Moments

Michael had been extremely grumpy.  I don't know if it is teeth, separation, just not feeling good, switching to milk instead of formula, or just one of those days.  He just kept screaming and I didn't know what to do.  Finally I put him by the window so he could watch his brother and his brother's friends play kick ball.  He was mesmerized.  He stayed quiet for almost 5 min. which was a huge reprieve.  Occasionally I would ask the kids to say hi to him and that would last us for another 5 min.  Just enough for me to get the piles of laundry put away.

Maddison was in a cute mood.  She kept getting things out.  At one point she got out my yoga mat and said she was going to do yoga.  She then got another mat out and said, "Mom this one is for you."  She knows what I like.  So we did yoga together with Michael crawling underneath us. 

 

With Daddy out of town we all snuggled in my bed for scripture study.  John Derek wanted a picture of all of us.  These are some fun moments.  They love it when I say that we are going to have family prayer "snuggled up."

I am reading a talk given by Bonnie L. Oscarson, Young Women General President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (click here to read the talk)

I would like to share a conversion story from my family history about another of my heroes. Her name is Agnes Hoggan, and she and her husband joined the Church in Scotland in 1861. Suffering great persecution in their homeland, they immigrated to America with their children. Several years later, Agnes became a widow with eight children to support and worked hard to keep them fed and clothed. Her 12-year-old daughter, Isabelle, was lucky enough to find employment as a servant to a wealthy, non-LDS family.

Isabelle lived in their large home and helped look after their younger children. In exchange for her services, a small wage was paid each week to her mother. Isabelle was soon accepted as a member of the family and began to enjoy many of the same privileges, such as taking dance lessons, wearing beautiful clothing, and attending the theater. This arrangement continued for four years, until the family for whom Isabelle worked was transferred to another state. They had grown so fond of Isabelle that they approached her mother, Agnes, and asked for permission to legally adopt her. They promised they would provide her with a good education, see that she married well, and make her an heir to their estate with their own children. They would also continue to make payments to Agnes.

This struggling widow and mother had a hard decision to make, but she did not hesitate for a moment. Listen to the words of her granddaughter, written many years later: “If her love had not compelled [her] to say no, she had an even better reason—she had come all the way from Scotland and had gone through tribulations and trials for the Gospel, and she did not intend, if humanly possible, to let a child of hers lose what she had come so far to gain.”² The wealthy family used every possible argument, and Isabelle herself cried and begged to be allowed to go, but Agnes remained firm. As you can imagine, 16-year-old Isabelle felt as if her life was ruined."--I loved this story the first time I heard it.  It made me remember that as I mother I have to stand firm in what I know is right even if my children feel that their lives are ruined.  I have a firm testimony in my Savior and will do everything I can to help my children gain a testimony for themselves.  Even if it means that the will sometimes be mad at me.  I have to keep their future in mind.