Just Remember . . . .

You Are Not Forgotten

"Sisters, wherever you are, whatever the circumstances may be, you are not forgotten. No matter how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be, your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you. In fact, He loves you, with an infinite love."

—President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Eternal Consequences . . .

Sometimes if I think to hard life can get a bit overwhelming . . .that is the time when I need to take a moment and sit and reflect and REMEMBER the things with the most importance. To remember one of the most important things that I heard from President Uchtdorf's message "the difference between GOOD and foolish sacrifices"

Sometimes when I loose my patience with those around me I need to continually remind myself that we are all on this journey together and truly the only person I can change is myself. 

Even when "those" = ME 

So today I have made my list and asked my Heavenly Father to help to accomplish the things that would have the greatest impact on my family. I know that I can never accompalish ALL that I hope for in a day. But hopefully I can accomplish those with the most importance.

So here's to having a great day !!!

Washington DC North Mission

I will go back and post photo's of all the days of our trip. But first I am sure everyone is eager to know that we arrived. Mom and I have been traveling since Saturday. We have been car pooling with moms companion Sister Kathy Brown and her daughter Kassy (who is just a few years younger than I) We have been through Wyoming, Nebraska, Illinois (went to Nauvoo and Carthage jail - more pictures to come) Chicago (got to spend time with Marissa and Christopher - post below) then thru Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and we 

finally arrived at the mission home this afternoon about 4:00 pm. The mission home is located in Maryland. We were greeted by President and Sister Matsumori. What wonderful people. My mom will be in wonderful hands while she is here. You can feel of their genuine love for the missionaries that serve here. 

Since we have been driving for 5 days it was so nice to be out of the car. Sister Matsumori encouraged us to go for a walk around their neighborhood. It was beautiful. Some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. 

These are just some of the beautiful homes we saw on our walk. We also saw deer leaping across the road and in the back yards and the weather is beautiful. 

After we returned from our walk President and Sister Matsumori took us all to dinner at a quaint little Italian restaurant called Italian Pines. It was delicious. It was so nice to sit and visit and learn more about them and the mission area here.

Then we went back to the mission home where President Matsumori went over their assignments and told them about where they will be living and how excited EVERYONE was to have them here. They are going to have such an amazing time. Sister Kathy Brown is awesome and here and my mom will do great together. 

Now we are settled in bed in this lovely mission home for the night. There are probably at least 10 bedrooms here and I am guessing they can sleep 20-30 missionaries here at a time. It is so fun to see all of this and to think that Dylan is having very similar experiences in Peru. Tomorrow morning the house will be bustling with young missionaries that are coming for breakfast and I am just thrilled to be here and feel of their spirit !!!!

Chicago

I was so excited when I saw that Chicago was on the map as we drove cross country to Washington DC. Marissa and Christopher just moved to Chicago and we were going to be able to stop and spend some time with them. It was SOOOOOO nice !!!! I LOVE this girl more than words can ever explain. I hope one day they will end up back in Arizona or Utah where they can be close by. But for now they are finishing school and living such a fun life in Chicago. Christopher got into graduate school at School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  And Marissa will be attending Columbia. They live in the cutest neighborhood. With lot's of these cute, unique 3 story houses. Theirs is a house that has been converted into 3 apartments. There is so much green and lot's of trees. Glenn (the cat seems to love it) and Margaret their dog is just darling. Monday night we went to a fun new hip Mexican food place and get this, I actually got "carded" when we went in !!!! 

Then Tuesday morning we went to breakfast with them at this cute breakfast shop by their house called Toast !!! If you are ever in Chicago I would HIGHLY recommend it !!! It was delicious. Probably the BEST breakfast place I have ever been too !!! So if you don't have a reason to go to Chicago - now you do !!! This is a little place that should make everyone's bucket list of yummy places to go eat !!! Then you can walk down the street and visit my cute girl !!!

I wish we could have stayed longer and spent more time with them. But they are working and studying hard. Sure am going to miss them. I LOVE this girl soooo much !!! If you know my Marissa you know how awesome she is and how she is just so enjoyable to be around. Everyone loves her - She is AMAZING !!!! She is my girl and she has my heart in Chicago. (here is hoping we can get her home when Delanie is born)

I LOVE this boy !!!

I LOVE this boy !!! He is such a wonderful example in my life !!! This is the family that he loves almost as much as he loves us !!! They mean the world to him and I know he never wants to have to think about saying goodbye !!!!

It's almost time . . .

Gotta Keep Going . . . So much to do . . . but it is almost time . . . 

In 48 hours I fly to Salt Lake City . . .Get picked up at the airport by another missionary mom with a boy in Peru. . .  Drop off a box to be taken to my cute missionary in Peru with this darling Peruvian lady named Vanessa . . .  Go to my Aunt Jeanie's and visit with lot's of my dads aunts, uncles and probably cousins . . . get a good nights sleep in my aunts basement (a place that holds many of my favorite childhood memories) . . .then wake up Saturday morning, meet my mom's new companion Kathy and her daughter . . .  and then hit the road for our fun cross country road trip to Washington DC. The best part will be an overnight stop in Chicago to visit my girl and her boy . . . .

So much to do, so little time . . . but worth every minute !!!!

Good Week . . .

Well things have started off good so far (positive thinking) Once I finally got the boys up and out the door to school. Seems as though they are so hard to get on Monday's. Guess we are just going to need to move bedtime to 8:30 tonight. I have growing boys who require so much sleep and let's just say they are not happy campers and do not roll out of bed very easy unless they have received the required amount of sleep. My poor Karleigh is still struggling with mono symptoms. They have come and gone and come and gone, but this time it seems they are really knocking her down. She get's blood work this afternoon and so that will give us a better indication of what is going on.I just finished chatting with my missionary and I am ready to conquer my Monday to do list. Lot's to get done this week as I need to be ready to take off on Friday and be gone for a week. So no more time to sit and chat on here. Go and have a good day my friends !!!!

Visiting Teaching Reminder

Here is a handout I downloaded for this months visiting teaching message

you can download it here 

Anyway . . .

I need to remember . . .

 

My new daily planner pages

Once again another reason I LOVE Memory Mixer. So easy and so fun. I have seen a bunch of different DAILY'S that I love. Each one had a different component that I liked. So I decided that I should just make my own to fit my needs. Easy Peasy. Printed them out, puched holes, got a cute little binder and waaaalaaaa (is that how you spell it ?) Done !!!

It doesn't feel like Tuesday

Loved the nice long holiday weekend. Loved having family time yesterday. Just spent the whole day together. And I did - well nothing. Just enjoyed being with family. Watching kids swim. Being entertained by Malorie. Eating barbecue (okay I made onion burgers, but my brother grilled), visited with my mom and sister in laws. Celebrated birthdays. And just had an enjoyable day. 

My little girl turned 18 this weekend . . . she is quite the rock star. That is her kitty Darla. Darla is so lucky Karleigh loves her because she is a tad bit on the evil side as far as cats go.

So today is Tuesday and it feels like Monday. I am conquering my to do list and on a quest to create a daily to do list that I can just fill in with the basics. Keep them in a notebook when I am done so I can use it to go back and reflect. But until then this is what my crazy day looks like. 

All which needs to be done by 2 pm when I go take care of my little lady friend Adelle. Almost done - back to work !!!!

Happy Day !!!

Having a fun family day today !!! Celebrating Karleigh, Steve & Alli's Birthday's and just being together one last time before Mom heads to the MTC!!!

Sunday Dinner

There is a lady in our ward who I have watched for years. I grew up with some of her kids. Every Sunday she puts on Sunday dinner for her family. It's not like she has one or two kids. In fact I think she has 9 or 10 (I lost count along the way) and each of those kids has anywhere from 3-6 kids and now she also has great grand kids. She has a huge back yard and sets up tables and chairs and lot's of different rooms for grand kids to hang out in. As far as I know Sue makes dinner for her entire family every Sunday afternoon and all the kids, grand kids and great grand kids come. This is what I want. This is what I am striving to create. Right now it is Morgan, Trent and Malorie that come home for Sunday dinner. Marissa and Christopher are in Chicago (not sure they will ever come home to Arizona - but if they do they will know there will all be Sunday dinner at mom's house and the door is always open) If they stay out of state forever that means that grand kids will one day get to come and have vacations at grandma's house. One day !!! I remember all the memories created in the back yard of my parent's home and hopefully I can create similar ones for my family.

So with kids getting married and grand kids coming along I have started Sunday dinner and they know they are always welcome. Sunday's are awesome ! I love it ! My favorite day of the week. We have had to work hard to protect them and keep them family day's and we have been successful so far. I must say if I left it up to some of my youngers they may not keep it sacred. Logan's baseball team begs him to play on Sunday's and Karleigh worked on Sunday's this summer (which I didn't like one bit) but hopefully one day they will look back and thank me for keeping it a special day. We go to church as a family, come home, eat lunch - which right now my boys favorite after church lunch is cheese quessadilla's. They get out the big griddle or quessadilla maker and whip up a bunch of quessadilla's, then everyone has quiet time watching movies, reading, napping (or me blogging) Then I LOVE making Sunday dinner.

Today's menu includes meatloaf,mashed potatoes, salad and corn. (Corn is the only veggie my boys will eat right now and so it seems like we have corn with every meal) I love the new way I make meatloaf. I am sure my great grandma's did it this way for years before all the fancy pans came out. I have always hated my meatloaf sitting in grease as it cooks and even in the meatloaf pans they sell you still miss even crust all the way around. So here it is - I line my roasting pan with foil, place the cooling rack on top. I cut a piece of foil a little larger than my loaf. I poke holes all the way around, so that fat can drip below. I know - probably something everyone does. But I just started doing it this way and I love it.

Doesn't this look yummy !!!!

The Things I Know . . .

So I have not been able to get this song out of my head lately. I find the chorus repeating over and over again in my head . . . . 
The Things I Know Lyrics

Album: Whatever it Takes: Music to Inspire and Strengthen the Youth, 2004

I know little babies come from heaven
I know God made those tiny hands and hearts
I know rainbows and roses are no accident
Neither are the sun, the moon, and stars

So when I doubt
When there are things in life I just can't figure out
I trust that God is in control
And I hold on to the things I know

I know death is not the end of my soul
I know something divine lies in us all
I know there is someone watching over me
I know my prayers are heard beyond these walls

So when I doubt
When there are things in life I just can't figure out
I trust that God is in control
And I hold on to the things I know

What good is a test if all the answers are there in front of you
Some things take faith I know that's true

I know a little baby came from Heaven
The promise of the whole human race
I know nothing else can hold a candle
To His power, His mercy, and His grace

So when I doubt
When there are things in life I just can't figure out
I'll trust that He is in control
And I'll hold on to the things I know

I'll hold on, hold on to the things I know

Our Trek

So my mom is leaving for her mission in Washington DC in a week. She reports to the Missionary training Center in Provo, Utah on Monday September 12th. She will stay there for a week and then it is off to Washington DC.

I am so, so happy for her. I surely hope that one day I will be able to do the same. How amazing it would be to be able to focus on serving others 24/7 for 18 months. To have the blessings of missionary work. She has been called to Washington DC as a "women's axillary specialist" which means she is there to support the women in whatever means they need. It is going to be so awesome.

I am so excited to be driving back East with her in two weeks after she finishes a week in the MTC. It is going to be so much fun. One of the things I was most excited about was that our journey takes us right through Chicago and Marissa and Christopher have just moved to Chicago. So I will get to have dinner with my girl !!! Amazing how things work out.

As I was going about my day yesterday I also thought about how awesome it would be to visit Nauvoo. We will be so close. Nothing formal. But on our drive back East I am sure there are many Church history sites we could visit. 

So if you have driven back East along highway 80 and you can think of anywhere fabulous we can stop along the way to get a bite to eat or stretch our legs - please let me know. 

So excited for our journey !!!

Happy Birthday Karleigh

DOB 9-3-93 

Isn't that a cool birthday !!!

I picked it myself. I was being induced and Dr. Nelson asked 

"so any special day you want to have this baby girl ?"

So I looked at the calendar and saw 9-3-93 and said that is a 

fabulous number !!! A number everyone will remember !!!

 But what will we name this sweet baby girl. Marissa and Morgan were my favorite girls names all growing up. And I knew when I grew up that is what I wanted to name my first 2 little girls. McKenzie was also a favorite. My entire pregnancy with Dylan we thought he was a girl and we were going to name him McKenzie. So I felt like this baby needed a name of her own. I LOVED the name McKay also and knew that is what I wanted for her middle name.  I wanted to give her a family name, but I also wanted her to have a name of her own. So much thought went into naming this baby. I was thinking she may be my last baby girl so I wanted no regrets on naming her. I had two "M" names - Marissa and Morgan. Two "D" names - Don and Dylan. And so I wanted her to share something with me. I was going to give her a "K" name. I started putting combinations together and then one night as I was in bed watching her roll all over in my tummy. It came to me. My middle name is Leigh. I would name her Karleigh !!! I loved it !!! And when I put it together with McKay I loved it even more !!! 

Karleigh McKay Paolacci - I love You !!! Now and Forever !!! 

So happy you picked me to be your mom !!!

18 Years Years Old

I have been alot of places !!!!

I have been to a lot of places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone. I've also never been in Cognito, either. I hear no one recognizes you there. I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips, thanks to my family & friends. I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump and I'm not much on physical activity. Just Sayin!