It’s hard for me to believe it was a full ten years ago we announced on Facebook we were expecting baby M to arrive the next month. Where has the last 10 years gone?!? We have four children now instead of two, we live in a different house, attend a different ward, all my children are in school full time instead of being home full time, both Hubby and I drive different cars, none of us wear the same clothes we used to, I don’t eat dairy and wheat anymore, have many more smile lines, I have an iPhone and Apple Watch and air pods instead of a flip phone and even my dog passed away and I have two new ones. For the most part, I am much more calm and have learned tons in the last ten years. I miss certain parts of the last decade but am so grateful for the life I have now.
February is packed! Basketball and volleyball and Girl Scout cookie sales and horse back riding and puppy training classes and volunteering at the elementary school and planning for summer activities. Natalie lost her 1st tooth! Hubby went out of town for work the first week of the month and took K to California for 2020’s trip the second week of the month to boot. Luckily we were able to squeeze in a Valentine's Day lunch at Pei Wei after buying me a new phone -- the iPhone 11 Pro -- before he went out of town for the extended President's Day weekend. Hubby took K to Six Flags Magic Mountain and Universal Studios Hollywood for her trip. From their reports about how crazy the rides are, I'm vowing to never set foot at Magic Mountain and even someone who isn't known as a Harry Potter fan will still be pleased to have an interactive wand at Universal. They seemed to have had a great time and I'm so glad they were able to go.
M did an amazing job in her class play as Odin. My favorite part was went she yelled at Loki. I take credit for her ability to do that. lol. 
Puppies got groomed! We learned the hard way you have to brush them every time they come in from playing in the snow or else they will get matted.
Instead of our usual Valentine's Day sugar cookies, M made us two delicious and beautiful heart shaped chocolate cakes to eat. My children are becoming more and more independent. It is my job to work my way out of a job!
We also had some experience with killer icicles (I half crawled out my bathroom window to grab them before they fell) and I spent hours and hours making sure our sidewalks and driveway didn't kill anyone either.
My new phone seems much better at indoor shots. I was so happy to get to watch my boy play while Hubby was out of town. A big thank you to my mother for taking M to horse back riding so I could be there.
While they were away the other 4 of us kept busy with delivering Valentines to widows in our ward the Activity Girls made, delivering Girl Scout cookies, D's basketball, going out to eat at Red Robin, going to Church & going to Addy J's baptism, going to to the dog park, and working two hours at a cookie booth shortly after Hubby and K got home and ate dinner with us that Monday.
My bed can get a bit crowded when Hubby is out of town!
In other big news, D finished the Harry Potter series (but wouldn't let me take a picture) and my mom came over to watch the final two movies with him over the long weekend. I'm so proud of him! He has truly earned me taking him to Universal Orlando this fall! M finished Goblet of Fire and began Order of the Pheonix that week as well. I finally got to watch it with someone who cries with Cedric dies too. Third time is a charm.
One of my favorite afternoons in February was spent at the sledding hill with M, N, and our neighbor, A. The snow was perfect, the weather was above freezing and the sun even came out. We were there for a couple hours and I’ve never seen so many gleeful people in the middle of winter at the hill. I feel it truly was a blessing to go enjoy some time like that. Sledding is so fun when you’re not freezing!
P.S. One morning when the dogs woke me up early I was thinking of something that happened to me when I was in high school. I decided to write it down and post it here so it will be in the 2020 blog book I print out at the end of the year. I know God loves each one of us and comprehends all the things we cannot understand. I am so glad to know such a marvelous fact. It truly is the foundation of every good thing I feel and do.
The small Kansas town we moved to seemed brown and ugly. There were only four students in my branch’s seminary class. I wondered why Heavenly Father had asked us to move away from a beautiful city with two wards to this apparently inferior place?
As part of working on my Personal Progress requirements I began interviewing a woman in the branch named Sharyn Sloan who was a wife, mother to four sons and had many medical struggles. She was amazing to me. Her love for her family, entertaining stories and her ability to overcome trials were inspiring to me. I adored her.
So, when her oldest son died a short time before he was supposed to return from his full time mission, I was beyond upset. How could God do this to her? What about her son that was also serving a mission? What about my seminary classmate? What about the youngest brother who wasn’t even in high school yet? What was her husband supposed to do now? My sadness and grief grew and grew and soon I was full of hatred. I yelled at the sky as I walked my dog in the starlight. I was the angriest I had ever been and let the Creator know I did not agree with His decision to take this life home to Him.
With a cold, hard heart I sat in fast and testimony meeting. I was fuming. Sister Sloan used her walker to slowly make her way to the front of the chapel. A microphone was brought down to her so she wouldn’t need to climb the stairs. Sharyn talked about the Atonement, God’s love, the Plan of Salvation and the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Her powerful, authentic testimony melted my heart. I felt the anger wash away. In that moment, I felt with all my soul that I never needed to be mad at God again.
I am so grateful our family moved away from what I thought was best for me so that Heavenly Father could continue to teach me what was really important. The members of that branch forever changed me for the better, including Sister Sloan, who brought me closer to the Savior even during the hardest trial of her life. Her faith sustained me until I could learn and grow and desire to follow God’s plan whether I understood His reasons or not. Turns out, I’m one hundred percent sure there is no where on earth I would have loved going to high school more.
Comments