{[New Year]} ~ {[New Routine]}

What happened to 2011?

{[So many wonderful things have happened in such a short period of time!]}

With the beginning of a new year, our family has decided to make a few changes. Even though they are small; we know it will be beneficial for all of us to become a stronger and unified family.

I'm so excited to share with you what we have in store. The changes we are implenting more are:

{[Saturday Family Movie Night]}

Every Saturday we will gather as a family and spend 30 minutes sprucing up our house getting ready for Sunday. And then the fun begins..... We will watch a rated G movie and enjoy dinner together on the floor. Eden asked if we can either have pizza or tacos every week. Of course, we said yes!

{[Family Meetings]}

Every Sunday after we return from church and get settled in we will meet for a family meeting. We will begin with an opening song, prayer and conducted by Joel. We will have an open forum where anything can be discussed. If we can't make a decision, we will move it to the next week or when time arises. Eden will also receive his payday during these meetings (listed below) and close with a prayer.

{[Job Chart]}

Eden has been working really hard on making a routine with completing his chores in a timely manner everyday. Joel & I have decided we are going to paying him for his duties performed. Jobs will include: brush teeth, get dressed, make bed, scripture study, daily prayer, school, chore assigned, pajamas on, bath, etc. For every job he completed he will get 1 point. 0 points = 0 credits, 1-9 points = 1 credit, 10+ points = 2 credits. At the following family meeting Eden's performance will be evaluated and credits issued. For each credit he earns 5 cents. And if he has a perfect week (10+ credits) every day for 5 days, his credits double! We will also monitor him on a quarterly basis and if he averages more than 8 credits everyday for 4 months, he will earn a special priviledge.

Eden will be required to pay 10% tithing and 20% toward savings. The remaining 70% he will be able to spend toward clothes, toys, etc. I believe Eden is old enough now to be responsible and start earning his own things. I've read a lot of books issued by church members and they recommend instilling these factors at a young age. I want Eden to appreciate as much as possible - even if he is only 6.

{[Family Home Evening]}

Joel & I have always felt it important to have FHE in our home and every couple weeks we are successful and do a lesson/activity with Eden. But I need to be honest and admit, I haven't done it on a regular weekly basis. This needs to change and we are ready to make that commitment. We are dedicating every Monday evening to FHE after dinner. We have cleared out our calendars!

{[Planning Meeting]}

Even though I am home with Eden, I am finding that I truly don't have any "alone" time. Usually, I never think about it but every couple of months I just need a time out to get my own life in order - I hope someone can relate to this. So, I have asked Joel to give me 30-60 minutes every Sunday evening after Eden goes to bed to plan out my week and make sure everything is in order. I've felt really burdened with homeschooling lately because I feel I don't take enough time to schedule things and just kind of "fly by the seat of my pants", even though there is a curriculum that is super easy to follow.

Anyways, it will just be a short time that I can close the bedroom or office door and have no interruptions. And, I will offer the same to Joel but at this time he says he doesn't need it. His quiet time is a nap to rest before starting his crazy work schedule over again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, there you have it......

That is our goals for 2012!!!

I pray for your good health, stable income, and family unity.

{[Happy New Year]}

Autism Speaks.... It's time to listen.

I've been thinking a lot and had the impression to really educate others on Autism Spectrum Disorders.

{Did you know that 1 out of every 110 girls have Autism? And 1 out of every 70 boys? Those are numbers are outragious!}

Even though there is no diagnosis for Autistm Spectrum Disorders, there is other ways to help these kids in need:

~Speech/Occupational/Physical Therapy

~Special Education

~Autistic Schools

~Support Groups

~Athletics

~Regular Health Visits

~Love

~Respect

~Being Recognized

I want to find a way to better educate my own community. I have had the ability to search via internet, books, and professional councelors and psychiatrists thus far. So, you may ask, what is my challenge? My challenge for myself is to become even more aware of the statistics and finding of these disorders. I pledge today to begin my search for more answers for Autism Spectrum Disorders. I promise to never give up on my son and help him and other children succeed in our communities and become better people.

A Great Blog!

So, I know I don't have a huge amount of people that follow my blog.... But, I want to introduce a great one for you. It is called Grosgrain - you can access it here:

http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/2011/11/50-holiday-gift-card-from-novica.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2Fgrosgrain+%28Grosgrain%29

Grosgrain is a fun blog. She shares ideas from herself and others for home crafts and little pick-me-ups. Fun, fun, fun!!! There is also a great give-away being offered right now on her site! It is $50.00 to use on the Novica site. If you don't know what Novica is, please visit the Grosgrain site. It ends November 24 - so hurry!!!!

Mixed Emotions

My goodness, it's amazing how I can be so down in the dumps (I will explain in a moment) and then be so lifted by the love of one person ( will explain this too!)

Today started out so beautiful. I woke up to find a frost on all the car windows and a light fog that the sun was shining down through. I like to think Heavenly Father shines that light just for me sometimes! (Atleast, it makes me smile.)

I have decided to start cleaning once a month for a church member. She just needs a little pick up and since her MS is getting out of control, she's asked me to step in and help her husband out with the "womanly things". So, I get to her home and Eden is really enjoying himself. He is bringing so much joy to Sister M. and I get the sweeping and mopping done to move on to vacuuming.

I start the vacuum and Sister M. starts talking so I shut it off. She stops, I start again. Then she talks again, so I shut the vacuum off again. Third times the charm right?! Well, not in my case.... I started the vacuum and has not even pushed it forward and I head glass falling and the floor vibrate. All that I remember at that instant was both Sister M. & I saying "uh oh" at the same time. Her 5 shelf hutch collapsed. All 5 shelves, holding 5 generations of crystal that had been handed down from England.

I know I didn't cause the fall but I can't help but feel responsible. And sweet Sister M. does not hold me responsible at all. She said that Heavenly Father has a plan and was sure that her favorites were saved. I offered to immediately pick it up and sort through stuff with her, but she will wait until tomorrow and do it with her husband.

I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. But I will call her tomorrow and apologize again and see if I can come out and help out in any way. That is, if she will let me come over again!

So, as I've struggled all day with this I had a feeling to read through my blogs. I wrote a blog last week about Stake Conference and there was a single comment: "Thank you Staci, your words strengthen me." What? My words? Trust me, I am not one with wisdom or even the knowledge of how to use our language correctly! But D. knew to share the words that would lift my spirits and remind me that Heavenly Father does love me. And even through struggles, He will guide my path and keep me strong.

I am so thankful that Emiley married into the Rios family because they came into my life too. I think of them all constantly and D. and J. They are amazing people. And I am so thankful for the family with a special nephew and niece to light my path. Being an auntie is as amazing as being a mama.

Love,
Staci

Another Joyous Stake Conference

Well, we've returned from another wonderful stake conference. I am so refreshed and feel like life is so good right now!! The past two days have been amazing.

Saturday, we started off with President Price conducting and we had two guest speakers that bore their testimony. Both being converts too. Brother (??) stood up and the first things out of his mouth "It's a miracle, I am here today." My tears started immediately. How could someone feel the same exact way as I did at that very moment. He went on to share his past history of very hard life growing up with parents not in the gospel and the struggles that came with that. - Once again, I think on that daily! This brother, then went on to share how he knew only the gospel to be true and that he was the first in his ancestry to take the step to stop the bad habits that had over come the rest of his family. He wanted to have a wife sealed to him in the temple and children under the covenant. He wanted to know that there was a Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and learn to honor them. And you know what, this amazing brother did just that. He accepted Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Spirit to come unto him. The blessings have been tremendous and he is ever so thankful for these gifts.

All during conference, I could feel this enormous weight on my shoulders. I felt like I was sinking lower and lower in my chair. All of these thoughts kept passing through my mind from my past, and I just prayed. Nothing else, but prayer. I can't tell you all of what was talked about during conference, but I can tell you Heavenly Father knew I was there. He had a purpose for me. And I believe it to be that he was showing me that it's ok to move forward and live a gospel centered life. To leave the past where it is and to search only for what today and the future holds. To love my family with all of my heart and never let anything be in the way of that. To love and cherish Heavenly Father and sing praises to his son as well. Be diligent in my prayers, know my Father is always listening and guiding me.

When President Tree stood to share the closing remarks, I felt that pressure release. In President Tree's words, he shared to not be afraid of Heavenly Father. To only seek to find him more in our lives everyday. And to help those around us feel the same way too. He reminded us that right now we might be struggling, but to get on our knees and pray. Our hearts will be healed. President Tree gave us a promise that many leaders have given before. He said, "We are never alone and will always be guided by the Spirit if we just listen."

I walked away from this meeting with a new perspective on life. I need to work harder on turning to Heavenly Father for all of my answers. I need to never give up, there is something better just around the bend if I keep reaching. I need to tell my family more how much they truly mean to me. And share my testimony more with others, not just my journal. My words might be heard by someone else and help them at a hard time. We never know why we are put in the situation we are until we have completed the task. Heavenly Father will reward us for our service.

Love,
Staci

Something new...

First, the past two nights have been amazing. We have had the most beautiful full moon. The past couple of months, every time there is a full moon we have had huge wind storms and rain to go along with it. But last night, was AMAZING!!!

We are well into week 2 of homeschooling. It's a lot of fun! Eden and I have really enjoyed our time together. He tells me everyday, that this is way more fun that "regular school" except he misses his friends. But we have him in soccer in Superior and we go regularly to church. So, he still get quite a bit of interaction.

I was looking back on an article that a community member shared with me. It's titled "Why we homeschool" and is written by Lawana McGuffey. She has children that are both biological and adopted into her family. They are an inspiring family and helped me make the final decision to homeschool Eden.

As I said, I read her article again (for about the 100th time) and still have the same warmth in my heart, knowing that I am doing what is right for my child. He is being educated in intelligence, knowledge, love, relationships, manners, the gospel and so much more at home. We say the Pledge of Allegance every morning, have an opening prayer, sing a primary song and begin our day after this.

Thank you Heavenly Father for opening my eyes to the needs of my child. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Love Staci

Home School Day 2!

Every morning, we start with the daily bulletin, Pledge of Allegance and a prayer.






Eden working on his ABC review for the day.


Well, we started homeschool yesterday (Monday). So far, so good. Eden and I are both enjoying are time together and learning even more about each other through this experience.

We have converted our play room downstairs into a classroom setting. All the toys were put into sealable pins and stacked during school time. Eden has his own desk, chair and work area. He says that is really important at our "home classroom" so he feels he is in class still.

His classes are english, reading, science, math, history, art, pe and music - same as any other school facility. Although the same, different in so many ways! We researched and researched to find a great curriculum for Eden to study and learn. Finally, we found a christian based instruction and fell in love instantly. It goes through 8th grade and completely accredited. I'm very excited about it!! I've reviewed the books a dozen times and feel more comfortable about our decision every time.

Eden was able to attend yesterday (Monday). We had 6 hours scheduled and he was done in 2! Since it is the beginning of the year, a lot of it is review for him and he didn't get stuck during any of it. I'm so proud of him. He says, "I must be really smart to get it done so fast Mom". Yes, yes he is.

Yesterday, we had planned to go to Missoula. I had a surprise set up for the entire family. We got a pup! A large pup, lol! He is a purebred Lab and 10 months old. So, he is almost full size and very much still a pup. He came to us with the name "Rex". We were able to get him from a young family that bought him at 7 weeks and couldn't afford him after having triplets! (I got to see the babies too. They were darling and only weighed in the range of 7lbs at 3 months! They were so precious.) After bringing him home, he was pretty excited and our other dog, Abbey, was not caring for another animal coming in. We knew she would have a protective instinct. Abbey did well and continues to do so. She is testing her patience and giving him room to get adjusted. I've found that Abbey stays close to me now. She hasn't left my side except to eat and go outside. Which doesn't last long at all.

We had a family meeting today and discussed how excited Joel and Eden are for Rex coming into our lives. They both haven't stopped petting and playing yet, and the dog is just eating it up! We start training with him tomorrow. He is completely house trained and does not chew on anything. What a blessing! He does have a chew rope that he carries with him - which is really cute to watch. Rex has the cutest brown honey eyes that melt my heart.



I need a better camera. This does no justice to Rex. He is much more beautiful!

This is Eden sitting next to a HUGE waterfall up at Diamond Lake. It's only about 20 miles from our house. So, I thought this will be fun for a Family Saturday. We fished and caught 7 trout, bbq, and hiked. It was a really good day for Eden. He is such a sweety.

We have been having a lot of hard times with Eden lately. For those that don't know, Eden was diagnosed with Asberger's (Autism) in September 2010. It took me 2 long years to get him diagnosed and finally we had a path to follow for speech and physical therapy, as well as educational needs. It hasn't been an easy road.

Education needs have been hard to meet. His IQ tests were really high and did not qualify for S.E. (Special Education) but needed behavioral management. He couldn't get that because he doesn't qualify for S.E. And he wasn't receiving speech at all! And it is also mandated for every child with an autist spectrum diagnosis to have special education as well. So, this led to the decision to homeschool.

Eden was having a hard time adjusting to a classroom setting and behaving poorly. School officals were calling constantly and we have found a solution. He will be at home full time and I will be transporting him for speech therapy.

Joel and I have also decided to look into treatment options for Eden. Like I said earlier, he is having a really hard time with any activity; church, school, park, home, etc. We believe we need to get a another licensed professional in the picture and discuss medication. *No dirty faces* I am fully aware and don't believe in medication unless it is of absolute neccesity. We hvae come to that point and only want the best for Eden. He will be seeing the doctor tomorrow. Updates to come.



*Thought it would be fun to add this cute photo. Joel and Eden holding hands at Diamond Lake. They sure love each other.*


Love,
Staci

New School Year = More Growth

Hi Everyone! Well, today marks a day. In another two weeks school will begin. Joel and I have decided to homeschool this year. We researched (and researched some more) to find what kind of a curriculum we wanted to follow. We wanted to definitely to keep it christian based and be able to implement our gospel beliefs in daily learning. And, I have found the perfect format to do so. I can across a family that has done homeschooling for over 27 years!! Yes, that is amazing. Diane has taught all of her 9 children and now helps with her grandchildren.

The curriculum we decided to purchase is 1st grade level and looks like so much fun. We received it in the mail yesterday and I have yet to put it down! I'm just as interested as Eden is. He's even begun his math workbook already because he likes it so much!!

With schooling here at home, I will be able to implement a lot more responsibility that I want Eden to be learning. For example, today he was interviewed and hired for 3 jobs. He is now responsible for feeding our dog, cleaning up all dishes after breakfast and lunch (and sometimes dinner) and he will be in charge of making sure his morning cares are all done WITHOUT being asked (i.e. brush teeth, dressed, make bed). He will earn 1 penny for chores being accomplished and at the end of the month, Joel and I plan on having a FHE that discussed tithing and start him on that as well. And Eden feels so important having his jobs, he even called the neighbor boy over to tell him how much responsibility he has now and is earning a paycheck! LOVE IT!!!

But it hasn't been all work today. Eden and I were able to enjoy 2 hours in the pool today, moved the yard and weeded the garden. I would have to say we had a successful day! Can't wait for more to come.

Love,
Staci

The Nelson Family

Hi Everyone! Jeez, it has been forever since I have been on blogspot. I promise, I will be on more often to share our stories! Well, I guess I will start at the beginning.

Brittany & Joel

Joel and I met online (yes, online) and started talking when I first moved over to Idaho. We hit it of right away and were talking via email, usps and phone all the time. We were able to open up and talk about things that we hadn't shared with others and feel comfortable about it. We were excited to hear from each other! This lasted about 5 months before we actually met. I had went down to visit my Mom in Libby and drop Eden off for 2 weeks. On my way home to Idaho, I stopped and met him and the kids for the first time.

Elizabeth with our "grandma" Abbey. We saved her from a neglected home this year!

Just like it was ment to be, the time was amazing. Brittany, Howard, Emily and Elizabeth were so sweet and kind to make my time memorable. We went to lunch that day, shopping (I got a cute candle) and played wii all evening. I stayed over at my Dad's that night and then went back to Idaho the next day. We continued our communication while I was back to work and decided that I wanted to come back to Montana. Eden was also having a hard time in school and really missed the family in Montana. About a month later, I was back in Montana.

Emily (12), Joel, Brittany (15)-on bottom, Eden (6), Howard (13), Elizabeth (9)

Time really flew by from October to January and a lot happened. Joel and I were able to spend almost every weekend together until I moved to Saint Regis. We had the kids a lot and they really enjoyed being together. We had decided to be married January 29, 2011.




We had a small ceremony held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints chapel in Superior, MT. Our Branch President, Mark Farris performed the marriage and we had our closest friends and family there. Although it was a civil marriage, we have full intentions of being sealed in early 2012. It was a really nice ceremony and followed up with a dinner at the church. We then went home for the night to celebrate as a "family".

Howard & Eden

So, we are going on 6 months now and really enjoying our time. We have lots of laughs and enjoy trying new things. We have our fair share of struggles, but through Heavenly Father we can accomplish anything! Joel and I still have a goal to be sealed in the temple. We are in the process of adopting Eden to Joel, so he will be included in our sealing as well. Eden is so excited too!!!

Emily, Brittany & Joel goofing off

We have been so blessed to have the Gospel in our lives. Joel is the 2nd Counselor in Elders Quorum and I am Enrichment Leader. I have a R.S. Meeting this Thursday. Eeeeek, talk about nerve wracking. But it should be lots of fun. I have put a lot of time and effort into this night. Please, keep me in your prayers for a great night of testimony and faith!