I Am Thankful!

I know this is kind of typical, but I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful to know who I am; that I am a child of God. I am thankful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am thankful for my body, which for the most part is free of major problems or deformities (others may disagree). I am thankful for my parents who have given and continue to give me so much. I am thankful for my brothers and their wives. I wouldn't know what to do if I was an only child. I am thankful to live in this great land of America. I am thankful for the opportunity I have to be in school right now and better myself. There is so much more that would be impossible to list, but I saved the best for last. I am so very thankful for my Princesa. She has given me more than I can imagine. She saved me from myself and continues to bless my life. She has given us 3 (and one on the way) beautiful children. I cannot imagine life without her. I am thankful for the life that has been given me. All good things come from God! I am thankful to Him for giving me the chance to return home to Him again, and live with my family forever! Happy Thanksgiving.

One Down...So Many To Go!!!

Well this is one quilt top down...the next projects, before this gets quilted, are Lydia's baby quilts.  I have two to work on...one from Mommy, and one from Daddy.  After Shane passed away, Steve got really into quilting with me, he started sewing the quilt tops and leaving the hand quilting part to me. As soon as we found out we were expecting, Steve had a quilt top sewn in a matter of days--very pretty as well! I feel honored to have a husband who loves to find joy in the things I find so much joy in; I actually feel guilty posting, knowing it takes over his beautiful post about the snow--that boy has quite a mind!

Our First Snow!

Today we had our first snow of the season! This picture, by the way, is just for looks. I have to admit that I am a bit of a child when it comes to snow. I love it! It makes me smile! It makes all of my worries melt away! I have always loved the snow! Symbolically it seems odd considering winter is like the death that we all must face in many different ways, including our eventual physical death. Many times we face the pains of spiritual death as we stumble and fall; but we learn and grow from such times. Winter is so cold and on many days it just seems unbearably cold, at least where we live. The sun is with us for a shorter time each day until right around Christmas, it begins to be seen and felt longer with each passing day (again, very symbolic). Many have felt those long and cold days of life (from heartache or sin) which seem like they will never pass. When sometimes, on the darkest coldest day, the Son's light begins to grow brighter, and shines upon us once more. There is such beauty in seeing a soul once lost, that is saved. So, I guess I got off on a tangent. Anyway, the snow is like a blanket of purity that gradually descends upon the coldness and darkness of our lives. It is a window into heaven. It makes me think of the Lord's "tender mercies"! As a token of the Lord's love for me and my precious wife, He sent snow for us, I believe, on the day of Shane's viewing. Our December baby brought us one last snow in April. It was such a joy to see it, our first snow, again today!

Our Adventures With Muttley!!!

We walked outside on Saturday morning and started laughing so hard--how could all of the leaves fall in one night?  Well, we had to plan a special weekend for our friend Muttley--Connor brought him home from school on Friday and he had to have a very special journal entry from the Fultz family!  So, amongst the leaves, our journey began!

There's Connor and his weekend buddy!

On our way to the Children's Museum in Lititz--our old home town!

And there is a 31 week photo of Mommy and Lydia!

As Aiden ran the cash register, not a peep of conversation took place between this young girl and himself....interesting!

I don't think the boys were supposed to be on the pig!

Proud little fishermen!

And their Master teacher :)

There were more pictures in the original outline for this post--several more.  They were accidentally deleted by this computer genius here, and after several times of trying to repost them and failing, I decided I should quit.  Actually, the primary factor in my failure was me "gently" hitting the computer--silly thing doesn't work, or is it the user?

Your turn...How do you feel today?

More and More an Outcast, I Feel!!!

So, I know my title here makes me sound like Yoda, but here's my point. While at my clinical rotation for nursing yesterday, I made a comment about how a company put something on their chip bag about buying energy credits. I basically said it was a farce (which it is). Little did I know what a stir that would cause. I was confronted and what I would call attacked on every side. There were 7 other student nurses there and my instructor. I felt demonised for not buying into the garbage fed to us by Al Gore and his cronies. My clinical instructor from what I can tell called me an idiot (she denies it) and not one person agreed with me. I must say they got the best of me and I ended up calling somebody else an idiot as well. I felt like such an outcast and that I was being attacked on every front. I felt like they were trying to silence me, the opposition. I think that is something Jonah Goldberg was talking about in his book, "Liberal Fascism". For me it is hard enough going into nursing being a man, but then to add conservative values on top of that is even harder. In the beginning of the semester I was harassed about my wife and I having 4 children. I was told to get a hobby among other interesting things that don't need to be repeated. I remember telling somebody a couple weeks ago how I still believe in the goodness of people and how there was still so much hope. The more I am confronted with the "weirdness" of people I talk to, the less hope I have. I fear that we are entering an age when it is going to get extremely hard to be somebody with conservative values and even a belief in God. Maybe the hearts of men are failing them. I pray that is not the case and I hope I can reach out and love others in spite of our differences. I feel like I try to do that on a daily basis. I hope that I have left that impression on most people I encounter. If that is not the case then I am deeply sorry and will try to show my love for my brothers and sisters more fully. However that does not override the fact that some things cannot be compromised. There is no grey line with good and evil. It is black and white. I know that we have a loving Father in Heaven who loves all his children, but even he cannot tolerate wickedness. He wants us all to be free to choose to be good for ourselves. That is the only way we will learn and grow. Let it be known, that I have my own faults (many in fact), and I am beyond grateful for my Savior who has given me the chance to repent and be clean in spite of those weaknesses. I pray for the strength to be a better example in ALL that I do and say. I apologize ahead of time for a different kind of post on our family blog, but I just wanted my thoughts about life and recent events to be on record.

A Strange Feeling!

This morning, after dreaming that I was in pain, I woke and found that I was really in pain. It only got worse from there. I stayed up last night watching the defeat of freedom except for one glimmer of hope, a filibuster capable Republican senate. Then today I watched the morning news and was just disheartened. I had a strange feeling! It truly felt like there was a void in the spirit. I felt a piece of me was lost. I love this land! I am however, fearful of the path that we seem to be taking. It is sad to think that the majority willingly voted for socialism. I fear that when the majority of the nation no longer seeks after goodness, that worse events are to come. There is still hope though. We need to stand for goodness and truth. We cannot back down in the face of evil. We who believe that there is a loving God in Heaven who will bless the righteous, must make our voices known. Let today be the day when you decide what it is that you are willing to stand for. Who's on the Lord's side, who? As a prophet of God once said, "Don't just stand, stand for something"!