Oh Deer, Oh Deer, Oh DEER!

Well, this is my new year's resolution!  Let's just get a new van!  We have been hit by two deer, some raccoons, cats, dogs, cars, trucks and a spiky ball of gray something stuff.  Seriously, our car speaks to other objects and tells them to hit us!  I think that this was my last straw with the van.

Today, I was on the computer sending Elder Bryce some important exercises from the Physical Therapist.  He has been having hip problems for three weeks now and it's not getting better.  So I talked with his Mission President's wife and she was so helpful and kind and reassuring that they would do what they could.  

Then, after all of the emotions of what might happen... I decided to go to the Temple and pray about things.  I was thinking that the 12:30 session fit into my schedule and then I remembered that I needed an appointment.  So I called the Temple and they only had one opening for me in the 3:30 session.  I arranged for Matt to pick up the girls and I headed off.

I love going to the temple and feeling so peaceful.  It is where I needed to be.

On my way home, I  had decided to follow the laws of the land and go exactly the speed limit.  I also drove the exact speed limit on the way to the temple.  As I drove, I tried to keep my eyes out for deer.  Apparently, they weren't watching for me too close.  Three deer bounded across the highway and I missed the first two, but hit the third.  I couldn't stop fast enough.

The tears came and I sat in the car wondering what in the world I should do.  I needed help so I called Tom first- but he didn't answer.  Then I got out of the car and picked up the front grill and my headlight off the road.  I got back in the car and called 911.  I had to try and explain where I was, because I had no idea what the address was.  Then, I waited for them to send out the search party for me.  

The officers that showed up were quite nice and took some pictures, borrowed my license, registration and insurance information and printed me a report for our insurance company.  (You should remember to get a police report when the damage is over $500)  Then, they bid me farewell and told me to drive carefully.  Wait a minute, I thought I was already driving carefully.

With my turn-signal hanging on by a thread, I drove the long dark highway home, with tears in my eyes and a thankful heart that I was still alive.  

It's better to find the blessings in a trial than to dwell on all that was lost.  Now we are praying for a speedy recovery for Elder Bryce.

Going through pictures

There's a lot of love in these pictures!  Especially between little Toots and Buddy Bryce!

This was the part that made me cry when we said our goodbyes at the MTC. 

It will be interesting to see if these two buddies will still be like this when he returns home.

Daddy Daughter Date

The first Daddy Daughter Date- with Napoleon Dynamite as the theme!  

They had a blast!

Sporting the glasses Tom wore in 1987  

Side ponytail, pumps, leggings and a brightly colored dress

Food (quesadilla's, corn dogs and tater tots)

Fun (Napoleon Dynamite trivia and races)

Scripture Reading with Emma

We gather our little family in the morning for scripture reading.  It is so fun to hear the little girls try to read such big words.  Toots was cuddled up on my lap and had read verse one in 1 Nephi, Chapter 17 and had decided that reading was too much effort.  She has a hard time reading first thing in the morning.  We usually assign her two to three verses, but today, she didn't feel like reading more.

We moved on to little Muffin.  She started reading while sitting, all cuddled up on her dad's lap.  They like to cuddle in the morning and read from the "Big Book of Mormon".

Muffin began.  "And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck.... unto the men;" (Above is a scanned in copy of the section she was reading from.)

Immediately, we burst into laughter.  Poor Muffin had no idea what that meant and wondered why we were all laughing so hard.  She didn't realize that she had skipped a whole line.  That whole line made all the difference.

This is one of those mornings that reminded me of how grateful I am for my family.  I heard a quote once from a friend, "I smile, because I'm your sister.  I laugh, because there is nothing you can do about it."

Times like these:

Today, I started cleaning up and came across this little picture.  

 Then the tears came!  It's sweet things like this that make my heart melt.  Gracie and Bryce are the best of buddies.  She is his little "Toots" (like 'Toots'ie Roll) and Bryce is her "Bry Bry".  The two would cuddle up and watch movies together and clean his room and play Poke'mon.  Bryce could talk her into helping me with anything.

Sunday, we took a nice drive to Monte Cristo and got some pretty pictures of the colorful leaves. 

After we arrived at camp- the girls decided they were up for a photo shoot.  So we took a walk and had some fun taking pictures of the leaves and girls.

 The boys weren't too excited about having pictures taken, so I just snapped them anyway.

The tree!  We found the tree that we took pictures of the boys climbing on when they were little.  We had to duplicate it with the girls.

 Pointing at a blue bird sitting on the fence post.

Feeling like giants among small trees.

Heading home, we found this bull standing in the middle of the road.  He wouldn't budge!  He stood there staring at us, flicking his ears back and forth.  

We waited and waited...

We had to back up and give him his space before he headed off to the left, back down the hill.

Askew

Tom and Bryce (In between the trusses)  taking a rest after moving the trusses

The floor trusses

From the patio looking at the trusses.
The second to the last truss on the far right is the one that is two and half inches off!

Addition!

So let me write you a little bit about the irony that has happened this week. We have been working on a deck for the back of our home and we have been working hard. Lifting floor trusses is hard work for a little girl like me. Anyway, we had to laugh about what Elder Matt said last week in his letter to Tom about "doing things right the first time and the only time..." Well, the boys had measured and measured and marked the lines and then we brought those huge trusses over and placed them in their spot. Then we nailed them down!!!! Oh yes we nailed them with galvanized 16d nails. (Why in the world is there a "d" in there for penny?) Then we put a brace board across the top and screwed them in- and some of those trusses were a little crooked and we had to straighten them out, using a pipe wrench and those huge muscles of Toms. (This is why I call him Thormas- because he is like Thor, only stronger and better looking.) It was tough work. We had put everything in it's place and worked together to get things done. Then lo and behold, we went out this morning to start cutting the boards for the top of the deck and found that one of those trusses was off by two and half inches!!!! This was not the only truss that was askew. How in the world did this happen? Well, I just don't know.... I was the one putting the trusses on the designated line that the boys marked. Obviously, we have some more work ahead of us.


The moral of the story is: Always rethink and recheck what you are doing. Even if it seems pointless and you think that you are on the right path, it's always good to ask for a second opinion. (Especially if it is the advice of someone more wise than we are.) Then when it comes time to finish things up, you won't have to fix your mistakes. Some mistakes are easy to fix and some are hard. But no matter what the mistake is, it still needs to be fixed. It should be exactly like what Elder Matt said, about "doing things right the first time and the only time." It's too bad he's not here to join in the fun and laugh with us.


I think there is some line that goes, "The family that works together, stays together." Oh wait, its, "The family that plays together, stays together." I sure hope that one day we get to play on our deck and have some fun after all of our hard work!

Jury Duty

Monday was new experience for me. Out of the four times I have been summonsed to Jury Duty, I was actually selected this time to be a part of the jury. When I received the green paper in the mail, I had a feeling that I would be part of the jury. I sent in the paper with only my CNA job as my excuse for getting me out of it. Two weeks later, I received an e-mail regarding the dates for jury duty. I told Tom and the boys, "I have a feeling that I am going to get selected and I'm nervous." Tom was being a good husband and kept telling me that everything was going to be okay and that they would send me home. I don't claim that I have premonitions, but this time, I think that Heavenly Father was trying to prepare me for this. The second I walked in the court room, my heart was pounding and I felt this lump in my throat, wondering what I was in for. Then, I offered a silent prayer that everything would be okay and if there was a special reason why I was there, to please let me know.

Anyway, I did get to stay and I did learn from this opportunity, if you want to call it that. First of all, during the trial, I felt this urgency to go home and tell my kids how much I love them. I tell them this all of the time, but sometimes, it becomes part of our daily ritual and not really thought much about as the words come out. So, I really wanted them to know how much I really love them. Then I wanted to talk to them about the atonement. As Elder Matt said in his letter, "Sometimes we feel that we are past the point of no return, or we have committed too many mistakes and that it is too late that Heavenly Father can save us, but this is Never TRUE! " I wanted my kids to understand that it is better to repent of something right away, then to let it fester and become to difficult to ask for forgiveness later, thus leading us down a lonesome dark path. The last, but not least, I wanted them to know, that they are loved not only by me and their dad, but by a Heavenly Father who created a beautiful temple for them to live in. They need to keep the inside and outside clean and pure, so that when others see them, they will stand as a light or example of Jesus Christ.

Alas, I had also found our theme for Girls Camp this year. The theme for the youth this year is "Arise and Shine Forth". Just as the Temples around the world, stand as a beacon or light for others, I want the Young Women to know of their worth- their potential and to be a light and beacon to all that are searching for truth and light. They are given a temple to keep through this life and eternity and their calling in life is to fill it with the good things in life. Not only do they need to keep it clean inside, but the outside also needs to "Shine Forth" for others to see.

One comment that stood out in my mind that was stated in the trial, was "I at first felt guilty, like I should just turn around and go back, but I didn't. I wanted to have some fun." The Holy Ghost was trying to whisper and give help to this person, but they shut him out. This makes me wonder how many times I have been given the opportunity to follow the Spirit and I shut Him out.

I have had my testimony strengthened again- that the gospel of Jesus Christ can make all of the difference in this life. It is only through Him that we can be saved. He is the only one that loves us enough to help us in all that we do. We have to be humble and willing to let the Holy Ghost guide us in ALL that we do, so that we can "Arise and Shine Forth"!