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Counting Blessings One by One

As I sit here this evening reflecting on blessings that have come and gone, I can’t help but think over the past month. In the past month, I have been able to spend time with family on an amazing family reunion…

Utah Fam Vaca

We’ve celebrated our 4th child graduating from high school…

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We’ve celebrated our youngest son’s birthday…

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We’re about to celebrate another son’s birthday, and soon our oldest daughter will be getting married! I’ve gained some pretty amazing relationships that have gotten me (us) thru some pretty tough times. Life is good. It’s good because I can see the blessings…and I can count them one by one. And I’m so very thankful for those that He has chosen to put in my path, in my life, in my heart. Even more thankful, that He has placed me in theirs.

Sometimes…

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Sometimes, we are so busy running to something else, we don’t realize that we already have the best thing that ever happened to us. We are so afraid of losing control, that we risk losing all that is good in our life. We run blindly towards something else, not even realizing that it will cause us more hurt, more damage.

We are so afraid, we hurt those who love us the most, including ourselves.

We seek out those who will tell us what we want to hear; those whose motives are for themselves, not our best interests.

Sometimes, we make bad choices.

Sometimes, we are so focused on the negative, we can’t even begin to see the beauty of what we have.

But sometimes, we stop.

 

Sometimes we listen.

Sometimes we discover we are capable of more than we ever thought possible.

Sometimes, we discover love.

Sometimes, we see the beauty in everything that we already have.

Sometimes…

Quotable Quote #23

The Smart One was being a bit of a….you know what…so I said something about him not being a butt. 

His reply? “What did you say?”

Me, “You’re the best son ever. I wish all my sons were like you.”

His reply, “So does everyone else.”

Gotta love him!

Things that make me go…..hmmmmm

So the Smart One and I went shopping yesterday. We’re gearing up for Easter and needed some stuff.

Actually, we haven’t been shopping in a while and since we were out of napkins, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry soap, etc….like LITERALLY out of them, we decided we had no choice but to go to wally-world.

It started out pretty good until we got to the section where you purchase things to help you wash your clothes AND make them smell good.

And herein lies the problem…

They have apparently discontinued the brand of laundry soap that we use. I’m not sure if it’s just wally world that discontinued it, or the world as we know it, but…it means I either run around looking for it, or I find myself another soap. This kind of sucks since the Drama Queen has allergies and seems to be having a relapse of skin sensitivity right now, so…

…I start to look for a new soap.

And then I realize that not only has my soap been discontinued, but apparently they are also no longer carrying the Bounce bar! I love that thing!

Now I’m faced with another dilemma…do I run around now looking for soap and a dryer thingy, or do I just face the fact that I need to re-think the way I do laundry?

And this is where it leads into a lengthy discussion in the laundry aisle of wally world…

Why, oh why, can’t the manufacturer of laundry soap ALSO be the manufacturer of dryer sheets and fabric softener?

I mean, if that were the case, the laundry soap would have the SAME SCENT as the dryer sheet, right? Wouldn’t it make sense to purchase the soap and sheets of the same brand and same smell?

Because really….I just want it to smell pretty and fresh.

So, I after a lot of discussion and debate on this subject with my son, we finally decided on the following:

Tide Spring Meadow and Snuggle Blue Iris. We’re hoping they are somewhat similar so that we don’t end up with our clothes smelling weird.

Iris

I still think that Tide needs to make some dryer sheets…or Snuggle needs to make some laundry soap.

Actually, I think that Wally World needs to stop discontinuing my other stuff so I don’t have to deal with something new.

I’m Just Sayin’

Cause you see how change affects me these days….

Cousin Fun!

For those of you who have big families, I am sure you can understand how our family dynamics work when we all get together. The older generation are the grandparents. The next generation has us all as “Tio and Tia.” We are actually most of us cousins, but there are just too many of us. Then, all of the younger generation are simply cousins. That’s just how we roll.

There is always a lot of laughter when we are together and one never knows what to expect. We’ve raised our kids in this madness which can only make things crazier. Ah, the stories we could share…

Like the time one of the younger ones was conned into shaving her lips…

Or when two of them decided to sandwich another one; only the victim knew it was about to happen so moved at the last minute. And the two troublemakers had a head on collision…literally; resulting in a lot of blood, swelling, and attempt to cover it up…as if we wouldn’t notice the aftermath!

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Apparently they didn’t think we would notice anything different about her face….

Most recently, hubby took the DQ to go visit his parents for a few days. She was thrilled to be able to spend time with her favorite cousins.

Crazy Cousins
The one of her right is six months older…the one on the left is 2 years older.
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It’s the only way she’ll ever be taller than them!

 

In keeping with their usual antics, they decided to play a little game. So not long after she’d arrived, my sister-in-law sent me this photo.

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Afraid to ask what had happened, she assured me that no one was hurt and sent me the following videos…which she took….in slow motion.

Not to be outdone by his younger brother, my nephew decided to try it too, if the DQ was still up for it. (Of course she was!) only he landed in the wall, which explains the first photo she sent.

We are planning a trip together in a few months.

Hopefully with ALL OF US!

Hopefully we will all survive!

I can hardly wait for it!