Thankful for my Brother and Sisters

Jaxon bore his testimony today. Actually after one of his friends did, I heard him mutter, "next is Crayson, then me". I looked at him. He told me a couple of weeks ago in their class his Dad had challenged then all to bear their testimonies. So, they all picked the order they were going to do it. Calen went first, then Brandon, Crayson, Jaxon. About 10 minutes before the meeting was over, Jaxon figured that Crayson wasn't getting up. So up he went. I must say, he did a wonderful job testifying of the things he knows to be true. In the end he said, " I'm thankful for my brother and sisters (pause) for the trials that they give me so I can be stronger".

Tie a Knot...

"When you feel you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on!" I can't remember where this quote came from, but I remember when I first heard it. I was in college and teaching Relief Society. It was a quote that went with my lesson. At the time, life consisted of school work, jobs, friends and who was going out with who, roommates and if you had a date for Friday night. At the time, I think all the young girls in that Relief Society thought they were stressed to the max. "Tie a knot and hold on" was the exact words that went through my head when Nate called wednesday morning to let me know that he wasn't coming home on Friday. Instead it would be at the earliest the next Wednesday. If that is the case, it makes it 16 days gone. Mady has not felt great this week and her Asthma got pretty bad on Thursday. I also started to get the body aches again and have a Headache that isn't letting up, not cool when you aren't use to headaches period. My frustration made for a good 4 mile run with a time on 31:52. Never have I done better than 8 min miles, and that just happened a month ago. During that run, I reflected on the blessing Nate gave me the morning that he left. I was still not feeling that great and felt bad that I was half asleep and laying in bed as he placed his hands upon my head. I don't remember most of it, but I remember feeling my Savior's love and being given the strength to take care of my family in Nate's absence. Choosing to not tell the kids till Friday afternoon was good and bad. I felt bad cause they kept asking when he would be home on friday and I had to keep saying that I didn't know for sure. Good cause we made it through the school week and didn't have tears...till Friday afternoon. After the tears, Jaxon went a birthday party and the other kids stayed up late and watched a movie. Saturday Jaxon had a basketball game in the morning and I had an errand to run. We came home, did some cleaning and had an early dinner and headed to the movie. After the movie we went and played at Brooklyn's playground till it was dark (and freezing cold), came home and headed for bed. It was my turn to teach all the Young Women today. I of course have lots of time to prepare. (Knowing a whole year ahead the schedule) Last week I looked at it a couple of times, but just felt that with Nate gone, I needed to take care of the kids and not dive into a lesson, like I let myself do. I kept putting it off waiting for some quiet time to work on it. The problem is, once there is quiet in this house, I want to shut down and go to bed. Finally thursday night I forced myself to stay up and work on it. Friday night I did the same thing. Saturday night I looked over things once and went to bed and found an episode of "Everybody loves Raymond". Just what I needed! Well, the next thing I knew it was 10:15 and MyLeigh was trying to wake me up cause she needed some cough medicine. The show was Looong over, Now that Sunday is almost over, Hopefully the next few days will fly by. With piano lessons, wrestling practice and a meet in malad, gymnastics, scouts, basketball practice and a trip to Aberdeen all by wednesday, it should, shouldn't it?

Feeding the Homeless

The Young Men and Women in our ward had the opportunity today to participate in a program called "Feed My Brother". It has been going on for about 26 years. The Salvation Army provides meals during the week to the homeless and another Christian Church thought about providing it on Sundays. So, with the help of many through the community, this is accomplished. Our Stake participates with the help of the wards that attend the 9 am block. So, from what I understand, our stake helps 3 times a year. The youth brought milk, rolls, salads, casseroles and desserts to share with these people. We got there and set up chairs and poured milk, served meals and cleaned up. There was so many of us that the beehives, mia maids, deacon and teachers left after everyone was served and things slowed down. I took Jaxon with me and left the other kids at home. He has been having a tough time lately. We are hitting the fun stages of kids! I have lost count how many times in the last couple of days I have heard, "I want a new family", "I wish I was born somewhere else". You know, the stuff you love to hear. I thought this would be good for him to see. He was mad and didn't want to go. When we got home from church he said, "I don't have to go. The Bishop said Young Men and Women". After some threatening :) he changed back into his church clothes and came along with me. On the way home, I had a very nice talk with the Beehives and Jaxon. Something that I hadn't thought of was brought up. One girl said, "I won't complain about what my mom makes for dinner anymore. I will just eat it and be happy. Those people didn't care what they got to eat, just that they got sometimes was good enough for them". I was so proud of the girls and the conversation that we had. Jaxon and I had a little chit chat too. He said that he just felt the spirit and wanted to help those that he saw. He wanted to do something for them. We saw a little boy about 6 years old. He had on brand new shoes. Jaxon pointed that out then said, oh Mom, look how big his shoes are. He was right. These shoes had to have been bigger than what Jaxon wears. I then asked Jaxon to remember that he belongs to our family and that this is where he is suppose to be. I also pointed out that his family isn't so bad and things could be a lot worse.

Nate

I am getting this question a lot again, so I thought it should be answered. The question, " where's Nate?" Yes, I seem to be flying solo a lot lately and no I don't know when it will end! In November 2 stores were added to Nate's territory. They are Elko and Winnemucca Nevada, no big deal. He just hits them coming back from Ontario. Right before Christmas the territory in Nevada became vacant. So, 8 stores were divided between 3 managers. Nate took on 3 stores in the area of Reno. Well, now a new store is opening over there ( I'm not sure where cause I honestly can't keep it all straight) and Nate will cover it too. These extra stores are only temporary, but you just never know how long that is.

At the moment I am looking at today as "hump" day. He has been gone a week and hopefully will be home next weekend. We have been trying to keep busy with our everyday activities, which makes the week go by fast. Weekends on the other hand get a little harder. You would think that I would be a pro at this, seeing that we did it for so long. Even it being a "normal" part of our life, doesn't make it any easier. Knowing this was coming, a couple weeks ago I got tickets to take the kids to the "Young Ambassadors" concert at the Stephens Performing Arts Center. What I didn't take into account was that the concert didn't start till 7:30pm. It was a very long day and I honestly was flat out ready to just have the day end by then. It gave the kids something to look forward to and they were all so good, even Mady who can barely sit through a movie at the theatre. It was something new to them and broke up the weekend.

I try not to think that this is how life is going to be in 5 or 10 years. I miss Nate not being here every night for dinner. I miss normal family life and having him by my side supporting the kids. Do I dare say that I miss his "banker hours"? I don't want any of this to sound like I am complaining, because I'm not. (promise!) I know how blessed we are. Just sometimes things get hard or the days get long. I could think of lots worse situations that I am so thankful I don't have to deal with. So the bright side?

1) If Nate is still pulling the 2 week shifts in 5 years, my kids will be old enough that I may just take off and go be with him for part of the time.

2) He loves his job and what he does

3)My room stays cleaner with him gone :)

4) I get to go to bed when I want!

I would trade in the last 2 for a husband that got to sleep in his bed 10 out of 14 nights. Cause I will admit, sometimes I don't mind him being gone fore 2 or 3 nights here or there. The long haul stuff, well, just gets long.

Sis. Anna

I had the opportunity yesterday to attended the funeral of Anna Streeper. I have been Anna's Visiting Teacher for about a year. I loved visiting with her and listening to her stories. She was/is an amazing women, who never stopped. Sometimes it was hard to get in touch with her cause she was always going going going. As I listened to her daughter tell a story of calling her Mom to make a lunch date, I didn't feel too bad that it even took her daughter a week to schedule lunch with her Mom. Many times we would stop to visit and she would have company there with her and they would be having lunch or a snack. Anna traveled a lot with her sisters. I was always amazed how far away she would travel, but she was planning trips all the time. This last summer she was gone over 4th of July for a week. I promised to go and water her flowers around the house while she was gone. Some days when I got there, someone else had already done it. I never realized how much Anna loved gardening till I heard it talked about at her funeral. I was so thankful that I didn't kill her flowers while she was gone. For those of you who know me, know I really don't have a green thumb. In the early fall, Anna had gone to the hospital in the middle of the night with severe stomach pains. As we visited with her the next week, she was back to herself, just fine. She told us of the experience and said, " I knew nothing was going to happen to me. I kept looking for Noall (her late husband) and he wasn't there, so I knew I wasn't going anywhere. I know he will be here when its time." I have thought of that conversation many times over the months. So, I couldn't help by smile to myself when I received a phone call telling me that Anna had passed away.

Valentine's Eve and the rest of the week

So, if you follow this little blog of mine, you already know how I feel about this little activity. What you probably don't know is how it started. When Jaxon was 2yrs old, there was a girl that worked for my Mom and was friends with my little brother. Her name was Devri Ellis (Larsen). She was always glowing and was/is so beautiful. I wish I had a picture to show you what I mean. She is such a sweetheart. So, wow, 9 years ago, Jaxon asked if he could take Devri some cookies for Valentines. He loved her. She would play with him everytime she saw him, and yes, way back then Jax knew how to pick 'em. Even when we would go to the Highschool baseball games, Jax always went and sat with the highschool girls. Him and his "B" (pacifier). LOL. Yes, I am laughing right now remembering how he looked sitting up there with all the girls with his hat and B, so proud of himself. Anyway, all these years we have made cookies and taken them to Devri. She is all grown up now, she is married and a mom. A couple of months ago she moved to Twin Falls. I thought I had the perfect plan. Nate was going through Twin on Valentine's morning, so he was going to drop cookies off to her, but I didn't get her address in time. Now I have her address and Nate will be surprising her 1 of these days. (but not with these Valentine cookies :) )

I laugh watching Mady frost a cookie. She does get a little better every year. I am sure her skills would develop lots quicker if we did this more often! I noticed that with all the cookies to frost, she only frosts ONE. Yep, one. She spend the whole time working on this one cookie, which I think makes us all feel better, just because, she knows not to lick her knife, but fingers are another story. And she made sure to eat this cookie too.

He is such a helper! He did take the pics of the kids and he made sure to get one of me. When I was posting these pics I also found some unappropriate shots of me. Nice. Who wants to see those? Nobody!

While, the original plan was to do cookies on the Eve of Valentines because Nate was heading out of town in the morning. I soon realized how grateful I was that things worked out that way. Monday afternoon I started to feel like I was getting the flu. I survived making bread, cookies and dinner and went to bed. Tuesday morning I woke up and couldn't move. Nate had left at 6 that morning and I said a little prayer to help me get the kids off to school. Jaxon came into my room after his shower and I asked him to make egg sandwiches for him and Jordan. I then asked him to make sure I was up by 7:20 to get their lunches made. It worked out well. I then wrapped myself in a blanket and took them to school. I came home and went back to bed. MyLeigh was so good to help with Mady. Actually, Mady played in her room most the day while MyLeigh did school work. I said another little prayer and got up to go get Jaxon from school, again wrapping myself up in a blanket. I probably looked like an idiot, But the thought of going out in the cold was not exciting. Got Jaxon home and went back to bed. We managed grill cheese sandwiches for dinner. I cut bread and cheese while Jordan made the sandwiches and MyLeigh cooked them. I got so dizzy that Jordan took my hand and helped me lay down on the couch. He then took a blanket and covered me up. We managed through the rest of the night and everyone was in bed and I was back to sleep before 8:00. Wednesday = a repeat of Tuesday. For dinner this time, there was frozen pizza in the freezer for emergencies. This was an emergency. By about this time I realized that I had not been helping the girls with lunch. When I mentioned this to MyLeigh she responded that she didn't want to wake me up and that they just had Valentine cookies for 2 days! Nate made it home just before bedtime. Thursday morning he took me to see our friend/PA at his clinic. Yes, I say took, but it was more like force cause I wouldn't have gone on my own. Come to find out I had Strep Throat. When I hear those words, fear shoots through me. All of that is for another post. I will just say that I have only had it one other time and it was 6 yrs ago. I had complications from it that resulted in 8 months of antibiotics and steroids and many trips to see specialists.

My point of all this is...I have a hard time being sick as a mom. I lay there and think of all the things I should be doing. Like I am sure most of us Moms do. I also am amazed at all the things I do get done on a day to day basis, even when I feel like nothing gets done. I missed helping in both boys' classes and helping with a Valentine Party. I was grateful Mutual had been canceled and that I hadn't arranged to help with the book fair. Those are just some examples of what my days look like. I feel like my kids are neglected...umm sugar cookies for lunch? Oh, I might add that I actually think those sugar cookies became a staple at our house for the 2 days they lasted. Thank goodness or my kids might have starved. I did find a silver lining though. I realized how much I treasure my health. I think it is safe to say that I put my body through a whole lot of wear and tear and I need to start "thanking" it for all I am able to do. I also observed my kids growing up. I watched them take care of each other and help me. I am glad that I have taken some time to show Jaxon how to do some things in the kitchen and that MyLeigh is a little mother, Jordan with all his emotions is compassionate and tender and Mady has an imagination that tops them all. I don't think she even missed me, she was so busy playing "tea party" and dressing up. (if you have seen pics of her room, take that x20 to get an idea of the mess she made in her room over 4 days.) I missed giving my kids kisses and snuggling with Mady. So, maybe being sick every once in a blue moon (please) is a good thing. I need to start being grateful for all the things that I am able to do, instead of all the things that I can't fit into the day.

Finished!

Last night we finished reading the Book of Mormon together as a family. To be honest, I really can't tell you how long it took us to do it. I am thinking though that we started it around last fall. So, fall of 2011. Honestly, the last chapters of the Book of Mormon are not my favorite. They are down right gory. It makes me sick to think that people could do that to one another and the fathers could do that to other people's children. As I lay in bed last night thinking about that, I can't help but think of what is going on in the news at the moment...the Powell story. A father who killed his wife 2 years ago, and she still hasn't been found. This last Sunday he blew up his house with himself and 2 boys inside. There are other details, but, I am not going into those. MyLeigh demonstrated very well for us how Shiz must have looked with his head cut off, raising up on his sword. Nice. Tomorrow we are starting again and have set a goal to have it read before school starts again in the fall.

Citizen of the Month

Yesterday around lunchtime, I got a phone call from the Academy. My first thought was that it was Jaxon telling me he didn't feel good and wanted to come home. I think he has been a little "home sick" for his old class. The only thing I can come up with is that he is playing basketball on the Syringa team and practicing there. But the last couple of days I have been hearing, "I want to go back to Syringa". I have just listened quietly and asked him to come up with some valid reasons as to why. Back to the phone call. It was the secretary at the school. She was calling to let me know that Jaxon was getting the "Citizen of the Month" award at a little assembly in the morning. She told me that this was a big deal and they keep it a surprise. She asked that Nate and I be there at 8:20 and stay out of sight in the Library with the rest of the parents. There is 1 student in each grade to get this award every month. We walked into the back of the gym and watched the principle hand out these awards. They do make it a big deal. The teachers get so excited and everyone cheers and cheers. Then, all the students get to go to lunch and Pizza Pie Cafe. Along with their parents, the principle and the teachers if they can make it.

On the back of Jaxon's award, his teacher wrote this:

To earn Citizen of the Month takes dedication and work;

Our responsibilities we must not shirk!

There is a fifth-grader who's not only come here to learn,

but also knows that this honor is one that is earned.

Citizenship is not just what you do, but who you are.

Author J.K. Rowling said, "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more that our abilities." Anyone who knows you will agree you'll go far!

This person doesn't settle for "just enough," But consistently strives to go above and beyond.

Our Citizen of the month of January is....

Jaxon Hill

Nate was able to meet us for lunch and we had a nice visit with Jax.

I just wanted to you know Jaxon, that I so very much appreciate your willingness and eagerness to learn. Thank you for never making homework an issue, for always getting it done without being asked. I love seeing the light bulb getting brighter and brighter as you grasp concepts and understand things on a deeper level. Thank you for your great attitude. I love you, Mom.