the scriptures...

Alex got set apart as the Deacon's Quorum President today. He is really excited about it, and I am so proud of him. I know it will be a great learning experience. In his blessing from the Bishop, he was counseled to have the courage to bring his friends to the gospel. He was told to set an example for them and to help them find their way to our Heavenly Father. He was then promised that as he read and studied his scriptures, the Lord would be able to teach him HOW to go about reaching his friends. He was told that answers would come to him as he read from the pages. I love that. I want him to love the Book of Mormon. I want him to know it.

I have been an on again-off again scripture reader most of my life. My parents and leaders at church taught me the importance of it. I knew it was what I needed to be doing. I just never made it a consistent part of my daily routine. I never made scripture study a part of me. I have now read the Book of Mormon 5 times in the last 3 1/2 years. Well, I have 60 pages left until I reach the 5th time. I have gone from one ward challenge, to a friend challenge, to a Disneyland challenge, and now to the challenge given by my dear friend Michelle to finish before YW Girl's Camp in two weeks. The challenges work for me. Checking things off, marking boxes, seeing it all right in front of me...it works for me. I am finding that the promise our Bishop gave to Alex is so true. Thoughts and feelings flow into our hearts and minds as we read. As we are obedient and do what the Lord asks of us, He is able to whisper things we may not otherwise have heard. I know this to be true. I know it.

* I need to remember how excited Alex was when the call was issued to him. He smiled all across his face and kept saying, "This is SO cool. Mom, this is awesome." I think Bishop Hald was shocked but happy. His smile was pretty big too.

they love me...

I came home from running errands the other day and this is what I found.

I was pretty sure we'd been robbed.

This is the cleanest our garage has been since moving in 6 years ago.

Elizabeth, Emily and Molly did it all.

Because they love Dave and I and knew it would make us happy.

I sigh every time I pull in.

three years...

May 29th, three years ago, our sweet little Margie was born. I wanted her so much. I just knew we needed her in our family. I was right. She is sunshine...on a cloudy day. She is a happy, bright baby girl. She decided to skip her terrible two's for her poor, tired mommy. My kids are in love with her. You can tell by the way they treat her. They protect her. They look out for her. They are gentle and soft and patient with her. I have a hard time telling exactly who she looks like. I guess she looks like Margaret. :) I LOVE her.

She chose Yogurtland as her treat. I could hardly object. We haven't been going there nearly as often as we should lately.

We decided to head to the river trail for some balloon pictures. There is a giant swing hanging from a tree about 1/4 mile of the way in. It's a tiny little nook, just off the trail. A little wonderland. My kids love it so much lately. It seemed like the perfect place. It really was, aside from all the cotton blowing in our faces. I started things off with 3 balloons, but after about 5 pictures, she realized the green one had come untied. What is it with me and balloon photoshoots? It is definitely teaching me to just do the best I can and let things go. Margie wanted Rapunzel (Dolly) to swing with her. Rapunzel loved it...can't you tell? :)

I don't love the sunflare in this picture, but I love Margaret in it. I got a lot of great pictures that afternoon, but this one really captures HER. Oh my goodness, her hair, her pudgy hands, her cankles (I don't know if they will ever go away...and I just don't care), the light in her face. She seems very smiley to me. Maybe it's just because I am her mom, and I am in love with her, but she seems to smile an awful lot.

Margaret, you are a sweet pea. You are the perfect addition to our family. You make us happy. You remind us how very, very important family is. Happy birthday baby girl.

RRR...

I'm not sure what to say about the Red Rock Relay other than that it is so freaking awesome! I'm kidding, you know I have more to say than that. :) Our team was a bit different this year. The Smith's couldn't come, so we managed to talk Sharene and her cousin Aubree into joining us. Yay! I'll tell you what, for me, the drive down is ALMOST the best part. This year we had an extra seat filled...with baby Henry. More about him later. He is a LOVEY.

 

I started things off Saturday morning. My first leg was just under 7.5 miles. I pushed really hard. My leg felt good and I was able to pass 26 people. My pace ended up being an 8:12. I was so happy to be running. To be running strong, with no pain in my legs. Happy, happy, happy. I really think my cross-training allowed my leg to heal, yet keep my endurance.

Kitty was awesome. She has been working hard since having that sweet baby Henry. She had a 7 mile leg, then another 7 mile leg. Yeah, pretty much a half marathon plus one. No big deal.

I was SO proud of Sharene. She has worked and worked and worked at trimming herself down and getting into shape. I knew she was anxious about this whole experience. Being able to complete it. Running that many miles. But she did it...and I'm pretty sure she loved it!

Handsome Henry. Honestly, this baby was an angel. He slept, woke up and played with his bird for a bit, ate, then slept again. He was happy, smiley, and pretty much perfect. I love him.

Tara had the same legs as last year. 5 miles up (1000 ft.) and 7 miles down (2000 ft.). She was fast...and crazy fast! Tara is strong. Really, really strong. And a great support to people around her.

Greg is just awesome. He's funny and nice and an all around great guy. He drove (again) for the majority of the weekend. Everyone laughs a lot when Greg is around. He ran hard...and I don't even think he had to power walk once. :)

Aubree was so freaking cool. She was just happy to be there, willing to do whatever leg we needed her to. She is a toughie. I LOVE this picture with neither foot touching the ground. :)

This was my second leg. Kitty had it last year and I knew it was going to be a beast. It was a 1000 ft. climb in elevation over 2.75 miles. I had only been running again for about a week and 1/2. All of it on the treadmill, never more than 2 miles at a time. Had to heal that stress fracture. Anyhow, I had busted my tail at the gym. I pushed really hard. Every day. A few days before the relay, I ran 3 miles on the treadmill, all uphill. I was actually quite confident going into this. But...it was even harder than I expected. Partially because I was at 7-8000 feet. The treadmill didn't quite prepare me for that. I had a bit of a headache for the last mile and 1/2. Anyhow, my goal was to run/jog/shuffle up the whole thing. No walking. No stopping. I had to stop twice for water when my team drove by, then the last mile, I had to walk 5 times. Never for more than 15 seconds, but I had to walk. I felt a little defeated, then remembered what I had just done, what I had been through for the last few months with my leg, and I was proud. I decided to be proud and happy.

I love this picture because for the last, STEEP 2-300 yards, I had some crazy energy which allowed me to kick and pass both these guys. It felt AMAZING.

I love Tara.

And Kitty.

And our whole team. Relays are such an amazing experience. You feed off of eachother. You are bombarded with compliments and support. You laugh together. And work hard together. And accomplish something wonderful.

We improved our time by 15 minutes and will be even faster next year. I just KNOW it. Here we are running in with Greg after his final leg. I love our faces. I love the day that we got to share with eachother. Go team "So You Think You Can Run"!

oh, mom...

Who takes pictures of stuff like this? Looks like I do. I really debated about it. I was sitting on the side of the tub by her, rubbing her back, doing my best not to cry. Cry because it hurt to see her so upset, and cry because she is so darling, and she's mine. So...I went ahead and did it. Now I have pictures to go with the memory. She has never been more cuddly than she was that night. She is such a wonderful baby. I love her pudgy fingers, her little overbite, her lisp, her quirky facial expressions. And don't you worry...the toilet had just been 409'ed.

things are going well...

Margaret is delicious. She threw up last night. I think it may be the first time ever, aside from spitting up as a baby. It was pretty sad. She just hung there over the toilet. I actually took 3 pictures. It was the saddest/sweetest thing I had ever seen. She still lisps, and talks a lot. All the time. Her favorite movies are "Horse Lightening"- Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, Charlotte's Web, Spirit, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. She call the last one Chancy Meatballs. She likes to recreate the kiss in the movie where Flint and his lady friend have puffed up cheeks. She will say to one of her siblings, "You be that girl, and I be Chancy Meatballs...", then she puffs up her cheeks for a little kiss.

The kids are out of school for the summer. Yay! I am so excited about no schedule, no getting up at 6:40 or earlier every day, Seven Peaks. My kids are fun to be around right now. They just are. So helpful.

I ran 20 miles today. I did 13 last Saturday. I had done 17 back in March, but nothing recently. I got diagnosed with a tibial stress fracture about 2 months ago, and have been cross training at the gym in the hopes of keeping my endurance up. I really think it has worked. Well...the gym and prayer. Lots and lots of prayer. I may be able to write a book about the Lord hearing and answering my prayers throughout the last 8 weeks. My mind has wanted to become SO discouraged, but the spirit hasn't let me. The Lord has carried me right through it.

He is also carrying me through camp preparations. I have felt less and less stress with each year that goes by as YW Camp director. This year has been different. I have relied so much more on the spirit and it's promptings. I feel confident. It is going to be a great week.

Dave is so great. I stepped in gum the other day so have had a flip-flop in the freezer for a week. I haven't wanted to mess with it. The other night, I could hear him in the kitchen doing something, then he tossed it to me, all cleaned up. I thanked him then told him how I just hadn't wanted to sit there and scrape it. He said, "I know. That's why I did it."

Ok...I think that's all for today. More "things to remember" soon. :)

write it down!

I had a bit of a panic attack last night. Does that suprise you? I was chatting with my friend Jessica, while getting my hair done, and she was telling me all about the birth of her most recent baby Joey (#5). She remembered all sorts of details. I realized that many of my memories of Margaret's entry into our family are fading. I didn't write anything down. I tell everyone else to write as much as they can within days of giving birth...and I didn't do it. I can't remember everything, yet I so desperately don't want memories to fade. I get overwhelmed by the immensity of writing every day. What is important? What do I leave out (so I am not writing for 3 hours)? I guess the very most important details are my feelings about the members of my family, and seeing the hand of the Lord in our lives. Henry B. Eyring gave a beautiful talk years ago about the importance of documenting things, writing things down. He said, "“Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done."

I have a cute friend who puts "things to remember" at the end of each of her blog posts. Just short sentences. Things she never wants to forget. I can do that. I am going to do that.

For starters, my Molly graduated from kindergarten yesterday. She was beautiful and radiant and proud. My goodness, I love her an awful lot. Marilyn Thibault has been her teacher. I love the woman. She also taught Lizzy and Emily years ago. She is retiring now, after 36 years of teaching. It was an emotional day.

Grandma Minerva has been helping Mrs. Thibault with her morning kindergarten class for years and years. She is a soft, gentle, sweet woman...and lucky for us she lives right around the corner.

 Molly, getting her "diploma" from Mr. Cox, the principal.

For a "graduation day" treat, we got tamales. This dear woman is out on 8oo n. nearly every weekday, selling homemade tamales from a cooler. They are $1.25, and we crave them every day. Molly ate 3 yesterday! They are amazingly wonderful. You should go visit her. :) She sets up around 8:30 in the morning. One of these days, Dave wants to buy her out in the morning and see how happy it makes her. We always have her keep the change when we pay. She lights up, and it feels really good.

There we go...DAY 1 in my new attempt to remember the little things. :)