my 35th birthday

I had a wonderful birthday. My friends treated me to lunch at De La Vegas. Then Shane took me golfing and to dinner at a Mexican restaurant that I had never been to. The food was pretty good.

Below: I had hat head and we were both sweaty from playing golf so i put a glow on the picture. I recently cut 4 inches off my hair. Because of dyeing it 50 times in a row :) it started breaking all over so we cut it off. I cut 2 inches and then Shane cut 2.

Looking back on life so far, I have NO regrets, hit my goals, and can face myself in the mirror and be happy with who I am today. haha.

I made goals and had some obstacles that I overcame the last 10 years that I would like to share.

1. Brought my adrenals and thyroid into balance naturally. The old house we rented from Dale Maughn had mold all over the place and so i got pretty sick. As soon as we moved to "the other side of town" in Monticello, I immediately started getting better. The body's capacity to heal is amazing. I still have mild allergic reactions to some fruits because of the sensitivity to mold.

2. Had 5 beautiful children! We planned on 4 but got 5 and what a blessing! That part of my life has been fulfilled and our family is complete.

3. Had 4 VBAC's!(vaginal birth after cesarean). These were very fulfilling experiences for me and i learned a lot going through child birth without any pain medication. When you get through it, you feel as if you had just won an Olympic gold Medal. That sounds cheesy but it's that intense! These births made me tough mentally and emotionally. I learned how the brains perception of pain works and the power we have over our minds.

4. We had a family ordeal and looking back I feel that all the right moves were made, even with the smallest decisions. It was necessary that I speak up when I did and to remain silent at times and that's what I did. I had to deal with a very disturbed individual and to get through that I spent a lot of time on my knees and emmersing myself in the scriptures. In the long run, it taught me a lot of things!

5. Learned how to cook and quilt! I never actually finished the blanket but i know how to quilt!

I wrote down new goals- 1 year, 3 yr, 5 yr and 10 yr. I'm sure they will change but many will be the same. I'm excited and a little nervous for the next 10 years to come!

Kyle made a bow and arrow today. It's awesome!

Kyle held back in 1st grade

I talked with the principal of the school and Kyle scored an 8 on his reading and writing test when he should be scoring 18 or so. So his teacher recommend he be held back in first grade again. I hope being held back doesn't mess with his head. I agreed to allow them to hold him back and I hope I made the right decision. He is naturally an active boy and right now reading isn't something that interests him :). He loves to write stories and draw. His teacher said he's doing well in math. I am worried that he'll have a negative experience with the process. I think how i respond will play a large role in how he responds so i will make it a great experience. And maybe having a head start in 1st will bring out the leader in him!

A very special letter

Braden made this card for me the other day. This is one i will keep forever!

Add caption

Addy is ready to go out on the town!

Rudy Rey's baptism

Rudy and Kimberly 

after baptism

One of the things we love the most about living in New Mexico (besides the people, climate and food!) is the growth we are seeing in our ward from missionary work. Already this year alone we've had three baptisms! The most recent convert, Rudy Rey was baptized today.  His story is that in April he got a job offer in Boston. He and family were literally driving from Las Vegas to  Boston and made a pit stop in Las Cruces. They decided not to take the job in Boston and to stay in Las Cruces for good. Through a turn of events Rudy ended up taking the missionary discussions and decided to get baptized. His wife and children were already members. They've been waiting for this moment for 18 years. They are cool people, we are excited they are in our ward. Shane got to know Rudy going on splits with the missionaries. Rudy asked Shane to give one of the talks at his baptism. Shane did a great job, the Spirit was strong. I'm really thankful to be here in Cruces and go to the baptisms.  Last night during family scripture study we read in Luke that Heavenly Father knows we have needs--He knows we have need to eat, have clothing, etc. If we do what is most important and have faith and trust in him, then all of those things will be added unto us. The Rey's story is evidence of that.

Golfing with daddy

The girls had a fun time golfing with Dad. Shane texted me these pictures and i couldn't resist posting them!

Celebrating Freedom-4th of July

We had a really great 4th. Our ward put on a yummy Independence day breakfast and the primary children sang songs. Afterwards we went home and had a swim party until around 5pm. At 6pm we went to the Anderson's and grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and rib eye steaks along with other friends from our ward. We had a fabulous time. Afterward, we all headed to the fireworks show downtown. Toward the very end of the fireworks show as we were  happily gazing into the sky at the finale, we got an even better surprise when suddenly the sprinklers came on! We cleared out of there as fast as humanly possible. We had a  laugh afterwards! That will be a 4th of July to remember.

Me and the girls :) 

Brett konked out after long day of swimming and playing all day

                                     

                                    Megan and kids 

10 year anniversary pics

For our 10-year anniversary, Shane took me to a fancy restaurant in Mesilla called the Double Eagle. We both ordered salmon and each had dessert. Then he surprised me and had a hotel room lined up in advance at the Hotel Encanto here in Las Cruces. The hotel has a gift shop, restaurant, and lots going on so we enjoyed sitting around relaxing. Our trusted babysitter, Chelsea Adams(who graduated from high school a couple years ago), watched our kids overnight. It was nice going to dinner alone, waking up in the morning with no responsibilities and kicking around in our pj's!

Kyle singing

I happened upon a video on my ipad of kyle singing "The Grinch", chipmunk style. Aleah and Brett made the background noise. Funny stuff!

Kyle filmed himself drawing:

Hey....we could make millions filming YouTube videos for social media!?

Albuquerque

 I'm finally caught up blogging! Last weekend we were in Albuquerque for a Farm Bureau Awards banquet. Shane was asked to speak for 10 minutes on committing to win. He gave all the agents a mathematical break-down of what it will take to make All-American in Jamaica next year. Then he shared some inspirational things to get them pumped up to sell.

 Awards: 

Manager of the Year for NM

Life Agency of the year

P/C Manager of the year

Leading agency on life and p/c on a 'per agent average'

Underwriting fair champion agency(He set a new record!)

 Embassy Suites pool

 Dinner on our way back home

our precious little ones!

Shane's new bike

  Shane and Rich went riding

Shane and Andy

Shane and his new riding buddy, Rich.

his new ride.

Brett turned 1 on Jan 5!

pics and videos of brett before and after his 1st b-day!

sweet and fiesty little Addie

Adda-patta-watta is the sweetest lil' thang ya ever saw, but the girl's got attitude! :) She's not too fond of her baby brother, Brett right now because she feels he gets too much attention. So I try to give Addie extra hugs and pick her up more often throughout the day. Here's a picture of her sound asleep with daddy. 

Braden & Kyle wrestling pics and videos

 kyle

Kyle really went after it, he did NOT like losing.  He made a couple kids cry during practice.  He's an animal! The level of competition in el paso is tough to beat. Braden has a lot of fight in him but just doesn't care much for wrestling. He would lay on his back on purpose he told me, to "get it over with." We will have him do another season next year to see if he likes it any better.

braden

They enjoyed all the trips and practices!

Aleah preschool & 1st ballet recital

Aleah is second row back, furthest to the right against mirror.

Aleah loves preschool!