Wow

Hi to all.
Wow, what a last few weeks we have had. First and most importantly, Audra tuned 13. We have a teenager in our home. She had a friend party last Friday. She and a few of her friends painted ceramics, had pizza, as well as cake and ice cream. It is such a great blessing to have her in our family. We are truly blessed !!! Friday night we went to Derrick's folks house to see his uncle Terry ( he came to visit, and to have some work done on his hands) We had not seen him in 5 years. Derrick's aunt Kelly, also came to hang out with her brothers. It was so nice to see her again. She is such a great person. ( Kelly if you read this, anytime you want to come back, we would LOVE to have you.)
Saturday, brought a full day of fun, stress and excitement.
My sister Nen and her family came from California to have there oldest daughter baptized. It was so great of them to come , so that we all could share in such a special day with them. The kids loved seeing there " far away" cousins.
After the baptism and confirmation, I began my long day at the stake center. It was long, it was hard work, and it was GREAT !!!!
I love the sisters in our stake . These ladies are divine daughters of God. It was such an incredible experience to be in there presence, to feel of there spirits. I am truly blessed to know these women.Thank you all . I hope you know how much I love you, I am thankful for you, and pray for you always. The talks of the night brought much to think about, and pray about. I hope everyone that was able to watch and listen to the broadcast felt the love of our Savior poured out on them.
We had some fun with the dessert portion of the dinner, as you can see by some of the pictures. What great men !! Willing to help in whatever way they can. Even if that means cutting open the sherbet containers and using knifes , and whatever sharp object they could find, to make sure we all got our dessert. THANK YOU so much, brethren. We could not have done it without you.
To my dear husband, I LOVE You. I now I have told you over and over again, how thankful I am for your love and support, and for all your hard work this last weekend, but I want everyone who reads this to know . I LOVE DERRICK !! I truly married up.
Saturday night brought sickness to our home. Porter had not felt well for a few days, and Brooklyn had started with a runny nose, but that night they both had fevers and got very little sleep. I was worried, because earlier in the week I went to the doctor and found out I had strep thoart. I was afraid both of them might have it. What a blessing that it was not strep. Just a cold. Audra is not feeling well now, and I think hers is more serious than a cold. Her ears are bothering her, so I think I will be taking her to the doctor tomorrow.
Sunday , I stayed home with the kids. We were all tired , and with Porter and Brooklyn not feeling well, we felt it best not to take it to church, and get everyone else sick.
Sunday night we had a small family birthday party for Audra. She had a great time , until she started not feeling well. She actually went to bed early. The only time she does that ( or takes naps) is when she is sick.
I kept all 3 kids home on Monday. Well actually we spent most of the day at my Mom and Dad's house. canning pears. The kids hung out in the apartment next to the garage, while my folks and I worked on pears and pear jelly. It was a lot of work, but the pears are so pretty, and yummy, it was worth it. I did learn a good lesson. Sugar burns HURT !! My hand has healed well, but,boy oh boy I never want to burn my hand like that again.
Tuesday, was back to school for everyone, and yet another day for me to be a wittness of the Lords tender mercies.
I had planed to stay at Brooklyn and Audra's school to help in there classes. I was feeling tiered and wanted to just come home and catch some more sleep, but the closer to the school we got the more I felt I needed to stay. O.K. so anyone that knows me well, knows that sometimes I am not the brightest tool in the shed, so I just kept making up reasons why I shouldn't stay. Finally as a went to open the door to let them out, I was TOLD to stay, so I did. I was not sure why I needed to , but I stayed. At 9:30 the principal came and told me that they were going to be having a fire drill. The noise from the alarms is really hard on Audra, and with her already not feeling well, it would have put her over the edge. I needed to be there, and because I listened and because the Lord knows my kids so well, and loves them so much, I was there.
I was able to walk Audra out , before the alarms went off, and talk her though what was going on. It was so wonderful. After the fire drill finished, Brooklyn's teacher saw me, and quickly grabbed my arm, and as she was dragging me to her room, let me know that Brooklyn had gotten scared for and was worried for Audra. What a sweet little girl. She was not worried about herself, or if it was a real fire or not , she worried about her sister. Her teacher said that Brooklyn was crying , and was saying " this noise will scare Audra, can I see if she is O.K."
It is totally not allowed to run and go check on your sister in the middle of a fire drill, and this had made her even more upset.
I was able to be there with her, and Audra, and watch as my two great girls hugged each other. I stood and thought to myself," This is what true love lookes like." WOW !!
Wednesday I got to teach in Audra's class. 7Th and 8Th graders are a lot different that 3rd and 4Th graders.
Audra said I didn't imparise her to bad, and that I could teach her class again if I wanted to.So I am guessing that is a good thing.
I am sorry I didn't get this all put together sooner, as I have said, I am new at this, and I hope you all can be patient with me.
We hope and pray that all is well with you all, and want you to know how thankful we are for you.
If no one else tells you today. " Thank you for all you do, I appreciate you."

P.S. I put a piture of our flodded street, from the storm we had a week of so ago. It is supposed to rain an inch tomorrow. I guess we will see what that much rain does to our road.