Gronzalez/Guillen Family

In January of 2009 these women entered into our home in our guest house on Borden Road. We found out about them through the Tippets in the Las Posas Ward and they had been living with them. The mom (on the right) and Rosie (seated) had been going to their ward and had just been baptized for a few months.

A couple months after they had been living with us, I found out that Gracie (on the left) wasn't even a member of the church, but the funny thing was was that she acted like one and went to church with them and everything so I just assumed she was. Well once I found that out I used my ward missionary skills and called the sisters to come over to teach her. That is when Sis. Fesolai and Sis. Peach were together and shared their testimonies and their love of the gospel and she was baptized Easter Sunday April 2009. It was a great baptism and I spoke on Baptism and talked about "The 3 White Dresses".

By this point their mom had gone back to Mexico so she was only with us for a couple of months and then by the time the school year ended and we moved out of our Borden house, we had to ask the girls to find somewhere else to live. So we went our separate ways over the summer and Rosie ended up moving back to Mexico with her mom but Gracie stayed and went to school and went to live with the Tippets again.

Once we came back from Utah and moved into our place in Carlsbad, we had a 4th bedroom and I found out what Gracie was up to and asked her if she wanted to come out to Carlsbad with us. She did and commuted to Palomar College on the Sprinter. Since September she has been here and as of tomorrow it will be her last day with us because she has decided to go to school in Mexico.

We have had our ups and downs with this living situation and have truly grown from being around each other. At times I have felt like I was raising a teenager and getting a jump start on learning what that might be like. Gracie is very studious, stays up too late studying and gets up before the sun and gets amazing grades, so we have never had horrible problems. But when its all said and done I really do appreciate all she has done as well as her mother and sister when they were with us. They have helped us out tremendously on many occasions.

I know they were placed into our home for a reason and the children have really grown to love them, especially Gracie. They will be missed and I hope they will remember us.

Trent and I have been married for 8.5 years and out of that maybe 1.5 years total was the time where Trent and I were alone with our children. The rest of the time we have either had family or friends live with us for a time. I truly feel like we have been blessed as a family in the time that we had these individuals in our home. I want my home to be a place where anyone can come and feel welcome. I feel like I have somewhat accomplished that.

Our homes are like a piece of heaven on earth and I want my home to be a refuge from the storm and the world outside. I want it to be "our" temple!

It was hard to see my girls say their goodbyes to Gracie tonight. It finally hit me that it is really over and even though we have had some hard times it still is hard to see her leave because she has been with us for soo long and grown a great relationship with my children.

Good Luck Gonzalez/Guillen women in all that you do and may God bless you in your adventures in life as well as in the gospel.