Deck the halls, and I need some Halls.

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On the evening of Thanksgiving Lena turned up sick, with a super high fever, and by the next day, throwing up! (Only once though, phew!) So for the last 3 days she has had a fever, and I have had a horribly stuffy/runny nose, and a headache, with a slightly sore throat. As long as I am not throwing up I am happy, so I am counting my blessings (still). So far no one else has caught the icky fever, also thankfully!

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And if you are still reading after that glowing intro of our current bodily issues, then I know you truly care. On this the Sabbath day, I am in the throes of Christmas decorating our tree and house, and it is chaos but it is totally great to see the transformation from plain to sparkling masterpiece!(hey- a girl can hope, right?) we just had our home teachers come over and they had to wade through like 6 over flowing bins of Christmas clutter in the foyer, as well as small mountain of soft billowing toilet paper(what I wrap the ornaments in)in the living room, as Lena's cat Pearly was snuggled up in it like a birdie in a nest.

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I am trying out something new with the tree this year. We have a fake 9 foot tree that is always SOO full, and I always miss the long, lanky,sparse look of the real trees we always had growing up, but I refuse to have one because I do not have the patience to vacuum needles all season long. SOO, I was perusing over the Martha Stewart website recently and came across an idea I thought would be great. This time when we put up the tree, I only used every other row of branches, which left a lovely wide open space between the rows, as well as a tiered look. I like it for a change! I wrapped cut sections of garland around the inner pole to camouflage it better. Lena and I have also been playing like Christmas elves and adding extra glitter to old ornaments that need sprucing up! (instead of tossing them!)

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I was reading an article today that my VT-er (thanks Lisa!) gave me this week that was from General Conference, called"Finding Joy in the Journey". I remembered hearing it, but WOW- what a fantastic message that is. Reading it today this quote really jumped out at me:

“Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”

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Isn't that just awesome? There are two blogs that I have read rather religiously for many months now that have honestly been such amazing examples of this idea. The one is Nienie dialogues( and Cjane) and the other is A Daily Scoop, and both of these have been like grounders for me, helping put every shallow thing in my life into perspective, and giving me stellar examples of making the most of life, no matter the circumstance God places you. Reading their honest take on things, seriously has affected my view of my own life, and that along with having sweet Baby Elsie, has created a change in my heart and mind that is so good. My heart is so full of peace and love and satisfaction, and I think I am more thankful for every day with my children than I was before. It's really amazing.

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Anyway.. random Sunday night musings.=) I am in LOVE with my baby, have I said that today? She is the most wonderful piece of soft dreamy snuggle-love I could ever imagine. I thank heaven every single day for her. What a gift she has been to my life. I am deeply sincerely a better person since she came into my world. Wow. I am so grateful! Ahhhhhh.

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Well, I will get some pics of our decorating up here tomorrow or as soon as I can get it done!!=)

Nighty Night!