Highlights from this month include a lot of fun activities. We celebrated Jessica's birthday with Kevin and Courtney's family. Jessica rented a huge water slide again. Evelyn also got baptized and I was brave enough to play the piano for it. Evelyn knew I was nervous and she ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug afterwards. Sweet girl.
I have also done a lot of painting. I'm not the best, but I think I am improving a little bit anyway. It's fun for me to practice and I find it quite relaxing.
Caleb and Cade have been best friends since the age of three. They are so good together and are so much fun to watch as they interact. Both are babies of large families, and they are inseparable.
I have a good group of friends in the ward and we like to go paddle boarding together. We took the kids out a couple of times over fall break. It was a really windy and kind of dangerous day, but I think they had a good time.
Mercedes has gotten quite good at braiding my hair.
The girls talked Grandma and Grandpa Haws into having a sleep over the other night. It's the benefit of having parents live close by. We hope they never move away.
Conference weekend is always a highlight for me. I love the togetherness of my family and hearing the Prophet speak. He was very direct about the perilous times ahead and how we need to ensure that we are preparing spiritually for the days and events leading up to the Second Coming.
This is my festive buffet table. At nearly 40 years old, I decided to invest in some nicer decorations for the holidays. Maybe I will enjoy decorating for each holiday more if I like how it looks. Jon Mark is a good sport and encourages me to do it.
Luke sleep walks often. The other morning I went to wake him up for school and I couldn't find him. Luckily he popped his head out before I got too worried. He thought I had put him there...
He got a new bishopric and so we needed to send our old bishopric off. We invited them into primary and we sang Risen to them. We gave them stuffed animals and pictures of Christ and a nice plaque/sign. It was a highlight in my time as the Primary President and something I don't want to forget. It was amazing to see the emotions of the kids as they sang this song. The spirit was so strongly felt. Many of the little girls cried because they will miss Bishop Gordon--what a great man he is! He hugged them and took time telling them goodbye. He ministered to the one. It was a touching moment for me to witness and reminded me of the Savior in 3rd Nephi.
Hannah sleeps in this sweatshirt that was given to Great Mommom back when Jon Mark was little. It is sweet to see her cuddled up in it.
My kids are growing up. They are such wonderful blessings in my life. Time keeps speeding up and I can hardly believe it. It really is surreal and bittersweet. I am so busy these days, which I guess is a good thing, because then I can't mourn over the passage of time. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for giving me this beautiful ride. I am so immensely blessed, I know it deeply. Blessings have been poured out upon me even so that I don't have room enough to receive them. I certainly don't have the words. I feel it so strongly. I am so grateful for the gospel. Everything in my life that is good is because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I rejoice in Him.
