The Joy Sisters

My three year old has Down syndrome.  Some will say it is a disability.  I probably falsely believed that too at one point in my life.  Now, I will testify from the highest mountains that it is a super power.  No, even more, a spiritual gift to have come here from God with EXTRA.  She is so extra at times.  Extra emotions, but they come with EXTRA JOY TOO!  When I am hurting, even a little, she is the first to notice.  Superman can see through walls.  My girl can see into my heart.  Almost the instant I am sad, she can be across the room, playing, watching “Dory”, whatever the case may be, and she will come running and tenderly wrap her arms around me, pat my back and LOVE me!  This hasn’t happened once or twice.  It happens on a regular basis with everyone in our family.  She is sensitive, intuitive and watches over us.  In so many ways she is ADVANCED!  This intuneness to be compassionate began at the tender age of about 12-15 months.  And at an evaluation for development earl

When my mom was alive she loved daisies. She had an amazing green thumb and grew huge plantings of Shasta Daisies. She also loved Gerbera Daisies. After she passed away I started finding daisies a lot more regularly. Also she whispered to my sweet JOYsister Renae to buy a Gerbera daisy plant and bring it to me for Mother’s Day. Many times she’s reached out to me through Renae.  She sent hearts drawn in the mud at a demolition derby at the fair one year. She has sent a heart shaped cloud one particularly hard day. Most recently my sisters and I were celebrating my mom’s life together. We were at an antique store. All my life I have been obsessed with old buttons and this store had SO MANY!! There was a huge glass jar filled with thousands of buttons. Big and little, ratty and pristine, and all old. I didn’t need any more old buttons but I did want to feel them. So I took off the lid and put my hand right in the middle of them all. I pulled one out thinking I’d just put it back but wh

Dina from SheDraws Near has agreed to guest post for us again. Dina loves family, adventuring, family history and is currently working on an #organize365project where she is posting on Instagram each day her progress with organizing pretty much everything! We are happy that she is joining us once again. Thanks Dina!       I love memories of sitting on the Lake with my family and all of my cousins, uncles, aunts & my grandparents.  We would float and sing, laugh and tell stories, and the adults would say, “I remember when…!”      My grandpa Hoagy was an avid genealogist and he would tell us all of the connections he’d found in his research.  This was back before the ease of a home computer that revolutionized genealogy research.  He had boxes full of papers, proof, photocopies, family tree sheets, family group sheets; I mean loads of boxes overflowing.  Some of it was interesting but most of it seemed tedious to a 12 year old that just wanted to go water skiing.       As a

I’m the oldest of four kids.  Our parents were definitely not wealthy.  My dad was a policeman in our little town for the first few years of my life. Then he took a position as the juvenile probation officer. My mom stayed home with us until my youngest sister was in school. Often times they worked side jobs and were excellent at budgeting to keep us clothed and fed. We didn’t have a lot of fancy toys, but we had each other. We lived in an area outside town with a big pasture behind our house and a huge city park less than a mile up the road.  Honestly we didn’t know we were poor. I guess we didn’t have anything to compare ourselves to. We were happy. We played outside. We played inside. My parents fostered our imaginations and our independence by giving us chores to do when we complained of boredom. We played together but we fought a lot too. Probably no more than any other family. I was the oldest and until I was about ten was the fastest and strongest. I didn’t get picked on

The first great commandment... Love the Lord thy God And the second, like unto it Love thy neighbor as thyself... But there has to be something in between.  I have thought about this a lot.  Especially as a young mother with children back to back.  Now my oldest is almost off to college and I still have one under ONE! & five others in between.  At some point with them, my spouse, my extended family and friends, I have realized I can't love my neighbors (everyone besides myself) like I love myself, if I don't LOVE MYSELF. There are a lot of negative messages in the world.  A lot of self deprecating paths a person can take.  But I am learning to embrace me.  My strengths.  Where do I get those strengths from, for me God is my source and Sabbath is the well I refill my spirit from.  When I fill up my soul on Sundays I find the sustenance necessary to carry me through difficult weeks.  I start to see myself as the daughter of God that HE sees me as. I remember who I am.  

My grandma was an epic journalor (If that is even a word. If not...it is now). She wrote volumes over her lifetime. She chronicled everything from the mundane, "I watched Connie's kids this weekend"; to the life altering, "I have cancer on my face". She wasn't worried about being fancy or flashy. She was just trying to give us a sense of what filled her days. She wrote often. Sometimes daily but at least weekly. She shared her testimony of Christ, of service and of love. Reading them you really get to know her as a person...not just a grandma. Over the years I have tried to be a faithful journal keeper. It's not something I find easy to do. I kept a blog for a number of years. I used it as my journal. As an added bonus, there are pictures to go along with my life stories. I had them printed and now have some nice journals. As you may know, my mom passed away ten years ago this month. Looking back on the blog posts from the first anniversary ha

Heidi Swapp reminded me of something last week when she posted about cuddling her boys and laughing together; I often forget that the ordinary moments  are really the most extraordinary for me. Growing up, for me, laughter embodied love.  I don’t mean the laughing at someone laughter, Or even the crazy, wild, and loud laughter. I mean the JOYful, laugh line causing, happy moments. I have a particular memory where my little brother, one of my sisters and I Are laying on the floor tickling my dad... And laughing.  And laughing.  And laughing! Somewhere there is a picture of that moment. But I don't need one, I can see it in my mind. Some of my happiest times are  when I find myself laughing with my children.    This year my sweetheart has gotten up in the morning  to take our children to early morning scripture study.  And then I pick them up.  They always have stories to tell me  about how crazy their dad was that morning.  Relaying

Hey guys! Lori here! For my OLW in 2018 I chose MORE. MORE of a lot of things. Actually, I had to narrow it down to 12, one for each month. For February the MORE is Self-Care. I’m going to get real for a minute, vulnerable. It’s not something I’m very good at. I have a pretty tough outer shell but let me try to open one of the cracks for you and expose the soft center…just for a minute.  I’m a nurturer by nature. I always have been. When I was a young mother (and I do mean young....too young actually) I didn’t understand that to be my best self I had to take time for myself. I had to find what recharged my batteries and do it. I had a hard time feeling like I was good at being a mom. (I have battled depression and anxiety since I was 13) I felt like I was running on empty all the time.  Because I was.   As I got older I found things that made me feel good. Some were destructive to myself (emotional eating) and some were bad for my marriage (emotional spending). Some were good

My sister first shared this poem on our instagram page in December.  It has been one of my favorites since my teen years when the mother of my high school boyfriend first shared it with me during a time of dealing with toxic and difficult people. It is a short poem, easy to remember and always applicable. Especially now. February is the month of love.  Typically romantic love, but as the ever growing  "Galentines"  movement would suggest, that  tends to  leave a lot of people out.  And as this poem suggests, we  here  at the JOYsisters are all  about inclusion and loving  EVERYONE We want  you to feel at home here.  Drawn in, as the poem suggests.  Outwitted He drew a circle that shut me out — Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in! ~ Edwin Markham I happen to live in a part of the country that experiences frigid winter temps, short days and often little motivation to go outs

This month we will talk all about love.  Love of God Love of others  Love of ourselves  Love of routine  Loving and being loved  Love of Stuff Nurturing Love in relationships With spouse, children, friends, etc. Healthy Love and boundaries And unhealthy Love and boundaries... And we'd love your input, thoughts ideas triumphs hang ups concerns and  success stories Happy February!