Valentines Day

Valentines Day, 17 years ago, we woke up early. We drove to Manti, Utah on roads that were icy and slick.    We waited threw the traffic jam caused by a wreck in the canyon.  We got to the temple with just enough time to rush in.  There was no time for me to nurse the baby.  There was no time for me to kiss my mom and dad goodbye.  They would be waiting outside while we went into the temple to receive our endowments and  be sealed to each other for all time and eternity.  One sweet sister took my seven month old daughter to the nursery.  Another sweet sister guided me, and my best friend (Who had traveled from Seattle to be my escort.) to a dressing room.  I sat in the brides room and cried.  I was overwhelmed.  I hadn't nursed the baby.  My mom wasn't with me.  Finally, my wonderful friend came to get me.   Before I knew it, we were kneeling at the alter.  Our family was being sealed for eternity.  Someone brought our daughter in.  She was laughing.  This baby who had not nursed in several hours had the biggest smile on her face.  Without prompting she leaned over and grabbed our hands, as if she knew exactly how important what we were doing was.  Every step that we take as a family, I think about that day, that moment.  Every child we have brought into the world in affected by what happened that day.  The baby we held for such a short time, he was affected by that day.  He is ours because we made that icy long drive, because we made the covenants to each other, to our Father in Heaven, to our future family.  When trouble came, and our family faced a rocky uncertain future, I held on because of what had happened that day.  

This morning my cute hubby was trying his best to ignore the incessant beep of the alarm.  Somewhere in the house I could hear the sounds of my two oldest children talking.  I snuggled up closer to Hubby and wrapped me arms around his waste.  At that moment I was thinking about how much I adore my husband and  how thankful I am to have him in my life.  I am thankful for the good things he brings to my life.  Ten days from now we will celebrate our 18th anniversary.  We both have wrinkles and scars now that weren't there 18 years ago.  He is starting to get gray hairs at his temple and I find a few in my part line whenever I care to look.  Overall I feel so thankful, happy and content.  Part of me forgets that there was ever a difficult period.  I hope when people look at us the only see a happy couple who is very much in love after almost two decades together.  I hope they don't see the scars.

The other reason for neglecting my blog.

This year I was gifted a large amount of beautiful yarn.  I was so excited to be able to make gifts for my extended family.  I started in September and finished the knit hats that I made for my own children (Pictured in my previous post) two days before Christmas.  It was so much fun to make things for my family.  The hats for the girls got ribbons and flowers before they left and the shawls had a white ribbon accent added.  Of course I also tucked the yarn ends before they were wrapped and sent with my parents for Christmas.  

 

My poor neglected blog!

While I have been completely absorbed in the holidays, my blog has sat here alone and neglected.  However, we enjoyed the extra time with all of us together and made so many happy memories, that I just can't feel sad about it.  

Home school P.E.

These kids make me smile!  We had the best time making leaf piles to jump into!

Nice Girl

Lizzy was asked to homecoming this year.  I had one weeks notice to sew her a dress.  Thankfully a dear friend has blessed me with a generous supply of cloth, which was formal wear appropriate. As I shared the pictures on my beautiful daughter with friends and family, one comment stood out to me.  A friend said "You can just tell she is a nice girl."  She is.  She is very much a nice girl. I am so thankful for my daughter who represents us, and her Father in Heaven well.  Her beautiful spirit is evident in everything she does.  She is amazing.

Thick skinned.

I wish I was.  I am not.  I am sensitive and my feelings get hurt rather easily. I rarely ever hold a grudge, and I try to love the other person, even if they have hurt me.  However, I never seem to be able to avoid the churning sick feeling in my stomach and the sting of tears in my eyes after someone says something hurtful.  This morning, after a rather rough night I logged into facebook.  A cousin of mine had said some very unkind things about my grandparents.  He might as well have hit me physically, because the pain I felt was far more painful.  These are people I love, I admire, and I have an incredible desire to protect.  I know that if my grandmother saw those words she would be devastated.  Part of the reason why it hurts is that I feel the raw hatred that my cousin is harboring.  He has cut of any chance of allowing the Atonement to work in his life.  So much so that the hate is spreading not only to the people who have wronged him, but to those who were innocent as well.

  This is my way of restoring balance....I'll share a little bit about the wonderful grandparents I have.  When I was little my grandpa use to take me in the Semi truck with him.  I would sit in the sleeper and color while he told me stories.  Once in a while he would ask me to watch for deer.  Every once in a while I would call out "Jumping deer, Grandpa!  Jumping deer!"  It took several miles of this before he finally figured out that the deer I was seeing was on a sign on the side of the road.  Another time, when I was a teenager, Grandma and grandpa picked us up from our home and we drove through Utah on the "Scenic route."  We stopped at every little look out and monument. we took two weeks just to explore the little known places of the state we lived in.  We spent hours just talking.  Grandpa told me that he once nearly lost his drivers licence because he had been in 20 accidents in less than a year.  When they investigated they found out that none of the accidents were actually his fault.  Grandma used to go on walks with us.  It was always under the guise of being healthy and loosing weight.  However, we always walked to the nearby grocery store, bought a doughnut and walked home licking the sticky glaze off our fingers. My grandparents moved away when I was a teen, and I missed them so much.  My grandma didn't have much money, but always on our birthday she would call us, long distance from California, before she went outside to feed the animals.  We always looked forward to that 4:30 AM wake up call to wish us happy birthday.  

I was looking for a better picture of my grandparents, when I found this gem.  It was taken in May 2000.  My Hubby had just baptized my grandpa.  I was four days away from my due date.