Keeping on.

A quick update today.

My parents called yesterday to make sure Bill was still doing okay and that we were doing okay overall. They had been worried and concerned for us, had offered prayers in our behalf, and had put our names in the temple. We have been surrounded by tender mercies, which I don't doubt are the result of such care.

It is a huge blessing that Bill is doing as well as he is. He is still sore around the right side of his torso where the seatbelt restrained him so well. Possibly a torn muscle or a bruised/cracked rib. He spent Saturday morning working in the yard, and gave an excellent talk in church yesterday, so hooray for being able to keep on keeping on. 

As we video chatted with our UT kids yesterday, he shared a few more details that I hadn't heard:

He was briefly in a state of shock immediately following the accident, and it took him a minute or two to grasp what was going on. Initially, he said, he didn't want to even move. The car was full of smoke and steam, and he was worried that it might start on fire, which finally got him going. It took concerted effort to open his door. Once he was out and had communicated with the other drivers, he realized he didn't have his glasses on. Upon a thorough search of his car, he finally found them in the back seat. I am grateful for 18-year-old airbags and seatbelts that still function properly, despite the fact that the airbag light has blinked incessantly at the driver since the first year we owned the car (2008) hahaha. (We had it checked over the years and were told the driver airbag was FOR SURE still in functioning order, but the passenger airbag may or may not be.)

This week I started in on a project for baby E, and found this uplifting thought on the edge of the fabric:

I can't help but think of this little proverb in terms of Jesus Christ.
"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12)

I've also been blessed through my personal scripture reading. Here are a couple amazingly relatable scriptures I read today in Mosiah 29:

"...the judgments of God are always just, but the judgments of man are not always just." (v 12)

"But behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him." (v 20)


I also felt that our lesson in Relief Society yesterday was a tender mercy. The teacher focused for a bit on President Hinckley's counsel to "stand a little taller," which led to a discussion about what happens when we do that... if we always had a stool to stand on to make us taller...? It gives us perspective. A better vantage point. It helps remove the daily worldly clutter we can get buried in and allows us to focus on the things that are most important. A sister made the comment about how, after driving around in her large SUV, she hates to drive her husband's smaller car because she can't see anything.  She doesn't know me, and no one in the ward knew about Bill's accident (which that exact circumstance played a part in). Coincidence? I think not. ("I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real, and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence. Often, the Lord's timing of His tender mercies helps us to both discern and acknowledge them." ~ Elder Bednar)

I know everything will be okay.


I've continued working on this little project... it's looking SO MUCH BETTER!

 On Wednesday I plan to start putting the finish coat on, and then hopefully start painting the balusters on Thursday. We've invited some friends to dinner and FHE next Monday night... always great motivation to complete projects hahaha. However, if I would have known how much joy and satisfaction just painting the railing would bring me, I would have done it much sooner {wink}.

And here's where the dogs love to hang out every morning:

I don't mind, except for when I need to go up and down the stairs. Ava will ALWAYS move the second she thinks you're heading her way. Jack, on the other hand, refuses to move a muscle, which means I have to carefully step in the small spaces around him. It's so funny how different those two are. I discovered today that the house directly behind us has two long-haired mini dachshunds, too... a brown and a black one. Coincidence? Who knows! The dog commonality has given us a good reason to go meet them, at least.


I love love love snaps of my favorite grandgirls...
they bring a smile to my face no matter what's going on.

Bill and I are doing some car shopping this week in the hopes we can secure another amazing used vehicle that will serve it's purpose as well as our dear departed '99 Maxima. He has classes W-F, so I guess we have... today and tomorrow. I'd better get hoppin'.