Thornton Mom

Here are a few highlights from February: We had an extremely large storm go over Raleigh.  There were threats of tornadoes.  The kids really started to get worried.  If anything ever happened we are going to go down under the house.  So they decided to put anything that was valuable to them in bins so that if we went under the house they would have their most treasured possessions.  Valentine's Day John Derek made this cute sign for me.  What a sweetie. Elizabeth played church basketball and did very well.  She was the star player on the team.  Her confidence in herself on the court has been so fun to see.  She had quite a presence on the court.  A brother from another ward who has watched her play his daughter on the school teams said that she has really improved from last year.  He was really impressed.  She received so many compliments at her last church game.  It really was delightful to hear my da...

Today is Christmas Eve.  Michael woke up so happy to know that he could take off one more ring and that there was only one left. Aunt KoKo invited all the girls to spend the night at her house last night.  They made cookies and watched Anne of Green Gables. Ammon also invited the boys over to his house for the night.  John Derek was so excited that Monday he packed his bag and put it in the car so that he would be ready. Aunt Annelise arrived just in time for dinner and volunteered to put Michael to bed so that Derek and I could run some last minute errands. It has been nice to have the kids taken care of. This morning my thoughts are turned to that First Christmas Eve.  To Mary, new at motherhood and marriage and being called to carry the Son of God.  What an amazing responsibility she had.  She must have been an amazing woman. To Joseph who stood in the background. Here was a man who did not seek praise, did not seek attention, who hum...

 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 ...

Maddie wanted to do everything Aunt KoKo did Maddie is too cool John Derek loved playing with his cousins Ammon drove the jet ski all over the lake Amber will leave us at the end of the summer to attend school Michael and Samantha have fun with the water and bubbles With Derek and Elizabeth involved in different Girls Camp activities we decided to spent time with Derek's family at his parent's lake house.  It was fun to visit with family, play games, play in the water, and just relax.  I love my in-laws, they are wonderful people I am so blessed to be part of their family. I remember the first time I was in their home (on a blind date with my future husband) and I felt a great amount of love in their home and thought that whoever was part of that home must be very blessed.  Little did I know that I would be part of that love and it is such a blessing. In this Communication Age, How Effective Are Your Prayers? Contributed By By Sist...

This morning was hard getting the kids ready for Church.  I was tired from staying up chaperoning a youth dance.  After trying to take a nap and being interupted every 3 min. I prayed for help and felt that I should get up and have scripture study with my kids.  Two of my nephews and my niece and a friend of theirs at a youth dance. My nephews are such studs. Today was Elizabeth's first day in Young Women's.  She had gotten a new dress and really wanted to wear it.  But it needed a few alterations that I thought I could do in about 5 min.  It took 35 min .  Elizabeth wanted to wear makeup for the first time 10 min . Samantha had a talk that I had forgotten about so she and I worked on it another 10 min .  I had a lesson to give and needed to print it out 7 more min.  Then as we were walking out the door 15 min . late for Church Elizabeth stepped on her dress and ripped it.  At this point I took many deep breaths said a prayer ...