The Orchard Team Huddle

The kids are out of school tomorrow so today was Halloween Day.  Halloween is far from my favorite holiday but it is one that has brought me so much happiness.  For the past 10 years I have done a party in one of the boy's classes.  One year I even got to do a party for each of them.  When Stockton was small he had so much fun sitting with Douglas, eating candy corns from his Bingo card and feeling like one of the big kids.  I LOVE doing Halloween parties.  Today I was not needed.  My boys have moved on and I was left feeling very empty and completely lost. Mason and I went to the annual costume parade.  I loved holding him on my lap and watching all of the kids go by.  I loved posing him on the stage trying to get a good shot of his costume.  (This pose was ALL his idea!  I was just trying to get him to look at me.) But the whole thing only lasted about 30 minutes.  This is the only picture I got of Stockton and then we we...

I have a confession to make.  I am a cheapskate.  I think this was more of a learned attribute than a god-given one.  I was raised the oldest of 6 kids.  My mom did her best to clothe us as stylish as we wanted to be without breaking the bank but that meant I never got expensive shoes, I never got name brand jeans and through the 8th grade, many of my clothes were homemade.  I am not complaining, I never felt gypped. (Well, I did REALLY want a pair of Jordache jeans in the 6th grade because my best friend had some.  My dad told me if I hit a home run in Bonnet Ball he would get me a pair but I think he knew that was a pretty risk free promise!)  I had no choice but to grow up to be a frugal clothing shopper. I have come a long way.  It has taken a little trial and error but clearance jeans usually aren't that cute, that's why they are on clearance.  No one wanted them.  Walmart shirts are cheap and shrink.  Payless shoes are uncom...

I have had the urge to record some of my deepest feelings but have not been able to come to some kind of organization with my thoughts.  I guess I will start typing and see where it takes me. Each year I feel I have to pass through this gate of remembrance.  It starts weighing on me a few days before Lincoln's birthday until I sit down and take the time to ponder and reflect on what I am doing with the promptings and assurances I received 8 years ago.  I love to reread the account I recorded of my experience delivering a still-born child.  Though I am not an avid journal writer and this blog is pretty much my current journal, I will be forever grateful that I felt compelled to write it down.  It is nice to remember the details and the chronology but the biggest gem is really about the feelings and emotions that were mine.  To an outsider it may be unbelievable to see how one could feel so much comfort, love and support from their Savior in the middle of ...