"Don't become so obsessed with raising good kids that you forget you already have them."

I saw this quote somewhere (pinterest maybe?) and I've tucked it into the back of my mind. I've been trying to let my kids know that I recognize the good that they do and that they really are such good kids. My sister, Candace and her hubby Jeff, blessed their baby (Gavin) on Sunday. After the blessing Gunnar told me, "you know how I felt the Holy Ghost when Dalton got confirmed? I felt it again today when Jeff was blessing Gavin. It made tears come to my eyes." Wow. I just gave him a big hug and told him to always remember that feeling and what a good feeling it is.

Last night Dalton went to a late night at his friend Mac's house. I picked him and his friend Ben Moyes up to take them home. They were telling me all about the late night and how much fun they had. After I dropped Ben off Dalton told me that at the party they had this cooler full of drinks for the kids to have with their pizza. He said the drinks were in long glass bottles and were dark colored. He was sure that it was beer. (as he's telling me this I'm trying hard to keep a straight face. I know this family well and I know they would never have beer in their home, let alone give it to a group of eight year olds!) I asked Dalton, "what did you do?" He went on to say that he was very uncomfortable and was not going to drink any of those drinks. He went up to Mac's mom and told her that he couldn't drink those drinks because he didn't drink beer. Mac's mom explained that it wasn't beer, it was root beer in fun glass bottles. Dalton said he was so relieved! I told him how proud I was of him for making such a good choice to not drink the drinks until he was sure what they were. I told him that his Heavenly Father is proud of him too for being such a good boy and for making good choices. We talked about how good it feels to make choices that make your parents and your Heavenly Father proud. It was such a neat teaching moment that hopefully Dalton won't forget. I know I won't forget it.