15th Anniversary

Mike and I celebrated our 15th Anniversary this month. We took a quick weekend trip to San Diego. We enjoyed driving down by the Harbor, going to Point Loma, and visiting Sea World. It was a relaxing trip. Here's a few pictures:

Women of the Book of Mormon by Heather B. Moore

I was priviledged to read "Women of the Book of Mormon" by Heather B. Moore. The thing that struck me as I read this non-fiction book was the overwhelming feeling of strength exuded by the women she speaks of. The first woman she talks about is our first mother, Eve.

Her story is so significant that Lehi refers to it a few times in the Book of Mormon. She was an example to the women of that time. Women, who didn’t have a very high standing in their society, could find strength in knowing that Eve made the most important decision this world has ever known.
Quoting from Heather’s Book:
One of the universal truths taught time and time again has been
that there must be “opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11), and
that the existence of the human family was dependent on choosing.
The prophet Lehi knew Eve’s choice was courageous and that it led
to freeing the powers of life (see 2 Nephi 2:11–13). To understand
Eve is to understand her decision. Of all the events in the history
of mankind, the Fall single-handedly “affected the entire earth and
everyone in the human family”29 in one of the most powerful ways. In
essence, we might think of Eve as a heroine, and that “Eve’s supreme
gift to mankind, the opportunity of life on this earth, resulted from
her choice to become mortal.”30
Eve understood the consequence of eating the fruit. She knew it
was correct and that it would lead to further knowledge (see Moses
4:13).31 In fact, “when [Eve] saw that the tree was good for food,”
the word saw was akin to God’s “acts of seeing,” meaning that in that
instant, Eve had godlike clarity (Moses 4:12).32
Eve knew a hard decision had to be made and she did it. We too have her strength to make the hard decisions. The world would have us think that we can make choices and they only affect us. But Eve has taught us, that though our choices probably won’t affect the world for the next thousands of years, our choices do have widespread effects. Not only that, but most of us have the same gift to "see" what needs to be done in our lives. I think most of us have had the experience of not knowing an answer, then after much prayer and thought we suddenly "know" what we have to do even when it's a difficult path we will be choosing to take. This is only a piece of the legacy of women that we can learn of as we read this book. It inspires you to read more of the book of mormon and more of what the prophets have said about these great women. It definately left me feeling empowered and strong.

This book comes out the beginning of April. It would make a great Mother's Day gift as it gives the gift of inspiration and the strength of women.

Top 10 Ways Moms are like Rockstars!!

I felt silly and decided to write the top ten ways moms are like rockstars! So laugh along with me.

10. As soon as they are spotted, they get no peace.

9. They hear their name chanted incessantly on a daily basis.

8. They often deal with loss of voice due to overuse.

7. Often they have the same set of groupies following them around. (I can't get rid of mine, no matter what I do!)

6. Their most adoring fans usually want something from them. ("Mom, I love you so much...can I have the car keys?)

5. Hectic schedules interfere with regular eating habits. ( I am typing this between bites of a sandwich that is actually my breakfast that I am eating at 11am)

4. Some people mistakenly think they have unlimited supplies of money. ("But mom, it's only $20!")

3. They often have get encore requests. ("Mom, I forgot my lunch/homework/important project please bring it to the school.")

2. Their clothing choices are sometimes questioned. ("Are you really going to wear that in public?")

1. Their autographs are in great demand, especially at the most inopportune times. ("Mom, you have to sign my report card/daily behavior sheet/test grade/homework before school in 5 minutes!!")

That was fun! Do you have any you would like to add? Feel free to put them in the comments!

The Wilsons are Still Alive!!

I bet you were wondering if we still lived or not! We are here! But while I was working for Uhaul I didn't really want to be around the computer when I was off, so I didn't blog. Sorry about that. But now that I quit my job, I should have more time for blogging...but don't quote me on that. Time for catching up.

The kids started a new school this year. They attend Oasis Elementary in the Peoria School District. It's nice having them all at one school. It's been working out really well since my Dad and Bonnie live really close to the school. Bonnie picked up the kids for me after school when I was working. She is a real life saver! (Thank you Grandma Bonnie!!) The kids loved going over there to swim after school. They love their new school. Sammi and Noah are both in band for the first time. They both play the trumpet, which makes for a loud house.

Sammi and Jessi both had birthdays in September. Sammi turned 13 and Jessi turned 10. We had big party at home with family and some of their friends.

Skipping to Halloween. The kids got to dress up as their favorite characters at school. Noah dressed like James Bond, Kassi dressed like the Little Mermaid in her wedding dress. Noah got real upset when he realized he looked like Kassi's groom!!

Sammi dressed up as 50's girl in a poodle skirt. Jessi was a vampiress with special vampire dentures. We had to make a special mold for her teeth so they would fit. They looked quite realistic.

These are pictures I took this morning to show their new haircuts that I did yesterday. Sammi and Jessi wanted more grown up hair styles

After I styled Jessi's hair this morning she thought she looked like Alice Cullen from "Twilight"

Kassi thought her bangs look alot like her favorite princess Sleeping Beauty. Whatever makes them happy right?

20-Yr old LDS woman answers questions at harvard

Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

I really enjoyed her answers! Hey Jason, I think she's single!! LOL!

Going Native

Noah recieved his Arrow of Light for Cub Scouts last night. He really enjoyed the ceremony. They had someone dressed up like an Indian with the head dress and everything. They gave him the award and an arrow that had been painted with markings that represent all the awards and badges that he earned in cub scouts. I was really proud of him.

Then today, I took the kids to the Heard Museum West in Surprise. It's a smaller version then the regular Heard Museum, but once we got a tour guide it was really cool. It's a museum dedicated to Native American artifacts and art. We learned lots of cool things about their basket and rug patterns. One thing I learned today was that Navajo women weave the rugs and always make sure to purposely make one mistake in each rug. This is because they believe only a god can make a perfect rug and they don't want people to think they are a god. So I decided from this point on, I'm not going to be perfect anymore. I don't want anyone thinking I'm a god or anything. So any mistakes I make from now on are on purpose!! (Think that will fly? Well a girl can try!)

Wilson Family Reunion

We had such a great time last weekend at the Wilson Family Reunion. This year is was in Flagstaff, AZ. The kids got to play with their cousins and some woodland creatures like these catapillars. The woods were their playground for the weekend and they never stopped finding new experiences. The kids built forts and had pinecone fights, and played soccer, baseball, and they even walked a tight rope and repelled up and down a tree (thanks to uncle Mike).

Lorie had asked me to take pictures of the twins so we decided what better backdrop then the woods. This was just one of my favorites.

The reunion consisted of Mike's Grandma Wilson and her children and their children and grandchildren. About 50+ people showed up and Mike really enjoyed seeing his cousins, some he hadn't seen in many years.

Kassi enjoyed the woods, we did have to tell her she couldnt' wash her hands everytime they had a little dirt on them!

Mike convinced a big group of us to go explore the lava caves in Flagstaff. I thought it was a really easy little hike so I invited alot of the kids to go. We had about 10 children with two as young as three years old.


Below is the entrance to the cave, it was about 60 degrees in there.

The first part of the cave was the most grueling, it went almast straight down, I did alot of scooting from one rock to another on my bum!

The kids didn't have as much problems with it as I did, it wasn't long before there was just a few of us at the back of the pack and most of them were adults!


Scott and Jared had a great idea with the headlamps. It was the only time I ever wished for one of those!

Here's a picture of us inside the cave we had a pretty good sized group and really enjoyed ourselves.