Tyler at Advanced Individual Training (AIT) AND MIRACLES!!

Tyler is having an interesting time at AIT right now. Very interesting. Actually, he put it this way: "It SUCKS. I hate it! I want to come home!" Of course it's only his first week and the first week at BCT he hated it there, too, but in the end loved it and thanked his Drill Sergeants. 
He had amazing training at Ft Knox. One of the best Basic Training places you can go to in the U.S. Army. Discipline and honor, exactness and integrity, and much more, are instilled in the soldiers at Fort Knox during BCT (Basic Combat Training). 
Tyler learned how to be a REAL soldier there. He's really seeing a difference between the soldiers who were trained elsewhere compared to his battle buddies trained at Ft Knox, and honestly it's really frustrating him. He takes what he does very seriously, as I believe he should, and he feels that many other soldiers do not. Just like in the "real" world, there are soldiers that just refuse to practice self-control and discipline, respect and honor, integrity and responsibility. When one person falls out or goes AWOL or disrespects the rules or their command, they not only get themselves into serious trouble, but their Platoon, and sometimes even their entire Unit or Company.
The other night one of the Sergeants supposedly went into all of the barracks while the soldiers slept and if ANY electronics were left out or their lockers left unlocked these electronics found were taken. So far everything has been returned BUT the cell phones. 
So, Tyler is TICKED. His cell phone was taken.
He was placed in the old barracks after they were told they'd be staying in the new barracks. The thing that sucks about the old ones are not only are the roaches really big, bad and ugly, but they have no internet. Tyler's laptop sits mostly unused because of this. And now that his cell phone is gone, too, almost no communication is possible. He's lucky to have made a few good friends at BCT that are with him at AIT that let him use their phone for a few minutes at night to update me or vent to me. I love talking to Tyler, even when he's frustrated :D. 
He has asked for prayers to help him get through this, though. He's feeling frustrated and wishing he wasn't there right now. He's wishing he'd chosen Infantry instead of Cooking, and honestly I don't blame him at all. He'd be great at it. But of course he's great at cooking, too!


Today he got to cook! :D He made a Chef's salad and potatoe salad and learned how to make a rose out of tomatoes, I believe. He's an amazing artist so I'm sure his food designs will look awesome! I'm so proud of him! He's just so rad!
He wears a chef's hat, the big, tall white ones, and a chef's coat. I wish I could see him!!!


Now about the miracles!!


I already mentioned the miracle of being able to drive Tyler to AIT, but I must also mention that a very good friend of mine is helping me get to see Tyler over the 4th of July weekend. I can barely contain myself for the excitement from spilling over!!! :D (not sure if that sentence made sense, it's midnight and I'm on pain killers lol). Anyway, another miracle is how quickly I was able to find help from family and friend to take my girlies while I will be away. Thank you SO MUCH Michelle and Mom & Dad Frampton!!! You guys are the BOMB!! :D hahaha. They pulled through right away and I'm just so grateful because both of these people are going through some very hard trials right now and are greatly sacrificing for Tyler and I so that we can be together.
Heavenly Father knows Tyler and I NEED this time together. He's helped every piece fall into place for this to happen. 


Also, last night, my mom, dad and I walked to their church so that I could get a Father's Blessing from my dad and some people, who I won't mention here, were asked to watch my girls for me while we were gone. Well..... Sophie was not noticed when she slipped out the door to "follow mommy". We never saw her coming after us. We got to the church and while inside, before the blessing, we heard somebody come in through the church doors and were walking around the foyer sounding a little confused. We assumed it was guys coming to play basketball, like usual, when we heard a little girl's voice. My dad felt to open the office door and see what was going on when we saw Sophie with red little eyes there and two strangers with her. They said they were driving by and saw Sophie wandering the sidewalk crying. She directed them to the church where they came because there was a light on.
Here's the interesting thing about this. My mom doesn't normally leave the foyer light on, but for some reason she felt she ought to. AND, the biggest part of this that was complete proof to my parents and I that God is VERY mindful of my family is that THE CHURCH DOORS WERE LOCKED. There should have been NO possible way for this couple to be able to come in those doors. The Church keeps everything very well sealed, locked and protected. And it's electronically done somehow with the church doors. 
If they couldn't have entered the building they would probably have called the police wondering to whom this little 4 yr old girls belonged to. Sophie's small for her age and she looks 3 and sometimes 2 to most people. By a miracle they stopped and picked her up and took her to the Church, opened locked doors, and brought her straight to me. 


I have been thanking my Heavenly Father since then for all these miracles. 


Tyler and I have been through A LOT. I mean  A  L O T.  I know not as much as most people. But for us, it's been a huge burden. We were tempted with many things, including giving up, but we never did. 
We remained faithful to God and His Church; to our testimonies. We remained faithful to each other and to the Covenants we have made with each other and with God. We have persevered, unshaken, immovable, despite all the many different trials and hardships we have been through. We have been persecuted, judged, dismissed, denied, tried, tested, and more, even from those who should've/could've been the best support for us (including the economy hahaha), and have not given up or blamed God. We knew that what we've been going through has been required of us. 


We both know that in order to appreciate and know the sweet, we must know the bitter.


I know that the bitterness in life has not finished with us. There will be more to come. But I am grateful for this! It has given us experiences for our good, for our learning, and for our happiness. We more appreciate the blessings and miracles when they come and recognize them as such when we remain humble, accepting the trials God gives us knowing that they are helping us, not hindering us, and that they are not punishments, but blessings to help us grow and become more and more like God every day. 
I know that there are two ways to look at things in this life as they come: 1. bitterly, resentfully, angrily, hatefully, disgustedly, and come out worse people. 2. gratefully, humbly, teachable, happily, prayerfully, faithfully, and come out strong and experienced, eyes open wide, hearts softened, and ears ready to hear what God has to teach us. 


I pray that we continue faithfully, despite all the trials we are continually going through, and all the trials we have yet to face. 
Just keep up your prayers for us as we keep up our prayers for you.


Thank you, Heavenly Father, for EVERYthing. 

The Adventures of BCT Graduation with Tyler!!! :D

WOW what a week!!! 

I am exhausted! But SO HAPPY!!!!!

Pre-Grad Day:

Early Wednesday morning Mike Liu, a "brother" from Taiwan, picked up our luggage and followed us to my mom's house in Lehi. There I drove Mike's Lexus, Mike, and the girls and our luggage to the SLC Airport. 1/4 way there I realized I'd forgotten my phone, so we had to turn around and go back to my moms, which made us LATE!

I drove as fast as I dared and while I checked my luggage at the curb-side late luggage guys place Mike took the girls into the airport then had to leave. I grabbed my luggage and two carry-ons (one was my CPAP) and started to RUN. Sophie was busy looking around and tipping her little luggage w/wheels to keep her from running, so I'd run back and urge her one. We finally got to security where we had to wait in line. Finally there I had to take off the girls shoes and jackets, my shoes and jacket and belt, take out my cell phone, and my CPAP machine, load up all our luggage onto the belt, then take out the laptop. Meantime things are falling off the belt and nice people are catching my stuff left and right. Thankfully they were all so nice and patient! I think they felt sorry for me haha. 

I was juggling a million things it seemed like and was flustered because our flight was to leave at 9am and I was going through security at 9!! I was praying for a miracle!

I put our shoes, jackets, and belt back on, put my CPAP away, the laptop away, got the girls their luggage, grabbed my 3 bags (all super heavy, of course!!) and started RUNNING! Daniel called to tell me they were about to take off and they were seated on the plane! I said "Please please run to me and help me or we'll never make it!"

Daniel told the flight attendants the situation who said "tell the pilot". He did so and the pilot, who was already in the cockpit, got out and walked up the ramp to wait for us!!!

Daniel ran like a sprinter to us. It was about 2 football fields long how far away we were! He showed up and without pausing whisked the slow little Sophie right into his arms along with her heavy luggage and turned and ran hardly skipping a beat. Lacie was running ahead like a little lightning bolt. I told her "if we don't run as fast as we can we might not get to go see daddy!" so she took off!

I got there with our tickets, the pilot smiled at us and I thanked them profusely.

We delayed the plane over 10 minutes! Yikes!!

Finally we were off!

The flights to Louisville were just fine, for the most part. At first the girls were excited and thrilled to be in a big plane and feeling the take-off. Then they got wiggly. Then tired. Then noisy. 

I was soooo grateful my brothers Josh & Dan were with me. We all took turns taking the girls to the tiny little latrine and getting toys and coloring things out and treats. In Chicago we had several hours before we'd leave for Louisville so the girls and I took a nap on the floor. They made sure to empty out their carry-ons all over the floor, and Sophie bossed around another little boy, stealing his chair every chance she got and acting nonchalant about it. 

We got to Louisville finally and almost didn't get our rental van! But it worked out thankfully. When we went outside to pick it up (daniel and I) it was like hitting a wall of steam in a sauna!! 

The van was soooo nice! It had TV's in it and all sorts of gadgets, and the AC worked wonderfully!!! lol

We got the girls and Josh, loaded up all our garb and picked up my checked bag, and were off! It took us a little longer to get to our hotel than anticipated. We stopped off at 2 or 3 stores to buy some food, a stroller, and swim trunks for Dan.

The hotel was nice-ish. haha. We went to bed early that night.

Graduation:

We all got up at 6am I believe (May have been earlier, I don't remember now) and took showers, did our hair, got all dressed up nice, and left LATE!! haha. Completely missed New Family Orientation, then couldn't find a place to park! I drove through the building's parking lot and saw the Company in formation. I knew Tyler was in one of the two Platoons in the middle and was embarrassed that I had to drive past a barrier of "no parking" cones and behind their Company to turn around in our huge van! Tonz of soldiers and even a Drill Sergeant were yelling at us like we were stupid thinking we were going to park there hahahaha.

Tyler said "Who's that idiot?"

Well, when the girls and Josh and I got out for Daniel to go park somewhere out in the boonies Tyler's buddies said, "Hey Frampton. Aren't those your kids". Well, that "idiot" Tyler said "was MY idiot", meaning me! hahaha! He hadn't seen me yet, though.

Inside the bleachers were FULL! We walked around forever until we found a place on a front row that would've fit 3 people and squished 5 of us there instead. 

I went back outside to take pictures of the Company and find Tyler. One of his buddies was like "isn't that your wife, Frampton?". well it's kinda funny cuz Ty and his buddy were checking me out calling me "hot" and other things when Tyler realized I was HIS "hotty" hahaha. He gave me a HUGE happy grin, which I got a couple pictures of. I was on CLOUD 9!!!

The ceremony was really cool. Good speakers, good awards given out, and  FINALLY they let the soldiers fall out and we ran to him!

The girls jumped into their daddy's arms and it was an emotional time for all of us. Such pure joy and excitement and relief to be together again!!!

Tyler was so relieved to have finished BCT, and who can blame him? lol

I got to meet several soldiers, one after another, praising Tyler in how amazing he is! They said he was just as good, if not better, than all the younger guys! One soldier kept bowing at Tyler (he's Asian) and going on and on about how good and amazing Ty is and that he's his "dad" hahaha. It was so cute and cool.

I met his branch president who said Tyler was a huge help in their branch, always busy doing good things. He asked if I was the one who sent all the email and said it was good. :) It was funny. I met a couple missionaries (who are not allowed to wear name tags there for some weird reason) and then met "big" Simmons who Tyler had baptized! He has a very cute family! I met a ton of good soldiers who were excited to meet us since Tyler talked about his girls and I a lot to all of them. They acted like they knew us pretty well. 

Then we got to sign him out!!! While standing there I met Senior Drill Sergeant Genthner who happened to really like Tyler a lot. Then we got out of there!

Graduation Day:

The day didn't go by too fast or too slow. It was SO PERFECT!!!

We drove all the way out to Louisville KY for "lunch", looking for The Outback Steakhouse, where we got lost for a couple of hours, then found it wasn't going to open for 3 or 4 more hours!!!

So we went back to Elizabethtown I believe, where we ate at Applebees. We had such a blast!!!

The girls were non-stop chatting at their dad and asking him tonz of questions almost all day long! They were climbing all over him as often as possible.

DANG Tyler looked so good!!!! So much skinnier, ripped, and handsomer than ever!! He just glowed! :D 

We then went back to the hotel where Dan & Josh took the little girls out swimming for a little while so Tyler and I could have some time alone. That time was so precious to us; we hugged and cried and our love was multiplied by a million!!!!! 

Then for the rest of the day we weren't sure what to do! So we all hung out in the hotel room, piddlydinking around haha. It was so relaxing, though! We finally decided to go back on the base to take pictures of Tyler's adventure at BCT (Basic Combat Training) and experiences and then a few family photos, too. The entire day we all laughed and listened to Tyler's non-stop story-telling. It was SO FUN!!! He has a few GREAT stories to share! They were gut-splitting funny!! hahaha. It was SO FUN!!

Then he had to report. He checked in and while we stood around waiting for the DS's to yell for formation I had a distinct impression for Tyler to introduce me to one of his Drill Sergeants. Senior Drill Sergeant Genthner, again. The thing was, earlier that day, right after graduation, we were told we would NOT be driving Tyler to AIT as we were told previously that we were and we'd planned on it.

So we talked with SDS Genthner for about an hour and he shared some good advice with us. The thing was, just before we stood around chatting with him, Tyler had approached all the DS's inside their office asking about doing ANYTHING to let me drive him to AIT (Advanced Individual Training). Genthner was pulling for it, but one of them was saying N-O and the others were saying "no... not possible". So while Tyler and I were chatting with him, Ty had to run inside and change into his PT uniform, I had the guts to ask Genthner about it again. He said "no, there's nothing we can do at all. There's just no way" so I told him "well dang. That sucks. We'd been told yes so I bought plane tickets, reserved the hotel and the rental van already and I can't change them". Then I dropped it. He sincerely looked sad! He looked at the ground and I could tell he felt bad. But there was nothing he could do.

Then Tyler came out and soon afterwards they put them all into formation. All the soldiers weren't there so they all got "smoked" pretty good. Thing was, some of them were laughing cuz this "smoking" was the lightest one they'd had yet. To us it looked bad, but to them it was nothing.

They let two platoons go early to spend another hour or so with their families, but Tyler was in the Platoon where 2 of the soldiers still hadn't shown up! They didn't show up for a long and instead of smoking them the rest of the night they finally let them join us!!! So we had 40 minutes left with Tyler before we had to say our good-byes!!

We sat on the grass and just talked. I was trying to figure out if there was ANYTHING that I could do still to take him. I just was not going to just take a NO after they told us yes for weeks! Come to find out it was just the Drill Sergeants being lazy about doing the paperwork! The thing was there were 90 soldiers going to Ft Lee for AIT. A LOT more than we'd realized! So what I think is that they got "lazy" about the paperwork because so many people were asking about taking their soldiers to AIT, so because of the liability risks of having so many soldiers driven by civilians it was just too much so instead of saying yes to only a few and no to the rest they had to say no to everyone. It was a very hard thing to swallow, so I never quite swallowed it lol.

We gave a very tearful goodbye. The girls were crying, I was bawling, Tyler was crying. SDS Genthner stood out there and watched us the entire time and you could tell it broke his heart. When Ty left SDS Genthner said "I've been through a few of these myself (he was deployed atleast 7 different times!!) and I don't like it. Be sure to do what I told you and this won't have to happen as much" I said "thank you. Thank you so much" and we waved goodbye.

That night I went back to the hotel and was on the verge of tears again, but the determination and frustration and stress was too much to let me give up like a baby and cry, so I got online and looked up, for two hours at the LEAST, phone numbers to call first thing in the morning! Tyler knew there was no way to get around the DS's N-O's, but I realized otherwise.

One friend made a good point that gave me hope and more "umph" to get permission. He said that soldiers can only do so much since they have to follow their chain of command but civilians have more pull. So.......

Another Miracle:

I got up before 6am and with all those phone numbers I'd collected I started making phone calls. Most had been disconnected, several had no answer, and the rest lead me in circles.

I prayed so fervently the night before and this morning for help and guidance because I KNEW it was right to drive him!! So I said to Heavenly Father in prayer, "I know this is right. Everything fell into place as it should, and it was a MIRACLE to get here. Please bless me with another miracle. And please guide me to what I need to do to make it happen". Realize that in order to be blessed with miracles we must do all that we can do to make them come. God doesn't hand out anything! We must work for what we want and need!

So then I got a strong impression to go onto a high security website for Army spouses of Active Duty soldiers and looked up a leader in the group and found an old message from months ago with a phone number to the Ft Knox Army base that is not listed online and called the number and I got through! FINALLY! It was about 7 or 7:30 by this time and I was sweating I was so anxious! We were wasting time (or so I felt) and Tyler would be loaded up into the buses at any minute and hauled away from me!!!!!

So I asked for so-and-so (won't give the names out on here) who I told my story to: "Hi, this is the wife of a soldier that graduated yesterday from BCT and he is headed for AIT to Ft Lee today. He and I both talked to Drill Sergeants about me taking him to AIT and we were both told a Yes, although it was an unofficial yes. Then yesterday they told us no. The necessary paperwork was never done. I already bought the plane tickets, rented a car and reserved a hotel room to take him out there to Virginia and I can't change those plans. Is there ANYTHING that I can do to still take him?" This is the same thing I told 3 or 4 people. One of them said "you need to talk to the Commander". And so I did.

After telling him the same story he sternly and bluntly asked "How did you get this number?!" "I.. um..." "You need to call us back in a minute" "Can I have your direct number?" "Does your soldier have your number?" "Yes, he does" "We'll call you back". 

Sweating, shaking, tummy-turns, pacing, finger-nail bighting...... I was so afraid I got Tyler into trouble!!! I'd skipped up the entire chain of command straight to the Commander and boldly asked for what I wanted and that was it! Now either the Commander was offended I'd called his direct, unpublished number, or he was impressed. I would know which within the next few minutes.

Within five minutes I got a call from Tyler's Drill Sergeant, Genthner, and I was SURE he was going to reprimand me for not dropping it and letting it go and for getting Tyler and himself in trouble but instead he said, "It looks like you're going to be driving your husband to AIT. How soon can you get here?" I said, in between bursts of THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!, "within 10 minutes!" which he laughed at, then said, "Give us an hour. We have a lot of paperwork to do now" hahaha!!!

Then Tyler wrote me a text saying, "You are My Wife!!!!!!!!" He was one super proud man!! The other soldiers got it out of him that I'd somehow, and miraculously, convinced the "top dogs" to let me drive him and all of them were happy for him (except when his back was turned they were probably holding each other back from pounding on him since they didn't get the same privileges - hahaha just kidding!!). 

I was NOT going to stand by after all the work I did to get out there, set things up to drive him to AIT, and to find a way home, all to be told a big fat stupid ugly NO after we'd been told yes!!! NO WAY JOSE!!!!!!!

So in an hour, or around there sometime, we drove to Tyler's base where SDS Genthner walked Tyler out to us with all his heavy packs and the girls gave him big kisses on his cheeks and I shook his hand like 2 or 3 times (I should've given him a hug!!!! He deserved it! Dangit!!).

The reason Genthner was our here here, was the Captain/Commander shouted for Genthner to come to him at my phone call and I could hear in the background SDS Genthner explaining to the Cpt what I'd done, what was arranged... he was pulling for us!!!! It took just him and me together to convince the Commander within seconds to get out the paperwork, sign it, and order Tyler out of formation and send him with ME!!!

Tyler said that Genthner yelled for him a couple of times and Tyler ran up to him and he said "Come with me, Frampton" and they marched into the building and into the office of the Commander. Tyler was shaking in his boots, not knowing what was going on! Was he in trouble? Had something happened? Was he getting more responsibilities or not going to Ft Lee? What??

Then Genthner said "You realize your wife is taking you to AIT". Tyler was so overjoyed his eyes filled with tears and he was bursting at the seems!! He tried his best not to smile and Genthner said "Don't smile, Private!" hahaha. Then that was when SDS called me on the phone while Tyler stood there listening. 

I signed official papers (like 3 or 4 of them) and so did Tyler and his Drill Sergeant and the Commander and another dude or two to make it official that I would be primarily responsible for him, that he could NOT drive or smoke or drink, etc etc etc (oh yeah, you know us! The real ol' partiers!! hahaha). 

Then we were off!!!!

The Day After Graduation/the Road Trip To AIT:

So, we drove to Louisville, then got lost.

For like one or two hours we drove around the entire city of Louisville because we'd missed the exit to head towards Virginia! Oh my gosh I was so frustrated! We drove all over the place. We got lost several times! Driving way out of the way, going in the opposite direction of where we should be headed, and constantly having to stop for food, gas, potty breaks, and what-not, it took the entire day to get there!!!

I drove SIXTEEN HOURS + that day!!!!!!! 

Along the way we saw lots of really cool things! My bros had fun taking lots of pictures. Mostly of rocks, trees, grass and other random things, instead of us hahaha. So funny!!!

It was a long day driving, but I literally enjoyed every single minute of it!! At first it started out Tyler telling more awesome stories and we were laughing most of the way there. Funny jokes, funny conversations, and fun buying and eating junk food and drinks and meeting people everywhere.

We FINALLY made it to Richmond Virginia!! We decided we needed some real food instead of chips, gatorade, licorice, chocolate, (I had apples and oranges and Subway), so we went to Denny's right off their highway.

We were given top service!! 

It was here that this older fellow (not too old, mind you) who walked up to our table and he asked Tyler "Are you in the Army?" "Yes" and Tyler stood to shake his hand. The man said to Tyler "Thank you for for your sacrifice so that I can be free!". It was the most amazing and powerful thing said yet to Tyler. The man stood straight for Ty, looked him square in the eyes when he said it, and then walked away. It brought tears to my eyes and impressed our group so much we were speechless. Tyler sat in a complete daze. He said "it's hitting me what it means to wear this Uniform".

He was the only one out of his entire Company that got this opportunity. The entire trip over from Kentucky to Virginia we were met with stares and waves and head-nods all for Tyler. I was even given huge amounts of respect by others! I could not believe the respect I was given! Men would literally bow out of my way and say "excuse me ma'am" when they'd see me walk into a store or anywhere with my Soldier. It was truly humbling!

When we finished our meal I went to pay and the waitress and the manager of the store gabbed my head off about the Military and the manager gave us a nice discount and I gave a nice tip :). They also told me "thank you for your sacrifice". It was so sweet!

Saying Goodbye. Again:

After an hour or so of driving around, or maybe like 2 hours, and getting lost AGAIN, we finally found our way to Ft Lee! I'd had to pull over to a scary-looking gas station where two very nice men helped me find my way there. 

We drove around inside of the huge base in the pitch-dark, completely clueless of where we'd need to go. I finally asked Military Police who gave us a rough idea of where to start looking. We drove right to them! We saw a bunch of soldiers in formation next to two huge buses and Tyler felt it was his group. He was right!

What was another complete miracle was that we got there shortly after they had! We were sure we were half a day late getting him there and we were all so worried he'd be in huge trouble! But everything was just fine. We were so surprised at how relaxed they all were there.

We took him to the soldiers, unloaded all his stuff, and said our goodbyes. I cried again, of course, and Tyler did, too. We watched for a couple of minutes while Tyler reacquainted with his fellow soldiers who were happy to see him, but everyone looked so beat! Tyler looked the brightest and happiest and I'm sure it was cuz he is! He got to ride with his family the entire day and none of them had. And we got to stop whenever we wanted to and they hadn't. We were truly blessed with a miracle!!

Well, we left, and I'd had a feeling to delay leaving the base so we stopped at the Base Lodging to check on prices and rules. While there Tyler texted or called me and told me I had his paperwork in the van, so we had to drive it back to him. In the pitch black I was surprised I could find the way back to him! He walked up to the van and Daniel handed it to him and we all yelled our goodbyes again and drove off. Tyler waved one last time.

Our Scary Adventures That Night!:

We could NOT find our way out of the base! We drove around it for about an hour, or more maybe, and found one way out, but it wasn't the way we'd come in. We found ourselves in Petersburgh, or something like that, and it was NOT a nice town. Probably one of the worst I've been in my entire life, and Daniel's too (that's including our missions). We were actually scared for our lives! It was in the middle of the night, we had on idea where we were or how to get anywhere and so we just drove and drove. The neighborhoods were getting worse as we went. The houses were dark but people sat on the porches. Not to be racist, but everyone was black. Everyone, but us. And they didn't look friendly, either.

We saw many drunk men wandering the streets and saw cops only one time in an abandoned parking lot leaning on their patrol cars apparently shooting the breeze as if there was nothing else to do! Even they looked "scary" lol. 

I was thanking my lucky stars that our windows were well tinted so nobody could see my little girls in the back seat with their eyes wide-open looking around at the "scary" place. The Spirit was screaming "get out of here!" that it was unnerving to say the least. Finally I saw a gas station that was bursting at the seams with black people coming and going. We pulled up and everyone stared like "What are you doing here??" We stuck out like sore thumbs! Daniel braved exiting the van, I locked the doors, and he ran inside to ask for directions "follow this road here for a ways" was all he got. So we did that. Still lead us to nowhere. 

Finally Daniel called our hotel and the receptionist was nice and gave good directions which we followed and finally made it back to our hotel! It was about 1am or 2am, I can't remember which, when we made it back. Sophie and I took a shower then we all zonked out cold! 

Coming Home:

Early, but not early enough, the next morning we all got up and cleaned out the van, packed up all our garb, had hotel breakfast, and sped our way to the airport back in Richmond. We were late. Again.

We prayed for a miracle and BARELY made the flight!!! 

In New York it was NUTS!!!

It was super busy and we had a long lay-over. By the time they called our names out there were only 2 or 3 seats left! No way Jose was I sending my baby girls alone on such a LONG LONG flight without their mommy! Talk about completely unsafe and stupid! Sophie was in pull-ups, they have to go potty several times and need help when they go, and they get restless and rambunctious. So it was completely not an option. I didn't want to send my brothers without us. If we did that then me and the girls would be waiting until Tuesday to go home! I could NOT afford a hotel in New York City and another rental car!! I couldn't leave Daniel and Josh there, either, because they had NO MONEY in the first place, they'd have to stay until Tuesday, and aren't old enough to rent a car! And have no credit cards anyway. So they shut the door to the plane before the 3 of us could discuss our options so we were left with almost no options. 

One man missed the flight entirely (he was drunk and didn't wake up to hear his plane being called so he was raving angry and yelling in his strong New York accent at everyone but me until he was escorted out of the Airport by security!!!). 

The lady who at first was cold and rude to me did a complete 180 and turned into my Angel who saved us!!!

I prayed she'd take compassion on us and she did the instant I prayed for it!! I'm not kidding, the change was so fast and so surprising. She "broke" some rules for us to get us onto a flight so I won't say who she was here. She saved our skin and I hope God blesses her greatly for what she did!!

First, she had us booked on a flight from NY to Oakland Cali, then from there to Long Beach Cali, then from there to SLC. Well, we ran our behinds off to the gate to board the plane that was already boarded only to have it delayed because the pilots didn't show up, they unboarded it, then she came running over to where we waited to tell me this flight plan won't work anymore since it was delayed and we'd miss our flight in Oakland or Long Beach. *sigh*. So we went back to her desk where she scrounged around and we did some brainstorming on how to get us home.

We then checked the nearby airports. Pheonix was too far, Denver closer, but too far and I couldn't rent another car out of State for the price plus we didn't have round-trip tickets or a major credit card, so impossible, then there was California or Las Vegas. Hands-down it was Vegas. She booked us and gave me tickets to take to the desk at that Gate and sent us on her way, but not before I profusely thanked her for her help and telling her how awesome she was!! :D

We sat around the airport for another 2-3 hours after being there alllll day long already. Our next trick was finding someone to take us home to Utah from Las Vegas, or take us to St George at least so I could rent a car to drive home.

Daniel asked my brother, Erik, who volunteered to come pick us up. So Erik borrowed his brother-in-laws huge van and drove the 5 1/2 hours down to Vegas with their new little baby screaming her little eyes out for a good portion of the trip, and my sis-in-law Alicia bringing us food and drink realizing we'd probably be hungry and thirsty, which we were.

So after we waited for a little while they came and loaded us into the big van. I sat squished in the backseat between both my girls and tried to sleep, unsuccessfully. 

You have to realize I was EXHAUSTED beyond exhaustion!! I'd driving 16 hours straight the day before, sat in the airport all day, then had a long flight from one end of the country to the other, and had to be the one that planned the entire trip, and save our butts to get us home. It was very exhausting in more ways than one!

The trip from Vegas to Utah was not a pleasant one, to say the least. I gave Erik 30.00 in tips for picking us up and will be covering the gas for the trip as well. 

So, that was our trip in a tiny little nutshell!!!

We were blessed with many miracles this entire trip!! Safety, health, transportation, and being with my hunny and the girls seeing their daddy!

We were overjoyed and I would do this entire trip, and worse, all over again a million times just for this time we had together with him!!!

Now today we are tired, and our clocks are a bit confused, and the girls and I have fevers and the girls are crying a lot and the house is a WRECK lol. But it was such a wonderful and glorious and learning experience for me!!!

Thank you to all of those who made it possible for us to go on this trip!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

GREAT BLESSINGS & SEEING HIM SOON!!!!!!!

WOW time is racing by!!! And so many great things are finally happening! 

After years of hard times we are finally seeing some wonderful blessings. After the trial of your Faith comes the blessings. 

Of course I'm sure we're not done with our fair share of trials, but at least right now we have many obvious blessings to count!

For one, MY DAD GOT A JOB!!!!!!! After nearly TWO YEARS without a job and earnestly seeking one out, working as hard as he could, and remaining FAITHFUL all the hard work and patience and faithfulness has paid off!! My dad got a good job working for a great company, with insurance included!! It is a very happy time!

Also, Tyler is doing extremely well!

He baptized a guy named "Big" Simmons in his Platoon and it was the second most spiritual experience for him in his life that he can remember (besides me, he said). He really feels the Lord is greatly blessing us and I totally agree! I feel the same way!

He finished all his training at BCT and finished at 85% which is really good! His Drill Sergeants don't ever say anything mean or bad to him, they like him. He's earned their respect. I'm not surprised :D.

His graduation is NEXT WEEK!!!!!

I KNEW it was right for the girls and I to go, and even my two brothers Josh & Dan, and I prayed to Heavenly Father after doing everything in my power to get there and said, "I feel it's right, I cannot do any more and right now as it stands it's impossible for us to get there without Your help. I leave it in Your hands". The very next day I got two messages from God-send Angels who made it possible for us to get out there and back home!!! It was a MIRACLE. And I did pray for a miracle!!

Now the rest of the expenses are just outrageous! But we'll be okay! I found the best bargains out there and thanks to my military discount it's saved us a few hundred dollars. I'M SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!! eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We leave June 2nd, Wednesday at 9:00am and get back home on June 5th, 6:30pm. I'm so excited just for the trip alone that the prospect of seeing Tyler just makes the entire thing pure HEAVEN. 

I hope I have the strength in me to say goodbye to him again when that time comes after 7 very short hours with him!

Anyway, I am so very, very grateful that despite all the trials and sickness, hardships, discouragements, and more, that I and my family remained faithful! I am convinced that God blesses those who are righteous. Of course in HIS own time.

So keep the Faith, please!!! DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!!! 

We didn't!!!!! :D 

TWO WEEKS!!!!!

Exactly TWO WEEKS from TODAY I will see my Knight in Shining Armour! Okay, not SHINING armor, or even armor for that matter, more like my Knight in Green Uniform!!! :D
I am so in love with my husband; it's an awesome feeling! 
He's doing really well! Of course, of course.
I did hear that he baptized somebody in his Platoon!!!!! How awesome is that??? I was so happy to hear this! I'm hoping he'll fill me in on the details about that soon. He's truly where he's supposed to be right now, that's for sure!


I had to make some phone calls to get some people's attention and was very happy that my Home Teachers came over to visit me today! I even got a blessing that gave me peace and comfort, just what I needed!
I cannot believe the emotional roller coaster I'm on all the time! And my emotions are always so close to my skin now. I cry over nearly everything! I was never like this before, so it's strange. I'm thinking it'll pass, or hoping it will, but come to think of it, uh, I don't think it ever will!!


I'm part of an Army Wife forum online and it's been a LIFE SAVER!!!! I'm not the only one that's lost friends! Amazing how friends just start to disappear or completely blow up in your face with complete lack of compassion when your spouse joins in the Army and is GONE. WOW. I think every spouse on this forum has had at the very least one friend that grew cold and not understanding and vacated the friendship, so in that aspect I don't feel alone. I'm just incredibly disappointed that I lost a certain friend I never expected to lose, EVER. They just grew cold, callous, lacked compassion.... it's very painful to even think about so I can usually push it out of my mind and not dwell on it. This person lost a very, very good friend in me, that I do know, and one day they will greatly regret it. If they don't, they're blind and I feel sorry for them. Not to sound all cocky or anything, but I was a super good friend. Trust me on that. Of course they might say otherwise now cuz they want to be the victim HA HA. Weird how people can turn things around on you, huh? I get personally attacked and belittled and suddenly the attacker is the victim. LOL.
Anyway!!!!! I am just so happy I'm part of this forum!! We can ask anything we want, say anything we want (of course within reason lol) and everybody is super supportive!! It's like a cyber shoulder to cry on!! I LOVE it!!


So in TWO WEEKS!!!! I cannot believe it!!! Right now, though, I'm feeling overly anxious and stressed about finding a way to get out there to Tyler's graduation!! Because I found out so late what the schedule was I couldn't book plane tickets early enough so now they're around $3,000.00 for my two brothers, myself, and my daughters, to go. My parents will pay for my brothers, but I have to book the tickets. IMPOSSIBLE. I had saved up 1300.00 for ALL of the travel expenses. This includes plane, car rental, gasoline, everything! Even hotel!! YIKES!!! I do NOT have it, and I really feel that me and my daughters BOTH have to go! I will not leave the girls home. People who say "go by yourself" cannot understand what that would do to my children and their father. It would be WRONG of me to do this. People who know us well will agree, too. My girl's are DADDY'S GIRLS, through and through! And he's so attached to them, too. The HARDEST part for him while being at BCT was not the hard work but being away from me and our little girls. It was almost too much for him; for us! 


So anyway, I'm really struggling on trying to figure out a way to see my husband in honor of his completing Basic Training. I've had several people say that they think people should donate money to help us get there, that it's the least people could do since Tyler's serving our country and we're sacrificing A LOT. But what can ya do?? Absolutely nothing. People love their money too much. lol.
I really am praying for a miracle, though! I am praying that I can either find an amazing deal or, something!! I just don't know what else to do!! 


I am just SOOOOOOO EXCITED that I'll be seeing him in exactly TWO WEEKS!!!!! Of course, it will only be for about 7 hours, unless I get permission to drive him to AIT early the next morning. It's still not 100% sure, but about 90% sure! :D
Okay, time to stop. I feel like I'm being too random and I'm sure I said something in here that annoyed somebody. Hard not to do that. Actually, impossible not to annoy SOMEONE, isn't it? lol


Pray we have a miracle!!!!! 

GOOD NEWS!!!

So today I took Lacie to get her 9 stitches out of her head and her Dermatologist said that her results had come and it was only an ulcer!!! I was pleasantly surprised and I was SO HAPPY I cried when we left!
Then as we were leaving I got a text message from my little brother, Glenn, that his wife had had their baby early this morning!! She was in labor for TWO HOURS and pushed him out in 15 minutes!! He weighed 7.6 lbs and 18.5 inches long. He has a little mullet lol. And he looks just like his mother, Andrea!! Except his top lip looks like Glenn's haha. They named him Brayden Taylor Pearson. We were so excited to go see him today!

Last night I only had 2 hours of sleep because a lot was on my mind. New problems that arose unexpectedly this week that I cannot mention caused great stress in our family, plus the anxiety of waiting to hear about Lacie's pre-cancerous mole (which, he said, we still have to keep our eyes on just in case) and just thinking about our dire situation.
I laid in bed finally at 3:00am or a little after and said a little prayer. Very calmly and without great emotion but with sincerity and faith and asked Heavenly Father what we need to do to help us. He told me two things just as plain as day and then told me to get up and go downstairs and write down the revelation I was receiving. So I did just that. Since it's personal for my family I won't mention it here, but now Tyler and I are going to follow what I was told as clear and plainly as if God were standing there talking to me face-to-face and put it to the test because Heavenly Father promised me that if we do these 2 things that he will bless us and take care of us.
What I do know without any doubt whatsoever was that I was truly inspired by God and that he spoke with me and gave me very specific things to do and very specific promises if we follow what he asked us to do.
He also told me that Satan has been working very hard on our marriage to make us divorce because if we do then Tyler will not be able to fulfill his mission in this life nor will I, so now we're ready or being prepared for our missions. That's all I can say about that.

This morning I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep again. I got up and checked my email and had received a message from the church saying EXACTLY one of the impressions I'd received so clearly. It was the oddest thing ever! The email was sent at 7:00am and I read it at 7:15am, hours after the revelation I'd received at 3:15am. I knew it was from God.
Go read D&C 88:119 for a very good clue as to what part of the revelation to me was about.

So anyway, there we are. I'm thinking more positive. I figure whatever happens to us isn't by accident and isn't because God doesn't care, but because he loves us and it is NECESSARY for us to go through all these trials. We HAVE to go through them. I don't know why, I just KNOW this for certain. So that gives me peace knowing that none of this is punishment but necessary for our growth and experience.

I also was told that as soon as we get everything in line for the positive changes we are to make or that the changes are completely made that I'll get pregnant again.

But I know that God will take care of us. He always does, if we do what he asks us to do.

Positive Update About Lacie

So here's the latest update about my Perfect Princess Lacie.
Her doc called me again today and told me that ALL of her test results came back and ALL of them were normal!!!!!!!
The HIGH white blood cell count is GONE. Can you believe it???
Here is why I sincerely believe it happened this way:
PRAYER, FAITH, MIRACLES.
Yep.
And that's thanks to all my good friends and family that did this for her! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Seriously, the day after her blessing she got from her daddy, Tyler, and from her uncle, Glenn Pearson, she was better. Like 100% better!! No fever, strength, everything.
She doesn't have Diabetes or Celiac Disease, or Leukemia or Pneumonia or anything at all that she was tested for.
She has a little lingering cough, but even today I don't even think that was there if I can remember right.

Now, all we have to wait for are the results to her skin biopsy.
Those won't come in until NEXT WEEK. ACK!!! I HATE waiting!!! Seriously!!!
Melanoma on her head isn't a miner deal, ya know?

But perhaps there will be another miracle and she won't have that, either, eh?

So thanks again everybody and I'm feeling a lot happier about my Lacie-boo.

Update About Lacie

So it was like a miracle happened after Lacie got a blessing last night from her daddy and uncle Glenn Pearson. Today she hasn't had a fever, or at least not much of one anyway, and she hasn't shown that much that she's sick. I mean she still is, but she's MUCH better than yesterday! We were worried for her life yesterday and then today not so much.
We got test results back on two of the things we're worried about. She doesn't have Swine Flu or Pneumonia!!! So that's great news! She won't have to be hospitalized.
Now all we're waiting for are the tests for Diabetes, Celiac Disease, Melanoma, or possibly Leukemia and some other bacteria in her blood.
If her fever persists even a little we're supposed to bring her back on Monday to be tested again.
I feel a little more relieved today, but I am very, very worn out. All that's happened in the last several weeks has really taken it's tole on me. I'm pooped!!!
So we stayed away from everyone today and didn't have anyone over because the doc told us not to, and we still don't know everything she could have.
I do believe in Miracles and I believe there was one that happened here in our house with Lacie.
Now just another miracle that we won't be homeless next month and Tyler will have a job and we'll be able to take care of ourselves for a change! lol

And the winds keep on blowing (Poor Lacie!!)

There has been a lot more that has happened lately, and none of it has been good news. Okay ONE bit of good news. Tyler MIGHT have a job up in Layton working at the Hill Air Force Base making better money than he was with Gunther's Comfort Air. PLEASE PLEASE PRAY EARNESTLY THAT HE GETS THIS JOB!!!!!!!! Unless, of course, our Heavenly Father has other plans and sais NO.
Which has been his answer to every question we've asked so far ;)

So Tyler's cousin, Jake, passed away the week of Memorial Day. It was an awful and torturous week for us. Not just for Jake's sudden tragic and fatal condition, but the repercussions of hurt feelings forced back towards me. I cannot write about them here for fear of being sued or other such nonsense, so please just write me privately if you are curious.

The stress of Jake and his passing put Tyler and I physically ill. We had to have a bathroom close at hand. I'm still not better. I NEVER throw up but did so surprisingly one morning. No, it was no morning sickness, though I really sincerely wish it was.
Even my very honest Grandma Pearson noticed how dark under my eyes have gotten.
(bad grammar, I know, sorry).

So with our car being repossessed, no luck finding jobs for either of us (and YES we've applied at fast food joins, temporary jobs, everything!!!!!!!) and Tyler's truck being uninsured and the window breaking out and the fuel tank or pump breaking, among other things, and running out of food at the end of the month, every month..... okay I won't go on. It's just kinda pathetic and is just getting me more down to have to say it all. Let's just say that it's as low as it can get, or almost there anyway.

Our landlady served us an eviction letter to be out within 3 days. Out of desperation we called our bishop and asked if he could help. Thank you for our faithfulness in the Gospel because our entire rent was covered or we would honestly be in the homeless shelter in Provo. We actually went down there and met with a bishop of the place (not a religious person) and got the list of things we have to get together for next month when we will more than likely be evicted so that we can move in. That was enormous stress added to our heap of stress.

We have been sued FIVE TIMES now from doctors.
And my health isn't getting better. Sure you can think I'm some whiny person who asks for it or makes it up or whatever, but the fact of the matter is I have REAL issues and they've come to me in a very, very, very short amount of time!!! Why do you think I am so fat and look so awful?? DUH!!
Anybody who knew me, REALLY KNEW ME, would know that I was a very active, healthy, busy, hard-working and never-resting type of person. I was successful at everything I did. Nothing slowed me down. Not my endometriosis, breaking my leg, e-coli that nearly killed me, or anything. But when it's too much, IT'S TOO MUCH.
I feel like I am bearing more than I am able to and it's showing in so many ways.

My biggest concern is my family's well-being. I feel like a failure of a mother and Housewife. I want to be that housewife that can cook every meal and keep a schedule and a very clean house. I want to be that housewife that can teach her children the gospel and their school subjects. I want to be that housewife that has the energy to do normal things. But I am in constant pain and it is only getting worse.

ANYWAY!!!!!! Enough about me already!!!!!!

I am very deeply concerned about Lacie right now.
She's only 5 yrs old, almost 5 1/2. She's got to be one of the strongest and most perfect and special people I have ever known.
As a little background as to why I think this about her.
When she was born she would not cry. They tried and tried but she was 100% healthy and didn't want to cry. She looked at the nurses like "alright leave me alone, I'm just fine. Give me to my mother". As soon as I held her she just stared up into my eyes forever! She made eye contact with me and I knew right then that she was a very choice, strong and special spirit, older than I am, that God blessed me to be the mother of.
She never cried. She was the most perfect baby!!! It's been difficult to tell whenever she's sick or hurt because she won't complain about it. Not usually.
She suffered a severe seizure when she was just 2 years old. Perhaps some of you Pearson's will remember because it was the night of the Pearson Christmas reunion at uncle Kim's and aunt Marylou's. We stopped off at my inlaw's house. Anyway, she got her head slammed in a door and she already had a fever and it spiked. The impact, coupled with the spiked fever, sent her into a 45 minute seizure. She actually stopped breathing when I got to her! She was as limp as death when I held her and I panicked. I was pregnant with Sophie, due in mid-March. Lacie's little lips turned blue. Tyler called 911 and Tyler's dad, Gary, a previous EMT raced to her aid and saved her life. The Paramedics got there quickly but it still took them about 20-30 minutes since Saratoga Springs is so far from Lehi and American Fork. I rode with her in the ambulance. She re-gained consciousness in the ambulance but lay still.
In the hospital, as she lay in her bed and the entire family was in the ER gabbing away, Tyler and I saw her weakly sit up and point to a corner in the cieling and say "Jesus. Jesus" then lay back down.
She's broken both her arms and didn't cry. She's gotten two bad concussions and didn't cry. She won all baby pageants she's been in (except 1) and she's very gifted. She learns things usually the very first time it's taught to her with few exceptions.
Anyway, she's always been a very special and a very strong person.
Okay, now to get to what I really wrote this blog about!! lol
Lacie had a mole removed from her head in January. Over the last few years it'd been growing larger and larger and more recenlty started to bother her a little. I'd see her itching it.
The dermatologist said it didn't look good and sent in the mole he cut out to be biopsied. It came back as pre-cancerous and he was told to remove more of it if necessary (if he hadn't removed it all the first time, which he had). She had a check up in February and the mole had not healed. So he rescheduled again to have her seen just yesterday (actually it was Tuesday this week). He said it did not look good. It had not healed one bit since February!!! He was very concerned about this. He looked over the results again and decided that it would be the best thing to remove more. He took out 1 1/2" of her skin/flesh and gave her 9 stitches to close it back up!!!!!!!
He and the nurses said that Lacie was one of the best patients they have ever had. She didn't cry. She just laid perfectly still, with her eyes closed, patiently waiting for them to finish.
This is how Lacie is. Always has been.
So in two weeks roughly we'll find out if it is in fact Melanoma. I'm scared to death!!!!!!!

Then, to top it off. Today we took her in (Wednesday) to see her Pediatrician for her Kindergarten check up. Well, it wasn't good. Her doc is very concerned because Lacie's weight has been plummeting. It's completely dropped off the growth charts now! Her eye-sight has worsened, and her feet are worse.
From listening to her heart and looking her over and knowing about her broken bones and everything else the doctor was very worried and ordered a full blood test. They're testing for Leukemia, Celiac (what my mom has), diabetes (what my mom has), and any other types of cancer she could possibly have. Then we'll go from there.
Lacie eats. We feed her. But she doesn't have much of an appetite. She'll eat some food and fills up very quickly and loses her appetite. It's had me worried.
Her sleeping is sad, too. She grinds her teeth all night and moans and cries and calls for me in her sleep. She coughs all night, too. It really gets me worried sometimes, listening to her. I am constantly in her room checking on her for fear something bad has happened.
So in 3 days after getting her blood word done, which will be tomorrow (Thursday) morning, I'll know more answers, just not about the skin thing.

So every week there's been something happening.

It's just been too much. It really has! It's sucking all our strength out.
I'm tired of crying so much and tired of being so on the verge of tears all the time. I feel like a complete emotional wreck.
Tyler has had it.

What can you do when the problems you are having ARE NOT IN YOUR CONTROL AT ALL???? You cannot blame us for what we've been going through, period! Nothing could've stopped or prevented any of this from happening. At least the health issues. The financial issues are another issue all in themselves.
NO we have not been idiots with our money. We just don't have the same opportunities to money as most people we've known.

All we ask is that you keep us and especially Lacie in your prayers.
please pray for a MIRACLE.

Nice Day s

So today was a nice day outside.
We thought it was going to be a stormy day but it turned out so nice!

We went to our annual Pearson reunion up in Bear River for a huge BBQ. It was fun just chillin and catchin up with the cousins. Seems like more than half my cousins are having babies!! It's so cool! I'm happy for them. Not jealous, though, which is good I think. I figure it'll happen for us when it's right, ya know?

We got to borrow my inlaw's car. We wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for them letting us use it. It was really nice! We took Trynity with us, Tyler's littlest sister. It really was a nice day.

We visited my grandpa's grave and Tyler's grandpa's grave and my friend's baby's grave. I see these little graves and it just breaks my heart. My cousin's 1st baby's grave is next to my grandpa's and I always go stand by it and feel for my cousin's loss. I also stand next to my aunt's children's graves that are next to my cousin's baby's grave. She had two babies die. It's so sad!! Amelia, Robyn & Andrew were their names.

I finally got myself to go see my friend's baby's grave. It was very hard. I haven't been there since she died last year.
She was just shy of turning 2 years old and was Sophie's "best" friend. I loved that little girl with all my heart. I felt a special bond with her. She would smile at me and laugh at me. I loved holding her.
Poor little Allie got really, really sick while growing in the womb. She lost part of her brain before and after birth. It caused SERIOUS health problems, as you can imagine. It was a shere MIRACLE that she lived to be as old as she was!!!

It was the most difficult things EVER for her parents to let her go, but we all know and the Spirit bore witness to us, that little Angel Allie is happier than ever in Heaven without being enclosed in a diseased and handicapped body anymore.

Seeing her gravesite I did okay at first. They had two of her cutest pictures engraven onto the headstone. Then I noticed the little Jump Rope that her mother (Kristen, one of my very best friends ever) had left on her grave and I thought of the Resurrection and little Allie rising in perfect glory as an almost 2 yr old that she will be, but in perfection, and about her learning to use that jump rope wither mommy and I just couldn't keep the tears in. I bawled and bawled my eyes out thinking of her and missing her and wanting to hold her just one more time!!! And cried about her coming back and my dear friends being blessed to raise her during the Millenium because they have been sealed together as a family that will be together forever.
What an ENORMOUS and great blessing!! And it's available to all who choose to have it and do what's necessary to get it.

I miss little Allie so much. Sophie remembers her and of course Lacie does. Sophie was excited to see her picture and see the little girly toys left at her gravesite by her parents and big brother, Isaac (one of Lacie's best friends).
Lacie got down on her knees in front of the headstone of Allie's and hugged it so tight! She kissed Allie's picture like 3 or 4 times and said she missed her and loved her so much.
I was just crying. I couldn't hold it back. It was so overwhelming.
I didn't realize how much I'm NOT over little Allie's passing. It was like she was my own child, and yet she of course was totally NOT. There's no way I can feel what my friends have felt, but I can surely sympathize, or try to at least, in the best way that I can.

The rest of the day was nice. We dropped off Trynity, Tyler vacuumed out the car we messed up (LOL) and our truck, then we went to pick up some scrap metal to make a couple of bucks off of, and then at home our next door neighbor came over to fix our broken kitchen sink.

The girls are sleeping soundly, Tyler's playing his Black game, and I'm sitting here, of course, and feeling a huge wave of gratitude for all of our blessings and miracles that we have in our lives right now. And so grateful for our many, many good friends and relatives.

This is another day that has passed, and we have one more tomorrow and we'll take them as they come.

We Need A Miracle and Got One!!!!

So Tyler and I decided that a fast would be a good thing to do for our situation since we could see no other alternatives to our situation.
We'd contacted those who we could and tried to do what we could and nothing worked out.
We had to pay 600.00 for our truck TODAY in order to not get it repossessed like our poor little car (that I miss terribly. It was like losing one of the family lol).
This morning Tyler got up really early and went to school to figure out why his school was charging him right now, every month, and why he didn't get the discount for his dad going to school there, too, and check on other financial aid issues.
Luckily he talked to a lady there who knew what she was doing and fixed Tyler's financial aid and credited us 5,000.00!! And took off all the late payments we've had and deferred his loans until July and then when we get to that point they'll probably be able to defer it another 6 months.
Cool eh???
Well, then that super rude chick from America First Credit Union called Tyler and said, "where's the money? You have until 6:00pm tonight to get it here". Tyler said, "let me talk to your supervisor or manager". So he talked to the manager at their collections dept and told her our situation.
Said he'd just lost his job, this was our only vehicle, we couldn't buy another one, and we wouldn't have a way to get another job let alone have a way to get there without the truck. So anyway, she understood and after Tyler said we want to pay them and want to make this work but give us a chance. So she did. WOW she did! We only have to pay 400.00 by Tuesday instead and then they'll work with us for the rest and let us continue regular payments. THANK GOODNESS!!!
Tyler was incredibly relieved and on cloud 9 when he came home. I have missed him like that.
Then the mail came.
Tyler brought the mail to me with a big smile on his face. One letter was from his previous employer, Gunther's Comfort Air in American Fork. There was a check inside.
He read a letter that explained that there are certain employees that have been there a long while and work hard and Tyler was one of them.
So Tyler got a check from them for 300.00!!!! It was part of his Profit Sharing that they were NOT going to give out this year.
So here's what we think.
Blaine, his boss and owner, felt so bad about having to lay Tyler off and when he found out our car had been repossessed and I wasn't working he felt worse. His direct boss, Lance, also knew about our circumstances and the laying off was a complete shock. And he was getting a Profit Sharing. Only the Project Managers were getting them. So we think the two of them talked and decided to give Tyler a cut from Lance's Profit Sharing check.
So we were saved!!!!

We'd had a talk last night about our situation and know that God will bless us more when we're being obedient. Honestly, we haven't been that obedient. Nothing too serious for being temple recommend holders, but they were sins of omission, which can be more devastating than anything at all. It has deep spiritual consequences that can cause any strong member of God's church to lose his faith and slowly but surely fall away.
God wants to bless us but CANNOT when we are not obedient. It's just as simple as that. He is bound when we do what he says but when we don't we have no promise.
This is a trial of our faith, pure and simple.
We started the fast with prayer. It was our last resort.
And our prayer and fast was answered. We believe it was a miracle. Pure and simple. And we feel so much relief!!