Blessings

One year ago today Brad came home around 11:30am. I thought he was home for lunch, but it turns out he had lost his job. Without warning, and without valid reasons. The shock and the betrayal still sting a little bit (I'll admit, I had a nightmare about it last night). But the overall feeling I get when I think about this past year is gratitude for a Heavenly Father who knows how to succor His children, and who keeps His promises. I'm amazed at all the intricate details the Lord worked out for our benefit.

I've learned that faith and fear really cannot coexist. As we spent all our energy trying to hang on to that little morsel of faith, we grew in ways we never thought possible. While I certainly don't want another trial anytime soon, I am learning that the Lord's tutorials are valuable and I don't need to be afraid.

God lives and he loves us. He has a plan for each of us. If we do what we should, and have faith in Him, everything will work out eventually. This I know.

"Be strong, and of a good courage. Be not afraid; neither be thou dismayed. For the Lord thy God is with thee, withersoever thou goest." Joshua 1:9

Yum!

You know that song by Toby Maquire--no wait--Toby Keith that goes:

Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me me me me me. I wanna talk about me?

Well, I made up a new one tonight:

Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum yum yum yum yum.

I wanna talk about Yum!

I made these for Brad for Father's Day (along with some good pad thai, I might add!)

Anyway, yes, they taste as good as they look. My new favorite brownies!

Jenny over at picky-palate made these up and they are divine!

It's pretty self-explanatory, but click above for the recipe if you want.

The Graduate

Tyler graduated from preschool last week, and is officially on the road to Kindergarten! He was so excited to wear his mortar board hat, and show us all the fun things he's learned this year.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to my fun, thoughtful, optimistic, funny, insightful, loyal, encouraging, knowledgable, talented, spiritual, joyful, smart, with-it, beloved Mom!

I LOVE YOU!

Heber Valley Camp

We had a great time this weekend with Brad's family up at the Heber Valley Camp. 4 out of the 5 siblings were there with their families, making it 12 out of 15 grandchildren. Ty and Lauren had a blast with all their cousins, roaming free in the great outdoors.

That camp is amazing! I wish our Girls Camp was held there.

Grandma with Meikel, Brinley, Emma, and Tyler

John building a fire, with Andrea and Marie in the background

Everyone in this picture looks a little weird!

We had good food (even if it was a bit late--oops!), a fun Family Home Evening by the campfire, boating in the lake, a scavenger hunt, snow, and only one lost child! Luckily the Camp Host Missionaries found him. By the way, that has to be the Best. Mission. Ever. We all decided we want to be camp host missionaries one day.

Seth, Wyatt and Tyler playing in the sand.

Lauren just chillin'.

Grandpa, Brad, Natalie, Brinley, and Ty in the paddle boat.

We had such a good time, we can't wait for next year!

Mirror Lake Highway

One of our favorite places to go in Utah is the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway in the Uintah mountains. It is basically a loop that starts in Park City, through Kamas, up in the mountains, over into Evanston, WY, and back to Park City. There are some beautiful views, great campgrounds, fun hikes, waterfalls, and lots of fresh air. We used to go a lot BK (before kids), and even some with Ty before we moved to Texas. This was our first time back since being back in Utah, and we had a blast, even though the full loop wasn't open yet--still so much snow this late in the year! We drove by our favorite campground, Moosehorn, and it was still under 4 feet of snow, and the lake was still frozen over!

Crossing the creek on a fallen tree. The strong smell of pine and the cold babbling brook reminded me of all the great times I had camping as a kid at North Davis Creek Campground, #14 in Oregon. That was the best camping spot in the whole world! This was Soapstone Campground, #20, not as good, but still nice.

Further up the road we stopped to throw snow in the Provo River.

It was fun to see so much snow, but still be comfortable in shorts and capris.



One of my favorite places, the Provo River Falls. It was not snow plowed, so we had some serious trailblazing in over a foot of snow to get down there! We had expected there to be more spring runoff (we've been here enough to see it really rushing and almost dry) but the ranger guy said it has been a really wet and cold spring, so the big runoff hasn't started yet.

Can't wait to come back in the summer, and hopefully camp at Moosehorn--if it ever opens!

Sealing

One of the greatest treats of adoption is that we get to have our children sealed to us. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that families can be together beyond death. Usually, a bride and groom are sealed in one of our temples on their wedding day, and any children born to them are automatically born into that sealing covenant, so each child doesn't get a separate sealing ceremony.

But we do!!! I consider it one of the perks of going the alternative route of building a family. A sealing ceremony is simple but sacred. During our time in Oregon, we were able to have Lauren sealed to us in the Portland Temple. My dad performed the sealing, which was extra special.

Trip to Portland

We took a late Spring Break Trip to Oregon a couple weeks ago. Can we say BEAUTIFUL? Oregon is beautiful any time of the year, but seriously, in Spring, it blows any other place out of the water! All of the foliage and flowers were so incredible!

We'd driven by it many times, but had never stopped at Multnomah Falls, so we got out and hiked the short trail to the bridge. So pretty.

One day we brought Grandma with us and just explored. We ended up seeing some really pretty flowers and yards, and found a great park to play in.

Of course, Brad had to see if he could still do his trick. He's still got it!

Ty and Lauren don't quite have it yet.

Catch Up!

We've had a great couple of months, with blessings (and snow!) pouring down on us. The weather was nice for awhile (we're expecting snow again tonight), and spring has almost sprung. (I forgot how late things bloom here in the Mountain West.)

It was nice enough on St. Patty's Day to wear short sleeves and ride the bikes.

And of course, playing dress-up is always part of the routine.


Adoption Day!!!

We had a GREAT Easter weekend, decorating eggs, watching LDS General Conference, and having Easter dinner with Grandma and Grandpa F.

We leave soon for our trip to Oregon, where we will see Grandma & Grandpa S. and have Lauren sealed to us in the Portland Temple!!! The kids will also get to spend some fun times with Aunt SuzieQ and Uncle Hank and their cousins while Brad and I get a little vacation on the Oregon Coast!! LOVE IT!!

Cute as a Bug

I've been a little stressed about some things that have come up this week, but these two cuties have been extra sweet and funny. I feel so much gratitude for them. Boy do I love them, and am so thankful for their birth families, whom we also love dearly. We finally got everything in to finalize Lauren's adoption, so hopefully we'll find out soon when our court date is! Can't wait to have this little bug officially part of our Forever Family.

p.s. No, this is not Halloween. This is just a normal day in our home. :)

Miscellaneous

Not an exciting post today, just a list of random things going through my mind:

1. Messy Eater Girl

This girl LOVES to get messy when she eats. She's perfectly able of using a fork and a spoon, but I think it's too bothersome for her. She likes her food, and she likes it NOW, and if she has to get it all over her, then so be it!

2. Valentines

We jumped on the same bandwagon as Margaret and SuzieQ, but the idea was so cute and easy, I couldn't resist. Ty just happened to be dressed up like a pirate, so we decided to go with a pirate theme.

3. Weather Vacuum

It still annoys me that I tend to be a weather vacuum. I admit, I like extreme weather. It excites me. It's fun for me. But I always seem to miss it.

When we lived in Utah before, we were in a drought. We moved away for two years, and they got so much snow and rain, they came out of the drought. Now we're back, and having drought patterns again!

Same with San Antonio. The whole time we were there it was a drought. Water restrictions and everything! Now this winter, since we've left, they've had a lot of rain.

I just seem to always miss the fun! Oh well, I am glad to have electricity, and no floods, etc. So I'll be grateful.

4. Sweet Big Brother

Overheard when Lauren was crying about taking a nap:

Tyler: It's okay Lauren, you're just afraid. But Heavenly Father will help you. You just can't see Him, but He's there.

I just thought that was so cute, cause he was so serious when he said it. He gets afraid a lot, and has learned to pray for help. I know he really believes that God is real.

5. Keyboard Bumps

Am I the only one that didn't know what the bumps on the F key and J key are for? Since our computer is in our bedroom, sometimes I end up typing and surfing the Net in the dark, since Brad is sleeping. I was SO HAPPY to learn that those bumps are there to know where your index fingers should be when typing. Now I don't have to lift the keyboard up toward the moniter to get enough light so I can find the right keys!

6. Sick Days

One or more of us have been sick, it seems, for a long time. That has led to a lot of Dr. Visits, and a lot of time hanging out at home. Missed meetings, missed workouts at the gym, missed family outings. But we've managed to still have some fun.

Little Visitor

We had a fun visitor last week, our nephew Christian. (Or just "Baby" according to Lauren). Brad's sister Andrea broke her ankle, and couldn't put any weight on it. That makes it a bit difficult to haul around a 4 month old, so we got pull out all our old baby stuff and had a grand old time for a few days! The full time job was just trying to keep the kids off him, they loved him so much! He was so cute and such a good little sleeper. Next time you break an appendage, Andrea, think of us, we'll be happy to take him again! :)

The Book of Mormon: Why I Love It.

*I hope the following post isn't too churchy, I just feel like I need to share my thoughts about something very important to me.





I finished reading the Book of Mormon again today. It's not the first time I've read it, nor will it be the last. But this time through did mean more to me than some of the others. Sometimes I think I take the book for granted. I grew up reading its passages. Sometimes my reading is more out of habit or duty than real desire. But this time was different.

This time, I started reading it when we were in the middle of a stressful time in our lives. This time, I really hungered for answers and comfort. And that is most definitely what I found. President Ezra Taft Benson has said that there is a power in the Book of Mormon that will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of it. I know that that is true.

When I read the Book of Mormon, I receive a power that is beyond my own to deal with life’s problems. That power is manifest in the little things–like having more patience with my kids– and in the big things, like when Brad lost his job this summer.

I don’t claim to be the Queen of Trials. I know there are many more trials that we can and probably will go through. I know people who have dealt with much tougher things than we have, and they stand as strong examples to me. But in our little sphere, the adversity of this summer was the hardest we have had to withstand up to this point in our lives–more than dealing with our infertility and illnesses, more than dealing with broken bones and broken dreams. And there were two things that saved me from hiding in bed everyday and never coming out. Two things that gave me faith and hope and strength and even the ability to find joy in the midst of it all. Those two things were the Book of Mormon and the Temple. Strangely enough, it was the Book of Mormon that guided me to the temple.

Over and over in the Book of Mormon I found examples of people in trials. And over and over the Lord reminded them of their covenants with Him. The Lord does not forget His Covenant People! He will not forsake them. That doesn’t mean we won’t have trials. But He does give us power to overcome–and even triumph over–our trials.

One of the most poignant examples of that lesson for me is found in Mosiah, Chapter 24. I think I read this scripture block every day for about three months, just to remind myself that the Lord does keep his promises. Alma and his people were just trying to live the gospel. Unfortunately, Amulon, a former priest with Alma, had gained favor with the Lamanite king, and made their lives a living heck. Amulon and his cronies began persecuting Alma and his people, and treated them as slaves. He threatened them with death if they even prayed.

Mosiah 24: 12 "And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts.

13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their cafflictions.

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."

The Lord kept his promises with Alma and his people, and He kept his promises with my family. Even when we were being mistreated and betrayed, the Spirit of the Lord came to us and lifted us up and lightened our burdens, and I think that peace and protection has everything to do with the covenants we have made.

There is a protecting power in our covenants. Again, from the Book of Mormon, we learn more. Speaking of those who had made the same covenants we have made, Ammon says,

Alma 26: 6 Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.

7 But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest, and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day."

I am so thankful for a Savior who knows how to succor His people. I’m so thankful that He does not leave us comfortless. And I’m so thankful for a book written for our day--the Book of Mormon--that reminds us of these things, and brings us closer to Him.