Whoa...The Sun is Out!

Hi! The snow is melted and the sun is out, maybe for an hour or so. The sunshine feels so warm on my back, and Leto is lying down in it. I have Jasmine and Tut shut out today. : ) I am sooo sleepy lately. I fell asleep in my chair. I'm listening to the Bonnie Hunt show, and Jasmine is now on my lap and Leto moved as the sunlight moved. He's pretty bored right now; I never do anything very exciting. Leto loves it when the UPS guy leaves a box: He senses the man's murderous intentions and reacts accordingly. I've seen the man drop a box here and RUN to his truck, before I could open the door and let Leto out. Poor guy. Leto, despite his huge, echoing bark, would probably lick him to death. Wait - maybe that is what the guy is afraid of. No wonder! Okay, let's see...we haven't gone to the movies for a while. I subtly discourage it, because the total cost is so much, if you buy any popcorn. Usually, we take Seth. I enjoy it, and I love the popcorn and the whole experience; it's the only thing we go out and do together, besides attending church functions, but it has to be a special movie to be worth it to me. On the other hand, we see some excellent DVDs at home, through Netflix. We saw Ink the other day, because Mark watched it online and loved it. We all thought it was great, if you mute the language in the first minute, and skip the boardroom scene. It is a wonderful movie, so look it up and learn more about it. Parts are scary, so I wouldn't watch it with little kids. It has a great theme and lessons throughout, and is very innovative. Isn't this fascinating? Ah know! Well, I'm done for now. My hair has fallen in my face and I'm too lazy to push it back. Ah know! . xoxoxo

Helloooo!

I'm sitting here, with my Mary Engelbreit quilt over my head, while Mark irons his shirt for the day. Just want to say, I really enjoy reading your blog posts, people. :) When you get hard copies, better xerox the pages and send them to each other to keep (I guess 'scan' them is the modern term). Or I guess you could just download them right from the computer and mail a cd of them for safekeeping. That's the ticket! (Probably by next week, a new product will be out, that just vacuums out your head and downloads it directly to your blog - but it would have to be edited, I'm sure, before publishing, even on private blogs. Lol.) I'll bet Justin's glad to have his big move over, and I wish him good luck in his Quest interview today. It's cool that Aiden got Legos from Ben, and a trunk is perfect for storing them. Your trunk, Megan, is just like the ones my Grandma Wakefield (Gray) always kept her keepsakes in. Wish I still had mine. Mark and Keith might go to Boise overnight tonight (uh oh, now all the robbers and rapists will know!). Or they might go up and back tomorrow, which I prefer. I don't like it without Mark here at night. It's not nearly as fun, and I won't sleep at all. :( I'll try and get some pictures on here, as soon as I take some! In the meantime, imagine Princess Diana at her loveliest, and you'll have a good idea of my appearance. For Mark, maybe Johnny Depp in the Pirates movies. Seth? Darth Vader. Until next time... xoxoxo

Winter's Peace

Here it is, another post. I know you all have been waiting on pins and needles for news from the Stephenson household! I can hardly believe it myself! Well, all the happenings seem to be in our kids' lives, not ours. I'm assuming that Justin made it up to I.F. safely, since I didn't get an emergency phone call. We'll give him a while to settle in, before I check on how it's going there. Melinda, be strong! (jk) Megan has a new dining room, Haley is in N. Orleans at just the right time (Go, Colts!) ;), and that's the latest that I know of. I'm delighted that nothing has happened here - it's the longest that things have been so quiet in our married life. : ) I love it! It gives me time to actually think and process things! The main thing I've processed is that we each have a gift (see Moroni 10), that we should lay hold of that gift, and that we are all made perfect through Christ, if we will accept that gift and have hope and faith. It's so simple. I feel so happy, as that soaks into my heart; I see others, then, in the same light, and I feel such love and joy. We have a real Father and Mother, we are brothers and sisters, and, despite the state of this existence and the sadness of sin and suffering, Christ can and will change everything. He does transform us. It's not our own doing. Letting go of worry and fear and leaning on Christ, letting him be our Savior and the Creator and the Savior of the world, our glorious brother who really has atoned for all our weaknesses, is the source of real and lasting joy. We perceive life in a different way, as it really is. The ability to have hope is something that can grow in us, if we pray for it daily and read the scriptures, even small, small portions of them. The important thing is to have an open heart and sincere desire to even want to read them. It's something that, if done daily, can bring peace to our souls. Just ask, if you haven't already. I'm so glad that things have been slow and quiet. I'm so glad for this winter's calm, and I hope that you are able to enjoy being inside, when it's cold outside. Have some cocoa! : ) xoxoxo