Extraordinary

Looking for the extraordinary in today was easy.

23 years ago today, I became a mother for the first time.
My life has not been the same, and richly blessed ever since.

We celebrated in our usual style…
Traditional roses from dad,
and dinner out with the family.
This year we kept it simple and
enjoyed the evening with just the four of us.

We topped it off with dad running off to the BYU basketball game
and the girls running off for shopping spree.
Everyone wins.

Happy Birthday dear Kylee.
I love you more than words can express.

I need to smell the roses.

As you can tell by the number of recent (or lack thereof) posts,
I have not been a very active blogger.

I attribute this to my mundane life!
I have seen nothing worth blogging about.
Each day I get up early, go to work, come home,
think about (and sometimes fix) dinner,
clean up and go to bed, wake up and start over.

I have recently come to realize that there is SO MUCH more
to my daily routines that I have failed to take notice of.
I have failed to smell the beautiful roses.

I have a job that I love. I work for and with people who appreciate
me. I admire and respect those I work with.

I have an awesome husband who gives me something to
laugh about each and every day. I love laughing with him.
I love making him laugh.

I have two daughters that teach me something each and every day.
They are strong and faithful women. They endure emotional and
physical pain. They trust in the Lord. They rely on the Priesthood.

I have family nearby. We enjoy each others company as often as
possible. Dinners, family events, the Theater, hikes, sporting events.

I have family members further away. We are able to take advantage
of modern technology and send a quick hello with a phone text,
chat over the internet, see each other via Skype.

Winter was white and beautiful. Spring is blooming and fragrant
and the warmth of summer will soon follow. The four seasons of Utah
are glorious.

There are so many other wonderful things around me that I
must take the time each day and simply notice. I know this
is the only way to take the mundane out of my life.

And it is as simple as smelling the roses.

Decisions

From the time my daughter could speak, they were required to make decisions. At first, they were given multiple choices of our choosing. As they grew older, they were also encouraged to include their own choices with a strong reminder to consider the consequences of any decision they made.

As parents, we would find ourselves repeating to ourselves the words of advise we had previously received:

When dealing with your children and their decisions, ask yourself two questions. 1] Is it life threatening? 2] Is it salvation threatening?  If the answer is NO to any of these questions, it is generally best to let it go. Pick your battles wisely and allow your child to learn and grow from their own choices.

Often, they were sent to their room to suffer the consequence of a bad choice. A week long grounding was in order! Almost always, time spent alone with their thoughts provided the perfect opportuity to humble themselves, repent for their wrong doing, restitute and apologize, receive  forgiveness and be welcomed back into the outskirts of their bedroom to enjoy the blessings of family life. I cannot remember a time when a week long grounding lasted more than a few hours

We would talk to our daughters about many of the BIG (and usually disappointing) decisions that we have made for ourselves or for the family. Canceling trips, postponing purchases, walking out of movies, returning too much change etc. Explaining to them the process (promptings, prayers) by which our decisions were made.

Through this process and by our example, our daughters were blessed with the ability to make decisions with only a moments notice. They have said "no" to peers, have walked away from parties, and even severed friendships. They have continued to make good decisions in every aspect of their lives. College majors have been changed, opportunities to serve have been accepted and most recently, a desire to serve a full time mission has been announced.

Standing back and witnessing our children make their own decisions has been sometimes painful and sorrowful, but mostly joyful and rewarding. And because they have been wise and obedient, it has been a great blessing.