A ....... Sunday!!

Well, I must say it was a..... (wonderful) Sunday!! Luckily I got most everything ready Saturday night as who would think that your husband (being the bishop) would call you about an hour & 1/2 before Church, (might I add it was the Primary program too) to tell you that he has just realized (as everyone arrived to their early morning meetings) that he forgot to bring his cookies??? "Cookies for what dear?" - "Cookies for the church social" - "Oh the one the whole ward stays for treats? The Bishopric must be in charge?" - "Yes, & I forgot I was suppose to bring cookies"..... UMMM - Immediately the brain goes into freeze mode!!

(What??? I haven't showered yet, I have Madison's hair to do, need to feed everyone breakfast, let alone 3/4's of them aren't even awake.... ugh!!) Well, first thought: I could miss church & work on baking cookies... NO I CAN'T it is the Primary program & Madi & Brady are so excited for us to see them do their parts & would be absolutely devastated! O.K... then I'll come back as soon as Sacrament is over & bake cookies.... NO I CAN'T... Who bakes 3-4+ dozen cookies in 90 minutes & can get back to the building, cooled down & ready to serve to the multitudes? ..... JUST THEN....

THE heavens open & Dave happens to say... remember those 2 tubs of dough I recently bought from that fundraiser (which I hate when he buys... as you don't get your $$ worth -IMO) anyway - then he says: " Will you ask Garrett to wake up & start making cookies for me?" - NOW SERIOUSLY ... YOU? expect the 14 year old to wake, eat, shower, & BAKE cookies & be to church on time? UMM - NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!! Especially with Garrett - as it almost takes Garrett that long just to shower!!

So I calmly hung up the phone & with a smile (AS "BLESSINGS" kept ringing in my mind) - rushed downstairs to get everyone going while starting to BAKE cookies!! (Thank goodness I didn't have to make them too!) I LAUGH now as Dave actually stayed up late the night before baking 2 pans of brownies for a meeting he had in Lyman tonight! ... How did he not think or remember he needed to bake cookies too?? YES - CHALK it up for the GOOD WIFE Right!! (You better bet!!)

Anyway - I realize life can be hard if we make it that way - or if we "CHOOSE" to have a poor attitude!! (Luckily today I was able to be in the right frame of mind & had the ability to have & choose to have a good attitude!) Today - was actually a wonderful Sunday - even though things were tough for a little while!! I could have made it a whole lot worse had I chosen to respond to the situation differently!! (Man the cookies actually turned out & tasted good!! So I guess they were worth the $$ this time!) I know & realize that times can be really tough & sometimes we don't have the ability to choose how hard they really are or get... but I do find with most trials, shortfalls, etc... attitude can make a huge difference in how everything turns out.

So to report on our day: We arrived 30 minutes early, kids were all nice & ready, Madison & Brady participated in their primary program (both wrote their own talks). They were SO EXCITED to have us watch them.

It is still kind of weird to be sitting in church & only have 2 people sitting with me. Garrett & Tyler both passing the sacrament is wild... kinda hard to save their seats as everyone only thinks I need a small little spot for me & my 2 kids.... then they came to sit by me after they passed the sacrament & then Madi & Brady got up to leave & do their program... weird to not have children to hush or entertain (it is really bittersweet)!!

I have a good friend who lost all 3 of her older boys to college this year.... only has 1 child left at home who is in 5th grade... I see her struggle with the empty nest, I can see & sense her heartache!! Wow - my time will be here before I know it & I know I am not going to like it... as just having 2 pass the sacrament is making me crazy... as I can't figure out why my bench is so empty almost every week... then I remember!!

Anyway the program was wonderful. Madison was the first speaker & her talk went as follows: "Heavenly Father loves me & I know because he answers my prayers. He helps me to be happy. I am blessed to have the scriptures so I can learn more about his plan for me." Then Brady spoke & he was so CUTE!!! He said his talk just perfectly & word for word - where you could tell the other kids just listed how they could help their families. He said: "Serving my family is important. I can serve & help my family by cleaning up my toys."

A lot of the songs they had learned, they learned the sign language too & they both knew all of the signs... I was so proud of them.

You always have one child in the program that does his own thing... this year cute Andrew was a hoot!! He probably blew 500+ kisses to his mom & waved at her the whole time. Then he'd make the kiss-y lips & be doing a dance for mom!! There were times he was scoping out the teacher in front of him... I leaned over to Garrett as we were trying to contain our giggles & said... I will die if Andrew reaches up & shines Brother Anderson's bald spot... you could sense that Bro. Anderson knew something was going on above him... but didn't know what. It was pretty FUNNY - luckily he didn't make any noise with all of this... just motions.

So the After church social went over great - had a ton of people stay & visit, then I had a VT interview, then jump in the car to go home with Tyler telling me "Mom, we need to be back in 15 minutes to go to our Scout meeting in Lyman"... WHAT? NOT ANOTHER DILEMMA!! NO COMMENT... rush home, oops... pass the Home teachers we missed who had been sitting at our house as we were late, change from church clothes to scout clothes, grab some cold pizza & warm it, make a plate for Dad, Oh... Hurry cut & cover the brownies for the meeting, rush back to the building to send the 3 boys off to Lyman... come home feed other children, Home Teachers call & want to come back..... YES it has been a ...... (wonderful) SUNDAY!!!

I am grateful for the Gospel & for the blessings we do receive from serving. I am so grateful for the knowledge of why we are here & for our families!! I am so grateful for this time we have to build strong & happy families... I know our time & reunions in the next life will be even grater because of the bonds we have built here & the experiences we have shared!!