life is good

but sometimes things don't go exactly like I would have planned....

1. Spent $1700 to restore plumbing to our house. long story, but here is the abbreviated version: don't ever live in a house with a sump pump. They are evil. This year we had our 10th anniversary and though we wanted to do something special we both felt like it wasn't a good time for spending lots of money on a trip. I'm so glad we didn't otherwise, we would be so stressed right now. So, we sort of joke that for our 10th anniversary we got a new sump pump.


2. our next door neighbors moved! We had a great family next door with an 8 year old girl named Cassy. She has been Calvin's best friend this year (they moved in last spring) and we have all loved her. She has tagged along with our family to sea world, playgrounds, beaches, dog park, dinner, FHE, and every day life. It has been a great blessing. She was, in part, and answer to my prayer, "what should I do with Calvin." As a tom boy she loves all the things boys like, bakugan, sports, skateboarding, nerf guns, etc. but also has some great girl qualities -- she is sweet to my little girls and very obedient.

I am sorry I don't get many pictures of Cassy! We went over to take some pics with her one day right before she moved but only Alexey wanted to come. Here she is with Alexey.


3. I got released from my calling as Laurel Advisor. I was so sad to get released. It has been such a joy to work with the Young Women and the other leaders, to go to girls camp, youth conference, firesides, hikes, parties, etc. etc. with them. It is a very busy calling. It is at least two days a week and sometimes 7 when a big activity is coming up! I loved it though! What other church calling is so rewarding and enjoyable? Sometimes it was a nice break for me from my little kids. Teaching the laurels, who are practically adults, we could have serious lessons and great conversations plus a lot of fun. When the kids did come along, it was sweet for me to see how the girls took care of them and loved them. My kids loved to be a part of YW and begged to come to mutual with me every week.

One of the large contributers to my being able to be in YW with 3 small kids and a husband who is never home was having dan here. He babysat for me on most mutual nights (as long as the kids were sleeping first). It was so nice to have him here!

I am also grateful to many friends who babysat for me for the bigger events like camp and youth conference. I felt like I pawned off my kids a lot over the last few years!

It has been great. I am thankful to have had the opportunities I did. I loved the girls I taught. They are so strong and work so hard to do what is right. Their testimonies are pure. It is inspiring to watch them. I am not super old, but I still feel like they have to work harder than I did in school 15 years ago to stay on the right path. The leaders I worked with were equally as insipiring. There have been a couple of cycles of women in YW since I joined and they have all been amazing. I remember when I first started, going to pres. meeting and being awestruck by all that these women were volunteering to do -- decorate, cook, plan, etc!

When I first started in YW, I had most of the girls (esp. the laurels) calling me Denise. I have to say, that since that time, and now that my new laurels were still beehives when I started, I am more comfortable being Sister Gonda. I guess I have grown up a bit, and as sad as it is to admit that I am old, I realize that there is a pretty big gap between me and the girls I am teaching.

Okay, well, enough rambling!

Here's the link back to my old girls camp post from the summer. (rather than add pics again, they are there.)