Dear Parents Of...

Dallin Hawkins,
Recently Dallin took part in a screening for the TrialNet study for the development of Type 1 Diabetes and was tested for diabetes-related autoantibodies. The results of Dallin's screening test was NEGATIVE.

Dear Parents of Rhett Hawkins,
Recently Rhett took part in a screening for the TrialNet study for the development of Type 1 Diabetes and was tested for diabetes-related autoantibodies. The results of Rhett's screening test was NEGATIVE.

Dear Parents of Laiklie Hawkins,
Recently Laiklie took part in a screening for the TrialNet study for the development of Type 1 Diabetes and was tested for diabetes-related autoantibodies. The results of Laiklie's screening test was NEGATIVE.

We have been waiting for these results for 3+ weeks now and you have NO IDEA how relieved we are that they all 3 came back NEGATIVE again this year. The more families we meet with a diabetic child the more we find that have more than one diabetic child. It scares us to death thinking that one of our other 3 may at some point end up with Type 1 diabetes. We know that this TrialNet study isn't 100%, but it is so nice to know that all 3 kids tested negative for the autoantiboties that cause T1 diabetes. We are continually blessed!!

Band-Aid Girl

Please tell me that this happens at other peoples houses too and it's not just my kids that do these kinds of things! :) She has looked like this alot lately....thinking she needs a band-aid on EVERY ouchy!! This day she happened to "bite her own fingers" and that is why so many band-aids. Hmmm??

Todays The Day

So, here we are at another Anniversary! 11 years ago today I married my best friend for time and all eternity.

Have Ryan and I changed over the years??

This picture....as you can tell.....was the end to a VERY LONG DAY! but it is definitely proof of change!

I like to think that over the years we have grown and changed for the better. 11 years and 4 kids have made us have to grow-up and change priorities. We went from school/work and each other being the top priority to family fun and paying the bills being the top priority. Our love has changed over the years too. I can't even imagine life without him. There is no way I could do this whole parenting thing on my own. When Oakley was diagnosed with her diabetes - as awful as that was, Ryan and I learned to lean on each other in a way we had never had to before and since then we rely on each other for everything. We are each others greatest strength.

Heavenly Father knows us better than we know ourselves and HE KNEW that I needed Ryan. 11 great years down, ETERNITY to go!!

Early Anniversary Trip

For the past few years Ryan and I have taken a trip - of some sort or another - for our anniversary. Some years it is a bigger/longer trip, and some years it is a shorty trip. This year we decided to do things a little different and since it was going to be a short trip we decided to take our kids along. Nothing screams "Happy Anniversary" like 4 kids and a two day road trip!! :) There was no school on Monday, so that is when we decided to leave.

Because time and funds were short this year we stayed pretty close to home and took the kids to Jackson Hole, WY! We had so much fun and, of course, the time just flew by.

The first place we went to was the Visitors Center where they take you on an old school bus (Rhett's first ride on a school bus....super exciting!) down the road to where they start the sleigh ride.

(Check out the sleigh in the background) Ryan went on these - see the elk - sleigh rides a few times in young mens and loved it. So...this was his main reason for wanting to go to Jackson Hole. The kids really liked seeing the elk and it was even cooler because we were on a horse drawn sleigh ride. The sleigh ride was about 15 minutes too long for Rhett and Laiklie and they both started having meltdowns, but we survived and it really was a neat experience. We then took the kids to one of the museum/gallery's up on the hill and we had a good time there too. They had a kids section that had a cute little puppet stand and an art station and a few touchy feely educational things. The kids thought it was great....we all agreed though that it wasn't worth the money and we were really annoyed that there was absolutely no photography allowed in the gallery, so that means....no pictures of my kids doing all the fun things they got to do. Bummer! Jackson also has a Ripley's Believe it or Not, but because of some of the pictures on the website we found about it we didn't know if it would scare some of our kids so we decided not to do that this go around. If any of you have gone there - I want to know how it is?!

The one thing we went to Jackson Hole for (other than the elk) was to swim at their inexpensive, very cool rec. center. BUT....unfortunately this has to wait until another trip. They didn't have any "public open swim" until 3:30 pm and the first night we were doing the elk sleigh ride so we never even thought to go to the swimming pool - mostly because I ASSUMED (bad thing to do) that they would have some open swim sometime during the day the next day. So, because Ryan and I both had to be home early we bypassed the swimming at Jackson and voted to stop at Heise on the way home. Jackson isn't so far away that we can't drive up one of these afternoons to swim and Heise seemed to be fine with the kids.

It was kind of nice this year to celebrate an early anniversary with kids in tow. We had a great 2 days together with our little family!

This is how we Shovel

Dallin found out recently that his cousin JD is the shoveler of their family and has been wanting to take over my role as shoveler ever since. One problem though.....the shovel we have is my size, not his. So I have been watching for a small shovel for awhile now and yesterday we FINALLY found the perfect one. Dallin was with me when we got it, and you couldn't wipe the smile off his face. He was mad I wouldn't let it ride by him in the suburban on the way home! One problem though.....no new snow to shovel. It didn't take him long to figure out that shovels are a multipurpose use tool. And.....well......ummmm......

THIS IS HOW WE SHOVEL

Random Thoughts....

I have been thinking lately alot about the church; about its teachings, about its truthfulness, and about sharing it.

I KNOW the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is TRUE! I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that it is TRUE! In this months Ensign the 1st Pres. message was by our LIVING prophet President Thomas S. Monson and he said -

"If we do not have a deep foundation of faith and a solid testimony of truth, we may have difficulty withstanding the harsh storms and icy winds of adversity which inevitably come to each of us."

I have faith, and I have a testimony of the truth. No,.....I didn't hear a voice telling me the church was true, No....I didn't see an angel or have a vision that told me, and No....I didn't get to have one of those really cool experiences on a mission where I found out. I guess, I am one of the LUCKY ONES that didn't need that. I just KNOW! I know when we live the teachings of the gospel it is the one and only way we can find REAL HAPPINESS!! I know it will truly be the thing that gets us through the bumpy times in this life!!

So,.....when I can see others struggling and know that they don't have this wonderful knowledge that I have WHY is it so hard for me to share it with them?? I love this gospel and its teachings SO MUCH and I want everyone around me....especially those that I can see need it to have it, so WHY is it so hard to share? Not because I don't want to give them what I have,....mostly I guess because I am afraid they will reject it, or maybe...ask questions I don't know the answer to? I don't know??

A Sunday school teacher said something in his lesson a few weeks ago that hit me like a rock and I just can't shake it. He said, "When I get to heaven I hope there aren't too many people that I have known here during my earthly life that approach me and ask....WHY?? WHY IF YOU KNEW DIDN'T YOU TELL ME??"

I am going to try SO MUCH HARDER to share this beautiful thing that I have. I am going to try to step out of my comfort zone and tell people about the gospel. I DON'T WANT ANYONE asking me in heaven WHY IF YOU KNEW DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!

Laiklie's Savings Account

On Saturday I decided it was once again time to move the furniture in Laiklie's and my room. I started in Laiklie's and at some point Ryan came in to talk to me and asked why there was money in Laiklie's cold air return. Well, DUH! Laiklie's entire 3 year life has been devoted to cramming things where they don't belong!! So he started in on that cold air return and then moved to the one in our room and the living room. He also noticed that the air purifier made a "jingling" sound as he moved it so he turned it upside down and dumped two handfuls of money out of it.

After the cold air returns he moved onto our heater vents. We have these nice big ones because of our Olden' day house. Out of this vent he dug - an entire case of wipes that she had one by one shoved into it....to the point no heat was coming out of it. We wondered why the living room was so cold all the time. He also dug out the "white comb" that has been missing for who knows how long and I think 5 pencils.
So, after cleaning out all the vents/cold air returns and air purifier we had two big ziploc bags FULL of change. Ryan and I ran to town to have it counted.....ya, we had a grand total of $67.00 in change that Laiklie had stashed away. What a little STINKER! Now, if we could just find her DVD stash that WE KNOW SHE HAS SOMEWHERE!!