I. AM. SO. BLESSED!!

As I explained, probably in way too much detail a month or so ago, this has been an incredible past few months! I've gone through experiences I would have NEVER dreamed of, nor would I EVER have asked for them!! With that said, I can't believe the blessings that I've had and, looking back, I can see the tender mercies of the Lord through it all. Isn't it great we can have "hindsight" so we can be grateful??

I found an amazing blog a couple of weeks ago. This lady is a friend of a friend and has done some amazing things with creating a planner that covers multiple aspects of our lives making sure we live a balanced life, created 30-day challenges for self-improvement, etc. From what I've heard, she's the real deal in person as well as on a blog! Love that!! (You can find her blog here.)

Here's a quote I found on the blog that I thought was INCREDIBLY applicable for me right now:

"What seems to

us as bitter

trials are often 

BLESSINGS

in disguise."

--Oscar Wilde

WOW!! Isn't that great?? So...I've chosen to look for the "blessings in disguise" from the past few months. 

I have no idea how I EVER was lucky enough to nab this guy! In 24 more days, I will have had him officially by my side for 29 years! HOLY CRAP!!!! How did that happen since I'm pretty sure I'm only 30! ;) You know, when you're dating and newlyweds, you have this "vision" of what life will be like. Of course, it NEVER turns out that way!! Bob and I learned very early in our marriage to NEVER ask, "What next?" Every. single. time. we did, we found out...HUGE!!!!!!!!!! Over the past few years, we have gone through periods where things are going so smooth and so great...then at some point we stop and realize how great it is...then BAM!!!!! We get knocked off our rockers. It's great and incredibly frustrating at the same time! The past year has been one of the doosies! It is so true that when you marry someone, you get the whole package...FAMILY! I'm sure if Bob knew what he was getting down the road, he would have turned and run the other way as fast as he could! Who would blame him?? But...here he is, right by my side, holding my hand (and the rest of me, if necessary) the whole way! I honestly know, without a single doubt, I could not have gone through this without him. He's been my shoulder to cry on, my "logical" reminder, my listening ear when I need to vent, and help-meet in every single sense of the word! He's amazing and I know I'll never be able to express the appreciation I have for him! Good thing I have eternity to try!!

Then, there are these three. WOW!!! The big marshmallow cowboy in the first picture gave us experiences there were some of our BIGGEST trials ever! LOOK AT HIM NOW!!!!!!!!! His bringing Kenzi into our family was such an incredible blessing! She and Zack have grown up so much in the past five years and have become amazingly wonderful people who bless our lives every. single. day! Then, in the midst of all the "crap," they brought the sweet little cowboy-to-be into our family. Wyatt has been such a miracle! Zack and Kenzi are over here a lot which is fine with us! They walk in the door and hand Wyatt over to me (unless one of the "crazies" are home then I have to fight them off) and let me snuggle, kiss, feed, change him to my heart's content (unless the "crazies" are home...). The minute that little guy comes in the door, there is peace and a spirit that we know means heaven is so incredibly close! It's AMAZING!!! Again, so grateful for eternity so we can enjoy this forever!! :)

And then there's THESE three!!! Aren't they adorable?? At the beginning of the "mess," Andrew/Drew joined our family and brought heaven closer to our lives. We know without a single doubt these two boys were sent here at exactly the right time to help us through the "stuff." Mallorie has been incredibly intuitive and has know exactly when to bring Drew over for some Grandma therapy. All she has done is brought him in, handed him to me, and I know that all is right with the world! It's been incredible! To watch Tom and Mal grow up to be parents of this little schnookums has been absolutely delightful! They are AWESOME! And Drew just gets cuter and more fun every single time we see him. We treasure every single minute we have with them!!! As parents, we couldn't be more proud and can't wait for eternity to keep loving them!!

The "CRAZIES!!"

I'm not sure how it all started, it could have been their behavior around the babies, but I started calling these two "The Crazies." They're the crazy, doting aunts every little kid should have. They absolutely adore the boys and do everything they can to take them away from Grammy Schelle. They also have been amazing to step it up through all the garbage. Maddi has become completely addicted to Pintrest and as a result, has gained a love for cooking. It's been FABULOUS to have home-cooked meals most nights and Bob or I not have to be the one to come up with it. She's still has the sweet, sparkling personality she had as a little girl and can make any of us smile with her antics. She really is CRAZY!!!!! Sammi has brought such an amazing spirit into our home since she returned from her mission. She always had it but now she KNOWS how to use it to help others. She's interjected the "spiritual" side of things on several occasions reminding all of us that we are NOT alone through this and that our Savior is by our side in everything we do. We're so grateful for that reminder to get us, especially me, back on track.

Isn't our Heavenly Father's plan AMAZING?? Isn't it wonderful how he put us together to help each other through the good times and bad? I honestly don't know how people do it without their families!!!

I. AM. SO. BLESSED!!!!!

Cutest Valentines EVER!!

Look out! These two are going to be ladies-men someday!

In the meantime, they're my Valentine boys!

An OVERWHELMING two months!!

Again, I can't believe how time has flown by. All the holidays are over. We're in a new year. We've hit the second semester at school. Where does it go?? Well...when you have as much going on in one household as we have the past few months, it's really easy to lose track of the days/weeks!! Sometimes that's a bad thing; sometimes it's a really good thing!

I haven't blogged or told many about the situation with my mom over the past few months. It's embarrassing, overwhelming, and intimidating just to reflect on it. However, I want to write down as brief an explanation as I can just to get it over with. Here goes...

I am the oldest of two daughters born to my mom and dad. My dad was married previously and I have an older half sister from that marriage. She hasn't been in our lives very much but my mom and younger sister have communicated with her over the years. (She and I are VERY different which doesn't make for a very close relationship.) We weren't raised in the Church but were allowed to go to Primary and YW as we wanted. About 33 years ago, I became active and married Bob in the Temple. We've been active ever since. Randie, my younger sister, was not active and married a great guy who is not a member. When they did attend church, it was the Bountiful Community Church which was great. My mom didn't attend church until about 8-9 years ago when some wonderful people fellowshipped her and helped her gain her own testimony. She went through the Temple almost 8 years ago at which time I was sealed to my parents. It was a wonderful blessing in my life!!

In 2003, Randie and her husband divorced. Randie had a really hard time dealing with it and relied heavily on my mom for emotional and financial support. Mom was retired by this time and had little income and enough savings to help her through her problems. However, Mom believed it was what she should do...Moms help their children. (She'd actually been helping Randie financially throughout her marriage but no one really knew how much until later.) Unfortunately, over the years, Randie began to expect the help more and more; even to the point of not working to earn her own way. Three years ago, Randie was evicted from her apartment for non-payment of rent so the only place she could go was to Mom's. At this same time, Mom suffered what appeared to be a stroke. Her doctor told me it was likely she would not live through it so I needed to do what I could to secure her assets (he knew Randie's situation and the desperation of it and wanted to make sure she didn't take advantage of Mom). After meeting with Mom's Bishop, I stepped in as her "financial advisor" to work through things. Because I was joint tenant on her accounts, it was easy for me to gain the information and put the security measures into place. Through this process, I found Randie had been taking advantage of Mom more than I had known. There were loans taken out in Mom's name that Randie was to repay; she didn't. There were online transactions from Mom's account; Mom had no knowledge of how to do these--Randie did. After two months of trying to get everything straightened out and Mom's recovery, she insisted (demanded would be a better term) that I give all responsibility for her financial affairs back to her. Because Randie was living with Mom, she was able to manipulate Mom's thinking to a point where I was considered the "bad guy" for taking care of her finances and Randie was the "good guy" because she was there to "take care" of Mom 24/7. That's what good daughters do, right? That's what Randie brainwashed Mom into believing. Because I refused to watch Randie take Mom down as I knew she would, I told her she could either let me help her protect her savings and money, or I would walk away; I wouldn't stand by and watch it happen. Mom chose to take care of her own affairs. I walked away as did my family because they also knew what Randie was doing.

For the next two and a half years, we had little contact with Mom. Because I was joint tenant and had full rights to her accounts, I could see the activity online. Bob and I approached her several times with concerns regarding activity (online dating services, computer repairs--Mom didn't have a computer, cell phone purchases--Mom didn't have a cell phone, etc.). Mom refused to acknowledge the evidence we presented before her and eventually moved her accounts so I couldn't see what was happening. In October 2010, I received a phone call from Adult Protective Services stating they had received a report from a financial institution regarding "elder financial abuse." They asked what I knew about Mom's situation so I told them everything. After interviewing Mom, they had to drop the report because she refused to acknowledge Randie was doing what everyone had evidence to prove. We all knew it was happening but without Mom's support, there wasn't anything anyone could legally do.

In June 2011, I received another phone call from APS stating there was yet another report filed. This time, they felt strongly we might be able to move forward...Mom had been the one to instigate the call!! She had found her medicare supplemental and prescription insurance, homeowner's insurance, and life insurance policies had all lapsed. She also realized her IRA and savings accounts had been drained as well as her bills had not been paid. With evidence from the financial institution, she realized Randie had been committing "Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult." The case worker from APS filed a police report and the process started. It took Mom until July 27 to finally come to me to tell me what was going on because she was afraid she would say "I told you so." As we talked, a peace came over me that ultimately, the situation Mom was in was NOT her fault...she'd been the victim of Elder Mental/Emotional Abuse as well as Financial Abuse. I've learned in the past few months, Randie had to make me out to be the evil one so she could accomplish all she did with Mom's accounts. She had to isolate her from anyone, especially me, that could stop her abuse. It's made it a lot easier to deal with Mom personally.They asked what I knew about Mom's situation so I told them everything. After interviewing Mom, they had to drop the report because she refused to acknowledge Randie was doing what everyone had evidence to prove. We all knew it was happening but without Mom's support, there wasn't anything anyone could legally do.

In June 2011, I received another phone call from APS stating there was yet another report filed. This time, they felt strongly we might be able to move forward...Mom had been the one to instigate the call!! She had found her medicare supplemental and prescription insurance, homeowner's insurance, and life insurance policies had all lapsed. She also realized her IRA and savings accounts had been drained as well as her bills had not been paid. With evidence from the financial institution, she realized Randie had been committing "Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult." The case worker from APS filed a police report and the process started. It took Mom until July 27 to finally come to me to tell me what was going on because she was afraid she would say "I told you so." As we talked, a peace came over me that ultimately, the situation Mom was in was NOT her fault...she'd been the victim of Elder Mental/Emotional Abuse as well as Financial Abuse. I've learned in the past few months, Randie had to make me out to be the evil one so she could accomplish all she did with Mom's accounts. She had to isolate her from anyone, especially me, that could stop her abuse. It's made it a lot easier to deal with Mom personally. 

For the past few months, we've worked hard to discover all the damage and try to recover from it. We've also gone through the court process and will have final sentencing on February 15. Needless to say, it's been one of the most devastating things we've had to deal with as we've watched Mom realize what her own daughter has done to her. The blessing is we've got our Mom/Grandma/Great-Grandma back in our lives and are LOVING the relationships we're rebuilding. Hopefully after sentencing, the healing process will begin and we will be able to try to put this all behind us. 

On the "upside"...we've been working hard to get ready for Zack and Kenzi's baby to arrive. Her pregnancy has been unbelievably easy...no problems at all!! However, on December 23, she went in for a regular visit and found out the baby had dropped "significantly." The Dr. gave her the shots to help develop his lungs quicker and told her she was on modified bed rest. The following Wednesday, she went in and found she'd dilated to a 2 (what he didn't tell her until the next week was she was 80% effaced!!). We started sewing MUCH faster and moved the shower from January 21 to the 7th. A week later, she was dilated to a 3 and 90%. OH. DEAR!! More sewing faster!!!!!!!!! We had a GREAT turn-out for the shower. Mallorie did a FABULOUS job of planning and carrying out the shower. It was a lot of fun and they cleaned up with getting stuff to be ready for a baby. Last Wednesday, Kenzi was dilated to a solid 3-almost a 4 and 100% effaced. Dr. Johnson said not to cough, sneeze, or go over railroad tracks. When Kenzi's mom asked about a shower they had planned in Brigham City on Saturday, he said to "bring the shower to her." Kenz felt OK so we ended up having a great shower in Brigham. Sunday, they decided to hang out at home and take it easy since she didn't feel very good. Her brother's birthday is the 16th so the whole family met at Texas Roadhouse in Riverdale to celebrate. As they were in the parking lot waiting for everyone to arrive (about 5:00pm), she thought she was having contractions. They were about 18 minutes apart and only lasted 30 seconds or so. By the time they got seated around 7:00, they were coming closer together and were lasting a bit longer. At 7:15, she grabbed her sister-in-law's hand and said, "I think my water just broke." Sure enough...sitting in a booth in the restaurant, it broke. She grabbed Zack's hand and told him...he panicked like any new Dad would. :) They decided to leave the restaurant "just in case" and headed to Layton. Zack called me at 7:20 and told me they were on their way and asked if I'd call the hospital to let them know they were coming. We were at FHE at Grandma Denson's so we announced the great news and headed home. We got to Labor and Delivery about 7:45 and were told she was at a 10 by the time they arrived and was ready to deliver. I called Kenzi's mom and told her to HURRY!!!!!!!!!!! After about three good pushes, Wyatt Zackary Denson was born at 7:58pm weighing 5lbs and 8oz. He's 20" long and looks just like his Daddy!! Long and skinny! :)

Kenzi did a GREAT job "au natural"! Everyone is fine, healthy, and VERY happy!!! 

LIFE IS GREAT!!!!!

What a Humbling Experience!

I've posted before about my connection and friendship with author, Jason Wright. He's such a great guy and our family has so much fun with him when he's in town, texting, Facebook-ing, etc. Last weekend when the girls and I were at Time Out for Women, there were a couple of times when three or more of us were texting him at the same time! Pretty funny!!

I teach The Seventeen Second Miracle each year in my 9th grade English classes. It's so much fun to see the kids change their perspective and start looking for ways to serve others or recognize ways they have been served in small ways. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and curl up with a Diet Coke (Lime, of course) and enjoy!!

Each week, Jason contributes an article to the Deseret News. As usual, they are inspirational, thought-provoking, and they always get me thinking about how to be a better person. (More often than not, they're pretty darn funny, too...) Anyway, today I was reading SSM with my kids and we get to Chapter 17...a personal favorite (you'll see why when you read it... :) ). I wrote on Jason's wall telling him where we were in the reading and that the kids were really enjoying it. He referred me to the email I'd automatically received about his DN article being available. In a quiet moment, I clicked on the link and began reading. HOLY COW WAS I SURPRISED!!! And humbled!!! And SHOCKED!!!!! I'm not gonna lie...it was pretty cool!!

Check it out!

 

WOW!! I can't believe where the time has gone!

I look at blogs every day. I get so sad when they aren't updated frequently so I can "stalk" and see what's going on with other people. How in the world has four months flown by and I haven't taken the time to update our lives? Mallorie told me a long time ago I needed to do it so she'd have something to do when she's feeding Drew in the middle of the night. I. FAILED!! Now he's sleeping almost through the night every night and if he's not, he takes a quick bottle and goes right back to bed. Sorry Mal!! Bad Grandma!!

However, in my defense, the past four months have been

• Amazing
• Wonderful
• Horrible
• Stressful
• Unbelievable
• Exciting
• You name the emotion/experience...we've had it! (Sometimes more than once!!)

There's no way to play catch up with everything and I know no one would want to read it anyway so here are a FEW brief updates:

Drew is four months old and absolutely adorable. Mal brings him to see us often which is FABULOUS!! Everyone told us how great grandkids are...now I completely understand! Here are a few quick little pictures I have on this computer...I have more on others.

 Cute little booger in the Halloween t-shirt and jeans I got him. 

Our little hunter in his Halloween costume. Pictures taken at Busath Photographers. He was the hunter, Mal was Little Red Riding Hood, Tom the wolf. LOVE that grin!!

Baby attacked by an alligator...that's a Florida gator BTW. 

Ya...Grandpa isn't very whooped! Drew fell asleep on him while he was sitting up on the couch the other night. Bob carefully laid down on the floor and they were both out like a light. It was all we could do to get him away from old Gramps so he could go home. So fun!!

Zack, Kenzi, and their little punkin' are progressing right along. The Dr. told them in September he was 90% sure they were having a girl. We were so excited and promptly went out to buy all the pink fabric we could find along with designing all the bedding in the most adorable browns, pinks, greens, etc. Kenzi and I were having a blast working on it and had it about 80% finished. On the Thursday of UEA weekend, Kenzi's mom and I went with them for the "big" ultrasound. As we stood there watching, the tech said, "And there he is...your little boy!" WHAT???????? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING US??????? Needless to say, we asked her to check, re-check, and check again! YEP...there's absolutely no denying it! Our little Reagan is now WYATT!! (Note: we even asked her to look harder to see if there were two babies in there...) So, the cute pink stuff is boxed up for another time and we went shopping for moose, trees, and outdoorsy stuff. It's cute and we're excited to sew for a boy again. :)

Sam and Maddi keep us entertained! Sam is working at Busath almost full-time and going to Weber about 3/4 time. She keeps us laughing each day with her "Public Transportation Story of the Day" (she rides the bus and FrontRunner to Ogden and Salt Lake each day). It's SOOOO great having her home! Maddi is a hoot and keeps us on our toes with her dating and "boy drama." She's working almost full-time at Zions Bank and LOVES it!! It's so much fun to watch them together again...not so much fun to watch them fight like sisters but, at this point, the good times outweigh the bad. Thank heavens they grow up!! :)

Bob has worked a lot of overtime, went to Detroit for training, went Deer Hunting, and keeps busy working on cars. It's a never ending job but we're so grateful he can do it! 

I'm through the first term of school! HALLELUJAH!! I've never felt so disconnected, unprepared, overwhelmed, you name it! I've talked to other teachers and they all say the same thing! We all think we have different reasons for it but bottom line, this is a TOUGH year!! At this point...all we can say is one down, three more to go! :P

I had sinus surgery number four the middle of September. I finally got officially "sick" (HAHAHA!!) of being sick all the time and went to my favorite ENT. He's been home from serving as Mission President for a year so I decided it was time to go see him again. Of course, he said I should have had it done sooner...the last one was 15+ years ago. At this point, I'm still not so sure I'm glad I had it done. I just can't seem to get over it! They tried to pull the "age card" on me and tell me I'm not as young as I was when it was done before...ya...thanks a lot! They also said it was incredibly extensive and would take quite a while to recover. Ya think? And...now I feel like I've got another sinus infection on top of it all. REALLY? I thought the surgery was supposed to stop that for Pete's sake! Of course, he's out of town for a week and I don't want to start with someone else until he gets back. So...here we go again! :(

There's a LOT more going on...some good...some not so great. But, in the long-run, know we're all happy, healthy, and loving each other! 

Andrew is here!!

Wednesday, June 29, Mal was supposed to be induced in the evening. I was going to go up and help her finish up a few things around the house before they went to the hospital. When I called to make arrangements to head up, I noticed she didn't sound too great. When I asked what she was doing, she said, "Just sitting at the hospital..." The little stink got started Tuesday night and "wanted to surprise us!" HA!! She was at a 6 and said she'd call after the nurse came to check her the next time.

Bob came home and when we couldn't get hold of her to see how things were progressing, we decided to head over to the hospital. We were totally shocked when the nurse told us she was "delivering." She'd gone from a 6 at 11:40am to delivering by 1:30.

Andrew Thomas Forbes was born at 1:50pm weighing 7lbs 15oz and was 20.5" long. He's got a full head of dark hair and is beautiful!! We couldn't be more proud of him and are thrilled to be grandparents!!

About an hour old...so incredibly alert and bright-eyed!

Yep...we're proud grandparents!

He's totally whooped!

Auntie Tusiga! (She was one of Sammi's companions in the mission...Sister Lealaogata. She's adopted herself into our family and we LOVE it!!)

Uncle Zacky and Aunt Kenzi-poo

Proud Aunt Sammi!

Aunt Maddi is in love!

Zack looks scared but not really. :)

Cute little family

So adorable!!

Fun with an Aussie!

Sammi had the opportunity to be companions with a sister doing her "outbound" mission from Temple Square around Christmas time last year. Demelza Katterfeld is from Perth, Australia and served the same time Sammi was out. They became "fast friends" during their four weeks together and then we were able to meet her just before she left her mission. We instantly fell in love and looked forward to the time she could come to visit. Well...that time has come and it's been a BLAST!!!

Saturday night, we invited a bunch of the Florida Ft. Lauderdale missionaries and their families over for a BBQ. We ended up with about 40 people in our backyard and it was FABULOUS!!! There were quite a few of the RMs that we had already met but some we hadn't plus a great family I had emailed and been friends with on Facebook. It was really a lot of fun!

Bob, Zack and our nephew, Brady, grilling the grub.

(Bob was NOT wanting a picture at that moment...can you tell?)

One of about 5 platters of food going up on the deck! YUMMY!!

Kenzi and our niece, Michelle, chatting away.

Maddi & Joshy-poo

Joshy LOVES him some pasta!! :)

The GREAT Florida Ft. Lauderdale missionaries!!!

(front: Breanna Crane, Mikayla Barros, Becky Gardner, Sister Holdstock, Sammi, Demi Katterfeld, Whitney Clegg, Travis Hansen, Ben Parry)

(back: Clark Wilcox, **Mendenhall, Chaz Ricks, AJ Gubernick, **Hone, Elder Holdstock, Jaron Wardle, Ainsley Felton, **Lowder, Steve Mc**, Derek Dube)

Hmmm...Brady?

Great time visiting!

S'mores!!

Demi, Chaz, and Tyler Voorhes

Then, Monday, we took Demi and Sammi 4-wheeling up above Bountiful and Farmington. Demi hadn't been to the Utah mountains and hadn't ever been 4-wheeling. We bought the "wheelers" while Sammi was on her mission so she hadn't had a chance to ride them yet. What a BLAST!!! The weather was perfect; the scenery BEAUTIFUL!!! 

Sammi & Demi in the parking lot by the "B" in Bountiful.

Bob giving Sammi riding lessons

Oh ya...she's got it! :)

Demi learning the tricks

Yep...she's got it too! :)

As high as we could go (the gates were shut). We wanted to take pictures to show Demi's mom and dad how high she went in the mountains. See the Temple between them?

SNOW!! (Demi was so excited with how close we were. We wanted to get her right to it...)

Beautiful little spring. The water was FREEZING!!

Dirty face...a sign of a GREAT time! :)

The Farmington "river"!! It was running so high and so fast!!

I love those grins!!

Farmington Fire Break parking lot

At the top of the fire break road...as far as we could go.

The gang! It was SOOOO fun!!

Demi crossing the "river"

She's getting there...slowly...

SHE DID IT!!!!

Back at the truck. We made it and everyone lived!!!

After riding, we decided Demi needed to experience a true "Davis County" delicacy...a Pace's Rainbow! YUMMY!!!!!