Change

So everyone deals with it different. For some it is emotional, others are hateful, others go into shutdown mode, but for me I pretend it doesn't happen until I get used to the idea. So our ward was given new boundaries today and to tell you the truth I am pretty sad about it. Some of my favorite people who I really look up to are in a different ward now and I know we will see them occasionally but it just won't be the same. I am grateful for where I am and for what is to come. I know there is a reason for everything and I am excited to see how it all works out. However, part of me will be thinking about the other half of us that aren't us anymore. Well I guess what i really want to say is thank you for all the people that have been great examples to me and my family! Love you all!!

In Memory of Grandma LuWana Pedersen

LuWana B. Pedersen CODY, Wyoming –

LuWana Bradshaw Pedersen, 85, of Cody, Wyoming (formerly of Washington Terrace), died Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at West Park Hospital of natural causes. She was born March 21, 1926 in Logan, Utah, a daughter of James and Valene Bradshaw. She was reared and educated in Wellsville. She married Victor Herald Pedersen on May 13, 1947 in the Logan LDS Temple. She was a loving wife, mother and grandmother. LuWana was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where she served in various organizations providing service and care to others. She and Victor were members of the Maverick Square Dance Club for over 20 years. She spent hours designing and making square dance dresses. This brought great joy to her life. She was also a talented seamstress and homemaker. She is survived by two daughters and one son, Dixie (Brent) Graham, Layton; Shauna (Mark) Allphin, Cody, WY; Douglas (Kim) Pedersen, South Ogden; 11 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband and four brothers. Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 26 at 11 a.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd. Family will meet friends at the mortuary on Saturday from 10 to 10:45 a.m.

Saturday was a special day for the Pedersen family. First of all I have never met Clint's Grandma she has suffered from Alzheimer's for many years and has lived in Wyoming next to her daughter. However, I felt like I knew her from all the stories I have heard. So it was so nice to finally meet her and all of Doug's, Clint's Dad, family. She is definitely in a better place and has waited for this time to be reunited with her Husband and Brothers. It was interesting to hear some of the memories that her Grandchildren had of her. I learned so much about who she was and the traits she had passed down to her children and grandchildren. She was a seamstress, and she made pj pants for onr of the granddaughters friends when she came over to sleepover and forgot her jammies. She loved to bake and was good at it. She always had a freezer full of goodies. She made costumes for the square dancers that she was involved with. She was always really involved with her ward and held various callings. There were many more things said that I found really interesting. Then they had me sing Come thou Fount which I was pretty nervous about and I had practiced but I just didn't know how it would go over. Well it was so amazing cause when I was singing I had an overwhelming feeling come over me and I felt her presence right there with me. I new I was singing to more that just the people I could see. I can't even describe the feelings that I felt. It was unbelievable. I sat down after and couldn't control my emotions, the spirit was so strong. It was a great day!

Las Vegas

So I went to Las Vegas for my friends wedding (see previous post) with my cousin Steph and my good friend Jacee. It was so fun and good to spend a long drive catching up on the last seven years of these girls lives. We had some great laughs and for sure bonding moments. We stayed with Jared and Stacey who are darling hosts. Great food, great accomidations, great conversation and great fun playing with my little nephew. It was so fun to see them in their house doing their everyday things. Thanks for everything guys....

Stacey working on a quilt Saturday morning....

Jared baby proofing the house, gotta love kids!

Also, thanks Clinter for being a single father all weekend so I coud go!! LOve you

Kate the Great Roommate

Was married this a couple of weekends ago, and it was so special to be there with her. She is one of my very favorite people in the world. Everything was darling, her dress, her invites, the table decorations, flower, favors, and even the advice table. She has the cutest style. The ceremony was beautiful and the luncheon was so fun which included a great performance by her sisters. Also she had made darling flower for all the neices and newphews out of flannel. Congrats to the happy couple....

Dane Hawk

My little baby is growing up so fast I can't even believe it. I feel like I try to hold him all the time and cherish those special moments, but they are just slipping by too fast. Since I haven't been the best about sharing monumental moments of his life I will do a quick update of things that have happened so far.

1. Hawk tried is First Rice Cereal on December 20th

He had a hard time getting used to the spoon, he would try and suck on it, so it took a while to feed him. Clint would get really impatient and have me feed him. He liked it alright, but likes the peaches and pears mixed in way better. He isn't so thrilled about carrots and green beans.

2. I didn't know he had a tooth until he bit me and made me bleed. So the first time I noticed was on January 11th and he had two bottom teeth. Crazy I didn't even know. Now he has three on the bottom and two poking out on the top right and 3 more on the way on the top.

3. He rolled over a last November, but he doesn't really like to do it. He will grab his feet and push himself around on his back but he doesn't like to be on his stomach.

Also, he is such a fun baby. He is so smiley and lovey. He screams for food, for me to carry him, and pretty much all day long. He loves his jumper and he will jump for an hour sometimes. He has cankles, and really puffy, square feet. Anyway, I'm so grateful for him and the spirit he brings into our home. The kids love him and I love to watch them play with him and take care of him.

The Green Smoothie aka "THE HULK"

My good friend introduced me to this. It is awesome. So here is the deal, most of americans don't get the fruits and vegetables needed in their daily diet, including me and my family. I feel like that is one thing that I stress about as a Mom of three little ones and one big kid. I always feel like it is a good day if my kids get one serving of vegetables, which is honestly HORRIBLE. Also, I find it a struggle for me to eat healthy when I am home. By the time I feed my kids breakfast, clean up, I never want to make me anything, so I just eat a bunch of crap. So I went to a class held at Good Earth in Sandy and I was really converted. She discussed the many benefits of eating "food from the earth" fruits and vegetables.
1. helps your digestive system
2. can help loose weight
3. make you have more energy
4. help with mental illness and general sickness
And tons more, however, those were the benifits that really interested me. So we have started the green smoothie diet. We don't drink the full amount she recommends, which is 2 quarts, but Clint and I drink 2-3 cups which ends up being, 3 servings of veggis and 3 servings of fruits. The Kids drink one cup, which they actually really like.
So when I introduced it to the kids I showed them a little HULK toy and had them notice how tuff he was and told them that just like the HULK is green, this smoothie is green and if we want to get tuff like the HULK we need to drink our HULK SHAKES. So they agreed and they love it. So over all we like it, the only bad think is the gross looking mustaches when the kids are done...haha

Dates with the Kids...

One of my very favorite things we do. It reminds me why I love being a Mom so much. Every month we rotate and we take out one of the kids. SO last month I decided to take Bode to Classic Roller Skating and Bounce Land. It was a blast! I thought it would be easy to hop back on roller skates, I used to go disco skating in High School...but it wasn't so easy. Pretty much Bode and I just fell all over each other. I was trying to hold him up so he made me fall. It was funny and a lot harder than I remember, but we will keep trying. He really wanted to go in the Bounce Playland, which is way cool (except I couldn't stop thinking about how nasty it was). We got some pizza and some cotton candy, with some great one on one time. It was good for our relationship for sure.

This month I took Raini and it was way fun. I gave her the option of the Weber State Basketball game or shopping (secretly hoping she would pick shopping). She came through and chose shopping. So we went to Target and I told her she could get something new and she started putting clothes in the cart and kept saying we will go try it on. So we did she tried a lot of stuff , there were a couple of things she liked, but after I talked her out of the mickey mouse shirt we went with a cute skirt. So after Target she wanted to know what the next store was and the next. We went shopping for about THREE HOURS! I really couldn't believe that she could hang for that long, but she did and she loved it. She was a blast.

When I take the time to really listen and play with my kids I realize how great there are and how I am living my dream....