We talk of Christ..

This past Sunday, our Bishop quoted a scripture that got me pondering this Christmas season and what it means to me.  It happens to be one of my favorites, (I have many...lol) and it is one that formed the foundation of how Kevin and I tried to raise our children.

2 Nephi 25:26 -

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophesies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." 

To me, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus Christ. His birth heralded the beginning of the greatest gift mankind would ever receive. It is the most beautiful story I have ever heard. It has been the focal point of our Christmas celebrations since Kevin and I started our married life. Because it brings us such joy - as we rejoice in Christ - we have taught this story to our children. We did this so that they could know "to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." 

Now our children are married and starting their own lives and traditions. I hope with all my heart that they take the things they learned here at home as we "talked of Christ" and use them to begin the foundation of a family that will be strong and steadfast in the Gospel. But also a family that will approach each Christmas Season with joy in their hearts as they too, "rejoice in Christ".

Today is Christmas Eve. Tonight, we will gather with family and friends. We will talk of Christ and His birth. We will tell, again, the beautiful story of the Nativity. We will soak-in the wonder, magic and majesty of that long-ago night in Bethlehem.  I think, as I look around me and see those I love most enjoying the sweetness of this precious time together; I will, as Mary of old, keep these things, and ponder them in my heart... 

From all of us here at "Happy Acres"...Merry Christmas! 

It Only Takes a Moment...

I have been writing this post in my head for months, now. Somehow I never got past the emotion of it long enough to get it here on the blog. 

I didn't get to give birth to my children, but I felt that moment I think every mother feels. You know the one - where you look at your child and for the first time, your heart beats outside your body. You feel a love that is unlike any other you have felt before or will feel again. Oh, I felt that....so truly, and so deeply, it was almost painful in its intensity. In the musical, "Hello Dolly" there's a song entitled "It Only Takes a Moment" which seems to fit: "I held her for an instant, but my arms felt sure and strong. It only takes a moment to be loved a whole life long..." 

I thought (naively) that because we had to work so hard to get our children; that I was better prepared to cherish them than a parent for whom having children came easily. Now, I'm not sure having children is easy for any parent....it wrings your heart in so many ways.  When I first became a mother, I was told that I would love one stage of parenting or another more than others. I honestly found that I cherished each stage of my children's development. Each brought new challenges and new adventures. I delighted in seeing the world anew through my children's eyes. That being said, someone also told me that once your child begins to walk, every step they take is a step away from you. While that may sound melancholy, it is as it should be. Our children are not truly "ours"; they are entrusted to us by our Heavenly Father.

All too soon, milestone birthdays came and went. Chubby baby hands and feet gave way to long, elegant hands and feet that out-grew shoes every time I blinked. Phones, make-up and boys replaced dolls, princesses and fairies. Homework, science-fair projects, and research papers sped us at light-speed through school until before I could catch my breath; I was watching poised, beautiful young ladies walk across a stage to accept diplomas. 

I remember my dear mom struggling - and not always successfully with her own children growing up and moving away. At the time it felt as if the "apron strings" would strangle me. Once I had children of my own, I had so much greater empathy for my poor mom. Letting go is painful, but rewarding at the same time. Being a parent is often like that - a mix of emotions....bittersweet, hard and rewarding, frustrating and joyful, poignant and fun.  We hold them close as we prepare to let them go.

Somehow, in the after-high-school-life that was so very fleeting; handsome, charming young men snuck in and stole the hearts of my precious girls. Oh, how fast those courtships flew. Before I could catch my breath, my babies were beautiful, radiant brides, kneeling across the alter from their Prince Charmings. Each of my girls has now ridden off into their own Happily-Ever-After; leaving me alone with my own Prince Charming. Our sometimes noisy, chaotic house has settled down to a more quietly controlled chaos. Our girls and their sweethearts come back and the noise-level increases only to recede too quickly. There is great satisfaction in realizing that your children have grown up to be interesting people with whom you have become dear friends.

Don't get me wrong, we are enjoying this new phase of our lives. Kevin and I love being together. We love the relationships we have with our children and sons-in-law. Being "empty-nesters" is an adventure all its own.  Still, looking back, I realize that the song "It Only Takes a Moment" applies not just to the love at first sight we felt when we met our girls. It also applies to how quickly our time with them growing up has flown by. I often tell my friends who are just beginning this fascinating journey of parenthood - "Don't blink, treasure every second, because it flies by". In truth it only takes a moment to love a whole life long..."

Post-Birthday wishes...

This past Tuesday, the 24th, was Kevin's Birthday.  It was kind of a bummer-birthday for him. Not only did I have cataract surgery the day before, but I was on crutches and unable to bear any weight on my left foot, at all. So instead of me spoiling him and making a fuss over his special day; Kevin was literally waiting on me - hand and foot.  Needless to say, this Birthday did NOT go down as a winner in the record-books.

That being said. I need to take a moment to write this tribute to this wonderful man I married. He will probably be embarrassed by all this, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do....and I didn't get the chance to make a big fuss on his actual birthday, so I'm using my literary license to do it here.

I have said it before, but Kevin is quite frankly, the best man I know. He is handsome, quiet and strong and funny. He is kind and sweet and gentle (and handsome). He is fiercely loyal, and unfailingly honest (and handsome). He loves his Heavenly Father and honors the Priesthood he holds.

Kevin grew up with two brothers, so Heavenly Father decided to throw him into the deep end of the estrogen-ocean and give him only daughters to raise. He loves his girls...he is very protective of them, and has set a very high bench-mark for their husbands to follow. As a Dad, he could be strict, but he never failed to take time to play and have fun.To this day, the Christmas holidays aren't complete unless he's quoted the dialogue and sung every word of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". 

For some crazy reason, Kevin loves me. 

He puts up with all my faults, foibles, health-issues, and weaknesses - and loves me anyways. He sees my heart and loves me, heart and soul. His love is a gift beyond price.  We've been married for 27 years. 

There are still times when he walks in and (as my mom used to say) my heart goes "pitter-patter". (Did I mention that I think he's handsome?????  Just checking...lol)  All these years later, and he's still the one I want to wake up next to, the one whose hand I want holding mine, the one I want to slow-dance with in the kitchen like we're the only two people on earth, the one I want to grow old with.

So, even though this wasn't the most stellar of Birthdays for you, Kevin. I hope you'll accept this "tribute" with all the love prompted it.  I love you, Darlin'!

"I found a mountain in the middle of my road..."!

A little over a year ago I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis. It's an inflammatory disease that is affecting my lungs. It's been a long tiring treatment process, but it's better than the lung cancer which the doctors originally thought I had. I thought I was doing pretty well about keeping my moral up. It hasn't always been easy. I am not the most patient of patients, but I was trying to keep a positive outlook on things. After all, I was eating healthy and getting regular exercise. I FINALLY see the inches coming off and was feeling good about my progress.

About three weeks ago, I started having blurry vision. I also had a headache that never really went away. The headache alternated between bearable to migraine. Thinking that my eye-glass prescription needed to be updated, I took myself to the Eye Doctor. Imagine my dismay when I learned that I have severe cataracts in both eyes. The blurry vision is the cataract in my left eye which is clouding the vision-center of my eyeball. The Eye Doctor immediately made an appointment for me to see a specialist to discuss my options.

I have to be honest. This new health issue absolutely threw me. I was expecting to triumph over Sarcoidosis with faith and trust in Heavenly Father intact. Now the news that I was essentially going blind shook me to the core. I threw a really good pity-party...bet you're all glad I didn't invite you! lol I was pretty discouraged to say the least.

I threw a pity-party, but I didn't build a home and live in a pity-palace. I turned to my Father-in-Heaven. I felt His comfort. I felt Him whisper peace and calm assurances to my heart. I leaned heavily on my Savior Jesus Christ and felt Him buoy me up. I realized that I had SO much for which to be grateful; that dwelling on this setback is counter-productive.  I realized again that "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me." *Philippeans 4:13

We've since been to the eye-specialist. As he looked at the cataract in my left eye, he said, "Wow! That's bad!" Not very confidence-boosting, let me tell you! lol The right eye was just as bad, but not blocking my vision, yet. Bottom line is that surgery will fix it. YAY! Booo for ANOTHER surgery, but at least it can be treated. The best news is that in fixing the cataracts, they can correct my vision so I won't need distance glasses anymore. That will be amazing! I've worn glasses or contacts since I was 8 years old. I'm looking forward to that positive benefit.

Surgery on my left eye will be November 23 and on my right eye December 14. Recovery is supposed to be relatively quick and pain-free. I'm praying for THAT outcome!  

One thing I'm learning (again) is that I can do "hard things". I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. There is honestly nothing They could ask of me that I wouldn't willingly endure in order to return and live with them again. I have faith that if I cheerfully submit my will to Theirs and endure (again, cheerfully) to the end, I can live with them and my loved ones in a Celestial family forever. That is my goal and nothing is worth jeopardizing that. Sometimes we lose sight of that bigger picture and throw pity-parties...that's ok. It's part of life and learning to "endure well". I KNOW that turning to Heavenly Father and trusting Him to help us through hard-things is the best way to make it.

Hilary Weeks' music video for this song is one that I absolutely love. It's helped me focus on the view from the top of my "mountain" many times...

Don't let me steer you wrong...

...and other Sunday activities...

What a busy, fun, entertaining Sunday we've had!

First of all, Church was AWESOME! I love going to my Sunday meetings, partaking of the Sacrament (I NEED that renewal each week), and learning the Gospel. Today Kevin got to substitute teach in Gospel Doctrine. Since he was on-call for work, I helped him prepare the lesson so I could be back up in case he got paged. Let me tell you, I said a few prayers for him NOT to get paged! Ask me to teach almost anything else in Church, but Gospel Doctrine lessons intimidate me!  Kev did a great job!!!

We got home at the same time as our neighbors, Hallie and David Whiting. An across the driveway chat lead to an invitation for them to come over for dinner. The left-over stew from yesterday was a big hit! YUM!  We LOVE our neighbors! We finished just in time for our Home Teachers to come by.

We have the BEST home teachers! Shane Lee and his son, Ryker are faithful and fun! We love their visits. We always talk too long and feel badly for keeping them away from home so long!  But they keep coming back and we truly appreciate it!

After we wore out the Home Teachers, we jumped in the truck to go visit Mom Webster. But first we stopped to do some steer-wrangling.  No, you didn't read that wrong. We wrangled a Black Angus steer on the way to visit Mom. lol Yeah, it sounds silly to me when I read it, too.

As we drove from our house towards Pioneer Crossing, one of the steers from the local herd had gotten through the fence and was munching happily on the grass on the roadside. Dumb steer!  His buddies were all gathered at the fence, pushing on it to see what the big attraction was. Guess they thought the grass was greener....lol Knowing cows, it was only a matter of time before the whole herd followed our hapless steer out onto the road and got hurt. After making some inquiries to find out whose herd it was (without success), we decided to try and round him up and get him on the right side of the fence.

Kevin used the truck to keep him from running further into the street. With the help of a good samaritan who was out for a jog, I got the steer back to a section of fence that I could open. Our walking Big Mac expressed his opinion of our herding technique by lifting his tail and pooping in our general direction...ingrate!  I held the fence back while our jogger-friend encouraged our wandering moo-ster to go home. Once he saw the opening in the fence, he couldn't get back to his buddies fast enough. That's gratitude for you! lol With Sir Loin of Beef back in his grassy kingdom, we moooooved on to finish our journey to visit Mom.

Mom and Ella (Mom's best friend) had just finished dinner. We got hugs and kisses then they took us back to Mom's room so we could show Mom the "goodies" we'd brought. The lotion and body-wash were quickly over shadowed by the lure of chocolate. Mom and Ella made short work of the Milky Way candy bars we brought. Before we could say "YUM", they were out the door and back to their evening TV show. Here's your hat, what's your hurry?! lol They were done visiting just that fast, and we were dismissed. We could hear them laughing and chatting as we walked back out the door. At least they're happy and they have each other for company.

We've been counseled to "make the Sabbath a delight". I'm not sure if today qualifies as "a delight", but it certainly was entertaining!

Has it only been 16 years???

Has it only been sixteen years since this little sunshine-girl walked into our lives?

 But it was...16 years ago, we met our Jackie for the very first time.

So much has happened, and so much has changed. Some things haven't. She still makes this "Popeye" face...

Now she's all grown up and poised to step out into the world with her Lucas. 

The day we met Jackie, she was playing in a yard full of neighborhood kids and cousins. She stepped out of the crowd and into our hearts. She was a blond-haired, green-eyed pixie with a fun and spunky personality. It used to scare me how Jackie dove into life head-first and full-speed! She had such an exuberance for trying new things! Along the way, she got the bumps, bruises, and broken bones as evidence of that exuberance. lol

Now she's a tall, lovely young woman with a fun and spunky personality and a joi de vie (joy of living) that is all her own. 

She's filled our home with love, laughter, friends, noise, and fun. She's filled my heart in a way that's all her own and for which I am grateful beyond measure.

They say that a daughter is just a little girl who grows up to be your best friend. I am doubly blessed to have two daughters who have grown up to be two of my best friends.

Jackie walked into our family and filled a space we didn't even realize was there until she filled it so seamlessly. The last 16 years have gone by much too quickly, but oh, how grateful I am that we have had this lovely ray of sunshine to bless our lives this long.

J has definitely kept us on our toes and made being parents an adventure. I'm grateful for that, and look forward with great anticipation to see where life takes her and what further adventures she and Lucas can dream up for themselves.

Happy Anniversary, J. We love you with all our hearts.

I am a firm believer in...

...happily ever after! I believe "Happily Ever After" can happen to anyone. It can become your reality if you choose to live that way. My own "Happily Ever After" began in earnest 27 years ago, today.

That was the day I went here:

...and married him for time and all eternity:

Up to that point in my life, it was the happiest day of my life!

I can honestly say that every day since has just been better and better. That's not to say that there haven't been some REALLY difficult times that tested our faith, commitment, and devotion to each other. But we always worked together to get through them. For us, the key was keeping our Heavenly Father as our partner in every part of our lives. ...and it's worked for us.

Marrying Kevin was the best choice I could have made. He's my soul-mate, my confidant, my partner in crime, my shoulder to cry on, my knight in shining armor, and my very best friend. 

Twenty-seven years ago, we took our first steps into our own "Happily Ever After" and have never regretted it. Now we stand looking out into the rest of our "Happily Ever After" and realize the best is yet to come.

Happy Anniversary, my dearest Kevin. I love you with all of my heart!