Blessed!

I understand pictures better than I understand words. I guess a lot of us are that way. My life has been full (super full) of blessings from the one and only God...but lately I've been seeing the magnitude of the blessings...and I feel blessed. The collage is a quick trip through my yard this afternoon (it's full of some of my blessings). We have peaches & apple trees in bloom, citrus trees with fruit, chicks and chickens (laying a dozen a day), broccoli, carrots, garlic, summer squash, sweet corn, and tomatoes growing in our garden, the pool is blue, I finally had a girls lunch with my friends in my back yard this week (I've wanted to do that for about 10 years), and the grass is green on my side of the fence (quite literally...Eli helped me out with that one! For whatever reason green grass is one of my favorite luxuries in life, looking at it makes me feel like everything is taken care of...even though I know it isn't.).

I'm sure you know my blessings are NOT limited to my backyard, my children are all healthy...drinking kefir (thanks to my friend), and growing like weeds in knowledge and also height. Today I saw Andrew and Ry Guy succeed in their Field Day activities. Both of them dominating their grades in a variety of activities from the 50 yard dash (can't beat running for your life away from older brothers as practice...it definitely inspires success!) to gunny sack races to balloon pop. They all ride 2 wheel bikes, run fast, get ready for school on their own (pretty much), feed & dress themselves, and get their homework done (most of the time) without much effort on my part. They are turning into good citizens and amazing people. So, so many blessings to count.

Lately, I feel like I have about a milli-second for each thing I'm supposed to be "in-charge" of and I'm not really sure what to do about that, but keep breathing and count my blessings because I have more than my share of them. We may be called do-it-your-selfers...but really it's can't-afford-to-pay-someone-else-to-do-it-for-us-ers. And between cooking, cleaning, laundry, feeding animals, growing a garden, helping with homework and after school snacks, taking kids to concerts & baseball, feeding friends and visitors (often as many as 12 for dinner nightly), church and it's callings, and friends, and whatever else pops up, I feel like I'm about out of time for some of my most cherished activities in life...like sleep & extended family.

Savanah received her patriarchal blessing, another huge blessing. She is a miracle teenager, I'm so awed by her abilities, talents, tenderness, beauty, and spirituality. I need to pinch myself periodically to know she is for real, and by the grace of God, I may call her mine. But I really know she is God's, she's on loan, to help me become the mom He wants me to be. I sure love life, it's full (which can be seen as half full or half empty, I'm working on the half full answer). The windows of heaven opened and have poured out blessings on me. Thank you (family, friends, and exchange students)...because you are one of those HUGE blessings in my life.

I just wanted to include some photos for Bea's parents.