long time I know

We have been on a bit of a roller coaster here in the Stewart home. But all in all we are grateful that we are still together. We move to our new apartment in a month that is here in Roy and we are really excited about that. Then on the 18th of Feb will be Ben's last day at walmart. He has been waiting for this day since the day he started there. I am grateful that he has stuck it out this long. Then our next HUGE thing we have coming up will be Ben leaving for basic. We are now down to 56 days till he leaves and he will be gone March 16th to September 1. Long time I know but our wonderful bishop has given us the okay to keep going to our ward even though we won't be in the boundaries of the stake. We will also keep the kids in the same school. We are trying to keep everything as much the same as we can for the girls because it's going to be hard enough having Ben gone.

I have tried to get the girls excited about this summer while Daddy is gone by telling them that we will be going on vacations. We are going to be going to OR for a family reunion which the girls and I will be traveling with Ben's brother and sister in law. That should be lots of fun as long as I have zanax and pain meds lol. Just kidding its going to be lots of fun. We are going to rent a 12 passenger van and road trip it with 7 kids and 3 adults. Kelly Ben's brother has already called dibs on driving and has let us know he will not be hearing the kids due to his ipod or ear plugs he will have in his ears. This one time I think it will be okay. I am just glad I don't have to make that trip by myself. Kelly and Michele have really stepped up to let me know I won't be alone when Ben leaves. It's great having family close. It also helps that our kids are around the same age and LOVE each other. I am also planning a trip back east to see my family since I haven't' been home for 6 1/2 years. That trip has less details due to the fact I haven't decided if I want to fly or drive. I want to fly since it's the quickest way there but on the flip side it's going to cost so dang much. Then we will have our move to where ever Ben is stationed. That's the travel I am looking forward to the most. To be back together as a family.

Having Ben gone will be a great growing season for me. I am really praying hard that the Lord will bless me with my anxiety and help me to stay calm during all our time alone. I already know that Ben will be missed because he has such a sweet way with the girls. He has a way of getting through to them when I can't. It's really sweet to see the relationship he has with each one of them. When Alex starts to act out a couple of hours with daddy alone helps her get the boost to start being good again. Aubrey is like me that she gets overwhelmed and then shuts down. Ben can come in and in less than one minute have her refocused, back on track, and smiling. Cecilia is a silly little girl and has to have "lulu" and her "silky" every night before bed (or really all day long) and Ben will search the house and car till he finds them for her. Then we come to Azlie that is a mama's girl totally but as soon as Ben puts on football she ditches me and snuggles with Ben. All he has to say to her is "you want to watch some football" and she will stop what ever she is doing and go to him. Then there's me. He is my comfort zone. The safety that I feel when all wrapped up in his arms is unmeasurable. He knows my quirks and how to deal with my good and bad qualities. He keeps me sane! All us girls will miss him so very much.

That is what we are looking forward to. I am hoping to get a new computer and Internet again so I can post pictures and keep up on everything. But like all good things I will have to wait for that.

Seven Years so soon!

Today is Ben and my anniversary and I have to say that this has been the funnest by far. Ben started by texting me at 12:02 a.m. and saying happy anniversary and telling me where he had hidden my present. He got me a camera since our last one had an unfortunate meting with the floor. So now our blog won't be boring any more and I can keep track of what is going on and the fun stuff we do.

Anyway back to today. I tried and tried to surprise him with something but that didn't work out too well for me. I took a picture that Ben's mom painted to get framed and he noticed that it was missing from the wall. Then I went online and bought him a pair of Rainbow Sandals (the best flip flops ever!). But while I was at work a number called my phone that I didn't know and let it go to voice mail. I then made the mistake of calling Ben and asking him to check it for me. It was the Rainbow Sandals company calling to tell me that what I had ordered was on back order and they would get me it asap. Well there went that surprise. So after the second surprise being wrecked I decided that I would call it good.

We were planning on going on a hike today but since it's unusually cool her and there was a chance of rain we bagged that and decided to just go and see where we ended up. We started our date by going to the mall and picking up some much needed items. Then we traveled on to Cafe Rio and got some food. So yummy! I wasn't too hungry so I had lots left over. We then decided to go to down town Ogden and check out I-fly, Fat Cats, and the rock wall and on the way I saw a guy who was talking to himself and so I asked Ben to stop so that we could give him our food. What a great guy because he did. We pulled up and I told the man we had some leftovers and asked if he would like them. He quickly agreed and mentioned that he was starving. Then after Ben gave him the food he made the comment that he was going to eat good tonight. We were just glad that we could help.

We really didn't find anything we wanted to do downtown so we went to Toads place and it was so much fun acting like teenagers again. We went go cart racing a first for me and I was totally in the lead but I was a good wife and let Ben pass me. When we were getting out one of the kids (11-13) pulled up next to me and in his true player style says "Heeyyy". I thought to myself "I am old enough to of mothered you." We then went and played a round of mini golf. I am so glad that Ben didn't marry me for my mini golf skills. I don't know what the final score was but where Ben averaged 2-3 hits a hole I managed 4-6. He won! We then went inside and played air hockey, skeet ball, basket ball, and went into a photo booth. Ben won everything except one of the air hockey games I won by one point. I will say that the first time we played he spanked me.

From there we traveled on to Riverdale and walked around different stores for really no reason. It was amazing to have 5 hours without the kids. It's been a long time since we have been able to spend that much time together alone. It was also much needed. It's funny what being married 7 years makes you think about. I know I started to reflect on the goals we had when we first were married and how we have kept them up. It's good to reflect and see where we can improve.

I really haven't had that much fun in a long long time. I am glad that I married Ben and that he loves me enough to stand by my side in all of our trials. He is the most amazing man and I am so thankful that the Lord has blessed us to be sealed together for eternity. Well we made it one year closer to eternity with each other. I love you BEN STEWART!

Pictures will be coming soon.

The Light at the end of the DEBT Tunnel

So I was reading an article in the June 2009 Ensign "Debt: power tools for family finances". Got to say it actually helped. It's really short article but has so much information. The church has a debt calculator that you input all your debt information and it calculates how long it will take you to pay off your debt and how much it will cost you. I did it for our family and it said that if we keep paying what we are it will take 28.1 years to be debt free (that's including the house). But if we use the roll over method we could be debt free in 12 years. Now I know this all sounds like a long time but if you look at it by doing the roll over method it takes 16.1 years off us paying on debt and it also calculates how much you will then have in savings you will have at the end of the original term. I was amazed at how much we would have at the end of 28.1 years. Now I know things will happen and this is only on the figures that are there now. But I have to say I am pretty stoked. So if you would like to see how long it will take you to get out of debt go to www.providentliving.org and click on "How soon could I pay off all my debt". Its a little scary to see how much you pay out each month in debt but it motivates me to get things paid off ASAP. Isn't the church great with all the tools it provides to us to keep the council that has been given to us. I mean really what excuse do we have. It gives us a step by step plan on how to follow the council of the Lord. AWESOME!!!


I hope this helps you see the light at the end of your debt tunnel.

Settled in!

So after our long trip back home we are finally settled. The laundry is never ending and there never seems to be enough time in the day to fold it all. Just when I get it down to one or two baskets all the sudden Ben produces more from the laundry room. I think he just waits till I get it put away and then he brings up his stash from down stairs.

We are totally furnished now thanks to the love of the people around us. I was able to take my frustrations with the insurance company out on the furniture that came with us but was unusable. I was tired of it looking like we were starting a furniture store in the garage so I took Ben's hammer to the three dressers that we had. It really did help to destroy those dressers.

Ben's been working graves at Wal-mart till his licences get transferred back here from WY. It's weird because the state of Utah took no time at all taking our money to get this done but to get the paperwork that we need is taking forever. Ben has also had the great opportunity to have to re due our front bathroom floor. When our renters moved in after a couple of months we were told the toilet was leaking so our property manager put two wax rings on to "fix" the problem. Then our renters broke the toilet and bought a new one but when they replaced it they did it wrong so we had "water" leaking between the floor and the ceiling of the garage. It's going much faster then when he had to do it to the master bath. It should be done tomorrow or on Monday since Ben is helping me to help one of the widows in the ward.

Besides taking care of my frustration with State Farm I have been trying to keep the kids quiet while Ben sleeps I have started to help take care of a widow in our ward that has taken ill. It has made me remember the old days when I worked out side of the home. I think I have decided what I want to be when I grow up. Who knows this may change and I haven't even told Ben yet so I don't think I will let it out here. There is a time and place.

Alex and Aubrey have been signed up for Kindergarten and they are super excited for that. The school that they will be going to offers a summer preschool program that I was lucky enough to hear about so they will be doing summer school. Ben told the girls this was the one and only time that it was okay to do summer school. I just had to laugh. Aubrey has lost her two bottom front teeth and looks so cute. Alex actually asked for me to help clean her room and didn't sit around and watch me do it. I think the real reason behind that is because I told her she could "decorate" her room with some pictures (ones she colored) and that got her motivated.

Cecilia has become our grammar girl. If I say "can you get me the milk out of the fridge" she will correct me by saying "do you mean the refrigerator". If you shorten any word you can bet you will hear her saying the correct one. She has also upgraded to a BIG girl bed (a twin) since now her and Alex share bunk beds.

Azlie is always on the move. She's one and nothing seems to stop her except the need to sleep. And the stinker that she is she will not sleep unless in her car seat or in her crib. It makes Sundays so much fun. Ben and I normally just trade off at church. She is so dang cute and we have found out she loves the slide and the swings at the park. She actually put herself down one of those huge twisty slides. No one was up there with her and then all the sudden she was at the bottom where Ben was keeping a close eye on her.

That's our life in a nut shell.

Our long trip home

We finally made it home to our beautiful house. It was around 9:30 when we pulled up and I'll tell you what I couldn't of been more pleased to be anywhere. As some know Sunday was a very trying day for our family and yet it was a day of great spiritual growth for us also.


We started our trip on Friday around 6 and drove a couple of hours to make some progress towards our home in UT. We stopped in Altoona, IA and stayed at a nice hotel. The girls loved being there and the trip went really well. On Saturday we drove and drove and drove. It was the longest leg of our trip driving. We drove about 12 or 13 hours. We got through Nebraska and were a good portion of the way through Wyoming when we started to have some crazy weather. Since we were towing a 25 ft camper trailer in back of our car and the weather was so crazy we decided to stop in Laramie for the night even though it was only around 6. We had planned on pushing through and getting home around 12:30 a.m. We were able to get some food that wasn't served through a window and again stayed at a really nice hotel. The next morning Azlie woke Ben and I up at 4 and since we were both up we decided to get things going after laying awake in bed for 30 minutes. The girls got going and were excited to get home. We started out on the road about 5:40 and at 5:50 all of our worldly possessions were on the side of I 80 W.


The weather in WY continued to be crazy all night and into the morning. Bobbert (our excursion) had a good inch of ice and snow on it when we came out in the morning. We scrapped it off and cautiously set out on our last leg. We had only gone about 7 miles when we drove over one of those over passes that are installed so the animals will go under the highway and not over it. Well the ice had formed and when we drove over it as soon as the trailer touched it it started to fishtail. Ben did an awesome job controlling the car as much as he could and saving us. But in the process our trailer flipped and everything we owned was on the side of the road. I will say that I felt the Lords hands around my family that day in so many different ways. First off the police officer that responded to the call said that 9 out of 10 accidents where trailers flip they also take the car along with them. Our Bobbert had limited damage (we now know about $3200 worth). Our front tire bead broke so we only needed to spend $10 to get that fixed. Better than the 130+ it would of been to replace it. Also one of the side back windows broke and Cecilia was sitting right next to it and she didn't even have a scratch on her from all the glass nor did anyone else that was in the car. All the kids were just fine. Alex was the most upset but I think she was more worried about losing her favorite stuffed animal than anything else. When I told her that everything we lost could be replaced she started to perk up. Also since it had been a long trip I took some of my heavy duty anxiety med that morning. That alone was a blessing since if we had gone through all of this without it I would of needed to go to the hospital and be treated there. I remember thinking when taking that med in the morning that I wasn't really feeling anxiety but that I should take it just in case. Since I had taken my strong med I was feeling really tired and was looking forward to sleeping for a couple of hours and was laying down on the front seat without my seat belt on. Yeah I know I was stupid, Ben gave me a stern talking to about not doing that again. If the trailer had flipped the car also I would of most likely been thrown. There are really too many things to list where I could see the Lord protecting us.


After we had called the cops and our moms I called our new old bishop and asked to have a meal brought into us because of what happened. That turned into our ward getting together and stocking our house with really everything we would need. We had bed set up and made, food in the fridge and the pantry totally stocked, furniture in the living room and family room, towels and poofs in the bathrooms along with soaps, shampoos, conditioner, baby wipes, diapers, toothpaste, toothbrushes, TP, girl products. We had cleaning products, and a kitchen table and chairs, dishes and cups, paper goods in the cupboards. I will say that the tears of sorrow from the beginning of the day quickly turned to tears of joy and gratitude. I am amazed at how blessed we were and how so many people stepped up when they didn't have to. We have some great friends/ward family here. Both Ben and my mom have also stepped in to help with whatever we need also. It is so amazing to me that people would go out of their way to do what they did for our family. Times are hard all around and I know that we are not the only people in need and we had planned on replacing things slowly when we had the money to but thanks to some great people we are able to focus on getting settled and back into our new old home.


After we moved away from this house I wouldn't come back in because it was so hard to leave and I didn't want to have negative feelings about leaving. We didn't leave here because we didn't like our home or where we were but for Ben to move onto the next stage in his career. There was something bitter sweet about leaving. In the whole 14 months that we were gone I kept telling Ben that when we found a new home I really needed to love it because I wanted to stop missing our home in UT. I never found that home. We came close and I am so grateful that we have been able to come back and settle down here. I have to say that I can see us staying here for a long time. Something that I always hope for with each move but can really see now. It's almost like we had to go through all this moving this past year to have the Lord drill into us that it was time to stop or to beat that moving spirit out of us.

Thanks to all who supported us through this year and who were willing to continue to support us in the good and the bad times. We love you guys so much.

We have set the date

I'll get to have my own bathroom again. That's Cecilia by the way

But best of all I'll get to have my own home again. No more renting or borrowing. I'll get to sleep in a bedroom on a real bed and have some type of privacy or somewhere to escape to. There aren't words to explain the feelings I have.

We have been saying that we will be moving the first part of May but we are so excited to get back to our home and for Ben to start working that we have decided to go a little earlier. Ben gave his two weeks notice today. I have been telling him we should go on the 15th but he won't have that. His last day will be on the 23rd and then we will be taking the weekend to load up and clean the apartment we have been living in. Our departure date is Monday 27th. The packing will start this weekend. I get to have the fun job of going through EVERYTHING and getting rid of what we don't need. Really by now you would think that since we have moved so much and every time we do I get rid of stuff that we wouldn't have anything left. The amount of junk that a person has never ends. I am still waiting to hear from our land management company about our renters leaving. They were suppose to be out on the 1st which turned into the 4th which then turned into the 6th and today we are still waiting to find out if they have left. The house is going to be quite crowded if they are still there when we get there. That's the latest in our lives. I am trying to stay focused on my calling since I haven't been released yet and still have those sweet souls to look over. I will really miss my calling. I have never had more fun in any calling. I still say the Lord wants me in the primary because I'm not mature enough to go anywhere else. I'm okay with that.

Sending a shout out

We found out today that one of Ben's longest friends father has colon cancer. I don't know too much about the situation but I was just wondering if you could include them all in your prayers. Jimmy Anderson at times was like a father to Ben and helped shape him into the man that he is today. I know all to much about what the Anderson family is going through since my mom battled cancer herself. All the prayers that can be offered would be such a great blessing to the Anderson family. We will be praying!