TWISTED PERSPECTIVE

As a young sassy girl

I used to go through old photo albums 

and look at pictures of my parents when they 

were younger. 

They looked so weird!

I would laugh at them and tease them

about their hairstyles and clothes. 

I snorted and generally had a great time at their expense. 

I ran across this picture today. 

Of Howie and I. 

Taken a few decades ago. 

Uh....last century actually. 

Circa 1989

And I'm thinkin'

"Dang! We were smokin' hot!!!"

As my kids are rolling on the floor, laughing and snorting.

(The little brats.)

THERE ARE GOOD DAYS....

....and then there are days that are THE BEST days.

Today was a BEST DAY.

(Cameron & Guen, Tara...Matt was stuck in California, me & Howie, Lynsey, Nate...Sara was out of town. My parents were also there, but not pictured.)

Lynsey has gone through much over this past several years. After much soul searching and much change of heart, she decided that she wanted to be fully active in the church again and be able to go to the temple. She knew she would receive a lot of strength and peace.
So on this day as much of our family as could get together came and celebrated this day with her.

Family is everything!

(If you are interested in learning more about the LDS church or the temples you can click here.)

CHIC DECOR

Nothing but the best for our girls. 

And they approve. 

Thank you Gigi!

HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEW BENJAMINS?

There's a sparkly strip running down the left side of his face.
The paper isn't heavy.
It feels fake.
Like Monopoly money.

And Ben looks tired.

Maybe because he feels more worthless.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Sometimes I go through life
...thinking I know what I'm talking about.

Apparently not.

Lexi informed me that she loves this dress.

It has POCANUTS!

Then there are these:

Yes.
They are keys to a HOTELO!

Then she announced:

"Tonight I'm going to sleep on the CROUTON"

So there ya have it.
If you have any questions you can ask her.

She's in kindergarten.
And she knows the meaning.

NOT SURE HOW IT TURNS OUT

Life has been crazy.

Wild.

Upside down.

It's not bad.

Just different.

And I'm not sure how it turns out.

But then, do we ever?

Probably not.

There are twists and turns
and hiccups
all along the way.

Back in February our oldest daughter came home.

With our 5 year old granddaughter.

We don't know for how long.

But we love having them here.

Then in June we added to the craziness.

Candice and Tyler moved in for a short time.

To help them get to a better place.

I'm thankful we have the room.

We enjoy them here as well.

I was talking with a friend at work about the challenges this has presented, but how we feel blessed to be able to help.

A co-worker piped in and said she would never let her kids move back in.

When they are grown up they make grown up decisions and suffer grown up consequences.

I felt bad and "less than" for a time. 

Then I realized, no one really knows.

It's been challenging for both of our daughters to be "back home".
Same neighborhood.
Same church.
Same town.
There have been a few occasions when hurtful things have been said.
When hearts are raw.
On the other hand,
there has been a lot of love and compassion and
reaching out to heal raw hearts.

I don't feel that we are enabling our kids.

We are doing what we feel we can to help get them to a better place.

And we feel strongly that we are doing the right thing....
for our family.

We really don't know the challenges we have ahead of us.

We do the best we can and have faith that the Lord makes up the difference.
Does anyone really know how things will turn out.

We don't have the right or ability to judge another.

In the meantime.

We are having a good time.

A busy time.

I get to snuggle with this little sweetheart.

And enjoy her ridiculously hilarious personality.

And just the other night I heard a commotion I hadn't heard before.
From Lynsey's room.

I had to investigate.
And it brought tears to my eyes.

It's nearly midnight and these two are giggling and who knows what all.
That may be normal for some.
But there is 12 years difference between these two.

Candice was the pesty baby sister.
And they weren't close.
Lynsey was married by the time Candice was out of grade school.

So this scene was like the best thing ever.
In the midst of this craziness....
there is joy.

MYSTERY SOLVED!

Or rather 

The "meow-stery. 

Why my terra cotta pots have grown

such dismal flowers this year. 

And now I know.....

 ..... The rest of the story. 

THAT'S ME.....

She can do physically.....

.....what I am doing mentally.