Visit from Grandpa/Memorial Day

So many pictures, I know. I am playing catch up. :)

Swimming on Memorial Day

Taking flowers to David



Davids "Place"

Isabella putting flowers down

Grandpa playing with silly putty

Me being a cheeser.

Jeremiah and Isabella showing off the muscles,
the sunscreen makes them so shiny.

Isabella and Grandpa

Mailee and Grandpa

Jeremiah and I at his Kindergarten graduation

Jonah at water park, it was very windy.

Mailee after she got into my make up and was a little bit in trouble

shortly after this picture. She made a mess in my bathroom!
She is so cute though, hu? :0)

My dad being a vampire to Isabella and she is screaming so loud!

We were so excited to have Grandpa come visit! Jeremy's dad had not seen the kids for almost 3 years and they LOVED having him here. It was so cute to see how they just clung to him, they really missed him. It was a short visit but we are glad they got to spend some time with him. On Memorial Day we took the kids swimming and then had a barbecue at my brothers house. We had a great time!!! We then went to the cemetery (where my little brother was buried...David) and left a flower. I miss him so much. Later that day we went to my moms house for dinner. It was so nice just to be with family and have Jeremy off. I missed so many great pictures!! I hate when I do that BUT here are a few that I managed to get. All in all we had a great weekend and I am thankful for family and for our blessings. :)

Just a Thought

I wanted to share a thought I had recently. So many things have been going on lately, not all good, not just with me and my family but with other friends of mine as well. I feel like everyday, whether it is me or someone I know, someone is feeling the heartache that life can bring. As I have pondered on how I can pull myself out of it and, also how I can help my friends pull out of it, I have come to realize many things. Some of these things I already knew but needed reminding and some are new. Most of my thoughts come after reading a book my mother gave me that I have really enjoyed. I share this on my blog in hopes that it might help you too. Sometimes the Lord strips away our "comfort blankets" and expose our weaknesses and inadequacies so as to "force us to our knees." There are many reasons that this happens and I will not go into detail about my afflictions and trials but I will say this..... Instead of thinking of my trying moments, short or long, as crosses to carry or as just one more burden to shoulder, I (we) should see them as evidence of the Lord's grace and "tender mercies". In the book I was reading Patricia Holland (Elder Hollands wife) said this, "I think one of the purposes of having those humbling periods in our lives is so that we will listen and learn." Being forced to our knees is an opportunity to listen and learn in new ways. I know that for me there are many things I would have not learned if I was never forced to my knees to hear them and learn them. Many times I do not listen and learn in comfort, many times I do it in pain BUT that is how we "focus on Christ" and we would never learn that if we were not in a position where we absolutely had to do so. Allowing him to take hold of our hand and lift us up does not happen automatically or quickly but it will happen. There are spiritual skills that we need to have so we can learn and learn and learn again. I know this is much easier to type than to apply, believe me I know. I am going to work on this everyday. I have much to learn and relearn. As I go through my journey of hearing, learning and focusing so that I can live life the happiest I hope you will do it with me. I will post periodically of my thoughts, this helps me learn faster anyways. I will not type everything since that is only for my personal journal but I will share certain things that I feel might be of interest or help to someone. There are discouragements, personal, and family problems, bills to pay, mouths to feed, difficulties and unfulfilled expectations - my own and others. This is what life is, this is what mortals must experience and endure to live through and learn from. This is not a fairy tale as much as I wish it could be, this is reality. Reality requires total focus to spiritually survive and be able to handle things during challenging times. So, for now I will focus on Christ and thank the Lord for all things. I will try to have the faith I need to get through the obstacles of life and be grateful for my blessings and for my challenges that teach me and force me to my knees where I then learn what the Lord would have me do. Just thought I would share. :) This might not make sense or it might sound like a jumble of words but I thought I would try to express what it is I was thinking. :) Have a great Day!!!