What a fun & crazy March!

Well, It has been over a month since I updated the blog because of how crazy the month of March has been. For starters, Micheal turned 10, and Clayton turned 8 and was baptized. We had lots of family come out for the baptizm and we had a lot of fun!! We were so thankful that they could come and spend time with us at this special time in Clayton's life. We are so proud of Clayton and love him so much!




Jared and the boys. Their eyes weren't cooperating with the camera, but they are all there.

Me and my Dad.

Diana, Hannah, Mom, Me, and Rachel. We all happened to straighten our hair that day.

Me and 4 of my sisters! We are missing my sister Sarah. We missed you Sarah!

I sure love my family!

Snow Day!

We got 3 inches of snow Sunday night! The wind blew some of it away but we were all very excited because we knew we would get a legitimate snow day from school. We have had 3 snow days this school year. The first 2 were a joke! They closed down the schools for a dusting of snow, not even enough for one snowball. It had been raining for 2 days before this snow started so everything had a thick coating of ice under the snow and the roads were too icy to drive on and since Charlotte doesn't have enough snow plows, or salters the whole city shut down. We were out playing in the snow by 8am and Micheal was outside until I dragged him in for lunch at 1pm but was back outside a couple hours later. Clayton came in regularly for hot chocolate so he didn't let himself get too cold. Poor Tanner kept losing his gloves so he was very frustrated and cold so he didn't spend much time outside. In fact, we can't find one of his gloves. We think it may have gotten buried in one of the 4 snowmen we built. Hopefully we'll find it while it melts. Our trampoline was close to reaching its weight limit in snow so we had to rescue the trampoline which was fun too. We had snowball fights with neighbors and just had a great time enjoying our once-a-year snow. The best part of all of it was having our whole family home to play! I love snow days but I am grateful that they aren't more than once or twice a year. I think I would freeze to death and the beauty of snow would be lost in the consistancy. Just one more reason I love North Carolina!

Persuasion

I have a huge weakness for good movies! I do my laundry all on one day a week and then I sit and watch a movie as I fold clothes. Yesterday my friend, who has the same weakness, told me she had a movie for me to watch on laundry day. It was a movie based on the Jane Austin book "Persuasion." I'd not read the book but enjoy some of Jane Austin's work, so I was excited for laundry day. As I watched I couldn't help relating to Anne. (I won't tell you the whole story, you'll have to watch it or read the book yourself. But a little introduction might help you understand where I'm coming from.) At the age of 19 she fell in love and became engaged to a young man. She was persuaded to break off the engagement and she regreted that decision everyday for 8 years until she was given a second chance.

When I was 19 and engaged to Jeremy, I had so many people try to "persuade" me to not marry him for various reasons such as-you're too young, you haven't even dated anyone else, you barely know him, you just got out of school, you don't have a degree, he doesn't have a degree. I didn't relent to their wishes and I am so glad that I made the decision I did.

Marrying Jeremy was the best decision I have ever made!

I couldn't help but realize how much I would have missed out on had I been "persuaded" by others opinions instead of being led by my heart and Heavenly Father. Luckily our families were supportive of our decision, too. I have been so blessed by having Jeremy as my eternal companion and best friend. We have grown so much together and also as individuals because of who we are together. I love being so attached to him that I can't sleep when we aren't together! Words cannot express how much he means to me and the fact that he loved me enough in the beginning to take me to the temple to seal himself to me (and our future family) only encourages me to love him more. Each day I love him more and I look forward to forever because I know it will be with my best friend. I understand that being married young is not for everyone, but it worked for me because of the man I married and his encouragement to become all I can be. My future has been brightened because of him, and I thank my Heavenly Father each night for him. He is mine forever and forever will be heavenly as long as I am with Jeremy.

Happy Birthday to Me!

On Saturday I turned 30! We didn't do anything spectacular, but we did get to spend time together as a family. I spent lots of time on the phone receiving happy birthday wishes. In fact, I had so many calls that I couldn't answer them all. I have wonderful family and friends! I love birthday's because it gives me a chance to reflect on what I have learned and experiences I've had during the year. It also gives me a chance to think about what I still would like to learn and do. I have so many goals that I have to pace myself or I'd probably run out of steam (not to mention money). I'll need 70 more years to get it all done. Do I feel old? Nope! As long as I am working out, being active and eating right I feel like I can do anything! I truly believe that you are only as old as you feel or allow yourself to feel. Life is good, why would I want to waste it by feeling "old" before my prime? I'm not going to waste away my life waiting to feel old, old will have to catch me first and I have a head start. Here's to another year full of possibilities! Happy Birthday to Me!

Tagged!-LOVE

I was tagged! And since it was Valentine's Day inspired I thought it would be fun to spend time remembering our beginnings.

1. When is your "engagement" anniversary: March 10th
2. When is your "marriage" anniversary: June 26th
3. How long have you known your spouse: 12 years
4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged: We didn't really date because we had a long distance between us. So we wrote letters and talked on the phone a lot. I think we actually went out on maybe 4 dates before we got married.
5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time: In Arizona, when he was helping my mom reactivate some of the sisters in our ward.
6. What is your spouse's full name: Jeremy Fowler (I'm not going to give his full name for safety purposes.)
7. Do you have any children yet: yes
8. How many: 3 fun boys
9. Do you have any house pets: No pets
10. Do you own a house or rent: Own
11. Do you live in the country or town/city: we live in a small city, very rural
12. What is one of your favorite activities together: Watching movies
13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot: No, I just enjoy down time with my family
14. How many siblings (including in-laws): 10 brothers, 10 sisters. Cool huh! We're not finished yet either!
15. What church do you attend: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
16. Is this the church you were married in: We were married in the Temple.
17. What town is your current address: Huntersville
18. Do you work or stay at home: Stay at home
19. Where did you honeymoon: Didn't have a honeymoon:(, He still owes me one:)
20: Leave a piece of marriage advice: You can either be a blessing or a curse to each other, choose wisely.

You may tag yourself if you feel inclined!

Let's Race!

Well, Jeremy decided to race and he is sure glad he did. He won every race he ran! It's nice to know that hard work pays off!

Our Family Vacation

We went to Orlando last week for a family vacation. We invited Grandma and Grandpa Fowler to come with us. We had a "blast!" First we went to Kennedy Space Center. It was exhilarating just to be were they send astronauts into space! The technology, the sights, the sounds...WOW! They were preparing for a launch so we were able to see the shuttle on the launch pad. SO COOL! I can't explain how awesome it was!

Tanner fell out of bed one night and split his head open, luckily we were able to stop the bleeding and avoid an ER visit. Scary! Thank goodness for priesthood blessings!

Then we went to Disney World. We walked onto just about every ride. We were able to ride everything because there wasn't much waiting so we did some rides over and over and over and...you get the picture. I lost count of how many times we rode the Buzz Lightyear Spaceranger Spin, it was close to 10 times, give or take a few. It was a little cold for Florida but worth braving the cold to be there without the crowds. At the end of the day, the boys were asked if they would like to ride with the captain in the Monorail. So Jeremy and the boys rode with the captain. FUN!

We loved having Grandma and Grandpa there with us! Jeremy and I actually had a night without the boys, and went to the beautiful Orlando Temple in the morning. That was the first time we have ever left Tanner over night, so Grandpa almost had to push us out the door. What can I say...I'm a mom...I love my kids...it comes with the territory! The boys had special time with Grandma and Grandpa that means more to a kid than anything money can buy. I don't think the boys will ever forget the time that Grandma and Grandpa took time out of their busy lives just to be with them and have fun! Our boys have the best Grandparents in the world! Thanks for the memories!