COUNT YOUR MANY ROCKS!!

All right! There are times when I get all caught up in all the things that I am NOT doing. I feel that if only I were more like so and so I would be so much better off. When I get like this I am reminded of an experience I had several years ago.

It was one of those days when nothing seemed to be going right. My house could not be found under the blanket of "stuff" all around. My kids probably were fighting with one another. I was probably wondering how I was ever going to get the 5 years of food storage that I need to substain my family for the next 10 years of famine. I was probably concerned about all the commandments that I was either breaking or not living like I should. I was probably wondering how I was ever going to lose the extra weight that I have accumulated over the years and etc. Anyways, it was one of those days were everything was wrong. There were no bright lights in my eyes that day. As a way to try and cope with this heavy weight of "pressures", I decided that I would go for a walk.

As I walked up the canyon I started to cry. I could not believe that I had allowed my life to get into this kind of shape. How was I ever going to get out of the mess I created. As I walked I remember my mom telling me that when she gets down on herself that she counts her blessings. This thought kind of sent chills down my spin. "How could I could blessing when I didn't have any," I thought to myself. I kept walking.

I found myself sitting at the bank of a dry creek bed. The pressure that was welling up inside my chest was more than I could bear. I decided that I would start counting my blessing to see if this pressure would disappear from my chest. I decided that I would name a blessing for every rock that was in front of me. So I begin..
1. I am alive(I think that is a blessing) 2. I have a husband 3. I have children 4. I have parents 5. I have a roof over my head 6. I have food to eat 7. My husband has a job 8. I don't have any physical handicap's(most of the time) 9. I have the gospel in my life 10. I have a car to drive.

I started to feel a little lighter in my chest. I continued:

20. I have hair 21. I have eyes 22. I have clothes to wear 23. I have a phone 24. I have some talents 25. I have friends 26. I have grass to play on 27. I have been able to travel and see some of the world 28. I have been able to get an education
29. I have the ability to think 30. I can have an opinion.

Man, my pile of rocks in front of me was getting bigger. Not the "pressure" from inside was gone it was replaced with excitement. I continued:

100. I have a red pair of shoes 101. I have a black pair of shoes 102. I have two swimsuits 103. I have a pair of shorts 104. I have blue eye makeup 105. I have mascara 105. I have teeth 106. I have sheets to put on my bed 107. I can choose what cup I want to use 108. I have a phone. 109 I have a cordless phone 110.I am alive!

I stood up to looked at ALL the blessings I had, I was impressed. My pile of blessings was HUGE! The pressure inside my chest had been replaced with a feeling of contentment and hope. I knew that I had been given a lot and I had a lot to be thankful for. As I turned to walk back home, I noticed that the rocks stretched far beyond my pile in both directions. At that moment I realized the Lord was teaching me a tender and precious lesson. His blessing have come from so long ago that I can not even count them. The blessings that he has yet to bless we with are without number. The ones that I can count are only very small in to comparison to what I have already gotten and what he has yet to bless me with. My stubbornness in refusing to acknowledge the blessings that I have the ability to count seems so unjust. Unjust to the Lord to the one who gave me ALL.

As I returned home: my blanket of stuff was not that big of deal. It was all blessings in disguise. My kids fighting was an opportunity for me to teach them how to work our problems. My beginnings of a food storage was a great start and sufficient to substain us if we needed it to. Those commandments that I could do better on, I am learning a lot about why they are important to keep.

It is amazing to me what a change in perspective can bring. To me it has brought happiness and hope.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARLIE!!!

Out little Princess turned FOUR! I can not believe that she is already so grown up. I have just noticed in the last couple of months that she is not quite that toddler that she once was. She is a sweetie. Her personality is all girl. There is nothing that is purple or pink enough.

For her birthday we celebrated it over a few days with lots of friends and family. On the Sunday before we had the Anderson's up for a dinner. She got to open up some present and hear the happy birthday song. She was really excited about that. Then on her actual birthday we went with Hailee on a field trip. We got to all go to the Bean Museum at BYU. After the Bean museum we went to Toy's"R"Us and looked for a gift she went straight for the princess baby care set. I asked her if she was sure that it what she wanted and she said yes. It was so cute, I noticed that a couple of times she clenched her fists up in the air and rose them above her head and shook them like she was really excited. It was really cute. That night we had the neighbors over for pink and purple cupcakes. Then on Friday night we went with some friends to Texas Roadhouse to celebrate Marlie's and their little boy's, Logan, birthday. Logan's mom is so awesome she bought some birthday things for the kids to celebrate. She bought Marlie a ti era, a princess wand, necklace, bracelet, and balloons. My other children said I want Nickcole and Al to come on my birthday. (Thank you for doing that Nickcole) After dinner we went swimming as families and that was cut a little short because the pool closed earlier then we anticipated but we ended the night with an ice cream from Article Circle.





I am so thankful that Marlie is a part of our family. She is defiantly the baby. She has these eyes that melt anyone when she looks at you. We want you to know Marlie, that we are proud of who you are and that we love you. We are thankful that we are your parents and you are in this family. We want you to know that we love you more than you can understand and more than we can express with words. Thank you Peanut!! We Love you.