My favorite "Hymn is Jose!"

This month our not so little boy was ordained a deacon. I just cannot believe that this extrordinary young man has turned twelve and is now passing the sacrament to the congregation of our wonderful church. How proud his dad and I were of him as we watched him nervously sit with the other boys on sunday and willingly pass the sacrament when we knew that he was unsure of how to do it. No complaints. Not one. Just happy to help the other boys share the bread and water. Garrett has become such a wonderful young man. Now given the priesthood by his father and so excited to be a part of scouting. I love this kid so much. He is so loving and patient with his four sisters. Especially Rysa. How she adores her big brother. He allows her to crawl all over him constantly and gently persuades her to do what is right. I loved having a big brother to grow up with and share my life with. She is so lucky, as is her other sisters, to have this particular young man as her brother. Right before his ordination our Bishop asked Rysa if she had a favorite Hymn. Her reply was simply, "Yea, my favorite HIM is Jose." (Pronounced Ho-say for all you non-spanish folk). We were a little confused my this answer so we asked her which Hymn 'Jose' was. She told us it was the boy in her class. "My favorite HIM is Jose!" Oh, now we get it. Alright, can we pick another person to choose the Hymn?

This is Family Night?

Sunday night is the night we have Family Home Evening. It may not be your traditional FHE. Here is what Kenna and Rysa showed up wearing. We aren't too sure what statement the goggles were, but we did have to ask Kenna to remove them while we watched Elder Holland's talk. We thought it might be a good idea for the kids to watch it once more. I highly reccomend it by the way. We are so proud to have Garrett able to finger his way through the primary hymns now, but the costume choices were a little bit distracting. But, at least they showed up happy to have FHE and be together. Family night for us is not too scheduled. We are lucky in our home to get the girls to sit still long enough to learn anything. Between Kenna wanting to take control of everything, and Rysa needing snacks the entire evening, and Garrett hoping to fall asleep as quickly as posible, its pretty challenging. But, maybe a little creative attire is the way to go. Livens things up a bit, don't you think?

The sweet smells of FALL

Ahhhh, the sweet smells of FALL. Some states have that just before it snows smell, others have that smell of rain in the air. Joann's fabrics has that cinnamon smell that is heavenly when you enter the store. I just love fall. I love putting up decorations and having a little bowl of candy corns by the door. Of course, at our house, one of the sweet smells of fall is the heavy scent of STEER MANURE that invades your senses when you walk out the door. My dear hubby is ready to plant our grass and my parents grass. Hence, the large bags of cow plop in my back yard. Don't get me wrong, I love that he is willing to do it because I eventually want an English garden in my front and back yards. But just because my father-in-law says that cow poop is actually the smell of money, doesn't mean that I am as excited to smell it as he is. But, it is one of the smells of fall here at the Despain household. So, I will light my pumpkin scented candle in the house and poor some more candy corns for visiting folks and get ready for FALL. YEE-HAW!!

Can I help you? Yes you can....

Today in my eargerness to fulfill my churchly duty, I picked up Ned's Crazy Sub and hurried back home during my lunch break to meet my Visiting Teaching Companion. As I got to my home I noticed she was already there. As I opened the car door ( I am going somewhere with this, I promise), she sweetly asked if she could help me with the food. I of course replied, "No, I got it!" And isn't that what all mormon women say to everything? I thought I had it. I really did. But as I climbed out of the car I proceeded to drop my large and delicious Diet Dr. Pepper all over my lap, the street, and my car door. Poop.
Why is it that we, as righteous mormon women think first and foremost, "No, I got it." Had I just let her help me I would have still had a drink to sip on. And let's be serious, I of course had refills available in the fridge. But it's just not the same if it's not from the fountain. I know I have a serious attatchment to dark colored delicious, diet beverages, but alas, it makes me smile even more to have one to sip on throughout the day. So my advice for those of you who always say, "NO, I got it," maybe we don't have it all the time. What is it that President Eyring talked about at the Relief Society Broadcast on Saturday? We are supposed to help each other. Even if we think we got it, we might not. We probably don't. But we've trained ourselves into thinking we have it. I say let's just admit we don't have it, band together, and carry each other's beverages. That way, we won't have quite so many spills, wet shorts, and sticky car doors. Can you help me? Of course you can. Here is my pop, thanks for carrying it for me. I love my Visiting Teaching Companion. She accepts me for all the craziness in my life and laughs with me. Thank heavens for the relief society. Will I let her carry my drink the next time she asks me? You'd better believe it.

My little Leilani

Ta-Da!! Would you check out my not-so-green thumb! Leilani is now flourishing amidst the dirty dishes and dish soap that inhabit my kitchen window sill. Against all odds she has conquered the infestation of soil gnats, (yes, they were living in her little pot) and my attempts to transfer her to a larger pot. Today my dear friend DaniLyn came over to help me re-pot my precious guacamole maker. While dumping soil from the bag into the larger pot I discovered some clear round egg shaped balls. I wasn't too sure what they were so I squoze (is that even a word) one and it squirted into both of our eyes. Yuck. If they are bug eggs then I would say that it takes a pretty great friend to wipe bug egg goo out of her eyes and still stay for lunch. Way to go DaniLyn. What is a great friend? Some one who brings you a large drink when your daughter is ralphing on the couch, and helps you re-pot a precious accomplishment, and gets goo in her eyes and still stays to eat with you. What more can I ask in a friend? Not much folks. That's for sure.

What does this picture mean to you? To me, this picture represents the fact that we used to not care what we looked like, how we smelled, or what people thought of us. We used to crawl out of the tent and run down to the creek and catch tadpoles. Content to wipe our noses with our shirt sleeve and dig in the dirt for days. Why can't we do that anymore? I say that we can. And that we should. Dirty bums represent fun, carefree, and happy. I don't exactly want a dirty bum myself, but metaphorically speaking, we should make time for more dirty bums. Life gets in the way and then we turn around and realize our bums haven't been dirty for a while. Time to get dirty, or use our imaginations. Put up sparkly lights and eat a ding dong for heavens sake.

Dragonfly....

Early Saturday morning I found this little guy stuck to our back door. He actually wasn't very small. Probably the largest dragonfly I have ever seen. I thought about how pretty this insect was and how great it was to get to see it up close. Things are definately good here. Family is happy. Kids are progressing. Jeff and I love our callings in the church. What more could we ask for? Not much. Life is pretty interesting. It will throw things at you for no reason. But there are reasons aren't there? It's how we react. I don't always react like I would hope I would. But after great reflection and prayer I can move on. I reccomend a great church cd for that. Inspirational music does wonders. Makes me remember who I am and who I was before I came to earth. I so want to be that person. One day I will. I hope my children want that too. There is so much to experience and so much to be grateful for. Every little moment should be tresured. And SMILE. Alot..... And catch a few dragonflies.......