Count Your Blessings

Today a boy in Brandon's ward gave an excellent talk. It was about trials and troubles in our life. He read Hymn # 241 "Count Your Many Blessings" and it gave me so much comfort. Reading the words touched me and put things in greater perspective. I am grateful for this boys talk, it was exactly what I needed.

Count Your Many Blessings

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,Count your many blessings; name them one by one,And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Count your blessings;Name them one by one.Count your blessings;See what God hath done.Count your blessings;Name them one by one.Count your many blessings;See what God hath done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?Count your many blessings; ev’ry doubt will fly,And you will be singing as the days go by.
When you look at others with their lands and gold,Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold.Count your many blessings; money cannot buyYour reward in heaven nor your home on high.

So amid the conflict, whether great or small,Do not be discouraged; God is over all.Count your many blessings; angels will attend,Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

DATE NIGHT

Brandon and I had "date night" Monday night and it was so fun. We haven't gone OUT for date night FOREVER! We had to drop Mitch off at the airport at 7:30 and pick up someone at 11 so we had some time in between. We decided to go to dinner and a movie. After the week it was good to have some alone time. We definately needed it! It was fun and different getting out of our house and little town Laie. We went to the dollar theater and it was so nice! We watched Kung Fu Panada. It was cute. Brandon and I decided when there are a couple movies playing that we would like to see, we want to have a movie marathon there. Fun huh? We can watch 10 movies there for the price of 1 at a normal theater. Crazy! Oh how I love spending time with my hubby!

Our Temple Walk

On Sunday we went for a walk to the temple so we could walk off some of dinner and so Mitch could take some pictures. On our walk we ran into Krew, Shanae and Kali! What a great suprise! We had a great time with Mitch, it was so fun to have him here. As Brandon studied Mitch and I had some wonderful bonding moments! :) Mitch is such a nice person and fun to be around. I was sad to see him go. Mitch got alot of love on this trip.

I just love my baby Krew.

Paige is Coming to Stay!

Yes it is official- Paige is coming to Hawaii for fall semester! I am the happiest girl alive! I tried my hardest while she was here in the Spring to convert her to stay in Hawaii and go to school here. I mean why would you want to go to school anywhere else? After some persuasion she decided to listen to her big sister! :) She gets in tomorrow (Saturday) and I can't wait to go pick her up. The only bad part about being in Hawaii is being so far away from family, so it will be nice to have a sister here. Paige I am anxiously awaiting your arrival and can't wait to have some FUUUNNN!!!

I love to see the Temple

Church starts at 8:00 am for me now, so I'm all done with church at 11. Its really nice but also makes Sunday kind of long. Especially when my husband is gone all day at meetings, but its okay. Tonight I took a walk while I talked to my mom on the phone. I love to talk to my mom. The temperature was so nice and it would just be crazy if I didnt get outside. The sky was awesome so I took my camera with me and took some pictures of the beautiful Laie Hawaii Temple. I am so lucky to live 2 minutes walking distance from the temple. I dont think I'll ever live this close to a temple again so I definately try to take advantage of it. Just a cute little memory: when I was little before bed, Paige and I shared a room and every night my mom would come by our bed and we would sing

I love to see the temple

Im going there someday

To feel the Holy Spirit

To listen and to pray

For the temple is a house of God

A place of love and beauty

I'll prepare myself while I am young

This is my sacred duty

Swimming Anyone?

Today is a holiday here in Hawaii, its the day that Hawaii became a state, so I had a day off and boy was it nice! I went to the pool to swim some laps and when I was finished I ran into Kali and Shanae so I stayed and swam with them. Kali is becoming such a great swimmer! Then I came home to make Brandon his favorite no bake cookies. He has been studying so hard I thought I would make him a little treat. :) When he came home he said, "Crys you have to come outside, all the babies are playing, you'll love it." I was out the door in a second... and in the baby pool in about 5 seconds. Who said those pools were just for babies? I LOVED IT!!! TVA is filled with such cute babies that I love love love so much. Everytime I see them I give them plenty of kisses. I tell the parents if they ever are missing their kid you know where to look. These are just a few of the cute TVA babies.

PICASSO

The other day we got this beautiful painting in the mail. From who? CLAYTON... our little Picasso! Thank you Clayton for the picture. As you can see we love it, something has to be pretty special to go up on our fridge! We wish we were closer to you so we could paint pictures WITH YOU! Brandon sends you knuckles and noggens! We love you so much and miss you. Give your sisters hugs for us!

Wednesday Message

I was thinking the other day and thought to myself, "I should make a Wednesday Message on my blog." We are hearing all the time to use the internet for good; to proclaim the gospel, so why not add a little message to my blog? So here is goes, the first Wednesday Message...

'"Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you."

"Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep;and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day." (Alma 37:36-37)

WANT S'MORE

You know those times when there is nothing in the house to eat? You open the cupboards and fridge about 15 times just looking... thinking that maybe one of those times something will pop in there that looks appetizing? Last night was one of those nights for Brandon and I. Our cupboards are pretty bare right now, but we came across some marshmellows, chocolates and graham crackers... put them together and we have S'MORES!!! Just to make a note here in case my dad reads this... the only reason we have this stuff is because my friend Ashley Brown was going to have a bon fire after graduation (back in June) but it didnt work out, she was leaving and needed someone to give the smore stuff too. So thank you Ashley Brown for providing our dinner last night! We roasted the marshmellows over the stove, cause we are in Hawaii and theres no fireplaces in Hawaii especially in TVA, and it was so fun!!! The things you come up with when you have no food and are starving!

BACK TO SCHOOL

Today I started my first day of work. Boy am I glad to be working again. My job consists of going to school with an Autistic boy. He is in 5th grade. I have never done this kind of work before and I sure was in for a treat. It was one of the hardest things I think I have ever done. When he got off the bus he just kept walking and wouldnt listen to me, he would barely communicate, I got stabbed with a pencil, spit in the face, had to repeat myself probably 15000 times, and only about 2 hours into it I was holding back tears, but the funny thing is I LOVED IT. Already in one day I saw improvements and that was so exciting. I already love the boy with all my heart. He is such a special boy. It was very neat to see the other children in the classroom cheer him on, encourage him, and overall just be nice to him. Kids can be mean these days so I was happy to see positive interactions. I am going to learn so much from this job and I'm excited for what the future holds. I hope to develope greater patience. I am grateful for the staff at the school, they were all so very nice and encouraging to me which made the first day go alright. The first day is over and it can only get better from here. :)

My Best Friends

A tribute to the Jones family. Oh how I love them. Aaron and I have great talks at the gym, he always bugs Brandon to have kids (thank you Aaron). Shanae is one of my all time best friends. Ever since we sat by each other in Nutrition class life has never been the same. I mean that in a good way. We die laughing with each other and can sit and talk for hours. Whenever I'm sad or just want to talk to a friend Shanae is always there. I know we will be friends forever. During the last semester I was really busy with school and didn't see much of Shanae but the day school was out... yep I went over there and we had a beach day. She is a fabulous mother... I am so grateful that I have the chance to watch such a great example. She is always thinking of others, caring and kind. Aaron is one lucky guy. And then there is my KALI GIRL.
Kali is the cutest girl on the planet. I have known her since she was a couple months old and babysat and played with her soo much. I can't stay away from her. She is full of love and has the funniest comments. I think I have more pictures of her than myself. My family is probably so sick of me always talking about Kali, but I can't help it she is soooooo cute. When my family met her, they understood. She has crystal blue eyes, curly blonde hair and the cutest personality. Heres a little secret: sometimes when I take Kali out for Shanae to have a break, I claim her as mine. :)
Baby Krew has to be the best baby I have ever seen. You can just lay him on the bed and he is fine forever. He NEVER cries and is always as happy as can be. I love to hold him and make him laugh, he has the best laugh. JONES FAMILY I love you!!!

Family Reunion 2008

We had so much fun at our family reunion in Coeur d alene Idaho. First of all it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The clear blue lake, tall full pine trees and mountains that peak into the sky and a perfect temperature of about 90. The first week my moms side of the family came and the second week my dads side of the family came. Both weeks were tons of fun!!! It was great to be able to spend time with my sisters. They are my best friends. Every day was fun-filled... we were either on the lake wake boarding and surfing, or up at Gozzer Ranch playing basketball, tennis, pickle ball, football, Frisbee, shuffle board, ping pong, golf or hockey. You think I'm kidding but I'm not. There was so much to do and we sure did it all. At night we had spiritual thoughts, played games and watched movies. I just want to say thank you to my mom and dad for flying us out there to be with the family. We greatly appreciate it. Below are some highlights of the trip. Notice how Brandon isn't in very many... thats because he was with dad golfing everyday!!! He was having the time of his life, I'm glad he got to do something fun because he works hard everyday studying his brains out. He deserved it. When Brandon was at the house he was playing with my sisters. It is so cute, they love him so much. Wherever Brandon goes... my sisters go. Nothing in life beats being with the family!




We tried fitting 15 people in a 7 passager car. Talk about being squashed!



















































































Here my dad fell asleep on the pool table with his head resting on his scriptures. I guess thats the new way of reading scriptures.