Skip to main content

Hollywood Studios/Meaning of Life

Our first day in Disney started in Hollywood Studios.  We began on Rocking Roller coaster and then immediately went to Tower of Terror.  Maddie and Michael waited patiently for all of us to ride those rides and were quite delighted by the reward of Disney Jr. Live!  Everyone did great on Rocking Roller coaster but Samantha did not like the Tower of Terror and when I went on with Elizabeth I was terrified.  I kept grabbing her leg as we would go up and down.  I was really wondering why I even got on this ride.  I was grateful when it was over.  Elizabeth loved it, it was by far her favorite ride.


Because my feet are not yet back to normal I ended up being in a wheel chair for the trip.  It defiantly had it's advantages.  One was that we got to sit right up front for many of the shows.  Here Maddie and Samantha wait for Beauty and the Beast to begin.  That was stunningly beautiful and fun.



Michael wanted nothing more than to run.  He was constantly in a stroller or on my lap.  Disney was smart and put some play spaces in their parks.  Here Michael and JD are at Honey I Shrunk the Kids.  Everyone else went to see the Muppets in 3D.  John Derek also wanted to move and stayed with Michael and I.  He is such a good brother and would take Michael all over the play space.  I was so grateful that he was there, I never could have kept up with him by myself.  This slid was by far their favorite.  





 Another favorite was the Stunt Show.  We saw cars jump, split in half, catch on fire, drive backwards, it was truly enjoyable.




With Michael not being able to go on many of the rides we would often take turns riding.  Here are photos of us waiting for the others to go on Star Tours.




We had planned to leave early every day.  But we moved a lot slower than we had anticipated.  We couldn't believe how many times we ended up in the bathroom.  This meant that we could not follow our plan but I was okay with that.  We finally had the decision to either go home and rest or go to the Frozen Sing Along.  The family debated back and forth.  I finally prayed about it and felt good about going to the Sing Along.  I am so glad I did.  The kids loved it!!  We were on the front row.  The girls were belting out the songs.  Maddie's eyes were huge.  It was so fun to see my kids so happy.  I truly felt the joy of seeing Disney through their eyes.  I loved it!! 





 
It Works Wonderfully!
"“Does my life have meaning?”"
I do feel that right now in my life I am on a journey of self discovery. That Heavenly Father is trying to help me see my worth, my talents, my importance, my divine qualities.
This question "Does my life have meaning?" is something that Satan is trying to skew. Over and over again I have the words "This is not the life I wanted" go through my head. I am tempted by memories of being single and only worrying about myself. I am not happy with the way my children are turning out in some areas that really are not important. I am grateful that I can identify that these feelings are not from our Heavenly Father and that I must work at disbelieving them and instead see my own self worth and try to look at my life through my Father in Heaven's eyes.
So when I read the question, "Does my life have meaning?" There is a part of me that does wonder. Why am I here, what is my purpose, what truly brings me happiness?
I have faith that I am on the right path. That Heavenly Father is guiding me to where I can receive those answers and feel them for myself. I have hope that it will all work out.

The thing that brings me the greatest happiness right now is the knowledge I have that my Husband loves me. When things are hard and I don't understand, when I am frustrated at upset at the trials I have to go through, I am reminded that I have the blessing of a wonderful marriage. That I am with my best friend every day even if it is just sleeping in the same bed at night, we are together. He is home everyday, he is only a phone call away, he loves me better than I ever expected to be loved. He is my greatest blessing. And I will take any trial that I must as long as He will remain faithfully by my side. I know that with the Lord's help we will get through this together and be together for eternity. This brings me joy!!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

WE ARE EXPECTING BABY #5

Yes, you read it correctly. The Thornton Family is expecting a new baby in Dec. 2012. We are very excited. Today we made the announcement to our 4 children and I am sure that each of you heard their screams of excitement. Maddison immediately told us that it was going to be a boy but then after a few minutes decided that we need one boy and one girl. John Derek would like the baby to be a boy so that he can have a brother. Samantha would like the baby to sleep in her room. Elizabeth would like the baby to have brown hair so that more kids in the family would look like her. Then the conversation turned to names. Here are some of their favorites: Elizabeth wants: Sarah, Eva, Evelyn, or Eve, and if it is a boy Phineas or Ferb Samantha wants: Sam or Ammon John Derek wants: Johnny Maddison wants: Cinderella and Johnny So here we go. Taking on a new adventure of 5 children with faith that we are following our Father in Heaven's desires for our family. In this last conference Pres. P...

My Daughter/Compliments From Up Above

Sunday I took a walk with the kids up to the park.  Elizabeth started to complain about how hard things are because we have such a big family and how if we wouldn't have had as many children as we do things would be so much easier for her.  I remember feeling the same way when I was her age. I said a silent prayer for the right words to say.  We talked about how the person who makes her the most happy is Michael.  She loves to be with him.  The first person she wants to see in the morning is him, when she gets home from school he is the first to get a hug.  She is really good at taking care of him and helping him with his needs.  She is such a nurturer and will make a fantastic mom.  If anyone needs a good babysitter I highly recommend her. As we talked her heart was touched.  I love it when as a mother you can reach into your child's soul and help sooth a trouble.  I was grateful for that experience. The Infinite Atonement (...

Laundry Day

John Derek, Maddie, and I took a brief walk to the park for my morning exercise.  We played for a few minutes.  I pushed them on the swings and then they went on a "treasure hunt" for seed pods.  Oh the simple joys of children.  They found such delight finding a pod all by themselves. After coming home I said no TV and that today I was focusing on doing laundry and that they needed to go outside to play.  Well they did not want to go outside but instead wanted to "help me."  So Maddie pushed the wet clothes into the dryer and JD emptied the lint catcher.   I then said I needed to go upstairs to get more laundry.  They both disappeared (to avoid work I am sure.)  When I got upstairs Maddie was loading laundry into a laundry basket and JD was trying with all his might to pull the laundry bag out of the laundry cart.  It was so sweet of them.  We loaded 2 baskets.  I brought one down with the laundry bag and in a...