Catching Up

It's been a busy few days. Melissa turned 12, Brian came home for Thanksgiving, and we went to the Raleigh Christmas Parade. I can't believe we went to the parade again. Each year, I promise I won't again (although it's always fun). I just dread the cold and not being able to drink hot chocolate (because there's only porta potties). My favorite part of the parade is these really fun dancers - hopefully you can see from the pictures that they put on a fun show!! I'm looking so forward to being home Thanksgiving Day through Sunday - 4 days off in a row....how wonderful! We will slowly begin to decorate for Christmas. This year, I'm not putting out a lot of Christmas decorations. I only plan on putting up 2 trees, a few candles around the house, a nice table cloth, and icicle lights outside. I took all the pictures off the wall of my Den, painted, and cleaned the carpet.....it's such a good feeling to not see "stuff" everywhere. We'll see how long my "minimalist mentality" lasts! I'll save my list of gratitudes for Thursday, but I'll start with one...."I'm grateful for the blessing of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.....it is a miracle in this day and time to KNOW without a doubt that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that our families can be together forever.

Enjoy the photos....I'm already praying for snow this year......but only enough to enjoy.....Nurses still have to go to work regardless of the weather!!

Black Friday

Can you tell I'm home this morning, sick as a dog, and lonely!! Thought I'd share a few photos from this morning and mention something Katie asked me last night: "Mom...are we going to do anything special on Black Friday?" I was kind of surprised by her question and said..."no ...maybe a little shopping." She then said "we're supposed to do something special...that's MY holiday." Now I got it....she thought Black Friday was a special African Amercian holiday!!! Too cute!!!

Happy 12th Birthday Melissa

How exciting...we have a "Young Woman" in the house!! Last night the Young Women's organization had a special welcome party for all of the girls getting ready to advance to the group. It was so much fun....the girls are all so close. Melissa had a great time playing some crazy game where the players chant "bunny, bunny, toogie, toogie"...or something like that. I couldn't keep up with what they were doing, but it was a lot of fun. We're so excited to begin this special year with her. It was through the influence of a dear friend, Diane, who introduced me to the Church at an age not much older than Melissa. It forever changed my life and gave me so many blessings.

Melissa had a special request for her birthday....today's menu includes pot roast, mashed potatoes, peas, yeast rolls, chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate chip ice cream. Yikes!!! Best get cooking!!

Enjoy the photos....Katie had a ball last night at Activity Day girls making a nativity set....she has such a creative leader....thanks Sis. Ralph!! Nicolas has advanced to the office of "Teacher." Brian is doing fantastic in school. Cory has never had a better year of school as well. Pretty cool!!

Hard to Read...caution!!

Have you ever assumed something and then found that you were way off base in your assumption? This past week was particularly trying. We have been running an emotional, physical, and spiritual race since January.....I've never run in a marathon before, but I can truly say now that I have! I'm so humbled to be a mother and to realize what is required to "run beside your children" as they go through life's trials. I always thought that the role of a parent is to stand in front of your child and protect them from the things that could really hurt them. There are those things that you know are best for them to experience and be accountable for and there are other things that you would throw yourself under a bus to protect them from experiencing. So, I find myself with the great desire to take on my child's pain and suffering and all I can do is stand beside her as she endures what has been the most awful of trials. This past week she told me, "Mom ...please help....I'm tired, I don't want to do this anymore." "Oh, yes you can," was my reply and I hugged her tightly. I got a smile from her and an "I love you mommy." Yes, my child still calls me mommy....and I love it! So the marathon continues .... and we just need to focus on finding joy in all the blessings we have in our lives. Now..back to the first question about making assumptions. I kind of diverted the post because I wanted to relay how hard this week was for us (many things can't be posted, but you can assume it was a pretty intense week). At the end of the week, I was getting ready to leave work. I was so physically and emotionally tired that I felt like I had the flu....achy, sick to my stomach, etc. My whole body hurt. As I went to leave the Unit, a nurse said to me...."do you have a minute?" I smiled at her, said "sure," and sat down beside her while she was feeding a baby. Her next comment was "I don't want you to take this the wrong way....." Well...that's an opening line that made my stomach tighten even more. My first thought was "I've probably not done something she needed me to do...I'm not good at anything anymore....etc." I couldn't have been more wrong! She told me that she and her family had been thinking alot about doing something special for my family this Christmas. This wonderful, kind friend then said, "I want to work Christmas Day for you. You need to be with your family this year." I was stunned! I'm scheduled to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - 12 hours each day. We both sat there with tears running down our faces....I could hardly speak. I had worried so much about missing both Christmas and Christmas eve and how that would affect the children this year of all years. However...it is my turn to work both holidays. I haven't accepted my friend's offer yet, but I'm truly grateful to have people surrounding our family who have shared the burden we are carrying. So the moral of my story is that the Lord is very mindful of the weight of our burdens. Don't assume that just because something is really hard to endure that you can't find wonderful things to appreciate.

*I got up this morning at 6 am and went to the grocery store....here's a few photos of the beautiful trees in our neighborhood.....I love being up early!!