October Goings On

Kenny carving a pumpkin and Kavon resting...she made us all nachos


Kendra's tortes



Gabe and Eli with Nana at the zoo in Portland




The nachos Kavon made





My Birthday Cake





I absolutely love my friends. To me friends are the family that you get to choose. I have three beautiful friends who moved up to Portland at the beginning of September. I am so proud of those girls, they are growing spiritually and temporally and it is so wonderful to see that going on in their lives. I was sad because I wasn't going to be able to see them as often, but my happiness for them and the change that they needed to better their lives outweighs the little bit of selfishness of me not being able to see them as much.






Now on this Saturday, November 1, 2008 my closest friend, Cari, and her husband (another good friend) are moving to Utah. I was so happy when they told me about Kenny going back to school so that he can work on a degree in engineering. I know that it is a good change for them spiritually and temporally as well. I am happy for them and I want nothing but for them to be happy and successful in all that they do. I know that Utah is only about a 12-14 hour drive from here, but I am going to miss them so much. Over the last year or so Cari and I have really gotten closer. She has become a sister to me and her whole family is my family now. It is funny because her mother in law did some geneology work and found out that she and I are 10th generation cousins so that makes Kenny my 11th and the girls my 12th. So they really are my family.






I have done so good this last month while helping Cari with some packing here and there and doing other things together. Today though it hit me hard. I actually cried today. I know that it is selfish of me but I am going to miss all of them like crazy. I realized that all of my close friends have moved away from here and I really don't have any friends here to hang out with. Well I am going to make an effort to spend time with and get to know Kavon better.






Friends are so precious, they are family. We need to let them know how much we love and appreciate them and thankfully we do live in the times of modern technology so we can still nurture friendships over the miles with cell phones and texting and phone calls and emails and heck even snail mails too. I know that even though we may be miles apart that the miles are only physically not the heart.






This month has gone by quickly. The weekend of the 17th and 18th Cari, Lisa, Suzanne, Kavon, Shilo, and I all went up to Portland to visit Peggie, Holly, Kendra, Matt, and Gabe. We had so much fun. It was good to see how much Heavenly Father has blessed those girls. It was a good opportunity for us women to also strengthen our bonds of friendship through upbuilding and encouraging words and even humor.






This month was my 10th anniversary. We weren't able to do anything for it but that is ok. I got James a card and a bag of hershey's kisses that say "I Love You" on them.






This month was also General Conference. All of the talks given were wonderful. The one that impressed upon me the most though was by Elder L.Tom Perry. He talked to us about simplifying our lives. Our lives need food, clothing, shelter, and fuel. He brought out the physical and spiritual implications to all four areas. I loved it! I also enjoyed the talk by President Uchtdorf as well.






Then later on this month we were blessed to hear from Elder L.Tom Perry and President Uchtdorf as well during our Stake Conference. They reminded us to obey the commandments and for worthy young men to serve missions. The Gospel is the way for us to return to our Father in Heaven.






We also had Branch Conference where we were reminded of temple attendance, Sabbath day observance, and being good neighbors.






This month definitely was full of spiritual blessings.






My birthday was on the 27th of this month. On the 26th after Stake Conference, we all went over to Lisa and Busters where we celebrated my birthday and carved pumpkins. For my birthday I got a Black and Decker 16-Cup Multi-use rice cooker, Batman Lego game for my Nintendo DS, Seasons 1 & 2 of 'Little House on the Prairie', a dozen and a half of yellow roses, two big bottles of Tide Total Care laundry soap, and a new desk accessory set. Also on my birthday my mom called me, my Uncle Henry and his quartet called and sang 'Happy Birthday' to me, and my Dad called and sang 'Happy Birthday' to me as well. I know that presents are fun but the thing that meant the most to me for my birthday was the presence. Yes the presence of my friends and family through their time either in person or on the phone or through emails or snail mail. I really love my friends and family and I know that I am truly blessed to have all of them in my life.