Christmas Blessings!

Hello Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas!  I had a fantastic Christmas, it was fun to celebrate with family.  I love my nieces and nephews and it is always so magical to watch them experience everything Christmas brings.

I very thankful I was able to be home for a few days before the holiday.   I spent four days in the hospital prior to Christmas.  Once again, I had trouble with a GI bleed.  I think it will always be a challenge in my life, hopefully with the right medication and good doctors I can manage the problems that come with my fun blood clotting disorder!

I am so thankful for my Mom and the traditions that we have during the holidays. We had a wonderful dinner, opened presents and played a fun game with everyone except Mike and the girls.  I wish that he had been able to be here.  It is so hard when family is out of state.  I wish we could have been all together.

My little Niece Ellie got an American Girl doll from Santa.  She was sitting on the couch talking to me and she said.  "Aunt Karley, this came from Santa because it cost 100 bucks and my Mom and Dad don't have that much money"  It was so cute!  She is so much fun.  I love that little ones believe!  It is such a fun time and they grow up so fast.  I asked her if she wanted to come and have a sleep over with me.  She said that would be sooo fun!  I asked what we would do and she said, well we would pop some popcorn, watch a movie, and eat some candy..... I told her that works for me.  It will be fun to spend some time with her, she is so much fun!

I cannot believe that Madisen and Parker are 16 years old.  It seems like yesterday they were just little babies.  It makes me feel so old!  I love all of them, they are fun and are "a few of my favorite things" in this life.

This season is somewhat bittersweet for me.  My Dad passed away ten years ago in January. He was so sick with lung cancer and I just remember that last holiday when he struggled just to talk to me on the phone.  It was so hard for him to breathe.  I am thankful for the knowledge I have that I will see him again one day.  It is the only way to get through death in this life.  I am grateful for the gospel and all of the blessings it affords each of us.

I am looking forward to the new year, my only New Year's resolution is to be healthy and back at work soon!  It has been so hard being home and I look forward to the day I can get back to work and busy again!

I am most thankful this season for the birth of our Savior.  I am grateful for that baby that came to earth so that we might live.  I am thankful for all He blesses me with, I love my Savior and there are no words to adequately express my love for Him.

I hope that all of us will remember to keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts not just at this time of year but throughout each and every day.

I love you all and am thankful for your love and kindness in my behalf!

Let's talk soon!
Karley

My 12 wishes for Christmas

Hello Everyone,

I decided to share with you my 12 wishes for Christmas tonight.  They are personal and they are mine.  I know that many of us share different beliefs about a variety of things both temporal and spiritual.  So, know that these wishes come from my heart, they are my hopes and dreams for Christmas.

1.  I wish for comfort.  I wish I could soften peoples hearts and provide comfort for everyone.  It is my hope personally that I can recognize the comfort that He sends me on a daily basis and apply it to my life and the lives of those I love.

2.  I wish I could talk to my Dad.  There are so many things I want to tell him right now.  I miss him and I love him and he left too soon.  There has been so much time that has passed by and yet it just seems like yesterday he died.  I wish I could give him one more hug and tell him I love him.

3. I wish to thank  Paul and Lynette Cardall, good friends who teach me what it means to become more like Him, the Lord has blessed my life with such good friends and although I don't keep in touch like I should, I sure hope they know I love them!

4. I wish I could hold my baby.  Right now she lives with my Heavenly Father.  Oh how I miss her, I wish I could rock her to sleep, see her smile and watch her grow.  But that will have to wait for another season.  I love you little one!

5. I wish to laugh more in the next year.  I love to be happy and to laugh.  Sometimes life is so tough and it feels so good to laugh! 

6. I wish to thank my ward, my Bishop and other leaders and friends there.  I am home and I belong in this ward, and in my house, I am so thankful to be here and know this is where my Heavenly Father wants me to be.

7. I wish for broken hearts to mend.  Mine included, I am alone again, a failed marriage, the loss of two children (my baby and little Ethan) I want to open my heart to love again but I don't know how and I am afraid.

8.  I wish for peace in each of our hearts.  That we can find through our struggles and often heartache the peace that the Savior has for each of us.

9.  I wish to thank the Savior for my family, for 2 fathers who have loved me in this life, for brothers who support me, a Mother who is truly my best friend, and my sister and nieces and nephews who I love so much.

10.  I wish for Zoey my basset hound to be put on puppy Prozac...LOL She drives me nuts, but I love her dearly!  She is a character!

11.  I wish for my health to heal.  That in the spring I can resume working full time, have energy and participate  in more serving and church activities.  I wish my for my voice to find it's way home so that I can sing again.

I2.  I wish that my Father in Heaven will always know how thankful I am for Him.  For His Son, Jesus Christ.  For that little baby who came to earth for me.  For His atoning sacrifice and Crucifixion in my behalf.  I hope He will always know of my infinite love for Him and for the greatest gift I have ever been given.

I hope you all know how much you mean to me.  My life is so full with all of my friends and family.  I am a better person everyday because of your examples in my life.  I am grateful for this season and for the beautiful gifts we each are given in each other.  I love you all.  Merry Christmas!

Let's talk soon and keep in touch!

Love,
Karley

"Let There Be Peace On Earth"

Hello Family and Friends,

I so cannot believe that Christmas is almost a week away!  It is crazy how fast the holidays go by!  I am finished with the little Christmas shopping that I have done for this year.  I love the feelings that Christmas brings, I wish we had them all year long.

I have laughed my head off these past couple of weeks.  I love my family.  They all have such great sense of humors.  My sister Katie and I are pretty much twins only separated by a couple of years.  I love being able to laugh with her and plan on seeing her and baby Richard soon!  It is awesome to be so close to someone that we actually can finish each other's sentences... I wish she lived closer!

My niece's and nephews are great!  I love celebrating the holidays with them.  I cannot believe some of them are teenagers... Time goes by so fast.

I miss my Dad so much right now.  This is the time of year (11 years ago) that he was terminally ill with cancer.  It is strange to think how long ago it was, it some ways it seems like it was just yesterday.  I remember the flights up to see him and the emotions of not knowing when he would pass away or knowing there was nothing I could do to fix what the future held.  I loved his sense of humor, even when he was really sick he made me laugh.  I miss him.  I miss being able to pick up the phone and hear his voice.  I am thankful however that he is out of pain and resting with our Heavenly Father.

I love the song "Let there be peace on Earth"  it is so fitting this time of year.  This season for people I love, I wish this for them.  I have several close friends that are struggling right now, I wish so much that they could find peace.  I have so much in my life that I thankful for, I am so lucky and my heart aches for the pain that I see others going through.

I have a friend who just lost a son.  His funeral is four days before Christmas.  Her heart is breaking and I can't fix it for her.  If I could I would trade hearts with her, to give hers a rest.
Another friend is in the hospital with mental problems.  She is struggling so much to make it day by day, I wish I could ease the pain that she has in her heart.  I have a friend who is struggling spiritually, he feels alone and lost in this world, I wish he could believe in himself like I believe in him and yet he chooses to pull away, I pray everyday for him.  I know of families that will have little or no Christmas this year.  I wish I could afford to help them financially feel confident that things will be okay.  I have friends that are sad because the holidays are stressful for them for many different reasons.  I wish I could wrap my arms around them and tell them everything will be okay.

On my way home tonight I heard the song "Let there be peace on Earth"  I teared up.  The second line in the song states "and let it begin with me"  My prayer for the holiday season is simple.  I pray that each one of us can find peace and that each one of us can "let it begin with me".  That we can each find ways of serving those around us.  For that is the true spirit of Christmas.

In a world full of turmoil and heartache, let's look out for each other.  Comfort each other, pray for each other, go the extra mile and remember that tiny baby who made it possible for us to do.

Have a great weekend.  I love you all!

Karley

My Holiday Heart

Hello friends and family,

The title of my blog "My Holiday Heart" is very fitting today... I have looked forward to all of the holidays this year.  Christmas is my favorite of course.  I love the decorations, the lights and most of all the reason we have Christmas.  I am thankful so much for the birth of our Savior and his love for each one of us!

I have been pretty happy lately.  I have so much to be thankful for.  However the past couple of days have hit my heart so hard.  I have cried and cried over the past couple of years... leading up until just a couple of days ago.   I miss my baby.  She would have been 2 in September and I often wonder what we would be doing, what she would look like, does she miss me as much I miss her?  It is so hard. I wish I could hold her and tell her how much I love her.  I don't talk about it much because it is so painful and close to my heart.  All I have ever wanted was to be a wife and a mother.  Both of those dreams were short lived and I am sad. 

I think about my marriage that failed.  There are so many things I wish could have been different.  I miss Ethan with all of my heart.  I miss the companionship and waking up next to someone. It is so different now.  It makes so sad.  I know it was the right thing to do, it doesn't mean that it hurts less though knowing that. 

I think about my health and  how long it is taking for me to heal.  I know I am almost there,  I just want to be back to work and regain my social life.  I am going to be inside most of the winter and that makes me crazy to think about.  I will be so happy when spring comes and hopefully a wonderful job with it!!

I think about my family and how much I love them.  My parents have been so supportive and loving with me.  I am thankful for my ward family, they are the best and I am SO lucky to live in my little home and be in such a wonderful place.

I think about my friends that are struggling.  I hurt for them.  I want them to be happy! I want them to feel whole.  It is hard to see people you love in pain.  I pray for them every night so that they might feel peace.

When I think about this season I am thankful for my Holiday Heart.  It is not perfect by any means, I am grateful that I can learn from the good times and the not so good times.  I am thankful for all of you, you are some of my most priceless gifts!

Let's talk soon!
Karley

What the winds left behind!

Hello friends and family,

I hope you are all well and happy!  Last week the weather was crazy.  I think Mother Nature was having some kind of mental breakdown, she sure was mad at something to leave Davis County in such a state!

Zoey, my crazy dog, needed some form of Prozac, she was scared to death and barked almost the whole time the wind blew.  I was ready at one point to send her outside to play.... The only problem is I was afraid someone would find her in Provo and send her back...LOL

I cannot believe how much damage was done to our county.  I was very lucky that only a portion of my fence blew down.  So many people lost so much, I really feel for each of them. 

I was very humbled at the service and kindness of a community pulling together to help each other.  I love, love, love the members of my ward and neighborhood that jumped into action to help one another.  I live in the best place.  I love my home, my friends and family that surround me and am very grateful for each of them.  What a blessing to live here.

The amount of trees we lost is devastating!  In church on Sunday we just had sacrament meeting.  One of the sisters in our ward was bearing her testimony and talking about the narrow and limited roots that hold up mighty pine trees.  She went on to say that the foundation of those mighty trees are small and when tested with challenge they could not withstand the storm. 

The foundations of our lives can be compared to that of a mighty pine.  We need constant nourishment and continued learning to keep our foundations strong so that when the winds blow we can withstand the mighty storms based on firm and solid foundations in our lives.

I am thankful for the storms that have blown through my life for they teach me to continue building a foundation that my Father in Heaven will be proud of.

I went to the Cardiologist and Pulmonologist today to find out my fate....  It looks like I will be spending most of the winter inside.   I started crying when they told me.  I was hoping one of them would tell me something different and I would go with that..... but no luck.  The doc's said that because the right side of my heart is not functioning due to lack of oxygen, and my lungs are very compromised due to the amount of damage done by the PE's  the healing process is taking longer than expected.  So...... he said I need to stay in as much as possible and stay away from places and people that I could catch even a simple cold from.... If I am really  good for the next three months I can then go back to work and get on with my life.... I am so tired of being sick and yet grateful for everything I have been given.  When I do go out they want me to wear a mask,(not thinking that will happen), but I will wear a scarf and bundle up!  I also get to have a little oxygen at night again for a few months..... I am bummed out, but it is so much better than it has been in two years.  I look forward to spring and the promise that I will go back to a normal life again.. I will be so happy the day I can get up and go to work.   For now, I will patient and get up and serve Heavenly Father in the best way that I can.

Well that is about all that is new with me.  I would LOVE you all to come and visit this winter!  Please give me a call and let's talk soon!

Karley