Dear Duane,

I can't believe that it has been 2 years since you left this mortal probation. You were the best example of hard-work, unconditional love and sacrifice. I learned so much from you and felt loved by you, my big brother. No one could ever have ordered up a better big brother. One of the last things I learned from you was sacrifice. You taught me no matter how difficult anything was, it was worth doing if you did it for "them." Recently, I struggled with the decision to accept a new calling, they called me to be in the nursery -- again. This will be the 3rd time in the last 6 years. However, following your example of sacrifice and love I honored our Heavenly Father and accepted the calling because I was "Doing it for Zack." Already I understand why I was called to this position and I am so grateful that I did. I am attacking it with enthusiasm and dedication. Thank you big brother for the many, many things you taught me.

Just Because . . .

I took this picture when we were at the Visitors Center in Independence, MO this past July. It's a feel good, this is how we roll kind of picture. I'm so in love with my men.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holiday -- I love the festive colors, the trick or treating, pumpkin everything and the costumes! This year we wore bee related costumes. I was the Queen Bee, Zacky was a drone and Ben was our flower. (I loved the fact that he took on being the flower. His had to be a bit more simplistic, because he had to play in a concert on the night of Trunk or Treat at church.) Because this year Halloween fell on the Sabbath we decided to dress up in our costumes, have our traditional dinner of homemade pizza, hand-out candy and talk about the importance of death and the resurrection. Friday night, we did Trunk or Treat at church so Zacky got his fill of candy and on Saturday we did our traditional Halloween movies and other festive activities. In other words, I got to spread Halloween out over 3 days!!! Yay us!

I love Autumn, the look of trees ablaze in magentas, gold and oranges.

I love the crisp new crop of apples.

I love the smell of the air on a cool, crisp Autumn night.

I love that my family was a part of the Mayflower and the Fortune. Brave pilgrims that helped settle this country.

As much as I love these, I love my Heavenly Father and my little family even more.

How Young Is To Young To Start Chewing Gum????

(A little history)I always have had gum and tic-tacs in my purse for my nieces and nephews to be able to have. When they were born I told them that I will always have tic-tacs and gum for them.

To this day they still go in my diaper bag now and look for them whenever we get together as a family. They even go to the bubble gum machine when we are all at my parents house.

Zack discovered the bubble gum machine when he was 14 months and wanted some but I kept telling him no.

So when he was 16 months he found some OLD bubble gum in one of my purses and he unwrapped it, well most of it and started to chew away on it! Well I took the gum out of his mouth. ( I've had to do this more then once.)

So last night we were at Lowes doing some pricing. Zack was good but he was started to get tired so I gave him one of his FAVORITE snacks, yogurt-melts. But those went fast since the bag was almost empty. Mr. Zack, got into my diaper bag pulled out my gum, unwrapped most of the wrapper and started to chew!!!!!!

This is the best pic I could get of Zack chewing the gum outside when it was dark.

Hard work is Starting to Pay Off!

On Thursday, August 19th Ben and I were reviewing Zack's reading flash cards with him, my sweet Ben was doing them randomly just to see if Zack was really learning words or not, well he did showed him "Eddie" and Zack pointed to his Eddie!!! Eddie was on the other side of the room and little Mr. Man himself went and got him! We were so proud of him.

With the program "Your Baby Can Read" they count it as reading when your child does the motion, points to the things, signs and of course says the words that they see on the cards.

This is an older picture( taken in Oct 2009) of Zack and Eddie.


I love being Zack's mommy so much!

Life lesson #246

Always make sure the pantry doors are always completely close and anything potential messy should be put up high!

Zack opened the pantry door and got the food coloring out (I didn't know that he could open a door much less reach that high.) and managed to dye himself fairly well. I think he was trying to become a red Easter egg.

Ah well, life isn't fun if we don't make it more colorful!

The Power of Example or Through My Son's Eyes

Two months ago, Zack was playing with his baby doll,  When she didn't perform for him as he wanted her to he mirrored exactly what I always do when he misbehaves. While pointing his finger at her he began to gently scold, when he was all done he picked  up the doll kissed her and said; "I love you!"

Just a few weeks ago while our little family was returning from the annual Bumpus family reunion in Mt. Vernon, IL, Zack wanted his books and his little baby doll. He began to babble (read) out of the book he held to his precious little baby doll. Zack and I love to read together!!! Hope you enjoy the moments I captured on video of him reading to the doll . .


Bishop H. Burke Peterson of the Presiding Bishopric said this in the Ensign, Jan. 1973

Harmony in the Home

"The most effective examples a child will ever have—for bad or for good—are his own parents. Few of us realize how very pliable and teachable children are in their primary years of life. How quick they are to pick up parental habits and traits and teachings!"

We need to be good examples to our children.

Know that they are loved.

That they will grow up and become good, kind, respectable adults,Good parents and so much more.

First Trip to the Library.

On August 19th was Zack's first trip to the library. I know I probably waited a bit too long, but honestly I was apprehensive about taking my little Mr. Man into the library. I loved seeing him surrounded by all of those books and yet even as much as he loves books he was distracted enough by all the pretty little girls. (That's what he's doing in this pic.)

We went to the children section and guess what was the first book he picked out????



Of course it was a Monkey book. He was making monkey sounds when I saw the book and I said to him "Zacky, what a surprise a monkey book!" We looked at books and he played with the noodle toy that they had there.

When we were on our way out we just had to check out that book and honestly I was thrilled that Zack did not want to leave, like his Mommy & Daddy Zack loves books! He was a bit difficult to control while I was checking out books because he kept trying to escape back to the Children's section!

I am so glad that he is my son.

Splish Splah I was taking a bath -- well sorta.

Today Zack and I went to a splash park along with his Grammy and cousins--Gracie, Hannah, Emma, Jacquie, Ciera and Jonathan

Zack had so much fun; it was so adorable watching walk around to the various water areas and interact with them. It made my heart so happy to watch him with his cousins. All of them were so attentive and included him in all their water games. You can see the family love and bond.

It was a fun, adventurous, great AND blessed day!

Good-bye My Old Friend

Yesterday I went to the funeral of my long time friend Andrew Kneib. He fought cancer for 15 years and was one of the strongest persons I have ever known. He was one of my heroes.
As kids, and teens we both had brain tumors/cancer. We even were in the Make A Wish program together. It always seemed that when I got better that Andrew got better. But then our old enemy, cancer struck him once more.

I am so blessed that I was able to know him in this life. He is such a great person and friend. I have no doubt where he is going and that he is doing many great and wonderful things on the other side.

What was said at his funeral is such a wake up call to me because he did not let his cancer stop him from doing anything! The following are some of what was said at the funeral:

"He got his eagle scout when he was only 14....., He worked in high school even had two jobs in his Senior year....., always did his school work even when he was under going his chemo treatments he was even able to graduate form high school in 2005 on time.
Andrew was always willing to serve in the church. He started doing home teaching at 12 and did it regularly. After high school he taught primary for 3 years. He loved the kids he taught and they loved him." He always made a big deal about celebrating their birthdays, and they always enjoyed taking turns pushing him in his wheelchair from class to sharing time.He always wanted to be a missionary, but that wasn’t possible. Instead, he served a mini-mission with Moises Echeverria. They would get together and study scriptures and then go out with the missionaries.
"When he was originally told that he would only have 2-3 months to live, it was arranged for him to go to the temple to receive his endowments. During that time period, he and Arlana(his mom) did a lot of traveling around the country, and he got to visit 16 temples. He greatly enjoyed going to the temple and went every month. He truly understood the plan of salvation, and the gospel, and he had a strong testimony that families can be together forever."

There was so much more said, he went to New York to see a Yankees game (with his dad) on their home field and many more things. He lived his life to the fullest! How many of us really do that, live our lives to the fullest? All of us need to start doing that. We all really need to enjoy our lives, see and know what is really important and what really matters. We should NOT have any regrets in our lives; our mortal lives are so short.

I will never forget you Andrew. You will be greatly missed and I love you.

I am so blessed to have known Andrew in my life.

Tae Kwon Do

Some of you know that I did Tae Kwon Do for 6 years.


Yesterday was Master Beers last class. I went for the first time in 6 years(I don't have great equalibrium anymore since I hit my head on the corner of my closet door when I was getting out my uniform and the pain went to my surgical area. then got a huge migraine, when trying to do the spinning got dizzy and got a bigger headache every time and I still have that problem).
He was totally surprised when he saw me well he was surprised to see me and a bunch of his former students that came as well.




It was so crowded that we were squeezing in so we all can have some room and figure out who goes where since we were all black belts( see who has seniority over who.)



He went around introducing everyone telling some things about each student at one point that he was introduction everyone that he stopped and said, "I do not deserve this." then I spoke up out loud and said, "yes you do" and clapped then everyone else joined me.





When he got to me he toiled about "How remarkable I am and how it took me longer to get to black belt cause of my brain tumor.That when I gave my report there was not a single dry tear in the room and and that I am a mother now."


After he was done telling everyone who is who the class began. It was a very short class cause of how BIG the class was.




At the end we all said KAM SA HAM NED DA which meas thank you in Koren which is that is what we say at the end of each class. Then we all clapped for a good 2-3 min for the job well done that he had done well and it is obvious all of us that came are black belts and it was just not us who got the black belt we had great inspiration to make it to the black.



Then it was time for the little party.







Little bit later on my mom brought Zack. He at first was a little shy and clung on to me.






But when he realized that there were other babies he was on the go and playing with them he was a little party animal he was all over the do-jang. Of cores I was taking him to all of my TKD buddies and they all loved him.



It was so nice to see everyone again and to be able to do one last class and to be able to bow to master beers and the flags one last time. I am grateful that I was able to do Tae-Kwon-Do and do this one last time.

Elmo!!!

What can I say Zack loves Elmo!

It all started when he was 6-7 months old. when i was nursing him one morning and trying to find something good to watch on t.v.(we only have basic t.v. :P) I surfed into Elmo's World and when Zack heard Elmo's cute little voice he sat up and looked at the t.v. and grinned from ear to ear and started to cooed. YES!!! My Monkey loves Elmo!!! that was the start of it all; of loving Elmo.

For Christmas he got a little stuff Elmo and a Kiss me Elmo that his aunt Becky gave him which he loves very much.

In January Zack was playing with his smaller Elmo and he confused it with his big Kiss Me Elmo. It just made me laugh watching him trying to get his little Elmo to perform. Finally, I had to explain to Zack that his little Elmo does not do that only his big Kiss Me Elmo did.


What can I say my monkey loves Elmo,Monkeys,his blanket, chuck trucks, books, balls,passies etc... My monkey just likes a myriad of things -- he is a well rounded kid.

It's a Nubbin!!!!

As long as I can remember I have not been to eat the end of most foods. In my family it's called "the nubbin." You know, that last bite of a french fry, etc. When I was very small instead of popping that last bit of fry into my mouth, I would lay it on my plate/wrapper. Mom asked me why I wasn't eating it and I replied, "I don't like the nubbins." It's stuck.

My little Zack is much like his Daddy, he LOVES all things potatoes. Most of the time when Mom and I are in the car together he starts communicating he wants french fries. He'll make the sign for "more" and start blowing. (mommy always blows on then before giving it to him) Well, the other day I was getting him out of the carseat, I spotted . . . NUBBINS! Zackary is becomimg like his mommy and does not like eating the very last bite of his foods. Oh no, what have I created???

I love being Zacky's Mom!

Being so cute

On Monday, April 26th I was preparing for Zack's bath -- turning the water on, gather toys, towels and soaps when I heard some noises on the stairs. I turned and saw him struggling as he was climbing up the stairs bringing his little Elmo and one of his monkeys to join him for bath time! Elmo and Monkeys -- the best of 2 worlds. That boy worked very hard, but he made it up the stairs with no assistance from me. Needless to say he was very pleased with himself.

On Tuesday, April 27 while I was giving Zack his bath he was doing his usual splashing and playing with his bath toys. At one point he picked up his walrus bath toy and held it like a baby. Zack rocked it from side to side and kept saying baby over and over. It was so cute but, Zack IS cute so why wouldn't he be doing cute things?

I love being Zack's Mommy

I Did It!

I did it!!! Yesterday, I finally took my drivers test and I passed . . . I am an official licensed driver! At age 16 when everyone else was learning to drive, I was fighting for my life. Well, now I have a beautiful life AND a drivers license!

At the age of 16 when all of humanity is thinking of nothing but driving and dating, I was waging a battle for my life. I had a malignant brain tumor. Surgeries, meds, and other procedures left me drugged and with blind spots. I lost all confidence in myself regarding driving and for many years, I just was too afraid to attempt driving . . . then, I married my Ben. Ben has always believed I could do anything, including driving. He bought me a car and I started practicing. Everywhere we went, he had me drive. He never gave up on me! So yesterday, with the threat of my permit expiring at the end of the month and with a blessing from my husband I took my driver's test -- I passed! I couldn't believe it, I passed.

Terrible picture, but had to prove I am a proud owner of a driver's license. To celebrate the great event, my husband and baby boy went out and bought me a charm for my bracelet.
I truly am blessed and have a beautiful life!

Historic Event in the Durney Family!

In February my sweet family, Ben, Zack and I flew out to Utah for a historic Durney Family moment! We drove up to Blackfoot, Idaho with Ben's parents and his little brother Danny to celebrate along with most of the descendant's of Gordon Durney (Ben's Great Grandpa) his 100th Birthday -- Yes, you read that right, 100th!!! It was so exciting to see that happen in your very own family, since it is so rare!

It was so nice to see that sweet man again and this time Zack was more aware. When we were getting our picture taken Zack would not even look at the camera ( normally he poses) he just couldn't keep his eyes off of his Great Great Grandpa Durney!!!






It was such a joyous occasion I am so happy that so many family members came for this celebration. It's amazing that so many people can descend from just one person in 100 years and that he actually had the chance to see it for himself!



We all chatted and mingled getting to know more of the extended family.We sang happy birthday to him it was just such a nice day to be able to see this mark in history!

I wanted to be able to take pictures of family with him but towards the end his energy was just getting depleted. But, I was able to snap a few of him with his children and then with their spouses.


We unsuccessfully tried one last time before we left to get a picture of him with Zack looking at the camera but Zack was true to form . . . he was fascinated with his Great Great Grandpa Durney.



In my opinion, the most precious moment of all (depicted in the following picture) Ben's Uncle Brian and Aunt Kristy's son Alex announced to his great grandpa "Grandpa I am going on a mission" Wouldn't that be so incredible to hear that from one of your great grand children?


What a truly blessed live he has lived!