Hi, I'm Betsy! I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - born and raised! I love to share the gospel which has played a huge role in my life - I don't know where I'd be without it. I actually have 2 kids serving missions for the church right now, which you'll read more about below :)
I'm a homeschooling mom of 15 years and I truly LOVE to homeschool! I currently only homeschool my two youngest kids. Homeschooling has been such a great blessing to our family and I'm feeling a bit sad that my homeschooling days are slowing coming to an end as my children are growing up and are moving out. However, I do look forward to helping my kids as they embark on their homeschool journeys, which I have no doubt they will.
I'm also a homeschool publisher where I create homeschooling supplements such as notebooking pages, lapbooks, copywork notebooks, and student planners under the name Notebooking Nook. I offer lots of freebies on my business blog. Where We live...
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We live on about 12 acres in western Arizona. We've lived on this property since 1999. We build our dream house here, but in December of 2007 our home burned down and we rebuild on the same foundation... different floor plan though. We moved into our new home in November 2008. It was a fast rebuild because our insurance only paid for one year free rent and my huband was not going to fork out for rent. So, lots of things didn't get done and I felt pressure to get things done and I'd like to do a few things differently. I do LOVE the new house though!
It's hot in the summer here ... very HOT, 125 degrees hot! But I can honestly say that I love it here and I'd rather put up with the summers then live in the snow. Someday, my husband and I are going to buy a sailboat and sail the world during the summers and then plant ourselves back at home during Arizona's lovely winters - at least that's what he keeps threatening to do :) He asked me back about 15 years ago (on a good day, mind you) and I thought it sounded fun and now he will never let me live it down and according to him we're going no matter what! We'll see :)
Because we live in the middle of one of the hottest places on earth, we are able to grow date palms, so that's what we do. Not as a living mind you, just so we can get a tax exception, but they are also pretty and worth some money when you resell them, so we do see them as an investment for later. We also grow lots and lots of citrus. You'd find about 35 peacocks roaming around our property (which mean LOTS of peacock poop... which I'm not very happy about and my husband keeps promising to do something about). We also have a pig, a cow, geese, and a few dogs. We have a little zoo here :)
About my amazing family...
I'm a blessed wife and mama to a wonderful family - my family is my passion! I've been married to my best friend, Allen for 25 years, which is hard to believe it's been that long! We have 5 amazing kids ranging from 21-12 and a 6th that we helped raise for a friend of ours, but he's most certainly like a son to us and we love him very much. All my kids were very active in martial arts growing up and we worked very hard to teach them a good work ethic by creating lots of different experiences around our home.
Our oldest daughter, Ali (23), is serving a mission in the England Leeds Mission. She attended 3 years at Southern Utah University as a History major. She is now embarking on this amazing opportunity to serve others and is learning so much about her talents and what she is capable of doing. We miss her so much be wouldn't want her doing anything else right now! When she returns from her mission in February '13, she'll return to SUU and finish her Bachelors in History. She's an awesome young woman!
Jon (20) is serving the Belgium/Netherlands Mission. He is a the young man we took into our home and our lives as one of our own when he was 10. He's from Austria and is fluent in German, English and now working hard to teach the people he is serving in Dutch. After his mission, he plans to attend school but is somewhat undecided as to what he wants to do with his life, but going to school is a good start and usually helps you figure things out. He'll return from his mission in Oct. '12. He's a great addition to our family and fits in perfectly.
Cassie (20) is next and this picture suits her perfectly! She is full of life, super happy and very passionate about her interests. She's attending SUU as a photography major but is thinking about transferring schools and studying interior design (FUN!) She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 16 and then diagnosed herself with gluten intolerance after taking a nutrition class her freshman year of college. She's someone I look up to so much. The way she handles her trials is inspiring to me. She's also considering a mission when she turns 21. She's amazing!
Next is Brandon (18), he has a good heart and people just plain out love him. He's an Eagle Scout, and he gives the best massages on the planet! Because of a heart condition he wasn't able to play many sports but he has lots of energy and loves life. He doesn't have any plans for his future quite yet, but he's young and I don't expect him to right now. He loves helping people and a couple years ago both he and Cassie went to Brazil and helped rebuild a home after some major flooding down there. Serving others is what he loves to do. I expect him to find a career where he'll be able to help others. He's applying to SUU and is planning to spend a year there before leaving for his mission.
Melanie (15) is a very talented musician. She has been classically trained in voice for about 4 years now and is becoming more and more comfortable with performing in front of people. She's started playing the piano a couple years ago and is quite passionate about anything to do with music. She loves to read and is very artistic as well. She has a very happy disposition and giggles more than anyone I've ever met.... seriously :) Just about everything makes her laugh! She's loves learning, reading and is also very involved in martial arts. She's is an absolute joy :)
Christian (12) is the sweetest boy you will ever meet. He's my baby so I'm sure I'm a little biased, but if you met him I know you'll feel the same :) He also does martial arts, plays piano, and loves to read. He is very laid back and never argues with me when I don't allow him to have his way (a wonderful kid for my last one, makes my life very easy!) But because he's so sweet and obedient it's easy to give him what he wants but I also know I have to be careful not to spoil him. Goodness, he's just the sweetest thing ever... I mean just look at his cuteness! :D
My sweetheart, Allen, is a chiropractor, a wonderful husband, father and amazing provider to our family. He's a great leader and he most certainly leads by example. He's extremely passionate about pretty much everything but mostly his family, his faith, politics, work, animals, service and watching movies and TV :) We have a great time together and he is my very best friend in the world! I'll go sailing with him, I guess, as long as I can decorate the boat! We really do love traveling so it will be great :) Plus, we want to spend lots of time in each area we visit for quite a long time so we can serve in any way we can through church service.
We'll that's the very abbreviated story of my life and the lives of my family. Stick around and I'm sure you'll read more about our little adventures, homeschooling ideas, what we're up to at church and on and on.... I have a busy life but I wouldn't have it any other way! Life is good and meant to live well and be enjoyed.
Thanks for stopping by!
