Deepest Gratitude

Horrible... grey skies

Lovely... Family ties

I would like to thank all of my/our wonderful friends who took the time to call, email, or just ask about my Aunt Jean.  It really means a lot to me that so many care enough to see how I am/was holding up.  Everyone in the family appreciates all the prayers and thoughts that were given/said on our/her behalf. 

We are holding up well, and are comforted that she was found.  No foul play was determined and that has helped with the healing process.

I know that this ordeal has brought my family closer together and we have become stronger because of it.  We are very grateful to know that she is now where she belongs and that Heavenly Father has called her home.  Family means everything to me, and I am grateful to be apart of a family who holds each other up when another is weak, and how we rally around each other to give comfort, love, and encouragement.  No matter our differences, separation geographically, we are still a close knit family and I love being apart of the Davis' heritage.



Wedded Bliss

Thirteen years ago today, my father walked me down the isle and handed me over to my prince charming to become his wife and he my husband.  From that day forward, I left my parents and he his, and began to cleave unto each other.  He is my help meet, my soul mate, my beloved, and I his.

We have had our struggles, I will not lie.  We have overcome the hardships, pressed forward and have drawn closer to one another as a couple and to Heavenly Father.  Most of all, we are very happy together.

I still look into Nat's eyes and fall in love with him all over again.  He keeps me grounded, I don't know what I would do without him.  He has given me the most beautiful, most precious children in the world.

(words from Nat)

        With all my heart I want to tell Nikki how much I love her. I look back and cant believe that it has been 13 years. I remember how beautiful you looked when we got married, I am a lucky man to have you as my wife. I LOVE YOU.

Hope & Faith

I joke around that I love having my husband around, but just as long as he is working... outside the home.  Mostly, I'm not joking.  Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that the kids and I have some quality time to spend with him (this is the most and longest we have had him all to ourselves in 13 years), but I also love having him go to work.

But, while we have had him home, we have been having fun.  We have gone to the movies (for free of course), went swimming, and more swimming, and even more swimming, and have hung out with friends and family.  I will say, that when Nat does finally find a job, he will surely be missed around the house.

Since Nat's layoff (almost 2 weeks ago), school has been on hiatus... dare I say that?  For some reason, the kids and I just don't really want to be doing school.  We want to hang out with our favorite person, our hero, our prince charming, our jungle gym.  We want to get some quality bonding time in as a family.  I can say that we have had a lot of fun just hanging out and getting to know each other better.

Most in our situation would be going crazy, pulling their hair out, looking for a job (I am guessing).  I think that this time has brought us closer together as a family, we have been growing stronger.  Not on our own of course, we have put all our faith into Heavenly Father to get us through this, we haven't lost hope.  I think that because we haven't lost faith, haven't lost hope, we aren't stressing.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't an easy thing for us to go through, but, we know that trials are a part of life and that everyone must go through them.  All, I have to remember (especially when I start dwelling on it), is that we are supposed to be going through this, this is going to make us stronger, and MOST important... Heavenly Father will never give us anything that we cannot handle.

On Sunday, we learned/talked about the Widows Mite in Sunday school.  I was brought to tears.  I felt exactly like the widow felt.  I now know where she is coming from.  Granted, we don't have it as bad as she had it, but it still, I made that connection with her.  I have the fears of running out of food and providing for my children, just as she did.  I also have the faith that she did.  That Heavenly Father will always provide a way for us to get what we need.

When the prophet Elijah asked the widow for a morsel of bread, and she replied that she had none to spare, and was gathering twigs so she and her son may eat of it and die.  This is when Elijah made the promise to her.  All she could go on at this point was faith that Heavenly Father would provide for her and her son. (1 Kings 17:10-16).

Sunday's lesson must have been just for me... even the Relief Society lesson was on Hope and Faith.  "When we fail to choose hope, we risk allowing despair to overcome us.  Despair is one of Satan's most powerful tools.  Once we allow it to grow in the least, it will take over with very little cultivation... Let us choose hope instead of despair.  Hope will anchor us to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is the author of hope.  If we will put ourselves in his safe harbor, we will be kept safe from the tidal waves of evil in the world."  Pam Whitman.  Hebrews 6:18-19 -- scriptures on hope.

Still no word on jobs... the waiting game continues, as well as the filling out of applications.

I joked w/Nat... maybe we should see if someone has a motorhome that we can use/have/buy for fairly cheap, and go find a campground that needs caretakers.  Sounds so very tempting right at this moment, no rent, no bills (except for the necessities)...

Counting My Blessings

We recieved a very special blessing yesterday in the mail. It was the gift of $200. This generous gift came with a card. We have no idea who sent it to us, but they sure knew that we could use the money. Upon opening up the card, and saw that my prayer was answered, brought me to my knees crying. Before I go on, let me tell the story how this came about...

I had a dream sometime last week about our upcoming ELP trip to Fort Ross for the Russian Fur Traders. I dreamt that I was talking to someone (whom I can't remember) about Fort Ross, and I said that I was hating the thought of telling my kids, husband, and everyone else involved, that we have to back out of this trip due to the fact that we didn't have the funds to do so. (bear with me, this dream is fuzzy to remember.) That is all I remember about the dream. On Sunday, as I was gathering our checks for tithing, I was prompted with, "When you pay an honest and full tithe, blessings will come your way." The whole day, my dream was in my thoughts. I remember feeling like I was carrying a heavy weight on my shoulders all day Monday, just trying to figure out how I was going to let everyone down. We went to our ELP meeting on Monday night, finishing up all the final details and getting the cost per child (around $50 per child). My heart just sank. I have been diligently trying to save all the extra cash we had, just to pay for this, but every time, something came up and we needed that money. Forgive me, I am in tears while writing this. I did find some donated material @ the meeting, snatched up some to help off-set the cost of our costumes (hopefully I can make 5 costumes out of it). Yesterday came, and I was feeling very gloomy. I was hating the fact that I needed to speak up about not being able to attend ELP this time, and I knew that I needed to do it very soon. Needless to say, I was getting depressed (not a good thing for me). All I could do was pray to Heavenly Father about it, and leave it with him. Then, Charlie brought in the mail, and I found an envelope with no return address. I opened it, and my day got a little brighter with the sight of our first Christmas card of the season. I opened up the card, and saw the $200. My mouth dropped to the floor, and I was overcome with the Spirit. I have no way of knowing who answered my prayer, but I would like to say, THANK YOU. Nat was trying to figure out who we knew from the area of the postmark, and the handwriting. I have to admit, I was a little curious too, BUT, we are not meant to know who our Angel(s) are. I know that our Heavenly Father lives and that he is always looking after his flock. He knows when each and every one of us are in need, and will bless us in our time of need and everyday. I know that Christmas time is generally the time that everyone tends to give more and be more thoughtful of others, but I would like to challenge everyone to be more giving and thoughtful throughout the entire year.