What we have been up to

OK here we are, Yes we are still around.

I know since I discovered facebook my blog has suffered a bit. But here's what we have been doing. A few weeks ago I got to go to Las Vegas and stay with my mom while Joe and Michael were able to drive to Missouri with Joe's dad to deliver some things to the house back there. It was kind of a nightmare trip . They got stuck in the Ice storm that went through the Midwest and then slid off the road. Michael lost his brand new Nintendo Ds. At the end they even had to leave the trailer halfway up the driveway and now they are going back in the spring to unload it and bring it back. Michael had a great time though. He was able to hang out with one of his very favorite person, his Grandpa. They talked and talked the whole time and Michael even got to sleep in Grandpa's bed. They ate at a McDonald's the went over the freeway, got to play in the snow in the middle of a highway, and he got to get orange sunglasses. I got to spend the week In Henderson with my family. We had a blast!!
When we got home Joe started school and that has kept us pretty occupied for the last little while. He has been really nervous about it but, has done so well. We have worked hard and have spent nights up late but,I think we are getting the hang of it.
Today was Michale's Valentines party, and I got to go help out in his class. It was so fun to see him in his element. His teacher has been so good with him. She calls him her special helper, the kids all ask him for help reading when they need it. It was great he kept winking at me from wherever he was in the room and when we left he wanted me to walk out the front doors and he went out the back and met me in the front. It was a blast. Let me tell you how much I love my family! I feel so blessed to be their Mother. I feel joy every day, even when I feel like I am going crazy!! I go to bed every night with my favorite person in my arms and wake up with the best four kids anyone could ever ask for!!

Who I am?

The songs of the Children of The church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. These words carry us out of childhood and into our rough adult lives. They give us the strength we need to be who we are. Our Heavenly Fathers Children. The souls that reside within each of us strive to listen and to feel the spirit that will guide us to be the people we were before we chose to some to this world. The words of these songs bring us that sweet spirit, they fill our hearts with the Love of our Father.

I am a Child of God, and he has sent me here!!

I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints, I know who I am I know god plan I'll follow him in faith!!

I am like a star shining brightly!!

I see my mother kneeling with my family each day!!

I love to see the temple, I'm going there some day!! 

I will go. I will do the things the Lord commands, I know the Lord provides a way he wants me to obey!

Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet he knows the way!

I'm trying to be like Jesus, I'm following in his ways!!

I lived in Heaven a long time ago it is true, lived there and loved there with people I know so did you!

I want to be a missionary now, I don't want to wait until I'm grown!

I feel my Saviors love, in all the world around me!

I kneel to pray every day, I speak to Heavenly Father, he hears and answers me, when I pray in faith!

These words are a part of me. I know them all by heart. I have sung them with my whole soul since I was very young. I can here the music on the piano as I sing the words. they flow from somewhere deep inside of me, they come straight from my heart. On days when I feel like my whole soul will rip to shreds from the weight just being human brings upon me I can call upon these words and draw my strength from the spirit they bring into my soul. Lately it seems like all the world is in chaos. People are afraid, of so many things. The world seems to be falling of it's axis somehow. And yet here we sit ready to take the next blow that comes our way. 

This has got to make Satan gain power. I bet he just sits back and can't wait to whisper in your ear "Does the Lord love you?" "How could he, if he lets this happen?" "You are just a drop in the bucket, how could he care about your little problem when so many are suffering?" "You didn't even pray this morning. why would he listen to you now?" "You are not good enough, he doesn't care about you?"

Confession:

I have been so bogged down in all of these thoughts and last night after a long and lengthy battle I feel like I am emerging. I was praying and praying to feel something. Anything! I had lost my way somehow. Become weighted down by the things of this world. And after staying up and praying for most of the night the words of a song poured into my soul. "I feel my Saviors love, in all the world around me" Then "I am a child of God, and he has sent me here" And "I know who I am, I know Gods plan, I'll follow him in faith!!" I do know my Heavenly Father has a plan. It is a perfect plan. One that brings me to back to live with him again. And not only me but all of us. All of my brothers and sisters with me. He has prepared  a way. We can overcome all of the things of this life and of this world. Through our Savior Jesus Christ, he will bring us home. We can get there!! It is not easy and sometimes is just plain sucks but, when it is not easy we can lean on the things we have always known. Go back our roots and live the sweet truths of our youth. I AM A CHILD OF GOD AND HE HAS SENT ME HERE HAS GIVEN ME AN EARTHY HOME WITH PARENTS KIND AND DEAR!!....

A lesson in being prepared!

Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away!! 

Then BAM flat tire on the freeway in a not so good part of town, and I got to learn a pretty valuable lesson. 

We left yesterday morning on a hunt. You see Ora was given a beautiful dress from my Aunt and Uncle and it just so happens it is perfect for Joe's sisters wedding. Only one small problem it did not fit. So we went out to costco early in the hopes to find the dress in the right size. NO go they were gone. I asked the customer service guy if there was any way he could tell me where I could find one and he said no, all of the dresses with that number were different. So even if another costco had one it may not be the right color for the wedding. There was one place that we may  have better luck. So off we went just a few miles away to see if we could find it. Only almost to our exit on the freeway the back drivers side tire blew. I called the insurance company and was able to get a guy to come change the tire only it was going to take about 45 minutes for him to arrive. To normal people this would be no big deal but, for a mother with four kids 6 and under it was going to be tricky. I had not packed snacks because I thought we would just eat at costco. It was lunch time. They were hungry. 

Then I remembered we had our 72 hour kits in the back of the car. We were saved. snacks, coloring books, crayons, water. Everything you would think we would need to make it through the next 45 minutes on the side of the freeway. And once again a snag.... When I opened the kits. everything had been packed a year ago. The fruit snacks were melted, the granola bars stale, and oh yeah, coloring books with no crayons. 

We did make it, my kids loved it actually. At least the fruit snacks part. They were gooey and yummy and in Michael's words "they do what gummy worms do" Ora on the other hand was not so pleased. She was very upset that she did not get to color. I also notices the clothes inside would not have fit any of my kids very well at all. 

(however we did find the dress)

LESSON LEARNED. 

Be better prepared! It may not be any huge disaster that finds you in need of your things it may just be a little one. 

Lesson 2 Abraham 3, Moses 4:1-4

I know that most of you all are on lesson 3 but, I had stake conference last weekend so I am behind by a week. I am once again feeling pretty prepared about this one. Mostly because I love these scriptures. 

Abraham is another person who gives us some great insight into ourselves, our savior and the plan our father has for each and every one of his children. Abraham was prepared for the great vision he was shown from his early youth. He was saved from sacrifice to an idol by an angel. He moved away from that place and into the land of Canaan which would later be promised to be a pace for his posterity. And he wanted to know his God. He worked at that I am sure.  

We can parallel even his early days to our own lives. What are we doing to get ready for what our Father has in store for us? Are we keeping ourselves in places, or with friends, or in states of mind that are not conductive to the spirit of God? Are we willing to move ourselves out of those things in order to be closer to our Heavenly Father?

Abraham was ready and the Lord wanted him, like Moses from the last lesson, to understand who he was. So he showed him many things. One of which was the council in Heaven. This is something that Latter day Saints believe happened before the world was formed. That our Father, whom we had lived with as spirit children called us together and presented his plan for our progression. He told us of a way that we could be made like him, an opportunity for us to learn and to grow and(I think most importantly) to prove to him that we would do whatever we needed to do to get back to him  (Abraham 3:25) But, not all of us would prove worthy so he would provide a Savior for us. Jesus Christ and Lucifer then both presented their own plans for how that would work. They were vastly different and a war followed. The spirits who chose to follow the way of Jesus were given the gift of life and sent to earth to receive a body. Those spirits who chose to follow Lucifer's plan were damned and cast out of the presence of the Father. 

It is interesting, Our Heavenly Father loves all of his spirit children but, he cannot choose for us what we are going to do. He can send us angels to help us, he can guide and direct us through prophets, the scriptures, and through our own personal revelation, but the choice is ours. It always has been. Satan used the same agency he desired to take away to rebel against the Father and those spirits who followed now use that agency to tempt and to try us here on Earth. 

It is so easy to forget all of the reasons we chose to come to this life. My Mother still to this day says "I would not have chosen this" (her life is a whole different story) But the plain fact is that we did chose this. And our Father in Heaven sent us with a plan as well. We have a purpose in this life. He has something wonderful in store for us. And in my opinion the only way to be absolutely sure we are still fighting the war we started so long ago is to be anxiously engaged in the work of getting back to him. It has to be the thing we think about most of all. I myself get so frustrated sometimes at how unfair life seems. Some people suffer while others sail, why is that. I get distracted by money, my house, my children, my husband, and a million other things that may be important but are not as important as the plan of my Father in Heaven. All of those things are a part of that plan if I can just remember that. My Father chose me, held me in reserve to come at a time that he chose. A time just perfect for the plan he had in store for me. And as his spirit daughter I stood in Heaven triumphant and eager to get here to come to Earth and to do whatever it took, even if it meant I got angry with him sometimes, to get back to him. The point is AM I STILL THAT PERSON?

Am I willing to remember the way for me is the one He chose, and he will guide me ONLY if I choose to listen to him. He sent his perfect Son to provide a way for me, so if I get off my path I can be guided back by the only other person who really knows me and knows what I need all the time, my Savior Jesus Christ. There is a plan and it is a perfect plan I, being imperfect, just need to trust more in that plan. And remember like Abraham I was chosen (and I chose) before I was born. 

The truth about tonsillectomy

THEY SUCK!!!! 

When I took Michael, my six year old, into the Ear Nose and Throat clinic at primary children's hospital I was excited. He has been not feeling well for so long that we were willing to do anything to get him feeling better. The doctor was positive that what he needed was to have his tonsils and adenoids out. I was right there ready to go, he was all on board as well. And we were ready. It was a 30 minute procedure, we would go into the hospital in the morning we would be home by the afternoon and then he would start to get better. At least that is what the Dr. and nurses said would happen. I had a friend who tried to warn me but even then I just knew he would do okay. He is such a trooper, with an ability to understand things way beyond his age.  NOW 7 days later I am angry. Angry that I was not informed of how truly horrible this recovery would be. So here I am to tell the truth!!! 

Day One - We checked in at the hospital and he was taken back to surgery. I did not even have time to finish a coke before the doctor came out to tell me it went well. I asked a few questions like, When could he go back to school? What foods can he eat? And was told to just take things as they come and he could go at his own pace. That some kids even eat chips the next day. THE END OF OUR DISCUSSION. 

Day Two - He woke up fine and thought he would go to school. I decided to keep him home but, he did well and I thought for sure he would be able to go the next day. 

Day Three - All Hell broke loose! He woke up in the middle of the night screaming in pain. I shot out of bed thinking he was being tortured. He was kicking and screaming in his bed and poor Jordan took some punches as well so he was crying too. Then Abby started screaming because she got woke up. And Ora woke up from Abby's screaming. I then screamed "Joseph( (my husband) get in here!" sent him into the girls and I got Michael into the living room. In about AN HOUR he was calmed down enough to get some extra medicine and then he and I snuggled up on the couch for a few minutes while he fell back to sleep. I then proceeded to get into bed thinking we would make it till morning. We Did Not! Just a few hours later it was the same scene all over again. So I made him a bed on the floor in my room. Every time he woke up it was as if he was living his worst nightmare and I was stuck watching it unfold with nothing I could do to help. 

Day Four - During the day it was pretty normal. We were able to keep him medicated but he was acting kind of unusual. He was extremely sad and a little bit anxious. I get depressed when I take Loratab so I suspected this was causing some of his problems. I made a call to the Dr. to see if they could give him something else and the answer I received was "He is probably in pain so why don't we increase his dose and see if that helps." I know my boy and he was not getting anxious from pain he would have told me. I tried to get the Dr. again to give us something different with no luck. So I called a pharmacist and he helped me dose him with Tylenol and  Motrin. We survived day four barely!!! And the night again was like a living nightmare.

Day Five and Six - All the same to me. And extremely blurry, we have not slept since last Monday and we are seriously going insane. Now instead of waking up And running I have turned into some awful version of myself. I jump up and start shushing him because I feel like I cannot do it. Instead of comfort I find myself getting angry thinking "I cannot do this again!" "I am DONE" "Michael, just take your medicine and lay back down. Come on please!!" We have been spiraling out of control the last couple of nights. 

And now here I am ANGRY!!! Angry that I was not better prepared. Instead of saying "Oh some kids eat potato chips the next day." They should have said Most kids are layed up in bed for ten days or more in agony and confusion. I should have been warned that it could have been this bad. Not wondering if he was acting normal or not. I should not have had to go looking on the internet to figure out what was normal.I should have been listened to, I knew the medicine was making him worse, they should have helped me when I asked for it. I will never hear the words "mom. I think I am getting so sick I am going to die!" again. I am not sure my heart can take much more but, I think we are on the upswing of this nightmare. And at least now I have a cause to work towards from all of this. You had better believe I will be speaking to some higher ups over at the hospital and I will be listened to this time. No mother should have to go through this without the information needed to make better decisions than I did.  

The Nameless

As I was reading for my lesson this week I came across a verse of scripture that I am sure I have read before. But, it has never hit me before. Abraham 1:11. 

11 Now, this priest had offered upon this altar three virgins at one time, who were the daughters of Onitah, one of the royal descent directly from the loins of ^aHam. These virgins were offered up because of their virtue; they would not ^bbow down to worship gods of wood or of stone, therefore they were killed upon this altar, and it was done after the manner of the Egyptians.

This scripture is smack dab in the middle of the Chapter in which Abraham is set to be sacrificed himself upon that very alter and he is saved by the Lord. I was reading through this chapter on my way to Abraham 3 for this weeks lesson. And was stopped dead in my tracks with this verse. My mind was flooded with questions. Who were these girls? What was their life like? What were their families thinking?  So I went looking, trying to find what I could. It was not much. They seem to truly be the nameless three.

We don't hear much about women in the scriptures. I like to believe that is because we are too precious to our Heavenly Father to bring up our names in just any form. So we hear about a few but not many. And these just briefly. But, I believe they were real girls. Valiant and honorable girls. Who gave up their lives to fulfill all righteousness. They stood up and died for what they believed in. They were steadfast and immovable. What courageous examples for our own daughters.  A few girls who we don't know anything about. But.... What I did find was this (joe got me the book 'Women of the Old Testament' for Christmas it's awesome) 

I looked up the name Onitah in the index and found a quote from Neal A. Maxwell He was comparing these girls to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego "Matching those three men are three young women whose names we do not have. They are mentioned in the book of Abraham, remarkable young women about whom I am anxious to know more. They were actually sacrificed upon the alter because 'they would not bow down to worship [an idol] of wood or stone'. Some day the faithful will get  to meet them" 

I am hoping to teach my daughters that very thing. That if they can live up to these women we will be invited to meet them in the eternities.  What a terrific goal, each of us can get to know these brave girls who taught (at least me) so much to us in the one verse we know about them!

----P.S. I am hoping to make this more of a thing, to look up more of the nameless from the scriptures! Again no promises but, it would sure be fun.----

Moses 1

I could not be more excited for this year to begin. I have been teaching the 14-17 year old Sunday school class for about a year and a half and can honestly say it is my all time favorite calling. I love all of the kids I have had the privilege of learning with. I have studied that last part of the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and this year I could not be more excited to study the Old Testament!!! So I am hoping (not promising) to share what I learn while I prepare the lessons every week. This week begins with Moses 1.

As he was working on the translation of the bible in June 1830 Joseph Smith was shown a vision. He was able to see an experience that Moses had been given. (moses 1-8) What a gift to all of us to be able to live these moments right along with Moses and learn from his experiences.

Moses 1 is by far one of my all time favorite scripture passages. We gain so much that we need to know about Ourselves, Our Father in Heaven, and about Satan. 

We begin with God revealing himself to Moses And then for the first of many times he calls Moses His son. (1:4)  The reality of God is in fact a reality. He is our Father and he loves us all. each and every one of us. I write in my scriptures, kind of allot, and on the side of this verse I have written "I am his Daughter"  And then in verse 5 I have underlined the words ' and I have a work for you'  Don't you think that is about all we need to know I think once we all realize we are Gods children we all will then need to know more. We will hunger for more, and we will find our way back to him because that is more important than anything else. When we realize that being his child is the most important thing we will try our hardest to learn what we can become. Moses realizes we are nothing without our Father in Heaven and the only way to get back to him is through our Savior. Then the Father departs and Moses is left to ponder and has what I like to call 'a book of mormon moment' (because that is what happens in the book of mormon everyone 'falls to the earth')

And when he awakes Satan comes to him and without knowing it gives all of the rest of us the keys that we need to overcome him. (thank you Moses for going through it so I can learn from you) Satan comes to him and says "Moses, son of man' (1:12) And I love verse 13 Moses shoves it back in his face and says "I am a Son of God" He contends with Satan as Satan tries to deceive him by using all of his same old tricks. Trying to get Moses to believe he is anything less than a child of God is not as easy as he probably thought it would be. Moses puts up quite the fight. And puts him right in his place. Telling Satan that he still is filled with the glory of God and he has can feel only darkness from him.

Now if only we could learn a thing or two from him and do the same thing. 

The next time we are feeling tempted or tried or, frustrated, or a million other things Satan tries to get us to believe, so we will forget we are children of God. We could just pull it together long enough to maybe say a prayer or sing a hymn or whatever we do to get back in touch with the sprit enough to say to Satan "Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not; for God said unto me:thou art after the similitude of mine only begotten." (1:16)  That's the scripture for my mirror this week. Maybe I can remember it for a while yet. And maybe I could become a little more like Moses and learn to fight back with more vigor and less weakness. I want to be part of the kingdom of God more than anything else.  I really do, now I just need to prove it to myself, the Devil, and most importantly my Heavenly Father. 

There's a Book

So much fun!! I am so excited I was able to participate in the 'When I was young' segment over at There's a Book. I fell in love with this book when I was little and I read it every year. Go on over an check it out. But, you have to go there no more hints about it over here. .....

Survivor

Yes, I know I am an addict. But, I really can't help myself. I love Survivor. At the time it began it was such a grand idea. The show was such a thing of genius it pitted our most primal fears and anticipations against our desires to do what is right and then the whole world was able to watch as they all self destructed and turned into the things they all fear the very most. I have loved it from the very first moment I saw it. I loved all of the twists and turns the back stabbing and the heros who win their way through to the end. 

But, this season has taken the cake. Because of one player the guy who if you watched, you know who I mean. The self made millionaire who was able to convince all those around him he was a dirt poor fireman. He was also able to give the most brilliant performance in Survivor history. He manipulated every person in camp and single handedlly fought his way through to the end. He found hidden immunity idols with no clues an idea that is so simple when you think about it, then he made chaos for those around him. 

He gave me something to think about. He said "If I can control the way they feel, I control the way the think" Then he went on to dump out all the canteens and burn up their socks in the fire. He is a genius!! But more than that it really made me think. 

Isn't that what Satan does. If he can control the way we all feel he can control how we think and how we act. If he can make us all feel inferior to everyone around us. If he can make us feel not good enough, or rich enough, or pretty enough, or awake enough, or smart enough, or ______ enough. Then maybe he can make us yell at each other, and try to be better, and go into debt, or change our appearance, or pit ourselves against each other, Or a million other things that make us "FEEL" better. Who knows what he can have us do. What a crafty little devil. Only it gets worse. He knows us. I mean REALLY knows us. He has watched us for ever. He remembers how it was when our moms were to busy to listen, Or when we got left out of a birthday party, Or when we let a boy make us feel less than what we are. And he can manipulate our feelings to make all of that come screaming back. 

And what a fool I am to let him. How do I get back to the person I was when I chose this life. The person who would have really gone through anything just to have a chance at eternity. I need to remember THAT person. And throw it back in the devils face when he tires to make me any less than who I truly am. A daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me and who sent his son here to die for me. So that I can live again with him someday. He wants me to come home more than anything else.... Do I? What am I willing to give up and give to a guy who wants nothing more than to see me miserable, in order to make me feel better for this tiny little moment. 

Christmas letter

The one thing I really do dislike about myself is how flaky I can be. I know if I were friends with me I probably wouldn't be, because of this exact thing. This year I have neglected my Christmas letter. I was very well meaning and wanted to send one out to all of the people I love and care about but, then the other day I looked up and Christmas was this week. Oh hannah! I think most of the people I love read my blog so here it is.  

Dearest family and friends,

We hope this year will find you all well in your own families. Here at the Short house we are doing well. We have had a great year. We have grown up a little and learned allot. Life brings challenges and surprises each and every day. But, together we enjoy the journey. 

Michael played baseball this year, during the summer. We discovered that six year olds playing baseball is allot like watching ants run for cover in a sudden downpour. They know they have something to accomplish but the goal is not half as much fun as playing in the rain, or running around the bases with all the dandelions you can find in your hand. He also started kindergarten and he seems to enjoy it. His teacher is great with him. She lets him read extra while the other kids work on phonics. I think if he did not get such a great teacher he might hate school, but she figures out ways to challenge him and keep him on his toes. 

Ora turned four and she is as sassy as ever. She loves Fancy Nancy so while we were visiting home she and her cousin got all dressed up and had their hair done then we took a tea set over to McDonalds where we met grandma for a birthday  lunch. It was only the start of a Fancy year for us, she loves getting her nails done and having perfect hair. I have no idea where she gets it from but she is all girl and I think we like it.

Jordan turns three Dec. 8th and he is doing well, he has been in speech therapy this year and seems to be doing better. We can understand him a little now but not all the time so we will probably continue to work on it for a while. He loves to play cars and to take care of his little sister, every time she wakes up from a nap he has to be the first one to go in and play with her for at least ten minutes before I can get her out of the crib. He is really sweet and nothing seems to make him happier than being a big brother. 

Abigail turned One Nov. 14th I am just a little bit sad, okay a lot bit sad. She is such a cute little baby and I think she is refusing to walk so that I can hang on to this baby phase just a little bit longer. She gives cute baby kisses and plays peek a boo. She likes to fold her arms when we have family prayer, and she likes to go to sleep with Ora at bed time. I am so grateful for her every day, our family would not be complete without her. She loves all of us so very much and shows her love every single day. 

Joe and I are doing well, we celebrated 7 years together this year and are more in love now than we have ever been. Joe likes his job enough to keep going every day. He works hard and we play hard. We had a Family reunion in July that I was in charge of putting together and that took most of our time this year. Then in Late July and Aug. Joe and I worked on the committee for the open house of the Oquirrah Mountain Utah temple. We were able to devote almost three months of our lives to serving the Lord in getting his house ready for the public to view it. I was awesome to be able to devote so much time to this position. And then for the dedication we were able to work inside of the temple while the First Presidency was there. To spend the whole day inside of a temple while it was being dedicated was worth all of the hours and headaches it took to get us that far. We are spending the holidays here in West Jordan and looking forward to visiting home again early next year. 

The most joy we have comes from our knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the role it plays in our lives. We are so grateful for our eternal family. The bonds that connect us to each other are more important to us than anything. we are so grateful for our knowledge of the Savior and our plan for eternal salvation through his infinite atonement. We are so happy to be celebrating this season, the season that brings us the joy of knowing who we are and how we can get back to being those people who would do anything to get back to being with our Father in Heaven again. Even go through the trials of this life and the messes that come with it.  Have a very merry Christmas and a Happy and healthy new year .

We love you all,

The Short Family

My Dearest Abigail

Yes, my darling!!! You are stinking cute however, We have got to come to some kind of an arrangement. You came into my life and five minutes later you nursed for almost and hour. Did I let the nurses take you? No, I let you have you fill and then they took you away and cleaned you up. When you came back to me you climbed right up to where you were camped out and had full blown milk in TEN (count them people) TEN hours. I know my love, You and I both have loved every minute of our time together. You have been wrapping your one little arm around my back, placing your other hand on my chest and staring into my eyes for thirteen months now. I have loved being forced to sit with you and feed you for the last year of my life. When I first became a mom I fell in love with breastfeeding. Your Aunts can attest to the fact that I love nursing, and maybe I talk about it too much but I do love it. I highly recommend it to all new mothers. I even took a hit from your doctor at our last visit. We had quite the discussion about you never having had any other form of fluids. I placed my well planned out arguments for breastfeeding in front of the doctor (yes for those of you I am sharing this letter with, I did have a discussion with a well educated physician about my  daughter getting the best form of food for her growing body. I actually used the phrase.. "Did you just check your bedside manner at the door!!! Don't you think there is a reason she has also never had an antibiotic in her body.") And you grinned the whole time. And then we went home and you nursed and went down for a nap! 

Now to our arrangement, You need to start going to bed and staying there. We are going to have to ween you someday but, I will continue (for a little while) as long as we figure out a way for you to sleep. That means, I think, we will no longer nurse to sleep! I am sorry to see this go but I think we will survive. And maybe it will keep you from crashing at six in the afternoon and then staying up till midnight.  

Dang girl I love you and hate to see this come to a slower pace. You are the light of my life, the joy to my soul. And I will love that you and I have hung on to nursing for this long, none of your siblings were able to. And you my darling, have decided to keep me a "baby" mommy for a while longer. It has made the transition from being a baby machine to a mom with growing kids easier. Thank you for walking later and nursing longer. I let myself believe you can feel my mourning and are helping through the heartache that never being a "new" mother again is bringing. You snuggle me while I sob and I think we will be bonded a little bit tighter for it. 

Thank you for your soul. You truly have completed our family and I cannot wait to see how you grow up. 

Love, Mommy

P.S. To all the naysayers out there (Dr. Lei) If she feels a need to take my boob to college then I will hear your arguments 

Timing and Satan's favorite weapon GUILT!!

I'm going to pretend like no one knows what has been happening in my house lately. Even though I know you all hang on every bit of information about me and my family. (come on I know you do!!) Right? No, okay let's just let my fantasy go for a minute and I will tell you what has been going on anyway! So Right around Michael's birthday (halloween) I started getting super frustrated with him. Not only was he getting super grumpy and having tons of tantrums (yes my 6 year old) But, I was done dealing with his problem of not eating anything I would cook for dinner. Other than Mac and Cheese, PB&J, and fake chicken nuggets. So we thought we would lay down the law a little and I told him that if he did not eat his dinner then he would have to go to bed early so that his body could get more rest because he was choosing not to give it any good food that it needed. So we sat him down at the table with Tatter tot casserole, something he would eat a little over 6 month ago. He sat there for about 45 minutes. And I finally was ready to put him to bed. So he started to cry and I told him that he needed to take one REAL bite and he could stay up. He then took a lick of dinner and I told him it was not good enough. He took a bite and then proceeded to act out a scene from survivor. You know the one where they make them eat cockroaches and then they gag and choke and then puke all over the floor. Only he puked all over my kitchen table. So my thought was, that is not normal. The next day I took him into the doctor, thinking he would just scare him into eating. And he told me that his tonsils were huge and so he probably could not eat. (insert punch in the mom gut here) We then were told to go see an ENT Doctor to schedule the removal of his tonsils. That appointment was this morning. Yes a month later. (in the mean time, He has been through the flu and strep throat and now we are quarantined to keep his huge bacteria grabbing tonsils from getting him more ill) So we went in and the doctor proceeded to punch me in the mom gut again. It seems to be that not only can he not eat but, his large tonsil in combination with his narrow airway are a perfect combination for sleep apnea. So he is not eating because he can't and he is throwing tantrums like a two year old because the minute he lays on his back in bed his airway slowly closes until he stops breathing completely and wakes up long enough to gasp for air and go back to sleep where it starts over again. So he's not eating, not sleeping. and now.... they will fix this problem when...... (drumroll please) JAN. 4th!! The first day back to school. YEAH he gets to miss more school and I am sure I will get to have another very pleasant conversation with his principle about parents being involved in their child's education by bringing them to school. So FUN!!! So pray we make it. I just might go insane from lack of getting away time. (oh I forgot to tell you I can't even leave to run because I have a stress fracture in my shin I get to rest up for three more weeks and get better too) Any ideas for indoor games or crafts or cheep movies let me know because if we don't do something more than watch qubo I will go crazy and go run and maybe then I will break my shin completely which I may want to do just for some excitement)

There's a Book

I have been wanting to put out a post about Theresabook.com and now I have the perfect opportunity. Because, she's doing a giveaway. Go over and check out this great new website. My friend had the best idea to review books, all kinds of books. Mostly children's books so far but, in the future she will be reviewing all kinds of books. She has great taste (even if she did like twilight, but most people did so I can't really blame her there)  Go check her out. And enter to win her giveaway from the Pioneer woman cooks. And while you are there read on for great ideas for Christmas and otherwise. look around and see what's on the menu. For your bookshelf of course. 

Christmas chaos

(this is not our house or our couch anymore but the picture is a good one for what has been happening at out house now)

We have our tree up. We have our stockings hung, by the heater vent with care. We also have a tonsillectomy in our future near. Michael is doing well, we are still quarantined until we can get the disease catchers out of his mouth. But, this whole quarantine thing had been kind of fun. We have hung out at home for the past few weeks. All together just watching movies and playing games here at home. We have endured strep throat, a nasty sinus infection, the flu, colds all around. And now we are just waiting for the next big thing to hit us. who knows what it will be. But, we see the doctor on Tuesday and I am just hoping that once he hears that Michael is choking and throwing up almost everything he eats. And still waking up at night at least three times a night because he cannot breath that we will get a pretty quick trip to the O.R. 

He is pretty miserable, but we really are having fun. We are watching more T.V. than normal and we are quickly making a list of the As Seen on T.V. thing we want. If I never hear another episode of 123 penguins I would be just fine. We have discovered Rescue Heros a show all about Firemen, and paramedics. And Avalanches and earthquakes. And Michael now loves it. So everyday at 3:30 if you are looking for us you will find us watching that show. And I have become okay with that. I love being able to give something as little as a thirty minute T.V. show back to Michael. Who has to give up more than any six year old should. He hears "hold on" more than a kids should have to. So I love that our time together is set in stone every day!!

Heres to hoping we can make it through till those nasty tonsills come out. 

The Post in which I talk all about....

One of our greatest catches...

Jordan

Because he is three today! He is awesome. So much fun and so much work!! When he was born he came to us kind of by surprise. The doctors had told me it would be extremely hard for us to get pregnant again after  I had a pretty horrible ruptured ectopic pregnancy. So we decided not to hinder anything in hopes that someday we would have another baby. Well the next month there we were, pregnant again. I had just come out of a nightmare after loosing the baby , I hadn't even realized I was pregnant and then I felt like it had been ripped out of me. Then they told me not only that but I would probably never have any more babies. I didn't feel like anyone understood what I was feeling, Joe kept telling me it was fine and it must have been meant to be. I didn't feel like anyone would ever get it. I may have never held that baby but it was gone I had had a baby and it was gone. I felt the loss.

And then I got sick one morning and knew what that maybe meant. It felt like the Lord had given me back a gift. I was gong to be a new mom again. I could not understand it, I did not understand why I had been given such a HUGE gift. I didn't understand why me. But I knew I would never take it for granted again. The fact that I was able to be a mom through my own body. I would never take that for granted again. And when he was born I didn't. Getting him here was not easy. I spent most of ten months on my living room couch attached to a constant IV drip and a medication pump to keep me from throwing up. My mom spent most of ten months cleaning and taking care of my house and my other kids. Thank Heavens for mothers. 

And at the end of it my Jordan was born. He came smiling and has not stopped a whole lot since. It is crazy how you can sense your children when they are given to you, even in those first few minutes, Jordan was funny! He is the one who makes us all laugh all the time. He realized early on what looks would make us smile and then those are the only looks he gave. Then he learned if he giggled we would giggle, So thats what he did. Always learning new tricks to make us laugh then repeating them over and over again.  Now, he is three and he knows when he says I love you I can't help but smile. So he is the child who I hear those words from the most. Not a day goes by that he does not tell me he loves me at least six or seven times. And now he is three, three!! He came into my room this morning and I pulled him up into my bed and asked him. "Jordan lets skip your birthday and then you can stay 2 forever, what do you think?" He said very sweetly "No, I want my lightning McQueen cake" So I guess there you have it, I had him give me his last kiss as a two year old and we got out of bed to celebrate the day! 

Happy Birthday Crazy Boy I love you!!

Goings on

We have had quite the last few months here in our neck of the woods. Between car troubles and health problems we feel like we have been rung through the ringer and then hit by a semi. And now we are quarantined till strep throat decides to leave us alone. So here I am sniffling a little but figuring I should catch up the old bloggy blog blog..... (that may be the medication talking) 

We had so much fun through the fall and now here comes winter. I feel like it has stayed away long enough and now it is bound to come on in full force pretty soon. Halloween was fun. We had a good time trick or treating, or I should say Joe and the kids had a good time trick or treating. I stayed home and got things ready for Michael to open presents when they got back. He made out like a bandit for his birthday. He ended up with something like 60-70 dollars from Grandparents and was intent on spending it all on one trip to the store. We were there for a while. But it was a fun trip. Then the next day I asked him if he was going to pay his tithing and he was just not so sure he was ready to do that. His exact words were "If I don't can I go to the store again" He debated and thought it through for a while and finally decided he wanted to pay it after all. It was so hard for me to sit back and just let him decide but in the end I think it was the right thing to do. I hope he will always remember the hard choice at six and the joy that followed. Then maybe it won't be such a hard choice later on in life. 

We came through November mostly unscathed. Our cars on the other hand are a little worse for the wear and they showed it to us the last couple of months. I a, so grateful for a husband who can crawl around under there and get things fixed. He is awesome. Although at one point he had the flu and had to walk me through how to change the starter. But I did it, he had to come out at one point to turn the wrench I could not turn but, we got it fixed and I decided I want to help him all the time. I had a blast and now I want to know more. 

We had Abby's birthday too. She turned one and I am sad to report I spent most of the week depressed about it. Knowing I am done having babies had been hard. But, she is great a making me feel better. She still snuggles all the time. And I swear is not walking yet just for me. I will post her birthday pictures later. 

Thanksgiving was great. Joe's dad came up and for the first time I had to do the whole meal by  myself. It went well, real well, up until I dropped the fresh rolls into the dishwater in the sink. Right as we were sitting down to eat. OH WELL..... It was still good. And I feel proud that I made it through. I made a fresh blackberry cobbler for dessert which was so good. It was something Joe's Grandma used to make for his Dad every year for his birthday so, we wanted to bring her here to our table for Thanksgiving. It was nice chatting about her and visiting with Joe's "pops" for the weekend. 

So here we are getting ready for Christmas, still no camera...(sorry) but, maybe soon that will change. We are saving up so we can get a nice one next. No more broken ones five minutes after you leave the store. So any advice in that department would be well received. Hopefully I will have Abby's birthday pictures up soon, they are on a friends camera so who knows....

Speech/Lesson on Charity

Last night I was privileged to speak at our wards enrichment night last night. I spent so much time on my knees pleading to my Heavenly Father to help me, to guide me to say what he needed these women to hear. I was incredibly nervous to be standing in front of them. But, when I got up there things seemed to flow well. I thought I would post my notes from last night here so I could preserve them. The quotes and scriptures I used are underneath. I also had a separate piece of paper with  more stories of charity from my family and friends to use if I did not get some participation. 

I want to ask you a question and have you write down our response, you don’t need to show it to anyone just keep it to your self and then we will come back tot he answers at the end of our discussion.

WHAT IS CHARITY?

 

One of the scriptures that I love the most is 1Corinthians 

I am so grateful to the saints in corinth and there struggles because we learn so much from them.  

Paul is writing to the church in Corinth,

Problems, immorality, schisms in the church, doctrinal questions, AND spiritual gifts were being misunderstood..

So in answer to this we get one of the most beautifully written passages I THINK in all literature. The gifts of the spirit chapters which comprise chapters 12-16 of first Cor.

We are going to focus on the 13th chapter

 

(I filled in the blanks before we began because I don't like calling on people who are not prepared)

____________ will you read it for us please Chapter 1 vs 2 

-Is faith all we need for salvation ---- not according to Paul!

_______________ will you please read the next verse for us verse 3

The language of the scripture get kind of intense at times. But it does teach us an awful lot. If You were to give away all your earthly possessions or be burned  (which I can only think he is relating this to animal sacrifices in some way,) It will do you NO GOOD unless you have Charity.

Paul goes on to define Charity for us

___________ will read verses 4-7

THESE BRING ME BACK TO THE BEATTITUDES we learn from Christ in his sermon on the mount.

In the life and teachings of Jesus Christ manual We get some other translations for the word Paul uses and we can get a deeper sense of the beauty in his meaning here.  

For example. 

vs 4 the word vaunt in Greek means "braggart"

vs. 5 easily provoked becomes irritable, or exasperated

vs. 5 thinketh becomes reckons or takes account of 

 Paul goes on to teach us that Charity never faileth, although prophecies may, but Charity never will.

So how do we get the deeper meaning of what Charity really is. 

I think as women we tend to judge ourselves pretty harshly 

-Remember Elder Uchdorfs. talk about his wife and the eggs and toast. We should be celebrating when we don't burn the toast!!

We judge ourselves sometimes so much that we in turn tend to think others must be judging us as well. And this becomes such a vicious cycle. in our lives that we don’t even see sometimes what we are doing. 

-Have you ever had someone knock on your door, maybe even a friend (a good friend) and you pretend your not home because maybe your house is no quite clean.

-Have you ever made delicious treats and wanted to take them to someone but, darn you are out of that pretty ribbon so instead you eat them all yourself.

-Have you ever seen someone in the grocery store and hid behind the bananas because you didn’t have your hair done or makeup on

----I then put up a measuring stick and we wrote down the things we judge ourselves one. Some of the answers I got were, Home, parenting ability, looks, spirituality,....

Then I took the measuring stick and put it under my feet. The only person we are to measure ourselves against is the Savior and there Is NO WAY we will ever be perfected until the next life. 

  

------ There is no  measuring stick. ---------

That’s is such a small step toward Charity, but until we stop judging ourselves we Can NEVER HOPE TO STOP JUDGING OTHERS!!

I want to tell you some stories and it you guys can think of any from your own lives let me know.....

 

-A story once in music and the spoken word was told about an elderly couple the women was going blind and could no longer paint her finger nails so , her husband would do it for her and he did.... every week for 5 years

-Joseph Smith, young boy... A boy was looking for his brother in Nauvoo he was invited into the prophets home and was taken care of for the night and then the prophet arranged for him to have a coach ride the next 8 miles to his brother.. It was not until later that this boy came to know he was helped by the mormon prophet

-Joe’s Grandmother was in a horrible accident which killed her husband. After she got out of the rehab center Joe got a letter from her on his mission. It opened with Dear Joseph  I felt good today so I got up and went visiting teaching and now I am writing you a letter

-My quilt, during a particularly hard Christmas the members of our ward took car of my family and made all of us beautiful quilts for Christmas. They took the time to think about what we would like and then matched accordingly the fabric they choose for each of us. 

QUOTE BY MARVIN J. ASHTON

We have the legacy of RS to help us get there!!

The relief society’s legacy 

-1842 began by helping men build the temple

-1843 visiting committees formed

break after death of J.S.

1854 Indian Relief societies formed under council of Brigham Young.

-1866 reorganized with Eliza R. Snow as President.

-1876 begin a grain storage program

-1882 Open Deseret hospital

1918 At the end of WW1 the relief society sells 205,518 bushels of wheat to the united stated government and establishes a fund to purchase more wheat in the future

1921 National concern for health care causes R.S. to take wheat storage interest to fund  hundreds of health care clinics for expectant mothers, babies, and preschool children. Sisters in European missions prepare maternity chests for needy mothers and home deliveries

1936 Church welfare plan established RS responsible for preserving food, providing clothing, and bedding and teaching welfare principles to the sisters 

1940-1845 send clothing, food, and thousands of quilts to help saints in Europe.

1978 RS transfers 266,291 bushels of wheat and nearly 2 million dollars to the first presidency for welfare program. 

1999 do you remember the service of the millennium project 1,999 hours of service to humanitarian aide in one evening. 

March 2000 there are more than 4 million members in over 160 countries worldwide. 

What a heritage we have!

In one meeting where lucy Mack smith was in attendance she was heard to say:

LUCY SMITH QUOTE____________________________

We can get there we can draw on the experiences of the sisters around us to help us guide our way to Turn our hearts so they are forever changed. So that we put aside the things that don’t really matter and get back to what does. 

---- Do we want to have others see us in a way that when they look at us they see their Savior Jesus Chirst.

I am going  to read the final quote from elder eyering at our last RS general meeting

TESTIMONY!!!

1 Cor. 13:2 

And though I have the gift of prophesy, and I understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

1 Cor. 13:2

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

1Cor. 13:4-7

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not;charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things

“Charity is, perhaps, in many ways a misunderstood word. We often equate charity with visiting the sick, taking in casseroles, to those in need, or sharing our excess withthose who are less fortunate. But, really, true charity is much, much more. 

Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you aquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again. “

Marvin J. Ashton

“We must cherish [and] watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together”

Lucy Smith

“You pass the heritage along as you help others receive the gift of charity in their hearts.   Then they will be able to pass it to others. The history of Relief Society is recorded in words and numbers, but the heritage is passed heart to heart. That is why families are such beneficiaries of Relief Society. ...... You have a glorious heritage. I pray to God that he will inspire you to preserve it and pass it on as a legacy to bless and bring joy to those in the generations and the seasons to come. “

Henry B. Eyering

For Six Years...

I have been a mom!!

And it all started with this guy!!

Michael is the best big brother this family could have asked for. The day he was born my mom took one look at him handed him to me and said "Wow, good luck with him" He was born an old, OLD soul, we could feel it. Everyone in the room knew this little guy had been waiting for a long time to be here on earth. And boy, oh boy did he prove it. For the next 8 months he screamed. He did not wait this long for a body to be stuck inside of something he could not control at all. He absolutely hated being a baby. It was the funniest thing to watch. At the time, it was the hardest thing I had ever done, looking back it is comical. He would scream and then I would move him to a new place in the house, and five minutes later he would scream. And I would move him yet again... No kidding, for 8 months! It went so far that one day I was delirious, so dang tired that I pulled out the vacuum because that was the only thing that would stop the crying except for me constantly holding him which I could not do anymore because my arms were throbbing. I turned it on ,he quieted and I put him in his swing. He did not cry and I sat on the couch. The next thing I remember I woke up because my house was full of smoke... Yes the vacuum had caught fire and was burning away in the corner of the room. And he was sleeping away in the corner. I got the fire stopped and the day went on. At 8 months he walked and the rest as they say is history.

Six years later, here we are a family of six with Michael as our big proud big brother. He brings an air of life to this family that we could not do without. He is tender and strong and takes such good care of his siblings. Last year for his birthday he wanted to learn to read. And this year I just had a parent teacher conference with his Kindergarten teacher and he is reading at a first grade level. I took him to the book fair after his conference, and he seriously picked out the dictionary!! I had to talk him into a spongebob book. Only after we got a dictionary, a human body book, and a book on the solar system. He is the coolest guy ever!! And now he is six years old. And next year he will, I am sure, be smarter than me. 

I just really loved this cartoon of moses. I bet he felt like this all the time. And it's a great way to intro my post today. 

I bore my testimony in church last Sunday and shared an experience that I have had with my scriptures. I love reading in the Bible. The stories are just plain fun to me. I love thinking about this Earth and the things it has seen its creator do with the people he has sent to it. We have such a history, a link to each other that if you don't believe in God you can miss out on. I wonder about the roles between science and God. The bends in the scientific laws that we just cannot explain. The quantum physics of our human experiences we might say. Oh well I am getting off track ..... meanwhile  back at the ranch..... I have decided to read the Old Testament all the way through from cover to cover. I have set this goal for myself before and I tend to fall short somewhere in the middle. But I am trying again and it has been awesome so far. I was reading in Exodus chapter 17 when my Heavenly Father reached out and hit me on  the head. (Don't you just love it when he does that) Oh well, I was reading about the Israelite's and the journey they are taking out of Egypt. They have come to the wilderness and are in want of bread so the Lord sends them Manna and quail from the heavens. In chapter 17 the children of Israel are murmuring once again, so badly in fact that Moses goes to the Lord and says "What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me"  So the Lord tells him to smite the rock and they are given water. Moses decides to name the place where they received the water according to the hearts of the children of Israel. He calls it Massah (meaning testing, trying proving)and Meribah (meaning Strife or complaint) WOW!! That made me think. What would Moses name my home... Meanwhile right after this happens the people of Amelek come to battle with the Israelites. They are afraid I am sure but Moses sends his people out to battle with Joshua at the head and he stands high upon a hilltop. He holds the rod of God in his hands, and as long as he holds up his staff his people are winning the battle. But if his hands fall the people start to loose. So he stands there all day with his hands up  in the air holding the staff up. Of course this is a hard thing to do and he being human is weak, so his friends come to help him. They give him a rock to rest upon and then they hold up his hands for him. And the people are triumphant. 

I love this story, there are so any parallels to our lives that I can draw on. I love that even a prophet of God a man who walked and talked with him still got weighed down and was weakened by his trial. It is okay for me to get weighed down and weary. I can call on my friends for help. They will come and literally hold me up if they can. Also I love thinking of the way his hands are in thinking of prayer. With our hand raised in the air pleading with our Father in Heaven in our darkest hour, He will come to our aid.  At the end of this chapter Moses is commanded to write down what happened that day. And the final verse reads "And Moses built an alter, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi..." When you look down at the translation of those words it says IE The Lord is my banner. 

What banner am I flying, is it one of complaint because life is hard, or of always finding fault with others, or being sorry for myself and wishing I could trade with someone who I think has it better than me. OR When people look at me do they see that I am happy with what I have been blessed with. Do they see their Lord and Savior when they see me. Could they picture a beautiful golden banner fling in front of me leading me back to my Heavenly home. I hope so. I think more often than not lately I have been flying the former banner but, now than I have been properly taught (or hit upside of my head) through the words of my Father in Heaven I can learn and be more conscious of whose banner I am waving in front of my life. 

How it went

I know I was supposed to keep up with the whole dinner every night thing but we were crazy last week so I am now just going to give a synopsis of our week. We made it and it was so fun. We had good meals every night and even had some good little extras throughout the week. I made a couple of soups in our crock pot. A chicken tortilla, and a taco soup. They were so very yummy!! I made rolls a couple of times and we had left overs and stuff for lunch. It went well, so well in fact that I think we will keep it up for a while trying to be creative and cutting out budget. Who knows maybe we can recover from some of our hard days faster if we can keep this up.