I am grateful

A lot has changed in the last month.  Progress has been made on my part.  Most importantly, I'm off a medication that was mentally harmful and I'm actively seeing a therapist.  I'm not ready to openly talk about what the medication did to me or why I need therapy but I needed to express how grateful I am to be where I am today.

I am not good with change.  But there are times when change is desperately needed.  As much as I didn't want (and heaven knows how much the boys didn't want to) leave our comfortable Washington Terrace, well, we did.  Though we could see blessings almost immediately, it was still one of the hardest things we had to do as a family.  But as things got better for the boys, it didn't for me.

But here I am, 8 months later, and I can finally say that I am happy.  I know I am where I need to be and that the Lord has a plan for me.  For my family.  And I'm grateful.

White Water Bay

We got season passes to White Water Bay and Frontier City.  We haven't been to the amusement park yet, because its just too hot, but we are loving the water park for sure!

  They have huge rides like this one, which you will never catch me on, but the older boys enjoy.

 And then smaller stuff that Hyrum and I enjoy.

It is weird being at a stage in the older boys (Levi and Brigham) lives where they can go off by themselves.  I don't get emotional over it, but it does make me feel weird in a way.  Its just another realization to me that they don't need me as much as they used to.  I love that I can trust them and I love that I can trust that they will be safe with one another but its still just a tad bit hard to let them go.

Swimming Saturday

It may have been David's Fathers Day weekend but he was good to me, like he always is, and let me have lots of friend time on Saturday.  

(This is a closeup of my favorite one!)

 Shaunda, Robyn, and Brandy's birthdays are all in the summer so I really wanted us all to get together so I could give them their "Surviving 40" gifts.

Brandy invited us over to her house so that we could do something with our families this time...and we got to meet her new little sweetheart too!

 Just as we were leaving Brandy's house, David noticed that we had a flat tire.  Brandy's husband, Steve, helped us get the spare on and then we had to head to the Grove Wal-Mart to replace the tire.  It took over an hour.  We were supposed to be at Little Blue at that point meeting Mom, Ronald, his kids and then Katie Lester and her family.  I felt so bad because by the time the new tire was finally on, Mom and Ronald had to leave.  But they were so kind about it and knew that it wasn't anything we could control.

 Katie and her family waited on us and we ended up getting to spend a few hours with them.

I'm so grateful for a husband who knows how important my friends are to me.  He knows that I need them.  He could have gotten jealous when I asked if I could ride with Robyn on the way to Brandy's house (we needed to follow her because I didn't know how to get there).  But he didn't and because of that I was able to have a really good personal talk with Robyn that she needed to get out.  That same man could have just wanted to go home after all that pool time and then having to mess with the spare and then Wal-Mart but he knows how much I love Little Blue and so we went.  And in the end I got to spend one on one time with Katie while David and the kids went exploring down the creek.

I'm truly blessed.  I know this.

Father's Day Weekend 2018

Father's Day weekend was a busy one for our family.  David was able to start it off with getting off a little early from work so that he, Levi, and Richard Polling could go out on Richard's boat on Lake Waurika to go fishing.

David hasn't fished in years, mainly because he isn't a fan of eating fish, so I was very proud of him when he caught this huge hybrid fish.  I'm so grateful that Brother Polling invited Levi (he is Levi's seminary teacher) and David to do this on Father's Day weekend.  I always want holidays and birthdays to be special and even though I hadn't planned the trip, it turned out great for a weekend that should be about Fathers.

 On Sunday, Ruger and Hyrum made these cute little ties for David in Primary.  Ruger insisted on wearing the one he made though.  Which reminds me of Mother's day.  He made a cute card in Primary and showed me it but right after he showed me it he insisted on taking it back and that it was his! 

 Later we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to have dinner.

 All the wonderful men in my life!

 And just a cute picture of Shane and Ruger matching in their Sunday clothes.

Our last full day on Dauphin Island

Since it is our last full day on Dauphin Island, I thought I would put all our pictures that I haven't posted yet on here.  Then I'm just going to enjoy the day and not take pictures.  Not that I only focused on pictures while at the beach on the other days.  I really did make sure that I was fully enjoying my time.

One day that we were here, it rained a good chunk of the day.  We went to the beach that morning and got rained out!  But it was actually kinda fun walking home in the rain.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading, and playing board games.

All the rest will be beach pictures, well, because it was my family's favorite thing to do.

Layne wanted to take a picture with this "treasure" the boys found out in the ocean.

(Alisa and April)

Beach Family Pictures

Tomorrow, Uncle Chuck turns 50.

Yesterday, Grandma Helen turned 70.

I love that we are on this island on their birthdays because these pictures are going to make great presents when we get back!

Fort Gaines

 On Wednesday, we went to Fort Gaines.  It wasn't that far away considering I think I read that the island is only 17 miles long.

 It was hot, even though we went in the morning, but I have to say that we were blessed with a nice breeze.  I'm truly so grateful for that.

 "This was not your everyday outhouse.  It had ten seats that connected by way of a culvert to the Bay.  The tide would come in and out once a day and "flush" the toilets.  This was necessary being that over 400 men used these latrines daily."

 So, of course, we had to act the part out!  Shaylee was mindful of Ruger, making sure he didn't fall through his "toilet seat."

 Here is Allie, Layne, and Ruger riding the waves on an old ship's rudder.  It was found out in the sea and estimated it was used in the years of 1800-1850.  It wasn't until after I got home to look at these pictures that it says to not touch...and that it was so old.  oops.....

Fort Gaines started construction in 1812 for adequate defenses on the coastline.  It didn't end until the outbreak of the civil war.