Great Gifts

I've been wanting to update, but it seems my hands are so rarely free from baby-holding (not that I'm complaining) and when they are it seems they are sorely needed for reading to my toddler, making dinner, vacuuming, cutting out paper dolls for my kindergartner's one hundred day project, rubbing my four-year old's back at bedtime, or some other such thing. But I need to take a little time to express gratitude for some special gifts. We have been the recipients of many blessings this past year.

First off, many thanks are in order. I know some of your prayers were involved in getting my sweet little Max here quickly and safely, just a few days after my post of pleading. I appreciated your caring. Thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Obviously, Max was our greatest gift this Christmas. These pictures of him are from when he was about a week old, before we left on...

OUR TRIP!! Yes! As some may have seen on Facebook, our second greatest Christmas gift was that little guy arrived in time to allow us to go out to my sister's wedding! Hurrah!! I love that wonderful sister of mine. The wedding was beautiful, just like the couple. I love you Catherine and Christian! And I adore you together!! You are going to have a great life! And as luck would have it, we managed to hit my sister's homecoming talk too.

Another great gift this year was a car that fits our family (with room to grow! just in case...). Maggie snapped a shot for me at the park the other day.

After we brought baby Max home, it was time to bite the bullet. Months of scanning cars.com culminated in this gently used Honda. Mike is now in need of a new hobby. He was working within a lot of parameters, trying to balance concerns with price, age, and mileage with my desire for an eight-seater in a color I like. This one fit the bill and was as good a deal as we'd seen for what we wanted. Mike brought it home just two days 'till Christmas! It's a bluish-gray 2008 Odyssey and I love it! I just know those extra seats will come in handy when my family visits or for carpooling and cousins.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention Mike's promotion. After he graduated, we were wondering what our next step should be, if we should look for other jobs right away or just continue on here a while longer. I'll admit the uncertainty of not knowing what our next steps should be was making me feel a bit unsettled last spring. I didn't even know what I wanted them to be. Mike's boss had hinted that he would like Mike to stay with increased responsibility. Within a few months, the offer was formalized with increased pay that perfectly met our needs, making new baby and new car a little less of a leap of faith. So for now, we stay. Life has been good to us here. It feels wise to stay in our house here longer and continue on in Kansas. Mike has a great work environment and is enjoying his associations in the bishopric of our ward. I have made some dear friends and feel comfortable in our little town. And we have some of Mike's wonderful family nearby. There is a small part of me that would still love to be east, but feels that the longer we wait the harder it will be to uproot. But really, I don't even know where I want to be anymore. All I know is that we have been blessed and I feel we are in a good and right place for our family to grow and serve and be happy right now. And it is honestly a relief not to have moving stress looming in my near future. Life is long. I am excited for where I have been, where I am, and where I am going, though it is often not what I expect or plan.

Lastly, while we are on the subject of gifts, I must mention some beautiful words on gift-giving I listened to earlier this week. It was a speech given back in 1980 by Henry B. Eyring entitled "Gifts of Love". I highly recommend it. A good summary of the main points can be found here. It discusses how some of the greatest gifts we can give are developing talents and abilities to bless others, especially our families. I know this to be true.

I am grateful my parents taught me this lesson by word and example. To me, they always seemed to be turned outward in service. Largely due to their example, by the end of high school, I had many goals and desires to learn and develop talents purely to serve and bless others, especially my family and future family. I am grateful for the chances I've had over the years and look forward to more.

Recently, I was asked to play piano to accompany the Primary children in my ward. Piano-playing is something that does not come easily to me, but the past year or more, I have been hoping for that very opportunity. I feel glad to go to a ward where my meager skills are needed and am even gladder that I have those meager skills. I owe it to my mom who encouraged me to learn to play and to the special experience I had as a high schooler, playing for the Primary children, at my Dad's urging, to give the old accompanist a break. I am grateful the music leader was patient with my fumbling and organized at picking songs for me to focus on each week. I am grateful I practiced those songs every time I passed the piano. I am grateful for divine help that helped me through the program after my best efforts to prepare. And I am now grateful for another opportunity to continue to grow in that area. An area that I enjoy, even though it is difficult for me.

The neat thing about giving service is that the person that often benefits most is you. Those Primary kids probably don't remember that I played for them. But I cannot think of piano, without thinking of that experience. I will never forget it. It is part of who I am.

More later. Much love. xoxo