Stories that make you think

Yesterday I was over at my neighbor's house and she told me a story that she constantly is telling her kids. She couldn't remember exactly how it went but I really liked it and was able to find it on the Internet. It is called Two Wolves:

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said, 'My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.' The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: 'Which wolf wins?'

The old Cherokee simply replied, 'The one you feed.'

This second story I found on a blog that I read about a girl with a rare brain tumor. Her mother provides updates on her condition and added this story to her most recent post:


Malachi 3:3 says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.” She asked if he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, He not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy when I see my image in it."

They really made me think. Hope they provide you with some inspiration too!

Manti Pagaent

This past weekend I had a wonderful opportunity to attend the Manti Pageant with the Youth in our ward for Youth Conference. We left Friday morning, the 20th, bright and early and drove down to some property that is owned by a couple in our ward. The Young Women and Young Women leaders got to sleep in their cabin. The youth were awesome! They were so well behaved and they all got along great and had a lot of fun together. If you ever have the opportunity to go the Manti Pageant please take it! It is AWESOME!! I loved it! They put a lot of work into it. We came home Saturday, the 21st and finished off our Youth Conference with a bubble blowing contest. Being a Youth leader defiantly brings out the kid in you!

Happy Father's Day

Yesterday the kids and I painted a very large piece of paper to wrap Dayv's gifts. Dayv was over helping the neighbor put some lights in her living room. When he came home the kids were still painting and I had told them that it was alright for him to see us painting but to not tell him what it was for. Tahirah immediatly told Dayv that they were painting but it wasn't for him and to not watch her paint. I also had Carson answer some questions about his Daddy. Here is what he said (his answers are in bold italics):

ALL ABOUT MY DAD

My daddys 35 years old.
He weighs 100 lbs. and is 20 ft. tall.
His hair is black and his eyes are green.
My dad loves to relax by laying down and he likes to wear work clothes.
He loves to cook sausage, eggs and hashbrowns.
His favorite household chore is picking up toys.
His favorite movie is Harry Potter and his favorite song is I am a Child of God.
Daddy always tells me to clean up.
It makes him happy when we do what he asks.
When my dad shops, he loves to buy hashbrowns.
If he could go on a trip, he would go to Bear Lake and he would take a swimming suit, clothes, shoes and hat.
I really love it when my dad takes me to get treats.


I got up this morning and made Dayv breakfast. The kids and I were just about to take it downstairs when he started coming upstairs. So, he ended up just eating it at the table. The kids then gave Dayv his gifts. He got the X-Men Trilogy and a power screwdriver. I think he has enjoyed his day!

Love you Honey! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

All About Names Tag

My rock star name (first pet and current car): Samantha Caravan

My gangsta name (favorite candy bar and favorite cookie): Caramelo cherry macaroon

My detective name (favorite color and favorite animal): Purple Pig

My Star Wars name (first three letters of last name and first two letters of first name then the word "of" then a medication you are on): Vanal of Mortrin

My superhero name (2nd favorite color and favorite drink with "The" in front): The Green Hot Chocolate

My Nascar name (first names of your grandfathers): Phil Leon

My "lover" name (name of your favorite perfume/cologne and your favorite candy): Vanilla Carmel

Witness-protection name (mother's and father's middle names): Linnea Leon (My mother doesn't have a middle name so I used my mother-in-law)

I tag EVERYONE!

Toy Prison

I have been fighting with my kids constantly about picking up their toys. "I didn't make that mess", "I didn't play with that", "Nobody's helping me" along with many others are the excuses I kept hearing day after day. Well, yesterday we told the kids that the toys were going to be put away for week if they did not pick them up. Carson decided that playing outside sounded like a better idea then picking up toys and Tahirah informed us that she only cared about the toys in her room which she actually did pick up. Carson returned to a very empty toy room and apparently thought we wouldn't actually take them away. There were, of course, lots of tears. Our room has now been converted into a "Toy Prison". It's not the greatest arrangement but hopefully I will get more of a response when I tell the kids to pick up their toys....or maybe not. Any other suggestions that have worked for any of you would be much appreciated!

New Ward

Today we went to church in the same ward but it was a lot different then any other previous Sunday. The ward boundaries were recently changed and although the people who were in our ward before are still in our ward we have added roughly half of another ward that was completely dissolved as a result of the change. It was pretty crazy today. I am the 1st counselor in the Young Women's and it was my turn to teach. Before the change we had two girls, Amber and Brooke, that came regularly to church and activities. Today we had a total of about 15 girls! Needless to say it was very different. I have, of course, grown very close to Amber and Brooke and that will never change but it was nice having so many girls in class today. I think Amber and Brooke enjoyed it too. They have a couple of friends they go to school with now in the ward and I think activities will be more fun for them. I loved Young Women's but I can honestly say I didn't feel as comfortable with the rest of the meetings. Our ward has always been a very close knit ward because it was so small. You didn't really have your clicks. People of a totally different generation would talk to me like a good friend and that was really nice. I am going to miss that. I know it is only the first Sunday as a whole new ward and it will take some time to get to know people. It has defiantly been harder then I thought is was going to be. But for now I'm just trying to go with the flow.

Husband Tag

I thought this was a cute idea when I first saw it on a couple of my friend's blogs and was tagged and now I finally get a chance to complete it.


What is his name? David aka Dayv
How long have you been married? 6 years (anniversary was April 5th)
How long did you date? ha ha ha, well, before we got engaged we dated for two weeks (yes TWO) and then we were married four months after that
How old is he? 28
Who eats more? Dayv (and he doesn't gain an ounce)
Who said I love you first? He did
Who is smarter? Depends on what you're talking about. Dayv is defiantly smarter at math and probably english (must of been drilled into him as a kid by his father who is an english teacher)
Whose temper is worse? Dayv
Who does laundry? Me
Who does the dishes? Me
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you are lying down on the bed, Dayv is on the right.
Who pays the bills? Dayv makes the money, I make sure the bills get payed and then Dayv asks me where all the money went.
Who cooks dinner? Me
Who drives when you are together? Usually Dayv, he gets car sick really easy if he isn't driving (which two of my kids have unfortunately inherited)
Whose parents do you see the most? Defiantly mine who are two hours away. His are in a different country (Canada)
Who proposed? Dayv
Who has more friends? I probably do more with my friends but I'd say we have about the same
Who has more siblings? Defiantly Dayv. He has 9 other brothers and sisters, I have two brothers.
Who wears the pants in the family? Keltin (the cat) or at least he thinks so

I tag Bonnie and anyone else who reads this and has a blog and hasn't done it already (let me know your blog address so I can come read it).

"The Destroyer"

AKA Noah has become quite the little monster. Getting into the dog food, pulling everything off shelves, emptying my paper shredder all over the floor.....ARRRRGGG! He's lucky he's so darn cute!

Yesterday was "GAME NIGHT". It was a blast as usual. We have adopted this tradition of having game night every Friday with Mark and Bonnie (along with their two girls Savannah and Kiera) and Jon and Melanie (along with their son Andrew). We usually have dinner together and then after we get the kids settled down with a movie or activity the adults start the games. Jon and Melanie are huge game collectors and Mark and Bonnie have quite a collection themselves so we always have lots to choose from. We usually continue until we can hardly keep our eyes open any longer or we have laughed so hard we are sick. We have defiantly had a lot of crazy moments as the result of a ton of sugar everyone has eaten throughout the evening. A lot of inside jokes have also been born. From doughnuts (with sprinkles) to milk duds, all the way down to prunes we've got it covered (and of course you would only understand that if you happen to be Mark, Bonnie, Jon or Melanie)! Until next Friday......

The blog begins....once again

I started a blog last year...or was it the year before? I had good intentions of keeping it going but I think I stoped because I got really frustrated one day while trying to upload a picture. So, here I am again with those same intentions and hopefully it will last a little longer. I have found myself checking the blogs of friends and even some of people I never met (yes, I am a lurker) almost everyday and have really enjoyed reading what is going on in their lives. Life is so busy, busy, busy and nobody hardly has anytime to keep in touch anymore. One of my favorite things to talk about is my cute little family so here goes.

The most exciting news in our family was the success of Tahirah's potty training. If you are a mother and you have had the wonderful opportunity of potty training at least one child you will understand why this is so exciting. The most exciting part of it all is that it only took ONE WHOLE DAY! With Carson it took EIGHT MONTHS! So, Tahirah's little tush is now adorned with My Little Pony, Dora and Tinkerbelle.

Carson has started swimming lessons at the West Valley Fitness Center. He is in Level 1 and will complete his last lesson this Saturday. I keep meaning to bring my camera and take pictures but have yet to remember. He now floats on his back by himself. He also graduated from preschool! He is so excited to start Kindergarten. In fact when I picked him up on his last day of preschool he asked if he was going to Kindergarten the next week.

Noah is growing! He tries so hard to be just like the other kids. He doesn't really say a whole lot of decipherable words but that doesn't stop him from blabbering on about who knows what. I just smile and nod my head. Someday that is going to get me in trouble.

Dayv has been in school this week and is still doing very well with all his test scores still above average. Much smarter than I, at least in that department.