Star Date

Last night the kids and I had a star date. We took our giant, warm sleeping bags and laid out on the trampoline. It was cloudy so it was hard to see stars in the beginning. We waited patiently and within a couple minutes the cloud had moved and the night sky was full of stars.

Seth is the one that brought on this idea of watching stars with the kids. On Friday night we were out late and when we got home he looked up at the sky and exclaimed "WOW!" He had his head cranked back as far as he could go to get a good look. He kept pointing and repeated "WOW!" over and over again. It was super adorable. Last night was no disappointment as he continued to be amazed at all the stars in the heaven.

It was such a special night and I'm extremely grateful for the time we were able to spend together. We witnessed 2 shooting stars and that was so exciting! I also was able to spend time talking with my kids. We talked about heaven and stars. We named a few stars. We talked about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Questions were exchanged. Answers were given to the best of our abilities.

The best part was after about 20 minutes of star watching, Seth and Lydia were finished so they went back inside. I then was able to spend one on one time with Andali. There I was cuddled up in a sleeping bag with her just looking at the sky in amazement and wonder. We were able to talk about her and her life. She is almost 7! Only another year until she will be baptized! I felt gratitude for this beautiful girl. She is growing up so fast and there are moments where she is so well behaved and seems so mature for her age and then there are moments were she it totally childish.

As we laid there on the tramp she pleaded that we stay at her elementary school for 2nd and 3rd grade. She told me how much she loved school and how she didn't want to move. I told her that is our plan but we would have to see. In that moment I was just so grateful that she loved school. She is not advanced in her education but she does love to learn. I'm grateful that she loves it even though she isn't the best one in her class. She is a very competitive girl so I'm grateful that hasn't deterred her in her learning.

She is a great girl and growing too fast. I'm grateful that she still loves to be around me. I'm grateful that she still loves to cuddled up to me and feel of my love for her. I know these days are getting numbered so I'm extremely grateful that I still have a part of my little girl.

She asked if we could have another star date tonight. It must have been good for both of us. I see many more star dates in the near future.

I'm also grateful for the stars. They never seize to amaze me. It is always a great reminder to me of how small this Earth really is. How little I really am in the grand scheme of things. Yet, there is a loving Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ who thinks I'm worth saving. Who thinks that I'm worth having back home. They have given us this beautiful Earth to live on and yet it's just a small detail to the full plan of eternity. We are so loved. I'm so grateful.