5 Months Old and Mobile

Yup - like I said - he's 5 months old - and has just started to crawl.  How cute is he???
The bottom picture is how Lexi finds him each morning when he wakes up for the day - peeking over the top of his crib and just smiling from ear to ear.
He loves to lay on his tummy and army crawl to everything that is 'just out of his reach'.  He can also get up onto 'all fours' and then plop down on his tummy.
He'll be going on his first plane ride next month when Jordan and Lexi take him to Washington to see Lexi's family up there.  They are so looking forward to having Lexi's family get to enjoy all the new things Emerson is doing and learning.
He's adorable, that's for sure!

Fourth of July 2014

The holiday fell on a Friday this year so it made for a really fun, but exhausting weekend.
Last week, our Relief Society Presidents husband ended up in the hospital and had been there for almost a full week.  Being her first counselor, all her responsibilities fell on my shoulders.  Can I just say, she is a very busy lady.  I did food orders for families, called and visited the sick, took care of two Sunday/s, one of which, (today) I also had to teach the lesson - had meals taken in to some families, went and visited new families that have just moved in, and then did several visits with the Bishop.  On top of all of that, the Relief Society was in charge of the Ward Fourth of July breakfast/Activity of which, I was the presidency member in charge.  Alana, the second counselor was a HUGE help also and between the two of us, and others on the committee, we pulled off a pretty fantastic ward party.  High Five to us.
Then, we had family over in the afternoon for a family barbecue and we were supposed to have several of Mike and Kylie's friends over also, but April Austin had her baby the day before, so she and her family couldn't come - but Paxton and Abby, with their three little one's, were able to come and enjoy the evening with us.  By the end of the night of clean up and fire works, I was exhausted.
BUT...that was not to be the end.  Mike and Kylie stayed the night with their kids...All did well, except for Madi - stinker.  She didn't want to sleep...she wanted Papa...papa, papa, papa - in every tone of voice, it was PAPA!!!  No-one got much sleep during the night except for Mike and Preston - so after a nice breakfast Saturday morning, Mike and Kylie took their family home and we all tried to get some much needed sleep.
Today, Sunday, I gave the Relief Society lesson.  It was intense - about making and keeping our covenants - I asked them 'why they were at church today' and 'why are they member of this church?'  The concept was - we knew the plan, we chose the plan, we agreed to the plan and we accepted the plan.  Now, it's time to LIVE the plan and our covenant.  Some days are easier than other...most days are hard though - we have to give all we have to kingdom and try to survive our trials well.  Easiest to do when we are living the commandments and following the plan.  Hardest to do when we are deviating from the plan and the path we're supposed to be on.,  Don't find our personal desires, thoughts and beliefs differing from that of the Saviors - if we do, we know we need to re-align our thoughts and hearts to His will and not our won.  We've each made the decision as proven by the fact that we are all here.  Now, remain faithful to our covenants.
It was a good lesson and I am grateful to the Lord for the flowing of words and thoughts he allowed the Spirit to reveal to me that needed to be shared.

I prefaced the talk with the sharing of a dream I had last night.
Dreamed I was my age now, but was living back in the day when I was 16, working for my dad as his dental assistant. But I wasn't recognized as my daddy's daughter...I wasn't seen that way - I was some 54 yr old lady. While at the office, a younger version of my mother came to the office with two little children.  In looking closely at the children, I noticed they were two of my brothers - Garth, maybe age 2 1/2 and Paul, just over age one.  I started to cry seeing them as I recognized them as my siblings as babies.  Then I noticed my mother was pregnant, which would have meant the baby she was carrying was...me.  I excitedly told her and daddy that the baby was going to be a girl and that it was me - and they were going to name her Marlys.  My mom said ,'But I don't even like the name Marlys'.  and I said, 'Well, I don't like it either, but that's what you named me'.  I then told them both, they would be having six more children and what each of their names were.  They were fascinated that I knew all this information and it was thrilling for me to be able to tell them all these things I knew from over my 54 years.
Then, the dream forwarded to being with my siblings in each of their early stages of their married lives...like each of them had maybe one or two children, after which I would then say something about one of them already born (oh, you're Matt and you're going to marry a very sweet girl named Annie, and you're going to be a dentist'.)  And then I would tell each of them how many more children they were going to have and what their names would be...a profound part of the dream was when I had to tell my oldest sister Sheila, that she was going to lose her oldest daughter, AJ, from drowning in the bath tub.  Then I panicked, realizing it hadn't happened yet in my dream - I was asking what day and month it was and then had to tell them it was going to be in a few days...I tried to comfort Sheila and Steve and they understood this was the plan they had agreed to and were willing to have in order to come to earth.  I woke up shortly after this.
It was a a dream that I found both comforting, as I was able to give them so much information about their lives they didn't know and had to look forward to,, but also, there was information I held back from them, knowing how it would break their hearts, knowing some choices that would be made in their futures by both themselves and their children.
That's how our Heavenly Father feels.  He knows and remembers the plan.  We have forgotten all.  He's given us as much information as He possibly can to help guide us through our choices...but we just have to live by faith.  The lesson was profound and the spirit was strong.  I was grateful to be an instrument in the Lord's hands of helping to inspire the women to live their choices and covenants.

"How Good Do You Want to Be?"

About ten years ago, just a year after we moved to Texas, we were in the Frisco First Ward and we had made a fairly good amount of friends.  Some of our dearest friends were our home and visiting teachers - they loved us and we loved them.  But there were many others in the ward too, but this family especially attached to our family.  They LOVED our kids.
Del was working the first two years we moved here and then he lost his job.  He was without work for almost two years and during that time, we struggled.  I mean, really struggled.  We ate from our food storage, we did without most everything EXTRA, both as parents and our children.  I worked at the schools substituting and Del tried to find work here and there.  During that time, we lived off our savings and then eventually even went about $80,000 into debt.  It was hard, and very humbling.
Of course, our home teacher knew, but hardly anyone else except maybe, some family.  I don't remember the day, month or even year now, but I remember the story.
We had talked many times with our children about not being able to do this or that because there were just not the funds to do so.  They did without a lot.  But it was not as if we ever gave them everything they ever wanted or even ever needed at times.  They were used to doing without.  And they seldom complained.
One night, after we had had Family Home Evening, a knock came to our door.  None of us had jumped up quickly to get the door, so by the time we opened the door, no-one was there.  But on the front porch, lay an envelope that was quickly brought inside and handed to Del, as it said 'The Lott Family' on the outside.
The kids went about their playing and I had gone into the kitchen to do dishes or some other chore.  While in there, I heard Del call for me and so I followed his voice into his office, where he sat with 5 neatly piled stacks of money on his desk.  I gasped with a 'Holy Crap', I'm sure as Del informed me each pile had 10/$100 dollar bills in it...equally $5,000.
There was a note, from someone named 'anonymous', who 'understood our situation and wanted to help' and loved us very much.  Del and I hated to speculate, but we were sure it was our sweet home teaching family as they were about the only one's we knew could afford it.  We cried and felt our hearts fill with such humility and gratitude for such kindness.  We brought the children in and showed them the gift.  Of course, their responses were the same as ours, but they had way more fun with the speculation than we dared allow.
That $5000 allowed us to get on our feet before Del was able to secure a job the very next month.
Over the following ten years, we have been able to finally get out of debt by following a very strict regimented program by Dave Ramsey and just living 'without' until finally, in the past 4 years, Del secured a fantastic job, I have continued to work and we are finally at the point, that we can enjoy returning the favor in smaller ways to many others and enjoy some of the nicer things in life that we have worked years and years to earn and finally have.  Our kids think we are rich now.  We aren't, of course, but we finally have enough to be out of debt, except our home, but also enjoy some things we have done years without.

Tonight, Del calls me into his office and asks me the above question...'How good do you want to be?'  Following that question, he asks, 'How much faith do you have?'.  I know what this is leading up to, so I ask, 'Does someone need our help?'  But this is a little different, because he brings up the kindness extended us ten years before, so I know he's not talking about the occasional $100/$500 or even $1000 that we have giving in the past.  He's talking 'sacrifice'.  I listen...he doesn't give much detail, but rambles a bit about a family in need - doesn't know if we should - do we have enough faith? etc etc.  I feel a little put out by the beating around the bush he's testing me, making me feel like if I don't answer correctly, it's not going to meet his expectations.  But before we have time to go into too much more conversation, he has to leave to go to Young Mens for the evening.
So, I've been left to think while he is gone.
My thoughts...
Why does the level of my faith have to be determined by a dollar amount??  Why does the amount need to be enough to make it a 'sacrifice' instead of just a kindness?  Why does our faith need to be tested in the process to make this effective?  Is it a lack of faith if we give only $1000 versus $10,000??
Every month, Del makes an additional house payment towards our mortgage.  It has been a tremendous blessing to have me working  in order to do this. If I gave up my furniture money of $2000, would he be willing to give up 2 months of his 'extra' payment and not reach his goals??
I don't want this to become a game .  I want this to be a kindness that we do willingly and lovingly because we CAN - not because it is a huge sacrifice or a test of OUR faith.  I want to think about them, but also not lose focus of our goals either, and desires and hopes for OUR future in the process.  But that sounds selfish, doesn't it.  But I'm back to the thought - it doesn't HAVE to be such an amount that it's a SACRIFICE for us.  It can be a kindness.  It just so happens, that the amount given us was $5000.  That doesn't mean our amount has to be the same in order for it to be validated.
DO I MAKE SENSE???
So...How good DO I want to be???

FHE at the Bishop's House

Del works with some really great men in the Bishopric.  His counselors and executive secretary give him endless hours and sacrifice a lot to be the best men they can be.
And, they have great wives and families.
So Del and I thought it would be fun to have them all over for a FHE and party at our house.  Each of them has at least three kids, and they're all young, so we figured we would put out a slip n' slide,, little pool and then have hot dogs, samores and barbecue beef sandwiches with all the trimmings and fruit they could eat.  And we all had a blast.  The dad's cooked all the hot dogs, the mom's got all the plates of food ready and then the kids just had a blast eating and playing.
We had shooting of rifles, bb guns and a shotgun for the men, bow and arrows for the men and women and then water, trampoline, hammock. and swing set for all the kids.  They played for hours.
It really was such a good time for the kids.  They were exhausted with fun.
Then, when it started to get dark, we had them all wrap themselves up in their towels, come in the living room, and gather around the floor where Del and I taught them a FHE lesson from the Book of Mormon.  Del taught them the story about the Anti Nephi Lehi's, who in a covenant made with the Lord, chose to lay down their swords and weapons, bury them in the ground so as not to kill or hurt anyone ever again.  Of course, he told a little more of the covenant and details, but then I applied it to today and now for the kids.
I asked each of them to tell me some things that they might do or say, that are hurtful or unkind to their family members.  And that even though it's not like a sword, or knife, or spear or bow and arrow, it is still something that hurts and kills the heart - it's painful.  Then I gave each family member a piece of paper and pencil and asked person to think of a word or action that they currently do/say that is hurtful like a knife, write the word down and then we all walked out to our backyard.  Del had gone to the back yard and dug a deep hole in the garden and as he stood there with the shovel, each family member went up and placed their paper into the hole.  Then, they all promised to never say those hurtful words or do those hurtful things again...and then the Bishop buried them.
It was great.  Special comments were heard from some of the kids - they understood the concept.  Even some of the adults love the simplicity of the lesson and the way their children caught on to the comparison of the story from the Book of Mormon.  I was pleased.
We then cooked up samores and finally, by 9:30, everyone went home EXHAUSTED!!!
Del and I slept well too.
Good families.  Good opportunities for us to work together to help raise these children to be servants of our Heavenly Father.  I'm hoping they remember this night for a long time.

Del Has a New 'Happy Place'

It took awhile for everyone to get used to it, but once they did, this new hammock Del purchased yesterday has become the relaxation spot in the backyard.
Of course, watching Del and Jordan put it together and getting it hooked up to the tree, was, in itself, quite enjoyable to watch.  As in all projects they do together, they push each other to the limits in patience, opinions, and ways to accomplish the task.  Del ended up on the ground a few times, as did Jordan before they finally agreed as to where the hammock needed to be...then is when each of them was finally able to try the hammock out and enjoy it's purpose.  I sat in it once, but don't find it to be quite as relaxing as everyone else does, mainly because I don't have very good balance or control of my center of balance.  I ended up on the ground once and decided I had had beyond enough fun.
Del cam home from church today, we had a great dinner and dessert, and then before doing some more Bishop work, we went out to the hammock where he layed for over an hour and I sat in a nice chair next to him.  The weather was gorgeous, a cool breeze, and of course, the scenery was heaven.  Del was the most relaxed and happy I have seen him in years.  A phone call came and he even stayed in the hammock while handling church business.  He stayed another 30 minutes talking to his mother on the phone while I came in the house.  I think he has found his happy place.  We agreed that the only thing that would make it better would have been to have his three grand children in the hammock with him while he told them stories...
I think we might arrange that.

Already 4 Months Old

He's growing like a weed and is so adorable I almost can't stand it....
Talking up a storm - happy - loves daddy and mommy...
Just all around the best little grandson ever.

Our Final Picking

We had a total of 6 bean picking sessions - It took me just over two hours each time to pick, and then another two hours to snap them, except the Friday Date Night we made out of our final picking.  I was glad to have Del's help,because honestly, I was exhausted.
This first year of a successful garden, I had decided I wanted to share our blessings with some of our dear friends and neighbors that hadn't been as lucky/blessed as we were.  So, I gave a lot of our potatoes and green beans away.  They were sooo appreciated by those with whom we shared, so I didn't begrudge the final result of our harvest with beans and potatoes.  We will have enough to be happy.  Next year though, I promised Del I would be a little more considerate of our own needs...HUH?  Yeah, that really came out of his mouth.  But I understand what he meant.  I didn't have to give to the same families over and over.
Our tomatoes should be next and we still have onions coming and corn should be next.  Squash and zucchini will be the last of the harvest.  It has been so nice to have what we have grown for almost every meal we eat.  It never grows old, eating from our own garden.