Color Magic

We had a fun weekend starting the re-painting process on our house. Ella's room was first on the list and we couldn't be more pleased and energized by the results. I think by adding more vibrant colors to our home palate that we are going to experience an elevation of spirits too. That's the hope anyway.

It's also been a week of learning. We felt so blessed when we learned that we would be receiving a larger tax refund than anticipated--yay! That truly is a blessing and we thank the Lord for it. But it also was an interesting experience because as we began to anticipate this unexpected money we began to ponder all the things we could do with it. A family vacation to California--maybe even Disneyland--soon rose to the top of the list, but no matter how good of a deal we found we just didn't feel that great about it.

We felt confused. After all, we're finally in a place where we could afford a trip and we haven't been on a family vacation in almost three years. Would not this be a good use of the money? And Ella's been praying to be able to go to Disneyland for almost a year now. Well, as I said, we couldn't feel resolved and so naturally we turned to the scriptures, prayer and the living prophets. Elder Hales' talk was just one of the answers we received:

http://lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/becoming-provident-providers-temporally-and-spiritually?lang=eng

The part that stood out to me the most was how sometimes even when we can afford things we need to ask ourselves is this what we need or more specifically in our case, is this what the Lord would have us do with this financial blessing? Soon a more specific answer came through Dan's prayers and pondering and we discussed it together. What we realized is that although we can afford to go on vacation that what we have longed and prayed for so desperately since Dan's lay-off is security, and that if we spend the money we've been blessed with we will be depleting our sense of security. We saw that this money the Lord has blessed us with is a tender mercy on the path towards greater self-reliance and provident living. By having an attitude of saving rather than spending we will experience greater hope about our future instead of just fulfilling a temporary, albeit good, want.

Anyway, long story short, we still hope we'll be able to go on vacation together soon, but that's not what this money was intended for. It's not what we hoped for, but we also know that we'll be happier if we follow the Lord and the counsel of the living prophets.

Okay, 'nuff talking, more pictures. Thanks for listening. :) 

The horrid brown bites the dust

Ella got to choose the paint colors of her room--2 brilliant shades of apple green

she's loving her new room

in better perspective

we still need to finish a few touch ups but we are so pleased with how it turned out. Next up Ella's bathroom.

Ella's become very interested in girlie things...

It's fun but also a bit scary. She's growing up too quickly.

Ella's made a goal to get her ear's pierced when she's 9 or 10. I hope she's able to last that long!

Lots o' fun!

Dan got to spend time with his former teacher and Disney artist Bill Perkins last week.