Finding the Joy

Some days it is harder to find the joy in ones life than others, but I'm a pretty optimistic person and even when life is hard I feel so grateful to my Heavenly Father for the little things that He has blessed me with that help me keep going. And life is truly full of those little things. The evidences of His love are numerous and delightful!

Joy is reading and studying the scriptures together as a family and having the kids ask questions that indicate their desire to learn the gospel. Joy is finding the answers together and feeling the Spirit touch our hearts.

Joy is hearing my children pray for a sibling or other family member. Joy is having those prayers answered in miraculous ways.

Joy is forgetting to take out the garbage in time for the garbage collection and then realizing one of the children did it for you as the truck drove into the street.

Joy is participating together as a family in local events, such as the Bow Island fair and coming out with winnings nearly 8 times what was invested.

Joy is coming home late and discovering that the children took the initiative upon themselves to study the scriptures together and pray together before retiring to bed. Joy is seeing their determination and dedication to obey the Lord and engage in daily family scripture study and family prayer.

Joy is seeing a daughter recognized for over 750 consecutive days of daily scripture study and then having a younger one report that she has read 500 consecutive days already!

Joy is hearing my children pray for me.

Joy is seeing others trust my children with responsibility and then seeing that trust rewarded in a job well done.

Joy is speaking words of love and having them come back to you.

Joy is seeing a daughter face her uttermost fears and win. 

Joy is hearing the song of a child as she helps in the kitchen

Joy is asking for help in the house or yard and receiving many volunteers.

Joy is serving others.

Joy is in my children (and so is heartache)! There will never be a greater joy from any other source (or on the converse side, greater sorrow). I am so thankful for the opportunity and gift I have been given to be the mother of 8 of the most amazing people I know.

 Joy is accepting difficult things and then sitting back and allowing God to take over. And that is the most difficult, yet one of the most rewarding. I am so grateful to know of God's love for me. I know without doubt that when I struggle, He is there weeping and mourning with me. He is my friend, the one I can turn to when the whole world seems to be arrayed against me. He has placed people in my life, given me experiences, and afforded me incredible opportunities for growth that I probably would receive in no other way. There is JOY in trials, not the kind that makes you shout in glee, but the quiet, subtle kind that makes you realize how very much you have been blessed through the hardships of life and how very much you have actually benefited from them! 

And that is the long and short of it! As difficult as trials are, I am not sure I would ever wish to go back in time and remove any one of them from my life. My challenges have brought about a deeper joy that resides in my soul more permanently now than at any other time in my life. I have a rock solid marriage, a husband who is my hero, who loves me and supports me despite my imperfections. We are devoted to one another, and though the world may rage around us, we are united and strong! I have put my priorities straight with God at the helm, I work daily to strengthen my children and our family - and that is JOY! It is work, but it is a joyful work and I would never sacrifice it to have a second income, or for any other materialistic encumbrances. God has given me a work to do and I not only accept it, I rejoice in it!

Delving into the Arts

The second week of summer was a little more like we would envision our summer holidays to be. This was a week we filled with artistic endeavors. We have the Pivot County Fair coming up and the kids had so much success with it last year that they are anxious and eager to enter their creations in it again this year. They have been very busy preparing, and this week we painted...

The little girls all worked on their paint by number projects. The pictures here show them just getting started...

Naomi decided to do an oil painting one day when her and I were home all by ourselves. This is the step by step process of her painting. I am amazed and delighted with the talent she possesses. She is quite an artist!

My painting was more of an experiment than something I might want to someday frame. I decided I wanted to do mountains with snow on them. So I painted the background and then painted the mountains completely with a palette knife. I've never done that before and I found it to be a challenge... I don't know how Shylah did so well with it on her first attempt last year!

Well, the paintings are drying and awaiting the fair. Mine has such thick paint that it will likely not make it into the fair this year, but you never know, it has been hot enough that perhaps it could bake that paint into dryness a lot faster than a painting done in the fall or spring. The fair preparations continue with just a few short days left to prepare. However, I believe this year will be a good year!

Holidays????

Summer came with a heat wave this year! For Chad work was piling up and the pressure was on to get things done quickly, so the kids were hired to assist with a big job. They were amazing, I might add! 

The Job: Shingles

The Effort: Monumental due to the heat

Sleep: Deprived 

Well, that's probably how they felt. They started the job July 1. By noon the heat had driven them off the roof, the shingles were simply too hot to work with - so they came home. Later that evening they went back to work until dark. The following morning they were on the job by 7:00. Myles and Naomi had to work at other jobs that day as well, so at 9:00 I picked up Myles who worked until noon at the school. By 11:00 everyone else was once again done due to the hot shingles. They went back late that evening and did some more work. 

Now, as the family worked, one of the things I did was watch the weather forecast. Rain seemed to be popping in and out of the forecast like a jack in the box, one day it said it would rain in two days, then next day it was supposed to be sunny and then before you knew it the rain was back in the forecast. As such, we gathered the children around and explained to them the need to keep the roof we were working on dry so there would be no damage inside the house. We assured the kids that Heavenly Father was aware of this need and that if we prayed for that house to be kept dry, then Heavenly Father could keep it dry for us.

Wednesday was a similar day for the crew only it started earlier yet, they were on the roof that morning by 5:30 and were making very good progress toward the completion of the job. That evening they went back and were able to finish tearing off all the old shingles and only one small area was left to do. They came home weary but excited to be about done.

Due to the heat the kids were camping outside in the back yard in the tent. It just so happened that early Thursday morning, about 6:00 a.m., we awakened to the sound of thunder rumbling and then the unmistakable sound of rain coming down. Everyone was tired and the kids listened to the rain for about an hour before coming in. By 7:00 it was pouring. Chad was hurrying out the door to check things out on the job site. The kids had all reported that as soon as it started raining, they sent pleas heavenward to keep the job site dry. A short time later, Chad called. The house was 2 miles away from ours. He said that as he drove down the gravel road it was wet. However, when he got within a half mile of the house, the road was dry, dry, dry. There was no indication whatsoever of rain having come down whatsoever. He was able to finish up the last portion of the roof before the rains, which continued throughout the morning, began to fall there.

What can I say? What a wonderful example of the power of God! At our house we received an inch or so of rain in just those few hours before Chad got back from the job site. What a joy it is to know that God is mindful of our needs, and he is eager to bless us if we will just ask Him. I love what he tells us in Doctrine and Covenants 41:1...

 Hearken and hear, O ye my people, saith the Lord and your God, ye whom I delight to bless with the greatest of all blessings, ye that hear me;... (D&C 41:1)

Besides being very obviously blessed at Gods hand, the kids did an amazing job of shingling the roof with their dad. Everyone learned something about themselves, and it was so neat to see the kids come home exhausted yet excited at the work they had been able to accomplish! They were so excited when they finished! What a glorious opportunity work is. I am so blessed to have such wonderful children and an amazing husband.

Welcome Summer!!!

With the warming of the weather being as late as it was this year, spring cleaning brought on some major changes in one area of our yard. Since we no longer have a dog, we removed the old dog run and put in a pergola where we could also hang a hammock for relaxing in! Near the end of June we finally got everything in place so that the hammock was ready to be tested!!! I have to say that it was a great hit!

I have come to think of relaxing in a hammock to be much like enjoying and appreciating my blessings. I don't actually have to be outside in the hammock to feel the depth of appreciation I hold for my Father in Heaven and the rich blessings He has given me. I love to watch my children as they enjoy the fruits of their labors, it has been absolutely wonderful to see their keen interest in the pergola project, their willingness to help, and then the rewards... enjoying the fruits of their labors.

The fruit derived from labor Is the sweetest of all.

We will always be blessed with the fruits of our labors, whether our labors be for good or whether they be for evil. May we always live so that the consequences we receive of our actions feel like blessings rather than punishments. I love the joy that I feel through the blessings God gives me. He has richly blessed me with a wonderful husband and children. I have also been blessed with good and wise parents, kindred friends, and supportive mentors. I love the freedoms we have at this time in our lives and look forward to many more wonderful things to come. Life is so full of good things, it is a JOY and a blessing I appreciate every day.

This is the Way...

This is the way the ladies ride

Jiggety jog, jiggety jog

This is the way the ladies ride

Jiggety jiggety jog

This is the way the gentlemen ride

Gallop and trot, gallop and trot

This is the way the gentlemen ride

Gallop and gallop and trot

This is the way the farmer rides

Hobbledy hoy, hobbledy hoy

This is the way the farmer rides

Hobbledy hobbledy hoy

This is the way the cowboy rides

Giddy up, giddy up

This is the way the cowboy rides

Giddy giddy up

I remember back to when I was a small girl and my father would hold me on his knee singing a little rhyme about this is the way a lady rides... bouncing his knees appropriate to the words he spoke. I remember loving it! Well, I never learned the little rhyme, but I remember loving horses and at one time I thought I would like to have one, but I never pursued it. I never rode a horse until I was probably about 16. I remember taking my little sister along with me, letting her ride in the saddle in front of me, on her first horse ride. She loved it!!! She soon developed a deep love for horses and in her teen years she pursued it. All these years later, she now owns so many that my children, who also love horses, are given frequent opportunities to experience horse riding. Since we live in such close proximity to my sister, we are able to enjoy spending time with her and her horses frequently. Every year Beth organizes a Young Women activity where they come and ride horses.

This year was interesting because we have two girls who are afflicted with downs syndrome. While they love horses, they both found it quite a challenge to muster up enough courage to climb aboard such a tall animal. In fact, the one little girl flat out refused to try. It was just too scary. The girl who got on the horse was immediately unsure of this new feeling, being so high and the ride being so 'up and down' she got down after the horse took only just a few steps. My girls, having been around horses so much were in their element as you can see from the pictures.

Life is much like riding horses. Life requires us to do hard things, face changes and challenges, and sometimes the ride is filled with lots of ups and downs. However, as we spiritually persevere, pretty soon our stamina is increased and as we look back, the hard things no longer seem so extremely difficult. That means we were strengthened as we learned more about ourselves. Instead of just being able to walk, we are able to consider the prospect of trotting just a little, and as we learn and grow before we know it we can confidently gallop. Now I don't recommend galloping recklessly through life, but, that confidence that comes from consistently doing what we know is right, gives us a great reserve of spiritual strength so that when we are called upon to face yet another challenge we have the spiritual resources to endure. Galloping is an equivalent to that gaining of confidence.

 45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. (D&C 121)

What a joy it is to know that through exercising faith, extending love, and being virtuous and clean, we will be able to have the spiritual confidence  promised in the above scripture. May our spirits soar as though flying through the air on a galloping horse!

A Centennial Birthday!

Well a 100 year birthday only comes around once in a lifetime and this year our little town celebrated its centennial year. To say the least, the town filled up with campers, trailers, vehicles and lots and lots of people. Main street was sectioned off so if we forgot the street was closed, we had to drive through the alley to get to our house... Anyway, it was 3 days of major goings on. Saturday, June 29th was the biggest day. That is the one that brought in even yet more people!

Saturday morning we began with a pancake breakfast, which was very tasty. After breakfast the kids looked around a bit to see what events would be taking place during the day. The next thing of great interest was the parade. Now in a tiny little town like ours that has maybe 16 square blocks, it is quite a feat to fit a parade with 112 entries in it on the parade route without it running back into itself! That is exactly what happened too. It started out with a large birthday cake float and progressed from there.

There were some really neat heritage floats done by families that have been here for generations.

And of course a parade wouldn't be complete without horses...

Old machinery...

And all the rest...

The kids loved the candy throwing that always accompanies a parade.

After the parade we participated in the afternoon activities. It was a super hot day, so the shade of any tree was more than welcome. The kids participated in jump for fun games... 

and tractor races that kept them pretty well occupied all afternoon.

There was live entertainment on mainstreet for everyone to enjoy as well.

Naomi, Beth and I even managed to get over to the quilt show at the school. It was pretty amazing. I had anticipated a few quilts hanging on the walls, but the gym was FULL!!! The quilts were all sizes and they were absolutely beautiful!

During the evening the kids went to the outdoor movie at the school and enjoyed watching it until the fireworks began.

Next we had to get through the night... since our town is so small, when the drinking and reveling begin, it's pretty hard not to hear it - especially since it is too hot to not open the windows at night. For two nights our family members struggled to get a good sleep. I woke up every two hours to the same sounds of loud laughing and music. It didn't stop until 6:00 a.m. While I am sure there were many in our little town that had similar struggles with the noise as we did, the overall attitude was that it was OK because of the greatness of the occasion. I would suggest that a monumental birthday should not inhibit the comforts of others - regardless of how you want to celebrate.

Life is like our 100 year celebration. It is full of wonderful fun things to do, opportunities that are extremely enjoyable and good. However, life also offers activities and choices that infringe on the rights of others, things that we are tempted to believe will only affect us, yet in truth, they affect everyone - kind of like the loud music and noise we had to put up with during the night. This weekend has been for me, a reminder of the need to continually review my priorities and make sure that I am involving myself in the most important and wholesome activities I can. As I have thought about this I have come to prioritize my relationships as follows: first comes my relationship with God, my Heavenly Father, His Son, Jesus Christ and  also the Holy Ghost. The next most important relationship to me is that of my husband and children. Hence the reason I spent the whole day Saturday, exploring the town and activities we could enjoy as a family. I have to say, it was a LOT of fun!!! The next relationship I then spend time and energy on is that of my parents and parents-in-law, then comes siblings and friends. 

I love watching my children play together, stay together, and have fun together. They were a delight to watch, and while I just went from activity to activity with them - getting a nasty sunburn in the process - it was worth it's weight in gold to have that time with my children. What a wonderful weekend we had.