Life seems to never stand still for too long in our house, and every time that it does decide to stop and smell the roses, a life changing event happens.

For the 7th time in our 5 year marriage we have moved yet again, and this was the 2nd 1200 mile move for us... in a 12 month period!

We have LOVED Texas! Seriously, I consider it to be home. We love our friends there, we love the people and the culture there. And I LOOOOVVVVEEEEDDDD the humidity! I know, I know. No one likes humid hot days, but this girl sure does! 

However, we have been waiting for this job opportunity in Las Vegas, NV to present itself to us for a long time. Brett has had his eye on this job ever since he started flying helicopters, so there was no doubt in our minds when it came to deciding to take it and move again. We will miss Texas and everything we have come to love here, but we are excited to be taking this step in our lives. 

Anyways like I said this was another major move for us, so I thought I would share some tips I have learned the hard way along the way. We have used moving truck services 4 times now and feeling pretty comfortable in the system. All of our other moves were close enough that we were able to make a few smaller trips back and forth. EXCEPT for the time we had to move in a matter of days and we literally threw everything in boxes and stuffed it all in a 16 ft horse trailer! ( I do not recommend this method )

Here are some tips that hopefully you find helpful:

Moving Tip #1

Start gathering boxes and start packing the moment you know you will be moving. Having plenty of time helps ease the stress and gives you time to purge, sell or throw away all the junk that you no longer use or need. Which will decrease the amount of stuff you take with you.

PURGE!! If you have the time, have a yard sale! Even if you sell all your items for a dollar, that's a few extra dollars you have to put towards your moving costs. I have done this every time we have moved and its been a great way to get rid of my items that I have a hard time parting with. The last time we moved we sold our old bathtub (vintage clawfoot) at our yard sale that we had leftover from our bathroom makeover. We got $250 bucks for it!

Moving Tip #2

Try and negotiate a price with the moving trucks, but don't be pushy with it. No one likes to deal with a pushy customer. But when we were getting ready to move from Utah to Texas we had called up all the moving truck companies to get quotes. We were limited on our budget and ruled out the companies that drive your stuff for you because they were way too expensive. 

Now mind you that this next part all came about unintentionally but it worked out for the best and we tried it out again this time around. 

We had made a reservation with Budget Rental because they seemed to be the best overall deal (that and I was getting an employee discount from my boss who owned a few trucks).

We were offered a 16 ft truck, a travel limit of 1200 miles for 3 days for somewhere around $1800. We thought this was a pretty good deal. Then we called Penske to see what their best deal was. At first their offer wasn't going to be able to beat Budget, but when we said we were going with someone else, they asked what we had been offered, Penske turned around and offered us a 24 ft truck with 1200 miles for 4 days for $1400. Great! We thought.

So we called up Budget Rental to cancel our reservation, when they asked us why we wanted to cancel we told them the deal we were offered. They then offered us a 24 ft truck with unlimited miles, for 6 days and they would give us a dozen moving blankets with a moving dolly for $1000. SWEET! 

So we called up Penske to cancel our reservation. When they asked us why we wanted to cancel we told them the offer Budget made us. They then offered us the golden egg! 24 ft truck, unlimited miles, 6 days, 2 dozen moving blankets, a furniture dolly AND a car carrier all for $900 +tax !! 
Budget was not able to match it so we stuck with Penske. We were able to knock off almost a $1000 off the original price!! And because we are only a family of 3 right now this worked perfect for us because we were all able to ride together in the rental truck while towing our Jeep Grand Cherokee behind us, saving us money on our fuel costs too!

We negotiated the same way this time around between Budget and Penske and the offers started out with Budget offering us a 24 ft truck and car carrier for $1256 + taxes. Then we called Penske and they were able to offer us a 26 ft truck, car carrier, hand dolly and 4 dozen furniture pads for $1034 and that included taxes. So it wasn't a screaming deal like last time but its still a good deal in my book.

Now we learned a few things while we were unintentionally bargaining. 

• In order to get a screaming deal like we did, it matters where your truck is coming from and where it is headed. Now all these types of moving companies are linked together as a franchise. So if there is a location that is in need of the size of truck you are using they are going to give you a better deal because they need more trucks where they are at. Does that make sense? We made our original reservation through our local dealer but it wasn't until we called the customer service line from the website that the deals started rolling in. We feel they were able to give us a better deal because they were the corporate end and not 3rd party. 
• Book online from the very beginning, online offers already discounted rates. That way your bargaining starts off at an already discounted price.
• If you are a AAA member you automatically receive 20% off.
• Ask your customer service rep flat out, "Is that the best you can do?" or tell them that your are shopping with a certain budget in mind and tell them what it is. They will try their best to accommodate your needs. 
• Also, call every week until a few days before your move and just double check to make sure you are getting the best rate possible. Prices may drop depending of the inventory of trucks and equipment.

Moving Tip #3

Use towels, blankets and sheets to wrap your picture frames, mirrors or anything of the sort in. It saves you money from having to buy bubble wrap I have bought bubble wrap in the past and I have always saved it for the next move, but it is expensive! So sheets and towels are what I like to use best because you have to take them anyways, so you might as well make them useful.

For the larger items I like to use this method and I wrap them by laying out the blanket and putting a frame down at one end of the blanket fold over like a burrito and add another frame. I keep doing this until I have used the entire blanket. Making sure there is enough padding in between frames. I then duct tape it like this to secure it and make sure that no sliding occurs. I then place them in boxes to keep them from getting smashed. It works well and I have yet to have a damaged picture or mirror.

Moving Tip #4

Do not buy boxes!!! I think it is such a waste to purchase boxes. I find all of mine at Liquor Stores, Grocery Stores and all my wonderful friends who gave me tons of boxes that they had. Craigslist is also another great way of finding boxes, I was able to pick up over 50 nice moving boxes for FREE from a women off of Craigslist who had purchased all the boxes and then wanted to get rid of them!

                     Azure was buried in there somewhere ;)

When we made the trek from Utah to Texas a friend gave us some AMAZING boxes from her last move. They are wardrobe boxes and if I was going to spend any kind of pretty penny on boxes it would be for more of these.

You can find these at Staples (online), Home depot or Lowes or just about anywhere that advertises that they sell moving boxes. They cost anywhere between $8 and $15 a box. Now ours were given to us by friends, after we used them we lent them to a friend that was moving across town and we plan to use them again. So they have been used several times but they are in perfect condition. We have 7 boxes and were able to hang all of our clothes in these without taking them off the hangers plus we were able to put some light weight items in the bottom of the boxes.
And I totally scored thanks to Craigslist Cathy who also gave me 4. However, I was a hanger bar or 2 short than boxes and I had been looking to buy a couple new ones (just the bars). Home depot was out, so I went to the Cubesmart and asked if they sold them, the super-girl at the cubesmart storage she said they didn't sale them but that she had a ton of bars and no boxes so she gave me 3 for free!!! She saved me about $10! THANK YOU!

Seriously, I don't know if it's because we have the most AMAZING friends or if we just got lucky, I think it's cause our friends rock, but all of our friends supplied us with boxes, bubblewrap AND packing peanuts!!!! We are so blessed to have people who love us this much... that or they couldn't wait to see us leave so they were trying their hardest to get us out of there! ;)

Moving Tip # 5

Be organized. Now I don't mean you need to go all Martha Stewart crazy here. Just some simple organization can go along way. I like to label my boxes (duh, I label everything) , but I have found that if you use recipe index cards as box labels it makes it much easier to see what is in the box. (it also works in hiding all the pictures of liquor and beer, no we are not alcoholics, no we do not drink, the stores just have sooo many boxes and they are more than willing to give them to you when you ask) 

 

I Label them with the room in bold letters, then the contents of the box under that. If I only put the room on the box I would always forget what box I put what in, then if I needed to find something I had to open all my boxes to find it.

I like to put 1 label on the top of the box and 1 on the side of the box. I also use an index card and write FRAGILE on it if needed. Because lets face it, men (which are usually the ones carrying the boxes when helping) are not gentle unless they see it in BIG BOLD LETTERS (and even then they can be....).

 

Moving Tip #6

When packing your dishes, buy a package of foam plates from the dollar store and put a foam plate in between each dish. Liquor stores have great sized boxes for dishes.You should also ask them if you can have some of the box dividers that comes with some of their wine bottles.These work great for glasses, vases, Christmas ornaments or anything small and breakable. You also want to wrap each item in newspaper or tissue paper just for added protection if you have really nice dinnerware.

When packing kitchen platters or pyrex dishes, I wrap them in bathroom and kitchen hand towels, with a sheet of bubblewrap in between each dish.

• Use egg cartons for necklace transporting. This works EGG-cellent in keeping your necklaces from getting tangled with each other!

Moving Tip #7

Get one of these Sterilite Clear File Bins (Family Dollar $3 or Walmart $5) and when packing up your food items, set some aside for the drive. Snacks, treats, fruit that won't go bad if not in the fridge, water bottles, and anything your family would enjoy snacking on in the car/moving truck while driving. My MIL did this for us one time and it fit perfectly under the moving truck seat so it wasn't in the way, and when anyone needed a quick fix I could easily pull it out. It was organized and less bulky than any other way I would have done it and since it was clear we didn't have to dig around looking for what we wanted to munch on. I now do this for ALL of our roadtrips and camping trips.
This will also save you money by using what you already have so you're not spending a lot of money on junk food and convenient store food which only gives you a sugar high then slams you into a food coma... which is dangerous behind the wheel ;)

We also use all of our coolers for the cold food and fill with ice to keep them cold. We pack the coolers in the truck last so that we can monitor the ice levels if we need to refill. It also works nicely if we have yogurt or fruit that we want to munch on during the drive.

Moving Tip #8

Find a small box/bin/crate and use this as your supply station. Before you start put things into boxes gather any items you might need for packing. Scissors, Pliers, Hammer (removing nails), nail hole filler, container to put all the nails in, Duct Tape, Packing Tape, Permanent Markers, Pen, Newspaper or Tissue Paper, Bubble Wrap, To Do List, Apron, Recipe Index Cards, and anything else you think you might need.

This helps you stay organized and will make it so that you don't accidentally pack something that you later need. You also won't forget where you put the roll of tape when your hand is holding down the flaps of a box and you are stuck looking for the tape.
Then when you are done taping up all the boxes and done packing you can take the box and put it with the others.

Moving Tip #9

Take tip #8 and do with with all your cleaning supplies. This way you can clean the house easily when it is free of all the boxes and clutter. You also want to put your laundry detergent with your cleaning items in case you need to do a quick load at the last minute. This is also a good idea if you use liquid detergent, if its packed last and loaded in the truck last you know where it is so that it doesn't get smooshed or tipped over and leaking all over your stuff. Trust me on this one. I learned the HARD WAY! 

Another great thing about doing this is that when you get to your new home, the first thing you can pull out is the cleaning supplies in case it needs a quick scrub, then you don't have to dig around the truck to find the box of lysol. 

Moving Tip #10

When you arrive to your new home, put together all the beds FIRST. That way you don't have to sleep on the hard floor when you are too tired at the end of the day. Next, unpack the food.... you WILL get hungry.

Moving Tip #11

Get a folder, binder or clipboard to keep track of any important papers (like rental agreement, hotel reservations, roadtrip games, restaurant coupons for eating on the road, utilities contact information, phone numbers of land lords, internet, electricity, etc.) you might need while driving or as soon as you arrive to your new home. 

Moving Tip #12

If you are driving the rental truck yourself or in our case all together in the rental truck while towing our car. We like to pack the car with all the items we may need to get to at rest stops. Like our suitcases, pack n play for Azure if we are staying the night at a hotel, extra diapers, cooler with cold drinks, blanket and pillow. That way we don't have to open up the truck to get things out when we stop.

Moving Tip #13

Disassemble as much furniture as possible. Our dining table is really easy to take apart. It saves a lot of space in the moving truck to not have a table in the way. We also take apart the crib, take the mirror off the dresser, and take apart our bed frame.

Moving Tip #14

When loading the truck... Get your TETRIS on!!! But first be sure to sweep it out, they should be clean and tidy when you pick them up, but you want to make sure you are not harboring someone else's dirt and dust. When you start to load the truck with boxes you want to make sure you pack things tight enough that when you take corners or go over bumps, your stuff doesn't shift and bounce. But don't pack it so tight that you are smashing boxes to fit into a space. The goal is to get from point A to point B with as little damage as possible.

Moving Tip #15

7 dinners, easy clean up & cooking all for under $30.
Plus we have all the food in the fridge that needs to
be eaten before we move. 

A week or 2 before moving day, prepare some freezer meals or freeze leftovers from previous meals; so that the week of moving you can throw a quick dinner in the crockpot or oven so that you do not have to eat out every night. If using your crockpot, get some crockpot liners for easy cleanup; and for meals cooked in the oven, use those tin pans you can find at the dollar store. They usually come in a 2 or 3 pack! That way you can pack up your kitchen, spices and all, and maybe just leave your crockpot out and a hot pad or two. And with the left over foam plates you have from packing your dishes you can just use paper goods for the days leading up. This is also convenient for when you get to your new house, you can easily have dinner in the crockpot or oven. Now I love eating out, don't get me wrong. I am always looking for an excuse not to cook. But when moving money gets tight.... really tight. So by doing this can easily save you a $100 dollars or so by not eating out every night.

Moving Tip #16

Bribe friends, family and strangers off the street to come help you with food, drinks and cookies!

*Other than me injuring my back the week before moving day, leaving me on bed rest. This move went smooth and efficiently.

Goodluck on your next move and if there are any moving tips that you use, that maybe I hadn't thought of or mentioned....
I would love to here them!



BTW HUGE shout out to my Mom and SIL for driving all the way to Vegas with a 1 month old to help us move in, and also for spending 4 hours on your hands and knees scrubbing the nasty floors! You guys are the BEST!

Easy and Awesome Freezer Meal:

Coconut Curry Chicken

My Crockpot is a close second to the most important thing in my home! I enjoy cooking and making new dishes, but I hate the time and the cleanup that comes along with it.
So naturally when Pinterest came about and all these awesome crock pot recipes started surfacing, my level of Betty Crocker-ness shot through the roof!

I have tried just about every slow cooker recipe out there, and there are some that are GREAT and then there are some that are...... m
                               e
                                    h.

Now, I love FLAVOR! 

I savor the taste of peppers and spices and meat and well, just about anything that will slap me across the face with it's bold delicious flavor. If a meal is bland, I want to gag. Plain and Simple. I really just hate bland food. You get my point? If not I'll say it 1 more time..... I HATE BLAND FOOD!
However, a lot of the "frugal" slow cooker meals out there are just that.... BLAND.

Until I came across my now absolutely FAVORITE dinner!!

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken found from Kristy over at the Sweet Treats and More blog . 

I seriously love this dish so much I just had to share it! And I have found that this makes an excellent freezer meal!! So yummy, so fast and so EASY!

Now a lot of my friends and family tell me they hate anything curry; and I will admit curry is definitely an acquired taste. I remember the first time Brett took me out to authentic Indian cuisine a few years back, I was far from impressed. But after a few more times learning my way around the flavors and dishes that I like I have come to LOVE Indian Cuisine; and don't even get me started on Naan..... I heart Nann!!!!

And Kristy over at Sweet Treats and More had a similar experience... *note her hubbs name is Brett too!

"The first time I ever tasted curry was shortly after Brett and I got married; our friends talked us in to trying a Thai restaurant that was nearby and happened to be open late.  I was skeptical- I had never tried Thai or curry, and the fact they were open late made me wonder if they were desperate for business?  But we gave it a try.  Our friends told us exactly what to order–a couple of different curries with rice and noodles.  And we loved it! " 

- Kristy

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken -- Serves 6

Ingredients

2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs, cut into cubes

5 large carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium onion, peeled and quartered

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I used a green pepper)

1 (5 oz ) can tomato paste

1 (14 oz) can coconut milk

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tbsp garam masala

1 jalapeno, seeded and halved OR 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 tbsp water

1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions

Grease your slow cooker with Pam. Place the chicken and carrots on the bottom of slow cooker.

Place the rest of the ingredients (except water and corn starch) in a food processor or blender and process together until mixture is mostly smooth. ***If your food processor is too small to hold everything, use a blender.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and carrots, mix well, then cover and cook on low for about 6 hours.

An hour or so before serving, mix cornstarch and water together in a small bowl until cornstarch is dissolved. Pour mixture into the slow cooker, stir to combine, and continue cooking for another hour. **This will thicken up the sauce. When the sauce is to your desired thickness, turn slow cooker to warm setting until ready to serve.

Notes

*if you want you can chop the bell pepper into larger pieces and place in with the chicken and carrots rather than processing into the sauce. This is what I did and we loved the different textures of the carrots, chicken, and pepper in the sauce.

Serve over rice, with Naan, and garnish with cilantro.

____________________________________

Now here are some things I do to adapt it to me and my family:

• I love to freeze this meal! And the first time I made this dish, I found that it makes a lot of sauce. So I like to make the sauce and divide it in to 2 freezer bags. I then throw in the chicken and carrots and freeze it. But if you have a bigger family, you can just do the 1 bag and just add more chicken. When ready to cook, pull out of freezer and let it sit at room temp for 30 min. Then put it in the crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours.
• Kristy mentioned how she likes to cut the bell pepper into chunks instead of processing it in with the sauce. I like to do both. Puree the bell pepper into the sauce and leave out a bit of chunks too. I love the flavor the pepper brings to the sauce, and I use a red bell pepper not green. *Just a hint though, if you DO puree your bell pepper into the sauce you DO NOT need to thicken the sauce with cornstarch like it mentions above. You can if you want, but it's not necessary; the pepper adds just the right amount of thickness.
• When I make this a freezer meal, I use chicken breasts (the pre-frozen ones in the big bags). Then about an hour or so before I am ready to serve I take my kitchen shears and I cut the breasts into chunks and let them finish cooking.
• Now like I said I LOVE flavor, but throat burning heat? Not so much. And because I am also feeding a toddler, I leave out the jalapeno. This makes the dish a lot more mild on the heat scale. So instead I put in the crushed red pepper flakes. My 2 year old loves it!!
• and FINALLY, you can find the Garam Masala in the spice isle. I thought it was going to be some crazy thing that I was going to have to pay tons for and hunt around store to store to find it. But nope, it was right there with all the other typical spices. 
• Also, here is the link to my favorite Naan recipe!

I hope you all are brave enough to give this dish a try, I know you will LOVE it just as much as we do. Seriously, we have eaten it 4 times in the last month! And if you do, leave me a comment telling me how you liked it?!

March (my life's) Madness!!!

Once again I cannot believe that the end of the month is near. March has been yet another roller coaster. One full of great excitement and one with great turmoil. 

This month started off great. My sister and my niece had come to visit after not seeing them in 6 months. Brett had been offered a new job in Las Vegas, and we were getting excited with upcoming preparations. My younger brother and his cute wife had just given birth to their first baby on the 11th.

Things were going smooth... too smooth. 

I had told Brett  soon after he was offered the job, I said, " Life is going really good right now, something big is coming. I can feel it, hold on tight because something will and IS going to happen."

It was only a few days later.... It was Friday, Azure and I had just dropped Brett off at work, we were at the grocery store getting some last minute supplies for our weekend camping trip with some friends. When Brett had called me and told me to come pick him up right away. Initially I thought maybe Brett had been fired, but he didn't give me any details. Just said he had some bad news. As I frantically tried to leave the store without breaking down and freaking myself out about the possibilities, and as Azure was screaming and throwing her typical grocery store fit, I hurried and checked out with whatever items were in my cart and ran to my car. 

I had had this feeling before, but I was trying to tell myself that it was going to be a small thing and that all was well. Then my phone rang... it was my Mom. I knew. The last time I had this feeling and saw my mom calling me, was when my Dad had passed away. 

I answered frantically, asking her what was going on, I'm so confused whats happened?! She proceeded to tell me that my older brother had taken his own life.

The next few hours and days were nothing but a blur of raw emotion. 

I picked Brett up from work collapsing in his arms the second I saw him. He took me home to find a flight to Utah. He asked if I wanted to just go with Azure, I told him I couldn't do it alone, I couldn't go through this AGAIN. 

I couldn't seem to do anything for a couple hours but put groceries away. I was numb, confused and obviously upset. But that darn freezer needed organization, that was the only thing I could do. Azure was just as confused as I was, walking around saying "Mommy's sad". She even at one point was rubbing my back as I sat on the floor sobbing. Next thing I really recall is heading to the airport a few hours later, rushing trying to catch a flight that was on its last boarding call. Thankfully Azure was such a sweet girl that day. She enjoyed the flight and was a perfect little flyer in her seat.

Once we arrived at my moms late that night and was surrounded by her, step-dad, my sister and my youngest brother I felt like I could breathe.

The rest of the week involved many family members and friends calling and stopping by to give comfort.

It felt like 7 1/2 years ago when my dad died. Being so completely cried out that you have to literally turn your mind and feelings off just so you can get out of bed and put some clothes on. Thankfully my family keeps our sense of humors intact in stressful situations and that we were able to be more calm and collective having gone through this before. I love my siblings, we are all quite comical if I do say so myself. At times we could be all sobbing and hugging and the next instant we are laughing and making fun of each other. 

I believe we can be this way in this kind of a situation because we have the hope, knowledge and understanding of God's will. We realize it and accept it, though it is tough and sometimes hard to understand. Especially in this instant of abusing free agency, we know that God's plan and his eternal salvation will mend our broken hearts and if we seek his counsel and his guidance the pain will be easier to bare knowing the Savior's arms are holding us all the while.   

Though I have had many trials in my life I feel I have learned things along the way that I am meant to share. When I lost my Dad, at first I felt that my grief and tears meant I lacked Faith. But after some time, I came to understand that grief is a normal, a healthy response to loosing a loved one. Grief has helped me transform my love for others, my perspective in life's challenges and my faith in Heavenly Father.

As helpful as everyone is and wants to be in situations such as this there are somethings I feel people do without realizing that they are doing it. Know that I am not calling out anyone in any particular circumstance, these are just things I have realized and learned over the years. 

To those who wish to help someone that has experienced something similar but doesn't know what to say: 

• You can be most effective when you are sensitive to the unique situation. It's probably best to express your love and condolences to the grievers and avoid making statements about what they should do or how they should feel. 
• Be very careful about placing a time limit on someone's grief.  It's been 7 years since my Father's death and there are days that I still cry and wish he were still here. It's been 6 years since a good friend of mine took his life and I still have dreams about him of what I should have/could have done more for him. And I feel that with my brother it is going to take just as long if not longer to let go of the guilt I feel, that I should have been more patient and more understanding of his needs. Just know that everyone is different and everyone will handle death differently.
• Know that tears shed and a broken heart doesn't mean that the griever is depressed or inconsolable, but rather it suggests that they still miss the person they love.
• I have found that the most helpful conversations have been when people share their favorite memories of my Dad or my Brother with me; it is also helpful when they are willing to listen to my favorite memories.
• Conversations like these will often lead to tears, but that doesn't mean you have ruined the day, these interactions actually make the day. Conversations like these provide a chance to release the grievers feelings.
• Just being there, giving a hug is enough. If you have no words, then don't say a thing. Grievers are just appreciative of you acknowledging the fact. I appreciate my cousin Josi. When I lost my Dad, and now just last week; both times she literally ran to me and hugged me tighter than anyone could ever muster. That was all she needed to do to let me know her feelings and thoughts.
• That brings me to one very important thing to remember when a friend or someone you know is grieving... Do not act like nothing has happened. Do not avoid them because it might be awkward or uncomfortable for you. That just makes it worse for the griever, they know you know, that you know that they know... you know?! Like I said, a simple hug and I'm sorry is enough for them to know that you care and are there for them....A plate of cookies or dr. pepper sure does help too ;)

I cannot begin to imagine how hard it would be to loose a loved one in this life and not have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and not know that life IS eternal, that our families ARE forever and that through repentance and righteous living we can be reunited with our loved ones again. 

I got a glimpse of this emptiness watching my sister-in-law grieve. It was painful and heart-wrenching to watch. She saw no hope, she saw no future in what is awaiting this life. I hope that one day soon, she will come to the knowledge of the gospel and find the peace and comfort that she needs to carry on and know that she will see Skyler again.

"Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause" (Jacob 3:1)

If you look up the definition of the word Faith you will find this: 

FAITH NOUN   1. Complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

I have Faith in Jesus Christ that He stands ready with outstretched arms as He waits for us to come unto Him and be encircled in the arms of His love. I know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ outstretched their arms to Skyler and that they will never let him go. That the struggles Skyler faced in this life are now taken from him and the weight of the world is no longer on his shoulders, I have Faith that Skyler can now see God's perspective and his plan for him, and that he may accept the gospel and achieve Eternal Life.

I hope that through my families experiences and our trials that we may be an example of Faith to those around us. That we may “mourn with those that mourn” and “comfort those that stand in need of comfort."

Skyler Evan Parker

Born in Ogden, UT on Aug. 13, 1984

Departed on Mar. 15, 2013 and resided in Ogden, UT.

OGDEN - Skyler Evan Parker, 28, of Ogden, Utah returned to be with his earthly father and to his Savior's loving arms on Friday, March 15, 2013.

He was born August 13, 1984, in Hooper, Utah to Evan Parel and Tammy Reid Parker. Skyler grew up on the family farm and spent many hours along side his Dad working in the field and driving the tractor. He had a love for animals and loved his dog, Maggie, and his rabbits that he raised as a boy. Skyler had many talents. He loved to play the piano and practiced many hours to learn the song, "Bumble Boogie" , which he would play for the family all the time. He also loved John Schmidt music, his favorite being "All of Me". He learned to play the drums, which he was very good at and earned his own money in junior high to buy his own set of drums. It was his goal to be able to play many instruments and he had begun to learn to play the violin. Skyler was also an artist and loved to draw intricate details in his drawings. He was an honor student and an Eagle Scout. 
Skyler had a very kind and tender heart. He had a genuine concern for people's feelings. His heart was literally broken when his father passed away.

Skyler attended Utah State University and Idaho State University. It was his dream to become a pharmacist. Skyler received his Pharmacy Tech certificate and had worked for the Smith's Pharmacy in Logan and for Walgreen's in Chubbbuck, Idaho. 

Skyler married Tera VanDenBerghe on September 14, 2002. They were blessed with two beautiful children, Miriah and Moroni Evan. They later divorced.

Skyler married Shauntel Dagsen on March 23, 2012. He became the loving step-father to Shauntel's son Caiden and was blessed with his son Chanler Skyler.

Skyler leaves behind his sweet wife, Shauntel, his children, his mother-in-law, Nila Dagsen of Ogden, his step-father Chris and mother, Tammy Reid Parker Bell of Kaysville, sisters Sevana Hasty (Geoff), Hooper and Tiara Reeder (Brett) Fort Worth, Texas, brothers Landon Parker (Jessie) Logan, Utah, Tavan Parker, currently serving an LDS mission in Switzerland and Chance Parker, Kaysville. He also leaves behind his
grandmother, Luella Parker, his brother-in-law, Zane Dagsen, and 7 nieces and nephews, Ariana, Wyatt, Jocelyn, Sawyer, Isabel, Azure, and William and many aunts, uncles and cousins who love and will miss him.

Skyler was preceded in death by his loving Father, Evan Parel Parker, Grandfather Henry Lisle Parker and his Grandparents Donald H. and Beverly Allen Reid.

Funeral services will be held Friday, March 22, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. in the Hooper South LDS Chapel, 5601 S. 6100 W., Hooper, Utah with Bishop Kurt Foster conducting. Friends and family may greet the family at a viewing from 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. prior to the services. A viewing will also be held on Thursday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Myers Mortuary, 5865 S. 1900 W. Roy, Utah.

Interment in the Hooper Cemetery.

The Viewing and Funeral went really well. Each of my siblings gave an amazing account of their memories of Skyler and what amazing qualities and talents he had. There was plenty of laughter, tears of sadness, and tears of joy shed. We were able to sing a musical number, the same one we sang at my dad's funeral, without breaking song (we got that out of our system the night before while practicing after the viewing); we sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives.

This is what I shared at the funeral:

Some of my very first memories from childhood included Skyler, him being my older brother. I was about 3 or 4 and we were swimming and playing in the mud in our backyard because it was flooded with irrigation water, which was a frequent thing, making our yard a muddy splash pad. But we loved to sink our feet into the mud until we were stuck and then the other one would pull the one stuck in the mud out. We also loved swinging on the swing set and skimming our feet over the water making a big wake under our feet. Skyler and I LOVED playing in the mud!

Another great early memory of Skyler was how much we loved riding our bikes around the corner to the wild mulberry tree in the summer, we would go crazy eating as many berries as we could. We looked forward to going to Grandmas on Sundays, we would ride our bikes and stop half way at our berry tree.

It was always an adventure going camping, the drive there was half the fun, with all us kids riding in the camper playing card games, eating treats and laying on the top bed watching out the window and steamrolling each other whenever we would go around a corner.

We loved it when our parents would be gone on a date, we would crank up the music "chumba-wamba" and we would dance, jam and play sports indoors.

I was always trying to keep up with Skyler when we were little, I wanted to be like him. He was the reason I loved playing boy things so much like legos and ninja turtles instead of barbis. He taught me how to do a front flip on the trampoline, He taught me how to hit like a boy and not like a girl. He taught me how to climb a tree, and to the top of a haystack, He taught me how to snowboard. Skyler also taught me how to get into trouble. Many times we set ourselves on fire and put holes in the walls by knocking down the deer head on the wall. Skyler was good big brother, who was always very protective of his baby sister, and I never really remember him complaining about me tagging along and copying his every move. Or maybe he did, and he just never complained in front of me because he didn't want to hurt my feelings. That is the kind of brother he was.

Skyler never stopped learning, and he never stopped going. He was such a busybody all the time, but he would never rush a project either. He was always very meticulous, and thorough. He would work for hours on a project until it was perfect. He loved making his pinewood derby cars for scouts with my dad. He would sand his car for hours until it was as smooth as glass. He wanted every sliver off so that his car would not only be the fastest but also the best looking.

Skyler never outgrew his boyhood qualities. He always remained adventurous, protective, meticulous, talented, imaginative, thoughtful, artistic, and he always had a very tender heart.

I miss my brother, and I regret that over the last 3 years I was only able to see him once. But I am so grateful that through the atonement of Jesus Christ that I will be reunited with him again in heaven. It is because of His Atonement, all people will be resurrected, and those who obey His gospel will receive the gift of eternal life with God and that no matter how daunting the challenges in our lives or in the world are around us, we know we can have peace through the power of the infinite Atonement

In 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 3&7 it states: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant amercy hath bbegotten us again unto aclively dhope by the resurrection of eJesus Christ from the dead and that the atrial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the bappearing of Jesus Christ:

I truly believe that Skyler is now in the care of his Heavenly Father, his Earthly Father and his Savior Jesus Christ; and that with the atonement, love and mercy of all 3 that he will find the peace and the certainty he always longed to find.

Skyler always showed such endless amounts of love for everyone around him. He loved his little brothers so much, he loved his sisters, he loved his parents. Skyler loved his wife and wanted nothing more than to provide and care for her. Skyler loved his kids more than words can express. You could see it in his eyes when he looked at them, he would shine anytime he was around his beautiful kids. He loved them so much. I hope they know that and are able to carry that with them through their lives. Knowing that they had a Daddy that was filled with an overabundant amount of love!

I pray that our hearts may be filled with hope, and the light of Christ. That we may be able to heal and find comfort in knowing that there is life after death. And that we can see Skyler again.

Although our trials may be hard and the relief may not be immediate, we need to learn to allow God to carry our burdens, turning to Him regularly and seeking His enabling power.

 

February 2013...

Holy cow balls is it really half way through March?! Why can't time just slow down for a second?

You know the months that are "THE" month? I know you know what I am talking about, every family has a "THE" month! Well February is our month. We have Valentines on the 14th, Our Anniversary on the 19th, my birthday on the 25th and Azure's birthday on the 28th. Not to mention 6 family birthdays mixed in there and everyday craziness that gets thrown into the mix. And I know it will only get worse when Azure is older because then there will parent teacher conferences and presidents day and who knows what else!
So yes, every February is exhausting and draining; especially on our wallets :) But this month was a never ending subway. Going from one thing to the next, leaving us with not enough time to pee! (maybe that is why people pee in the corner.... nuff said)

But WOW was it an AWESOME month!

To start off, my friend Mary called me up at the last minute and invited me to be a band groupie with her, she had won tickets to a private mini concert in Dallas with Johnny Rzeznik (I shouldn't have to tell you who it is, but if you don't know....lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls)!! It was awesome! I have loved the band since Jr. High!! SO we dropped the chittlins off at a babysitter early in the morning (before the sun was up) and we became little giddy girls again!! And man does he have an amazing voice, it seriously sounds sooooo much better in person than on any kind of ipod.

We also made sure we took advantage of the great family friendly activities that Texas always has to offer. We headed down to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.

   

Azure is a naturally born animal lover! It was fun to take her through the stocks and have her see all the animals that Brett and I grew up surrounded by. And I think she would agree with me that Daddy should let us get a pet piggy!! I miss my pigs everyday, they really do make amazing pets!!

I know it sounds funny but whenever I visit any FFA and 4H stock shows, or rodeos or get a whiff of manure I start to get emotional.

My best and favorite memories of growing up were times I spent on the farm with my Dad. I think that is partly why I love pigs so much, it reminds me of the time my dad spent with me one on one teaching me how to raise them.

Brett and I hope to one day have the opportunity to raise our children in a similar atmosphere.

 We finally were able to curve our appetite with the outdoors. We love Texas, and we love Fort Worth but being in such a large city is hard on our recreational desires. But thanks to some good friends who kindly invited let us tag along on a outing to the Lake. We had a great time cooking hobo dinners, and playing in the sand. We can't wait for our actual camping trip that is coming up.

Now we don't typically celebrate Valentines Day because we choose to spend our money on all of our other adventures of the month. But our stake was putting on an Adult Valentines Dance and since its been so long since we had gone dancing, and since Brett was going to be gone on Valentines to Virginia ferrying a helicopter back to Texas, we decided to hit up the dance floor with some friends. And of course we couldn't just go as our normal boring selves... so we went as flappers and newsie boys :) It was fun to act like we were back in high school. Except we are much cooler now ;)

 
This was Brett's ferrying trip, I think this is the Mississippi River?! A trip that was supposed to take 2 days turned into 5! They got weathered out, and the heli was a smaller one so they couldn't go as fast or as far on a tank of gas. But he at least was in good company, and not flying alone.

And Because Brett was gone on Valentines, that meant that Azure and I were able to party it up ;). We went to one of the millions (literally millions) of donut shops here with our awesome friends and got us some pink donuts! I'm not even a donut eater but man these were........MMmmmmm...........

My friend Mary's husband was also out of town on Vday so we made the kiddos a fun dinner, and we watched a good ole chick-flik. Took me back to my college days of never having a date on Vday. Haha. But I didn't feel left out, Brett still came through and got me some of my favorite flowers!!!!

 





And thanks to our wonderful friends Matt and Telicia who took Azure overnight so that Brett and I could escape for a much needed anniversary trip; where we were able run away to Dallas. We stayed at seriously the coolest hotel I have ever been to, if you ever visit Dallas, I highly recommend staying at the Le Meridian!!
We also went out for sushi, made it to the Dallas Temple and then we pampered ourselves with a couples massage! It was a much needed vacation for the 2 of us. Since moving away from family a year ago we haven't gone on a childless date!

*sorry for so many pictures, but as we were reminiscing all of our past anniversaries we realized we didn't have #4 documented in any form, and we cannot remember what we even did. So I made sure to not to let that happen with #5.

We also got to see downtown Dallas, and where JFK was shot. It was cool, I must admit I never realized that he was shot in Dallas. I always thought it was in d.c. for some reason. Shows you how great of a student I was. I even did a report on Jackie Kennedy in the 5th grade.... 

Brett also was so sweet and got me an anniversary ring with Azure's name engraved on it with her birthstone! I love it! 5 years has been a roller coaster of all kinds for us, but it has made us stronger and has taught us many things. Can't wait to celebrate the next 100!

And if you are wondering who has the best hubbers in the world, look no further because I snagged him up 5+ years ago! He rocked the house for my BIRFday this year! First off I have had my eyes on a particular pair of boots for over a year now but the price tag gave me a brain aneurysm every time I dreamed about what it would be like to have them on my feet. But thanks to the Fedex guy that showed up at my door carrying the most B.E.A.UTIFUL box I have ever received, I no longer have to dream about these boots... I can now sleep in them!!!
                                                        
To make it even better, Brett told me on the morning of my bday to make sure that I was dressed and blindfolded by the time he got home from work..... Now if you know Brett at all you would know that he is AWFUL at keeping secrets and at lying. So for him to be able to keep anything from me about what is up his sleeve is nearly impossible. But he was able to get me in the car blindfolded and pull off a 2nd surprise of the day. Seriously, a record for him! I had no idea what to think while we were driving, he was either taking me to the middle of nowhere to make me find my way home or he was just pulling my leg and driving around the block just to be funny. But we arrived to an unknown place, he got me out of the car, made me trip over a curb, ran me into a pole right after I asked him if we were in a public place (which we were); then to walk into a room full of singing friends :) It was a fun and pleasant surprise :)

                            

After my birthday was all over with, Brett took a quick little trip to Las Vegas for a job interview with Papillon Helicopters.... which turned out to be a very successful trip :) He came home on Azure's birthday with a new job!!!!! So yes we will be moving cross country yet AGAIN 1 year later. But I will blog about that another time, I'm not ready to face the fact that I will be leaving Texas. I LOVE TEXAS!!!!!
But anyways, we are super excited! This is the job Brett has been wanting for a longtime! Ever since he began flying he dreamed of how fun it would be to fly tours over the grand canyon! So to finally have reached this dream in our lives is such a blessing and almost too good to be true! We truly are excited! And to finally know that we will be in one place for a long time is a comforting feeling. I am sick of leaving friends :(

But more on that later. We celebrated Azure's birthday in style! We woke her up to a balloon avalanche, she  had a blue bubble bath with balloons and we ate cake for days! She loved getting to open her presents over skype with family.
I can't believe my baby is 2! I wish I could keep her as my baby forever, but she is such a fun easy to love little girl; who is so busy and so smart!! She makes friends everywhere she goes, and she lights up a room. She makes her mommy and daddy happier than we could have ever imagined!

This was Azure's birthday party with all of her little friends! It was bitter cold that day (sorry to all those who had to be there:) ) But it was still tons of fun!!!


So Monday was my birthday, Brett was gone Tuesday and Wednesday  Thursday was Azure's birthday, and Friday my sister Sevana and my niece Izzy came to visit us which was a great cherry to top off the month!! 6 months is too long to go without seeing my sister!! Then Saturday was Azure's birthday party with all of hers and our friends! Then that night Brett left again to attend Heli Expo in Vegas, leaving us girls to have a fun-filled girls weekend!!!! But I will blog about that more later, since it was technically March.

We had so much fun together and like always it went by too fast, and we were sad to see them go.

WHEW!!

that pretty much sums up our crazy month!

Have a happy March and get out and enjoy the sunshine!!!