feeling blessed

camera is broken and i'm having the in-laws bring me back a new one so posts are most likely boring, wordy and random for the next little while. sorry.

avery has been napping for three hours.  i looked at the clock and realized that i hadn't really accomplished all that much during nap time.  now that i am finally sitting down to blog while she's still sleeping i'm sure that she'll be waking up within the next 5 minutes.  oh well.  i have to speak in church next sunday. in portuguese.  clearly i'll be reading my talk directly off of the paper and will most likely be slaughtering most of it being that i dont speak portuguese.  it will be good for me. i keep telling myself that. it is a good thing i have almost 2 weeks to prepare. i think i decided to talk on the influence parents have on children and the importance of teaching the while young, something along those lines.  april general conference was all about families and mothers, and since i became a mother a short 18 months ago, i constantly feel the overwhelming pressure and happiness that comes from being a mom.  it is the greatest blessing isn't it?

on a totally different subject...

this last saturday trae went to a city 2 hours away from here that was destroyed from all the rain we've been getting.  i'm glad that i didnt get to go because i'm sure i would have been a mess seeing how bad it really was.  i've been super thankful lately that i was raised in an area where i always felt safe.  idaho is obviously not going to be flooded anytime soon, and i'm quite sure there will never be tsunami. we've had our share of good thunderstorms but i never had to worry about much.  my dad is still  a little okay, a lot paranoid about us living here. (yep, she's awake.)  my heart breaks for these people who are now left with nothing.  after spending a life time buiding their lives in their little city they see it destroyed within a few day.  they have no food, no money, no shelter. its like the people we watch on CNN but never really know personally. but now i live right next to it and know people whose families have been affected.  there really wasnt much trae could do to help.  he tried to clean, but the damage will take months if not longer to reverse.  he handed out food that was delivered and was swarmed by people who he was sure hadn't eaten in days. trae said at one point there was about 20 feet of water in some areas. this picture shows a truck that had completly flipped over in the water and i now buried in mud that settled. he said there were cars all over that were just like that. 

everything that was once in the homes and churches and building are now covering the streets, destroyed.

is quite humbling actually. we really are so spoiled and take so many things for granted daily.  we probably will never have to go with out many things, especially the essentials, while most people here have only really enjoyed the essentials.  i sure have been counting my blessings a little more thoroughly lately.

well, right now i have a clean, cute naked baby running around the house.  i better go after the little girl.