Prayer

This week we have been reading about Enos and the story of him going out to hunt. I love this story. I haven't always had a testimony of prayer. I actually struggled a lot for a long time. I was embarrassed to give a prayer in public thinking I would somehow mess it up. After getting married Aaron and I would fight about praying. I never wanted to say the prayer when we knelt down together at the end of the day. He just couldn't understand why and would get frustrated. I guess the problem was a mixture of a lot of different things. I didn't feel worthy to pray. I didn't really know how or why really. I just wasn't sure if Heavenly Father was interested in me.

Then one day we needed to renew our temple recommends. We had met with our bishop and were on our way to see the stake president. It was my turn and he went through the usual questions. Finally he got to the end and paused. He then said "We have a list of specific questions we ask during these interviews and have been instructed to not stray from them. However, I feel prompted to ask you one more question. Megan, do you feel like your Father in Heaven answers your prayers?" I was shocked. How could he have known I was struggling? I went home and then it hit me. That was my answer. That was my Father in Heaven telling me he was there. He was waiting for me to go to Him. He does in fact care about me and I need to pray.

I now have a testimony of prayer. That is my "call home". Just like I call my parents for everything; advice, help with something, just to talk or discuss how crazy the kids were that day He is there for the same thing.

2Nephi 28:19-22

This week for my pathway class I have been reading in 2Nephi. More specifically I really like chapter 28. Its talking about the different things Satan will do to pull us away. I really thought about how one of the things he is doing is stirring up hatred among each other. He wants to see us criticize each other, see only the flaws, and just simply be mean to one another. Its clear looking around that Satan is doing a really good job too. We are constantly looking to bring each other down so that we can look just a little bit better. I know I find myself doing this as well. Its something I am working on. I decided to study this particular chapter in my study guide and I loved how it said "We have...had very specific warnings regarding Satan's power, influence, and determination...I believe the time is now. And I believe the target is you. For the most part, Satan has made great strides in establishing and selling his value system, which is based upon the son of man, not the Son of God...His is a value system based upon selfishness, self-indulgence, and immediate gratification"
This chapter was such a good reminder of all the ways Satan is working against us. Sometimes its easier to fall into those traps, but knowing what he is doing makes it easier to see and be prepared that we may strengthen ourselves against him.

I started school this month and its been a crazy ride. I had been having strong feelings for months now that this was something I needed to do. I tried to fight it. I kept thinking there was no way I was going to be able to go back. Not with Lucy at home and Noah half day kindergarten and the million other things going on in my life. But this feeling was persistent and so I mentioned it to Aaron and before I knew it I was signed up and found myself at my first gathering class.

Since then its been an emotional whirlwind. I honestly have never felt so close to my Savior. Its still hard and its still really scary and I am finding myself struggling to write full sentences, but I know that if I put forth the effort He will make up the rest.

This week we have been studying 1 Nephi 1-5 and it was crazy how applicable these scriptures were to exactly what I was going through.

!Nephi 4:6-7 "And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do... Nevertheless I went forth.". I didn't even realize at the time how much I exercising faith. It was scary and its been hard, but I knew it was something I needed to do and so I did it. I have also recognized that because of the faith I had I have really been blessed. I have really seen so many tender mercies happen since starting school just like it stats in 1Nephi1:20 "...But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."

I know that I will learn and grow so much throughout this experience. It will still be hard and I know at times I will struggle, but I know if I seek Him in prayer I cannot fail.

I love the quote by Russell M Nelson "I have learned not to put question marks but to use exclamation points when calls are issued through inspired channels of the priesthood"

I CAN do this!!

"Regardless of our age and stage in life, daily obedience to gospel principles is the only sure way to eternal happiness. When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power."

After seeing how much have grown and the blessing I have received just in the past few weeks I now think of all the many times I didn't follow a prompting or talked myself out of something I knew I should have done. How much have I missed out on before? I now have a better knowledge of the power of faith. I have made it a goal to listen more to the promptings of the Spirit.

Elder John H Groberg of the seventy said "The scriptures tell us in 1Nephi 4:6 that we went forth not knowing beforehand what he should do but knowing he should obey God and get the plates...I suspect had he listened only to reason, Nephi and his brethren would still be waiting outside the walls of Jerusalem. I sometimes wonder if by our listening to reason and logic too much, and not trusting God enough, we may find ourselves waiting outside the walls of His holy city."

Invisible Guy

We think Noah has an imaginary friend. At least he seems to talk about this "friend" a lot. We ask all kinds of questions and he responds like he really knows him. His name is Invisible Guy. He mostly hangs out in Noah's room. Sometimes we will ask where he is and Noah will say something like "He was really tired so he is taking a rest in my bed." or "Reading books in my room". He wears regular clothes and is apparently really funny. He is also the one to blame for anything. Like when we ask "Who made this mess?", "Why is there crayon all over?", or "who dumped all the books off the shelf?" Noah will usually say "probably invisible guy" like its no big deal. I like that Noah likes this Invisible Guy. I just wish his friend would be more helpful and unload the dishwasher or something once in awhile.

we're back.

I decided to bring back the blog. I wanted to make it more of a personal journal for my kids, but found that the blog was an easier way of keeping in touch with family. So I took off personal posts and made the blog available again. I could try to do a catch up kind of update, but thats a lot. So here are some pictures instead.

Some highlights -Emma lost her first tooth -Noah turned 3 -We spent the summer in Utah for both my brother and sisters wedding. Sorry Nick and Alexis...we forgot the camera. Lauren and Zac married the following month. -started a new year of school (abby 4th, Emma 2nd, Jonas K) -Lucy turned 1 -We moved to San Angelo and during the move lost the camera battery. that is why the pictures only go so far. I will work on getting the pictures from my phone uploaded.

Jonas

Jonas is hilarious. Im always amazed at how this little boys mind works. He reminds me a lot of his dad based on stories I hear about him as a kid. A few examples this week. One was when Aaron and I were trying to get the kids to eat their veggies at dinner. We finally bribed them with ice-cream to eat them. Emma tried and quickly threw it up (but that is another story). Jonas ate two pieces of his squash and when I could tell he really didn't like it I told him I was happy he tried it, but didn't have to eat any more. He later asked me if he could get ice-cream for trying other new foods. I agreed. He thought for a moment then said "I don't think I have ever tried french toast." Nice try Jonas. Another fun conversation. Jonas (pointing to the arm rest on his booster) "Daddy what's this for?" (He asks a LOT of questions daily) Aaron "its an arm rest" Jonas "oh good! I played a lot at recess and my arms are super tired". Oh Jonas! Little boy I love you so much! You are so sweet and kind to your sisters and brother. You are always telling Emma how she is a pretty princess. We are working on your little addiction to the wii and computer games, but I love how interested you are in everything. You ask so many questions and are always wanting to learn new things. While waiting for the girls after school you want to practice spelling and math. You are so smart! I love you. I am so lucky to have you and lucky that I get to be your mom.

Dear Noah

Today Noah you are in love with He Man. Which makes me so happy. You see, Dad and I also love He Man and She Ra (an 80's classic). You will find a light sabor (sorry we do not have any swords not sure what happened to them...I will work on that) and put it down the back of your shirt, convince me to be she ra and together we battle skeletor (who is usually daddy). I love that you still (at 2) can't really say things super clear but our home has never been more safe with you around. Another thing that I love about you today is how much you love Abby. You two are the best buddies. She gives you piggie back rides all around. I can always count on her to get you buckled in on our way to take the other kids to school. I know you are dying to join them... soon enough little boy. You still are obsessed with your binky (or ginky as you call it). We are trying desperately to get rid of it. You have no desire to use the toilet. Unless we are out of the house and in the most inconvenient times you will grab yourself and yell "I have to pee!" and even though you usually never actually go in the toilet I still scramble to get you there just hoping against all odds that this may be "the time". Noah I love you so very much. You still want to snuggle with me and you are so funny and so very sneaky. Please stay 2 forever. -mommy

going private

For those of you that may still be reading our family blog (if there are any at all) I have decided to make our blog private, completely private. Here is is why. I started writing letters to my kids in notebooks about a year ago that I would one day give to them. But it became hard to keep up actual journals (5 of them now) and I decided it would just be easier to keep a blog for them and them make it into a book to give to them when they are older. A lot of those things are meant for just them and not something I want read by everyone. Instead of starting a new blog I wanted to just add on to all the other stories I have already told about them over the years so I am just making this blog theirs. For anyone upset or sad about missing out (if there is anyone who really cares) there is still facebook :)

I think I have a Jonas 2 but worse

As most of those that have been reading this blog for long time now will understand what I mean when I talk about the joys of Jonas. If not then you should read back a little and get caught up. Now I have his "mini me" except this one i am afraid may be worse. Noah has definitely given Jonas a run for his money. Jonas was into everything just for curiosity. Noah is into everything mostly because he knows he shouldn't. And he knows when he is caught because he does this really funny face something like this

and then takes off running. I just cant keep up with his antics. He also has these lovely sleeping issues. He hates to go to sleep and has figured out from the older kids the use of the "excuse". He will come down and say he had a bad dream...even though he had only been in his room for 5 minutes tops. He has tried to use "I have to go potty"...he isn't potty trained and has no desire to be. He will hear us coming up the stairs to put him back to bed, take off running back into bed and then start fake snoring. sometimes its just hard to be mad because he is so funny and those eyes!! Man, im in trouble with this one

also I have decided to never cut his hair short again just because I miss his awesome bed-head. love him.

Lucy, Lucy Lu, LuLu Bug...

Our sweet baby is 3 months old today. She is 14 lbs 2 oz 25.5 inches Our biggest baby. She just learned to roll from her back to her belly. She laughed for the first time. Today we took her in for her 2 mo check up (yeah we are a little late) and she discovered herself in the mirror next to the bed she was laying on. I thought she would start crawling with how bad she was trying to get to her reflection. If you ask the kids what Lucy does, they will say "cries a lot". They like to tell everyone that "this is lucy, she cries a lot". Its true though, but she is cute so we will keep her I think.

We took these pictures Sunday right before we left for church just because she was so cute in this dress grandma lisa got her.

missouri

just before Thanksgiving we were able to drive up to Missouri to spend some time with family. Aaron was able to go to the temple with Leslie. I was sad that I couldn't go in because of a nursing cry baby, but I had my own adventures. While Aaron was feeling the spirit I decided the next best thing was to take a trip to target. I had just noah and lucy (the others were with cousins...thanks madison, cassidy, and taylor). I thought it would be nice little trip. nope. never is. I lost noah at one point because he likes to hide in the clothes and I was trying to find my size in a shirt and just like that he was off. yeah im a good mom like that. dont worry i found him soon after. he just likes to scare me. then I had to use the little girls room. I took the handicap stall since I had both lucy and noah. noah thought it would be funny to open the door while I was busy. and since the door is so far away from the toilet... he is fun like that. keeps me young I suppose. but i survived and then we went back to the temple to meet everyone. we were able to have a yummy lunch (totally made up for my awesome trip to target) and a visit to Liberty Jail. While we were there we saw aarons grandma ellie in the hospital. I went to see twilight. and just hang out with family. Really wish we were closer. miss everyone already.

p.s. can anyone can tell me why blogger will let me type paragraphs, but when I publish it takes away the spaces and makes one giant paragraph. Its driving me nuts.

confessions of a sleep deprived mommy

Having 5 kids I am learning is rough. Lucy hasn't been sleeping great and with Noah at home and another in only half day preschool... there isn't a chance for a nap either. Luckily I am married to the best man in the world because he understands that this girl needs some sleep and will get up early with the kids or take Lucy to sleep on the couch when nights get super rough. He's awesome like that. I have decided that this is just life right now and am trying to just make the best of it since I know too well that Lucy will not be this small forever. The best way is to just laugh at everything and move on. My sleep deprived brain has really done some awesome things lately. Such as forgetting my kids names at times. I keep calling Lucy "lilly" so much that I am considering just changing her name (not really...she will stay Lucy. I will just figure it out one day). I thought I was doing really good at remembering my friends birthday and made a super yummy treat the night before only to look at the calendar in the morning and realized I was a whole week off and her birthday was the NEXT week. She was nice enough to just let it be her birthday anyway. I think she is getting used to my craziness. I got my hair cut the other day. started to walk out her door only to have forgotten Lucy. Good thing I only made it to the door. That could have been really awesome. Tried to use my debit card. Had to type in my zip code into the key pad thingy. Couldn't remember it to save my life and sat there for probably 5 min trying to remember it. The cashier probably thought I was nuts. I had to speak in sacrament a few weeks ago. Got to the pulpit only to realize I was missing a few pages to my talk. That was awesome. This is just a few of my recent crazy antics. One day I think my brain will start working again... hopefully. Looking forward to when Lucy (not lilly) starts sleeping through the night. this is a really old picture of Emma who fell asleep in the playroom. Im way too tired to find the camera to load new pictures of Lucy

never going to catch up

I wanted to catch up all of our summer, but times are crazy and I have come to realize it's just not gonna happen. so im just going to say that the summer was amazing. We spent a lot of time with family, had a Pilkington reunion, Aaron tried to kill the nieces and nephews by hiking Mt Timpanogos thinking they would be back by lunch and not getting back until late in the evening (luckily they came across a melting glacier so they could refill their water bottles...its a fun story, and best of all Abby was baptized. Such a happy day. She is my sweet beautiful Abby who I swear was just a baby yesterday. So proud of her. Then we moved our family to Texas and started school (Abby=3rd grade, Emma=1st grade, Jonas=pre-k...yeah I know, crazy). Aaron's mom came to save the day and help us while waiting for baby to come. Had our Lucy. She is perfect. I am truly the luckiest mom in the whole world. And now im pretty much caught up. Now enjoy a picture overload.

Lucy Elaine

September 4, 2012 8lbs 11oz 21 in

This is the look she is always giving. She just seems angry or annoyed all the time.

We love our Lucy!!

we had some birthdays

We celebrated birthdays while in St George. First came Emma

Aunt Lauren made her a yummy pink with sprinkles cake. Emma is now 6. 6!! Seriously where does time go? She is still our funny crazy girl who still will not wear anything but a dress or skirt and loves make-up. Then it was Jonas who insisted on a brobee cake (from yo gabba gabba). This was the best I could do. He loved it.

Jonas is 4. He is getting so big. Its a big year for him since he will now start pre-k. So crazy!! He loves anything electronic. You can always find him on the computer/ipod/ipad...whatever and if he doesn't have one he will find out who does and become fast friends. Happy Birthday Emma and Jonas!!

the bucket

While in St George Noah made a big mess with a rootbeer float. So I decided the only way to clean him and everything around him up would be to just hose it all down. Somehow we ended up with him in this small bucket that had a hole in the bottom. He sat this way for a good hour before I had to finally take him out kicking and screaming.... who knows how long he would have sat there.

Sweet tan line showing through the bucket

His "angry face" always makes me smile. Love him!

off to utah for the summer... part 1

As soon as school was out in Virginia my brother Nick flew out to make the long drive to Utah with me and the kids. The kids were surprisingly really good up until the last few hours of the third day, but we made it! We then spent a lot of time just hanging out. We went to my parents house in St George doing a lot of swimming a little bit of hiking.

We celebrated the 4th and nothing says "american" more than a demolition derby.