The Savior Never Gives Up On Us

So, lately I have been feeling a little lost and alone. I have felt numb and a little spiritually dead. But today I was reminded of just how much Heavenly Father and Jesus love me. As I sat down with Jacob to do his homework I picked up the Ensign magazine to read and this is what I read...

Lessons From An Aquarium by Minerva G. Harkness

"A member of our bishopric knew that my nine-year-old daughter kept an aquarium and one day asked if she might want some more fish. His family was going on vacation and needed to empty their aquarium. The offer was immediately accepted, and to my daughter’s delight, a pregnant female guppy was among the group.

Upon coming home from church one afternoon, my daughter did her routine check on the aquarium to see if each fish was happy and healthy. To her surprise, she saw four tiny, newborn fish. The mother guppy had begun to deliver. Acting quickly, she moved the babies to the safety box that would protect them from the bigger and more aggressive fish. In all of the excitement, however, one baby guppy was lost. Crying with disappointment, my daughter located it lying among the tiny rocks on the bottom of the aquarium. She tried to scoop it into her net to be placed in the safety box, but she couldn’t move the tiny guppy without injuring it.

All the other tiny guppies were caught, and although the safety box teemed with dozens of new babies, my daughter’s attention was still intently focused on the one fallen among the stones. She sat ready to help it into the box as soon as it could move. She even refused dinner as she sat attentively by her aquarium for about four hours.

Watching her struck some familiar and tender chords. I thought of the Good Shepherd, who leaves His ninety and nine to look for the one who is lost (see Luke 15:3–8; John 10:11–14). All of us know how it feels to be lost or afflicted or spiritually sick. Yet our Savior never gives up on us. He is always there with outstretched arms, ready and willing to rescue us, strengthen us, and bless us.

Though we may not always realize it, our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, tenderly and closely watch over us night and day, deeply concerned about our well-being and the roads we choose to walk. With love unbounded, They give Their angels charge concerning us, waiting for us to gather enough strength and faith to find safety and peace in Their arms.

Later that day my daughter’s concern for that guppy paid off. After her long, tedious hours of waiting and hoping, the tiny fish finally wiggled and then slowly swam out of the rocks. Carefully she placed it in the comfort and security of the safety box. That was witness enough for me of the sustaining power of love."

(Minerva G. Harkness, “Lessons from an Aquarium,” Ensign, Sep 2010, 80)



Immediately after reading this I felt better. I know that I am not forgotten. And even though right now I feel this way, He understands and will guide me to peace and safety through His love.

First Day of School

Our 3 children started school on August 25th. Yes, that's right, ALL 3 are in school now. They have anticipated the big day all summer long; wondering who their teachers would be, if said teachers were nice, if they would know anyone in their classes, etc. Because Emma is beginning kindergarten she had a staggered entry date that she attended and then she had a couple days off until they were ready for all of the kindergarteners to attend. Last week she officially began "full-time". With all 3 children gone for most of the day I am left to contemplate if I have prepared them adequately. School can be a scary place and they are exposed to so many negative things. I hope they are strong enough and ready to handle the many situation that they will be faced with. I pray daily for them that they will remember who they are and be positive examples to others. Thus far, the 2010-2011 school year has gone well and is off to a great start!

The 3 Amigos



Alexis


Jacob


Emma

Pull-Ups

Is is bad for a 6 year old to still be wearing pull-ups??????

Dusty and I argued about this tonight. I don't think she is ready to be done wearing them because she is still peeing in them at night. He says that we should just let her pee the bed and sleep in it and then she will learn. But I refuse to wash bedding every day and think that is stupid. Dusty says that I am not in a "teaching mood", which by the way, is very offensive seeing as that is my job as a mother. Tell me, how do you teach a child NOT to pee at night???

Oh, and this is all coming from the man who still pee'd the bed until fairly late as a child.

Do I sound frustrated???

Yup. I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alexis' Birthday Party ~ 10 years old

Alexis turned 10 in June. She had a 'tie-dye' party complete with tie-dye decor, shirt making and cake. It was a lot of fun to see the different girl's personalities while making their shirts. Some girls rushed through it resulting in not very much color on their shirts. Other girls were very detailed and went slowly, making sure every inch of fabric got colored (those are the shirts that turned out best). The girls finished their shirts early and ended up dancing like teenagers to music...too BIG!!









Happy Birthday Alexis!!

Maine Trip

In July we made the long drive to Maine to stay at our friend's cabin. We were gone a total of 12 days and it was wonderful! The cabin was in a very remote part of Northeastern Maine on a lake. No cell phone service, no neighbors, no mail...you get the idea. The drive took about 24 hours. We stopped one night in Connecticut and then finished off the drive the next day, making it there in 2 days. We were so excited that we got to stop at Cabela's in Scarborough, ME. As you all know, we LOVE Cabela's and Dusty helped design the stores. So we stopped in, looked at the beautiful store, bought souvenirs and went on our way.

It was nice to get away and stay at the cabin. It consisted of 2 bedrooms and living room and small kitchen. The bathroom was a hole in the ground in the outhouse. This was NOT luxurious cabin life! But we still enjoyed the cabin and hope to go back again.


We hauled our water in because the only other water was the lake water. Much to our surprise the weather was extremely hot. I had packed jackets and jeans- all the stuff you would think you would need in Northern Maine. But apparently mother nature had other ideas. We were very hot and spent most of our time in the water cooling off. Evenings were even hot too, and we used up a ton of 'D' batteries on a battery powered fan that Dusty had running all night long.

We went out on the boat and took the kids tubing and sight seeing.






We also took them out on the canoe. After the canoe, they wouldn't stay out of it. They played in the canoe for hours on end while it was tied up to the dock.




The sunsets were beautiful. I love sunsets and got some really great pictures.








And this is one of my favorite pictures!!!


And these are just some random pictures from our trip...














We left a day earlier than we planned so that we could make a stop at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. On our way we stopped at the East Hartford, Cabela's - this is the store that Dusty worked mostly on and he was very excited to see his designs in built form. It was a neat 2-story Cabela's with elevator and a cool cave aquarium.

Busch Gardens was fun, but very, very expensive. We had a great time though. Lex went on some pretty scary coasters with her Dad. We spent $50 on a lunch for the whole family (ridiculous!). The park did fireworks that night and then we headed to our hotel to crash.

On our way home the next day we got to a part in Virginia where you have to take a ferry to cross a lake. We weren't expecting that but the kids were excited to ride with our car on a boat across the water.

All in all it was a great trip. We needed the alone time and felt refreshed and ready to come back home and face life.

Jacob - Cub Scouts

Jacob has been is Cub Scouts now since February. In July he went to a week long day camp at the Fair Grounds. He earned so many belt loops and pins that the Cub Master joked he had broken the bank at the scout office.

Here he is receiving his awards




Jacob is working really hard on his 'Citizenship' beltloop this week. He came home from scouts and said he had given up playing video games for 1 week. I asked why he had given up video games and he said that his scout leader told him it needed to be something 'shocking'. The scout leader laughed when I told him that, but that is how Jacob interpreted the requirements. He also has 4 other things on his chart to work on for the week; help prepare a meal, clean up his shoes, help a sibling and make beds. I am surprised at the will power he has. Not once has he complained or tried to cheat and play video games. Good job Jacob!

Emma's Latest Knee Surgery

Emma had another knee surgery on July 22nd. This time they were removing the hardware they had previously put in. Miraculously, last time we went in for x-rays we discovered that her legs had corrected. We were very surprised and had expected to have the plates in her legs for years. The plates combined with the rapid growth of a 5-year-old did the trick! This time Emma did great. The surgery was less extensive and only took about an hour. In fact, I couldn't even get her to rest when we got home. She wanted to get up and walk around. I kept trying to explain that she still had some of the anesthesia in her and that she could fall, but she still kept trying to get up. She rested for one day and then she was up and going.

These are the plates and screws that were in her knees

I had a few videos that I couldn't get to upload of Emma after they had given her the "silly" medicine. She was so silly and funny! But I can't get them to upload, so you will have to use your imagination.

Just after surgery


Emma's wounds


And now she is running around, sitting cross-legged, climbing and doing everything an active kid does. We are truly blessed by our Heavenly Father and know that it was only through Him that she was healed so quickly.