Monday, August 30, 2010

summer pictures!

i promise to post summer pictures soon, there are too many that i love and i have to weed through them. some are hysterical and others darling. so, bare with me as i slowly get back into the swing of living again.

rebirth........

I know that i have not been writing lately on the family blog due to some busy summer plans, but now, as summer has past and the kids are delivered safetly back to school, I feel the urge to write and up date you ,as well as myself, of the changes this blessed summer has brought me and my family.

first, i ran away from home. I did. i needed to remove myself from my everyday schedule and to see my best friend have her third daughter. I have been to her others, it was tradition. I made plans six months in advance to run away. as the time aproached, my anxiety rose. it was for 4 weeks that i would be away from home. i was excited more, so i ignored my anxious issues, closed my eyes and JUMPED!!! All the way to utah!

Ok, so. i didn't really RUN away from home, I flew away from home. it was easy. all i had to do is pack up my two youngest kids, their bags, buy tickets, remember to pack the tickets, pack for myself, entertain a 3 and 4 year old on a plane a total of 4 times, go without sleep for 3-4 weeks straight, drive to florida, pack up the rest of our storage and haul it to NC. All this with kids in tow, CONSTANTLY. come home, prepare for surgery, have surgery, then slowly recover....still recovering:) get the kids prepared for school, and drop them OFF!

breathe..........

Easy, right! i was a nervouse wreck to fly with two kids by myself! i was terrified to have surgery. but i was blessed with the best Summer of my entire life!!!!! with the help of my best friend, her loving husband and their darling daughters, I was able to enjoy so many things that I never thought i would see or hear. I got to meet my new niece, hold her and love her. I got to see my daughter and son, re-aquaint themselves with there beloved cousins. i got to giggle like school girls with my best friend. i got to cuddle my youngest child, my last, in the middle of the night, wrapped in my arms. i saw my mom play with my children at the beach. i saw my older boys re-connect with their best friends and cousins. i saw my mom-in-law give up her summer to help me recover and keep the kids alive and very well fed!! I recieved blessings from my husband and support from my little mighty church branch! I saw myself pulling through all that terrified me because i had help along the way. people holding me up on the left side. the right side and the front and the back! I even was blessed with the nicest, sweetest nurses on all the earth. I saw my husband get out pranked by his neice and nephew and play like a kid again. I saw my oldest son, mature and turn into a young man. I am so proud of him. This summer proved to me the power of love. unconditional love. it can move mountains, as it did for me.

The blessings of this summer far out weigh the cost and risk and worry. I am reborn because I know who i am, now and forever, i am valerie. I am loved tremendously and i always will be. I matter to me, to others, and to God. I know my Savior is real, and He is my living Friend. I see the power of His love, sacrifice and mercy in my life reflected through my family, my friends, and my Heaven Father. I have seen many miracles. I know who sent them. i have been given four perfect babies, one at a time to bless me and help me grow. each one as different as a snowflake. I have been given mercy, forgiveness, unconditional love, happiness, comfort, joy, health, family, friends, and tenderness.....

....................and i have learned to give those back.

Thank you to everyone who helped me and my family out this summer! I'll never forget your love.