Agency and Love in Marriage

In Agency and Love in Marriage there is a chart with questions. The trick is to apply the questions to yourself. I used to say, "Don is not doing that or this!" And that would make me focus on his weaknesses. One of my friends called me out on that, how judgmental I was being and how even in marriage we aren't justified in our judgement of character, because we don't know their heart. That concept hit hard but once I applied it and worked on just me, things got lots better.

Dieter F. Uchdorf also addressed the issue of mending relationships and it applies even to marriage.  Reading his talk with marriage in mind was very insightful.
The same friend that called me out actually just gave a talk on marriage this last Sunday and pointed out another KEY. Both Don and I agreed it was a great tool to be used. She said that difference are just that, differences, not weaknesses and we should respect each others differences.  Even learn to love them and use them as strengths.

Another thing she said that I LOVED was you wouldn't divorce your mother/father, brother/sisters would you? So why would you consider doing that to your spouse? Aren't they our brothers/sisters too?

I want to acknowledge that there are cases which a marriage is in fact dead, BUT mine isn't and so I need to keep it alive and well.

On that note I liked the attached Mormon Message also.

It is not that Don and I are struggling right now, it is always a topic that I seek to know more about.  I love my eternal companion and the relationship that I have with him is the single most important relationship that I will ever develop.  This is what I have learned over the past year of searching for personal answers and guidance, I hope it will help someone else too.
Hope you love the articles below like Don and I did.

Agency and Love in Marriage - Ensign Oct. 2000 - ensign

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2000/10/agency-and-love-in-marriage?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

 

The Merciful Obtain Mercy - general-conference

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/the-merciful-obtain-mercy?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

 

Saving Your Marriage -Mormon Message

A marriage, like a human life, is a precious, living thing. Spouses should exercise faith in Christ and love for each other to heal and strengthen their marriage relationship.

 http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#saving-your-marriage

Divorce - general-conference

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/divorce?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

 

 

Landon's is 1

 Every birthday in our house starts with balloons.

 It was Jaron's last day of swimming lessons on July the 6th.  So Landon had a good time watching that with daddy.

After the swimming lessons it was off to the airport to fly to Utah.  Landon has a lot of energy, as most 1 year old's do.  So it was a difficult flight from Dallas to Denver.  Our plane was late taking off and then we could not land because of bad weather in Denver so we circled the city a little while then finally went and flew under the storm.  The extra long landing made us miss our connecting flight. We had a several hour layover in Denver putting us into SLC 4 hours later than we originally were going to arrive. Luckily our little man won't remember the details of his first birthday but it will make a good story.

Landon hasn't made it to the doctor yet to get his official stats. But he is over 31" making him our tallest one yet.
It is official I think he has brown eyes.
He is very thin in my opinion which would probably be due to him moving ALL the time.  He just doesn't want to sit still. 
He is not walking, making our first one that hasn't walked before one.  This isn't a big deal thought he is a very good crawler and is getting around just fine.  He pulls himself up to things and walks around holding on to stuff.  He also will take one step then kind of free-fall to the ground.  It looks like it hurts to me but he thinks it is great fun.  He also does his free-fall "bodyslam" onto other people.
Landon has at least 10 teeth.  He has four front on top and bottom and a few molars.  He is cutting a lot of teeth right now that is why I say at least. It is very dangerous to put your finger in there, because he is a bitter.  He bits my shoulder all the time when I am holding him.  Luckily he does not bit when he is nursing.
He is saying "mama", "dada", "daugh" (dog), "uh-oh".  He is a jabbering little guy.  He likes to spit and vibrate his lips. He has also likes to rub his teeth with his tongue.
When he is eating he smacks his lips and if it is extra good he licks his lips.
He loves to watch his brothers play and try to follow.
He loves to dance to music.
He likes to play with is eyes, nose, ears, mouth, toes, and head.  And other peoples too.
He pats everything right now, kind of cute.

They are all so different, but it is so much fun to watch each one develop in his own way.

July 4th 2012

 Seriously trying to get a good picture is a joke.  But this is our family in real life. Don - trying his best to smile; Jaron - so worried his smile won't be perfect, and so it comes out all interesting like; Bryson - the cheeser and also trying hard to give a good smile; Eldon - not cooperating; Landon - not know what is is going on; Me - there, trying to get everyone to act somewhat normal, but obviously no one is paying attention. LOL.  This picture was taken at our ward 4th of July party.
Since we would be traveling on Landon's actual birthday we decided to do a party on the 4th.  We sure are grateful for good friends that spent the evening with us.
I had star watermelon, red/white/blue strawberries, popcorn, taffy, Popsicle, and cake.

 Aunt Melody's 4th of July Popsicle.  It just wouldn't be the 4th without them.

 When given his cake it took a minute for him to make a mess, but he really did enjoy making a mess once he realized what was up.

At the first sign of dark out came the sparklers.  All the boys loved fireworks this year.  The noise got to Eldon so much he went inside to watch from the window, but still enjoyed them. Jaron got a little worried too and sat on Anita's lap.  Landon liked the fireworks, he clapped for his favorite ones.

Lake Hawkins Camping Trip

 Landon figured out how to drink from a water bottle.  He would stop the water with his tongue and let it flow into his mouth only when he wanted more. Such a smart boy.

 The dutch oven dinner I made turned out great.  Don made sure it cooked and I made sure it tasted good.  We make a good team I think.

Lake Hawkins has a nice little area that is reserved just for swimming.  It has a nice sandy beach to play on.  We were swimming at 9am-ish.  Which brings me to the fact that it was REALLY warm.  Camping towards the end of June is too hot.  We didn't have a fan or anything so we were warm all night.  The boys got to sleep with their shirts off, which they thought was awesome.  I finally feel asleep around 11pm, but woke up shortly afterwards hyperventilating because it was humid and hot.  My asthma played a part here I think, although I don't have many problems with it unless my lungs are under a lot of stress, like during labor, OR it appears extremely hot and humid situations.
 The boys were complaining a little about the heat too.  Regardless of the heat we had fun together just chilling.  The boys played Frisbee and we all played UNO.  The swimming was lots of fun too to cool us off a little.

Happy Fathers Day!

Father's Day for Don included sleeping in instead of breakfast in bed.  This is much more fitting for a man that doesn't like to get up or eat breakfast.  I did make donuts the night before so he had something to take with him on his way to meetings.
Dinner was Cafe Rio and he invited the Murdock's to share that with.  It was a nice Father's Day. 
The boys gave him a coupon book and filled out a little paper about their dad.  We also gave him a DVD.  The papers that they filled out were kind of funny, so I think I will share.
Jaron's Answers:
How old is my dad? 29
How tall is my dad? 8'
What is my dad's weight? 319 lb
What is my dad's job? FedEx
What is my dad's favorite food? Fat Cheetos
What is my dad's favorite drink? Kool-Aid
What is my dad's favorite place? Home Depot
What is my dad's favorite thing to do? Play Wii
Who is my dad's favorite person? Mom
What is my dad's favorite color? Red
Bryson's Answers:
How old is my dad? 90
How tall is my dad? Big
What is my dad's weight? 1798
What is my dad's job? FedEx
What is my dad's favorite food? The Beef one in the crock-pot
What is my dad's favorite drink? Dr. Pepper
What is my dad's favorite place? Movie Theater
What is my dad's favorite thing to do? Mow the Lawn
Who is my dad's favorite person? Tae
What is my dad's favorite color? Red
Eldon's Answers:
How old is my dad? Eldon' held up 4 fingers
How tall is my dad? With wide eyes he stretched his arms far and as high as he could "Big"
What is my dad's weight? He pointed to Don's FedEx shirt
What is my dad's job? "Go to work"
What is my dad's favorite food? "Chips"
What is my dad's favorite drink? "coffee" (just for the record Don doesn't drink coffee)
What is my dad's favorite place? "park"
What is my dad's favorite thing to do? "workshop"
Who is my dad's favorite person? "Eldon"
What is my dad's favorite color? "Blue"  I am just happy that he even said a color at all even if it was blue.

Love for Learning

This summer I wanted to make a schedule so the kids continued to learn all summer long.  We do lots of little things to keep learning alive.  At first it was a super strict thing, but has turned into a whenever we are up for it thing.  Jaron is required to read at least 20 min. a day.  This is never a problem.  He is getting really good at it and likes to read.  He also writes in his journal and does worksheets sent home from school.  In addition to workbooks we do the following things too . . .

 

Once a weekish we get to do science.  This is by far mom's favorite as well as Bryson's.  We have explored volcanoes, quick sand, earthquakes, worms, water, clouds(pictured above), and starts . . . that is all i can remember.  but it has been lots of fun.
In the background you can see hanging on the light a blue balloon.  That has been part of our social studies lessons.  We made a world out of a balloon.  We have a map as a shower curtain but I think that they need to realize the earth is round not flat.  The learned about continents and countries.  We talked about all the Wars that American has fought around the 4th to explain Independence day.

 Every Wednesday we have a playgroup of some kind. This one was at Bell's swimming pool.  They are a family in the ward that are so nice to let us use their pool whenever we want. Other playgroups have included a welcome summer party at our house with a kid pool, slip n' slide, snow cones, and other snacks; splash pads, discovery science, and other friends homes.  It is a good mix of summer activities.

I love my kids so that means I love summer when they are all here to be with mom.