Temple

We had a very exciting week at our house!
On Tuesday, Brandon and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! We took the kids to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate. I am SO grateful that the kids and I met him. We are so grateful to have him in our lives. He is the most amazing husband and father. I am so grateful to have him as my best friend! I am grateful for the example he is to the kids and me. He is so much fun to be married to!

On Thursday, I received my endowments in the Logan Temple. I was very nervous before I went in the temple. Anything new to me (even things that are wonderful) make me a little nervous. I could not believe the warmth, love, and support that I felt the very second I walked in the temple. Wow! What an incredible feeling. My Grandma Gene was my escort. I could not believe all of the people that were there to support me. I have never felt so much love.

On Friday, Brandon and I were sealed! That was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I am SO grateful to know that we will be together forever, as long as we both honor our sacred covenants! We were our sealers first live sealing. I can't even begin to describe the feelings that I felt. It was so nice to be able to share this moment with so many of the people who have been there for us and helped us along this path. (We missed everyone who could not be there with us)

On Saturday, Ethan was baptized! I am so proud of him for making the choice to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so proud of the wonderful example Ethan is to our family. Ethan is always the one who reminds us to say our prayers and read scriptures as a family. He is such a kind hearted kid and makes everyone feel loved.
Brandon baptized and confirmed him. He received such a wonderful blessing. We had a luncheon at the church after. I want to thank everyone who came to the temple, the baptism, and helped bring food! (Especially the YW! They made the place look fabulous and we had enough food to feed an army!)

I am SO grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so grateful to know that I am a child of God and that I will be with my family forever. I am grateful to know that I have a Savior who loves me, watches out for me, and blesses me. I am grateful for the atonement and what it has meant in my life. I have made SO many horrible decisions, but they have lead me to where I am now... and for that I am grateful. I am SO happy that I can repent and be forgiven! I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet. I know that President Monson is our true Prophet today. I know that the scriptures are true! I am grateful for the Temple and the blessings it brings! I feel so blessed.

I hope and pray that my children will make good choices so one day they can be married in the temple for time and eternity! (I can't wait for the day when we get to take the kids through to be sealed to Brandon and me!)

I want to thank everyone who came to support us! We loved having each and every one of you there! You have all touched our lives in one way or another! I will post pictures as soon as we get some back!

Changes

I have been a slacker on blogging lately... but in my defense, Brandon has had the laptop which has all the pictures. So for now, I will be updating our life lately. (without pictures)



Brandon opened Ballz Racing again this year during Christmas, only this year he is leaving it year round. We are very nervous but very excited. He changed the name to Ballzee Motorsports Apparel and Accessories so that he can sell more than just Ballz Racing. We have a lot more things in there now! If you are looking for some clothes, race gear, toys or videos... come check us out!! We are in the Cache Valley Mall across from Maurices. So far it has done really well... it is just hard on the family because Brandon is gone from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. That doesn't include his workout time after work either. I just keep praying that it will take off so that I can be home more since he is gone all the time... and if it keeps doing so well then eventually we can let employees run it way more!



Brandon will be gone 3 weeks in March to expos. That will be hard because we miss him like crazy when he is gone! He is pretty excited to go though because he will be bringing our new trailer to the hill climbs in Jackson. We just bought it... it is 46 ft. and has living quarters in the front and a vending area on the side. It is big enough in the back to fit a car! We are getting it wrapped, so it will be so cool! We are hoping that it will help bring in customers. We will try to hit a lot of outdoor races this summer. Let's hope this is our year!!



I am still full-time at the Cancer Center! I love it!! It is hard to be away from my kids so much, but it is a truly rewarding job! I am hoping that one day I can go to 3 days a week only... that way I can keep my insurance, still see my patients, and help with the finances.



The kids are staying busy! Taiya is doing soccer and dance this year. Eth will be racing. Ethan starts scouts in a couple of weeks! I can't believe how fast time is flying by! It feels like just yesterday they were still babies! Taiya will be in Young Women's in October! I feel old!



One of the biggest changes that we have coming up is that we are going to court to get the kids adopted to Brandon!!! We are so excited... and a little nervous. We are praying that it goes smooth and that we won't have any problems. As soon as they are adopted to Brandon, then we will have them sealed to us!! Ethan will be baptized either the day before or after the sealing so that our families that are from out of town can be there for both of our huge events! The waiting is torture, but I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and we are on his timeline. I am learning a lot about patience! We could use a lot of prayers right now!! I can't wait for the day when I get to announce our temple day!

Sorry to drag this out... but on a last note... I turn 30 one month from today!! Presents of all size and shape will be gladly accepted. :)

I hope that everyone is having a happy snowy Thursday! Next time... posts with pictures!

Ball Family Reunion

In July, we had the Hendrick family reunion at Mom Ball's house in Rexburg! Talk about a good time!

Summer= Family Reunions!

Brandon having a blast in the ford that our nephews made!

That weekend my Mother-in-law flood irrigated the water... (one of our favorite activities in the summer!) We played water volleyball, kayaked with the kids, and played in the canal. We had a blast!

I love Ethan's hair in this! It is the funniest thing ever!

My Sister-in-law attacking her husband! Haha. She got him good! I love Andrea's face in the other picture!

One of myy favorite thing about going to Mom's in the summer is her raspberries... they are way bigger than ours, they are so delicious, and she has SO many of them! I could eat them all day! So tasty!

I love getting to spend time with all of my darling neices and nephews! Most of them love a ways a way... so we don't get to see them a whole lot...

I am SO grateful to have such amazing in-laws! They are so sweet and are so kind. I am one lucky girl!

Aren't all of my neices and nephews the cutest things you have ever seen? I had a blast with all of them!

Preston Arenacross 2010

On August 14, 2010 we headed up to Preston, Idaho for the annual Preston Arenacross. We go every year to sell and race. It is always a good time up there. The support we receive in Preston for Ballz Racing is unreal! We stayed really busy when we were selling and after all the races we were swarmed with people! We are so grateful for all of the support that we receive from our awesome racing friends. We were able to go and throw some of our products into the crowd... that was really fun... but for everyone who knows me... it was really embarrassing! Haha.

Taiya ran the show while Ethan was racing and while we were throwing products into the crowd. She sold one thing while we were gone and she was very proud! She is going to be a business woman...

Here are some of Eth's pictures... He is 3rd from the right on the starting gate!
Ethan did awesome! He got 3rd place in his heat race and he got 4th for the main event!! He would have got 2nd place... but he crashed! We are so proud of how well he did! He has beautiful style and a good head on him. I think that he will go far. He has made huge improvements over last year... he was coming in second to last or last in all the races last year... but this year he sure has picked it up! I am so excited for him and what he will achieve in the future!

I am so grateful that we had a safe and successful weekend! I am grateful to everyone who supports Ballz Racing and our family! We have some great friends out there! I hope that everyone else had an awesome weekend!

Adversity!

I know a few people who are really struggling in life right now, whether it be marriage... kids... jobs... and/or health problems. I read this talk from President Uchtdorf and was very touched by it. I hope that it brings as much comfort to those who read it as it did to me!

"How beloved you are of your Heavenly Father. Though it may seem that you are alone, angels attend you. Though you may feel that no one can understand the depth of your despair, our Savior, Jesus Christ, understands. He suffered more than we can possible imagine, and He did it for us, He did it for you. You are not alone."

"In stories, as in life, adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise. Adversity helps to develop a depth of character that comes in no other way. Our loving Heavenly Father has set us in a world filled with challenges and trials so that we, through opposition, can learn wisdom, become stronger, and experience joy."

I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has sent us modern Prophets and Apostles to guide, direct, and comfort us. I feel so grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so grateful to have the Book of Mormon in my life. We live in troubled times and I am so grateful to know that we can have the Prophets to give us advice, love, and hope.

Our Garden!

This spring we decided that we would try our hand with gardening! We own an acre and a half... so we have plenty of room for one. On Memorial Day we spent 10 hours prepping our garden and planting! It was a nightmare! The kids thought it was a blast to put the seeds in. We planted corn, green beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, pumpkins, tomatoes, watermelon, and cantoloupe! It is very time consuming to have a garden! Weeding and watering takes forever! At first, I spent most of my days off weeding... but now I am sad to admit that the weeds have won this battle.

Having a garden has taught me a lot about patience (which I am still working on). We have had problems with mice in our garden... which means problems with Luna in our garden trying to get the mice (which means she has dug up most of our peas). The wind has knocked down most of our corn... and the grasshoppers... oh the grasshoppers. I have so much respect for the pioneers. At least I know that if my garden does not make it, I can just go to the store. They did not have this option... if their gardens died, it meant they didn't have food! Even though it is a pain to have a garden, I am so grateful that we have had one this year. It is so fun going out there and picking fresh vegetables!

Here are some pictures of our garden and some extras from this summer!

This is some of our fresh loot... this is just one picking... we still have a lot of green beans to pick!

Family Weekend!

One week ago today, my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and their kids came up from Elko, Nevada to stay with us for the weekend! I was so excited because we didn't get to see them very much when they lived in Montana... but now they are only 3 hours away! On Friday, I introduced Jess to my favorite store... Hobby Lobby! She dropped a pretty dollar there! Haha. Then they stayed overnight at a hotel and went and saw a friend cage fight... so we had their kids overnight! It was so much fun to have them! They are the cutest kids ever!

On Saturday after they got home from the cage fights we went to the Aquatic Center and went swimming! The kids were having the biggest blast on the slides and playing with their cousins. Brandon and Damon were loving the slides as well. Brandon figured out how to skip across the water when he went down and he had to stop himself so he didn't hit the steps! Everyone around the slide area was watching him and talking about it! Haha.

Kaidyn!

Brylie!

Braxton!

The boys and their slide!


Damon! (above)

Brandon! (above)

Uncle Damon was squirting water at Ethan through the noodle! They all thought that was pretty funny!

After we went swimming we took them to our favorite place to eat.... Fire House! Yummy! Our sister-in-law, Didgette, came too! So much fun and delicious food!