Fun Day!!

Jeff and I went to the "Measures of Faith" Food Drive and 5k Fun Run today! We had a good time and I was happy that I walked it in 63 minutes (that was a 21 minute mile...I was hoping for a 20 minute mile but...)! We had a great time and my wonderful friend, Jane, after running the course in 30 minutes, walked back to meet me and walked the rest of the way with me...she even gave me the courage to jog across the finish line! I love my wonderful encouraging friends and my fabulous husband who didn't even break a sweat and walked the whole way with me (bad knees and all..hehe)! I am now nursing two REALLY BIG blisters on the bottom of my feet but it was so much fun and I loved seeing all my friends from the stake!!! It is a great day to give service to the Food Bank of NC and fellowship with lots of others who share my same values and love of service! Jeff and I left from there and went to my friend, Jackie's house to help her get ready for her son's wedding next week! We were happy to do a few things that she wanted to get done! Jeff is now taking a shower to get ready to go to a baptism and I am going to put my feet up since walking on them with these blisters is extremely painful...I may try to go to the baptism anyway!! It has been a great day and it reminds me again of how much fun it is to serve others....I think we are happiest when we can do for others!!! Life is good!!!

Very Thankful!

It is with a very thankful heart that I write this post. Yesterday, Jeff was able to get a contract job that can last as long as the end of the year or until he finds a more permanent job or it could possibly turn into a permanent job. Either way...we feel very grateful for the blessing of the Lord on our family. My heart has been full of prayers and I have spent much time in the temple, reading my scriptures and pondering. Jeff has remained full of faith and has believed this whole time that the Lord is leading us along and He is always with us. We are so grateful for the many friends and family who have been praying with us and are immensely grateful for the love we have felt from so many. We are blessed beyond what I can even comprehend at times. The Lord is pouring out blessings from Heaven to us not only temporally but spiritually as well. Jeff and I both have felt a great deal of strength and we know that we are being lifted and carried thru each challenge that we face. The Lord has blessed us so much and all I can be is thankful! I have a testimony of the power of prayer to lift and help us when we face difficult times and I know that as long as we remain faithful and obedient to what we know to be true while consistently repenting of our mistakes along the way that the Lord will lead us along and help us thru our journey here! I am so thankful for my Father in Heaven and His all powerful hand that holds us up and helps us here on earth. I am not only thankful but humbled by His love and mercy to me and my family. I will continually strive harder to please Him and live more obediently His commandments.

Great Week-end!!!!

This has been the greatest week-end! Kim and Jerry and David came up this past Wednesday and stayed thru the week-end. We have had such a good time getting the chance to visit with them. On Friday, Jeff and I went to the temple with Momma, Nathan, Kim and Jerry! It was so wonderful to get to be in a session with my family. Afterwards Kim and Jerry treated us out to lunch and we got to spend a great afternoon! Yesterday and today we had the privilege of watching all the sessions of general conference. I have come away from this conference so uplifted and so determined to be better and try harder! I am thankful for all the messages that spoke of the Lord's love for us and how to better strengthen our families. I am thankful for the messages of hope and faith to help us when we face challenges and how to manuever thru difficult times in our life. I loved the closing remarks of President Monson when he quoted one of my favorite scriptures...."Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
I can't think of a better way to sum up all that was said in this conference! I love the words of our beloved prophet! His counsel to look to the Lord and his light as we face the crumbling morality of the world around us gave me courage! It has been a wonderful week-end full of good counsel and I feel like I can face the future with faith and hope. I loved being able to spend this time with my family and I know that the Lord is in control! What a great way to start a new week!!! Happy Easter everyone!!!

Gratitude and Stress!!!!

Well, first of all, I am grateful that we are finally home after 32 days in the hospital. I am so glad that Lauren is feeling better and that she was able to overcome her stomach pain. Many prayers were sent up in her behalf and they were all answered. We are grateful for each one. Now, we face yet another challenge....Jeff is once again faced with unemployment. The economy has hit his industry particularly hard and rebounding from it has been extremely difficult. Jeff is blessed with many talents and abilities and the Lord continues to bless him as he uses his talents for good so it is very hard for me to watch him once again struggling to find a good job that appreciates his talent and ability. He has had so much to shoulder in the last few years that my heart aches to see us once again face another uphill climb! I am trying to face the future with faith and complete trust in the Lord but I am finding it hard this time around. We are going to the temple tomorrow and I am hoping that I can sit in that beautiful house of the Lord and find the strength that I feel is lacking in myself right now...it is so important to me right now to get to the temple...in every stressful situation in my life in recent years I have gone there to find my center and to strengthen my faith when it feels like I am faltering so tomorrow I will sit within those walls and I will ask the Lord to strengthen my family and give me courage to face our very uncertain future. I am looking forward to general conference this week-end. It will be a boost to me as I listen to our prophet and the general authorities remind me where to find my faith and I will be strengthened. I know that the Lord is aware of my family and I know that He will not leave us alone....He is always there. I also know His promises are sure. Faith, I have to remember, is an action word!

Faith!

Lately I have been thinking and pondering what faith really is...does it mean that if we have have faith then everything that we pray for will be answered the way that we hope it will? I would like to say yes, that is it, but it's not. Faith is an action word I am finding. President Henry B. Eyring said one time in a talk..."great faith has a short shelf life" so I figure in order to keep "great faith", we have to work on it all the time. I think sometimes when we pray for more faith (as I have been doing lately) that Heavenly Father allows us to have experiences with which we are asked to exercise faith, even when the challenges seem insurmountable and it takes a huge amount of faith to go forward, to gain "great faith". I also read a talk to today by Elder Jeffrey Holland entitled Remember Lot's Wife....I recommend it to everyone, anyway, he says in his talk when he talks about Lot's wife, " She doubted the Lord's ability to give her something better than she had." He also said that "faith is always pointed to the future." So, with that in mind, I have thought that if we show faith in Heavenly Father and His ability to give us better than what we have, even when the future that we can see is scary and uncertain, and even bleak, then we will stretch and grow and expand our limited ability to understand and we will gain "great faith"! That is what I have decided to do...I prayed for more faith, for more strength and Heavenly Father is allowing me to stretch and grow and expand my faith and thru all this stretching and growing and expanding, I will gain strength because I will exercise all the spiritual muscles that I have to stand up in the face of overwhelming challenges and say, I know where my strength lies....and "I CAN DO ALL THINGS thru Christ who strengtheneth me"....and that is what the bottom line is for me....all I have is my faith and I will not abandon it for if I show Heavenly Father that I trust him and I will follow Him, then He will take my little faith and turn it into "great faith". So what I have learned about faith is this...to believe and trust that Heavenly Father has not nor will ever leave us alone, and we have to exercise faith to help it grow. Experiences that are hard give us those opportunities to exercise that faith so I pray that I will rise to the challenges that we now face in our family. Jeff and I are united in our belief that the Lord is in control and He will lead us where we need to be...the road may be narrow, rocky, and hard but we will walk it hand in hand and not look back, because "great faith" always points to the future!

Pondering

Sitting up in the hospital gives me a lot of time to ponder....I don't spend as much time watching the tv or even with it on as I used to. I read my scriptures and I am right now reading a book entitled, "Be not Afraid"....that phrase always reminds me of Noah's favorite picture that we used to look at during sacrament. Even thinking about those days brings me to tears but as I have been reading this book, it reminds me that we are never alone even when we may feel so. It is reminding me that the Lord is always mindful of us, he always listens to our prayers and He knows our hearts. I sometimes feel helpless when I see Lauren struggling thru pain that no one can really resolve and she has to pull it together and learn to deal with it. I watch helplessly as she looks at me with those pleading eyes of hers and I read to her from the Book of Mormon and I go into the bathroom and kneel and pray for her relief and ask the Lord to comfort her in the way only He can. I call Jeff and he reassures me that the Lord is in control and all will be well. I wait for her to make that turn and feel better and I tell her it is just around the corner. Then I watch as she finds her courage and strength and she rises above the pain and finds a place to put her pain so she can deal with it again and the tears come because I know the Lord is helping her go forward....the doctors and nurses don't understand what I do about Lauren...they don't understand that her inner strength comes from her Father in Heaven..they don't appreciate that when she struggles with her own physcial limitations and breaks down that when she turns to Heavenly Father, her strength returns and her ability to cope comes back. They don't understand her burning testimony of a loving Father in Heaven and His ability to heal her. I know these things, I remind her of these things and then we go forward and she pushes thru. She is strong, courageous, faithful, and she rises above her physical challenges. I am proud of her strength, of her courage, and of her ability to stand up in the face of overwhelming challenges and fight back. I love her determination and it strengthens my own. I love my children and my devoted husband....at home they continue to keep things going and they kneel together and pray for our family and they give me courage. I never worry when I am up at the hospital because I know at home that they are strong and they continue to do what is right. I feel the Lord's hand in my life everyday...I try hard everyday to acknowledge His blessings in my family's life and in my own. I try all the time to see the silver linings and to know, that no matter what, He is in control and He does what is best for me and my family. If I continue to put my complete trust and faith in Him and am obedient to His commandments then, as President Hinckley used to say, "it will all work out." I like having time to ponder, it reminds me of the great blessings that pour into my life all the time and it gives me time to thank my Heavenly Father for them....I am always reminded that the Lord does not give us stones, He gives us bread and I am grateful for every kind He sends my way for they all fill me with a stronger desire to live as He would have me to.

Another Hospital Stay!

Well, here we are again at UNC Children's Hospital. We came to WakeMed around 5 am on Sunday morning because Lauren could not maintain her blood sugar levels and we couldn't figure out why. They ran bloodwork on her and when they came back, they were all whacked out and her white blood cell count was dangerously low (which means she was susceptible to anything that was out there)! Late that night, they came in and told me that her blood culture came back positive which meant she had an infection in her port a cath line that had gotten into her blood stream which explained why her labwork was so bad. They immediately started her on IV antibiotics and 24 hours later they ran another set of labs and they looked a lot better. We transferred over to UNC Childrens the next night as we knew this was going to be a 2 week hospital stay and we wanted to be where Lauren's doctors are. We were blessed to get the big corner room with lots of space so that made Mom happy as well. While we are here they are also doing her dhe treatment to get her migraines under control and checking out Lauren's nutrition labs as she continues to lose weight and she cannot afford to lose any. We are working hard to correct that. All in all, things are going well and we are happy to have wonderful doctors who look after Lauren and take care of any issues that arise. Below is a picture of my sleeping beauty with her mask on. She wears that when she has a headache and doesn't feel well to block out any light. She is a much loved young woman over here at UNC and we feel the Lord's blessings on our family greatly. We are thankful for the many prayers in our behalf and all the support we get. We are a truly blessed family and have much to be grateful for! Thank you all for loving Lauren like you do..she feels your love and support and it means the world to her!

A visit from Daddy Tom and DeeDee

We had SO MUCH FUN with Daddy Tom and DeeDee.....they came to spend a night with us and we laughed the whole night....Daddy Tom showed off his competitive side when we played a game of rummy.....I came SO CLOSE to beating his this time but once again he maintains his champion status.....grrrrrr! Maybe next time!!! Enjoy our pictures from their short visit.....

Michael learning the game from Daddy Tom

Emily and Lauren showing off their baseball skills on the Wii

Pugslie giving out tons of "kisses"...she loved Daddy Tom and DeeDee
DeeDee relaxing on the couch

Our Rummy game.....too fun!

Happy Anniversary to my Sweetheart!

Jeff and I were married 18 years ago on Valentines Day in the Washington DC Temple! This week-end has been so appropriate with the snow as there was snow falling the day we got married. All I can say is this has been the happiest 18 years of my life and Jeff is my sweetheart, my rock, an incredible father, extremely patient, and the love of my life! I am looking forward to spending many more years making memories with my incredible husband! Aren't I so blessed???

ANOTHER Snow Day....

We had another chance to have fun in the snow as we got about 3 inches over night last night! This was a great snow for making snowballs and snowmen and the kids had a ball outside putting together a big snowman in the backyard! We thought it looked beautiful outside with the snow in all the trees and have enjoyed our short burst of winter weather...enjoy our pictures....

Emily working on the snowman's nose

Michael and Mr. Snowman

Mr. Snowman up close

Lauren working on the snowman

Michael and Lauren in the woods behind our house
Our backyard before the snowman making began
Our neighbors house

Looking out our front door

Michael being silly in Lauren's hat
When the snow first started

Our Snow Day 2010!

We all have had a great day enjoying our "winter weather" here in Zebulon! We have been under a "winter storm warning" since Wednesday and wondered if we would really get any kind of good snow...well, we did get some beautiful flakes coming down at first over night and then today it all turned to sleet and now we have about 3 inches of snow on the ground with 2 inches of sleet on top...great for sledding (too bad we don't live on a hill..hehe) so we all went outside for a little while and stomped around in the crunchy white stuff on the ground! It was fun but has been nice to come inside and stay warm with blankets and a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup on the stove all day along with homemade brownies and chocolate chip cookies as well!! We are enjoying spending our day together as a family. Church was cancelled for tomorrow because the roads are sheets of ice so we will have "church" at home tomorrow as Jeff can administer the sacrament to us. It will be nice to have a quiet family day at home and reflect on the blessings the Lord has given us...which are many! We have had fun with our "big winter storm" of the year..hehe!

Vote for Pugslie!!!

We entered Pugslie in a contest to be on the box of a Bissell Clean Machine (which we would also win)!!! Please vote for our adorable little dog below:



Thanks!!! Voting starts January 29th....PLEASE VOTE FOR HER!!!

Getting back to Normal!

Finally our life around here is getting back to normal. Everyone is one the mend and now it is finally time to get busy and get back to business as usual. My dining room table transforms itself each weekday to our schoolroom and the kids sit around it and do their schoolwork. They each work on a different subject at a time and I go over their lessons with them on an individual basis to make sure they are on the right track. We spend between 4 and 5 hours a day completing schoolwork, and then I have housework to do and dinner to cook, clothes to wash....so, back to doing what I do everyday....still tired but definitely better!!! Below is a picture of how our dining room looks during the week! Hope everyone is doing good and enjoying their beginning of 2010....we are finally starting to get on our feet!!!

2010

Some days I can hardly believe that it is 2010 already...time seems to be speeding up....sometimes I think it goes too fast and then other times it seems too slow. I was looking at my kids tonight and I realized that they are almost grown...it made me want to cry. I have always said that I would be glad when my kids got older but now that they are I wish for those moments when they were small back again...I know there are no "do overs"...I would have been a much better mommy. I have a lot of regrets...I wish I would have been better at parenting. Now the time is slipping from me and I can only pray that my children will grow up to be God fearing, caring, responsible adults. I guess I am also having one of my "Noah" moments...the new year seems to always bring them...I know everyone thinks about him occasionaly still but for me, he is always at the front of my thoughts. Oh, I have dealt with the pain and I carry it with me...most times I do it very well, but tonight, I don't wish to do that...I want to think about him and how if he were still here my Michael would have someone to play with and laugh with....seems like I not only got cheated out of getting to have Noah here but Michael got cheated at having a best friend in the house all the time....life doesn't always seem fair. But..that is life, isn't it...ups and downs and twists and turns. Sometimes I would like those twists and turns to be good ones...the last few years we have had twists and turns that have tested our faith and our resolve. I would like a few years of twists and turns that pour out blessings but then I wouldn't grow and learn so I need to be thankful for the challenges...they keep me moving forward and focused. I just really wish tonight that I would be allowed a peek, just a peek, behind the veil and see my son...if only I could just have a peek...time to get out my scriptures and read and ponder...

Happy New Year!

Today is the beginning of a new year, a new decade, and a new beginning! I love the beginning of a new year because we can start fresh, set new goals, change something we have been meaning to change and look forward with fresh eyes! I am happy to say that last year I set 3 main goals for 2009...

1. Read the Bible from cover to cover....completed!!!
2. Read the Book of Mormon four times....completed!!!
3. Go to the temple once a month....completed!!!

It made me feel good to complete the goals that I had set for myself so this year I have set new goals...goals that I will accomplish because I feel successful going into this new year! I have them on a card and I will keep them in my scriptures where I will look at them everyday, they will be a constant reminder to me of where I want to be at the end of this year and I will persevere and strive to reach them!

Yes, this is a new beginning...so tell me...have you set new goals, written them down and then prayed for help to accomplish them???? We can all have a brand new start and I LOVE that!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Will's Christmas Visit!

This year, Will came on the 22nd to spend the night with me and part of the next day...you see, he and Noah had a very special connection and when I see Will, I think of how much Noah loved him and how happy he was when Will was around. Having Will take a special day to come and visit me was like a wonderful gift to me. I appreciate it so much for I know that he was doing it not only for me but he was giving me what Noah no longer can...his presence. Thank you Will...you brought me a little piece of Heaven and I love you for it! I could feel my Noah's love thru your humble, pure spirit. It was a wonderful gift!

Merry Christmas from the Coombs!!

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! We are thankful for this wonderful time of year and the joy that it brings as we remember and take time to reflect on the birth of our Savior! We hope everyone will take some time on Christmas Eve and Christmas day admist all the fun and activities and gift giving and receiving and fun to remember the reason we celebrate this day!!! We are profoundly grateful for the Savior's life and mission and His atoning sacrifice for us! We hope you all have a wonderful time with your families...we are grateful for each of you!! :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! We love you all!!!

The FLU.....WHAT?????

Okay, now I go out of my way to try and prevent my family from getting the flu....I did exactly what the doctors asked me to do..my kids got the regular flu shot and then I made sure they got the h1n1 flu shot as well so I thought we were covered! Yesterday, Lauren wakes up with a really bad sore throat, fever, body aches, headache, and stomachache! I immediately call her doctor and make an appointment to bring her in. Before we go to the doctor her temp is around 102 so I give her tylenol and make sure she has cornstarch. On the way, Lauren gets sick in the car...I speed up a little and start to worry. Jeff meets me at the doctor's office and we are told that it looks like Lauren has the FLU!!! I said, "She had BOTH flu shots..what is this???" Dr. Covington and Dr. Muenzer both informed me that even though she had the shot, it would not guarantee that she would not get the flu, but that if she got it, she would get a more "watered down" version which in her case would be much better than the full blown flu...well, the "watered down" version in her is as bad as what everyone else that has had the flu has been...I am so grateful that we have all had the shot!! If she had gotten the full blown version of the flu then we would definitely had been in the hospital...no question!!! As is, we are hoping that we don't have to be going to the hospital..we are getting a 48 hour window from the doctors and they are trying to renig on that already!!! Last night her fever was up and we were a little concerned because Lauren can't take ibuprofen..it makes her sick to her stomach..so we cooled her down with a cool rag and put a light blanket on her which helped a lot! Jeff and Nathan also gave her a blessing and I immediately felt at peace. She still does not feel good but we know that she will get a little better each day. We are thankful for her doctors that take such good care of her and worry over her like Jeff and I do. We are not happy that somehow the flu has made it to our house BUT we are VERY GRATEFUL that it made it here before Christmas...we just need to get this out of the way so we can enjoy our time together as a family!!!

A Christmas Survey!!

I read this on LaNelle's blog and I am feeling festive so I considered myself tagged and here it is:

Be Festive and Enjoy!


1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?

I honestly don't have a lot on my list that I need but if I could think of a few things, they would be:
1. Design Perfume and Powder (you can find those on fragrance.com)
2. A cool cellphone with all the latest gadgets (I love gadgets)
3. My kids not to be sick
4. Jeff being off for a whole week between Christmas and New Years (top of my
list)
5. Having Noah with us on Christmas (my biggest wish)!

2. What is your favorite handmade gift you ever received?

The gifts my children have made me...but if I had to pick just one, it would be the manger scene that Lauren made for me out of clay last year...I love manger scenes and it is so cute and from the heart!

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?

Making a quilt which I have no idea how to do but I would love to make one for each of my kids and I would love to make one out of Noah's clothes.

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?

One year when I was in second grade we lived in Louisiana and we couldn't go to Ninna and Granddaddy's that year so everyone mailed us our gifts...MaMaw sent me a big flat box and when I opened it up there were 100 rings in it...I was so excited that I just screamed. I wore rings on every finger for weeks..I will never forget it!

5. What is your favorite holiday food?

I love all the homemade treats.... Momma'schocolate pie and peanut butter fudge is my favorite but Jeff's cream of potato soup on Christmas Eve is something I look forward to every year!

6. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?

Ummmmmm....since I have NO TALENT in that department, the answer would be NOTHING!

7. Favorite Holiday Songs?

I love all the classic Christmas songs and hymns but my favorite is "Do you hear what I hear?"

8. Favorite Holiday Pastime?

Spending Christmas Eve at Ninna and Granddaddy's and eating grits and singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas" to Granddaddy so he would let us open our gifts on Christmas Eve and getting up at 3 in the morning to see what Santa left and spending it with my family! I will always cherish those memories!!!


And now if you are in the mood to spread some holiday spirit, consider yourself tagged! :)

Tis the Season!

Tonight was the Christmas Devotional and it was so beautiful! I felt the spirit so strong and now I am ready for this Christmas Season. It reminded me of why we celebrate Christmas...oh the decorations, the presents, the hustle and bustle are all fun and certainly have their place but the real meaning, the part that makes this time of the year so special, is about celebrating the birth of our Savior. I am so thankful for my Savior...his love, his selfless life, his redeeming grace, his mercy, his kindness, and most of all his ultimate sacrifice for me! I am so thankful for my family and how much I love them and how thankful I am that I am close to them. My greatest blessings are all around me. I will celebrate this year with more love and I will look for opportunities of service so that I can bring the Spirit of Christ into my home. I can only imagine the celebration that Noah is participating in on the other side of the veil...yes, we should all celebrate the birth and life of our Savior....for He is what Christmas is all about! I love this time of year!!!!