Three crazy weeks

Things have just been crazy over the last 3 weeks. It started out with Shawn getting the stomach flu which triggered a migraine that has lasted for the last 2 weeks. We would appreciate all your prayers in his behalf. Tyler also ended up sick with Rino virus. He is still coughing 2 weeks later but at least he only missed 1 day of school. In the middle of all this we were trying to get ready for Mariah's baptism, Shawn's Eagle Court of Honor, and Tyler earned his scout 1st class.

Mariah's baptism was probably the easiest to get ready for. David's mother made her dress. At the last minute we decided to add some ribbon in back because she likes the look. My wonderful sister, Kristi, came early on Saturday to help me. Thank heavens she did because I couldn't think straight on what needed to be done and I was about to fall apart. It is so frustrating because I used to be so organized and able to plan things out so that I wouldn't be stressed at the last minute. I still try to plan things out but the last minute stuff is a lot more stressful now. Kristi and her kids helped us finish the last minute things and get to the baptism on time. She even went to the store and bought ice and the ribbon for Mariah's dress then she sewed it on. Mariah loved the dress before but the ribbon added a delicate touch to the back. Earlier in the week I took Mariah and her friend, Kaylee, to the park to take some pictures. The picture above is one of them. On our way home we stopped at the gas station to pick up milk. A little girl behind us whispered to her mother "Look mommy, a princess." Mariah really liked that. Keisha helped by painting Mariah's fingernails and putting on some flower decals that I had purchased for this day. Kristi also sewed on a pink flower that was originally on Mariah's blessing dress when she was a baby. I hope to remember to put the same flower on Mariah's wedding dress when she gets married.

I didn't realize how much goes into an Eagle Court of Honor. I spent most of the two weeks before trying to get all the last minute details together. I made a fun DVD of Shawn's 8 years in scouts. It was fun to see him grow up in the pictures. I also put one picture from each year he was in scouts on the table. I will talk more about his Court of Honor later when I have more time and when I figure out where I put the camera with some pictures in it. The Court of Honor was very nice but unfortunately my camera battery died during the middle of it. I hope to get some pictures from other people who had cell phone cameras. For anyone who took pictures at the Court of Honor please email them to me at candytatton@yahoo.com. Thanks.

Although the last few weeks have been very tiring, I don't think I realized how emotionally tired I was until Saturday morning when we were trying to get the last minute things ready. Lately I have also noticed that it is harder for me to be patient with other people. Little things like children who are loud and out of control and parents who just ignore them and let them run wild and disrupt others or destroy property REALLY bother me now. It seems like wherever I go we end up being by people like this. I have been to several meetings where I had a hard time feeling the spirit because of the people around me. Saturday morning was our Primary Program practice at the church. We purposely waited until it was almost over to start setting up Shawn's stuff so that the kids would not get into it. Despite this there were a few that just couldn't resist trying to come in the cultural hall were we were. I told them they couldn't come in but that didn't keep them from trying several times. That was destracting and irritating and I think that was one of my final straws. Luckily they all went home before we were finished setting up. The FINAL straw came when we went over to the stake center for the baptism and as we walked in there were several children running around. When I looked into the gym they were setting up for a children's birthday party. I asked one of the parents if they knew that the church was reserved for a baptism. He said NO and asked who reserved it first. I said that we had and that nothing else was on the calendar. That was my last straw. I fell apart. I had worked so hard to make this day nice for Mariah and didn't want the spirit disrupted by the noise of a birthday party. I was nearly in tears. We ended up setting up the refreshments in the same room as the baptism and I had Shawn get the table and ice water so that I could avoid any further confrontation. After we set up the refreshments I went into the bathroom and fell apart. I was so frustrated! Then my Mom came into check on me. Then I really fell apart. That was the first time I had seen her since she left on her mission. She helped me to calm down but once the tears started flowing they didn't stop all day.

Once I calmed down enough to go into the chapel, I said a pray to have peace and to be able to feel the spirit and forget what was going on outside the chapel. Thankfully the other people kept the noise down so that Mariah's baptism was not further disrupted. It was a beautiful meeting. Mariah glowed with happiness. She had talked about and looked forward to this day for so long. It was extra special that her Grandma and Grandpa Larsen were given a week off from their mission to come share that day with her. Grandma Larsen gave a talk on Baptism and Grandma Tatton gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. After the first talk we went into the baptismal room. Mariah went down into the water with David and he baptised her. It was so beautiful. Mariah had the biggest smile on her face. She just glowed. I am so proud of her for making this choice. After she came out of the water I wrapped her in a towel and gave her a hug then we went and got her dressing in the dress her Grandmother had so lovingly made for her. She looked like and angel. After the second talk Mariah was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Her baptism was extra special because it was the last one that our Bishop presided over because our Bishopbric was being released the next day. I was so emotional through the entire meeting. I cried almost constantly. The spirit was strong and everything ended up turning out okay. After the closing prayer we all went back into the baptismal room and ate cookies and took pictures. Then we had to hurry and clean up and go to our building for the Court of Honor. Like I mentioned earlier, I will write more about that later when I find my camera with the pictures and after I receive some from other people.

P.S. The sister that reserves the stake center called on Monday to apologize for the problems on Saturday. Apparently the birthday party was not supposed to be there. The people having the party were not even in our stake. Several months ago the Spanish Branch was moved from our stake to another one. The people holding the party were from that branch and went to the wrong stake center. I told her not to worry because it wasn't her fault and that it was over and in the past. I just want to forget about the problems and remember the good things that happened that day.