A wonderful week

What a great week! We left for Salt Lake City on Monday after the kids got out of school. We got in about 9:00pm. We had a very busy week. Tuesday morning I went and pampered myself with a facial and hot stone treatment and then went to lunch with Cam and Rob.

Tuesday afternoon Rob and I took Dalin down to see a new doctor in Provo. His name is Dr. Voss and he specializes in treating kids with Autism. One of my co-workers, Karen (who works out of the corporate office), has a little boy with Autism and recommended him to me. She said that she has seen significant progress in the last year since he starting seeing Dr. Voss. Dr. Voss specializes in “alternative medicine” so he is not covered by our insurance. I admit I am one of those individuals who are very skeptical about holistic and alternative medicine. All through the visit I had to keep telling myself to keep an open mind. But it was very hard, especially when we paid the $275 bill. But I feel like I need to try everything we can for our little guy. I just hope that in a year from now I am enthusiastic about him as Karen is. The next step is to have a bunch of lab work done: blood and urine. I don’t do well with bodily fluids, especially blood, or needles. I am not looking forward to this undertaking. I am a wimpy mom when it means subjecting my kids to pain.

Wednesday was family pictures. Rob listed it as one of his happy moments of the trip (we all discussed our happy moments on the 4 ½ hr drive home). Rob is such a good man. I am glad that he was able to see it as a happy time when I mostly remember Dalin’s meltdown and tears. I am excited to see the pictures though. It has been 3 years since we have had a family picture taken professionally. We also got pictures taken of each one of us. I am excited to see how they turned out!

Thursday was Thanksgiving and was a great day of wonderful food and great moments spent with family. My family got together for brunch. We had stuffed French toast, sausage and bacon. Yummy! Then we had dinner with Rob’s family with all the traditional fixins. I admit that I love to eat and what a better excuse to do a lot of it then on Thanksgiving Day!

I went to breakfast this morning with one of my best girlfriends, Angie. I love her! We have known each other since 4th grade and have been best of friends since 8th grade. We are so different in so many ways, but she is such a great listener. I can’t tell you how many times we have laughed and cried together. We talked about my blog and the other blogs that I have been following that inspire me so much. I am so grateful for Kim, Leslie & Stephanie and for their strength. When I am having a really bad day I seem to gravitate to the computer to see what they have written and they always seem to inspire me to try harder and love more. It’s also a great way to quickly end any pity party I may have indulged myself in. A wise person once said that if you took everyone around you and you all threw your problems and sorrows in a pile, and you got to choose from that pile, you would ultimately pick your own. And while I admit to on more than one occasion to having asked Heavenly Father to take away my tribulations, I must admit that I wouldn’t trade mine for anyone else’s.

I spent a short time with some family members today as well. I hadn’t seen them since my grandmother’s funeral in September. They are dealing with some challenges of their own. I started to cry the moment we hugged. I hadn’t had a good cry in a long time, so the tears flowed freely. I love my family dearly. It is hard to see those you love and know the sorrow that fills their life. I am so grateful for the gospel and the peace it brings to me in my times of deepest sorrow. It is hard to watch the suffering those who do not have that same knowledge, knowing if they would just turn to the Lord, their burden would be lifted.

On the drive home we talked about the all the happy moments we experienced while being in Utah. Then we listed to October’s conference talks (we listened on the way to Utah as well). I love listening to conference. I am so grateful for modern-day prophets. They always seem to know what I need to hear. It’s good to know that their inspired words are for meant for the whole earth’s population – it’s comforting to that there are millions of good people who are experiencing many of my same struggles.

On this Thanksgiving weekend, I want to thank all those who read my blog. I don’t get a lot of comments, so sometimes I wonder if I this is more than self-therapy (which, I must say is worth every bit of my time because I learn a lot from re-reading my own past blogs). But lately there have been those who have emailed me letting me know that they have been following my blog. I appreciate you and you words of encouragement!