Forget-Me-Not

Last night was the Annual General Relief Society Broadcast. I think it was prepared just for me. All of the messages were inspirational, especially President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's. He spoke of the small Forget-me-not flower and related it to five things we should not forget. I thought I would share a few of his points that I enjoyed most.

1. Forget not to be patient with yourself. “God wants to help us eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal,” President Uchtdorf said. “It is OK that you are not quite there yet. Keep working on it but stop punishing yourself.

2.Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice President Uchtdorf noted that every situation is different, and suggested asking, “Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” in order to distinguish between good and foolish sacrifices.

3. Forget not to be Happy Now“The lesson here,” he said,” is that if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.”

4. Forget not the “why” of the gospel

President Uchtdorf said that sometimes, in the routines of daily life, the vital aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

President Uchtdorf reminded the sisters that the gospel is not an obligation, but a pathway leading to happiness and peace in this life and “glory and inexpressible fulfillment” in the life to come.

5.Forget not that the Lord loves you. "You are not forgotten- No mater how dark your days may seem, no matter how insignificant you may feel, no matter how overshadowed you think you may be-- your Heavenly Father has not forgotten you."

I was very grateful to hear President Uchtdorf's Message. I know of at least five things I will be working on over the next long while.

Summer Update

So, I've kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a few months, but I have a few pictures to prove we are alive and not hermits.

June: Ganon finished his MBA program. Hooray!

Connelly Family Reunion in Rigby. What a great balance of camping and civilization! We slept in a tent but had real bathrooms, kitchen supplies, shelter, etc. Our family loved spending time with the cousins!

Here are a bunch of us before our hike.

July: David turned 7, Rebecca turned 5, We celebrated our 8th Anniversary.

My sister and parents came to visit so we spent some time at the pool. We even got each of the kids to go on the "big slide." They have learned to love the pool this summer.

David and Rebecca celebrated their birthdays with a big friend water party! I think we counted 22 friends! We had sprinklers, a kiddie pool with slide, a slip-n-slide, a mini-tramp, water guns, and the most popular water bottle rocket launcher. It was a blast!!

August: Ganon Graduated with his MBA! He also celebrated a birthday and went to Youth Conference with the youth in our ward. I think they had fun...

We said farewell to Summer with a Hike up the Y. Here we are at the top (well, the bottom of the Y but the top as far as we were concerned.) Look at those happy faces!

We made good time on the way up so this is actually us on our favorite rock on our way back down. We had to wait for the sun to come up over the mountain. The three oldest walked the whole way up! My calves hurt for the next week, but otherwise I think it was a successful hike. School has started and we are getting into a Fall Routine. What are ya'll up to?

Finally A Master

After two very long years, Ganon has officially graduated with his Master in Business Administration from BYU!! We just received his actual diploma making it officially official. Ganon did an amazing job of balancing a full-time job, difficult church assignments, long nights in class, group projects, endless case studies, and a growing family. We are very proud of Ganon and his many accomplishments. Congrats!

His happy fan club.

Walking to his seat with his Diploma Cover. He got to sit on the front row so we didn't have to wait FOREVER for his turn.

Showing off the yummy leis the kiddos gave him.

Bath Snugglers

Our kiddos, like most, love playing in water. This is a good thing and a bad thing. It gets them to play outside, which is wonderful, but it also makes it so they change clothes about 10 times a day.
The other day our good friends the Wests invited us over to enjoy their pool. Charity and "Baby Isaac" were very generous to let us take over their pool. They even shared yummy popcicles with us. Baby Isaac was okay with it especially when we let him use my new Bath Snuggler.
TJ, like Isaac, likes to snuggle. Especially after bath time. Unfortunately, I usually bathe the kiddos on Sunday morning or Saturday night. In an effort to make it easier to get the kids bathed without getting me all wet, I decided to make a Bath Snuggler. It is a towel with a hood on one corner and a hole for my head on the other. I can wear it while I bathe them and then my church clothes don't get soaked. Then TJ and I get to snuggle (at least for a minute before the next child fights for the towel).

Another handy feature is that the towel can be wrapped around those that are more interested in running around and spraying people than snuggling (this is Isaac acting as the model).

Okay, so I don't really want this to sound like I'm selling you something, but I am thinking about selling them on Etsy. So, I would really like it if you left in a comment your opinion about the Bath Snuggler. On a scale of one to ten: 1 is "I would never buy That!" and 10 is "Wow! I want one of those right now! Can you make one for me please?" Other comments, opinions would be most appreciated as well.

Helpers

Sometimes the kids do really well with helping. Ganon taught David how to wash dishes. David taught Rebecca how to help. I think they may need another lesson, but I appreciate their willingness to try.

TJ, of course, isn't much help yet. The older three enjoy taking care of him. David will keep him happy while I shower in the morning or while I'm making dinner. Sarah makes sure he doesn't play with things that aren't his, and shows him how to use his own toys. Rebecca sings to him when he is sad.

Sometimes it is obvious that we've been stuck inside too long. While TJ was sick with RSV and his double ear infection the girls were less helpful. The white stuff is the rest of the baby powder. They helped me clean up the mess. (FYI, baby powder swept into the cracks of hardwood floor doesn't decrease the squeaking.)

When it's time for bed David gets to read to his sisters while I get TJ ready. Sometimes he turns on a movie on the iPod instead. While not as educational, I'm grateful that no one is crying. He is at least helping everyone calm down.

This is just a pic I took of the girls in the dresses I made for them in January. Thanks to Kelly for the fabric shower curtain I "repurposed."

Weather

This picture of the girls was taken on March 1st. They are enjoying the warmer weather. I'm more willing to let them play on the playground at David's school while we wait to pick him up.
In contrast, this picture of the van was taken the last week of February. It was the last hard snow of the year. I thought a picture of it would remind me to be grateful when I think it is "super coldy" and 50* outside. I'm working on being grateful for all seasons... but I'm most grateful for Spring.