Peace

I went to a women's retreat last weekend. It was called Savior, Please. Our guest speaker talked about her husband who had ALS. And she talked about her faith during the three and a half years he lived after his diagnosis. It was such a wonderful retreat. I went there looking for some peace with my MS. I was in a small group setting and we were talking about struggles with certain things. I shared that I have trouble with trust. I worry about having to depend on people. And worry about the unknown. After I shared that with the group, along with crying with no tissues, I felt more peaceful. I think just saying what I am afraid of helps. I also said that I am willing to do what God has planned for my life. I know that He has a different perspective on things than I do. His focus is on eternal things. So, my prayer is Savior, please help open my eyes to see things with your perspective. I am ready for what you have planned for me.

Balloons

I took the kids to the Balloon Glimmer. It is where several people bring their hot air balloons and set them up right before dark. Then they light their fire to light up the balloons. It is really cool.



It really makes me want to ride in a hot air balloon. I am working on a list of things that I want to do in my life. You know, some fun stuff on like a bucket list. So, hot air balloon ride is on the list. I will have to blog about the list later.

Family Ties

Did you watch Family Ties back in the day? Well, I did. It was a sitcom show about the Keaton family. Michael J. Fox was one of the kids in the show. I was reading an article about him in Reader's Digest. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at 30. He has had his ups and downs with the disease and has a couple of books out. They printed an excerpt from his new book. A couple of things stuck out to me. He said, "I realized that the only choice not available to me was whether or not I had Parkinson's. Everything else was up to me." I like that. It is the same with my MS. I did not choose this, but I can choose what I will or will not do with my life.

He also said, "Don't spend a lot of time imagining the worst-case scenario. It rarely goes down as you imagine it will, and if by some fluke it does, you will have lived it twice." I think that it a good thought. It also made me laugh a little. The part about living it twice. I am trying to live this way, but sometimes it is hard to do. I have read about lots of things that can happen with MS. However, I have also read about how it doesn't always happen that way. I need to focus on what IS going on with me and not what might be. I pray I stay focused on Jesus, knowing that He will not give me more than I can handle.

The Gift

My hubby has been working really hard at his job. He works long hours, but overall loves what he does. His boss wanted to give him something for working so hard. He gave us a gift card to Great Wolf Lodge. We were able to use the gift card to pay for two nights at this huge hotel that has a water park inside of it. It was so much fun.




The park was not crowed at all. We had to wait in very short lines or no lines at all. The hotel also had a show they did at the big clock tower in the lobby.




Along with the water park, they also have this interactive game you can play. You look for different items to become a Magi. You have a wand that makes pictures talk and different things open. The kids took turns with the wand. It was pretty cool.






We want to think of a very special way to say thank you to his boss for giving us this mini family vacation. It was such a great experience for all of us.

Kindergarten

My youngest is now signed up for Kindergarten. She will go to half day Kindergarten in the fall. I am feeling really good about it right now. I am excited with her about going to big school. She has been talking about going to school with her brother since last fall. So cute! I may have a different feeling about it when the beginning of school gets closer. Kindergarten is such a big step. But for now I am really excited about her going to school.

The Ausmi

Today was the MS Walk. Last year I didn't look into it until it was too late and I wasn't sure I wanted to do it last year anyways. So, it was my first time. I had about 12 people on my team. Pretty good for my first year I thought. It is okay that half of them are children. They still count! The walk is to raise awareness about MS and to raise money for research and support for families with MS. It was a 3 mile walk. I think that everyone had a good time.

Here is our team.



Some of us got a little tired.




Some cool kids!





There are some honorary members of the team as well. My father-in-law has knee problems and my sister-in-law broke her toe yesterday. So her and her children couldn't come. And my wonderful hubby was at work.



I just want to say thank you to everyone who donated money and/or time to the MS walk. I am praying that one day they find a cure for MS. I am doing very well right now with my MS. However, I do know that one day I could wake up and not be able to walk or do something else that I could do before. It is very scary to think about sometimes. I try to focus on what I can do. And I try to look at life differently than I did before. I try to not put off what I want to do. I enjoy life more because of MS. Does that make sense? I am just so grateful for everything that God has given me. He has blessed me beyond what I deserve. So, again, thank you to all the people who support me. I love you all.

So, I had a good day!

So, today my hubby had the whole day off from work. We had a wonderful day working in the yard and around the house. We played with the kids and had just a really good day. He also received a gift from his work for all of the hard work he does. I am so proud of him. He works so hard for our family. I love him so much. So, I had a good day!

12? Really?

My oldest is 12 today. Wow! Time goes by so fast. She is now in the 6th grade, middle school. She is already taller than my mom. I can see she will be tall like me. It is hard for me to get my thoughts together about this birthday. She is so special to me. I just love her so much. Here are some pictures of my "baby".

Here we are at a mother/daughter tea.




Here she is an Oompa Loompa in a school play.