Let's see if I can post this without sounding too sappy. Actually, the more I think about it, the more impossible it seems...So for those of you who can't stand a bit of sap...simply look away or just bare with me.
The other night I was sitting up in
Ellie's room rocking her to sleep. The lights were off but the door to her bedroom was open leaving the room
dimly lit. As I was rocking El to sleep Mitch was
walking passed the door every few minutes attempting to pick up, fold, or put away some of the random chaos from the day. As I sat there a thought came to my mind, '
I've arrived'. Really, that was it, profound i know. But at that moment, at that time, i felt that I had arrived.
Let me explain. From the time you awkwardly stumble into young
women's your leaders start drilling the recipe for success into your head. Be clean, be kind, be worthy, don't date til your 16, date in groups, stay in school, get an education, go to institute, read, pray, ask, date a worthy man, go through the temple, get married in the temple, have kids...etc. etc. etc. So the other night when I was sitting in my rocker, with my little girl asleep on my chest, and my adorable husband walking back and forth, I couldn't help but think, "I've finally arrived". It was as if hundreds of
YW lessons, seminary lessons, church talks, firesides, and conferences finally came together and made a whole lot of
sense. This was the feeling they were talking about for all those years! They actually knew what they were talking about! It was one of those moments that I just could have sat and enjoyed for hours on end. It was for just a second, perfect.
I suppose some day in the far future
I'm going sit down and write it all out again though. When grandchildren are all around, and things are hanging lower than they should, and I have to help my husband put in his fake teeth, I suppose one day
I'll have that split second moment when
I'll again sigh and say, "
I've arrived, this is what they were talking about". Then again when I die and
I'm sitting in heaven and
everything is once again a little more
perkie perhaps then
I'll say to Mitch again, "so this is what they were talking about."
(Above) We all had a great time in the pool with a gaggle of the Dorius Grandkids. (Below) We love family pictures in this group!
During the ropes coarse Ellie got tuckered out. She, as always, spent most of the time smiling away!
This ridiculous game naturally got out of hand as the cousins, siblings etc began spinning the ball above their head to knock over their water bottles. Eventually, it turned into everyone trying to hit each other with the nylon ball!
Before going to the zip line we played this team building game. We had to work together and race to the finish line. Naturally, it turned into each team trying to push the other off of the boards. In the end you can see that our team won first (but Robb might have a different story, but this isn't his blog!)
Ellie loved canoeing, this picture makes her look so big! I thought for sure she was going to rock the boat over! Luckily Captain Mitchell kept us dry!
Ellie's first experience with yams. She obviously loved them!
Ellie's first 6 month birthday celebration. It was June 1st. We celebrated by eating cupcakes and Ellie drank a bottle of 'the good stuff'.
Ellie has learned quickly that life will not stop just because she came into the mix. She is always there working beside us!
Ellie enjoyed her first memorial day weekend by visiting Roger's (Mitch's brother) and Great Grandma Lifferth's grave. We took some time and shared with Ellie some of our favorite memories.
Ellie and I flew to Kentucky for cousin Braden's baby blessing. While there, we attended our first Cincinnati Reds game!
Ouch! That is all I have to say! I finished hours ago and I am perfectly content sitting on my couch and not moving for the next 3 days. But you know what? Inside, I feel pretty good. As crazy as it sounds, there is something rewarding about pushing yourself to absolute exhaustion. It is rare in life that you have the 'opportunity' to push yourself to your absolute breaking point.
