A good day to reflect

Oh it's been too long since I last blogged and here is the reason why. I just haven't been able to put my feelings into words yet. With our past family crisis, I felt really mixed with emotions and hurt inside, I couldn't bring myself to say anything that I thought you would find useful. I am doing better, but honestly, this has been the hardest thing ever to deal with because I have absolutely no control of the outcome. I did learn however, I DO have control over my outcome and how I choose to react and respond to adversity and those who sometimes cause it. We have the perfect example in our Savior, who has given us the way...pray for them and love them inspite of everything. Well I do love my son Spencer so very much. I pray for him with all the faith I have inside and with all the energy of my soul. I don't think there is anything else I can do right now so I will continue to do this one great thing. I don't mean to sound negative because really I feel such joy and peace and gratitude for all that I have been blessed with throughout my life. Since it is officially the "Thanksgiving" month, I think it would be appropriate to share some of my blessings with you. "These are a few of my favorite things," not necissarily in order.
....Autumn colors, snow on the mountains today, America the beautiful, the privilege and right to cast my vote (and yes it does count in Utah!), my testimony of Jesus Christ and of His atonement for me, my wonderful and beautiful grandsons, my boys and girls, my loving and honest husband, my family and friends, clean water, heat in my house, beautiful music, children laughing, a really good movie, HGTV, my Mom and Dad, my health, feeling happy...the end....

I could go on and on, but the important thing is to get started and try to say different things each day.

I just finished reading the book John Adams by David McCullough. It was a wonderful book and helped me in my perspective. I realized while reading this book about this great man and the birth of our nation, that throughout the entire history of the USA, people have been saying the nation is in a terrible state and it's worse than ever etc. It made me stop and think about that. Things do seem dim and yet if we look back in time we can see that they always did and we kept moving forward as a nation and building a great and a strong union which has passed the tests of time. We don't need to fear but look up and as John Adams said "Rejoice evermore!" I choose to do this. I will put my trust in God and look to the future with hope and determination to do the BEST I can do. With each small and simple act of goodness, a greater goodness is done. I am grateful and proud I could vote today. I pray the Lord's will to be done and that no matter the outcome, I will continue to follow Him and trust He is in control. God Bless America and each of you!

Gives me hope...

I was just thinking that I needed to update my blog. I guess I don't have as much to say as I thought I did! Anyway, I was looking at the blogs I could get into (I can't seem to get into the private ones even though I've been invited..hmmm), and everything always came down to the children and being "MOM." I started to think how wonderful it is that we are so blessed with this privilege. When all is said and done, it all boils down to this, our most important work and focus is our children. Like right now, I keep looking out of the window to see if Nathan is coming up the road from school and never a day goes by without thinking about my kids and wondering if they are okay. I thought when they were grown my worries would be all over, but I was wrong. Sometimes I think everything before was just preparatory for the "BIG" worries. I was also thinking how wonderful it is that these young mothers have so much faith to have children. I"m impressed by their desire to have more children and without wondering how they are going to do it all. Maybe that is a blessing of having them young and maybe it is also a blessing that our Heavenly Father gives to females...an internal pull from heaven. I am grateful for mother's everywhere who love their children. There is nothing like it in all the world. If we can love our children this much, how much greater is our Savior's love for us. It's hard to imagine, and yet I know it is real. I know that He has the capacity to love me and everyone else on the planet He has created. I am grateful beyond measure for His allowing me to share in this love and help to bring His children into the world. I treasure this opportunity and feel a great responsibility to do my best, even though I fall short often. Through His grace and mercy, He makes up the difference in the end. Like the song says, "He is the tender in tender mercy."

"Joy in my Posterity..."

Whew! What a month this has been. Today is Labor Day and the start of fall to me. I love Autumn. It is one of my favorite seasons because it is the start of school, yay!, and the beginning of the holidays. I love the colors of the leaves, pumpkins and the brisk air, and knowing that Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming soon. The summer went pretty fast for me. Next year I am going to try not to have so many things to do. Nathan started Junior High School and loves it, which makes me love it too! I was able to spend a few short days with Whitney and the babies. I just fell in love with those two little guys. Kael keeps me hopping and in stiches. I just love him to pieces! He is so sweet and Brady is adorable and so peaceful to hold. I could just hold him for hours at a time. It was great to spend time with Whit too. She is a great mother and will be a great blessing to her boys. I can tell she will teach them well. Cassidy and Chris stayed with Nathan so that I could go out and be with Whit and the boys. I was just thinking the other day about Whitney, Jon and Chris and Cass and how grateful I am for their good lives. They make me proud to be a Mother and I feel that it was all worth it. I thought I would just say, also, that I am so excited for the upcoming election on November 4th. Remember to register to vote if you haven't already. It will soon be too late to do that. Most telephone directories have a registration form in the back for one person or you can call your county office and find out where your voter registration office is, or when you renew your license you can do it then at the DMV. I'm not at all embarrassed to say that I am a Republican through and through. I am voting for John McCain and was excited by his choice for a running mate, Sarah Palin. I think she is on the ball and stands for the same values as I do. She is pro-life, pro-family and pro-marriage between a man and a woman only. I think she has a great presence and I admire her tenacity plus she is a mother. I love this country so much. I feel I have invested much of my life in the defense of it by supporting my husband in his duties during his military service. I recognize the blessings that we as Americans have and the stewardship which accompanies such blessings. As an American and as a Mother, I feel a responsibility to stand for good everywhere. I want the best for my children and my grand-children and pray for our nation to be preserved by the constitution upon which is was founded. What a privilege it is to have a voice and know that our one single vote DOES count towards the future. So go register if you haven't already done so.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the republic for which it stands; One nation under GOD,

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

One more blessing to count!

We have been blessed with a brand new baby boy in our family. His name is Brady Kremin Muir. Kremin is a middle name. Whitney didn't have to have a c-section and we are so glad about that. He weighed 9 lbs. 9 oz. and was 21 inches long. He is so precious to hold! He looks like Kael a lot and is so perfect. It's amazing how perfectly formed he is. It truly is a miracle. How could anyone think otherwise? Tomorrow Nathan starts school, so I came home for a couple of days to get him started and then will go back to Vernal for a few more days to help. I'm glad we live close enough to do that. We had a fun time watching and playing with Kael. He is a funny little guy and so busy. He doesn't sit still for long before he is on to the next thing. We are grateful for our kids. Our life is so good.

Explains my moods

WAIT! Before reading this, scroll down and turn on Ever Ever after on my playlist.

I just took an online test. It seems that my hormones are "severely" unbalanced. Cal could attest to that. Lately I have been so overwhelmed by the smallest things and just want to run away. I don't have any immediate plans too, though so don't be alarmed. I love my husband and need his support way too much for that. He is my rock and I don't express it often enough but I lean on him ALOT. I don't even know if he knows how much. We have been married 27 glorious years come August 21, and though it has been rough and rocky at times, I wouldn't change a thing except maybe we would have a lot more money in the bank and travel more often! Marriage is a wonderful institution and I know that it is a fundamental part of a healthy society and our Heavenly Father's plan. I am so glad that my lovely daughters have wonderful husbands who love them and take care of them. We love Jon and Chris like our very own sons and appreciate the contributions they make to our family. My happiest times are when all of my children are home and we are sharing laughter and fun together. I can't wait for Thanksgiving because this year they get to be home for the holiday. And we will have a brand new little one to add to our blessing list. Whitney is due pretty much anytime and we are so excited to meet our new grandson. So here's to another 27 years and more with the man I adore, love, laugh and cry with. I love you Calvin and I love my family so much!!!!!!

Love Life & Learning.....

I am supposed to teach a Relief Society lesson this coming Sunday and it is entitled, Love Life and Learning. I have been feeling very unqualified to give this lesson because I struggle with loving life sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for my good life and do feel very blessed, but I am not one of those people that can always just "roll with the punches." I tend to fight unpleasantness all the way, and....I don't have more than a high school education so what am I doing? As I have been pondering what I should say some things have come to mind for me. First of all, I don't think that life is meant to be easy, or necessarily fun, but we are to glean from our experiences lessons which give us perspective, wisdom and joy. This is learning. I came across something I wrote a couple of years ago, struggling to make sense of some of the adversity in life and here is a sampling of what I learned that year.

*I cannot get along in this life without my Heavenly Father.

*I can receive comfort and peace whenever I ask in faith and humility.

*His timing is better than mine, and He does not always give me the direction I want when I think I need it. He gives it when I am still enough to hear and accept it.

*His creations bring me joy.

*I am never alone.

*Jesus Christ loves me.

*Faith is not the absence of doubt, it is the choice to trust and obey in spite of doubt.

*I've learned to appreciate "old" mothers, especially my own, who have raised families.

*I know what it feels like to have "joy and rejoicing" in my posterity. This is GOOD!

After I read over my list, I felt more confident in my ability to give this lesson. I think we are all too hard on ourselves sometimes, and not hard enough other times. Does that even make sense? I think we can rationalize things away when we maybe should be doing better, in some things, for me that would be wasting time etc., but then I am way too hard on myself when it comes to human tendancies and weakness when I should just give myself a break and know that I really do try to "give my all" most of the time. I love my children so much. They are more precious to me than life itself but sometimes I focus on the things I didn't do or did wrong. I hope that I can learn to just let go of things I can't change. I believe our God is a "God of compensation", and where we lack, He will will make up the difference. That is Grace to me. Enjoy your day. I love you all!

I haven't done a current blog in quite awhile, but Cassidy is here walking me through this so I'm going to take advantage of her help. This has been a crazy summer and so busy but one fun thing we decided at the last minute to do was go to Oregon to visit with Bruce and Jennifer Madsen and their five beautiful children. Calvin and I both needed a "getaway" and the Oregon coast is one of those places that help me to refocus and gain perspective. It is the most spectacular place and unbelievably beautiful to look at. We saw a one hundred year old light house and visited the tide pools when the tide was low so we could enjoy the starfish, sea anemone and all kinds of wonderful creatures we don't ever get the chance to see. It was wonderful to play and visit and just relax. I feel blessed to have this beautiful world to live in. We enjoyed the Madsen family they have such good kids and a beautiful home. I miss the funny things Andrew and Spencer said all the time. Needless to say, it was a fun and relaxing trip and I'm glad we could go. It always feels good to "come home" after being away, though. Dorothy was right when she said, "there's no place like home...." We had a fun Kremin Family Reunion in June with the usual, silliness, laughter, campfires, pranks and everything that accompanies these great get-to-gethers with the Kremins. This bunch really knows how to have fun! We followed up with a Brimhall reunion in Colorado which was just as fun. It was good to see my Mom and see that she is being cared for. I loved seeing all my family and reconnecting with almost everyone. We would be so lonely without our loved ones. Well, to all of you reading this,here are a few pictures from our summer adventures. Have a great week.