Happy Halloween 2009!!!!

We had a great time this halloween. Jeff has a sinus infection so he stayed home while the rest of us went to our Ward Trunk or Treat Party! I am not good at coming up with costume ideas at all but Jeff came up with the costume for Michael that was the hit of the party! We all came home after a lot of laughing, eating, and with tons of candy...just what we all need...hahaha! The kids costumes were so fun...I have posted some pictures below....

Michael was "Swine Flu"...he carried around silly string and infected everyone he saw!!

Michael as "Swine Flu"

Lauren as a "Rock and Roll hippie"


Emily as a "peace, love, cool hippie"

Emily, Lauren, and Michael in their costumes

Balance!

This week on Thursday I am giving a lesson in a Relief Society meeting on "Achieving Balance in our Lives." I have been thinking a lot about this lately....what does it take to to keep and maintain balance. The more I have pondered this, the more I am coming to understand, at least from my own experience, that the most important thing to having balance is where our priorities lie. I have discovered that we will never have real balance and harmony in our lives if we do not put the most important things first....daily prayer, daily scripture study being two of the most vital things to keep our lives in balance. Elder Ballard said in a book called "When thou art Converted" that if we are too busy to spend a few minutes everyday in scripture study then we are TOO busy and should find a way to eliminate or modify whatever activities are making that simple task impossible. So, I ask the question to those of you who read my blog...What are some things you do to keep your life in balance? I am interested as I prepare this lesson to see what others do to help maintain balance in their lives......

Sunday at home!

It was so nice to wake up this morning in my own bed and to know that Lauren was sleeping in her own bed and we were all together as a family. Hospital visits remind me not to take for granted even the most simple of pleasures...that being able to wake up in my own house with my family all here. I am learning that often I take those little things for granted and I am going to try harder not to do that anymore. I am so thankful for all the little things in my life. When I walk thru the door of my my home I am greeted with hugs and big smiles, and a barking, deliriously happy dog, and I love the clean smell of my house and how hard my children work to make sure things stay in order. I love to look around and see a couple of games sitting out where the kids had been playing, schoolbooks layed out on the table where they had been working, Jeff's briefcase sitting in the floor of our room (where I always gripe about it being..hehe), the love and peace that permeates thru this house, my pictures of our family all over the walls, my album of Noah and his scriptures sitting on his special table, the reminders we have up about being more obedient, and my pictures of Christ and the temple! All those things remind me that I am home and there is no place on earth that is like home, there is no better feeling than being at home and I am reminded again not to take the little things for granted...I love hearing Mikey run thru the house playing some imaginary game, Emily sitting in our "reading chair" devouring another book, Lauren working on her endless crafts at the most disorganized corner in my house and Jeff looking thru e-mails, sharing one of his famous "Jeffisms", or walking aimlessly into the kitchen in search of a snack! I love sitting in my old worn out brown recliner that got passed down to me and when I sit in it I am reminded of how much love my Momma has for me. This is what my whole life is about and I wouldn't trade it for anything...my home, my family, my place of refuge when the world gets too hard, and when I am away from it for even a few days I am reminded of what I love most....being with my family and having everyone together. I have a lot to be grateful for...today I am thankful to be home!!!

An Uplifting Week-end!!!

Even though Lauren and I are in the hospital, we were still able to get General Conference up here thru the internet. It was so nice being able to see and hear the messages given on the computer! I am so thankful for technology! All I can really say about this week-end was WOW!! I felt so uplifted and the two days of conference went by so fast! I came away from the week-end determined to live an even higher law and try harder to be true! The counsel I received made me feel so good and I know that Heavenly Father loves me and wants me to succeed! There was so much that I wanted to remember and I really want to keep the spirit I felt in conference with me all the time. It is wonderful!!!! I am grateful for the gospel and to know that we are not alone. I am thankful to have a living prophet that gives us direction and I, like, Elder Holland, know beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true and that it truly testifies of Christ. What a wonderful way to spend a week-end, being completely uplifted and strengthened! Now it is time to go forward with faith!!!!

Our Second home.....

Well, we tried really hard to not have to come to the hospital but here we are once again, and believe it or not, we are in the exact same room we were in back in June!! I think they should start calling this room the "Coombs Family Retreat"...hahaha! Lauren's doctors just felt like she should come in and be put on IV Fluids to give her stomach a rest from cornstarch. We are hoping that we will not have to be here but for a few days. Lauren is in good spirits which is making this visit a lot easier. She says, and I quote, "My phantom stomach pain is back with a vengeance"! She is having that same ole stomach pain she gets at times and finds difficult to get under control sometimes. They are giving her some pain meds thru the IV and we are hoping after a few days she will get back to zero again and then we can get back to our normal schedule! She is still eating a little bit and that is a good sign. I am pleased to see how she is growing up and handling things so much better! I'm glad that she is taking all of this in stride. It makes our visit here easier to deal with! So...we are trying to relax is our home away from home and think positive thoughts...now only if we had some red shoes we could click together and repeat, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home..." Haha!