Thanksgiving?

As I work away here on Christmas Eve...all day, I have been filled with a complete and full sense of peace and gratefulness for my many blessings.

I have spent much time contemplating this feeling as I have looked around my home watching the twins tear apart the cleaning which was done while they were napping. My husband and Avery sleeping on the couch (Avery is sure to not sleep tonight) The sound of Phoenix and Stone fighting in the other room over the anticipated "even" sharing of the Pez candy which apparently went dreadfully wrong. The snacks which are being lovingly prepared for our family festivities tonight which will lead to stories of our Savior, songs around the tree, a gift of jammies, food for the reindeer and of course who would ever forget cookies for the big guy!

There will then be hours of wrapping (as if I would start early...I just finished shopping this morning @3:30am :) Thanks girls!) I have not done my Christmas cards yet nor have I prepared any neighbor treats though I still do plan on doing so...maybe I will just call them New Year's gifts or maybe I am just kidding myself and should just scrap the whole deal and shoot for next year...I guess we shall see.

But to the original reason for the post so that I can get back to my baking of the cookies for Santa and my snacks for dinner. Plus I am getting very tired of fighting back the constant barrage of babies all over me and my computer!

I am so grateful for my Husband, our children, and the Faith which we hold so dear in a Heavenly Father and His Son who came to this Earth and died so that we may live again...together. I am grateful for the knowledge that I may pass this blessing on through word and example to those who I hold so dear. I am grateful for the tender mercies which we are granted daily in this world full of such sorrow and growing desensitisation for sin. I am grateful for temples which are the only way by which to sluff off this world and see true clarity. I am grateful for the peace and joy this season brings when we know the true meaning of the celebration. I am grateful for you...my friends...my family!

So as I must return to the now crying babies and the now awake and wrestling on the floor Mitchell, Avery and Phoenix. It is my hope that my night ends prior to 4:30am as I do not think I can do two nights in a row like this!

The things we do for the joy of the children! Okay Mitchell and I enjoy it a little too :)

Zion the Lion and Cy says "Leave me Bee!"

I am telling you...the mobile twins of today is NOTHING like the twins of yester year! They are still the sweetest babies in the world. Of this I have NO doubt, but they are EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING times two.

We have completely gated off my family room from any other room in the house which is helping keep little hands and at times whole bodies out of the toilets, the dish washer, drawers, trash cans, eating out of the freshly swept dirt pile, climbing stairs, stalking and attacking the vaccum cleaner, swiping my valubles, finding and putting in their mouths whatever choking hazard happens to be left lying about (I can only police so many people and so many places) The only problem with the gate is that it is an eye sore, horribly inconvenient to lock and unlock hundreds of times a day, and Zion (Monkeyboy) is still scaling chairs, toys, his sister, whatever is around to climb the 1/2 wall in order to, I am assuming break out of prison. He has been caught many times on top of the half wall (Thank Goodness he has actually never made it over!) Because the other side of the wall is a tile floor which would surely cost me a trip to the ER. 90% of the time I am afraid to go to the bathroom for fear of what I will find when I get back or hear while I am gone. I swear these babies are meant to be here I have so many stories of the near death with these two daredevils and quite frankly they REALLY ARE well watched!
The other day Cy walked up to me coughed up a washer, spit it into her hand, handed it to me, and smiled at me the cutest little devious smile. I...shocked she had found, eaten and I had not noticed this DAMN washer...smiled and said "Thank you" and took the slimy washer. She giggled and walked away. I was grateful and impressed she had "told on herself" and a bit disgusted as I sat there holding the piece of warm, wet steel.

Our computer is in the gated room and when I sit down to the computer the twins will grab the mouse, bang on the keyboard, sit on my lap, climb on the desk, pull my hands off the keyboard, climb behind the printer and hard drive while getting stuck. Needless to stay...I barely even read e-mail anymore let alone take the time to blog. I could Blog during nap time but since they are running me ragged I either need to take the time to clean up or recoup during their down time. It is craziness! :) I believe it to be a simple stage which hopefully will either stabilize or give way to another less busy stage in life...Gimmie the love Linda!

I am starting to feel the need to take the Christmas card pictures, though you know if you get my card by the end of January I am happy...as I try not to stress myself out over something that I get such joy from. I dressed the babies for their pictures and feeling a little playful today, pulled out the camera for the first time in a long time. I took pictures of the twins in front of our Christmas tree (which if you read the Blog from last year about the tree...I broke out all "my old friends" as my mother calls them... and decorated with all of my favorite things and watch out kids...I WILL be yelling about for the next few weeks...so sorry in advance and you would do well to obey the rules and DO NOT TOUCH MY TREE!) After the ultra short photo shoot with the twins I was taking off their outfits and thought about the fact that I had not taken any pictures of them at Halloween and that they looked so dang cute in their little outfits. So I pulled out their Halloween costumes and dressed them up for a second photo shoot. It was so funny they were interacting with each other but Cy kept messing with Zion like she knew he was in there but she didn't quite like that he was dressed up differently. She kept trying to pull off his Lion hood and she was grunting or speaking to him in a more forceful tone than she normally does...she was not happy about it at first but about two minutes into it she got more comfortable and it became okay.

So in true Chris fashion I have procrastinated way too long and managed to kill two birds with one stone all with little fuss and on a low stress day. Imagine that! and except for the date stamp and my Blogged confession no one would have ever been the wiser that these pictures were not taken on that very Hallowed day in October.

Chris who? Went where?

Yes...I am alive!

It is pretty sad when even your brother calls to see if your are okay because I have not been heard from in a while.

I really have no excuse except for the fact that I haven't been checking/interested in my computer...I know...go figure!

We have had many interesting and always entertaining things going on in the Mitchell household in the last few months. Let me see if I can catch you up on a few of my favorite highlights.


Avery went absolutely behaviorally "insane" around our house awhile ago and apparently at church as well (per her Sunday School teacher which without completely calling him out basically told me she was mentally incapable and lacked the intelligence to know what was going on around her and I am putting it much nicer than he did...but had he not been our Home Teacher for the last 5 years and had I not know that he really does LOVE our family and my children....regardless of how that conversation sounded. I might have given him a glimpse of "Pissy Chrissy")

She was literally acting out in a manner that we had rarely seen in her and quite frankly scared us because we do have children with "acting out" issues but they usually don't rear their ugly heads with such force until around 6 or 7 years old and Avery is only 4 about to be 5 so we were a bit concerned. After much thought and prayer, Mitchell and I had a discussion and I withdrew her from one Pre-School and enrolled her in a new Pre-School which Avery was actually going to about a year and a half ago for a few months, during my pregnancy, when I could no longer keep up with her. I had apparently forgotten how she was really well behaved there and how much she loved it. I also felt very strongly inclined to put her in full time as she would flourish in that environment and the price difference for part-time vs. full-time was really a no brainier! Sad for myself...but knowing through inspiration that it was the correct thing to do for Avery. She started with Ms. Dani and absolutely loves it there! Her behavior has completely turned around 100% and when I go to pick her up she screams "Mommy", runs over, hugs me, and then says she never wants to leave and runs away! It really makes me happy:) and I am sure her Sunday school teacher would also agree!



Phoenix has joined the Cheerleeding team at school and cheered at her first school function. I must say...I am a little scared as I looked at my beautiful daughter and thought "why can I see my daughter as a 17 year old and all the rest of these people on the squad look like little girls?" Then I began to wonder if all the other mothers of all the other girls were thinking this of there daughters or if this was just another one of those "Chrisisms". I swear though I can see a teenager in her and she is only seven...It is a bit scary! Where did my baby go and who put her in a mini skirt? :)



















I have begun watching my dear friends three month old baby girl. Apparently with the absence of Avery around here I became bored...lol! No one ever said she wasn't a handful...I nicknamed her "crazy" very early for a very good reason. I am so loving having a teeny tiny baby around here who I get to love on, snuggle with and hug on and then hand back to Mom at the end of the day. Gosh I might have had this idea a few children ago :) JUST KIDDING~! But I really do enjoy babies and I may have to think about a infant daycare idea... Later in life...much, much later!


Mitchell and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on Friday. Mitchell won Sixer's tickets at work for Halloween night and needless to say I was ecstatic. So we decided to celebrate on Saturday instead. I love basketball! We pawned the kids off to Mitchell's Mom and they had a blast trick or treating with their older cousins. Our tickets were rocking as Mitchell handed them to me and said I would be "really" excited about where we would be sitting. I know nothing about the seating chart at the stadium but I did see that the tickets were worth $300 a piece and knew we were in for a treat. When we got there we were ushered down to the floor seats and our view was simply amazing. I mean I was so close I was checking out and reading the tattoo's on the players arms. I was watching their interactions with each other through facial expressions. I told Mitchell he is in trouble because I think I have just been spoiled and I do believe I think I found my favorite way ever to watch the game!

Happy 10th Anniversary Mitchell...You are so worth the wait and don't ever let my mouth try and tell you any different :)

I got nothing but love for ya baby!

Three Down...Two Can Stay

Avery started Pre-school this morning.

I laid out her clothes before bed last night and when I went to check on her around 11pm...she was fully dressed...socks and all! Apparently she was more excited than I had anticipated :)
Avery woke up early and ate breakfast along side Phoenix. A bowl of Fruity Dino Bites (currently her favorite) with extra milk. Avery always drinks all the milk out first (we have those plastic WalMart bowls with the straw built in) then she asks for more milk and eats the cereal as normal.

Next was the shoes...she was so excited about putting on her new shoes...she had been patiently waiting for her turn to wear her new shoes as she sadly watched as Stone and Phoenix were able to start wearing theirs last week. She was even more excited when she got to school and found out that her friend from across the street had on the exact same pair (only a different color).


She brushed her teeth by herself, got her purple backpack and wanted to wait for me in the car as apparently I was taking too long with the babies...Heaven forbid I actually fed and change them before taking her to school!
I wanted to take her picture too and she was not thrilled with that whole process but I explained that we take pictures of everyone on the first day of school and today was her turn so she reluctantly obliged...Thanks Avery! :)

Finally...We loaded Zion and Cy in the car and off we went!

Avery was chomping at the bit...excited and we met up with Maddie in the parking lot (neighbor friend from across the street) both girls were happy and smiling with anticipation to be at school! Mitchell took the above picture and Avery looked at Maddie and under her breath said something to the effect of "My Dad is so..." we didn't hear the rest but it was in that teenage, rolling of the eyes, he so bothers me tone. We are in so much trouble...the girl is ONLY four!

She took to the classroom like a champ and never looked back...I still got my kiss though!

When I picked her up @ 1pm the first thing out of her mouth was..."Mommy...I love it here and don't ever want to go home...but I am glad you came to get me."

I do believe we are both going to enjoy Pre-school!

Giggles over Lead Vests

Yesterday morning Stone wasn't feeling good. He said his belly hurt. In true Mitchell family fashion...I put him on the bus as he was not throwing up and sent to school.

A call from the school nurse, a trip to the emergency care center, a lethargic 9 year old, Stone and my first trip on an ambulance, and a speedy trip to AI Dupont, Stone lying on a slab of cold, hard steel having an X-ray of his belly while Mitchell and I are dressed in pretty Skittles adorned Lead Vests...

Some couples find connection over a quite dinner for two, others as they share a private joke from their past, Mitchell and I at the local Children's Hospital as we laugh hysterically about how we simply cannot catch a break!

Many of you are aware of my philosophy and the reason I am simply hard pressed to ever be found crying...If I am not laughing I would be crying and I apparently choose to find humor (be it sick or otherwise) in almost every situation!

Usually...this is because I must exercise my Faith in my Eternal Father and keep a positive attitude because when I do not and even sometimes when I do...I am more often than not...being humbled by the fact that my Heavenly Father was ALWAYS in control of the situation and it was my job to trust in His might and enjoy the simple things of life while He does His job. I might need to tattoo the scripture... Mosiah 3:19 to my forehead. Which reads:

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. "

It is my belief that my Father is currently on his knees in the Mitchell Family Garden with all His tools at hand, oh so carefully...lovingly, tending to the whole of this patch of land.

I had a dream about three years ago...which was one of those "Chris dreams" that my Father in Heaven took out a huge pair of pruning sheers and LOPPED the complete top off of a pretty large, nice looking green shrub. In my dream...my heart sank as I knew it represented my family. But I was also shown (and remembered from my mother's workings in our front yard in Rockville as a child) that when you take back the top of a plant the roots grow stronger. The shrub's thirst is diverted from feeding its leaves to spending its energy pushing itself further into the earth looking for a quench to it's thirst...Eventually that shrub becomes mighty...unmovable...it finds it's life force and then when the droughts come, and the harsh weather beats upon this tiny shrub...it remains intact because its roots are deep. It does not matter how harshly the Spring, Summer or Fall treated this little shrub because after the Winter this little shrub with it's deep seeded roots always returns more beautiful than the season prior.

Due to these personally picked trials for the growth, development, and eventual eternal exaltation of myself, my Husband and each and every one of my beautiful children by an all knowing, all loving, perfect, Father in Heaven. I am many times left feeling alone...for it is difficult for others to understand unless they have lived these trials themselves or they by the grace of our dear Father happen to be placed into our lives with the gifts of empathy for that specific situation. (which is why I have been so grateful for such great friends recently!)


There is some temptation on my part to specially lay out the trials which we have had as a remembrance for us as a family unit that we may see a clear picture and have a sense of pride in the fact that sometimes things may not be "pretty" but damn it...look how far we have come! But in doing that...I feel that would only drag up old memories of craziness and make others and I am sure myself....uncomfortable :) So for these reasons...I will refrain.

But I would also like to point out that as Our Father has been mindfully watching over and actively working in our families garden for the past three years...the countless blessings which have emerged through the trials are tender mercies...sweet reminders if you will of a loving Father which is ever mindful of our limits, knows the intents of our hearts and is ever working towards giving us the righteous desires of our hearts at all times...even though to us as children it may look as though we may never have that which we desire...

I say to you all...It is my testimony that Our Heavenly Father IS now and has been since the foundation of time....working to achieve YOUR personal desires! You will have that which you so righteously desire...as will I!

It is just a matter of willingness to put off the natural man and have Faith...knowing that the Lord will deliver all that we have been promised by that Spirit, which makes all things known for surety. The Spirit speaks about different parts of the puzzle, to different people, at different times. This is why blind Faith in the Father is so important...No matter how impossible the situation may look...greater understanding of a kind, all knowing, ever teaching, Father in Heaven ALWAYS follows a large....seemingly insurmountable trial.

Nothing is ever impossible for He that is our Creator and our Saviour. As we have seen in countless scripture stories Faith always proceeds the miracle...Faith is a wonderful thing! For if we truly understood it we would have no need for anything in our lives but pure joy.

So....How could Mitchell and I do anything else but giggle as they wheel our son out of x-ray only to be told that he had the beginnings of toxic constipation...lol!

One big poop and a few hundred dollars down the toilet and we are back to "normal" ... :) At least for the "currently being pruned" Mitchell household!

And They're Off...

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Phoenix

First day of 2nd Grade

Stone

First day of Fouth Grade

Teshegela

Okay...I have just finished watching the movie: Tyler Perry's...Why did I get married, on DVD.

http://www.whydidigetmarriedthemovie.com/

I loved this movie!

I must say...I am so part Angela, part Sheila (post Mike)~ thanks in part to Mitchell :), and in true Chris style...part Terry (that's right...the man...lol)

Watch and weigh in...I want to know who are you?

ps. If you live close enough to me...it could always be a girl's night in with lots of yummies :)

pps. Props to my mother in law who took my older kids for the day... No I did not clean! I sat, ate popcorn, and watched a movie :)

Same Boat?

How do you know that school is about to start in the Mitchell home?

We are 3/4 of the way through the assigned books and no book reports have been done. Phoenix has tried on many occasions to start her report without the book being completely read and Stone while he is loving to read the book is already refusing to do the required report which is due on Wednesday morning bright and early.

(BTW: Jackie & me by Dan Gutman is an amazing read and in my opinion should be required reading to any 8 or 9 year old. It brought up many interesting topics which Stone and I were able to discuss at the time because we were reading the book together...I was so excited that "I" actually was able to introduce the "N" word to him for the first time and explain that every group of people has a bad name associated with them. Be them: women "bitches", people from Poland "polacks" (in the book), people with disabilities "retards", white people "crackers", and black people "niggers" (also in the book). It got me thinking how far we have come in one generation...I will bet Mitchell's mother was not able to be the first to introduce that hateful word to her son and to have a frank discussion with him about any "group of people" feeling threatened by any other group to which they are not familiar and especially be able to wait until he was age appropriate to be able to correctly receive the message in the way it was intended)

My prized possession...the Grandfather clock from my Grandparent's home...the only thing which if my home was burning down and I my Husband and children were safe I would actually think about risking my life and returning to the fire to save...has not been wound in three days. The weights are sitting on the bottom and it is not running...which means it is not chiming :(

My pool chemicals are newly (two weeks) bought and sitting unopened inside my house. When they really should be...
Cleaning up my nasty, green pool!
My dinning room table has become a school supplies graveyard

I have spent countless hours going through, trying on, packing up, and reading the "updated" version of the dress code only to figure out I still need to go shopping. Did I mention that I hate to shop?
But there really is nothing prettier than a clean, organized, non-cluttered closet!
I have about 20 forms to fill out...Do you think they would be offended if I just wrote "Nothing has changed" at the top and sent them back? I guess I could muster up enough energy to fill out Avery's forms as she has never before attended Pre-school and they would probably need to know where to get in touch with us in case of emergency.

Oh my poor home~ My kitchen...My bathrooms...It is a sad sight to see! I just keep asking Mitchell to bring home milk for the babies...I would rather die than drag 5 children to the grocery store days before school starts. We can eat from food storage. As you can see we still have eggs. We also have food in the freezer but all of that requires work on my part to prepare so quite frankly we have been eating boxed mac and cheese, oatmeal, canned spaghetti products and anything else which takes me less than 1:30 seconds to microwave...lolSo to all those mothers who are in the same nasty backyard boat...just remember its only a few more days and then after a few short weeks of sanity we will be missing them again...well maybe :)

Happy 7th Birthday Phoenix...

So my beautiful little Miss Phoenix turned 7 on the 4th of this month but due to the craziness of our life she was not blogged about until now. Her birthday was a great day full of fun but a bit out of the ordinary routine (for us) so she was actually given the gift of the "birthday which never ended" she thought this was the greatest thing ever and told many inappropriate adults about this gift which any other time would have led me to feel the need to explain but at this time of stress...I just pasted my face with that oh so fake grin and agreed with my excited seven year old :)

Day one: August 4th~ Mommy and all the kids played all day at the Beamer's house. Phoenix got her hair done, played on the water slide and swam in the pool. She was then given a Webkinz from the Beamer's which she was so excited about that she ran around hugging everyone in the house. We then returned home after a yummy dinner from Wendy's and Phoenix was able to open the gifts from her Grandmom, Aunt Rose and Cousin Cylinda which were left for her while they were on vacation in Florida.

Day Two: August 5~ Daddy's home! Phoenix opens her gifts from our family and we find the left over Rice Krispie squares to stick a candle into and sing her the happy birthday song...promising her the Hanna Montana birthday cake she had been asking for and the balloon tied to the birthday girls chair tradition, which would be given to her on another day of her "birthday which never ends" She smiled and told me she was the luckiest girl in the world :) I so love her!

Day three: August 7~ Hanna Montana cake and a hand picked balloon from the world's most patient birthday girl!Here's hoping all your dreams come true...I love you Bean!

The Chameleon Which Now Refuses To Disappear

(Sophomore year @ Rick's College...Missy, Sonia, Debbie and me...weekend trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming)

Excuse me and my incessant need to over think and over analyze EVERYTHING! I read the below on "she who shall remain nameless's" blog about 24 hours ago and quite frankly it is all that I can think about.

"I turned on the TV and the history channel was spotlighting bull riding and a few particular horrific rides. You first have to know that this vent is coming from a girl who wore a cowboy hat for several years while working on a farm blaring Brooks N Dunn as loud as possible in her car. I spent the night in the Cow Barn at the Fair, screamed during the bull riding events and had friends participating in the demolition derby. And I had a custom painted license plate in my back window that said "Country Girl Can Survive" that I proudly displayed on my way to weekly line dancing. See, this is why my blog is private. Because I have now shared the most demoralizing, embarrassing part of my life that I try to forget most days. A lot of it came from the environment I lived in, and there were moments on the farm that I wouldn't trade for the world. But all in all, this was not me. This was me playing, and trying to fit in, and follow the crowd. It had "fun" moments, but my spirit was not being used for what it was intended. I truly feel unrelated to this person now, for which I am grateful only to a loving Father in Heaven who helped steer me back to the land of the living. "

(So much for your "private" blog...lol)

The reason I cannot get this out of my head is specifically the quote "This was not me. This was me playing, and trying to fit in, and follow the crowd."

I, personally, so identify with this quote. At one point in my life my nickname was "The Chameleon" due to the fact that you could take me anywhere with any group of people and I had the skills to acclimate myself to "fit in". This was not a new trait for that time in my life...I have had that trait for a long time and perfected it over the years for the sole use of self preservation. Yet I do not believe that it was a conscious state of being until much later in life. This chameleon-like ability is a great asset in a running buddy but not such a great trait in knowing and loving oneself. You see...the greatest protection that the chameleon has is to make itself disappear and by following the crowd and trying to fit in I was unconsciously allowing myself to disappear in the process.

Yet...my views of the world have forever been changed because of the gift of losing myself.

I picked Sociology as a major for a reason...

What a Sociologist does is immerse themselves into a specific culture of people. They learn the language, the traditions, the ways of life with the littlest amount of disruption possible. They participate as deemed appropriate to gain trust and understanding during the process. When the assignment is over they walk away with a life long gift...an "insider's view" of another culture...of something they otherwise never would have understood or may even have known existed.

I myself have always been attracted to specific people. In the past...if I met someone and I was attracted to who they were as an individual and I wanted to know more about them. That would begin my process of Chameleon like behavior.

This gift has brought me not only some of my favorite parts about myself that I might not have found without living life though another's eyes but the following fun experiences to share...

*Fishing off a covered bridge with a campfire in the background...talking all night with one of my favorite "boys" in the world.

*Singing on the steps on the Lincoln Memorial and being pictured in the Washington Post for it.

*Sitting at every Utah State Football game in the freezing cold drinking "yummy" hot chocolate and learning to love and understand the game.

*Watching Tori Amos perform to 500 people with just a microphone and a piano...AMAZING!

*The ability to beat my husband at Madden

*Sneaking to a local spot while in HS to watch the bass guitarist I loved...play his hard rock and swing that long hair that I thought was so sexy.

*Going 4 wheeling, putting on a cowboy hat, and admitting that all country songs aren't that bad. (they tried to break me...but I guess I just never found the right person to take me down the country road)

and that is just to name a few. In losing myself, and experiencing other's ways of life, I was able to find myself...I believe more quickly than I would have without my chameleon ways. I still have some of these tendencies...I still am attracted to specific people but now I am quick to lay myself out there with a take it or leave it attitude because if you can put up with the person I know that I am "the chameleon which now refuses to disappear" the Sociologist in me will still watch quietly and methodically pick your brain...lol

So to...Ms "unrelated to that person now" pull out that cowboy hat and boots...even if only for your man...and ride 'em cowgirl!

At least there was no camouflage in your wedding dress...lol :)

Another Migraine and a Trip to Throw-up...

For all of those who know are aware of the particular situation which was planned to come to a head this morning at 10am. I will let you know that all is back to normal in the Mitchell home!

Everyone is fine...and always has been.

I am again humbled by the power of our Father in Heaven and the protection that is provided in our lives.

We, as mothers of this generation, are certainly raising the Stripling Warrior's of our day and the Great Deceiver will do all in his power to bring down those Mighty Spirits which will stand and receive their Savior on that great day. We can rest in the peace that our Father protects His plan...and we are each a large and mighty part of that great plan!

No matter how difficult the trial. When the smoke clears and the eternal perspective is revealed the gift always far surpasses the glitch in time. It always returns to faith. It is hard to try and control your spinning world and have Faith at the same time...I might even say it is impossible...and I believe that is part of the plan we must submit and hand the control to our Father and try our best to cope with the stress (note the name of the post...my "day of" coping skill...a migraine and a trip to throw-up)

I must take this opportunity to express gratitude again for my amazing friends!

Those who called the morning of and let me know I was being watched out for...you have no idea...you brought the Spirit to the whole situation...I so was in need of you! Without you we would not have had the experience that we did.

Those of you who hung out with me at all hours and allowed my mind not to "think" and completely allowed me to share my favorite TV shows, talk, and of course when stresses...make and bake all day! (that would have meant something completely different 15 years ago but now it means food...lol)

Those of you who walk with me and let me vent all my emotions in our "safe zone".

Those of you who allow me my anti-social behavior during stress yet still love me! There are some people who would so be insulted when I stand them up, not call them back, and not follow the "polite" social norms.

Those of you who don't know what is going on but are now intrigued, concerned, and relieved and love me and my family enough to be!

All five Mitchell Children as babies...

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Meet my Bloggie Roll...

I have gone digging for old pictures today and some of you have new photos below...Enjoy! :) (Jen, Michelle, Lorien, Amy and of course...Me)

This was to date the most difficult Blog I have done!

(ps...I stole pictures from many of your Blogs...I will take your complaints by e-mail...lol...Thanks :)

There is a reason that I do not share my testimony often in a public forum...it is because I do not feel as though I can create the words to do my feelings justice. But I also wanted to return the joy that I received in hearing from my friends who openly exposed themselves and their feelings and second to push myself outside of that which makes me comfortable. So for these two reasons...Here it is the highly anticipated Bloggie Roll!

Adam and Megan~ Adam was one of my brother Daniel's friends from his mission to San Francisco, California. From the day Daniel brought him back to our home to meet everyone...he was family! Then he brought home his beautiful wife Megan and the rest was history. I have never met two people who were so immediately attractive to me. Their personalities are award winning! Their spirits are magnetizing! Their sense of humor keeps me rolling! They had a hard time bringing their first son into this world and since going through that myself I see how that changes you as a parent and as a person in the mortal existence. They are exemplars of Christ in all that they do and I am proud to know and call them my friends. As my brother Daniel said and I do believe I can also add Adam to the mix..."When God made Megan (and Adam) he broke the mold" I only wish that they lived closer to me so that I could play with them instead of just Blogging with them!

Amy~ Amy is in my Ward in Delaware and recently moved here from Arizona. Amy is so right...we so would have been best friends in college! But now-a-days...for some reason...when Amy is around I feel the need to giggle like a little girl, dance the night away, share my secrets, and/or skinny dip in the neighbors pool. (Hey...that is an idea for Wed night...lol) Amy is another one of my dear Type A personality friends. Some of my best friends are those with heavy Type A personalities. I enjoy people who tell the uncluttered truth. Another of my Type A best friends, Kendrick, always says "you can serve all information on a silver platter or on a garbage can lid...which are you choosing to serve your information on?" I have always seen Amy serving from a silver platter and I respect the work that goes into doing that! I myself have a tendency to serve from a garbage can lid, which is why Kendrick has to continue to repeat that saying to me all the time! Amy is living life with a passion for all things and all people with an equality which is rarely found. Amy unwittingly pushes me to extend my personal boundaries and once and for all get rid of the "softer spots" which emotionally have held me back in the past. She has an amazing personal strength which I recognize and want her to know that I do. Amy's Christ-like Spirit show's in all aspects of her life while she lives the Gospel that she holds so dear. She is an example to me and I look forward to getting to know more of who and what she is all about.

April~ April is my sister. I am 5'5 and she is 5'11. I am a strawberry-blonde and she is a dirty-blonde. Except for those two things we really look very much alike! Did I mention what a hottie she is? :) We are both the queen's of yo-yo'ing weight wise...so when we are about the same size it pretty much freaks my husband out! We are also a lot alike personality wise although to admit it is not very fun! April is one of the sweetest, kindest people that I know but she can also be quite bitchy if the mood strikes her. April served a mission to Canada which is something I have always admired about her. I know what a difficult thing that was for her but she followed the Lord in Faith and her efforts were blessed. There are many things which I admire about April but I believe the thing that I admire the most is her patience as she waits for the blessings promised her. I personally know how hard it is to wait for our "Heavenly Fathers timeline" at times frustration can be an understatement and the loneliness of the situation seems unbearable but April...Girl...you will have it all and then some....Believe that~! I love you!

Chuck~ Chuck and I grew up in the same Ward in Rockville, Maryland. Chuck is the baby of the Huband Clan. Somehow, Somewhere he grew into a man. He married a pretty amazing woman from what I can tell on the Blog and had themselves one of the cutest Mullet babies I have ever seen!

Daniel and Katie~ Daniel is my brother. He has been an anchor for me the majority of my life. Daniel may be younger than I but his wisdom, depth, spirit, character and comprehension of almost all things spiritual/emotional/behavioral in nature far surpasses me each and every time we talk. Daniel is also a lot of fun! He enjoys playing, the beach, the TV, and music. Okay we enjoy the same types of activities which makes him a lot of fun to me. He also is a Mortician by trade which I think is one of the coolest jobs ever and I would like to watch him do his job at some point. Katie is Daniel's prettier half and I happen to enjoy her very much as well. Her sarcasm makes me laugh...a lot! I think her parenting skills are amazing and I am so impressed and so put to shame...lol


Jason and Michelle~ (see Blog dated May 17th)

Jennifer~ Jennifer is in my Ward here in Delaware. Every time I speak to Jen I am impressed with her knowledge, understanding, and ability to explain even the most difficult of things. Her stories have shown to be interesting and inspirational and at times I find myself wanting to pick her brain because I seem to know there is so much more in there she is holding back which is so intriguing to me and my senses of who people are and why they do what they do. I am so impressed with Jen and her taking the bull by the horns and homeschooling her son Austin when the school was not meeting his individual needs. Then continuing to homeshool when Carter was ready for school too. What dedication, perseverance and patience...Superwoman!

(No pictures of Jen...she is highly illusive apparently on her own Blog as well! Very suspicious Jennifer...are you currently on the run?)

Linda~ Linda grew up with me in Rockville, Maryland. One day she was just Lori Huband's little sister and the next day she was a person I knew before the world was. What do you say about a person like this? She is family~! She gets me on a level few ever have...Because she was there through most of my life she knows the majority of things without explanation. I am okay to just be~no matter what I ever say or do in this world were Linda is concerned I will always hold this same status...this I know! I do believe this relationship is the closest example that I feel to that of a Heavenly status here on this earth. Linda is my sister...she is my friend...I learn from her and I love her each and everyday regardless of how often we talk. Jessen's status went up 100 fold the minute they got unlimited long distance at their home!

(Sue, Me and Linda)

Lisa~ Lisa also grew up with me in Rockville. She was a year older than I was and oh, so much cooler! She was and still is the life of any party! She is a hot little redhead and damn if she wasn't the only one of the "growing up in the Ward" girls good enough to date Doug. (we all still hate you for that :) lol...seriously :) Lisa is such a great friend....she always worked so much harder than everyone else to keep everyone in touch. She reached out to ensure we always knew where each other were and she came to visit me many times. I am so glad for Blogs because now I don't feel like such a loser friend to one of my dearest and closest friends! Lisa is hilarious and for some reason when you are with her we are always doing something crazy and off the wall...the kind of things that I am now telling my girlfriends the stories which all start "When I was in High School I..." and some how Lisa was with me during all of them. Lisa you made my life happier, more fun, and definitely crazy~! and for that I will always be grateful...I love you girl!

Lorien~ Lorien is someone I have known from a far for about 10 years now. She was in the Newark Ward when we first moved to Delaware. A year or so ago she moved into the Smyrna Ward and a couple of months ago I decided to get to know her up close and personal...I do not even know where to begin? Quite frankly I don't think our friendship has even scratched the surface yet and I already love you to pieces! I have told you things that (In Delaware) only my husband knows...How did that even happen? lol. Your personality is so refreshing you are sneaky and a bit on the devious side which I enjoy :) Hella funny and off the wall which leaves me always smiling. Humble, living the gospel principles and reverent which is always impressive to me. I love to see you with your family...you and Sam are so in love and Gracie and Hannah are so lucky to be a part of your Eternal Plan. I am so glad that you finally shed your cocoon...because you are just such a beautiful Lorien butterfly and I am privileged to call you my friend!

Michelle~ Michelle is also in my Ward here in Delaware. Michelle makes me happy! With Michelle it is always tell it like it is no matter how ugly it is because you know what we all have ugly days! It doesn't make us less than it actually makes us better than...because we can actually admit it...deal with it...smile about it...and move on to the next day. Michelle and I are a lot alike when it comes to "issues" they just present in different ways :) It is so comforting to know that you are understood on a level that many view as non-existent. Michelle speaks many, many times directly to my Spirit and will leave me in tears as she is telling me a story about people and things I know nothing about...I love that about Michelle!

Nancy~ Nancy grew up with me in Rockville. (Wow Nancy...I just realized...this is not going to be easy!) Nancy was Doug's little sister. Doug was the only boy in a Sunday School class full of girls (myself included) for many years. He was so cute! All of us girls who were in that class were soooo in love with him (puppy love...you know that 5th grade...he's so cute...kinda love) But as we grew it was as any other friendship which grows and develops over the span of eight years. We had mutual respect and cared for each other because of all of the things we had been through during the years of growing up together. Doug graduated and started at BYU and was killed in a car accident that first year, while traveling to an away game for the BYU Lacrosse Team. That first Thanksgiving after Doug's death his family (now living in Utah) hosted all of the Rockvillites that were out at school to the whole holiday break. I am not aware if any healing took place at that time for their family but it was such a lifeline to me as I was so stuck in a place of childhood lost. That is the time I really got to see just what Nancy was made of. I had always seen the funny, happy, and lighthearted side of Nancy but at this time....during this period of sorrow I was able to see a strength of character, a Faith in a Father's Heavenly love, and a knowledge of a only brother who still exists but is just a little harder to see... Nancy you showed me what it is to be strong when you really don't want to be. I am grateful for you and your example~ I am also grateful for having known and loved your brother. I miss him and think of him often!

(Me, Jeremy, Laura, Nancy, Jen, Lisa and Karen)

(Nancy and Doug...this is how I remember Doug looking during the fifth grade puppy love phase and Miss Nancy what an adorable little sister you are?)

(This picture of Doug makes my heart hurt...we spent many grueling early morning hours in the pool together. He made me a better swimmer for sure!)