Sunday August 24th

Today Louisa received her Young Womanhood Recognition Award!  Hooray!!!  Usually girls are racing to finish it before they turn eighteen, but Louisa is only thirteen-year-old, and she's done!  Woohoo!  My amazing kids are surely one of my greatest blessings.

For the last two days my back has been bothering me.  I wasn't sure what I had done to it.  Maybe it was all that butter I had to rinse that took forever?  I don't know.  But by the time the Captain and I made it home from the temple yesterday, I was in serious pain. I couldn't sit, couldn't stand, couldn't lay down.  It hurt a lot.  It was a little better this morning, but I still wasn't very excited about sitting through three hours of church.  I was pretty sure that was going to cause me more pain, and I was just not looking forward to it.  So it seemed like a blessing when Gretl developed a fever in the night.  I couldn't find anything wrong with her - she doesn't even have a runny nose - but she still had a fever this morning, so I was going to stay home with her (and lay on the floor most of the time), while everyone else went to church.

But....  then the Bishopric called, rushed Louisa up to the church for her interview, and announced that she would receive her Young Womanhood Recognition today.  What?!?

So I got Gretl dressed, through a skirt on, ran my fingers through my hair, and arrived at church so that I could be there for Louisa.  I figured we'd stay until Gretl couldn't handle it anymore, and she did amazingly well.  I decided to sit back and enjoy the meeting, since it looked like we were staying for a while.  Then Brigitta asked for a pen, and I was trying to give it to her even though there were several people between us.  Gretl was trying to steal it out of my hands, and Kurt was turned around backward so that he didn't know I was trying to pass him a pen for Brigitta.  So I kept leaning over more and more, with my arm stretched out, basically laying across the laps of Louisa and Kurt, to reach the pen to Brigitta, and I felt a dull click.  Brigitta finally took the pen, and I sat up again.  And do you know?  I think my back is fixed! 

Soon after that, Gretl came and climbed onto my lap.  I could feel that her fever was coming back.  She whimpered for about ten seconds, and then fell asleep.  I brought her home and put her in bed, and came to write about my back miracle, and found another miracle!

It rained most of the night a couple of days ago, and when I got up that morning, I saw that our desktop had turned off.  I figured the lightning had caused a brown-out, and the computer had just shut down. But when I turned it on, it didn't look good.  All our settings were gone.  The desktop looked just like we had just bought it again.  All our bookmarks, all our program settings, all our icons were gone.  I was a little irritated, to say the least.  All our files are backed up with Carbonite, so I wasn't worried about that, but all the little things that make a computer your own were gone. So I've just been using the laptop, because it still remembers my homepage and how to get my email. I've been meaning to sit down and set up the desktop computer again, but it was a big job that I wasn't excited about.

Today I brought Gretl home, put her in bed, and came to the computer.  And guess what?  It was back!  A familiar picture was on the desktop background, all my icons were where they were supposed to be, and my email program was all set up.  Woohoo!!!

I have no idea how that happened, but I am so very grateful.  God's hand has definitely been working in my life today.  Not only is my back fixed (I still have some sore muscles, but the sharp pain is gone), but my computer is also back.  I am truly blessed. 

Wednesday August 20th

I sent my kids off to school today.  I was excited and ready to have them back in school, but once they were all gone...  it was quiet.  Way too quiet.  I wasn't sure what to do with myself.  Finally Gretl woke up, and she did a good job of keeping me busy all day.

The thing she really really wanted to do the very most was swim in the hot tub.  Usually I can find one of the kids who is willing to go sit in the hot tub with Gretl, but today I was the only option.  I kept telling her we would go after I started the bread, after I loaded the dishwasher, after I started some laundry, but Gretl's wasn't the only voice urging me to go right now.  So I finally went and put on my swimming suit, and Gretl and I sat in the hot tub.

Later that day (probably about the time I would have gotten around
to sitting in the hot tub), it started to rain.  It kept raining all day, so there wouldn't have been another chance to go swimming.  While I wouldn't have felt bad about not being in a swimming suit, I would have felt bad that I put Gretl off until it was too late.  So I'm glad that I received an extra nudge from the Spirit to go spend time with my baby girl now, instead of later.

Also today, I came home from an errand to see the Captain's vegetable booth tipped over.  He came up with an idea to put a little stand in front of our house where people can leave their extra garden veggies, and anyone can take what produce they want.  He's calling it a Give and Take stand.  He's been working on it for a while, and finally got it up today.  It was my job to put a sign on it, but I hadn't gotten to it yet.  So when I came back from my errand and saw it tipped over, I went and lifted it back up and was surprised that it had fallen over.  The wind hadn't been blowing especially hard, and it's a pretty hefty chunk of wood.

As I turned to go inside after lifting the stand back into place, I felt pulled into the yard to look at my flower beds.  It's true I haven't taken the time to really enjoy them lately, so I took a little walk around the yard.  As I came back to the front yard, I saw that a van had pulled up in front of the Give and Take stand.  There weren't any vegetables on it yet, so as the guy got out and opened the back of his van, I was hoping that he was going to leave something from his garden.  Instead he took out a drill and started working on the stand.  Odd.

I wandered over to the two men standing there and said hello.  The one guy said, "You don't want this, right?" and I realized that the other man was using his drill to take the stand apart!  Often in our town, people leave things by the road that they don't want anymore, and people who do want them will stop and pick them up.  These guys thought that our stand was out by the road for anyone to take, and the reason it was laying down earlier was because they had tried to get it into the back of the van, but it wouldn't fit.  They had gone home for a drill to take it apart and come back to get it.  I assured them that we still wanted it, they apologized and put the screws back in, and went on their way.  I hurried in to make a sign for the stand and find a few vegetables to put on the shelf!

As I made the sign and put it up, it occurred to me that if I hadn't taken that little wander around the yard to see my flower beds, I would have never seen the men take our stand away.  It would have just disappeared, and we would never have known what happened.  I'm so glad that the Spirit stopped me from going in the front door today so that I could save the Give and Take stand.  Hopefully it will accomplish some good in the next few weeks.

Sunday August 17th

Liesl was supposed to sing in Sacrament Meeting today.  She was asked in the middle of the week, but as of 11:00 last night, she still didn't have a plan.  She didn't know what song she was going to sing, and she didn't have anyone to play the piano for her.  I could have stepped in at anytime during the last week, but I decided she's a big girl now, and she could take care of it, since she was the one who had been asked, and she was the one who had agreed to sing the song.

So this morning she got on the phone and found someone to play the piano for her, and got her "boy-friend-who's-not-her-boyfriend" (we'll call him Rolf) to sing with her.  They went to the church half an hour before church to run through it a couple of times, and they were ready to go.

The awesome part was when the youth speaker stood up to give her talk.  Her talk was on families, and she used the words from Love Is Spoken Here, which is the song that Liesl and Rolf were going to sing!  The girl read all the words and talked about the song and the importance of families. 

There was a couple of adult speakers, and then Liesl and Rolf got up to sing.  Liesl is on crutches because she fell and sprained her ankle at soccer practice, but she made it up the stairs without falling.  I was very glad.  They sang their song, and it sounded awesome!  They really did a good job for the amount of preparation that went into it.  Liesl made it back down the stairs again without any mishap, and safely back to her seat. 

If you would have asked me last night about Liesl's musical number for church today, I would have expressed my doubts about the whole thing.  But the Lord's hand was in it, not only in the performance, but in the selection of the song.  I'm sure he must have helped her with those stairs, too.

Friday August 15th

Today the Captain was going to another town for a meeting.  I asked if I could come with him, because I had
an errand I wanted to run in a town near his meeting.  The town is more than an hour away, which meant I would be gone half the day, but I went anyway.  I dropped off the Captain at his meeting, and ran my errand.  The errand was a total flop; it didn't work at all.  I still had lots of time to kill, so I went to the temple.  I didn't think I would have time for an endowment session, so I decided to do some initiatories.  I walked up to the desk, and there were about eight temple workers gathered around it.  They stepped aside so I could talk to the lady behind the desk, and I asked if I could do some initiatories today.  All the ladies around the desk gasped, and one clapped her hands together.  Then they all got great big smiles on their faces, and started talking about how it was a miracle.  I wasn't sure what the miracle was, but I told them I was happy to be their miracle. :) 

After I was dressed, the lady in charge told me that she had been praying for another patron to do initiatories today.  Pretty cool, huh?  I read once that the reasons we have for moving, such as jobs or schooling, are really just the Lord's tools for putting us where he wants us to be.  I'm thinking it was the same with my day today.  My errand I wanted to run didn't work out at all, but it put me where I was supposed to be today.  I had an awesome experience in the temple, and I'm glad I could be where the Lord wanted me to be so He could answer someone's prayer.

Thursday August 14th

Wow.  That was awesome.  We were reading scriptures with the kids before bedtime just a little bit ago, and my mind was wandering a little as everyone else was taking their turns reading.  Finally it was my turn, and the verses I read said exactly, exactly what I had been thinking while everyone else was reading.  How crazy is that? 

17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.

18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. 
19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted. 
20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. 
21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.

 Nephi goes on to talk about how angels have come down and ministered to him, and I can't say that I've had that experience, but all the rest of it is exactly how I was feeling tonight.  It's crazy to think that Nephi, who is definitely one of my heroes and someone I don't feel I can even touch as far as righteousness, was feeling exactly the same as I was tonight.  And yet he did so many amazing things!  Maybe there's hope for me yet, huh?

Wednesday August 13th

Today was a school shopping day.  We usually find a day and go north to some bigger towns with more stores, but this year we don't have a single day when everyone can go.  That means that we're finding what we can in our little town.  It has been awesome what we've been able to find!  Maybe I haven't given our little town enough credit, or maybe the Lord was just taking care of us.  Either way, we've been able to find everything that everyone needed or wanted without going more than a couple miles from home!

Liesl is very particular about her jeans, and we managed to find her two pair that she was happy about.  Friedrich is also very particular about his shorts.  He's not so fussy about the type, or the color, or the fit.  What he's worried about are the pockets.  He went all the way around a round clothes rack today, putting his hand in the pocket of each pair of shorts.  The shorts with the deepest pockets were put in the cart.  He tried them on at my insistence, but they fit fine, and he brought them home without ever mentioning their style or color.  Louisa is out of town, but told me to find her some plain T-shirts in several different colors, and that would be fine.  I managed to find exactly what she described, and they were 'buy two-get one free.'  Sweet! 

Kurt was worried that he wouldn't be able to find some good shoes without going to a bigger town, but we took a look, anyway, and he found some!  In the past he has been annoyed that every pair of tennis shoes in his size lights up somehow.  I guess he considers himself too big for light-up shoes.  There weren't many that didn't have lights, but he did find a pair, and they had bright orange laces, which he thought was super cool. 

Brigitta and Marta are going shopping tomorrow, and I hope they'll find some clothes that they like.  So far, though, the Lord has taken very good care of us in helping us find everything we needed without ever leaving town.

Tuesday August 12th

Remember this post, where I complained about going to bed so late every night?  Well, the Lord decided to help me out.  Usually after we get the kids to bed, the Captain and I will sit at our computers for a while.  I'll type a blog post or browse Facebook, and he will check email and watch funny videos with me.  It's one of the reasons we go to bed so late.  But for the last couple of weeks there has been a guy staying with us, and he has decided that we've got a pretty good idea, there.  So now he comes and sits on our computer after the kids are in bed.  The Captain can still get on his computer, but mine is taken.  I was a little annoyed, as you can imagine, but then I realized that this meant I would have to post earlier, and thus get to bed earlier!  I didn't post at all yesterday because I missed my chance and didn't have a computer, but I did get to bed earlier than usual!  Today I am only a little earlier, but I'm getting straight to my post without browsing Facebook for an hour first, so that I can get done before the guy comes and starts reading over my shoulder waiting for me to be done.  It's annoying, but it's really a blessing.  I needed to get to bed earlier, and here is the solution. Sometimes God's blessings aren't convenient, but like any good parent, He does what's best for us even if we don't like it.

Sunday August 10th

Today the Lord's hand in my life came at my request.  For the last week there has been a man staying with us.  He needed a place to stay, and we have an extra room, so the Captain invited him to stay with us for a couple of weeks while he looks for a place to live.  For the last couple of days, his three children have been staying here, as well.  Much to my shame, I have had a very bad attitude.  The kids were driving me crazy, and I just wanted them out of my house.  They were in need of my charity, but I couldn't seem to muster any for them.  I felt like they had been foisted on me, and I was somewhat resentful.  I knew that the Lord would want me to be kind to these kids and their father, and that their circumstances were beyond their control.  They hadn't chosen to stay at my house for the fun of it, they were here because they had no where else to go.  But they were still driving me crazy.

So I prayed for a change of heart.  I asked the Lord to lend me some of His love for these children and to be able to serve them without a grudge in my heart.  I really wanted this blessing, and I was pretty sure the Lord would grant it, since it was a righteous desire, but I wasn't sure how or when it would arrive. I woke up the next morning after my prayer ready to be a new person, but it just didn't happen.  Fifteen minutes with those kids running through my house, and I was as tense and irritated as ever.  I tried, I really tried, to think kindly of them and to be patient with them, but oh how I wanted my home back.

Today I went to church, glad to be away from home for a couple of hours.  Little did I know what was waiting for me there.  The full-time Elders were speaking, and the first one stood up and talked about how the less-actives were just as important as the non-members in our area.  This hit home, since the family that is staying with us are definitely less active.  The second Elder talked about how we need to be uncomfortable.  That definitely struck a chord, since I have been extremely uncomfortable.  He talked about how the inactive people they talk to say that they are comfortable with where they are at, and don't feel the need for any changes in their lives.  So that means that if we are comfortable in our lives right now, we need to do something to change that.  We need to do something outside of our comfort zone and get uncomfortable, because that is how we will grow.  Then the third speaker got up, who is a friend of ours who just returned from his mission.  In his talk, he said that the purpose of this life was to learn how to love.  The first commandment is to love the Lord thy God, and the second is to love thy neighbor.  All the prophets and scripture heroes served the Lord because of love, and our ability to keep the commandments comes from love. I needed to learn how to love.  I need to learn how to love even those who are difficult to like. I needed to learn how to love those children.

I cried all through Sacrament Meeting.  I knew that I had been given an opportunity to grow, and I needed to use it as a stepping stone, not a stumbling block.  I was humbled and ready to serve those kids with a full heart.

I didn't get to try, though.  As soon as we got home from church, the kids left.  Their dad is still here, but he wasn't really the one driving me crazy.  So I don't know if my change of heart would have endured a real-life trial or not.  Or maybe the Lord was just waiting for me to learn that lesson before he took the kids away.  I don't know how it would have turned out, but I am grateful for three different talks that all seemed to be directed straight to me today, and for the renewed testimony that the Lord hears and answers my prayers.

Saturday August 9th

The Captain was helping a lady move today.  She was moving out of an apartment, and moving most of her stuff into a storage unit.  The Captain had been working on stacking boxes for most of the morning.  The boxes were in rows about 20 feet deep, and 8 feet high along both sides.  As they were taking the last 5 or 6 boxes from the apartment to the storage unit, this lady realized that the formula for her premature infant had been packed, and she didn't know where it was.  She needed it immediately, and didn't have the ability to just go buy some more.  She asked The Captain and the other men with him if they could please look for the formula in the storage unit.  Oh boy.

Between the Lord and the Captain, that formula was found in a miraculous amount of time.  It was, of course, in the farthest corner of the storage unit, but the Captain was the one who had been stacking the boxes, so he had some idea of where it might be.  He climbed over all the stuff in the storage unit, to the back corner, and dug through boxes until he found it.  I'm sure that without his help, the lady would never have found the formula.  At least not before her infant was walking, anyway. 

I'm sure that the Lord was helping both that lady and the Captain today in quickly finding formula to feed that baby.

Thursday August 7th

Our internet has been having issues.  That's my excuse for not writing yesterday.  But it's a pretty good excuse because I had no internet access at all.  Yesterday afternoon the wireless went out, then the desktop didn't have any internet.  The laptop kept up the connection for a few more hours until I picked up the modem to see if there were any loose cords (there weren't).  That ended all internet in the house, so we were pretty sure the issue was with the modem.  By that time it was late at night, so we ended the day and figured tomorrow would come. 

And come it did!  This morning found me on the phone with a very sweet customer service representative for whom English was obviously a second language.  I told her that there was a problem with the modem, but I'm sure her job requires her to go through all the troubleshooting steps.  I spent at least an hour typing in codes, holding down buttons, and doing everything I was told to do.  Nothing helped, though, and finally she put in the order for a new modem which should arrive tomorrow.  (Or if not tomorrow, then Monday.) 

But then....    As soon as I hung up from talking with the customer service rep, Liesl said, "Hey, I have wireless!"  So I checked the laptop, and it had a connection!  I checked the desktop, and it was online as well!  Hooray! As soon as our internet came back on, I saw that I had a message from one of my old young women. (Old as in neither of us are in Young Women anymore, not old as in aged.)  She was asking me to go check on her mom, whom I visit teach.  She had sent the message just 35 minutes before the internet came back on.  I sent a message back saying that of course I would, and the day went from there.  Her mom isn't doing great, but I explained to her that anytime we try to make positive changes in our lives, Satan will do everything in his power to stop us.  She didn't want to talk about what was bothering her, but I assured her that God was on her side and had the power to help her through it.  She seemed to appreciate our talk, and I was able to send a message back to her daughter telling her that I thought her mom would be alright.

The internet is still working many hours later as I type this post, but I think we'll still replace the modem when the new one comes.  I'm pretty sure that our current modem is only working right now because the Lord needed me to receive that message today, and not tomorrow. 

Tuesday August 5th

Most evenings at five o'clock I start to work on dinner.  I really should start at four, but five o'clock is when I usually start.  Somehow, as soon as I begin, someone comes up with an emergency that I need to take care of.  This is why I should start at four, because even though I should be able to have dinner ready in an hour, it usually takes two hours to make dinner and take care of everyone's emergencies.  Tonight's emergency was Kurt's.  He needed to bring his bike to Scouts at six o'clock, but his bike has had a flat tire for weeks.  He's been shown how to do it, but there's always some reason why he's sure he can't do it - the patches are all gone (he says), he can't find the pump, the tire won't come off, etc.  Tonight, though, he had a deadline, and he needed to get it done.  So, of course, he picked five o'clock to do it.

Meanwhile, I really needed to get dinner done because not only was Kurt leaving at six, but the three oldest were all leaving at six thirty to attend their activities.  This meant that dinner couldn't be served at seven tonight if I wanted those four kids to eat before they left.

Poor Kurt came in the house crying at six fifteen because he couldn't get the tire off.  I helped him get the tire off, get the tube out, and find the hole, then went back in the house to continue dinner.  It only took a few minutes for him to be upset and come find me again because he had lost the hole and couldn't get the pump to attach to the tube so he could find it again.  Sigh.  He really just needed someone to come help him through the project.

The Captain was trying to service some vending machines around town.  He was trying to get to as many as possible before the businesses closed, and I knew that many of them closed at six o'clock.  I felt bad calling him, but I did anyway, and  I couldn't do both at the same time, so I called the Captain to see if he could come and help Kurt.

He is just the sweetest man, because he came right home to help.  I offered to let him fix dinner while I helped Kurt, but he decided he'd be better at fixing a bike.  :)  So I went back to fixing dinner, and the Captain had that bike fixed in under fifteen minutes.  Whew!  I managed to feed everyone dinner before they took off, and we all lived happily ever after (at least for the rest of the day.) I am just amazed at the wonderful man the Lord gave me.  Not only is he a sweet, patient dad, he's also an amazing fix-it man.  I am so glad the Lord sent him into our lives and for all that he does to help us every day.  Thanks, Sweetheart!

Monday August 4th

Today I worked on entering things in the fair.  I had two photos I wanted to get turned in, and it seriously took me all day to get it done.  I'm kind of a mat snob, because I used to work in a gallery and do all the matting and framing, so I know what a good job is supposed to look like.  It's hard, though, when you don't have the equipment to do the job right.  We did get it done, in the end, and with a lot of the Captain's help (and the Lord's, I'm sure), and they are officially entered.  Whew!

Tomorrow is the day to turn in baked goods, and I thought I would enter some of my bread.  Now, I make some awesome bread, but it is a bit temperamental.  I haven't quite decided what makes the difference, but sometimes it looks great, and sometimes it doesn't.  It almost always tastes great, but sometimes it comes out of the oven looking way worse than when I put it in.

So tonight I was making bread to the put in the fair, and I needed it to look good.  I wanted it to look great, but I would have settled for good.  So I was praying all through the process, asking Heavenly Father to please make my bread beautiful.

I was way excited when I pulled it out of the oven and it looked good!  I'll pick the prettiest one and take it to the fair tomorrow, and I'll win a sweepstakes ribbon and become a national bread-making celebrity!!!  And you can say that you knew me back when I was a lowly blogger.  Hooray! :)

Or, maybe I'll just make sure to thank the Lord tonight for taking the time to make my bread pretty, when I know he has much bigger concerns.  It is wonderful to me that he would take the time to help little ol' me when half the world is on the brink of war, and most of the rest is already in one. It makes the attractiveness of my bread seem fairly unimportant.  And yet the Lord still thought it was important enough to make sure it happened.  Amazing.

P.S.  I won a Reserve ribbon!  That's like a second-place Sweepstakes.  Woohoo!

Sunday August 3rd

Boy was I tired this morning.  It has been quite a weekend, and I am burnt out.  I was so tired that I almost felt sick.  I seriously considered claiming I was sick and staying home today.  It would be kind of nice to send everyone to church, and stay home in a silent house to take a nap.  BUT, I didn't.  I went.  Sigh.

I'm so glad I did!  I led the music in Sacrament Meeting, and then sat down to hear some awesome testimonies.  Some months testimony meeting is more about people wanting a chance to talk in the microphone than anything else, but this week was awesome!  People bore testimonies of Christ and His atonement and the Spirit was so strong.  I left feeling very uplifted and spiritually fed.  I think that's what I needed even more than a nap, and the Lord knew it.  He usually knows what I need better than I do, and loves me enough to deliver it, even when it's not what I want.

Saturday August 2nd

Saturday we woke up on the mountain, since we had spent the night for the Elders Quorum social.  The kids found an old abandoned raft on the lake and took it out a little ways. The water was shallow enough that they could just walk out to the raft, but since we had just finished reading Huckleberry Finn, the kids got a real kick out of it.  It might seem silly, but I think that was evidence of the Lord's hand in our lives.

We had been reading about Huck and Jim floating down the river, and kids had been so intrigued.  They wanted to know all kinds of details about the Mississippi River and how to steer a raft, and you could tell they were just itching to try it.  Unfortunately we live an extremely long way away from the Mississippi River, and the chances of them riding a raft anytime soon seemed extremely remote.  But then we go to a mountain lake and find an old falling apart raft that the kids could push out a little ways and feel just like Huckleberry Finn.  Our God truly does love us and pays attention to the smallest details. 

The other evidence of God's hand in our lives today is that Friedrich is home!  Hooray!!!  It feels like he has been gone forever.  After his week-long Scout camp he went up north with a friend to watch Wicked (I am so jealous), and then went to dinner and rollerskating.  I know that they were thinking about waiting to bring him home on Sunday because there was someone already going to make the trip on Sunday.  But I was texting like crazy, offering to meet them halfway, telling them how much I needed to see my son.

And it worked!  They brought him down, and I met them part-way, and got home way after midnight, but he's home!  I am so glad.  When he was a child, I was sure he would never survive past the age of five.  (Partly because I wanted to kill him most days.) But now he's a strapping 14-years-old, and he's just so fun to have around.  I told him he's not allowed to leave home anymore, but for now I'm just so glad that the Lord brought him home safe and sound.

Friday August 1st

It's amazing how easy it is to slack off.  Friday night we were at an Elders Quorum Social where we camped overnight, so I wasn't able to post.  Somehow that made it ok in my mind to not post on Saturday, either.  It's really not fair how easy it is to develop bad habits, and how very difficult it is to develop and keep good habits.  Really not fair.

So, anyway, the Captain has been the Elders Quorum President for a couple of years, and in that time has tried again and again to hold socials.  It sounds like a good idea, but they always end up being family outings for us because no one else shows up.  Really, it's sad how many times we've cooked ourselves hamburgers or eaten all the pizza because we're the only ones at the "social."  It's not his fault, it's just that everyone is so busy, and in the end sometimes a social just isn't the most important thing to do on any given day. 

The Captain is one of the most optimistic people I know, though, so he just keeps trying.  On Friday we headed up the mountain to the lake, and I was really really hoping that someone else would be there.  It's sad that I had thought up a backup plan for what to do when we were camping all alone.  But I didn't need it!  There were at least 50 people at dinner that night!  Whoa!  I was so impressed!  We had a way better turnout at a social held over thirty minutes from home than we've ever had in our own neighborhood.  Maybe that is the key, huh?  But I was so grateful to the Lord for sending all those people to the social.  The Captain was giddy with excitement at the great turnout. 

I got the idea today that Clark's wife may read my blog, so if she does, then a big shout out to you!  Clark and his wife bought all the food, prepared it all, and basically pulled off an awesome activity. Maybe they were the evidence of God's hand in our lives even more than the people attending. 

Thursday July 31st

I have had the hardest time waking up in the mornings, lately.  I'm sure that part of the reason is that I'm writing on this blog at 11:00 at night, but even if I get a full eight hours of sleep, I just can't drag myself out of bed.  I'm guessing if I did better at obeying the commandment to retire to my bed early and arise early, then I would do better, but how do you do that in the summer when every kid in the neighborhood is outside playing until ten o'clock? 

But this morning I did it!  I woke up all by myself an hour before anyone else was awake.  And I did it without any alarm clock!  So how did I do that?  It can only have been divine intervention.  Someday I will get to watch the replay, and then I will see the angels in my room, tickling my feet and humming in my ear.  However it happened, it was awesome!  I felt so on top of things today!  It's amazing what that extra time can do for a girl.

I'm not holding my breath that it will happen again tomorrow, but today I am grateful that the Lord woke me up early this morning. 

Wednesday July 30th

The Captain had a good day today.  He had been hired to teach a college math class, and now he is going to teach another one!  That makes two math classes.  Hooray!  It's still not enough to support us, but it's getting closer.  The Lord definitely has His hand in our lives.

Tuesday July 29th

Every spring I enthusiastically plant a garden.  I love the idea of having a garden, and actually I love working in my garden.  I really enjoy pulling weeds.  I think that is probably my favorite thing to do in my garden, crazy enough.  But the whole project starts to lose charm by the end of July.  That's silly, because that's about when I start actually getting ready-to-eat vegetables from garden. But, to be honest, I've never really been into the harvest.  I'd rather pull the weeds, and let someone else deal with the produce.  I know, I know.  That's the whole point.  But you already knew I was odd, and if you didn't before, it's now been confirmed. 

Anyway, I have been meaning to get out to my garden for a week, now.  Life has just been so crazy, with Pioneer Day and everything else that I just haven't.  I think about it every day, that I ought to go out and see how it's doing and give it some water, but I don't get it done. 

Well, today the Lord decided to help me out with my To Do list.  He watered my garden for me.  It does usually rain a little in the afternoons most days in the end of July and first of August, but today it rained for real.  It gave us a good downpour, then a little while late it gave us another one!  It seriously soaked everything, and it did such a good job that my garden is quite thoroughly watered!  Woo hoo! 

Monday July 28th

Today the Captain was going up north to check vending machines, and he needed someone to go with him.  He likes to have someone to count the quarters and record numbers while he drives to the next location.  It saves him a lot of time, plus he has someone to talk to and hang out with all day.  He tried to talk Leisl into going with him, but she just wasn't interested.  So I finally said I would go with him, but I was a little worried about my kids.  I hate being gone all day, even though I know I have kids big enough to babysit, and they're usually fine.  I still hate it.  So as we were getting ready to go this morning, I started praying and asking the Lord to tell me if I should just stay home.  I was about ready to stay home, anyway, and if I had gotten even the smallest nudge toward bagging the trip, I would have in a heartbeat.  But the Captain needed me, and so I got in the car and drove away. 

After we had gone a little ways, we pulled out the food we had packed for breakfast, and I said a blessing on it while we drove.  In my prayer, I asked the Lord to keep my kids safe while we were gone.  Or, at least, I tried to say that.  I got so choked up that I couldn't really say the words, and I cried through the rest of the prayer.  I knew that my kids would be fine, and that we would be fine, as well. 

And we were!  The Captain and I had a good day of vending, getting everything done in record time.  There was even one place that is usually not open on Mondays, but there just "happened" to be someone inside who could let us in to check the vending machine.  Our van worked great, and everything went well.  My kids were good, too.  I haven't heard many details, other than that Gretl missed me, but everyone seemed happy when we returned.  Leisl and Louisa had fixed dinner, cleaned my kitchen, and vacuumed my living room.  What awesome kids, huh? 

Clearly the Lord had a hand not only in reassuring me this morning, but also in keeping us all safe and helping us have a good day.

Sunday July 27th

Yesterday I sent Friedrich off to Timberline.  He attended last year, but this year he is on staff.  He

has had lots of meetings leading up to this, and seemed pretty excited about going, but I have had a hard time.  For some reason it just hit me a lot harder this year to let him go away for a week. I tried to talk him out of going just so he could stay home and hang out with me, but he wasn't so excited about that idea. 

I sent him off yesterday, and today I was already missing him tons.  So I was delighted when I answered my phone today and heard Friedrich's voice! Apparently the kid who was supposed to be the trumpet player for this year's camp forgot his trumpet or couldn't come, or something, so Friedrich was calling to see if I could send his trumpet up with a boy who is going up to camp in the morning.  Oh, and he also forgot his toothbrush and a jacket.  (Boys!)  So I got to talk to him for a minute and hear how things were going so far.  I told him about our crazy Sacrament Meeting today and how much we miss him already.

I was excited to have the chance to send some things to him, because I had forgotten to write the letter I was supposed to write.  They ask the parents to write a letter to their boys that the staff can deliver to them later in the week, and I had forgotten to write one and send it with Friedrich.  I was feeling kind of bad that everyone would get a letter but him.  So I sat down and wrote Friedrich a letter and put it in a bag with a jacket and his toothbrush.  I threw in a few jokes, too, just because I was missing my boy and wanted to connect with him somehow.  I took all the stuff over to the address he had given me, and felt a little better. 

I'm still missing my boy, but I'm glad that the Lord gave me a chance to write that letter and to talk to him on the phone for a minute.  I hope He will take care of Friedrich and help the days go by quickly until he's home again.

Saturday July 26th

We did it!  Oh man, I did not realize how much work a yard sale was.  After spending all of yesterday getting ready for it, we spent all of today actually doing it.  I mean, you write 8:00 to 12:00 on the signs, but it's really more like 6:30am to 6:00pm.  We got up early to start getting ready and setting stuff up.  The Captain had gone out and put signs up last night, so people started showing up at 7:00, before we were even ready. 

But we pulled it together and were mostly ready before the crowds came.  Quite a few people came, and I'm sure it was the Lord sending them over, because we did not get it into the newspaper, and we only had a couple of signs around town to let people know about it.  But people came, anyway, and they carried away a lot of our junk.  We didn't make a ton of money, but we got rid of a lot of stuff. 

The stuff that didn't sell was loaded up and hauled to Deseret Industries , so when it was all over, we had tons more room in our garage.  Ah, it feels so good to get rid of stuff!  Actually, I'm exhausted, but my spirit feels lighter with fewer possession to take care of and store.  

Friday July 25th

It has been a little over a year since we moved into this house.  Even as we were packing stuff up from our old house, we were saying that we needed to have a yard sale.  After sixteen years of marriage, we had collected a crazy amount of stuff.  So as we unpacked all our stuff in the new house, we started setting stuff aside to put in the yard sale, which we would have soon. 

But you know how life is - it just keeps coming at you, and things you meant to do just sometime don't happen.  Pretty soon it was fall, and then winter, and we said we would have a yard sale in the spring.  So spring came and went, and there was just something going on every Saturday.  Even when there wasn't something going on that Saturday, there was usually so much going on during the week that I didn't have time to sort through stuff and get everything ready.  Sure, I guess we could have just opened the garage, invited people to look through our junk, and make us an offer if you find something good.  But I really wanted to organize things and have everything in the yard sale that I wanted to get rid of.

Two weeks ago we decided that that Saturday was the one, and we were finally going to do it.  But one thing led to another, and Friday night rolled around, and nothing was ready.  So we said that the Saturday in two weeks would be good.  We would do the yard sale then.  And, miracle of miracles, it looks like it's actually going to happen.  We have stuff set out on tables, and the Captain built me some cool clothes racks to hang clothes on.  I've gone through nearly every box in the house and found tons of stuff to sell.  So here we go!  After a year of saying we were going to do it, tomorrow we finally are!  And I'm sure we would still be putting if off without the Lord's help. 

Thursday July 24th

Happy Pioneer Day!  This morning we did the usual parade watching, and the kids came home with tons of candy. But then in the afternoon, the Captain wanted to go fly with his friends.  See, here's the story.  The Captain's friend is way into paragliding.  Every year on Pioneer Day he invites all his paraglider buddies to come and fly with him.  We really do have some great flying sites around here.  He usually gets at least a dozen to show up.

The Captain was off flying with this group this morning, so we had to take a small car to the parade.  It was crowded, to say the least.  I was figuring it would be the same in the evening, since the Captain would have the van again to take pilots up the mountain for the evening flight.  But the Captain was such a sweetheart, and he told the other pilots that he couldn't

drive because his family needed the van.  Awww, so thoughtful!  Then he went to an afternoon theatrical production with me, and missed getting a ride with someone else.  So, being the sweet wife that I am (at least once a year), I offered to drive him up.  Now, driving up to this particular launch site is not the smoothest drive in the world.  A high clearance vehicle is mandatory, and nerves of steel are helpful.  The Captain drove up the mountain, and found all his paragliding friends.  He was good, then, to either fly down or catch a ride, so I turned around and headed for home.

I've driven down that mountain before, so I wasn't too worried about it, but I kept getting distracted by the views.  It was just so cool to be up so high! 
So I got out a few times to take pictures. 
I had already decided that if I made it down the hill alive, that would probably be today's evidence of God's hand in my life, so I took a couple of pictures of the crazy road. 
As I got out to take this picture... 

I went to step out of the van, and realized it was rolling.  Scariest moment ever!  I wasn't all the way out yet, so I managed to get myself back in the seat and hit the brakes before it rolled too far.  Whew!  Then I realized that because I had been going down the mountain in Second, instead of just Drive, I hadn't moved the gear shift quite enough clicks to get it all the way to Park.  I had moved it the same number of clicks that I usually do, but this time that wasn't enough, and it only got me to Reverse before I tried to step out of the van.  I realize that even more than the Lord's hand, this post reveals the absence of clear thinking on my part.  It's true.  But the Lord must have something more in mind for this airhead, since he decided it wasn't my day to die today, and for that I am extremely grateful.

Wednesday July 23rd

On Saturday I was giving Gretl a bath, and she was not cooperating.  She had apparently decided that I needed to get just as wet as she was.  We did get her hair washed in the end, but I was soaking wet.  I didn't even think about it for quite a while - I'm not sure how long - until my phone made a weird sound.  Suddenly I realized it had been in my front pocket when Gretl had doused me, and must have gotten all wet.  When I took it out of my pocket, things did not look good.  The screen was completely white, so I took the battery out and went looking for some rice to put it in.  For four days I've been without a phone.  It was weird, but it was actually kind of nice.  I felt free!  I never needed to check for messages, and I didn't feel like I was on a leash when I was away from home.  On the flip side, I never knew what time it was, and I didn't know if there was something going on at home that I should know about.  Ah, the complexities of modern life. 

Even though I was kind of secretly enjoying not having my phone with me, I still realized that I needed a phone.  It would be nice to just not worry about about anyone else who might need me, but that's not the life I live.  So I have said many prayers over the last four days, asking Father in Heaven to save my phone.   I tried to pray with faith, but I just couldn't tell how Heavenly Father felt about it all.  So I decided that whatever happened would be for the best, and tried not to worry.

Yesterday I checked my phone, and it looked great when I turned it on, but after half a minute the screen started to scramble, so I hurried and took the battery back out and stuck it back in its back of rice.

This morning when I prayed, though, I knew that my prayer had been answered and my phone would be just fine.  Sure enough, when I took it out of the rice and put the battery in, it looked great.  It has continued to work perfectly all day long, and I am so very grateful that I'm not looking for a new phone right now. 

Tuesday July 22nd

It's a hard thing to be a little brother.  I don't know by personal experience, of course, but I watch Kurt and realize how tough it is to be overshadowed by a big brother.  Big brothers are awesome, of course.  I don't have any older brothers, but I definitely have big brothers, and I think they're great.  But then again, I'm not a little brother. 

Kurt has been trying his whole life to beat Friedrich - at anything.  The fact that he is four years younger and will never be as big as Friedrich is completely irrelevant in Kurt's mind.  He thinks he should be able to run faster, jump higher, hit harder, throw farther, and do everything not only as well as Friedrich, but better.  The sad part is that this hardly ever happens.  He's just a lot younger and a lot smaller.  But that never stops him from trying.  No matter how bad he gets beaten, he will come back for more.  Every time.  It kind of breaks my heart.  Every time.

But today Friedrich was away from home, and Kurt was hanging around with nothing to do.  The Captain had some students at the house, and for a little while they didn't have anything to do, either.  So they started a chess tournament, of sorts.  There were three boys that were all older than Kurt by quite a bit, but there were only three of them.  So when they found out that Kurt knew how to play chess, they invited him to play chess with one of them while the other two played.  I'm sure they thought that the boy playing against Kurt would just play around and humor him while the other two played a real game.  They quickly found out that their mistake.

It didn't take Kurt very long to have his opponent in check mate.  They played again, since the older boy was sure it had been dumb luck.  Kurt once again beat him soundly.  That boy was the youngest of the three students, so a boy older than him decided to step in and play against Kurt.  That boy also found himself in check mate after only a few moves. 

I'm not trying to tell you that Kurt is some kind of chess prodigy.  He really isn't.  And if Friedrich had been home, he could have beaten Kurt in no time.  But I believe the Lord's hand was in our lives in keeping Friedrich away from home this afternoon.  Kurt needed a chance to shine, and this was the perfect opportunity.  He had been practicing with cousins at the reunion, and had lots of practice.  The three older boys really weren't very good at chess.  But they were amazed by Kurt's abilities.  They marveled and wondered, and told each other again and again that Kurt was still in elementary school.  The last student refused to play against Kurt at all because he knew he would be beaten.  Hahaha.

Kurt loved every minute, and I could see his self-esteem growing with every amazed comment.  I am so glad that the Lord gave Kurt a chance to shine this afternoon - to show off his amazing abilities without being in Friedrich's shadow.  He is an amazing kid, but the world doesn't always see it, and neither does he.  I'm sure the Lord does, though, and today He gave those students, as well as Kurt, a glimpse of the awesomeness hiding inside of my ten-year-old boy.

Monday July 21st

We are hoping to have a yard sale on Saturday.  The problem is, we've been hoping to have a yard sale the last several Saturdays, and it doesn't happen.  The main reason is because I haven't gotten things organized to make it happen.  There is the option of just opening the garage, having people rummage through our junk, and having them make us an offer on anything they find.  But....  that is probably not the best way to go about it.  So today I was determined to get to work and organize all our junk for a yard sale this weekend. 
Just as soon as I make breakfast,
and start some laundry,
 and clean up the kitchen,
and the list goes on. 

But in the middle of all this, I had the thought that what I really needed to do was visit a couple of people.  So I bagged all my other plans and walked out the door to visit the young mom down the block who just had her third baby while her husband is at basic training.  Then to the neighbors down the street who moved in a few weeks ago, and finally home again to find a recently returned missionary friend at our house with whom I spent the rest of the afternoon visiting.  (Yes, I realize some of those may not have been complete sentences.  Please don't tell my high school English teachers... or my sister who is a high school English teacher.)

I didn't get any stuff sorted or organized for the yard sale on (hopefully) Saturday.  But I did visit with some people that I think needed my attention, and I'm pretty sure that's what the Lord wanted me to do today.  Maybe the yard sale isn't as important as the people around me.  Maybe the laundry and dishes aren't as important as helping others.  Maybe the Lord had a hand in my day today.  And for that I am grateful.

Sunday July 20th

I haven't always been the greatest visiting teacher.  In fact, I've often been a lousy visiting teacher.  But I've been trying to do better lately.  I have been visiting one lady for several years now who doesn't attend church.  She's a very sweet lady, and I always enjoy visiting with her.  Her girls were in the Young Women program while I was a leader, and so I know her family a little that way.  I have invited her to church lots of times, and she always agrees that she should go, but never shows up.  I have invited her to Relief Society activities and ward parties and she is always friendly about it, but never shows up. 
Her daughter, though, just returned from a mission.  This same daughter told me years ago that she thought if her mom had a really good visiting teacher, that she might come to church.  It wasn't long after that I was made her mom's visiting teacher.  I felt like I owed it to the daughter to do my part in trying to get her mom to church while she was gone on her mission, and I tried, but it just didn't happen.  The daughter came home from her mission a few weeks ago, but I still hadn't seen her.  That explains why I was so excited to see her walking toward me after Sacrament Meeting today.  But I was even more excited when I saw her mom walking behind her.  They had both come to Sacrament Meeting! Hooray!

The mom said that the daughter had finally convinced her to come by reading her most of 3 Nephi chapter 13.  Now why didn't I think of that?   However it happened, I am so glad that this sweet lady finally made it to church.  The daughter is moving away soon, and it will be up to me again to get her to church.  I hope that I can do it.  I am grateful for the Lord's hand in my life today in showing me how we should never give up on anyone.  They are all His children, and if we have patience, He can help us see how to touch each and every one.

Saturday July 19th

Hello!  We've been at a family reunion for the last couple of days, which is my excuse for not writing.  It's a pretty good excuse, since we were camping in the mountains with only very spotty cell phone reception.  But now I'm back to give you a summary.  We left on Thursday afternoon, bringing along one very sick Marta.  She had the stomach flu and was pretty miserable.  She kept her throw-up bowl near, and used it often, poor girl.  We managed to arrive at the camp site and had fun visiting with the Captain's family.  Marta felt considerably better the second day, and was up and playing with cousins.  I followed her around for a while with a water bottle, trying to get her re-hydrated, but kids are amazing, and she was off and running in no time.

We took our trust tent trailer, which has been with us on many camping trips for the last thirteen years.  I'm afraid it's getting a little worn out these days, but it's still much more comfortable than a tent, so I'm sure it will see a few more years of service before it's retired.

We played and ate and got very, very dirty.  We finally made it home this afternoon, and all I wanted in the world was a shower and a nap.  I changed into my pajamas and stayed in them the rest of the day, even though we got home around three in the afternoon.  It's funny how a couple days of camping will help you realize just how much luxury you enjoy.  It's been a while since I took a

moment to appreciate how lovely it is to walk on carpet in my bare feet, or take a shower in a clean bathroom with water that's just the right temperature.  The air conditioner feels like a gift sent straight from God, and I'm sure I don't deserve it.  It's so very nice to keep things in a refrigerator instead of  a cooler, and to cook over an indoor stove instead of a campfire.

I usually enjoy camping, but this camping trip just didn't sit well with me.  That may be why I am seeing every convenience in my house as a wonderful gift from the Lord.  He has blessed us with so much that I take for granted.  So today's evidence of the Lord's hand in our lives is the air conditioner, the carpet, and running water.  Any person visiting our time from past centuries would see these things as miracles, and today I do as well.

Wednesday July 16th

You will be happy to hear that I got up and vacuumed my house first thing this morning.  Yes, I knew you would be so proud of me.  Thank you, I'm pretty proud of myself, too.
I also completed all but one of the things on my to do list today.  That is also very impressive.  (And that last thing wasn't so important.  I can do it tomorrow without any problems.) 
One of the things on my list was to renew my drivers license and...  wait for it....

take Liesl to get her license! Aaaaahhh! When did I get so old?  But I keep reminding myself that it's a blessing.  I now have someone I can send on errands.  There is now another driver that can fetch and deliver children.  This will be a good thing.  Sigh.

But wait.  Wasn't she just born?  Wasn't I just barely holding her in a fuzzy pink blanket as we snuggled, just the two of us, in our basement apartment?  Wasn't she just barely dressing up as a princess every single day and dancing around the house wearing every piece of jewelry she could find?  I'm sure she just barely started school.  I'm still not used to getting up early to get her off in the mornings, so it can't have started very long ago.  What happened?  She can't drive a car, she's a little girl!!!

But neither would I want to keep her from fulfilling her true potential.  I wouldn't want to keep her from progressing just so I could have her home and little and cute all the time.  I want her to be able to have all the joy and sorrow and gain all the wisdom she came here to get.  But I don't want her to grow up and go away, either. 

I am sure Heavenly Father feels the same when he sends his children to earth.  He knows they'll have pain and sorrow, and they'll never be quite the same as when they left.  But he sends us, anyway, because He loves us and wants us to become all He knows we can be.  So I can try to follow His example, and be proud of the beautiful young lady Liesl is becoming.  I can be excited for her and all that lies ahead in her life.  But just for tonight, I can mourn the loss of my little princess and the days when she was happy to just dance around the living room.  I know that God gave us the opportunity to be parents so that we could gain some small understanding of how much He loves us and how much He has given us in providing these opportunities on earth.  I am grateful for the chance to be a mother, to see my kids grow, and even for the tears I'm crying tonight because my baby girl is going to drive away.  I'm grateful that my Father in Heaven loved me enough to let me go for a while and experience all these things for myself, and I hope we'll all get the opportunity to go back and dress up and dance in His living room again.

Tuesday July 15th

About a year ago I decided to assign days to some of my household chores.  Monday became errand day, because it always became an errand day, no matter what else I had planned.  Tuesday became bread and butter day.  I have to borrow my mom's Bosch to make the bread and make the cream into butter (anyone who would like to buy me a Bosch is perfectly welcome), so I try to do them both on the same day.  Wednesday became bathroom cleaning day because if I don't try to do it on a certain day every week, I will let months go by without cleaning the bathrooms. (I realize I shouldn't be admitting this out loud.  I'm just trying to make you feel better about your bathroom.) And Thursday became vacuuming day.  Vacuuming is my worst chore.  I don't know why it is, but I am much better at cleaning bathrooms and doing laundry and just about everything else.  Unfortunately this is not a story about how I resolved my vacuuming issues.  But we'll keep hoping that I'll figure it out someday.  And of course these aren't the only household chores I do in a week.  These are just the ones that weren't getting done, and so needed some focus.

The problem is, I'm not a very strict taskmaster for myself.  I allow myself all kinds of excuses for getting out of these chores on their assigned days.  I'll usually get bread and butter day done, just because the family will demand bread, and the cream will fill the whole fridge.  No one but me cares about the other things, though, so it's pretty easy to skip them and get away with it.  It does start to bother me if I haven't taken care of these chores in a couple weeks, though, and such was the state of my house this week.  I can't remember why I didn't clean the bathrooms or vacuum last week, but I didn't.  And this week we are leaving for a family reunion on Thursday, so my week is short.  I already wasted yesterday just because I was tired and grouchy all day.  (Gretl was the same way, so maybe it was in the air.) That left today and tomorrow to get all my chores and errands done and get ready for a three day camping trip, and at 2:00 this afternoon I still hadn't done anything worth mentioning.

At 2:00 today I would have told you that none of it was getting done, and maybe we should just stay home from the reunion.  But sitting here at 11:30pm, I can proudly say that I made bread (and it turned out great!), made the butter, and cleaned all three bathrooms.  Boo-yah!!!
There had to have been some divine intervention there, because that's two days of chores done in half of one day!  Plus we had dinner and shuttled kids to activities, besides running Gretl to the potty, starting Dora videos, and everything else that happens in a day at my house.  I am very grateful to the Lord for sending the time warp or the rocket boosters, or whatever it was that happened to make today possible. 

Monday July 14th

 I had to go get milk before I could fix breakfast this morning, so I ran over to the parents' house to get milk.  They have a cow, and have lots of milk to share.  It's so nice that we can not only get milk from them whenever we need it, but also that it's healthier for us than the milk we get in the store.

My dad milks the cow every night and morning, even though he's having some serious issues from a car accident which make his left arm hard to use. I so much appreciate his perseverance, and also their generosity in always sharing with us.

The Lord has blessed us with people who are willing to sacrifice on our behalf, and I am so grateful to Him and to them. 

Sunday July 13th

The lesson in Relief Society today was on the Priesthood, so you know that there was some discussion on the latest events in the news concerning women and the priesthood.  I haven't been following the drama very closely, but I do have a few thoughts on the subject.

There have been some wonderful advances in our world on behalf of women in the last century.  Women have stood strong and gained many new privileges that historically have been denied them.  They can not only vote, but can also receive an education equal to any man's.  They can hold any public office and are seen as capable leaders.  Women are found in every profession, including those traditionally filled by men.  I am grateful that I was born at a time when there are so many opportunities for women to use their talents and abilities.

However, in our efforts to make things equal, we have managed to tip the scale the other way.  Women, to this date, still have the unique ability to bear children.  We are still special and unique and have a divine calling.  But what about men?  Women have slowly taken over every area that used to belong to men alone.  The workplace used to belong to the men, but is now flooded with women - women who are perfectly capable and do an amazing job, I might add.  Men have traditionally held a place at the head of families, but fewer and fewer families now have that blessing.

So what is left for the men?  Are men and women equal now that men have nothing that is their own?  I applaud the advances for women, but I worry about our men.  How will my sons have pride in being men, when men have become superfluous? 

The objective in the beginning was Equal Rights for Women, but I worry that it's become Everything for Women. Would women do a good job in leading the church?  Absolutely.  Would women be responsible priesthood holders?  I'm sure they'd do just as well or better than the men.

But why?

Why do we need to do everything?  We've proven that we're capable of doing anything, but we're also breaking under the strain from trying to do everything.  We're trying to do everything the men do, just to prove that we can, and also trying to doing everything the women do.  Why not let the men do something?  Why not let them lead the church and hold the priesthood?  Don't the women have enough to do already?  Why not let the men have something that is their own, something that makes them special and unique and possessors of a divine calling?

Just because they can do something we can't, doesn't make us unequal.  We can do something they can't, so let's just call it even.  Let's be equal again, with each gender contributing his or her part to make things complete for everyone. 

Saturday July 12th

I somehow ended up with nothing to do today.  Of course there are always dishes and laundry to do, and there is always some part of the house that needs to be cleaned, but all of my scheduled events were either cancelled or postponed, and I found myself free to choose today's activities.  But I was completely lost.  I had no idea how to fill a day that was my own.  It actually made me a little grumpy this morning.

But then Liesl asked me to go driving with her.  She is about to get her driver's license, and just needs a little more practice.  I  decided that would be a good thing to fill up an hour or so. We set off, and decided to follow some back roads that we hadn't been on before.  The first of these just took us around a little hill and spat us back out onto a familiar road very quickly.  So we went looking for another road, and found one.  This one, however, did not spit us out quickly. It held on to us for about three hours.  We ended up going over a mountain, and while the scenery was beautiful, the road was a little rough.  If we had been in a truck or SUV, I'm sure it would have been fine, but we were in a little car that was close to the ground, and not at all suited for the rough dirt roads filled with deep tire ruts and large rocks.  Besides all that, Liesl is a new driver and likes to hug the right side of the road.  There was one time when I was sure we were in trouble. There was another car coming the other direction, and so she was trying to move over to make room on the one lane dirt road.  However, there was one part of the road that was cut away by a large ditch, and I knew that our tire was going in the ditch and we would be in a lot of trouble.  I can't tell you why we were able to glide safely over that ditch.  There had to have been angels holding us up. When I got after Liesl for it, she didn't know what I was talking about.  She hadn't even seen the danger we were in.

I am so glad that the Lord took care of us over that mountain road.  It was nice to spend some time with Liesl and see some of the beautiful world that God has given us, but it could have ended in tragedy any number of times.  I realize that sounds very melodramatic, but anyone who has driven with a new driver will realize that I'm not exaggerating!  I am very grateful to be here writing this post tonight, that we are all safe and sound, and that the Lord loves us and watches over us. 

Friday July 11th

This morning when I woke up I knew that I needed to do something with the Activity Day girls today. I've known this all week, but I just couldn't think of a good activity to do with them.  So I sat up in bed and said a prayer.  I'm pretty good at saying a prayer before I go to bed every night, but not as good at saying a prayer in the morning before I start my day.  I don't know why I don't, because great things always happen.  I said my prayer this morning, asking the Lord what I should do with my Activity Day girls today, and immediately an idea came into my head.  I thought about the temple, and how the girls need to see it as their goal.  Then I thought that I should take them there. Even though they can't really go inside yet, they could still walk around it and feel some of the spirit of the place.  So I sent out a text saying that we were going on a field trip today, and all but one of my girls said they could come!  That is miraculous in itself, because it's so hard to get everyone together, especially in the summer.

Before we left I made a quick run to the dollar store because Marta needed a gift to take to a birthday party.  While I was there I saw the bottled water and felt a nudge from the Spirit to get some.  So I grabbed a couple of six-packs and threw them into a small cooler with some ice.

The trip to the temple went really well.  The girls complained a lot about the heat, so I was very glad that I had water for them to drink.  But they also had fun walking around the temple, and taking pictures on the grounds.  I took them into the lobby, which is as far as they can go without a temple recommend, so now they can at least say they've set foot inside the temple. 

Because they were such good sports about tramping around in the heat, I took them for ice cream afterwards.  As activities go, it was one of our better ones.  I'm so glad I decided to ask the Lord for his suggestion on what to do for an activity today, because His idea was a lot better than any of mine would have been.

Thursday July 10th

It's the little things that make me happy.  I have been trying for what seems like forever to figure out a way to get our whites to be white again.  I know, this is sounding like a DIY homemaker blog, and I love those, but if that's what you're looking for, I'm afraid I can't help you.  I did find someone else's, though, and see their recipe for whitening clothes.  I gave it a try, and it worked ok.  The results weren't spectacular, but the clothes looked better. 

It's amazing what the Lord can do when you turn it over to him.  I finally had the idea (delivered by the Holy Ghost, I know), that I should use that same recipe, but boil the clothes in it.  Have you ever seen Mickey's Christmas Carol, when Scrooge is looking in Jacob Marley's window with the Ghost of Christmas Present, and asks what's in the pot over the fire?  The ghost says, "Oh.  That's your laundry." 
So why not?  It worked for Minnie Mouse, didn't it? 

So I tried it. I put all the cleaning stuff in the bottom of a pot, added a little hot water, added my clothes, and then filled it with enough water to cover the clothes.  I brought it to a boil on the stove, and then let it simmer for several hours.  Even though I started with clean clothes, the water was thick brown by the time I was done.  So gross!  It also started to smell funny.  Like sweat soup.  Super gross! 

Then I threw the whole thing in the washer and washed it.  Then I washed it again with White Brite, put them in the dryer, and held my breath.  And wow!  They looked awesome!  I'll take a better picture in the morning, but here's a sample of the miracle

These are both Friedrich's shirts, one before the whitening process and one after. And believe me when I tell you that I do not have the Photoshop skills to fake this picture.

The Lord is so smart!  So brilliant!  And the fact that he's willing to share even a part of that with me is so very humbling.  Hooray for white shirts!

Wednesday July 9th

About a month and a half ago, I was driving to girls' camp with a bunch of other ladies.  We were going to spend the day with our girls by going on a hike and attending dinner and a fireside.  Anyway, there was one lady in the van that had moved into town recently and I was still trying to get to know.  So I asked her what her interests were, besides mothering.  She seemed pretty stumped, and it got me thinking about how I would answer such a question.  Mothering seems to take up my whole life, but surely I must have some other interests outside of that job?  I mean, I wasn't always a mother, but what did I do before my children came along? So I've been pondering the question ever since. 

 I soon realized that one thing I love is flowers.  This is somewhat unfortunate, because I live in a very dry climate that isn't very good for growing flowers.  But we've manged to come up with a pretty good variety of flowers that will do well here.  It's nothing like the eastern part of the country, but they're still pretty.

 And sure enough, when The Captain's sister came to stay with us for the Fourth of July, she asked me what my hobbies were.  I should have seen that coming from a mile away, because anything you give out generally comes back to you, and I definitely had that coming.  But thank goodness I had given it some thought, and I could tell her that I loved my flowers and spent lots of time on my flower beds.

Today I was thinking that I needed to take some stock photos.  I write my posts late at night, and most of the time I don't know what I'm going to write about until I sit down and stare at the screen for a few minutes.  So I decided to just go out and take some pictures of things in my life that might end up in a blog post so that I would have some pictures on hand.

It didn't take me long to remember that I love photography!  I had so much fun taking pictures of my flowers.  I took pictures of lots of other things, as well, but I especially enjoyed taking pictures of the flowers. I suddenly remembered how I had entered photographs in the county fair and won ribbons.  I remembered that this was one of my hobbies! Hooray!  I have hobbies!  I am more than just a mother! 

Being a mother is the most important thing I do, or will probably ever do, but I am grateful to the Lord for helping me to see that there is more to me than just dishes and laundry. Even though I have lots of kids to take care of, I am still a person with varied interests and talents.  It's so easy to forget. But today the Lord reminded me.