B+C+B+C+B+C: Cousin Brooke

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Cousin Brooke

It's so nice living near relatives. Especially since we don't have as many friends here as we did in Cedar (I couldn't go to the grocery store there without running into friends - not the case here). But now I randomly run into cousins! And I have some great cousins I'm getting to know better.

One is my cousin Brooke. She's my dad's oldest brother's 5th daughter. She's such an interesting and amazing person - one of those real "free spirit" types. Brooke has a quality I'd like to develop - she never ever says anything negative about anyone. At least not that I've ever heard, nor anyone else in my family. She just chooses to focus on the positives. She's a sincerely loving person towards everyone. I want to be more like that.

This particular photo opp occured one windy day as I was walking home with my kids on our usual route and mode - one baby in front carrier, and the other two children in the stroller facing me. I love that BTW - traveling around with all my kids within arm's reach. But I was struggling on this day, because the wind was blowing HARD, and rain drops had started coming down. Brooke spotted me as she was headed into the shopping center, turned around instantly, and helped me get home. Then - she STAYED and played with Brianna while I got the babies down. If she hadn't been there, I would've just stuck Brianna in front of Dora on Netflix so I could get the babies down. She made my day. And this wasn't the first time - about a month ago, she randomly called one Wednesday morning and asked if I'd let her come over and play with the babies so I could go on a run or do errands or whatever I needed to do. SO NICE!! And of course, she left thanking me for giving her some baby time (she loooooves babies).

It's too bad she'll never read this - she's kindof anti-computers. Maybe I'll get old-school and send her a thank you note in the mail. What do stamps costs these days?! I don't even know!

1 comment:

Debbie said...: Brooke was sweet and gentle from the time I met her - I think she was 5-6 when she was brought into Kit & Phyl's family.; June 15, 2011 at 6:33 AM

Quotes I want to remember

"The Lord knows our bearing capacity, both as to coping and to comprehending, and He will not give us more to bear than we can manage at the moment, though to us it may seem otherwise. Just as no temptations will come to us from which we cannot escape or which we cannot bear, we will not be given more trials than we can sustain."
- Neal A. Maxwell

"It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated. No, not to day-care centers, not to schools, not to nurseries, not to babysitters. We become enamored with men's theories such as the idea of preschool training outside the home for young children. Not only does this put added pressure on the budget, but it places young children in an environment away from mother's influence."
-Ezra Taft Benson

“Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. And bear your testimony! Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.
-Jeffrey R. Holland

"We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith."
-Neil L. Andersen

"Certainly there are times when getting the family together to read the scriptures does not stack up as a spiritual experience worthy of a journal entry. But we must not be deterred. There are special times when the spirit of a son or daughter is just right and the power of these great scriptures goes down into their heart like fire. As we honor our Heavenly Father in our homes, He will honor our efforts."
-Neil L. Andersen

President Hinckley admonished both men and women to be nurturers. He said, ‘How much more beautiful would be the society in which we live if every father . . . and . . . mother regarded [their] children . . . as gifts from the God of heaven . . . and brought them up with true affection in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord.’ ”
-Susan W. Tanner

"Children are like trees. When they are young, their lives can be shaped and directed, usually with ever so little effort. Said the writer of Proverbs, 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it' (22:6). That training finds its roots in the home. There will be little of help from other sources. Do not depend on government to help in this darkening situation. Barbara Bush, wife of former U.S. president George Bush, spoke wisely: 'Your success as a family, our success as society, depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.' "
-Gordon B. Hinckley

“I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.”
-Henry B. Eyring

“Reverent behavior is not a natural tendency for most children. It is a quality that is taught by parents and leaders through example and training. But remember, if reverence is rooted in love, so is the teaching of it. Harshness in our training begets resentment, not reverence.”
-Margaret S. Lifferth

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."
- M. Russell Ballard

“As parents, we should remember that our lives may be the book from the family library which the children most treasure. Are our examples worthy of emulation? Do we live in such a way that a son or a daughter may say, ‘I want to follow my dad,’ or ‘I want to be like my mother’?”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things.”
-Kent D. Watson

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Cousin Brooke

1 comment:

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