Funny Business

Timmy has a book that has a dog, a cat, and some fish on the same page. It's his favorite book. He loves it when I point to the kitty and say "Meow," and he loves the fish. Today he was wearing his shirt with a plastic fishy in a see-through pocket. He grabbed the fish so he could look at it and said, "Meow. Meow." He was so pleased with himself. :)

This evening the boys turned Holes (the movie) on three times while I laser about in an ick-induced stupor. Not fun. My eternal allergies have turned into the ick. My throat is full of ick, and it hurts to clear it. And I've gone through roll after roll of toilet paper because I'm too cheap to buy real Kleenex. I am so out of it it's funny. (That's also my excuse for not blogging.  I simply haven't been able to think clearly.)

And last but not least - this evening Joshua decided to watch Michael Jackson's "Thriller" repeatedly, and it scared Beni.  Somehow this led to Hyrum smacking Joshua at tooth brushing time and giving him a bloody nose. I'm still scratching my head over that one.

But mostly I'm laughing at all these silly things, and the sound of my hoarse, coughy laugh makes me laugh even more.

A Big Day

 

 

Today Hyrum was ordained a deacon.  His Papa set him apart.  It was wonderful!  We had family who came to be with us, and we were so thankful!  We are so proud of him.

 

After he was set apart I had a distinct feeling that this is just the beginning for Hyrum.  I'm not sure exactly what that meant, but that's what I felt.  I'm excited to see.

 

And this evening we went to the stake center and listened to three general authorities.  We are so blessed.

I Think I Get It Now

There have been times in my life where I just didn't understand why the adults in my life would suddenly change their minds, or why they would suddenly decide that I couldn't do something, even if there didn't seem to be a good reason.  I think we've all dealt with this in our lives, which is why I am writing this in the first place.  Here is just one example of what I'm talking about.

When I was in my last semester of college I still didn't have a car, so I was still at the mercy of others when it came to getting places.  I was about to get married.  One weekend somebody in St. Johns was throwing me a bridal shower, and I needed a ride.  I also needed to meet up with Jeremy and go buy his ring.  My aunt and her daughters, who all lived in a little town near where I lived, were going to be headed to the shower, so I had arranged to ride with my cousin as far as Globe and then go the rest of the way with Jeremy after we'd picked up the ring.

All was going fine.  I got to my aunt's house and we were getting ready to go, but then somebody noticed a bunch of smoke coming from down the street a little ways.  My cousins ran down there to see and came back to confirm that it was indeed the neighbor's house on fire.  And not only was this a neighbor, but one of the ladies assigned to my aunt for visiting teaching lived in that very house.  Suddenly, all plans of leaving that day were cancelled.  Not even my cousin was allowed to take me.  Imagine my perplexity as I called up my fiancé to explain the situation.  I couldn't figure it out.  Why did the fact that my aunt's visiting teaching lady's house burned down mean that I couldn't go that day?  I puzzled over it for years.

Please know that while I was perplexed I wasn't angry.  I was worried because that would mean our time available for buying a ring would be pretty short and we'd have to get down the road quickly afterward.  But in the end we did get everything done that needed done.  It was all good.  No biggie.

Well, I think that after all this time I finally kind of understand my aunt's sudden decision.  And one reason I understand is that I've been watching Joshua.  You see, Joshua has to process everything in his world.  If something out of the ordinary happens, he takes a long time to process it and move on.  I've come to the realization that we all have to process things, especially when something big is happening.  In fact, I found myself making Jill wait today to have a banana.  When I thought about it, I didn't see any immediate reason why she couldn't have a banana right then.  The only reason I could come up with after thinking it over was that I was processing something.  I needed to process it and be done with it before I could move on. 

All these years, I had just thought that in some weird way my aunt felt she was being a better visiting teacher by not letting anybody leave that day.  I didn't understand.  Maybe that was a small reason, but I've decided that maybe the biggest reason was that it was more than she could process at that moment.  I can understand that now, and I am even more ok with it than I was before.  I still wonder if that was really it, but I think it was, and it makes me even more glad that I didn't get mad or make a big stink over it.  Besides that, my aunt has been an angel to me over the years and I love her a lot. :)

So what do you think about all this?  Do you find yourself just needing to sit and process for a moment?  Did you know that was what you were doing?  Isn't that an intersting thought?  Well, I think it is. ;) And I think it gives me another reason to excuse myself when I feel like I'm just being lame. :)

Happy Birthday!

Today my oldest son turned 12.  I can't believe it.  I've had all year to wrap my brain around it, but, alas, I have failed all year.  Hyrum is 12.  He will be ordained a deacon on Sunday.  And very soon he'll be able to have his own Temple recommend.  That means that very soon, Jeremy, Hyrum, and I can all be together in the Temple.  I am so excited! 

I'm thankful for Hyrum.  He is such a good boy.  I don't know what I would do without him!  We have been so blessed to have him, and we look forward to many more happy years with him.

Love you, Hyrum!

It's All Good

Life can be so stressful, you know?  I was thinking about it this morning after dropping Jeremy off at the high school - all the random things that I've been stressed about.  I'll list them.  Ahem:

1. Jeremy still hasn't received his fingerprint clearance from the state.  He's been working at the high school every day this week, but he can't get paid for it.  He's a "guest lecturer," teaching all the classes he'll get paid to teach one of these days.
2. This means that we're still not paid.  And every day we are getting poorer and poorer.
3. And we have 2 big bills that will need paid sooner or later.
4. I feel kind of bad that I'm not making any money, even though I don't have many options for that right now.
5. I feel bad that I wasn't able to buy school pictures for the boys.  I wanted to at least get them a class picture, but that would be $40 all together, and we've got to be careful with our money right now.
6. Hyrum's birthday is tomorrow, and we don't have much money for presents.  And this is a big one!  He's going to be 12!
7. Joshua wants a pet rat really, really, really badly.  I would really love to get him one, but he's got to wait, and that's been hard.

So I look at that list over and over in my brain, adding and subtraction other various worries.  It's not fun, and it is scary.  But when I really think about it, non of this is life and death.  None of the worries I ever have are life and death!  Why in the world do I worry so much?  We're doing our best, and things always come right somehow.  It's frustrating that we took that leap of faith and moved here like we were supposed to, and things still haven't come right yet.  I'm sad that we left that beautiful house and beautiful Cedar City and all those friends.  But I know that God knows our troubles and worries.  He knows this was a hard thing to ask of us, but because he always makes things come right, I decided I should be counting my blessings instead.  Ahem:

1. Jeremy doesn't have to sit at home.  That was really bugging him.  He's not getting paid, but he has work to do.  And he'll eventually get paid for coaching too.
2. We're not completely broke yet.
3. I don't notice the smell in our house so much anymore.  Maybe it's because of my allergies. XD I know the smell is still there, but I'm not smelling it right now.
4. Grandma Burk offered to take pictures of our kiddos for us and can print them for us for a great price.  Yea!
5. The homework load for all of our boys at this school has been so small I can hardly believe it.
6. Joshua had some stressful days at school, but even that is coming right I think.  Yesterday at bedtime he was wandering smiling all huge, for no obvious reason.
7. All the presents Hyrum has asked for so far won't cost very much.  I know that's partly because he knows we're short on money.  I'd love it if I could get him a huge pile of presents, but I'm thankful that he will be so content with whatever he gets.
8. Hyrum is going to be ordained a deacon on Sunday.  I can't tell you how proud that makes me feel.
9. Hyrum finished the Book of Mormon yesterday.  I'm not sure if he knows yet (or ever will know) how huge that is!  I can tell from that look on his face, that he feels good about it, that he feels the spirit and feels that he was blessed for doing it.  But he probably doesn't know how it blessed me, and he probably doesn't realize what a great example he set for his brothers.  Joshua wants to do the same (read the Book of Mormon before he turns 12). 

I know it may not make sense, but the fact that Hyrum did complete that goal, that he did read the Book of Mormon before he turned 12, and that he knows it blessed his life, makes me think that whatever happens in the future, things are really going to be ok.  I am so blessed, and I'm so thankful.

Pbbbbbt

Just what you always need on a stressful day like today:

I just found the brand new tub of butter upside down in a sink full of dirty dishes. 

Groan.

Things will look brighter after lunch, right?

We Lived after the Manner of Happiness

This morning I finally sat down and unloaded my camera card onto the computer.  I've been putting it off - for good reason.  I couldn't help but cry as I looked through those pictures.  And here is a big reason why:

 

I made this banner soon before Jeremy got home.  It just struck me one day that this is what I want our children to say when they look back on their childhood.  I want this scripture to be true for our family.  And so I've thought over and over again how our different choices help us find happiness or unhappiness, and I want to teach my children how they can find happiness in their lives.  I truly believe that real, lasting happiness comes as we live the gospel and take care of our families and those around us.  Real, lasting happiness comes from obeying God and loving those who He puts in our way.  That lovely truth has been proven true in my own life.

 

As we drove away on the morning of our move, we left this banner where it was.  What I created as a reminder became an epitaph of sorts.  And looking at it now, I cry remembering that we did live happily in that house.  I loved all the times when I would lay on the floor and Timmy would climb on me, bursting with giggles.  I loved the cool evenings when the children and I would go outside and dip our toes in the little stream that often ran in front of the sidewalk.  I loved watching Jill run in circles on the grass exclaiming, "I love grass!  I love grass!"  I loved the winter time when the children and I played out front in the snow.  We were usually the only ones out there. ;) Our neighbors probably all thought, "You crazy Arizonans!" 

 

I loved watching Jeremy and the children play "smash the meat" (steamroller) for a Family Home Evening activity.  I loved watching Timmy's stair-climbing skills evolve.  He got to be quite a pro!  And I even loved scraping ice off our windshield.  I grumbled about it from time to time (or maybe every day), but I still felt all sorts of pleased that we lived in a place where there was ice to scrape.   I loved that the homecoming parade went right down our street.  I am sad to miss it this year.  It was wonderful!  And I loved how blessed we were there in Cedar City.  Jeremy finished two master's degrees.  Joshua got his testing done.  Wonderful people helped us out in countless ways in our times of need.  The children and I survived 2 months without Jeremy there.  They were a hard two months, bu they were good.  All of this combined together with a million other things just prove the point I was trying to make - we are blessed as we obey God.  It was His idea for us to go to Cedar City.  We obeyed, and we were blessed.  We were happy.

And so, as we drove away, leaving behind that beautiful house full of memories, I thought of that banner, hoping that the people who come there will see it and know and feel that it is a good, happy place and that we lived happily there.