Working Hard Against Us

It's been very interesting. Being an older, single woman, I have had the opportunity to be present in many conversations related to relationships, dating, and theories as to why things are the way they are. Because of my nature and perhaps my schooling, I find myself asked what my opinion is on these types of topics and even on others current situations. Honestly, I feel I have a pretty good grasp on how things are, how they should be, and what hard questions to ask ourselves when in those kinds of relationships. However, saying all of that, it has always been amazing to me that no matter how logical and eloquent I am with those around me on this subject, I seem to forget EVERYTHING when it comes to myself. I ALWAYS seem to feel I'm the exception to the rule. Perhaps that is how we all are. Why is that? Why is it so much harder to find someone we are compatible with and eventually will marry? Well, interestingly enough this subject (sort of) was a topic for Visiting Teaching this month. For those of you who are not members of the church, Visiting Teaching is a monthly program in the church where we visit each other on a one on one basis and are able to chat with each others about our lives and talk about a specific lesson/thought provided by our Church leaders.

Let me explain the tie in. This month we talked about how we must 'Uphold, Nourish, and Protect the Family'. You may ask, how in the world I got dating and marriage out of this topic? Well, I will tell you. I feel that Satan's focus for destroying the righteous, has been a focus on destroying the family. He does not want us to have good, strong families. I believe his focus has not only been on destroying families, but I believe his focus has turned into not allowing them to begin in the first place. I won't bore you with my ramblings of my theories on this issue, but I will say that I believe this is the 'why' to some of our questions. Satan does not want us to have strong, righteous marriages. He doesn't want us to start righteous families. Look at the statistics of singles in the Salt Lake Valley alone (let alone the world). Insane. In my ward alone, we have a couple hundred who attend and there are 3 wards that meet in that building! Single adults are everywhere and it feels as though they are becoming more and more 'ok' with this way of life. The 'hurry' for getting married is no longer. Does that mean Satan is winning? I certainly hope not. We must fight for our families and future families! Dating should not be so serious that marriage is a primary thought (lets not freak ourselves out or our date), however, it should not be forgotten all together (meaning date for pete's sake!). hahaha

Julie B. Beck says this "As a disciple of Jesus Christ, every woman in this Church is given the responsibility for upholding, nurturing, and protecting families." Ladies, we have a responsibility as mothers, and if we are not mothers than future mothers. We have a responsibility as aunts and as teachers. We simply have a responsibility. I hope you feel that. Though we have forces working hard against us, we also have forces working hard for us. If only we work hard along side the right force. :)

Love My Family! Even when We are Making Fun ;)

I have no other reason to post on this other than I totally crack up whenever I see these pictures. We were having some family time and the next thing I know is my grandpa is like this...

I will give him credit because he IS in his 90's. However, I look over and his wife is like this...

What's the saying? Like husband, like wife. Ok, maybe I just made that up. Whatever. :) Anyway. So as I'm taking these pics with my phone and getting the stink-eye by my mother... my brother does this for my camera...

Hahahaha. LOVE the open mouth Nick! :) Just thought those who are in the fam may enjoy these pics :)

Something Big

Lately I've just been wanting to go somewhere I've never been before. See places I've never seen. I'm not sure where I want to go, but I'd like options and right now my mind can't think. Any ideas? I had the opportunity to go to Costa Rica but at the time I had some big ticket items come up when I would have had to make it work. Now, a friend of mine is going to Italy next month. I'm toying with the idea of going too. However, it is pricey. Ok, not for Italy. But do I really want to spend that kind of money, is more the question. Or CAN I spend that kind of money? But when will I ever have the opportunity to go again? Lots of questions. But if I do not or cannot go to Italy, then where will I go? Cause let's face it...I NEED a vacation! A fantastic paradise! And who will go with me is the question? :) Sigh. I need Something Big to ring in my 31st year.

Don't Forget to Look Up

I make these Reverence Books for children. One quote in these books has been on my mind the last few days.

"As long as you are looking down, you cannot see what is above you."-Unknown

So many things have been weighing on me the past little bit. I suppose I've been concentrating more on my feet and where they would be taking me next, rather then seeing what is above me. I used to love to stare up at the stars. In my reflection over the past little while, I realized that I've forgotten to take the time to do one of my favorite things...to stare at the stars. And if you are concentrating too hard at staring at where your feet are taking you, you cannot and will not see what is above you. What a sad thing to behold.

Though my heart and mind are weighed down with much these days, I am determined to concentrate on the stars 'so to speak'. :) I hope you are able to do the same.

On a lighter note, this picture is one of my favorites. Not necessarily of me, that's for sure! But it brings back some sweet memories. 'My Kids' were getting a little restless as the other kidlets were having their picture taken by their mom. I honestly couldn't blame them. We HAD been taking pictures for awhile and lets face it, they just wanted to play. Well I took the two boys up the path a little bit and we came upon this fallen down tree trunk. Of course, being me, I immediately started playing make believe with them. I jumped on the trunk and asked them if they wanted a lift on my AWESOME motorcycle.. vvvrrrmmm, vrrmmm. The boys jumped on without hesitation and we were OFF! Immediately they were shouting out the things they were seeing and the adventure was on! Next thing I knew is the boys were looking above us and mesmerized by the tree branches and leaves above. We stopped pretending about our motorcycle ride and we started talking about what we saw in the trees above. THOSE, my friends, are moments that I cherish. What a great sister-in-law to have captured this very moment for us. :)

So Much to Me

I had the great opportunity to volunteer for the Draper Temple Open House. My friends ward was getting a certain number of volunteers for a certain amount of days and they were short. They called me and asked if I'd help. Of course I would help. :)

When we got there, we were told that we were going to be the Bus Ushers. A big responsibility because we were going to actually have reading parts, etc. Most other volunteers just guide the people through by pointing where to go next (since it's a silent tour). Um, two problems. Number one, I get carsick when I read in cars...let alone buses!!! Number two, I get really nervous with public speaking. I know, shocker. I wasn't sure I was up for this responsibility. I was actually more nervous about getting sick, truth be told. I was toying with whether I tell them or not when another lady asked to be moved for the same reason. So I reluctantly told them my dilemma as well, but instead of asking to be moved, I asked if I should just have the faith that I will be fine. He was surprised by my choice of words. He then opened up to me and said that a few others had canceled last minute and they were short handed and really needed me to be a bus usher. But that if I ended up getting sick to please let them know. That did it, I was going to be fine! I was determined!

I cannot tell you how amazing my experience was! First of all, I did not get sick. Second of all it was a very LONG script that took pretty much the whole bus ride to the Temple. Third, I know that it was not MY determination that made it possible for me to fulfill my responsibilities that day.

Friends, I realize not all of you believe in the same beliefs that I do. However, I care about you, as I know you care about me. And just as I love to hear about the things that mean so much to you, I know that you love to hear about the things that mean so much to me. I know that I was blessed that day. I know that when we pray, our prayers are answered. Not always are our prayers answered immediately, but sometimes they are. And they don't always have to be earth shattering. They can be simple little things. But no matter how big or little those things are, in the end, getting the answer means that we do in fact have a loving Father who hears us, who answers our prayers, and who wishes us happiness. Even when we cannot see for ourselves why we must do something, there is always purpose. Just to further my point, I know that I have never been able to read in cars. Just the day before I was getting a little sick just because I was concentrating on tying a bow on a present. Lame? I know, but that's how bad it can be sometimes. But I was blessed that day. My being an usher that day had purpose. I was needed. I should have been sick within the first paragraph of my reading to those people. But I was blessed so that I was able to last for a few hours rather than a few minutes. Afterwards, I went through the Draper Temple since I had not yet been able to go. There is no better place on earth. Time and time again I felt a watchful eye on me. And time and time again, I recited my script as a witness and mouthpiece for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so proud. Though the tag on my jacket said "Usher" I really felt it said "Usher for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints". You may ask why it matters. Well, I was never a missionary, but I certainly felt the responsibility as a member missionary that day. I was escorting Ladies, Gentlemen, and their children to the most important place they can possibly go to here on this earth, the Temple. I was introducing them to the House of the Lord. What an amazing opportunity.

Welcome Home!!!

Over the weekend my brother came home. We've missed him so much! We were so excited to see him that we even woke up at an insane hour, got small children ready (well some of us..not me), and got to the airport by 5:30am. Let's just say that it felt like we didn't sleep at all. OK, maybe it felt like that for those of us who don't go to bed at a reasonably early hour. Oh, and it was snowing on us as we were carting the chillin's to the hanger. Good gravy it was COLD! With all of that...it was still WONDERFUL! Hooray, Brett is home!

Ok, although having my brother home is pretty much the BEST! My favorite part was 'my kiddies'. :) They were soooo happy Uncle Brett was home! And the best for them was that as soon as they got their turn for loves, he lifted them up in a fling-hug that he does. They squeal and laugh and couldn't be happier. Of course I was standing on watching, and apparently I had a photographer documenting these moments. Hahaha. Thanks Rachel! :)

Some other funny moments of the morning were of course, with my kids. So I'm carrying Ry-ry into the restaurant to where we were going to have breakfast. There were two older ladies already sitting and observing me as I was walking in with him. This is how our conversation went down: Ryry- "What are we doing here?!" (He says in a very curious voice) Me- "We are eating breakfast here, even though it's crazy early." Ryry- "Well that's just GREAT!" Needless to say, his words and reaction caught the ladies off guard and they burst into laughter. It was pretty funny how he said it.

Next moment. My Braxie was unfortunately at the opposite end of the very long table at breakfast. He wanted TT (me) to know he could see me. So he yelled out my name. Rather than disrupt the rest of the family with Braxie's yells, I proceeded to play my blow kissing game with my sweetie. He loves this. I simply blew him a kiss and the game was on. :) He got the biggest Braxie smile. LOVE that smile!!! We proceeded with the game for the next little while until he was distracted with other things. But it's my way of letting him know I love him. I love when we are able to have moments like these. :)


Last moment to note. Ok, so E-boy (Ethan) comes walking over to my sister who is sitting next to me. He declares that he's come to give sugar. I looked down at him to see if he in fact had sugar in his hands. Lets face it, I wouldn't put it passed him. Nope, no sugar in his hands and he was most definitely not looking at me. He was looking at my sister. I nudged her because she hadn't heard him. So when she looked at him, he smiled and said again "I've come to give you lots of sugar". At this exclamation my sister swept him up and started giving him lots of loves. It was the funniest thing. Apparently whenever my sister wants hugs and kisses from Ethan, she tells him she wants some sugar. Hahaha! He was merely telling HER he wanted some sugar this time. Apparently he wasn't gonna wait for her to approach him. Good thing, I think she forgot. And we'd hate for his little heart to be broken that his aunt got sidetracked with having her brother home to remember to give loves to ALL the kiddies. Ha