Struggles of Marriage

I am not one to often keep up on celebrities, but I have loved watching the show "John and Kate Plus 8." They have recently announced their decision to divorce which has caused me to ponder a bit about divorce. Divorce is sad; not just for the kids, but for the whole family. Things like this are often preventable, but not always. I just hope and pray for their family as well as any others going through a divorce, that they continue to respect and pray for one another. Like so many watching this story, I took some time to reflect on my own marriage, and thought that there is always room for improvement. Maybe we say thank you more, and forgive faster. Maybe we compromise more and serve each other even more. The beauty of marriage is that it is an opportunity to perfect the art of being human. We choose a spouse that will help us perfect ourselves and love us while we are doing it. That means that there are going to be good days and bad ones; it all comes down to how we treat one another. I love my husband more than anything, but sadly, sometimes I treat him the worst. I heard a quote the other day that said, "Treat your company like family, and your family like company." I liked that because I like to spoil my company! I challenge those of you who are married to talk with your spouse about how to make things better even if they are already great!

Girls Camp 2009

Our camp ground was beautiful!

The girls were SOOO much fun!

and they looked super cute in their matching sweatshirts!

Boys at girls camp? Jump girls!

I LOVED girls camp! If I could go every month, I totally would! The girls were awesome and I had a BLAST! I could spend all day trying to write about camp, but a picture is worth 1000 words. Girls camp is my dream calling and I hope and pray that the girls loved it as much as I did! The theme this year was, "Be Loyal to the Royal in You." While it was fun to have a princess theme, it was more important to help the girls to know how special they are and that they are Royal Daughters of God.

Happy Birthday JoJo!

Jonathan turned 27 on the 19th. What an old man! (I only have a few more weeks that I can call him that before I'm old too!) Growing up, his mom always cut a watermelon in half. She would give Jonathan and his sister each half with a few candles in it. {They share a birthday.} I started a tradition a few years ago by making him a "watermelon" cake. It's not his favorite, but he usually enjoys it. If I could only figure out how to make a pizza cake! Now that would be his favorite kind of cake! Happy birthday Jonathan! I love you times two for eternity!

To make the cake, you just take a white cake mix and add one 3 oz package of watermelon jello to the dry cake mix. You make the cake just like the instructions but you add 2 cups of mini chocolate chips. Divide into two round cake pans and bake as directed. I like to freeze the cakes to help the cool and it makes it easier to frost. Just tint 2/3 of a can of whipped vanilla frosting green and the other third bright red! I also like to sprinkle a few more chips onto the top of the cake. For this one, I dyed some coconut green and squished it around the cake.

Zach and Bubba

Which caption should I use for this picture?
1. Just because we don't have a pool, doesn't mean we can't have fun with pool toys!
2. Take me to your leader.
3. Any sign of intelligent life Bubba?
4. Adult supervision not required.

What is it with 2 year olds wanting to touch the camera?

Fruit Tart... Yum!

So instead of doing all the things I should be doing... I made a fruit tart for enrichment tonight! It doesn't quite look like the picture, but I think with practice I could perfect it!

Missing in Action

I know I have not posted anything in a LONG time, but I have been really busy! With summer now here, I am starting to panic! This summer is going to be a crazy one for the Randall family. First, I am going to take the young women in my ward camping. While this sounds like a simple task, in true Donna form, I have taken it to the next level and in so doing, have made it much harder than it needs to be! Needless to say, I am totally excited and stressed at the same time! Five days after I return from Girls Camp, I leave for 4 1/2 weeks in NY! Jonathan and I are going to be in the Hill Chomorah Pageant in Palmyra, NY this summer. We have to be there for 3 weeks, so I am going out early to see friends and family. Jonathan will be flying out just a few days before we have to report. We come home at the end of July just in time for my birthday! (I am sure we will be too tired to do anything too crazy to celebrate.) August will consist of camping trips with friends, home projects (it wouldn't be a Randall summer without them!) and working in the garden. (Did I mention I have a garden with 24 tomato plants, among several other things, to tend to??) I am sure I will make a trip to Vegas and then we are off to conclude our crazy summer with a cruise to Mexico! While all of this craziness leads to great scrapbooking and blogging (why else would I do all of this??) I apologize in advance for long bouts of no blog posts!