Wow! I cannot believe it has been nearly a year since I have written anything on my blog. It was an incredibly hard year and I fully anticipated getting caught up each week. Funny how fast time goes by. It is the beginning of a new school year and it seems so weird only having three children enrolled in school. They are all older and very independent. They help out tons around the house and are involved in lots of extra activities. I feel at a calm place in my life right now. Like I said the past year was full of lots of unexpected turns and trials but I feel like I came out on top every time something came up. My mom has moved back to California to live with my brother Brian. Her life has changed as well. I am glad that I was able to help her out as much as I could even though it was very hard at times to understand why things were going the way they were. Chad and Paige are in a good place right now. Noah is out on his mission! Chelsea is going to be getting married! Toshia had her third baby this last year! Ashleigh and Nick are saving for a new house! Chloe is in Portland now and working hard. Seth is using his talents in art to create many beautiful things! Taylor, Hayden and Autumn are working hard in school and seem to be very happy! Life is good. David and I are working hard to improve things around our home and serving in our callings. I am so happy that I have chosen not to let the events of the past year pull me down to despair. There is always someone worse off than me...I have so much and need to keep things in perspective. I honestly would not have gotten as close to my Heavenly Father as I have were not for all the events and trials of this past year. Did I say already it was a hard year? I have goals to keep on blogging and get back to my journal keeping here on my blog. My sister and I are working on starting a new online business and I will be sharing that as it gets some more traction.
{Just a little side note, the work with my sister has been so wonderful as we prepare to start this little business adventure that it has helped me in more ways than I can count. Heavenly Father knows how to bring joy in my life as I see the beauty in old things made new again.}
I have a new camera and need to learn how to download the pictures and get things up and running again. I have been making lots of things and want to share. I am trying to organize my life in such a way that I make time for all that I want and need to do. My word for this year 2014 has been "intentional". It has been a wonderful word to have on my mind as I reflect back on all that is important to me and how I want to prioritize things. I want my Savior to come first in my life and as I do that I feel all other things will fall in line. I've been working on more "intentional" prayers and Sabbath Day worship. I have been weekly going to the temple and working hard on our genealogy to do family names while I am there. Just this last week I found a whole new family and I'm so excited that the girls will be able to take names to the temple in November when they go with the youth. Last June we did about 54 names and had a very special time in the temple as we went with Toshia, Chad, Noah, Taylor and Hayden. It was so sweet to have so many of the children there with us as we did family baptisms. It was fun to have Noah be on the Priesthood side of things. From his letters he is having a great time on his mission and loving it even though at times it is hard.
Lots to get caught up on, lots of pictures to share and hopefully family and friends will trust that I will be a more regular writer on this blog. Happy Monday to everyone!
