Who's Job?

In high school I was with a few friends and someone referenced the patience of Job. My friend, knowing who Job was but not remembering the whole story said, "who's job?". We teased her relentlessly. Come on... It's JOB! From the bible.

Well, lately I've been asking myself that question. Who's job? How do I get the patience of Job? I think that motherhood holds a lot of routine and repetition and I loved this quote by Elder Neal A. Maxwell about perfect love. Okay, it's a whole section of a talk he gave. ENJOY!

"Patience and Long-Suffering

Jesus likewise exemplifies perfect patience and long-suffering. Think of the implications of the Lord’s course, which, He tells us, “is one eternal round” (D&C 3:2). Routine and repetition may bother us, may bore us. But God and His Son, Jesus, are never bored with Their “one eternal round” because of Their perfect love. God is patient with us in process of time. He also helps by trying our patience and our faith (see 2 Thes. 1:4; James 1:3).

If left untried, those qualities, which are portable and eternal, would remain underdeveloped. There’s something about the isometrics that are involved when we’re putting off the natural man or the natural woman while striving to become the man or the woman of Christ. These isometrics are a blessing in disguise, though I grant you sometimes the blessing is well disguised.

As striving disciples, therefore, are we willing to be so mentored? Tutoringly, the Lord has said, “Ye cannot bear all things now; … I will lead you along” (D&C 78:18). He knows our bearing capacities. Though we ourselves may feel pushed to the breaking point, ere long, thanks to Him, these once-daunting challenges become receding milestones.

Even outstanding and courageous Jeremiah was once discouraged. Being mocked and persecuted, he briefly considered refraining from speaking out anymore. But then he said God’s word was “as a burning fire shut up in my bones, … and I could not stay” (Jer. 20:9). Jeremiah reached a breaking point, but he did not break!"

Working hard

We've had a fun week! The temperatures here rose high enough for us to have a lot of fun in our backyard. I made a "redneck swimming pool" for Gracie by filling up a storage tupperware. I tried to get a tan too (keyword: Tried). Gracie spiced things up a little and tried to go skinny dipping (A braver woman than I-good thing the backyard is fenced)

We celebrated Justin's birthday last week. I made the recipe for sour cream lemon pie that I posted on my profi frau blog. It turned out awesome. I also made the pictured cake recently and will post the recipe and instructions over on that blog as well. I have also almost finished the curtains that I started for our living room back in January (yes, I am slow).

We broke down and got a lawn mower this week to mow our yard (happy birthday to lawn boy Justin :). He'll think I'm crazy for blogging about this but he really is talented- we love having Gardner Lawn Mowing Fort Collins chapter.

Gracie has been a big helper and it is amazing to continue seeing little parts of her personality unfold. Back in March, when we visited Utah, my mom gave Gracie a polly pocket to play with. I thought the miniature shoes would be lost within a matter of hours and am totally shocked that she has still managed to keep track of them a month and a half later (she must've gotten that gene from her father).

Gunner is squealing with delight and talking up a storm. He is getting more mobile- he has rolled both front to back and back to front but just does it here and there, not all the time. He is starting to play with toys a lot more and is mesmerized when I read books to him.

As for me, my latest projects have been centered around getting ready to leave for the summer. We leave to St. George in less than 3 weeks. We can't wait to see our families!!!

And I thought I was tough

This is Gunner the thug. His shirt says, "Do you have tickets to the Gunner show?" I love the "hard" look he's giving in this picture.

Gracie wearing Justin's glasses. Does she look more like mom or dad? I wore glasses for so long as a little girl. I'm really pleased that Gracie looks a lot cuter than I ever did in glasses.

We've been getting this face a lot lately and I LOVE it. Gunner is becoming such a happy and smiley guy.

Here he is again. When we weighed him last Sunday he was 15 lbs. He is certainly growing.

Can't help, loving that man of mine

Today is Justin's birthday. We just love him. Isn't he hard to resist? There are a lot of reasons to love this man. Here are some of the reasons we find around here... (Skip to your next favorite blog if you want to pass on the birthday gushing...unless you're Justin)

*He is the best tickler in the house *He is the best horse in the house*He takes the garbage out to the street on trash days *He remembers to water our plants (not only are they alive, but they are beautiful)* He irons his own shirts (A job he hopes I'll take over someday)* He goes to work every day (even though I'm sure he'd rather stay at home and play with us)*He is becoming a real handyman and is good at fixing things around the house *He's cute (Justin was getting ready to go for a run the other day and Gracie said, "Dad, you look cute") *He is calm and patient *He loves my cooking * He makes us all laugh *He is a dedicated student* He is humble *He is tidy* He is good at telling stories *He is the best tooth brusher in the house (One of the reasons I know he'll be a great vet is how good he is at getting a toothbrush into Gracie's mouth to get it clean- I try but seem to meet more resistance). *He is the most responsible person in our family * He is kind to others * He is helpful * He has a great smile * He's great at making up silly songs * He is usually on time* He helps me be a better person *He is great with numbers* He's a COWBOY* He is smart* He has an obedient heart.

WE LOVE YOU, JUSTIN! Herzlichen Glueckwunsch zum Geburtstag.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter celebration. Even though we were on our own, we managed to have enough candy, an Easter egg hunt, successful egg dying, a delicious Easter dinner, and of course, enjoyable time together. I'm also proud to report that I had a brilliant idea to take a couple of Easter pictures of the kids on Friday, rather than Sunday. Boy was I glad I did. Our church starts at 8:30am so when we woke up at 7:40 after a long night with Gunner we didn't have time to be as cute as we all wanted to be, or time to take all the cute pictures . :)

I loved church yesterday! Our bishop gave a great talk and said (in my interpretation- not exactly his words) that it will probably not be that surprising when we die to see that Christ had an influence in each of our lives. What will probably be surprising to us is how many times Christ has directly or indirectly influenced our lives without us recognizing- just as Mary did not recognize Christ outside the tomb and just as the apostles did not know it was him who unfolded the scriptures to them on the road to Emmaus. I am grateful for the Savior and hope to be more mindful and aware of his sacrifice and love for me. Love to you all, and Happy Easter!

Three months

Well, today marks 3 months since Gunner was born. I cannot believe how quickly it has gone, nor how quickly he has grown. Gunner is definitely losing that fragile new born feel, and as you can tell from his pictures if beefing up quite nicely. He is wearing the size 3 diapers that Gracie abandoned when she potty trained and is moving up through his clothes, having grown out almost all of his 0-3 month clothes. Did the time go this quickly with Gracie? In some ways it's hard to remember that she was anything but a toddler, It has been fun to look back at her pictures and old videos and see all of the progress that she has made and to look forward to Gunner making that same progress.

We have been busy lately, enjoying the schizophrenic weather (one day sunny and beautiful, the next a total blizzard or winter wonderland). Gracie has been reading books galore, carrying all of her toys around the house in gift bags (she found a stash of bags in the closet), and LOVING Gunner (read mauling).I have been enjoying the nice weather and have even started running again (funny how you can love something that you hate so much:). Justin started up new classes at the end of spring break and is looking forward to finishing up in mid-may.