Even through the storms -- life is good...it really is...

This is my favorite recent photo of Chloe -- she looked like she was actually posing in her new pajamas and smiling...she is our little sweetheart. It also makes me smile and brings me to the purpose of this post -- Life is good, it really is so good. We've been doing well lately and staying busy just like everyone else it seems. Last week was a great week - we enjoyed the ward dance (I will post photos of that later on...they are great!), I enjoyed a Saturday with Addison shopping for a Boston Terrier puppy for her boyfriend (found one and Wesley has named him "Dudley" and he's precious!), had some on-call time off from work due to low census at work which was actually kinda nice, had a breakfast date with Spencer one morning before taking him to preschool and it was so neat, and had some very nice evenings with my dear husband including a night out with the missionaries and Derek & Haley Swails (missed you, Michelle!) to San Jose' which was fun. It was a wonderful week and I'm getting more and more excited about the grandbaby which is due in 55 days!!!! There is so much good in our lives we have to be thankful for. Well, at the end of the week we received terrible news on Friday morning that a dear friend, a well-loved member of our community, Ronnie Humphries, had been killed in a hit-and-run collision on I-20 Thursday night just a mile from the exit he'd take to get home. What a tragedy. Ronnie was one of the kindest and sweetest people you could ever meet. He was a friend to everyone and never met a stranger. When you saw him it was as though you were the only person around -- he was never in a hurry and you walked away with a smile. He will be missed so very much. His family has had really tough time as Ronnie just lost another brother and his brother-in-law suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. As we were at the funeral home last night I was so humbled at the people there and those who are affected by this tragedy. There is a plan - I have faith in that and there is a reason for everything - I do not doubt this - but my heart ached for my dear friends there and seeing their pain. As we left and drove back home I could not take my eyes off my dear husband. I love him so much and don't know how I could make it through if one day he did not make it home...Life is so precious and I don't want to waste a single second of it. I want to laugh and love and spend time with those who are so dear to my heart and leave a legacy when it's my turn. I know that Ronnie is in a much better place and I am grateful for the impression he left with Joey and me. He and Joey have had so many fun times together and we've enjoyed remembering the fun times. Today Joey and I are taking the boat out and going fishing, something he and Ronnie used to do together when they worked together and something we enjoy so much together. Just like Joey said last night before we fell asleep, "You have to go through the rain to have a rainbow." So true, Joseph... I hope everyone has a wonderful day today and a wonderful week. Yes, life is good.

Home Teacher Appreciation Night!

We have the absolute most awesome home teachers in the universe! They are so devoted and so dedicated to their callings and are the greatest! Joey and I wanted to do something for them because they are always so good to our family so we had them over together with their wives for dinner. We had a delicious pot of vegetable soup (if I do say so myself - yum!), corn bread and Joey and I each prepared a dessert. Joey made his famous coconut pie dessert and I made a mandarine orange / pineapple cake. I think they were both a hit!

Thanks again Brother Adams and Uncle Buddy for all that you mean to our family -- especially Joey and me! We love ya'll bunches!

The past few months my mind and heart have been very heavy about certain situations going on around us every day. It's been hard to concentrate at times on other things because these worries keep surfacing. The toughest part of it is that these "circumstances" or "situations" are so much beyond my control so I'm wondering if it bothers others as much as it does me...

The situations I'm concerned about is the crisis of babies having babies nowadays -- the circumstances that surround so many teenage pregnancies and the system that supports this and more times than not it's over and over and over. How many children must be born into single parent homes or into homes where there is little or no supervision, minumum education concerning rearing children or childcare in general, and most importantly lack of love? I feel that there are two main factors in the crisis. First the lack of education -- not necessarily formal education but lack of more common-sense education. This ultimately leads to the lack of morals, character, and care of oneself. So many fall into the cycle which continues. Now don't get me wrong - anyone can make a mistake, we are all human. If that happens there are resources available including counseling, adoption if one chooses, and the opportunity to get your life back right on track. I am not faulting those who may have been in the position. My concern is not here. It goes much further...

The second factor I see being an issue is the way the government and our welfare system treat these instances. Many young girls who find themselves in "the family way" are counseled by officials about what may be available to them making it appear more appealing to have more children without marrying in order to get more from the government. This is so wrong! Who is being rewarded here? Are the babies and children being rewarded or is our system rewarding the youth of today for their bad choices? There are resources available that are not being taken advantage of when they maybe should... What are our young people today being taught? It is something that I feel everyone needs to think about. It is you and me, the working class, who is being responsible for caring so many not willing to work and to provide for their families.

Just this past week I was devastated by the news of the 10-year old little boy shot by his brother. As I read the articles in the local papers of the history of this family my heart ached. How did these children fall through the cracks time and time again. They'd been temporarily removed from their home several times before only to be returned once again and the ending was a real tragedy. Then there was the story about the twin who was starved to death -- how does this happen? This doesn't happen in our country does it or at least not in our state -- this was my first thought. How sad my heart was when I heard this on the news. What about all the other children in this household, namely the other twin.

In my opinion it's really, really sad. In our country you have to have a hunting license to hunt and if you get caught hunting without one you can go to jail. With fishing it is likewise. I love, love, love to fish and yet with this beautiful weather we're having I cannot get in our boat and go to my brother's place at the lake and fish unless I first buy a fishing license. Then, I have to actually renew it each year I want to fish. Otherwise, the same penalty applies as hunting without a license. Yet, a person can have a child and assume full responsibility of a precious human life with no training whatsoever. I love children as much as anyone ever could and it's hard to see this over and over...

Well, as I've been trying to make some decisions about returning to school or what things I may want to do professionally (with 2 kids in college next year I need more income!) I've been debating over several things and the thing that keeps coming to mind is "do something to fix what's wrong." Well, how do I do that I keep asking myself. Everyone wants to make a difference in one way or another but I just continue having this overwhelming desire to do something to make a difference, somehow, someway. This brings me to my last thought for this blog post...

I went visiting teaching with Kerri this past Friday and what do you know -- the visiting teaching message for this month is on just what's been weighing on my mind so heavily the past few months -- "Uphold, Nourish, and Protect the Family." What an inspired message to women today. The quotes could have not been more perfect to give me the peace and courage I needed to begin some endeavors to make a difference. I feel somewhat like the story of the person on the beach tossing sandollars back into the ocean. The beach was covered with hundreds of sandollars that had washed up and someone commented to the young lad about there being so many and the impossiblility of getting them all back into the water. The lad commented as his tossed one single sandollar into the ocean water, "But I saved that one." Who knows what one thing can do -- what difference just one thing or one comment may make. The quotes from this months message are incredible. It encourages us as women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to defend the doctine of the family unit. Julie B. Beck, Relief Society General President said, "Women have distinct assignments given to them from before the foundation of the world...you know that raising your voice in defense of the doctrine of the family is critical to the strength of families the world over." Another quote by Elder Robert S. Wood states, "For too many, responsibility seems to end with hand-wringing and exclamations of dismay. Yet talk without action accomplishes little. We need to be vigorously engaged in the world. If our schools are inadequate or destructive of moral values, we must work with fellow members of the community to bring about change. If our neighborhoods are unsafe or unhealthy, we must join with the civic-minded to devise solutions. If our cities and towns are polluted, not only with noxoious gases but soul-destroying addictions and smut, we must labor to find legitimate ways to eliminate such filth...We have the responsibility to be a blessing to others, to our nation, to the world."

There was my answer found in the March Visiting Teaching lesson. There is much to be done, just like the sandollars that had washed up on shore and one by one, a difference can be made. I'm going to begin by eagerly volunteering and filling this need I have to help. I'd be anxious to hear other opinions and ideas about what can be done. In the end it truly will not matter how much money we made, what kind of car we drove, or what kind of house we lived in. What will matter is whether or not we made a difference in someone else's life. Together we CAN make a difference.

Way to go, Addison and Abby!

Congratulations to Addison and Abby for excellent grades this nine weeks! Abby made the A/B Honor Roll (9th Grade) and Addison had all A's (Senior)! Way to go, girls! Joey and I were so proud of them and the great job they've been doing in school this year. Joey treated Abby to a daddy/daughter date to Columbia and out to dinner - her choice. It was a fun time for them both. Yesterday I treated Addison to a mommy/daughter date for lunch and a heavenly pedicure -- it was so relaxing! We had a fun time.

Keep up the good work, girls -- you're doing a fantastic job!

Playing catch up through pictures...

February seemed to have passed so quickly and I, too, have been behind on the blogging scene. It seems easier to catch up with photos so that's what I've done. The first photo is Chloe in her lovely red frilly dress that I loved and she detested...As soon as I put it on she ran to the sofa and hid from me and pouted until I took it off. She generally loves clothes, especially her pajamas, but for some reason she did not like this dress at all and let us know it real fast. It was sooo funny! Guess I'll have to sell it on eBay, Chloe! These were my roses for Valentine's from my sweet Valentine! Thanks, Joseph, you're the best!

Darla gave me a great recipe for a Mountain Dew cake which turned out great! I made it last weekend and Wesley along with the missionaries loved it. (By the look on Wesley's face here it's kinda questionable though, huh?)
OK, so yesterday we were supposed to have snow....what happened and what genius cancelled school way too early to forecast??? Well, we made the best of it since I was off yesterday and Addi and I enjoyed a late lunch at Fatz's before meeting Ethan. We had some stuff to deliver to him and it was great seeing him -- even if it was at a remote gas station in Lamar (? I think?) and visited in my little car because it was so cold! I miss Ethan and wish he got home more often to visit but he does work a lot of hours besides attending school. I love you bunches, Eeskee, and I loved spending the day with you, Addi. Lunch was really good! I just hope next time they cancel school for snow we get to go tubing as we planned!

Alex turned the big "13" mid-February and he had a party at the house with a group of his buddies. They enjoyed playing some football and then having cake, cupcakes, and ice cream. I believe Joey enjoyed it as much as the younger guys! Happy Birthday, Alex!

Alex got a set of drums for his birthday and he is really doing well with them already! He plays percussion in the middle school band and he and Joey have enjoyed playing together. They sound really good!

Ethan did make it home on Valentine's Day for Kevyn's funeral service. It was cool to see Amsterdam and watch him and Chloe playing. He is so cute and sticks to Ethan like glue -- it's neat to see how well he cares for that puppy.

Addison, Abby, and I enjoyed a girls' night out to Sandhills to see "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and it was a great movie!