Thornton Mom

Elizabeth is now in love with Doctor Who.  She watches it every chance she gets.  I saw this picture at my friend's house and knew that Elizabeth would love it, which she did.  It is tough to be a teenager.  I remember not liking it.  Good friends are hard to come by, school can be overpowering and exhausting, Your family is not what you think you want.  You are constantly changing your perspective and your feelings.  There is so much unknown and yet so many important decisions. Elizabeth is doing well despite the pressures put upon her.  For the most part things are not going the way she wants, but she tries to have a good attitude.  She reads her scriptures and writes in her journal every day.  I am so proud of her.  This was a decision she decided to make without my influence.  She tries to do what is right, does well in school and is good at Church.  I am thankful that she is my daughter and hope that I can he...

This week was pack meeting.  John Derek got his Wolf so he had to "wolf" down a whipcream cake inorder to find his badge.  It was really cute.  He loved it. That evening the pack had a "hike" for the boys and their families.  We all walked around the park and towards the end got really spread out.  I ended up having to wait for Michael and took a shortcut to our meeting place.  I watched everyone come in and saw Maddie, and JD (Dad and Elizabeth were at other activites) but no Samantha.  I stood up and started looking for her and worried that she may have followed someone else down the wrong path.  As I looked at this huge park and all the possible places she could be I hoped that she had sat down and prayed to know where to look.  I felt that I should ask the group if anyone had seen her.  As I did many of the parents said they would start looking.  We all fanned out and within 5 min. she had been found at the bathrooms (whe...

   We went for a walk the other day.  I was proud of the kids and how well they did.  Once it was time to turn around John Derek wanted to run ahead a play on the toys.  I said that was fine but as he started to run little Michael called out to him in desperation running as fast as his little legs could carry him.  The sweet brother that John Derek is, stopped, walked back, took his hand and went together with him to the park.  At one point I almost caught up with him ans JD was placing Michael on his back as Michael was getting tired of walking.  JD is such a good kid.  He has a heart of gold and I love seeing that heart shine through. For Family Home Evening we watched a message from Elder Nelson about making the Sabbath a Delight.   As I watched this video I reflected on the numerous articles I have read concerning the Sabbath Day.  Any of them that were written after this last general conference mention Elder Nelson's tal...

The other night I was laying in bed having difficulty going to sleep.  I was thinking about my kids, about exercise, about spending more time with them.  I have been listening to a book and the author said that "if your family is fighting it is because you are not spending enough time together."  So I have been wondering how we can spend more time together. I thought about how every day when I go to pick up Elizabeth I leave the 4 younger ones at home to watch TV while I am gone.  By the time I get home there is contention and frustration.  I haven't felt like this is a good practice for our family but was not sure how to change it. I was reminded that in the spring we are able to go to swim practice for 3 hours and still get homework and things done.  Then I was reminded that almost next door to Elizabeth's school is a wonderful park with a play ground, trails, paths, etc., that we have never explored.  So I decided that I would take the ...

 Michael wouldn't take his nap the other day.  By dinner he was so tired but so hungry.  He kept asking me for food and I kept giving it to him but each time it took him longer and longer to eat it until . . . Mormon 4:5  "5  But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished; for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed." The righteous don't punish the wicked. It is not their place. Good will make sure the wicked are punished but we must learn to forgive forget and seek the good. We will only hurt our souls of we try to punish the wicked.

Mormon 3:1 Even though there were ten years of peace Mormon knew what was going to happen and prepared for it. What do I need to prepare for? How about next time I get depressed, it will happen. What can I do now to make it less difficult? Freezer Meals, build up my kids so that they will not be as affected, teach them about depression. Increase my study and prayers Thai I can be strong during that time, learn to dismiss the lies of Satan. Yesterday I read my patriarchal blessing. I have been wondering why I was sent to earth and this time, what is my purpose, what fills me when I am empty? My blessing says that I was sent to raise a righteous seed into our father and to prepare the earth fit the coming of the Savior. Then it says "You have a great mission here upon the earth." Is that my mission, raising my kids or is there something else also? I realized that I need to love myself. That when I am tempted to feel overwhelmed out put myself down I need to pray and the tempt...

  We went to the Lake for Labor Day.  It was fun to be with family and to play in the water.  Mormon 1:15  "15  And I, being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus." Mormon had to know that God was real at a very early stage. Just like Joseph Smith, Mormon was going to be put through a lot of persecution and he needed a strong knowledge to keep him on the right path and help him stand up to the wickedness that surrounded him.

 The kids got to hang out with Aunt Angela, Uncle Will and Ammon over the weekend while Derek and I went on an overnight-er.  The kids had a blast.  The girls got to sleep in Amber's room and Saturday they went to a preparedness fair and got to see a real fire truck!  Michael could not stop talking about it.  They even got to go inside!  "The Sunday afternoon last conference when Elder Nelson talked about the Sabbath day. My body was planted in front of the TV broadcast, but my mind was bouncing somewhere between a game of Angry Birds and the Wikipedia entry for History of the chair . But I managed, in spite of myself, to glean a key point: what if, instead of treating the Sabbath as a list of do’s and don’ts, we treated it as a sign to Heavenly Father—a chance to express our love, gratitude, and discipleship? Maybe your sign is joining ward choir or taking a walk with your family on Sunday to enjoy the beauties of creation. Maybe it’s ...

I have been struggling the last few weeks with depression.  It comes and goes but has mostly just settled over me and remains pretty constant.  Derek and I had the opportunity to have a couple of days to ourselves while our sister-in-law watched the kids.  At one point we started talking about my feelings.  I expresed that with the depression I am having a hard time with the life I have been given.  That I feel it is not the life I wanted.  That I do not enjoy being a mother and would have been happier with a different life.  I will often complain to God about this, about how the only reason I am a mother is because He wanted me to be one.  That each of these children that were born into our family are here because He wanted them here.  That evening Derek had a meeting for Bishops and Stake Presidency's.  When he came home he said that he had something he felt he should share with me.  He talked of Christ, how Christ only did ...

Annelise and My's 2nd day of Girls Weekend. Michael, already so proud of his facial hair. John Derek's gift from Aunt Annelise We have been hearing a lot about the Sabbath Day.  As I have thought more and more about the Sabbath day I have felt a need to change.  My Sabbath Day consists of bidding my husband an early good-bye, getting kids ready for church, tying to feel the Spirit as children are noisy and fighting etc., a game of chase as we try to get all the kids in the car.  Home where everyone is famished and wants to eat right now! This is where I typically throw my hands in the air and give up.  The rest of the day is spent with kids on computers or television, me trying to calm down and cook so my husband can eat a nice meal with us and watching the clock tick so I can stop feeling guilty and we can be done with Sunday. I realize that this is not the way to keep the Sabbath Day holy and to make it a delight.  Today I ran across this Art...

The Black Dog is back.  After 3 months of hardly any sign of him he came back.  He started showing up a little last week and by yesterday and today he has taken over.  Man it has been hard.  I do have to say he isn't as strong as he was 6 months ago but he is trying.  This morning I curled up in my closet and cried (that's how I know he is here in full force.)  My kids are trying not to let it bother them but he's not very nice.  I am not sure what to do but wait until he has passed.  I know he will and that is comforting. I had felt prompted Tuesday to get a blessing but didn't so tonight I asked for one.  In the blessing I was told to serve, to seek the Spirit, to eat good foods, and that I could find ways to exercise.  I have been eating everything in sight and nothing good, and exercise has not existed since I broke my foot.  I think the foot and the black dog are making it hard this time.  My sweet mom sent me a huge...

 Annelise and I went off for a girls weekend.  Our first stop was Duke Gardens.  We both took pictures and limped around.  I have a broken foot and she has a foot constantly in pain.  It was a slow process and we only walked a little bit but it was fun. Our second stop was the Lemur Center at Duke.  So fun to see so many lemurs.  We really did enjoy it. This is the chapter when Christ comes to the Americas.  In our Book of Mormon it is chapter 11 but in this book it is chapter 5.  The chapters may be different but the words are the same.  We then went to the Duke Library that houses rare books.  We were able to view an original copy of the Book of Mormon.  There were times that I was almost in tears as we looked at this book.  The feelings I had really surprised me.  I felt a great reverence, a closeness to Joseph Smith.  At the beginning of the book he explains why he did not publish the 116 pages...