Let the Chaos Begin...

The holiday season is here! I have to admit that I love this time of year, but truly it is exhausting!

We celebrated Thanksgiving here at home this year. It was the "in-law year" for Dustin's family and normally we make it to Las Vegas, but this year circumstances were different. I'm hoping to at least make it in a few months!

It was a fun day. We had my little family, Dustin's mom and dad, and his brother, Spencer. His Grandma Nelson also joined us! I made some cute little turkey place settings, but forgot to get a picture, the table was so cute! We visited a few hours and then the day was done. I will say how lucky we were to have Dustin home for the holiday! It's a luxury, I'm finding out.



Here's a picture of out cute center piece. I found everything on clearance at Wal-Mart and put it together. It only cost me around $12!I love good deals! I wish I had the turkeys, they were so cute!

I woke up at 11:30 pm Thanksgiving night to make the best of "Black Friday". Holy cow!!! Toys R Us was crazy, I never made it in the store. They were only letting about 30 people in every 20-30 minutes. I would've been there FOREVER!!

I then made my way to Old Navy to wait in line. I got there at 1:30 am. My friend Camille joined me around 2. It was nice not to wait in the cold by myself, or in the amazingly long line at Old Navy that took an hour and a half to get through. Thanks, Camille.

I finally made it home at 6:45. I was tired, but I got everything I wanted! Target, Carter's, and Children's place were a breeze compared to that Old Navy. Dustin let me sleep all I wanted. thanks, hon! I got up around 12 and got ready for the day to do some more shopping! I was tired, but I sure was in a good mood! Who wouldn't be after spending all day doing what you love to do!!!Now I'm looking forward to wrapping it all and getting the Christmas decorations up!!

My 200th Post

And I've officially LOST IT!! How the heck am i going to get through all of this!?!?

Dustin switched to nights today. Maybe that's the matter.

That's all I can say.

Thanks for letting me vent.

PS I did find these, they helped! Goota love Hilary Weeks. She is such a funny lady!

He Suffered for Me!!

I realize I have been slacking on my daily thanks. Trust me, I have been thankful in my heart each day. I just haven't had the opportunity to stop, gather thoughts, and then write. It's a very time consuming process.

My thanks today is expressed toward my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know my words could never do Him justice, but I would like to try.

His example was was flawless! We are commanded to be like Him. At times that seems overwhelming and impossible to me. I am more "flesh" than I would like to admit. I lack compassion, love, and kindness at times. Obedience is hard to do without whining. How am I ever going to be "like Him" ?

I know that if I try to become like Him on my own, I will never make it. I don't have to do anything alone. He suffered and gave His life, so I wouldn't be alone. He suffered ALL things: our fears, our infirmities, weaknesses, sadness, heart breaks, so He would know how to help us. I am so grateful for this.

When we feel like we have done our best, what a blessing to turn it over to Him to make up the difference. My shack will be a mansion, my pinto a corvette (although I would really like a nice suburban), my tuna casserole fillet Mignon! What a miracle!!

He did all this because He loves me and wants me back Home. When I fail to reach my potential I realize it is because I am lacking faith to use the Atonemant in my life. How sad. After all that he did why would I waste it, why would I not cease every opportunity to be better? Well, I'm working on it. I want to live my best life and that will only happen if I allow him in to make me who I need to be!!

For Health and Strength

I have recently come to understand why "thankful for my health" has made it to the top of the list.

In our stake about 8 or 9 months ago, maybe even a year, a 41 year-old woman was diagnosed with liver cancer. The prognosis was not good and she passed away last month. She left behind her husband and 5 daughters ranging in age 17- 2. Dustin was on the high council with her husband and then worked with him in Stake Young Mens. I knew her, not extremely well, but I would consider her a friend. Our daughters played together, so we would see each other outside of church.

I can't even begin to explain how my heart sank when Dustin came home and told me the bad news. I thought, "How unfair. Her baby is one. She will never have a memory of her mom. Her girls are so young!" It is then that I became extremely grateful for my own health.

How lucky I am to have a body that works properly, for the moment. I learned not to take a day for granted. I don't know when my last day on this earth will be. I must make each day count! It is important to spend the day doing what REALLY matters: loving my family, serving where I'm needed, living right.

I'm not able to say with surety that I will always have a body that is capable, but right now I do. That is why I want to live my best life today!!

Friends Make Things A Lot Easier!!

Friends are so important in this life. I had the opportunity of spending the weekend with some good friends. Me, my mother-in-law (Lori), Wendy (sister-in-law), Tristan, and Camille all had a great time at Time out for Women. It was nice not to have to attend the function all by myself. I have done that before!

I am so grateful for all the friends I have made throughout my life. I remember them so well. I think some people are a little surprised that I remember them. It has been fun to reconnect with friends on Facebook. What a great thing!

I think Our Heavenly Father puts certain people in our lives at certain times to help us with what we will need. I love my friends Kellie and Kristin! They were my friends in Jr. high and high school. It was comforting to have friends who believe the same as I did. They always understood how hard being a teenager can be. While I don't keep in contact with them as much as I would love to, I know they would still do anything for me and I would do the same!

All my Utah friends I love dearly! There are so many!!! They have made being a mom a lot easier! We all understand what each other is going through! I have many close friends here. I hope they feel the same. I would do anything for all of them!

My sisters, sisters-in-law, and mom are family, but they are also my friends! I love them and I'm grateful for all they have done and still do for me!

I'm so grateful for friendship!




"Friends are God's way of taking care of us!"

"The friendship that can cease has never been real." Saint Jerome

"My best friend is one who brings out the best in me." Henry Ford

"The making of friends, who are real friends, is the best token we have of a man's success in life." Edward Everett Hale

Love you guys!!!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

I would not be where I am today if it were not for my belief in and belonging to tThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For this I am grateful. I am grateful to know what I know, that I am a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father, my life here has a purpose, and I can have all that He has one day.

I lumped all the blessings of the gospel into one post. I only have fifteen days! This means today I am thankful for:

1. prayer- how lucky am I to talk to Him everyday and I know he hears me!

2. scriptures- I know these contain all that we are to do if we want to live with Him again someday!

3. temples- I am so over joyed to know if we live right here, I can be with my husband and children FOREVER, not just "til death do you part" I enjoy going monthly to remind myself why I'm here and what I should be doing.

4. a prophet- in days of old the Lord had worthy men who were his "mouthpiece" it's comforting to know that has not changed, He has not changed.

The Holy Ghost- I consider it a privilege to have a member of the Godhead with me at all times if I live right

5. the Plan of Salvation- I am happy to know where I came from, what I'm doing here, and where I'm going.

6. the sacrament- it's nice to evaluate myself every week and renew my covenants.

7. callings- I know each calling I have had has helped me in becoming who I need to be.

8.the Priesthood- glad to know that God's power is available to worthy men to help protect, lead, ad guide me

9. Service- through the church I have had many opportunities to serve others.


I'm thankful to be who I am! I know it wouldn't be possible if it weren't for the things I believe in !

15 Days of Thanks

I was watching KBYU this afternoon. Marvin J Ashton was giving a devotional, reminding us to be a thankful people. I got lost in what he was saying. I started realizing that at times I am not as grateful as I ought to be. I have been blessed with many things, all given to me by the hand of the Lord.

His talk motivated me to think of one thing I am truly grateful for each day. So, I thought I would share with you guys and keep track all at the same time. From now until Thanksgiving it is my goal to record one thing each day.

What I am thankful for today:

I am thankful for family. I know it sounds a little cliche, everybody is always thankful for their family. But I feel it is so appropriate for family to be #1 in our lives. The family plays a HUGE role in our becoming who we need to be.

I am thankful for parents who taught me correct principles. They led by example. My parents supported me in all I ever attempted and in the end were my biggest advocates growing up (we don't ever realize that as teenagers). I'm sure, I KNOW, I did some things they did not agree with, but they loved my anyway.

I am grateful to now have a family of my own. I have a GREAT husband. He loves me. Anything he does I know he does for our betterment. He is a WONDERFUL father. He has a strong testimony of the Gospel and i love that he is so willing to serve the Lord.

I have been blessed with 5 INCREDIBLE kids! I feel very blessed to be able to raise them. I feel a lot of the time I am learning from them. They are so obedient and always want to do the right thing. We have our moments. i have many bad mommy moments, but we work it out together and become stronger.

I am thankful for my in-laws. I hear many people complain about the family they married into, but I do not have 1 single complaint! They are loving, caring people who treat me as part of their family. I have never felt out of place... ever! When I married Dustin I gained another set of parents, 2 sets of grandparents, 3 sisters, and another brother. I love them!

The family is an inspired institution. I can not think of a better place to learn patience, forgiveness, tolerance, compassion, any virtue, you name it, you will learn it in family life. I believe this is not by coincidence! It's all part of the plan and I am thankful to be a part of it!

Neal A. Maxwell said, (I know this is long, but it's good and true)

"A good member of the Church must understand the implications of his beliefs with regard to the home. This different commitment will mean, among many things, knowing—

—that because the home is so crucial, it will be the source of our greatest failures as well as our greatest joys.

—that home is the one place we will be in that will require us to practice every major gospel principle and not just a few, as may be the case in some temporary relationships.

—that the pressures of life in a family will mean that we shall be known as we are, that our frailties will be exposed and, hopefully, we shall then work on them.

—that the love and thoughtfulness required in the home are no abstract exercise in love. They are real. It is no mere rhetoric concerning some distant human cause; it is an encounter with raw selfishness, with the need for civility and taking turns, of being hurt and yet forgiving, of being at the mercy of others’ moods and yet understanding, in part, why we sometimes inflict pain on each other.

—that family life is a constant challenge, not a periodic performance we can render on a stage quickly and run for the privacy of a “dressing room” to be alone with ourselves, for the home gives us a great chance to align our public and private behavior, to reduce the hypocrisy in our lives, to be more congruent with Christ.

Thus, to commit oneself to home and family is to do a wondrous thing. It is a high adventure. It is not a task for those who wish to run away, nor for those whose human causes are chosen because the cause is distant and makes no real demands of them. It is the same for all the basic teachings of Jesus that constitute that solitary path to salvation."

Family, it's not for the weak!!

33rd Birthday!!

I have to be honest and say that I thought this birthday would be terrible for me. I knew Dustin would be working this weekend. It would be my first birthday without him. On my list of things to do were: finish cleaning, catch up with laundry, run around town for Dustin trying to find the CTR pins he needed and make a salad for his stake dinner (he still has not been released from his Stake YM calling, life has been crazy). Sounds fun huh? Yeah that's why I was little bummed.

Dustin told me he planned on taking me out to dinner on Friday. I was happy that we would be able to celebrate a little, even if it was a day before my birthday.

Friday rolled around and I was getting ready. I thought of where I might want to go. I always like to try new places, but I felt like Wingers. I love chicken! I wanted to look good, so I dressed up nice. Dustin came in and said, "Hey, do you mind if I just wear a t-shirt?" I wanted to strangle him! Could he at least act like this was a special occasion!

"No, I don't care what you wear." That's all I could say. It's a dumb birthday anyway.

We all climbed in the van, my bad attitude and all. I was still mad that Dustin was in a t-shirt. Dustin's sister, Taryn, offered to watch our kids for us. It would be nice not paying for a sitter.

We made it to Taryn's and Dustin said, "Larae, will you go get Taryn? I need her help." I went, but was curiuos to what he was talking about. We hadn't brought anything! I went any way. I knocked on the door and Taryn opened the door. I heard a loud, "SURPRISE!!" I was totally shocked! All of Dustin's family was there and a few of my friends, the Cordero's and Bullough's. I couldn't believe it! It was a surprise party, for me.

I had such a good night visiting with everyone. I was so thankful. Thanks Taryn and everybody who helped! Thanks for making my bleak, pitiful birthday into a memorable one!

Fun Fall Project

I'm not one for decorating up my house, but I do love the little projects my kids make. I wanted a cute something for Thanksgiving. I found a cute idea and wanted to try it out.

First go gather all your materials. You will need:



paper plate
fall colored paints
paint brush (I like the foam brushes for the kids)
fall leaves,pine cones (we went on a nature walk and found what we needed)
cute ribbon
pumpkin seeds (maybe beans will work or almonds)
buttons
glue
hot glue gun

We cut a hole out of the plate and then painted it brown. Next, glue on your leaves. After that you glue on you seeds and buttons. I then had the kids paint the seeds any fall colors they wanted. Last, we glued on the bow. I used the glue gun to glue loose items and bow.




I think they turned out really cute. I placed them on easels to display as a center piece, but I think kids would like them in their rooms too.

How My kids Got So Smart

I always thought it was genes, Dust and I are pretty smart, Grandmas and Grandpas are too! Then I thought it was their personalities. They are very confident, independent, speak their mind kind of kids. I believe a good mom makes a difference too. I work my butt off getting them ready for school!

Well, never mind all of that. Kate filled me in on the secret. It went like this:

Kate: "Mom, I know that cowgirls come from Texas."

Me: "Really? You're so smart. How did you get to be so smart? Is it because you have a good mom?"

Kate: "No. I watch Spongebob. He teaches me these things."

There you have it, our little secret. you want your kids to be overachievers? Just let them watch Spongebob. He'll teach them all they'll ever need to know!







Atleast she didn't say Patrick!



PS I know my kids are who they are because they were born that way. I don't want anyone thinking my head is that big! And I hate Spongebob! Do you think she knows this and that's swhy she said it? Too smart for her own britches!

Halloween Pictures

It's a good thing Camille had a camera or these memories would be lost forever!

What do you get when you cross...

a nerd, a zombie, Percy Jackson, Rambo, a vampire, a cowgirl, and a GOOD, little witch?


You get the Merritts! We all had fun dressing up this year! Too bad I was a slacker and didn't take any pictures. If I have time, I'll steal some!


(Dustin- nerd, Larae- zombie, Ryan- Percy Jackson, Aaron-Rambo, Grace- vampire, Kate- cowgirl, Becca- GOOD witch, she wouldn't be a bad one)