I've Been Tagged!!

I have been tagged by my friend to tell 25 things about myself that you may or may not know. So after a family conference on what makes me, "ME" this is what we came up with!

• I grew up on a beef farm in Logan, Utah.



• I was in 4-H when I was younger. One year I entered lemon bars and I won a blue ribbon in the county fair. Yummy!



• I would prefer Miracle Whip over Mayonnaise any day.



• I am known as the Guitar Hero Queen in my family. I was doing Battle Mode with Karl Bickmore and my husband one night. Well lets just say Karl and Jared were the only ones passing the guitar back and forth. I won every song against them for 3 straight hours! (I haven't played Guitar Hero since because I want to keep my title!)



• I am a big stickler when it comes to counting the notes in music. Just ask some of my piano students!



• My favorite color is red.



• In high school I was in the S.T.A.R.T. club. This was the "Just Say No" group in our school. Don't ask me what the letters stand for . . . I don't remember anymore. Kind of a weird name for a club that tells to not to do drugs isn't it?



• When I was 11 I had a seizure while I was getting ready for church. It was the ward primary program and I was one of the narrators. I didn't make it to church that day.



• I am a very useful person when people run out of gas and are stranded on the road. Just keep my number handy! :)



• I prefer chunky peanut butter over creamy.



• I enjoy canning. Well, let me say that I enjoy it as long as I don't have my 2 little "helpers".



• I have scoliosis. The doctors said that I would be 5" taller if my spine was straight. WOW! That means I would be 5' 5".



• I talk in my sleep.



• I participated in the Dairy Princess Pageant in Cache Valley when I was younger. Sadly, I was not one of the final contestants. :(



• My first time on an airplane was in 1998 when we came to Phoenix for Jared's job interview. I was 21 years old at the time.



• I hate, hate, hate, (did I say it enought?) doing laundry!!!!



• I don't have a middle name.



• I would rather play with trucks and dinosaurs versus playing with Barbies and dolls. Does that tell you what kind of kid I was growing up?



• I was the yearbook editor my senior year in high school.



• I have never bought beef at the store. I don't know what to even look for at the store. I get it from my parent's farm so all I have to do is open the freezer and it is always there.



• When I was younger I wore a patch on one eye because I had a lazy eye.



• I hate feet. I can't handle touching them or having them touch me. GROSS!



• I am a slave to my calendar. I am not a very impulsive person and have to have everything written down. Jared is not a slave to the calendar.



• I have never been to Disneyland.



• Before I got married (12 years ago) I never went out of the state of Utah or Idaho. Okay, maybe there was a time that my family crossed the border into Nevada.

So there you have it, the good and the bad. So now I tag Heather A., Renae, Carri and Tamara. Good luck!

Soccer Time!

The girls decided at the end of last school year that they both wanted to play soccer in the fall. This is the 1st sport that either girl has shown any interest in. Jared loves soccer so he is really glad that they chose this sport. It has made our week a lot more hectic with practices and games, but it has been really good for the girls. I think that Jessica and Jocelyn are the only ones on their team that haven't played soccer before. The girls have both had 4 games so far this soccer season.

Jessica's team name is the Firebolts. They have won 1 game, lost 2, and tied 1. Her favorite position to play is defender (I think that is because you don't have to run as much!).

Jocelyn's team name is the Fire Dogs. They are undefeated so far. Jocelyn was pretty excited because at her last game she just about made a goal. Jared and I were hoping that it would go in, but it just kept right on going past the goal. Maybe next time! Jocelyn's favorite position is the goalie because she likes to use her hands. At her last game it was our turn to take the snacks for the players. She started planning on what we should take a week before. She ended up deciding (with a little influence from her mother) that we would take cheese sticks and grapes for half time and granola bars and Capri Suns for the end of the game.



Jared ended up taking an 8 hour course so that he could be a ref for the games. He is the official referee for Jessica's team and fills in when he can for Jocelyn's team. He has been having too much fun out there on the field. He says that the hardest part for him being the referee is that he can't cheer on his own daughters or even their team. He also said that sometimes he has to remind himself that he isn't playing so that he can't go after and kick the ball. So with both of the girls playing and Jared reffing, that leaves the boys and I on the sidelines to cheer the girls on. Games are every Saturday until the 1st part of December. They will then probably do soccer in the spring. Well, now I can say that I am an official "soccer mom".

The Silversmith

The day before my sister's baby had her open-heart surgery she sent this story to me. I have been thinking about it all week and thought that I would share it with you as well. There are many times in each of our lives that we are a piece of silver being refined by a silversmith. . . we just need to remember who the silversmith is.

THE SILVERSMITH
Some time ago, a few ladies met to study the scriptures. While reading the third chapter of Malachi, they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" (Malachi 3:3).

One lady decided to visit a silversmith, and report to the others on what he said about the subject.She went accordingly, and without telling him the reason for her visit, begged the silversmith to tell her about the process of refining silver. After he had fully described it to her, she asked, "Sir, do you sit while the work of refining is going on?" "Oh, yes ma'am," replied the silversmith; "I must sit and watch the furnace constantly, for if the time necessary for refining is exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured." The lady at once saw the beauty and comfort of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."God sees it necessary to put His children into the furnace; but His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for us. Our trials do not come at random, and He will not let us be tested beyond what we can endure. Before she left, the lady asked one final question, "How do you know when the process is complete?" "That's quite simple," replied the silversmith. "When I can see my own image in the silver, the refining process is finished.

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

-Author Unknown

Gifts from Heaven

In September I became an aunt to another niece and nephew. Heather & Frank Kelley welcomed another little girl into their family. Alyson Colleen was born on September 9th. She was 8 lb 14 oz. Garth & Carri Gnehm are the proud parents of Ty Jon, who was 8 lb 2 oz. He was born on September 10th. Ironically, September 10th is also my mom's birthday.

It has been an amazing month with many emotions attached. We all went through excitement of wondering if these 2 new little ones would be born on the same day. Heather was planned to be induced on the 10th, but little Alyson had her own agenda and decided to come a day early. We all have a feeling that my dad had a great hand in sending 2 more spirits to the Gnehm family so close together. We all went through great relief when the waiting was finally over. And we have all shed many tears and have done much rejoicing at the progress that the babies have made in their short lives. Alyson was born with some heart conditions and because of this she had open heart surgery on Friday, October 3rd. It has only been 4 days since her surgery and she is doing fantastic. The doctors have said that she has recovered faster than they could have imagined. She has had several of her tubes taken out and is now off the breathing machine. She now needs to start eating and gaining back weight so that she can go home.

It is amazing still to me what precious gifts from God we receive when we get a child into our homes. Since these new little ones have arrived, I have been trying to keep things into perspective. When the boys are into mischief together or the girls are ignoring me altogether, I try to remember their sweet spirits when they were born. This has helped me to not sweat the small stuff with the kids as much. That is a lesson that I need over and over again!

Good Night - Sleep Tight

For the last couple years Jessica hasn't been the best of sleepers. She can go to bed really late and still get up early the next morning. She has often been known to wander around the house around 3:00 a.m. So, on Tuesday, September 9th Jessica went to have a sleep study test done. We had to be at the sleep center at 8:00 p.m. It took the lady about 45 minutes to get Jess all hooked up and in bed. She had a big, cushy bed all to herself (while her mother got to sleep on a cot). She said the most annoying thing was the infared video camera that was on her while she was sleeping. She said that she slept great. I was the one that had all the bad dreams and kept waking up all night long. The most bizarre of my dreams was the one that I dreamt that it was the next morning. The lady came in to unhook Jess and said,

"Jessica, you did great . . . it is your mom that should be in here taking a
sleep test. I kept hearing her talk to me through the intecom even though she was asleep."

(Side Note: I do talk in my sleep, but I know that I didn't talk in my sleep that night.)

The next morning the lady came in at 5:30 a.m. and unhooked Jessica. It took Jess and I about 30 minutes to get the gunk all out of her hair and off her body. She was one sticky mess! I think that Jessica's favorite part was that they then brought breakfast into us. We then went home and finished getting ready to go to school.

When the test results came back up it said that she got up about 3:30 a.m. and took about 30 minutes until she got back in the deep sleep again. Interesting that it was basically the same time that she roams around our house. We need to make an appointment with another doctor to find out more information on what to do.

Peach Wars

On Sunday, September 28th Jacob had a fever so I stayed home from church with both of the boys. Since no one else was home I put on a movie for the boys to watch while I ran to the bathroom. I heard them giggling and throwing things. It sounded like one of their balls that they were throwing around. A couple minutes later I heard rocks being thrown. (I have some decorative little stones in the living room.) I went out and found that they were putting rocks in my guitar. Wonderful. All was good until I turned around and found that they had smashed whole peaches on the carpet in the living room. I was pretty irritated until I walked into the kitchen to get some paper towels and noticed that they had smashed about 8 other peaches on the floor. I mean it was everywhere. Those little turkeys. Let's just say that I had a busy morning mopping the floor and cleaning carpets. :) The real kicker of the story is a Murphy's Law. I just mopped the floor and really got all the gung out of all the cracks the night before. When I went to clean up the boys I noticed that Jacob had smeared peaches on the back of his head. What happened there?