We just got home for a week long vacation. It was so nice! This morning we took the kiddos down to CA Adventures for a quick trip. We will not wait in line for Toy Story Mania so we get there right when it opens so we can be the first in line...actually the 10th person in line. I asked Caleb if he was tall enough would he go on CA Screaming. At first he said no but after a little cotton candy bribery he agreed to try it.
At first he wanted me to hold his hand but after the first drop he was screaming and laughing. He loved it! He went on it not once, not twice, but 3 times and was begging to go again.
I love roller coasters and am so excited to have a new riding buddy!
In case you don't know what CA screaming is...
6th longest roller coaster in the world (2nd longest steel coaster in the United States)
Its highest point is 120 feet tall followed by a 108-foot drop.
Accelerates guests from zero to 55 miles per hour in four seconds at the launch.
Today as John was sitting with Beckham in church trying to keep him quiet he was going over letters with Beckham. He would point to a letter and Beckham would guess a letter or let John tell him what it was. He does not really know his letters but when John pointed to the letter "M" Beckham excitedly shouted "McDonalds!"
My Mom. I knew I had a good Mom, but I didn't know until now just how great! I will forever be grateful for her example andthat she taught me to do hard things. She never coddled us and I am so grateful now because I am strong and independent.
Healing. I have gone through a lot this year but I am healing and happy. I really didn't know if and how I would get here, but I am.
John. Every marriage has good years and harder years. This has been our best year yet! He is so dedicated to being a good dad and husband and he really works hard at making us work. He is willing to change and has made some amazing changes this year. I am so proud of him and love him so much! Its fun to be so in love :-)
Caleb, Davis, and Beckham. We are hitting such a fun stage of life right now and I love the excitement and humor they bring to me each day. I love their hugs and their jokes. I love that they love to be around me and want my attention and praise. I have great kids!
Belief. My testimony of our Savior and Heavenly Fathers plan has been strengthened so much this year. I am so grateful that I know that I can be with my Mom again forever. I am so thankful for our Savior for making that possible.
Support. I have great friends. They have lifted me up and carried me this year when I wasn't a very good friend. I love this quote: "Friends pick us up when we fall down, and if they cannot pick us up they lie down and listen for awhile." I had friends who did just that this year!
Neighbors. I have great neighbors and this year I had a new neighbor move in right behind me! (if you saw where I lived you would understand why this is so great - our neighborhood is still mostly undeveloped) I can not begin to tell you how grateful I am she shares ingredients!
Disneyland. Davis, Becks, and I spent the beginning of the year at Disneyland every single day from 3:00-6:00. I was so absorbed in being a daughter and caregiver while living with my parents, that those precious hours away from all distractions to just focus on being a Mom were heaven sent. Since we have passes this year we have spent many trips back and those fun times have really helped our family heal through play.
Peace. I feel like John and I spent so many years worrying about money and the economy and this year I just let that worry go. Nothing has changed in our financial situation. He still works in construction in a stinky economy but it doesn't weigh me down with worry anymore.
Walls. It has changed my life to get a block wall around our yard! It seriously has blessed me in so many ways! My garden did better, my kids stay contained, we can finish off our landscaping, we were able to bury our trampoline....all that by a simple wall retaining dirt. Blessed wall!
I feel like I just got started! There are so many other things I am grateful for, but these were the first 10 things that I thought of so they must be important. Wait I have to add 1 more...I got new clothes. Updated clothes that fit my body right now. I am SOOO grateful for them!
Maybe what I am most grateful for is gratitude. I love in the Veggie tales Thankful Song where the lyrics say, "Because a thankful heart is a happy heart!" Its true. I am grateful and it makes me happy!
This came home from school and I was cracking up. Apparently his turkey dances in a Disco place....can someone tell me how my 7 year old knows what a Disco Place is?
That's what I feel like right now. I cant go fast enough. My poor mind cant go to sleep at night and all week I have stayed up to 2 or 3 in the morning working on things only to sit in bed lying awake. Why are things so busy you ask?
I am a Mom
I am a Mom of boys
I am a Mom of our boys
Super Saturday is coming up
Its Family picture time of year
Over the Big Moon is doing really well but demands a lot of attention right now.
Holidays are coming
So there you have it. I'm still alive and holding on. Sunday will come as sweet relief when Super Saturday will be over. John has been amazing. As in doing laundry and dishes and cleaning up after the tornado I am. I haven't even asked. In fact Ive asked him not too. He just keeps going. He sure must love me.
I can feel my sleeping aids taking hold of my overtaxed mind and it feels good to feel tired. Now lets just hope I can actually sleep :-)
My boys have been begging for days to decorate the Christmas tree. I put it up all by myself one quiet day and it's been bare until tonight. It was so fun! I can already see how the Spirit of Christmas is embedding in their tender hearts. They love to decorate and they love to sit and look at the tree.
We started off with Christmas music as Caleb, Davis, and I danced all over the floor to Christmas songs. Daddy brought in the ornaments and they couldn't wait to get theirs out and put them on the tree. What a gift all of the ornaments are we have collected over the years. We do a traditional tree rather than a fancy tree. Its full of ornaments from all different years and all different places.
Isn't our tree so pretty! I love it!
Everyone keeps asking me if I am okay and how I am handling this year and the truth is, I haven't been this happy since my Mom passed away. I expected to be sad but it is NOT possible for me to be sad with Christmas around! There are simply too many happy feelings that are ingrained inside of me.
At the ALS walk I had such a fun time talking to my Moms best friend when they were about my age. Its strange to talk with her woman to woman now when I use to know her as a child. I love her! She reminds me of my Mom and I can see why they were such great friends! She told me whenever she feels depressed she plays Christmas music and she can't stay depressed for long. It's so true!
The only tinge of sadness I had tonight was as I pulled out ornament after ornament from my Grandma Irene. She gave me an ornament in my stocking every year of my life until she died. My boys have ornaments from my Mom from these first few years but it hit me the tradition might die out now. I'm hoping my Dad will pick up his Moms tradition and give my boys an ornament in their stockings each year too. Please Daddy!
I'm going to take pictures later of some of the special ornaments on our tree but tonight I just wanted to say how magical it was to sing carols and decorate with my boys. There is nothing in this world that compares to the beauty of a child's face lit by a Christmas tree!
Thank you boys for a memorable night and for being just as excited as Mommy is to pull the ornaments out! I love you guys so much!
While I was at Time Out for Women John bravely took all 3 boys to Nellis Air Force Base to see the Air show. They had a blast!
Well, at least they said they did. I cant tell if Caleb is ticked or "tough" in this picture! They each came home with their own flashlight, which might have been the highlight of the whole day!
Pam and I attended Time Out for Women this weekend. Its an event where women go to hear motivational and spiritual speakers. It was wonderful! I learned so much and wanted to share just a few thoughts I had from the experience.
Forgiveness does not make our persecutors right, it makes us free. I loved this. Its something I learn over and over. Being able to forgive gives us power to live a happy life. One of my favorite quotes is - resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.
One speaker talked about the story of Widows mite from the Bible. She compared that to motherhood. Sometimes we feel like our contributions have to be grand but they do not. We offer our mothers mite daily and while our offerings might be the small little things they are worth more because we cast it all that we have.
We need to keep priority over efficiency. Its easy to get caught up in the tasks of things and forget to keep our children as our priority. Sometimes its good to allow things take longer and make it a meaningful experience for our children rather than pushing them to go at our pace.
Look into our children's eyes when they talk to us. Notice them and their details. We have such a short time to be their Mothers. Build them up and sincerely love them.
Once again I became honored at the sacred role I have to be a Mom. There was one story that particularly touched me that I want to share about the Mother of a boy who at 13 started making bad choices. He had bad friends, started drinking, and experimenting with drugs. She quit her job so she could be there more and pick him up from school daily. He resented that and they could hardly converse about anything without him being angry and resentful. She didn't know what to do and while praying about it she got the answer to tell her son she loved him. She couldn't find the right time and because things had gotten so bad she knew that if she did it would probably create more contention. One night she went by his room and saw his door open a little and her son was sleeping. She tiptoed in and in the dark she told him she loved him. She felt so much better and so each night when her son had fallen asleep she would sneak in and tell him how much she loved him. She waited up no matter how late it was and did it each night. At the age of 15 things started turning around and eventually by the age of 21 he had turned into a great adult. A neighbor was having a hard time with her daughter and remembering the struggle they had with their son came over to ask the Moms advice as to what to do. The Mom said something along the line of "its a stage and you have to let then work it out." Her son was there and said "No Mom, don't you remember? You came in every night and told me how much you loved me. I use to wait up for you to come in to say it before I went to sleep each night." The mother had never known that he was awake.
This story touched me so much. It reiterated everything I have learned this last year while losing my own Mother. There is no power in the world that can compare to that of a loving mother. Nothing in this world can bring the comfort, peace, and power that a Mother can. I am honored to be my boys Mother. I am rededicated and rejuvenated to be the best mother I can!
