Well, we sent our little Zaylee home tonight with her mama. She was ready to go home and yet, I could sense that she was sad to leave Grammie's too. She had extra hugs and loves for me tonight. As a matter of fact, she called me about ten minutes after she was home to tell me goodnight again. I love that little girl. I love being a Grammie. And I really love being Zaylee's grammie! After they left, as Doug was getting ready for bed, we talked about how good it felt to be able to be there for her and help her. Our prayers in the family this past week have been that we would know how to best serve Zaylee in her recuperating time. I felt our prayers were answered and her recovery has been so flawless. Tender mercies are wonderful!!
Oh, and I had to take a picture of her this morning, practicing "three" with her fingers. She was still celebrating her birthday today. Celebrate everyday, not just the ones with an asterisk on the calendar.
Now. To the wedding. This morning, I woke up at 3:55 with the alarm and my brain would not slow down. I almost went into panic mode thinking, "Have I done enough? Have I missed something? What if Tessa isn't happy with it?"I started to rethink the entire plan. Apparently, this was exactly what I needed to shift into high gear and complete the things on the to do list... except of course, the chocolates. That's tomorrow's big project. After a practice run on my dining room table this afternoon, it all came together and I loved it! Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right.
Today, before leaving to meet Denise at Chili's and do our running, I turned off the furnace and opened every window in the house, before leaving, hoping that when I returned, every germ inside would be gone when I returned. I stripped the beds and washed the last of our bedding at 9:30 tonight. So, tomorrow, the house can be germ-free when we dip chocolate spoons! (I could just imagine myself passing the flu along with 400 germy chocolate spoons at Tessa's reception! NIGHTMARE! But, that won't be happening!) Confidence is preparation. Everything else is beyond your control.
Another thing that I have not even given a thought to was the wedding dinner. Of course, Aleece knows that we'll be there but I'd not even had time to open the wedding announcement until tonight, when I was wondering exactly when the reception begins. I'd already seen the photos and knew everything else about the reception. Then, tonight, when I looked, out fell the little card for the dinner. I've not formally RSVP'd for the dinner! That is my pet peeve in the world! People who don't RSVP! And then what did I do!? Oops! My face is red! Good manners are just a way of showing other people that we have respect for them.
As I was doing laundry, he noticed as I pulled a pair of Quayd's jeans out of the dryer. EVERY time that I wash his jeans, the pockets are fullof candy wrappers. TONS of them! He uses his pockets as a trashcan. Hence, whenever I do laundry, I end up with a floor full of wrappers, which I promptly have Quayd clean up. Tonight, after crushing a caseof giant siz Butterfinger candy bars, I had a bag full of wrappers ready to go outside to the trash. Doug saw the wrappers and said, "I'll take those." He then went down to the laundry room and filledQuayd's jeans with the wrappers... in the pockets, down the legs, through th beltloops. We took Quayd's laundry into his room and asked him to put them away. When he got to the jeans in his stack, he was flabbergasted by all of the wrappers and wondering "Where did all these come from!?!?" We laughed and laughed! Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.
One last thought tonight... Family Home Evening. Tonight, everyone gathered together and I asked the family to share words that we think of during the month of November. Of course, the words were "Gratitude, Thankful, Praise..." I had asked everyone to bring their scriptures to the living room and then we used the topical guide to find scriptures about those words. (Double purpose - practice using the topical guide and also thinking about Thanksgiving.) Even Zaylee had scriptures (she insisted). So, I found a verse for her to repeat. She's such an independent little girl! We discussed each scripture then I had ZJ read one of my favorite quotes, "Breathe with grateful acknowledgement to Him who grants each breath." Doug shared a story about his brother, Danny, expressing gratitude to their day when they were young and then expressed gratitude for many things. What started out to be kind of crazy and wild, turned into a lovely discussion. Family Home Evening is worth every second of time, energy, thought and effort. Like iron links in a chain, this practice {Family Home Evening} will bind a family together, in love, pride, tradition, strength, and loyalty.
Enough said.
Love the quote with the pretty Thanksgiving tablescape. One of the many traditions I like about the LDS faith is your family home evening. Such a great tradition that other Christians should copy.
Posted by: Nicole | Wednesday, November 16, 2011 at 04:10 PM