Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow...

Quite splendidly, thank you.

Disney's California Adventure

We were able to stay a few days at a hotel near Disneyland and spend 3 glorious days in the magical world of Disney. I love all things Disney...

Our first day we spent at California Adventure. I love this place! The kids were in heaven! We got to spend time there with Mom, Elizabeth, Heather, & Ashleigh. Good times were had by all...

Aren't they the cutest little action figures??? I know...I would totally buy a million myself!

Isabelle won a little stuffed crab and named it Elizabeth. It made me laugh, cause she was so cute! So here is Isabelle, Aunt Elizabeth & her namesake =)

Ashleigh & Ben in Bug's Land.

Ben & Grandma Bonnie

Our favorite rides:

Dad: Anything that didn't make him want to hurl

Mom: Soarin' Over California, and California Screamin'

Isabelle: Soarin' Over California

Ben: Hollywood Tower of Terror (Isabelle burst into tears in the middle of this & Ben relished every stomach lurching drop. He was so excited because he floated in his seat. And he went on it again later with his aunt's & Grandma...he was SO excited! Matt was at the hotel & called me to see what everyone was doing & I told him my mom & sisters were going on the tower of Terror again and Ben interrupted with a crazy guttural shout "I want to go on the Tower of Terror"!!!! So the little thrill seeker got his wish. Isabelle & I went on Soarin' over California again.)

Stephanie & Kirk Fortini

This is my sister Stephanie and her husband Kirk. When we went to California Matt & I were able to go to the temple with them as they took out their endowments and also as they got sealed. Matt & I were able to be the witness couple during their seesion so I got to sit right next to my sister! I was so excited! I could feel the spirit so strongly, it was amazing! Matt also got to be on eof the witness's to their sealing and I got to sit in the seat next to Kirk in the sealing room. Typically this seat it reserved for the groom's mother, but since he is the only member of the church in his family I got to sit there. I am pretty sure he didn't know any of this, but I did and it made me so happy that I could support him by being there. It was an amazing sealing and of course I cried. I knew my Dad was there and was just bursting his buttons at his pride and joy in his daughter making such an amazing decision in her life. It was truly a wonderful day for our family. Steph & Kirk were married last year a few months after he was baptized and they were able to be sealed on their first anniversary. So exciting!

Here is the happy couple...

Here is my Mom and I...I know...she is so stinkin cute...where do you think I get my good looks from????

Matt and I...

Steph, Kirk, Dillon, Alyssa, & Cami...
(I love that their faces are just glowing & bursting with excitement!)

The after the sealing crew...

Me, Elizabeth, Andrew, Stephanie, Mom, Erin

The Fortini's with my Uncle Mike & Aunt Jeri

In front of the Redlands, California Temple

With the missionaries who taught and baptized Kirk. So amazing that they could be there!

The Family...minus a few kiddo's ;)

And they lived happily ever after....

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!