finally pictures

I know this is my third post of the day but I finally got my camera working and I wanted to get it all down now!
Rachel wanted to play in the sprinklers this morning. My little girl has such an attitude. But I love her to death. She loves bandaids and will find any excuse to put them on...and well just like everything else, I can't say no!

Jacob has been beging to learn how to mow the yard. He wants to earn $$$$. So today I taught him the basics. It is so crazy to see my big boy growing up! It goes so fast.

Abby was so cute pulling weeds today. She reminds me so much of ME!

Everynight I check on David before I go to sleep, sometimes he gets in the craziest positions. I couldn't help but capture this one.

Our cat is such a chilled out cat. He puts up with our kids so well, and is a great indoor and outdoor cat. And he's even catching mice. EW. He left one out for us to see. He's also caught a few birds. It only took us how many before we got a cat to stick around!

So we are finally getting into our spring/early summer. Temps are still in the high 60's to the mid 70's. See why we love it here! My flowers are starting to bloom and I love, love, love it. When we were in Utah I felt like both my uncle Don and Winslow's uncle George, had sanctuaries in thier yards. And I thought...I want this, I want to be able to walk out my door and have peace. We have spent three summers and planted a lot. Our front yard is starting to take on some real beauty in spots, and well our backyard has "potential." : )

Purple Salvia

Red Verbena

Snapdragons

Yellow Daylilies

Our growing garden...with no weeds! I love the square foot gardening method!

boys and dirt

David loves the dirt. Can't hardly keep him out of it. He is finally crawling on his hands and knees now, and standing up next to everything. One more week and he'll be one. Makes me cry to think my baby has grown up so fast!

FUN TIMES!

Loralie, Carlee, Hunter

Jacob, , Abby,Loralie, and of course the Prize Horny Toad. ICK keep it out of the house!

Rolly Polly bugs.

Okay so we've been having crazy and fun times. My camera is so wacky so I only have a few pictures! Mary and Jeremy came to visit with all their 5 kids. It was so fun to watch the kids play. They found bugs, horny toads, made bracelets, made a teeter toter out of wood in the back yard. They stacked wood with Winslow. We had yummy food lots of laughs and I was so glad to have Mary there to talk to. Thanks Mary for making me feel human. Mary is also part of my BIG E experience. We looked at eachother and laughed inside when we sang count your many blessings in church. Mary has always been an inspiration and a fabulous friend. LOVE YOUR GUTS MARY!!! Winslow and Jeremy tried to lessen the prariedog population unsucessfully, but they had fun together. Oh and I am sure I gained at least 2 lbs eating all that fun food!

So the next weekend, Winslow's family came up. Cliff and Janiel, John and Mandy, and Mom and Dad. Unfortunately, Cliff ended up in the ER with heart problems. It was the high altitude, so he and his family had to turn around a go home. BUMMER> WE MISSED YOU GUYS!

So we had lots of fun. Mia and David rode around on their mommies backs in hiking backpacks (thanks so much LITA and LITO for the fabulous gift, I LOVE IT!) We went on a hike that was absolutely gorgeous. (Mandy and John send pics soon!) The kids had a way fun swing at the camping spot. Rachel loved swinging on it. We went to Greer days and watched the parade. The big people went to MOLLY's for dinner. YUMMY STEAK!! The weekend was so fun and their is never enough time to spend with the people you love. The pictures should be gorgeous so hopefully I can post them soon!

The Parable of Pruning a Lilac Bush

first off, I will post pictures when my camera finally works again!
So I have 4 lilac bushes in my front yard. My grandma was so excited when we bought this house, because of the lilac bushes. Well, I hadn't really noticed anything really spectacular about them. They are pretty and green, but that's about it. And they produced tiny dark purple flowers in the early spring. And then...we went to Utah in the spring when all the lilacs were blooming. THEY WERE GORGEOUS!!! They had huge pretty purple blooms and the smell was heavenly. Except they didn't quite look like my lilac bushes. I looked long and hard at the lilac bushes there. Both my uncle and Winslow's had lilac bushes in their yards. Leaves were the same. And there were lilacs all over, some big, some a little less established. So what was the deal? Well I came home determined to find out. I wanted to have my bushes smell and look like these. #1 lilacs need full sun. (3 of mine had been planted in the shade. We cut down the elm tree by them...it's more of a weed anyway and has been causing problems with our water line.) #2 DO NOT CUT LILACS LIKE A HEDGE (for some reason every person here lets their lilacs grow wide and then chops off the tops, just as the previous owner of our home had done, big no no.) #3 Lilacs need to be pruned...properly! (so I set out to get me some good pruning clippers.)
It has taken a lot of work, and I am not all the way finished, but my lilac bushes are starting to look a little more like the beautiful ones in Utah, and pruning them helps the bush to focus on making better and bigger blooms, instead of just more leaves. As I was pruning I began to see a good parable. #1 we need to live in the full light of the gospel. #2 you can't just look around at what every one else is doing, they could be doing it wrong, you have to go to the source. #3 sometimes ib order to bloom fully you have to make drastic changes!!!

The Big E on the Eye Chart

Okay, so I am blind, really blind, and I know it. Even the big E on the eye chart is fuzzy without my glasses. But I can see it. Even when I can’t see any other letters I can see the E. Sometimes I think the Lord puts a big E in front of my face so that I can’t miss the lesson He is giving me. I have been praying a lot about my job. The hours that I normally work have increased and the timing isn’t as good for me now as it was when I first started. So I have been praying for the Lord to guide me in my decisions and in my job. We would really like to pay off our debt and put a small addition on our 900 sq ft home. And I want to be able to spend more time with my kids.
So here comes the big E.
Just last week I was reading my scriptures and the verse I came across hit me strongly (I didn’t even know this verse was even in there before!)
“Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted” (2 Nephi 9:51).
Okay maybe I’ll take all of my tax return and put it towards, debt, home, and savings, instead of buying chairs for my kitchen table!
Then on Sunday the song was Count Your Many Blessings
“When you look at others with their lands and gold, think that God has promised you his wealth untold…”

Okay are you beginning to see the big E!
And then today I came home from work and busted out with my Ensign from May which has all the talks from General Conference. The first talk I started reading was Becoming Provident Providers by Elder Hales. WOW!
“Our world is fraught with feelings of entitlement. Some of us feel embarrassed, ashamed, less worthwhile if our family does not have everything the neighbors have. As a result we go into debt to buy things we can’t afford—and things we do not really need.”
We have been good with our debt. The debt we have is from things the prophet has said may be necessary in order to provide for a family. HOWEVER> certainly I could pay it off faster if I didn’t feel the need to buy things just because I Want To. Do I NEED to have paint in every room of my house, no. Do I Need to have matching outfits every fourth of July, no. Do I Need to have matching chairs for my kitchen table (currently we still use folding chairs! That are 3 different kinds!), no. I want them, not need them. Can I have them….Yes, I just don’t have to have them NOW. Later. Save, spend wisely, and recognize how to distinguish between buying it just because I can, and buying it because it’s necessary.

I often wish I had my life in order, NOW, mostly because I think everyone else does. But honestly, most people are just like me. They have dishes to wash, babies to hold, stories to read, families to love.

So, I will try more diligently to count my many blessings, to find happiness in what I do have, and remembering delayed gratification!

To Be or Not to Be

This post is quite personal. My little boy is growing up. 11 months old now. Am I missing it all? I try to remind myself that I've only been working mostly full time for a short while, but I'm worried I am missing it all. I've been praying daily for guidance. I know that the Lord knows me. Personally. He knows my struggles. He knows what lies ahead. Only He can direct me to those things that will be for my good. Can I make it working full time? Should I just stay home? Like I said these are very personal decisions. I love what I do for work. I love that I get to interact with children. I love that I get to work with my 3 oldest kids. I enjoy my work day when I am there. But at night, when I see their sleeping faces, I wonder.
Probably most working moms feel this way. I have felt some jealously as of late. I don't have a brand new home, I don't have a paved driveway, I don't have even 1000 sq ft of house. And then I Stop and remember
I HAVE 4 beautiful healthy children
I Have a husband who adores me and I him
I Have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life
I Have the love and support of my family
I Have wonderful parents and In Laws
I Have so many wonderful things.

Darn Pride! Told you it was personal. So, the struggle within continues. We each have our own path and our own struggles. But somedays is certainly seems greener on the other side of the pasture!

Probably I should go read about Job!

Peace Like A River

It's taken me quite some time to get to this post. But I really wanted to share my feelings from Aunt Clara's funeral. Sunday May 3rd we recieved a phone call from Winslow's mom saying Aunt Clara had passed away. She was just shy of her 60th birthday. It came as quite a surprise. She was having some health issues, but nothing we believed to be life threatning. It seems so far that she was having problems with her liver that were masked by her kidneys. We are still waiting on all the results. Suffice it to say that Saturday afternoon, she laid down to take a nap and did not wake up. We decided immediately that we wanted to go as a family to Salt Lake for the funeral. In the mean time we were bombarded with illnesses, Winslow having an acute case of the flu, Abby having high fevers, stomach pain, and swollen lymph nodes on her face. Abby even got to have an abdominal CT scan. TOUGH GIRL!!! We were grateful for prayers that helped to make everyone well in time to go to Salt Lake. We found such peace when we arrived at Uncle George's house. In Utah, the tulips were still blooming, the lilacs smelling so sweet, and everything so green. There was such a peace in George and Clara's home. Cousin Terrey and Janessa were there. Terrey is about my age and Janessa is a Senior in high school. We enjoyed the company of much family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, and friends came to love and support. When I had a quite moment I walked thru the home and just felt of Aunt Clara's lingering spirit. I sang softly to myself Janice Kapp Perry's song "An Early Goodbye."
This is the song that was song at my brother's funeral and it brought tears and peace, if you can imagine both at once. Shortly before the viewing uncle George explained that the viewing would be held in the Primary room, this was because there were two doors to the room that would accomadate better flow of people. And especially because "Aunt Clara preffered the Primary anyway!" When we entered the building they had a still picture video of Aunt Clara playing. And then we entered the primary room. Most of you know that this years theme for primary is MY ETERNAL FAMILY. The room was filled with things that represented this and I was so struck with this message. And there above Aunt Clara's casket were posted the scripture for the month and the article of faith they were working on.
A of F number three
We believe that thru the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.
Yes, the primary room was the perfect place for us to bid goodbye to Aunt Clara's mortal body for a time.
Saturday's funeral was amazing. Aunt Clara did so much in her brief earthly life. She was a friends to all. She had a sweet and calming presence. You were drawn to her in quiet ways. She was avid in her family history. She was an amazing mother, wife and grandmother.
For the closing song Janessa and her high school madrigal choir sang "Peace Like A River." The spirit was so strong, and thru all the sobbing I could feel the hosts of Heaven surrounding us. Words trully cannot capture the depth of emotion I felt as I listened to this song.
I was so grateful to have come. I cannot begin to imagine the emotions and sorrow of losing my mother. I pray daily for Janessa and Terrey and Uncle George. The day following the funeral was mother's day. I don't know if I could have born it. My mother is my best friend, and I know Janessa and Terrey feel that way about their mom. How to bear such sorrow and grief. Only with the knowledge sure and true that Familes Are Eternal. I know that thru the sealing powers of the priesthood in sacred Temples of our Lord, families are sealed together Forever. And that thru obdience to gospel principle and thru the power of the Atonement we will be together again. Aunt Clara was proceeded in death by her infant son and her parents. I am sure there was great rejoicing on the other side of the veil as she returned HOME. May we each live, so that when we come Home, we can rejoice together as families.