Breakfast and Bubbles!

Just wanted to post some pics of a fun morning Abby and I had last month. Abby was DYING to blow some bubbles and it was actually COOL that morning, so we went outside on the back patio with our "squares"(Cinnamon Toast Crunch) and a big thing of bubbles. My friend, Alicia, thinks I'm such a cool mom for breaking the morning routine sometimes, but it really only happens every once in a while! And it usually helps my sanity more than Abby's!Okay, so this pic is one of those I talked about in my last post. You know, those awful ones you take of yourself? And to tell the truth, I can't believe I'm actually posting it-no make-up and hair not done! But we were having so much fun!

Abby with her "Squares" Cereal and her famous smile!

And here's that smile again!

She actually does really well with the blowing of the bubbles too! She lets me do it for awhile, but pretty quickly, she says, "It's my turn, Mommy!"

Just threw this one in for fun! Notice the unmatching bed skirt! I had spent so much on the bedding and that rail (that incidentally, she hates! It only lasted a few weeks, and when she started sleeping on the floor next to the door, we figured out that it was making her feel trapped rather than secure! Go figure! It's under the bed now, and she has slept IN the bed since then!Hooray!)

We're lovin' life, almost every minute of it!

The last few weeks...

I just had to post a pic from the weekend Josh's family was here. Interestingly enough, we have no pics of everyone dressed up for church, but we do have one from Saturday, when some of the kids had an impromptu swim in our little pool in the backyard. Before we knew it, Sam and Abby were in their birthday suits and Will followed closely behind. Then, Jacobi got in on the fun and it was a naked party!(Except for Zoie of course! Way to go, Zoie, for the modesty...) This picture is an awesome one, because the splashes look as if they were strategically placed, but that's just how it went!

So, the morning after Josh became the Bishop, he had to travel to Winston-Salem for an audit! Abby and I joined him Wednesday afternoon for a couple of nights, so we could spend his birthday (Friday, the 20th) with him. We swam, hung out at the mall, and vegged in the hotel room watching Dora and Diego and a new Strawberry Shortcake DVD while Josh worked, and then ate at yummy restaurants and swam some more once he got back! It was an experience for me to have Abby at the pool and the mall by myself, me being 6 months pregnant and all...But we did have a lot of fun and only a few meltdowns (at least one a day from me and a few more from Abby;o) We took Abby's pack-n-play, but she wanted to sleep in the other queen bed, so I saw that as progress. (She is finally sleeping in a big girl bed at home, and I was worried how it would all work in the hotel...)

Here she is in her bed at home, just for kicks, and because we're so proud of her for staying in it without much trouble!

Abby actually liked the carousel at the mall, unlike the one you'll see later in this post...

Anyway, we had a blast, and after Josh's morning of work was done on Friday, we headed out and decided to stop at the NC Zoo in Asheboro on the way home. It was hot (really could have been worse, though) and there were lots of hills-I figured I was getting more exercise than I have the entire 6 months of pregnancy, so I pressed forward and just drank a lot of water. Abby loved the turtles and the alligators and the elephant and the giraffes the best and did NOT like the tram or the carousel ride...By the way, there was a hispanic family there who walked around close to us speaking spanish, and after they passed us one time, Abby said, "Hi, amigos!" Seriously, she's only watched Dora like 4 times, but I know that's where she got it from!

The only pic of me in the post-it seems I'm the only one who cares to take pics, and the ones I take of myself are NOT flattering...


On the way home, we stopped at Girl's Camp for Bishop's Night, where Josh had the opportunity to talk to our fabulous Young Women! We had dinner with them, saw a cool slide show with pics of the week, heard a speaker (Josh missed it because Abby freaked out when someone put their elbows on the table and the very LOUD singing began! It wasn't me-I remember what happens when you put your elbows on the table at Girl's Camp, even though I haven't been there for 15 years or so...)and then, met with our ward YW for a little talk of his own. They welcomed us with open arms and we were surprised at how quickly they were calling him Bishop and giving him hugs. They begged us to come to their cabin, which had been decorated with stars hanging from the ceiling and everywhere else and then they showed us their very awesome, very creative skit-costumes and all-it was hilarious! A LOOONNGG day, but VERY fun!


Josh spoke in church on Sunday, and it was weird to see him up there and know what an influence he has all of a sudden! Crazy, but neat for me to see...


My aunt, uncle, cousin and grandma came from West Virginia this weekend and we spent Sunday with my family. Then Josh decided to take a day off and we went to Myrtle Beach with Amber and Myah on Tuesday. We lasted at the ocean for an HOUR--it was CROWDED and HOT--but we made it a lot longer at the resort pools where my grandma, etc. were staying for the night. Another long day, but very fun!
See the crowds in this pic of Myah?

It's been busy, but I'm glad to stay busy. It distracts me from how long I still have before this baby will be born!


I guess this is kind of like my friend, Alicia's weekly synopsis-sorry, I don't think I'll be able to keep it up every week, but I hope everyone enjoys a slice of our lives...

He makes weak things become strong!

Today has been a very special day for our family! Josh was sustained and set apart to be the Bishop of the Florence SC Ward today! Some of you may be thinking, "HUH?!" and you'd be feeling just about the same as I was on Monday night, when we got the call from my Dad, who is the Stake Executive Secretary, telling us that the Stake President wanted to see both of us on Wednesday at noon. Of course we knew that our Bishop had gotten a new job in Colorado and would need to be released, but who ever dreams they could actually get called to be a Bishop, especially at 31 years old!

So here we go....As soon as we finished our interview Wednesday, we were on the phone to Josh's parents and siblings to let them know and ask if they could drive down to be here for the setting apart (they did, of course and we had a BLAST! Thanks, guys! Love y'all!)

It was definitely hard to keep it a secret...we have a particularly chatty and speculative ward, though surprisingly, it was worse with the MEN than the women! Gotta love 'em! But we managed to keep it from all but the closest of family...

I'm so proud of Josh. He was born on Father's Day 32 years ago, and today he was sustained as a bishop! What a great Father's Day for him...very overwhelming for both of us, but wonderful.

In Sacrament Meeting, he was sustained by the ward and bore his testimony (I was so impressed with his way with words and how he listened to the Spirit as he said what I believe to be just what our ward needed to hear!) I couldn't help thinking as he sat on the stand that he seemed to look a little older! (In a good way! Those of you who know him know that he really has a baby face and looks to be about 15 years old...I say he aged to about 20 today;0) After the meeting, His dad ordained him a High Priest and then the Stake President ordained and set him apart as the bishop. What a special blessing he received, and I firmly believe that he and our family will be blessed beyond measure for this service he (and we) will give the Lord here in the Florence area.

I'm sure I'll post more about it later, and just ask if you have questions, especially those who may not be members of our church! It can all be a little confusing...

I welcome your comments, but let them be positive! I got way too many "I'm sorry"s and sarcastic "Good luck"s and even a few, "Kiss you're husband, because you won't be seeing him for a while!"s from people today...UGH! Is that supposed to ENCOURAGE me?! I enjoyed the hugs, smiles, "We'll be praying for you"s, "Let me know if you need any help"s and "We support you"s much more!

Love to you all!

PS-Sorry if this post sounds a little more formal than you might be used to hearing from me...I'm kind of in that mood, I guess...;0) Just a little in shock I think...;0) Oh, and the pic is from May, but I thought it would fit since it's outside our church building and you can see what he looks like in his suit!

"And it came to pass..."

This is an old pic, but it will illustrate my point! Yesterday morning was really hard for us-Abby and me. Josh was already at church and Abby was just not in a happy mood! But I pressed on and decided to read a few verses from the scriptures to her like I try to do every morning. Amazingly, she sat still and listened and I immediately thought of the hymn, "Sweet is the Peace the Gospel Brings"...We were definitely not having a peaceful morning, but for those few moments as I read the last 20 verses of Jacob 5 (We FINALLY finished it!), she sat quietly and looked at me the whole time. It was a really sweet experience for me and became even sweeter this morning...
I was making our grocery list as Abby ate her breakfast. By the time she finished, I still hadn't so she decided to take the Book of Mormon and read scriptures for herself. She has done this before and made me laugh with the gobbledy goop and a few words that made sense, like "Jesus" and "prophet", but this morning after a few minutes of not really paying attention to her, I realized that she was saying real words. I looked up at her as I finally understood..."it came to pass...it came to pass...it came to pass...it came to pass". I giggled, but didn't want to make fun, so I said, "Read me some more, Ab.." And she continued, "It came to pass...and it came to pass..." It struck me how much they really do pay attention...and even though it was those particular seemingly unimportant words that she latched on to, a thought struck me. A while back I heard someone give a talk about trials in our lives. They said something to the effect that one of the most used phrases in the scriptures is this exact phrase. "And it came to pass..." generally just means that "something happened", but to the speaker it meant much more, and he/she chose to think of it like this...We all have trials and things that happen in our lives that are not pleasant, but we just need to realize that those things "come"..."to pass". They come and then they pass and we learn and grow from them.
My sweet daughter taught me a lesson today and I was grateful to a loving Father who knew that at this particular time in my life, I needed to know that the things I am trying to teach her are not in vain.
So just remember that everything in the scriptures can mean something in our lives...EVERY WORD is there for a purpose...And it came...to pass...
Sweet is the peace the gospel can bring into our lives...