Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Armor of God


She is no longer set on my destruction. She and Cody have been much nicer. And I know why. Last Saturday I had to speak for an hour at a 4 stake youth conference. Last week was a terrible week. It seemed that Cody and Liz were set on destroying everything in their paths. I was in a really bad depressed place with a darkness hanging over me that I can't explain. I had one million things that needed to be done. All my older kids could do was tattle and fight. Every time I tried to study or prepare for that talk I got hung up and couldn't do it. Finally, Friday I was at my breaking point. I called my mother in law and had her come help with the kids so I could work. I worked on it all day and still it just wasn't coming together the way I wanted. After I came home from the Friday night activity I finally had Jeff give me a blessing and finally the darkness cleared and I was able to put it all together in a cohesive manner. In the end, the talk went well and many of the youth said they were touched.

I have never had that happen like that before. I have never been so stumped or had so much unleashed on me the week of a talk or presentation. It wasn't until that night before I spoke, when I really sat down to think about it did I understand. I was speaking on putting on the armor of God. I was basically going out to tell the kids how to resist Satan and his influence and how to stay on the Lord's side. Of course SATAN didn't want me to have the spirit or to give that talk! Part of my pat. blessing says that Satan will put roadblocks in my path at every chance and I need to be on guard to always recognize his actions. I wasn't on guard. I didn't get what was going on until it was almost too late. I am grateful again for the priesthood and for that blessing that let the light back in and made it possible for me to give that talk to the youth. There was an important message there for someone. Here is a quote I used in my talk and I think it's so true:

M. Russel Ballard said, “Long before the world was formed, Satan and those who followed after him raged against the forces of good and tried to overthrow the work of God. That struggle has not ended, only shifted battlegrounds. It is ruthless and relentless, and the objective of the battle is your eternal soul and mine.”

We all must “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. …
“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” (Eph. 6:11–18.)

Happy Anniversary!


So, yesterday I woke up to roses going down all the stairs, around the corner and to the kitchen table. They started with white roses, then turned pink, then red. He said they symbolized our lives. First the friendship, then courtship then the true love. Awwww. I am so glad that 13 years ago I married Jeff.
He is a great dad. Each of our kids have their own song and he sings to them in their beds each night. He is crazy fun with them too - most recently, sending them flying off the stairs and across the dining room in his climbing harness. They love him mucho and always look forward to him being around.
I love how much time he wants to be with ME. He and I eat lunch together almost every day. We go out on dates every weekend. He basically choses me - always. I feel so loved. He is so funny and sometimes we just lay in bed and night and laugh and laugh. He truly is my best friend. He works really hard for our family and provides so well. He is handsome and smart and has a great vocabulary -(which I often challenge, but am always wrong.) I love him. Happy Anniversary Jeff.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Dear Santa

I asked Cody (he's 2) what he wanted from Santa this morning and this was his answer.

I want a big dinosaur with CRAZY eyes that has little spiders all over his face. And he can talk - he says, "Ahhh! Ahhh! Get all these spiders off my face."

If anyone happens to see one around will you let me know. :)


And because this blog was originally made for me to try harder to notice the hand of the Lord in my life everyday I will say that crazy comments like that make 2 year olds so fun and make yesterday ok. Days like that also make me thankful for great friends like Nickie who come over and help wipe up all the nail polish and then babysit my kids so I can go to lunch without them. I am grateful for good friends to go to lunch with and a sweet husband who said, "Why don't you just leave tonight - you need a break" when he got home. (and he bathed them while I was gone.) And lastly, I am grateful that I don't have to have a baby with no epidural today. Good luck Summer!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

End of the day

So now they lay all nestled snug in their beds, while visions of breaking everything in my house tomorrow dance through their heads . . .

Here is what happened during the shower. . .




And here is what happened tonight while I was out. I get a text from Jeff that reads , "Lizzy just broke something else."


I hope Drop Dead Fred hasn't come to live at my house. Maybe tomorrow it'll be a mud pie on the kitchen table. . .

I am dead serious

So when I got out of the shower and went downstairs this is what I heard Cody say before I saw what I saw, "Mom, it's the blood."

Pictures to follow. Why am I cursed?

Continuing fun . . .


Here's what she did while I was typing the last entry. Anyone have the number to poison control??

I have to go take a shower. I'm sure this is what my house will look like when I get out. Thanks kids. Smoochy love and snuggles.

The petting zoo lady and me



One day I was at the zoo with my kids. We proceeded to go to the stinkiest part of the whole zoo - the petting zoo. As I watched my kids chase goats and deer all around a small cage, I looked over and saw a worker quickly sweeping up the goat poop. As fast as she would get it swept up, 40 other goats would poop. It was a never ending battle. She just swept and swept and they just pooped and pooped. At that moment I felt a strong bond with that woman. I said to her, "You know, your job and my job aren't that much different. I feel like all I do all day is sweep up the goat droppings, just to have 10,000 more droppings fall somewhere else." She looked at me like I was stupid and speaking Chinese and went back to her work. But I'm not stupid. It is true. It's the truest analogy to motherhood I have yet found. Here is my week in pictures.



"Mom! The play room smells like barf!!"

After some searching I found the culprit. Leaking 2 day old rancid sippy cup. Perfect.


"Has your mother seen what you did?"

Thanks Cody for chopping your hair down to the nub. You are a fantastic kid!

"Who gave Lizzy a pen??"


"MMMMMmmmm. The laundry smells minty."


Who sends a full pack of gum through the wash? Jeff, do you have any ideas?


"She can't stay in nursery. What if it's pink eye?"


I'm pretty sure it's "blood eye" but ok. She's great in class. (And by great I mean the DEVIL) I'll take her.

I have no pictures of Jeff in the ER all morning Sunday.

I give up. The crap is going to have to pile up. I'm going to take a long, long nap.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Liz and Jeff


I was just taking a little trip down memory lane tonight and looking through about 1 billion pictures that fill my computer to the brim and I came across this one. I had totally forgotten about it but it is one of my all time favorites. Lizzy wasn't one month old. I don't know why she is making that crazy face. But tonight as both Liz and Jeff aren't feeling well, I am thankful for these two people in my life and hope they feel better tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Stolen post


I want to paste a copy of Shelby's post today because it was beautiful and so important. I loved her words and the talk she found. Sorry for the cyber theft.


The Dawning of a Brighter Day

Anyone who knows me probably can't imagine I would write a title like that on a day like today. Back in January when I was
getting daily radiation therapy, I had to drive about 45 minutes each way. I became addicted to talk radio (we have a great FM
station here). It was the beginning of the election frenzy and I was on board. Since then I have listened to and read everything
I could get my hands on. I mourned when Romney had to bow out. I cheered when Sarah Palin and her big family and
conservative values joined Mccain. I think I began to scare people a little with my obsession. I teared up as I voted yesterday
and prayed hard for Mccain. I was angry with Obama and his supporters. Angry that abortion was fine with them. Angry that
we didn't know what he was up to or what he really was going to do. Angry that that was ok with so many Americans. I love
America. I didn't want "change" for change's sake. I love freedom of Religion. I want to be able to say that I am pro-life and
that I believe marriage is between a man and a woman without being told I'm a bigot or that I didn't care about women. I love
capitalism. I was sad that we had gone through 13 years of really hard times to get Jaymee into a practice only to have it
taken away. I love that we are the most generous country on earth. I didn't like being told we weren't. But I have to stop right
there. I've gotten off course and forgotten what I learned today. My point is that I was passionate about this election.

Last night when I saw that Obama had won I cried and cried. Unfortunately, Jaym was in a benadryl coma because he lost a
battle with poison ivy making us a huge fire pit in the back yard so I was all alone in my grief. I came upstairs and began to
pray. I prayed that my sadness could be replaced with peace. I prayed to know that this was indeed the will of the Lord. I don't
like being angry. I don't like those dark feelings. I begged Heavenly Father to grant me understanding and then I went to
sleep. It was a restless night. I tossed and turned and wrote a scathing blog in my mind about how it's the end of the world
and it stinks. Also, every time I woke up, however, the phrase "perilous times must come" came to my thoughts. Over and
over all night long.

This morning when I woke up, I went straight to my computer and typed in the phrase in to the search on lds.org. A talk by
President Hinckley came up called "the Dawning of a Brighter Day". It says that "peril is not a new condition for the human
family." It mentions the war in heaven, Noah's day and other times in the Old Testament, the wars in the Book of Mormon
and about poor Moroni wandering alone without a people because they had all been killed off. It talks about the apostasy and
the plague where 50 million people died and those who were left worried whether humanity had a future at all.

But then came the Renaissance. Light, science, healing, art. The Restoration of the gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
It didn't mean evil was gone - evil manifested itself as persecution and hatred. Charles Dickens was quoted saying,"It was the
best of times and the worst of times... it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it
was the winter of despair.”

We are in a great time. The work of the Lord is moving across the earth. Knowledge increases every day. People can be cured
of cancer. The world is more educated than ever. President Hinckley said,"Man’s ingenuity knows no end when the God of
heaven inspires and pours out light and knowledge."

These are also perilous times. It would seem as if many people are choosing evil over good. Or choosing not to care. The end of
his talk was the part I was supposed to read the most. I'm just going to paste it here because I can't say it any better:

"Do we really comprehend, do we understand the tremendous significance of that which we have? This is the summation of
the generations of man, the concluding chapter in the entire panorama of the human experience.

But this does not put us in a position of superiority. Rather, it should humble us. It places upon us an unforgiving responsibility
to reach out with concern for all others in the Spirit of the Master, who taught, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”
(Matt. 19:19). We must cast out self-righteousness and rise above petty self-interest.

We must do all that is required in moving forward the work of the Lord in building His kingdom in the earth. We can never
compromise the doctrine which has come through revelation, but we can live and work with others, respecting their beliefs and
admiring their virtues, joining hands in opposition to the sophistries, the quarrels, the hatred—those perils which have been
with man from the beginning.

Without surrendering any element of our doctrine, we can be neighborly, we can be helpful, we can be kind and
generous.

We of this generation are the end harvest of all that has gone before. It is not enough to simply be known as a member of this
Church. A solemn obligation rests upon us. Let us face it and work at it.

We must live as true followers of the Christ, with charity toward all, returning good for evil, teaching by example the ways of
the Lord, and accomplishing the vast service He has outlined for us.

May we live worthy of the glorious endowment of light and understanding and eternal truth which has come to us through all
the perils of the past. Somehow, among all who have walked the earth, we have been brought forth in this unique and
remarkable season. Be grateful, and above all be faithful. This is my humble prayer, as I bear witness of the truth of this work,
in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I am humbled today that even though I don't always do my part, the Lord reaches out and answers my prayers. He lead me to
this talk and I do feel peace. I feel like getting over my feelings about the election and showing a greater love to all of the
people around me. That's all I have power over. Our country and its fate is and always has been in the hands of the Lord. We
need to do our best and be grateful to live in such an amazing time.

Sorry this is so long. I had to share.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

It's because Adrienne is the coolest




Adrienne. You are great.


And what the heck is Adam doing in the background? A dance? At a funeral?

Halloween





Right before we left for Utah we had our ward trunk or treat. Jeff and I were McCain and Palin. We never do stuff like this so I thought I'd post a few - especially before the election is over tonight.
Now every time Sarah Palin is on TV my two year Cody says, "Look mom! It's you!" I think it's hilarious that he understands who I was that night. Too funny.