July Highlights/Special Needs

 Here are lots of highlights from July:

Glenn, Angy, Anna, and Christian came to visit.  We went to the Lake House and really enjoyed ourselves.  Everyone was so sweet to me and my kids it was a wonderful time.

We then spent a few more days at the Lake House.  It was delightful to be up there for a full week.  Derek was sweet and drove back and forth everyday.  We really enjoyed it!

 We did lots of fishing.  Samantha caught a huge cat fish!  Michael "caught" a fish too.  He did what I did as a child and helped real it in.

 Granddaddy and Grandmommy made their famous homemade ice cream!

 We got to try paddle boarding.  I really liked it and so did the kids.

The Christensen's came to visit us one more time before they flew home.

All the kids loved Anna.  She was a delight!

Christian and Elizabeth are really good friends.  I am glad they like each other so much!

It is fun to have us all together.  I love family!

Here are a few highlights of Banbury Woods.  We may not be back next year.  It has been a delight for 10 years and we are so happy to have had the opportunity.

Decisions for Eternity

Russell M. Nelson, October 2013 General Conference

"Stellar spirits are often housed in imperfect bodies. 11 The gift of such a body can actually strengthen a family as parents and siblings willingly build their lives around that child born with special needs."

• I have been pondering how I can help one of my children. Derek and I have tried so many things but have a hard time coping with this child and her outward expressions. 

We had had a difficult morning with her and I was praying for help to know what to do. I was inspired to look up "enabling power of the atonement" in My Gospel Library, on my phone. I came across this talk and decided to listen to it. When I heard this paragraph I felt that this is what we needed to do.

My daughter is a stellar spirit who is in an imperfect body. If we humble ourselves and work together as a family we will be strengthened as a family and as individuals.

As I pondered this I had to think that the problems we are having with her are because of her imperfect body. That her reaction may not be what we would like but that is how she feels. Her pain level is small, her outbursts are genuine, that her body is not like mine and I can't expect her to act like me.

Derek and I have continued to discuss this and have wondered how we can "build our lives around this child." We realized that each of our children in their own way have special needs. We have decided that instead of labeling our children with what we think their special needs are we are going to allow them, each time they teach FHE, to tell us as a family what their special need is that week and we as a family will brainstorm how we can help them. We hope this will strengthen our family and build our lives around each other.