FRENEMIES

So, an epic fail on my Thankful posts! I always updated on my Facebook, but I keep forgetting to update on my blog.

Anyway, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Utah and it was an absolute blast!! I really miss those Utah Mountains, but as I visit Utah, and also grow spiritually, I find that Vegas is where I belong.

Along my path of spiritual growth and development, I have actually had to cleanse my soul of negativity. Which also includes negative people that only bring me down. I recently said this and I stand by it:

"It's okay to burn bridges if those bridges are leading you to a negative place."

I don't usually quote myself, but I really like this one! :)

I want to really get into this subject because I have recently been enlightened. Sometimes we make friends with people because they share the same interests or ideas. Sometimes it's because we have the same habits, either bad or good. There are many reasons why we make friends with people.
In the past, I became friends with all the wrong people. And I became one of those people. Since then, after changing my life around, I have realized that I don't share the same interests or lifestyles of these said friends, and it has been easy to detach myself from them and say, "good luck to you."

I recently had a surprise detachment. This person was someone I knew wasn't as loyal of a friend as I would hope for, but that has been a friend for a long time. I find that as time goes on and I mature, I cannot surround myself with those who live life always trying to be "popular" or those who constantly are judging others and gossiping about everyone they know. I have a really hard time with those people who are in the church who preach one thing and do the opposite. I call these people "Utah Mormons"

I say that generally speaking. There are SO many wonderful people and great examples of the LDS church in Utah. But, speaking from experience, I have noticed that moving away from Utah, there is a HUGE difference in the Mormons outside of Utah. There are absolutely "Utah Mormons" anywhere, but it has to do with their demeanor, and not where they are from. There is just a more accepting, less-judgemental way about the Mormons outside of Utah. But I digress.

Anyway, I recently had to confront this person about some un-kind and things that were said about me, and being the blunt person that I am, I would rather confront the problem and fix it. That didn't happen and needless to say, we are no longer friends. This is a sad thing, but a necessary thing. I wish her the best and I am happy with my choices in my life now. I am so very thankful for all of the supportive and loving people in my life. I appreciate the relationships I have now and even though I lost one of them, I feel it was for the best. :)

Which brings me to my point. I belong in Vegas. I spent the first 4 years of my marriage trying to convince my husband to let us move back to Utah and to get his old job back. But, as I visit Utah, I realize... I have made friendships that will last a lifetime here in Vegas. Friendships that are meaningful to me, the kind that I can be myself and not worry that one of my dear friends is hurting me or judging my every move. I would absolutely LOVE to live closer to my in-laws because they are so wonderful, but I've come to realize, I do have family here. :) I am so blessed with the love and support and caliber of friendships I have here. That being said,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! :)

Thankful D, E, F, G...

Continued....

D. I am thankful for DIVINE intervention! I feel this has happened many times in my life!:)

E. ETERNAL marriage. Tyson and I will be getting sealed this January on our 7 year anniversary! It makes me so happy to know that my family will be ETERNAL and I take great joy and comfort in knowing that.

F. FAMILY is everything. No matter who comes and goes in your life, you cannot stop being someone's mother, sister, brother, cousin, child, ect. Even when things are troublesome in relationships with my family members, I know that every single one of them will always be there for me. :)

G. GOOGLE. It is a saving grace all of the time. I absolutely love that I can type anything in the google search engine and the answers appear!

I just love this time of year and I think it is the most important in providing service for others. Use your God-given talents to enrich and better people's lives. that is when you feel the most at peace.

Thankful For....

It's that time of year again!! Time to document my blessings here! I missed yesterday so here it goes...

A- I am thankful for the Atonement. Without it, I would truly not be the person I am today!

B- I am thankful for BABIES and all of the joy they bring to their families and to me. They help me with my not being able to have any more of my own.

C- My CHILDREN who teach me more than I teach them and who make my life whole and complete.

It is so important for us all to realize our blessings. When we do this, our trials seem easier and our faith is stronger.

"LIV"-ing with the Sister Wives!!

6 days ago, a dear friend of mine asked me to go to a meeting for a new product. I was mildly interested until she told me that the Sister Wives would be there. I thought it would be neat to meet them, so I obliged her and we went.

I really did not expect to be so moved and so excited about a weight-loss health supplement. BUT I AM!! The company is called LIV INTERNATIONAL. My personal site is

www.livonline.net/mizkylie

Go check it out!! It is AMAZING! I am on my 6th day of all the products and I am waiting to be on this for a couple of weeks before I give you my full testimonial. I am a very genuine person and I will not sell anything that I don't love and fully believe in. I will post more on this later on.

Anyway, I hit it off instantly with Janelle and Meri Brown and was invited go to a training for the product last weekend. It was so much fun. I was then invited to Christine's house for a jewelry party last night, it was so much fun and I have to say, these women are the most inviting and caring women I have ever met.

Meri and I had so much fun just being silly. One of the daughters took my phone to take a picture of us being silly and she just kept taking them! Needless to say, I have 12 photos of us being goofy, I thought I would share!





If you all get a minute, I would love to answer any questions you have on this product and I WILL post more of my experience with the product over the next few weeks!

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL Halloween!!!

Womb-less

As I sit here typing next to my husband who is deeply sleeping, I am feeling very blessed. I've kissed my kids as they sleep at least 4 times tonight.. some call that OCD, I just call it being an awesome mom! ;)

I don't feel I am missing anything, although, technically, I am. I had a hysterectomy a week and a half ago. Yep. I am 28 soon-to-be 29 and I had my uterus taken out, by a robot no less.

I am blessed with two amazing kids and my husband actually had a vasectomy in 2005. So, we weren't planning on anymore kids, but I guess I always had that little hope that he would get a reversal.;) I think I only wanted another one maybe because I couldn't have one? I prayed about it often and felt I was, in fact, done having kids. Now, the deal is sealed.

It was the best decision for what I've been going through the last 6 years. Thankfully, I still have my ovaries so NO menopause for me this young!! phew!

The best part of having the surgery, is the amazing help we received from friends. I've never had such high caliber friends in my life. I know I've become a better friend the last couple years and I do try to give service to others, but the service my family has received the last couple of weeks would humble anyone.

Calls, meals, babysitting, rides, texts, emails, cards, ect. The list goes on. I am so grateful to be in this place in my life and have such amazing people that I trust and would do anything for close around me. One of the sweetest things I got was a beautiful bouquet of flowers the day after surgery from my ex-husband and his wife! They had just visited Las Vegas from Utah and they actually took both Kai AND Ashtyn out to get frozen yogurt. I am so grateful for my relationship with them as well.

I have a deeper appreciation for service. Even the little things. And, MEALS! Oh how they are such a blessing! Anyway, I'm feeling deeply blesses, grateful, and loved.

Ahhhh, I love my life.

Toothfairy....

Ashtyn lost her first "official" tooth today! She totally freaked out at first because, apparently, she thought that the tooth fairy, herself, took her tooth out of her mouth while she was asleep at night. She was eating a sandwich when she found out that was not the case. She asked me questions all day long.

"Mom, will the tooth fairy give me money or give me a toy?", "Does the tooth fairy have teeth? When she loses teeth, who takes them?"

Ashtyn wanted to leave a note for the tooth fairy. I went to get her some markers and paper and came back to this sitting nicely ON her dresser with a throw pillow on top of it! (see what I mean by bright?) It reads:

"I left my tooth for you. I LOBE you, Ashtyn" without the punctuation of course. She cracks me up.

.............................................

We love our new place. I decorated it SO cute and I have my lovely Scentsy burning in each room. Mmmmm, I love me some Scentsy. (Shameless plug) Let me know if you want to buy some for Christmas gifts or just to make your home smell lovely.

Ahem, anyway, we love our new house. We love our neighbors. It has been a great adjustment and I love being so close to the kids' school and being able to walk them to and from. NO more bus drama!

We are going to visit Utah the first weekend of October and go to a UTAH game! YAY! PAC 12 BABY! I am excited because we have not visited Utah during the fall in too long. I miss those fall leaves and the intoxicating smell of the harvest time.

Just a fun little update entry here. I will be able to flow better with my posts after I get the hang of it again.

XOXO- Kylie

P.S. Tooth fairy left some 'Hello Kitty' stationary, a personalized note, a Barbie toothbrush, some Aquafresh toothpaste, and some dog and cat tattoos for the Mini. :)

She is a bright one, she is. I took a couple of pics of them at church today for Tyson. I could not resist, they both looked so cute.

For your viewing pleasure, just some pics of the kids from church that I snapped for Tyson. They always look so cute in their Sunday best that I am always texting him pics. :) ENJOY!

Frugality?

Is that a word?

We just moved. It has been 2 years since we last moved. Las Vegas is the place to buy right now, it is soooooo cheap to buy a house here. We have been renting since we moved to Vegas 3 years ago. In order to buy a house, we need to have a good down payment to get a better interest rate and all that jazz.

I have been fervently praying for something. A change maybe? Then, just 4 weeks ago, we decided to move into a smaller home, still in the same ward that we love, with $500 a month less rent! We are closer to our friends and ward members and there are 3 pools here that are open 24/7, 365. Nice.

We actually really love this smaller home. It is something to get use to, but it is really clean and very homey.

I really want to start saving in every way and there are a few people I know that do the couponing stuff. I think I could totally get addicted to it. So, I am going to try it out.:)

The kids' new school is a short walk from my home and I love being this close to them. Since I am the PTA mom, I can be involved with the school much easier.

I would love to hear any other suggestions on how to save money here and there. Please post a comment, all ONE of you! ;)

Oh my Kai-Kai

Kai's step-mom, Tasha, texted this cute pic of Kai!

Oh this boy.... ahem, I mean, little MAN! He has been in Salt Lake visiting with his dad for 53 days now. It is always hard without Kai here. Tyson and I can handle it, although we miss him terribly, we know he needs that time with his dad.

Ashtyn, on the other hand, does not understand why her brother has to leave for two months in the summer. She gets SO lonesome and it breaks my heart to hear her say how she misses her brother. It also warms my heart as well to see the love they have for one another. We were looking at videos of Kai when he was a toddler and Ashtyn said, "I will always love my brother." It was SO sweet. Kai is always calling and talking to Ashtyn and I just love their sweet relationship. Don't get me wrong, they fight hard with one another, but they love harder. :)

Since Kai is never here for Ashtyn and Tyson's birthdays in July, we throw them a joint birthday party in Salt Lake when we drive there to bring Kai to his dads house and visit family. This year, we did this and that way Kai and my in-laws are able to celebrate their birthdays even thought it is usually a month or so early, it works out perfectly, I mean, who doesn't want two birthday celebrations?? This year, a few days before Ashtyn's actual birthday, we checked the mail and there was a big envelope with hearts all over it addressed to Ashtyn. I had no idea about this and I figured it was from one of my sisters, I brought it inside and I decided to let Ashtyn open it, it was from Kai and it was the SWEETEST birthday card. Also inside the envelope was a book called, "Purplelicious" the card read:

"You are my sister, it's my job to tease you! Happy Birthday!"
and Kai had hand-written this:
"Happy Birthday Ashtyn! I miss you and I miss teasing you! I love you and I will see you in 30 suns ups. Love Kai-Kai"

It was so sweet that of course, I teared up. Ashtyn was SO over-the-moon that she called Kai right away laughing about what he had written and she thanked him.
I am so grateful to his grandma and his dad and step-mom for helping Kai send these sweet messages to us.

We want Kai home and I cannot wait until next Sunday!! YAY!!

Johnny Five is Alive!!

Hey there blogosphere!! IF I have ANY readers left, How YOU doin??? I am not exactly sure why I haven't been posting over the past few months. I guess I just feel like my life is NOT that interesting.

This summer has been quite uneventful. Ashtyn and I just hang out at the pool, the park, or at the house and we have painted rocks, canvases, frames, and anything you can think of to try and pass the time while the heat keeps us indoors.

Ashtyn turned 6 on July 18th and Tyson turned 34. We had a big birthday bash for Ashtyn at the pool with all of her friends. She deserved it, we have never had a friend party for her and she is such a social butterfly that it was perfect for her! I must say, a pool party is the way to go because it entertains the kids the WHOLE time!

We also took a trip to Salt Lake in June and were able to stay for over a week! It was SO much fun and we were able to visit many friends and spend time with Grandpa Curtis who came in from Phoenix. I am blessed to have a very close bond with him and we just sat in an overstuffed chair one night and he told me stories from his youth. He is amazing and I just love him. Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great summer!! More posts to follow....

I am just going to post pics of our summer so far! ENJOY! :)

Easter

This Easter I really wanted to feel the true meaning of Easter. So, last night I watched a bunch of beautiful LDS videos on the Savior and his truly touching and self-less act of sacrifice. It brought me to tears thinking about it.

I put myself in Mary's position. I imagined my son, Kai, being nailed to a cross and watching him suffer. I broke down. I cannot put into words my love for my Savior and the sacrifice he made so that we could live. He endured more than I can even imagine and suffered and was betrayed by those closest to him. It really made me put things into perspective. I feel truly blessed to have all that I have in life and be surrounded by the most wonderful friends and family who lift me up and bring me joy in life.

We had a great day, so far, Tyson was able to join us at church since he has the week off, that meant a lot to me because I am usually there with just the kids and I always joke to people that Tyson really DOES exist!:) It was such a great day, Ashtyn wore her beautiful new Easter dress and hat. Kai was in Utah visiting his dad. He got a new outfit and wore it last week to church:)


I hope you all have a truly wonderful, joyous Easter!! :)