Back to normal

What is normal?  I think that for me normal has changed many times over the years.  It's funny because it seems that in my mind all I wanted was normal.  But normal to me was something different than I expected it to be because I learned that normal changes all the time.  So, I have to admitt that change in this way can be very difficult.  When life is just as you have created it to be at one point in your life and you get used to having it that way, it is really  hard to get used to another way of being.

Well, once we moved here to Utah, normal became me home during the day by myself taking care of my family and home with My Man at work and the kids at school.  Then they would all come home and we would be together to enjoy our togetherness.  Then life changed and my normal became something different.  I started watching my nephews on a daily basis and I was now a daycare provider with small children in my home again and I felt like a grandma.  With my kids all grown up and able to take care of themselves for the most part this was a change and an adjustment that took a different mind set.  But I did get used to it and it became my new way of living and I actually missed my normal that I had created for myself.  However, it didnt really interfere with anything important in my life and allowed me to still take care of my own so it was all good.

Well, my normal has changed again.  This week was my first week no longer watching my nephews.  With Michael coming home and job hunting again it is time for my normal to change again.  I like my old normal again.  I love being home alone taking care of my home and family while they are out taking care of business.  But, now I need to readjust my thinking again.  I am hoping to find a good steady job that will give us additional income and help us to take care of our own a little more fully.  Always changing I know.  I am grateful for the things I have learned as my normal has changed.  I am really enjoying my back to normal I must admitt.  However, normal will change very soon.

Summertime

It's summertime!  This is me in the 6th grade at Portola Elementary School in San Bruno California!  Dont you just love it!  The dark mid-high socks, the red flowered skirt with this knit top with a zipper up the front.  I know, I know, sexy huh?  My best friend Tina Huntsman took this picture of me.  I know because it is written on the back of it.  I wish I knew whatever happened to her.  We moved to Auburn shortly after this and I never saw her again. Sad, but true.

Well, I love summertime!  And it is finally here.  It took quite a while but it has finally shown it's face. Thank goodness. It's time to enjoy the weather and be outside a lot! Hope you are enjoying your summertime! 

Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work;

Have you ever woken up ,like from a dream, and realized that your life is exactly like you dreamed it would be?  Like an epifany that just slaps you into reality after several years of worrying and fretting and wondering when and how it could ever happen?  Like you have been living with a cloud of doubt  following you everywhere you go and suddenly the cloud is gone and you are in the sun and you see all the beauty now, that you thought you were missing?  Well, I have!  It seems that these past 2 years have been one realization after another.  Does this happen to everyone I wonder?

Well, My Man and I were talking the other day about something that we have talked about alot during the past 2 years.  The subject was "our boys and the kind of people they are turning out to be".  Like Mike said, 'we are a couple of nobodies and our kids are turning out to be somebodies." How did this happen?  Well, I think he hit the nail on the head when he said, "they must have been choice spirits in the pre-existance and just needed to come down to earth to get bodies so that they could shine". This thought has led me to additonal thoughts about the family that I desired to have while in my young adult years. 

First of all, for some reason I always wanted to have boys!  Dont know if I just saw myself with all boys or what.  But I just did.  Then I remember so well when I was in my last area on my mission. I spent a good deal of time thinking about what my family would be like when I someday married and had children.  Well, this feeling of having all boys intesified for me.  I remember very well having a strong desire to raise boys to be great missionaries.  In fact my thoughts were that I would raise these boys to be strong valiant spirits early in their youth.  That they would be prepared early in life to be missionaries. That they would be examples and a light to their peers.  That they would have burning testimonies in their youth and would be living examples of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I recently expressed this to My Man the other day and it caused me to contemplate, as I look at my children now, whether this was a desire I had or pure revelation.  And then just this morning it hit me.  "If ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work;" (D&C 4:3)  And I realized that this is why my life is what I dreamed it would be.  Because I had a desire to serve my Heavenly Father in this way and so he has called me to the work.  At times like these I feel like falling to my knees and thanking the Lord for his goodness, for his mercy and for his faith and belief in me.  I truly have seen the hand of the Lord in my life in so many ways and especially at this time.  It is a testimony to me that he does know me, he loves me and I am his daughter. And I have a great work to continue to do!

Spring Wedding Reception

This past weekend my sister catered the food for my good friend Darcie's daughter's wedding reception which we had outdoors of  our home...

The Nelson Corner!

Kaitlyn wanted only brownies and lemon bars for dessert...no cake.  Just a luncheon and these beauties...which I spent the entire day Friday making 200 of.  Isn't the dessert table so pretty?

This was the first time my in-laws were able to use their gazebo for a wedding reception and they were so happy to do it!  They worked all week long getting the yard ready for this perfect day.

My little sister made pasta with 2 kinds of sauces, salad, and rolls!

It was delicious!

Everything was simple and elegant and yummy!

The bride and grooms families were quite impressed.

The flower arrangements were made by Darcie's sister-in-law Wendy who did an absolutely fabulous job!  They were to die for beautiful arrangements!

9 tables total...all differently arranged with the same type of flowers and different shapes and sizes of these box vases.

Even Darcie's niece dressed up in the colors for the occassion!

It was a beautiful day all around!

Oh, and they got married here!

The Manti Temple...my new favorite temple!