Happiness in struggles

I have to admit that the majority of my blogging time this last week has been consumed with following one of my childhood friends' blog. (I confess, I was officially a "blog-stalker"!) She was nearly a week overdue with baby #2, and I am pleased to say that she finally had her baby on April 6th. What a great birthday! So many wonderful and miraculous things have happened on April 6th, and now we can add little baby Owens birthday too! (Cute name, huh?!?) So congratulations again!

There was some build up this year to conference at this household! We were both very excited to hear the words of the prophets. It was a goodun'! Most of the talks were focused on finding joy, comfort, lessons, etc. through these tough times that are happening now and that are to come. A few things that really stood out to me were

1. You do not need to follow the path of Laman and Lemual to know that the path of Nephi is better. (M. Russell Ballard). This was a very sobering lesson for me that I wish I would have learned as a youth. It would have saved me a lot of self-inflicted agony, and unneeded pain.

2. The Six Destructive D's- Doubt, Discouragement, Distraction, lack of Diligence, Disobedience, and Disbelief. (Kevin W. Pearson). One leads to the other, which leads to the next, and so on. So we must not doubt, because doubt (and fear) lead to places we shouldn't be.

3. Knowing the the seed is good is not enough to save us in the end. (Deiter F. Uchtdorf). I need to make a better effort to continue reading my scriptures, praying, and otherwise having a gospel-centered home.

4. We need to get on with our lives! (Steven E. Snow) I need to be more willing and able to accept the changes that are here now, and be a better support my hubby as he does so too.

5. Take the steps that it takes to get back to the straight and narrow; and then stay there! (President Thomas S. Monson).

Other then conference, this house has been pretty laid back and lazy this weekend. I spent nearly all of yesterday outside (hence the sunburn I now have), cleaning out, organizing and planting flowers in the backyard. I am pretty proud of my accomplishments out there. It looks better then it EVER has, in the entire 4 years we have lived here. And today, the focus will be on the inside. It is in desperate need of a clean-up...yet again! Laundry, changing bedding, doing dishes..... ah, the JOYS of my life.

I am super excited that we are FINALLY getting a fence in the backyard. After only 5 kids! Hahahahaha! I am sick and tired of having to have a 24/7 watch on those monkeys out there. Jay and Betsy both go wandering into the great abyss nearly every time they are in the back yard. No big deal, right??? Wrong. There is a road just past our boundary line in the back. It is not at all busy, and only a handful of people use it on a daily basis, but I still don't want my kids out playing on it! Not to mention our dog able to get out and chase cars... sorry about that neighbors! =)

This weekend I think that we are going to get our garden planted. It is going to be a BIG one this year. I am happy to do it, and can't wait to be eating and sharing all of our bounty =)! We have starters that we planted inside that are almost ready for transplant. I am hoping that we are finally out of the grips of winter, and that the weather will continue getting warmer... we shall see.

The calender is pretty empty (so far!) this week. Nothing to busy or pressing planned yet. Although next week is the kindergarten registration and orientation. I will be going to get Aubrey registered for next year. I am SO excited about that!! Sorry, I am not the type of mommy that gets teary-eyed about sending my kids to school... I probably will when it is Jay, but not until then. =)

Sorry this ended up so long... I think most of my blogs from now on will be more spaced out and a little longer in length. I am trying to cut back on the time I sit in front of this computer screen. Come June much will change... more on that later! =)