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Aside from Girls' Camp, Saturday was probably one of the best days of my YEAR!  No joke, it was heaven sent, and halfway through the day, I was driving home, and the phrase "God is good" came to my mind, and I was reduced to tears (I know, so what's new, right?) Let's review.  Last Thursday, I had my mini-meltdown at the temple when I was once again chosen to be SP or "sealing patron" for the majority of the night as a temple worker.  Then, I was assigned to work in the office at the temple on Saturday which basically equates to working any clerical job--gas station, infirmary, or temple--and I don't leave feeling spiritually fulfilled at all.  Then, this past Thursday, John took the elders to the temple in the morning (while I stayed home with the babies) and had a very sweet experience with them, and then he worked the Thursday night shift (while I stayed home with the babies).  To say that my spiritual tank was a bit low is an understatement.  I

Survival.  That is what I have been doing for the past five days.  John?  He's been his best self.  Yep, that's what happens when the babies come for a visit. You don't even know how much I wish  I was one of those baby mamas.  I talk to women, and they will stop all conversation when they see a baby.  They want to hold it, and kiss the chubby feet, and make the baby smile. Give me ten more years, and I'll be all about talking  to that baby and becoming its friend ;-). I don't know why I'm not a baby person, but I thank everything that is holy that I at least loved my own  babies ;-) Ethan and Rebecca wanted to take a trip together to San Diego. Ethan was headed there for work, and Rebecca wanted to tag along.  Since Linda (Rebecca's mom) was already watching several other grandchildren, John and I were the back-up plan and were asked to watch them.  I remember John coming to me the night that they asked us (he cornered me in our bedroom) and said, &qu

There are certain events that happen in my life that I know I need to record, but that I know I cannot give due diligence.  I wish I could just play a highlights reel from my memory of the times I had, because they were so beautiful and touching and memorable.  Alas, that isn't possible, so instead I think I'll try and capture the feelings of the moment. My YW president had been asking me since January to go to Girls' camp again this year, but with our lives up in the air, it wasn't until late June that I could make the decision to go, and even then, recovering from pneumonia, I wasn't 100% sure.  I agreed to go with the caveat that I could stay in a nearby cheap hotel so that I wouldn't need to fight my mold allergy in the cabin, and in case I was still weak from pneumonia, I could get the sleep I needed.  Nobody cared about that at all--they just wanted me to go :-) The details:  Girls' Camp was in the same location as last year:  Silver Trails Scout R

For the past two years, I have been the assigned visiting teacher to a woman in the ward named Marcia Cobb.  She is working through some abuse issues from her childhood, so if nothing else, I have been able to offer an understanding ear to the emotional turmoil she is feeling.  I've gone walking with her, I've taken her to therapy appointments (after she tore her ACL), I've taken her to the temple, and gone out to lunch with her.  Her oldest daughter, Morgan, is headed off to the Michigan School of Engineering in the Fall--that alone says so much about her (she was waitlisted for MIT).  She is incredibly smart, motivated and determined.  I mean, a WOMAN getting into the Michigan Engineering School?  She reminds me of myself when I was her age.  She's on the quiet side, but she's incredibly smart....and not always understood amongst our outgoing, extroverted, popular Young Women.  I can often feel that she just doesn't "get it" when the girls are just g

We all different arenas in our lives, or at least we should .  If you don't, you aren't stretching yourself enough, and I would encourage you to close this page and get out and "do something more than dream of your mansions above..." ;-) Two arenas in my life that bring me some of the greatest personal joy are genealogy and blogging/journaling.  Whenever I'm feeling a big off, if I delve into either of these two things, I feel much better afterwards.  I won't lie though--they take some effort, and I don't always relish the idea of putting words to screen (right now is a perfect example).  However, when I look at the thousands  of pages I have now written about the ordinary and extraordinary in my life and in our family's life, I'm glad that I've done it because I could never go back and catch up. My life in the genealogy arena has been almost as lengthy as my journaling life.  I have journals from when I can first remember back in 1976 (and

This week in Come, Follow Me , I read about the first use of the term "Christian": And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11: 26) Then, when reading an article from the Ensign , I found these gems of paragraphs: Too often secular elites and government officials focus so much on certain favored identities--such as race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity--that they miss the importance of religion as a profound source of identity.  They see religion and religious faith--especially traditional Christian faith--as something akin to a quirky private belief or hobby, like secretly believing in the yeti or UFOs, or belonging to a weekly bowling league.  "You are welcome to have your own private fantasy world, but keep it private and don't make me acknowledge it!" Perhaps that would be harmless by itself, but too often secular elites and government officials also see faith and faith communities, with their competing

For all the crappy treatment I received in PA, and for how badly the ward and stake there left me feeling about myself, I really do want to record some of the funny and memorable moments from living in the Chelsea ward before we leave....before things might go back to how they were. This past week, we had a combined activity at Silver Lake.  I must admit that I didn't really want to go, and here's why. I am a pool mom, as in, when I go to the pool with my kids, I actually get in  the pool with my kids.  I love to be in the water.  I love to swim.  I love summer and pools. I discovered early in my parenting life, however, that most moms are not this way.  They prefer to sit on the side, talking to the other moms, while their kids play in the water with each other...and with the one mom who is IN the water.... I can't fathom why anyone would want to sit around a pool, in the heat, sweating and burning, when there is a cool oasis of water right in front of them.  I'

We thought  we would have a nice, relaxing Saturday morning, considering how busy our days had been up to this point, but then somebody had the brilliant idea of taking a mulberry pie to the Boss Fireworks Spectacular that evening....and John and I were signed up for a temple shift all afternoon. So in throwback form, Ethan and I headed out to do some shopping together with Baby in tow.  We rushed into Meijer, returned some bottles, bought what we needed for pie and for food for the next day....and stopped by Barry Bagel's.  This was one of the only eateries in the area when I was in high school, and my friend, JJ, and I would frequently go there for a pizza bagel.  Now, it's one of the cool, hipster places to go even though it looks like it's stuck in the 80s ;-). My kids haven't had Barry Bagels and John kind of loves them, so we picked up a half dozen (chocolate chip, blueberry and raisin) along with a pound of strawberry, and honey/brown sugar cream cheese, and ru

Hallelujah!  Mark had arrived.  He was at the Boss house, but he asked if he could spend the morning with us.  We were all so happy to see him.  Unbelievably, he showed up at 9:00 a.m. to go running with John and Ethan, and Ethan made John promise that they would only do three miles....#YeahRight I have so many pictures that look like this of the boys through the years, running with John.  Leave it to Mark to always strike THE pose ;-) We had plans though which is why Ethan was being so time-crunchy.  A couple of weeks ago, while visiting Cherry Republic with the missionaries, I had noticed that Cherry Republic was hosting a scavenger hunt through the months of July and August.  It's not particularly hard, but in the end, if you earn 100 points, you get a free Boom Chugga Lugga pop from the cooler inside the store.  WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT THAT....especially being Kennedys?  Competition with food as a reward?  Sign us up! So after everyone was showered, we walked out