Hard Knocks and Happiness.

Life for the last few months has included a few hiccups, perhaps this is why I haven't written lately. {I will attempt to catch up over the next few days.}

To begin, January brought me a miscarriage and all of the physical and emotional turbulence that accompanies it. The Lord truly works in mysterious ways and I have come to learn and accept and be grateful for His eternal, omniscient timetable. He is so much wiser than I and I love Him more than I can ever express.

In the middle of this trial, Patrick had a severe staph infection. And yet through it all, all I could feel was an overwhelming surge of peace. In a miraculous way that I have never experienced before, the Lord blessed us with faith and hope and courage to match our mountains. It was a gift and an assurance that poured out without ceasing. The prayers and fasting of our dear family undoubtedly blessed us more than I could have imagined. Truly, the Lord is good.

And while these trials were upon us, I felt to pursue some meaningful dreams. It seems counterintuitive to pursue a dream when trials are weighing you down, but I felt such liberation in the working towards something bigger than myself. The first dream included the initial stages of dreaming and envisioning and planning a remodel of our home. This will be an ongoing project that is just beginning and I am so excited to bring my vision to fruition. The second dream that has been so time-consuming {and yet so rewarding} is writing. I've been so busy as of late, trying to write and uplift and encourage on my website writinginthestillness.com. I have felt such an urgency about it. And though I'm not sure why the urgency has accompanied this dream, I know the promptings I have received have come from Above.  And so I will continue to write and bless in the way I've been inspired.

And this pretty much sums up the last few months.

Lastly, I've been re-crafting my morning routine when I'm home with just Maylie. She was getting so stir-crazy being cooped up in the house {and so was I}. She doesn't do very well all by herself without her brothers to play with. So I devised a daily activity to do together to get us out of the house and into the beautiful world around us. Going to the library, park, and window shopping were included in the routine. I was so excited last Sunday when I put it all in my planner...and then I got sick with a nasty cold (for the first time this winter). That, coupled, with the fact that the library doesn't open until the afternoon kind of foiled my plans this past week. Maybe next week will be better?

So yesterday I drove a few miles to the most beautiful, quaint antique shop you could ever imagine. In a little old barn in the middle of nowhere I listened to old cowboy music and spent an hour looking through every piece of primitive and vintage antiquities. It was truly soul-therapy for me. I walked away with the sweetest double washtub and a white enamel pail for my "new" home. And I will be returning.

And since this post has been quite the summary, I think I'll end with a compilation of all the miscellaneous, sweet photos from the past few weeks:

Easton began and ended his junior jazz basketball season since I've last posted. He did excellent. He plays defense like a star and made lots of baskets this year. We are so proud of his hard work and how much fun he has out there on the court. I've really seen Easton flourish in basketball this year. It's such a good sport for his high-energy and the complexity of the game is an enjoyable challenge for this sweet, smart boy of ours.

 Maylie's angry eyes:

 And nice face:

The day Nana brought us the fixins for building snowmen...

This girl of mine is such a mother/decorator/entertainer/hostess at heart. These are the staples of her pretend play:

In the early morn...

Easton's completed lego train from Christmas (over 700 pieces I think? He did it all by himself).

Homemade, healthy, delicious Key Lime Pie for our January "Puzzle Date."

The night the Young Women had a pajama party and we watched the movie I made of the past year's photos.

My boy:

The End.

Secret Notes

It was last minute that I grabbed a stack of blank cards and a handful of pens and added them to my already full purse. It was just an impression from the Spirit to bring them on our Young Men/Young Women's trip to see the lights on Temple Square.

So I passed them out and on our long front runner ride to Salt Lake, the girls wrote anonymous notes to bless, lift, cheer, and edify whoever would find them.

But the story doesn't end here. On our walk back to Front Runner, several of the girls told me about their experiences. One handed hers to a person confined to a wheelchair. Others hid them in windowsills, bushes, and on the train. And one young woman told me of her miracle. She had placed hers on a couch in one of the visitor's centers and then she and her friend hid behind a bush to secretly watch who would find it.

After a few minutes, a girl walked over to the couch and noticed the envelope. She picked it up, opened it, and read the letter inside. Then she began to cry. After she had soaked in the words of comfort, she tucked the letter back in the envelope and left it on the couch to be found once again.

My heart was warmed. And I wondered about all of the other visitors to Temple Square that had similar experiences as they found the letters of two dozen girls who reached out in a simple act of love.

This is what Christmas is all about.

And I think for these young girls, the lesson penetrated deep. They told me leaving the letters was their favorite part of Temple Square this year.

Lovelies

A few lovelies from the past little while:

{YW's in Excellence}

{Whisper--who still thinks it's okay to camp out on our bed...}

 {Flashlight...who often retreats to our bathtub when she is sick of being hunted by Whisper}

{The Best Spider Flea you will ever see}

{Maylie's very first dentist appointment...she did great! She wasn't worried about a thing...except for laying back on the chair because "it will mess up my hair." She giggled the whole time they were polishing her teeth and sanding down her chipped tooth (because they told her the instruments were teeth ticklers and would make her giggle.) You know, this girl lights people up everywhere she goes. She had the hygienist in stitches laughing at every little thing she was saying and the dentist said he wished he could just sit down and talk with her for an hour. She really does have that much to say...}

Meet Maylie Johnson: Practically Perfect in Every Way.

Aug-tember

It's Sunday and time for my weekly reflections. These days, Sunday is the only day I really have enough quiet time to contemplate. And with how busy Fall can get, it seems like I only "reflect" twice a month. And as I opened my iPhoto today, I realized that I haven't even posted all of my August photos--let alone September. So here's to Aug-tember!

The end of August was bittersweet. We tried to enjoy the last few days of summer, but in my memory it's somewhat of a blur.

{One day after church, Easton found a Family Proclamation and began reading it. He told me he wanted to make a goal to read it every day.}

{August brought a case of raspberries and two cases of strawberries to whip into bottles of jam}

{August also brought Lasik surgery for Patrick. He has been loving his healed eyes!!}

{August also brought our very first baby green tomatoes! They are getting big and we have had just a few ripen now!}

{This was our family home evening refreshment one night--yummy, healthy, delectable Chocolate Chip Cookies)

{These are my cute Beehives during my Sunday lesson. They made banners of virtue!! I love my Beehives so much!!!}

{Sunflowers}

{Easton gave me this sunflower on our last day of playing outside before school started. To me, it kind of represented all that summer has been to me: BIG, BRIGHT, fun and vivacious. It couldn't have been better!}

{Also on this last day, we played outside int he sandbox for quite some time...building castles and buildings, all covered up by our big umbrella.}

{Tate, and especially Easton have been loving Legos lately. Easton wants mostly legos for Christmas this year. And Tate built this magnificent car structure one day and asked me to take a picture so he could always remember. He's his mother's son!}

{Most of these pictures are either blurry or grainy, and I normally would omit them, but today I felt extra sentimental and decided that even if they are blurry or grainy, they are memories worth remembering. This one was taken one Saturday when Maylie climbed into bed with me and we cuddled and talked and laughed and relaxed until Patrick came home from early morning basketball.}

{My mom found me this darling Menu Board that has been an amazing addition to my kitchen decor. It's one of Easton's favorite features now. He loves to wake up each morning and see what's for dinner so he can think about it all day long...(he's his Papa's grandson). And if for some reason I have to switch one of the nights or something changes, he is quite devastated. He likes us to stick to the plan every single night!!}

{A lazy Sunday afternoon}

{The cutest little pie squashes a sweet couple in our ward gave to us}

{Chalk art. It's become my new summertime hobby.}

{Our town parade. It's always huge and long and we get so many goodies!! Both times we've come we've gone home with bags of candy, a few bracelets, an entire bag of popsicles and otter pops, and miniature cereal bowls galore!}

 {The tractors are the most amazing part of the whole parade}

{Another summer pastime is the fort-building. I can't even count how many forts my boys have built in their few short years of life. Each one is unique and different and serves a special imaginary purpose. This one became for us a reading haven where we cuddled up and read a few chapters of "Castle in the Attic" (one of my all-time favorites!)}

{This is a face Easton ingeniously created with Pepperidge Farm cookies...this is something Easton has had a talent for since he was just a tiny toddler.}

{One Friday evening in August, we drove down to Ogden for the Temple Open House. It rained most of the way down, but when we parked and were waiting outside, it was just barely sprinkling. We sat in the tabernacle awaiting our turn to go into the movie, and when we finally stood up to file out to the movie room, I noticed a girl coming into the tabernacle with dripping wet hair--like she had just stepped out of a shower. I wondered why she came to the temple with such wet hair. Then right behind her, there was another person with sopping wet hair. And another. And another. And I realized that we had narrowly missed a downpour by only a few minutes. As we watched the short film, I could hear the rain coursing down and hitting the small structure we were in. I dreaded going out in the rain. None of us had coats and we hadn't brought an umbrella. But when we stepped outside the rain had stopped again. We were amazingly blessed to miss all the rainstorms. Even as we walked back to the car after the tour, the rain held up so we could get some pictures.}

{On our way home we stopped at one of the only Dairy Queens I know of that are left.}

 {For Young Women's a few weeks back we had a modest fashion show where the girls created their own prom and wedding dresses out of tissue paper and then we had a clothes swap.}

{I love my girls!}

{When Easton started school, the three of us enjoyed a few special days at hoe before Tate started kindergarten.}

{On this particular day, I had to document our lunch experience. These two wanted to sit RIGHT next to me. They scooted their stools so close that the legs were intertwined and I could barely move my arms to eat. But it was special and I felt so much love from these little ones as they crowded in close with their sticky fingers and sweet smiles.}

{Since school has started this year, I have been creating lots of easy, fun, healthy after school snacks. I have a little notecard taped in my cupboard with 10 different recipes that we rotate through. This day was trail mix...}

{And this is my new scent-warmer. Meet my vintage 1940's bean pot that I found on easy. I plug this cute little thing in every day, pour in some water and some spices to fill my home with fragrant goodness!}

 {Meet Miss Maylie aka Strawberry Shortcake. Playing dress-up.}

{This one is just a memory for me. When Patrick was gone it was so hard for me to see how things would look on the wall as I was decorating the children's bedrooms. So I asked Easton to take pictures while I held things up.}

 {Another after school snack: Apple Almond Butter Sandwiches. These were a real hit!}

{We've made lots of trips down to Perry this summer for our weekly CSA fruit and vegetable shares. We have enjoyed our local produce so much.}

{A few weeks back I did a photoshoot with Maylie sporting one of her new outfits. I hope to edit them someday in the future. She has loved Easton's bracelet-making kit. We've made quite a few bracelets this summer.}

{The next 2 pictures are a bit painful for me to post because my floor is filled with laundry to fold. But I couldn't help snapping these pictures of "ordinary life" in the late afternoon when we are scrambling to get the house ready for Daddy and all hungry and a bit testy.}

{And yet, even so, these two were friends this day. And that made me happy.}

{Easton hard at work coloring a new picture my friend drew for him}

{Tate hard at work making play-doh noodles that look and feel strangely similar to real-life homemade noodles.}

{Yet another after-school snack--berry parfaits with homemade granola}

{Maylie decided to get into Tate's paint one day and came over to me with a green thumb. I consider it a good omen for next year's gardening projects...I'll just have to keep her close to me!}

 {Lastly, we've started a Temple Tour for this year's theme to "Stay Close to Christ." Each month we will visit one temple on a Sunday afternoon...hopefully we'll be able to visit 12 different temples during the next year!}

 {Our first temple was Jordan River}

{And the flowers were gorgeous.}

{The End.}