Texas Fun

Wow! The last day of May. I thought I'd sneak in one last entry before we head into June. I can hardly believe it's almost summer already. Too bad I can't take a summer break from work.
The highlight of this month was my trip to Texas. I enjoyed a full week away from work! I went with my parents. We spent the first half of our trip in Hewitt (by Waco) with my sister Becky and her family. We enjoyed going to the Cameron Park Zoo and the children's museum at Baylor University. We also spent a morning at Ruth's school and had fun watching all the kindergarten kids participate in their field day. It was very entertaining and fun to see all the excited, screaming kids. I also had fun going to see the new movie Star Trek with Becky, everybody else stayed home. It's been a long time since we've gone to a movie together. I enjoyed the show and it was nice to spend time with my sister. We also enjoyed plenty of family time together, Blue Bell ice cream (a must have if you're ever in Texas), and playing with the kids.
After a few days we headed north to Grapevine (near Dallas) where my brother Doug and his family live. Our drive was a little longer than it should have been though because we hit a Texas size rain storm! It was raining so hard it made it difficult to see the freeway. Becky told me later that their rain meter in their backyard registered that they received about 2 1/2 inches of rain that day! I've never seen that kind of rain in Utah.
We enjoyed going out to eat with Doug's family the first night we spent with them. We went to Firehouse Pizza which was amazingly good. We went to church with the family and enjoyed an afternoon at home afterwards. On Monday Mom, Dad, and I ventured into downtown Grapevine. We started with a history tour at the visitors center with a very talkative tour guide. He was very knowledgeable but we eventually had to just break away because he just kept going. We had fun walking down their historic main street and seeing all the sites. Then we enjoyed lunch at the Main Street Bakery. After lunch we drove out to see lake Grapevine before heading back to the house. We dropped dad off and then I headed out with mom to do a little shopping. Somehow we ended up on the wrong freeway and went to Irving by way of Fort Worth! If you take a look at a map you can see the humor in that. We both found some fun things then found our way back to the house. We arrived late for dinner which we felt bad about but we didn't intend on taking such a long drive and also hitting rush hour traffic. Oh well, live and learn. That night I had fun jumping on the trampoline with Jenna and Braden (my niece and nephew). It's something I haven't done in a long time but I had a lot of fun.
Jenna is a great kid! Some of the things she said made me laugh out loud but they also made me try to figure out the logic of a 6 year old. She told me that since I have a big iPod it's a good thing I have a lot of hair, I asked her why and she said that way when I listen to music my hair can blow in the wind. Another one that I thought was cute was one night as she was getting ready for bed she pulled out a secret stash of candy in her room and told me she had to have just one piece so she could have sweet dreams. The best one of all though was when she was eating a Hershey bar and told me "I eat chocolate cause I love it and it reminds me of other things I love, especially Jesus. So I eat chocolate cause it reminds me of Jesus." Too cute!
Overall I really enjoyed the trip. It was hard jumping back into my work routine. I wish I could have a little more time off and less stress in my life. I guess I can keep wishing and learn to deal with it.

Multiple Blessings

During the last week I read an amazing book called Multiple Blessings. It's about the Gosselin Family. I love to watch the TLC show Jon & Kate plus 8 and I've had fun watching the family of 10 grow. The kids are really cute. Kate had twins and then sextuplets within 4 years! The book is about the challenges she had along the way. Too often I get down on myself or I'm too stressed out to see past the moment. Kate talks about how her faith in God got her through amazingly tough times. Reading about her challenges made mine seem small in comparison. She reminded me of the importance of relying on God and knowing that He will always be there. Take a look at the Gosselin website to see more: http://www.sixgosselins.com. It has fun pictures and info about the family. I highly recommend the book. It really made me think about my "multiple blessings" in my life.
Today is Mother's Day. I enjoyed having dinner with my family. I've thought a lot about my mom this week too. I think she's amazing! She was laid off from her job but she feels that it was an answer to prayer in a way. She was preparing to retire in the next few months anyway. She's decided to not look for another job. My dad is happy to have her home. He's already been retired for a few years. It strange to think that my parents are both old enough to retire. I'm not getting any younger either.
I'm looking forward to my vacation this week. I'm headed to Texas on Wednesday! I'm going with my parents and we'll be there for a week visiting family. We'll head to Hewitt when we first arrive to visit my sister Becky and her family for a few days. Then we'll head back north to Dallas to stay with my brother Doug and his family. It's a much needed break from all the chaos happening at work lately! I'm going to make more of an effort to see the positive in life and remember my blessings. I especially need to when the stress of work starts to set in. I know God is in control and things will work out for my best interest. I just have to keep my head up and do my part along the way.