December 11

A couple funny stories for the week: Underfoot prayed tonight that the Christmas Tree wouldn’t break down (as though it were an old pinto or something...) Hurricane has learned how to turn on the charm when he wants something. He will cock his head and say, “Well...” and he purses his lips, and bats his eyes. He may not yet be three years old, but he has certainly become aware of the ladies around him.

Underfoot performed in a Christmas Pageant this week at a local nursing home. After the performance he came up toMama  and asked if he did a good job. He did a great job singing.

Mama had a Relief Society Meeting where the women got together to share their Christmas Traditions of Christ. She returned home glowing. The meeting was a great success and she was so relieved. This is what we've been doing this year. Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11

I’ve learned a new skill this week. Mama hasn’t been feeling well, so I have helped her blow dry her hair. This is something I’ve never done before. It takes a long time because she has a lot of hair. It isn’t rocket science, but it has a very soothing effect on her.

Today we attended Stake Conference in lieu of our regular Sunday meetings. One of the speakers shared with us his conversion story and the trials in his life which have brought him to great joy.

This year has been filled with the stuff of life- trials, joys, heartaches, headaches, smiles, and lots of laughter. Too often I forget to count the blessings which enrich my life. Underfoot and Hurricane are so wonderfully different, but they manage to laugh and play together in a way that is delightful. Mama has given me the most precious gift- life.

As a family we have been reading in the Book of Mormon about Helaman’s 2000 Stripling Warriors. They were all young men, but they had been taught by their mothers that if they did not doubt God, that He would deliver them from their trials. I was overcome with emotion as I read the story about these valiant boys to my own sons. The 2000 thought more about the freedom and safety of their families than their own lives. Those 2000 young men chose to go to war to defend their loved ones with the very real prospect of not surviving the ordeal.

Reading to my own boys brought a host of emotions I have not often experienced. I’ve read the story many times. I know it well, and yet, this time it was new to me. I hope that I will have the discipline to teach my sons, that they may be like those 2000. I want them to know that I know, that God does hear and answer our prayers. He does know each of us.