Love life as it is, not as you want it!

The Power of Music

Fill My Soul With Peace
(Text and music by Rob Gardner)

Lord, wilt thou fill my soul with peace, That pain and sorrow there might cease? Let songs of praise and of glory fill my ear, And may thy holy spirit linger near.

Lord wilt thou fill my heart with love, Oh, That I may see thy realm above? Oh let my soul ever there commune with thee, That I may know what thou wouldst have me be.

Lord, wilt thou purge my soul of doubt? Oh, That with thine angels I may shout Hosannas to thy holy name, And with the saints of old my mansion claim!

Lord, wilt thou fill my soul with peace? That I may soon return to live with thee.

Crazy Idea???

So, I have been thinking about re-decorating my room for awhile. I didn't really want to spend any money, so I thought, I will just switch bedspreads with the guest bedroom and see if that gives both rooms a new look. Well, it did, but then I was at Costco and found the cutest brown and blue towels...and yes, it lead to a whole new look!

BEFORE...

and... AFTER

Am I crazy...a blue wall??? I was going to paint the wall chocolate brown, but with the brown drapes and the dark bedspread, I didn't want to feel like I was living in a dungeon, so hence the reason for the color blue. I promise that it looks better in person. I would love to hear your comments...good choice...bad choice? Many thanks to my sister Kristi for going shopping to a million different stores...and to my brother Tyler and Sister-in-law Nikki for your fabulous paint job!

Happy 4th of July!!

My parents came down from Montana to spend the weekend with their 3 children that still reside in the state of Utah vs. the other 4 that live in Arizona, New Hampshire, Virginia and Florida.

On Friday, we had fun spending the day at the Gateway.

Kristi had recently purchased a yearly pass to DiscoveryKids, so we let Addy play their for a while. It actually is a pretty cool place for kids and there is so much for them to do.



The visit to the Gateway would not have been complete if we hadn't let Addy run through the water. She absolutely LOVED every minute!!

We went to lunch and ended the day with an ice-cream cone! Perfect for a hot summer day.

The morning of the fourth of July. Yes, Kristi, you are a nerd for making your family wear matching shirts from Old Navy...he! he!

I don't have any photos, but we also had fun going to movies (i.e., My Sisters Keeper - tear jerker!, The Proposal - loved it!) and having a BBQ and playing games. Yes, of course the momster won at 5 crowns...Jen, where were you to hold your title??? Thanks Mom and Dad for spending the weekend with us!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

My mom, sister and niece had the opportunity to go through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple openhouse. The Temple is absolutely beautiful and if you have not had a chance to go through, I would highly recommend it.

I have always had a dream of being married in the Salt Lake Temple, but on this day there was something about this Temple that made me possibly change my mind. Could it be because I was able to watch it be built, that it is basically in my backyard or that I have an awesome view from my house and I love to look out my window each night and see it glowing on the hill? Hmmm...only faith, patience and hope will answer this question.

The joy of a child. Addy, I'm not sure if you will remember this day, since you are only 2 and 1/2, but it was such a great experience to walk through the Temple with you and hear your cute comments, such as..."ooohhh sparkles", pointing to the oxen and saying, "hi, what are you doing down there?"

Tyler & Nikki's Wedding

My brother Tyler was married on May 23, 2009 in the Draper, Utah Temple. The day was absolutely beautiful.

Who didn't get the "black & white memo"...just teasing mom...you look great!

*WEDDING LUNCHEON*
My sister's and mom (yes, I take no credit) did an amazing job on the wedding luncheon. Way to go girls!

Eclairs, cream puffs, hand dipped strawberries, brownie bites...the dessert table definitely rocked!

Tyler & Nikki's Wedding

*RECEPTION HIGHLIGHTS*

Jen and Griffyn...you both look so cute!

Abby and Maiya I can't believe how fast you two are growing up. You are such beautiful girls and I love you so much!

Cutting of the cake.

Cache joined right in with all the single guys and so desperately wanted to catch the garter...unfortunately, the kid next to him dove and caught it.

We tried all night to get a great picture of all of the grandkids...this was the best we could do...they simple didn't want to have anything to do with it...even with a bribe of gummy bears from Aunt Marcia!

Do you want to know what the grandkids were doing during the reception? Yep, running down the halls. Addy and Ally...silly girls.

Jaime and Thomas just chillin'

Thomas enjoying a piece of the wedding cake.

This picture says it all. It was long day, but worth every minute. Nikki, you are such a cute girl and we are so glad to have you as part of the family.

Family Pictures

I am so blessed to have such an incredible family!


The joys of being a Grandparent!

I have this photo in my kitchen and on my desk at work and it truly makes me smile every time I see it. To my siblings...thank you for having such amazing kids and for allowing me to be a part of their lives. I love each of them so much and they bring me such happiness, especially on those days when I am longing for children of my own.

Congratulations to our ASU Graduate!!

In May my parents and I traveled to Phoenix to attend my brother-in-laws graduation. Tyler was suppose to go, but decided that it wasn't a good idea the week before his wedding.

After we had scheduled our tickets, my sister called and said that they had moved Jason's graduation date because President Obama was coming to speak to all the graduates. We were disappointed. On our flight down we were about to land and then the pilot came on and said we were going to have to circle Phoenix for awhile to clear the air space so that the Airforce One could land. While driving out of the airport, we drove right past Airforce One. I must say, it was pretty cool.

Allison loves her grandpa!

Yes, Ally and I thought we were pretty cool in our shades!

Jason, I am so proud of you on this major accomplishment! Way to go! Thanks Kim and Jason for a fun weekend. Love you!

Happy Birthday...to me!!

Since I am still single, I am typically not that excited about turning another year older because that means my dating age range increases...now I might consider dating someone who is 40...and holy cow that seems so old to me! Sorry to all of you that are around that age group. Anyway, this year, I had a FABULOUS birthday so I thought I would post some of the highlights.

• A few days before, Kristi and Addy took me to dinner and we had fun sharing our favorite dessert...mmm...a blondie from Applebee's.
• My incredible, amazing boss/friend took me to lunch...the food wasn't great, but we made up for it by going to ColdStone afterwards...yes, next time we will skip the food and head straight for dessert.
• I SOLD my car!! What a fabulous birthday present!
• My friend Aymee sent me flowers. I was so surprised when I was standing outside and saw the UPS truck driving up the street...I thought, how cool would it be if he were coming to my house...sure enough the driver jumped out and handed me a package, which contained flowers from Aym. You are the best Aymee!!
• My Visiting Teachers/Friends took me out for dessert. At the restaurant they gave me the cutest homemade card (Alli, you are so talented), which had all of these amazing notes inside that they had collected from all my friends in my ward. I read them when I got home and cried because I truly felt so loved. Thank you so much Janelle, Alli, Sara, Allison, Shannon, Liz, Bill...I could not ask for better friends!!
• My cute neighbor/friend Jill came over and brought me the cutest gerber daisy plant.
• My family all called and wished me a Happy Birthday.

I feel so blessed to have such an amazing family and friends. Thank you to all of you for truly making my day. I love all of you!!

Saturday FUN!!

Today I met Kristi and Addy at Seagull Book & Tape where they were having a pre-conference sale and the theme was "celebrating the joy of sisterhood." There were a ton of people lined up waiting for the store to open and while we were standing in line, Addy kept pulling my hand saying, "come on Kami..." we walked to the front door and she knocked on the window and kept saying "open, open." Everyone in line laughed and needless to say, she was quite the entertainer. As we entered the store we each received a free game, flower and chocolate...who could ask for anything better!!

Afterwards we went to Gardner Village and took some pictures. It was still a little chilly outside, but it was definitely nice to have the sunshine vs. the snow. Yes, we were freezing in the above picture.

I was practicing the one thing I learned in my recent photography class about lighting and I think this picture turned out amazing!!

Addy truly loves her momma!! Kristi, I think you both look so CUTE in this picture.

Oh, the favorite aunt. I love you Addykake.

After pictures we went to lunch at Red Lobster...yum!! I just happen to have my camera and was glad I could capture the moment of the way Addy stuck her fries in her ketchup.

We then picked up dessert and went to the park, which was Addy's favorite part of the day.

This little girl LOVES the outdoors!

Kristi thought she would lay down and enjoy the sunshine, but everytime she did, Addy would jump on her. What a character! Thanks for the fun day Kristi and Addy. I love spending time with both of you.

FOR SALE!!

I know this might be a wierd post to some of you, but if you are in the market for a fabulous used car, this is your lucky day!! After nine incredible years, I am deciding to part with my "Black Beauty." If any of you would like to purchase her or know of a great owner, please let me know.

Just the facts...

• Year - 2000
• Make/Model - Toyota, Camry LE
• Mileage - Roughly 105,000 ...my sister owns a 1999 and has over 200,000...you gotta love Toyota's.

• Tires - 4 brand new tires were placed on the car 20,000 miles ago and should last another 60,000 miles.
• Regular maintenance (i.e., oil changes, etc.) has been performed.

• Only one owner and the interior is fabulous!!