It's About Time!

I love to write, even if nobody is reading the things I have to say, which is why I keep a journal and also comment on Facebook almost every day. But, I've been thinking lately that it's about time I created a blog. So, I decided to just dive in and get started. If I wait for the housework to be done, the blog will never get started. A couple of recent articles about Mormon Mommy blogs got me thinking that it's about time for me to join the online community of bloggers. So, here I am. I'm going to have this blog be a joint one for me and my husband, so we will sign our entries.

Have you ever noticed when you have gotten out of the habit of journaling that, when you start up again, you have a desire to write down everything you have neglected to mention since you last wrote? These entries tend to be obnoxiously boring, so I have decided to dive right in and act like I've been doing this my whole life.

My hubby had the flu while the baby was

ferverish, so the cuddled together.

The last few weeks have been unreal for my family. Nothing really bad has happened, but we have been afflicted with some unusual trials and challenges and they just keep coming! Two weeks and one day ago, my baby Emmeline swallowed something that she found on the floor while sitting at my feet. 7 hours later we brought her home from Primary Children's Hospital, exhausted from general anesthesia and the trauma of having a wire lodged in her esophagus for over 5 hours. Little did we know that she brought home an unwelcome souvenir- pink eye. But, this was no ordinary pink eye. This pink eye comes with a runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, and a fever. 6 of the 8 people have caught it so far. It's been 11 days since the baby got sick and her eye is no longer pink, but is still slightly swollen. We have been living in Pink Eye Prison. I finally let the boys make a jailbreak and go back to school after being on drops for 4 days. Whew! On the first day that I drove somewhere in 3 days, because I needed to get awards for the pack meeting I was in charge of, I got the first speeding ticket of my life. After that I decided to stay home longer! Seriously, it's been hard. The pink eye was extremely painful and I wanted to rip my eyeball out at times. But, in the midst of this suffering, I remain grateful for the things we have that we actually want: 6 fairly healthy children, cars, modern appliances, a house, education, the internet, extended family who rallied around us and dropped everything to help us, doctors, food. . . .And why stop there? The few years I spent living in Russia taught me to be grateful for EVERYTHING. I will never stop being grateful for snow plows, peanut butter, root beer, toilet paper, clean air, and people who speak English. I could go on for pages, but the important thing to me is that no matter what happens in life, there is always good that comes out of it if I am willing to look for it. Usually it is things like gratitude, empathy, understanding, patience, the ability to endure, greater strength, and growing closer to God. But, it can be other things too. I might as well make the best of the trials, or they just might get the best of me.