What is your dream???

"I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."
"But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
" I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."


Today is MLK day. I have to say that every time I hear his "I have a dream speech" I get chills from head to toe! Pretty much any time I have heard him speak I get chills. He was such a passionate man who gave everything he had to making sure everyone had equal rights. I am thankful for his leadership and his willingness to stand up for what is right. Tomorrow we will have a new president and wether or not we voted for him I am glad to see how much our country has progressed. It is about time we had someone of mixed race in office! I hope our country will begin to improve and see many positive changes.

My dream is much like Martin Luther King Jr.'s. I dream for a better world for my children where everyone has equal opportunities regardless of race, gender or creed. I dream that my children will always feel safe and secure no matter where they are. I dream that we will all leave our mark on this earth in our own way and leave it better than before. I dream that we will begin to see less violence and hate and see more peace and love. That is my dream! What's yours?

Christmas Portrait Pictures

December Sum Up

It's hard to believe the holidays, not to mention another year, has come and gone. I have a lot of catching up to do so if needed to grab a drink and use the bathroom because we could be here a while. Or if you would rather, just enjoy the cute pictures of my family! Here we go.

Starting off our festivities we had our yearly Christmas with the Carroll's/Higby's. We like to get together before things get crazy. Stella had asked for the new Princess Kitchen Set. Much to her glee she not only got that from them but also the matching tea set. She was so excited and if you look at Dell's blog you can see the picture of her expression. I think Tremayne was as excited to give Stella her gift as she was to receive it. I always love our Christmases with the Carroll's. It takes me back to our first Christmas with them. That is one of my most, in not most, memorable Christmas I've had. They have welcomed us into their family with open arms. Tristan certainly had no problem making himself at home. Dave was his buddy for the evening. We had such a wonderful time with them!
The following weekend we went to Temple Square. It was freezing cold, but it was fun going out as a family to see the lights and the nativity. Stella especially loved to see the nativity that was set up. She named one of the camel's Humphrey (shout out to Dell!) She said her favorite part was "seeing the big Jesus." That was and still is my favorite part of going to Temple Square.

Christmas Eve was so much fun. This is my favorite day of the year. There is still the anticipation of the next day and I love spending that time with my family. Shaun and Mistee with kids in tow came up from Richfield. My whole family got together and we went sledding in my neighborhood. Mistee we have nicknamed Biff due to several graceful slide offs. I have to admit I had one good biff myself as I was trying to take out my mom, who was standing at the bottom the whole time taking pictures. I think everyone had a blast! Afterwards we met at my house for some chili and other good food. We enjoyed playing games and watching The Christmas Story.

Christmas day finally came! Talk about a white Christmas. We got dumped on! But first things first. Stella woke up and made sure Santa ate all of his cookies she had left out the night before. He did and even left them a note.

Tristan was still a little sleepy when we started to open presents but he perked right up when he realized he got new things with each box that was handed to him. Stella of course gasped as she saw all of the present under the tree. They got quite a few things and were very happy with everything that was given. Ron and Becky came over that morning to see what the kids had gotten. Of course five minutes before they got here the power went out and came back on just before they left. It was so windy that it made the snow much worse than it probably was. Driving to my parents was ridiculous. We couldn't hardly see 5 feet in front of us. The rest of the day was crazy busy. We went to my parents for breakfast, then to see my Grandpa Robbins whom I have not seen for about two years, afterwards we went to the cemetery to wish Liam a Merry Christmas, then over to G&G Duffin's. From there we came home for about an hour to shovel our driveway again. Then that evening we went to Ron and Becky's. Our Christmas ended around 9:00. I loved every minute of it, but was glad it was over with! Stella said one of her favorite parts of Christmas was seeing Tristan open his presents. Isn't that just precious? I thought so.

Finally, New Years. We rocked in the new year at Jason and Suzanne's house by playing games and singing karaoke. I think my calling in life is to be a front stage singer, however everyone else that was at the party may disagree. Bill sat way in the back embarrassed of me. Not that I can blame him. We had fun and I have made my resolutions for this year. I am not someone who makes a goal and if I don't follow through for more than a month I give up. I am the type of person who likes to set goals throughout the year and not feel horrible about myself if it's not accomplished as soon as I imagined. As long as I'm striving to better myself and accomplish even little things (lately it's been yoga poses that I'm getting better at) I am happy. Anyways, I hope this year will bring us all many wonderful surprises and much happiness.

Reflecions Upon 2008

Many wonderful things that have happened have brought us tides of good cheer.
It’s time again to reflect upon the events that have happened this year.
The memories we make with our little ones, nothing could ever replace.
The warmth in my heart when I look at them, and see the joy in their face.
Stella is our princess, I know. She is our girly girl!
She brings laughter and warmth that all little girls do, and she daily brightens our world.
Tristan is our All-American boy. He knows how to play with the guys!
He charms us with his brains and good looks; he’s gotten down his fake “cry”!
Bill has been working hard so he says. I guess I’ll just take his word.
He’s finished our basement and it looks great! His work schedule has been absurd!
As for me I guess I’ll just write a line. I finally wrote my first book!
Its still being revised and it was just for me, but if you’re interested take a look.
So that was the year two thousand and eight. That barely sums it up.
Too many memories and blessings we’ve had so let us now raise a cup.
Here’s to a brand new year, I hope it will bring good things!
Lets toast to a year and good wishing for all that 2009 will bring.

From Here To Eternity

December 1st was mine and Bill's nine year anniversary! He surprised me by sending me flowers (not from Walmart for once thank you very much) and it totally made my day! We didn't really celebrate our anniversary until this past weekend. My parents came and spent the night at our house on Friday while we stayed at the Homestead up in Heber. That was our first time staying there. I can't say that a stuffed animal on the bed screams romance, but it was a nice room. Friday night we went out to dinner at the restaurant located at the Homestead then hung out in the hot tub for a while. Then on Saturday we checked out and went to see the new James Bond movie. I've decided we need to change our anniversary to the summer time when we won't get caught in a snow storm for once! Whose idea was it to get married in December anyways? Oh yeah, mine. Anyways, the kids had fun with their grandparents and we were happy to see them when we got home. It's funny, I use to dread coming home and getting back to everyday stuff, but now I have two happy faces to greet me when we get home. Three if you count Duke. He was the most excited to see us! I love it! Of course it would have been nice to have another day or two away. We've had a wonderful year together and I can't believe it's been nine years since we got married! It really does go faster than you'd think. I can't believe Stella is 4 1/2 years old and that Tristan will be 2 in two months! We've gone through many challenges and many wonderful times together in the past nine years and I have to say there is nobody else I would rather go through this life with! He is my best friend even when he drives me nuts sometimes! And vice versa I would hope! Happy Anniversary to us!!!

Coldplay Baby!

I am a HUGE Coldplay fan!!! For years I have wanted to see them in concert, but they haven't come to Utah since they first started. Everything came together so that Rob, Emily and I could go. Rob's work friend came along and we all had a great time together! They were even better in concert than what you hear on their CD's. Not to mention the excitement of just being there! Emily and I are those crazy people who jump, dance, yell and throw our bra's. Just kidding, we don't yell that much. We were surrounded by a bunch of boring people, but that didn't stop us. We had so much fun that night and it was totally worth every last penny I spent on tickets, t-shirts and souvenirs. I can't wait 'til they come back again!

Family Time

Today Bill was off of work and actually didn't have a side job to do! It's been quite a while since we've had much family time together with all four of us. We decided to take advantage of the weather while it is still nice and go to the zoo. I think Bill and I probably had more fun than the kids did! Stella couldn't wait to go to the zoo, but once we got there she kept saying, "Let's go see more animals", instead of taking the time to look at the ones in front of us! And Tristan was overdue for a nap so he was not the most enthusiastic person there. I think he enjoyed being out and seeing all of the animals, but he hardly cracked a smile. We took the train ride around and Stella did really enjoy that! Then they played on the playground for a few minutes before we left.

After our outing to the zoo we dropped the kids off at Grandma Duffin's house and rushed off to the movies only to find that we had forgotten to set our car clock back since daylight savings time. We were an hour early and didn't realize it until I saw the last 2 minutes of our movie and questioned the poor ticket boy who probably thought I was crazy! We eventually saw our movie and Bill and I had a fun little date.