Seven years ago today I married my sweetheart for time and all eternity in the Mesa Arizona temple. The past 7 years have been an amazing ride. Since we got married we've moved 4 times. Mark received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees, I graduated from Nursing school and we have been blessed with 2 beautiful little girls and soon-to-be 1 handsome little boy.

Marrying Mark was the best decision I've ever made. It's surprising how easy the decision was. I'm usually very indecisive (Mark and I both are), but I've never doubted my choice to marry him. We've always joked that we don't know how we got married because we're so different. He likes mayonnaise, I like mustard. He's a night owl and I'm an early bird. He doesn't like brownies and lets be honest...I can eat a whole pan by myself. He's calm when I'm crazy. He's easy going when I'm up tight, but I think our differences are what make our marriage work.

We've had our ups and downs, but I'm happy to say there's been a whole lot more ups then downs. Mark is my best friend and a wonderful father. I'm grateful for each day I have with him and the knowledge that we will have all of eternity too.

36 weeks and counting

I made it to 36 weeks and therefore I am off bed rest. Thank goodness!! I had another appointment today and I had the doctor check me. Mark is suppose go camping this memorial weekend so I wanted to see my progress. I am now dilated to a 4, 80-90% effaced and Spencer's head is at a zero station. I'm a little nervous about Mark camping 1 1/2 hours away though I really don't think anything will happen until next week (or at least I hope nothing happens until next week).

I guess we'll see. I feel like a ticking time bomb. I could go off at any moment.

The Spirit of God

Mark and I went to our stake center on Sunday to watch the dedication of the Gila Valley Temple. It was an exciting day. We feel so blessed to have a temple so close. We enjoyed the dedication, though it was a little long for my uncomfortable pregnant body. Not to mention I was having small contractions every 4-5 minutes throughout the dedication:) During the last song "The Spirit of God" Spencer started moving around like crazy. This little boy likes to move, but I don't think I have ever felt him move like that. It just so happened that Mark had his hand resting on my belly so he got to feel all the movement too. It was such a neat experience, it brought tears to my eyes.

Beignets

Since I got home from the hospital Hailey has been asking if we could make "menyas". At first I wasn't suppose to be up and cooking so I told her once I was off bed rest we would make them, but I didn't know what they were. She explained that you take bread and cut it into squares and then you sprinkle sugar on them. I thought they were some sort of french pastry, but I wasn't exactly sure. My brother-in-law Brandon went on a mission to Louisiana and he said people there ate a lot of Beignets (Benyas). So I asked Hailey where she learned about beignets and she said "The Princesses and the Frog" which takes place in New Orleans. Put 2 and 2 together and we find that Menyas are Beignets which are fried dough sprinkled with powder sugar. I had some puff pastry in the freezer so we pulled it out and made our version of beignets.

Here are the girls enjoying our cooking adventure.

On Sunday May 23rd, 2010 the Gila Valley Temple was dedicated by President Thomas S. Monson. Hailey was so excited to be able to have President Monson in Safford. She had been praying each night that he would be able to come and that she could see him. She would ask that he would be able to travel safely in his airplane.

The night before it was the Youth Temple Cultural Celebration. Mark participated as a leader and was able to hear President Monson speak to the youth before the performance. Ashley, Hailey and Audrey went to the stake center where they watched the performance on the big screen. Hailey liked all the dances the youth performed and she was really excited to see the prophet speak. However, she was a little sad that she did not have the chance to see him in person and meet him like she thought she would.

Mark came back late from the performance and Hailey was so tired that she fell asleep at the church before it was over. Mark had decided to get up early with Hailey and see if they could catch a glimpse of the prophet the next morning at the cornerstone ceremony before the first dedication.

They arrived at the temple at about 7:35 and were excited to wait for the prophet. While waiting outside the gate of the temple they were both excited to see Elder Holland and President Eyring walk into the temple with their wives. The excitement was mounting while they waited and watch as each car drove up. Finally the car with the prophet was parked in front of the temple and President Monson got out of the car. Mark lifted Hailey up and she was able to finally see him.

President Monson asked, “Who is this pretty girl”. He then reached out his hand and took Hailey’s hand . He gave her a hug and held her by him as he continued to talk with the other people close by. He told her “You have such a pretty dress. Yellow is my favorite color.”

When we asked Hailey how she felt when she saw the prophet she said, “I felt kind of good inside. I felt the Spirit. It felt like, like I don’t know. I was happy. He said that yellow was his favorite color and that made me kind of smile a little bit. He gave me a hug and I felt like I was in the temple. I was really excited. I thought I was too little to go to the dedication.”

We didn't get any good picture of Hailey with President Monson, but we found one on the internet of her sitting with the other children during the cornerstone ceremony. She's the one raising her hand.

Gila Valley Temple

April and May have been filled with preparation for the Gila Valley temple open house and dedication. The temple is beautiful both inside and out. It will be so amazing to be able to go and only be gone for a couple of hours instead of all day. What a blessing it has been to the area. I know there was some opposition, but it has brought many visitors to the valley, hotels and restaurants have been filled.

Varsity Triathlon

On May 1st Mark participated in the varsity Triathlon. He didn't train at all, but he did a great job. The girls and I had fun cheering him on along the way

Children's Theater- The Jungle Book

Hailey participated in her first play- Disney's The Jungle Book. There were so many children in the play that they had to add a few extra part like Flowers. Hailey was a flower. I had to make her costume and it didn't quite turn out as I had planned, but what can you do. Hailey was so excited to be in the play she practiced her song and dance pretty much every day. Audrey even had it all down. Audrey was disappointed that she couldn't be in the play and she kept asking me when I was going to make her flower costume. Of course I missed the play too while I was in the hospital. Mark recorded part of it (though he wasn't suppose to) so I could at least see some of it.

First and Second lost tooth

On May 5th Hailey lost her first tooth. It had been loose for a few weeks and when she came to visit me in the hospital earlier that day I thought it looked ready to come out. She was so excited!!



On Friday May 14th Hailey lost her second tooth. This time I got to pull it out. I think she was just as excited as the first time. She woke me up the next morning befor 6:00 to show me the quarter the tooth fairy had left.

Hailey's Gymnastics

On May 5th Hailey had a gymnastic performance. I was very sad to miss it. Unfortunately a few weeks ago she broke her arm and she still has on a cast so she was nervous to do her back bend and cartwheel. Everyone told me how cute she looked in her green leotard with her pink cast. It made it easier to spot her.

What a ride!

On May 1st I woke on at 4:00 in the morning because Audrey was crying. When I got up I thought my water had broken. I wasn't sure since with both girls my water was broken at the hospital. I tried to go back to sleep, but since I was only 32 and 5 days I was a little worried. So what did I do. I got up, finished the laundry and did the dishes.

Mark woke up a little before 6 because he had a triathlon in Pima. When I told him what happened he wanted me to call the doctor, but I said I didn't want to be that girl- the one who thinks her water breaks, but it didn't really.

So we got the girls ready and went down to Pima for the triathlon. (More about that to come)

After the triathlon Hailey had play practice and pictures for gymnastics. We had a busy day planned. I dropped Hailey off at practice 9:00 and planned on picking her up at 10:15 to get her ready for pictures. When I got home Mark told me I needed to call the doctor before I did anything else.

I talked to Dr. Tran and he wanted me to go to the hospital to check if my water broke. Well it ended up that my water hadn't broken, but while I was there on the monitor I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes. After an hour our so the nurse checked me and I was dilated 3 centimeters and 80% effaced. The Doctor came in and checked me also and agreed with the nurse so they gave me terbutaline and waited to see if they slowed down. After an hour the contractions were still 2 minutes apart and they checked me again and felt that I was more than 80% effaced and I needed to be flown to Tucson. They gave me Magnesium to relax my uterus, but really it just made me feel hot and sick.

The helicopter ride was probably the worst experience of my life. I was feeling sick from the Mag, claustrophobic from the tiny helicopter and I am afraid of heights. To top it off, it was a windy, windy day. Needless to say, I threw up while we were flying and I thought we were all going to die. During the 40 minute flight my contractions were every 1-2 minutes and lasting 60-90 seconds.

The doctors told me I would be in the hospital until I was 36 weeks which is on May 25th, but since they were able to mostly stop the contractions and I hadn't dilated in the 10 days I was there they let me come home on Tuesday May 11th. I was so glad to come home. I missed my family and I wasn't sleeping well in the hospital.

Now I'm on bed rest at home, I only have one more week and I couldn't be more excited. I feel fine so it's hard to sit around all day and let everyone else do everything. I have to say though, Mark's done more dishes in the last week then he probably had in the last 2 months:)

I'm not very good at this bed rest thing. I know I should be down more than I am. Hailey's constantly reminding me to get back in bed.

Oh I have to say that I couldn't have gotten through that week and a half in the hospital without the help of family. My mom and Dad drove down from Utah the first Sunday I was in the hospital. My mom stayed for a week and took care of the girls. She got Hailey ready for her gymnastic's performance and her play. She drove Hailey to all her practices and dress rehearsals. It was the busiest week of the year for us and I am so thankful she was here to help. Mark's family has also been a huge help- watching the girls and bringing dinner even now that I'm home.

Mark brought the girls to visit on Mother's Day. I look horrible from lack of sleep and make-up