Awake at 3 am

Why am I awake right now? Why did I go to bed at midnight, only to get up again at 12:30 and why am I still awake? I give you one answer: LD. He woke up extremely congested and was inconsolable. So...what did I finally do? Use my new friend, my DVR, and play him an episode of Plaza Sesamo, which he LOVES! Now he has been wide awake and playing for two and a half hours. I have been able to doze a little on the couch, but leaving him the only one awake in the house is a very scary proposition.

Speaking of LD, however, he got his first haircut yesterday! He definitely needed it..it was getting so long. Up until a couple of weeks ago, it was really curly on top and I didn't want to cut off the curl, but either he has now lost his baby curl or it just got too long to curl...it all of a sudden started looking like a mop on his head.

K started basketball practice yesterday. She has never played organized sports before. She hated it. She is by far the shortest and also the least experienced, although not that far behind a couple of the other girls. She also feels a lot of stress when she doesn't know exactly what is going to happen ahead of time. This practice with people she doesn't know, a coach she doesn't know, and drills that she's never done was quite overwhelming for her. Her coach was awesome, however. He was so patient with her and never rude. He also seems to love the game and teaching it. I think it will be a good year...but some difficult lessons for K. While she would like to be done already, I will not let her back out after just one practice. I expect a lot of tears coming up, though.

It's not fair!

I don't want to seem like I'm pouting, but life just isn't fair. I have worked my tail off to be ready early for Christmas. I knew life would be hectic so I've planned and organized for months, but NOW because of the dang clinic things are so messed up and it just isn't fair. I can't get it all done. It is impossible and now we are either going to be super stressed or not going to our cabin. It is impossible. UGH!

Contributing factors:

1. LD is sick
2. I have to take on marketing for the clinic (Marketing director left to go out of town before finishing distribution of gift baskets, etc)
3. I have to take on billing for the clinic (billing person in car accident and having a baby)
4. I have to take on working at the clinic (see #3)
5. I have to take on training new employees at the clinic (see #3)
6. I have my own stuff to find time to fit in for the clinic: keeping the books, transcription, reconcilling, etc.
7. DH isn't handling these turns of events well and thus compounds my stress!
8. I have had no sleep (see #1)
9. I still have gifts to wrap
10. I have Compassionate Service calls to finish up...(I have had so much to do with this calling over the last two weeks it is insanity! I literally spend an hour on the phone per day, just for this calling.)
11. I wanted to make big plates of goodies (don't think this is going to happen!) for neighbors
12. Oh...what about teacher gifts? Friend gifts? etc...those I thought I could easily do last minute! WRONG!
13. I still have to buy, but only for DH!
14. I have to finalize and put on the classroom party for C
15. K has Activity Days and basketball practice
16. C has basketball practice and Friday Fun Day at the library
17. My house is a disaster
18. I still have to grocery shop for the cabin
19. I have to pack for the cabin
20. I have a cell phone that doesn't work well and is brand new, but I can't return it or we won't have a cell phone for emergencies as we are driving to the cabin.
21. Did I mention that the Jazz are losing...this is not helping! Just win some games for us. I could use a cheerful DH for a night!
22. There's more...but I can't handle adding to the list. I just have to stop and go have a good cry about it all and deal.

This is the hand I've been dealt...

so I just have to live with it!

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I have so many things I want to document and blog about that I am about ready to explode! So...a warning to anyone reading this...you might be in for the long haul.

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First, I am a very health-conscious person. I love to exercise. I fix healthy whole-grain and vegetable filled meals. We don't eat a lot of desserts of sweets....UNTIL I GET STRESSED....then...Why does it all go away? Why is chocolate such a great comfort food? Okay...so I have problems.

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Second, I have been working a TON in the clinic. It is a long...too long...story, but we have been going CRAZY. DH worked Tues and Wednesday all by himself (until our high school after school employee could make it in). Yesterday and today I worked all morning with him. And...in the midst of this I am trying to prepare for Christmas, plan the Holiday parties at school, my own stuff I do for the clinic, and now all of the billing that our employee was doing. It is insanity. I feel like I am being a horrible mother, I am not doing as much as I should with my calling (which has all by itself been insanely busy the last few weeks!), the house is a wreck, and there is still a ton more to do for billing at the clinic. UGH!

Third, here are some fun pictures I have been meaning to post (can you tell why I haven't had the time?)

I couldn't figure out how in the world we were quite so late in getting our tree up this year! I realized that it was mostly that we went to Houston for Thanksgiving and so didn't have the couple of days afterward to really decorate the house. Here is C helping put up the tree. What you can't see is that it was after 9:00 at night on a school night. I finally decided that with all the craziness that we just had to work on it and they really wanted to help. Both C and K were very helpful and even LD didn't really destroy anything so it was a pleasant experience! DH was still working, so I really needed their help and was pleasantly surprised at how much they could do this year. My babies are growing up!

Here is the promised toothless wonder picture! Isn't it a classic? If you know C, you know this captures his personality perfectly

"Yes, Mami, I am cute in my pajamas....but did you see my mischievous grin?"

Happiness amidst the chaos. K has been wanting a miniature tree to put in her room. I actually found one at the dollar store and figured she'd like it even if it is small and cheap, but with all the stressful events of this last week, I hadn't had time to give them to them. Last night, I once again rebelled against bedtime and gave them their trees. They were so excited. I wish I could've captured the excitement to share. Hmmm....very rewarding for $3 each!

C working very hard on his little tree. He is a perfectionist and he couldn't get it quite "right" last night. It is beautiful, but he was so frustrated we almost had to just throw it in the trash.

Weekend Update

So...So much for the blogging every other day at least! It is already approaching a week since my last post. -sigh- Life is just so crazy. We had at least one thing every afternoon/night this week.

Oh well, here are some pictures from the last week/weekend.

Little K has turned into a wonderful babysitter overnight. All of a sudden she finds it fun. I was very grateful for her on Thursday when she entertained both LD and my friend's toddler, P (His Mama was having a baby!). She had a blast and they loved her and it allowed me to have a few precious moments to make dinner.

On Friday, we went to the Christmas Party at our church. K had been practicing with other girls her age a special dance. She had such a fun time and she had a blast performing. I ended up on the other side of the performance from where she was dancing so the pictures aren't that great...you'll just have to take my word for it. She is the girl at the end in a blue shawl with a white ribbon in her hair.

Santa came to this same Christmas Party! I have never had a kid cry on Santa's lap. They have looked nervous, but never cried. Well, not only did LD cry...he SCREAMED! At least I caught the classic picture in the two seconds I left him on his lap!

Oh, and Saturday, C lost his first tooth! I don't have a toothless picture yet, but he was very excited!

And that was only a small portion of this week. We also had meetings at the school, Science night at the school, Activity Days for K, cooking meals for other families, organizing meals for other families, dance practice, RS dinner, watching kids for one of my BFF to have a baby, Friday Fun Day at the library, the Christmas dinner, putting up Christmas lights, etc....What a week!

Thanksgiving revisited

Life has been absolutely crazy lately. I think it will slow down some as I got the out-of-town gifts mailed out today. One more thing down and only 20 days until Christmas. I haven't done any decorating, but I think most everything else is done! Hip Hip Hooray!

Anyhow, we headed to Houston for Thanksgiving this year. We spent it with DH's cousins and aunts and uncles. It was an enjoyable time. I especially like establishing a sense of family for our children. The first two of these pictures was at the Thanksgiving parade that morning. It was actually COLD! The last one is at the Christmas Lights Lighting at night. K and C love DH's cousin, AK. She is 17 and is so good to them. They really look up to her and she is a great example for them.

I am so grateful for the wonderful life I have. I am excessively busy and my to-dos are never done, but honestly, I don't think I'd be happy any other way. I am so blessed. I have the gospel of Jesus Christ, my family, and enough of the essentials of life to be comfortable and happy. What more could I ask for? (Actually, I know...a stellar, experienced front-desk CA for the clinic! We are having more employee issues, but I have faith that it will all work out for the best...it just adds to the stress in the meantime).

Miracles do happen

I usually don't post (or lately...I usually don't post at all!) really personal stuff, but I had a miracle happen to me this week that I just had to share.

On Saturday, I had my first yard sale. Oh my. What a lot of work. Some friends and neighbors joined me in the endeavor, but...it was still a lot of work.

Sunday morning I woke up with immense back pain. I could hardly move. DH had to give LD a bath for me since I couldn't even kneel down to wash his hair. It was bad. DH thought that for sure I wouldn't be able to go to church. He is a chiropractor and sees many cases of back pain and recovery a day. He told me that I was going to be in pain for a few days, even with treatment, as this is the typical pattern of my type of back pain.

Since church doesn't begin until 1:30, we were planning on going to the clinic for me to get therapy and a chiropractic adjustment. I wanted to go to church so bad. It is the highlight of the week. I love feeling the strength of the spirit, partaking the sacrament, and also socializing with the ward members. I was so bummed that I wasn't going to be able to go to church.

Then, all of a sudden, I felt better. I could move. I could bend. I could walk without hunching over. It was a miracle. I thought to myself, "Too bad we haven't gone to the clinic yet...then DH could claim this as his miracle!" Immediately, however, the answer came to me..."If you'd gone to the clinic already, you wouldn't see that it was MY miracle." It was definitely an answer to an unuttered prayer and the righteous desires of my heart.

And, I was worried that once I got to go to church that the pain would return, but it hasn't. What a blessing and a witness to me that God knows me and is ready and willing to help me at all times. Miracles do happen.

Row Captains

C and K both got off the bus today absolutely ecstatic. They had both been chosen as "row captains" in PE. It is a new thing this year, but every six weeks the PE teachers choose one student from each row to be the captain. The captains, as far as I can tell, are the row leaders. They take care of the equipment, keep the other students in their row in order, and get to be "taggers" and such in the PE games. Both of them aspired to this title at the beginning of the last six weeks and both weren't chosen. They were so bummed as they thought that they'd been extremely well behaved (the major quality of a row captain). This morning, C could hardly wait to go to school to see if he got it. How exciting that they both did at the same time. They also each get a goody bag full of coupons for free meals and such as a reward for the title.

K's Third Grade Play: "Whether the Weather"

Last night was K's third grade play entitled "Whether the Weather." It was a very cute little musical about meterology and all types of weather. K had the lead.

I was shocked when her teacher said that she had the lead as I didn't even know that she'd tried out. In Kindergarten she was too scared to try out. In first grade she tried out, but didn't get a part and she was sooooooooooooo nervous. In second grade they didn't really hold try outs, the teachers nominated a few kids and they then tried out just to see which part they'd get, although they were guaranteed a part of some kind. Her music teacher said she was shocked when K tried out as she is usually so shy and quiet, but that she did such a great job that she had to give her the lead.

K was so excited that she memorized all her lines the first day! She did a great job last night. She didn't forget a single line. She was a little less animated than in practice, but that was just the nerves part. We were so proud of her. We took her to Sonic and let her choose whatever she wanted and the rest of us didn't get anything. She thought that was very special. We might have to make it a tradition! C was a little jealous at first, but quickly calmed down when he realized that it was important to celebrate with K.

Here are a few pictures, but in the cafeteria is one place that NEVER turns out good on any of my digital cameras. One is really blurry, but...it is all I have (except for video, but that's not digital).

I am so excited!

I am so excited! DH had a wonderful idea earlier this year to skip the traditional Christmas presents for our family and give ourselves a wonderful vacation instead. Well, we recently decided that the big vacations that we'd like to give for Christmas really aren't in our budget. We'd have to save a little to go on a cruise or to Disneyworld. So, DH had another wonderful idea...going to a luxury cabin for Christmas and having fewer presents, but still some. I thought it was a good idea, but I was certain that Christmas day, itself, would be booked. Surprise! Our favorite cabins are available! These are NICE: Here is a description of one we might get:

What would you like to do first? Soak in the hot tub and relax your worries away? Take a steaming cup of coffee out on the front porch and rock in a rocking chair? You’ll definitely want to light a fire in the rock fireplace that stands in the middle of the living room. Also on the list, should be a leisurely bath in the double jacuzzi tub upstairs or star gazing on the back deck.
If you’re a kid, you’ll want to race around the wrap-around deck until you’re delightfully dizzy or scramble back and forth on all fours across the towering catwalk stretching across the living, dining and kitchen areas. Perhaps you would prefer to challenge someone to an exciting game of air hockey out on the deck. The upstairs loft is a perfect kids retreat with a Foosball table, games galore, and a variety of books and movies for all ages. The kitchen and dining areas are ideal for lively family meals. A fire-pit in the yard is great for campfires, roasting marshmallows and sharing stories.

Doesn't that sound SWEET?!? I am hoping that we do decide to go over Christmas. We would have to be all done shopping and ready for Christmas on Saturday, go to church Sunday, drive to the cabin on Monday where we'd have a nice leisurely Christmas Eve, just our family and thoughts of the Savior. We'd spend Tuesday opening presents and celebrating the holiday, and Wednesday we'd play, relax, and go home. Perfect! However it works out: I am so excited!

Clean-up!

This has been a crazy week. A really crazy week. One of the crazy days partially involved watching my friend's young children while she had a baby. They, combined with LD, were on a destroy-my-house mission. It was a big mess. But...I had two wonderful helpers, C and S (K's friend that I watch before and after school) who cleaned it all up for me in about half an hour while K was at activity days and I cooked dinner. They did such a good job that I paid them each a dollar. Amazingly they were so excited about this dollar that I might have to "hire" them again. $1/half an hour...not a bad rate for me, the employer. Hmmm...I wonder if my employees at the Clinic would like that as much!

Family, Pumpkin Patch, Halloween, and Catch up.

This is a catch-up post. We had so much fun with my sister and her two kids (E-three years and S 20-months). Here is our week in pictures:

Don't I have a cute niece and nephew?

Girl cousins! We're ready for the Pumpkin Patch!

Here we are on the hayride. E was a little scared of the tractor and held on very tight to my hand.

It's Fall 2007 (LD, K, and C at the Pumpkin Patch)

All dressed up for the local school carnival. S was a basketball player, C a Jedi, K a snow princess, and E Tinkerbell. They were very cute!

After church on Sunday I was surprised by a horse entering my kitchen with three riders! My sister's husband, P, is a great sport!

DH's birthday was on Monday. It was a little crazy to get ready for that and have my sister here and everything. We even got our hair done that morning for my birthday present to her. See my last post...isn't she cute?!? Anyhow...this is the cake that I made for DH. It turned out very good and I even impressed myself!

Goodbye hugs. It was so hard to say goodbye. I even took K and C out of school for an hour to say goodbye. They loved their cousins and their cousins loved them. It was so cute.

Here are some pictures from Halloween: LD is Darth Vader.

K is 100 months old! Can you believe it? It goes by so darn fast. She is a wonderful girl and it makes me happy to be her Mama.


Last of all....is this a model boy or what? This is the outfit my sister brought for LD's birthday. It is soooooooooo cute! I hope there are many more chilly days to come over the next couple of months so that I can dress him in this outfit again! :)

So Sad.

My sister and her family have been visiting from out of state for the last week. They left today. I am filled with such sadness for I have such a wonderful sister. I love her. I love her hubby. I love her kids. I will miss her terribly. We had a great time and I will post about it all next post. But, you know when it is the perfect vacation length when coupled with the sadness is the readiness to get back to normal life. We all have been staying up late. Too late. We all have been putting aside the daily necessities to be with our much more important family. So, fun time is over...it is time to get back to regular life.

Bus

A cute moment this morning.
LD loves the bus. He loves it because it magically brings his siblings home to him. This morning early, but after we'd already dropped off K and C at school, LD heard the characteristic bus sounds as the middle school bus came into the neighborhood. He started saying "bu. bu. bu. bu." very adamantly and watched the window until the bus finally came into view. But, no matter how many times I tried to explain to him that it was not K and C's bus, he stayed by the window watching and waiting and loudly proclaiming, "bu. bu. bu." It was too cute. Maybe if I let the big kids ride to school on the bus instead of dropping them off....he would understand that the bus picks up kids not just drops them off.

Now, it is time for the bus to come and, guess what? LD is sleeping. Ugh. He missed his favorite time of day.

A Practically Perfect Afternoon

So, this has turned into such a great afternoon.

• The weather could not be better. It is sunny, around 75 ish degrees.
• DH called and took me out to lunch (never mind that the dishes aren't done and that I had to wake up LD when he JUST GOT DOWN FOR A NAP). It is just nice to go out and I definitely don't want to discourage his asking me!
• I ground my own wheat to make "Friday Sweets Day" Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars.
• I cleaned the bathrooms super duper thoroughly (a chore I HATE!)
• I read LD a bunch of books. How great that he is already a bookworm!
• I talked to one of my bff's on the phone.

It is just a practically perfect afternoon. Did I mention how much I love Fall?

Random Friday

Life has seemed extra busy lately. I think it is because I didn't do "Errands Day" this week (where I try to combine all errands into one day), so I have been out of the house every day running errands. This leaves me less time at home to accomplish stuff for the house and the clinic and this leaves me frustrated. I guess that "Errands Day" really works for me.

I have also been sick. I am sure I picked up some germies in one of our many stops in San Antonio last week. It isn't too bad. I guess I am fighting it off pretty good, but I am still congested.

I have begun walking with my good friend, JK, again. I love walking with someone. It is so much more fun than by myself. And, while I was really, really good at going walking at 5:30 AM or so during the summer, when school started it just hasn't happened all that much. I also find that while walking together I go farther and longer since I am not constantly thinking of the time and how much I have to do...I am chatting (or sometimes panting) with my friend. Much nicer.

I took the kids to the library and the park last night. This added to the chaos of life, but it was such a beautiful night that we couldn't resist. Here is LD exploring the park.

Speaking of libraries, I go to FOUR different ones on a regular basis! I guess our family loves libraries and books. Two of them are small town libraries that are close to where I live. Two of them are branches of the huge library system in my actual city, although the branches are much further away than the small ones. We had a bond pass to get a library branch near our area about four years ago, but the library is still not built. So, for now...four libraries it is!

Finally, in other news, the clinic is really growing and our family is so blessed. Thank-you all for your prayers as we undertook this scary adventure. I can't express how grateful we are for the blessings we have.

San Antonio, TX

DH and I took the kids and left for San Antonio, TX this weekend. It was a lot of fun. We left on Thursday morning and had a leisurely drive. We stopped at some outlets on the way, as well as IKEA. We had a lot of fun shopping and we got some extremely good deals as well. The kids loved IKEA since they got to play in the playland while we shopped. We also stopped at the State Capital in Austin. Our hotel (Holiday Inn Market Square) was downtown and even though it was old, it was recently remodeled and our room was gorgeous! The pool was huge and in a courtyard in the middle of the hotel. It was warm enough to swim, although cool when you first got in. We went swimming and then headed down to the riverwalk. The bell hop/concierge guy took us in the hotel van. He took us by surprise at the offer and we left without the camera or a stroller. It was still beautiful there at night. We came back on the trolley...which the kids thought was neat.

The next morning (Fri) we headed out to the San Antonio Botanic Gardens. They were very pretty. They also had a Dora exhibit, which, although my kids protest that they are too old for Dora (and they really are)...they had a great time. Next, we went to the Caverns. It was really cool to be deep in the earth in the caves. K freaked out a little, worried that they were going to fall down on top of us. I had only been in big caves like that once before, when I was about K's age and I remember it well. I hope that K and C do too. It was worth the big price ticket.
After the Caverns, we tried to get back to downtown in time to go to a museum that DH really wanted to see, but we got stuck in traffic and didn't get there in time. We did get to go into a big Catholic Cathedral downtown...I believe they said it is the oldest in North America. It was really pretty and reminded DH of going to mass with his grandfather in Guatemala.

We went back to the hotel to swim and then out for Pizza Hut for dinner. Yummy. Then we went and played in a park downtown at 10ish at night. Stuff we'd only do on vacation! :)
The next morning (Sat) we got up and checked out of our hotel. We had planned on spending all day Saturday at Sea World, but we still had a lot that we wanted to see. We also didn't like that we would only be able to spend one day and that we couldn't do the water park part. So, after MUCH debate, we opted to come back in May for Sea World and continue our San Antonio adventure in different ways this time.

First, we ate breakfast at a yummy Mexican place. Then we went to El Mercado and Market Square. We had the kids' portrait sketched by a caricature artist. It looks pretty cool. Then, we went in down-downtown. There was an art festival going on and the kids got to draw on the street with chalk. That was pretty cool. We then went to the Children's Museum. At first we were so not impressed. But, even though it was older and falling apart in some places, the kids LOVED it and really there was a lot to do and see...more than we originally thought. It was worth going to.
Next we headed back to the riverwalk. We walked for a bit, watched the boats, and ate overpriced ice cream. Then off to the Alamo. We had planned on skipping it this trip, but due to our last minute ditch of Sea World, we went. Thank goodness. They have an annual festival there and had a ton of actors in period costumes. We got to interact with them and it was really cool.
From there we went to our new hotel (Drury Inn). We had heard great things about this hotel and so we opted to spend our last night there, even though it was a little more expensive. They have a "snack" buffet at night that included hot dogs, baked potatoes, nachos, popcorn, all sort of drinks, etc. It was enough for a light meal. They also had an indoor pool, which was disappointingly cold. I didn't even want to get in. DH and the kids did, though, although C got out fast. I thought it was colder than the outdoor pool. There were also a lot of people (one maybe drunk) in the hot tub, which is my favorite part, so I didn't go over there.
The next morning they had a HUGE breakfast buffet. This was one of the reasons we chose this hotel for Saturday night...so we wouldn't have to spend money on Sunday. It had eggs, sausage, biscuits, waffles, yogurt, cereal, oatmeal, toast, bagels, grits, juice, doughnuts, muffins, etc. It was yummy, yummy, yummy.

We left and went to some of the old missions. They were really cool. They were well preserved and it was neat to see what they must have been like so long ago. Then...the drive home.

We had such a great time together as a family. In fact, Little Dan was so sad to see DH and kids go back to school and work on Monday. He walked around the house saying "Pa-pa, Pa-pa, Pa-pa." I love making memories together and I love the break from "real life." I was also glad to see that our animals were all still living when we got back! :)

And...we're outta here!

We are headed out of town! I am so excited. This will be a great family vacation. We are so in need of one. The clinic is a lot of work and DH definitely needs some R&R. We all do! We can't wait. So...until we're back...adios!

General Conference

I always love General Conference. I love hearing the words of the prophets. I love the wonderful feeling it is to have that burning desire to be a better person and to have the confidence to know that I can.

Some of my favorite/most inspiring moments from this conference are:

• Spencer J. Condie: "And God remembered Rachel." And he will remember me and you and everyone. Is anything too hard for the Lord?
• Elder Uchtdorf: "Have we not cause to rejoice?"
• Keith Hilbig: We live far below our priviledges when it comes to the Holy Ghost.
• Elder Eyring: "Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch me/my family throughout this day?" Ask it. Then record the answer.
• Sister Julie B. Beck: Be a "Mother who knows!" Conserve limited strength to maximize influence where it matters most.
• Elder Bednar: We need BOTH clean hands AND a pure heart.
• Elder Scott: Righteous character is most important (more than what we own, our education, etc.). First faith then character then more faith than fortified character and so on.
• Elder Zivic: "Choose to be someone out of the ordinary."
• Elder Oaks: It is not enough that something is good. It must be better than good. Are we amusing ourselves to (spiritual) death?

I felt inspired and guided with each and every talk. These are just a few that stood out to me. Last week's Relief Society broadcast was also excellent and really inspiring. Who can doubt the truthfulness of the gospel, the reality of our Savior, Jesus Christ, or the fact that we have prophets on the earth when we have been so wonderfully taught? It is by their fruits ye shall know them and the fruits of the spirit are so plentiful at conference. How blessed I am. How blessed we are!

I am honored.

So, my good friend, txmommy, gave me this wonderful award this week. I think it is so ironic...since she is one of the first people I would have thought of to give this award to. She is always so positive, supportive, uplifting, and an all around good friend. I am so lucky to have her as my friend and my visiting teachee.

In blogger tradition, I nominate Suzanne, who ALWAYS lifts me up, particularly on Gratitude Tuesday; Nikko, who is a RLF that does anything and everything for me; and Kathleen, whose insights always help me keep life in perspective. And...I was trying to avoid it as I didn't know if it violated some blogger code of ethics,...but also my dear, dear sister, who truly is my best friend in the world...someone who ALWAYS lifts me up and knows all the bad about me and loves me anyway.

I guess it is always good to be lifting up rather than tearing down. You never get the seconds back. Make the most of each one. And, while I am waxing sentimental, I read a great quote today (from my favorite book..wink, wink)..."Keep asking yourself, "What do I really want?" When you are tempted to watch junk, eat junk, think junk, or speak junk, remind yourself that your decisions today will determine your reality tomorrow." ~Hannah Keely, Total Mom Makeover.

"Little Plates" versus "Big Plates"

I have been in one of those blog-funks. What happened, actually, is that I wanted to put a picture of LD from when he was born on his birthday post...but for some reason I moved the birthday files in my computer and I can't find them. I know they exist...but I haven't had time to search the great abyss of my computer. So, then, I felt like I couldn't post anything else until the birthday one had pictures and was published. I still have to write about camping last weekend and LD being sick.

But, first, another reason that I haven't blogged as much is that I have realized that I have the "small plates of Nephi" and the "big plates of Nephi." My blog is the latter and my small plates were getting neglected. I decided that I needed to be more diligent at writing my more personal feelings and spiritual experiences in my journal. I feel I really need both. I love my blog, but I need to also record how my life has been guided and blessed by a living God, who knows and loves me and some of that is just too personal to post.

So, there you have it. I was gone and now I'm back. :)