Tender Mercies

As this summer has been difficult for us I have been thinking a lot about a conference talk given by Elder Bednar back in 2005. It is a talk that has always stuck with me and makes me think often about the little things each day that the Lord blesses me with.

What Are the Tender Mercies of the Lord?
"Since last October I have reflected repeatedly upon the phrase “the tender mercies of the Lord.” Through personal study, observation, pondering, and prayer, I believe I have come to better understand that the Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, the Lord suits “his mercies according to the conditions of the children of men” (D&C 46:15)." -Elder Bednar

When I first thought of the Lord's tender mercies for me I had only lived in Colorado for a few months. I really hated living here. I loved being with my family but I missed the comfort of being in Florida. I missed my friends, my grandparents, my home. One Sunday I was having a particularly difficult day and my sister Kimmy said I should come to the singles ward with her. I hated the singles ward but needing that special sister time I decided to go with her. As we were sitting in Relief Society they announced the opening hymn was Come Come Ye Saints. I love that song and was happy to sing it. However, it wasn't until we sung the third verse that I realized why I needed to go to church with Kimmy that day.

3. We’ll find the place which God for us prepared,Far away in the West,Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;There the Saints will be blessed.We’ll make the air with music ring,Shout praises to our God and King;Above the rest these words we’ll tell—All is well! All is well!

As I sat there and sung those words my eyes filled with tears because I knew that I was where I needed to be. I knew that going to church with Kimmy and hearing the words of that hymn was a tender mercy. I knew the Lord had a plan for me and I was exactly where he wanted me.

It was only a few short months after that Sunday that I met Jared and I knew more of what the Lord's plan for me was.

This year has been a struggle for our family. With Jared being out of work and wondering how we were going to survive week to week. With help from family and our Bishop we have been able to stay on our feet. But even more recently I have seen many more of the Lord's tender mercies bless our little family.

When Jared and I felt it was time to have another little one join our family we were broke. I was working but not bringing in enough to support our family. We were in the temple and I just cried because I thought "how on earth can we afford to have another baby." Then the tears went away and I felt peace in knowing that the Lord would take care of us. I was terrified to tell Jared that I felt it was time to have another child but when I did he looked at me and smiled and said, "OK." I was shocked but then learned that he felt that same peace that I had.

As the summer rolled on things got tough but we have been so blessed. Cayden has been healthy. I have been healthy. Our little new one is growing just as he should. And Jared has been blessed to keep finding small job opportunities. I know that the Lord is watching over us and I am so thankful that He is.

Things haven't been hard for just our little family. My little brother Matt is struggling on his mission. He got so sick and no one to talk to. His companion,mission pres., and area authority don't speak English. He was in bed for 3 days sick as a dog with only his own thoughts to drive him crazy. He was ready to quit and come home. He was granted permission to call home and talked to my dad for over an hour. He felt better after talking to my dad though. We are waiting for an e-mail this week to find out how he is doing.

Then we found out that my Granddaddy was sick and had to be in the hospital. He was so sick he had no idea what was going on around him. He is better now and is home. My mom went down to help care for him.

With everything going so badly its hard not to get down. Just like the old saying, "When it rains, it pours." Satan is working really hard to make it pour and get our family down. But when I think of all of the Lord's tender mercies it helps to keep me from getting down.

I am so thankful for my knowledge of the gospel and thankful for the spirit it brings into my home. I am thankful to have a husband who honors his priesthood. I am thankful for the knowledge of eternal families and that I have been blessed with such an awesome family. I am thankful for my temple marriage and a husband that loves me as much as I love him. I am thankful for the blessing of being a mom. I am thankful for a little boy who makes me laugh EVERY day. I am thankful for Father's blessings that help keep me going when I'm down and for a father who is always ready and willing to give them.

So my challenge to everyone is, that no matter how hard things get, you take a step back and find the tender mercies that you are blessed with every day. It makes living life so much easier.

~LOVE TO ALL~

CASA BONITA!!

This past Thursday was our nephew's birthday. Kimmy and Tyson took the family to Casa Bonita to celebrate the occasion. Spencer turned 2 and was having a Handy Manny party so they felt that it was fitting to celebrate at our local and very popular Mexican restaurant. Its quite the restaurant too. If you are ever in Denver it should be a planned activity during your stay. There are shows, cliff divers, puppet shows, caves, arcades, gift shops, a mariachi band and the best sopapillas on the planet. The real food on the other hand you have to be kinda picky about. I'm not a big fan but the rest of the family sure loved it. Let's just say they don't put as much heart into their food as they do the rest of the restaurant.

When we arrived I had decided to just purchase a kids chicken plate for me and one for Cayden. However, this is one restaurant where they really do stick to the 12 and under policy. The lady would not let me pass unless I purchased an adult meal for me. (You can't get in unless you order food.) It was a HUGE mess. They finally let me order 2 kids meals for me and one for Cayden. It all worked out because Spencer ate my 2nd kids meal. Once we got our food we were escorted to our seats. We ate and everyone was up and down the whole time because of all the exciting things going in the restaurant.

We had a fun night. Spencer had a blast and was very pleased to have the mariachi band come sing to him. It was funny though because they didn't sing "Happy Birthday" they sung "Happy Verthday". It was quite comical and everyone had the song stuck in their head the rest of the night. Timmy still has it in his head and sings it constantly. After Casa Bonita we went back to my parents house for cake and presents. It was a fun evening but a very late one.

Cayden and Jared after a trip through the cave. (Mikey peaking from behind the rock.)

Cayden and Spencer playing

Behind the waterfall. ( Too bad you can't see it)

Cayden and me in front of Casa Bonita. (Me in all my 21 1/2 week glory)

Everyone minus Tyson (He took the picture)

I head back to work tomorrow. I'm SO NOT excited. I hate going back to work after a long break. I hate having to give up all my time with Cayden. Especially now when he is learning so many new things at once. I just don't want to miss out on it. But unfortunately I have to get back to work. I just pray this year is easier and less stressful than last year.

Jared is still looking for job opportunities. My OB actually called me on Friday and told me of a guy doing some woodwork for her and said he needs help in his shop. So she gave me his number and Jared called but we are waiting to hear anything back. He finds new studios to apply to every day and we know that something will come through soon. We know the Lord has a plan for us we just don't know when or where it will lead us. Until we know we are saying our prayers and doing our best to stay close to Him.

I guess that's it for now. We hope everyone has a wonderful week!

~LOVE TO ALL~

Learning with Daddy

Cayden is such a Daddy's boy. When I get him out of bed in the morning the first word that comes out of his mouth is "Daddy." All day long you can count on Cayden saying, "Daddy? Work." But he knows that when Daddy comes home he get the play time he's been looking forward to all day. I'm so glad that Jared and Cayden have such a great relationship.

Last night Cayden knocked over my one and only plant. Its an indoor orange tree that Jared and I brought home from one of our first trips to Florida together. It needed to be re potted anyway. Even though it made a huge mess when Cayden knocked it over I was glad that it could turn into a learning experience. Jared took Cayden with him to get the larger pot off the balcony and then together they replanted the little tree. Cayden was so gentle with it too. He was very careful when he moved dirt from one pot to the other. It was so cute to watch. I think Cayden enjoyed playing with dirt indoors. But mostly he enjoyed helping Daddy.

I am so grateful for a husband that loves spending time with our son. Even though he may be totally exhausted and it takes every ounce of energy he has left he still makes the effort to play with Cayden. What a blessing for Cayden and me to have such a wonderful man in our life.

Another Beautiful BOY!

We were so excited to have our ultrasound yesterday. When I first got pregnant I thought, " Oh, this one is going to be a girl" because all I could think about were girl names. But the past month or two I felt more that it was going to be a boy. And yesterday the tech "sorta" confirmed it. When I was pregnant with Cayden he willingly spread his legs to let us know he was a boy. But this baby was a little more modest and kept his legs tight together, but the tech said she was pretty certain its a boy. She pointed out his boy parts 3 different times so I feel that's good enough for me. Here are a few pictures, I was sad she didn't try to get better ones.

OK, now for a little update on life. We just got back from a last minute trip from Utah. Moroni, UT to be specific. It was quite the interesting experience for me. I am so not a small town girl. I felt so trapped there! Its a nice little town but I don't like the fact that there is NOTHING to do. There wasn't even a park to take Cayden to so he could play. I'm also not sure how I feel about waking up to a rooster crowing and a cow mooing. I did my best to stay positive while I was there. I drove into the surrounding cities and checked them out a little. But even in those towns there wasn't a whole lot to see. Moving there would definitely be a change of pace. Jared does have a job there if he wants it. However, we aren't sure yet if it would really benefit our situation. Lots more prayers need to be said before we make that decision.

Before we left for Utah last Sunday I decided to give my boys haircuts. That's right both of them. Cayden finally got his first haircut. It was so sad but I was tired of everyone getting on my case about his long hair. It was just so pretty. I didn't cry though and Cayden was so well behaved while I did it.

Before
After

So after our few days in Moroni we headed up to Jared's mom's house. We were just planning on staying there Wed. night and driving home on Thursday morning. However, neither of us were ready to come back home quite yet. We didn't come home until Saturday. Cayden had fun hanging out with Grandma. On Thursday we went in to Salt Lake and had lunch. Then we tried to go to the Hope Gallery but by the time we got there they were closed. They happened to close early that day because they had a special event going on. So we trekked back up to Temple Square in the wicked wind and made our way to the Church History Museum. We had a nice time looking around and Cayden and Jared enjoyed playing in the kids area. Then we went and looked at the Presidents of the Church display. That was pretty neat. It was a fun day but we were all pretty tired by the time we got home.

Jared and Cayden behind the replica of the conference center podium.

On Friday we were kinda lazy and stayed at the house while Jared's mom went to gather her things from school. When she got back we watched CARS (because that's Cayden's favorite movie) and then went to pick some apricots off a friend's tree. It was fun to watch Cayden pick them. Then we had dinner and went to the Drive-In. I was so so excited. I hadn't been to a drive-in for so long. UP was playing and we hadn't seen it yet. Going to the drive-in was the best way to take Cayden to the movies. He was contained to the car and fell asleep when he got tired. It was a great evening!

Cayden on Daddy's lap at the Drive-In.

Now we are back home and back to life. Jared is working with a guy from church doing landscaping and I head back to work next Friday. School starts on the 24th and I'm not looking forward to spending the day with other people's kids rather than with Cayden. But, we have to pay the bills. At least I know Cayden is in good hands while I'm at work. Ok, that's it for now!

~LOVE TO ALL~