For Tonight She is My Baby

Today I had a 5 minute meeting with my daughter's teacher. I left that meeting so angry with my daughter. I was upset that she was labeled disruptive, disorganized, and irresponsible. A 5 minute conversation plagued me for the rest of the day.

I spent a wonderful evening tonight with the Young Women of my ward. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, tasty desserts, a hilarious game of white elephant exchange, a celebration of the Christmas season.

Then I returned home to face the problem with my daughter again. I sat down with her and discussed the importance of responsibility, organization, and not disrupting the entire class. This conversation was much, much longer than 5 minutes. It was a very emotional conversation.

To calm down, I flipped on the computer and began browsing facebook. How quickly my frustration and anger toward my daughter was softened. Too soon can life change. So swiftly did my heart swell and ache. My mind has reflected on days of past when I held my daughters a little longer than was needed, held them a little tighter than was necessary, held them just in case tomorrow never came.

I crept into her room after she was sleeping, I climbed into her bed, and held her. Tomorrow we'll tackle school, but for tonight, she is my baby.

Witches Night Out?

I suppose it was better to be a day early than not at all. Girls night out was planned over a week ago with my mom, sisters, and aunt. We were all set with brooms in hand, hats dusted off, and wearing our best witches dress, only to get to Gardner Village to find that TOMORROW is "Witches Night Out." Good thing we have great self-esteem as we walked around the storeslooking a little out of place. We had a great time any way.

On-Line Again!

Eight months ago my life as I knew it ended. My favorite time to blog is at night, kiddos asleep, husband snoring quietly beside me. It was the perfect time for me to catch up on the lives of those around me and share a story or two of my own.

One night, I had finished blogging for the night. Set the laptop gently on the bed while I got up
to brush my teeth and take out my contacts. Returning to my bed, I was suddenly startled by a large spider, causing me to scream and jump, knocking the laptop to the floor. Sad was the day when my computer crashed-quite literally.

Now, due to a very FABULOUS husband - I'm on-line again with a new laptop. No holiday, birthday, or make-up present was involved. He just surprised me with a new fantastic Asus Laptop.

So dear readers - do not be alarmed. This is not a test. I am back!

Better This Year

It was a year ago today that I thought my heart would be ripped out. How I am so glad that episode is over and Cameron is living with us again in Bountiful. The opportunity presented sounded much better than the actual event, but his living in Alaska did help me gain a different perspective on family. Even though we were separated by distance for nearly 6 months, we were one. Our family grew stronger and closer than at any other period of time in our lives. Family prayer and scripture study was the highlight of each morning and so important to all of us. We began each morning united toward a common goal-drawing closer to our Heavenly Father and one another.

I'm glad that this January 29th we are not only united in heart and mind, but also living under the same household. Here's to a Happier Year - Grateful it is 2009!

2008 Spiritual Highlight!

This last year our Bishop challenged us to read the Book of Mormon. We took the challenge on as a family - starting it and ending it together. We knew this wouldn't be easy, because at the start of last year we knew that Cameron would be separated from us for a time, but wanted to do this as a family. Cameron made a huge sacrifice and would wake to our phone call at 5:00 am and read the Book of Mormon with us on speaker phone. Thank you Verizon Network!

After Cameron returned home in July we had to figure out our groove, then school started. Karina Had to be to school by 7:45 am and Karadie also had to be to her tutoring by that same time each morning. We all voted and still felt that our day went better if we read in the morning, so alarm clocks were set for 6:00 am. I have been so proud of the girls for sticking with this decision and getting up so early each morning.

The end of the year quickly approached and we pressed hard to finish. The morning that we finished the Book of Moromon, Cameron was reading Moroni chapter 10 and read Moroni's promise. I had been praying in my heart all morning that the girls would feel of the truthfulness as he read the famous versus. It was so powerful to watch their eyes and feel what their hearts were feeling. I know that the spirit testified to each of them that this incredible book is true!

We gained so much this year by taking on the Bishop's simple challenge. We grew so close as a family through the incredible dedication and challenge of setting the time to read. I listened to my children explain to each other different principals. The stories they've heard in primary came to life for them. All three daughters became much better readers. I especially watched Karadie struggle with dyslexia and impaired hearing be strengthened by her daily reading from the scriptures. I watched my children gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. My understanding and my own testimony grew so much this year. The Lord again gave me the greatest gift for Christmas...over two thousand years ago He sent the Savior, this year he gave my family a strengthened testimony!