Disney on Ice

March 13, 2010. We had a wonderful time at Disney on Ice.

Wonder of Wonders

Anyone who knows me well knows that I do not like most veggies. There is just something about the taste, smell, and often the texture that makes me want to gag! I do not eat them on a train or in a plane or in the rain. I do not eat them here or there, I do not eat them anywhere, lol. That's why it's a wonder to me that my kids LOVE vegetables! If I were to give Holly the choice between ice cream and raw carrots with ranch, she would pick the carrots 9 times out of 10. Alyssa is the same. We had pizza and cake for her birthday, but all Alyssa wanted to eat were the cherry tomatos. It's completely bizarre yet incredibly wonderful to me! I was making dinner the other night and asked the girls if they would prefer applesauce or mixed vegetables with their meal. As if I had prompted them to do so, they started chanting...veggies, veggies, veggies, while pumping their fists in the air. It was so cute, and unexpected. I quickly grabbed the video camera and was able to partially recreate the moment. I love that my kids love vegetables!

Book Club

One of the things I look forward to most each month is Book Club! I love to read, and the books that we've read have been inspiring, intriguing, and have provided me with hours of entertainment and escape. What I love the most, however, is the opportunity to share opinions, ideas and friendship with such a wonderful group of women!

One Brilliant Morning

When I was on my mission I often read the conference talks in the Ensign. One talk, in particular, really touched me and I am reminded of it today. It was given by Boyd K. Packer in October of 1995 and described the feelings of one of the surviving members of the Donner Party, who spent a ferocious winter trapped in the snowdrifts below the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He had survived days and weeks and months of starvation and indescribable suffering. Years later he said that although most of the incidents were gone from his memory, he would never forget the first morning after his rescue. It was a beautiful spring morning. The birds were singing, the grass was green, and that cold, brutal, dark winter had been replaced with one brilliant morning.

As I think of this story I imagine a young man standing at the foot of a great mountain range on a beautiful spring morning, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on his face for the first time in months. He may have stood there in shocked disbelief that he had survived the horrifying ordeal. I can almost feel the tension of months of fear being replaced with peace and hope.

I've described the past few years of my life as mostly dark and cold, interspersed with moments of peace and joy. But lately, I'm finding that the moments of warmth, happiness and peace are becoming more and more frequent. Maybe it's the dawning of a new season for me!