Proud of My Boy

A week from tomorrow and Caleb will officially be an Eagle Scout.

 

Parenting

One thing I can say about parenting is that it has prompted my most sincere, heartfelt prayers. I am constantly amazed by all the things that can go wrong when raising a child. Sometimes I think the only thing you can take comfort in is knowing Heavenly Father loves your children more than you do and is aware of what you and they are facing.

One of the blessings that came from Caitlin's diagnosis of cancer was the realization that I had no control of the circumstances and I had to turn my excess worries and heartbreak over to the Lord. It was too much to bare alone. My prayers asking for comfort and peace were the only consolation I could count on. I truly felt the Lord knew my pain and was hurting with me. I understood the Atonement like never before.

Tonight my friend introduced me to this song written about a young boy diagnosed with Leukemia. It's not very often that you find a song that expresses what your prayers sounded and felt like during your darkest experience. The title of the song is "He's My Son" by Dallyn Vail Bayles.

Halloween Favorites

Look what I found when looking through our pictures! Some of my favorite photos of my kids decked out in Halloween costumes.

Porch Pumpkins

All last week while it was gray outside, I loved seeing bright spots of orange on porches around our neighborhood. So, on Saturday our family ventured to the family farm of brothers Caleb went to Jamboree with and picked out a bunch of pumpkins for our porch. It was fun... and cold.
 
We went to Secretariat on Friday night. We loved it. Family friendly, clean, inspiring.

On Saturday night, we went to Clint's work party. I really like the guys he works with and their wives too. We had a fun time visiting and eating yummy BBQ.

Other than that, we made some headway on Caleb's upcoming Eagle Court of Honor, Caleb went to the youth dance, Clint made an apple pie, we watched our first Primary Program in almost 13 years without our own children participating (instead they snickered along with us at the waving kids, the kids who yell into the microphone, the kids that take off running to their parents, etc...), we cleaned our porch, and we found a new puppy we'd love to adopt. Overall, good weekend.

A Little Boost for Caitlin

In her first softball game of the day, Caitlin hit the ball, she ran all the bases, she scored for her team! And for the first time this season, they won! 5-3.

Most people wouldn't make too much out of this; but for Caitlin, this is huge. We are so proud of her.

At the end of the two games, she was awarded the game ball... sweet!

Things I've Been Up To In the Last 7 Days

• Lots of overtime
• Planning Caleb's Eagle Court of Honor
• Helping Caitlin with her school work
• Meeting with Caitlin's teacher, school psychologist, resource teacher, etc... (feeling better!)
• Work training
• General Conference
• Dinner with Caitlin during the Priesthood Session
• Pedicure
• Cleaning
• Halloween decorating
• Cancer Mom lunch
• Clint and I joining the ACCO Board of Directors (American Childhood Cancer Organization)
• Planning YW Personal Progress activity