Growth

Isn't Springtime just miraculous? This picture was taken on Friday. Notice there are no red tulips?

This picture was taken Tuesday. What a difference 4 days make under the right circumstances.

I started to reflect on time and what a gift it is in our lives, and it is up to us what we do with it.

Sunday was an eventful and exhausting day. Partly exhausting because of the events of Saturday night, and my not getting to bed until late, the other part was that we had an early morning Easter egg hunt in our living room, followed by a day of recuperating from massive sugar overloads and processing the messages from conference. I felt like almost every talk (not the one on lust) was specifically given for me. I do not remember hearing so many talks on parenthood and motherhood in conference before. For a few years now I have been saying, "I wish someone would tell me how to be a better parent." And after eight hours of talks, I came away with a new directive. It seems so obvious, but I think I finally get it. Live as an example of Christ's teachings. That means that it is not OK to loose my temper when I am under a lot of stress, and that it is up me to be to allow the Spirit to guide me. Instead of feeling guilty for my failings as a parent, I feel empowered to take control of my actions and let the Lord be my guide and my support. I finally "get" how to apply the Gospel to being a parent the way I did as a missionary, now it is just a matter of putting it into practice. I must be more patient with my children, allowing them to make their own choices, while helping them learn from those choices. Christ told us to be forgiving, and now I see that forgiveness can lead my everyday actions, not just the "big" offenses. I feel more love toward all members of my family, and I feel a new sense of purpose. Patience, forgiveness, love, self-discipline, and increasing my gospel knowledge. I feel inspired to really get to know the teachings of Christ and make them a daily part of my family's life. This is an important moment in my life and it corresponds so well with spring, a time of renewal and rebirth.

Here are some early Easter morning pictures. If the weather is this great next year, I would like to have and outdoor Easter egg hunt. I love our "red room, " but the red and brown color scheme seems more wintery than springy.


Annika named her penguin and piggy Snowey and Muddy, respectively. They got married later that same day.
Everyone knows I have a soft spot for chocolate, so maybe that's why these big brown eyes constantly melt my heart.
That is Ariel's hand showing Alice her Easter stash.
It may look like she is crying but she is actually laughing hilariously. Some of the funniest comments of the day came from Nikolay saying, "Don't get the eggs out of the fireplace!," where he had hid them the night before, and,"Don't eat the candy from those eggs!" I try to be supportive, but not letting kids eat candy on Easter morning, that is just laughable, which we did. I hope some day he can too.

Tuesday, I built a rabbit proof fence around our raised bed vegetable garden and planted these cucumber seedlings in the ground, as well as peas, zuchinni, and sunflowers. Next up is watermelon and 5 different varieties of tomatoes. Now that I have freed up some pots I plan on starting peppers and pumpkins.


Here are some more flower pictures. I am so excited that the sun is out again so that I can take some pictures in the M mode instead of just automatic, becasue it is cool how focused the pictures can be, and with five kids, vegetable and flowere gardens, I have plenty of subjects. I am on a springtime high and my life is becoming so vibrant and focused.