A Fresh Start: New Blog

I have decided to start fresh around here!

After running out of space for pictures on our pretty little blog here, after consideration of a few different options, I decided just to go ahead and start a new blog. My only fear, even if it sounds vain, is that we will lose many of our friends and family who follow our blog in the move. If you are a current reader, we would love to have you move on over to our new little family blog and continue to stay updated on our adventures so that we can continue to stay in touch with you all!

From now on all of our updates will be posted onto our new blog, Every little Moment!

I know I have been missing in action in the blog world lately but I'm excited to finally get started again after deciding on what to do with our dilemma.

So, come on over and follow us! I promise to post soon about our new little addition and if you don't already know from facebook, whether it's a boy or a girl! Plus, I have lots of updates on our Kamden Wade!

See you over there!

Relating to Emma

Ever since college I have had a great desire to learn more about and understand the life of Emma Smith, the wife of prophet Joseph Smith. I most definitely have not to live in the crucible she lived in but when I find times I am in my own crucible her life and the words the Lord spoke to her on occasion always speak to my heart.

This week I have found myself struggling to keep my head above water, my eyes open, and my heart set upon the horizon. It's been a hard couple months trying to get into a schedule that fits full time schooling in with my life as a mother and a wife, and the other many things I want to do with my time or feel that I should be doing with it. Some of you are probably tired of hearing about my little rants I've had about keeping up lately but I remembered today that I'm keeping a record of my thoughts, feelings, and life on here. It's probably more for me than anyone else!

School ends in two weeks and I'm trying to keep my grades up, Kamden has been sick with a runny nose, very bad cough, and a high fever most of the week. On top of that he is cutting about four teeth at once. I have hit a wall in my pregnancy where I am very tired, trying to pull through it without much luck. Nathan's work week has been a little hectic this week, going in early some days and working late other days. He has also ran into a few problems there that have caused him to worry and be stressed. We found out last week that they are calling Nathan as a primary teacher in the ward as well and I am stressing a little about how we are going to handle this with both of us teaching separate classes and a 15 month old who isn't supposed to go to nursery yet with a new baby coming in April as soon as Kamden is ready for nursery.

Throughout this week I have received tender mercies, I really have but at the same time I have felt Satan working on my thoughts constantly. My mind and heart have been weighed down with the thoughts of failure as a mom of why I can't handle my child and a primary class at once when I've heard stories of others doing it, why do I become impatient with my crying child when he is sick and hurting, why am I falling behind in school work, housework, laundry, and my goals for compassionate service towards others? This large looming thought of failure has been weighing my already tired body down until I have reserved hardly anything for my worried husband and my hurting child.

After reading on the blog of Nate's cousin about her thoughts on the subject this week I decided to work on these thoughts a little. As I write I still feel completely weary of my crying, sick child in the background, my laundry I haven't switched from the washer from 4 hours earlier, the dishes sitting in the sink, the dinner I haven't stored in the refrigerator, and the homework I have waiting in cyber space for me but there are twinges of hope mixed in there, little bits of faith, and courage that if Emma can endure her crucible I can endure mine.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of The First Presidency of the church wrote an article called, "The Influence of Righteous Women" that I came across. I haven't even read it all yet but in the parts I have skimmed over my emotions already come to the surface.

In one dear paragraph he states, "May I invite you to rise to the great potential within you. But don’t reach beyond your capacity. Don’t set goals beyond your capacity to achieve. Don’t feel guilty or dwell on thoughts of failure. Don’t compare yourself with others. Do the best you can, and the Lord will provide the rest. Have faith and confidence in Him, and you will see miracles happen in your life and the lives of your loved ones." That is just one of the parts that have already jumped out to me.

One of my very favorite songs about Emma Smith is this one, How Much Can One Heart Take.

There's hope...there's good...there are tender mercies! Push Forward!

Grateful Post: Day #21

For this post we will complete the other half of the Benson family with my father-in-law. There are some great things to say about Dad Benson! 

When Nathan and I had decided we were going to go ahead with the marriage thing we got an email nearly every week from Nathan's dad with specific topics he had thought about that would help us in our marriage and important things that we could discuss beforehand. I can't tell you how grateful I am for these emails and the words of wisdom and advice that we have in those emails. I honestly treasure them and count them as some of our greatest advice we've ever received in our couple years of marriage.

Love these two amazing men!

 He continues to give great advice when needed but never pushes it upon us and only encourages us to treat each other with love and respect. Along with these great words of wisdom he is one of the most laid back, mild mannered men I have ever met in my life. I've never seen him upset or mad a day since I have met him and Nathan only remembers a couple times throughout his life that his dad every not noticeably upset and those were times when Nathan or his brothers showed disrespect to their mother or when he was defending his children.

Dad Benson with his dad and his four awesome, amazing boys he raised!

Another of my favorite things is his willingness to listen and his sincere care for his children, even me. You know when he asks you how things are going he is sincere and serious about how life is going. Nathan has always valued his father's opinion and counsel very much because of the honest, prayerful, wisdom he has developed throughout his life. Kamden loves to ride on his Grandpa Benson's shoulders and I remember there were quite a few days when Kamden was young with colic that he would walk the floors with him or rock him until he got his little body to calm and sleep. I was very grateful for those times as a new, tired mother.

We are sincerely grateful for this great man in our life!

Thank you, Dad!

Grateful Day #20

Today I get to pay tribute someone we are very grateful for, my mother in law! I am so pleased that I married my husband not just for him but also for his family! They are all great and as it's a house full of boys I have grown to love his mother for being the other girl in the family who understands the girl stuff!

I have learned a great deal from my mother in law, Coleen since I have met her! She has an incredible gift of healing and she has dedicated her life to cultivating it and serving others since she realized this. Through her study and years of practice she has been able to serve and relieve the pain of so many people. For me personally, she has helped me in the past few years to get through a painful back injury that has affected my back, hips, and more but namely those. I can't put in words how much this has done for me.

Nathan and his mom. I love this picture so much!

 With her foot zoning she also uses Young Living Essential Oils which she has provided to us free of charge since before Nathan and I formed our little families. We now have a great, wide assortment of these essential oils and they bless our family beyond reason. On average we use them daily or very close to, sometimes more than once a day depending on the reason. When you hug her it's like inhaling a beautiful oil aroma and you feel immediate healing with her gentle hugs. Really, I'm so glad that she passed many of her gifts onto Nathan including a love of hugs and a part of her healing gifts.

Kamden and Grandma Benson

My dear Mom Benson as I call her is a great example of service as she usually wakes up around 3-4 am and is off to zone and serve others until usually 10:00 pm to midnight. Not only does she do this but she has influenced more boys than you could count in the Scouting Program. This woman is a walking encyclopedia of all things scouting! She is involved in Food Storage, her Ward Choir, and also tap dancing on top of her work schedule! Even though she is busy she still makes time for family when we are around and we are grateful for that because she is also great to talk to and she is great at learning to relate to others. Since she became a grandmother with Kamden she has taken that role on with pride and she takes every minute possible to spend with her little guy! I'm grateful she is so good with boys since she raised four who served missions and are all awesome men! I'm sure I will have many questions for her as he continues to grow older!

Nathan, Mom Benson, and David!

Thanks so much Mom Benson for all you have done for our little family! I really can't tell how lucky I was marrying into Nathan's dear, amazing family and gaining another awesome mom!

Me, my Mother-in-law, and her mother-in-law

We love you!

Grateful Post: Day #19

Since I only had one brother growing up I guess it was meant to be that I marry into a family of all boys! I talked about Josh and David this month and no we get to introduce Brian and why we are so grateful for this awesome guy!

Nathan and all his brothers are very smart but we are grateful that Brian decided to develop his intelligence into computers. I can't count how many times he has answered computer questions, cleaned our computers, saved files that we didn't want deleted, and just been willing to keep them up and running! He has saved us a lot of time and money that we are so grateful for.

When I married Nathan, Brian was on a mission in Mexico so I never got to meet him until after we had been married for a little while. I was so impressed the first time I met him, a couple days after he grabbed me and asked me if I would go on a drive with him, just the two of us. I am so grateful for that and the opportunity to talk to Brian and get to know him a little. He asked some awesome questions and as we talked I could see a sincere genuine care that I was now a part of their family! It meant so much to me.

Since, I have known him he seems to be the quiet one in the family at times to me but at the same time I have noticed he has a great ability to observe the situations going on around him and act to help someone, make sure you are doing okay if you seem down, or just send a smile your way! Now, don't mistake the fact though that he can also be a lot of fun!

We are so very grateful for Brian in our lives and his sincere kindness!

P.S. We really enjoy having Kaitlyn, his girlfriend around too! Like Brian, she is very kind and willing to help when needed. Even before she knew us she was willing to watch Kamden while I attended the temple when I was in Idaho during a time last year! She is so much fun and Kamden loves playing with her! Kaitlyn is a lot of fun and always willing and up for something new or suggested by anyone. I have noticed her willingness to be involved and she possesses a constant good attitude in her countenance!