Happily Ever After

So at the request of my sister Sarah, I have decided to update my blog. I have never been very good at journaling, except for when I was on my mission when I wrote every day, but now I have 3 kids to feed, bathe, read scriptures with, pray and put to bed- needless to say journaling has fallen to the bottom of my to do list. Yet when Sarah and I were talking a couple of days ago she reminded me that blogging is like a journal and that I should do it more often.
Often times I feel like I don't have much to say that is worth reading, but who knows, maybe it will be worth it to my kids later on in life. So here's what I have to say today. I'll start with part of a talk from President Utchdorf that he gave in May this year to the Young Women of the church.
He talks about the fairy tale stories we all grew up hearing as a child, in which we often hear the phrase, "once upon a time." He says, "Aren't those wonderful words to begin a story ? 'Once upon a time' promises something: a story of adventure and romance, a story of princes and princesses. It may include tales of courage, hope and everlasting love. In many of these stories, nice overcomes mean and good overcomes evil. But perhaps most of all, I love it when we turn to the last page and our eyes reach the final lines and we see the enchanting words, 'And they lived happily ever after.'"
Elder Utchdorf continues by saying, "Isn't that what we all desire: to be heroes and heroines of our own stories; to triumph over adversity; to experience life in all its beauty; and, in the end, live happily ever after?"
He then reminds us that we are daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us and has given us our own fairy tale. We have been given a "once upon a time" complete with adventure, trials, heartache and love. Yet the best part is the fact that we have the chance to truly live "happily ever after."
I love these words. I love the fact that this life does not end here. I love that although I am not perfect I can continue to perfect myself in hopes of one day spending eternity with those I love most. I can't think of anything greater than knowing that I am a princess and that I really can have a fairy tale ending.
I know that my Heavenly Father loves me SO much. I am reassured of this every time my husband lays his hands on my head to give me a blessing, every time I go to the temple and every time I get on my knees to pray. How grateful I am for this knowledge, because not only has it blessed and comforted me, it has also helped me to try harder to raise my kids with love and gentleness.
I guess that's about it for today. And yes Sarah- I will try to do better at keeping up with my "journaling", thanks for the reminder. :)

I was going to add a few family pictures from our summer trips and adventures, but blogger won't let me upload them right now so I will try doing it tomorrow.