Charlotte's Web

My mom always read to us as children. I have done a pretty good job, but because of my illness, sometimes the evenings are really hard. Several months ago, I was reminded by my cousin, LaTisha Calhoun, that even just a few pages is worth it in the evening. So, I asked Heavenly Father for some help. I need just enough energy to read a few pages and not be too tired. With the fall and the rental business and just life in general, I have made it a priority to read to the girls every night that we are in bed at a decent hour. It has made a big difference in keeping the madness to a minimum. Eleanor is eating it up and Savannah is usually asleep by the time the story time is over. I have enjoyed just taking the time to be still and read books that I love.

How blessed I am that Heavenly Father has helped me with the extra strength these last few months to do this.

Last night the girls and I finished reading "Charlotte's Web." It has always been one of my favorite books. As I read the last few sentences, I started to get choked up. The story of true friendship is so powerful in that story. The concept of thinking of someone else and putting their needs first. I am grateful I was reminded of how powerful a friendship can be and how blessed we are when we are kind to another human being.

"What the book is about is friendship on earth, affection and protection, adventure and miracle, life and death, trust and treachery, pleasure and pain and the passing of time. As a piece of work it is just about perfect, as just about magical in the way it is done."

Eudora Welty, New York Time Book Review

Before that, we read "The Trumpet of the Swan", also by E.B. White.

It is about a swan who cannot talk and the adventures he has and how he finds love and friendship and acceptance of being different from the others. I also consider this one of the best books ever written.

Our next book is going to be " Mrs. Brisby and the Rats of NIMH." Another favorite!

Thank you Heavenly Father for this tender mercy you have shown me and blessed me so I can create these wonderful memories for myself and my children!

My brother, Ray

The other day I was having a bad morning. Really bad. I was crying about everything. It was one of those days where when Jason left for work the look on his face was concern for me, but also relief that he didn't have to figure out what was going to make me burst into tears next!!!

Around 10am EST, I got a phone call from my brother, Ray.

Ray and I have always been close. He has been a pain in my side and also one of my best friends in the world. I love him more than words can express and I hate living so far away from him. For that matter, I hate living so far away from all my siblings.

Anyway, he called. We talked. I cried. We kept talking. And by the time our conversation was over, I was ok with my dilemma. I had worked through a lot of my concerns, anguish and fears.

I love my brother and I am really grateful that he followed the spirit that morning. It meant a lot to me. He is a great man.

Following the spirit

Several weeks ago, we attended the baptism of my niece, Ashley. I forgot my camera, so I didn't get a picture of her, but she was so beautiful in her white dress. Jason was asked to baptize her, since her dad is not a member of the church.

I was asked to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. Because I knew there were going to be family members there that were not members of the church, I wanted to make it a teaching moment also. There is a popular concept that the Holy Ghost is like a blanket that warms and protects you. I decided to go with that concept. So I thought and prayed about it for several days.

I am so blessed to have a Heavenly Father who knows how to answer prayers and guide me as to what he wants me to say.

So, in a nutshell, here is my talk:

Ashley is blessed to have a great family. She has grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins who love her very much. Her Grandma Day makes a blanket for each grandchild as they are born. The blankets are cross-stitched, so there is a lot of time spent making the blankets. I know that each stitch is made in love. I know, because I have four blankets made by Grandma and my children love their blankets. They use them all the time and they can feel their Grandma's love each time they wrap themselves in their blankets. This blanket ( and I showed the blanket) is the one that Grandma Day made for Ashley. It is her own personal blanket and it keeps her warm and protects her. When she uses this blanket, she knows her Grandma Day loves her very much.

The Holy Ghost is like this blanket. As we are baptized, we make promises to our Heavenly Father that we will follow him. And he, in turn, gives us the gift of the Holy Ghost to protect us. He guides us and he shows us how to live a good life. In our church, we believe that after a person is baptized, they can be given the gift of the Holy Ghost by someone who holds the priesthood.

Ashley's grandparents, the Garbers, I know, have felt the Holy Ghost in their lives also. Even though they do not belong to our church, they are good people, live the commandments and do what is right. Because of this, they have access to the Holy Ghost, or as they call it, Holy Spirit.

They can feel the Holy Ghost the same way we can feel it.

(I held up a picture of Jesus)

This picture of Jesus, is the picture I hold up every Sunday in primary to remind the children why we are in church. When you see this picture, you can remember what Jesus did for us and try and be more reverent. Reverence will invite the spirit into your life and help you be a better person. As we live a good life and follow the commandments, we will be blessed. Ashley is being blessed for making the decision to be baptized today. As she receives the Holy Ghost, she is taking the necessary steps to be able to return and live with Heavenly Father again.

There were other things that I said, but that was the gist of the talk.

I was so grateful I followed the promptings to talk about the Garbers. They came up to me and gave me a big hug and told me how grateful they were that I acknowledged the fact that they feel the spirit also. They told me that it really meant a lot to them that I would think of them and they I know they are good people who feel the Holy Spirit.

Jason's parents both told me that it was the best Holy Ghost talk they had ever heard. And, a few days later, Jason's mom called me about something and then she started to cry. She told me that she needed to be reminded that I was a good person and that she was so touched that I would say all those nice things about her and the blanket.

I was touched because if you know our history then you would know that that for her to say that is h.u.g.e.!!!!

I am grateful for this experience. I felt the spirit very strongly, guiding me what to say. I have been blessed lately to have many experiences that has brought me closer to my Heavenly Father.

And every step we take to having a better relationship with Jason's family is very important to me and also to our own little family.

It is a struggle to write personal experiences like this in a public forum like a blog, but it needed to be written and I needed to be reminded. :)

The Marriott Ranch

For the last eight years I have gone to the Marriott Ranch to draw caricatures for the guests that attend the Western Picnic. It is a fun tradition and I have done US senators and their wives, ambassadors from all over the world and children of dignitaries. I love it.

I always bring the children with me to spend the day doing the activities.

This year I had one of Xander's friends come and help out with the babysitting of the girls.

There is a full day of activities and then a big lunch in the tent with the BYU dancers putting on a western dancing show and also the Lamanite Generation does some really cool dances.

Here is Eleanor with her cute, sassy wink!

When did this boy grow up?

Garrett is two days post puncture the lip accident on his scooter. You can see the wound on his mouth. And then there is this little darlin' Savannah. She is also growing up too fast.

Always working the camera!

At the end, we went over to get our pictures taken with the "real" cowboys. They really are! The one plays the ukelele and he started playing songs my dad would always play. It made me miss my dad. We stood around for over a half an hour and sang songs. He was amazed I knew them. All credit went to my parents!

The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time!

I dressed the children up the other day, grabbed a pumpkin, a leather chair, some snacks, a blanket and a few suitcases and wandered into the woods behind our house. Here's what we ended up with.......

Some of the pictures turned out better than others......

But, for the most part, they all looked great! I was really happy about how cute they turned out! Much better than their school pictures I paid too much money for!!!!

This one is my favorite! It was actually the last picture we took and I love it!!!!

I found the suitcases at the thrift store the week before and thought they would make cute props. They did!

This cute one of Eleanor is my favorite! She really knows how to work the camera! I don't think I have a bad picture of her that day!

And this cute little thing! She was such a trooper! She did a great job also!

And the boys did well too. I love this one of them.

Garrett looks so much like his dad in the picture when he was this age!

Our neighbors, the Imeishes, came with us in the beginning. The idea was to get some good picture with all the kids. They are all practically siblings anyway!

This is my favorite of the girls. So cute!

I wish I had a better camera. My camera is giving me fits right now and it is frustrating. But, all in all, it was a productive morning! And now I have some cute fall pictures of the kids!!!