My Cup Runneth Over!

3Nephi 24:10 "Bring ye all the ^atithes into the storehouse, that there may be^bmeat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the ^cwindows of heaven, and pour you out a ^dblessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

I was thinking about this scripture while I was making raspberry jam last week.  I had so many raspberries that I didn't have enough containers to store all of the jam in!  I then looked in our overflowing garage, and thought about our growing family, and I thought, "It's true!  I don't have enough room to receive all of these blessings!"


I have prayed and asked for all of the blessings in my life; our children, Shawn's business, his ability to go to college, my teaching job, our childrens' activities, my calling, our friends....the list could continue...and now that they are all upon me (all at once), I don't know if there is room in my life to keep up with all of them!  I am feeling extremely blessed and maybe a little overwhelmed! 


I guess that right now, I am just going to really have to trust in the Lord, and that He knows my limits better than I do.

Baseball

Our last baseball game of the season was last night.  I am not lying when I say that I am totally bummed that the season is over.  I will miss watching those games and running kids to practice.  I love watching Shawn and Bryson play catch in the back yard.  He's getting to be a pretty good little pitcher.  I love throwing the ball to Cutler at the other kids games.  He hits it almost every time, then he runs so fast around the imaginary bases.  Sometimes I get him out, and sometimes he outruns me and makes a homerun!  Jenika is super fun too, even though baseball is probably not her best talent.  She looks very very cute up to bat.  Sierra doesn't really play baseball (like her mother).  I kind of feel bad about that.  It's probably my fault, cause I kindof talked her out of playing....I didn't think that I could do FOUR kids in different baseball leagues!  Plus, she really does play baseball like her mother.  Poor girl.....

So, here's the run down:

Cutler had a great season...he can hit the ball, catch the ball, and throw the ball.  Highlights of the season include him hitting the ball and running strait to the pitcher's mound; and the dog-piles in the outfield because the kids were fighting over who got to catch the ball.  Seriously....seven or eight four year olds piled on top of one another, and when the coaches would peel the kids off one at a time, the one on the bottom would triumphantly hold up the ball - every time.  HILARIOUS!

Jenika learned a lot about baseball this year!  She found a really cute stance for the out field, and learned how to fix her hair in a pony tail - just right to fit through the little hole in her hat.  :)  Jenika finally hit the ball this year.  Actually, she hit the  ball a lot of times, but her best hits were when I wasn't at the game!  (With so many baseball games to watch, we had to split forces a lot)  She had fun, but I secretly think that the thing she will miss the most are the treats at the end of the game AND going to games and practice with her best baseball buddy.

Bryson's games were so very entertaining to watch.  Between the very hot tempered coach and the huge amount of improvement he made, I looked forward to those games - especially when the weather was warm.

 The highlights of his season include....Bryson finally figured out how to get a good hit off of a pitcher; the coach got kicked out of one game for yelling at the ump; and Bryson got to pitch during the last game!  He did a great job too.  He only walked one or two players the whole time!  He has really practiced hard this year and has improved a great deal.

So, I am a little sad to see the season end, but we have all kinds of things to fill our extra time up with, and now that the summer has actually arrived in Idaho, we will definitely find things to fill it up with!

Lead Kindly Light

"Lead Kindly Light, amid the' encircling gloom.  Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home.  Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see;
The distant scene - one step enough for me.

"I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path, but now, Lead thou me on;
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears;
Pride ruled my will, Remember not past years.

"So long that pow'r hath blest me, sure it still Will lead me on;
O're moor and fen, or crag and torrent, till the night is gone
And with the morn, those Angles faces smile,
Which I have loved long since and lost a while."

It's amazing how the past few years have prepared our family for what the Lord has had in store for us all along.  I had no idea when I was prompted (strongly) to go back to school five years ago that I would need that degree right now.  We had no idea when we felt so strongly that we should move to this area three years ago that Shawn would be starting his own business and attending BYU-I for the program that they just started offering.  We also had no idea that when Shawn lost his job a few months ago that it would open up so many opportunities for us.  He is opening up his own medical equipment business from our home and preparing to go to school starting in the fall.

Honestly, who would have thought (we certainly didn't) that Shawn loosing his job would be such  turning point.  He would have never had the courage or the motivation to go ahead and jump into school without the desperate need for security that we felt when he lost that job.

This is definitely not a victory speech; nor am I preaching to anybody to follow in our footsteps, because we know just as well as anybody that our plans could change quickly and without warning.  I also have a feeling that our trials in this matter are just beginning.  But, I am feeling tremendously blessed and humbled, and maybe a little validated that maybe, just maybe this as a mini testimony that we are moving in the right direction and that the Lord is looking out for our needs and for our greater good.  Also, that I truly know only a small portion of the Lord's plan for us, and that our purposes for being on this earth are not only to be tried and tested, but to help others of our Heavenly Father's children out along the way.

3Nephi 13

"28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the ^alilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin;
33But ^aseek ye first the ^bkingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Confession

I have a confession to make.  I have been writing all kinds of blog posts.......but have not been publishing them.

The reasons:  Some of these things are near and dear to my heart, and I don't know if I am ready to share them.  Some of the posts didn't ever get finished.  Some of them needed a photo.

Nevertheless, I have had a change of heart.  I will publish the posts (at least most of them), finished or not, pictures or none.  I can always add them later, right?

Two things....

There are a few things that I just don't understand.  Like, why can I NEVER find a pair of fingernail clippers when I need them?  I swear that we have at least 8 pair in our home.....somewhere, but I can never find them, so my kids always have the longest fingernails.............. until they drive me crazy.  Then I look madly through the house - in drawers, couches, corners, closets, and anywhere else for one lousy pair of fingernail clippers.  I have been known to run to Broulim's or the gas station at 10:00 at night to buy a new pair if I can't find some that I have already.  That's why I know that I have at least 8 pair here!

OK - One more thing....where do all of those socks go?????  We wear the socks, put them into the hamper, wash the socks, dry the socks, then fold them, only to find that half of the socks in that dryer have no match!  It drives me crazy!  I cannot figure out where those socks could be!  I have an overflowing basket of single, lonely socks with no match.  Now the problem is:  what do I do with all of those socks?  Do I save them for crafts?  We all know that nothing will happen with that!  Do I throw them away?  But, what if I find the mate?  Last year when school started, I brought all of my mismatched socks to school for whiteboard erasers.  The kids thought it was so gross that I made them use my husbands old, dirty socks.

Who knows.....those socks and the a-wall fingernail clippers.  I personally think I may have a menacing ghost following me, making me crazy.  I do know, though, that I could save so much time if things would stay put, and that I would remember where I put them!

Sisters Trip

I have THE best family in the whole world.  My mom took my sisters and I to Utah for our somewhat annual sisters trip.  We stayed at The Country Inn and Suites which is a really great hotel for two nights. For the first day, we set up our sewing machines and irons and sewed purses.  Seriously.....My mom had purchased fabric and all the extras for each of us at The Ribbon Retreat in Shelly, and we just worked together assembling the most amazing purses ever.  They pretty much took us all day long.  We broke for lunch and ate at the Lion House (delicious), then got right back to work.  We sewed until after midnight, and then woke up to finish the last to bags.  I know - they took an extremely long time, but the bags were totally worth it, and it was lots of fun to spend time together.

After the purses were finished, we got dressed up and went shopping with our new purses.  My mom even filled our purses with a little (OK, a lot) of cash so our hubbies wouldn't ground us from future sisters' trips.

We shopped and ate at Olive Garden, and then we went to Mamma Mia at the Capital Theater.  It was amazing, and the best part of the show was the end because the cast did a little Abba concert with the some of the songs from the show.  The whole audience was dancin' and groovin' to the music.  Gotta love Abba!


We drove home that night with a renewed appreciation for three S's.  Sisters, shopping, and sewing (What else?).  I know it's Father's Day weekend and all (that post is coming), but my mom is most defiantly the BEST, COOLEST, mom in the world.  She is even cool enough to wear blingy jeans (which she bought on our trip).  Thanks Mom and sisters!  We had the "time of our lives"!

Loving the weather and the company!

So, Shawn's been without a job for about 3 weeks now.  I know that I should be stressed out and worried and not enjoying this, but I am loving having hime home.  We are totally broke and have no immediate guarantee of money coming in, but Shawn is happier than he has been for a long time, and he is spending all kinds of time with the kids.  He's helping with the ball games and yard work.  We are spending lots of time together as a family, and besides the whole not having any money at all thing, we are not stressed out at all.  We just keep hoping and praying and saying that it will all work out, and I totally believe that it will.  So - Here's to good attitudes, hope, faith, and our new family motto, "It will all work out - somehow."

Best and Worst Things About Summer

The best thing about summer.......quiet, warm mornings.
The worst thing about summer.....lunch.
The best thing about summer.......no socks!
The worst thing about summer.....lost flip flops by the trampoline.
The best thing about summer.......yard work.
The worst thing about summer.....yard work.
The best thing about summer.......night games.
The worst thing about summer.....tired, worn out kids.
The best thing about summer.......popsicles
The worst thing about summer.....popsicle sticks and wrappers.
The best thing about summer.......summer reading.
The worst thing about summer.....allergies.
The best thing about summer.......baseball games
The worst thing about summer.....too many baseball games.
The best thing about summer........4-H projects
The worst thing about summer.....4-H books
The best thing about summer.......morning jogging
The worst thing about summer.....being sore from the morning jog.

We are loving summer and I sure am enjoying being free to chase my kids around the baseball fields and the neighborhood.  Today has been my first real day of summer vacation and I have spent it sleeping in, exercising, gardening, doing primary stuff, and watching the kids at their first baseball games.  Jenika's t-shirt is blue and she looked really cute.  That's all that really matters right?  Cutler hit the ball off of the T really hard, and ran straight for the pitcher's mound - woops!  It was really funny watching all those kids race to get the ball!  I love that Shawn was able to be at the games.  It's a total bummer not getting that paycheck, but it is sure nice to have him around to be a dad!  We are hoping that he will be back to work soon, so we are soaking up all of the "daddy time" that we can get for now.

A New Blog

New adventures call for a new blog...  Our family is growing up and life is getting busier!  I've just completed my first year of teaching, Shawn is getting ready to start up a new business, and the kids are getting busier all the time.  So, here we go...bring it on...we are ready for all life throws at us!  Maybe, when I find time, I'll record it all here.  :)