My Recommendation...

I am not one to read books. I have never been much of a reader and I will read not just any book, it has to be a great book in order to keep my attention. I have always struggled to start and finish a book within a certain time period...I take much too long. I also tend to stick to one book at a time (scriptures don't count). Being a busy Mom has made it even more difficult for me to develop a love for reading. I have read many books in my lifetime so far. Books that have been inspiring and uplifting. The older I get the more I find spiritual and life learning, life changing books more intriguing. For my Birthday I bought two books with my b-day money from my in-laws. I finally finished reading one of them yesterday. It is a very easy to read kind of book but so very thought provoking and spiritually refreshing. I also learned a great deal from this book and when I could make time to read it, it was hard to put it down. I also learned not to read it in public, it just brought tears to my eyes most of the time. Most of you can read a book like this in a day or two, it took me over a month... This book is called "The Continuous Atonement" by Brad Wilcox. It is all about the Atonement in a more broader, plainer view and understanding. He explains the importance and purpose of the Atonement in such a simplistic way. He gives analogies(parables) and shares personal stories, uses scriptures and quotes. He puts a different perspective and opens your mind to better comprehend the true meaning of the Atonement. It is CONTINUOUS. I never really thought about it that way before. It is a book to fill you with Hope, Joy, Faith, Unconditional Love, and motivates you to find the Savior in your life. I recommend this book for anyone to read and be prepared to be touched and changed. It did for me... Here is one of the many things he said in his book (there was not one page that didn't capture my attention and got me to think deeper)...

"As we get caught up in the happy cycle of loving what we do and doing what we love, work becomes a joy. We are not watching the clock. In fact, we forget time exists. We are working not because a supervisor is present but because we are lost in the love of it." (Chapter 9. page 170)

These are other excerpts/comments/reviews I find online of the book:

"From a wealth of experience as an LDS bishop and mission president, well-known author and speaker Brad Wilcox shares hopeful insights into the continuous nature of Christ's atonement, why repentance is a process more than an event, why we are in danger of losing a generation who give up rather than grasp the idea of 'incremental worthiness,' and how the atonement can do so much more than just bring us back to God, but actually changes our natures"

"Christ doesn’t just make up the difference. He makes all the difference."

“I’ll never do it again,” we say — and then we do it. In a world full of challenges, temptations, and even addictions, it is easy to lose hope for ourselves and those we love. During times of discouragement, we must remember that the purpose of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is not just to cleanse and console, but also to transform — and that takes time. Christ is not waiting at the finish line once we have done "all we can do." He is with us every step of the way, and His Atonement will be available as long as the perfecting process takes — continually.

"This book offers valuable insights about God, Christ, and our relationship with them. Each chapter contains clear examples that will uplift and motivate. Profound doctrine is made accessible and difficult concepts are presented in such simple ways that over and over the reader will say, "I've never thought of it like that before." That kind of change of belief will help bring about a change of behavior."

"Most members of the Church acknowledge that perfection is a long-term process, but overlook the continuous nature of Christ's Atonement that makes that process possible. Peace is found not by giving up or erasing the need to change, but by turning to the One who makes change possible and realizing that we get lots of chances to start again. So, if at first you don't succeed either, don't find excuses. Find the Savior and the blessings of His continuous Atonement."

Hug competition....

We had a family "HUG" competition this week. It was James' idea, which was shocking, because this would mean that he would have to get hugs from Eliza. He only accepts hugs from Sophia and I on a daily basis. I felt kind of bad at first with having to choose over which one of my kids gave the best hugs, but I just couldn't resist watching all of my kids hug each other and us over and over again, I got over the guilt quickly enough. At the end we had a vote. We all pointed fingers to the best huggers...Sophia, Rob and I won! It was actually really cute the way it all worked out and the kids really had a good time. Thanks James!

A week in review

While the world was obsessed this week with such things as the death of Michael Jackson, Farrah Faucet, Ed McMahon; bickering politicians in Washington D.C, and financial turmoil...the Tobler family happy marched on toward the path of familial happiness. Here is the week's real news:

Tobler Family Saga - Week 1

James gleefully skipped out of swimming lessons and opted instead for "The Lake Test". All he has to do now is prove himself by swimming half way across the frigid waters of Lake Whatcom. Meanwhile, the three sisters are happy as polliwogs in the indoor pool.

All four children competed in the non-official pre-pre-pre-pre-Olympic Track n' Field trials held a the civic field each year. Rob showed up at the end, just in time to participate in the 400 meter 4-person relay race. Everyone wanted to know if his blue denim jeans were some kind of new track attire.

As part of our summer home academics program (and as a result of unexpected financial hardships) our children learned the definition of the word 'Frugality". In addition to selling items on Craigslist and the local consignment stores (allowing us to live on a cash-only basis) we have saved money by introducing our children to the rich taste of emergency food storage soups, dehydrated apples and powdered milk. Bland is this week's vocabulary word. Even the 4-year old appreciates the value of condiments like salt, soy sauce, picante sauce...anything helps. Also we made bread and rolls. I'm getting better, Rob no longer makes comments about their dual use as door stops.

After having repeatedly been told not to ask the parents for money (and testing us "just in case" on numerous occasions); James has resorted to getting his first job. The commute will be easy for him; it's across the street taking care of the neighbor's plants, cats, garbage, recycling, lawn and mail. I'm sure this will have no affect on the performance of his free-of-charge home chores.

Pee Wee (our baby chick) is still alive! Hurray!

James took the below picture of the new neighbors that moved in.

We had nice visits with our friends from Eastern Washington the Hawley's, our ward's missionaries and our friends Carlene and Jerry Adams.

I continue to run with my girlfriends from my running group. We're motivating each other to prep for future races or to meet other goals. It has been amazing to see many of them reach beyond their expectations. It is truly inspiring to me to be amongst these women. For example today I managed to run a 15K in less than an hour and a half because of two of these women's influence and stamina (but not Rob who dropped at mile 7 complaining about being tired of eating our dust).

The kids and I spent the day a the lake today. I now have a nice pink pre-cancerous glow about me. Gotta go find the aloe vera.

I can't wait for next week!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY...

We hope you all enjoyed a fantastic Father's Day. We sure had a wonderful morning eating Rob's favorite breakfast "Biscuits and Gravy". He was so surprised and happy, I have not made this in years. Juliette and Sophia helped me make it and they had a great time in the kitchen with me. We opened presents and had a blast. Rob got his first pair of running shoes ever. He can stop wearing mine now! The kids made him cards and gave him homemade gifts. Juliette's cards and gifts were the most entertaining. We took some fun pictures and a video. Just one funny thing, one of Juliette's cards read "I love dad, happy father day. Dad wears lipstick". Is there something I don't know? Very funny! Listen to the video carefully, Rob was reading Juliette's card that she made at school for him, here is one of the funny things she said about him "Dad has Brown eyes". There's one more thing I didn't know about Rob, heeeheee! Happy Father's Day everyone.

In Honor of my Parents...

My Dad was asking me today about his sweet grand-daughters and of course couldn't stop asking about Sophia. So, in honor of my parents here are your grand-daughters.

Hello Mr. Mailman....

Living outside the city limits have deprived us from the privilege of having a City Slicker Mailman with an actual government car, deliver our mail. After five years of living here I saw this drive up our road. I couldn't believe it, so I had to take a picture so there would be proof.

11.3 miles, Rob's first...

My man just got even more sexy! Every Saturday I have my friends from running group meet me at my house for a nice long run down my trail. This Saturday I dragged Rob with us. Jill, Rob and I ran a nice pace of 10:27 per mile and finished within 2 hours. I was so impressed with Rob, he has not ceased to amaze me. He kept up with us, even when we would unconsciously increase our pace. He was really a great trooper. Now he only has 3 more miles to go and 5 weeks left before Ragnar. Pretty exciting. Rob, I am very proud of you. Thanks for running and training with me. It has been a dream come true tohave you by my side. Thank you!

From Haiti...a little girl needs your prayers

Here is a post from a friend who is now in Haiti visitng her two little girls that she is hoping to bring home soon and adopt. It has been a long and difficult road for her and her family and they find themselves with a sick child, again. They need the extra prayers for their little Haiti baby to regain her health and come home with her new parents soon. Here is her post:

"Monday, June 15, 2009: Once again we arrived in Haiti to a sick child. Avrie has been sick for a little while and had been to the doctor before we got here and I went with her to the doctor again today. We can't loose another child but I have seen this before and the end result has never been in our favor. I have spent the first 2 days holding a sick baby she screams when I put her down, which is a good sign. Our trip coordinator and her friend, both nurses, came down a couple of days early and when they saw her at the orphanage they took her back to the hotel to nurse her back to health before we came. At the dorcor's office, and that is a whole different post, the doctor looked her over like he probably does hundreds of children a day and perscribed her some medication. We pushed for more stuff and we walked out of his office with 6 or 7 different things hopefully we have covered the bases and we can start to see her regain some of her energy back. Last night she screamed for an hour and a half and was only comfortable if I was standing and rocking her. I have not taken very many pictures because I am holding a baby. Destina is great she is healthy and has been really good this trip, I think she is finally realizing that I am the mom and also in charge and it really doesn't do much good to push the limits she is behaving really good for the most part. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day, please pray for Avrie that she will be healed and that her little body will be able to build up the immunities needed to fight off all the bugs that come her way.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009:

We took Avrie to the doctor yesterday she weighed 11 lbs, in Jan she was 19lbs. This is a rare smile that she has given us most of the time she has a sad look on her face. She is on several medications that she does NOT like very much we are trying to clear up ringworm, scabies, intestinal parasites, and probably girrida. Her little immune system just did not do well when she came into the orphanage for the first time and she has picked up everything that was going around. The kids that have lived in the orphanage for most of their lives are immune to most things or at least have the ability to fight off what is going around. She had been living with her mom, who we found out is very sick, but she had not been around a lot of other kids and their germs. Kinda like sending your child to the day care for the first time and they have a cold every month then finally they build up their immune system but this is 10 times worse. We found out her birthday is April 16, 2007 so she just turned 2, I was excited to get that date we don't have any April birthdays so this is perfect! We had our USCIS appointment today and the lady behind the counter took one look at her picture and said "is this child sick too" referring to the other 2 kids in our file who had passed away. But that is done and now they can do the orphan investigation on her and she has an interview appointment for July 27th, I hope she makes it. It is pretty hard to be optimistic at this point, but I have not given up, and I will continue to do all that I can for her. Please keep praying. "

Some Catching up to do...

I have been busy this week and now I have kids 24/7 all to myself most of the day! James graduated from 5th grade and is now Officially a Middle Schooler. He is so ready for 6th grade and so very excited. All the kids came home with the perfect report cards. We are so proud of them for all of their hard work and dedication in school, it paid off.

This morning we had our first Summer Family Conference. We discussed all the things we wanted to do, things we wanted to accomplish, and goals in regards to keeping up with academics (reading, writing, math, etc). We also talked about camping, and other personal matters. It was a good meeting. The kids have an idea of our expectations as well and we found out what their expectaions are too. They weren't too thrill about having to work this summer around the house before playing, but that is life! I am also taking two days a week to teach them something towards becoming more self-reliant and responsible. For example, next week I am hoping to teach them how to iron and how to wash dishes by hand, seriously! You just never know. I have a whole list of things to teach them. I am excited and they seem to be as well.

Today we also enjoyed getting hair cuts. James was the main reason we all went out to get hair cuts. He was overdue and we worked out a little deal with him wot get him to get rid of tha Shaggy look. Now, he looks like a real Professional Soccer player with an Italian/Spanish twist (as he calls himself). The girls got really short hair cuts and I just had 2" cut off. The girls were really trying to talk me into getting 1o" off. No WAY! They just all laughed. Anyhow, they all look so nice.

Eliza found snake today (a traditonal Tobler Kid thing to do every Summer) YUCK!!! The thing was ready to pee on her as his defense, the smell is bad and it is hard to get rid off. She freaked out and let it lose in the house. I was so mad. She finally got a hold of it and took it outside. Oh, my gracious!

James has been baking away. Now that he knows how to make cookies, he is willing to make them at any given moment. It is so nice to have a big kid. Although it is not so good for us to have cookies every day. We are out of control. They are so yummy and there are so many. DELICIOUS! We literally have been out of control eating them. Rob has even taken some to work, and they were a hit. Good Job James! Now, I need to teach him how to bake a cake...

Update on Peewee...

So, far "Peewee" is growing beautifully and she is definitely letting her natural Chicken instincts kick in. She is so funny still about not wanting to be alone and she will follow you everywhere. She still peeps for attention or some TLC. The latest funny is that she has become Flighty. With her new feathers coming in she has gained some confidence and has been flying out of her box. We caught her the other day and watched how she did this. She climbs to the egg carton that is in her box holding her water, then on to the water feeder and then to the edge of the box and out she goes. Very funny to watch. If we are near she will only jump onto the water feeder and then peak her head out to see us. The girls loved this and just think it is hysterically cute. She is also perching on anything that feels like or looks like a stick, for example my Finger. She is so cute! I think we might have to get her a kitty litter and house train her. She is so spoiled and so loved. I don't think she would handle those mean hens out there very well. But, unfortunately she will have to move out and see the world as it really is. We'll just enjoy her while we have her inside 24/7.

Girls in their Sunday best...

So, it was just us girls at home yesterday before church. The boys were gone, so we decided to pick some of our favorite Sunday dresses/outfits and take some pictures. My girls looked so cute! I wanted to thank my sister Frandi for my new colorful skirt that she gave me for Christmas. I love it! We hope you all had a wonderful Sunday.

Tony Hawk....

Watch out Tony Hawk here comes your new competitor for

the title of the greatest skateboarder ever.

James and I were playing Scrabble last night and we got a bit distracted, check and see what we were up to instead:

Acts of Self-lessness....

I have watched my husband this week do more than I have noticed over the last couple of weeks. I read a friend's blog about how she took the time to notice all the things her husband did for her and her family, so I decided to do the same. I have noticed this week more than imaginable as to what this man can do. Here is what he did: He let me sleep in Took kids to bus stop everyday Held scripture reading and family prayer He let me take a nap He took me to the Gym, and on Friday we attended a class where he was the only guy there. He took me to the Grocery store He watched four kids (three not his own) while Moms went for a one hour run He mowed the lawn, until his lawnmower broke He washed our cars He cleaned out the carport He worked on the attic He cleaned out the chicken coop, filled their water containers and food He did my laundry He fixed my shower drain He fixed my kitchen faucet He fixed my cold water drain for the washing machine He cleaned the bathtub He swept He vaccumed He played with kids outside everyday He watched a crying baby for over an hour while Moms went for a close to 2 hour run He got the kids to clean the house He folded and put away laundry He put away dishes (dirty and clean ones) He bought me Kotex Pads (sanitary pads) at the local Food Market He Volunteered to help at Eliza's school field trip from 9am-2pm He attended James' Economy Hour at school (helped him pick up and drop off a thing James had to borrow for this activity) He took me shopping just for fun at our local consignment store (He picked out clothes for me) He helped kids with their school lunches Drove kids to a soccer tournament last week He let me watch a chick-flick He wore my running-hand-me-down shoes for running this week He ate whatever I served him He bought me Ginger-Ale He cooked Asparagus for me just the way I like it He made me a smoothie He told me he loved me everyday, more than once a day He hugged me more than once a day He flirted with me at home and with phone calls from work and my list goes on and on.... Thank you Rob for being the best thing in my life. You are such a blessing to me. My heart is full. Thank you!

PeeWee and Jack...

We had a fun two days. Jack (James' friend from school) came over to play and stayed the night. The boys had a fun time canooing to the creek, then jumping on the trampoline, playing game cube, eating popcorn and drinking pop, then having a duel with water guns and water balloons. Thank you jack for coming over and being such a wonderful kid to have.

Miss Peewee is growing so fast. We had to move her to a bigger box because she was flying out of her other one. She has become the family pet. Seriously, she is having so much human contact, I am worried that she will not survive being with the other grown hens in about three or so months. She follows all of us around and she even knows her way back home. Very funny to watch her get up our front door steps, through the door and then the house. When she is not sure about where she is at, she gets on my shoes (feet). She is so darn cute. She also cries (peeps) to be picked up or needs attention! SPOILED!

The hens are still sitting on the last egg. It has not hatched. It might be a gonner by now. we are still waiting and checking often.

I am sure the kids are....

I am sure the kids are doing interesting things, but right now "Peewee" has got my full attention. Our chick is doing well and growing just like she should. She even has more feathers showing today, amazing!! She sleeps, drinks, eats, and poops, just like a baby. She is also spoiled rotten. I took her out to peck on the grass and she just wanted to be on my lap. I would move and she would follow me. So cute!!! The other egg has not hatched, we kind of have given up hope on it. It is alright, we got one and the experience has been unforgettable so far.