Jeremy sharing his thoughts.

Stacy is good at sharing our families thoughts and lives so I thought I would put my own out there for once:)

Lately I have done a lot of reflecting on life per an assignment I am doing in college. I have always been a ponderer and deep thinker. I have looked back at my life since being married to analyze it. Coming into my marriage Stacy and I had many naysayers and negatism. One thing her and I learned quickly and I am very grateful for this is the power of prayer. Her and I decided while we were dating that wouldn’t let outside people change our minds and that we would consult the Lord on everything and follow his counsel. This is something I have been taught to do my whole life and I really have seen the fruits from it. James 1:5 really put that into perspective for me. If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him. The best counsel ever. Stacy and I while dating and under heavy fire prayed as a couple and both of us knew by the gifts of the spirit we were meant to be together. We have proved many people wrong as we are coming up on 8 years of marriage, it hasn’t always been easy but the good things in life never are. We have grown through all our trials together and feel more connected and more in love then the moment we met again. Stacy and I then prayed about buying our first home and once we found it we had critics again but we knew it was meant to be our first home. Two years later an even bigger choice came on our plate. We were in eastern Idaho with my parents who had just got jobs up there visiting. We wanted to see where they would be living. When we came home from that trip we both had an impression to pray as we both felt that is where we should be heading as well. Sure enough we sold our home after being on the market for only a week to a family in our ward who had been praying for something to become available in the ward. What a great blessing for us and them. We bought for 78 and sold for 96 in a two year period…wow. Then we were criticized for moving to eastern Idaho but still we followed the Lords counsel and it was a miracle. Tucker was born dead and because we followed the Lord he blessed us by having on hand that day the top Children’s specialist in the state. His life was saved and he is a true blessing to our family. Stacy and I then prayed again to move back to western Idaho and had the prompting to move to Payette. There we met some amazing people and have had great bonds from it. Jackie is one of those people who Stacy has that bond with. A year later Stacy and I decided it was time to upgrade our vehicle. At the time gas prices were very high but we both new that it wouldn’t last. As we prayed and began shopping we found a vehicle we really liked and fully upgraded Denali that seats 8. At the time we only had three kids so we weren’t sure why we had such an impression to buy that car but followed those promptings. Once again we had critics but we got a phenomenol price and even had offers from dealers and people to buy it for more then we paid but turned them down. We ended up added two more amazing kids to our family and the vehicle has been top notch for us and we have had many friends and family use it because of how useful it is for hauling as well. Recently Stacy and I prayed about whether or not we should buy before graduating from college. In the past we decided renting was a better option and I am glad because we were blessed. The housing market crashed and prices our CHEAP right now. We followed the promptings of the spirit once again and through patience and many many trials we found an amazing home at an amazing price like our vehicle and house before that. Follow the Lords counsel and pray often about everything he is there to help you as long as your willing to listen.


Another thing I have been pondering is jobs and money. Some people think that is what life is all about. I have never been that way. Don’t get me wrong I love the greatest and newest technology, haha…but those things are not important compared to your children and being a family. I have been truly blessed. I have parents who taught me to be a person who could work in many fields and not ever be tied to one thing. I didn’t understand it when I was young but I do now. I can if needed work any many different fields. I have had jobs making 25-30 dollars and hour and walked away because they stopped me from being a good father and husband. Working heavy hours away from your family is not good for a young family. I could never take a job where I was gone and only could see my family on the weekend. I would rather be poor and see them every day. I never want my kids to say to me that they wished I was around more when they were young. Recently I got offered a job again in the sales world working for a company that targets the HR departments of big companies. I was offered around 20 dollars an hour to go to that job. Immediately I turned it down because I knew that the Lord already has a plan in motion for me. He is blessing Stacy and mine personal business to provide for our family until I graduate.

This brings me to the final thing I was pondering. How amazing my wife is and how great of a team we are. When we first met we were both kind of over board on certain things. Her she was over conservative and me I always looked for the best deals but was very compulsive and spent a lot. We taught each other great lessons. She taught me how to budget better and save and I taught her that life is short and it is okay to splurge and enjoy life within your budget. Since they we have both became very good and researching, praying and being patient when it has came to buying things for our family. I have truly been blessed in life and I am grateful to the Lord for that and for following his counsel. It hasn’t always been easy and we had a lot of challenges and critics along the way but by turning a cheek to those things and doing what is right we have made a good life for ourselves. I am just striving to be a better father and husband. I love my family with all my heart and I want to cherish every moment of my kids childhood even if it means living on a tight budget and being so called poor. It is worth it, anyone can live on any amount of money if the budget and stay within there means. Even if it is 1500 a month it is possible.

I also want to thank my parents who have taught me so much. They are two of a very small group of people who have been very supportive to Stacy and I and never negative about anything and always willing to jump in and help with us and the kids. They are great grandparents as well. I love you both more then you can know. I also am grateful for my siblings, who are both amazing people who I love as well. My brother and I have always had a special bond. I just hope he stays around to see our kids grow together through high school and help each other with there sporting events and life activities. Other then Jason no one truly knows our special bonds or will the understand it. I pray each day that things will work well for him here so he doest follow a five year plan and move away. I think my family would lose out on many blessings from not having him around as he is a great uncle and one of my best friends.

Finally I want to say how grateful I am for having such a great wife. Stacy I love you and you’re an amazing wife and mother. She has the best motor I have ever seen. I am biased but I got the best of Don and Sue’s children. See is so caring, unselfish, loving and hardworking. She loves a lot of the same things in life that I do. Not many women enjoy sports but she is one and I am grateful for that. I love her with all my heart and there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about how lucky I am. I also love my kids. They are amazing and we have been blessed with truly great children. I only hope I can teach them the correct things and be that example to them that I need to be all the time with out being to preachy or to easy but finding that balance. In closing I want to leave with all that read this my testimony. I KNOW the Savior lives and loves us all and that he literally bled from each poor in his body so that our sins could be forgiven and that if we follow him and his teachings from the scriptures that we will be blessed and one day return to him and live with him in our Father’s mansions above and spend eternity with our loved ones. What an amazing blessing that is. I leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


Sorry for the huge rant but I wanted to share my life reflections with everyone.

Repairs underway

This morning we got some good news. The repairs for the house we are buying are being ordered. And the appraisal has been ordered. Those are 2 big steps. I am hoping all the repairs will go smoothly. I was begininng to worry that we were going to be homeless come May 31st, which negatively thinking could still happen but I am going to try to be possitive. We are still pushing for the closing date of May 11th. But we'll see how long it takes for the repairs to be finished. We'll keep you posted.

Easter...LOTS of pictures!

BEWARE...I took over 800 pictures this weekend.



I am going to start out with the good news...

For the past 8 years Jeremy and I have spent every Easter up in the mountains at his grandparents' house and motel. So we had to keep the tradition alive.





We spent Easter weekend in Pine. With the whole house buying process and everything we've been going through it was nice to just forget about everything and get some "fresh air". We both needed the break. I am so glad Grandma Trish and "Papa Pine" always welcome us up there. It's so beautiful. And it's nice to catch up with family. We all had a great time! While we were up there I really did forget about everything going on here at home. I just had a good time with the kids and family.

On Saturday we did our family egg hunt. Grandma puts candy and money in her eggs. The kids love it. They each came out with about $10. They loved it! And it was so relaxed. Thank goodness for Grandma Trish!!!



Krehl (Jeremy's sister's boy) finding eggs.

Zakary (My sister's boy) finding eggs.





Counting the fortunes



We went to scope out where the community egg hunt would be, which was at the local golf course. Inside the lodge there are a bunch of stuffed elk, birds, etc. So we let the kids look around and took some pictures.





Then we decided to drive around and just see what's been being built in the area and what things are looking like these days. Wow! I can't believe how big some of those homes are up there. Mansions to me. After our drive we went back to the motel and played some games. We ended the night with the hot tub. I tried to skip that part but the kids wouldn't let me.

Easter morning the kids woke up and were so excited about the Easter bunny coming. They each got a basket full of candy and found a bunch of eggs. For breakfast of course we had candy. :) It only happens once a year. You gotta live a little. :)









Once we got everything cleaned up and the cars packed to head home we found a beautiful spot to take some pictures. We wanted to surprise my mother in law with a nice picture of all of her grandkids. They weren't able to make it up this year so I thought it would be nice to make her a nice picture of all of her grandkids, since they were all together. It was going to be a surprise but I guess not everyone knew that...so I will just post them on here and Laurie we'll get you your picture. Don't go getting any of them printed.



All the Kiester kids together at last.















We got some good ones of my family too. I love nature. :) Helps make beautiful pictures.







By the time we were done taking pictures it was almost time to go to the community egg hunt. So we headed to the golf course to see what was happening. Every year they have, as part of the hunt, golden eggs. There are yellow eggs that have a dollar sign on them. The kids that get those eggs get one dollar per egg. Daisha was a little worried, because she was in a little older age group, that she wouldn't get any golden eggs. She put on her "Kiester competitive" face and she ended up with 6 golden eggs. JACKPOT!!!



So now as a mom I have to brag just a little. I am so proud of Daisha. She got 6 golden eggs and her little sister Jillian and 2 of her cousins didn't get any golden eggs and without being told or even mentioning it to her she immediately went and gave a golden egg to both her cousins and her baby sister. What a good girl she is! That is exactly what Jesus would have done. I explained that to her and told her about 50 times how proud of her I was. That move right there made all the hard times worth it!



After the community egg hunt we went back to grandma's house and had a nice dinner. Shortly after dinner we had to head home. Back to reality. Get your head out of the mountains. :) Usually by the end of the weekend I am just ready to come home. This time NOT AT ALL. I wanted to stay longer. I knew what my house looked like and I didn't want to come home to that. Not to mention the kids were all being good while we were in the mountains. I didn't want it to end.

Now for the bad news...
Today we got a call from our lender and found out that we are going to have to come up with another thousand dollars to be able to make the house deal work out. Something about in the offer we only asked for a certain amount of closing costs to be paid and they are going to be more than what we asked them to pay. GRR! So to the grinde we go. Let's make some money! Hopefully we can make it work. Everyone please keep us in your prayers. We are going to do our part and leave the rest up to the Lord. What a test of faith. I hope everyone had a good Easter.

Please VOTE!

Ok, so I entered myself into the hot momma contest on the radio station. I only did it because it would be nice to have an extra thousand dollars if I can win. I need everyone to vote. You can vote 5 times and I think you can vote once a day. I'm not sure on that but vote as much as you can. I am mom #81. You'll have to make a login to vote. Please vote. I'd really appreciate it!

http://www.mix106radio.com/pages/hot_moms

So if I win the thousand dollar prize...party at our new house. And it looks like it's going to be ours. We do our inspection tomorrow at noon so we'll let you know for sure how things go. We are starting to pack so our house is a disaster. But if anyone wants to help with packing come on over and we'll put you to work, either packing boxes or playing games with the kids. :) Love ya all!

A day of family

Yesterday was a great day full of family. I got to see my neice play soccer. I have decided that I think soccer is a boring sport. It probably doesn't help that I don't even know the rules of the sport. And then, I don't think this is a normal rule but it was like pee-wee soccer so the game ended in a tie. 1 to 1. Really...no winner and no loser. WOW! I'm not sure I could do that.

So this is my neice Lindsey playing soccer. She did a great job!











Also at the soccer game my cousin Stephanie and her kids all come to watch and hang out. It was great to meet all of her family...finally. And to see her again. I haven't had the chance to just sit and visit with her in a LONG time. It was so nice to learn of things that have happened that I missed out on.

I am so thankful for family. Both my immediate family and my extended family...and my "married into" family. Today my heart is full.

Since it's Sunday of course that means church right? I know that's not what Sunday means to everyone but that has always been what Sunday means to me...and still does. For some reason I feel as though I have been going by myself a lot to church. Well, not by myself. I have wonderful children who love to go to church and learn about Jesus. They love going to their primary classes. And I love that they want to go with me. That is my strength. So many times I would just like to stay home and do something else or just rest...but I know it's important to worship my Heavenly Father. He has done so much for me! I know that each of us is loved by our Father in Heaven. I know that Jesus is our older brother and that he also loves us so much that he gave his life for us. Jesus Christ died for me personally that I might have the opportunity to ask for forgiveness of my weaknesses (repent) and some day live with him and our Heavenly Father again.

I know that I was married/sealed in the temple and the purpose of being married in the temple is to be with my husband for eternity. FOREVER! No matter what he goes through and no matter what I go through I know that I can be with him forever. On some days I feel as if I never even want to see the man again but deep down in my heart I love him and I am thankful that I will have him forever. And that I will be able to have my children with me forever.

Erase it all!

Today was one of those days I wish I could just erase. I tried to work on scrapbooking and doing pictures. UGG! My computer froze up about 10 times then the printer froze and it was all locked up for about 3 hours. Finally I got it all back up and running. And then all the prints came out WAY dark. They look yuck! UGG!

So being the frustrated photographer I took it out on my family. The poor children didn't get dinner. I ended up putting my head set on to listen to music and just sat at my desk and cried. I was so frustrated with the stupid computer. Then Daisha came in....really. She asked me why I was crying and I didn't have a good reason. She made me feel guilty. So I looked at the clock. It was already bed time. So I decided the least I could do was tuck the poor children in bed and kiss them goodnight. So that's just what I did. Then I came to the realization that I better just enjoy the children while I have them. They are what's important. Tomorrow is a new day!

EXTRA! EXTRA! read all about it....

Ok, this morning they accepted our offer and now we are onto the inspection. Jeremy and I are both a little worried about the acceptance of the inspection because there are some cracks in the ceiling. But we think they are minor tape and texture issues and we were told if that's what it is it won't hold up the inspection. YEAH! But wait, don't get too excited yet. Lots of things still have to fall into place.

Ugg, and then packing. I hate that part. It's just a lot of work. But it's well worth it to get into a bigger home.

We'll keep everyone posted on everything that happens.

No news so picture time

Today we were suppose to hear if our offer was accepted on the house we want. We didn't hear anything. Stupid bank! Who do they think they are taking forever. So we will wait another day to hear. I'll let you know when we know.

So today I played with pictures most of the day. Here's a little of what I did.



Some more pictures of the fun we had at the park on Saturday.





Sunday we had to start the day out with taking a bunch of pictures since it was Bradley's blessing day. Plus that's just another excuse for me to play with my camera and editing program.



I didn't really get a chance to play with these ones because Jeremy wants me to watch a movie with him. So these don't have much done to them.













Cousins Maddilyn and Jillian with matching dresses. Aren't they beautiful?! They get their looks from their moms. Can't you tell? :)



My beautiful daughter along with some cool editing. Doesn't it look awesome. That's one of my favorite features of the program.



And this is my absolute FAVORITE picture....LOL It just makes me laugh. He's so cute!

A day together

I started out the day taking pictures of Bradley. This is my Easter picture for him. Isn't it so cute.


Oh and he is just so handsome. I love this picture. How adorable he is!!!



And then we ended out the day at the park.



Jillian LOVED everything at the park. The swing, the slide and the merry-go-round.





And believe it or not even Jeremy joined us at the park. It was like pullin' teeth to get him to go but we got him there.