God be with you Blake till we meet again

Well this month has been a hard one for me and my family. On January 8th 2009, my cousin Thomas Blakely Nelson "Blake" passed away. He was serving in the army and was preparing to go back to Afghanistan in April of this year. He served in the Army since 2005 and fought in Iraq for 15 months. He saw his life pass before his eyes several times while over there, but he returned home safely.

Here is a picture of him with Hayden


Here he is with Kaeli

I can't believe that he is gone. When he left for Iraq, I wrote a poem for him. Here is the poem.

A Brave One Among Us

He left his home and family, to go to another land,
to fight for a special purpose and show that United We All Stand.
When his country truly needed him, he knew what he had to do,
his calling in life wasn't simple, be he went to protect me and you.
The path for him hasn't been easy, he's made mistakes a long the way,
but that boy has grown into a man, and is still growing day by day.
His face shows determination, to rid the earth of all that is bad,
the dirt stained face reminds us to, pray for him while his is in Baghdad.
His eyes are the windows, that leads us to his soul,
the pain he hides deep down inside, has begun to take its toll.
He is so brave and courageous, when danger presents itself,
the thoughts of his family and son, reminds him to take care of himself.
A family who truly loves him, are counting the day until when,
their brave son shall return home, and tell us about where he has been.
He may not understand or realize, the example he is giving to us,
he is showing us a changed person, one that we all can trust.
He will be away for awhile, we hope the days will go by fast,
when we welcome him with open arms, and he will be safely home atlast.
I am so proud of him, this man that we all love,
I pray that he will always be safe, putting my faith in Father above.
He is a soldier fighting for, the freedom for all of us,
he truly is a Hero, this BRAVE ONE AMONG US.
Cami 11/21/06

While he was in Iraq for 15 months, we decided to send a care package to him and in it Hayden found at a party store, 2 military rubber duckies. Hayden wanted to send it to Blake. We told him that he could do anything he wanted with them, keep them or give them to little kids. Well when he came home, he presented one of the ducks to Hayden (in a shadow box). It was covered with Iraqi dirt and he told us not to open it or clean it. Hayden promised him. Blake also presented him with a certificate of honor. It was issued to the duck Lt. Dewey. He told us that the 2 ducks went out on every mission they had, I can't remember how many he said but there were a lot especially when you are a gunner. Anyways, before every mission Blake (drove the hummers) and his Sergeant would kiss the photos of their loved ones on the dashboard and then both would rub the ducks (who were duct taped to the dash) for good luck. He then told Hayden that he thanked him for thinking of him and praying for him daily. Below is a picture of the ducks.

The following slide show is of the funeral. It brings tears to my eyes looking back on them. Seeing the pain that my family had gone through, but I am posting them in honor of Blake. He was a good father, son, brother, grandson, nephew, cousin and a brave soldier. He will always be in my heart and my thoughts. Blake... I love you!

Good Works Value #6 Complete

On Sunday December 28th, I answered the phone at 10 am and Sister Lyn Degelbeck was on the other line. She and I are really good friends. She is like another mother figure in my life, one that is there for me and is always looking out for me. Anyways, she wanted to talk to Roger. I handed him the phone. All I could hear was what he was saying: "Really?!, Yeah I can go get the bobcat. Are you sure? Do you need Help? Ok let me know then." Yes with remarks like that I was chomping at the bit. The second, ok the millisecond he hung up the phone I asked him what happened. He told me that one of their mink sheds collapsed because of all the snow. Well Rog was sitting there preparing his lesson for Elder's Quorum, and I said lets go help. So we went there. They have 6 sheds that hold mink,(they are mink farmers and just in the 1st shed alone there are over 1500 mink), and I would say that 3/4 of the first shed the roof was completely collapsed. We grabbed shovels, and got to work shoveling off atleast 15 inches of snow. Rog needed to go get the bobcat so I drove him over to Tim's house (brother-in-law) to get it. On my way back I stopped at the 2nd councelor of the Bishopric's house and asked him to call several people to come with shovels and rakes to help. Within 20 mins. there were over 30 people there (men and young men) also the Degelbecks family. By noon all 6 sheds were snow free. and most of the men and kids went home. Rog used a bobcat to shovel snow from in between the sheds and moved other snow. I started helping transport the mink that were in the collapsed shed to the 4th shed. Those animals are vicious!!! They hiss and nip at ya. There were 2 of the Degelbeck's sons and some grandsons, and Lyn's brother, his son, her brother in law and Bro. Degelbeck that were placing the mink in traps that were then carried and placed in the 4th shed. I guess that the mink are not really mean when they are young but when you give them their 1st shots they associate pain and your touch so they really don't like you any more. There were only a few mink that died, maybe a 5 or so. They are really lucky! Rog and I were there from 10 am till 3:45 helping move the mink. By the end of the day, Lyn's brother offered me a job working at his mink farm. Junior and Lyn have called me several times to thank me over and over again. I know that if I was the one that need help they would have done the same thing for me.
By the way, Bro. Burns offered to teach Roger's lesson. He has been in Elders Quorum for over a year and has only had to teach 2 times. The other 3 or 4 times they either had a special lesson by the Bishop or some other reason. He sucks!! Just kidding. I love that guy!

Young Women's "The BEEHIVES"

Hey everyone, I just got put into YW as an Advisor and I am totally excited. I get to be with all my girls from Activity Days. This truely is going to be awesome!! And the cool thing is that I can work on my Personal Progress again, and earn my awards. Just 2 weeks ago, the 1st Presidency announced that they have added a new value to the origanal one's. They are Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good work, Integrity and Virtue. I am so excited to teach the girls and share my testimony with them. I know that I will grow with them. So that is why I have my new background. I will be using my blog as my journal to complete my Personal Progress, since I don't have an actual journal.

Twilight!!!

I got a phone call from my Sister-in-law Lucinda and she asked me if I wanted a ticket to go to the opening show of TWILIGHT! Ofcourse I said YES!!! I am so EXCITED to go. I was going to go with either Edyn or Siouxzy (other sister in laws) but both of them are pregnant and are having morning sickness and are very tired. So Lucinda asked me if I knew of anyone that would want to go and so I asked my great friend Amy. Check my blog this weekend to hear my reviews. I am asking you to check back then because I may be too tired to do much tomorrow because the movie starts at 11:59PM. It is going to be a Late Night for all the many fans of Twilight.

Getting ORGANIZED!

This month I have decided that I want to get organized and not a minute too soon. I am about to pull my hair out just because no matter where I look in my life and my home I is MESSY! My wonderful visiting teacher called today and had 2 things to ask me: one was if they could come over Thursday and the other is to tell me she had an answer to her prayers. She told me that she works at the temple in the clothing section and last week she was sitting there and happened to look up. That is when she saw her Marie Ricks, the Marie Ricks of House of Order. My V.T. is friends with her and so she went to talk to her. Previously last month I told my V.T's that I feel unorganized in my life. I haven't been happy and my life is WAY TO STRESSED. Long story short she talked to Marie and she said that she would love to help me get on track and get organized. I am nervous and excited at the same time. Why you asked? Because I feel that I am a lost cause at getting organized and that I am deep down ashamed for how my house and my life and soul are so screwed up. But we will see how it works. If any of you want tips on getting organized check out her website: www.houseoforder.com
Stay tuned to my new adventure...

Leelou blogs launch party!

Hey everyone!! You have to check out LEELOU blogs!! It is the BEST place to get layouts for you blogs. The cool thing is that they do them for FREE!! Check them out this week they are having their LAUNCH PARTY! Have fun choosing which layout to use, they are all awesome and it will be hard for you to decide. Trust me!!! Cam

Our Camping trip to Willow Flats, Idaho

This Summer we decided to go up the Idaho and go camping at a new location. It was a very nice area, Not so sure we will drive up there real soon though. But all in all I really enjoyed myself even though it was rather far to drive. The kids had fun and we even took J.C.(our dog) with us. She loved it.

While we were camping there was a sign that said trail to natural spring, 1/2 miles. We all decided that we were going to go on it. Mind I tell you that my mom had just had knee surgery earlier this spring. It was all up hill and there where no other signs telling you where. We hiked up about a mile and well needless to say we never found the start of the spring, but we had a great nature hike. On the way down, Hayden, Kaeli and my mom found walking sticks. Hayden pretended that he was Yoda and found (well I found it) an awesome stick. Kaeli used hers to hit Hayden. I think that she thought hers was a lightsaber(Hayden is always playing lightsabers with her).

As you can see from the following pics, we made pizza while camping. They were sure yummy! Kaeli sure was dirty, plus I happened to capture her while picking her nose.

We taught the kids about nature this trip. My folks saw a moose and a deer before we got there. The pics of the humming bird is pretty cool. He came and then brought a few of his friend with him. There were tons of squirrels around and no matter how many times you told Kaeli to be quiet, she always chased them away. And then Hayden found the cute little catepiller. Kaeli even held it and didn't try to kill it.

Rilee (my cousin who is 6) came up with my grandparents and spent one night with us. The kids wanted to play in the river (more like a little stream) so they got into their swim suits and stepped in. It lasted about 5 seconds and Rilee had had enough. It was snow runoff. We also tried to fish while we were there but didn't have any luck. Check out my dad jumping from the middle of the river to the side. Our line got stuck so he jumped out there to get it loose, and I snapped this shot just as he was leaping (with a little hope that he would fall in). Just kidding Dad... Love u!

Our LOVE!

Wow! I can't believe that Rog and I have been married for 7 years now. Look at all that we have accomplished.. A loving relationship, 2 wonderful kids (trying as they may be), and a beautiful HOME that we built that is filled with love and laughter. I truely feel blessed to have Rog in my life.

Summer fun @ Mema's and Papa's

This summer just went by so fast! Hayden and Kaeli had fun going up to Ogden, especially when they made money. During South Ogden Days Hayden and Kaeli (ok more like grandpa and Mommy) sold sno-cones and candy. They made a killing. People would walk by and see how much we were selling sno-cones and just keep on walking. Usually 5 mins later they would be back and buy one (once they saw how much they were going for at the park). I can't get over the fact that I have such beautiful kids. They are truely my angels from up above!!

A trip to the park

All summer we have been once a week going to parks or to musuem. The relief society presidency in my ward asked me to come up with field trips that mothers can take their children on. We haven't had that great of a turnout but those who have come have had a good time (I hope anyway). The pics below are of Hayden and Kaeli at Wines park in Lehi. They were having Lehi days at the time and had an in the park boutique.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was in the back room and I heard something going on from the kitchen. When I went into the kitchen but couldn't see anything. I went around the corner of the island and the pictures below are what I found. She decided to take a closer look at the cup drawer.

 

 

Hayden and Kaeli have really loved being with their Cousins this summer. They really enjoyed having them over for sleepovers. He was really excited to have his cousin Kirby up from Arizona. When Kirby, Dylan, and Hayden get together they play AWESOME.

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Well she has taken after her big brother Hayden, as in that she loves to work with Rog in the Bobcat. She threw a huge fit when I had to get her out.