Happy Birthday!!!

Today is my Daddy's birthday!! Happy Birthday, Daddy!! I hope he has a wonderful day. I wish that we were there in Utah to give him a big hug and kiss, but we've called him twice this weekend to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! We love him so much and are so grateful for him. He has always been a good example to me and to my family. He has always done the best he can to raise us children, there's four of us, the way that he felt the Lord wanted him to. He has given us a great heritage to pass to our children. I love to see him help my Mom. I don't think there has ever been a time when he hasn't opened a door for her, ordered dinner for her when they go out, he has always put my Mom first. He stands up for us all and helps to guide us when we ask. He jokes with us and laughs with us. He cries with and for us all. He guides us with gentleness but reminds us that we have our free agency to choose. He prays for each of us every day. He would give his last shirt to help us or anyone else when he feels that it is right. I LOVE MY DADDY!!

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Last night our family watched "Mama Mia!" We had so much fun watching it that afterward we had to listen to the ABBA songs that we have on the computer. It was so fun to watch Aimee, Wendy and Kaitlyn dance and sing around the living room. Kaitlyn is such a ham, she is not only a bed hog, but a camera hog as well!! She loves to ham it up. Aimee and Wendy try really hard to hide from the camera so we have to sometimes sneak pictures. They were really good sports last night and let me take pictures and video of them singing and dancing. Dave and I even danced away to, as Kaitlyn calls them, those 'romance' songs. Of course, I'm the one always behind the camera so no one can see me dancing. ;) That's just the way I like it. I hope you enjoy these pictures and videos. Well, I was going to put a video on here, but I waited two hours for it to upload and it still wasn't done. Maybe another time.

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I have to say something here...I am so proud of my girls, Aimee and Wendy especially. I just found out about another girl in one of our previous wards who is getting married at 17 or 18 in just a couple of weeks. She's not even out of high school. My first thought was she's pregnant. After reading her 'blog' I was right, she is pregnant. I feel so bad for this young lady because she has had to deal with some horrific things in her short life, things that maybe I could have helped to prevent. When we discovered the things that happened to this girl and the things her brother was making her do, I cried for days. One year before this situation occured I turned her away from my door and told her to work things out with her parents. Could I have stepped in and taken this girl in? Probably. Did I do the right thing at the time by turning her away? At the time yes. If I had to do it over again, would I take her in? Absolutely. You see, I have always felt that parents should take the responsibility for their own children. But looking back I see that this family had so many other issues going on at the time that they couldn't see what was happening to their daughter. I knew what was happening, but I chose not to talk with her parents about it. I consulted my priesthood leaders, my husband, and the Lord on the issue and felt that unless I was asked I wasn't to say anything. Why? Because what parent is going to believe another that one of their own sons are hurting their own daughter? I look at the whole former ward and all I see is young girls getting pregnant hoping to get out of their homes and they are walking into a whole other set of problems at a young age. Why oh why do some parents shut their children out and not pay attention to them and talk with them to find out what is going on in their lives? The mother of this young girl was so caught up in her own world of going to school and having "me" time that she forgot that she was a mother first. The father lived in his own world as well trying to keep the mother happy. This father should have stepped up and said enough is enough our children need better guidance, they need their mother home when they are home. Education can come later when the children are on their own, children need the guidance and the supervision of their parents as long as they are living in the home, no matter how old they are. The parents after finding out about what was happening to their daughter chose to let the son stay in the home and then lavished gifts on the daughter to try to make her happy. Gifts and things are not going to erase what happened to this young lady. We talk with our daughters about EVERYTHING under the sun and the consequences of the actions they choose. I am so proud of them for staying the course when so many of their friends and classmates don't. I love them so much. I know that they also see the lives that are ruined and shortened because of the choices that others make. I wish so much that I could go back in time and help that young lady more than what I did. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't have had to go through those horrific experiences and maybe, just maybe, she would have had a better life. I say to that young lady, I am truly sorry for turning you away that day. I wish her happiness and love, I wish her the best in the choices she is making now at this time in her life. I hope that one day she will be able to forgive me. I will carry that pain, knowing I could have helped, with me for the rest of my life and I cry each time I think about the family and the lives that could have been.