Our Prophet, Our Leader, Our Example ... My Brother

I didn't post anything right away. I was a little unsure about my own reaction. I too, like Mr. Glenn Beck (see link below), wasn't sad. I had a warm feeling. I have narrowed the warm feeling down to joy, gratitude and love.

I was joyful, because I knew he was in the arms of many who love him, especially his wife. I miss my husband when he is on an overnight shift or three day camp out. He has waited years. What a patient and enduring man. I am grateful for the gospel that has strengthened my testimony in eternal families and a man who showed me.

I am grateful for the wonderful sacrifice he has given. Which you can hardly call a sacrifice. Even though he has been busy in serving the Lord and the World, he would only want to be doing just that! True happiness as you can see on his face.

I am grateful for the prophet he was for me. President Hinckley was my prophet during some trying and growing years. Times where my testimony was tested. This might be the silliest thing, but one counsel came to my mind about those darn earrings. I was in college with three earrings in one ear and one in the other(sounds goofy and lopsided now). President Hinckley counseled women to only have one pair of earrings. I thought from now on I shouldn't get anymore. I justified each piercing as being okay. As I put more thought into why would a prophet of God stand at the pulpit and mention something as small as an earring(s). I thought about this and what I was going to do. I finally decided this was a test of my faith in a Prophet of God. Was this going to affect my salvation. I thought surely not...physically. Spiritually it would hinder my faith and obedience in the prophet (past, present or future). What does it mean to follow the prophet? It meant at that time to take out my earrings and only have one pair. Now it means I will do as the Lord commands. I heard the words loud and clear as the prophet spoke to me. You thought you knew me well. Interest in more piercings has ran through my mind. Scary! I wanted a nose piercing next. Can you believe it? When would I stop?!

Of course that is but a small illustration of obedience and need for a prophet. I have been strengthened in many other sermons and words shared by President Hinckley that have led me to a stronger foundation. I have more room to grow. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who will continually speak to me, all of us, through revelation (personal and through a loving prophet). The mantel has been lifted and will lay on another brother's shoulders in which Heavenly Father will furthermore express his love and concern for us.

I feel great love from President Gordon B. Hinckley, for President Hinckley, the Love of our Heavenly Father, and I feel love for all of you!

"Have I done any good in the World today?" President Hinckley has surpassed such an idea. I am grateful to have enjoyed part of my journey with such a beloved prophet.

May we all stand a little taller, rise a little higher, be a little better...because we were taught by President Gordon B. Hinckley.


http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/200/5127/

Children See

I see this in my own chidren where my actions/reactions are immitated in their play. Makes ya think twice. Thank goodness for repentence! This video is a great reminder as to how powerful our example is. Do you know who is watching you?

Mr. Rabbit

I didn't forget about the rest of the bunch.

Cohen is our Mr. Rabbit. Always on the go. We are close behind wondering what rabbit hole/adventure/mischievous plot he is after. There is always the silence that perks our interest. We also know something is coming when he looks at us, smirks and walks slyly on his tip toes to complete his task.

One of his latest rabbit holes is a little cooler than most. He loves the refrigerator. I often can't find him until I see a little light coming out of the kitchen. Except for one time, there was no light. Cohen was originally interested in just making the light go on and off by pushing the button inside. That wasn't good enough. He came to get me and tell me the light was off and wouldn't come back on. Well, when there is no light bulb, there is no light. I was searching quickly for it, because it was breakable and didn't want anything along those lines to happen. Apparently Cohen thought the meat drawer was the best place for the light bulb. That one took me a while.

Other fascinations with the fridge:

• milk
• juice
  
• water (he feels it is his job to fill up Taylin's cup)
• eggs...I was nursing Kennedy upstairs (when all things occur) and I heard Cohen say "broken," "it broke." He came upstairs with the evidence. My reply, "Oh Cohen, the egg broke." "Yes, mommy it broke." It was still whole, just cracked, phew.
• if we aren't drinking our drink, he makes sure to put it back in the fridge, so it stays cold

Cohen is borderline, potty training interest. No we aren't potty training yet. He is still working on the interest part. He enjoys flushing the toilet and washing his hands, regardless of any deposit in the toilet. He has begun to take his own diaper off when dirty. I wasn't sure what to do as he was half way down the stairs with his pajamas zipped all the way down and the diaper held out with a "bounteous load." Of course I was nursing, so poor Taylin was summoned to help until I could.

We did purchase him some big boy undies. David is so glad we can have underwear and not just panties in toddler vocabulary. Cohen was sooo excited to have big boy undies with cars on them. The only problem is the car is on the back of the undies, so he can't see them. He would only wear them if he could see the car, thus backwards. Our second mistake was we had the Halloween/dress-up box out of storage as we were rearranging to get Christmas decorations back in the closet. Cohen found his bunny costume and proudly put on his new dress shoes. At least it wasn't Taylin's pink shoes or silver shoes or high heels. So what does every parent do, as awful as it is, we took a picture. I am not sure how it made it by the trash can. Of course a great one to pull out years from now!

Cohen is conniving and will intentionally do something to upset Taylin or Mommy. On the other hand he is so considerate and thoughtful. He will make sure and say sorry. If someone is sad or needs comfort, he is the first one to medicate with love and concern. Cohen has an infectious grin and laugh. Cohen's favorite routine is his mornings. He has some alarm that goes off, no matter how quiet or early David gets up, and meets David downstairs. David has Cohen's juice and vitamin ready and often a bowl of Malt-o-meal. They eat together and if I am still asleep when David leaves, Cohen will come crawl in bed with me....or Kennedy. The latter wakes us all! Oh what fun we have!

Crying Over Spilled Milk

As I made my Saturday evening journey to the grocery store (This has become the best time for me to go.) I was thinking about the spilled milk today. My day started with a munchkin wide awake at 5AM. Kennedy "spilled" some milk, a.k.a. spit up, on our comforter I washed yesterday. If you have ever read the children's book "It Looks Like Spilt Milk," this will make more sense. Bare with me. I have a list of "It Looks Like Spilt Milk:"

• spit up on my freshly washed comforter (yesterday)
  
• notarize a note so David can park the cadi at a hospital on the Fort Hood Base, because me actually being there in person wasn't good enough, wow!
• burnt bread for dinner
• dinner regurgitated at the table (that was the nicest way to put it)
• not just one glass of spilled milk, but two!
• have to go to the grocery store, but still have a long list of things to do before Sunday

It looked like spilt milk, but it was really:

• Kennedy went back to sleep in her crib on her own for two more hours and everyone got to sleep past 7:15AM
• David took Cohen with him to Fort Hood. I had some quiet time with the girls, talked to my grandmother and the boys made a stop at the airport to watch planes and helicopters fly and get washed.
• David kindly suggested using the rest of the bread, no big deal! No brainer, but he just made it sound and feel like no big deal the smoke alarms were going off and I could toast some more bread in a matter of minutes.
• Cohen didn't like the bread, but he loved the salad. He ate something for dinner!
• Taylin's guilty face and remorse from spilling milk was enough and the milk didn't spill on anything but an empty spot on the table. It is okay it was an accident. Cohen just went too fast and covered himself with milk...bath time is after dinner anyway!
• The grocery store wasn't crowded. I found everything. I was even able to help someone out with gas. I came home with enough time to leave a message on our blog!

The story says it looked like spilt milk, and other things, but it was a cloud. All these things could have been the breaking point. I have been so blessed and have many positive experiences, I can't complain.

Then I was reminded we are finally going to Spain. David has wanted to go for years. He tried really hard to convince me that last year was a good year. This year a good deal, good friends and a special gift is making it possible to go. What a great break and blessing we are looking forward to in March.

Even if it looks like spilt milk, there is a silver lining somewhere.

"Even if you cannot always see that silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the very source of the light you seek. He does love you, and He knows your fears. He hears your prayers. He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed."

-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Our Alice

Our Alice: aka, Taylin. Taylin would have loved to be a princess...for every Halloween for the rest of her life. We steered her away as gently as we could. After several Disney bedtime stories she narrowed it down to Wendy or Alice. She then decided Alice and we all worked with our costumes from there. Cohen was "Mr. Rabbit." Kennedy was the "Cheshire Cat." David was the "Mad Hatter." I was the "Queen of Hearts." Luckily Goodwill had the perfect articles of clothing, so I didn't have to do much sewing.

Thus the Galloway Wonderland. It fits too perfectly as we have our days where I feel like we live in a nonsense land like Alice's. Our first character, Taylin, has given us several adventures in 2007.

Taylin started preschool in January of '07 with her Sunbeam class (from church). Moms rotated teaching responsibilities. Taylin loved being with her friends, as well as being big enough to go to school like Daddy. I guess mom knew how much Taylin loved it that she was crazy enough to take on teaching responsibilities again once we moved to Temple...with Cohen and a new little Kennedy. Apparently we nailed the United States of America. The preschoolers have so much pride they shout out every time they see an American flag. You should see the excitement when they drive past the VA hospital that has 20 plus American flags. The parents love me for that too!

Taylin participated in several more experiences over the summer. She enjoyed swimming lessons. She remained a tadpole, but her fear of water was lessened. Taylin also participated in gymnastics class for two months before we moved. She loves to jump on the trampoline, do forward rolls, do "tabletops." Even though they didn't practice at all on the bars, she loves the new bar in her closet to do flips over!

Taylin is very much a princess fanatic much to her mom's dismay. Mommy and Daddy decided the kiddos would have friend parties every four years. So this year the majority of her "girl" friends were still in College Station. She and four friends dressed up and had a princess party. They even participated in the princess oath. "Once a princess, always a princess." She came home with princess powder that she could sprinkle on her head if she were feeling a little less of a princess. I am glad to say she has only asked for princess powder once. She somberly told me she didn't feel like a princess that day.

Taylin is a fun loving four year old. She surprises us everyday with her knowledge, wittiness and concern for all.

From Newsletter to spotlighting

So I thought I would do a newsletter and reflect on everyone in the past year. That seemed daunting and more time consuming than I could manage. I will now turn to spotlighting. I look forward to blogging where my bragging rights are posted and my reality checks are met. I hope to keep this up to date as I already have things going through my head. Stay posted for our first spotlight.

I have attached a photo of our first attempt to get a Christmas photo done. Can you tell who was ready for a nap instead. We promptly discontinued our attempt to get a better shot when the following two our little guy covered his face. Forget a smile; we just wanted to see his face. Later on we got some willingness and good smiles.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I wish you all a wonderful 2008. We have a great year ahead of us and can't wait!