True Love

I don't like blood.

I don't like raw flesh...

It makes my stomach do weird things.

You may be wondering what this is...

This is a picture of true love.

A few weeks ago Patrick had a little spot removed from the side of his head.

I went to the doctor's office with him.

I held his hand until they made me move to the other side of the room.

Days passed and it was time for the stitches to be removed.

Patrick had an early meeting and would not have time to go to the Dr. office that day.

So he asked me to do it. I told him he was crazy.

He offered me money, big money. I told him he was still crazy.

Until I saw him in the bathroom trying to remove them with a razor blade- himself.

I rolled my eyes and told him that he owed me... big time.

With the removal of each stitch I couldn't keep the grunts of disgust to myself.

I dry heaved, more than once.

These suckers were stuck in there good.

Yeah, only because of true love.

I love you, my Frankenstein lover boy!

Fun Halloween Treats

Need an idea for a fun Halloween treat?

I saw this and thought we'd give it a try...

Mini- Caramel Apples

They are so cute and so yummy!

You will need:

• A few Granny Smith apples
• Your favorite chocolate for melting
• Your favorite toppings to put on the chocolate
• small wooden skewers
• A melon baller

It depends on how many you want to make. We were able to get about 10 apple balls from each apple. We melted white chocolate, milk chocolate and peanut butter chips, but only work with one type of chocolate at a time- so it stays warm enough.

Ball your apple and be sure to leave a piece of the peel at the top where the skewer will go in- this makes it look like a real apple. Have your chocolate and your toppings ready so the apple doesn't have time to go brown. Put the skewer in and dip the apple in the chocolate and then into your toppings. Place them in the fridge until they set up. That's it!

I tried it with caramel, but because there was no peel, it slid right off- oops!

Our favorite combinations were:

• White Chocolate dipped in Cinnamon-sugar
• White Chocolate dipped in crushed Oreo's
• Milk chocolate dipped in chopped peanuts
• Milk Chocolate dipped in toffee Chips
• Milk Chocolate dipped in Coconut
• Peanut butter chips dipped in mini-chocolate chips
• Any chocolate dipped in fun Halloween Sprinkles

Edible Eyeballs

You will need:

• a package of mini-powdered donuts
• a package of gummi Life Savers
• a package of mini-M&M's or Mini-Reese's Pieces
• Red decorating Frosting
• White frosting for glue

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*This is so easy, but so fun.*

Use the red frosting to make "veins" on the donuts. Place the life saver in the middle of the donut and add a drop of the white frosting in the middle of that. Place the M&M on top of the life saver. Ohhh... creepy!

HappyHalloween!!

A Good Laugh...

I needed a good laugh.

Patrick can always make me laugh.

His wicked computer skills hit the spot.

When I saw what he had done to this picture I laughed so hard my stomach ached.

It was the best abdominal workout I have had in a long time.

It brought happy tears to my eyes.

*

I am extra thankful I am a girl... I would have made one scary boy. But, Patrick on the other hand is quite pretty- don't you think?

Laughing is good for you.

I remember my freshman year of college- being stressed out of my mind- multiple tests to study for, papers to write, working etc. As roommates, we would sit in a circle and on the count of 3 we would laugh as hard as we could for no reason. Our bodies didn't know we were faking it, but after a minute of deep hearty out loud laughter we felt more calm.

Sometimes you just gotta fake it till you make it.

I just did a Google search:

Dr. Lee Berk and fellow researcher Dr. Stanley Tan of Loma Linda University in California have been studying the effects of laughter on the immune system. To date their published studies have shown that laughing lowers blood pressure, reduces stress hormones, increases muscle flexion, and boosts immune function. Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being.

I'm no doctor... but we can't afford NOT to laugh.

Find a reason, any reason!

You can increase the health of the people around you!

Extra endorphins??

Bring it on, baby!

A great day...

Today was a great day.

This afternoon we went on a hike. Battle Creek is one of my favorite hikes. It's quite steep and rocky, but has running water with amazing little waterfalls all the way up the canyon. Gorgeous!! The colors were fantastic and the weather was perfect!

This evening we had our annual pumpkin carving Family Home Evening with our dear friend, Melissa. Almost exactly 3 years ago, Melissa introduced me to Patrick and my life has never been the same since. I am eternally indebted to her. Melissa is like a sister to both of us. She is a friend that would do anything to help and loves you no matter what. (I love you, girl!) Know any great single guys? Melissa is quite the catch- and we'd love to pay back the favor!! :)

I'm thankful for people I love and a beautiful place to live.

Life is good.

Searching for gold...

I love to blog.

It’s a journal for me.

I have not really felt like blogging lately, but I miss it… a lot.

Blogging causes you to look at life, which is often monotonous, and pull out the golden nuggets that make it sweet, funny, and even sad.

These are the things that make life memorable and are of great worth.

Sometimes I think I could never forget these memorable experiences, but somehow they do… start… to … f……a…..d……e.

Even though we are dealing with disappointment,
there are many wonderful little nuggets in our life.

We are blessed beyond measure.

I just need to get out my shovel and start diggin’.

Trusting in His love...

On Monday, September 29 at 12:28 pm I received the dreaded phone call. “Erin, she is not coming back.”

I talked with our case worker for a few more minutes but I don’t remember any of it- except for the words ringing in my ears, “She’s not coming back.”

I hung up the phone and instantly fell to my knees and sobbed like a little child. I was home alone and vocally offered my deep sorrow to my Heavenly Father.

“Why would our birth mother do this to us? Why didn’t this happen before I quit my job? Why not before we completely decorated the nursery?”

But mostly, “Why did we feel so connected to this baby girl? Why did we feel like we had received a very clear answer to our prayers that she was to be apart of our family?”

Patrick came home a few minutes later. He held me tight as we sat together, sad.

For the past two weeks every waking moment had been focused on preparing for this little one, and Patrick knew it would be good for us to get away for a while. He found us a darling bed and breakfast a couple hours away. Before I knew it he booked it for the entire week.

This place was perfect.

The colors in Logan were gorgeous and the Temple was near by.

We had an entire week to be together, and to feel our Heavenly Father near. I am embarrassed to admit it, but at first I felt like He had tricked us or given us false hope.

But as time went on, I could feel His love and was reminded of some truths I have always known…

*Heavenly Father and our Savior really do listen to our prayers. They mourn when we mourn and rejoice when we rejoice. They understand the longing of our heart, but also, they have a plan for our lives. Often times we just need to be patient and trust.

*I am reminded that we all have free-agency. Our birth-mother had her agency to leave. I have my agency to be angry and sad or to learn from this experience. I feel I have done both.

*I am in absolute awe at the love we have been shown by family, friends and even people we don’t know. Your prayers have strengthened us and we are incredibly thankful.

I am thankful for the opportunity to watch General Conference and learn from our leaders this weekend. So many of the talks spoke to my heart and gave me great comfort. What a blessing.

I love my sweet husband so much and am thankful for his love and support. We know we will be parents someday. It won’t be as soon as we had hoped, but one day we will hold our little one and all of this heartache will go away.

I just know it.