I'm Taking a Gratitude Challenge

I know I say this a lot, but I LOVE my son! I LOVE being a mother! I couldn't imagine my life any differently; it is perfect for us right now. A few weeks ago my friend Carley and I got to go to "Time Out for Women." Sister Sheri Dew spoke, and one thing that she touched on was the divine role righteous women have in this world. Fewer and fewer women are realizing their potential as wives and mothers, and are choosing careers and glam over the more important things. She told a story of a woman who was at dinner with a large group of people. When asked by a successful businessman what she did, she said she was a stay at home mother of four. The man looked at her for a moment, and then turned his conversation to someone else, someone with a "more exciting" life. Sister Dew went on to say that the next time some condescending, judgmental person asks what you do in a belittling way, to respond with confidence with something like, "I am nurturing (insert number of kids here) my son along the path to Exaltation, how about you?" I love that response, and I plan to use it. "No one has more influence on a child than his mother." I am grateful for Motherhood. And I am grateful for Adoption.

Okay, so last night I was reading the December Ensign. After the First Presidency Message, "The Choice to Be Grateful," by President Eyring, there is a section specifically for the Youth and then for the Children on how to apply the message to them. The Youth section is entitled, "Take a Gratitude Challenge:"

Take a Gratitude Challenge

By John Hilton III and Anthony Sweat

Let’s not just talk about counting our blessings—let’s do it! Write a list of 100 things you are thankful for. If that sounds like it is too many, try this:

1. 1. 
   Write 10 physical abilities you are grateful for.
2. 2. 
   Write 10 material possessions you are grateful for.
3. 3. 
   Write 10 living people you are grateful for.
4. 4. 
   Write 10 deceased people you are grateful for.
5. 5. 
   Write 10 things about nature you are grateful for.
6. 6. 
   Write 10 things about today you are grateful for.
7. 7. 
   Write 10 places on earth you are grateful for.
8. 8. 
   Write 10 modern inventions you are grateful for.
9. 9. 
   Write 10 foods you are grateful for.
10. 10. 
    Write 10 things about the gospel you are grateful for.

When we make a list like this, we discover that a list of 100 doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of all the things God has given us.

Well, I am going to do this. Right now. I am grateful for:
1. My overall health
2. My height
3. My teeth
4. My endurance
5. My hands
6. My smile
7. My eyes
8. My freckles
9. My mind
10. My strength
11. Our home
12. Our car
13. My piano
14. My journals
15. Our clothes
16. Our pictures
17. Our bed
18. Kyson's crib
19. Kent's job
20. Food on the table
21. Jesus Christ
22. Kent
23. Kyson
24. Our parents
25. My siblings and their significant/future significant others
26. Kent's siblings and their spouses
27. Our grandparents
28. President Monson and the Quorum of the 12
29. Our Birthmother, H
30. Close friends, like Carley and Krista :-)
31. Joseph Smith
32. President Gordon B. Hinckley
33. Nephi
34. Alma
35. Brigham Young
36. Moses
37. Lehi
38. Adam
39. Eve
40. My ancestors
41. Rain and it's cleansing properties
42. Trees and the peaceful beauty of the forests
43. Waterfalls--they are so majestic and fascinating to me
44. The ocean and beaches--inspiration and awesome
45. The mountains and their powerful presence
46. Snow--so magical
47. Sunshine and its warmth, beauty, and joy
48. Flowers and their beauty and scents
49. Birds and their happy songs and brilliant colors
50. Sunrises and sunsets for beginning and ending each day with all of the colors of the Lord's imagination
51. The opportunity I have to write this list and realize how blessed I am
52. My warm home
53. Kyson's company
54. To-do Lists and getting things done
55. Christmas music
56. Reading the Scriptures
57. Writing in my journal
58. Rest
59. Laughter
60. Exercise
61. My parents' home in Elma, WA--it is one of my favorite places on earth
62. Kent's parents' home in Northborough, Ma--we've had some fun memories there together.
63. BYU--my Alma Mater and where Kent and I met
64. The Temple--I can't wait to be sealed to Kyson in just over 2 months!
65. Guatemala
66. Costa Rica
67. Disneyland
68. Our home, wherever it may be.
69. The Beach
70. The mountains in winter
71. Cell phones--I love talking to my family!
72. Computers and internet
73. Our hot chocolate maker
74. Heating and air conditioning
75. Hot baths
76. Waffle iron
77. Cars
78. Washing machines and dryers
79. Pianos, Guitars, and all instruments
80. Boats
81. Ice cream
82. Chocolate
83. Red bell peppers
84. Pizza
85. Lasagna
86. Enchiladas
87. Red grapes
88. Cheese
89. Homemade raspberry jam
90. Homemade, hot chocolate chip cookies
91. The Restoration of the Gospel
92. The Sealing power and the chance for families to be together forever
93. The power of the Priesthood
94. Prayer
95. The gift of the Holy Ghost
96. The Scriptures, including General Conference
97. A living Prophet who guides and leads the Church today
98. Uplifting music
99. Repentance
100. The Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ

Okay, let me just say that this was so easy. It didn't take me long at all. The hardest part was trying to keep it to ten of each category. It is true that this list hardly scratches the surface of the things I am grateful for and the blessings that I have in my life.

I challenge EVERYONE who reads this to make your own list! It is a lot of fun! It would be a great Family Home Evening activity, or anytime activity. In a world where it can be easy to overlook the good and see only the negative, I am grateful for the Gospel; it truly is the Gospel of Good News, and I am happy to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Even though I have my own set of down days and challenges, I know I am never alone and that I am incredibly blessed beyond measure, and I am happy to be alive.

I Am Thankful...

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. It was incredibly busy and hectic, but we have so much to be grateful for it's hard to comprehend sometimes. I am so grateful for a incredible son , Kyson, and for my amazing, loving husband, Kent. Both of these guys in my life are so good to me (yes, even at 3 months, Kyson is good to me! He never ceases to amaze us!) and I am so grateful for them and all they do for me. And I am so grateful for our families...we have truly been blessed with loving family members who care so much for us, and we for them. We love you all.

So a couple weeks ago we had some scary news: my grandpa, Opa, had a mini stroke, or TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack). Kent and I went to the hospital twice to visit him while he was there, and I helped my grandma, Oma, at their health club a bit so she could also be with him. We are very blessed that he is okay. His balance and energy levels are not so good at this point, but things could have been so much worse. I have been over at their house every day since the stroke helping Oma and Opa with as much as I can. We have been able to help finish up their yard work, put up their Christmas lights, and help get ready for tons of our family to come into town for Thanksgiving. I am grateful we have been in a position where we can help so much; we are fortunate to live only 4 miles from them right now.

Since the stroke, Opa can no longer drive himself, so on Tuesday I was able to drive him to Midway for his brother's son-in-law's funeral. It was unfortunate circumstances that brought us there, and my heart goes out to my extended family that is mourning the loss of their father, husband, son, and brother. I didn't know Dean Foreman, but his funeral was very nice, and I can tell he was a wonderful, very loved man. Opa got to see his brother Paul, and it was fun getting to see the two of them together. I am grateful for Opa--since I can remember, he has always been one of my greatest role models. I have always looked up to him for his strength of character, his testimony, hard work ethic, positive attitude, generosity of his time and talents, and his love for Oma and his family. I wanted to find a husband who would love me and treat me the way Opa has always loved and treated Oma, and I have. I don't know if Opa will ever really know how much I look up to him, but I do and always have. He is one of my heroes. He knows so much and is always striving to learn more, especially about the Gospel and the scriptures, and he is always working hard to be better. He is a wonderful example to me and to everyone who knows him.

When Kyson and I took Opa to the funeral, I somehow managed to loose my camera. We bought our camera last month as an early Christmas present so we could capture all the sweet moments we have with Kyson. I have been literally sick about loosing it. We literally tore our house apart looking for it, and we just looked everywhere we could think of. We prayed several times that we'd be able to find it. Last week out home teacher came and told a story of his sister and her husband who live in Europe. They were both working in opposite directions and desperately needed a second vehicle. So they prayed that Heavenly Father would bless them with a vehicle that ran and could get each of them where they needed to go. Not long after that, an acquaintance approached them and offered to give them his old truck. It still ran, but it was old and had holes in the floor boards and he was going to just junk it, but decided to see if they wanted it first.  They were so grateful for this blessing. But as the season turned to Winter and it got colder, the truck became extremely cold to drive. The wife decided to pray, thanking Heavenly Father for answering her prayers, but then asking, "I know you've sent us this truck, but do you think you could find a way to send us a vehicle that doesn't have holes in the floor boards and that has heat so I can be warm as I drive?" As she prayed, she had a feeling that Heavenly Father was chuckling at her request, and she felt the answer, "I could have given you so much more at the beginning, but all you asked for was a vehicle that ran. You should have been more specific." I thought this lesson by our home teacher was very thought-provoking--are we being specific enough in our prayers, being careful not to just ask for the bare minimum?

On Friday night, after looking and praying for several days to find my camera, I remembered this thought and decided I would be specific in my next prayer to find it. Saturday, I threw my sister Katelyn a baby shower and I really wanted to have my camera for that event, and to take pictures of Kyson during the beginning of this holiday season. So Friday night I prayed, asking if I could please find my camera, if possible, before Katelyn's baby shower. I felt good about the prayer and had faith it would happen. Well, it didn't turn up before the shower.

We had a wonderful time at Katelyn's shower. Thank you to all of our family who came to support her on this special day! She and Steve are going to make amazing parents and they so deserved the support. I will post pictures later, once I get copies from Katelyn since I didn't have my camera.

The rest of the day we spent together with Katelyn, Steve, Ki, and his wonderful girlfriend, Jaynie. We had dinner and played games at our Uncle Kenneth and Aunt Kathy's house--we so love them! Then we returned to Oma and Opa's to watch a late night movie since Katelyn and Steve had to leave for Rexburg today. They had picked up their crib earlier, and when we got there, I went with Katelyn to the garage to see it. I had driven Opa to the funeral in their Lexus. Kent and I had each already looked for the camera in their car, but I felt prompted to look one last time. So I asked Katelyn to help me look again. We looked for a couple minutes, everywhere in that car! Finally, I glanced down in side door pocket of the back seat. At first I just saw black and didn't think anything was there. Then I saw something black, but I just thought it was maybe a pair of gloves. I decided to reach in anyway, and low and behold I pulled out our camera! I still have no clue how we didn't see it there earlier, or how it even ended up in that pocket, but what a tender mercy and a blessing! Heavenly Father answered my prayers to find our camera and the memories on it, and it was less than 12 hours later than the time I had requested to find it (hehe). His time table may differ from ours from time to time, but He does answer our prayers.

For Thanksgiving, I had contacted everyone on my Mom's side of the family and asked them to send me something they were grateful for. I compiled everyone's messages and we rolled them up and baked them into Oma's dinner rolls at dinner (thank you, Pinterest). It was so fun seeing everyone pull out messages from family members about what they are grateful for. I also compiled the messages and put them in a small album for Oma and Opa to have. Thank you to everyone who helped me do that for them; it turned out so great. I loved being able to see what my family, near and far, are grateful for. The common theme in all of them was "family." What a wonderful gift our families are to us in this life and the next.

While Katelyn, Steve, Ki, and Jaynie and us got to be together with family here in Utah for Thanksgiving, we sure missed our parents, Lyska, and Tyson. We love you so much. We did get to Skype them for Katelyn's shower though, and that was amazing!


Kyson is starting to giggle. It is my favorite thing to see and hear. He also learned to suck his thumb yesterday! It's not a habit we want him to keep, but it sure it cute to see him sucking his thumb instead of his index finger or his entire fist! He is sure growing up so fast. We just can't get over what an amazing boy he really is! He has been so good while we have been running around like crazy lately. He rarely cries, and his is so good-natured and patient and content. We can see his countenance and know he is a special child of God, and we are grateful He has entrusted us with such a precious, sweet spirit. He turned 3 months old on the 18th of November...3 more months and we will be able to finalize our adoption and be sealed to him in the Temple, and have him blessed! We are so looking forward to that week! He got a little sick this week from all of the running around and being around so many people, so I stayed home from Church with him today so he could rest. Even though he doesn't feel very well, he is still so calm and sweet. It is just amazing to me.

A friend of Oma's gave me two tickets to the Friday night "Time Out for Women" last week. One of my best friends, Carley and I got to go and hear Sheri Dew, Brad Wilcox, and Hilary Weeks. It was an amazing night and I am grateful for the messages that were shared there. They were truly inspired, and I needed to hear them all.

Life is still full of trials and challenges. I am so grateful for this wonderful time in our lives and all of the happiness and blessings we have. But we are in no way immune to the trials and challenges that still find their ways into all of our lives. Overall, I am grateful for those challenges, because I know they make me stronger. But sometimes they are just a bit much to take all at once. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who lovingly gave His Son, who loving sacrificed His life that we would be able to overcome the sins, the trials, and the pains of this life. Sometimes I am slow to remember that I am not alone. But They are always there for me, and I am so grateful for that. It is funny the cycle of learning I seem to go through--spiritual highs to lows, and everything in between. This life truly is a big lesson and a test of faith and enduring to the end. I am thankful for the Atonement that allows me to overcome all things, and I am grateful to know that I never am alone, even when I sometimes feel otherwise.

 Our Handsome Little Man

 Looking ALL Around...he loves to see new things now!

 Three months old and growling BIG!

 I've been meaning to do this forever, and I finally got to it!

 A lazy Sunday morning...

 Handsome, ready for Church

 He fell asleep holding his binky in his mouth. Daddy sure loves his little man.

Our Visit With H

In my chaotic Halloween excitement, I failed to note our visit with Kyson's birthmother, H we had earlier in October. We had a very nice visit with her and her sister. We met at Gardener Village and had a great time catching up. She is doing great in life and looks wonderful. We are so grateful for our dear birthmother and all she has given us. 

This is one of my FAVORITE pictures of Kyson! Look at that adorable little tongue!

Kyson, Our Little Fish!

Kyson loves to swim. I know he's only 2 1/2 months old, but he truly loves water--just like his Mommy. We have taken him swimming a couple of times now at my Oma and Opa's health club. He just loves it. No tears. He has also never cried during bath time. He has always loved splashing around and having fun. Recently we also discovered that He likes to take baths with Mommy so he can swim in a bit warmer water than what's in the pool. He's just so cute we had to share:

Hopefully our video of our swimmer uploaded successfully. But if it didn't, we are going to put it on Facebook too, so you should look it up! :-)

We love our little swimmer!

October Fun

Well, many of you who know us know that Halloween is a favorite of holidays for us. A little over a year ago (yes, we think of costumes that far in advance sometimes), I came up with this “brilliant” costume idea for when we had a baby. At the time we did not know if we would have a baby by the next Halloween, but the stars aligned and we did! So, I dressed up like a spider, Kent was a spider web, and Kyson was a little bug, swaddled and wrapped to look like he was all wrapped up in my web, complete with little fang marks on his cute little head! Morbid? Yeah, maybe a little….but SO fun! I have to admit, I was nervous Kyson would see my scary, black-painted, eight-eyed face and flip out. But he didn’t seem to mind at all, as long as he was fed and got to sleep when he wanted to.  We went to a cousin party with Kent's family and loved showing off our little "bug" to all of them. Fun times.

Isn't he a cute little bug?!?!?

My fun group of Cub Scouts and their siblings

We also took the Halloween opportunity to make a new favorite meal, "Witch's Brew," compliments of our friend Krista! We made a few different batches of this yummy dinner in a pumpkin!

We actually went a little nuts this year and had a couple different costumes. This is mostly due to the fact that Kent is in the Young Men's organization. For the 3 Ward Halloween Party we had at the Church, each auxiliary organization in our ward was in charge of decorating a room. Kent was over the Deacons, who chose to go with a Nerd theme, because Nerds are "the scariest things they could think of" (haha). Well I didn't want to dress as a spider without my web, so we all three dressed as nerds and showed up for the party, in character, complete with our nerdy boy genius, who was on track to be in college by age 3. Some people in the ward didn't even know who we were. We stayed in character the entire two hours we were there, which was exhausting but over the top hilarious! The boys loved it, too. Overall, it was a great party and we had a lot of fun. Kyson was amazing for the whole thing.

Our sweet little boy Genius! Love our Nerd!!!

The best part is those are my real glasses from when I was in high school! Ha! Thank you Lasik!

Sunday night before Halloween we also went to my uncle Kenneth and aunt Kathy's house for dinner. This was in no way a Halloween-themed dinner, but we decided to show up as nerds, in character anyway. It was funny. We only stayed in character a few minutes, but it was long enough to scare my cousin's 5-year-old enough that he wouldn't come near us. My grandpa, Opa loved it. In fact he asked to try on Kent's wig! It was great!

On actual Halloween (by the time Halloween actually arrived, we'd already dressed up three times as a family and Kent one extra time for school!), I had a Den Meeting/Halloween Party for my Cub Scouts. We decided since the boys had seen us on Saturday as Nerds that we would do the spider costumes. The party turned out great. We had lots of fun games and the boys and their siblings had a great time. As soon as it was over and we had cleaned up, we dashed home, scrubbed off our make-up, and dressed as nerds once again to attend a party with a few of Kent's cousins. We love to party Halloween style with the 5 Browns and their spouses...they are all just so much fun. We had a great time playing some hilarious games that I plan to incorporate into the next party I throw! Thank you Melody and Casey for hosting yet another amazing party!

 The creepy cheese fingers I made for one of our parties!

So this is our "zombie," a combination of leftover cupcakes we brought to our party with the Browns after the Den Meeting party. The original cupcakes looked like this:

Scarecrow

And Skeleton

Kent also went to school on Thursday and Monday as "Professor Polynomial." He was an outrageous math/Hogwarts-esque character the entire school day, dressed in a cap and gown. The kids loved him, and the faculty did, too. He is one amazing teacher. I wish I could have had him as my math teacher! Lucky kids!

So, as you can see, Halloween is a favorite for us. Lucky for us Kyson seemed to enjoy it for the most part too. Well, until I decided to dress him up in all our hand-me-down costumes that won't fit him next year (poor, cute kid!):

Kyson's first Halloween!!!

Look at my little sweetheart! 

Our little Tiger...

...And Lion...

...And Lobster...

Did I mention he HATED this one!?!?! Poor little one. Oh, but we love him! And two minutes after this pic was taken he was happy as can be. 

On My Mind

So I have been thinking about this post for awhile now. I have been wanting to write a few thoughts and feelings I’ve had about adoption in general and some of the “less-than-enjoyable” experiences we’ve had to endure. Of course to start, the whole battle of infertility is, at least for me, the most painful and hard to understand trial I’ve had to face. In case anyone that has not gone through any of this before was wondering: just because we have had the miracle of being able to adopt our amazing son Kyson, that DOES NOT mean that the PAIN of infertility that we have to face every day has magically disappeared. Maybe for some people, once they adopt, the pain goes away. But I know for me, and for many others in similar situations as us, the pain is still very real and very there. So if you know someone who may be facing something like this, please be sensitive to their emotions. Just because that pain is still there, does not mean we are any less than thrilled and so grateful that we do have our son. It is a hard thing to explain, and I think often unless you’ve gone through it, you may never understand fully. But it is possible to be the happiest you’ve ever been, while still feeling the deepest pain you’ve ever felt. And really, all we need is for people to understand that and accept it. Support is a wonderful thing and it often takes nothing more than mere acceptance.

A common, Oh! So Common comment that we hear, and I’ll admit, that we hope for is that “once you adopt you end up getting pregnant.” I’ve heard of it happening time and time again, and I’m sure so have you. And call us crazy, but we are really hoping for it. Like, now. If we were to randomly get pregnant with twins right now and end up having three kids less than a year apart, we’d be thrilled. Now to those of you who are parents of more than one child, I admit that if that were to happen, I’m sure I’d be asking myself, “What was I thinking, crazy!?!?” But regardless of the crazy, we would absolutely welcome that unexplained miracle to happen to us. Anyway, like I said, so many people have heard of those stories where a couple adopts and then finds out they are pregnant, that when they find out that we’ve adopted, that’s the first thing they like to share with us. We’ve learned to just go with it and play along. But if you are reading this and you know someone who is adopting or trying to adopt and you’d like a small piece of advice—we already know of that possibility. We really don’t need the extra reminders, I promise it’s on our minds already. Sometimes it’s just small, harmless comments like that that are meant in the best of terms that really cut deeper than one may expect. The best thing is to simply express your excitement for the couple and focus on the blessing we already have. Thank you for being supportive though, and know that if you’ve made unknowing comments to someone in this type of situation before, it’s okay. We know you only intend to help. Sometimes though the best way to help is to listen and not offer advice or suggestions or stories of what you’ve heard.

When you adopt a baby, regardless of race or genetics of any kind, that child is yours and has always been meant for your family. There is no difference to the parent between an adopted child and a biological child. You would go to the very ends of the earth for your baby and he or she is your own flesh in a very special way. So, if you know someone who has or will be adopting, IT IS NOT OKAY TO MAKE COMMENTS ABOUT THAT BABY POSSIBLY NOT BEING CUTE, OR SMART, OR ANYTHING, AND HOW IT WOULDN'T BE OUR FAULT BECAUSE WE DIDN’T PLAY A GENETIC ROLE IN HIS COMING TO BE!!! Sadly, I bring this one up from experience. And you may be shocked, thinking, “who could ever say such a thing?” But I promise you it happens, sometimes intentionally, most often unintentionally. But we have had close family and friends make very hurtful comments, among the worst being when they literally said, in "jest," “Well at least if he’s ugly you know it won’t be your fault, and we can make fun of him all we want since you had nothing to do with it.” REALLY?!?!? REALLY!??!?! Now I know the average person has the common courtesy and decency not to say something so horrific, but please, don’t even think this one. Our son is our son, regardless of how he came into our family, and that is offensive no matter what. Now, this is an extreme of extreme cases, but there are many other small comments that may to you seem absolutely appropriate and well-intended, but let me just say this. Comments like, “At least you didn’t have to lose your figure and get all out of shape for this one,” “Wow, you’re lucky, you got him the easy way,” “You look good for being 8 months pregnant” (knowingly said to a soon-to-be-adoptive mother), “Just relax and you’ll get pregnant,” “You have an open adoption? What if some day your kid says to you, ‘you’re not my real mom!'?” and so on and so forth…these comments hurt more than you can know and should be avoided if at all possible!!! We have heard all of these, and most adoptive couples have, too. We have learned to have thick skin, and I have especially learned to look at a person and recognize that most of the time they really are trying to help or be nice and just don’t know what they are saying. But like I said, these things have been on my mind, and I thought I would share my feelings in hopes to spare the feelings of even just one or two other couples in our situation. When in doubt, don’t say it. Ask questions, please ask questions. Adoption is often a misunderstood thing and we would love to shed more light on it for you. Don’t make assumptions, and please don’t try to give advice when what we may really need is a listening ear, or a sympathetic smile, or a loving hug.

Sister Julie Beck spoke at a recent Adoption Conference we were able to attend, and she told a story of a woman who tried for years and years to have children. Eventually, she and her husband were able to adopt several special needs children, whom they loved with all they had. Through tragedy, one of their daughters died at a young age, and not long after that, this poor woman lost her husband. She lived most of her life in poverty and faced many very difficult challenges, many involving her children. Years later, as she lay in the hospital, dying, Sister Beck came to visit her old Young Women leader. She visited with the woman, who told her she had really led a very happy life. Sister Beck thought about that. How could a woman who had lost so much so early, and had lived in poverty and pain most of her life say she had had a happy life? The woman explained, that every year of her life had been a joyful one, all but those ten years when they couldn’t have children. It was then that Sister Beck realized, that even after a lifetime of joys and sorrows, the pain of infertility had not left this woman or faded. Infertility is not a “come and go” trial. It stays with you. Even if down the road your circumstances change, those years of pain and grief remain. I am grateful to family and friends who have been willing to learn more about infertility and adoption for us. I am grateful to anyone who tries to be sensitive to those going through the painful roller coaster of it all, regardless of whether or not they can fully comprehend it. I hope that anyone who has read this post will understand that these are just a few things that have been on my mind, and I only want to shed a little light on a few things that are not typically discussed openly. If anyone ever has a question about something regarding these issues, feel free to ask me. Kent and I have decided to be very open about our trials, simply because it is comfortable for us, and we enjoy the support of the network we have developed, and we especially enjoy being able to reach out to help others who are in pain. We are not shy though, so if you don’t really want to know, don’t ask. We love adoption. I hate infertility, but I am grateful that my greatest trial has helped me to grow in ways I otherwise couldn’t, and especially that it has led us to our son. 

In the Blink of an Eye

Kent’s mom, Sheryl Brown Nixon, has been working hard for years now writing a book about her life since the tragic accident that left two of her sons paralyzed. We are so proud of her and the hard work she has put into this inspired work, and are happy to announce that it has been published! It is called, “In the Blink of an Eye,” and it is a very special book that can teach the reader how to truly cast his or her burden on the Lord. If you would like to read more about Sheryl, you can visit her website here. I have read her book and it truly is worth owning and reading over and over. It can change your life, and your perspective. To purchase a copy, go here.

Congratulations, Mom! We knew you could do it!