Introduction

Hello. This is my youngest baby, Niekelle, she looks just like me. Todays blog is a quick update of what I have been doing for the last 14 years.

Steve and I got married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 22, 1993. We each had been previously married with two children. Steves two children (Stephen & Kaloni) where living in Idaho with their mother and my two children (Justin & Jared) lived with us and where sealed to us in the temple that day.

We decided that we wanted our children to be close in age so we would have one every two years. At the time, we didn't have a number, although looking back I was thinking about 6 and Steve was thinking 5 or six. (this number includes the 2 we both already had, so we where both thinking about four more)....we now currently have 11 total...four from previous marriages and 7 together...although they are all "ours".

So, there you have it, the last 14 years, I have been pregnant, nursing, and pregnant and nursing. In fact, I have been nursing pretty much nonstop for the last 13 years. And... I have been pregnant a total of 81 months/6.75 years of my life. I'm not complaining...I always say that I feel healthier than ever whe I am pregnant. I love the whole woman thing...you know, breastfeeding, menstrual cycles, birth, labor, mothering.... Shortly after my fifth baby was born, I certified as a birth doula. I support women physically and emotionally during labor and birth. I also taught childbirth classes for a couple years and certified as a Creighton Model Fertility Practitioner (Natural Family Planning Instructor). So, I've been having babies and helping other women and couples to have babies or not have babies, whatever it is they are trying to accomplish. It has been a real wonderful time of my life, I learned so much about live and about myself by serving other women in their "woman thing".

I started selling clothing on ebay about 2.5 years ago. I ran into a guy who sells bales of clothing. I sort through the bales, take what we need for our family, and sell the rest on ebay. It has been a blessing for our family. I figure we pay about .07 cents for a piece of clothing...not bad. We have more than enough clothing for our family, were before we always stuggled to clothe the children. A few months ago, I partnered with my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws to work the ebay business. I just was feeling to busy and not able to do it all myself. It has been great having them join with me and the business is starting to take off.

I am one of those people who do way too much and am always looking for more to add to my plate until it gets so full that I throw it up in the air and start over...hopefully not to fill it so full next time. Right now, I am throwing it up in the air. I took a brake from teaching/attending birth and natural family planning during my ninth pregnancy and this year, I have let go of the ebay thing, except I am helping my in-laws a bit. Mostly, I take care of the emails and I plan to start helping them sort clothing once a month or so...to help and to get clothing for our family as well.

Right now, I am working on putting my efforts into my family. My goals are to support my husband so he can make more money to provide for our family. This means keep a organized home, have his needs taken care of, and be there for him emotionally and spiritually. I also am looking forward to having more time to home school my children... I meant to meantion that, we have been home schooling for 12 years. I also want to work on homemaking: I like to bake, and I love the idea of the old fashioned housewife....cooking from scratch....making my own breads, muffins, etc.. canning, gardening....Since we moved to our new house in January, I have been hanging our clothing on the line....it has been a breath of fresh air, I love it. Steve remembers growing up as a kid and seeing his mom hang clothes on the line. He would always play in the clothes and she would get on him to get out of the clothes. He loved the fresh smell of line dryed clothing. When we where looking for a house, we both would get excited if it had a clothes line and the one we bought had one. Oh and did I meantion that I have been saving $50.00 a month by not using the dryer!

Lets see, what else can I throw in before I better go find out what my children are doing... Justin in serving an LDS mission in Panama, he is due to come home in 3 weeks and 4 days...not that I am counting...and Jared is also serving in Iowa. He has been out about 10 months now. We are loving being mission parents...our sons have grown so much spiritually and they are have matured so much. We have been greatly blessed to have them serving the Lord.

Here is the names and ages of our children:

Stephen 22

Justin 21

Jared 20

Kailani 19

Shautel 13

Kashée 11

Coleson 9

Taylor 7

Connor 5

Brinya 3

Niekelle 17 months

Children are gifts from God....