Giving Thanks, Day 4

This is sort of silly, I guess. But since we drove home from Ohio today, I'm so grateful for our portable DVD player. We spent, I think, $60 on it before our vacation to Pittsburgh this summer. It is a LIFESAVER. The kids napped for a couple of hours, and then we put on Tangled for Amy. It kept her quiet for the next couple of hours, which made for such an easier drive.

So even though it's a bit shallow and materialistic, I'm thankful for modern conveniences that make life a little easier and more pleasant!

Giving Thanks, Day 3

With the weather getting colder and the recent storms, I'm especially grateful for our home.

We've moved a lot during our 5 years of marriage, and although I really despise moving, every move has been for the better. Our most recent move has put us in a townhome, which we are LOVING. It's an older townhome, but it suits our needs just fine. We've got storage space in the basement, our own laundry room, and tons more space for our kids.

I'm so thankful for a house to keep us warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and to provide a fun, safe place for our kids to make great memories!

Giving Thanks, Day 2

I am so grateful for temples. I am grateful for the knowledge that Brett and I will be together for eternity. I'm grateful that we can be together with our children, even after this life. My family is so important to me, and I feel so blessed to know that families are eternal.

After I was adopted, my family went to the Chicago temple (since the St. Louis temple wasn't built yet). I still remember that day and the spirit that I felt so strongly. I'm especially grateful for the opportunity to be sealed to my family. This is especially sweet for me since my dad passed away so long ago. I have the assurance that if I live my life the best I can, that I will be reunited with my dad and the rest of my family.

"Families can be together forever,

Through Heavenly Father's plan.

I always want to be with my own family,

And the Lord has shown me how I can."

(Families Can Be Together Forever, LDS Hymnbook)

Giving Thanks!

I've seen the past couple of years people posting (on Facebook, etc.) every day in November about something they're thankful for. I LOVE that idea! I think it is so important to acknowledge the blessings we receive from our Heavenly Father. So, this month I'll be making (mostly) daily posts focusing on something I'm grateful for.

Day 1--

I am so grateful for my little family. We're not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but we're pretty darn good, if I do say so myself! Brett is a loving father and husband and enjoys spending time with all of us. Amy is such a sweet, smart, caring little girl. She's terrifyingly perceptive and curious about everything, and is just a little ball of energy! David is a mellow, happy little guy who loves to trail after everyone and is thrilled to be the center of attention.

I am so blessed to have these 3 people in my life. Although days can be long and stressful and frustrating, Brett and Amy and David bring so much joy and happiness into my life. The Lord knew what he was doing when he brought Brett and me together, and when he gave us 2 such fantastic kids.

Now.....with pictures!

I just realized how embarrassingly long it's been since I posted any pictures of the kids! So, let's get some going.

Amy loves wearing my heels!

CHEESE! (Or, "Cheesing it up in Mama's shoes)

Amy blowing out her birthday candle with Daddy's help.

Somebody loves to run and play!

Checking out the new sea lion exhibit at the zoo. Amy was fascinated!

Looking at the sea lions from above.

Getting SO big! David at 9 months.

Happy boy at the zoo.

David is such a sweet boy, and is always happy. (Except in the wee hours of the morning.)

He was so excited to see the lemurs!

Climbing on the seat at the Card's game. He was so proud of himself.

You can tell these next couple are from Heather's camera, the quality is so much better! This was part of our "photo shoot" at Mom's. David cooperated sort of. Amy? Not so much.

Blue Steel.

Trying to grab the camera. He can't have it, but he can steal my heart any day! (Oh, wait...he already does.)

General Conference

For those who read this blog that aren't LDS, twice a year we have what is called "General Conference." It's a huge meeting that is televised/broadcasted for all members of the church where we get to listen to the prophet, apostles, and some of the other leaders of the church speak. It's an amazing opportunity to learn and to feel the love the Lord has for us.

This year we have cable, which includes the BYU channel. We offered to have 2 families with young kids come over and watch with us on Sunday. It's a lot less stressful to watch at home than to go to the church building and try to keep kids in line for 2 hours in a semi-dark room! I really enjoyed listening to the talks that were given. There are actually 5 sessions of conference. Saturday morning and afternoon, a special Priesthood session Saturday evening, and then Sunday morning and afternoon. Brett and I were at a wedding on Saturday afternoon/evening, and I forgot to record the session, but we have the other 3. So I went online to read the talks I missed.

One talk in particular really stood out to me. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, whom I had the privilege of seeing in person in June of 2011. The title of his address is "Protect the Children."

Obviously our church teaches that child abuse is horrific, etc. But I was really touched that he chose to focus on it. Child abuse seems to be a rather taboo topic in society. We see commercials on TV all the time about saving the poor, defenseless, abused animals (not that I'm advocating animal abuse, either!). We see advertisements encouraging us to feed the starving children in Africa.

But what about OUR children? What are we doing in our nation, in our state, in our city, to protect our children? This issue is so close to me. My heart aches for the millions of children I KNOW are out there that are being abused and/or neglected. My heart breaks to think of these poor, vulnerable children who feel, as I used to, that they are unwanted, unloved, and unlovable. That the abuse they endure is somehow warranted. That surely they must have done something to deserve it, and therefore, they do not merit love or affection.

It's hard for me to write about this. I struggled with these feelings for years, even after being adopted by a wonderful, loving family. Even after being in counseling. Sometimes in my weak moments, these thoughts and fears, however irrational, STILL creep into my mind. That is how deeply my abuse affected me, and still affects me.

To be honest, I don't know the exact details of what happened to me. There are conflicting stories. But it doesn't matter. I was abused. I was not protected, not even by the one person on this earth who should have given her very life to keep me from harm. I endured things no person should have to, especially no child. I bear more emotional and psychological scars from it than I do physical, and that's saying something.

I encourage you to read the talk I linked above, or read it again even if you already have. I especially liked this quote from Elder Oaks' talk:

"We are all under the Savior’s command to love and care for each other and especially for the weak and defenseless."

How do you show your love?

And I'm back in the game!

Woo hoo! So. My friend managed to recover ALL of our files off the old, broken hard drive. What a relief! All our pictures, documents, etc. are fine. We've got an external hard drive to back everything up on (which we should have had before, but just kept putting it off).

And today, we bought a new hard drive, plus some extra RAM, and Windows 7 (because why on EARTH would anyone install Vista by CHOICE?). So, we've been busy bees today, but finally we've got our good computer back.

Which ALSO means that I can get pictures up again. Woo hoo! I'm awfully excited. So, pardon the next few days when I'll be working on getting up a bunch of long-overdue posts. With pictures. Lots of pictures.