skype

Grateful for skype today.  I love that we are able to have a little conversation with Alan while he was away.
Cannot wait for hugs and kisses soon!

I think Halle is grateful for Skype too!

never forget

On September 11, 2001 life as we knew it changed.  I sat in Spanish class, pretty dumb founded as what was going on.  But I was scared, nervous, and did not know what would happen next.  My heart aches for the people that lost their life on that day.  I am grateful for the people that fought for our Country after what was done to us.  Thank you Thank you for defending our Country and the rights that we enjoy.

found...

Found this gem in my email today... love this man!!!

PRETTY

Princess-  a fitting word for such a lady.  You assumed it; your parents accepted it; and I witnessed it. However, You truly made me feel like the knight who would do everything to win your heart.  I'm glad I did.  I am so grateful I married the princess of my dreams.  Making her into my eternal queen.   
Right- believe me you like to be ALOT more than just right handed.  You are one who fights for it, who lives by it, who believes in it and wants it more than anything.  Just like I wanted you more than anything.  We Both wanted right and I know we found it.
Expressive- you tell me how you feel.  I know that you love me.  I hear and see your love for Halle and for your family.  There aren't many things you can keep secret.  Believe me, I know.   
Tough- tough as nails you are.  Tough as a stem; A roses stem that is. But you know you and roses aren't so different; neither are you from nails.  Roses only grow Thorns to protect their natural beauty just as you protect who you are.  And nails hold things together, plain and simple.  You hold yourself together and you help hold our family together forever . . . Now that's a tough nail.
True-  to be honest, you truthfully are.  True to your Heavenly Father, true to your Savior, true to the faith, true to yourself, true to your heart, true to me and true to your family and friends.  You are truly tried and true.
You-  what else can i say?  You talk about you all the time.  Because of you, I am who I am.  Because of you we have a forever family.  Because of you we have our little daughter.  And because of you this list could never end.  I end it with I love you for who you are.

I am beyond grateful for Alan.  He is away at school this week and so I am doing work and mothering all by myself and it is REAL hard.  I take for granted all the things that he helps me with and also just for the fact that he comes right home after work... we are very lucky to have him!

grateful for....

the first week of school to be over with.  This school year is going to be great!!! but also will have it challenges.  I am looking forward to teaching and making in a difference in my students lives this year...

sickies....

our whole house got sick with the flu this week and into the weekend.  It has been horrible.  It started with Alan and Halle, both very sick.  Then it moved to Abel and then ended with me.  We did lots of laundry, watched lots of movies, and drank lots of Gatorade, pedialyte, and 7up.  Grateful that Al only had to take one sick day and that I was sick over the weekend.. all good things!

The Atonement

Someone gave a talk in Church last Sunday and did a beautiful job relating the Atonement in our life with ducks coming out of an egg... Always want to remember this analogy.

Duck out of the egg story

I remember as a kid when we bought our first set of duck eggs. Mom bought an incubator and my siblings and I anxiously awaited the day when we would be able to see our new ducklings hatch. When the day finally came, it took much longer than I anticipated for them to be able to break out of their shells. Ducks have a small protrusion on their beaks. They push this against the shell over and over again and eventually are able to break out. This process can take more than a day.

I noticed that a couple of the ducks were taking longer than the rest. One in particular had made very little progress over 2 days. I told my mother we could break it out and rescue the duck. She told me that that simply would not work, that the duck needed to get out on its own.

Feeling that I knew better, I broke the egg while she was gone and rescued my duck. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t stand up. It didn’t have the strength. You see, the hours and hours the ducklings spend pushing against that egg, while very difficult, builds their muscles and gives them the strength to stand when they finally get out. If they are do not break out on their own because someone does it for them, they will not be strong enough to get to food and water and will slowly starve or die of thirst. Despite my efforts to feed my duck, it would not eat and did in deed pass away.

All of us in our lives are like those little ducklings… the Lord has so much in store for us. He wants us to be happy and to be successful. And He wants us to be strong enough to return to him with our families forever. Because of that, we will have trials that are difficult to bear. We will all have our own shells to break. Just look at the very first verse of the book of Mormon: “having seen many afflictions in the course of my days.” This also means that BECAUSE He loves us he will not take away our trials. He will give us trials to help us strengthen our spiritual muscles so that we too may someday walk on our own.

Look at the rest of the duck story:

You see I had only thought we weren’t helping the duck. There is no way that an egg could control all of those factors for it to hatch. The part for which it is responsible, is only a small part, but it is essential that it go through that trial so that it can grow strong and succeed in life. In this same way, the Lord is frequently helping us in ways that we do not see. We must have faith and trust in him.

This is beautiful.. and a great way to teach the atonement to kids too.  So grateful for the knowledge of the atonement in my life.  and so grateful for the inspired individual at church that taught me this last week!! I LOVE IT!!