Last night, Penelope was quite the sorter. First she distributes, then she gathers. Clothes, cards, books,...it kept her entertained for hours last night. Loved it!
We had the missionaries over for dinner because it was one of the elders last nights, potentially, because transfers are coming up. We had chicken enchiladas, salad, watermelon and corn with a WHOLE bunch of ice cream for dessert. (We bought 14 containers of FUN.) Toppings–marshmallows, oreos, York peppermint patties, fudge, caramel and even cake batter…we had a lot. Oh, and we cooked up a cake because you can’t make cake batter without making cake, right?
It was Elder Lind and he asks great questions and loves discussing things so I had a great time. Elder Robertson (Solomon, his name is…love it!) had a great time doing the Rubik’s cube with Hyrum. Quinn was prompt in reminding us all that the Rubik’s cube originated from a Hungarian scientist. Love that man!
We had a busy weekend. Piper had a track meet Saturday morning. She felt like she was flying around the first two miles but then her blood sugar dropped or something and she started getting woozy. She paused in her running at times, started “talking” to the crowd out loud, and stumbled across the finish line. She worried her coaches and we’re going to try and help her stay stocked up with nutrients for next time. She is really loving it! She is one of two on her team.
While she was gone, we spent the mornings saying goodbye to some old friends who stopped by, the Georgias. Xai insists that we must be cousins because we get along so well. We hope they will come back and visit us again, because our families fit together so well. It was great to see Elijah and Xai just rough and tumble with boys all weekend and even Liesl and Penelope had little girl friends! After they left, we started super cleaning the house and Quinn finished selecting a car to purchase, after Hyrum accidentally totalled our other car.
We drove up to Columbus, picking Piper up along the way. Once there, we dropped Quinn off at the dealership while we visited the zoo. One of the animals was out and we got to watch it walk right by us…the largest rodent, from South America (can’t remember the name). Anyway, the kids loved watching the seals and petting the sting rays, Well, Xai didn’t do the latter because he was very nervous about getting stung, but even Penelope had fun feeling the soft surface of the rays.
We headed back to see the car on the way home, leaving a couple kids there, and raced back to Athens to try and catch the pool for a little while to cool down before it closed. The kids were super sad (and I was a little sad) that we missed most of the pool time but I want to go back next weekend for the last day and really make a day of it! We are going to work it in between cutting wood for our winter supply, which will occupy much of our available time this weekend.
We picked up some groceries on the way home, did the animals, got the kids to bed and did scriptures and then watched a movie until probably too late, while Quinn worked up a quick appraisal to get ahead for Monday. We got up around 6 am Sunday morning to get ready to head to the youth session of Stake Conference, which is about an hour and a half away. We threw in a bunch of food just in case and managed to survive, lol. Conference was cool, with the highlight for me being when the youth of the stake sang the “Armies of Helaman/Sisters in Zion” medley. It was cool. We did our usual crazy in the side rooms where they have the event being broadcast, but I think we will stay in the main room next time. We had kids lounging all over the floor and even one of the older kids wanted to lay down across the chairs before I suggested they probably shouldn’t. We were all super tired.
Anyway, in the midst of last weekend, I had a good therapy session, meaning super deep and intense and hard. I’m trying to learn to trust my heart, trust that Christ’s atonement truly is sufficient, and to accept the pain and ugly of this existence that I must without demanding it be different. Pain is a part of life, but we suffer when we don’t acknowledge that pain…again, demanding it be different by dwelling on all the things we wish we could do to change it or fix it. “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who tells you differently is selling you something.”
Christ is there to bear our burdens. I just don’t really know how to let Him help me bear the pain: the pain of disappointing others, the pain of things not being orderly, the pain of loss, the pain of betrayal, the pain of disappointing myself, the pain I feel when I know I have caused pain in others by action or inaction. I know He joyously yearns to help us. I just don’t know how to let Him in to help my aching heart.
My therapist says it’s part of experiencing trauma…that it’s like being a veteran from a war coming back without a leg. I have to adapt to what I can do and what the “new” normal is, without losing myself in the managing/coping behaviors I imposed on myself to survive. Accept the pain without demanding it be different. Accept that this broken and fallen world is indeed the best place for me to live and learn and grow to understand God’s plan and become more like Him.
Sweet Pea sorting
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