Off to a New Year!

A special someone gave me the plate on this shelf awhile back and it reminds me everyday what a special gift life is.
This next Friday is the beginning of a New Year and already I have started on my resolutions. I didn't gain any pounds over Christmas, I am back on all the meds at the right dosage again, and I have made a vow to attend church every Sunday unless I am contagious to others.
The treadmill is up and running, hopefully with me on it starting Monday and with any luck I will lose a few more fat globs from my old body.
Christmas was wonderful....it's always amazing to me how much love, work and time go into a celebration that is over in at most 2 days!! But oh how worth it, it all was. I loved having my family close and seeing them all happy and having fun.
Happy New Year Everyone!

I Love My Family!

It used to be that I could tend little boys all day, go shopping, make a delicious homemade dinner, with dessert and then still teach in Primary, help with tying quilts and lead a cub scout troop to victory for pack meeting!
Now, I'm lucky if I can get out of bed each morning, brush my teeth, comb my hair and watch one little baby part of the day!! No making dinner afterwards either, sweet hubby had to take me out tonight. Guess I wasn't completely recouped from the glorious weekend with 4 of my other grandkids, one of which is an 8 week old bundle of joy, whom I held as often as I could. Talk about soaking in Heavenly Fathers love....just hold a baby for awhile!!
I love, love, love my family and will do anything for them at any time....at least in my mind and with my spirit and heart. It's just the tired ol' body that shows me how old and out of shape I am.
A good nights sleep will help me out and tomorrow I will be all refreshed and ready to go. I love snuggling that sweet little baby and seeing him laugh when we play "patty cake" and he is so cute learning to pull himself up and walking around the furniture. I'll take the tired ol' body anyday to tend him again anytime!!!
Wish I had pictures of all the grandkids that were here over the weekend, but none of them would hold still long enough!!

Catching the Sun & other Joys in Life

Here is Joseph trying to catch the sun and almost succeeding!
The gathering of family is over and the house is back to its quiet, just the two of us and after a little nap, I feel restored to my usual tried ol' self.
It was unbelievably chaotic, fun and noisy but oh so rewarding to have the whole family all gathered together again.
JUST LIKE CATCHING THE SUN AND HOLDING IT CLOSE, Burning it all into my heart to hold it forever in my memories.

This is the purpose of life, family. This is eternity. This is Joy.

Faith and Families

I love this picture of the little birds all huddled together, still asleep, holding tight to the tiny branch.
It reminds me of families being support groups for each other in this troubled world.
I've been reading a book called the Survivors Club which is a study of why some people are survivors and others die or give-up. It's an excellent book and I was fascinated with the stories of plane or car crashes, or simple accidents (like the opening story of a woman who tripped on the stairs and stabbed herself in the heart with a knitting needle she had in her bag) and the people who survived.
One of the main reasons for survival is FAITH. Those who have faith in a supreme being are the most likely to survive. Another reason is a SUPPORT GROUP. "the larger the gathering in the hospital waiting room, the more likely the patient is to survive".
There are lots of other reasons to, such as not panicking , using common sense, and going with your "gut" instincts, but I was really impressed with the importance of faith and support being top reasons.
This proves how important God is in our lives and why He planned on us having families.
Of course I knew this before I read the book, it's just nice that the author agrees with me!

Wild & Wonderful Weekend

It was a wonderful weekend! Everyone was here except Elder Brick of course and we all missed him.

The little ones had great fun running and playing and wrestling and I enjoyed every single minute!!