Lil M's Birthday Party (5 months earlier)

Our baby turned 4 in August. I can't believe how old my kids are getting. Lil M is a delight and we are so blessed to have her in our family. We had a wonderful butterfly party for her. The guests got to decorate a pair of butterfly wings, make a bracelet, and make coffee filter butterflies. We also had our family tradition-- the pinata. J usually makes one for everyone's birthday. The kids love it. It was a bit tricky this year. We weren't sure how to create the body. I think it turned out well though. Lil M loved it ( and that's what's important.)

New Year; New Beginnings

This poor blog has been so neglected the last couple of months. I don't feel guilty, but there are some things our family has done that I'd like to document. So slowly I'll be adding some posts that are LONG over-due. Our family has had some personal struggles and we are trying to focus on the things that are most important- building relationships, and trying to figure out what the Lord has in store for us. This is definitely a stretching and growing experience for us.

I'm always surprised by how easy it is to be distracted by good things that seem to crowd out the essentials. It's good reflect on the things going on in my family a purge some of the unessentials. Have any of you struggled with this? What have you found helps to keep you focused on the essentials? I really liked the talk by Kevin Pearson in the April Conference (which funny enough I had to give a talk based on these remarks) that talked about the 6 destructive Ds. I didn't realize then just much I was going to gain from this. Truly when we have faith in Jesus Christ, we can overcome any obstacle and put to work the Atonement.