Great Weekend

This weekend was so much fun. On Saturday Harley and I went to Albuquerque for her first Temple Trip. I must admit I wasn't looking forward to making the drive once again, but I knew it would be worth it to get to be with Harley her first time in the temple. She was a little nervous. Grant was able to do the baptism's for her. That made it less nerve racking and a more special. I am so happy that I made the drive I hate to go and do baptisms with her. We arrived back home around 6:30 and headed to dinner with the whole family. After we decided to go see Avengers with Gramps and Susan (they were down visiting for the weekend). Despite it being late, we had a blast.

Sunday we got up and got Gramps and Susan off. We went to church at our new Ward. What a great day. The kids were a little nervous (more Harley then Noah, she has so many good friends in 5th Ward and they are hard to leave). It was so nice to go and enjoy church. It hasn't felt that good in a long time. Afterwards the kids were happy to see that they new quite a few people in the ward and started to make new friends. It was a great day and a great step in moving forward.

Then last night we went out and watched the eclipse through Scott's welding helmet and in the awesome box Harley made. A good end to the weekend. As I sat and enjoyed so many parts of this weekend I realized I have never been so in love with my entire family. I couldn't be happier or more in love with them.

It's Offical

What you ask......I am getting old. How do I know? Well lots of reasons, but mostly I can't deny anymore that I am starting to get lots of white hair. The solution....Hair dye. I guess I am going to have to start coloring my hair again. Sigh. I just can't keep up with pulling out all the white hairs. I find several new ones daily.

Proud of the girl

I am constantly amazed at this girl. She is such a strong girl. She has had so much to deal with in her short 12 years of life. Through this she has a strong testimony that I wish I had a fraction of at that age. This past Sunday she gave her first talk in church and did the best of us all. She stayed up until midnight the night before making sure she had it just right. She wanted little to no help, mostly just to sit next to Scott and I while we wrote our talks and she wrote hers. I am proud to be her mother and hope I can live up to the high standards she sets for me. I love her so much. I love our one on one time, our chats, and even trying to help her work through the heart ache of life (unfortunately I can't hide her from it, but I am happy she will let me walk through it with her). I love you  my Har-Bug, don't ever change the wonderful person you are.

Changes are on the way

In the past couple of weeks Scott and I finally made a decision that has been plaguing us for the past year. The ever burning should we or should we not. I feel we have tried every other imaginable route the the one we are about to embark on. We have felt temporary relief if any in the previous decisions, but they were not enough to help heal a lift a heavy burden that has been so buried and festering in our souls. I few weeks ago I finally hit my brick wall. The fight left my body and I completely broke down. Unstoppable tear and little comfort came, but with that a huge decision was made. We will be making some changes in our lives until the time come for us to fully heal and hopefully move soon.

With this change I have had a heavy burden lifted from my shoulders. I can feel myself re-awakening like the flowers after a long winters rest. Slowly pushing my way back and opening up again. I have not felt this free and light in a long time. We have yet to make the change, it will come after this weekend,  but the relief from knowing we are moving forward is immeasurable. It was the little nudge I needed to help me remember that Heavenly Father is still there and is aware of every difficult step we take. This is an answer to a prayer that has been long running through my heart on a continuous loop that never ends. Finally the clouds are parting and the sunlight is starting to burn its way through the clouds and back into our lives. Peace is filling my soul once again.

Almost there

The school year is almost over!! I am so ready for a break. We have one week left of dance, four more of school and then the fun can begin. It already looks like a fun and busy summer and I can't wait. We will be moving on from the Elementary School stage of life and be all in on the Middle School experience this year. I am ready for the independence for my kids (an myself, to have of Mom not being involved in everything) but at the same time it is sad and a bit nerve racking at the same time. Harley is doing great in Middle School and I hope Noah will be ready for it next year. Harley just did some testing and in Math is 2 1/2 years above grade level. She had to decide between pre-algebra or just going into straight algebra. She pick the pre-algebra. She wants to make sure she understands and gets the basics. Noah also tested high in Math, so we will see what they do with him. New and exciting things to come in the next year. Hopefully some new beginnings too.

LIttle Man

This last Tuesday Noah was diagnosed with ADHD. Not really a surprise to those who know him well. He gets to start yet another medication. The nice part is that it lasts for 10-12 hours, we don't need to give it to him on weekends or during the summer. I hope it helps in school to keep him focused and just make life a little easier in general. I hope that we quickly find what works for him best and that we can even teach him the skills that he needs to not have to be medicated the rest of his life. The doctor said ADHD and OCD tend to go hand in hand, so he happened to get both. Scott and I got a good laugh when we were filling out the questionnaire to help determine if Noah has ADHD because Scott get frustrated with me (and my family) because we tend to have quite a few of the tendencies of ADHD. I blame it on 8 kids fighting for attention, still today (we all want to be heard). I love how comical things are thrown into our life at times. I just told Scott not to say a word about me when we filled out the form. I already know my  problems ;)

Easter

 I believe the kids had a pretty good Easter this year. Nana and Trent came down to help out with the house for the weekend. On Friday I let them decorate eggs while we worked on the yard. I was able to snap a few pictures. The Easter bunny was barely able to make it, he was pretty tired. We even were able to stop by the Allred's for the cousin's egg hunt (I believe this will be our last).