Outstanding Young Man!

I am so proud of Jon! He has learned to find joy in life, to embrace challenges, and to work hard for the things and people he values!

I am so blessed to have this outstanding young man in my life!!!

Blessed to have Mothers!

I have THE BEST MOMS EVER!!!

 Growing up, my mom was ALWAYS there for me! She taught me so much ... about being a mom, about life, about the great value in showing thanks to those around you - ALWAYS! She was and will always be the best mother ever!!!

Sue is terrific!

 She is such a supportive mother, grandmother, friend!

And this year- Thank you, Luke, for such a great Mother's Day gift...

Another mom!

Dee is a great support to me already!

I am so blessed to have such terrific moms!!!

Gratitude for My Family's Current Missionary.

This week has been more than just hard. So many very large challenges, not the least of which is Luke's illness being worse than ever. 

Things feel so difficult that it is hard to see any good things happening...

Then I read this from my wonderful nephew, Jeremy, who is serving The Lord in Finland:

"This week has been a pretty fun week as we got several chances from some great service!!! We got to experience how Finns build their houses and actually got to help lay the foundations for one of the service projects that we did this week!! The other one was we helped some people move and it was amazing how much stuff they had!! It was super fun but also super tiring as I'm sure everyone that has moved will understand!! But it really taught me an important lesson!!! It taught me that even when our needs are great that the joy is found in helping others!!! The moving and everything took a huge toll on my body but we still had a great time in helping. And it was amazing because the pain was the least when we were helping move all the heavy stuff!! It really reminded me of our Savior how even though He had greater needs than anyone He still payed the price for me!! I really have gained a greater appreciation of the atonement!!! This gospel is true and serving people is great!! "

Things are still scary hard, but maybe this will help lessen the scary.

It Would be Easier Without the Rocks!

This week, we had to dig out our sprinkler's main shut off...

:( :( :(

over 5 feet below ground and surrounded by pipes and tree roots!!!

yuck, yuck, and double yuck!!

As I took my turn digging, I kept thinking, "it would sure be easier without all the rocks!"

And that got me thinking about all of the other things that are so stressful and difficult in life right now... and all of life's 'rocks!' 

But then again, it's those same 'rocks' that build your 'muscles' in life- just like those darn rocks that built Josh's muscles as he finished digging our hole- Thanks, Josh, for your great work!

So I guess easier does not always equate with better when it comes to the end result in life (Darn it!)

And on an even better note: here is the link to the MOST FABULOUS video- starring my nephew, Kayden- who happens to turn 15 today- Happy birthday, Kayden, and go get them at the US Chess Championship this week!

I love to Teach!

This year I had a student teacher- and a good one too! He still needs experience and, of course, did some things differently than I would have done. Yet, he was good at so many things, well liked by the students, and  such a nice person... 

And yes, it was nice to have some time to complete some paperwork, work with counselors on student issues, etc. However, I missed teaching!

I missed the interaction with my students, I missed answering their never-ending questions, and I mostly missed guiding the lessons... This week, I am teaching full time again, and although tiring, it is grand!

Now there are times when I feel like nothing was learned or I made no difference- But despite those times, I love to teach!

And I am so very grateful for a husband who tells me the good things about me every day! I can have the worst day ever, and Luke will always say something nice (and he reminds me, something TRUE!) that lets me know that I do some things right...

I am so blessed!