And many more...on channel four...

It's my birthday today!!!!

It's official...I have just entered the last year of my 20's. I am not too sure if I like this or not.

Here are 29 things you may or may not know about me:

1. I am an insane Harry Potter fan.

2. Root beer flavored milk is one of my favorite varieties (beats out chocolate, hands down)

3. I have a mole on my face that the Dr. wanted to remove, but I said no because I knew it would make Isabelle sad. (He had no medical reason for removing it, and Isabelle seriously cried when I went in to have it checked out.)

4. I love to tease my children. So much that they hardly ever take me seriously anymore.

5. Steak is my favorite food.

6. I have never broken a bone.

7. I quite enjoy general anesthesia

8. I have the curliest hair out of all my 8 siblings.

9. Black Forest cake is to die for.

10. I have an obsession with paint. I love painting things!

11. Belle is my favorite Disney princess.

12. I do crazy things just to get Matt to laugh and roll his eyes at me.

13. I like to eat ice cream when it rains.

14. I can tie a cherry stem in a not with my tongue.

15. I love the color orange & have since I was 11.

16. I love to sing. In fact I will make up songs on the spot, just like in a musical =) My friend Kristen Peer and I will actually sing to each other on the phone...it is pretty hilarious & fairly amazing.

17. I cried when both of my kids started school & will probably do so for the rest of their school careers.

18. I am a snuggler & I think it is funny to threaten my Mom with long snuggly hugs (she is so not a hugger...).

19. I will make myself sick by eating too much Red Vines, Watermelon, and Movie Theatre Popcorn. Never together though. I ate so many Red Vines after Ben was born that my milk smelled like licorice!

20. I could quite possibly play "Plants Vs. Zombies" for hours on end.

21. I sew a lot, but do not own a sewing machine. (I have a really nice Kristen Peer in my life who lets me borrow hers. Everybody needs a Kristen Peer in their lives.)

22. My favorite way to de-stress is to take a bath. Someday I will have a really nice one.

23. We don't have TV...we have 2 television sets, but can only watch movies on them.

24. Colin Firth is by far the hottest actor EVER. I could watch the BBC's Pride & Prejudice over, and over, and over, and over, and over, etc.

25. I snore. I inherited it from both my mother & father. Thankfully Matt is a heavy sleeper.

26. I have a really hard time going to sleep without a book to read. I will read at night until the pages start going blurry.

27. I dreamt about Cher the other night. It was weird. We were in a bathroom & she was dying her hair. And miraculously I was able to straighten mine. I typically have a strange dream EVERY night.

28. I think skulls are adorable & have some skull earrings that I were like every other day, if not more.

29.I thought rainbows were super cool when I was 15 & wanted to work at Rainbow Donuts when I turned 16 soley for the fact that they had the word Rainbow in their name.

It has been a year of many up's and down's, but thankfully the Lord has blessed me with wonderful friends and families to support me through it all. I am so grateful for you!!!! Here's to a fabulous 29th year!!!!

So apparently I do have a garden to weed!

So....I am sadly not an Ensign reader. I would like to be, and we receive the Ensign EVERY month, but I am not. Until today. I was in the bathroom, yes ON the toilet & I needed something to read (don't try to tell me that you have NEVER done this cause I will call you a liar). I looked down and low and behold there was the July issue of the Ensign. How it ended up in the bathroom I will never know (probably my very righteous daughter, cause the Friend was in there too), but it was there and I picked it up.

I happened to open up the back cover & there smacking me in the face was the most amazing article I have read in a LONG time. Yes, very profound things were going on in the potty room at the Robertson's.

Have you read this article? It is called "This Year It's A Weed--Pull It." by Mont Poulsen. http://lds.org/ensign/2011/07/this-year-its-a-weed-pull-it?lang=eng It's really good. So good it gave me chills and it was one of those huge "Ah Ha!" moments. And it isn't very long either...so go read it.

Anyway, it talks about this guy who is helping his Dad with the garden where the rotate they potatoes and corn every year. He was in charge of weeding the corn and found this amazing potato plant that was just beautiful. He asked his dad what to do and his dad told him to pull it. What??? Yup, he needed to pull it. This year it is a weed. Pull it. He goes on to talk about how there are so many good things in life that we desire but we are on the Lord's time, not ours.

We want to have a baby. It has been a very hard thing for us to go through and I know that it will happen in the Lord's time. I have often vented to Matt that I don't understand why we can't have another child. We are good people who have a very righteous desire. We would raise a child in a very loving and good home. And the answer is always, "Not now." And I don't think I ever really understood this until i read this article. I think i tried to understand it, but it's hard. Make sense?

So this is just one more of the Lord's tender mercies bestowed on me. I will continue to have faith and trust in the Lord. "All things must come to pass in their time." D & C 64:32

Tender Mercies

So I know that I haven't been posting lately and I am sorry. Today I actually tried to catch up on some of your blogs. I haven't been commenting...I know! Shame on me! But I was trying to catch up on all of your fabulous lives =)

I still haven't uploaded our vacation pictures so I am sorry about that too. It will happen, eventually.

I was just thinking today about our ward's fast & testimony meeting on Sunday. Bishop Smith got up and was bearing his testimony about the Lord's tender mercies. I felt such a strong spirit as he spoke. Things have been a bit crazy for me personally lately and all of these struggles just bog me down and I feel alone and so far from my Heavenly Father. Does He really know me? Does He know I am here? Does He care about the little things in my life that seem insignificant to others, but are a huge deal to me? I had a good cry with my friend Natalie the other night. We were bothy weepy women and it was good. Crying is so cathartic. She is amazing and offers wonderful advice. Which brings me back to the Lord's tender mercies...He is there, He knows what is in my heart. He knows the things that I need. He showed such sweet mercy by bringing Nat and I together the other night. It was supposed to be just a quick errand and turned into a 2 hour therapy session. But do you get what I mean about the Lord's tender mercies???

He knows what we need when we need it. Just like when I was so alone in the hospital before my surgery, He showed such tender mercy by letting me feel my Dad near me and bringing me such needed comfort.

Since my bishop's testimony I have been more aware of those moments in my life when I know that I am a beloved daughter of my Heavenly Father. And it isn't always big things, it is the little ones too...like the way my children smile at me and tell me that I am the most beautiful and best mother ever (without prompting!), and the way my Mom sends a text with a quote that helps lift my spirit. He is there and He is real and He knows every single one of us. I am so grateful for the tender mercies that are revealed daily in my life.

We're Back!!!!!

We survived the long drive home from California on Sunday. Was sad to leave, but very happy to crawl into my own bed....sigh....

I will post pics of our trip later for those of you who are interested. We had a very, very fun & event filled trip. Lots to talk about =)

I'm sitting here in the front room watching my kids ride their bikes. It is so quiet & peaceful in here! And my kids are just so cute! I love watching them interact with each other, when they are being nice of course. Lately they have been little pills. I think summer is hard on them without having a schedule, so we have a small one for the mornings to get chores done & such. I am hoping that they have gotten over their bad selves & will now be the sweet little children that I love and adore. Of course they will have their moments, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Matt will be here for that and I will be off doing something else...selfish?...yup...feeling guilty?...nope =)

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

9 years...

Happy Anniversary Matt! 9 years later he still makes me laugh...that man is funny!

Fruit Basket

Thursday night the kids went up to Cache Valley with their Grandma Jo. We talked to them yesterday & they have been having SO much stinkin fun! They got to run though sprinklers with cousins, ride horses, visit more cousins, haul rocks to earn $, and so much more! I'm so glad that they got to have a little vacation from home, but by golly I've missed them!

They are coming home today & I am so happy to have them back =)

Welcome Home Isa-Banana!

Welcome Home Benja-Grape!

I've missed you my little fruit heads!

An Update =)

So I had my second surgery. They got the 2 massive stones out of both kidneys! Thanks Heavens!!

Matt had to work and so Jacque stayed with the kids and I went in by myself. I didn't think it was a big deal until I was alone in my "room". I got very lonely and scared. I knew that I didn't have anything to worry about but it was still hard to be alone.

I started texting Mom and she was reassuring me that everything would be okay. I told I felt so alone and it was hard. And she told me that Dad was there. Of course I started crying because I knew she was right. I said a prayer and told Heavenly Father that I was scared and lonely and the instant I asked for help I felt at ease. It felt like a big cozy quilt was placed over my shoulders (literally) and I knew that my Dad was there and that I would be okay. I am so grateful for moments like this where Heavenly Father brings us such great comfort. Even though i wasn't in any danger, he knew how I felt and blessed me with his love.

My anesthesiologist was very funny in a sarcastic way & he made me feel at ease. As he and a male nurse were wheeling me down the hall to the operating room there was a huge piece of hospital equipment sitting right in the middle of the hallway. The nurse started to move it out of the way & they were both amazed that someone was stupid enough to just leave it there, when my anesthesiologist told his to stop & instead they wheeled it into a random room that it was close to. They both chuckled and made comments about how someone was going to wet themselves when it wasn't where they left it. The nurse told me it was a multimillion dollar machine...YIKES! But it was very amusing. When we got to the OR there were a couple other guys in there and my anesthesiologist told me I should thank them. So I did and when I kinda gave him a curious look he told me that they had placed a blanket and a hose that blew out warm air onto the surgical bed so my bum wouldn't freeze. I told them more enthusiastically thank you. I loved the light atmosphere that was there and everything just made me feel so at ease.

Afterwards in the recovery room I just kept thinking about how I wanted Matt to be there. I knew he was there somewhere because it was about 6 pm and knew that he was expected to be there about 5:30. I heard many people walking by & I thought it was funny that I knew when Matt was coming. I could tell by the way he walks...kinda crazy, but true =)

He told me that he had talked to my doctor and they went in and crushed the stone in my right kidney and removed it, and placed a stent in. And they blasted the one in my left kidney and when he did the ultrasound he didn't see it so he said he was confident that they got it. I was sore, but it wasn't too bad. They didn't remove the string hanging from the stent and so that meant that I was the lucky one who got to pull it out. I was scared stiff!!!! Plus it hurt. And the string, which was like fishing wire was about 18 inches long and would pull & that HURT!

But I removed it today and I am feeling MUCH better.

Thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes.

I love you all!!!! Hope this wasn't too boring =)