realized it has been quite some time since I have updated mine. I have lots of things to enter and will try to get it all in, eventually. My goal is to update one activity each week, while keeping up on my days. I am also realizing that I want to change what I blog. I want to keep all the things going on in my life, however, I want to add my thoughts and feelings as much as possible. Just day to day thoughts. We will see how it goes. LOL!

I wanted to do a little update since it has been a while since I have written. Life has been really scary, stressful, and grateful all in one. I think Heavenly Father wants to continually test us and make sure we are living up to what our potential is and strengthen us. Dale has had some really bad stress in his job. I won't go into details, however, through it all I always knew that no matter what would happen, we would survive. I began thinking about how it didn't matter if we have a nice house, nice clothes, a new car, money for vacation. All that mattered most was that we have each other, had started food storage to get us through if needed and most importantly the gospel. It takes these trying times in our life that really puts things into perspective. I have grown to love Dale more than ever through these times. I never knew that the love I felt for Dale when I married him would grow 10 fold. I feel that during these horrible and trying times, if our relationships are not continuing to be built and given fortitude, when tougher times come, we will fall to pieces. I feel that Heavenly Father has taught me that lesson recently. I am so grateful for all that Dale and I have been through. Without our trying times, I know that we would not be as close as we are now. Dale now has a new job and the light in his eyes are bright again and the stress level has decreased. I am definately glad to have my husband back.

Sunsets

Ok, I know that just a couple of entries ago I wrote about sunsets, however, I am finding the sunsets getting better and better and didn't want anyone to miss out on them. Bear with me, I guess I have a thing about sunsets. In the last couple of weeks driving home at night, I have seen the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen. The vibrancy and colors are just jaw dropping. I sometimes will pull off the side of the road so that I can enjoy. I think often that heavenly father has just painted the sky for me. Next time its around 6:00 ish, take a look at the sky and appreciate the beauty found there.

A Miracle of Miracles

Sometimes when there are so many trials and heartache in our life, Heavenly Father seems to know how much we can take and insert Miracles. My niece passed away 6 months ago along with my nephew and my brother in law. My niece had her dog with her on their vacation. Her name is Hannah and she is a little Scotty Dog. At the time of the accident they also had the other 2 dogs with them. My 10 year old nephew who survived the accident swore that all three dogs were at the crash site and were fine. Somehow, Hannah disappeared. We all assumed that Heavenly Father allowed Alissa to bring Hannah with her to heaven. The other day my sister recieved a call from Price, Utah Pound stating that they had Hannah in their custody. She is fine and excited to be home. Apparently a cowboy from Price had her at his farm and not sure how she got there. I think it is a miracle and one cannot have enough of those.

Happy New Year!

Well I will be the first one to say, thank heavens it's a New Year. I must say that 2008 was one of the toughest years I have ever had. It was one of sorrow and health scares. I found that through all of the trials that have come into my life, I have never been more grateful to be alive, miracles that happen daily, and for my heavenly father. He just seems to know what I need in my life at just the right moments. Starting a new year is cleansing some how and that to me is like a renewing of the spirt, mind and body!

Forgiveness

I don't know why I feel I should write on this subject, however it is something that is close to my heart and I feel that I need to share my experiences with forgiveness. Without sharing really personal moments, I believe that sometimes we are given trials and objects in our life that seem insurmountable to mold us into the people we will become, yet Heavenly Father has given us the amazing gift called Forgiveness. Without forgiveness in our life, we cannot move on or become the person we are to be. There will be that small part of your heart that will ache. Ache that you can deal with family issues, a friend that has wronged you, or a life that should have been great and was wrapped up in issues. As I look at my life, I am grateful for my trials, for my ability to forgive and forget and move on with my life while including those in my life that I thought I could never forgive.

Forgivness is tough, I had to forgive someone that had been in my life for many years and treated me horribly for most of my life. I am grateful in this instance that I had a father and grandmother to help me go through life with love and taught me how to forgive and move on. I knew that I could not carry the anger, pure hate, and non-forgiving attitude for the rest of my life and it wasn't until my grandma sat me down and explained that I cannot carry this grudge because I deserve to go through the forgiveness process and learn. I prayed for an opportunity to forgive this person and get the ball rolling. After many emotions, I found out that she had been treated the same way as a child and that was all she knew. Although I realized that she could have broken the cycle, and to have someone elses child to raise due to the death of the childs mother at a young age should have been a blessing, she could not break that cycle. Through the forgiveness process, I realized that there was a huge weight I didn't I had been carrying for 20 something years was lifted. I could become the person I should and by forgiving, my testimony of the gospel soared to different levels. I was able to know that we are all held accountable for our lives and we don't want to miss a day without forgiving because it may be too late and the rest of your earthly life will be filled with sorrow and regret.

Thanks for bearing with me on this subject. As I started writing I was unsure what to say and thought I would just write a short blurb however it came out longer. I am sure I was meant to share my experience, with who I am unsure.

Sunsets

I don't know about you guys, but I am thinking we have been having the most amazing, inspiring sunsets lately. As I drive home I just want to sit and take the pictures of it. The problem is I don't have my camera with me as often as I would like and my cell phone just does not do it justice. This is one picture that I happened to take with my camera. I have promised that I will carry my camera with me at all times so that I can share these amazing sunsets. Next time you are driving home at sunset, make sure you take a gander. It will really help you appreciate our heavens.

Bowling

So Dale and I are avid bowlers in the winter time. It is an indoor sport and good excercise. We usually go bowling every Friday as a family thing with Dale, Dan and I. This Friday my goal was to beat Dale and Dan in at least 2 games. Yep, with my determination I blasted them twice and I beat the pants off of dale in the third game. Bowling to me is to get out my frustrations and I picture the pins something I am smashing. Wow! That sounded pretty harsh, however sometimes I do. I have a few pictures to share from bowling.

Yea I just got my second strike!

It's Christmas?

I have been meaning to sit down and catch up however, things just seem to get in the way. It's Christmas time already and we have no snow. I just am having a hard time with Christmas this year. With the loss of our family members, I am having a really hard time. I still have the spirit of giving, I just don't feel like decorating. I have this 3 foot santa that is my favorite gift from Dad and Sue. I told Dale and Dan that santa was going to be our Christmas Tree this year and I will set all the presents around him. Dale was ok with that. We are going to be going to St. George for Christmas so we won't miss opening too many presents without a tree. Dan is staying here and we will open more when we get home. I feel so grateful for the blessings I have in my life and know that this life is just a brief glimpse in eternity. Sometimes these trials in our life become larger than life until you get re-focused. I know Tyler and Alissa are up there watching over us, its just really hard to bear that they won't be here this Christmas. My family is having a really hard time with it however I am thankful for the knowlege and affirmations I have had concerning being with my family forever. There is nothing more wonderful then that knowledge. Ok, this is the saddest, most miserable entry, I just wanted to get my real feelings out there to share. I think sometimes we learn from others and their trials. I know they make us stronger and I am grateful for that.