"Something's coming, something good..." (by Heather)

I've got butterflies in my stomach. I'm so excited that last night I couldn't even sleep! The kind of night I had as a kid the day before I started a new year of school, or the night before Christmas. Or (as an adult) the night before I would be induced to get my sweet baby…just excited! I toss and turn. I'm so excited I can't let myself fall asleep. Once I do fall asleep, I wake up every hour.

The thing I am excited about it my parents are coming to visit!! We are not one of the lucky families that live near either set of parents. Austin's parents live 19 hours away in Florida and mine live 33 hours away in Idaho. I love my parents. They are amazing, which you probably already figured out on your own from posts like this or this.

My parents aren't the kind of people that are outspoken and tell lots of jokes and convince you that they are really amazing, something special. No, they are pretty reserved (till you know them better) and as you spend more time with them, or really pay attention to their lives, their words, their actions, you just stand in awe of how they have lived and do live their lives.

As you may know, my parents had eleven children. My mom is not one of those lucky women that have easy pregnancies, and lose the weight quickly. Growing up (I'm the 4th so I saw her pregnant 7 times) I seriously thought my mom was terminally ill. She was always throwing up or nauseous or tired, etc. all because (I realized later when she was done having kids) pregnancies are hard on her. But she didn't let that stop her, she and my dad wanted to have a big family. They felt it was important. They both love children and are great with kids. My mom sacrificed years of her life (being so sick with her pregnancies) to give life to 11 children. Not just a life, but a good one, a happy one, a safe one - with my mother and father guiding us and teaching us all they know of righteousness and goodness and hard work and music and laughter and on and on. I just love my parents and appreciate them so much more as I get older and have children of my own. My mother never gave a second thought to what her wants were or hobbies or interests, she always put us first and made us her interests and hobbies. She taught us to sing and love music as she does. She gave up her chance to touch the lives of others by singing in major musical productions (as she is a very talented singer), to sing around the piano with her 11 kids which love and adore her. She's amazing.

My father is a spiritual giant. He tries in all aspects of his life, to live as close to the Lord as possible and live the commandments as best he can. He didn't force that on us growing up, but we learned by his quiet example, that true peace and happiness come by living close to the Lord. Every morning of my life living at home (if I was up earlier enough) I would catch glimpses of my dad saying his morning prayers or reading his scriptures or studying other uplifting words. He never sat me down and said to me, "you should do what I'm doing…do it!" No, but I realized that that is what I SHOULD do to have the kind of spirit in my home and life that I want to have. I feel my family now has been very blessed by that simple example my dad set for me. 

So, yes, I'm so excited that my parents are coming! I can't wait for them to rub off some of their awesomeness on my children and me and Austin (if we're lucky). They sacrificed lots of money and energy to come visit their kids on the east coast (Bethany in DC, Sarah in West Virginia, us in Ohio, and my brother Justin's family in Kansas) before they leave to serve the Lord and people in Panama City, Panama for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint. As my younger brother Derek said, "The minute their last child was out of the house, they didn't even stop to take a rest, they put in their papers to serve the Lord and do His work."

Can't wait to see them!!