Anniversary Trip

So we were able to escape for our Anniversary (14th). We went to Logan and enjoyed 2 nights at the Anniversary Inn. It was really nice and relaxing and gave us the much needed break that we both needed. We then celebrated both Katie and Lindy's birthdays. It was a fun weekend to a very long spring break. We all are now healthy and back to trying to get things back to a normal routine. These are the two rooms we stayed in. 1st was Rich's Drive In.
So far our most favorite room. The bed is in the back of an old pickup and there is projection screen on the wall. The way the speakers are set up it felt you were at the movies. It was fantastic!! The room came with sodas, popcorn, candy and a hot dog toaster. Yeah they provided everything for 2 hot dogs and they cooked in a hot dog toaster (great invention!!). This is a room we will have to visit again. The 2nd night was the Hollywood Romance Theatre. This was more of a relaxing room rather then fun. It came with sodas and popcorn and a big screen to watch movies. Not quite as fun as Rich's but still worth every penny. We had a really fun time!!!

14th Anniversary

It's our 14th anniversary today! It fits that the weather is cold and windy, the same forcast 14 years ago. No plans yet on how to celebrate. It's Tues and Norm's late night so we won't even see much of each other today. The kids are home for spring break so there's not even a chance to sneak off for lunch! Bummer. Hopefully we can figure out something fun to do this weekend. Happy Anniversary Babe- 14 years down, Many more to come!!!!

Haven't posted for a while

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Just been so busy with work and school that I haven't been home. An update of how Wilkinson's are doing. Girls are doing good in school. Emily is soaring in reading and doing very well. YEAH!! Work is still there for now. It just seems to be a never ending roller coaster. We pray every week we are still in business. Home is the same story. We still aren't getting income. We are in survival mode right now. Still waiting to hear about the house. We haven't been able to pay for a while now so we are trying for a home modification loan to see if we can save our house. We only have a 50, 50 chance at this moment. We both have decided it is ok if we are meant to move on instead of stay at this point. It is all up to the Lord, of course it always has been, just up to this point we were able to see what direction is was going, now we are just walking by faith! Staying really busy has been our life saver.

10 Things I'm Grateful For

I was tagged by my sister on this one. I know that it is lengthy. We have had some difficult trials in our lives lately and this is something that I reflect on regularly.

Note: These things are in no particular order

1.My Dear sweet Hubby. He is my best friend. I am dearly grateful for all he does for me and the girls. I am quite a high maintenance girl and he puts up with it every step of the way. Even though he can drive me crazy sometimes (lets face it who doesn't have moments like that from their husband) he is always there watching over me and taking care of me. I am so grateful and blessed that he is my eternal companion.

2. My Dear sweet Girls. Well sweet most of the time. I am so grateful that I'm a mom and have 4 wonderful and very beautiful girls. I have to list the qualities I am most grateful for them individually.
Katie- I am so grateful that she is my oldest and is so easy going and goes with the flow. It is so easy to mess things up and learn from my mistakes with her. She is so good to teach me and is always there lending a helping hand. I am excited to see her grow up though it is hard to see her growing into a young lady. I know that my time with her listening and looking up to me is growing short, but I am grateful for her understanding and patience, and of course her wonderful sense of humor. I am also extremely grateful that she was my first and was such an easy baby and little girl.
Lindy- If any of you know Lindy you would chuckle that she was given to me to teach me Patience, and lots of it. I am very grateful for her though. She is a very good helper and one that always makes it all better when things go wrong. She has a very sweet and determined spirit that I hope as her mother she uses for the better, because she is going to be a very strong leader one day. I am grateful that she teaches me patience and that all kids are different and have their own way of thinking. She really makes me try harder to me a better mother, friend and person and I am so very grateful to her for that. When she is in her "good" moments I love sitting and talking with her because she is so fun to just sit back and chat with.
Emily- I am so grateful for her wonderful testimony. She is so young and excited to be a teaching tool in the Lord's hands. I have been so grateful for her love and her constant reminders to keep us on the right course. Emily spends a lot of time at the MTC and shares with us daily her lessons. I am so grateful for her compassion toward others. I admire her through all of her speech struggles the determination she has had to learn how to speak (both English and Spanish) and her new ability to read. I am so pleased how excited she gets when she reads and the shear enjoyment she finds from it. I am also so proud of her for being SOO excited to get baptized this year. She is the most excited out of any of them and is really doing everything she can to be prepared for her baptism. I am so grateful for that. It makes me so proud.
Haley- Another one of my patience tools, but my little baby. I'm afraid I am solely responsible for her being a patience tool since I do treat her as my baby. I am so grateful for her and that we have her here. She had some scary things happen at her birth and we were sure we were not going to be able to keep her here with us on earth. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father gave us the chance to care for her here. She is a bundle of joy in our lives and has really assured her place as the baby. She will always be our little baby no matter how old she is.

3. The gospel- I have always told my husband that I am so grateful that I was born into the gospel to a very active and wonderful family. I am so grateful that I had the priesthood and the gospel in my home growing up. I do not know if I would be so bold as to listen to the missionaries if I didn't already know it. I'm sure that is why I was born in the church. I am grateful to the gifts that I have received from my heavenly father. The gift of testimony, the gift of faith and the gift of revelation. These have come in handy several times in my life and made me the person I am today.

4. The Priesthood- I have to mention several other things relating to the gospel that I am grateful for. They are just to precious to me to combine them into one thing. I am so grateful that I have had the priesthood in my life. I was very privileged to have a worthy father growing up and many priesthood blessings. I have a wonderful husband who is also a worthy priesthood holder and I have seen not only for myself, but for my children as well, the power the priesthood has. I am so grateful that my family and I can receive priesthood blessings. I truly believe that without the priesthood I wouldn't have my dear sweet Haley here with me now.

5. The Temple- I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am that we have temples on the earth today. I am so grateful that I have an eternal family. I had the privilege, as well as the other members of my family to my sisters temple work. She passed away almost 4 years ago and the peace that was brought to all of us KNOWING that we would see her again someday, perfect and whole has meant more to me than anything. I am also so grateful to have a temple so close to home. I am so glad that I can go there to feel the Spirit and help so many that need us.

6. My Family- I have already mentioned my husband and my girls but I am so grateful for my family that I was born and raised to. I have a very loving and caring mother and father who taught me that Heavenly Father loves me and is always there for me just like they are. I am very grateful to my brother, Tim, yes we are all in shock. I am grateful for the compassion he has for me, even if he hit over the head a few times as a kid, he has always been there for me. I am grateful for my sister, Becky. She was my inspiration to always do good. She was my example and I am so grateful for all the lessons she taught me in life. I love her dearly and miss her greatly, but I know that she is always there with me. I always feel her near me when I start to feel lonely. She is there guiding me and watching me every step of the way. And I am VERY grateful for my dear sweet sister, Robyn. (she sent me this tag). There is quite an age difference between us and I kind of became 2nd mom when she was little. I was so happy to have a little sister and she did very well to train me to be a good mom. Now that she is grown and married and a mom herself, I have watched her grow into a wonderful women. We have become great friends now and I'm grateful and excited that she will be moving closer to me very soon. Lets not forget my brother in law, Ben, who I am grateful that I can pick on. I'm also grateful that he takes good care of me too. And of course, Connor, who I'm grateful made me an aunt!!

7. My Extended Family- I couldn't go on without saying how grateful I am for my husband' s family. I am blessed to live less then a mile from them and work with them as well. I love my mother in law dearly. She is one of my best friends. Because my mother lives so far away, she has stepped in and given me support when I needed my mom. I have 2 very wonderful sister in laws that have always been 2nd moms to my girls. I am so grateful for them for giving me a "break" every now and then and loving my girls as their own. I also have been blessed with 2 brother in laws that I have watched grow up. They have been great uncles to my girls and I'm so grateful for them. I am excited to have a new sister in law that just joined the family and trilled to get to know her better.

8. My Home- I am grateful to have a warm place to live. Although we are having tough times with our house and financial situation. There has not a night gone by without thanking the Lord for my wonderful warm home.

9. My Calling- I am in primary and Learning to Love it. I have Haley in my class this year, so I am struggling a little. I do love the little kids though. I have spent most of my adult life in the primary so I am used to it by now. I love how eager and willing these little kids are to learn the gospel and come to church each Sunday.

10. My Testimony- I know that I mentioned this earlier in the gospel part, but I am grateful for my testimony. I am grateful that my testimony changes everyday and defines who I am. I am grateful to the Lord for giving me all these trials in my life so that my testimony will continue to grow. I am grateful that I can share my testimony with my children and help them to gain one for themselves. I am grateful that I am a daughter of god and that he loves me and is always there for me in good times and in bad.

My Christmas Style

Alright I'm going to steal it too. (My sister stole this from her friends blog and I'm stealing it from her)

1- Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I always have different wrapping for santa presents, but I always wrap everything in paper. Sometimes with bows. Mostly without. Just as simple as possible.
2-Real or artificial tree? Through the first couple years of our marriage we always got a real tree, but over the years I convinced Norm to get an artifical tree because real ones just made too much of a mess. We have had an artificial tree now for 5 years
3-When do you put up your tree? We usually always put it up on Thanksgiving day, after our feast
4-When do you take the Christmas tree down? Usually sometime right after the 1st of January when I get around to it.
5-Do you like eggnog? Yes! I love eggnog but nobody else in the family does so I usually don't get any because I can't drink a whole carton on my own.
6-Favorite gift received as a child? We got a secret santa when I was 10. I remember getting a watch and a sweater. I can't remember much else just that my parents were so excited to see us open our presents. They kept telling us to hurry up because they wanted to see what we got. I got a whole trash bag full of presents as well as my brother and sister. I remember Becky got a sit-and-spin. It became her most prized toy she owned.
7- Hardest person to buy for? My brother in laws. Its not so hard now that David is married but Randy is impossible to think of anything fun.
8-Easiest person to buy for? My little girls. I know them so well that they don't even need to tell me what they want anymore, I just know!!
9-Do you have a nativity scene? Yes! I've owned several over the years. They have all been nonbreakable until this year. The kids have just learned now to leave it alone.
10-Mail or Email Christmas cards? I mail them when I ever send them out. I always forget and never get around to it. I've send cards out only 3 out of the 14 years.
11- Worst Christmas gift ever received? I can't remember. Now that I'm a Mom I don't usually get too much for Christmas so I'm always happy with whatever they give me.
12- Favorite Christmas movie? The Christmas story. My kids say they haven't see it so we will have to change that this year.
13-When do you start shopping for Christmas? I always do all my shopping before Thanksgiving. I can't stand all the crowds at Christmas time. This year I mainly did all my shopping online.
14-Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Of course, but I would never tell. Actually my brother in law David has this running joke for years now. He left behind one of his presents, a bowling set a several christmas's past and my mother in law wrapped it again the following year. Every year they re-wrap it and give it too him. We teased him about giving it too him as a wedding present but we never actually did.
15-Favorite thing to eat at Christmas time? It's defiantly the fudge!!!
16-What color light on the tree? White, It's prelit.
17- Favorite Christmas song? My most favorite is Silent Night, but I love all the songs about the savior.
18-Travel at Christmas or stay at home? We ususally travel to my parents, but the last couple years have left us at home. This year it is finances but my parents are coming to us.
19-Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Donnner, and Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Prancer, Vixen, and the most famous reindeer of all Ruldoulph.
20-Angel on the tree top or a star? We actually have a fairy. We have tinkerbell on our tree. The frist couple of years it was Mickey, then an angel and for the past couple of years it has been tinkerbell.
21-Open the present Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? We always let the kids open one present on Christmas Eve. We always pick it for them and it's always P.J.'s Christmas morning they get to open there stockings and then take the rest of the presents over to Norms parents to open them there first thing in the morning. When we are at my parents we just wait to open them either while dinner is cooking or after dinner, depending on the time.
22-Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The crowds. I hate all the hustle and bustle and the streets and in the stores. Especially with all the snow. It just drives me crazy.
23-What theme or color are you using? We use red/ white/ and silver in honor of our tinkerbell topper.
24-Favorite Christmas Dinner? My dad's prime rib. Yummy!!!
25-What do you want for Christmas this year? I want my kids to have a wonderful Christmas and be with all of my family. I'm able to get the family part so I just hope my kids have fun.

When life gives you lemons..

Make Lemonade.

The school decided last night to make it an early out day because of the weather. Well this is usually a good thing, I have been working on a school project with a group of other moms for today. It was a 2 hour long activity that took 2 months worth of work. Naturally the activity was to start at 1:30 and now the kids get out at 1:15. Needless to say there were some unhappy parents. Well with a whole lot of phone calls and a lot of sweat and tears we were able to fix the whole thing and make everyone happy. We will do part of the activity today and the rest on Monday when we get back. This actually worked out ok, because the other 2 stations that we will be doing on Monday did need some more time to carry out so now we will have 30 minutes instead of 20 to do each station. I guess you can make Lemons into lemonade, even at the last minute.

It's snowing, it's snowing!!!!

Yes it is snowing and snowing. It just won't stop today. Of course I have to be all over town this whole week and my power steering is giving out on me. This isn't the best week for snow. How about next week when I don't have so many places to go. The good news is, we got a gift certificate to Walmart yesterday so we can buy the kids new snow boots. They ae all in need of new boots and gloves so the timing couldn't be better!!

Happy Happy Birthday....

Haley!!! Our baby is 4. Her birthday was monday, I know I'm late I've just been so busy. She has a birthday party sunday at grandmas and celebrated her birthday yesterday at school. I can't believe she is so grown up. It makes me so sad but she sure is fun to talk to.

Welcome our new addition!

So Norm and the kids have really wanted a dog. I am not to excited about it, but I've been out voted. There is a lady that breeds Toy Australian Shepherds and she wanted to trade one of her pups for an ad. She had one that was on the small side and her ears stand up, which apparently for a Toy Aussie is not a good thing. When they have this defect they cannot be used for breeding dogs just pets. We don't want a breeder so Norm traded for her yesterday and they spayed her and got all her shots current. She works with the vet that already trades with us so we got everything we needed for her for free. Right now that is all we could do since there is NO money coming in. She does seem to be helping Norm with all the office and money stress. She has already stolen the heart of Norm and the girls. I'm still warming up to her. Last night she howled when we went to bed so we brought her upstairs in our room and she slept through the night. She is very well behaved just doesn't want to be left alone. Norm has already got her using a box of papers. She peed right away in it, but was having trouble pooping in the box. This morning she figured it out and is doing really well. She is just starting to show some excitement especially around the girls. She is still quite timid. She is also very small and will only double her size when she's full grown. She will be the size of Sparkles (our cat) at full height. Here's a picture of our new baby. Her name is Bella:

Halloween

We dressed the kids this year in whatever was available since we don't have any money right now. Katie was a japanse girl, Lindy was a witch, Emily was a bride and Haley was Supergirl. Everything we owned didn't suit Haley because she really wanted to be superman. Norm and I went to DI Wed. before halloween and found superman pajamas and red pants that we cut to make shorts. Cheryl had some scrap red fabric and made her a cape. The whole outfit was $2. We did alright this year. I don't have pictures yet of the older 3 but I do have cute ones of Supergirl. She was jumping off the bundles and Cheryl got really cute pictures of her "flying through the air"

Disneyland

I just posted the first 7 pages done of our trip to Disneyland on our family memories site. It's all I had time for. The rest will come shortly. Enjoy!

Disneyland!

We are back. We had a really great time. Wed. and Thurs. the park was not very crowded so we were able to do just about everything. Thurs we were given dream fast passes to use on some of the bigger line rides. Friday Mom, Dad and Tim came with us to Disneyland. We had a good time with them and the girls were very excited to see grandma and grandpa. Sat. we mainly hit the shows and used a couple of our dream fast passes. Thanks to Ben and Robyn for making this trip SOOO much fun. We got lucky and everyone was well enough to travel and no one got sick at Disneyland. I got it on the way home, so the trip home wasn't much fun, but then again when is it ever sick or not.

Disneyland

We leave tomorrow for Disneyland, there is just one hitch in our plan. We all got sick. Emily got the stomach flu on Friday and it passed after 12 hours and then I got a touch of it sat. night. Norm, Haley and Katie now have it. It should be gone before we leave tommorrow but we hope it doesn't catch Lindy or we will all be in trouble.

Only...

2 days left. Times are so tough right now so I'm so glad we are going. When we get back I get to look for a job to hold us over until the paper can support itself again. We can't wait to enjoy are escape before we head back to realty again.

Missed one

We haven't had internet so I missed a day in our countdown. Good thing Ben is staying on top of it. Only 3 days left!!!