My Spare Thoughts...

As I finally have a few spare moments to write a little blerb here are my spare thoughts...

We arrived home from Utah on Tuesday August 3rd, and let's just say there hasn't been much recouperating going on!! We have my little brother here from Lethbridge for 2 1/3 weeks, and I've been trying to find fun things for him to do. We've been hiking, swimming, boating and tubing, camping and bike riding. Needless to say, we haven't had a moment's rest around here and... my house is a mess!!

I find it really hard to have energy and motivated when my house is a mess. I honestly have mountains, serious mountains of laundry to do and I HAD a couple hills of dishes needing to be done. We're still trying to get settled from moving, I don't have everything where I'd like it and things in places I don't like but because they aren't in my face I don't fix it! If only I could get a couple days, baby free. (Wouldn't we all!)

But on to my spare thoughts...

I was having a few "A-HA" moments...

For some reason I have this need to be 'perfect'. I get mad at Brant and I literally hate myself for hours, I don't get my chores done and I feel like a horrible wife and mother. I'm unsure where this 'need for perfection' has come from, but it's caused me a lot of anxiety and I just can't believe Heavenly Father wants us to feel this way. I'm working hard on reminding myself, I'm NOT perfect and that's NO ONE is expecting me to be and that I need to have reasonable expectations of myself. I continually pray for help and strength to work through this and have developed a testimony of prayer.

I also have a great testimony of families. I am continually grateful for my wonderful husband and adorable son. Life has not been a picnic for me, and to see how much my Heavenly Father loves me and blesses me and continues to help me through my struggles is such a huge testimony builder. Had someone told me things would turn out the way they have I probably wouldn't have believed them. So I do need to express my love and gratitude to my Heavenly Father.

I'm also grateful for my membership in the Church, without it I know I would be lost. Of all the unexplainable and confusing things the world throws at us, this is the one thing that makes sense. Thankfully I've never struggled with this in my life as the gospel has always made sense to me. I remember going to a hairdresser who was a J.W. and while I never liked the idea of discussing religion with someone who has a pair of scissors to my head, discussing the Church with her, no matter how hard to tried to sway me, always reaffirmed my testimony of the Church. Only 144,000 going to Heaven?? Well, I'm screwed... why bother? Honestly? (If you ask Colin, it should technically say 144,026... but don't get them started on that! LOL) I remember asking her, if Heavenly Father is our Father, don't you think he wants us all to come back to him? I remember her face like it was yesterday, she looked completely bewildered! "Why would he want us all back?" I was totally lost! I remember that Spirit telling (almost yelling!) me "No, he wants us all back!" I could never believe something like that! It breaks my heart to think that some people believe that. Guess I need to be better at my missionary work!!

We recently visited Utah and were fortunate enough to get some alone time to go to the Salt Lake Temple, and as wonderful as going there was... that's not where this experience is taking me. Temple Square recently opened a new exhibit, a model of the Salt Lake Temple (http://www.newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/scaled-model-provides-salt-lake-temple-open-house-experience ) and it shows what it looks like on the inside. It was really neat to see, and I thought it would be great for those interested in the Church and curious about our Temples. (Finally show we don't sacrifice babies... lol) I just remember seeing soooo many people who you knew were not members of the Church. Asking questions and finding the exhibit really interesting. I mentioned to my Grandmother that I couldn't believe how many people (who we could tell where not members) were so interested. She said something that has been nagging me since. As a convert to the Church she would understand, but as a person who grew up in the Church I've always been a little shy about sharing the Gospel, thinking if they are interested they'll ask. She said "They're starving." She went on to say they are starving for something more. Of course I had heard that all before, but this time it really stuck. Because, like my Grandmother, whether or not they know, they ARE starving. I pray I may know how to help those starving for the truth, and not shy away from what I know to be true.



Sorry this is soo long, I just feel I need to get my testimony out there as I NEVER do it in Church!

These were my 'A-HA' moments lately, and I hope you all have wonderful A-HA moments!

Meghan

Our Family Vacation 2010

This last weekend was our only weekend away together. Colin works so much and doesn't ask for time off so this was the only vacation we got this summer.

We got to relax ( I guess?!?!), spend time with family and we even got to go to the Salt Lake City Temple with my Grandmother who had never been. It was a bit difficult for her with her crummy knee and all but it was a great experience. We also met up with one of Colin's mission buddies and his wife. It was great to see them and get to know his wife. We hope to go see them again soon!

This picture below is the reason we travelled 3,500km (round trip) to Lehi, Utah, over the course of 6 days.
Claire Alison Booth, born April 3, 2010 and blessed August 3, 2010. This will be my last 1st cousin, and I wanted so badly to be there for the blessing. We luckily got the time off and the funds to head down there. We hadn't been down there for so long! And it was great to see my family again.
The Whole Family spoken of previously...
I purchased a beautiful blessing gown from a friend who makes blessing outfits for babies. (www.tinytreasuresclothing.ca) She did a wonderful job and my aunt just LOVED the dress! The best looking infant that morning (with there being 4!!! baby blessings!) with her accompanying bonnet and booties.

Sundays are wonderful for naps. My Aunt had friends and family over after the baby blessing for a bit of a brunch. (Only after realizing it was fast Sunday! LOL) We had worked hard to either distract children or prepare food for the brunch and we were so exhausted! Colin passed out on Alison's bed and Brant wanted to nap with his daddy. I, meanwhile, snapped a quick picture.

Our trip home was quite uneventful, which was nice. A friend of ours lent us their portable dvd player and we watched Winnie the Pooh, Finding Nemo, Cars, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 at least 2 times each! Winnie the Pooh being the most popular with about 5 viewings...

We took the back roads to Calgary stopping by a little town we HAD to stop and take pictures at...

Brant, I'm sure, had NO idea what the heck he was posing for, but he was sure cute!!!

We, of course, then had to stop for Peter's in Calgary. Brant enjoyed his shake... Root Beer. (Technically his uncle's... but David was nice enough to share!)

We then had to snap a video of Brant doing this... it was too cute to pass up and I was lucky to record it... he thought the video camera was off!!! Enjoy!