The Story Of My.... teeth.

Taken right after the surgery. I had my phone on camera mode to look at my face, and thought I'd document it since this is my last of a looooong line of dental surgeries- none of which were documented.

Bone graft and gum membrane graft done again, today. This was dental surgery number.... I have no idea. I think close to either #6 or #7..

I'm so over having stitches in my mouth, the taste of blood, the swelling, and the mind-numbing P A I N!! 

It's so intense. I'm so sore. I feel like I'm reliving the accident after every procedure.

I did it to myself, though.

Don't play hide & seek in the rain, in the mud, climb down from the roof of a two story house, onto the wrap around porch, slip in mud, land face first on a wrought iron grate knocking your three front {adult} teeth out and expect to just walk away....

This is a similar build of my great grandmothers house where my accident happened. Her house was built against a mountain, so you could literally walk around the porch to the back, climb up the railing, and onto the side of the mountain, climb up a few feet, turn around and walk on to the roof.

 It. Was. Awesome! 

It was also raining, and I was rushing back down during a game of hide and seek, slipped, fell HARD landing right on my mouth, knocked my three front adult teeth (root and all) and fractured my Maxilla jaw bone.

I was in shock but I needed someone to come so I screamed for help; I had no idea I had knocked my teeth out. I turned around and saw my sister first. The look on her face scared me. She pointed out that I had blood everywhere and started crying. I looked down at my shirt soaked in blood and started getting very dizzy, and that's right around the time the pain started in...

The fire dept. was called and I remember being duck taped down to the gurney and then carried down the flight of stairs leading to the ambulance. 

At the station I was asked a series of (concussion) questions: my name, date, my parents names, president... Then I was taken all the way to the Flagstaff, and then eventually down to the east valley for surgery. 

I was given a temporary "flipper" to wear and kept it for way too long. I wore that flipper for the next fourteen years before finally buckling down and scheduling the grueling, gruesome, grievous, agonizingly painful series of surgeries to not only insert implants into my jaw (using screws... Guess where those go) but also to repair my jaw bone...

That's the story. 

Don't run in the mud. The consequences are painful. And expensive!! 

Fortunately I have a husband who loves me despite my dental needs, and is not only willing to pay the price, but is also willing to play Mr Mom to our three kiddos while I recover from each surgery...

And children who visit me to cheer me up...

Aiden liked this picture because his hand is invisible...

EYE love this kid.

FHE: Alma 43

"It is ok if the houses a mess, the children are still in pajamas, and some responsibilities are left undone. The only things that really need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer, and weekly family home evening." -- Linda S. Reeves.

So grateful I came across that quote this morning! (Now I can postpone the dishes, plan FHE, AND  feel good about it!) 

Catch ya later, guys!

We're doing so good with reading the Book Of Mormon at night!! And I have really noticed the difference it makes. We still get upset sometimes, our children still fight sometimes, we get frustrated at times, but overall there is a greater sense of harmony in our home. We forgive quicker, and our night time routine of reading has NEVER been questioned or disputed. 

(Hopefully I'm not jinxing it!!)

For our FHE lesson tonight I thought I'd base it on what we're reading in the Book Or Mormon.

We're in Alma, just read chapter 42 last night and we'll be reading 43 tonight so I want to incorporate how Captain Moroni prepared the Nephites.

Ugh. My husband loves the gruesome, war chapters... I don't. Not exactly what I envision reading my babies before bed, but the righteous planning, revelation and Faith is there. And that's what counts.

Forget yourself...

Good morning, Monday. I think I'm getting the hang of this whole "morning person" thing! It's quieter, and cooler, and not as hard as I thought... I just hate that I'm exhausted by 8pm!! 

A quote has been popping into my head the past couple days, and I really like it. It's from one of Pres Hinckley's talks, about advice he was given on his mission.
And really, it applies to any aspect of live- in any situation.

But oh how applicable it is to MOTHERHOOD!


"Forget yourself, and go to work." -- Bryant Hinckley 

'As a new missionary serving in Preston, England, (My hubby served in Manchester, England!) Elder Gordon B. Hinckley was facing a major trial in his life. He was sick when he arrived in the mission field, and he quickly became discouraged because of the opposition to the missionary work. At a time of deep frustration, Elder Hinckley wrote in a letter to his father that he felt he was wasting his time and his father’s money. A little while later, Elder Hinckley received a reply from his dad. It said, “Dear Gordon, I have your recent letter. I have only one suggestion: forget yourself and go to work.”

I'm not sick, or serving in the mission field, but I am a mother. And I am "primarily responsible for the nurture of" my children, {{ and also the keeping and functioning of our home!}} And I, too, get "discouraged from the opposition of" the work.

Because like all good things; all good things we want to last- it takes hard work. Every day! 

After much prayer,  and a lot of faith in Heavenly Father, I have  learned that when I take President Hinckley's fathers advice, and "Forget Myself And Go To Work," I am blessed.

 I feel it. 

My children are blessed. 

I see it. They see it. 

My prayers are answered. 

My marriage is blessed.

My testimony is fed.
I feel closer to my family, my children, my husband.
Life is put in the right perspective.
I have the ability to accomplish what I need to.

When we forget ourselves and go to work, we are in the service of others. And when we are in the service of others, we are in the service of our God.

Sometimes "others" are those in my neighborhood. Sometimes "others" are those in need in my ward... And sometimes, "others" are just within my own family. 

When I am serving my family: cleaning, preparing meals, laundry, keeping my home... I am serving my God. I am serving my purpose, my duty. 

"Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little meaning to our own lives."  --Elder James B. Martino

Here's to loosing myself to bloom! 

90 day Book Of Mormon challenge

At the end of June our Bishop challenged us to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days!

{to do this you pretty much have to read about five pages a night!}

At that time we had finally made it Mosiah, because we were only reading a column a night.

 I wasn't too eager to turn around and start back at 1 Nephi and forget the progress we had made, so we decided to accept the challenge but to continue from where we were and eventually loop back around by the end of 90 days!

So far, so good!! We've missed a night or two but the habit is forming.  It's become part of our routine.  It is expected. A couple of Sunday's ago, a lesson was taught in Relief Society about the Blessings we are promised when we prayerfully and regularly read the Book of Mormon. It was simple. She had complied a list of the blessings, and read them aloud. But after she read the list, she read it again. Only this time, she read it as a list of "the blessings we would forgo by NOT reading the Book of Mormon." Blessings we are denying ourselves, and our children by NOT reading together: We will NOT become worthy to enter the Lords Kingdom. We will NOT receive eternal life. We will NOT gain a testimony that Jesus is the Christ. We will NOT be able to expose and combat falsehoods. We will NOT receive blessings hitherto unknown. We will NOT be lifted from condemnation. We will NOT know the fullness of the gospel. We will NOT be reading inspired words confirmed by angels.We will NOT be given evidence the scriptures are true. We will NOT be reading clear, undiluted, untainted, powerful words. We will NOT become nearer to God, by abiding by its precepts than by reading any other book. We will NOT draw nearer to God, and be more like Him. We will NOT feel His presence with us constantly. We will NOT feel the Spirit permeate our homes and all who dwell there. We will NOT feel the spirit of reverence increase in our homes. We will NOT have mutual respect and consideration for each other. We will NOT notice a decrease in contention. We will NOT be able to counsel our children in greater love and wisdom. We will NOT see our children become more responsive and submissive to their parents' counsel. We will NOT witness righteousness increase. We will NOT have an abundance of faith, hope, and charity in our homes, bringing peace, joy, and happiness in their wake. We will NOT have increased love in our home. We will NOT have increased harmony in our home. We will NOT understand true doctrine required for our salvation, and confound false doctrine. We will NOT see the enemies of Christ in their true form. We will NOT gain a greater testimony of the Bible. We will NOT increase our understanding of history and faith-promoting stories. We will NOT expose the errors and find truths to combat many of the current false theories and philosophies of men. We will NOT strengthen our discernment, insight, conviction, and spirit. We will NOT be fortified against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. We will NOT find comfort, counsel, guidance, and the quiet power to improve our lives. We will NOT hear the voice of the Lord to guide us in mortality. Sorry, I know this was intense. But, like I mentioned before, it is simply a list of the blessings we would receive (or not receive) depending upon our scripture reading. For me, this was powerful; this hit home. I want peace, joy, happiness, love, harmony and the Spirit dwelling in my home. I want an increase in understanding, of the gospel and scriptures for myself and my children. I want to be able to combat the evil around us. I want to draw closer to Heavenly Father and my children, also. We want to claim these blessings. So we will continue our challenge and finish by 90 days! I invite you to read The Book Of Mormon, also. Gain a testimony for yourself. Ask God. Hold Him to these promises as you draw closer to Him. Happy reading!!

Faith

You can have a hard-but-good day and then (usually when we're tired or when your children are tired) we loose it.

 We're "done."

 That's my catch phrase. I hate it. I hate myself when I say it. I don't want to be "done." 

But I tell myself I'm only human, and I don't have an unlimited amount of patience.

Well... Currently, I feel as though my patience is limited. But I know through Heavenly Father that patience can be doubled. Tripled. It can be increased beyond measure through His help.

On days (like today) when I feel my "temporarily limited" amount of patience drying up - even if I've had a great day (which I did!), and even if my children came home happy (which they did!) - at the end of a looong day, I slip into this beastly mother mode. I allow everything to unravel because I'm "done."

I allow enmity to enter in when I snap back at my children, or snap at my husband. When we complain and snap allow the very real struggles we face to control our behavior. And we let our natural man take control...

I've thought about this. I usually beat myself down for not being kinder. A good mother should serve an entire day without losing her temper. A good wife doesn't take it out on her husband..

Satan works hard to get us to slip and fall. He wants us to lose ourselves to our "natural man" tendencies. He wants us to remember that we're "only human."

Do you know why?  Because he wants to rob us of that beautiful feeling we get if we hold out until the end.  He LOVES when we try to do good all day and then end up going to bed with a big lump of guilt. 

Ahh! Guilt trips! Satan thrives on guilt trips. He loves when we trade our peace and satisfaction for thoughts of how ridiculously hard our lives are.

It has taken me a while to really see, but I know God understands. He really gets it.  And He still loves us even when we are "throwing in the towel" because life is too hard. He still loves me when I complain that raising children in peace is too hard. And when I think being cranky and imperfect is all I'm capable of...

I know I was not put on this earth to fail. I can overcome my "natural man" tendencies. God wants me to realize I am exhausted, so I may call upon Him.

 Every day. 

He wants me to want heavenly help, to create a heavenly home and be a successful wife and mother.  

It takes Faith. It takes your willingness and actions in Faith to increase your understanding and enable you to do more. 

We are forgiven our weakness. But! 

(I found this from a friends blog) "BUT moms, we can be better than constantly feeling "forgiven," we can be "endowed with power from on high." We have the power to overcome, not just to hang on.  We have the power to surf, not just to allow ourselves day after day to get dragged through the waves."

Faith is an action word. It takes Faith in Heavenly Father that He can and will help you. Raise you up. Faith allows us to grow more. Understand more. Change and become new.

I'm writing this for myself. As I do all my posts, to remind myself that when times are hard (as they so often are) I can call upon Him to raise me up. To be endowed with His power to overcome the tendency to dismiss the spirit from my home... To become more than my natural man.

Cloudy days...

edited**

Cloudy days are like sunshine for my soul!

(Probably from living in Arizona almost my entire life.)

Today is one of those "zippity do da" days. I'm at the park with Emery, and it's 8:01am... I have never been a morning person, but playing at the park this early is 

W O N D E R F U L!

Nothing but birds, blue sky, cool breeze, and Emery. I'm really happy.

I'm exceptionally happy, actually.

My life is busier than it's ever been- and I'm still really happy!

The boys are back in school but they start SIX hours earlier than ever before, and come home earlier than ever before, and at separate times, and arrive home in the heat of the day, and I have had to switch Emery's nap time to accommodate, and I no longer have any alone time to clean like I used to, or sit and read...

and yet, I am STILL really happy...

  

Why am I so happy?

Because today is a cloudy day.

Because right here right now, life is good.

And because I can feel the winds of change...