"Life is to be Enjoyed...Not Just Endured": 2011

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Madi's Fieldtrip

Madi went on a fieldtrip with her school. It was so fun and they got to learn a lot. She was so funny and being so shy. She got a coloring book, a sticker, and a firetruck eraser. She was pretty excited and had fun seeing all the neat things.

She is so cute! :)

Friday, November 25, 2011

Life-A New Normal

My poor blog has been so neglected lately. It seems life has been in a whirlwind the past couple of months. I rarely find time to sit and relax and when I do find time I just want to relax and not worry about anything. So hence my blog has been quite neglected.

It is crazy how your normal can change in an instant. A few weeks ago Mike's mom was diagnosed with cancer. The phone call no one ever wants to get but so many people do. We had just arrived home from San Antonio. I had just left the pediatricians office and my phone rang. It was Mike's mom calling to tell me they had just found out she had cancer. I froze not knowing how to react to the news I just heard. It has been quite an eventful few weeks. With so many things...crying, waiting for results, fear, more waiting, love, still more waiting for results, time with family, seeing amazing support of an amazing woman, spiritual experiences, tender mercies, testimonies strengthened, and so many other hard and yet wonderful things.

I love my dear sweet mother in law. Too often we take those we love for granted. I shared my thoughts on her blog and if you'd like the read them you can click here:

http://cheereveryday.blogspot.com/2011/11/weekend-with-family.html

We finally have gotten a treatment plan for Mike's mom. She will start chemo therapy on December 5th. Please keep her in your prayers. She will need a lot of strength to endure the things that will be happening to her. We know that our Father in Heaven is mindful of us and that this is happening for a reason and it is for our good. Life is going to be a new normal right now and that is ok. We can endure because we have a Savior who loves us and knows how to succor us. Life will be wonderful because we have each other and the gospel.

Here is Mom with me, Amanda, and SaraAnne.

Love you girls!

Trip to San Antonio

We went down to San Antonio to go to our niece Kylie's baptism. We drove down there...crazy right? It is a 2 day drive but we had a good time. Here is some pictures from the fun vacation.

Here we are before crossing the Colorado state line.

Crossing into New Mexico

Finally to Texas! We had fun driving and got to stop in Roswell, NM the 1st night. It was so funny to see all the alien stuff they had. We also got to go to church on Sunday in Roswell. It was so wonderful. It was weird being a place we didn't know but as soon as I saw the church a peace came over me and it was wonderful to be able to step into a place of familiarity. It was so great.

We had so much fun while in Texas and got to spend Halloween there. Here are all our 8 girls all dressed up ready to go. They were all so cute!

Kate was a genie

Mayli was Tinkerbell

Madilyn was a fairy

Jewels was a little bunny

A pic of all 4 girls

Here is Juliet while we were trick-or-treating

Here are the bigger girls while we were trick-or-treating

We decided to go see The Alamo because Mike and the girls had never seen it. It was fun to and see the history there. We had a fun time looking at everything.

Here is Mike and the girls

The girls by a cannon

Mayli and Kate by the flags

Me and the girls in front of the Alamo

It is beautiful down there

We went to the duck pond later that evening and the kids had so much fun feeding the ducks.

Celeste and I took the girls to Minitown. They had so much fun!

Later in the week the rest of the family flew in and we had fun together. We went back to the duck pond and every one had a great time.

Here is a picture of us all. We were only missing Ryan, Hannah, and Evie. We had a great time and it was wonderful to go to Kylie's baptism. It was a fun vacation.

Sunday, October 09, 2011

Days Never to be Forgotten

I would be ungrateful if I did not record and share the wonderful experience I had being blessed to be a part of the woman's choir for the General Relief Society Meeting. The theme for our choir was, "These were days never to be forgotten." And truly they were days never to be forgotten. The experience was amazing; the Spirit was abundant and the blessings were plentiful.

I had heard at a Relief Society Training for our stake that our stake would be included in the woman's choir for conference. I was so excited hoping that my bishop would choose me. I talked to Mike about it and he told me as they were discussing names in Bishopric that my name did come up but they thought there were others that needed it more than I did. I told Mike that, that was ok and there probably were many other sisters that needed the experience more than I did. Secretly I was hoping and yearning for the experience and that maybe they would consider me again. A couple weeks later I was called into the Bishop's office with Mike and the Bishop called me to be in the choir. I graciously accepted the call jumping for joy inside. I had always wanted to sing in conference ever since I was a little girl.

How grateful I am for my wonderful supportive husband who took care of the kids week after week while I was at practices. Dealing with a screaming baby who hated bottles and just wanted Mom to nurse her; and to add to the craziness the 3 other children. Many times I came home to a freshly cleaned home, 3 of the children in bed, and my husband cuddling with the baby on the couch. How grateful I am for him and for his unwavering support in my callings. I am so richly blessed!

The practices were always filled with the spirit. I had to opportunity to each week to hear a member of the Relief Society General Board speak to us. We also had amazing support from our wonderful priesthood leaders; each week the stand would be full of priesthood leaders who would be there supporting the sisters in each of the stakes. We would hear wonderful council from one of them weekly also. We also got to meet the amazing couple in charge of putting together the guest choirs for conference. They were so loving and kind and well amazing. The choir director was wonderful and she has changed my life. She always had something amazing to say and we were so blessed to be taught by her. At one particular practice she bore her testimony of the Savior and right after we sang 'I Know that my Redeemer Lives'. The Spirit was so strong I cannot even express the feelings I had but there was not a dry eye in the room.

I also had the opportunity to hear Julie Beck, Silvia Allred, and Barbara Thompson of the General Relief Society presidency speak to us. It was an amazing experience to hear all the stories of why they chose the songs they chose; why we wear the white shirts, black skirts, and corsages; and to be blessed to hear their amazing testimonies, feel of their spirits, and see their amazing countenances. The light of Christ shines from them and illuminates the room when they walk in. As we were practicing before the conference I could feel when Sister Beck walked in the room; I could feel of her spirit and the whole atmosphere changed as she came in. She truly is a woman of God and has been called by the Lord to serve in this capacity. I have always admired her but being so close to her and seeing the beauty she has because she has so much charity was just astounding.

As I sat in the conference center as we were waiting for the conference to start an overwhelming feeling of love from my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ enveloped me. I was overcome with emotion as I sat there knowing that I was called to do this because the Lord knew I needed this. He knew my struggles and the things going on in my life and He knew that this is exactly what I needed. He loved me, Diedre Wright, enough to bless my life with this. It strengthened me beyond what words can even express. It was simply amazing and I'm so grateful for this wonderful opportunity. It was amazing!

Cheesecake Wedding Cake

I was able to make a cheesecake for a wedding for a friend of a friend. It turned out great. It was cheesecake with chocolate cream cheese frosting and white chocolate shavings on top. It turned out beautiful and the bride loved it.

Friday, October 07, 2011

Family Pictures

We had family pictures done over the past month. The first 3 are from Endless Memories Photography, Olya always does such a great job.

The next set were taken by SaraAnne, Mike's sister. They turned out so great. It is always fun to have Sara take our pictures and she does an amazing job!