Eternity

Yesterday, November 7th, marked 4 years of marriage for the most amazing husband and I!

It is crazy to think 4 years ago we were at our wedding, standing in a reception line smiling til our cheeks couldn't take it anymore, dancing to our wedding song, smearing cake in each others faces and then driving off in Sean's truck and having every semi from Blackfoot to Idaho Falls honk at us because of our lovely decorated truck! Feels like yesterday and at the same time FOREVER ago! In four short years we have moved away from our hometowns, had a BABY!, gone through all sorts of trails, had many more moments of happiness and joy and most important of all we have become the bestest of friends and have fallen even more in love and are now Eternal Companions!!

Waiting 4 years to go to the temple and be sealed together was not what we had originally planned but with a few trials and obstacles it's how it ended up happening. But I am thankful for the trails and bumps we have had because with out them I don't think our relationship would be even close to the same.

Just over a year ago there was a knock on our door and it was most definitely not who we would be expecting at the door. It was the Missionaries. With out any hesitation we welcomed them right into our home. We had lived in our home for just over 2 years at the time and had NEVER had a missionary knock on our door. Brittnie had just got her call for her mission and Jade was almost half way through serving his mission so I was so excited to have 2 missionaries sitting in our house because I had such a special place in my heart for missionaries at that time and still do. They sat and visited with us for a bit and then wanted to leave us with a message. The message was about eternal families, families can be together forever. They played a Mormon Message for us and then read a couple scriptures. I remember looking over at Sean and just seeing tears running down his cheeks. For the first time in a LONG time the spirit was in our home. These two missionaries had NO idea what they had just done for our family and knew little about us. It was an experience I have never had before but from it I have gained the strongest testimony that Heavenly Father personally knows us and our needs!! I have NO doubts about it, those missionaries had inspiration to knock on door number 30 because our family needed to be visited and needed the spirit in our home! Neither Sean or I had been to church in awhile because Sean worked Sundays and I never had our records moved to our Driggs ward and never made the effort to move them or attend. We both knew we were not raising our family the way we should be and both knew there was something missing in our family. We knew we were not keeping our promise to each other that we would go to the temple together a year after we were married. After the missionaries left we had our records moved to our Driggs ward and with help of our family and neighbors we were back to going to church. It was such a good feeling of getting up and taking my little family to church on Sunday and starting our week out by being in the right place. Life was going great for us and we were headed in a good direction and it felt good! Then come May, Sean made a job switch and we thought we had been blessed for Sean to have this job opportunity and felt like we were finally going in the direction we needed to be. And quickly we found out that was not the way life was going to go for us. It was a trial for Sean & I and it was hard on our family and marriage but we quickly came to realization that it was more of a blessing than a trial. We were quickly blessed with Sean working and being able to have Sundays off all summer long. So now it was no longer just Andi & I going to church and Sean making it when he could, we were all getting up and going to church together as a family! We have such a great Ward & Bishop and were called to the Primary and LOVE all 13 of our 5/6 year olds that we get to teach every Sunday. We have spent the most of this last year preparing and doing what we needed to do to take our family to the temple. We finally were able to seal our family together for Eternity on our 4th Anniversary!!

The spirit was SO strong as we knelt at the alter together! And when Andi walked in in her beautiful white dress the day just couldn't get any better! It is definitely a moment I will always remember and hold in my heart! It was a day that just can't be beat! 

This last year has given me such a new outlook and attitude about life. It's not easy to not let things get in the way but we just have to always remember the truly important things in life and try to avoid the things that don't bring such true happiness into our lives.

I am so proud of Sean & I and seriously fell 1,000,000,000,000,000 times more in love with that guy yesterday! There is just nothing like being in the temple with your best friend and knowing you will be able to spend forever with him now NO MATTER WHAT!! It's such a comfort. It makes me want to be such a better wife, mother and person.

We are so lucky to have such special people in our lives that support us in everything! Our day was even more special because of those we got to share it with. I am SO beyond thankful for all of those that took time to be there with us and to support us!

I think November 7, 2013 can go down in the books as our BEST day ever!

november... where did you go?!

so i wrote this back in november and JUST realized i never posted it so here it is! 

say wHat?!?

i swear we just had halloween and here it is already the end of november

so crazy how fast life goes by

november flew, i was super busy and blogging only happens at late

hours for me and since i was busy at late hours with birthday party projects

and being a momma... blogging didn't happen

but i still wrote down in my handy dandy notebook 

one thing i was thankful for every day and now here is my 

super duper very long blog post of everything i wrote down i was thankful for

days 7-30

day 7:

i am thankful for my marriage

3 years ago today i married the love of my life

my bestfriend and the best husband i could have ever picked!

sometimes it feels like it flies and other times it feels like i have loved

this guy forever and as long as i can remember

im thankful for the good times and the bad, because it makes the good

moments even better! i don't know of another man that could have the patience

he has to be able to handle all my craziness (...and lateness!) 

so in love with him more and more everyday

i know without a doubt we were meant for each other

i know we both went through trails and certain things happened for a reason

because we were meant to be♥

day 8:

i am thankful for freedom of speech

i might not agree with what others say and others may not agree

with what i have to say but how blessed are we that we have that freedom

to think and say what we want

day 9:

i am thankful for my husbands job

i am thankful that he gets up at 3:30 am every day

and drives an hour to work and provides for our family

i know it isn't easy on him having weird hours but i am thankful

i have a husband that isn't lazy and does what it takes to able us

to live comfortable. i am also thankful for the benefits that come with his job.

i am thankful that we don't have to worry about the cost of medical bills and 

are able to go to the dr, dentist, etc whenever we have to without worrying

about the cost.

day 10:

i am thankful i grew up in a small town

and that i still live in a small town, even though its a different town.

i probably used to hate and complain about it back in the day

about living in a small area but being older and looking back i am glad.

i am glad my parents raised me where they did because it made me who i

am today and it allowed me to become friends with those people there and

be surrounded by people that are good people and really care about each other.

i love the small little town we live in now and the laid back feeling here.

i like the comfort of it and i like raising Andi here, i like the safe feeling we

have as parents raising our child here.

day 11:

i am thankful for the gospel in my life

i am beyond thankful that my parents taught and raised me with

the gospel in my life. i don't think i always showed it but as i have become

older and have had experiences i have become even more thankful for it in my life.

im thankful that we are given comfort, understanding, and blessing from it that make

going through life so much easier. i am thankful for the bigger picture of life it gives us, that

we are here for a reason, where we are going, and that there is more then just this life.

i consider myself very blessed to be surrounded by family and friends that know and live 

this gospel also and are amazing examples to me.

day 12:

i am thankful for my amazing mom

my mom is one of a kind and i am so thankful for her.

i am thankful for the amazing grandma she is to Andi, who just loves her "ama"

its been a lot of fun watching her be a grandma

i am thankful for the way she raised me and for the kind of person she is

she is always there for us and always helps us out

she always has great advice and even sometimes when i don't want to believe it...

she is always right!! :)

i love her so much and i am so glad i get to call her my mom.

day 13:

i am thankful for my sisters

i really seriously don't know where i would be without my sisters.

we are so lucky to have such close bonds with each other.

growing up we were always best friends but always fought like sisters :)

once you graduate and move on with life you quickly find out

that your family are the ones that are going to always be there for you no 

matter what. thankfully we have all been able to live pretty close to each other

and keep those close relationships with each other. we really are all best friends

and have so much fun together. i'm excited for our kids to grow up together and have

those same bonds and friendships.

day 14:

i am thankful for my sister Brittnie

she is just barely a year and a half younger than me and

has been one of my best friends for the last 21 years of my life

i am so proud of her for making the decision to serve the lord and go on a mission.

as much as i hate saying good bye to her and not having her here for 18 months,

i really am beyond thankful and proud of her for her decission.

today was probably one of the hardest days i have ever had when i hugged her tight

and said "i love you see you in 18 months!" and then had to see her say bye to

Andi and the rest of the family, but the experiences and blessings she will receive

from this decession will be worth every second of the 18 months.

i am so proud of her and so thankful to have her part of my life!!

day 15:

i am thankful for the power of blessings

i am thankful that i have been raised with a father who could

give me a blessing whenever i was in need of one.

i am also thankful that i have a husband that can do the same for our daughter.

i am very thankful for the comfort and miracles i have seen come

from these blessings.

day 16:

i am thankful for prayer

i am so very grateful that we have the ability to communicate

with our father in heaven. 2 years ago when i went into labor with Andi

my testimony of prayer grew tremendously. i know that the road opening and

us being able to make it to a hospital to deliver was not just luck or coincidence...

it was because every single person in my family and Sean's were praying for us

and we were also praying for an answer about what to do and where to go.

every single thing that happened through that entire day was such a blessing

and i know it was because of the prayers said for us. i had never in my life before that

been in a situation where all we could do was pray and have that prayer answered so fast.

i am also thankful for inspiration.

i am thankful that our heavenly father is able to guide and direct

people into our lives to let us know that he knows us and loves us.

we recently were blessed with a special experience that was a very good 

reminder to us that no matter what it going on in your life even if you aren't doing

everything perfect the lord still knows you and loves you. we were very blessed

by this experience and i am beyond thankful for this!

day 17:

i am thankful for my in-laws

every single one of them

i really don't think i could have married into a better or more loving family

they have always been so kind to me and welcomed me with open arms

they are awesome grandparents to our little Andi

and they raised an amazing son who is now an amazing husband and father

they raised him in a way that i admire and look to as i raise my little family

i am thankful for the sisters and brothers i have gained

they are all so fun and some of our best friends

we love spending time with them

i am thankful for my nieces and nephews

they are all adorable and such fun kids that always give us a good laugh

they are so good with Andi and are all her best little buddies

i am so excited to watch them all grow up together being best friends

i am thankful for my husbands aunts, uncles, and cousins

sometimes i forget that they are my in-laws because i feel like they are all my

close family. i am really truly so blessed to have them all in our lives.

day 18:

i am thankful for phone calls

being at home all day and sometimes not having a "grown up" conversation

with anyone through out the day can sometimes be hard, don't get me wrong i 

absoulty love all my conversations and chatting with Jo all day long but

sometimes a grown up chat is nice too! 

it used to be at least one sometimes two phone calls a day from Britt

i would sit on the couch and we would just chat about anything and everything

and before we would know it we had been on the phone for an hour.

im really going to miss those for the next 18 months.

i love the phone calls i get through out the week from my sister Mindie.

she is a mom of two so we always can laugh with each other about what

our kids did now!

i am thankful today for the phone call from my dad.

he always likes to call and ask how the weather is here in driggs, haha an old

person thing! jk! but today i am thankful for him calling and chatting with me for

just a little bit. i've been a little sad about britt leaving and not having things the

way they used to be so it was nice to get a phone call and talk with someone for a little bit.

i also love the phone calls i get through out the day from Sean just to see how we're doing

and then Andi and him have their own little conversation.

and i love love love the phone calls i get from Jo whenever i leave 

to go run errands and she stays home.

day 19:

today i am thankful for Sean

thankful that 24 years ago today he was born

thankful that we both went down different paths and ended up together.

i know without a doubt that we were meant to be.

again some people would call in coincidence that we happened to

be at the right place at the right time, i call it an answer to many prayers.

we have had bumps in the road and life hasn't always been just peachy

but i am so glad that at the end of the day i am married to that man and

nothing will ever change that. i am thankful for him being so helpful. from day one

of becoming parents he has helped in every way he could. i remember the first night

home from the hospital and he got up constantly with us through out the night and didn't

even hesitate to help out. he is an amazing dad to Andi and she is so very much in love with him.

i am so thankful that he gets along with my family and has great relationships with them.

i am thankful that he is thoughtful and caring of others. he is always willing to lend a hand

or help out others however he can. he has a huge heart and i am thankful for that.

i am thankful that he is very understanding and forgiving, i need a lot of that in my life! :)

i love him so much and couldn't image going through this journey with anyone else!!

day 20:

i am thankful for missionaries

i am thankful that there are so many willing to take time out of their lives

to give others what they have and the blessings they receive from it.

i am thankful that my dad served a mission and that our family was

blessed by that in many ways.

i am also thankful that Sean served a mission.

our lives and marriage have been blessed in may ways

because of him serving the lord. it also made him the great guy he is today.

and i am thankful to have 3 family members currently serving missions.

i am thankful to Brittnie, Jade, and Nathan for serving the Lord and being great

examples to me and others. also thankful for the blessing we have seen as a family

from them serving missions.

day 21:

i am thankful for the blessing of being a mom

becoming a mom has been one of the biggest blessings of my life

it has taught me a lot and made changes to my life for the better

i always knew i wanted to be a mom, but i didn't know just

how amazing the calling of a mother would be

i am beyond thankful that i was able to become a mom

without any complications or heart ache. i am also very

thankful that i was blessed with a healthy little girl.

day 22:

i am thankful for my grandparents

i have been blessed with the most amazing grandparents ever

they are the grandparents that never miss a thing their grandkids do

i am most thankful that they raised their children and their family the way they did

we are a very close family because of them

i will always cherish the memories we have growing up at their house

sunday dinners

christmas eve & day

quilts grandma made us

grandpa's awesome christmas lights

camping

getting together with cousins

just being together

i love them both so very much and im so proud i get to call them both

MY grandma and grandpa

day 23:

i am thankful that 2 years ago today my princess

Andi Jo joined our family!

she is our everything

she brings so much joy into our lives

i am so thankful that she is a good girl and was a good baby

i am SO thankful that i get to be her mama!

day 24:

i am thankful for all of my family

each and everyone of them!

day 25:

today i am thankful that i can take a lazy day

that my husband will take Jo and play with her and take care of her

so i can have a day to recoup after doing crazy birthday parties :)

and then go pick up pizza so we can have dinner and i don't have to cook

and so thankful that the sweet guy even does the dishes while i have my lazy day

i sure did marry good!!

day 26:

today i am thankful that i am able to be a stay at home mom

i'm thankful my husband supports us and is also supportive of me being

at home and raising Andi. i couldn't imagine a better job or calling in life!

i love every single minute i get to spend with this cute girl and yes i already

cry at the thought i'm going to have to send her to school in a couple year...

and here come the tears! :(

day 27:

today i am thankful for my amazing dad

happy birthday dad!

i don't think there are too many that are as great as he is!

he is one of the most caring and giving people i know.

he is always helping others out and working hard.

he is the cutest grandpa to little Jo!

i could go on and on about what a great guy and example he is

but really no words will ever describe how great he is and how

much i love him!

day 28:

today i am thankful for a great company that allows me to work from home.

i am also thankful for the awesome person that introduced me to it

and helped me get started with it, she really is the best!

i am thankful that i didn't have to invest a lot of money to start

and that i have been able to help other moms continue to stay at home

and make an income. 

i love queens of green and love everything that it has done

for our little family!

Queens of Green

day 29:

today i am thankful for talents

i am thankful for the talents i was blessed with

and also the talents of others.

and i am thankful for the ability to learn and gain

new talents.

day 30:

today i am thankful for the holiday spirit

i LOVE christmas time and everything about

(well except for it ending)

the lights, the trees, the decorations, the music

the shopping, the atmosphere everywhere you go, remembering Christ

spending lots of time with family, and one of my most favorites is waking up

christmas morning with my sweet little family!

so excited for the holidays to start this year!

it's the most WONDERFUL time of the year!!!

halloween 2012

so yes I know its now the middle of november and almost thanksgiving

but... i am going to post our halloween fun we had

and try to catch up from the last few weeks

we did the traditional pumpkin carving as usual this year

.. except for miss jo had to do painting

which she loved every second of until she decided

to paint her eyeball!

halloween day we were still putting together our costumes

and then had our annual family halloween costume party

last year we started our family costume party and

it is now a forever thing because it's just too funny

what crazy costumes this family comes up with.

this year i was the mean one and played a 

TRICK or Treat prank on some of the kids

i blind folded them and gave them things to eat

arm pit hair..(chocolate covered shredded wheat)

ear wax..(mini marshmallows with caramel)

boogers..(shredded coconut, lime gelatin, condensed milk)

and then my sis britt and i had a great idea to make the last thing

a trick....

ears....and they were really chocolate covered onion halfs that looked

like chocolate covered apples

it was disgusting and i was gagging just watching them eat 

them without knowing what it was

but at least they were all good sports about it and i got my payback...

i was up at 5 am puking my guts out from getting the flu and

had to miss out on my weekend trip i had planned to salt lake :(

ding dong me forgot to take pictures of the food and them eating it 

so you're just going to have to imagine how gross it all looked!! :)

little miss dorthy

 

  

the thompson oz's

grim reaper, vampire, pirates and their parrot, creepy clown, hulk, cat woman, miss captain america

doopy and doopier, basketball player, sock monkey, price is right contestants, skeleton mama and babe, peacock, hunter and his deer, buzz light, and snowwhite

farmer and his cow, house wife, taylor swift, crazy cat lady (BEST COSTUME AWARD!!)

shopping with jo

today andi and i went out to idaho falls to do some shopping for her birthday party

she was such a good little side kick, like usual, but today i noticed how grown up she is getting

kinda made me sad but also made me laugh because she has such a personality

i am so glad she is well behaved and can just go with me wherever we go and 

not have to be constantly entertained. 

funnies from today:

she thinks dressing rooms are potties... i don't know where she ever thought this one up (maybe the whole shutting the door taking clothes off... i don't know!) so as i am trying some pants on she sits there and asks me, and of course it's loud and others are around, "mom you poo poo?!"

we go to joann's and are at the fabric counter getting material cut and the guy asks what it's for and i tell him for her birthday party that is going to be a mermaid theme, or as jo calls it bubble pinces (princess) so andi starts rattling of some of her jibber jabber to him and then says "my mom a pinces!"

went to petco to look at what their selection was for fish that i am planning on using as part of her party and she was in HEAVEN! she was so excited everything she was saying she was squealing and yelling

it was so cute to watch her run from tank to tank and get so excited over all of them

she is going to love her new pet fish :)

i just love that girl

it's never a dull moment with her and she is the cutest dang side kick there ever was

i ♥ you more than anything jo

thankful day 6

day 6

i am thankful for

my grandma rigby

(or as what we have always called her, grandma m♥)

she just turned 91, lives on her own, and drives her car

my grandpa rigby passed away while my dad was on his mission 

so she has been on her own for quite a while

she is a very hard worker and doesn't rest for a second until we make her

she raised 2 kids into amazing people and such hard, dedicated workers

she has always loved and cared about each and everyone of her 8 granddaughters no matter what

she is such a great example to me of being Christ-like

thankful for all of the hours she has spent doing our genealogy work

she made us all books with stories and all sorts of different information of our family history which i will always be thankful for since i didn't ever get the chance to know my grandpa here on earth

i cherish all of the fun memories i have of having sleep overs at grandmas

i will always remember all the tricks we would pull on her and get her going, we were naughty little kids!!

i love her so much and i am so thankful that she has been around for 

22 years of my life and also part of andi's life

this last week has been a little down hill for her health wise and we know that she is 91 and unfortunately won't get to be here in person with us forever, but i am thankful for the understanding and comfort of eternal families and that she has lived her life in such a way that we will all be together again

i love you so much grandma and i hope you get feeling better soon ♥

thankful day 5

day 5

i am thankful for..

being an american

for the freedoms i have as an american

for the opportunity i have to vote in our election

and voice my opinions

for the protections i have as an american

and so very very very thankful for those that defend these freedoms for us

ps.. don't forget to vote tomorrow, your vote does matter!! also thankful for absentee voting so i don't even have to go wait in line :)

thankful day 4

day 4:

i am thankful for

technology

i am so thankful that i can have light with the flip of a switch, i can watch my shows

and also keep andi entertained with our tv, i can use my computer for a million different things,

i have a phone that i can call sean, my family or anyone else with at anytime of day and anywhere, 

i have a car that i can use to take me where we need to be, i have a camera and a phone that takes

photos so i can remember every special and silly moment of jo's life and our lives, i have a washing machine and dish washer and don't have to clean any clothes or dishes by hand, there are TONS more but one last thing that i am so grateful for and have learned to be even more thankful for this year and will have an all new kind of thankfulness for very soon is... email. earlier this year my cousin (and in our family cousins are pretty much our siblings, we have all grown up so close to each other and love each other like brothers and sisters) left to new york to serve a mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. he will be there until february 2014 and isn't able to call us, we only talk with him through email and letters (he does get to call his family on christmas and mothers day but that's it and it's only for an hour or so) i am so grateful that with the advancement of technology he can go to a computer once a week and write us all to let us know what he is doing and how things are going and with the click of a button it is in our inbox and we can then write him back the same way. last week when the huge storm, sandy, was headed towards new york he was able to email us and let us know he was ok and what they had done to prepare, very very comforting to us here worrying about him!! and now the next 18 months this will be the only way i will be able to talk with my sister, brittnie, who has also made the decision to serve a mission for our church. she will be leaving to the mtc (missionary training center) on november 14th and then headed to jackson, mississippi at the end of the month and will be there until may 2014. i am so so so thankful that i will be able to write her back and forth and have email to make it faster because i am used to talking with her just about everyday and usually more than once. i am so happy and proud of her for making the choice to serve for our church and share the gospel with others that need it in their lives but i am really struggling with knowing i won't be able to just call her up or send her a text or send her funny stuff we're always sending each other. but i will be learning an all new gratitude towards technology and email. and that's what i am thankful for today :)

and now i'm a crying mess!