Not quite what we hoped for

Look at all those boys.

Zach handing his car over to be raced for his first race at districts.

Zach waiting to see if his car was going to win. It was all digital. As soon as the race was over you could see on the screen who took 1st then 2nd then 3rd then 4th. It was pretty cool.


Well yesterday Zach went to Districts with his pinewood derby car. I went to drop him off with the scout master but when I went inside the building there was a t.v. in the corner with cartooons. Oh what a blessing that was to see. I am so grateful. At that point I knew I would be able to stay and watch him. The kids could watch cartoons while I watched Zach race his car. He admitted to being nervous and I have to admit I really wanted him to win. You know when you want your children to really succeed and do well and win so that they feel good about themselves but then you also want them to be good losers and realize that it is all for fun???? Well I do make it a point to teach them to be good losers and that it mainly matters that they have fun. But deep down I REALLY want them to win and I am pretty competitive. My kids have NO idea that I feel that way though. I make sure they don't know that I am all out to win and that there is NO other way to do it. :) Really, it only lasts a while and then I am ok with it and on to something else.

Zach only raced three times before he was out of the races. There was a lot of kids there and it was neat to see such a great turnout of scouts. I was just very blessed to be there with him. I had been thinking about it all week and getting sad to think that Zach would be racing all day while I was home watching the younger kids. I knew they would be bored and I had no idea how long it would last. But as soon as I saw the t.v. I was so happy and I really think it was a tender mercyfrom the Lord. It may seem small to some but very very important to me. I try to be very invovled in my kids' life. I am there for every prayer, talk, scripture (even when they get old enough to do it on their own). I just want them to know that I care and that what they do is very important to me. So I was super excited to be with Zach. He kept looking over at me when he didn't do so well on his races and I was just glad to give him a smile and a thumbs up. I could tell he looked a bit disappointed so I knew he was happy that we were there too.

Rachel, Ethan and Mayah came over during parts of the race and cheered LOUDLY for Zach. It was cute. There was an old man sitting next to me who offered his leg for Ethan to sit on. I hope the poor man doesn't have a sore knee today from such a wiggly little bottom. Ethan loved sitting on him. He was very cool. Nothing seemed to bother him. I kept asking Ethan to sit still and the man kept telling me that Ethan was just trying to get comfortable. In my mind I was thinking "it sure is taking him a long time to do it".

Another thing I am grateful for today was the chance to visit my old ward. It was so awesome. I felt at home. In fact, I wonder if we made the right choice in moving. I really love that ward. I received so many hugs and hello's. It was also very nice to go to Relief Society.

Before Don left we were trying to take care of getting our tabs for the vehicles. Both expired in February. We never received the info in the mail to take care of it so I called to see what we could do. Since Don's name is the only name on the vehicles there was nothing I could do. This was the day Don was going to leave. They allowed me to three way him in to the conversation and then said they would send us what we needed so we could get them renewed. The lady said it wouldn't take long because she was local. I waited and waited and it never came. I was starting to really get worried. Without Don here and with expired tags I wasn't going to be able to go anywhere. That isn't a good thing for me. I need to get out often to keep my sanity. I prayed and prayed. I even called a couple of days later to see if they had indeed even sent them. She couldn't even tell me that because my name is not on their. She said if I faxed her my power of attorney she could release the info to me. OK so the next problem was that Don had the key to the safe with his car in Springfield. So yesterday morning I was going to drive to Springfield and get the key. I was going to drop Zach off at the race first so he wouldn't miss it because I knew I would be gone all day trying to take care of getting our tabs.

I decided to go into the DMV here and see if they would be able to do anything if I did have the power of attorney. The lady was SOOOOO nice. She took care of it all without the power of attorney and she even allowed me to renew the tabs for Don's car too.

OK that is another tender mercy. I would not have been able to be with Zach if I had to go to Springfield. And now I can drive legally with the new tabs.

I know Heavenly Father answers prayers, even for small and simple things. I am not saying that was a small thing but I really felt that my Heavenly Father knew my concerns and cared about me and knew that I needed tabs so that I can get out of the house when things get too tough. If that lady had not helped me like she did I wouldn't have had the chance to go visit my old ward and it was much needed. I am truly thankful for a God who listens and knows.