My Testimony

Something has happened in my life that has truly made me stop and think.  I have a friend that has made a drastic decision to end her membership in the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints.  When I heard this news it literally took the breath out of me.  I just couldn't understand such a decision that will alter the rest of her life and the lives of her prosperity for generations to come. My first reaction was sorrow, sorrow for her decision and sorrow for how she lost she must have felt to not be able to come and talk about her choice before she did it.  My second thought was what is my testimony?  I thought and know that she has a strong testimony and I wondered what went wrong?  I have a testimony of many things and I feel strongly that I should share it. 

I have a testimony first and foremost that Jesus Christ is my savior.  That he made the decision to come to this earth, set the example of a perfect life, and to die to atone for my sins.  I know that if I was the only person to ever walk this earth other than Him that He still would have come to earth, still would have died on the cross just for me alone, I am that important in the eyes of the Father.  I know that He is the light, the life and the way and that through Him and only Him I can return to my Father in Heaven. 
I have a testimony that a 14 year old boy knelt in a grove and asked which church to join and he recieved an answer from the Father and His Son.  I believe that with all of my being. 
I know that because of the sacred ordinances of the temple that I am married to my husband for not only until death do us part but for time and all eternity.  I know that because of the atonement that I will one day, if I am faithful and do the things that I have been asked to do I will  see the faces of my loved ones that have passed on and oh what a joyous reunion that will be! 
I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church upon the face of the earth and for the peace and knowledge that I learn within the walls of it's temples and the teachings of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price and the Old and New Testaments I am eternally grateful. 
I know that in this world full of sadness and evil that I have the tools to help raise my children and teach them the true and full knowledge from the Father. This is my testimony, it might not be a mighty testimony but these things I can say I believe without an ounce of question.  I end these things in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

I also want to add that once upon a time I was inactive in the church and I can honestly say that it was the saddest, loneliest time in my life.  I was truly lost and I can remember sitting outside of the temple walls and not being worthy to enter and it was the thing that I wanted most in my life but because of my own bad decisions I wasn't able to and I made a decision right then and there that I needed to change and I did and I haven't looked back and my life is full, rich and happy.  I have had trials along the way but they have been nothing but testimony builders for me.  I am in no way perfect, I have  alot to learn and alot to fix before I can say that I am perfect, but I can also say without a shadow of a doubt that I know that with the Lord's help and guidance I will never be alone again. 

Running

I have been working with a personal trainer from church and we have been swapping babysitting for personal training.  I am determined to be healthy and be a happy healthy mom for myself and for my family.  Let me tell you this, it is a lot easier to put on weight than it is to get it off!  I have been at this since Cole was two months old and I am about 18 lbs. away from my goal.  I recently took up running and I have been entering into these races to help motivate me to keep running.  I actually hated running at first but now I look forward to it and it is such an accomplishment when I hit a new goal that I set for myself.  Joe and I recently did a mud run called the Lizard Creek Run and it was a blast, we ran about 3 miles up and down a rugged terrain, swung into mud pits, crawled through and under mud, climbed up the side of a mountain using a rope and nothing else, and slid down an enormous water slide to get clean but only to end up completely muddy at the end.  We had a blast and are looking where to sign up for our next adventure!  We stopped to get some lunch on the way home and we sure did get some crazy looks with our muddy selves!  I encourage anyone who wants to get healthy to get out there and run your little heart out and it will be rewarding and

tough all at the same time!!!

This is a shot of Joe "walking on water" right before he splashed into the mud!

Climbing under the barbed wire while wading through the freezing cold mud/water. 

Cole is Nine Months Old!!!

Oh my gosh I cannot believe that I haven't blogged about my little munchkin in 5 months and I also cannot believe that he is now nine months old!! He has grown sooooo much in these last five months!  He is now weighing in at 21 lbs. 10 oz. (80th percentile) and he is 28 1/2 inches tall (55th percentile).  His newest trick is crawling and he is everywhere and into everything.  I always hear moms say that they don't like when their baby gets mobile but I love it because he can crawl off and explore and not throw a fit everytime I leave the room.  He adores his big brother Brock and Brock is pretty fond of him too.

 He is eating anything and everything he can get his chubby little hands on and I love the finger food stage because it makes going out to eat a little bit easier to entertain the baby!  He is a very smiley baby and has two bottom teeth and two top teeth.  He is a beast when he is teething and he will let you know very loudly that he isn't happy about his teeth coming in!  We went to the pediatrician for his well child check-up the other day and the doc was asking me if he is babbling mama and dada and I told her no but that he has found that screaming is a much more effective way to get out attention!  He is making sure that we don't forget he is here!  Cole is definitely my loudest child by far!! I cannot believe that this little chubster is already 9 months old!! Let's just hope that I am better about bloggging and that he won't be a one year old before I take another picture of him :)

Brock is five years old!!!

I cannot believe that Brock is five years old already!!  I am just so proud to be his mom, he is a fun and funny kid to have around.  He is a great big brother and alot of help around the house!  For his fifth birthday he wanted to rent a bounce house. The weather has been beautiful lately so I figured that would make for a super easy birthday party for me, so I booked the bounce house.  Well, two days before the party the weather predicted that it would be cold and rainy on the day of the party so we had to cancel the bounce house, scramble for some fun games for the kids to play(thank you pinterest) and go and buy the stuff for the games.  We ended up playing a fun balloon dare game and bobbing for apples.  Brock loved it and it seemed like his friends did too!

 This year he opted for a green lantern birthday cake and he insisted on having cake pops for him and his friends.  Well, after researching how to make cake pops I decided that I was in no way organized enough to spend days(yes days!) making cake pops so we talked Joe's mom into buying cake pops for the kiddos and I bought a cake from Kroger. I'm not sure if I just haven't had cake in so long or if the cake was just that good, but I sure enjoyed my slice!  I am pretty sure that Brock picked this cake out just because it's green and not because it's green lantern.  All in all we had a great day and again I can't believe my little boy is a five year old!!  Happy Birthday big man!

Memorial Day

We started off our Memorial Day by hanging out at the pool with Clare and Luke.  It was Cole's first time in the pool, I didn't think he was going to like it because the water was pretty chilly, but he was a trooper and hung out for about 45 minutes! 

Anna was a little timid in the water at first but then she jumped right in and swam the entire time we were there.  She even went down the slide a couple of times!

 Brock is my fearless child, he just goes and jumps right off the diving board and half the time I'm searching the pool to find him he swims like a little fish and is all over the place!  He loved the new slide this year!  Thanks for inviting us Clare! 

Getting out of the water for a little snack........we ended the day with a great group of friends coming over for some yummy food on the grill, we shared lots of food, stories, and of course lots of laughs!  We sure do love this group of friends!  Happy Memorial Day to all!!!

Cole is 4 months old!!

I can't believe our little munchkin is already 4 months old!!!  He is eating us out of house & home already, & I can't imagine my grocery bill when he gets to be a teenager!  He went to the doc today and his stats are 17lbs and 4 oz for weight(90th percentile) 24 1/2 inches for height (25th percentile).  He is such a chunk and I just love every single one of his rolls!! He still has his baby blues and I think he's going to keep them!  I think he really favors the Padgett side of the family, sometimes he can make a facial expression and it reminds me of my dad, he looks alot like my brother at this age too.  So it's nice to have at least one of my children look like me :)  Happy 4 months Cole we couldn't imagine our lives without you and your sweet little smiles & chunky thighs!!!!

Easter Time

We had a great Easter this year. We went to our annual Easter egg hunt at our friend's house and the kids had a blast playing with all the other kiddos. Anna is a pro at hunting eggs now and Brock kept telling us that he found "39 eggs!" everytime you asked him how many he found.


My little babies about to head out for church, I told Brock that he looked sharp in his new suit and he replied, "yeah, sharp just like a pencil.".....ah the logic of a four year old.

After church we had another hunt at Grandma Brock's house. I was trying to snap a picture of Brock as he started to look for eggs and he informed me that, "there is no time for pictures mom!" .......

Checking out their loot at the first hunt.

On another note....drumroll please..........my little Anna is completely potty trained! She got the concept in a little under a week! I'm so proud of her and look forward to only having to buy diapers for one kiddo at a time!

Mr. Cole

I've been the worst blogger since, I've had Cole! Let's just say that 3 kids is a huge adjustment from 2!!! Cole's blessing was at the beginning of March, it was a beautiful day filled with family and friends and I just loved having them all here to help us with his special day! He wore a handmade blessing gown that was made especially for him from my mom's fried Kay. She has made each of my children their own blessing gowns that they can pass down to their children and I just love that! Uncle Timmy with the three munchkins




Our little family

Cole at two months old

My smiley little man! He just loves to smile and talk! He'll just coo and coo at anyone who talks to him but he really loves it when his big brother gives him any attention! He looks at Brock like he's known him for forever and it is sooo cute! He went for his 2 month check-up a little late this month but his stats are weight: 14 lbs 5 oz. 75th%tile/ heighth: 23 1/2 inches 44th%tile/ and head is 15 3/4 inches 56th%tile

He is a joy to have around, he eats about every 2 1/2 hours and he loves to be entertained when he is awake! We just love this little chubby munchkin!

Cole Frank Kekoa

He's Here!! Well, technically he's been here for three weeks now, but who's counting?????

He was born at 8:10 a.m. on January 17th, 2012. He weighed in at 8lbs. 8.4 oz. and 20 inches long. He was by far my biggest baby to date, and if I hadn't seen him get pulled from my belly I wouldn't believe he was mine! He's got really light hair and blue eyes, a far cry from my dark skinned, brown hair, brown eyed babies! He came out and he was ready to let us know he was here, he just screamed and screamed! It is just so miraculous to know where this precious spirit just was and now he is here and he is ours to keep!


My anesthesiologist was so nice! I actually requested him from Anna's c-section because I had so many problems, he is the only person that is able to get my epidural in just right. He came in my room about a half hour before my section started to let me know that he prayed that morning that he would be able to place the epidural in the right spot and he sure did! It was a relief to know that his and my prayers were answered. He actually took the camera from Joe and took some shots of us with Cole.

Brock and Anna are in love!

First day home

This is where you can find Anna most days, she loves to love on her little brother.

Brock likes Cole much more than he did Anna when she was born!

We are so happy to announce the arrival of our second son! He is a joy to have around already, I just wish he would sleep a little longer at night :) !!

Welcome to the world Cole Frank Kekoa!!

Anna's 2nd Birthday!!! (And a whole lot of catch-up)

Merry Christmas From the Rogers! I can't believe that Christmas is this weekend! This month has just flown by and now after Christmas we have about 3-4 more weeks and then Baby Cole will be here! We are so excited to have another little baby in the house! Monkeying around.....these two are starting to be better friends, I think that once I'm busy with the new baby they might play a little more than they do now.

Anna's 2nd Birthday was the 18th of December and we just couldn't be more proud to be her parents. She requested a Tinkerbell (bell-bell) party and we gave her just that. We kept her party small with a few friends and of course the Grandma's came over. I don't know if my friends will ever know how much they help fill the void that I sometimes feel about my parents not being here to celebrate these special milestones in my children's lives.

Her tinkerbell cupcake cake with about 5 lbs. of frosting on it, it was good though!

She loves her new pillow pet and her tinkerbell jammies, she wants to sleep in those jammies every night and she carries around her pillow pet with her all over the house

She got lots of great toys and took them right over to daddy to have him open them.

She went to the doctor yesterday for her well-child check-up, she weighs 28 lbs. and is 34 inches tall, and is at the 75 percentile for both heighth and weight. She has had a little growth spurt, I'm hoping she will keep growing taller and taller, it's no fun being short! We are so happy for another happy, healthy year with her and look forward to many, many more!!! Thanks to everyone who came and made it a special day for our little Anna Kulia!!!

UglyChristmas Sweater Party!!!

We had our annual Christmas party earlier this month and it was a good time for all! We all wore our ugliest Christmas sweaters and the boys looked smashing ;) It is my favorite party of the year! We all made yummy food and played Dirty Santa and this year Chris and Clare won for the most creative Dirty Santa gift, they wrapped up a huge photo of some random family that was left in the crawl space of their house when then bought it. Pam opened the picture and asked, "who the hell is this???" it was great! Chris and Clare


Our new friends James and Jane, they fit right in with our goofy group!

All of the handsome husbands, Otto's sweater was handmade and he jingled wherever he went :)

I'm so grateful for all of my friends. I just don't know what we would do without them, all of our kids are friends as well and it's always a great time when we get together!

Brock's 4th Birthday!!!

I can't believe that my little man is four years old! Time really does fly by! We had his Birthday at our house once again, it was a pretty day out and the kids loved playing in the backyard while the adults sat in the air conditioned house :) He requested a pinata again this year and he picked out the same one he had last year. The kids had a blast hitting that thing! His birthday party was of course Transformer themed, complete with a cool Transformer cake that had actual Transformer guys on it, he was way impressed!


Brock and all of his loot!

Didn't mean to put this pic in but doesn't Pam look really happy :)

Here is his cake without the toys on it............

These weren't really the pictures I wanted to put on here but that's okay we still had a blast and Brock's guest of honor his Uncle Timmy was able to make it down, my son thinks his Uncle Timmy hung the moon! It really is a shame that we don't live closer to each other my son would be over at his house all the time! Thanks for all of our friends and family that came and helped my little man celebrate his special day!