I'm In Love

with this little girl's giggle...

and her smile.
(And, in all honesty, with her outfit too. She looks so cute in this with those black leggings!)

Check Out the Shades

I picked up these sunglasses for Callie the other day. They are a big hit around here.

SMILE!!!

And apparently Sammy thinks it's all quite funny.

Oh, So Funny

My dad doesn't pass along forwards, so when he does, they are usually pretty good. This one got me laughing so hard. Perhaps it's the time of night...but this really got me. Enjoy.

God's Creations Right Here in My Home

Callie is quite the people pleaser. I can't go anywhere without her drawing attention to herself. It's hard enough getting two kids to go anywhere quickly, but with Callie, this really is no easy task. Getting out the door is fine, but once we enter the large world of people, she goes crazy. She smiles so big and is constantly waving to people saying "Hi" or "bye" or blowing kisses to them. People love it. And if someone has a baby or puppy with them, it's over. She wants to meet them, and you know these other people are thrilled to do so. They love that this little child takes delight in them and their children or puppies. It really is quite adorable.

Today there was an elderly couple sitting outside of our doctor's office. As we came through the door, they stopped their conversation, saw Callie, and did the grandparent laugh -- ya know, the look-at-that-cute-little-kid laugh. Of course Callie stopped and waved to them giving them a big toothy smile and a little giggle. Oh did these two melt in their wheelchairs! Callie blew them a kiss and we walked away. Behind me, the man said, "There goes one of God's creations right there." I thought about that for a long time. That's not an everyday thought I have. Rather, I think, "Let's go." "Callie, share." "Sammy, can you stop crying just for a sec?" But that man was right. I have two of God's best creations right here in my own home. Lucky me.

A Child's Prayer

Not my own child...but a prayer dedicated to my child.

A Prayer Over Dinner

Jayden: Heavenly Father, please bless Callie and her Mom to be nice. Please bless Callie to be nice. And please bless Callie to be nice. Amen.

Amanda, Jayden's mother, thought this was quite funny and called us after the prayer was said. My immediate thought was that Callie had not been so nice to this little boy in nursery. She's been known, afterall, to yell "NO" at approaching children as she protects her toy. She has also been known to hit Samantha with a sippy cup. Who knows what happened in nursery on Sunday! But when asked by his mommy what was wrong and why he prayed for Callie to be nice, he said, "Nothing, Callie's my friend." What a relief. My kid isn't the bully.

Hey Jayden, go ahead, keep praying for your friend Callie. It's appreciated.

Cataldo Mission

Yesterday Marcus had work off. This is rare, and so I wanted to use it to our advantage...or, my advantage rather. Marcus isn't fond of packing up the kids and going on little trips. It's too much of a hassle. Luckily, he loves me enough to do it anyway, and without one complaint. So, thanks Marcus. Anyway, we took the little-over-an-hour drive to Cataldo, Idaho where stands Idaho's oldest building. We had a perfectly wonderful day.

First things first ... Callie had to run around.

And we needed to have some lunch.

Callie went for the juice box instead of eating through the stroller.

Then we looked around. Callie posed underneath the Old Mission Bell.

Marcus and Callie in front of the mission.

Me and Sammy in front of the Parish home.

As we were leaving, we saw the Mission Cemetary. There were a couple headstones, but the plaque said, though they don't have an official count, they believe close to 300 are buried in this cemetary. Some of the burial sites can be seen by bumps in the ground, etc. In this picture, you can see a row of these "bumps" in the ground -- most likely graves. We were able to walk around the cemetary, and I started to feel very uncomfortable knowing I was probably walking over many of these people. I was surprised it was open to the public like this, especially because this mission had Native Americans living at the site -- so most certainly there are Native Americans buried here. So, because they were Christian we could walk over them? We started to feel a little squirmish and left.

As we left the cemetary, we came across a small mining area. There were some tools that were cemented to the ground to show the types of tools that were used. Marcus took this picture of me "using" what we believe is a jackhammer. After he took it, he said, "Woa! Look at your arms!" So I made Marcus pose so we could get a glimpse his guns....

and he turned into the Incredible Hulk.

When we got home, we looked through our pictures and noticed Samantha's arm! I think this is the most impressive of the bunch. Look at that bicep! It's like someone put a golf ball in her arm. Really! She's 3 years old! Callie's got a lot of work to do.

But for now, we'll just let her sleep.

Preparation for the Storm

Tonight I was looking for a post back in January where I thought I may have written down my resolutions/goals for the year. I stumbled across this post and it led to this post. In the previously mentioned post (can I say post just one more time?), I wrote about why I love being a mom. But in it, I also stated the following:

I must be coming to some kind of crossroads in my life because lately I've been thinking a lot about change and everything that has changed in my life over the past 10 years. I hope this isn't the Lord preparing me for some kind of impending trial.

Six months later, I think that quite possibly was what the Lord was doing -- preparing me for a trial. Spokane has been extremely difficult for me for a few reasons, but one in particular which I care not to disclose at this time. And, most of you would probably think it was trivial anyway...but to me, it was certainly not. "The trial" had already begun when I wrote the January post, but I was not yet fully aware of how intense it would become. Now, one could easily say that Samantha has been a trial for us. I don't quite feel that most of the time. In fact, I believe she is more of a blessing than anything. Sure, there are some specific trying situations associated with our lovebug -- her seizures are hard for me still -- and I feel like those, at times, are a trial of our faith. But even those are only for short periods of time. This particular trial has been consistently painful and emotionally arduous for the past 6 months. No breaks. No moments of reprieve. Unfortunately, I believe there were plenty of times when I complained and didn't handle it well -- and maybe, by my own immaturity, I delayed the end of the trial. I was just so physically, emotionally, and spiritually worn out. Never have I experienced anything quite like this -- and hope to not have to experience anything like this again. But, through it all, I believe that I gained a better understanding of the church and the gospel. I most definitely gained a deeper testimony of prayer. And I gained a greater love and appreciation for my husband. During this time, I have also created some friendships that, without them knowing it, were a greater support to me than they could ever realize.

It wasn't until tonight when I looked back to January that I recognized the Lord preparing me for this trial. At that time, my thoughts were so focused on my family and the joy I receive from being a wife and mother. I didn't realize then how important those thoughts would be to me in order to ground me during such a troubling time. The Lord does prepare us for the storm. We may not recognize it at first, but He does prepares us. And I believe that through earnest prayer, He will also sustain us.

At one point, I would have packed up my bags and moved from Spokane with only 10 minute notice, believing that fleeing from Spokane would solve the problem. But it seems like something crazy happened overnight. I'm attached. We don't know exactly when we are leaving, but the idea of it makes me a little sad. Maybe it's because of my friends. Maybe it's because of all I've learned here. But really, it's probably a lot of both. I'm grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord that enable us to survive when we feel like we can't -- or when we don't want to. I've experienced a lot of His tender mercies here, and feel nothing but blessed.