LARRY, CURLY, MOE & OUR BOYS

I am so blessed to have two of the best friends I've ever had. Heavenly Father knew that friendship would be a challenge for me that it was mentioned in my patriarchal blessing. And over the years I've definitely been blessed with good friends; my sisters, April, Rebecca, Suzanne, Vanessa. But we know that in life we move and our friendships endure but it's hard not to have that person that totally gets you close to you logistically. But Heavenly Father definitely extended a tender mercy when he sent me Catherine and Kristi. They more than get me they accept me-neurosis's and all! They understand and accept my constant need to hand sanitize, my super fast speech, my need to be on time to everything, my need to call and vent random annoyances and mostly the meet my needs equally as I strive to meet theirs. Although I'm sure you've guessed that they're considerable less than mine. The point is we are the three musketeers. We have lunch every month without fail and it helps that our boys are also best friends. One time at church someone new didn't know who I was and asked one of the ladies who I was. After thinking how to best describe me she replied the lady always glued at the hip with Kristi Sharp. Then she exclaimed "Oh I know exactly who she is then!" If that tells you anything-Yep, I'd say I'm definitely blessed!!

THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

Years ago I had to make the decision whether or not to perpetuate the myth. The holiday myth so many children associate Christmas with....Santa Claus. Growing up I knew as young as four that he didn't exist. I never had the blind faith, the giddy excitement, the eager hope or the anxious sleep that comes to many children every Christmas Eve. So later in life when I discovered the true meaning of Christmas it was one of the best gifts I'd ever received. The knowledge that the true spirit of Christmas is the Pure love of Christ in the hearts of those willing to serve those so less fortunate at Christmas-which was always my family. I loved that I had something I could believe in all year round and that gave Christmas true meaning for me.

So when I had my own four year old, without warning assuming strangers would tell him in stores "is Santa bringing you toys this Christmas" or "Be a good boy for Santa" or other annoying quips about this fable. Initially I hesitated and about my decision to spare him believing in the myth but after careful consideration decided that the right decision for my family was to tell him why Christmas was special to me and that meant telling him at four years old the true meaning of Christmas without the Santa part. It's something he has always accepted and we have adopted two things that really help our children celebrate the season without Santa but with the most important part our Savior Jesus Christ.

First, we have begun collecting nativities and we get atleast one every year but many times we get more than one each year. We designate a special place in our house for them and set them up. The kids get to set them up and we make a special pile of 'baby Jesuses' so that Christmas morning before we open our gifts we play our favorite family Christmas song "Go Tell It On the Mountain" and we put all the babies in the mangers.

Secondly, we have adopted the tradition of giving our kids 3 gifts just like the Savior received. We tell them that it was good enough for the Savior to receive 3, it's good enough for you. It really helps our family to stay focused during the holidays while teaching my kids the true meaning of Christmas and just like my favorite scripture, "...We talk of Christ, we preach of Christ that our children may know whom to look for a remission of their sins." 2Nephi 25:26 For me there is nothing greater than to teach my kids this lesson.

As a mom you're always second guessing your decisions and I felt a surge of hope when Amani my four year old said as we decorated the tree with gold hearts, "I'm putting on the heart for the love of Jesus." May you each have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy celebrating the birth of the Savior of the world-Jesus Christ.

P.S. One of my absolute FAVORITE things to do every Christmas is to watch the movie The Nativity released a few years ago. We watched it this year as a family & the kids loved it! They were riveted. I cry every time! Watching it I am awe struck at the divinity of our Savior. I love it-a must see!

U TURNS

Life is so unpredictable. And from someone that loves a list, a plan and then a detailed guarantee of the outcome life with it's unpredictable moments can really challenge someone like me. But thankfully, in life there are moments where we can make much needed UTURNS! For example just a few weeks ago I had the privilege of visiting my new nephew in Del Rio TX. Well, Del Rio is almost 3 hours from San Antonio off of highway 90. I had directions, but the girl at the rental car place gave me a 'better' set of directions, so I followed her directions 50 miles south of where I needed to be. That was a HUGE mistake. I couldn't get to Del Rio from where she had me going unless I drove an additional 5 hours. That would be like someone telling you that to get to LA from Palm Springs to go South to San Diego. Insane that would never work, you'd still have to drive 3 hours north to get to LA. So, going south in Texas just to then go another 5 hours back west to Del Rio was a detour I didn't want to take. My only option was to make a u turn and basically eat those 50 miles (turned into 100 miles round trip) of wasted gas and time. Fortunately I did still get to my destination and learned a valuable lesson in the process. What is my point of this story,.....well, originally I posted this blog to celebrate the addition of our 'daughters' we were hoping to adopt. Well it turns out that we won't be able to due to circumstances beyond our control (like the fact that they are not available to be adopted at this time and are likely going to be returned to their parents) so, we are left with the only option we have which is to make a UTURN and return to our family of four. Unlike with the trip this UTURN will not be wasted gas or time. But a return to familiar and loving territory. I love my husband and two sons more than the seconds have passed since time began. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity, the lesson, my family and an opportunity to make a UTURN. Our happy thoughts are with the girls in their new foster home and I want to thank all our friends and family for their unconditional love and support. And don't forget...it's never too late for a UTURN. Even when you're lost in rural Texas alone with no GPS. :)

BEST FRIENDS

Amani is my special boy. He is intense, emotional, paranoid, cautious, worrisome, sensitive, very literal, very verbal, high maintenance. He is a lot like me and because of that I understand him very well. But there is one more person that understands Amani and that would be hands down his best friend Dylan. Dylan is patient with Amani and shares so well with him. Dylan totally gets Amani and Amani gets Dylan. Amani was fortunate enough to have spent a lot of time at Dylan's this summer and only at Dylan's house does Amani look forward to his naps. Toys that other kids can't play with Amani will share with Dylan and Dylan with Amani. Dylan and Amani are like Porky and Buckwheat. They are always getting into some sort of shenanigan together. They are both sons of law enforcement and are always playing cops. They run around the house together on their radios calling in backup for each other. Sometimes they arrest the bad guys, sometimes they just shoot them. They're still working on the part where bad guys have rights. But I am glad that my special boy has a special friend that understands his special needs.

COME LISTEN TO A PROPHET'S VOICE

We had the amazing opportunity to attend a special church meeting, Sept. 7th, where M. Russell Ballard of the Quorom of the Twelve Apostles addressed us. This was special for our family for so many reasons. First, Marlin was asked to provide security for him because of his law enforcement career. Second, Marlin's brother was nice enough to watch our crew of kids so thatI could attend with Savien and actually hear what he had to say and feel the spirit too. A large feat when you have small children. And thirdly Savien attended with me since he was big enough to sit and listen and behave and afterwards he was able to go up and shake his hand. This was such a special day for us and we are definetly blessed to have experienced it. The meeting began at 9 but those who know me know that I have a thing with being on time, so I got there at 7:30 so that I could get a seat for myself and Savien. Marlin sat on the stand since he was security (he even got to wear his gun to church. Talk about a fish in water, being a cop at church doesn't get better than that for him) and Savien and I sat in the chapel just a few rows away. Pretty awesome!