Words of a Prophet

This afternoon I spent some time looking at a variety of tributes to President Hinckley that were sent to me from various sources. I have put this off for a few days. I knew that it would overwelm me. I knew that it would touch me and move me. My thoughts were full of his words. His words that I had the privelage of hearing many times. Sometimes I heard them in person, though I never met him. Sometimes I heard his words over the television or radio. I have listen to CD's of conference talks and had repeated in my ears his words over and over. I have read his words in the many books he wrote or articles he had written. I heard his voice as I read his words. I have repeated his words in lessons taught and in conversation with friends and family. I have sung his words, his testimony that is published in our hymn book. His words have moved me to action. They have inspired me to "be a little better, to stand a little taller." They have strengthened me through the low times in my life. His words have helped me appreciate the beauty in my life. As I ponder back to all the many words he has spoken, I can honestly say every word uttered in some way testified of our Savior. May I live my life forever more changed by a prophet of God and his words.

Snow Day

1. Snow clothes: $20
2. Snow boots: $12
3. Gloves and Hat: $10
4. Sled: $69.00

5. Snow day with dad: PRICELESS

Happy 'Build a Bear(Dog)" Birthday

Last night we had all girls night at the "Build A Bear" workshop
for Hayden and Taylor's birthdays. Well, everyone except Toshia,
Andrew came home yesterday and so she could not make it. We
missed her but the party had to go on. We are glad that
Andrew is home!

First Taylor was up, she picked a cute little puppy for her "bear".
They stuffed it for her and she put the heart in.
Next, Hayden picked a cute little pink poodle for her "bear".
Even though pink is no longer her favorite color she still
tends to see pink when it comes to princess stuff.

After the Bears were stuffed it was on to the bath tub.
They are given an "air" bath to clean off any excess stuffing.
After the bath then the girls went to a computer and made
out their birth certificates. Picking out the animals was so much
easier than picking names. Hayden had an idea right away, but
Taylor was having a hard time. Her sisters helped her out and I
think they came up with cute names. Hayden named her dog "Fluffy"
and Taylor named hers "Lola" After they were officially born it
was off to pick out the most perfect outfits. You think girls
picking out what they are going to were each day is a challenge,
try picking out the most perfect three outfits for your "bear"!

After everyone was happy with their purchases we
were off to Red Robin. The girls loved that we
told them it was their birthday and loved being
sung to and getting ice cream. The balloons were
just as much fun as the ice cream!

Now that the newest additions to our family were home and
dressed it was time for all of us to go to bed. Everyone was
pretty tired and of course we all had to get up for school.

Now these are the kind of pets I love, you don't have to feed them or

clean up after them. My kids would love a real dog more than anything,

but that isn't going to happen. So for now these adorable dogs are

going to have to do. I have two very happy little girls who are going

to be the best mommy's in the world. But let's let a few more birthdays pass before the real deal:)

Winter Ball

"The Winter Ball" day has finally arrived! Chloe has been looking forward to this event for several weeks. This is her first big dance. She planned it with several of her friends and they all went together. The first part of getting ready was at our house. This meant Ashleigh and Chelsea had to come do hair and makeup. Toshia helped out by watching the three little girls for us. Then off to Kiana's house to get dressed and take a few pictures. Then on to Brennan's house to meet up with everyone and take more pictures. It was nice to meet all the parents of the kids and it was so cute watching the dads get so involved in all the picture taking. David was in Portland with the boys at the temple so Chelsea came with me and helped with the pictures. Chloe had a little trouble pinning on Brennan's boutonniere. His mom tried to help and finally I helped out and it finally stayed on. To Chloe's credit the pin they gave us to use was not exactly a boutonniere pin and it made things a little difficult. Some of the other kids had trouble with their flowers, a couple of buds fell off some of the corsages, but I was able to help and used toothpicks to put their things back together. (Homemaking night comes to the rescue - corsage making class) They ate dinner at Stanfords and then to the dance. They are meeting back at Brennan's house for after dance snacks. I am glad this day has finally come. Chloe was a little obsessed with things. All she could think about this week were all the final details of things. But today she was smiling and happy. I'm glad everything went as she planned. I can hardly wait to hear how the dance went and how fun her evening was. She looked gorgeous! She didn't even need her fairy god mother to come and rescue her:)

No Cavities!

Today was our all day trip to the dentist. I try to always take everyone at once and save on trips to town. Anyway, this was the first time in a long time that no one had any cavities. Toshia cleaned some of the kids teeth and it was so fun to see her at work at her office. She works for two different dentist. I go to the other office. Everyone else is at this office. So after our last visit the kids got a good talking to from both of their sisters (Ashleigh and Toshia) about cleaning and brushing their teeth better. Let's just say that visit was quite expensive with all the work that they needed done. Well, whatever they said sure worked because all the children walked away today with no decay to be found. We do have to go back though because Taylor lost a small filling and Chloe has a small hole (not a cavity) that need to be fixed. I called David and he was so excited, he had just paid down most of the dental bill and was not looking forward to adding new balances to his budget. He said to take them all out for lunch and celebrate. We were on a tight schedule so through the drive thru at Burger King we went and watched the end of the movie in the car as we made it home in time for all that needed to be done this afternoon.

Hayden loves Dr. Seuss

I love/hate late opening days. I love the not rushed mornings and how there is actually time for everyone to get ready without the usual stress. I don't like how my morning schedule for myself gets all messed up. I can't go to classes at the gym. I miss violin lessons. Any meetings I might have are all pushed back. So it shortens my day. Today I was frustrated because once again I was going to miss violin. But I came down stairs and caught Hayden doing something that has been a real struggle for her. I caught her reading! Yeah! Hayden has struggled with reading mostly because she is a little bit lazy. She just wants to know the words and not do the sounding out part. So reading with her has always been a real struggle. But lately she seems to be reading everything. I think she finally realized how fun reading can be and now it is her idea and so why not? She loves Dr. Seuss books. (Actually they are some of my favorites as well) I am so glad for this late morning even if I didn't get to do what I wanted, Hayden got to do what she now loves most! I can play the violin anytime but these moments with the kids will soon be yesterdays.

Barn Owls?

Bed time is such a joke at our house. No one ever wants to go to bed and then in the morning no one ever wants to get up. I remember the old days when I had just a few little kids and they did not know any better and they would all be in bed by 7:30 or 8:00. Our family was even featured on the channel 12 news one evening about our bedtime routine. (It must have been a slow news night!) After teenagers came into our life it has never been the same. Then Autumn arrived. This child does not know what night time is. She has always stayed up way to late and likes sleeping in. I have tried everything to switch her night time clock but the only thing that worked was for her to sleep with me (and hold her hand) and then we would slip her into her bed. Lately we have been really trying to get her to start out sleeping in her own bed. So Autumn came into our room a couple of nights ago and was to afraid to go to bed. It was getting really late and I was tired. The conversation went something like this,

"Autumn I am so tired just go get back in your bed like a big girl." "Mom, I am scared." "What are you scared of? There are no monsters in this house." "But, there are barn owls." "What?" " You know barn owls, they come and peck, peck, peck at the window and then eat big girls." "Autumn, there are no barns around here, go back to bed." "Mom, they have wings, they can fly and you know - get big girls!"

By this time David is just cracking up. He said "Just let her in bed, that is the best story I have ever heard!" She has her dad wrapped around her little finger and so you guessed it she was a very happy little girl as she crawled over the top of me and snuggled next to David.

I know I am going to miss this someday. It is very hard for me to imagine an evening with out saying at least 25 times - "Go to bed!" Wait, that probably won't happen for at least another 15 years when everyone has moved out. Maybe by that time the "barn owls" will have all flown the coop as well.

The passing of a dear friend

Last Friday a very dear sweet man passed away. He was a very good friend. David and I met him when he walked into our ward in June of 1994. He had seen conference on television and wanted to come see for himself what the church was about. He had an opportunity when he was young to investigate the church but passed it up and after a very long life of living in the world his heart was now softened to accept the teachings of Jesus Christ. His good friend and now wife introduced him to the Book of Mormon and in his words "saved his life". I have reflected a lot on how this man has touched my life. Once he joined the church he never looked back and spent the rest of his time testifying of what he knew to be true. I have had the privilege of knowing a few great men like Henry. They have passed on as well. They were the kind of men who quietly served and did what they were supposed to do. You could always count on them doing their hometeaching, being at their meetings, and serving in their callings, and taking care of their families. They were pillars of strength. Their examples have strengthened me and helped me as I have come to know their stories. I know that right now Henry is where he is because of the changes he made in his life 13 years ago. I know that he is still serving how ever the Lord wants him to and teaching those things that he held so close to his heart. Henry was a poet. He made a book for David and I some years ago. Every poem has some part of his testimony weaved into it. I thank him for leaving this with us so now that he is gone I can remember what was most important to him. One verse from one of his poems reads:

"The beautiful tapestry of each sweet life, Is tied to the thread of the next, Through the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, As we read His scripture and text..."

People have come in and out of my life. The way they have lived their life has effected my testimony in some way. Each person who I have come in contact with has added a thread to my tapestry. And even though I may not see or have contact with certain people they still have left their imprint on my heart. I have learned valuable lessons from these sweet people. I miss the ones who have passed from this life but the beauty of the plan is that we will all be together again someday. Goodbye for today Henry, and I look forward to our meeting in that place called home.

After Christmas Clean-Up

I love "The Forgotten Carols" by Michael McClean. Every year when I take down the tree and put away all of the decorations I usually play that CD. I especially love the song " I Cry the Day I Take the Tree Down". I really love the message of this song but for some reason I could not bring myself to play the song. This year I was so ready to get things cleaned up! And believe me there were no tears. I did not play any music, just got right down to the job. It has taken me a few days because there have been a lot of interuptions but I finally have everything packed away. Now cleaning the house is another story. I do not do "spring" cleaning. I always do a real deep cleaning when I put away the decorations. This is why it is such a job for me. Many times I also re-decorate, move pictures around, change things up a little. I really love doing this. A lot of times there are new things I received for Christmas that I get to add into my decorating. This year we got a new picture for our hallway wall. I think that we now have that arrangement complete with this picture. It has taken us three years to collect all the art for that wall. Then there are new frames for photos and rearranging the book case. We clean up the garage as we store everything and that is a job because all the children like to get stuff out but not put things away. David took 7 bags to the goodwill today. Even though cleaning is on going it feels good to get this much done. Monday night we will be doing our thank-you notes and then we will be done with this holiday season. I feel so blessed to have had another year with no real major disasters. Everyone is happy and I feel 2008 is going to bring us a lot of fun and new memories. I am looking forward to all that is in store for our family. I still need to work on those resolutions, maybe I will get to that next week....

Ringing in the New Year

I know I just posted about Noah's birthday, but I wanted to let him have his own post and not mix it with our New Years trip. Anyway, we just got back from an amazing week at Lincoln City. It was not the greatest weather but I love it when it is stormy at the beach. We went to "Pig N Pancake" for breakfast one morning. (We usually do this every time we go to the beach.) Since Autumn was sick a couple of weeks ago she won't eat sausages. This was her all time favorite breakfast food until she got sick. It was funny to watch her order and try to not get any sausages because she was sure she would get sick again. After breakfast David took us down on the beach in the car. I was a little worried but I guess the kids say he does this all the time and drives "really crazy". I guess I wasn't supposed to know that. I secretly liked doing "cookies" on the beach. New Years night David and I went to dinner at "Kylo's" then came home watched some football played "apples to apples" and waited for the new year to come. Everyone made it to midnight except Hayden. She passed out about five minutes till. When she woke up the next morning she wanted to know why no one woke her. One outing that we love is the public pool at Lincoln City. It is really a nice facility. David took everyone one one afternoon while I scrapbooked. Of course he listened to the Oregon game on a small radio he carries with him. The night I went I took Hayden and Taylor. They have really become quite good little swimmers. I finally got Hayden to swim with her face in the water. She was so happy with herself. She would go as far as she could and then look back to make sure I was watching. Of course, we hit all the sales at the outlet mall and Toshia and I hit both scrapbooking stores. I did wake up Monday morning with the left side of my mouth all swollen. I guess I have an abscess or some kind of infection. Tomorrow I am off to the dentist to get it fixed. In the meantime it is great to have daughters working for doctors who could help me long distance. Called in a prescription and by Monday afternoon the swelling had begun to go down. It really didn't hurt but I was uncomfortable. Hopefully, all will go well with the dentist tomorrow. All in all I think the Weitzel's started 2008 off on the right foot. With everyone home from all their trips and safe I could not ask for more. Now I have to work on that resolution list.....

Happy Birthday Noah!

Happy Birthday Noah! I know it was on December 23, 2007 but we have been out of town and this is the first time I have had to let you know how wonderful you are and how happy I am that you made it to twelve! Noah has always been a bit of a dare devil and really we are so happy that he has not broken any bones or had any major mishaps in his twleve years here on earth. I remeber when he was born thinking how would this baby turn out? What kind of a young man would he be? I am so glad that you came to our home, you have taught me many lessons that I could not have learned from anyone else and I think we have taught you in a way that no one could. You are so amazing and we are blessed to have another priesthood holder in our home.