Monday, September 26th, 2011 

13 WEEKS AND SEALED FOREVER!!

During the second week of July President Lyman ran into me at the Stake Center. He said that the General Presidency office had called him earlier that day and said that they were considering delaying our sealing clearance but wanted to know President Lyman's stance on how Jimmy was progressing and what President Lyman's thoughts were. He told them that he agreed that the clearance was appropriate for Jimmy and me. President Lyman told us at our interview that the Presidency's office said they were going to meet with the 12 and discuss and pray about it. President Lyman received a call later that afternoon that as they met Elder Holland mentioned that he felt strongly that we needed to be sealed immediately.  He said that he had spoken to Jimmy's mom and that his son David was involved in Jimmy's reactivation and dis-fellowshipping. We got letters that were dated August 4th. It's just a miracle, all of it.

Friday night we had a get together over at our clubhouse. I was anxious for my parents to get there and they were an hour and a half late and so were Taylor and Carter. I am so frustrated with myself that I get irritated by little things. I really hate being the middle of everyone's attention.  I was so exhausted after seeing everyone and was ready to go to bed and to be sealed the next day.

 On Saturday morning I woke up and felt so great and at peace. I took a shower and got ready, helped the kids and we took them over to Sarah's on our way to the temple. The parking lot is being redone and half of it is closed. Parking on Saturday mornings is usually difficult with all the weddings and visitors. It took some effort to find a parking space. As we went into the temple it was so comfortable and felt like home. As we checked in I saw all my bridal attendants waiting for me and I was so excited to see all of them. They were just bouncing around waiting for me. My parents were there waiting for us too and it was just great to be there with them. Cathy had been taken upstairs to the celestial room already and everything happened so quick. We weren't rushed at all but we just didn't have to wait at all. Our sealer was amazing, President Kay Hale. I have met a lot of the sealers in the temple working as a bridal assistant but I didn't feel like we should request one and I had never met President Hale. He was hilarious. When he met us he asked and said, "So you are here to be sealed... HOT DOG!" It relaxed us and it was sweet.

I didn't recognize Cathy when I saw her. She had a wig on and I just didn't know it was her. She was so weak by the end of the morning but we are so grateful for her courage and the strength that Heavenly Father allowed her to be able to go to the temple and see Jimmy and I get sealed and have her three children in the temple all together for the first time.

I  also didn't realize that Jamaica and Daniel weren't there yet when we walked in. They had a hard time parking so we waited a few minutes and they came in. I was nervous not knowing where they were. Daniel had appendicitis when I got sealed before and he missed our sealing, so I was hoping he didn't have something else wrong! :)

President Hale's advice to us was to close every day together with prayer, go to the temple often, continue to date as your family grows, spend time together discussing your children and your family. He quoted Al Joyner after he had received an award, "You don't get to the top on your own." As we saw and realized how many people helped us and encouraged us to get to the temple we couldn't have agreed more. Everyone helped us get to the top of this peak and will continue to support us to other peaks. He taught us that the sealing ordinance was taught to us by our Heavenly Father in our pre existence, this is something your Spirits have been looking forward to ever since!  I didn't cry the whole time cause I knew I would do the ugly cry and that once I started, I wouldn't be able to stop. I was also just so happy. As I kneeled at the altar with Jimmy I just stared into his eyes and was so grateful to be able to be with him forever.

There were so many people that surprised us by traveling to come to our sealing. They made us both cry. First was Collin and Marie Bleak. Collin was a great support to Jimmy as he was  struggling and finally wanting to come back to church.  

Our Bishop Scott Wood and his sweet wife Kim were able to come and it was great to see them in the temple with us and happy and excited for us!

Jimmy's good friend Brian Olsen and his cute daughter came and really caught Jimmy off guard. He was so excited to see him and honored that he would travel us from Vegas just for our sealing. I was so glad that it made Jimmy so happy and humbled him with the love that everyone was showing us!

We were both SO excited to see our good friends Justin and Heather Maddux. They recently moved to Boise and we have missed them so much. They have both been such a great support and so excited for us to be sealed and to have our baby. They love Carter and Taylor and are so willing to help us with anything.  We miss them dearly and were so grateful they made the effort to come down!

I was MOST excited to see my good friend Steve Trombley in the temple. He was the biggest surprise and it was GREAT to see him. He's always been a great support for me and has called and checked on me through my divorce and just shows me a lot of encourage-ment. I was so grateful he rode his motorcycle clear down here from Wyoming to show his love and support. I DID cry when I hugged him :)

We were also excited that our good friend and Jimmy's childhood best bud Jason Madsen and his parents were able to attend. Jason has been a constant support to Jimmy regardless of his actions and the hard things that he has had to go through. He's just such a great guy too we need to find him a good wife!  

                                

Jimmy was really excited that his buddy Matt from Vegas came up and Craig came down from Salt Lake. They were both at our wedding too and just are great sweet guys and I'm thankful that Jimmy has their support and love. Matt recently was able to get back to the temple so it was special to have him with us there. Craig and his wife moved to SLC from Vegas just last year so we have missed seeing them. I just know they care so much and Jimmy cares for them and will do anything for them. They strengthen each other's testimonies now and encourage the gospel in their lives.

Of course we are most grateful that our families were able to be there with us.  It is a miracle that Cathy was feeling well enough to attend the temple and go out and take pictures with us. She was so exhausted and slept the rest of the day. We are blessed that all of Jimmy's family was able to attend the temple. It was a special time for his family to all be in the temple together, especially since Cathy is so fragile in her illness. After we took some pictures we all met over at the mexican restaurant "Casa Dona Maria's" for lunch. It was so great to see and talk with everyone. Grandma Lindell was so wonderful and paid for our entire group lunch.

We did arrange for our sealing to take place sort of at a moment's notice to ensure that Cathy's health would allow her to come. I am SO grateful that my parents could get the time off to come down and be here for us. I always get a little stressed out with all our family around. I don't like making group plans and being the center of attention. I'm glad it's over. I think being pregnant isn't helping me out either! No matter the stress we always have a good silly time together. Julie and Colleen had a party at their house with a photo booth and all these fun props. I'm glad we could reuse them :)

Bubby didn't want any props cause he has just lost his first tooth this last and told us he just wanted to smile really big and that would be funny!

I'm grateful that I have such strong amazing parents that have softly taught me the gospel and have allowed me to learn and gain a testimony of my own. I'm proud of them and how they have helped me handled my crazy life. They have held me up during my divorce and through the many extra trials that has brought. I'm so proud of how they have adapted to Jimmy and having step-grandkids. They are so naturally loving and caring toward Taylor and Carter and treat them like their other grandkids. I'm grateful for my sisters and their examples of strength and family they are to me and Jimmy. Although we are very different we teach each other what we know. They are my best friends and I love them and am glad that we all live here together. Julie was not able to go to the temple with us. We continue to pray for her and think very hard about the things that we can do for her to support her and encourage her to gain a stronger testimony.

Reflecting on where we have been and where we are now being sealed together has been a whirlwind.

We are very excited now to see where we are going to go. We are very excited to have a baby in 7 more months. We are lucky to be able to be sealed as a family before our baby is even born. That our family will be together forever is the best blessing Heavenly Father can give us. We are so grateful that Carter and Taylor like to come up and visit us. Someday we hope they will be able to come live with us. We miss them so much when they are gone and are so grateful they were able to be here this weekend as we were sealed. We want them to know that it is the most important act we have done. They did see and got to attend our wedding. We want them to know that the sealing that we have now together is what they should seek for. We are excited for them to meet their eternal brother or sister in March. They still have the promised blessing of eternal parentage. Jimmy and I are sealed together and they are sealed through Jimmy even though Ashlee and Jimmy are not sealed. That is just perfect, that they are still part of our sealing too. That they are sealed through Jimmy to me and our family. The gospel is such a blessing and we are so grateful for it.

That night my sisters, my mom and I all went to the General RS meeting. It was a great meeting and I am glad that we all went together.

We got to spend the rest of the weekend with my family. Daniel and Jamaica were able to bless Jaida on Sunday while my parents were there.

Daniel did such a great job and it was fun to be there with all my family. Jaida is such a fun sweet baby. She's just so pretty too! She laughs a lot now which is just my favorite thing in the universe right now. I love her little words and expressions. It is crazy how a baby can enrich a life and family. It is great to see my parents love on her and smell her and kiss her. We are all just in love with her and we are blessed that we could be part of her special day.

It was great that Jimmy could participate in the blessing. This is the first time he has had the opportunity since he has been re-fellowshipped. We had a lot of fun with friends and our family that Sunday at Jamaica's. The kids all played together and had a good time.

Carter really likes my dad and tags alongside him. Mya LOVES grandpa too and so he was good enough to read a Halloween story with them.

Carter has been begging us to be able to shoot BB guns. We called grandpa and asked him if he would help us shoot while he was down here.

I was glad that they got to do it. My dad was a little worn out after-wards and told us that he was glad he was a younger grandpa or he might not be able to do this sort of stuff forever! Carter was a little trigger happy and it took some repetitive instruction on aiming to get the idea of accuracy. He didn't get a shot inside the target but we were really glad that he hit the paper! He had a blast and was so proud of his target!

We all took turn with our own targets. Taylor did so good! She was the closest to the center of the bulls eye  and was so proud of her first shooting practice! I'm glad that we could do something fun and teach them safety. It was new and something that they can learn and have in common with my family too.

Mom and Dad brought down peaches from up north and we ate so many peaches and peach pie this weekend!  It was such a great weekend to be sealed for time and all eternity to the one love of my life and to our family. It was great to see baby Jaida receive a blessing from her father and to meet her grandparents. To see them dote on their grandkids and show love and have fun with all of them. I'm so grateful for all those that were part of our weekend and have been an influence in our lives and in our decisions.

FROGGY BABY

I'm so excited today I got to see and hear our little baby! I had my first prenatal appointment with my midwife Katie Gubler and it went great. Jimmy wasn't able to get off work which made the appointment a little lonely for me but as soon as Katie came in the room I was comfortable. Katie delivered my sister Jamaica's baby Jaida in July. She did a great job and her "mood" and mode I guess during her delivery was right along side of what I would like to have. I know that she will be able to keep me calm during the whole thing!

It didn't really connect with me that I was pregnant up until today. I felt sick, tired, and didn't want to eat. I just felt different and sick is all, not pregnant.

She did an exam and my first excitement came from Katie just pushing on my lower abs she said "You are definitely pregnant! I would say about 10 weeks, yep!" I couldn't believe she could tell just by that and just her small verification made it more real for me. It made me happy that all the sickness so far was not for nothing!

Katie found the heartbeat and it sounded great! She also did a mini-ultrasound and I got to see it! Here is a picture from the internet that matches almost exactly how it looked...

It would move around and stretch out and snap back it's stubby little legs and arms at the same time and it looked like a little frog! I guess that's a little different than the usual "peanut" or "nub" nicknames for women's unborn babies but the little froggy was dang fun to see. I'm so glad that Katie let me see it and hear the heart beat! I haven't been this excited since week 4 when I took the test and couldn't stop smiling.

I saw Jamaica and my niece Mya just after and I told Mya that I got to see my baby in my tummy. She said,"Oh Awesome! You got to see your baby Michael?" She is determined that I'm having a boy and the only boy she has seen pictures of are her brother Michael but it's so cute. The day after I took my positive pregnancy test and before Jimmy and I had told ANYONE, Mya asked me "Jen, are you going to have a baby girl, or a baby boy?" She just knew I guess!

It's a little overwhelming and I'm not sure what else I can do to try to prepare for the whole thing but, it's kind of a day to day thing!

I'm glad that everyone has been so excited and happy for us! It means a lot and I can understand your excitement now a little bit more since it is a bit more real for me, and I feel better too :)

I love tips and hints, advice ANYTHING so let me know what you got!!!

SEALING

 

Carter and Taylor were here this week and we got amazing letters in our mail! We received our sealing clearance from the First Presidency and are getting sealed September 24th! The kids were really excited too which was surprising they totally know what it means and are really happy!

We also got to tell the kids that we are having a baby! They are so excited and are just concerned where the baby is going to sleep! They like having their own rooms at our house :)

We asked Carter if he was excited and he said,

"YEEEAH! I love babies!"

He thinks I need to have triplets, one for him, one for Taylor and then I need one too!

I'm only 5 weeks but I sure hope there aren't three in there!

 

THE WHOLE DANG GANG

My parents were down from Wyoming to visit Jamaica and her new baby girl Jaida so we did a family photo shoot.

My sweet husband that I don't deserve...

mom and dad Frahm...

the silly girls...

my favorite Mya...

Miss Taylor...

lil' Carter...

what we have so far...

and I made this for Jimmy and I...

it's so easy let me know if you want me to make one of your fam!

HAWAII 2011

Bonzai Beach was our favorite, that's where the Pipeline competition is and the beach is lined with sponsor beach houses that all the pros were coming out and surfing. It was amazing. The waves were WAY too big to go out in, Jimmy bodysurfed but I built a sandcastle!

We ate at Duke's on Waikiki and it was amazing as well! I had the baked Ono that was covered in a Macadamia sauce and their Thai crunch salad was all just to die for!

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay was pretty awesome. It was Jimmy's first time and he did so good! We were right on top of the reef and saw TONS of fish. It was fun to teach him and sweet to do something together for his first time!

Pearl Harbor was surprising to us, very interesting and humbling. We weren't looking forward to it much but figured we better get it off our list. We were blown away with all the history and we appreciated the visit so much. My granddad Frahm was in the Navy and his ship set out to sea the day before Pearl Harbor was bombed. His ship was sunk exactly a year later.

We sat at Sandy's Beach for hours watching the surfers and the boogie boarders! It was insane how huge the waves were and hysterical to watch all the tourists get thrashed around.

I love to boogie board. These are Jen sized waves though and I had a BLAST! I was out there for hours and honestly felt like a little kid RUNNING back into the water!

We walked through the Sheraton every night to get back to our hotel and their infinity pool was so beautiful. We also caught a free fire dancer show one night!

 PREPAREDNESS & POOPY PANTS

I would like to give myself the Step Mother of Spring Break award after this week! Thank you VERY much!

The kids had a SUPER fun weekend in Vegas before coming up to see Jimmy and I for Spring Break this last week. Their mom brought them up (which was a nice change to the usual flight plan) on Monday night. Tuesday morning we woke up and Jimmy went to work. Carter kept telling me that he wanted to throw up. I guess the co-parent inside of me figured he was just doing the pretend throw up thing. Totally changed my mind about that when he went in the bathroom and puked (in the toilet thank goodness). Taylor told me that he had thrown up the night before in Vegas, which was unexpected news, so he took it easy the rest of the morning. I needed to go out to Hurricane to pick up some 72-hour kit items that we are doing for our ward. Carter was up and playing and seemed to be doing good.

On the way home from Hurricane Carter loudly states from the back seat, "I pooped my pants."

I looked at him from the rear view mirror, "Seriously?SERIOUSLY!?"

He's totally six and telling little fibs all the time so I wanted to make sure he wasn't kidding... he wasn't...

We were almost home so there wasn't much to be done at that point. He waddled inside and WE took care of THAT!

He didn't have any clean clothes because they came straight from a hotel to our house the night before, so we free-lansed it to WalMart to get some new chonies. What an ordeal.

Wednesday went the same with more puking and more pooping in the pants.

Wednesday I had him take a nap and he slept for 5 hours and then went back to bed and slept all night too! Thursday afternoon went that way too.

Taylor and I had some down time since we were stuck indoors from all the rain and with our sick little Monkey SO we put together our 72-hour kits! I was dreading it but I got pretty motivated when I saw how into it Taylor got! It actually turned out to be so much fun! Taylor packed up all the hygiene kit items and labeled plastic bags for each person in our family. She raided the pantry for food to put in there and then packed, unpacked, and packed again everyone's backpacks for the best fit. She loved it and I would not have done it without her!

She is sweet, she kept sighing in a worried way that she doesn't have a 72-hour kit in Vegas. She said that if there is an emergency in Vegas she will just come to our house. I realize that I have a strength in nerdy preparedness awesomeness that is rare among women my age. I'm cool with it.

Carter and Taylor got to take everything out of the backpacks again and show their dad what was in there. They love them and all their stuff they have now.

They weighed in around 15 pounds each. Taylor's was a little heavier since she was helping me I think she snuck extra stuff in hers! :) LOVE IT!

So there they are if we need them! Thanks SIS!

Friday night we went to our ward Cub Scout spaghetti dinner. It was awesome, Heather did a great job! The Hansen kids came with us. Mya got Jen's first administered "Time Out". She was going around trying to hold all the toddlers hands while they were walking. When they would jerk their hands away from her she would go push them over. HA HA HA! Bad Mya

By Friday Carter was feeling a little better. Still had the poops but wasn't throwing up. Saturday Jimmy got him this $10 plane that we totally use to play with when I was little. They went to the park and threw it off the hill and watched it soar.  

 It was a crash course for me with full time sick kids and I guess I passed since all of us were alive and no one was puking or pooping by the end of the week! Gold star to me!

FUN WEEKEND

We watched "Easy A" with the Maddux's last weekend and we woke up to this on our door HA HA HA it was so funny!

We went to Carter's first basketball game this weekend and he did so good. He scored 3 out of the 4 baskets that his team made... it was not too exciting but it was fun to watch him learn... he's #9

During half-time Carter got hit with the ball under the basketball and got upset and went over to pout by the wall. Jimmy went over to buck him up and got his shoes on the right feet :)

GO BLACK NINJAS!

Taylor was there mostly interested in her little crush Ernie. It's got to be destined they are both little booknerds :)

The next day we went to New York NY and took Taylor on the rollercoaster for her first time! She went with Jimmy and her uncle Johnny the first time and LOVED IT! They had bounce back passes for being locals and so me and aunt Amber got to go with her again! It was so much fun and I got Taylor to put her hands up in the hair the whole time.

Meanwhile the boys went crazy at the arcade and little Logan hit the jackpot and got about 2,000 tickets and so ALL the kids got prizes!

TAYLOR'S DANCE RECITAL

Jimmy has been in Vegas for weeks at a time for his training with Chase so I went down on Friday and we got to go see Taylor's dance recital. This is her teacher Miss Beth at her studio at Hollywood Kids Academy. The studio was very dark with just lights on and off the stage so the pictures of the dancing didn't turn out. She has so much fun dancing. Both me and her mom were giving her a hard time cause she dances so much and with all the confidence in the world in the bathroom, kitchen, living room and then gets all shy on stage.

Taylor's grandpa Leach took this picture of us. He was very nice and told me that they really appreciate all that I do with and for the kids while they are in St George. It meant a lot knowing that the kids have a positive report to them about their time with us and I'm glad that he let me know that.

Carter was there too! These two are a few of my favorite things! Good job Sis!

Word of the Day ... Day 2

ANY FOUR LETTER WORD WILL DUE

This week has not been the easiest and these few scenarios didn't add to the ease. Thursday night is ward basketball for the ladies. Jamaica's ward was playing my ward so I was all excited to play her team. I made a break away and my teammate Megan hurled the ball down the court to me. I go up to grab the ball and Jamaica landed on, or swatted, or clobbered me. Whatever it was, it was terrible defense and resulted in my now purple/blue/swollen/ibuprofen starved ring finger. She layed me out on the floor and after gripping my finger as hard as I could I mustered out of my clenched teeth some FOUR LETTER WORDS.

Scenario two has two parts. Lucky me a double dipper. I got to share this one with James though so it evened out to equal bits of joy. We started some laundry and went to bed. We have a front loading washer that I love. We keep the detergent and everything on the top of it cause it's so convenient. All of a sudden we hear this THUD come from the laundry room. The washer had shaken the bleach off and it fell on the floor... and the lid came off and the bleach was all over the floor...FOUR LETTER WORD...

I run into the bathroom looking for white towels and Jimmy comes to grab them and of course grabs one I put on the sink, totally not his fault, but one of our cream decorative towels and lays it right on the middle of the bleachy floor...FOUR LETTER WORDS...

AHH ok well whatever, so we clean up the laundry room and crack a window cause the whole house smells like an over chlorinated swimming pool now...FOUR LETTER WORD...

In the morning the house still smells but when we go downstairs WHEW it smells WAY worse than it did upstairs even in the laundry room. We look in the kitchen and...oh darn...there is bleach ALL over the floor splashed up on the counters and the refridgerator and spattered all over my green, now yellow speckled, kitchen rug. The bleach had come down from upstairs through the canned lighting and dripped all over the kitchen, yet again with your favorite...

FOUR LETTER WORD 

I think most people when they are young get pressured by parents or other superiors to get married as an alternative to growing up. I can't believe how much easier it is to work on that