Prayers

I've been thinking that I need to write in my journal about answers to prayers, but I never seem to have time. Since I've been studying scriptures online lately, this is the most convenient place to record my thoughts.

On Sunday after church, my little Naomi was playing with her brother's pacifier. She is fascinated with it, even though she has never used one (well, not for its intended purpose, anyway). I became distracted and she left the pacifier who knows where. I made some effort to find it, looking repeatedly in the places that I normally put it. Somewhere in my mind I had a thought to look in the box of toy dishes that Naomi often plays with, but I never recognized that thought as being an important one. And since Keenan only occasionally takes a pacifier, the need to find it was not too urgent.

Then, yesterday, Adara was playing in the toy dishes and she raised up Keenan's pacifier triumphantly, with a shout that she had found it.

A contrast to that story is last week when Jon couldn't find his car keys before work. He looked in all the normal places and then he asked me if I knew where they were. The very first thought that came to me was to look in his truck. As is normal for me, I first looked in his normal places (even though he had already done that -- silly creature of habit that I am). But, the need being urgent, I paid more attention when the thought to look in his truck came again. Going straight out to the truck with my own keys, I did indeed find his keys there.

How are these two stories related to prayer? No prayers were offered specifically to help me find the lost items. But I do frequently include a request in my prayers that I will be able to recognize the promptings of the Holy Spirit when they come. And, knowing the Lord requires us to obey His commandments if we want to receive the blessings we desire, I have rededicated myself to regular, sincere scripture study. I am not perfect at it, but I am pleased to find that my efforts to know the Lord better have been rewarded.

My Sister and Inside Jokes

This is my youngest sister. Some of my junior high friends might remember the joke.

Old Pics, Volume I

I haven't posted many pictures here since we started moving around in June of last year. I have taken a lot, as you are about to witness. Though you must realize this is the modern equivalent of boring family slide shows. You have been warned.

The following were all taken in June, our last full month in Pinehurst.

Pirate Princess Naomi

Filling Papa's shoes

An actual, untampered with view of Adara's bedroom floor. The diversity of toys gives me hope that the princess theme will not dominate her playtime. (As some items may not be readily identifiable, there is a Princess Aurora Ballerina doll, a miniature ambulance, and I believe the yellow thing is an upside down plastic killer bee.)

One last offering for tonight -- I chose it because it documents Naomi's hair really well. The video is probably not terribly interesting to anyone except for me. In my mind, Naomi is an adorable, charming, beautiful child. Obviously my view of her has been, *ahem* enhanced, *ahem*.

P.S. I recently called my mother to discover where Naomi's red hair comes from. My paternal grandfather apparently had auburn hair that could pass for dark brown in certain situations. My mother's father's father, I am told, was a carrot top. Why the red hair genes have skipped several generations, and trumped the supposedly "dominant" brown hair gene, remains a mystery.

Christmas

Nope -- still no holiday blog post for me. Have a ton of pictures, but taking a picture of the 3 babies is much, much easier than sitting down at a computer with 3 babies trying to play on the computer with you.

Fingers

Just an ordinary day of memories:

This is the week that Keenan finally succeeded in getting the thumb to stay in his mouth. A momentous, though somewhat moist, and germy, occasion.

This gem documents Naomi's reaction to the apparently tart apple she was eating. The best part about this is that she makes this face every time she takes a bite. But she doesn't stop eating!

Cute potential. I'm afraid my luck with the camera ran out after the shot of Naomi with the apple. The actual kiss that followed this picture was really cute. The most remarkable part of this picture, however, is that all three babies are awake and relatively happy.

The New Adara

Conversation with Adara:

Me: "We're going home because it's Naomi's nap time."

Adara: "But it's not my naptime."

M: "That's right, because you're getting old."

A: "Is it time to get a new one?"

5 Weeks Old

Jon must have taken this picture today. I thought it was hilarious.