A Mom's work...

...is never done...

This was performed by one of my favorite LDS singers at Deseret Books' "Time-Out for Women".

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Hello, Monday!!!

This is how my day started...

For Family Home Evening, Kev got us free passes to "Hee-Haw Farms" pumpkin/harvest festival... The following pictures tell the tale.

There's a little bit of animal in all of us!

Let it slide

They each had their favorites...

This is how they measure up...

Braving the "Corn-Maze"

Going home...

The End...

General Conference

So, Amanda needed to see a live choir performance for her choir-class at school. Since General Conference came along at the perfect time, we got tickets from our Bishop and I took Jackie and Mandy to the Saturday Morning session. What a great experience!

I am SO glad I got to take the girls to a live session of General Conference! It was so important to me that they have this experience and feel the great spirit that was there.

Kevin took this before we left!

Bless the Utah Transit Authority for the TRAX commuter trains. It made the trip into Salt Lake so much easier. I didn't have to fight traffic or try and find parking! AND the train stops right at Temple Square, so we didn't even have to walk that far!

We weren't able to take any pictures during Conference, so here's the first one I could take after Conference was over.

What a great meeting. The Spirit was SO strong and the talks were amazingly inspiring! I hope the girls felt it, too. I hope their testimonies were strengthened. I know mine was!

A really nice couple took this picture for us! I had such a great experience, I hardly wanted to leave!!

I'm so glad we went! I really love this Gospel!

Sweet Sixteen begins!

The first part of Amanda's "Sweet Sixteen" Birthday present began with a trip to the Miley Cyrus Concert in Salt Lake. It was just me and Mandy, but we had a blast!!! I'll let the pictures tell the tale.

Getting ready to leave:

On the train to Salt Lake:

Waiting for the big event:

Passing the time with cotton-candy:

She's REALLY into that cotton candy...

It begins...

Miley singing "Bottom of the Ocean"

Singing "I Love Rock-n-Roll" on a Harley...too cool...and I EVEN like the color!

Concert Buddies:

On the train home with her now favorite article of clothing:

We had SUCH a good time!!!!

Invisible no more...

I've debated with myself over whether or not to even write this particular blog. In the end, I've decided to go ahead and share something that's been somewhat of a journey in my life. This is personal, so if that kind of stuff makes you uncomfortable, I won't be offended if you stop reading now. Ok...*heaving a deep sigh* Here goes nothing...

Have you ever been invisible? Try being a hugely overweight person (actually, DON'T, but try to imagine it if you can). I wouldn't have described this condition as "invisible" but a friend of mine, who is on part of this journey with me, put it that way and it seemed to fit.

Invisible...yup, that was me. Three HUNDRED and fifty-six pounds of invisible. You get used to it, but never truly comfortable. It's hard. People look at you, but don't really see YOU. All they see is your size. Most never look past that, to the person within. Imagine having to worry about fitting in a seat on a ride at Disneyland. Or asking the Air-Hostess for a seat belt extender because the regular ones don't fit around you. Imagine losing 10 babies to miscarriage and wondering if your weight is to blame. (Yeah, I carried that albatross of guilt for awhile...) Imagine... Next time you see a really fat person, try seeing them with better eyes than you normally would. They'll appreciate it, believe me.

There are many reasons why people become overweight. Often to those who've never struggled with this issue, those reasons sound like feeble excuses for self-indulgence. They're not...well, maybe some are, but usually they're very valid reasons. Some are medical, some emotional, some genetic, and some true gluttony. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I can attribute some of my excess pounds to all of those reasons. Whatever the reasons, I found myself in the miserable condition of being "morbidly obese". "Morbidly"... that sounds scary. ...and it is. "Morbidly-obese" means that your fat condition can kill you.

This is what "morbidly-obese" looked like on me in April of this year. Not exactly flattering, huh? Was I concerned? You bet! Was my family concerned? Certainly! Was I thrilled being that size? Not at all. Unfortunately, I didn't know what to do about it. That sounds really stupid, but that was how I felt. I had tried so many different diets, weight-loss programs, fads, etc. You name it and I had probably tried it. Sometimes things worked for awhile and I'd lose 10, 20 lbs., sometimes more, but nothing that lasted. Each time something would happen to make me stop, and the weight would come back on. It seemed for awhile as if I would have to content myself with maintaining my weight. Which I had done for a couple of years. Most of all, I had to decide if I could live a happy, productive life even if I never lost the weight. I had to be ok with me as a person before I could fix me as a fat-person. I got to that point, and it was a very liberating feeling. When I was sure I was being the person my Heavenly Father wanted me to be, I knew I was ok... I'm still working to be that person, but I know I'm on the right path.

At times I contemplated stupid things like purging or starving myself, but common sense always prevailed (guess I'm too practical to be THAT stupid). Believe me when I say that I explored EVERY option, even surgical options. Nothing felt right. Now, in case you think I was sad and miserable about this, all the time, I wasn't. I kept most of my concerns and thoughts to myself, only sharing them with Kevin. Why just Kevin? Because through it all, he loved me for me...just as I was; tonnage and all. In moments of despair, I would ask him how he could love me when I looked as I did. His answer always gave me hope. He said: "Because I'm in love with YOU...the beautiful soul inside. That's what I see when I look at you." Believe me when I say that to be loved that way is a gift. Thank you, Kevin.

So, you say, "Annette, get on with it...why talk about this, now?". Well, I'm getting there. Bear with me a little longer, there is an end to this tale, I promise.

Over the years, I knew my family, immediate and extended, were concerned for me. They didn't approach me directly, but I heard the whispers. I knew they were well-meant, but it was painful to know I was the topic of hidden conversations. Most likely, it appeared that I was not as worried about my weight as I truly was. To me, it was private and deeply personal. Often painful, and not something I felt like sharing.

What changed for me? Last year I had a terrifying visit with my doctor. My blood-sugar was edging up to the high side of "normal". I completely freaked! In case some of you don't know, both my parents were diabetic; non-compliant diabetics. Non-compliant means that they didn't follow the nutritional guidelines for diabetics. Along with my siblings, I watched my parents eat themselves to death. They both died due to complications from diabetes. My Mom had one of her legs amputated before she passed away. Dad had a massive stroke that left him partially paralyzed and severely handicapped for the last year and a half of his life. Certainly, the conditions that led to those events could have been prevented through better diet and exercise. However, I'm not here to play "coulda-shoulda-woulda"...it happened. It was heart-breaking to watch, but it happened.

Having gone through all of those experiences and caring for my parents before, during, and after them; I was a changed person. I vowed that I would never do that to myself or my family. Now here I was, a year ago, facing that same long, painful, terrifying road. I immediately started looking for the exit-ramp!!! I was NOT going there!!! EVER!!!

Thankfully, we have a loving, merciful, Heavenly Father who hears and answers our prayers. He certainly heard and answered mine. In June, I got information on a new diet. One I hadn't tried, but my doctor had actually recommended to me. Problem was that he wanted to charge me $500.00 a-month for the treatment. I couldn't afford that, so I couldn't even consider it at that time. The bottom line is I found the same diet at an affordable price, and away I went.

That was five months and 77 pounds ago. SEVENTY-SEVEN?!?!?!?! That's a small person. That's like one of my daughters a year ago. I stepped on the scale this morning and couldn't believe my eyes. Wow! I feel great! I don't see it as much as Kevin does, but I feel it in how loose my clothes are, and how much more energy I have. Look at my latest picture...can YOU see a difference?



I'm not done losing, but I'm definitely on the right road. I look down this road and see a long, healthy future with me in it. I see me hiking to the cave on Mt. Timpanogos when I reach my goal weight. Probably next Spring, so any of you that want to join me will be more than welcome! We'll have a party at the end!! With good, healthy, yummy treats, I promise!!!

Until then, I'm still a work in progress. I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing. My heartfelt thanks go out to all those who have been on the latest stage of this journey with me. Marc and Debra have been my latest dieting-buddies, but that's THEIR story to tell. I especially owe my deepest thanks to Heavenly Father and my family. Kevin and my girls loved me as much at 356lbs as they will at my goal-weight. That means more to me than they will ever know. They have been my biggest cheering section. Their support has kept me going. This time, I'm losing weight for me, but also for my future with my family. I pray it's a long and happy one. Thanks for sticking with me. This is the end of my blog for today...but not the end of my story. Stick around for the updates.

Dad's Birthday...

Today would have been my Dad's 77th Birthday! We've all been thinking of him and missing him, today

If they celebrate birthdays in Heaven, we sure hope he had a great one!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!
We love and miss you tons!

Drop by drop...

Today I had an adventure that ended in a Spiritual Feast! At the end of every September, the General Relief Society meeting comes around and I miss it. I end up having to read it in the "Ensign", or watch it later, via the internet. This year, I was determined not only NOT to miss it, but to be there in person. With that in mind, when the opportunity came to get tickets, I jumped at the chance!

With my sweet, patient sister-in-law, Debra bravely accompanying me, I set off! (Anyone who knows how directionally handicapped I am understands why Debra had to be brave to accompany me on this adventure!)

We drove up to Sandy, UT to catch the commuter train into Salt Lake.

The General Relief Society Presidency spoke, along with President Eyring of the First Presidency. What a spiritual feast we enjoyed. Debra was amazed at how quiet and reverent it was even with the Conference Center full. President Eyring reminded us of the Relief Society Motto:

Sister Beck and her Presidency issued a call to serve that seemed to light everyone with enthusiasm. Truly, drop by drop, our spiritual lamps were filled with the oil of faith and testimony.


Like the woman at the well, I feel as if I have drunk that living water which can flood through our souls as we worship the Father,and I feel as if I will thirst no more...

Have I mentioned??? I LOVE where I LIVE!!!!!!