Belated Birthday Boy

Since the kiddos were sick on Danny's real birthday we postponed the cake and wrapped gifts for two weeks later. Danny didn't mind. He likes chocolate cake, at a steady pace, no face smashing, and balls.

Surfs Up

As a student at BYU-Hawaii I definately considered it a plus to find a guy to date (and possibly marry) that could surf. After graduating from Hawaii, still single, I went back to Idaho and found a East Washington boy. Little did I know, I had fulfilled my undergrad dreams of marrying a surfer! Took us four years to figure it out though.
After several failures at getting up on a wakeboard last time we were on the resevoir, Josh popped up the first time on a wake surf board! He was a natural. Or at least he is working on being a natural.
Wipe OUT!
It ain't Hawaii, and it ain't warm, but we take what we can get! Kawabunga!

Suckers!

Thank you Wells Fargo.

Putting things back in Focus

With our vacationing time I have not been very diligent with my personal scripture study. Fittingly, I studied President Dieter F Uchtdorf's priesthood address "We are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down."
Pres Uchtdorf discusses our tendency to "focus on the insignificant at the expense of the profound." Guilty as charged. He says "our weakness is in failing to align our actions with our conscience," i.e. knowing is not doing.
Here is his counsel to refocus:
-Pause for a moment and check where your won heart and thoughts are.
-It is possible to take even good things to excess...
-(good things) can become distraction if we take them to extremes and allow them to dominate our time and our attention at he expense of things that matter most. We need balance in life. -There is room for improvement.
-We cannot and must not allow ourselves to get distracted from our sacred duty. We cannot and we must not lose focus on the things that matter most.
-Imagine how the world itself cold be transformed for good if every man [and woman] who bears the priesthood of God [or has a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ] were to gird up their loins and live up to their true potential, converted in the depths of their soul, a true and faithful priesthood man, committed to building the kingdom of God.
-Our Heavenly Father seeks those who refuse to allow the trivial to hinder them in their pursuit of the eternal.

In accordance with his request to pause and reflect and the understanding that there is room for improvement, I will list and answer the questions that he asked the brethren in priesthood session:

1-Are you focused on the things that matter most? (being the responsibility, power, and right to act as agents of our Heavenly King according to Pres Uchtdorf) No. Not truly.

2- How do you spend your quiet time? Recently I have been trying to read good things, finish the touch up on all the trim on the house, and keep the dishes under control.

3-Where do your thoughts go when the pressure of deadlines is gone? Dreaming about our future, mostly wishing I had my own home.

4-Are your thoughts and heart focused on those short-lived fleeting things that matter only in the moment or on things that matter most? Honestly, things that matter most: Family, the Gospel, Missionary work, and Sleep.

5-What grudges do you bear? None to be mentioned, that's a relief. Probably not that I could think of unless I really strained my memories of the past.

6-What excuses do you cling to that keep you from being the kind of wife, mother, and daughter you know you should be? Somethings you just can't change, and you shouldn't expect me to. I am too busy with the kids and the house do to anything more. My plate is already too full.

7-What are the things that distract you from your duties or hinder you from magnifying your calling more dilligently? Well, if my calling is being a mother, then my patience level is hindering coupled with the excuse that it is really too much to ask for me to be/do more. If we are talking of Church callings then my distraction is using discretionary time for 'me' instead of being more focused on preparation and making everything easier and better for others in ways I know I can.

Huh, that was more thought provoking than I had initially thought as I read through the talk. Sadly, most of my answers are things that I have heard, felt, been reminded of recently,or otherwise been aware of as some defects in my life. Excuses always seem more lame when you write them out. I suppose I will be changing now. Not because I feel dumb (which I do in a real sense) but because I feel loved. I feel loved enough by a Father in Heaven that he inspired a prophet to speak about a subject that I had been pondering myself. And not only that, but then I was led on a day that I was ready to make some changes to read that talk. And as I think this all through, feeling a bit overwhelmed again that I am not perfect and that I do need to refocus and make adjustments, I know that it is possible. I want to magnify my calling and fulfill my purpose.

In order for one to be smart, one must learn more.

This has been the self-smarted message for the past two weeks (or maybe three). I got in a rut, had an excellent study of the Doctrine and Covenants, during which the Lord told me I ought to study more and learn more, catapulting me out of a "I'm just a mom" mind set, into searching out more ways to fill more of the little wasted times of the day with learning. I have finally read a book for the first time in months. I care what is in the news (to an extent). I have read some poetry recently, something more than Suess actually. I am pondering more than laundry.

All in all, I think I can do more, although I haven't been to enthusiastic in the past about changing my habits, I think it will be most worth my while to pick up some old habits (the type that pushed and pulled me through a four year degree in English). Daunting, but do-able.

You're 1

Due to crummy tummies, no birthday cake on the big day for Danny. We have more birthday to come for him, just when everyone is feeling better.

Today's little triumph

When we moved into this house a year ago I had little hope for the backyard.




And now look at it! Today's little triumph was realizing that our yard looks great! We got grass to grow, we trimmed bushes, put in a garden and even watered it! Today while the sicky-icky kids slept it felt good to see the progress of mowed grass and edging. I suppose if mowing the backyard was all I got done, it was a cumulative triumph for me.
This is the first brocoli to come up. Isn't it so proud!? I can just hear the plant raising it's proud produce up into the air "LOOK! Look what I did! I grew this!"

Animal Lovers

He's a boy, of course he appreciates the safari more than his sister.
I kinda imagine that this might actually be to scale, the real giraffes in the zoo would not get close enough to Danny for me to double check.

Danny LOVED the caterpillars I found in some left out laundry on the line. He was fascinated with it crawling around his hand and would keep flipping his hand back and forth to follow its path. Sadly, this little caterpillar got loved to death; Danny proudly pinched it in the middle to show Mommy what he had and some juices, necissary to life, popped out.
Faith was cool with the caterpillar as long as it stayed playing dead, once it moved she squealed and said "Oh my!"

I just can't....

Obviously I haven't locked down the blog yet. As I was going through the emails that I have, and looking at the people that visit here, I recognized I don't have a lot of your current emails. Plus, it takes a whole lot of work....so let's try this one more time (so I don't have to go private)

The random visitors that are visiting here are coming from YOUR links. Please, please, if you are reading this, make sure that our blog is not visible on your blog (or facebook, etc) for others to follow. REMOVE OUR BLOG. That way others can't find their way in here.

I'll try this one more time hoping that I don't have to input all my out of date emails and offend someone that won't be able to see my blog...as if it really mattered.

Eat your heart out Alfred Hitchcock

Let's just hope if Danny chooses to create movies he will stick to the artistically suspensful and not the gruesomely scary types.

Moments of Faith

Faith is such a personality! We struggle with finding a way to 'discipline' or otherwise get our message across to her.
Recently I had my wet laundry hanging over the back of the kitchen chair waiting to go outside on the line. Faith was sitting next to the belabored chair eating a 'sanwish,' absentmindedly kicking the companion chair. As the loaded chair began wobbling I warned Faith that if she were to tip the chair over I would be upset. She looked at me blankly, turned and got another piece of 'peena budda an dam' while waiting for me to get distracted again. She then persisted with testing the balancing features of a top heavy chair. When the chair thudded wetly to the floor, Faith smiled, having accomplished something unexpected - making a whole chair fall with one little push of one little foot. I turned and checked my frustration while looking at the smiling child. I knelt down and began restoring the chair all the while trying to tell Faith how mommy was sad that she had not listened to her. Faith looked concerned momentarily, and I thought I had made some headway, until she said matter-of-factly, "Mommy, you choose be happy!" She was completely serious. Not defeated yet, I tried again to let her know that I was sad because she had not obeyed my words. "No," Faith said with a slight shake of the head and a lowered brow "you be happy." Lesson learned: Faith was listening some other time when I was talking to her about choosing to be happy, so maybe there is just a delay and next time she will understand why mommy is sad.

Word of Faith: nogie= nose +bogie "Mommy, I have a nogie!" while holding out a large mucusy blob on her finger. "Wipe it on the carpet. Good job."

Labor Day 2007/ Memorial Day 2009