Day 71

Happy Halloween!  What a fun day it has been!  It was a busy day, but in the end, it turned out to be filled with fun and a WHOLE lot of candy!

I started off the day taking Joel to school for the first time in a week.  It was so nice to get to talk with some of the other moms from school AND I got their cell phone numbers!  I am finally no longer the egg in the pond but a bonafide tadpole!  Such a happy moment to be told that if I needed help with Joel about school again, all I needed to do is call.
Then it was on to my first doctor's appointment of the day.  I got an X-ray and it showed some more bone growth than was there last time!  I was pretty giddy with excitement, but the doctor's reaction reminded me to continue to be cautiously optimistic.  Still, a very happy moment to see more white bone than a dark gap on the screen!
My mother-in-law and I headed over to Nordstrom Cafe for lunch after the doctor.  She liked it as much as I did!  It is SUCH a girlie place and I so enjoyed eating my soup AND crouton without any children begging for my food OR making the soup cold lol.  Connor was at playgroup and had SUCH a great time.  It was a great day to get OUT of the house for a bit and not feel too tired when I returned home! 
My NEXT doctor's appointment for the day was with the surgeon who took out my gall bladder.  He said everything looked great and he removed all of the bandages.  AND I don't have to go back and see him again unless there is a problem.  SO happy about that because at the OTHER doctor's office, I am now on a first name basis with most of the nurses and additional staff.  LOL the x-ray lady asked me how my dinner with my in-laws went last month.  I didn't even remember talking about it, but really funny that she remembers me that well because she takes THAT many X-rays a month of my arm!  Six whole months of going there every other week or so....I am seriously going to have to send my orthopedic group a Christmas card this year!

Then there was the celebration of Halloween.  I got some great pictures of the children in their amazingly adorable costumes!  Connor was the cutest lil football player around!  Joel got more "that is my favorite costume of the night" comments!  He was such a cute knight!  David and my mother-in-law took the boys out trick or treating and I stayed back to pass out the candy.  I must say, I really liked that job!  It was peaceful and quiet in the house (not something to be said of my home that often lol) and I actually got to watch an entire news segment before the Halloween kids came by for candy!  Then David, Cathy, and the boys came home and I took Joel out for a little while longer.  We had a nice time seeing all of the amazing decorations outside people's homes and getting MORE and MORE candy.  I think we are set on movie candy for the next couple of months!  After a while, we came home and settled in for the night.  Connor and Joel both got to eat a piece of candy tonight...I think both would have gladly eaten more if I had let them.  They were so happy and on a trick or treating high.  Oh those were the days!  It is so wonderful to see the holidays through their eyes now.  I hope to remember Connor's first Halloween where he could SORT OF say "trick or treat" for a long time.  For now, I am off to bed to sleep and to heal!  Have a good night all!

Day 70

The things we do for our children!  I am so so tired tonight and I am pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that I got out of bed, took a shower, blow dried my hair, and put on make-up.  All of which totally would NOT have happened if Joel hadn't been in the children's program today at church.  Love you Joel :-)

Such a happy moment being at church and listening to Joel say his little part so eloquently and LOUDLY into the microphone.  It was so nice to see him singing all of the words to the songs he learned in Primary all year.  One of my favorite parts, as he was watching me watch HIM, there was a group of other children singing.  He points to me and mouths "I'm not singing, THEY are!" at least I hope he mouthed it because I was pretty far back.  And motioned for me to watch the children sing...it was so funny it made my tummy hurt!
When it was over I headed straight home and passed out on the couch, didn't even make it to my bed.  I am trying to stay off of my pain medicine because I can't drive this week being on it and I have so so so so much to do!  I just need to try and take it easy, though, because I don't want to over do it like I have been doing the last couple of days and not be able to move.

After dinner tonight, we took some apples down and visited with Jazz.  I can't even begin to tell you the wonderful feeling I get from just the SMELL of horses!  It calms me and soothes my soul like almost nothing else can!  It was so nice to pet the horses and be around those wonderful animals.  Joel and Connor had a fun time petting them too and then it was time to head home and get everyone ready for Monday.
-Tomorrow I have not one but TWO doctor appointments.  One for my arm (if you read this say a silent prayer that the bone is growing) and one for my post operation of the gall bladder surgery.  I cannot believe it has already been a week since that horrid night and morning!  Here is to getting a MUCH better night's sleep tonight then I did last Sunday night!  I pray for happy moments tomorrow.  I am looking forward to passing out candy and hopefully getting a chance to take the kids trick or treating a little bit.  I hope you all enjoy the holiday and make many ghoulish happy moments! :-)

Day 69

Getting pretty late tonight.  Going to list those happy moments off and head to a HOPEFULLY happy dream land!  Hope all of you had a fun Saturday!  LOTS of Halloween happenings going on!

• for most of the day I slept and recovered from my big day yesterday.  I have to take a 20 minute break after putting on one SHOE right now, so after last night, a 5 hour nap was apparently IN DEMAND for my body!  So nice to be snuggled down in a quiet home!
• Getting to see the pictures of the really fun time David, my mother-in-law, and the boys had at our local petting zoo was so great!  The boys had SUCH happy faces as they rode a train, a horse, played in a CORN box (a sand box filled with hard corn kernals how cool is that?!) and fed the bunnies and goats.  I am so glad they were able to have such fun happy moments and not get stuck hanging out at boring home with David trying to keep them quiet while mommy sleeps...happy mommy, happy family!
• I accomplished a lot more today than I thought we would.  I haven't been grocery shopping in a WEEK...was supposed to go Monday but we all know how THAT worked out!  So there is food once more in my pantry and will hopefully be a dinner of one kind or another on my table for the next week...PHEW!  It was getting pretty bad!  We were down to the last string cheese and no fruit lol
• Getting to hear my kids say goodnight to me tonight was such a happy moment.  As I think back to this past week when I was too out of it (or hospitalized) to help put them to bed.  I so enjoy Connor's "nigh nigh" and Joel's "mommy I NEED a kiss and a song!" can't sing right now with four holes in my stomach but kissing is not a problem!  Even Connor is getting better with his precious "muah!"  I really needed those happy little moments and I am going to hold on extra tight tonight!

Goodnight all!

Day 68

Happy Friday all!  Hope you are making some happy moments with some fun Halloween parties or fun Halloween preparations!  We had a nice day today and here are some of the happy moments to go over :-)

• I got a very nice long morning nap in.  I am really hoping the sleep helps to heal the arm quickly!
• After my nap, my friend Amy called and brought over one of my favorite Juice it Up! drinks.  Thank you Amy for the nice chat and the yummy smoothie!  Here's hoping my inside/out icepack idea worked! LOL
• I had a very nice lunch with my nanny/babysitter, Nancy.  She has become SUCH a vital member of our family...she is one of those people who has been called to action after each one of my surgeries now and it has been so nice getting to know her!  The fact that she can pick up Connor and give him the things that I can't, physically, right now, helps me so much to stay sane!
• My mother-in-law flew into town today to help us out.  She was such a trooper jumping right in to our crazy family schedule!  Here's hoping she has lots of fun and that we don't wear her out too quickly, I so so appreciate the live-in help right now!

• Finally, tonight was our annual Pumpkin Shoot Out, my sister and her family, my brother and his family, my mom, dad, mom's best friend and husband, and our whole crew, had a fantastic time!  True, not one pumpkin did I PERSONALLY get to blow up with a shot-gun this year, but many happy moments watching others gleefully shoot into those squashes over and over again!  I so enjoyed watching Joel and Connor run around with their cousins, everyone in their Halloween costume.  Tonight we had a Knight, a Princess, a Football Player, and a Cheerleader...how perfect did that work out?!  The joys of their laughter filled the air in our new air soft rifle range and it was so great to wear the kids out with MINIMAL adult effort!

Some really fun times today!  Happy moments were all around me.  Family was all around me.  Coincidence? I think NOT!  Hope you all are enjoying your start of the weekend!

Day 67

For anyone who is aware of the FULL extent of the trials we have faced in the last 6 months, it isn't a surprise to some to see me at my breaking point now.  To those who don't know but have heard of just SOME of the things we have gone through in the last 6 months and what I have posted here, it isn't a surprise to some to see that I am at my breaking point now. 
This surgery came as such a shock and was such an unexpected calamity.  I did find some happy moments out of that day, and I focused SO hard today to find those moments to hold onto until tomorrow's joy arrived.  At this point, I don't know what I would do without this blog for writing down a few happy thoughts, I don't know what I would do without some truly amazing people who REALLY ask me how I am EVERY single day, and let me answer negatively on the days that I need to.  I don't know what I would do without my amazing family who has created this "crisis center for Melissa"  Seriously! How sad and totally amazing at the same time is it that when something happens to me now, my mom, my dad, my husband, and our close family friends all take action and do what needs to get done with the kids.  Who needs Earthquake drills! Just come live with me for a month and I am sure I can prepare you and your family for any serious emotional, medical, or other emergency with REAL life action!

I am so grateful for the completely amazing people who call and let me accept their help.  I am so thankful I didn't go through this process alone.  My roommate from the hospital has been in constant contact with me and we have been able to shed tears together, ask questions like how the heck you get out of bed, and how are we going to LIVE with four holes in our stomach for the next couple of week.  What a blessing it was to go through it with someone else!

Today Joel went to a birthday party, had a play date, and helped around the house after school.  I haven't cried pretty much at ALL in front of him until today.  I just shared with him how AMAZING I thought he was and how it makes me SO happy to see how loving he is to his brother.  He is such an amazing kid and helps David and me so much!  I hope the one thing he learns from his mother's trials is the PURE love of Christ and empathy towards others in need.  Maybe he can look back on this and see how blessed we were for having such caring people surround our little family with each trial that has occurred.  Bless that dear child!

I am so thankful for a husband who knows how to cook, clean, do dishes, wash laundry, and does it all over and over again and then asks "ok what else needs to be done"  He works FULL time and then has to come home and be a mom and a dad each night.  How I am worthy of such love and help I will never know or be able to express enough gratitude for each moment.

So on this night I ask for prayers dear readers.  Prayers for me and my family to heal and prayers for others in need.  I am off to put Connor to bed with the help of a dear friend.  I am not aloud to pick Connor up for two weeks and tonight David is at a meeting.  I am so thankful for those who answer the call of those in need.  That is the happiest moment each day for me, when someone says "what do you NEED?" even if it is just a kleenex :-)

Day 66

Hello from bed.  It's been a long day of recovering today, and not too many happy moments.  Most of the day has consisted of DVR TV that I missed on Monday.  I am going to try to push past the drug-induced brain fog and come up with at least three happy moments.  Here they are:

• My friend Ali from church came today and French braided my hair, so I don't have to watch my hair for the next few days.  Yay!
• Joel turned in his report at school after working really hard on it all morning with me.  I am so proud of how he tries to read and spell.  If he did as well at school as he did with me, then I know that he rocked that report today.  Go Joel!
• Some wonderful things came to my door today.  First, some flowers from our homeowners' associations (perks of being the HOA president's wife).  The gifts for the baby shower of my friend who is pregnant arrived today.  I won't get to go to the baby shower now, but it was fun dropping off the gifts at her doorstep.  Finally, my sweet friend took the time to cook a marvelous meal for my family and me tonight.  I so appreciate people taking time out of their lives to think of me and my precious little family.  It makes for a happy moment on a really depressing day.

I wish everyone happy moments for tomorrow.  Here's to positive thinking and healing!

Day 65...well...at least the day is done!

What a day! I feel like I totally MISSED Monday because I was up all night Sunday and then didn't really get to bed until around 10 yesterday with the help of a sleeping pill, but then hospitals are pretty noisy so not much sleep...and then tomorrow is Wednesday...where the heck did Tuesday go?! 
My happy moments today were the continued well wishes and prayers for me and my family.  I now have four MORE holes in my body, cried for most of the day today, and it was my poor husband's birthday on top of it all.  Last week I had an entire menu planned out with a beautiful "thank you, I love you, I'm sorry I have been so worthless" cake for him.  Tonight he didn't even get a card OR present from me and the kids because I haven't been home...or conscious LOL.  Bless his heart all he said to me was "all I want for my birthday is for you to be totally healed and healthy."  I hope I can make my sweet husband's birthday wish come true. 
-
I entered the hospital alone, but I left having made a new friend!  My roommate also had her gall bladder out and had it done by the same doctor.  We spent most of the morning asking each other where it hurt the most and getting information from our doctor and nurses about ALL of the many questions we had.  It was really nice to have someone who was going through the EXACT same thing.  We both shed tears as we talked about our lives, work, and this most unexpected surgery!  We can't wait to see one another again and I am so happy I made a new friend out of this!  A nice happy moment from a REALLY bad 48 hours.  I would like to say there are no more surgeries for me this year...boy would that be a happy moment!  All I can do is sign off and head over to my bone stimulator and get growin some bone!  I am thankful to be home with my sweet children tonight as well.  Oh how I missed them!  It was so nice to read bedtime stories and give them each kisses...they are so precious to me!  Good night friends, looking forward to some nice QUIET, UNINTERRUPTED sleep tonight!

They thought I was a fall risk at the hospital lol
 

Day 64

Hello from the hospital!  That's right, after an acute attack of gall stones, I had my gall bladder removed.  I am in a bit of pain, but it is my joy I wish to share with you tonight.

First, when I arrived at the hospital, a lady from church was my ER nurse.  I didn't know her very well, but after a couple of hours talking and helping me with pain meds, we got to be better friends!  Such a happy moment during an unpleasant time.

So I had surgery and they got the gall bladder and I get to enjoy a quiet night at the hospital - happy!  I had so many visits, calls, texts, and emails today to brighten and lift me up.  I am so grateful for the laughs on Facebook about surgery number 4.  My dear friends and visiting teachers brought me soup and strawberry Jello - yum!  Our bishop and his wife came for a visit as well as our friend from church who was working here tonight. Have a look at my latest picture from the hospital!
SURGERY NUMBER 4!!


A Presbyterian minister representing the hospital spiritual services stopped by, and we had a lovely chat and then prayed together.  How I love prayers from the heart and the blessings that come from them!

I am grateful for the spiritual moment I had with my patient care tech today.  I was able to share with her my love of Jesus and how much I am blessed for finding happy moments each day!

 It was so nice to see my sweet friend, Jennifer, who offered any and all future chauffeur services to me should I need to go to the hospital at 3 AM again.

Today is what this blog is all about.  I found so so many happy moments that I don't really feel my pain.  I certainly was not upset by having another surgery, but very much at peace.  I knew all would be well if I CHOSE to have a good outlook.  I am so thankful for kind acts, prayers, hugs, and happy moments!  Have a great night all!  Bring on that sleeping pill!

Me being happy with my oxygen in my nose:
 

Day 63

Here we are at the beginning of a new week!  Before I head back down to get some hot chocolate and snuggle down on the couch, here are some OTHER happy moments from my Sunday day

• we had a nice family breakfast of buttermilk waffles made from scratch...see? One armed people CAN do things!
• I had a really fun time playing silly games with the kids all morning.  Church doesn't start till one, so we have to find SOMETHING to do before then.  Today was playing with toy cars and tickle time...fun fun!
• We tried out a new restaurant with my parents tonight near their home...it was one of our favorites in Brea and we are SO happy to have one this close to us!  Connor was a typical two year old at the table and made us all laugh with his "NOOOOOO" attitude.  Finally my mom said to him "Connor, do you want to go outside on time out?" LOL could have seen that one coming..."NOOOOOOOOOO NO NO NO NO NO!" we all had a good laugh!
• driving home tonight I told Joel that David's birthday is on Tuesday...he kept asking us if it was on the second and I said "no it's on the 25th"  well he would ask again, "is it the second day" finally Dave caught on..."you mean the day after tomorrow?"  Joel, "yeah!" Well at least we finally figured out what he meant! 
• It was a nice day being with family and enjoying the laughs we had from the kids.  I hope today was a nice day for the rest of you!  I am grateful for my precious happy moments that happen when I least expect them.  Today was a good day, and I have goals to make this week a great one!  Hope all of you have plans in motion that are full of happiness and not stress!  Take it one moment at a time to move on to the next....even if there are trying times in between, hold on to the good moments!

Day 62

Well, today was a busy day, but a productive one!  So much fun had today and a lot of chores as well, now that is what I call a weekend!
This morning we started off our day with the putting together of a new stroller.  David did a great job and followed the manual to a T lol.  We always laugh because some parent reviews are written by people who CLEARLY did not read the manual when they were putting together their stroller/bouncer/baby toy with excessive parts.  The one thing that we kept reading in this stroller's parent reviews were a couple of people who said the front wheel was too wobbly.  Well, in the manual there is an actual SECTION of "if your front tire is wobbly, you need to tighten a particular part because it was not installed correctly."  I gotta say, it comes in REAL handy having a husband who is a stickler for details and a GENIUS...think Alberty Einstein folks...when putting together our kids multiple piece items.

We followed the stroller with a breakfast of Honey Bran and Raisin Bran muffins...so yum!  Then we were off doing various chores and errands for the day.  Joel got a haircut and wasn't bothered by it too much so YEA for that!  Then he got to go to a fabulous Pirate Birthday party for our church friend and neighbor...we are so blessed to have so many kids his age in this area!

Tonight my arm was feeling a bit better so I was able to do a whole load of laundry...AMAZING! (ok Joel helped me put the clothes IN the was and shove them INTO the dryer but I turned the knobs and added the detergent!)  So that is one less load David has to do...tomorrow I am going to try and tackle the sheets and towels in the house....I am feeling ADVENTUROUS enough to give it a try :-)  Then just because I was on a ROLL, I gave Joel a bath and washed his hair!  WOO HOO look at the one armed mommy go!  I felt truly blessed to have the energy to do that tonight.  The reason is because along WITH my RA comes a lot of symptoms...one big one is anemia...which totally wipes me out.  So along with painful hands and feet, being tired...REALLY tired, has been par for the course for me in the last week or so.  Today I pushed through and was able to feel like I was getting things done.  HAPPY MOMENTS!
-We ended our family fun day today with some Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner....never had them?  I am pretty sure they are NOT Hawaiian, but in fact some creation of some Mormon housewife in Utah who put it together and since crushed pineapple is an ingredient, she named them Hawaiian Haystacks...the hay being the rice and the chow mein noodles (I am REALLY making you curious about this concoction now aren't I?? lol)  If you read this and want the recipe...although it varies on what crazy ingredient YOU decide to add lol, I am happy to give it to you!)  Well that is all for tonight.  Off to play some games on the computer, or watch an episode of Gilmore Girls from my DVD collection.  Love to you all and I hope you were productive AND happy today as well!

Day 61

Happy Friday!  What a nice day today has been! The weather was great today and that made for some nice out door time for me and the kids ! And onto some happy moments we had today!

Well first off, I had my first Dr. appointment after my surgery.  I got an X-ray done AND the Xray for sure looked different than the last one!  The bone gap is slightly smaller and we detected a whisp of new bone growing in the dark area.  At this point I am cautiously optimistic, so I won't be shouting from the rooftops (or Facebook) that I have bone growing and that all is well just yet.  I remember when I had initial bone growth the LAST time, so I am hoping this time it sticks...literally!

Connor and I walked to pick Joel up from school today and on the way back we stopped at the big park by his school.  It was so nice to have them get their wiggles out and Joel got to play with some classmates from his class.  I am becoming friends with some of the mom's from his class as well...it is nice to see familiar faces when I take Joel to school now!  

Finally, David came home and the whole family went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants (WHICH we happened to had a GROUPON for as well so a 67 dollar bill went down to 27 dollars...LOVED IT!)  Then we headed to ToysRus to get a gift for a B-day party tomorrow.  While we were there, we put Connor in several different strollers and actually found one he fits in!  Back story on this particular happy moment is that Connor is HUGE..not fat, just HUGE...he is basically the size of a 4 year old and therefore does not FIT into any normal baby strollers anymore.  It has been driving me NUTS that he can't lay back in his stroller and that his feet almost touch the ground when I push him around.  So we found this really nice jogging stroller (never did I dream in a MILLION years that I would own one of those things!) but his legs have room to grow and his head has a few more inches of space from the top.  At this point I was willing to pay almost anything to get him to fit into a stroller for at least another year.  So we are pretty happy with what we have.  Hope he quits it with the growth spurts lol but with drinking over a gallon of milk every few days on his own I don't see his growing ending any time soon!

Well I am off to go snuggle on the couch with my husband and watch our weekly episode of whatever USA Network show is currently NOT gone for the season...so Psych tonight.  Love the laughs we get!  The kids are down and I am heading off the computer for the day.  Have a happy happy weekend!

Day 60 WOW! 2 months!

I can't believe I have been typing in here everyday for two months!  I have never even done that with a journal!  The power to want to be happy and to write it down so I can feel those happy moments I have had once more is wonderful!  It is a nice bonus that I get to share it with other people as well!  HAPPY MOMENT!
My first happy moment of the day is all thanks to the wonderful people who read this blog and then wrtoe to me, called me, or shared with me their loving thoughts for David's grandfather and my friend who is pregnant.  I am so thankful to have an abundance of loving people around me!  I was so happy to share that love with my friend and tomorrow I will hopefully get to talk to Pawpaw and tell him that a lot of people are sending him well wishes and prayers to heal.  It was a great happy moment in the morning and I carried that joy from so many people all day.  I know, from personal experience lol, that being thought of or prayed for TRULY makes a difference in your life.  How lucky my friend and dear grandfather are to have that extra spiritual strength to help them through their days.  So if you are reading this and the love came from you...thank you...you are a wonderful person and may your simple kind act of thinking happy thoughts for another person bring you blessings in your life!  Empathy...that is what it is ALL about :-)
So, it has been a weird day today, lots of partaking of rotten food at restaurants...I'm serious!  This morning it was fermented OJ at Bruegger's and then tonight it was some WEIRD egg salad going on at our favorite local family restaurant.  It's not really a happy moment, but it made David and me laugh today about how paranoid I have become about food.  So in a way, rotten food made me happy, or tipsy...cause seriously...
FER-MEN-TED!  I WAS pretty happy that it wasn't just me LOL I had one of my dad's employees take a drink of the stuff to make sure I wasn't drinking some tangerine/OJ concoction.  Ok enough about the weird food! LOL
Probably my second most favorite happy moment of my day today was this: it is small, it only lasted about 7 seconds, but it made me laugh and feel SUCH an amazing amount of joy...I just knew I had to post it here.  On my way to my dad's work today I was listening to the radio and was enjoying the song playing.  I looked in the car behind me and found THAT person was REALLY enjoying the music playing.  They were waving an arm and moving their head back and forth, basically dancing in their car.  They looked SO happy and it looked like it was one of their favorite songs playing.  So thank you random person in your car for sharing your happy moment with me, which in turn gave ME a happy moment!  Love that you can literally "pay it forward" when it comes to happy moments!  Maybe I will attempt to dance in my car tomorrow so I can share my joy with fellow drivers on the road....or...you know...not....I don't know that I could move my head AND steer straight at the same time.  Have a great night all and remember to keep those happy moments flowing in your lives!

Day 59

So, some happy moments of the day for day 59...here we go....
I had a babysitter and went and got my nails done today.  It is a little treat to myself since my arm is pretty darn ugly, and since I am currently NOT getting dirt in my nails each day riding my precious Jazz, so why not have fabulous looking nails?!  It was nice to be pampered and really relaxed me! 
I'm not gonna lie, today was a difficult day.  First, we have been worrying A LOT about David's grandfather and the possible outcome of his test results...he has some major growths on his kidney.  Second, tonight at our weekly family dinner at Chick fil A...which is usually one of my favorite parts of the week...we got a phone call saying my dear friend (who is in her 3rd trimester) was in a car accident and headed to the hospital.  So here is the deal...a REALLY REALLY happy moment for me tonight would be to know that someone is reading this and saying a prayer and sending happy thoughts towards David's grandfather and to my friend.  I can't even really THINK about ME right now and any other happy thoughts...a very happy moment for me tonight would be to know people read this and send loving thoughts towards another...so have a happy night and help me make my night one big happy moment with all of you!

Day 58

Well, today is done...time to write down some of the happy moments I enjoyed to get me to tomorrow :-)  Still praying this whole take out a screw and see if the bone re-attaches itself, will work.  I was in MUCHO pain today and haven't had to do so much ONE handed in a long time.  Going on 5 months of all of this is probably a contributing factor to my blues as well...I just need to keep remembering how blessed I am, how this experience can help me HELP other people, and SOMEDAY, it will all be over...hopefully within these 365 days of my blog please!

I finally had a day to be HOME today!  I think some of my happiest moments were just being home, playing with Connor, or reading with Joel.  It was really nice to spend more than an hour DOWN on a couch or bed somewhere!  We also enjoyed a nice meal as a family, prepared by my wonderful husband, who let me take an hour nap...ooh how wonderful that all was!  It was also our first family meal of Sloppy Joe's....remember when your mom made that for you?  It was REALLY good and even though Joel was doubtful about it at first (getting that kid to try ANYTHING for the first time is very painful)  he told us "yeah, you can pretty much make this any time you want to now"  thanks for your stamp of approval Joel! LOL

I LOVE reading.  I read books, magazines, news articles, other people's blogs :-) Today I got about 6 catalogs in the mail from various stores and catalog companies.  I spent the better part of an hour perusing for possible future Christmas presents, looking at some real ODD products that will probably never work, and getting excited about Winter fashion possibilities.  I was so happy by the time I was done looking through the catalogs!  It was a simple, free, joy, but what fun!  So my night ended on a good note, I came up stairs and blogged, and now I am headed to bed.  May you all find simple little moments tomorrow to bring a smile to your face.  I can't wait to see what comes in the mail when I get it next time!

Day 57

I am so thankful for each happy moment that occured today!  It was like I was on the outside looking in, but I am SO SO thankful to be the recipient of all of those great happy moments!  It would have been a TOUGH day without them!

• I had to get Joel off to school and Connor off to his playgroup today.  Well, my right arm is kind of dead right now.  It is pretty much useless in terms of carrying, picking up, or making more than very BASIC movement.  It was so nice to drop Joel off at school and have someone agree to walk him the rest of the way to the class so I didn't have to get Connor out of the car.
• Then we showed up early to Boo's playgroup and the mom was on her way out, so she got Connor OUT of the carseat for me and put him into her car to take on a driving trip...so fun for him to get to be with friends, and so nice for me to not have to try to get him out of his carseat! 
• When Joel came to my dad's work today he had his very FIRST library book checked out!  It was so exciting for me and I hope his passion for reading continues.  We had such fun tonight reading the first part of his book together...such a nice mommy/son moment!

I had a great day doing paperwork at my dad's work again today with my mom and her best friend.  We had an amazing lunch, and Connor got to join us after his playgroup fun.  Grandad even bought NEW DVDs for him to watch on the big screen television in our conference room...he is ONE spoiled kiddo, but it sure helps me accomplish more work!  He is so happy down there and he found a pair of ear protection and eye gear...my mom helped Connor put the ear protection on.  I swear the cuteness of his smile and his puffy cheeks from the ear pieces was just so adorable!  It had me smiling for hours!  So that will be it for my happy moments of the day, and I will post a pic of my happy Boo Boo!  Enjoy!

    

Day 56

Hello day 56, here are some happy moments from today:

• taking a very long nap...dreaming happy dreams like riding my horse again and picking up laundry baskets ALL by myself...happy dreams!
• Family dinner with leftovers...Mommy didn't have to cook and we spent some quality time eating all together as a family LOVE
• Finally, today we booked a couple night stay down in San Diego for November...just David and ME and we got some really great deals because WHO is going to stay at a hotel on the Monday before Thanksgiving?! WE ARE!  It will be right before my next possible surgery and Joel is out of school so it worked out to be the perfect week...I will be riding a vacation high all the way to Christmas my friends...SO looking forward to a little break!
• Finally, the whole gang watched an episode of Chopped, from the Food Network, tonight.  Such a great show and both kids love watching it!  Joel knows what a "reduction" and "kitchen fire" are from tonight's episode lol.  I love watching that show with my family because it really motivates everyone to want to cook more in my house...can't go wrong with that idea!

So small, happy, moments today, but I will take each one as it comes!  I am thankful for my little family and all of the giggles and happy times we share together.  Another emotional ride could always be just around the corner, but I have something so precious to hold on to when those times arrive...I will survive! :-)

Day 55

Hi Ho Mely the invalid here to do a little blogging about Happiness this evening.  So here are some happy moments from my day.  Hope they brighten your day a bit more!  Just had my old bandages ripped off of my arm and had fresh dressing placed on the wound.  I DID get to see the wound...oh boy...it's big...but now I have a nice clean bandage on it for the time being, here's to a happy arm healing!
We went to dinner tonight with my parents and enjoyed Connor's comedy hour as he made faces, said funny things, and was an overall goofball at the dinner table.  When we were done with dinner, we stepped out onto the porch in front of the restaurant to visit some more.  There were two little old ladies (one with a walker) coming to the front door of the restaurant.  Joel ran to the door and opened it for them!  What a gentleman he is!  We praised him BIG time for that and he said "that's what you do for ladies"  OH that child!  It is really nice to know some of the things we teach him actually sink in lol.  So proud of him!  Then he went on to open the door for ladies and gentlemen...I think he enjoyed the praise from us for doing something nice.
I was on Facebook this evening and I saw on there a post my friend and neighbor across the way had left.  She said that at 7 PM tonight, wherever you are in the world, you could light a candle for a baby who left this world too soon.  I know she was talking about people, but it also made my think of MY sweet girl, Daisy.  She was every bit like a daughter to me.  She helped take care of me in the only way she knew how after I broke my arm.  She was my workout buddy.  I dressed her up for Halloween and helped her make the best fashion choices in collars I could.  So I lit a candle for ALL babies who left this life too soon.  It was a nice thing to do for a friend, and a therapeutic  thing for me to do for my sweet girl who I miss so much. 

Well that is all for tonight.  Going to head to bed and ice my arm for a bit and watch some old Western movies.  Hope you had a great Saturday with lots and lots of happy moments in between those Saturday chores!

My newest scar!  Isn't is lovely??

Day 54

Well, for the little time I am awake today, I guess I might as well blog about a happy moment or two.  Since I have been sleeping and on pain meds for most of the day, I can say a very happy moment for me is when I can feel the pain meds kick in and my eyes close...SUCH a happy feeling lol.  I have to say, though, I don't know how people can be on pain meds constantly.  The moment my pain is gone I am off of them.  I can't think, drive, or parent very clearly with the happy substance working its magic! 

It was a nice day today because David got to stay home with me as well.  We put Connor down for a nap, and Joel was at school...alone time!  For us that meant having David go to Jerry's Woodfire Dogs, grabbing a couple of the best hot dogs EVER, extra crispy potato chips, and watching the season premier of Psych!  We got a good hour of laughter and good eating in...SUCH a good time!  Then Connor woke up, it was time to pick up Joel, and my pain meds kicked back in lol.  Speaking of which, it is about time to take some more meds and head back to bed.  Gonna dream of healing bones and a surgery free life :-)  Enjoy this Friday night!

Day 53

Well, as I sit here listening to my children fighting, Connor screaming, and the thought of leaving in 15 minutes to go prep for my surgery, I now realize WHY I do my happy blog at the END of every day instead of in the middle it!

Ok so a couple of happy moments HAVE happened today and before I get knocked out for the day here they are

• first, Connor kissed me today!  Usually he just leans in and lets me do all the puckering lol but today he puckered up and planted a big one on me!  SO cute! And it melted my heart!  

• Also today we were able to refinance our home mortgage...again, and got an amazing rate!  With the price of EVERYTHING going up these days it is nice to have less money to go towards our home loan.

The HAPPIEST moments of my day today have been all of the loving texts and well wishes from so many of my dear friends.  I will carry them with me into my surgery today as I pray for a miracle for this bone to heal. I am so thankful for every "good luck" I received and so grateful for the prayers sent to me on my behalf!  Well, I am off...you all go and have some happy moments now and I will bloggity blog tomorrow!

Day 52

Well, the end of Wednesday is here and tomorrow is yet another day of surgery in my life.  Thankfully this time I am not NEARLY as terrified as I was when my tonsils were coming out.  That could be because no one has had this surgery, that I know of, and therefore I am not hearing HORROR story after horror story about how much PAIN and SUFFERING I am about to be in.  The stories people can tell you about getting their tonsils out...trust me, don't tell ANYONE you are getting them out when the time comes for you lol.  So hoping for a happy moment tomorrow of waking up from the surgery and letting the bone healing begin!  We shall see!  So onto the happy moments of my busy day of getting everything in order to keep my family going without Mommy for a bit:

• today I spent a good deal of time at my dad's work once more.  I am becoming a paperwork junkie!  I got through over 1000 pages of signatures and number referencing today and loved every minute of it!  I tell ya if this speech therapy thing doesn't work out for me someday, paper pushing bureaucrat offices here I come! LOL
• I have been really blessed to hear back from a couple of people who actually read my blog!  One e-mail today from my dear friend in Pomona brought tears to my eyes.  The happy blog is working for someone! Even if one person reads this blog and can find the happy moments in their life, then all that we have been through is so worth it to bring others joy!  I am so thankful for my friend bringing me one of the happiest moments of my day, and sharing such wonderful memories of HER two boys and what I have to look forward to as my two lil guys grow and get bigger...late night talks about future hopes and dreams...YES PLEASE!  

• Since David is out of town tonight, and my surgery is tomorrow, I asked around my congregation for two worthy Priesthood holders to come over tonight and give me a blessing.  What a gift to have men come and put their hands on my head and bless me to be strong and make it through my surgery and future trials!  My friend Jinkee's son JUST became an Elder in our church (meaning he can now participate in blessings AND go on a mission soon!)  Jinkee's husband and son came over and gave me a blessing tonight...her son's first one!  What an honor to have the hands of father and son placed on my head with Jinkee sitting near by and being able to watch her sweet family help mine....SUCH an amazingly happy moment!  SUCH an amazingly spiritual moment as well.  One other thing I so look forward to with my lil guys and David...but not anytime soon...I am not ready to have a 19 year old son yet! lol

Well my reader/readers, I am grateful for you!  Thank you for sharing your thoughts about my blog and continuing on with me on this 365 day journey of happiness!  I go to sleep tonight full of happiness and love for God, my precious little family, and my sweet friends who bring so very many happy moments into my life, and then into my day of sunshine!  Have a wonderful night and not sure WHEN I will blog tomorrow, so we shall see!

Day 51

Let's get this happy moment blog of the day started!

• first happy moment of the day was getting my 35 pound sticker at Weight Watchers.  I have been working for the last TWO years at losing about 70 pounds that I gained due to pregnancy and HEAVY duty prednisone use during my pregnancy (can't do anything else to keep my RA away)  So a total loss today of about 55 pounds from when I wasn't on WW yet...so proud and almost done and into a healthy weight zone!
• playing outside in our little courtyard with Joel and Connor for over an hour today.  Joel set up a race track with cones he has that came with his new bike.  He rode around and around and little brother chased after him and TRIED to pedal on the tricycle we have.  Such cute brotherly moments that I get to be a part of...love it!

And there are my happy moments for the day that carried me and got me through my worries.  Really hoping surgery number three goes well for me this week.  Praying for a healed bone in 5 weeks so I DON'T have to have a bone graft.  I think my happy moment for Thursday will be just being able TO blog...probably going to do it early since my surgery is scheduled for later in the afternoon.  Did I mention David is headed out of town on a business trip?  That'll be the third time for me having surgery and him being gone lol I guess it is meant to be that he is not here for them!  Well, early Dr. appointment tomorrow and then preparing the family for Mommy being down again!  I feel like a whole bucket of lemons landed on me this week....now where did I put that juicer...............

Day 50!

Lots of happy moments to keep me going today...my next surgery is scheduled for this coming Thursday, so I will take all of the happy times I can get this week!  David's aunt told me today "you know the saying, when life gives you lemons, gotta make lemonade"  I said "yeah I am pretty sure I could fill an entire SWIMMING POOL with how much lemonade I have made in the past few months!" we both got a good laugh out of that!  There was one really meaningful happy moment today and so I will share that with you, and then try to get some sleep :-)

Yesterday was Fast Sunday for our church.  It is a day that we go without food for 24 hours and try to reflect and pray for spiritual strength about certain things we would like to have happen in our lives.  Of course I prayed that my surgery would go well, but I also prayed and prayed about my calling.  I have a really difficult assignment for my congregation.  I am in charge of putting together EVERY musical number for our Sunday program EACH Sunday.  Well, I have done pretty well so far this year, but as the year is ending, I have asked pretty much every musical person I could think of to perform at least once, and the thought of trying to put a musical number together, gather people to practice, and get it all done by Wednesday was overwhelming me so much.  So I prayed....( and this comes after watching General Conference talks all about how if you pray for something specific, and you are humble and worthy, God will not deny you the sincere prayer of your heart)  I prayed that someone would call me and OFFER to sing this Sunday at church....and that's exactly what happened tonight!  We have two new sister missionaries in our ward and one of them is musical!  She called tonight and was wondering if she could do a musical number she had on hand this coming Sunday.  I did what I usually do in these situations as of late...I cried....a lot  LOL!  I am so grateful for this tiny miracle!  What a sweet reminder that in times of need and times when you are looking up and asking for help, God WILL be there, he will hear you, and he will give you what you NEED.  I truly needed a musical number this Sunday because our dear bishop has asked for me to provide one each week when we do NOT have a Fast Sunday.  I cannot tell you how many times I have been told "oh I will call you about that" or flat out "sing? um no thanks"  So I am so truly thankful for someone feeling inspired to volunteer when I need it the most.  Hopefully I can find some people to agree to next month, but for now, I am going to take my miracle happy moment and enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling I have inside!  Have a great week!

Day 49

Sunday Oct 9, 2011

• We went to church today and had a great time listening to talks, singing songs, and enjoying filling our spiritual tanks!  It was nice to see people at church I haven't seen in a few weeks and get to chat.  I really enjoyed Sunday school and learning about Romans in the New Testament...it's a good way to live your life! 

• We came home and cooked some burgers and hot dogs and had dinner with David's parents.  It was a lovely time and I think both of the boys are going to CRASH when their heads hit the pillows tonight!  They didn't stop moving!  It is fun for grandkids to have a grandparent audience and both boys were eating up the attention.  Very happy moment for me to see Joel and Connor so happy and having such a good time playing.  We are taking it slow with David's parents, but I can honestly say this weekend was so nice and I had a great time getting to know what they have been doing in the past four years.  Lots and lots of happy moments with David's parents this weekend and I am thankful for that! 
• Well Sunday is here, I have the bone stimulator on and I look forward to finding out when my next surgery is going to be!   Should be sometime this week so I will keep my blog up to date on when it will be.  I prayed all day today for a successful surgery and that my arm finally begins to heal...what a happy moment it will be when I can use my right arm again!

Day 48

Here we are on another Saturday ready to begin another week!  How did you all do this week?  Make any fun plans?  We have been keeping busy today and here are some of the happy moments I now share in my sunshine blog:

• boy were we busy this morning!  Joel and I headed to CVS and Michaels for some shopping, but they both didn't open until 9AM so we headed to a doughnut shop I used to visit in high school for a morning doughnut for Joel (ok one for me too)
• then we went to Trader Joe's and just happened to bump into our neighbor Tara...guess great minds think alike!  We got in and out before 9AM at Trader Joe's and then hit up CVS for our next round of shopping.  Then we headed to Big Lots and found all of the items necessary to decorate our front porch area....or "haunt it up" as Joel says...funny boy!
• THEN we came home and decorated and my WHOLE family helped me!  It was one of the happiest moments I have had in a long time watching David hang up the Halloween lights, Joel help me with the spiderwebs, and Connor playing with the ghost garland.  We all worked together and got it done in about 20 minutes!  It looks great and Joel was very happy with the outcome :-)
• THEN Joel, Connor, and I took a MUCH needed nap!  2 hours later we were up and ready to begin again!
• THEN my in-laws came back over.  They are in town from New Mexico and we have not seen them in a few years.  It was nice for them to meet Connor for the first time.  We went out to dinner, played at the park, went to Target for some grandparent toys....Joel and Connor are on grandparent cloud NINE, and then came home.

So many happy memories made today.  Some of them were very personal to me, and so I won't type them on here, but I am happy that family can come together and everyone can grow and find joy and love.  If you are reading this and have been having family difficulties lately, give it time.  Well, here is a picture from my day, a photo of my sweet BOO BOO on the slide...his smile pretty much describes how I think we all feel about today. 

 

Have a happy Saturday and enjoy each happy moment that slides your way!

47 Days

WHOOOSH!  That is how fast this week, and today, went by!  I didn't feel like I had a chance to stop too much this week, but I am sure glad I was able to sit down each night and write a few happy moments.  Even if life is passing by too quickly, I will have the good memories written down here to cherish! 

Today was another fun day working at the range and going over paperwork.  I truly believe in another life I would have made someone VERY happy by being their secretary!  I LOVE doing paperwork and I really enjoy filing and stamping and stapling lol....glad that college degree is working for me!  It was fun being in the large room and having Connor there today watching TV while we worked.  He is so full of joy and fun to have as my little co-worker.  He sits there, watches TV, and eats...boy is his life rough!  Then after a while I had to pick Joel up from school and he came and got to play with a shot-gun (UN loaded of course) but still...he is growing up, and not sure how much longer I can keep him from his first .22....oh boy!

Tonight David and I got to go out alone and eat at a restaurant I have been waiting for 10 more pounds to lose...well, the 10 more pounds are gone and I rewarded myself with some amazing king crab legs and shrimp....all healthy food and really wonderful.  We met up with David's parents (for the first time in 4 years) and had a nice evening chatting and enjoying the wonderful food.  It was nice to be with David and he was so sweet...he cracked every one of my crab legs for me so I wouldn't have to make a feeble attempt at doing it myself.  Such a sweet husband! 

One funny thing happened today.  Our cleaning people came and cleaned the house (because you REALLY don't want to see me try and scrub with a broken arm do you?)  and after they left, I couldn't find the Bran Muffins I made yesterday morning!  They were in a storage bag on the stove and I am pretty sure they thought it was trash and threw it out LOL.  I promised David I would go to the store and get some buttermilk in the morning to make some more.  Funny little moment...gonna have to put them away next time!  Well, time for bed.  Another very busy day tomorrow, but it should be fun decorating for Halloween and making more muffins!  Have a wonderful weekend everyone and see you tomorrow on the Sunshiny blog!

Day 46

What a beautiful day it was today!  I woke up so tired and worn down from everything going on this week, then I took Joel to school and did a nice hour walk with Connor.  That sky today was amazing!  It reminded me of the clouds on the opening scene of the Simpsons lol.  The sky was so blue and there were scattered BIG puffy white clouds all around.  The weather was nice and cool and it made for a great walk!  Connor and I even found a new park in our community!  There are so many great parks to discover!  I am not sure if I can ever FIND that park again, but I look forward to trying on our next walk! 

Another happy moment for me today was that I got to take a nap!  I have pretty much depleted all of my back up energy this week with my INSANE schedule and it all caught up to me today at 2 PM.  So I headed to my big fluffy pillow, put my head on it, and didn't get up for a couple of hours....thank you Connor for taking such a good nap and reading quietly in your crib and thank you Joel for watching your Disney movie downstairs so mommy could re-energize! 

Last happy moment of my day was giving Joel a goodnight kiss and singing him a goodnight song.  I try to always sing him a song when he asks for it.  There are those nights when I JUST want him to get in bed and go to sleep, but I try to keep it in perspective that he isn't always going to be asking me for goodnight songs someday, and then I will WISH I could sing for him!  So it was nice to snuggle down and have a peaceful, cute, moment with him! 

Well, have a great Thursday!  I am so excited one of my favorite TV shows starts back up tonight!  Psych....it is SO funny and who doesn't need a good laugh these days?  Looking forward to snuggling down with David and watching it sometime this weekend.  Happy thought for you all....tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Day 45

Well, I made it through the day today...happy moment is being done at last!  It was a nice day today.  I accomplished many wonderful things today and feel better about upcoming events next week!  So here are some happy moments from the busy busy day 45 :-)

1. Getting to take a break in between my work today to hang out with the kiddos. Connor and I snuggled down on the couch and watched a Baby Einstein.  It was nice to kiss the top of his head and have tickle time.
2. I got to meet a lot of parents at Joel's back to school nite tonight.  There is even a couple of parents who had kids that Joel went to school with last year at Pre-school!  What fun!  AND, for all of my efforts of sitting in a ridiculously small chair for an hour, we got an AMAZING chewy cookie...worth it!  
3. And now I am headed down to enjoy some almond chamomile tea and watch some of my DVR shows while sitting on my clean couch in my soft PJs from Gap Body....AAAAAAH I can already feel the comfort!  

I am grateful that during these rainy days, I haven't experienced ONE massive RA flare up!  It is truly a miracle that I am so thankful for!  I have mini flares, but having been off of my chemo meds to try and heal my bone and having cold, rainy weather, SHOULD have triggered a flare big enough to land me in bed for days.  I am still walking around and go go going....and with that VERY happy moment of the week, I bid you all a good night!

Day 44

Today was not as busy as I thought it would be....happy moment to have some SPARE time on my hands today!  I got some extra tickles, bubble blowing, hugs, and game playing in that way!  ALWAYS nice when I can be a mommy instead of a chauffeur or event planner lol.  

Today we got our carpets cleaned...yea!  It has been forever since we wanted this done, but...well...we had other things, like surgeries and stuff, to worry about.  It is nice to have clean floors again.  One funny note, the cats were not too happy about having to walk on wet carpet.  For an HOUR after the cleaning guy left, Aladdin (our black kitty) walked all over meowing like crazy "why would you put WATER on MY carpet...oh great, now it's on my paw!  I SAID there is WATER on my PAAAAAAAW!" It was a fun time for me to watch, sorry Aladdin! 

With some other spare time (and a 30% off EVERYTHING coupon) I hopped over to Kohl's when David came home for some retail therapy.  I actually ended up buying clothes for David, for Joel, for Connor, a rain jacket for myself, and a deep fryer.  Yep, you read that last one right!  Here is the thing, we watch a lot of Food Network around these parts, and you CAN'T keep watching those shows like Paula Deen, or Down Home With the Neelys without BUYING a deep fryer to try out the recipes.  I realize that in some parts of this great country when you get married, you get to put a deep fryer on your registry list.  Well, we didn't do that here in California, so now we are FINALLY the proud owners of one!  Can't wait to try out deep fried hard boiled eggs....or not!  I came home happy and had to laugh as David asked "wait, didn't you go to buy YOURSELF a pair of shoes?" yeah well, couldn't find a pair of shoes, but I DID find so many other things there!  Happy moment!

Well I am headed offline now.  Just because today wasn't as busy as I thought doesn't mean I get off that easily tomorrow!  My day begins at 7 and doesn't quit until 7 PM when I finally walk home from Back to School Night.  I DO look forward to finally meeting all of the other parents I see half awake as we all drop off our kids in our sweats lol.  Have a great night all!  Happy moment wishes to you...gonna dream of what to put in my deep fryer for its inaugural FRY hee hee

Day 43 Busy ME!

I don't remember the last time I had this many things to do in one day!  Any my kids aren't even in sports or music yet!  True, 2x per week of speech therapy for one and 2x per week of OT for the other is pretty much our sport right now but my goodness!  I feel like I can't breath!  I looked at my schedule this week and had to give something that was a WANT and not a NEED up.  I feel bad, but there will be no happy memory of a baby shower for me this week....it is just TOO much being gone every single night from my sweet family! 

Thankfully tonight we did family home evening and played "Choose the Right or Choose the Wrong"  otherwise known as Chutes and Ladders in most homes lol but when teaching a gospel centered message on making good choices and climbing to Heaven with each good choice...well...you get the idea!  It is SO funny to hear Joel yell when someone goes down the ladder "oh my goodness you chose the WRONG Mommy!"  I hope he never actually has to say that to me in real life!  I hope I can live my life and be a good example to him always...how I love that sweet, FUNNY, little boy! 

So that is my happy moment for the day, FINALLY getting to spend some much needed time with my whole little family at the dinner table, eating my homemade beef and cheese enchiladas, and playing a children's game with a twist.  Gonna get some sleep now because at 8 AM the carpet cleaners are coming to clean my carpets and my couches that my little two year old with his CRAZY sticky fingers has dirtied!  Happy Monday...today is Monday right? :-)

Day 42

Another wonderful day of General Conference today!  Some of the talks were truly answers to many prayers I have had lately....now whether I actually go and DO the things I know I should now...well that gets hard sometimes doesn't it?  I am sure going to try though!  I so want to be a better person.  I want to be happy and friendly to everyone around me at all times.....it just gets a little tricky when you are consistently friendly to consistently mean people.....eventually you would rather bang your head against a brick wall then TRY anymore...but that isn't exactly what Christ's teachings tell you to do! LOL  So say a little prayer for me my blog readers that I might be able to try and succeed!  I have already had such wonderful success with one such person this past year...what a happy moment it was for me when, after trying and trying and trying to be nice to this person (who I often referred to my husband as the "ice queen") she FINALLY asked me how I was doing...it made me so happy to hear those words come out of her mouth!  I used to think "well, I broke my arm maybe she will wonder how that is going" nope...then Daisy died, but she hates animals so it was no surprise when there was no hint of sympathy when I would tell Daisy's story in front of her.  Then I had my cancer scare and had to get my tonsils out, nothing.  So I just kept it about HER and asked about HER each time I saw her.  I grew to not feel so hurt or sad that she didn't SEEM to care about what I had been through in months past (because honestly that was selfish of me anyways).  And so finally one day after asking her many questions and really getting to know HER better, I finally got "and how are you doing?"  it was a great happy moment for me and hopefully a good teaching moment for someone else who reads this.

But back to General Conference, so wonderful and Joel was able to sit and listen each time President Monson talked.  It was so nice to be in one place as a family all weekend and have the boys playing so lovingly together each day.  Of course there were moments where Mommy and Daddy had to play referee, but not that many and it made today that much sweeter!
SPEAKING of sweeter those cinnamon rolls were AMAZING today! So delicious and a perfect pair with conference!  When the first speaker of the morning was over, we took a couple of plates to our neighbors.  It has become a nice tradition to share our rolls with our neighbors AND this way they too know when General Conference is for our church!  Maybe some day they will want to turn it on and watch with mouths full of sugary, buttery, goodness.  What a happy thought that is!  So today was full of happy memories and learning many happy things.  I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that I can share my joy with others.  It is a wonderful thing to KNOW of a place where you can find peace and happiness in this world.  Have a happy week all!

Day 41

Today has been such a pleasant one!  We spent the majority of today at home, in front of our television, enjoying the talks from our church leaders in Salt Lake City.  Such wonderful inspiring messages!  I got up this morning and made my bran muffins from scratch, and then there was a knock at the door.  My wonderful visiting teacher (we each have two women who visit us from our congregation once a month to give us a spiritual message and usually a treat!) she had a pink box of doughnuts wrapped with a white bow, and some really neat packets for each one of us to follow along during conference.  Joel and Connor were MORE than happy to partake of both bran muffin and doughnuts lol.  Sometimes little ones are not very inspired to watch, but Joel sat for the entire two hours during the first session listening, watching, and coloring in what color tie the Prophet and his Apostles had on lol...it was great!  He actually listened to the talks and sang along with the songs the choir on the TV were singing!  Such happy family moments! 

Then, in between the first and second session, I hit up the mall for a sale at my all time favorite store.  As a lot of you know, I have been dropping the pounds like crazy this summer (emotional and physical trauma is apparently THE diet to go on for me!)  so I was able to buy multiple pairs of SKINNY jeans!  AH! SUCH a happy moment to fit my body into those suckers!  It was a dance around the dressing room kinda day.  AND I was able to share that happy moment with the gal who works at my favorite store (her name is Carole and her son is getting married in 3 days....how many of you can say YOU know the name of the sales lady at your favorite store?  It PAYS to be nice people!) So home I went for the next session with my bag of goodies and a smile on my face. 
David went to the Priesthood session (the meeting for men where they listen to the Prophet teach them to be better husbands...I love that session!) While he was gone I took the kiddos to dinner at TOGO's, Joel's all time favorite sandwich place, and we picnicked in the park across the street.  After about an hour of running around all over the place, we came home and waited for Daddy to help me put the kiddos to bed.  THEN it was time to make the cinnamon rolls!  (These rolls take a night and a morning to make because it takes a total of about 3.5 hours for them to be totally done, so we do the first portion at night, stick em in the fridge, and cook them in the morning!)  They look gooey and sugary already!  It is such a happy moment to make those with David.  We make them for each General Conference, and on Christmas Eve while we are playing SANTA...because that is how long it usually takes to put together the kid's toys lol.  It is a happy moment I love to share with David and something I think we both really enjoy.  I look forward to the happy moment tomorrow of biting INTO the warm cinnamon roll as well!  Hope I haven't made you all too hungry!  Have a happy Saturday night and I will keep you posted on how it all turns out tomorrow!