A Thoughtful Gift

Last week was INSANE at work, Ray was sick with a nasty cold, our car had some issues, and running was more than I felt I could handle even with it being a short week. So I came home from work on Friday put my things down and on the table looked at the mail and there was a package from the R house... those of you who don't know what the R house is it is for families hoping to adopt.. a website for adoption stories and adoption hopefuls. I have only looked at it a few times and its inspiring. Adoption seems to be coming up a lot for our little family the last few weeks... anyway I opened the package and inside was this...
This beautiful necklace! A gift from a secret someone reminding me that We can do hard things. To say the least this ever so thoughtful gift was just the boost I needed at the end of an eventful week. I wish I would have had a camera while opening it I was so surprised (a hard task to do because I don't really like surprises) I was overwhelmed with gratitude that someone would send such a gift to me. Someone who knows that was just what I needed to keep going and a wonderful reminder of what my new years resolution is.

So to Kayla the secret someone (she asked for my addy last week that is the only way I knew it was her) I LOVE YOU and am so grateful to have you in my life! Thank You for your thoughtfulness in my behalf and for the encouragement to keep going! You are a huge blessing in my life and I am grateful for you!

A shout out to all of you who bless our lives. I continue to be amazed at the out pouring of love and support we feel from those around us. It has been 9 months since Blaze passed away (yesterday) and the Love that continues to come to our family helps us carry on so Thank You for reading our blog, for praying for our family, for your emails, phone calls, texts, and all that you do to reach out to us. We are so blessed to have you in our lives! WE LOVE YOU!!

Valentines, Olympics, & Baths

Every year on Valentines we forget to take a picture... this year was the exception.... We went out to dinner with some family and friends at our yearly tradition the Red Iguana and it was delicious! Then we went to see Valentines day (it was ok... don't regret seeing it but wouldn't buy it) and we ended the evening getting fro yo at Juicy Juice it was a very fun date night... so since we didn't get a pic of date night we took one after church on Sunday... Valentines Day.

I love this pic! Ryker and Tayson watching a dvd on the piano bench while we celebrated the opening night of the winter Olympics. In Vancouver Canada WHOO WOO I have a love for the USA and a love for blessed Canada so its fun to have it close to home and celebrate the victories of all countries. It was fun to watch it with Shelley & JL and have the boys here we are blessed with great friends!

Go USA & CANADA

Last but not least Dexters bath time he hates it! We love it because he smells good and he is so skinny under all that fur we just laugh the whole time :) we LOVE this little dog!

In other news...

We ran our 8 miler on Monday and I was not a happee camper... I've been sick so we pushed it back from Saturday. It was not easy and I was grumpy most of the time it was raining, I was wet , and cold, and my feet hurt... it was so much harder than 6 and way harder than 7 and my attitude didn't help one bit. To top it off my Ipod died 200 meters from the finish which means my 8 miles was not recorded on our nike chips... I think the Lord is compelling me to be humble and I will be the first to say I need it. luckily this week we drop back down to 5 miles and I know I can do that.

My sis Ashleigh Started school this week I am SOOOO PROUD of her she is amazing! Watch out nursing world here she comes.

Our car is on the outs luckily we own it and think its something simple like the battery... now lets just hope it is.

And we are speaking in church on Sunday I have the assignment of introducing our family... I'm worried to say the least... I miss Blaze so much!!!

Happee Weekend!

My Mom

Just a little post to say how grateful I am for my Mom. I called her today and asked her if she would pick up some balloons for Blaze for valentines day I couldn't even ask her before the tears began to flow... I miss Blaze so much and because we aren't close my Mom is our angel in always making sure to look in on Blazes grave for us. So a little shout out to my Mom who listens to me cry about not being able to see our little boys grave as much as we'd like to and who loves us enough to trek thru the snow and tell our little boy we love him.
My Mom is the most giving, loving, and kind person I have ever known. She is an amazing example to all of us. I am so grateful for her.
I Love My Mom!!

Running for Blaze

Not long after Blaze passed away we talked about running for him... in his honor. Well we started training the week after Christmas to do just that... we are running the Moab 1/2 Marathon March 20th. Lets just say it has not been easy there have been a few tears and lots of "I can't do it" and "what was I thinking" moments. With that there have also been lots of "holy cow I just did that" and "I can do it keep going" moments too.

I remember our first long run it was 3 miles and it ended in an utter meltdown. I threw myself on our bed and cried for 20 minutes... I was so hot and so heartbroken that it is so hard... I don't know what I expected but I didn't expect it to break my spirit and it has a little. However yesterday I had a little piece of perspective handed to me when my sweet husband reminded me of how far I have come... our first run was one mile and I hardly ran (I mostly complained.)

Yesterday was a HUGE milestone for me... We ran 6 miles... SHUT UP 6 miles. Ray ran it in 54 minutes and I was a little over 60. I only stopped 4 times for about 20 seconds max each time. I was dreading this run all week... I knew it would be a tearful run and I was prepared for meltdowns. However when we started my ipod battery was dead... I though how in the world am I going to run for 6 miles without music and the little Nike lady saying... "1 Mile completed" but too stubborn to go back to our house and get my old ipod I said "lets go I'll be fine" backing up the story.. I knelt to pray before leaving for our run begging for help running and the endurance to make it. We also prayed together before we left I needed all the help I could get! Was my ipod being dead a miss hap NOPE it was just what I needed.

I needed that 6 miles with my Heavenly Father and I needed that 6 miles with my little angel Blaze. He was near and I have learned that with the help of my Heavenly Father who knows me, My AMAZING husband who believes in me, and our little Angel who watches over me. I know I can do hard things!

Ray made a really big deal about me doing this run he was so proud when we finished he kept telling me how great I did... the truth of the matter is I could not do it without him... he is so inspiring to me. He runs to the finish line and then turns around to come back and get me... "going the extra mile" that is my sweet Ray he is the love of my life and the absolute BEST!

Homeless

A few years ago I would wake up every morning and pray for the opportunity to serve someone that day and that the Lord would lead me to someone who needed my help. Every day without fail there would be someone put in my path that I could help in some way. I stopped doing that for a while with a new year one of my goals is to give more... so I have since started praying for just that... the opportunity to serve more.
Yesterday we went to Walmart to get Ray some notebooks for school (starting tomorrow) so as we were leaving there was a man standing on the corner with a little sign that said "homeless" we pulled out of the parking lot and I said to Ray "that breaks my heart he is freezing cold and homeless" It struck me then that I had asked to help someone that day and there he was.. he needed help. So I flipped the car around and we gave him some money. He said "God Bless You" we rolled up the window and drove away I said to Ray "God will bless us he already has"
so as you know I am a very emotional person and broke into tears on the way home... we are so blessed and take so much for granted we have money in the bank, two cars that run, we have a warm home to go to, we have power, and running water, and good jobs, the opportunity to go to school, and families who love us. This man didn't seem to have any of those things... so today I am grateful for the little things that all of the sudden become big things when you see someone go without.
This week may we all try a little harder to reach out to those in need and be more aware of those around us.
My favorite hymn: Because I have been given much I too must give (sums up just how I feel)

Christmas, Adios 2009 HELLO 2010

I LOVE this Picture! Ray and Nash (5 Months)

He is such a happee little guy we Love him!

Nash and Dexter our new little puppy Dexter loved him
Our new little addition Dexter he is ADORABLE We LOVE HIM! and he Loves to just lay in the middle of the kitchen floor... as seen here ha ha

My HANDSOME Husband! Look at that U Beanie...

Looks good right? I know I love this man!

We had a Great Christmas. We spent the week in Idaho with Rays family and had a great time minus the Stomach Flu shared by all... and I was lucky enough to have it on Christmas Eve Blah. Christmas was so good we were with people we Love and nothing is better than that! As mentioned we got Dexter... Rays Mom kept him for us and on Christmas morning I opened my last gift and it was his doggie bed and I squealed then she handed him to me with a bow on his head... he has brought so much Joy into our little family. He is so happee every time we come home and he loves to play... can't say enough about him we LOVE HIM.

2009 in Review

We have had a very trying year filled with more Joy than we ever hoped for and more heartache than we could ever imagine... we are so grateful to start a new year filled with Hope in better things to come for our little family. We are so grateful for the amazing LOVE and Support we have felt in our lives from so many so to all of you who have reached out in heart, in spirit, through prayer, comforting words, and thoughtful deeds we want you to know that we are SO BLESSED to have you in our lives! Thank You for loving us and for giving to our family in times of need. We LOVE YOU!

2010 Here We Come!

I think my theme for this year is going to be I can Do Hard Things... it sounds a little crazy but I have a need to prove to myself that I can do hard things... On my Mission I had an extremely hard time in the beginning. I was so homesick and thousands of miles from home... I wrote my mission President and told him I was giving it one more week and if things didn't get better I was going home. I gave it my all that week and it made all the difference in me staying... at the end of the week my Bishop called. What an AMAZING man who has shaped and blessed my life beyond measure. During that call he said " Sister Nessen You can do hard Things" I have thought about that sentence many times since... and have faced HARD things... so this year my goal is to do some hard things some that scare me and some that just need to be done.

A few of my goals

Run a half marathon with Ray for Blaze (March 20th Moab here we come)

No Dessert, Candy, or Pop until after our 1/2

Go Back to School

Find a New Job... if School won't work with the one I have

Continue our family... See doctors to help (This is a really hard and an emotional one for us)

Get Organized (Scrap booking one of the top ones on the list)

Serve more, Give more, & Love More

Have more Understanding of Gods Plan for our family

Find Joy in the Journey

Those are just a few on the list to finding more Hope and having more Faith in 2010.

HAPPEE NEW YEAR

Out of Reach

Have you ever felt like this?

This is how I feel a lot of the time lately... like the things I want the most in this life are just out of reach ... I'm not quite sure how to stretch any farther... and most of the things I want are out of my control.

Greatfully a new year is just around the corner... a time to change the things I can and learn to appreciate the things I can't.