Remember with a Smile!

I write this post without thinking every year. I do it for solice and so whatever comes....comes, you get what you get! I don't edit it, for anything other than spelling so here comes what will come....

Once again it is that time of year! The Day of Days as my family calls it. The day when all of us.. Even so many years later... Take a time out to remember those we loved and lost so long ago.
My Dad was so special, to all those who knew him he will never be forgotten. I wish so badly that I was one of those people, I wish for just a moment I could remember him. I wish I could pull on some sweet memory that I have of his arms around my waist or his lips on my cheek but, all I can do is imagine, dream sweet dreams where I can pull my own moments from. They may not be real but they are what I have, and I am grateful for them.
My kids and I sing at bedtime. They sing sometimes to me but, most often I sing to them. The Rock n' Roll lullaby my Father wrote.

I'm gonna sing you to sleep now
With a rock n roll lullaby
Your gonna dance with the sand man
So just close your sleepy eyes
Daddy's Girls and Boys
You know you bring me so much joy
You've been fightin this battle for an hour or longer
Now's not the time to prove your stronger
See that man rounding the bend
the man with the dreams to lend
He's just waiting
For you to close your sleepy eyes.

I have no idea how he would have sung it, but I sing it my way and the memories I get can transform to him singing to me when I went to bed. I can picture him holding me as an infant while I screamed for hours and hours. Thinking up this song to soothe me. When I have had one of those nights with my babies, where I get to the place where I can take no more I call on him. I lay my little one down and leave the room, get on my knees and pray for the Father to send my Father to my baby. Then I wait.... It always works!! As I hum this tune outside of the room I get to the end and the crying stops. He comes and takes over while I sleep. I have done it more with some babes than with others and have not used "my trick" often for fear it would go away. But, I know in the reality of Heaven and a visit back here from there is not out of the question.
Maybe sometimes my brother comes, maybe he sits by me as I struggle to keep things together. Maybe he hold my hand when I think no one else is there and I cry. Maybe, just maybe they are guiding my life more than I would ever think.

Man I miss them! The two men I never knew who shaped my life so well. My reason for being who I am and wanting to be with them again so badly that I will face ANY challenge of this life and overcome it just to get the chance to make my own memories some day with them.

Who you gonna call?

Every Sautrday night (okay most Saturday nights) you will find the Short family all in our living room huddled up on either one blanket or on the couch having Family Movie Night! We get a new movie every week and have a great time being together. My kids look forward to it and by Thursday at bedtime they are asking when Saturday is coming. They get excited but, I think Joe and I enjoy it even more than they do. We usually pick out a movie and when I go grocery shoping I pick up a treat. Most of the time just popcorn or a small bag of candy, and if they have been really good I will pick up some ice cream.

About two weeks ago Michael asked me for something I was not sure I could give him. He wanted to make the Marshmellow man from Ghostbusters???

We watched Ghostbusters like 6 months ago, and I was not thrilled about it, I think I probably spent the whole movie reading while they all loved watching it. But this took me by surprise. I do not even know what the marshmellow man is but I was willing to make an effort for my kiddos and thier fun.

This is what the marshmellow man AKA Stay Puft looks like!

Yes I wanted to make this happen, that is untill I realized that I had a very adorable other half in the form of my sweet husband to do it instead. I did arm him with a bag of large marshmellows and a container of Q-tips and put him to work.

Off and running!Or should I say off anf getting really sticky! I love Ora in the background, isn't she working hard!! The concentration in her mouth is priceless.

Finished product's

This is the one we made for Abby, Jordan had fun being a "strong man" with that one.

Michael, Oh so proud!! All of this was so worth it just for this picture!!

Dad comes for lunch

Dad came home to visit us at lunch time a few days ago. Of course in all out cool Dad fashion he brought his new truck! He came home and told Michael he got a new truck a few weeks ago and Michael has been excited about it ever since. So when he pulled up for lunch in this the kids could not wait to get out and see what it does.

Showing the controls. Watching the bed raise up and down. Jordan and Michael got to try it out and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Climbing on! Ora was terrified!! I had to convince her that she would be sad if she missed it and to trust me, she did eventually climb on but, was not so sure about it.

At the top she was still scared! But, she made it and when she got done she told me I was right. She would have been sad to miss it.

We are so blessed to have such a great Dad!! He is so much fun and even when he was running a little bit late took a few minutes to make our kids day. They have not stopped talking about it.

A couple tales of ORA

Yesterday I was in my room folding some laundry when I heard Ora yelling, "Mommy, mommy come here!!" So I went outside to see what was happening and there she was, swinging herself! A few days ago we were at the park and we had a few lessons on the swings. I tried to teach her by doing the spider swing thing. You know, where you sit on the swing and then she sat on my lap with her feet behind me. It did the trick perfectly. She learned how it felt to push off from the swing and do it yourself. But, she was too afraid to try it on her own there. I was so excited to come out and see her swinging on her own. She has been on the swings ever since. Yesterday she sat and was smiling for hours.

Ora is such a girl. On Saturday We needed to mow the lawn. It was the perfect day warm and sunny, and beautiful. We played most of the day outside and then it came time to mow and Ora FREAKED OUT!! She came running inside and grabbed the basket we keep our family scriptures in. She had to save the dandelions! She ran around the yard grabbing up as many of those precious flowers as she could get her hands on. Her sweet brother Michael, saw her worries and helped out. they 'saved' a ton before Dad could run them over with the mower. We kept them safe all day and then the next day they were magically gone. Michael is such a sweetie he kept our little secret about what happens to flowers after you pick them. Once again the pictures kind of suck but, hopefully soon we will have a new camera and we will be able to share more perfect pictures.

A Short Easter

Or not so short, this year Easter at our house was 7 great days. I read a quote recently that hit me like a ton of bricks, don't you just love when that happens.

"There would be no Christmas if there had not been Easter. The babe Jesus of Bethlehem would be but another baby without the redeeming Christ of Gethsemane and Calvary, and the triumphant fact of the Resurrection" Gordon B. Hinckley

Last year in the Ensign at Easter there was an article all about the week before the Crucifixion and resurrection. It stood out for me and the minute I was hit with the Gordon B. Hincley quote this year I went right back to this article. The author, Eric D. Huntsman did another work. He put together a Holy Week packet I went straight to Kinko's and had a fabulous time printing and putting together our Holy week packet. We began on Palm Sunday. We talked about the Triumphant entry of the Savior and our week began perfectly. The kids had a BLAST talking about our perfect KING,our Savior Jesus Christ. They had a ton of fun doing Hosannas!! We ended up having several Hosanna parties, hosted by Ora during the week.

On Monday we had F.H.E. and talked about the cursing of the fig tree. we helped them understand that we need to be producing "good fruit" for our Savior in order to call ourselves his servants. We continued to have F.H.E. every night during the week. It was a week full of spiritual thoughts and precious moments shared with our children. I highly recommend you guys try this in your own families. We did have to modify the packet to fit our family and our own children's ages. Our plan is as the years go by this week will become something our family looks forward to every year. We had so much fun playing and having Family Home Evening for 7 days straight. It was something that I hope sticks with our kids and as we come to this time next year they will remember and be excited to begin again.

As for Easter Day we had a great time. After Christmas Joe and I were able to go to a clearance store closing and got a fabulous deal on these wiggle carts. It was so hard to wait for Easter morning to give them to the kids, but we made it and then on Easter day it was snowing. So we had wiggle cart races in the kitchen. So fun. I even got on and had a ride and race with Michael.

Abby broke into the candy and did not stop till she was done!

Ora spent her whole day in between conference on the cart. She ate and had a blast hunting and re-hiding the eggs all day. They put together a egg hunt just for Joe and I. It was so much fun to have it be conference weekend. We just stayed home and had a ton of fun together.

I miss having a camera!

I MISS IT SO MUCH!! But, I will share with you what we have been up to anyway, even if the pictures are kind of horrible. I have been in "house fix up" mode.  And since I am not about to go and buy new things for a house I am renting that mean I want to fix up what I have and add a few nice touches here and there. Lately this means getting out some cute paper, or pictures and using modge podge to make things seem new and fun!!

The kids and I did this nightstand with Uncle Bobby a few months ago. My sister Cristen was here with her husband for a conference and Joe was off doing something for the day(I cannot remember what?!?) Joe has been wanting a nightstand for a log time now and so I went with Bobby to D.I. and I found this piece. I am sure it is an end table for a living room but, after a bit of work it turned out great. We painted it black and then added some torn paper and pictures of Joe and his kids all around. This one above is the top level of the piece the one below kind of lets you see how it all turned out. 

On another trip to D.I. while looking for a dresser for my bedroom (that is a whole other post) I happened across two school style desks, you know the ones with the chairs attached. EIGHT DOLLARS (did I mention I LOVE D.I.) When we got them home and went to put them away Michael was shocked, looked at me and said "wait we didn't finish them"  He brought up the papers and picked out his favorite. He found one that was a map and then he realized he had a winner. We did a girl one too. But, I could not get a great picture from my phone. It ended up being pink with all kinds of girly patterns. So cute, maybe I will get a picture someday!

I found this tile board (I bet you know where) and last year we had a Dr. Suess calender. We pulled it apart and have been doing some fun things with those papers but, this is my favorite thing so far! It is from the book 'Did I ever tell you how lucky you are' It is all about how your life could have been so much worse! A nice funny gentle reminder that your life is pretty great! This page says "Just suppose for example you lived in Ga-zayte, and got caught in that traffic on Zayte highway eight"

I know this has not been redone but I thought she fit in with the Dr. Suess theme with her "who hair" She is just too cute not to share!

New Blog

So here we go, This blog will be private in T minus 48 hours! The new blog will remain public if you want to go over there check it out the first post is in. 

Proud Mormon Mommy 

Coming Soon

I have been mulling over some thoughts for a while now and have decided to privatize this blog. I will be launching a new blog soon for me to post some religious and "off family" topics. I have found that I would like to keep my family blog separate from the other topics I have been writing lately. SO if you would like to be invited to read this 'family' blog I would be happy to send you an invite just hit me with your email. The new blog will be launching some time next week (fingers crossed) I will let everyone know when!

Ora turns FIVE

(((Sorry the pictures are so bad, we don't have a new camera yet we just have my phone so it is what it is)))

Her wonderful day came and went on Feb. 17th. She loves her birthday's! Which makes it all the better for me. As a mother I try to make all of my kids birthdays great. The whole day is about them. They get to make all of the decisions, all day... We start with food a few days before the birthday. Ora chose to have a special breakfast that she wanted Daddy to choose, he choose to leave her doughnuts and chocolate milk, for lunch we had 'noodle soup' (top ramon), then for dinner we had Hot Dogs, giant cheeto's, and Soda pop. She got to pick the movies all day and she was able to be pick our games and it was so much fun, we did a lot of Dancing! Then she wanted to open up presents early and she called Dad to see if she could. Of course he told her she could open up her smaller ones and then when he got home we had dinner and she opened up her others.

She has been looking forward to her birthday for months!! All the friends we have, and even people we met in the store (yes random strangers), have been invited to come to her party. A party I was not planning. It was so funny, but also kind of a challenge because I had to keep telling her to stop asking for gifts. She was inviting everyone and then following up her invite with "you can bring me a present!" She also kept asking me for more and more things. I kept telling her that I was done buying her presents, unfortunetlly she had a list of things that she wanted for her day. The problem was I bought her presents clear back before Christmas. I bought her this great jewelry box in October because it was perfect for her. I went around buying little pieces of jewelry to fill it with and was so excited to see her Christmas day. Then when Christmas time came around we found such a great deal on her doll house that we just could not pass it up. After spending that much money I did not feel like I wanted to give her much more than that for Christmas. So I saved the jewelry box for her birthday. I did not buy her a single present more. Until the day before her birthday I decided I could make one of her "new" wishes come true. I bought her an umbrella!! She loved it. It was so great to see her get her jewelry box and it would have been plenty but, when we pulled out her umbrella she got so excited and has carried it around every day since then.

Her cake was probably the most fun thing I did. As I said before, I love my kids birthdays! I always make them the cake that they want. I have done trains, worms, and doll cakes, but the
most fun I have had was this cake. A few months ago we were at the grocery store and she saw the wedding cakes on display and she went crazy! We had been talking about her birthday cake for a while and when she saw these hanging up that is what she wanted. I have always told my kids they could have any cake. I would do my best to make it. So I did not feel right telling her that I would not do it. So we did. The only thing she did not get from her dream was, that she wanted the people on top, we traded that out for her birthday number.
I think for the most part she had a great day, If she had been able to open her presents before Dad got home it would have been perfect! But, we had fun and she still had a great time with her Daddy when he got home!

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