Christmas Newsletter 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone! I realize some of you will be starting to receive our Christmas card, which directed you to our blog to hear about what's new with us! And I haven't even posted anything interesting for a LONG time! So here is our Christmas Newsletter, that had I been more on the ball, I would have had typed up and included with the cards I sent out!




The first item of business...our Christmas Card picture. No, Santa and Mrs. Clause are NOT Tony and I. Just had to clear that up! Ha ha! We took the kids to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa, and Mrs. Clause happened to be there as well. It was a good thing, cause Avery didn't want to sit on Santa's lap, but she had no problem with Mrs. Clause. This was the first year that neither of my kids were scared of Santa, so I had a good picture to use!

Let's start at the beginning of 2009.

January

Tony turned 34.

I was released from my church calling as Relief Society Enrichment Leader (aka...the social committee for the women at church...ha ha!)and was called to teach the Valiant 10 class in primary (9 and 10 year olds sunday school class).

February

Avery turned 2! We celebrated with a Pinkalicious birthday party, complete with tiaras and pink cupcakes.




May

I turned 32.
Logan turned 5!His favorite present was his pet beta fish named Nemo, and his new big boy bike!




Logan also graduated from pre-school.


Logan played Micro Soccer for the second time. This time was more successful than in the Fall, but we still have a long way to go! We took a break from soccer this Fall
(2009) but might try it again in the Spring.




We said good-bye to our best friends here in Kansas who moved back to Utah. It was sad to see them go, but we keep in touch, and have opportunities to see them when we go to Utah to visit.




Tony was released as an early morning Seminary teacher after teaching for two years. He was called as Elder's Quorum President instead. Not sure which is the more difficult job!

June

Tony and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We spent a week-end in Durango, CO while Tony's sister Suzie watched our kids. We had a nice time. That was the first time we had been away from our kids overnight!

We met up with Tony's family on Blanding.

We camped.



We saw a bear!




We helped out Tony's family with the round-up.(Well, Tony helped out, we just hung out and watched.)



We went to San Diego and went to Legoland!



July

The kids and I spent time in San Diego visiting my parents while Tony went back home to work. We had so much fun!

Logan went fishing with Grandpa!



We went swimming!



But best of all, we played with Grandma and Grandpa!





Tony flew back out to help drive us home. We stopped in Enoch (Cedar City, UT) to visit Uncle Jeff and our cousins and had a fun time visiting them!



August

Now back home in Kansas, I was released as the Valiant 10 teacher, and called to be the Primary Music Leader. This is definitely a fun, but challenging experience for me!

Logan started Kindergarten!He loves going to school and learning so much! I can't believe how big he is getting. Time goes so fast.



Tony also started school this month. He was given the opportunity to be an adjunct professor at UMKC (University of Missouri Kansas City). He taught a power plant design class once a week, on Tuesday evenings. He has enjoyed being Dr./Professor Black this semester!

September

Tony's parents came back from their mission to Africa! We got to drive back to Blanding for their homecoming and big African party! Tony's parents brought everyone back African clothes, so we all dressed up and had a fun time!



October

We got the exciting news that our family will be growing! We are expecting our third child in June 2010! Logan and Avery are super excited to have a new baby brother or sister. Avery says she is having a baby sister, and Logan says he is having a baby brother, so I hope someone isn't too disappointed when they don't get what they want!I have been way more sick this time around than I ever was with either Logan or Avery.

Halloween this year wasn't quite like normal. We all started coming down with the flu Halloween week-end, and spent a rather miserable end of Ocober, beginning of November. Glad that is over with!

November

This month was a busy one! We had the privilege of having Great Grandma Avery come stay with us for a week. She is my grandma, my mom's mom, and the only great grandparent still living. My kids had a good time getting to know Great Grandma Avery. I never lived close to my grandma, so this was probably the most time I have ever spent with her one on one like this. I was not feeling very well while she was here, and didn't even take any pictures.

Thanksgiving brought us more company. Tony's parents came to visit and spend the holiday with us. We loved having them here so we weren't all alone. And I appreciated having Mom around to help out since I woke up Thanksgiving morning really feeling terrible.

Tony's dad helped him get some electrical work done in the basement, so now we have lots of lighs and outlets! We are anxious to get the basement finished, and hope to have it done before the baby is born!

December

We will be enjoying Christmas alone again this year, but we are looking forward to the time together. Merry Christmas everyone, and Have a Happy New Year!

Hello there!

Wow! Did I forget I had a blog, or what? What a slacker I have been! I knew it had been a while, but I didn't realize it had been over 2 months! I have many pictures still on my camera that I need to get on my computer, and then I can hopefully post something interesting.

In the meantime, let me share with you a very simple, easy recipe that has saved mealtime on many occasions. If you need a simple, no brainer meal that your family will love,this is it.

The history of this meal is fun. we were invited over to dinner at our friends The Kimbers before we moved from Indiana. They fed us this meal. They called it "Japanese Haystacks" because the husband served his mission in Japan, and this was something he and his companions made. It isn't Japanese at all, which is funny. We have renamed it "Kimber Haystacks". Are you ready for it? Super easy. Tasty. But not gourmet or fancy in any way shape or form.

Kimber Haystacks

Layer the following ingredients in individual bowls or plates:

Rice
Taco meat
cheese
lettuce
diced tomatoes
sliced olives
salsa, if desired
crushed up Doritos (has to be Doritos, not plain tortilla chips)
ranch dressing (you must use ranch...it is what makes it, I promise)

Mix up and eat.

Sorry, I have no pictures. I am sure you can picture it yourself. Now go try it. I promise you will like it!

More, family oriented posts coming soon!

More groceries and deals!

My latest coupon shopping trip was another learning experience. I only went to Wal-Mart. Since they match prices, I just took the store ads with me and made sure to let the cashier know what the prices were so she could change them as she rang them up. I still used coupons as well. It was much better than driving around to multiple stores. Again, the receipt doesn't print off the savings, so I have to figure it out myself. Here we go!

I spent a total of $83.43(76.31 before tax)
About half of this cost was on items that were not on sale or did not use coupons.
The items purchased at regular price were:

1 (27 ct.) pack of diapers
1 gallon apple juice
1 qt. Pennzoil motor oil
1 nail polish remover
1 razor
1 pint whipping cream
1 6 oz. carton plain yogurt
1 box stouffer's whale crackers
1 green bell pepper
3 sweet onions
2 zucchini
2 yellow squash
bananas
3 lbs. apples
16 oz. coleslaw mix
2 cans beef broth
1 28 0z. can crushed tomatoes
2 cans Hunt's spaghetti sauce
1 can coconut milk



This totalled $38.56 before tax.

The items using price matching and coupons were:

8 cans Spaghettio's
10 cans Del Monte fruit (peaches, pears and fruit cocktail)
6 cans Progresso soup
5 boxes Pop Tarts ( I am hooked on these!)
3 bags Nestle Toll House chocolate chips
3 boxes cereal (2 Lucky Charms, 1 Cookie Crisp)
4 (4 pks.) Snack Pack pudding cups
2 tubes Arm& Hammer toothpaste
2 Old Spice deoderant



This total came to $37.75 before tax.

This is what I figured out I saved.

Before price matching/sales and coupons, the second list of items would have totalled:
$68.32 pre-tax.

After price matching/sales the total was:
$52.85
savings of $15.47

After coupons:
$37.92
savings of $14.93
total savings of $30.40

I am really having fun with this! I get excited everytime I come home from the store and put my groceries away. I love seeing my pantry growing! It is so satisfying. this has definitely changed my way of shopping and meal planning. I don't stress over what to have for dinner, cause I know I have lots of options to choose froom, and can make a variety of things with what I have on hand. I used to make my menus for the week, then shop for what I needed. I was never able to stock up on anything, and now I can. It's awesome.

My next post will not be about groceries, I promise!

Coupon Shopping Trip #2

So, today I was at it again. I only went to two stores today. I went to Hen House again, and then Hy-Vee. I didn't go there last week. This was the fruit of my efforts.


The only items not pictured are the rotisserie chicken, and the case of bottled water.

Hen House: spent $21.62 saved $18.52.

7 items did not have coupons, but they were on sale.

Here is what I purchased.

4 cans of tomato sauce (no coupons)
2 pkgs. Jell-O
4 bottles Hunt's Ketchup
2 pkgs.Kraft marshmallows (no coupons)
2 4 lb.bags C&H sugar
3 jars Mt. Olive pickles (chips, spears and baby dills)
2 boxes Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie Mix
1 box Kool-Aid Singles
1 24 pack bottled water

Hy-Vee: spent $37.07

The receipt didn't print out my savings like other stores do, so I am not sure what I really saved with the coupons and sales amounts together. I figured out I saved around $17 using coupons, but not sure the difference between the sales price and reg. price, so I probably saved more.

I bought several more items here not using coupons again, but all items were on sale.

1 Dozen Large eggs -no coupons
1 Blue bonnet margarine spread- no coupon
1 10 lb. bag flour- no coupon
1 jar yeast- no coupon
1 pkg. hot dog buns- no coupon
1 box plastic wrap- no coupon
1 box kitchen trash bags0 no coupon
1 rotisserie chicken- no coupon
1 10 pack Capri-Sun
2 boxes Cap'n Crunch
1 box Life
2 12 ct. boxes Quaker granola bars
2 18 oz. containers Quaker oats
2 boxes Pop-Tarts
4 pkgs. Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs
2 8 oz. pkgs. Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese

I didn't buy any produce, as we still have some from last week that we need to eat up. I think next week's shopping I need to focus on some household items. Let's hope there are some good sales!

Here are some blogs hereand here by the same girl.I like to look at her displays of groceries and her great deals. For some reason it is really fun to arrange your groceries and take pictures of them! I don't know why!

Lumberjack T

(Here is a picture of the tree line that I took back in October 2007)

So, some of you may know that our backyard has a nice line of hedge-apple trees running right through the middle.It gets so shady in the summer, that grass won't grow in one spot, as the sun doesn't get through. Since it rains quite a bit here, we tend to get a nice big mud puddle in that bare spot...especially since our sump pump drains right there as well. While we love the shade, and how it makes our home stay cooler in the summer, there are just too many trees! The kids rarely play in the backyard, since it is either too muddy, too many bugs( chiggers, spiders, ticks, all that yucky stuff), or hazardous from either hedge-apples falling from the trees, or the mysterious golf balls that end up in our yard from the home across the field behind us, that uses their yard as a driving range. Not to mention Tony and Logan saw a snake back there a few weeks ago. Ewww! My dream for the yard is to have a nice tree free patch of lawn, and a nice patio, so we can actually enjoy the backyard. After all, it is one of the things we loved when we bought the house...not so much now that we have to live with it!

This summer Tony decided he would tackle the tree issue himself. He borrowed a chainsaw from his brother Andy, and while I was in California, he went to town. So far he has chopped down 10 trees.That might sound like a lot, but there are still about 23 trees left! We aren't planning on removing all of them, but there are still several we want to do away with.


(Here is a view from our deck. You can tell that the trees have been thinned out from the above picture!)

The other day, Tony needed to climb up into one of the trees to try to get the top half of a tree that was stuck in the other trees and wouldn't come down.It made me very nervous that he was up so high with no harness. Can you find "Waldo?"



Here are some more pictures of the tree mess! I am bummed I didn't get a picture of the HUGE pile of trees that we had to put out by the road when he was done!It took up about half the cul-de-sac!




(The tree on the far left is the one Tony was up in...seriously almost at the top! He is in it in this picture, but I cannot find him.)

Food Storage

So, I got this cook book this summer that has started a whole new phase in my life. I have become totally interested and excited about food storage. I know to a lot of people like I once was, this may sound really strange. It is funny, because I hear myself talking to people about using powdered milk, and when I sit back and think about it, I even think it sounds weird!

The book I bought is called "I Can't Believe It's Food Storage" by Crystal Godfrey. I bought it at Deseret Book. You can also order it from Amazon. It has totally opened my eyes to using food storage. I don't know what about it drew me in, but something did. It must have been the right time, I guess. Anyway, turns out the author has a website too.Everyday Food Storage . And she is part of the Fun with Food Storage Network, that includes 2 other sites as well. I have found my latest time waster on the internet. Although, I don't consider it wasting time, since it is very valuable information that I am excited to implement.

One of the things I have gotten excited about finally trying to do is use coupons. I have never understood the whole coupon system, but I finally found a site that explained it well enough for me to understand.
The Obsessive Shopper. She has great videos that walk you through how to organize and use coupons. For anyone who lives in Utah or the general area, there is a lot of help that makes it a bit easier for you. I have to do some work on my own, but that's ok. I still need to decide on the best method for gathering up 4 copies of the Sunday paper, so I can get 4 copies of the coupon booklets. I have my file folder box and file folders to organize, and have a few weeks worth of coupons already. I have to totally change the way I think about grocery shopping. I used to plan my menus, then make my grocery list of the things I needed, and then shop that way.This way I have to look at store sales, then try to match up coupons, and shop that way. This will be interesting!

I decided today was the day I was going to go on my very first couponing trip.

I went to 3 different stores. Price Chopper, Hen House, and CVS. Price Chopper was the bulk of items. I know I am sure to figure things out and get better deals in the future, but this is how I fared on my first time out.

I spent $5.80 at Hen House. The receipt said I saved $12.20.

I bought:
3 bottles of A-1 Steak Sauce
2 4- packs of Dole fruit cups and fruit parfaits.

That's all. I know it seems silly to go to a store for only those things, but I really like the Dole fruit cups, and the steak sauce was a great deal! Originally $3.74. On sale for $2.97. Used coupons for $2 off. Making them $0.97 a bottle.Now I need to make some steak I guess!

At Price Chopper I spent $39.19. The receipt said I saved $40.63. Awesome.

I bought:
3 boxes of Cheerios
3 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios
4 bottles of Hershey's Syrup
3 cans of Manwich
4 cans of Spaghettio's
2 Colgate toothbrushes
2 boxes of Nabisco Cheddar Nips
4 Nabisco Snak-Saks (2 Chips Ahoy, 1 Honey Teddy Graham, and 1 Nutter Butter)
2 bags of Knorr Rice Sides
2 packages Kraft Singles
4.75 pounds of ground beef.

I didn't use coupons on the hamburger, spaghettio's or toothbrushes, but they were on sale.

At CVS I spent $17.19. The receipt said I saved $17.80.

I got 5 packages of fem.hygiene items. Sorry for the info, but it is a necessity in any household where women reside. I also got a Schick intuition Plus Razor. I had a $4 off coupon for the razor. Then I got $2 extra bucks to use later. If I was smart, I would have bought the razor first on one transaction to get the $2 extra bucks. Then I could have purchased the other items and used the $2 extra bucks towards that purchase. So I could have shaved $2 off the above total if I would have thought ahead like that. It's ok. I am just learning.

So, here is a fun picture of all the items I purchase today...minus the hamburger. It was in the fridge.



My Grand Total was $62.18. My Total Savings was $70.63.

We'll see how I do next time!

Does anyone else use coupons to shop like this? Let me know if you have any good tips!

Logan's First Day of Kindergarten!

Today marks the end of Logan's first week of school!I am so proud of my boy! He is growing up so big, and is so sweet and so smart. When I was in the hospital after he was born, I was all hormonal and emotional and overwhelmed, and wasn't sure I would know how to take care of him. I remember the sweet nurse that calmed my fears by saying " Don't worry. He'll make it to kindergarten." And here we are!

Logan's favorite color is yellow, so he got to wear a nice bright shirt for his first day of school. We had to have the "red" plate! It was definitely his special day!We had blueberry french toast and bacon for breakfast. Daddy stayed home later from work so we could have breakfast together, and take Logan to school together. It was nice being all together as a family for breakfast that morning. That rarely happens!




It was a rainy day, so Logan insisted on wearing his rain boots, although I am pretty sure they are about two sizes too small. He said they felt fine. Funny kid! We had originally planned on walking him to school, but due to the rain, we drove instead. We just parked down the street and then walked up to the school. He changed his shoes when we got to school. He didn't want to get his new school shoes wet!

It was so crazy! All the kids and their parents were all heading towards the school at the same time. There was a lot of energy and excitement in the air, so it was hard to be sad. I was excited for Logan! While walking up to the shool, we saw the school mascot, a bald eagle, ride up to the school on a motorcycle! It was so fun! We had to get a picture of Logan with the Eagle of course!



Logan got to his classroom, and put his backpack away in his cubby, then found his seat at his table, where he was told to start coloring a picture of a monkey. It said "My first day of Kindergarten was a swingin' time!" I took his picture at his desk, and then gave hugs and kisses good-bye! He didn't seem to care about us leaving!



When I picked him up from school, he was so excited and said" I did better than preschool!" I love that kid!

Every day, they go to a specials class. Monday he had Spanish. Tuesday was computers, Wednesday was music, Thursday was art and Friday is PE. He also got to go to the library yesterday and learned about what is good and bad to do to library books. I think next week he will actually get to check out a book to bring home. How fun!

One thing he has been so concerned with is eating lunch. He keeps wondering why he doesn't get to bring a lunch to school, and why he can't eat lunch at school. I keep telling him that he only goes to kindergarten in the morning, and gets to come home to eat lunch. After having to explain this lots of times, and telling him he could eat lunch at school next year when he is in first grade, I think I fgured out his confusion. I think he thought that only kindergartners went to this school, so he kept wondering why there were tables to eat lunch at if he didn't get to stay to eat.When I finally explained that lots of older kids went to his school, all the way through 5th grade, then I think he started to understand. I guess I will see if he asks about it again.

I always thought I would cry when sending him to school. Amazingly enough, I didn't! However, when he came home from school and I was going through the things he brought home, there was a cute little project he had made. It was a piece of paper mounted on some yellow cardstock that said "These little piggies went to kindergarten" and then there was a paint print of his toes! That's when I lost it and the tears came.My baby did make it to kindergarten!

Now I just need to get used to the getting up early schedule, and we will be all good!

My Sacrament Meeting Talk

As you know, I was asked to speak in church last Sunday. For some reason, I really stressed and thought a lot about this talk! I was not sure how to present my thoughts on the topic, or which direction I should go with it. The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I needed to get personal stories from my family and friends. I am extremely grateful for those of you who were willing to share your stories, and allow me to include them in my talk. I always enjoy hearing the personal experiences of others, and it allows me to understand and relate to things better,so I was hoping it would do the same for the congregation who was listening to my talk. I had many people thank me for sharing your personal stories, and received many compliments on my talk. It wouldn't have been as good without including your stories, so thank you, thank you, thank you!

My topic was on "How our Lives are Blessed by the Priesthood". For those of you who are unfamiliar with this aspect of the Latter Day Saint faith (Mormons),www.mormon.org defines the Priesthood as: The power and authority of God, given to men on earth to act in all things for the salvation of God’s children. A Priesthood Blessing is: a blessing given by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, by the laying on of hands and by inspiration, to one who is sick or otherwise in need of special counsel, comfort, or healing. If the blessing is for the sick, consecrated oil is used (James 5:14-15). Feel free to visit Mormon.org for any other questions or information you want to know about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Or you can ask me too!

"How Our Lives Are Blessed By The Priesthood"
A Sacrament Meeting Talk Prepared and Given by: Kerry Black

10 months ago, in October of last year, my mom set out for her daily walk. It was a lovely San Diego evening, as most evenings are. As she began to cross a road that she has crossed almost daily for 30 years, she was hit by a car. Because of the nature of her injuries, the police report listed her DOA. She did not have any ID on her, so no one knew who she was. When the fire department arrived, the paramedic who responded was a member of our stake, and a long-time friend of my parents. This man did not recognize my mom due to her injuries, but he did notice that she was wearing garments, and whispered in her ear “I can’t give you a blessing, but I just want you to know that the priesthood is with you.”

I have been asked to talk today about how our lives are blessed by the priesthood. The story of my mom was the very first thing that popped into my head when Brother Drake told me the topic. I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of us. I don’t believe that it was a coincidence that a worthy priesthood member was at the scene of my mom’s accident. It gives me comfort knowing that she was not alone. Our Father in Heaven knew who she was. He knew the priesthood power was with her.

Do we know that the priesthood power is with us?

Julie B. Beck, in a talk titled An Outpouring of Blessings, in the May 2006 Ensign said:
“By the power of the priesthood, this world and everything in it, including each of us, was created. The priesthood is intricately woven into who we are and have ever been. As sons and daughters of God, we each have unique responsibilities and roles, and through the blessings of the priesthood, we are all given equal partnership, gifts, and blessings.

(LDS.ORG)--Although the authority of the priesthood is bestowed only on worthy male members of the Church, the blessings of the priesthood are available to all—men, women, and children. We all benefit from the influence of righteous priesthood leadership, and we all have the privilege of receiving the saving ordinances of the priesthood.

*Merrill J. Bateman in a talk titled, Priesthood, Keys, and the Power to Bless, Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2003, said:

“Priesthood and priesthood keys open the door to the blessings of the Atonement. Through the power of the priesthood, people are baptized for the remission of sins, made possible by the Savior’s great act of mercy. A holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood may confer the Holy Ghost. Through the bestowal of the Holy Ghost, members are cleansed with fire, guided into truth, comforted, sanctified, and blessed in many ways as partakers of the fruits of the Atonement. The sealing authority may bind a man, a woman, and their children together forever, making possible exaltations in the world to come—again, a blessing from the Savior.”

I decided to get some help for my talk by asking friends and family to share some stories with me of how the priesthood has blessed their lives.

A friend from my Stake growing up, had this story to share with me. He wrote:

A dramatic experience I had with the priesthood was after getting plowed by a car while riding my bike across a 45 mph street and getting life flighted to the hospital.

While in the emergency room, my father was unable to administer to me physically. So he knelt in the waiting room with my mom and our bishop. Using the power of the priesthood combined with their faith, they prayed for my recovery.

Seemingly, from that moment, my life that had been slipping away began to recover. The power of God is real.I love that the very nature of priesthood power is that it is unseen. Though its effects are sometimes visible, the actual power itself is manifested only by faith.

My sister-in-law has had some experiences happen in her life recently that has made her ponder and think a great deal about how the priesthood blesses her life. She shared the following stories with me:

“…my 12 year old sister started having a seizure (she has never had one before in her life!). She bit her tongue pretty bad, and quit breathing. My mom called 911, and my dad just tried to hold her. He said he felt the life go out of her body and he commanded her, in the name of Christ to come back, then he gave her a priesthood blessing. Immediately she started to breathe again. My dad whispered in her ear that he loved her and that her Heavenly Father loved her, and suddenly her eyes opened, "he is here with me," she said, and then her eyes closed again. She doesn't remember anything until she came to in the ambulance when they were trying to giver her oxygen. After several tests at the hospital, they determined the cause and put her on some medication, and she was released. I know that it is because of the power of the priesthood, and through God's will that she is still alive today.”

A week and a half after this incident, her family had another. Her father who is severely allergic to bees, was stung, and had to be flown from Blanding,UT to Grand Junction, CO for proper medical care. As he lay close to death, he was given a priesthood blessing, and told he still had work to do on the earth and that he would recover completely. Her family was given peace and hope during this time because of the priesthood.

In her email she also shared the following thoughts:

But the other thing that hit me just this last Sunday was that even if it had not been God’s will to save my dad and sister, and he had called them home instead, the priesthood makes it possible for our family to be together forever, so I would have the assurance that I would see them and be with them again. Any one of us could die at any time, so this assurance through the sealing power is a HUGE blessing!

Her words in this email reminded me of a special moment in my life that I will always remember. When Logan was 6 weeks old, we traveled from Indiana, where we were living at the time, to Blanding, Utah, where Tony is from, for his baby blessing. My family drove from California and Idaho to also be there for that wonderful event. Logan was so lucky to have all (8) of his uncles, and both of his grandpa’s in his blessing circle, with the exception of Tony’s youngest brother who was serving a mission at the time. I remember feeling full of emotion, and gratitude for all of the worthy priesthood holders in both our families. My heart was full that day, with an appreciation for the priesthood in my life, and for the blessings it would bring to my family and my son. This moment is even more special to me, because 6 days later, my youngest brother was called back to our heavenly home. One of my very last memories of him was of him honoring his priesthood. And because of that priesthood, I am comforted in my grief, knowing that I will see my brother again. While he is gone from this earth, he is still very much alive, going about our Father’s work, and waiting anxiously for our family to be reunited again.

I took my children to see the San Diego temple grounds while I was home recently. They were so excited to walk around the beautiful temple grounds, and had so many questions. I talked to them about the wonderful blessings we receive in the temple, and explained how mommy and daddy were married and sealed there so that we could be a happy family forever. I could see that my children felt the spirit there at that special place. We sang “I Love to see the temple” as we walked around. Little Avery got so upset when told that she couldn’t go inside. And both of them were very sad when it was time to go, and didn’t want to leave that beautiful place. I imagine it was probably very similar to how we all felt when it was our time to leave our Heavenly home to come to earth. For this reason, the Lord provided a way for us to feel a reminder of His love for us, by giving us the priesthood power on earth.

Robert D. Hales,in a talk titled "Blessings of the Priesthood" from the Ensign, Nov. 1995 said this:

“Brothers and sisters, can you imagine how dark and empty mortality would be if there were no priesthood? If the power of the priesthood were not upon the earth, the adversary would have freedom to roam and reign without restraint. There would be no gift of the Holy Ghost to direct and enlighten us; no prophets to speak in the name of the Lord; no temples where we could make sacred, eternal covenants; no authority to bless or baptize, to heal or comfort. Without the power of the priesthood, “the whole earth would be utterly wasted” (see D&C 2:1–3). There would be no light, no hope—only darkness.

I was fortunate enough to share the gospel with a good friend in High School. He was baptized and later married in the temple. He shared his thoughts with me on how the priesthood has blessed his life.

As you know growing up my family really didn’t go to church. My brother, sister, and I were allowed to do pretty much as we pleased. It doesn’t sound all that bad, but there really wasn’t a family unit. As kids we grew up where TV was not monitored, drinking was acceptable, and there were no real moral or values… expect to be a good honest person. This was all I really knew. It seemed normal to me…. But as I got to know you and your family I was drawn to something that I couldn’t explain until now.

Looking back, my brother has had two DUI’s and a serious drug problem. My sister has tried to stop smoking for 5 years now because she is having some health problems. As for my parents gambling and alcohol has been a big part of their life. Now they are in the middle of foreclosing on their home.
Now I ask myself how this all happened? My dad is a doctor so he should have plenty of money and he should have been on my sister to stop smoking a long time ago. The only thing that I can see is that we as members of the church have the word of wisdom and we have the priesthood.

I was blessed to learn from you and your family about holding family home evening. Your family was a great example to me as to how I wanted to live my life one day. I was there when one of your brothers or sister needed a blessing by your dad. I was also on the receiving end when your dad offered help. All of these examples were because your dad honored his priesthood. I pray every day that I can honor the priesthood like your dad.

It is truly a privilege to be able to hold the priesthood and act in the name of our Savior. There is no greater honor then to serve others and to teach our families. We are all given a gift and it is up to us in how we use it. I am grateful for my agency; however I am so blessed to have the knowledge about the power of forgiveness and the atonement. Knowing that my heavenly father loves and knows me, helps me every day to try and be a better person. I am not perfect and I have slipped, fallen, been picked back up and have learned from my mistakes.
I only wish that my parents and siblings knew how the gospel has helped me. I absolutely know that they see how my family is night and day from the way I grew up. They are happy for me and I still have hope that I will bring them into the fold… If not in this life, then in the next.

I am grateful that I have hope. I am grateful to have grown up in a home with a Father who is a faithful priesthood holder. I am even more grateful to have a wonderful husband who honors his priesthood, and uses it to bless and comfort our home and family as well as others in need.I am also grateful for other worthy priesthood holders who have been able to bless and comfort my family at different times in our life. My mom is recovering very well, and will soon be back to her normal activities. I have felt the love of the Lord in my times of need, through the power of the priesthood on many occasions. I have no doubt in my mind that this church is true. I have been blessed too much to ever doubt where those blessings are coming from. I hope you all take some time today to ponder the blessings in your own lives, and to notice the many ways in which the priesthood has played a role in your life.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.


*** I made sure to link to definitions of things that might not be familiar to those of you reading this that are not acquainted with "mormon lingo". I hope it helps!Mormon.org is a great resource about the church!


And now that my talk is finished, I am on to newer challenges. I was called last Sunday as the Primary Music Leader. I start almost first thing in the morning! Yikes! I am nervous about this one! Kids intimidate me! Wish me luck!

Help me please?

Before I continue writing about our vacation, I have a little favor to ask. I have been asked to speak in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. I would love to see if any of you might have some help for my talk. The topic is : How our lives are blessed by the Priesthood.

If you have any personal stories or know of any good talks to reference, etc. please let me know! You can email me at kerryjoyblack@hotmail.com, or feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks!!!!!

Summer Vacation 2009- Blanding

We made our annual pilgrimage to Blanding this summer for the Round Up. Tony's brother Kenny has a cattle ranch, and the family gets together in June to move the cows from the winter range to the summer range. It's always a good excuse to go camping, and have a nice time enjoying the beautiful scenery on the Elk Mountain. It's such a drastic difference in scenery, I love the contrast!

On our drive out to the mountain, we stopped to see some Dinosaur footprints. The kids had fun pretending they were roaring like a dinosaur!




Monday night we all went up the mountain for a fun dutch oven dinner with all the family. While we were preparing and getting ready for dinner, we had a nice visitor.


We always see deer around the camp, but never a BEAR!!!! Does anyone know what kind of bear this is? Tony's brother said it was a black bear.It was kind of exciting, but a little scary at the same time. I have never seen a bear in the wild like that except at Yellowstone Park, but that's different. Tony and Logan were camping in a tent that night, while Avery and I had the luxury of Grandma and Grandpa's trailer. I don't know what we will do next summer when Grandma and Grandpa are home from their mission! I have gotten spoiled being able to use the trailer!Now that's the way to camp! Anyway, I was a bit worried the bear would come back to camp that night, and it worried me about my boys being in the tent. The bear must have decided to get as far away from us as possible, cause he did not return...thank goodness!


Logan and Trace had fun with their matching bug barns!




Early the next morning, all the cowboys and cowgirls left to start rounding up the cows. The kids and I hung around camp with Aunt Alicia since she was weeks away from having her baby, and Aunt Marlene and Tanya. I took the kids up to the frog pond with Tanya to try to catch some frogs, but no luck. It was a nice way to spend some time that morning enjoying the beautiful scenery and fresh mountain air.






After the pond, we hurried back down the mountain to meet the cow-herding group for lunch, and to hopefully see them push the cows across the road. we were just a tad bit too late, so we missed watching the cows cross, but made it in time to see cowboy Tony come riding in for lunch. Avery acted excited about the horses until we tried to put her on it, and then she freaked out. Logan had no problems of course, and could have ridden around all day. After lunch, Tony headed back out again to help round up some stragglers, and I headed back to Blanding with the kids, where we were all very much in need of a bath!







Wednesday, we just hung out at Suzie's, and the kids played and played with their cousins. Tony and I started reading "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins while driving out, and took turns stealing it from each other to read ahead. I would tell Tony that I had read up to chapter 18, so he could read up to there and then he had to stop so we could be on the same page for the rest of our travels. Then he would read to chapter 20 before I would catch him and make him stop, so by the time we started driving to California, we didn't have a lot left to read. I read out loud to him while he drives to keep him awake. It's a good system.





We left Thursday morning to drive to San Diego to my parents house, and it was sad as always to say good-bye to the cousins! The kids had so much fun playing with them. Thanks again to Suzie for letting us stay with them, and taking care of the kids for us. We couldn't have left them in better hands, and what fun memories for them to have. I wish we could be closer to family. That's the one negative to living so far away! We always enjoy our visits to Blanding and seeing our wonderful family!

Summer Vacation 2009!

Wow! We have had a great time this summer, and it is hard to adjust to real life now that we are home! We left June 11 for our 6 week extravaganza. We got home almost a week ago. I have a lot to write about, so sit tight!

10 Year Anniversary

I almost can't believe it has been that long, but Tony and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on June 11. We were fortunate enough to have Tony's sister Suzie watch our kids for us so we could enjoy a week-end in Durango, CO to celebrate. We left home Thursday evening June 11 and drove 5 hours to Colby, KS to stay the night. We drove the rest of the way to Durango on Friday, and got there around 6 p.m. Tony's brother Andy and his wife Alicia met us in Durango, and we had dinner with them to give the kids some time to warm up to them. They were nice enough to drive the kids back to Blanding to Aunt Suzie's house, where they stayed for two days! I have never been away from my kids that long before, so of course I was worried about how they would do, but they were great! They had a fun time playing with their cousins. I am so greatful for wonderful family members who I know I can trust to take care of and love my kids. It makes it easier to know they are in good hands.

Tony and I haven't had time alone without kids for 5 years, so it was a very nice break. We just wandered around Durango and looked at the shops, went and "listened" to a vacation package presentation at a campground resort and got free tickets for the Bar D Chuckwagon. We had a fun evening hanging out there, despite the rain! I am glad I convinced Tony to leave the umbrella in the car when we were packing for our trip! It came in handy for sure!

The next day we checked out of the hotel, and went down by the river for a while to watch some kayaking competition. It was pretty cool! There was a 7 year old little boy totally doing all these flips in the kayak, it was crazy! I could never imagine Logan doing anything like that two years from now. He barely learned how to doggy paddle!


We decided to head out of Durango, and spend the day at Mesa Verde. This place is way too huge to see everything in a few hours. I would love to go back again another time. It was really fascinating to see all these Indian ruins in one place...and many of them right next to each other. I can't imagine living on the edge of cliffs like that...how did the mother's stay sane with children living there? Yikes! It would have been neat to actually see this civilization living for real...history is so fascinating!Of course, I didn't even think about taking pictures when were in Durango. I never think about it until after the fact! It was our anniversary, and I didn't have anyone take pictures of us!I took pictures at Mesa Verde, but again didn't ever get any of us together.




There weren't people around when I thought of taking pictures of each other, and of course when there were people, it slipped my mind. I am a horrible photo documenter! So, sorry. Not many pictures of us.



After we left Mesa Verde, we drove back to Blanding to see Tony's siblings and their families, and our sweet kidlets who we missed terribly! When we got there, they didn't seem to have missed us all that much. They were having WAY too much fun! I am glad. I would rather them be happy and content, than sad about being away from us.

Preschool Graduation

Tomorrow is Logan's last day of preschool. I am really sad about this! My baby is growing up!He is going to be a kindergartner!Yikes! I have really loved seeing him learn and grow this year in pre-school. We didn't put him in pre-school when he was 3, so this was a big year for him. I think he struggled with the routine of things, and knowing what to do, but has really improved in this area in the last few months. I am so proud of my big boy! Since Logan's birthday is next week, he gets to be Happy Helper tomorrow for the last day of school. I just finished making vanilla oreo cupcakes for him to take for snack. Logan and I also finished up his Teacher's gifts. I think they are cute! I hope they like them, and that it will be something to remember him by. His teachers have done a lot for him this year.Besides primary teachers at church, these are the first outside adult role models and influences he has had in his life. That's important! Here is what we made for his teachers. I saw this idea online, and copied it the best I could. I had a hard time finding a frame that allowed enough room for the crayons, but was successful tonight. Logan dictated the notes to the teachers, and I wrote it on the back for him. He signed it of course!

Monday we got to go watch Logan's program at school. It was so cute!This was the first song they sang for us to start their program. Logan is sitting next to his best friend Dakota. She is moving back to Utah in a few weeks, and we will be so sad when they go.

What's new

Ok, so my once a week blogging has turned into once a month blogging!

Logan finally earned his 20 pennies last night.It's been a long time coming, but it has been working really well, and much better than anything else we have tried. We will be going to Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow night for Family Home Evening as his reward. Then we will have to start all over again with a different number of pennies, and a new reward.

This week-end was General Conference. I had heard about a little attention getter from a friend, and decided to try it out. I bought some skittles at the store, and gave the kids a little cup. For each speaker, we chose a word or two that they needed to listen for, and if they heard it they got a skittle in their cup. Logan did soooo good! I was so proud of him! Sometimes he caught the words when I missed them, so he was being a really good listener! Avery just wanted candy all the time, and didn't like the fact that we were trying to only give her one at a time. She did catch on after a while, and when Logan would call out the word to get a candy, she would yell the word and hold out her cup too. For almost all the sessions, Logan was able to sit through at least two speakers, or almost the whole first hour, and then we would let him go play. He would come back to listen to President Monson at the end though. I think we all consumed a little too much sugar, but the kids did great!We will have to make this a tradition, as it not only kept the kids listening, but Tony and I as well. Well, Tony was already doing a good job listening as he was taking notes on his laptop the whole time so he can play a game with his seminary students.But it kept me listening for sure!

Tony and I like to go for drives. We always have, even before the kidlets came along. One of our hobbies I guess, is to go for drives to look at houses. Tonight after dinner, I decided we should go for a drive, to get out of the house for a bit, and to wind the kids down to get them ready for bed. Tony came up with a fun idea the last time we went for a drive, so we implemented it again for this one. Since we never know exactly where we want to go, we made it easy. We each have a quarter, and at every intersection, we flip our coins. If we both get heads, we go right, if we both get tails, we go left, and if we get one of each, we go straight. It has been a fun way to go for our drives, and see something new!

On Friday night, we went for another outing. Tony found a hedge trimmer on craigslist, so we had to go for a drive to pick it up. I have been looking on Craigslist, etc. for a loveseat, or chair to put in my piano/toy room. It is the "formal" dining room in the house, but since we have an eat in kitchen, we have our piano and toys in there. When the basement gets finished, then the toys will be moved down there...I can't wait! Anyway...I always want to escape into that room on occasion and sit down to read or whatever, but we have nothing to sit on in there.This room is in the front of the house, and I am always wishing I can sit by the window so I can watch the kids playing in the front yard. I decided to go check out the JC Penney outlet Friday night just to see what they had. Lo and behold, they had a chair that was exactly what I had in mind for only $110! Full price it is $399! Woo-hoo! I never find deals like that on the exact thing I am looking for!So it wasn't the loveseat, but that's really ok right now, as the toys are still in there, and I don't really have room to move them somewhere else right now. The chair is a natural color, and it is slipcovered, so I can take the whole darn thing off to wash if necessary! Everytime I see it in the room now it makes me happy. Now I just want to hurry and finish the basement so I can buy new furniture for my Living Room! Baby steps, baby steps.

I will post a picture soon!
That's all for my week-end. Thanks and good night.

Miss me?

I know, I know. It's been a while! I am definitely falling off the blogging bandwagon. I will try to do better from now on!

Before I catch up on things like Avery's Pinkalicious birthday party, and such, this post will be dedicated to my big boy Logan.



Where do I even begin? Crazy kid! Over the past while...couple of months at least, Logan has been developing some insane attachment issues. He loves his daddy something fierce! Which is a good thing...except at 5:30 in the morning when daddy is either getting ready to leave for seminary, or has just left. Logan has decided that he needs to run around the house screaming "daddy! daddy! hugs and kisses! hugs and kisses!" like a mad child maniac who is out of control. This is horrible at 5:30 a.m. when the household should be calm and peaceful and everyone asleep! Logan will hear the garage door open or close and start in on his screams of despair.It is the worst thing to have to jump out of bed, and chase the child through the dark downstairs,pulling him away from the door where he is frantically trying to get outside and chase his daddy all the way to the church to make him come home. I have had to physically lay on the kid on the floor because he is so out of control. It's sad. I don't know why he gets in such a panic about it! He knows everyday daddy goes to seminary and to work, and then he comes home. It's not like he has never NOT come home. I don't get it. He will sometimes think daddy is hiding, and therefore run around yelling "daddy, are you hiding? daddy are you in the basement?"

Because of this attachment, he has also been HORRIBLE at going to bed and staying in his own bed. He eventually ends up in our room, so he can snuggle with his daddy.There are even plenty of times when Tony goes to bed around 8:30, and he will just let Logan lay by him to put him to bed, since he doesn't want to fight making Logan stay in his room. On several of these evenings, I will be gone for a RS activity or whatever, and come home to my two boys snoring peacefully all suggled up together in MY bed! I feel bad disturbing their slumber, and have ended up sleeping in Logan's bed, so we can all hopefully get a good, uninterrupted night's sleep. The only one so far to be unaffected by this craziness is my sweet girl Avery. She is the best sleeper, and hasn't YET been awakened by Logan's craziness. Which is shocking, because I swear the whole neighborhood can hear him.

I finally decided I wanted to reclaim my bed, and made a new rule for Logan. If he woke up in the night to come in our room, he could sleep on the floor, but couldn't get in our bed. I think this plan backfired, as he loves sleeping on the floor in our room, and would rather just start there than go to his own bed. He is almost 5 years old. This is ridiculous!

So...Tony went out of town for work yesterday, so I was all alone with the kids last night for bedtime. This is usually not a big deal for me, but because the last several nights it has taken over 2 hours of fighting, and chasing Logan back to his bed before he finally went to sleep...next to his daddy, I was NOT looking forward to dealing with that! I had heard of a little incentive program thingy that I decided to try. I found a little baby food jar that I had still, and told Logan it was going to be his penny jar. If he could stay in his bed all night, then in the morning he could put a penny in the jar. After he gets 20 pennies (he chose that number) he gets a reward. He chose to go to Chuck E. Cheese. I put Aves to bed with her book (she likes me to read to her first, and then take her book to read in bed...with only the hall light on, so she can't really see, but whatever!) I told Logan to choose 3 books and I layed by him in his bed to read to him. By the middle of the 3rd book he was snoring. Sweet! It was 7:50 p.m.! He hasn't been asleep before 10 the past several nights!I was nervous to see if this penny thing would really work, and how long it would last. Around 2 a.m. I heard a sweet voice calling "mommy...mommy" He didn't get out of bed, and he didn't yell and scream for me either! Amazing! I went in there to check on him, and he was anxious to find out if he had another penny in his jar yet. Sweet boy! I snuggled him for a few minutes, and told him he was being so good, and that if he stayed in his bed the rest of the night, then in the morning I would let him put his penny in his jar. He said "thanks mom!" then rolled over and went back to sleep!He didn't get up this morning until 8:15 a.m.! Happy Day!

I am so excited about this new method! I can't wait to see how much better things get around here. Let's hope the excitement lasts! He even has the ability to earn more pennies for doing other things, like clean up his toys, and stuff. Woo-hoo!