New favorite quote...

Regarding service:

"The number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness.

The number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance."

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

BEWARE of the Consequences of Parenthood...

This...

Can grow up to be THIS...

Happy Halloween, a little early.

Yes, I'm still proud.

Things I’ve learned as a parent:

Love that is strong enough to weather…

all manner of bodily fluids (not your own) and sometimes wearing them
no sleep
tantrums
“I hate yous”
rebellion
rejection
heartbreak that will make those of your single years pale in comparison
embarrassment
helplessness

Listening with all your heart to…

crying children with hurt feelings
tattling that sometimes seems to never end
“I wants” that go on forever
arguments that no one ever wins
“watch mes”
the same knock, knock jokes for the tenth time and still laugh like you mean it
unrequited love stories and the tears that go with them
unlikely dreams with all of the support you can muster

mother's intuition which will sometimes tell you things you don't want to hear

Hoping for…

courage to stand for what’s right even if it means your ‘old fashioned’
the ability to say ‘no’ when saying ‘yes’ would be so much easier
wisdom to let them do it when you could do it faster and better yourself
insight to be able to glean the truth when you’re convinced you’re not hearing it
forgiveness of those that hurt your children
safe returns
righteous choices
patience as you wait for repentance for the unrighteous ones
faith that things will be ok
answered prayers

The rewards are…

Joy beyond description
Pride that borders on sinful
Love that multiplies to overflowing
Laughter that is pure music
New appreciation for our own parents
Deeper understanding of our Heavenly Father and His plan

I’ve been so blessed.
I love my life.

Blade Trivia

I'm about to reveal just how old I really am. Not with a number but a memory.

As we were helping Amy and Jared move into their new place, which is really a VERY OLD place but new to them, I accidentally made a discovery that took me back to my early childhood. I opened the medicine cabinet in their bathroom and I saw one of these...

No, not the bottles of products to make you smell and look amazing... the little slot on the back wall of the cabinet. Anyone know what it is?

Well I do. I'm THAT old... Sigh.
I remember seeing those when I was a kid on the back of all medicine cabinets. It is the graveyard for old razor blades. I'm not sure many of you will even remember when you just bought the blades for a metal razor. For most of your lives you've probably only seen the plastic razors that you just toss when they get dull. Allow me to educate you on some old school shaving trivia. Back in the day we had razors that looked like this...

You would twist the end of the handle and it would open the two sides of the razor where you could remove your old dull blade and put in a new one. Some ingenious person that had probably more than once sliced their hand open on an old blade while emptying the garbage can decided to invent a great way to dispose of your used blades. You guessed it... you drop them in the slot at the back of your medicine cabinet where they fall into the recesses of your wall never to be seen again. That is unless you or some future owner of your home decides to do a little remodeling and tear out the wall. Then this is what awaits you or them...

So... before you tear out any old bathroom walls be sure you've had your tetanus booster shots.
Who knows what having this information might do for you? It may make you a million dollar winner on a game show someday if not at least you can astound your friends with your knowledge the next time you stumble across one of these bathroom treasures.