How great shall be your joy.

If you bring but one soul unto me.
I always thought that one soul was me but watching Curt make the choice to enter the house of the Lord was one of those moments of joy that make all the years of worrying and wondering, worth it.

There is such a peace in knowing our children look up for their guidance and not around about them. It was an honor to share this occasion with Curt.

I have to say that this day was possible because of the Priesthood that has guided Curt on his journey to manhood. I thank God daily for the blessing that Boyd has been to me and to our family. He walks, quietly in the ways of the Lord and leads us by example.

Seriously?

So my sweet friend, who I met online through a healthy transformation group. Planned and gifted a cruise for her parents 40th wedding anniversary ( Big cheer for 40) She and a few of her friends also celebrated their 40 birthdays this year and so she organized quite a large group to go on this Western Caribbean cruise.
Here's the bummer, her boss (she's a pharmaceutical rep) canceled ALL leave until February due to a new product launch, talk about being slave to "the man". Anyway, with her newly transformed good attitude, she let it go, knowing there was little she could do but feel bad, and we choose to not feel bad. SO........


Skip forward a month or 2 and I finally meet my friend face to face in Denver ( That reminds me I need to blog about it) We are like soul sisters, crazy similar. We like fries and ice cream, have unhealthy relationships with buildabears and almost the same haircut.

Well we fly home on Monday and by Wednesday she calls me, missing me of course ;-) but says "so the cruise that I couldn't go on, well they have delayed our launch and now I can go!" yipee I'm so excited for her then she says "BUT...... my husband can't get off work so I have a spot, bought and paid for and you just need to get there" LOL that's me laughing.
" When?"
"Monday"
"What this Monday?"
"Yes the 5 day away Monday"

How many reasons could I think of not to go? well the list was long and detailed not to mention my expired passport which I have to renew at the British Embassy but you know me...
"Sure"
and that was that.
I flew to Miami, my awesome, favorite of Boyd's cousins, actually my favorite of his entire extended family. Jenny picked me up at around Midnight, took me to her home and we chatted til the wee hours, Man I love that girl. Then she gave me a morning tour of Miami beach with her cute little boy Porter.

I think Miami may have trumped California for my favorite place but I would need better clothes if I lived there.
Then I met my friend and had the perfect week.


We worked out everyday.


Check out my treadmill numbers!!! (There are in KM ph and look well impressive compared to Mph)
There are plenty healthy food options if you choose them. We did.


and I had the time of my life.....think dirty dancing....Patrick Swayze...this was totally like that complete with end of holiday show and dance people and fancy waiters and bingo.
Perfect.

Smiling.

I like smiling, smilings my favorite (qt ELF)

If you lack smiles, might I suggest a dog.
Always happy to cuddle, kiss, doesn't care if you smell or left him all day alone or even forgot to feed him til 10 o'clock. Better than a build-a-bear or a snuggie. Quick to forgive. you can totally make fun of them when they get a haircut, I mean you can't do that to anyone else ( Especially if you happen to be the hair cutter)
Yep, love my dogs, they just make me smile.

Baby turns 9 :(

I keep telling my kids they aren't allowed to grow any bigger but just like when I tell them to clean up there room or go to bed, they just don't listen to me.
I asked Asha how come she listened to Dad and not me and she said "cos he gives us punishments" Boyd's not a mean guy in case you were wondering but apparently his method of motivation is a little better than mine so guess what.....
Next time Asha grows an inch or a year older, she's in big trouble!!!!

We stop the traditional "party" at age 8 since it ends up being a riot of kids we don't know or even like a whole lot (oops did I just say that)in fear of leaving someone out.
We do the "take a special friend somewhere special" option and Asha chose .....drum roll.....Build a bear. Of course she did, she has gone there on her birthday every year since she was born. Lily and Tanner are her besties right now although she does have a couple of buds at school that she adores (little miss social. It was good time and we had to finish with sees suckers (um um good)




This girl is just a mini me, what can I say. messy, creative, social, loves to eat, boy am I in for teenage trouble.

Our Little Picasso

Asha did, what any creative child would do with an old cardboard box, when asked to take it out to the rubbish. She created an art gallery!! This occurred within about 5 minutes of being asked.


Not everyone is smart, someone has to decorate, that would be our Asha.

The Letter

As a Mum who's heart is full, I have not words to describe this feeling.





My sweet baby, Elder Curtis Ross Hickman will be given back to his Heavenly Fathers Care for 2 years as he serves the people of Richmond Virginia. He enters the Missionary Training Center on December 15th 2010.

Making The Climb

Living in Utah, I am surrounded by mountains. People always told me the mountains are to the East but you can literally see mountains all around so it took me a while to figure out a mountain from a MOUNTAIN!! LOL.
I arrived in the State at night in May of 1996 and my then 3 & 4 year old sons were sleeping. The next morning, or at least when the sun came up, my jet lagged boy, looked out the window and said (in his best British accent)" Mummy, these hills are massive" Indeed they are and ever since I have desired to climb to the top.

I know people do this and I have always had an excuse of time, pregnancy etc but really I just wasn't in good enough shape and it scared me, it's not an easy task. 4500 feet to a total of 11,000 ft. 8 miles each way, approx 8 -10 hours hiking with your water/food etc on your back. possible wind storms, heat..... I was scared.

After starting the Transformation challenge in February and reading about setting goals and mapping a course, (they used a mountain reference) I knew now was the time and I really did have to plan a date based on least chance of snow etc.
I mentioned it to a few friends and before long I had many people interested. I sent out the invite and a total of 18 gave me a maybe, then 10 for sures and in the final week I got excuse after excuse until my husband, son and one neighbor where all that was left to join me. I thought the neighbor was a rock star til I got the text at 6am.... So the 3 of us headed out and it couldn't have been a more perfect day.


It was long and hot but my body worked hard for me, the only breaks I took were because of my families varying pains, all of which they pushed through and made it to the summit.I listened to the LDS General conference in my ears and heard so many references to things symbolic of what I was doing at that very moment. The last mile, we literally climbed rocks and I was more terrified about the descent than anything.
By the last hour I was jogging along the trail, just full of energy and life and I can only imagine now the rush I will get when I cross that finish line in Denver after completing my first half marathon.

So no medal for this mountain but a huge goal accomplished with 2 of my favorite people. It was a joy to spend the day with Curtis before he heads out to climb a mountain of his own.


Many wish to start this journey, many quit before making it to the summit. Yes it is hard but we CAN do hard things. I challenge you to get out and do something hard for you. This is how we grow.