Precious Moments

Aja and her girls came up Saturday and spent the night with us since they were having baby Tage blessed in our ward the following day. (Ryan stayed at his brother's and met us Sunday morning).

When Aja arrived, we were greeted with the SWEETEST hugs and kisses imaginable by 2 of the sweetest little girls I know! As soon as she arrived, we jumped into her car and ran over to her good friend Bonnie's house to celebrate the birthday of her 2 year old daughter, Kjersti (pronounced "Cher-stee"...Love it!) We ate cake, the kids played and back to my house we went to tuck 3 VERY tired wee ones into bed...

The best part of the night was after the little darlin's fell asleep and Aja, Brad and I stayed up just talking about anything! We covered everything from "adorable child antics" to "conspiracy theories"...you name it, we talked about it. We had to get up early the next morning to get ready for the blessing, fix the food and get 3 kids ready, and since we had stayed up til 2:00 AM, it was no easy task!

It took me back about 10 years when I had 3 teenagers in my home and I would have an early sign-in at the airport with a rigorous flight schedule the next day...inevitably, one of my kids would be in the mood to talk until the wee hours of the morning and I would have to literally fall out of bed, drag myself to the shower and fight to stay awake while driving to the airport...but it was always worth it.

As exhausted as I was yesterday, I wouldn't have changed a minute of the night before...Sunday was even better! The baby blessing was beautiful and my dad did an amazing job. He was prepared and humble and offered a most amazing blessing on that sweet little boy who is still fighting for his very life...Aja was touched and many tears of joy were shed. The Spirit was strong and my family shared some very sacred moments that were long overdue...

I LOVED having most of my family over (the ones who didn't make it lived out of state) and I loved that we were all CRAMMED into my teeny little house and that it was OK! I loved that Bonnie and Ryan Norton came over and joined us...and Preston Pope...I loved laughing with Natalie over crazy Superbowl commercials and how her laugh made ME laugh! I loved watching the little ones play Beatles Rock Band pretending that they were indeed little Rock Stars...even the little 2 and 3 year olds! I loved that my poor little aging dad and my amazing mom came over and joined us for dinner...I loved that the only one truly worried about the lack of space was ME!

We watched the Superbowl and I loved that the New Orleans Saints triumphed over the Indianapolis Colts...I loved that Ryan Norton teased Aja about how the game was rigged because of hurricane Katrina (claiming that everyone felt sorry for them so agreed to throw the game! lol) and that she vehemently defended the Saints! (She' ridiculously gullible!!)...and I loved how we made brownies and used my new "all edges" pan...

By the time everyone left (well after 10:00 PM) Brad and I were exhausted...and I mean "deliriously.sit.on.the.floor.and.want.to.cry" exhausted...but we wouldn't have traded a minute of what we had on a cold, sunny Sunday with our loved ones...

I am so thankful for the most precious moments in life. For the unexpected surprises that your children spring on you when you think that all of your years of worry and sleepless night went unnoticed and were in vain. I am so thankful for a Ward family that chooses to love and accept EVERYONE regardless of whether or not they "fit the mold" and by loving unconditionally, they help bring souls unto Christ. I am so thankful for a loving Bishop who is patient, kind and extremely understanding with my sweet daughter who has come back to church after an almost 18 year absence of ANY kind of religion in her life.

It has all been worth it. LIFE is worth it! These are the precious moments in life that recharge us and inspire us all to keep enduring and continue moving in a forward direction...It's true...no one ever said it would be easy, but it IS worth it!