Angels Among Us

I have to share a few of the blessings over the last few months. We all know that blessings come in many forms, but most often they come in the form of friends and family doing for us what the Lord knows we need. Sometimes, a lot of the time, it is even things we ourselves didn't know we needed!
I'm not quite sure how to go about a lot of these things. Because some I'm not sure who my Angel is and some I know the people would like for their service to be kept a secret. So bare with me as I go about my "Thank You's" as best I can!
I was talking with a neighbor not long after Jeron lost his job. She asked how things were going and we talked about it for a minute. And then she looked at me and said, "Well, we are praying for you!" And I knew it was true. I had felt those prayers. I sat in a presidency meeting as I listened to my friend say the closing prayer and get choked up with emotion as she prayed for our family.
I have had a friend show up at my door on numerous occasions with a drink in her hand and a smile on her face! Ready to talk or what ever else I might need. Who has bailed me out time and again and again and again!
We got a card in the mail with the address and all other writing done very carefully so as not to be able to recognize the handwriting with $200 in it.
A Bishop who told me to just accept the Sub-for-Santa another ward wanted to do for us. Which made our Christmas a little too good!
For a Gift Card from a cousin for way more money then the favor I had done was worth!
For all the prayers. For all the visits. For all the words of encouragement. For all the listening ears. For all of you who have picked me up when I have fallen I say Thank You. I know it is not much, but I want you to know I will do my best to follow your example and to be there for another when it is needed. To do as the Lord would have me do, just as you have done!

Blessings Come In Many Ways!

Some of you may already know that things have been a bit stressful at our house for the last little bit. Money has been tight and we all know the fun that causes! You add to that my Grandparents and our dog and I was starting to joke that we were caught in the worst country song ever! Well, what would that song be without a lost job.
Can you see it coming? On October 15 Jeron lost his job. The funny thing is that after that things didn't seem quite so stressful anymore. When he called me to tell me what was going on there was an immediate peace that came over me. That is not to say I have not had a few days where I feel like I am coming apart at the seams! But I knew, I knew this was going to be the best thing for us. I just kept thinking about Nephi getting the Brass Plates. Nephi telling Lamen and Lemuel that the Lord is mightier then all the earth why not mightier then Laban and his 50? (See 1Nephi Chapters 3 & 4). Well, if that's true then the Lord is mightier then Jeron's old boss! If we were not going to be okay through this and not be able to make this be for our good it would not have happened. I just have to keep reminding myself every few days!
The windows of Heaven have opened for us. 1 month to the day Jeron started another job. It is temporary but it is a pay check. There are no benefits but the kids all qualify for something through the state so they have insurance. Every time I think there is something I won't be able to handle the Lord steps in.
He is still looking so... My cousins gave him some info about a job in Texas, but we would like to exhaust options that don't have us selling our house at a HUGE loss!
We have felt the prayers of our family and friends. Thank you so much for all of your love and support. We love you all and we'll keep you posted!

Grandpa "Snowmobile" Perkins

On September 20 my Grandfather passed away. You may remember that he has been sick for a very long time. There were so many things that should have taken him. Heavenly Father had a plan for him, just as He does for each of us. And even with everything that happened to him, all the health problems he was able to fulfill his plan.

Grandpa had not been sealed to his parents. His sister is his only surviving sibling. The 2 of them were able to go and be sealed to their parents, along with their brothers who have passed away. My mom said she hadn't seen him so happy in a very long time.

I know it was a long 3 months and 3 days for Grandpa. It was the longest he and Grandma had ever been apart. And as hard as it was to loose both of them so close together I wouldn't have it any other way. They didn't even have to miss an anniversary together. It is strange to think of them gone. The holidays were hard. Years and years ago Grandma made an ornament for every member of the family for her tree. Last Christmas they gave them all to us. As we were decorating the tree this year and I pulled it out I just started to cry.

I have no doubt Grandpa had more then a little something to do with all this snow we have gotten this year! Their bishop shared one of his fondest memories of my grandparents at Grandpa's funeral. He was outside one day when Grandpa went flying by on his 4 wheeler followed right behind by Grandma! That's my grandparents, living life to the fullest, TOGETHER! We'll be thinking about you with every inch of snow we get! We love and miss you! Thank you for your wonderful example!

Ty

I skipped September in my little blog catch up post because everything that happened deserved it's own post.
On September 19th our wonderful and loyal puppy, Ty, passed away. On Friday the 10th Porter went out to play with him and he wouldn't get up. It took me, Connor and Porter to get him to the van. I took him to the vet and we found a wound, that being an outside dog we just hadn't seen under his fur. The problem is, being an outside dog the flies did. He ended up with maggots, which made him VERY sick. The last thing Porter said to me when I left the house was, "Don't you let them put my dog down!" So I left Ty at the vet's office and came home with a vet bill we couldn't really afford but not knowing what else to do. They wanted to keep him another night but we just couldn't afford it. So we brought him home late Saturday night and did our best to take care of him. He seemed to be getting better and then he started associating all food with pills and quit eating. We tried all kinds of things. And then he quit drinking. We knew we were loosing him. Jeron was up half the night with him Saturday night. He got up Sunday morning to go to his meeting and he was gone. We got the boys up and told them.
Porter was just 3 years old when we got him. He was just a part of the family. When we brought Emma home from the hospital he would check the bassinet and if she was in it he would lay down in front of it. Maycie was never afraid of him. She would go after him with all the love she had in her and he always let her. She never left the house without yelling, "Bye Ty!" the whole time he was sick! A few days after he died she went to the back window looking for him.
We did some checking and found out that because he died at home we could bury him ourselves. You may remember a blog entry titled Ty's Ponds! Well, we never completely filled in one of the holes. We thought it fitting that be his final resting place. My dad came over and helped Jeron and the boys finish the hole Sunday evening. It was hard to say good bye to him. Every once in a while I'll be standing at my kitchen sink, look out the window and he's not there. When he first got sick I was just sure I would say no to another dog! Now the thought of Emma and Maycie never having what the boys had with Ty, well I just can't stand that. The time we had was priceless. I want that for our family again - one day!

I was upset with myself for not having more pictures of our sweet puppy but here are a few!

He loved his play time with his boys! They would throw the snow up in the air and he would try and catch it! He would do the same thing with bubbles! One of his favorite games with the boys was "Star Wars" The boys would get out their light sabers and pretend he was Darth Vador and chase him around the yard!

We found in the summer time the best way to make sure he always had enough water was this big black tub! He could get in to cool off and always had enough to drink!


With the maggots they had to shave him to make sure they got rid of them.
I knew just how sick he was when they were shaving him and he just lay there and let them.

He was a great dog and we all miss him very much!

So Much Blogging...So Little Time!

Things I should have blogged about and haven't:

End of July: Girls Camp!
I got to go to Girls Camp this year. Our Young Women's President was moving so we all knew a change was coming, just not what or when. So to have this time was amazing!
We had some rain - it only took me ALL day to dry out! The best part (as always) was getting to know the Young Women better. They even scared me so bad I would have wet my pants if I hadn't been coming from the bathroom! I think they are still laughing about it!
I was lucky enough to get to stay right where I was! I love these girls so much and am so grateful to get to work with them. I did have to leave early and miss testimony meeting which was hard because that is like the best part! But it was for a good reason, which leads us to...

Last weekend in July: Baptism Weekend!
Friday my sister, Megan's step son Jarom, was baptised. It was a wonderful evening! Jarom may have come into our family via marriage but he is no less a part of the family. We feel very blessed to get to be a part of his family!
On Saturday my other sister, Abby's son Corbin, was baptised in Lehi and down to almost the very same hour Jeron's sister, Becky's daughter Lizzy, was baptized in Tremonton. It was so hard for us to not go to both baptisms as a family but it was better to divide and conquer then to miss one all together. So we put the big kids names in a hat (it was decided from the beginning Maycie would go with mom) so that no one had to choose. Jaxon and Porter went with dad to Tremonton and Connor and Emma came with mom and Maycie to Lehi. I love both of these kids so much! What a wonderful problem to have, too many baptisms. And that we live close enough to be there!

End of August: Back to School!
I am a horrible mom and didn't really get any pictures this year! If you can believe it though, Jaxon is in 8th grade, Connor is in 6th and Porter is in 4th! Is is so hard to believe my boys are getting so big! Emma is going to the preschool at West Jordan High. The boys all did it and I love that Emma gets to do it too! It is hard to believe she'll be starting Kindergarten next year.

September: Skipping September right now you'll see why in later posts.

October: Eight years ago we had a lot of babies born in our family! Jeron's sister, Angie's daughter Hannah, was baptised. I was supposed to give my first baptism talk ever and ended up so late I missed it. I cried and cried! Luckily our family is so understanding and did everything they could to make me feel better! The most important part is the we didn't miss the actual baptism! We are so grateful for such a wonderful family, and that Hannah is a part of it!

November 1st: Christmas Music!
Are you kidding me? Now I know there are a lot of you out there who LOVE this and would have it start even earlier if you could. I have nothing against Christmas music. But I LOVE Thanksgiving! I love everything about Thanksgiving. The food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, pie! The family. Everyone together, enjoying each other. But most of all I love having a time set aside reminding me how much I have to be grateful for. Something I should be thinking about and remember all the time, I know. And I try! But I love the special time set aside to do so, especially right before Christmas. What a wonderful reminder of what this season is all about. The Birth of my Savior. That He came to this earth as we all did, a small, innocent, humble baby. He grew and lived a perfect life. He then provided a way for me to return to live with Him again through the Atonement. He suffered for my sins, He died for me and then was Resurrected, providing the way for us all. This I am most grateful for because it is what everything else is built on.
So, now that I have had my time on my soap box! Bring on the Christmas music and let's start a most wonderful celebration of our Saviors Birth!

Brothers!

I have already said that our little family worked out just about as perfect as possible. The one thing is that 4 of my 5 kids have birthdays between September 26 and November 15! Poor Connor, stuck in March between mom and dad. The boys birthdays may not be all together but that hasn't stopped them from being good friends and great brothers. Don't get me wrong. They are not perfect and have bad days. They can yell and fight with the best of them! When they were little and we were moving a lot they always had each other. We have stories about paint and frogs and so many more I can't even remember! Most of them are about getting into trouble but what else would you expect from 3 little boys. We have gone from Connor wanting to do everything Jaxon did and Porter wanting to be in the thick of everything his brothers did to them coming into their own things.

Jaxon has done football for the last 2 years and has done really well. He is thinking about Lacrosse in the spring to have options High School.

Connor did Lacrosse this last spring and loved it! It was so good for him, in so many ways. I worried when Jaxon started talking about Lacrosse. It was kind of nice for Connor to have his own thing. But Jaxon going to Connor and asking for help was good for Connor.

Porter did football this year. He has only been asking to do this since he was 4! There was no question when I saw him in his pads for the first time that he was made for this sport.

Jaxon and Porter went to Lacrosse games and learned all about this new sport. Connor went to football games and has learned more about a sport he didn't care about before his brothers played.

Jaxon turned 14 on October 30, Porter turned 10 on November 15 and Connor will be 12 on March 4. That means in March I will have a Teacher and a Deacon with Porter right on their heals. I feel the weight of teaching them. I look at the things they are up against in this world today. The moment I found out Jaxon was a boy the Stripling Warriors became more then just a scripture story. I want to be that kind of mom! I want my boys to never doubt because they know that I know. I am so grateful for them and the joy (and stress =)) they bring into my life! Jaxon, Connor and Porter know that I always love you. Thank you for ... being you!

Sisters!

I have to say, if someone had asked me when I got married how I thought my little family would turn out I'm not sure what I would have said. I just know I didn't expect this! When people would ask Jeron and I how many kids we wanted we would both say 3 or 4 or how ever many the Lord sent us. Jeron was thinking closer to 3, I was thinking closer to 4 and the Lord sent us 5! I cannot imagine our family without anyone of them! I also think it worked out as close to perfect as it could for us!

The girls are 3 years apart and the best of friends. Maycie turned 2 on September 26 and Emma turned 5 on October 7. We were getting ready for the big bed move (Emma from a toddler to a twin and Maycie from the crib to a toddler) so I thought it would be fun for the girls to get bedding for their birthdays! I found at Target I could get matching bedding for a toddler bed and a twin bed! Maycie was very excited and started useing everything even before the big move! But even better then that was what happened on Emma's birthday. I had Emma's bedding in my closet, not hidden very well at all, waiting for dad to get home from work for the birthday celebration to begin. Maycie spotted the bedding and got very excited. Shew knew it wasn't hers but that it was just like hers! That meant it had to be for Emma. I got to spend the rest of the afternoon keeping Maycie from bringing Emma into my bedroom to show her! The moment Emma opened it Maycie was dragging her back to their bedroom to make sure Emma realized they matched!

I looked at the 2 of them and realized how grateful I am for both of them. They both love being a princess, playing dress up and just being with each other. Maycie looks at everything Emma does and wants to be just like her. Emma is a wonderful big sister who loves teaching Maycie how to do things. All I have to do is tell Emma that Maycie is watching her and she shifts into mega helpful mode! And with Maycie all I have to do is tell her Emma does something and there is Maycie wanting to do it too! (I really hope potty training goes this way! =)) I hope and pray they are always this close.

My heart is over flowing with love and gratitude for these two amazing spirits. I want to teach them to be strong and virtuous women who love the Lord. I am truly humbled to be their mom. I love you both very much girls. Happy Birthday to you both!

Wixom Family Reunion (both of them!)

When Jeron and I got engaged one of the things he was so excited for me to get to do was the Wixom Family Reunion! They did it every other year in northern California at a place called Camp Nauvoo. It is one of his fondest memories! Camp Nauvoo (from what I have heard) is similar to the Oakcrest Camp or the new Heber Valley Camp here in Utah. For those of you that still don't know what I am talking about it is a big church owned camp that had a place they could gather and eat together with plenty of room for the whole family to camp in tents or whatever. So I guess like Oakcrest or Heber Valley minus the cabins. I am sure Jeron or one of my sisters-in-law could correct me and give you a much better description. As things in families change I never did get to go to Camp Nauvoo.
They have tried a couple of different locations for the family reunion but haven't been able to find quite the right fit. Especially with the family split between Utah and California (mostly anyway)! The last one we had we went to California and helped put an addition on Jeron's aunts house as a mother-in-law type apartment for Grandma and Grandpa to live in. Grandpa was doing all of the work himself so the family decided to pitch in and give him a hand! Just what family should do. But that was 6 or 7 years ago. 2 years ago Grandpa was turning 80 and we had a big family party here in Utah. This year Grandma was turning 80 and she said she wanted a family reunion instead of a party. So family reunion it was!
Family property (through an in-law) by Delta UT was found to be the perfect fit! There was water to play in, plenty of land to camp on and best of all there were beds for Grandma & Grandpa Wixom and their kids! It was a blast and the kids had a ton of fun with cousins they know and getting to know ones they don't get to see as often.

Maycie in her reunion shirt!

Grandma & Grandpa enjoying the family!

Maycie LOVES babies!

Just so you know a baby is ANYONE smaller then Maycie!


Crafts are always a part of the Wixom Family Reunion!

And Porter took them very seriously!

Aunt Ashley and Thomas.

Grandma Sue with Emma & Claire

Maycie's schedule was a bit off with all the time we have spent away from home! She learned to get her sleep where ever and when ever she could!

Daddy had to check and make sure she was really okay!

She is just that good of a sleeper!

Even the big kids had a blast!

(Can I say how weird it is that Jaxon is one of the "big kids")

Left to right: Aunt Alicia, Aunt Becky, Drew, Hailey, Jake & Jaxon

When given the chance to go for a ride Grandma JUMPED at the chance! It was so cute! She was so excited about it Grandpa kind of had to go weather he wanted to or not!

We left for Delta on Wednesday July 7 in the evening. We got a much later start then we wanted because of football sign-ups so we ended setting our tent up in the dark! We left to come home on Friday late morning. We got home Friday and then turned around and left early Saturday morning for another family reunion! This one was another Wixom Reunion. This time for Grandpa Wixom and his siblings. So alot of people we didn't really know. But we hadn't made it last time so we drove to Burley ID for the 3rd time in about 6 weeks!

It was at some property owned by a family friend. And if you are going to covet something covet this! It is a HUGE man mad pond/lake fed by the snake river with all kinds of fun things to do!

Like a slide....

grass & shade....


rafts...

an island (behind Connor)...

plenty of room for swimming...


a kiddy pool for Maycie (she wasn't interested in the big kid stuff at all!)...

(doesn't he just look too old and grown up?!)

a zip line that you can take 2 riders and drop one off into the water....

a rope to swing off into the water (that is Porter getting ready to go)...

paddle boats (that is Emma swimming all by herself out to the paddle boat!)

wave bye bye!

There was also a swing that you could swing out over the water and drop in. That was fun!

It was alot of fun and very exhausting!

Okay, I know this picture is horrible! But my hand kept shaking in the moving car! But I had to put it in anyway. If you look closely Emma fell asleep with a book wide open in front of her!

For at least a week if Maycie was in the car for more then a few minutes she would get VERY upset with us! We were all very done being in the car. The kids liked to tease me because they were all done with trips but I still had girls camp ahead of me!

We were all sick of movies by this trip so between Delta and Burley we listened to the first Fablehaven and I got hooked! I am so glad we got to go do so many things this summer. It was about all we got to do but so many wonderful memories! I am glad my kids love camping so much and that they love being with their family. I love building these memories with our extended family and some day soon we'll get out on our own! I promise!

Green River 2010

Every year we try and go on a camping trip with my family. It started with when I was a kid. When I was about 13 or 14 we got a full size van. My mom and dad went out and bought a tent. We set off on the biggest adventure ever! Things didn't go exactly as planed but I don't think it would be nearly as memorable if it had! Long story short we stayed 7 different places in 7 nights! By the last day we broke camp (start to finish) in less then 15 minutes with the van more then 100 yards away. Okay it MAY not have been that far, but it sure felt like at least that! After that we did some kind of trip every year. Some big and some small, but something!

After I got married we started going to Bear Lake every 24th of July. Alot of people thought we were crazy, after all we didn't even have a boat or anything! But it was fun. We would go and play at the beach (when there was one!) and just spent time together as a family. Bear Lake was where I told my brother and sisters we were expecting Connor!

That changed from year to year too. Between the family growing and babies being born things can never stay exactly the same. The date and place have changed over the years. There have been a few years we didn't make it. But for the most part we have done something. 2 years ago we went to Arizona. This year was Green River, UT. "Green River? Why Green River?" You say. Well, because my brother and his wife have moved to Blanding and Green River is the half way point, or as close to half way as you can get anyway!
It was wonderful! We came home from my Grandmothers funeral in Idaho on Monday and left for Green River Thursday. I was a little stressed getting us out the door. I didn't realized how much I had gone into auto mode about getting us to Idaho until we were home and I was trying to get us ready to go camping! Nothing was ready and I had more then a few stressful moments. But we got out the door and after a long detour around an accident we finally got there! Once we were there it was just what I needed!

"What did you do? Did you go rafting? Did you do something amazing?" You ask. Well, we did not go rafting. We did so something amazing though! We relaxed! We spent time at the pool that was at the KOA we stayed at! We sat around a camp fire and had smores and a talent show and enjoyed each other!

My sister Abby with her baby girl Kami with big brother Easton! He loves his baby sister sooo... much!

Maycie seemed so independent this trip. She really thought she was just as big as the big kids! You can see it in her walk!

Kami and Maycie love each other so much!

They spent alot of time with each other.

I think Kami was trying to do Maycie's hair. Her mom says she was trying to pull it out because she is jealous that Maycie has hair. She may be jealous now but the day will come that Kami has more so, it all works out in the end!

Aunt Abby was nice enough to sit with Kami in front of Maycie while she got her hair done. It was the only way I could get her to sit still. At home I have the mirror to help!

I am surprised that Kami will let Emma come near her! She loved helping out with her and keeping her entertained! Lucky for Emma Kami is used to alot of attention from her brothers so it worked out good for the both of them. Emma loved giving her attention and Kami seemed okay with getting it!


The cousins had so much fun being with each other!

We have a few hams, if you didn't notice!

Jarom got to learn how to play Lacrosse catch with Connor!

Porter had alot of fun figuring out this lounger!

Connor loved getting to teach some of his younger cousins about Lacrosse!

Jordan, Emma & Maycie. These girls just love being together! I can't wait to watch as Kami gets older. These 4 are going to be quite the quartet!

We found out that Kami really can sleep anywhere!

Look at that face!

This slide was so much fun for the kids! They got it down to doing tricks off the end! This is Porter's karate chop!

Maycie got so brave! She loved going down the slide! She tried to climb up the latter but we decided it best to just set her in a little way from the bottom! At one point she would go down and come up out of the water and point at the slide again!

Connor trying to skip like a rock!

Okay, I know it looks like we are torturing Emma in this picture. But she really did love the slide! This is what it was like every time! She would get so excited and then as she was going down she would have this look of horror on her face! The really funny thing was then she would get out and go again!

Emma did get very brave in the water while we were there.

Jaxon was so funny! I really got to see how grown up he has gotten, but at the same time he is still just a big kid!

Emma got very good at the doggy paddle! I was amazed at how comfortable she was by the time we left!

Connor found he enjoyed diving to the bottom of the pool!

Jared & Jordan

Maycie & Grammy

Jordan was so brave she would go off without anyone to catch her!

Jordan aiming for the green tube....

Jordan in the green tube!

Connor the cannon ball!

Maycie can find any where to put her feet up!

Relax and enjoy! That was our goal this trip and I think Maycie got the idea just fine!

It really was a wonderful trip. We did go across the street and visit the Green River Museum. It was really interesting. It was so hot I thought I was going to die! We NEVER closed the windows in the tent. You figured out another way to change! Even at night I thought I would burst into flames! Our last day there was a scheduled power outage. I wanted to hit my mom and brother-in-law when they talked about loosing power to the trailer and motor home. "Just when I thought I was really going to get hot the air conditioning turned back on!" They really love to tease me! We all got more mosquito bites then I thought you actually could! Except Jeron who LOVED telling everyone he only got ONE! I think the only ones who beat him where the babies. Kami and Maycie didn't get any!

I am so glad we do this. I love the memories we are building. No matter the place or date I hope it is something I continue on with my own little family! I guess we had better get started on some trips of our own!