leaves, and leaves

this week has been beyond the usual in crazy- but when an event is coming and it feels like you're standing on the track at a station and your feet feel the rumblings of one approaching...

anyway- it was nice to make an excuse to get outside, which i did for a bit to take a few pictures of a new friend, michael, and a bit of texas leaves.



i took pictures at a friends 40th b-day party, too.



when i return, i'm tentatively scheduled to do two days of works for TWU's choral dept. they want to update their website, so i'm going in and capturing what happens during the day in the classes- sounds a bit fun, eh?

i also have a few families wanting photos, along with individual portraits upon my return- so, i'll return and hit the ground running!

today we finish getting ready to leave for utah. i'm sure i can pack and clean and make my kids a bit nuts today... i'm not sure that i can wrap my mind around tay leaving for two years until we walk in the mtc. i'm bring my own box of tissues-!

tay gets set apart tonight...

i'll share his testimony that he bore last sunday re his car and job.

do you recall a year ago? i called it my black october. my health was giving me issues, the fridge went out, and tay called to tell me he was arrested- and a few minutes later the missionaries were supposed to be coming over for dinner.

so i continued to prepare for the dinner as i waited for the officer to call and tell me i could come pick tay up- as long as i brought (was it?)$800. about then i tried to slice my finger off with my cutco knife.

it called for an ER visit. okay so- add up those expensives- and guess at the cost of the others, and you'll see that i was a bit stressed about what was happening with my budget, my health, and more importantly- my son.

it was at that point that taylor quietly turned to his Heavenly Father and asked for His help. tay desired to obtain a job, and with the help of a car he depended upon, which would need to be reliable, he prayed for the car too.

tay spent a year working every opportunity and quietly saved his money. it was rare for him to spend any of it. once in a while i'd see him grab take out, or come home with a new game- but that was it.

fast forward to this past sunday, when tay stood up and walked to the front of the fast mtg and stood to tell a 'fantastic story' as he called it.

he told that he worked his final night of delivering pizzas, woke the next morning, and his car wouldn't start. tears filled his eyes as he bore his testimony that he knew that Heavenly Father had answered his prayer- that everything would come together so he could save and go on his mission- and that he was blessed exactly that way.

after the mtg i had so many people come up to me and hug me- all of us with tears in our eyes- and then they expressed their happiness for taylor and that he's such an amazing young man. one family asked 'how do you raise a son like taylor?'

you know that it has been bumpy- and that no one knew what might happen in his life. but i am telling you, and this is my testimony- i did nothing. i loved tay, sure. and i fought for him with everything in me. but the reason tay is who he is and where he is today, is because Heavenly Father wants this young man and has plans for him. i have felt the angels fighting in his behalf- using me and others as necessary to reach him, and to secure him. i'm so grateful.