Trials are for others..not just yourself.

Maybe that's why God gives us trials.

It's honorable. It comes with deep responsibility. Our response to trials doesnt just affect us. It's not suppose to.

You become a complete open book (if you allow yourself). Judgements come-some are harsh & surprising. Some are tender & beautiful. I will be the FIRST to say "I could have done/handled some things differently." But it wouldnt be true to who I am or my character. Which needed to change.

Just today I have received two separate messages from people that know me. I am worried that maybe this "boost" of spirituality is preparing me for something in the near future!?

"Christina,
You don't know me, but I have followed your blog for years now and always been strengthened by your faith and wonderful attitiude! I never would have guessed in a million years I would be put in a position as a caregiver for my own husband, but last week he was diagnosed with brain cancer, and underwent brain surgery. I have thought of you a lot, and remembered things that helped you. Thanks for sharing your challenges. They really have blessed others!
love,
Wendy"

Niagra Fall of tears. Cleansing. Rejuvinating. Re-Energized. Strengthened.

"Have I told you about Christina? SHE is really an amazing woman! I totally admire and look up to her in so many ways- seriously- I have "known" her for over 4 years I think now- before her husband was in his accident and put in a wheelchair-she has 4 little girls and works really hard at everything she does- we "met" on a mormonchic, and then she started a blog and then I did.. that is how we have kept in touch- we have talked on the phone a few times- I feel like I totally know her although we have never met in person-ANYWAY... get to know her- you won't be sorry! While going through this trial with her husband she is still really beautiful, an incredibe mom, a service oriented person, hard worker, super funny, down to earth, an entrepruner, tell it like it is- and super friendly, all things I LOVE I could go on and on about her amazingness."
-Lauralee

WELL! That pretty much sums me right up then doesnt it.

SERIOUSLY THOUGH--I am WAY worried with all the "Nice-ities" coming my way!!!!!

Spring Break ING & reflect ING!

It was sooooooooooo nice to not wake up and shuffle kids out for school all week!

Monday: We hit 2 movies at the $2 theatre.
Tuesday: Took all four girls to the mall - Rachel bought herself more Vans, Sarah purchased her FIRST pair.
Wednesday: Beach at Corona Del Mar
Thursday: Bowling
Friday: Rented movies via Red Box (LOVE that thing!)
Saturday: Hiking in the hills

So looks like we had a good week of Spring-the weather was PERFECT total summer like.

As I went to bed Saturday night, I was reflecting on my week. Does anybody else do this? I think about the times I came up "short" in the motherhood department. I find myself saying, I could have done this better, that better, played more games with them, talked to them more etc etc etc etc ETC. Then I found my thoughts going towards "HELLO this is Satan's sharpest tool for mothers--to make us feel like we aren't doing a "good enough" job!

I realized that at this point, if I can get them to:

clean up their rooms everyday after school -JOB WELL DONE!
(I have to LITERALLY go up everyday to "check & pass it off")

brush their teeth- JOB WELL DONE!
(I have to LITERALLY smell their breath-that should win me a gold medal huh!)

read the scriptures with us and PAY ATTENTION-JOB WELL DONE!
(we are using this GREAT book that goes along with the scriptures)

pray as a family/personal prayers-JOB WELL DONE!
(we do this with Jon each night usually in our room)

spend one on one time-JOB WELL DONE!
(each Sunday we call them in one by one oldest to youngest, we ask them how their week went, is there anything they are struggling with, need help with, want our help with etc--they LOVE this & are surprisingly very open and honest)

My Patriarchal Blessing states "You will have noble children." THE PRESSURE!!! Maybe this is why I find myself reflecting & worrying that I keep coming up short to this. But I am reminded time and time again-Satan will do ANYTHING to wreck my family-including paralyzing Jon.

HE WILL NOT WIN. Can I get an AMEN!

Prepare, Preparing or Prepared???

For quite a while now I have had PREPARE on my mind a LOT lately. Not sure if it is because of our situation with Jon's injury? Our lack of income for FOUR LONG YEARS NOW? The constant earthquakes we keep having or the BIG one everyone else keeps having?!

One night I felt prompted to get a tubbermaid container and spend a FHE night having the girls get an old pair of sneakers, socks, jeans & a tshirt. We put our clothes into that tubbermaid container and put it in the cupboard upstairs in the hallway. One of my fears is, we have an earthquake in the middle of the night-we are all shoeless & me stuck in my religious wear!!

We may never need that tubbermaid in that certain spot. But maybe I just needed to follow that little prompting?

We also have a large rolling trash can that has 6 72 hour back pack kits complete with water, food, toilet paper, pad of paper, pens, wipes, cup, shampoo, soap, deodorant etc etc etc. This past FHE we pulled them out took inventory & then I purchased all new food. Kinda of funny-I THOUGHT it had only been a "couple" of years--my bad. We looked at the yummy crackers and carmel--um OOOPS it WAS ORIGINALLY crackers and cheese!! nasty.

This General Conference the girls will get to eat the oh so yummy emergency food and replace it with fresh food (obviously minus the "carmel & crackers!").

Within this large rolling trash can we have LOTS of supplies like flash lights, batteries, solar blankets, first aid kit, portable radio, tools, maps, 2 binders with TONS of emergency information, mask, even a bucket (cuz ya know someone may need to go potty!) etc etc etc. ALL of these things PLUS the 6 72 hour kit backpacks fit neatly into the rolling trash can. It's kinda like our "covered wagon!"









Again, we may never need these 72 hour kits. But we have felt prompted to take it seriously. Maybe once again, it's just about us being obedient to the promptings we feel for our own family.

Of course NOTHING brings as much comfort as being SPIRITUAL PREPARED! We were AGAIN having another lesson on being prepared. It was geared more towards "spiritually." I didnt quite FEEL LIKE my girls were "grasping the concept." I felt prompted yet again to be frank with them. Before I knew it, these words, sentences and thoughts came flying out of my mouth before I could edit! I turned to Rachel (almost 13) and said "Rachel, what if we had a serious earthquake and EVERYBODY died but you. Would you be spiritual strong enough to take care of yourself? To move on with your life? To get on your knees and ask for help? To know that Heavenly Father is with you even though your family was not?" Jon whipped his nervous eyes right over to me with the look of "ARE YOU JOKING ME?!?! What in the world!?"

SILENCE.

We talked about this. We spent time discussing this. Things were "grasped."

Lastly, we all know that in the end, if we are having a major fire or earthquake-Jons rules are to "Save Yourselves & Let Me Be!" --lovely huh.

My Father in Law...Robert Hales birthday post

Our family LOVES this man. I have always felt that Jon is the only man that I know that reminds me of Christ the most. I have the same feelings regarding Jon's Dad-Robert. He is the only man that reminds me of Heavenly Father the most. I am definately blessed because of these two people in my life.

Growing up I had ALWAYS wanted to marry someone JUST like Robert Hales. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd get to marry one of his gorgeous sons! My mom use to tell me, "always take a look at the Father of the person you are considering to marry-most likely he will be JUST LIKE HIM." This couldnt be more true!

Robert is amazing.

He & Sandra have seven children, all active in the church, all temple marriages (Mark HURRY UP! HA JK), 5 Eagle Scouts, 5 Return Missionaries, I believe all 5 were AP's, all college graduates, all happy & healthy children expanding their broods. What a blessed man huh!

Robert has a great sense of humor. There is always an understanding between he & I that where ever we are driving,

we are ALWAYS in a race. ALWAYS. The rule is that you have to get OUT of your car and RUN to the front door and THAT determines the winner. Thankfully he is MUCH older then me and I use that to my full advantage!! During race mode we sometimes take different routes thinking one way is going to beat the other person. There have been times when an ENTIRE OPEN bag of cheetos have flown ACROSS the inside of my truck as I was determined to BEAT HIM-which I did! I LOVE that when we are all traveling up to Chad's house by car, that we RACE THE ENTIRE WAY. We get our BEST speed time in once Sandra & Jon have fallen asleep. Sandra & Jon do not approve of our racing ways however. Which makes it THAT more fun for the two of us!

Robert is COMPETATIVE! (Do you see how the racing fits RIGHT in there.) Have you SEEN this man play Pollyana?? Look out. You can NOT be whimpy when playing with him.
It doesnt even matter if you are a grandchild!

I can totally hear this conversation with Katie, "Geez Dad." With Robert's usual reply "WHAT?!"
He has killed players in Pollyana-simply because it just feels so good. Love it. He has played Pollyana for DECADES that when any number comes up-he knows EXACLTY where his player is suppose to be.

It's pretty amazing actually.

HOWEVER, Robert taught me how to play Chess when I was first dating Jon.

It was our first game. I wasnt aware of this competative nature of his at this point. But I am JUST as COMPETATIVE as he is. (again, we make the best racing team!) We are about 3/4of our way thru the Chess game. I am looking at the game, my pieces, my placements, the moves I could make when suddenly I realize "hmm, if I move this ONE piece to this ONE spot-game over." I wasn't totally sure yet because I had just been taught. So I bravely asked Robert "if I move this here, does that mean I win?" SILENCE. That was all I needed-movement was made, victory was won, his pride---SHOT DOWN!!!!!!!!!! We have yet to ever play a Chess game again, nor will I EVER give him THAT opportunity.

Robert is a kind kind KIND man. I've never seen him yell at anyone, raise his voice or get upset (well except for the Frey's Electronics fiasco! which was well deserved). He is always willing to help anyone out. He is one of the most generous men I know. Without his help-we would be living in a tent, I am sure of it! I have to laugh at this one story. Jon & I had just moved into our brand new home. The backyard wasnt even in yet. We decided to dig trenches to lay pipes for a spinkler system. We called Robert the day before to ask him to come help us. "Of course!" he said. The next day comes, we are ready to start digging. Robert pulls up and says "I am here to help!" Only coming out of the car are three men he picked up from OFF THE CORNER!!!! Jon & I look at eachother and start laughing, to which Robert does his usual "WHAT?! I said I'd help!" Comedy.

Robert LOVES either Carls Jr or El Pollo Loco. During the week you can ALWAYS find him at either of these places on Chapman Avenue. They know him by name. They know his order when they see his black shiny jag pull into the parking lot.

A number 14-NO CHEESE & Medium Diet Coke.
He comes to our house every Friday and we hit Carls Jr. He LOVES

their chocolate cakes.

The poor man gets severly congested when he eats anything that has cheese, butter or chocolate in it. I mean SERIOUSLY talk about trials!!!!!!!!!! He has the LARGEST amount and array of over the counter sinus congestion mediciation of ANYONE I KNOW. Whenever we get together for dinner, we promptly tell him what he can or can't have. He just eats what he wants anyway and follows it up with drugs. It's comical.

Robert is a TRAVELING MAN! He has this ONE HAT

that literally has been AROUND THE WORLD.

He & Uncle Mike goofing off-I hear there is a photo of him as he FELL OFF this contraption.

He LOVES to vacation with all of his family. One time Jon & I went with them to Hawaii in 2000. I will never forget chowing down on our chocolate macadamia nut ice cream on a waffle cone-dreamy. Both Mark, Jon & myself turn around to see Robert wearing "the hat" with a hawaiian themed shirt, camera around his neck, black jean shorts -which up to this point doesnt sound too bad right? No, IT GETS WORSE. Let's move on down to his choice of footwear. Let me also quickly point out that he has no ability to tan his legs-ever. We gaze our eyes past his Holy Ghost legs to see black sandles with black CHURCH SOCKS! This is an image I will truly never forget.

Robert has a tradition at Christmas time to give each of us $50 to spend how we want. HOWEVER each year he likes to HIDE it in something. He has put the money in chocolate angles, See's Candy Boxes, Cans of soup, the freezer-for the 14 years Ive been in the family, 14 different ways. We LOVE IT and look forward to it each year.

Robert also has this obsession with LARGE HOOD ORNAMENTS. He drives a black Jaguar.

He doesnt want to get a BMW or a MERECEDEZ because the hood ornaments are "dinky & not manly enough". Cracks me UP!

Lastly, Robert is one spiritual GIANT. The man knows the Gospel inside & out. He once taught Gospel Essentials class & had MORE people in his class then the regular Sunday School class! I love that when he teaches anything about the Gospel, he challenges our thinking and makes US think of the answers ourselves versus him just telling us the answer to Gospel questions. He has an unwavering testimony. He is deeply connected to Heavenly Father & Christ.

My family is blessed by this wonderful man-and will continue to be blessed...well until he FINALLY FINDS his acres of land he's always wanted (he's always looking for lots of acres that we can have a Hales Compound on) and asks us to join him in bedouin tents

if THAT happens it will change EVERYTHING!

Happy Birthday Robert---we all love and adore you!

It's been FOUR YEARS!

This is what our schedule/life was like FOUR YEARS AGO:

March 2006
Jons Daily Schedule..

12am-Cath, rotation in bed and give meds(baclofen)
2am- rotation in bed and meds
4am-Cath and rotation in bed
6am-rotation in bed and meds
8am-Cath, rotation in bed, dressed and breakfast
9am-Meds
10am-rotation and meds
1130am-transfer to wheelchair
12pm-pressure release for 5 minutes (meaning i have to get onto the couch and tilt his wheelchair back into my lap to relieve pressure so he doesnt get a pressure sore)
12pm-lunch and meds
1230pm-pressure release for 5 minutes and then range of motion exercises
1pm-pressure release for 5 minutes
130pm-pressure release for 5 minutes
2pm-pressure release for 5 minutes and meds
230pm-pressure release for 5 minutes
3pm-pressure release for 5 minutes and meds
330pm-pressure release for 5 minutes
4pm-cath, pressure release for 5 minutes and meds
430pm-pressure release for 5 minutes
5pm-pressure release for 5 minutes
530pm-pressure release for 5 minutes
6pm-pressure release for 5 minutes, meds and dinner
630pm-pressure release for 5 minutes
7pm-transfer back into bed and start bowel program
730pm-transfer jon onto commode chair for continued bowel program
8pm-transfer jon back onto bed, change clothes, bath, and meds
9pm-meds
10pm-meds and rotation in bed
12am-Cath, meds and rotation in bed

so as you can see - its VERRRRY busy and LOTSSS of chaos in our life right now..mix his schedule in with him having physical therapy at the home 3 times a week and occupational therapy 3 times a week, plus 2 doctors appts which will take a total of 3 hours getting there, waiting and returning home...

i have to help with all of that AND then help the 2 older girls do their homework from 3-4pm, try my best to have rachel practice her piano each day, feed girls breakfast, lunch and dinner, make them do their chores for the day, try to keep the house quiet for jon, change diapers, get juice cups and snacks, keep an eye on jon so that he doesnt black out or pass out, constantly ask if he's okay or does he need his feet up..if he does i have to be right there to do so or ill be in a HUGE mess, feeding him, getting a drink of water when he needs it, answer the telephone, work on our business by answering phone calls, checking and responding to business emails, staying on top of our business accounting, making sure and paying all business bills on time, getting my mail each day, staying on top and paying our home bills on time, getting girls bathed and showered, teeth brushed, prayers, fhe, scripture reading each day, fighting the fires between 4 young girls each day, working with a 2 year old who SCREAMS if im not right by her side constantly, laundry, washing all of jons towels, sheets, pillowcases, clothes, as well as all of our clothes, having all the neighborhood kids constantly in and out of the house, back and forth from the backyard to the front yard, making sure becca doesnt go outside and into the street, working on getting social security to help us out- which working with the government is a NITEMARE, keeping everything filed and organized regarding jon, bills, insurance stuff, charts, medical records, social security stuff, equipment manuals, numbers for when equipment breaks down, state disability information, TRYING to find a caregiver who can help me, figuring out what im going to do for 3 of my daughters bday's coming up this month and next month, trying to prepare for 2 weddings and the hales family cruise that had already been booked and paid for before the accident occured which will all occure in the month of june and THEN wanting some alone time by myself and on the computer but too tired so i just want to go to bed instead...

so as you can see...my life and jons life is extremely difficult right now, maybe people dont really know just how hard it is..i hope this may help you to realize when people ask "what can i do?"..that all i can say is..theres so much i dont even know where to start!

i KNOW this will get SO MUCH easier..but right now its REALLY hard and REALLLY hard on me the most right now..this is why im struggling to find a balance and help from a caregiver..because jon requires SO much ALLLL day and ALLL thru the night...it really is a LOT of work

When Jon FIRST got hurt-the FIRST person I called after family was Sis. Rushton. The one thing she said to me that I have NEVER forgotten was "It's hard right now but I promise as each year passes it WILL get easier!"
SHE WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOO RIGHT!

Now we have Amanda (our nurse) come in 730-1030 to prepare Jon for the day
His Mom comes out on mondays for 2 hours to work him out, his brother Mark comes on Wednesdays to work him out for 2 hours, and he comes back again on Friday with Jons dad to work him out for 2 hours.
He eats lunch around 2pm, helps the girls with their homework and Anna gives him the medicine he needs at 4pm.
Jon is able to more around SOOOO much more-he can do his OWN pressure releases.
He doesnt need medication around the clock-he has been able to get himself off major medication and only use what is needed.
Jon is doing SO well-that often times people dont even realize he's paralyzed!!!

We have been SOOOOOOOOO blessed the past four years with help from our families and from all of our friends-we cant thank you enough for bearing this trial with us. It wouldnt have been possible without all of you-thank you.

Our future is SO BRIGHT right now and we are SO ready to bring it in!

How did I get so lucky?

Totally Stealing this idea from my friend-Thanks Amber!

Lows: WHY DO I HAVE THEE MESSIEST CHILDREN EVER!??????????
One Random Day Snapshot:

ANOTHER Random Day Snapshot:

and YET ANOTHER Random Day Snapshot:

DUDE those were THREE DIFFERENT DAYS!! Do you feel my pain-they are MESSY!


Someone please tell me I am not alone here. Why do I have such messy girls?! I secretly hope they "snap out of it" by the time they go to college or get married. I apologize in advance to their poor husbands. Hopefully they all just marry someone rich so the maid is included.

Actually they are REALLY good about cleaning it up when I ask them to. I have taught them to make "piles." One trash, one clothes, one toys. THEN put the piles away-this way it's not so overwhelming to them.

I guess my problem is the upkeep-it's great for one day, then I dont say anything (cuz I am never in their rooms-I mean HELLO they can dress THEMSELVES!) so when I actually walk past it I just sigh and close the door. Maybe I need to just be better about having them check on their rooms EVERYDAY!? Is that the secret I am JUST NOW figuring out?!??! Maybe I should just be grateful this is my only low this week!


HIGHS: Every Fast Sunday we get together with Jons family. We usually rotate houses, but lately it has just been easier for us to all meet at his parents house in OC.

Robert doesnt have any meetings on Fast Sunday by choice OR COMMAND as he is the Bishop! HA
So we have Jons parents, our family, Todd & Celene's family, Scott & Kellie and cute little Esther. We always do a "potluck style." Last night Celene made taco soup, I brought a big green salad & made cheddar/jalapeno bread-UM GRUB, kellie brought cut up fruit, mom/dad made their famous punch & a BIG OL' chocolate cake!

I LOVE that my girls are older and there is NO diaper changing, or referring or getting to things we arent suppose to. All of our kids get along SO well-it's so great. I LOVE that we dont discuss boring things or plop ourselves infront of a football game (those are definately happening on other days!!). We are always discussing DEEP things. Whether it's church topics, politics, where we see ourselves in the future, when we think the SO CAL earthquake will hit, what food storage supplies we have etc.

I realize that I am not really "spiritual fed" at church, but when I visit Jons family-I am definately spiritually FED! I come away (as I am driving us all home) feeling so blessed to be in this family, so blessed to have so many righteous examples to TRY to emulate, so grateful our children all get along so well as cousins, so blessed to be encouraged to try harder, do better. I always feel like my "batteries get charged!"

QUESTIONS: What are your secrets to a fabulously well kept childs room?
Do your families get together each month for Fast Sunday? Do your families have great discussions?

Surgery, Newlywed Game, GNO's... OH MY!

Jon has been visiting the Urologist a lot lately to discover a 3-4 centimeter stone in his bladder. YIKES that's right it was CENTIMETERS not MILLIMETERS!!!!!!!!!!!
We had several tests that had to be done and concluded that he would need surgery to try to remove the stone from his bladder. This was basically a "Star Wars" game for the surgeon. Most stones are VERRRY teeny tiny-not this one though.

We had to check into the hospital at 830am-they put him under and an hour later they had lasered down 50-60% of the stone. The surgeon decided not to push his body another hour to remove all of it-
but to be happy where they had gotten and have Jon come in for another round of surgery.

We got out of the hospital that day around 430pm. We had to do certain procedure's every hour around the clock and thru the night. EXHAUSTION for both of us no doubt. We have SUCH great friends who brought in dinner for a couple of nights, Jons parents took the girls to the beach that day because there was no school. It went very smoothly all in all and we were SO grateful. When Jon had surgery when he broke his neck, it took 2 HOURS JUST to get the tube down his throat--so we were VERY nervous-but it all went smoothly... PHEW.

He had to stay down in bed for a full week-thankfully he is able to use his laptop while in bed so he got a lot accomplished, but by about saturday he was thoroughly bored with being up in the bedroom all alone with just the computer. He was so happy Monday came so that the cath could be removed and he could be up and about in his chair again. He has recovered SO WELL from it-we are all so happy.

We are not sure when the second surgery will be again-but atleast we know what is in store for us and can be prepared again with family & friend help.

Each year Jon & I host a Valentines Newlywed Game Night-one word. HILARIOUS! It is SUCH a fun night and the game takes sooooooooo long because we all can't stop laughing!





Jons brother Scott & Kellie have won the past couple of years, this time they were BEAT-all because Scott is a "better reader then her" um ya who knew?! Too fun.

Lastly, GNO's (Girls Night Out) are simply the best. I love Facebook because it strengthens friendships & helps you get to know other people you wouldnt REALLY get to know. Sometimes we limit our friendships with only those we attend church with, those we blog with or a select few that we meet at our children's schools or sports clubs. With Facebook I have been able to really get to know people, whether they are family I have reconnected with, friends I have reconnected with, people from previous wards, or schools I have attended. I have seen how most everyone is doing such a great job raising their own families, attending their own churches & being great role models.

I just love people & relationships. I love to know when their lives are good or when their lives are hard. I have learned from Facebook just HOW MANY PEOPLE I personally know that are suffering that I wouldnt have ever known. It is crazy to see so many are really suffering with illnesses, accidents, job losses, or financial situations. You then pick up the latest Ensign Magazine & every other article is about overcoming trials. The people of the Earth are no doubt being tested. In the end life is about our relationships here on Earth & what or how we strengthen them. I feel that blogging and facebook are great tools for just that.

I am grateful that through our trials of life, we have things like blogs, Facebook, & GNO's to get us thru these trying times. One of my friends recently posted on Facebook "When God closes one door, He opens another but that doesn't mean it's not hell in the hallway!" Sometimes that is the truth! It made me chuckle. There are some who could care less about blogging or facebooking and that's okay. To each is there own as they say! What works for one person may not work for the next.

I joke that I am the "Social Fun President!" around here. I am always wanting to get people together to do ANYTHING FUN! Even if it's sneaking off to Chili's at 10pm after all is taken care of at home for yummy cheese fries, or to Cherry on Top for a quick dessert OR a GNO. We have had up to 25 girls join us for a end of the month dinner at a restaraunts like Cheesecake Factory

or most recently Claim Jumper



-which by the way did you know the Blackened Bow Tie Pasta is 3778 CALORIES?!?!?!! dude. Thankfully I had the Cedar Plank Salmon

at only a WHOPPING 985 calories-good grief this was the only healthy thing they had!

I joke (altho I am being SERIOUS) that I am going to start filming all of us crazy ladies at one of our late night Cherry on Top visits

for The Real Housewives of the IE! (Inland Empire)--we have way too much fun together. LOVE ALL THESE GIRLS!

Jon & I are going to be working VERY HARD together with Nuriche. We are so grateful to have this chance to change our lives forever. Our life will truly be completely different in 16 months. We are SO grateful for a tool in which together we can use to make our future so bright. Our lives are moving in a forward direction!!! Happy, Happy Days for us.

Where'd my Thoughts go?

I thought I had some good thoughts to write about but with my current head cold,

they seemed to be lost in with all the congestion! geesh

We have been struggling with our sweet Sarah.

The girl can back talk like NO OTHER! Does anyone else have this problem? Maybe it's just us!

And lets not forget about THIS!

It says "Mom is a Butt!" and in the hymns no less-nice.

I have always felt the child that acts out the most needs the most one on one time. When we pray at night, we always pray for our children and Sarah usually gets the "please prompt us in ways to help Sarah and to help change her behavior with love and kindess" hoping that we will be guided how to help her.

Sarah has a problem with "always having the LAST WORD!"
example:
ME: "Sarah can you please pick up the dining room?"
SARAH: "But I didnt make the mess!"
ME: "I know but you are incharge of that room."
SARAH: "That's not fair."
ME: "I know sorry babe-just hurry real fast."
SARAH: "But I didnt mess it up!"
ME: "I know just hurry and get it picked up-the other girls have their rooms they are cleaning up."
SARAH: "But that's not fair!"
ME: "Enough already honey-spend less time talking to me about it and pick it up real fast!"
SARAH: "But I didnt mess it up!"

you get the picture-and mind you she is saying each sentence AS I AM TALKING to her.
FRUSTRATING!

Needless to say she has spend the past THREE mondays in a ROW grounded for talking back. When we ground our children, it is "not to their rooms for 4 hours" but they get to clean-ya know all the stuff I dont want to do like laundry, baseboards, changing bed sheets etc. Our kiddos have to WORK when they are grounded.

Jon has felt prompted to take Sarah on a one on one walk to frozen yogurt. Apparently, she talked the ENTIRE TIME and told him all sorts of things every parent hopes their kids will do! It was awesome he said.

We have talked to her about HOLDING OFF to say anything until we ask her "Sarah do you have anything you want to say?" THEN she can give her opinion but not give her opinion DURING every sentence we speak to her. She has been SO MUCH better at it. I will hold up my fingers to my lips like "DONT SAY ANYTHING HOLD OFF!" and it works. I am happy that she is trying her best to change this behavior.

Last night Jon was incharge of Family Home Screaming. Why does it take us (sometimes) 30 minutes to go thru ONLY 5 minutes of the ACTUAL lesson?! I guess that's why I lovingly call it Family Home Screaming...sigh. Oh well-it didnt matter because at the end (our lesson was "Why it is important for us to have a strong testimony") & Jon was sharing his thoughts about why it's important and how life for them will be so different from our lives growing up and if they arent FIRM in their testimonies NOW-life will be even more difficult.
We looked over and Sarah had tears in her eyes. Imagine as parents how that made us feel-TOTALLY AWESOME!

We went to bed that night and our pray was giving Thanks to HF for helping guide is in direction with Sarah and being grateful that she was able to feel the Spirit right in our home. Isnt that what the Gospel teaches us-to teach our OWN children (not leaving it up to Primary) so that they know what it feels like to feel the Spirit. A sweet memory to be treasured in our hearts no doubt.

Last thursday we took the family to Disneyland.

Jons Grandma bought us all year passes-we had to go on Thursday to take our photos for the passes. It was PERFECT weather and we managed to hit all the rides in FOUR HOURS! We took the girls to Olive Garden for dinner after & hung out at my parents while the nasty 91 freeway traffic died down. It was a great day for our family.

Over the weekend Jon & I together attended a work event. It was great to be there with everyone & they had us speak to those in attendance.

Together Jon & I are going to be doing some amazing things with this company and feel it an honor with much responsibility to utilize this for our health and to help support our family. We are so grateful for those that have helped us along the way!

How do you help change the behavior of your children? Do you pray? Do you ground? What has worked best for you?

Am I a "Runner"...I'm still deciding.

My conversations about "running" typically went like this:

"What, you run, on purpose? That's not even right. I only run if there is an emergency and even then i am debating the whole time if it's really even neccessary!"

Seriously-I HATED RUNNING. I hated how your heart would beat so fast, how you would get stomach cramps constantly, how your legs would feel like jello and twitch for 3 hours after you ran reminding you of how much you are not a runner, how you cant chit chat with your friend because you were DYING for air to breathe!

I think honestly I was secretly jealous of those that run. I mean really-they are slim and trim.

They can pop out of bed, bust out 3 miles and be done working out. They were always outside in the warm sunshine-blaring killer music from their iPods. Often times if it is warm enough you can have the pleasure of watching a very handsome man with NO shirt run in front of you (if you're lucky)

or run past you. Glorious.

Jon had always dreamed of running with his wife. He always thought that was "so hot" to be able to run with your wife. When he was in HS he was on the track team. He use to RUN to seminary from his house every morning...ALL UP HILL--CHAPMAN! He has some seriously NIIIIICE legs.

Wow-did I disappoint or WHAT?! I had began running with my friend Kristen (we actually chit chatted more then we ran-I mean really after the ENTIRE day of kiddos, dinner, laundry etc-women need to VENT!) & I was able to run a mile or two.

One day I asked Jon, "Babe, would you like to run with me tomorrow?" Imagine the thrill that went through his body. SO EXCITING! "HECK YA!" was his response.

It was a perfect SUNNY cool but not cold, warmth coming from the sunshine day. We dropped all the kiddos off at school and shuttled Becca to her preschool class. We were SET to go "running."

We begin our journey. I told him "when I run with Kristen she's ALWAYS on my right hand side-so you will have to be too." We start to pick up pace. Suddenly Jon begins to have some sort of conversation with me. I quickly remind him "Dude-NO TALKING while running!!!!" He replies, "Oh sorry-I didn't know there were "running rules?!" Too funny.

We ran one mile together. Jon was so ecstatic about it all. His dreams were, FINALLY after 10 years of marriage, coming true.

The very next day, almost 24 hours later from that very run-Jon broke his neck.

Fast forward four LONG years later. I am now a "Runner"-I think. About 8 weeks ago I decided I was going to start running. My heart would beat fast, my stomach would cramp, my legs would feel like jello and twitch forever-I never had enough air to breathe. Yet-I kept going. Little by little. First it was on the treadmill-adding more and more as the days and weeks went by.

I remember going 3 miles, then 4 then 5. Later I remember going 5 then 6 then 7 then thinking heck lets just see if I can get to 10! I did. DUDE. I just ran 10 miles. AMAZING.

I started running on Victoria Avenue-I always feel like I am in Hawaii when I run on this street.



So beautiful and peaceful. To bring in the 2010 year I woke up and ran 10 miles New Years Day. Probably one of my very favorite days of my life. It was just me, this gorgeous open road and my thoughts.

I then decided to take the "challenge" and run a HALF MARATHON.

It was in Irvine on a CRISP COOL morning. There were 3840 of us there that day. Imagine that many people all huddled together ready to take off on a 13.1 mile run AT THE SAME TIME. Can you say MOOOOOOOOOOOOW!? It felt like a herd of cows. They released the alarm to start, we begin the "shuffle run" and make our way to a small biking trail where AGAIN ALL 3840 of us are now having to MERGE into this VERY NARROW PATH. The "shuffle run" continues.

Finally it gets back to the wide open streets and the "real running" begins. I am totally enjoying it! I get to mile 5 and I now see who the winners will be of this race as they are going the other direction on their way back to the finish line. They ran 13.1 miles with a 5 minute mile pace. They are SMALL framed men, every muscle pronounced and skinny as all get out-GROSS.

By mile 8 I am now thinking-dang I'd be set if this was only TWO MORE MILES--but I have to go FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEEE more?!?!? ugh. This is where I begin to think-this was great to do ONCE but NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN will I do a marathon.

Finally I get to mile 12--I am running and a younger boy says "good job you are at the half way point-only half mile to go and you're done!" AWESOME. We all start to kick it in gear to FINISH THIS THING ALREADY!! We are running, and running and running--Dude WHERE IS THAT FREAKING FINISH LINE!??!?! We come to an older lady who says "great job! you are at the half way point!" ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR freeze, hold up-"what did you just say?!" apparently that younger boy was wrong & needed to be smacked-hard.

I turn the corner and I hear another lady yell "you have 40 seconds left then you are done!" I see the finish line, the balloons, the big banner, the people. I am at the same time trying to look for Jon as he was there waiting for me in all excitement. I start sprinting my guts out and passed over the finish line.
FREAKING FINALLY.



I get my medal & guzzle my water. I find Jon

and tell him with the last bit of air I have left to breathe-"SO GLAD that is done and I will NEVER do that again!!"

Honestly I am thrilled that I did atleast ONE marathon. It got me to the point where I can easily run 3-5 miles every day if I wanted to. I have chosen to run 3 days a week and use weights the other 2 days of the week. This mixes things up enough for me.

I am NOW looking at the Ragnar Relay April 24th-25th and trying to put together a 12 person team. This is an event that your team runs from Santa Barbara to Dana Point with no breaks. Each of the 12 members take on 3 separate legs of the race. So leg one will run 3 miles, hop into the truck and runner 2 hops out to run 5 miles, hops in the truck for runner 3 to hop out etc etc. I want to call our team "Run 2 Grub" because honestly that is why I run & workout-SO I CAN EAT GOOD GRUB!!!!!! I love the idea of running down the California coast-that excites me.

I am so bummed that I did not take up running sooner so that Jon & I can do things like this together. He is able to go in his wheelchair and push alongside of me with his power wheels. Of course it's totally not the same-but better then nothing right!

So in the end...I guess I can now say "I am a Runner!"

Happy 14 Years Babe!

I STILL cant believe I am actually a "Hales". Ive known Jons family from the age of 11. We were put in the same ward together at church. His mom was my YW's leader, his dad was my Senior Seminary Teacher. This family was awesome and still is today! I just ADORED Bro. Hales. He is one of my all time favorite human beings.

During my dating years, in the back of my journal I wrote down qualities that attracted me to people I dated & qualities that I wanted in a eternal mate. I will tell you that I had 76 qualities-& Jon had EVERY SINGLE ONE of those 76 qualities-NO JOKE. They were everything from the "usual" to the "very specific" just for me. I love that I did that! I will be teaching my girls to do the very same thing.

I remember my grandma in a church meeting. She had just heard Jon share his testimony of the Gospel and she thought to herself "Wow, I hope that someday one of my grand girls could marry someone like that!" NEVER did she think I would actually marry him! She was beyond excited to hear that I was engaged to "thee Jon Hales!" too cute.

Jon & I started dating in mid September. Our first date was to a church fireside on Faith. Every since that night we were together every single night from then on. He always called me "Babe" and still does. Love that.

To this day I remember first being around Jon in the Singles Ward, his knee was touching my knee and HELLLLOOO--I can still feel the butterflies in my tummy when I think back to that time. He ALWAYS opened my car door no matter WHERE or WHAT time it was. True gentleman. He always had me go through doorways first with his hand on the small of my back. He always sat in the correct seat at restaurants. It was all those little things that I had taken notice about him.

When it was time for our "first kiss" after a few dates mind you (again true gentleman!)-he leaned in....and...suddenly...kissed...MY HAND!?!??!? Seriously--like a Prince would kiss a Princess!! I thought to myself "what in the world!??!"---I LOVE THAT HE DID THAT. I had never dated anyone quite like him. This "gentleman" stuff was all new to me-& I LOVED every morsel of it!

He proposed to me Nov. 5th at 1030pm. Honestly I thought he was joking around with me. He was being his usual sentimental sensitive self while I was trying to hold back laughter. I am SO NOT mushy gushy & Jon is very mushy gushy!!! Which I do love, except when I am watching tv-that is not the time to ask me what "my hopes & dreams are!" Haha just kidding--little inside joke there.

Jon had all these big ideas about "proposing"--like the "event" of it all. But I LOVE that he did it by the Spirit. He felt prompted to ask me right then & there-and so there we were in the middle of his living room at 1030pm, he knelt down and said some of the most precious things ever girl wants to hear...& asked me.

I remember telling my Dad about how I felt about Jon. I remember my Dad asking me "Do you love him?" Still to this day I remember the tears rolling down my Dad's face as he told me how proud and happy he was for me. Such a tender moment for the both of us I will always treasure.

We then got married just SIX weeks after we were engaged--Ya I know HELLO right!? We had our "rehearsal dinner" the night before at Claim Jumpers on 17th street. SO GRUB! The next day we realized that NEITHER of us had a RIDE TO THE TEMPLE to get married!!!!! Everyone was going at different times and taking all the cars--thankfully our friend Wendy said "use my car!" So together Jon & I drove to the temple to get married. I remember we cranked up Aerosmith as we drove (probably not the most spiritual thing to be listening to on the way to the temple!!-but that's us!).

After we were sealed in the temple for life here on Earth and life in Heaven, I remember TONS OF PHOTOS being taken outside. I paid a HUGE price tag for my photography-because at the end of the day, you dont walk away with the "decor" you walk away with your PHOTOS!! It was NOT CHEAP-but worth EVERY single penny.



The reception was amazing. I wanted it in the house I grew up in. So happy I made the choice to do it there. My friend Wendy helped my mom transform it to look even more beautiful. Our house was 9000 sq ft. I helped my mom EVERY SINGLE Saturday to clean it. Figured we should put it to good use right!

We didnt want to do the usual "sandwich, fruit & veggies" for the reception-so we opted for a "desserts only" style! We had all these gorgeous cheesecakes, and POUNDS & POUNDS of See's chocolate! It was off the hook.

I remember the "first dance"--I danced with my Dad. Love this man. He is a BIG MAN (6'6.5--football size man)--something about a Big Daddy with his little girl dancing that just makes you tear up!

I remember Jon whipping out his guitar to play "our song" I Cross My Heart by George Strait. He had learned it on his own. I had ALWAYS hoped that whoever I married would do that-I never mentioned this to Jon before. I was in Heaven when he brought out his guitar-I kept thinking GET OUT NO WAY!!

I remember when it came time to do the cake, his mother had told him "Jon be nice & respectful-do NOT get it all over her dress or her face-Christina will NOT be happy about that!" Really she was drilling him about it. So naturally he was very nice about feeding me my piece.
I on the other hand-are you kidding me?! I was all in--I switched my piece so that frosting was towards him, then gave it to him gently-then SMEARED IT ALL OVER HIS FACE!!!!!!!!!!! The crowd went wild-it was hilarious. He was in shock.




When it was time for the garter belt removal (So not his favorite thing)-- I gave him one leg (which did NOT have the garter belt) on purpose, so he kept going up and up and up my leg LOOKING frantically for the dumb belt-It was SO FUNNY!! Then I told him "Oh oops-sorry its on the OTHER leg, my bad!" Good times.

As we left our reception-gave our hug goodbyes and headed out the door


-we realized we were STARVING and on our way to the honeymoon suite-we stopped at Del Taco for some GRUB-seriously we did! Too funny huh.

We have a wedding video of that day-it's so fun to watch it and remember all those good warm fuzzy feelings from that day. I've always ALWAYS felt it important to REMEMBER that day, how we felt when we dated, got engaged, got married etc. It's important.

Here we are 14 years later. MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR life changes & challenges-yet our love for eachother remains steady & strong as ever before. I love that Jon loves me despite my very UNPrincess like ways--I am sure he'd love for me to be way more mushy gushy--I am learning!

Happy 14th Anniversary BABE--Love ur guts like no other!!! (see not very princess like huh-sigh-but like they say "Marriage is not about changing, but loving and accepting"-so I'm good).