Merry Christmas

I love Christmas. It can be stressful and I go to work even when sick so I can provide presents for my girls. They are getting a lot of practical stuff that they need anyways. This time of year is perfect for baking cookies and making other goodies to give away and enjoy with my family. It's a fun time to enjoy hot chocolate and spend time with my children. It is very relaxing and enjoyable to put on Christmas CD's or simply listen to the Christmas songs on the radio. Some times I turn off the CD or radio and just sing Christmas songs with my kids while driving to their schools or whenever. I still love to see a house with lots of lights just like I did when I was a child. I have a candle burning as I write. I am about to go to work and then my family and I are going to attend a Christmas party at my church. I signed up to bring cookies, so I plan on making them after work. I am very blessed to have the capability to earn an income. Even when days like to today I would rather be home.

I mostly love being able to celebrate the life of Christ. I love the Savior and redeemer of the world. The atonement is the greatest gift I can ever have. Better than any material gift I could ever receive. Knowing what the Savior did brings more joy than I could ever describe. Peace oversteps the trials if I only trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Have a great Christmas and may everyone enjoy the life we have.

Happy the garden is thriving...

My first ripe tomatoes. I have many more growing, dozens of them. So awesome to be able to eat produce from the garden.

My first green bell pepper. It is small now and I am not sure how big it will grow. I love green bell peppers plain or in salads or when I get a subway sandwich I always get bell peppers. Yummy.

Marigolds. I adore the rich colors.

The pink petunias have stripes. My daughter Kendree picked them out. And the white zinnia's are sweet to look at.

On the left is more of the stiped flowers and the gorgous orange and red-orange zinnias. I love flowers.

I get a lot of joy from gardening. I am grateful for the opportunity to grow beautiful flowers and the many variety of plants that my family and I can consume. I now have growing: Green onions, carrots, radishes, celery, several types of tomato plants, jalepeno's, bell peppers, strawberries, brocoli, cucumbers and of course many kinds of flowers.



Garden birdhouses

 These are painted with outside paint and turned out nice.

A mother's prayer for health for my twin daughters

At the beginning of November of two thousand I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. Later the doctor confirmed I was indeed pregnant. This was my fourth pregnancy and more difficult than the others. I was more tired, vomited more often, everything seemed to be exaggerated. I concluded that it was because I had three young daughters at home and the youngest still in diapers. Speaking of diapers I learned a great lesson in never taking anything for granted, even changing diapers.

When the time came to schedule the ultrasound I was asked, “Are you having twins?” I said it was a single pregnancy. The day of the ultrasound arrived. I was five months pregnant. I was lying on the bed and the ultrasound technician started the ultrasound and asked a question. I thought she asked if I was having twins. I said no and I thought to myself, I wonder why she would ask because I already said I am not having twins when I made the appointment.

The technician actually said, “You are having twins!” I asked if she was serious. She then proceeded to show me two babies on the screen. We found that the twin babies were girls. I had always wanted twin identical girls. Of course it was not until after they were born that we found they were identical.
The tears flowed. I lay there and just bawled. I felt Heavenly Fathers love for me in such abundance. I was thrilled that He would bless me so much.

Just four very short weeks past and I became worried over some symptoms that do not usually occur until labor or right before labor. So I went to see my doctor. My doctor was worried too because I was in labor. I was put on very strict bed rest and with medication to slow labor down. I was twenty four weeks along.

He set up a home monitoring system to record how many contractions I had in an hour. Twice a day I tested. Four times my contractions were too many for one hour and I was told to get checked at the hospital. Three times my medication was increased, the forth time I had to stay until I gave birth.

My parents had our three daughters, Hillary, Kymberleen and Kallee, live with them while I was on bed rest. Their dad worked many hours and could not afford to take time off. There was no choice. I missed my girls so much. I even missed changing Kallee’s diapers. Mother’s tasks are cherished even when we don’t know it. Our ward brought meals three days a week for their dad and I. I am grateful for those sweet women.

I said prayers continually on behalf of my twin babies. I received priesthood blessings. Family and ward members said prayers for the babies. Countless prayers were given to Heavenly Father for the health of the twin daughters in my womb and a safe and timely delivery. I know that they were meant to be. I lay in bed for ten weeks for them, the last week at the hospital. They are so worth it. At the end of ten weeks I gave birth to two healthy girls, Kindsey and Kendree.

The girls were born five and a half weeks early and they could have been born at twenty four weeks. Heavenly Father blessed us so. They didn’t even need the special care nursery. I brought Kindsey and Kendree home two days later. They were blessed through the power of prayer.

I think I love the girls more because of the sacrifices I made. I also grew spiritually. On bed rest I read the scriptures and books on gospel principles. I grew close to Heavenly Father through prayer and pondering. It was quiet in the home during the day. It gave me the opportunity to feel peace. I did not even feel like it was a burden or boring to be in bed all day. I was comforted by knowing the twins could be born at a healthier time by being on bed rest.

Solomon Ward Fall Festival 2012

My daughter Kymber dresses as a kitty. She along with other mia maids did face painting. She had a lot of fun.

I didn't take a lot of photo's. I wish I had taken a picture of my costume. I wore a red and black wig with a black crow in my hair. The festival was fun. All the kids had a great time. My twins got a lot of candy and they shared with their sisters who ran booths and with me. Kallee helped the Beehive class with a candy walk. She had tons of fun. We all had a good time.



Solomon Ward Activity Day Girls...

Kendree

Erin

 Ka'ili

Elizabeth

Zoraya

Aivree

Samantha

Kindsey, my daughter that never lets me take a photo of her!

All the girls, including some from Lazona Ward.

Kendree with Kalei, Ka'ili's little sister, in the background

All the girls did fantastic. I know my twins, Kindsey and Kendree had never even played before and other girls that had never played and everyone of them did great. As a mom and as an Activity Day leader I am really proud of all the girls. I had just been called as one of the leaders and was very glad to get to know the girls. It was a lot of fun! This is the last year for some of the girls since they will be in Young Women's soon. The church has so many opportunities for growth and development for each member. These young girls had a great time and I'm glad they got the chance to play softball with the Mesa South Stake.

Paper Mache Pumkins

These are Paper Mache Pumpkins that were fun to add color to.

Chocolate chip with a touch of oatmeal cookies

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup chopped nuts

6-12 ounces of chocolate chips

Cream together butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix in sugars. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in oatmeal. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. After one minute remove from baking sheet to cooling rack.

Sunday pictures...

This picture of me was taken yesterday after church...

This is my mother...Isn't she beautiful?!

My daughter Kallee...

My daughter Kendree...

Kallee and Kendree together...

Garden delights

Two days ago this watermelon was the size of a thumb and now it is the size of a burpless cucumber.

Cucumber slings...a great idea from pinterest. So I tried it with some old nylons.

Here is a close up

I fixed up my cucumber plant. My last post from the 12th was a lot different.

My bamboo stick tomato cage tied with twine.
Tomorrow I will add twine in a few rings for extra support.

Some of my Zinnia's.

Kallee and her Grandma Harmon

These were taken yesterday right before we went to church.

My mother

This is my mom, Toni Harmon. I love her and am thankful to her.

Bee of good cheer...

I love this small sign a made a while ago. Cute and a good reminder to be happy always.

Saturday

Today it was our turn along with other ward members to clean the church building. Before we left I wanted to take a picture of the twins and Kendree was the only one who let me take a picture of her. Kindsey, Kendree and Kallee did such a great job and worked hard.

Family Fun Times this summer...

At the park...

My brother in law Joe and my sister Elaine and one of my twins climbing the spider web cage. My brother Jeff was watching. They had fun.

My pretty niece Raine on the spinning ring..

Swimming at the Marriot...

We love it when the Cannon's come for a visit. I love hanging out with my sister and her family. The park pictures were taken after we played disc golf. I played for the first time in my life and I thought it was super fun. I almost hit my sister once and I did hit Joe. Everyone was nice. Jeff let me use his discs. The second was at the pool and their hotel. It was nice to swim and be in the water. We all had a great time.