Joe and Tosha's good fortune

My brother-in-law Joe has been dating Tosha... for a while now. We have all been bugging him to hurry up and pop the question already. In fact I think he has plenty of people bugging him to do that. A few weeks ago we went to dinner with them and their fortune cookies read as follows:

Joe: Stop waiting! Buy that ticket. Take that special trip!

Tosha: One who does nothing but wait for his ship to come has already missed the boat.



(Joe gave me permission to put this here for all of our amusement! - love ya Joe)

A comfort to me

I recently read this on a blog I have been following and it has given me great comfort lately. It seems like tough times are abounding with everyone I know. I wanted to keep the quote for myself and thought some of you might benefit from it as well.

"When in situations of stress we wonder if there is any more in us to give, we can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacity perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or to be wicked.

When we have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured before and we were found equal to our tasks; and therefore, let us continue, but with a more determined discipleship.

When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance given through Joseph that God, who knows "we cannot bear all things now," will not over program us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear. (see D&C 50:40)
taken from a talk entitled 'Meeting the Challenges of Today' - BYU Devotional Speeches of the Year 1978 by Neal A Maxwell

Camping and Floating

We spent Thursday and Friday near Tallequah Oklahoma enjoying the beautiful scenery, camping, hiking, and playing in the Illinois river. It was a lovely time to be camping and I even had somewhat of a break from all of the yucky nausea that has been by companion these last few weeks. There were no other campers at our campsite so it was very quiet (with the exception of our own crazy boys). Dad and the boys loved skipping rocks into the river and I loved watching all of the wildlife and especially the fireflies. We saw lots of bunny rabbits, beautiful water fowl, a snake, and even a couple of foxes. On our hike we came across a beehive. We took that part of the hike a little more quickly! On Friday afternoon we rented a raft and enjoyed the easy float. We bumped into one log trying to create a little adventure and the boys thought that was "awesome." I know that my cousins would all be terribly bored floating this river, but it was perfect for taking the boys along. Our plan was to meet up with some friends on Saturday, but the sun took it's toll on us. We were all tired out and decided to head home on Friday night. Saturday I was a useless zombie! I can't believe how wiped out I was from these two days, but I'm sure glad that we went.

Moments to remember

Yesterday Jackson and dad both came to visit me while I was resting. Jackson accidently elbowed me in the mouth. I was trying not to cringe or complain, but he could tell it hurt. He said, "mom you need eat something to feel you better?" He ran and got me an apple so that I would feel me better. Jeff and I got a kick out of how sweet he was being and just smiled. Moments later Lincoln plopped down between us and said, "I need something to eat."

Later that evening Lincoln had a great big smile on his face so I asked him how he was feeling. He thought about it for a minute and replied, "I'm extra great.... because you keep being with me all of the time."

In the Soup

The boys thought it was great fun to play in the portacrib that I had set up for baby Addy last weekend. They put all of the pillows and blankets they could find in there and called it "being in the soup."