Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup!

Dad and I are eating for the third day now the homemade chicken noodle soup that I made on Friday.( It doesn't quite taste as good as when you eat it the first time!) I made it because dad and I have been sick with colds and terrible coughs. Dads is definitely worse than mine, but nevertheless we haven't been able to kick the whole sickness thing that we all had experience with over the holidays. And for those of you who don't know, Shelane has mono and tonsilitis and Claire has been really sick with the croop. Hopefully we can all shake this sickness soon! My homesickness however will be a different story. When I get to have all of you all together it makes me even more homesick when we are away. After everyone left I stayed and Tammy came over and we cleaned the house from top to bottom. Tammy and I had a great visit and then I stayed over one more night and drove back to Idaho on Friday. When I got home I did the exact same thing on Saturday. Cleaned this house and put away all the Christmas decorations here. Again it took me all day. However,I think my week home has topped everyones! I left on Monday morning to go to Jackpot Nevada for a fertilizer conference. Dad had to give two presentations at this fertilizer conference on compost and organic fertilizer. All of the people there were either consultants or fertilizer dealers. There were only 3 women there and needless to say they were dealers too! (That means they were pretty hard core woMAN!) I didn't do much socializing. If you have never been to Jackpot Nevada, it consists of two casinos and probably one gas station. I stayed in my room only escaping to listen to your dad or eat at Cactus Petes buffet! The rest of the week was pretty much staying in the basement to catch up on all of my bookwork since tax time is here. I think I went out on Saturday to do a two hour shopping extravaganza. And that's my life so Tanis, I would gladly trade. I'll take Hudson all day wanting to watch Cars! Dad and I just want you to know how much we love all of you! You bring us great happiness! We had the best holidays ever and I think Morgan is probably missing us too! We are proud of all of you and all that you are doing! You are the best family in the World! So I guess I will go now and enjoy your portion of my homemade chicken noodle soup! ( Since I make the same amount even though none of you are here!)
P.S.
I have decided to start my Tuttle Timely Tidbits back up again. The boys know this well from the old mission days but now you are all going to be able to benefit from this great tradition.
I have been reading the book "God Wants a Powerful People" by Sheri Dew and it is fantastic so thinking about the new year and maybe making some goals, I came across a great statement in her book. It says,
LEARNING TO CHANGE - AND BEING WILLING TO CHANGE - ARE CRUCIAL VIRTUES IN OUR ETERNAL PROGRESSION. She says when things aren't going well, when you want to quit, when it seems as though nothing is working, and certainly when your forward progress stops, the solution is often simply to back up. Backing up may mean repenting. It may mean forgiving someone or seeking forgiveness of another. It may just mean trying again. It may require you to ask for help, seek knowledge, humble yourself, change a decision, change an attitude, change your heart, or mend a relationship. It may mean striving harder to become more pure. It may mean that it's time to stop doing something or start doing something. It may mean seeking counsel from a parent or a priesthood leader, a trusted friend or even a professional. Whatever backing up means and it can mean something different for every unique situation there are many times in life when we simply need to back up, even just a few inches, before we can hope to zoom forward spiritually again. In fact, life is in many respects a continuous exercise in stopping, backing up, making changes, and then going forward.
And remember, as the one armed fisherman would say, We love you this...................................................................much!