A Little Glimpse of Heaven

Somedays events reach out and squeeze your heart, and you are given a glimpse about how God feels about His children, and the simple things become extraordinary things. Now that Garrett has learned a little Arabic, he's been able to speak with some of the kids who have moved from the Middle East and settled on the East Coast. One of those friends name Muhhamad came with us to church today. He is a mixture of East and West, a Muslim from Packistan who wore tennis shoes, a cool black t-shirt, a blazer over the t-shirt, and then a prayer cap from his religion. He drew most every eye when he came into sacrament meeting and sat with us, and I could picture how different our services must apppear to him. He is studying different religions, and wanted to study ours too. He is very friendly and fun, and he opened and read the scriptures during the meeting, sang the hymns, and took the sacrament. I've been reading and watching the news lately about the climate of our Nation and the hatred and prejudice that has come to Muslims or people from other countries due to the actions of a few. Some have even cried that our president is himself a Muslim and that a few say you can't be a Christian if you support one party or another. I loved President Uchdorf's talk about how we are all wearing the same "jersey" - we are all God's children. I looked over at Muhammad and could smell the good spices I remember from the Middle East that came from his clothes or his person. I was struck with the expanse of God's love.
Then on the way to primary I saw another friend Anita who was carrying her new foster child, Ryan. He is 15 months but is very small and needs to be carried. He had lively sparkling brown eyes and engaging smile. His head was misshapen and one arm hung loosely at his side. I read in the paper a week ago about a mother and her boyfriend who were jailed for child abuse, for actally crushing their son's head against a wall. This little guy just got out of the hospital at Inova, Fairfax after being in intensive care and having a full stroke, losing the feeling and use of one half of his body. He is recovering, but still needing to go back because of possibility of brain damage. His spirit shone through his injuries, and Anita asked if someone could hold him while she taught the sunbeams. Her children have been holding him and taking care of him, and the doctors and nurses have all asked about adopting him, but right now I think he legally has to go to an Aunt, who has serious mental issues and wouldn't be a good home for him. I was able to hold him and take him to the mother's room and rock him while he fell asleep. His hand clutched my shirt as he fell asleep, and I thought of all the people who were praying for him, and how much God loves him, and how he must be in so much pain when these little children are abused.

So much hate and so much love next to each other in this boy's young life! I guess what I learned from today is reading the papers about acts of hate or about those Muslims out there that we should fear - came right into my backyard today - right into church for all to see and touch and hold, and to realize that I need to love and not turn a blind eye to those things going on around me. It was hard, but a little glimpse of Heaven.

Fantastic Family Hike!

We have only touched the surface of all the hikes in Shenandoah National Park! Saturday was a gorgeous day - low humidity and 80 degrees. It felt almost like fall. Garrett had to work, but Rhett & I and the three youngest girls drove up to the Cedar Falls trailhead. The hike was almost 5 miles round trip, but we stopped often to rest and spent about an hour at our destination - a natural rock waterslide into a deep pool! For a while we had the place all to ourselves! Becca went first, and really surprised us all this trip with her willingness to tough out the hike and plunge into chilly water again and again. Cecily and I wimped out (I didn't bring an extra change of clothes), and the whole day was a memorable blast. The only negative was after fellow hiker plunged his poles into a hornet's nest, a mad nornet did a kamakazi on my nose and stung me. Rhett pulled out his trusty credit card and scraped off the stinger.
Cecily lasted the whole hike with energy to spare! Any weight we may have lost on the hike was quickly replentished with a trip to "Ryan's Country Buffet" on the way home. No more country buffets for us!


Becca the Brave!

Livi, the hike leader, goes in next

Embrace the pond!

Rhett's face says it all! The pool was over his head here!

This picture didn't really capture the dark green of the moss or the clearness of the pool! Heavenly Father really had a lot of fun creating this area! Thanks for the waterslide!

Thank you for all Your creations!

The Twelve Days till School Starts

If you feel like it, sing along! (Tune of 12 Days of Christmas)

It's the week before school starts and my children have some needs:

One parking pass.... and a calculator graphing high math.
It's the week before school starts and children have some needs,
two hand sanitizers, one parking pass, and a calculator that graphs higher math.
It's the week before school starts and my children have some needs,
Three open houses, two hand sanitizers, one parking pass, and a calculator that graphs higher math.
It's the week before school starts and my children have some needs,
Four Athletic Shoes......
Five permission slips.....
Six: Time for Seminary....
Seven Hours of sleep....
Eight Pairs of gym Socks.....
Nine packs of paper.....
Ten rules of conduct.....
Eleven smiling teachers.....
Twelve sharpened pencils....

So you know what we are up to!

Madison's Home and Family Trip part 1

I think I've been so excited and happy about Madison coming home that I have been spacier than normal this past week, which seems to be the theme of this blog. Madison was coming into Reagan around four p.m. last Tuesday, so Cecily and I left early to get there with plenty of time to spare. The last time we picked her up in Denver, we were late, so I wanted to get there in plenty of time. We parked in the Cell Phone Waiting Area and waited about thirty minutes, and just as Madison called and said "I'm here, but I'm at the baggage claim so it will be a few minutes". Cecily said "I have to go to the Bathroom" in a tone that suggested that I had about two minutes before an accident. Feeling flustered, I pulled into the parking garage not reading the sign that said "Rental Car Returns Only". I parked and asked for directions to a bathroom. I remember we were near Hertz on the second level. and then after Cecily and I went up and down elevators to find a bathroom, I was completely disoriented, and spent a half and hour carrying Cecily and finding Hertz and our parking garage level again. So Madison was waiting by the curb looking very beautiful with her huge brown & pink polk-a-dot suitcase. The first thing she did was hug a trilled Cecily, who realized that she still has a sister and one who doesn't just come home at Christmas. As Madison told me the story about the crazy lady on the Airplane and the guy who tried to pick her up on the train, I drove straight into downtown DC, then had to turn around and find my way back on 395, giving myself a little pep talk about not getting lost all the way. We wanted to get away for a few days with the whole family, so headed down to VA Beach for the weekend. Garrett was down in Richmond visiting a friend from Boy's State, whose Dad introduced him to some Congressmen at the Virginia Capital, so he picked up Rhett from the
airport while the girls and I headed down to the beach. We stopped at the Williamsburg outlet to do a little shopping. We split up - Madison and Livi taking their time at the teen clothing stores, and Becca, Cecily and I heading to the kid outlets. It poured rain, but then let up again as we headed down to the beach. Thinking I was so smart getting in the HOV carpool lane, I totally was blocked off from the exit we needed to use to get to Ft. Henry and our lodging, so we went an alternate route. We pulled into Ft. Henry and found the cabins after our car was fully inspected by the military. We stayed in the cutest cabins, and I thought with a sigh - okay.... we can relax. I went out to buy groceries and then realized that our kitchen only had a frying pan, so I turned on the gas to cook the french fries and chicken strips. I stepped out of the cabin to check things outside, the door closed, and with a hotel type lock totally was locked. All the keys sat on the kitchen table, the gas was on high with the potatoes in the frying pan, and the cabin was tight as a drum. The main office with staff was four miles away on the other side of the base, so I said a prayer quickly and ran over to our cabin neighbors, who had only just seen us pull up twenty minutes before. We called the office and they said they would send someone right over. Meanwhile the neighbor came over with his fire extinguisher and we stood outside the window together looking at the fire and frying pan and hoping the staff got the lead out quickly. Ten minutes later Becca was crying loudly, Livi was sitting on the front porch drawing a picture of our cabin filling with smoke and flames coming out the window, Madison had no idea anything was going on - she was on a walk, and the neighbor and I watched the cabin filling up with smoke and the fire alarm blaring. Finally the guy in charge of linen came with a key. I ran in and turned off the gas and the frying pan, opened all the windows, and was trying not to breathe, feeling like a complete idiot. As I was coughing, he asked to see an ID to prove that I really was the one signed up to stay in this cabin. I shook my head and gave him my military ID. I think he took pity on me because he came back with a spray that cleared out the smoke and gave things a good, flowery perfume smell.
I texted Rhett with details about what had happened. He replied with LOL, and then "Don't worry about us. We've already eaten". Thanks, sweetheart:) Okay, smoke-filled cabin behind us.... time to relax. More details later... some friends just arrived~

Whirlwind Wedding Trip!

This general store used to be called "Clarks", and I was amazed to see that my idyllic little town of Hygiene, Colorado has remained largely unchanged. Rozena drive and our old home was vacant and overgrown, but we did recognized a few things that haven't changed since we lived there, like the brick driveway entrance, the barn, and the old deck~ no trampoline however for the boys to jump onto! I have dreamed a lot about Hygiene, and coming back was really exciting! Rhett and I rented an economy car and they gave us a "free" upgrade to a boat - a Grand Marquis that looked totally like we should be one leg in the nursing home. So floating around with my hubby, visiting with family, and sharing a b-day cake with Joni was very fun!
Joel and Erin and their family and friends were very welcoming - the food was great...I want those vegetable casserole & kabob recipes if time! The rest of the pictures say it all! Thanks to Dad and Susan for having us, and for Mom for letting us stay with her on Saturday. We had a lot of fun, and love you all! We have lots more pictures that we'll send out to Joel, Erin, and family.

The Ceremony

The Wedding!

Back from the Journey!

Hello again, and we are back from the journey. This last week, I turned 13 years old and everyone is saying, "Wow, you're already a teenager!" Well I don't feel like one, just one year older and wiser. Well, I would like to say thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! For my birthday Emmy came over, and we all went to Hershey Park, Pennsylvania. On our way though, we went to Gettysburg and saw monuments, battlegrounds, graves, Devil's Den, and another everlasting flame. Driving around the whole thing took awhile, but it was worth it!

After Gettysburg, we went to Hershey Park! At Chocolate World, right when you walked in, it smelt like choclate. Cecily, Emmy, and Becca were Factory Workers when they they packed Hershey Kisses into Packages. We also got to make our own Chocolate Bar and choose what to put inside and make the wrapper. Everything there was really expensive though. After that, we went to the park where there were roller coasters and a water park. It was Emmy's first time for a roller coaster and she was scared on the first two...then at the third one, the Great Bear (which was upsidedown and hanging) happened to be her favorite. It was a really good birthday present and I loved it.

After Hershey Park, we went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There are a ton of historical sites there and every moment we were there. We pretended we were on National Treasure. When we got home we watched the movie and were like: We were there and I saw that! There are some historical sites there like, Betsy Ross's house, the Liberty Bell, the Independence Hall, Christ Church, Benjamin Franklin's House, Elfreth's Alley,... and Chinatown. We also ate at the City Tavern where Thomas Jefferson and George Washington ate. They had some goblets and fancy 18th century foods. It was really nice. We were about to go to Valley Forge but, it was really hot and I got dehydrated, so we went to the nice hotel instead. We also passed by the Amish Village and we saw some Amish kids walking and some buggies.

Tomorrow, Emmy is leaving for Atlanta. We got some picture frames and put pictures in them (of course). Next year, I am going to visit Emmy so we will switch each year. We call it "Cousin Camp" LOVE YA EMMY!

Pictures provided by: Emmy Moore (Because we forgot our camera)