Grins

Have I mentioned that I'm grateful for Grins' dimples? I love them. Every time I look at his smile, I want to eat him right up. Sometimes I actually do - he's delicious!

Today, as we were getting in the car, he said, "Thank you for your kindness, Mommy!"

This little man melts my heart! I am SO grateful for my children, grateful to be a mother, and grateful for the honor and priviledge of being with my children (almost) every waking moment!

Reverent laughter?

Why have the majority of my posts been about prayers lately? I don't know. But here's the latest funny to add:

Wiggles, as I've mentioned previously, likes to pray "Please bless Daddy to ride his bike safely on the road." (He's gone for 99% of her prayers, and bikes to and from work, so this is actually a much-needed prayer, and I appreciate her thoughtfulness.) She also likes to ask "Please help me to sleep all through the night in my own bed" (uh, have we brain washed her enough? :) But what's even funnier is that she has started mimicking Grins' 'Please 1, Please 2, Please 3... although she doesn't stop at 3 - last night she went up to Please 22 before I finally redirected her. But I digress....) Anyway, this evening at dinner she said "Please help Daddy to sleep through the night on his own bike" at which point I, completely caught off guard, guffawed, and then, trying to stifle the laughter mid-prayer, proceeded to make some sort of snorting noise. At this, Wiggles considered her words and said "No, not sleep on his own bike. Please help Daddy to

ride his bike on the ROAD and sleep in his own BED" ...but by this time, having heard my unintentional outburst, her older siblings were already laughing as well, and her sweet little prayer of faith managed to evolve into a slightly irreverent giggle fest. But, I'm pretty sure the recipient of the prayer was laughing too, and He knows the intent of our hearts....

I'm so grateful for the faith of my sweet little Giggles. When she prays, she really is talking to God. Pure and simple. It's beautiful.

(This picture has nothing to do with the post but it's so exciting because I took it today! I got a new camera (THANK YOU MOM&DAD B!!!), so I can once again capture these beautiful little moments, like my children all snuggled together, reading.....this is how I find them almost every evening as I prepare dinner. I love it!)

Which brings me to my next topic....gratitude. I actually started this in my personal journal a few days ago, but haven't had an opportunity to blog about it until now. A couple of friends of mine have been blogging about things they are grateful for; one for a month (here), and another for an entire year! (here). I hesitated to jump on the bandwagon at first, since 1) I am not normally a 'bandwagon jumper' so-to-speak, and 2) I don't blog every day. But I finally decided that jumping on a good bandwagon can actually be a very positive thing to do, and that I needn't blog every day to benefit from such an experiment; I will simply write my reasons to be grateful in my journal, and blog about them as I am able. Again, more for my benefit than anyone reading, but there you have it. Blogging is just a little more exciting than a journal because I can add a little picture. :)

So, for today: Wiggles' faith. It makes me smile....and sometimes even laugh.

POWER and Prayer

My Grins may be small but his faith far exceeds his size! He is always the first to suggest that we pray (when lost, when something is missing, etc.) It brings me so much joy to see his little budding testimony grow, and his childlike faith is such an example to the doubter/skeptic in me.
Friday, I was in charge of a large activity at our church, and was in the middle of a very busy day. I had run some errands, returned home briefly to unload the car, then needed to quickly head back out the door. But I could not find my keys! I frantically searched, already running behind, but knowing they had to be nearby since I had just used them to drive home. Then suddenly, dread filled my heart as I realized I could have accidentally locked them in the car. I began to panic, then decided again to enlist Grins' faith in my cause. "Grins, I need to find my keys. Will you help me pray?" He was, of course, eager and willing. But after our first, brief prayer, we had no success. Frustrated and stressed, I began thinking of other options, when he suddenly said "Mommy, wait, let me say one more prayer!"

His prayer was so simple and pure: "...Heavenly Father, we know you have SO, SO, SO much power. Can you please let us have just a tiny bit of Your power so we can find the keys? You have SO much and if you just share a little bit with us then we can find the keys...." My first thought was "Well, now I know for certain we'll find them - surely God can't help but honor such a sweet little request?!" As soon as we said "Amen" Grins jumped up and said, "I remember, you put them on the ledge!" I checked the ledge but, when they weren't there, began doubting (oh, how quick to doubt I am!) Then, miraculously, I looked down into a crevace, where they must have fallen from off the ledge, but which had previously been hidden from view. I couldn't believe how quickly they missing keys were found.

This was such a simple, little miracle, but such a tender moment for me to recognize my son's faith, and gratitude that he had the opportunity to experience, firsthand, the power of prayer. It brought me back to my own, very first experience of the power of prayer, as a young girl of 3 or 4 years (just like Grins!) I remember being at a Christmas Bazaar at a HUGE expo center with hundreds and hundreds of people. Toward the beginning of the Bazaar, I had purchased a tiny baby doll that fit in the palm of my preschool-sized hand. It even came complete with an even tinier pacifier (small enough to fit in the very small baby's mouth...smaller than a pea.) Halfway through the bazaar (around and through which we had walked for quite awhile), I realized, with as much sadness as my 4-yr-old heart had known, that my baby's pacifier was missing. I immediately alerted my father to this fact, and he said "That's too bad." When I asked if we could go look for it, he said "Well, that would be like looking for a needle in a haystack!" I can't remember whether it was he or I that suggested we pray, but I do remember him (all 6 feet 5 of him) kneeling down in the middle of the walkway with me, amidst hundreds of people walking around us, and praying that we could find the baby binkie. Can you guess where this is going? Yes, we got up, and not 10 steps later, we found the pacifier. And I still remember the incredulous - and relieved - look on my dad's face. But mostly, I remember the power of prayer, and how a kind and loving Heavenly Father took a moment from his eternally busy schedule to answer the insignificant prayer of a little 4 year old girl because it meant the world to her.

And it is so wonderful to see this come full circle, in the life of my own child. Man, I LOVE being a mother!!! And I am so blessed to have been born of goodly parents. My heart is so full tonight!

(Note: because I am currently WC (without-camera), I am using old pictures that *sort of* relate to my post - the top is Grins and Angel snuggling in the morning, just because it's so cute. And last is a picture of my Dad and my children - 4 of the people I love most!)

Graduation!!!

Finally, the Mr's LONG-anticipated graduation from Medical School! (Unfortunately my camera wasn't having the best day ever and many of my pictures of the actual ceremony did not turn out.) But, the children did an amazing job sitting through much of the ceremony, and thankfully Uncle Daniel came to the rescue when they were no longer willing to sit still, so that I could sit and listen (and cry ). Tears of gratitude that we've made it this far, tears of pride (the good kind) at all that my sweet husband has sacrificed and done to earn his degree, and even a few tears of sadness that we are leaving this wonderful phase of our lives.

Despite being financially "poor", these past four years as a medical student family have truly been some of the best days of my life! We started out with an 19 month old Angel, 1 week old Grins, managing the Ronald McDonald House apartments. The Mr. was First Counselor in the Bishopric, I was First Counselor in the Relief Society, and while the Mr. put the kids to bed and maintained the apartments, I worked 3 nights a week as a PA at WorkCare. Second year found me nannying full-time, expecting Wiggles, and looking for a larger place to call home. After moving into University of Utah Student Housing (on the first week of 3rd year rotations!) for just a couple of months, we moved to a MUCH larger home to house-sit for a year (just in time for Wiggles' birth - phew!) One final move back to University Student Apartments during Fourth Year brought us so many wonderful friends and fellow student families with whom life-long friendships and memories were made. We have searched under couch cushions and behind bookshelves for spare change to rent a movie. We have stood in line for hours for free tickets to Disney on Ice. We have sold our plasma to get money for ice cream. And we have loved (almost) every minute of it.

So, to you medical student families out there: enjoy these precious moments. I wish I had spent less time worrying about how I'd pay the rent and more time enjoying student life. It has been a good four years.

To the Mr: I'm so proud of you. You have served an honorable four years. I know you may not get the glory of all your classmates who have 'offered medical relief work in other countries' or 'pioneered new student associations' - but, to me, you have done far more. Not only have you studied, performed well on exams, served as AMA President, completed medical school and been accepted into residency, but you have done so while putting the Lord and your family first. Not a day has gone by where I didn't know that our family was your first priority. I know you sacrificed many extra-curricular activities and other opportunities, and even your 'most exciting' profession choice, to leave time for our children and me. And that means more than any award or public accolade.

To our family: thank you for your endless support these past four years (and even now!) It has been noticed and appreciated more than we can ever say. I truly don't know where we would be without you.

To the Lord: thank you for the many, MANY blessings which You have so abundantly poured out upon us; we have not room enough to receive them. We owe everything to You!

My Wonderful Husband

Can I just take a moment to express my deep and sincere love and appreciation for this incredible man? It may sound odd, but whenever I think of how blessed I am to have Jon in my life, I think of the song from the Sound of Music, "I Must Have Done Something Good" - it may sound cliche, but I honestly feel that I just do not deserve such an incredible person to be my partner in life and my companion throughout eternity. I think back to our courtship when I had "cold feet" so to speak, and was hesistant to marry him because my heart and mind were full of fears and doubts. How funny it now seems that I was so nervous about marrying such a wonderful man! I think it's because I hadn't yet had a chance to experience just how wonderful he was (and is). Now, seven short years later, I have grown to love him more deeply than I ever dreamed was possible. I admire his integrity. I respect his very keen sense of honesty. I appreciate his strong sense of devotion to God, to me, and to our family. I am so grateful for his ability to remain firm and unwavering - he truly has been "my rock" in so many ways. I so appreciate his patience and compassion. I love what a loving, fun and involved 'papi' he is; I could not have dreamed of a better father for my children! I admire his intelligence, his talent for developing SO many skills, and how he is able to juggle SO many things at once! This man truly amazes me. I just feel so fortunate and so blessed to know that he is the one upon which I can always depend, the one who will remain by my side through 'thick and thin', the one with which I will laugh and cry, the one with loving arms to hold me and a shoulder on which to cry, the one I will be able to walk hand in hand with throughout my days, the father of my children and my partner in parenting, my best friend, my love - the one with whom I will spend eternity. I love you, Jon!!!!

My Two Little Miracles...

As you may know, our family has had the wonderful opportunity of being involved with the Ronald McDonald House Charities for the past 6 years. Briefly, the Ronald McDonald House Charity is an organization offering a "home away from home" for the families of sick children. It is an AMAZING organization which helps SO many people...please check out their website and think of a way you can pitch in this year! (OK, done with my little plug...)

Over the years, we have grown close to many of the families that have come and gone and our hearts have truly been touched by their spirits. Makea has grown quite fond of a few of them, and still asks about them from time to time. Today, in fact, I asked who she would like to invite over for a birthday party, and she named two girls (unrelated) she met here, both of whom moved back home several months ago when, tragically, their baby brothers died. But they continue to hold special places in her young little heart. Because of our involvement in the house, we experience tragedy on a somewhat regular basis. If my memory is correct, we had 5 deaths last year alone. Keep in mind, these are all YOUNG CHILDREN. Simply devastating to watch what they and their families go through! Because we see it so often, I sometimes find myself 'dulled' to the challenges these families are facing. Sometimes my role here seems more of a 'job' and less of a service. I complain that people are too messy (one of my roles is housekeeping), too demanding, too time-consuming, etc. But then I am reminded of what these families are facing, and I stop in my tracks and realize how blessed I am to be on the GIVING end, rather than the receiving in this case!

This evening, I met a sweet young woman carrying a 2 week old baby. As we spoke, I learned that she has several other children, one of whom has leukemia which has recently relapsed. As a result she spends all day at the hospital, trying to care for both her newborn baby AND her sick child. Her remaining children are missing her at their home hundreds of miles away and will only see her periodically during her 7-12 month (or longer) stay here. As I spoke with this woman, my heart began breaking for her and her sweet family. It was all I could do to hold back the tears until she left. I immediately fell to my knees and thanked the Lord for the health of my children, my husband, and myself. Then I ran to my children and smothered them with loved. What a miracle the gift of HEALTH truly is!

And so I ask of you, dear reader; please pray for this family, and the many others in similar situations. May we each pause to take a moment to be grateful for the many things we may so easily take for granted, and live to make each day count!