Lindsey's roller coaster week....

I got a call on Thursday morning from a friend who had witnessed Lindsey falling off her scooter on the way to school.  She said that Lindsey was crying and that she'd chipped a tooth.  Because she was closer to the school than home, my friend told her to go on to the school to the nurses office.  Then my friend called me.  I called the office to warn them that she was on her way in.  Then I quickly did the morning carpool to Curtis and went to Marion.  

I saw her tooth and immediately called the dentist who told me I could bring her in, but that they'd have to work in.

They took such good care of her, and within two hours she had her tooth repaired and she was back at school.  She enjoyed a milk shake, and has some scrapes and bruises that will heal.

Not sure what was worse, the physical effects of the fall or the embarrassment for having fallen in front of so many people and that they saw her cry.

We love and appreciate Dr. Lisi for working so hard and fast to repair her tooth.

But then the next day, she was recognized at school by her teacher for the 3rd 9 weeks as a "Marvelous Maverick".  Her teacher said this about her: She is an “excellent student who always shows a passion for learning. She is very creative and is always thinking of new ways to do things. Most important she is kind to everyone in our class, and we love that!”  She was a bit sheepish about posing for pictures with her face looking the way it does, but she was a trooper.  And whats even better was that one of her BFF's Bella also was awarded Marvelous Maverick.

Spring Break 2019

Spring Break camping with cousins at Lake Mineral Wells State Park.

Playing card games for hours in the tent

Sunrise over the lake

Rock climbing!  Day one we had one good route and another route that wasn't so good.  Our kids weren't so sure they wanted to do it again day two, but we're really glad we did because we found some good places for routes and they spent all day running up and down the wall.  So proud of all our kids who continue to amaze us with their determination to do hard things!

Smores.

And its really cold.  Really cold.  It gets close to freezing each morning and we're cold.

Home on Saturday and a late trip to Braums for ice cream.

Valentines Day Tire

I didn't need this.

Valentines day 2019.

I'd spent the day sitting at dad's house waiting for the house cleaners to come.  I'd gone to Lowes to get flowers for the front.  The plan was to take photos and list the house for sale the next day.

On my way home, I was on the phone with Sam and I heard a noise and realized that I'd gotten a flat.  When I pulled off the side of the road I realized it was really bad.

I called Stephen and while he started on his way towards me, due to traffic, he wasn't going to get there anytime soon.  I was thankful for a really nice guy who pulled up behind me.  Apparently I wasn't in the best part of town and he was concerned for my safety once night fell.  He fixed my tire.  And I drove on home, meeting Stephen at some point along the way to get more air put in my spare tire.  We made it home.  What a day!

Also on this day, I got a call that parole had yet been denied again for Mathew Wise (yay!).  I'd been up early to make cinnamon rolls with pink frosting for my loves.  But then had to tell Matthew that one of his best friend lost his grandma and we cried, because we know what that feels like.  I learned that another friend lost their dad and I cried for them.  Roller Coaster!

Anastasia

I got a birthday treat to go see Anastasia the musical at Fair Park, it was amazing!

A close call

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Stephen was napping and I was preparing for a church meeting when we heard a crash!  Stephen got up from his nap to see what had broken (now?) and found that it was the light over the kitchen table--it had fallen right out of the ceiling and crashed on the table and broke into a million pieces.  Apparently the boys were wrestling or playing with Nerf guns upstairs and running, bouncing, wrestling.  We imagine they jostled it loose.  What was incredible is that the girls had just returned from a Young Women's presidency meeting and were about to be at that table to do some things.  They literally had a voice that told them to step away from the table just moments before the light fell.  The next day, Lindsey quietly told me about her impression and identified it as the Holy Spirit.  Wow!  Connection made.

Incidentally, I really disliked the light fixture and I was kind of glad it broke.  My sweet husband who saves lots of stuff was so pleased to show me that he'd salvaged one of those lights from another room of the house to put a new one in.  Oh yay!

Baptisms

We were honored to attend the baptism of Cecily Harris!

And then our kiddos went to the temple to do baptisms--and it was these girl's first time!  Thrilled!  What a special experience.  There was an amazing spirit in the temple, especially when we did the names that Jodie and Jake had helped us find for Bella to do.

Jodie Byrne

Some times we have days we never want to forget and February 8th 2019 is one I never want to forget.  I was almost invited to the special dinner with Elder Holland, but a few days before I got a text from Jodie Byrne asking me to speak at her baptism on Friday February 8th!!! 

A little back story.

October 2015 a family showed up at our ward Trunk or Treat.  Lindsey with 100 BFFs was thrilled to see that it was a friend from school who she was in kindergarten with.  Jake Black was an inactive member of the church.  He and his live in girlfriend and her two kids were visiting with the missionaries.

Lindsey's baptism was just a few weeks later and we invited them to come.  Jodie came and she felt something.  She began taking the lessons. 

For months we waited for Jake and Jodie to get married.  Cold feed on both sides.  In the summer of 2017, Bella wanted to be baptized, and she was.

But then December of 2018, over Christmas, Jake and Jodie got married!!!

Then in January, they began attending church very regularly.  Jodie was a woman on a mission that included getting her family to the temple.  I knew that she was on track to be baptized and I was thrilled to be asked to be part of her baptism.

What a sweet and precious experience it was to be there and to witness it.  And it was a wonderful reason to miss an evening with an apostle.