STAKE CONFERENCE
I loved the talks I heard today! This was a great Stake Conference. I really want to focus on a few things that stood out to me. 1- Cutting out the fluff in my life. I wish that meant laundry and dishes, because I feel like those are fluff, but I think there are other things I could cut out that would give me more time to focus on the Gospel and my role in Heavenly Father's plan. As I sat there (in the mother's lounge with Molly, and my best friend, Emily) thinking about this, it occurred to me that the fluff in my life might be more mental fluff than physical. I don't think I do have a whole lot of physical things I could remove- we've really cut things down to mostly the bear minimum around here out of sheer necessity, but mentally, I think I am VERY distracted. There are a lot of things I could be putting aside and eliminating in order to make room for better things. I am going to work on that. 2- I'd like to put more effort into my fasting. I do pretty good, but there's definitely room for improvement, and I'd love to see just what would come of it. It's been only a few years out of the last decade and a half-ish that I've even been able to fast, so this is something I'm not real practiced in yet. I'm looking forward to some changes there. And 3- I want to get going on some REAL family history work. I LOVE to index and arbitrate and I want to keep doing that, because I think it's important and really, I enjoy it! BUT I would like to have some names to take to the temple when I go! They are really pushing that at the temple in the baptistry at least and I would love to be part of that. I wish my family hadn't been so good at family history work (just kidding) because it really is going to take some real effort to find names, but I'm hoping some names can just come out of the woodwork for me once I learn how to do it all. Surely I can work on three things right?
It was a lot of fun to be in the same building as the Shadowbrook ward as well. So much fun to walk in and see all those familiar faces! I was so excited to hug everyone and catch up a little. Keri Gunn, Debbie McColley- even though I just hung out with her on Tuesday :) haha, The Callisters! Allena! Diane Morrell, Kaye Cazier, Sis. Robbins, SHARON WHITAKER!!! The Huntingtons, oh and of course, the first face I saw when I walked in the chapel- Bishop McGrath! Love that man. Just really awesome. I'm so glad I know these people and that even though we're not in the same ward, they will always be important to me. 11-13-16
FINALLY SOMEWHAT SMOOTH
Our Sunday evening went SO smoothly! I feel bad that we didn't make it to the family meeting at Meg's house, but I am SO glad we had the evening that we did. Everything happened just perfectly (amidst all the chaos of course- there's always an underlying layer of chaos in our house, lest ye be mistaken). We had alone time, everyone was playing together, the tv wasn't on, there weren't huge messes in the kitchen (note to self: empty kitchen before Sunday afternoon), they had rediscovered the foos ball table! Charity helped me make dinner (since it's normally her day to do so- this week we took a break and had mom make dinner every night), we delivered the primary program parts- some of them, we ate a peaceful dinner, the kids got some free time, then 10 min of clean up time, had journaling time, more playing- even got to play Guess Who with Noah who beat me 4 out of the 5 rounds, some relaxation (for like a half hour! nobody complained and four of them fell asleep!), and finally scripture time! I just couldn't be happier with the evening! I wish I hadn't yelled at Bradley and Kelly even though they probably needed it, and I wish the fighting could end, but realistically- this was a great evening! Go us! 11-13-16
THE VEIL
So, I've had a lot of thoughts about this lately and I'm not sure how weird it is that I'm actually saying it out loud, but I'm willing to risk it :). Molly doesn't talk AT ALL! She is one year old and barely says, "Da" once in a while at random times. I can't help but point out that when Charity was her age, she was a week or two away from becoming a big sister- she was practically speaking with sentences! I don't point this out to make Molly look bad. I actually just have not been able to escape the feeling that she is still too close to the veil. I've always had the theory that the reason babies can't talk right away is because they are not all the way through the veil and would tell us things we shouldn't know. And that as they get farther and farther away from the veil they learn how to talk and become more earthly :). Sounds weird I'm sure, but I am. So this made total sense when I thought about this with regard to Molly. She is just such a sweet and amazing little person. She listens to me, and understands so much! She will usually stop doing what I say no to, and avoids most of the "no" things in the future (or shakes her head while she's trying them again :) ). She hardly ever cries when she's not tired or hungry or thirsty. She sleeps like a dream and is just a heavenly little angel! We really couldn't ask for a better baby. This totally fits in my opinion! I think she's still aware of things spiritual. I think she still knows things. SO! I'm going to let her learn things in her time. I still talk to her all the time, try to encourage her to say things because I don't want her to be stunted on account of me, but I'm not pushing anything more than usual. I just love having her sweetness around. She is such a fun little girl. 11-13-16
1 OUT OF 8
This is random and I'm not sure it deserves a whole spot of it's own, but we had Jack's little tunnel thing out today and Molly has been LOVING IT!! She crawls through it, laughs, then crawls back, laughs, turns around and crawls back... it's adorable!! I've NEVER had a baby that would actually crawl through those things! They were ALL too scared! And we've had those for YEARS!! So this is remarkable. 11-13-16
STOP CARING
Something that has occurred to me (more intensely than ever before) is that I care too much. Not about the important stuff, I don't feel like you can care about the important stuff too much, and I'm not even talking about the unimportant stuff, although I should stop caring too much about that too. I'm talking about the stuff I can't change. Those things that will remain the same no matter how much I care about them. The things that get stuck in my head and won't leave until I've made a really big deal about them. I've decided to need to stop caring. This has been in my prayers lately and actually making a huge difference in my life so far. No more fretting over Pack Meeting procedures, no more stressing out about the things other people do with their kids and how they are raising them, no more getting worked up over how much I am contributing with the Primary Presidency compared to everyone else in the Presidency, no more scrutinizing over every little detail in the PTA bylaws that we are not following nor planning to follow... to name a few. I have got to let myself move past these kinds of things. They clog up the whole thinking system and cause me to miss appointments and not make important connections that I need to make. So this is one of my new goals. I hope I can make this a new thing for myself. 11-13-16
JACK AND COMPANY
Jack was back hanging out with Will and Liam this week. I was happy :). He has been on what seemed like a break for the last little while. So this Monday they had a lot of fun and just sounded so cute together! Got along really well the whole time, and bounced from house to house! Forts at our house, dance party at Will's, and magic sand at Liam's to name a few things. I'm so glad he has friends. 11-14-16
FHE
Charity taught a nice lesson on Unity and how we can bring our family together more. I loved it. I thing we all needed a good reminder. We played Quelf for our activity and then drove up to Krispy Kreme for report card free donuts for the treat! 11-14-16
HR TOO HIGH
I read this week that jogging is not the best way to lose weight. It was one of the saddest things I'd read in a long time. I'm actually still kind of sad about it. Not because I'm going to stop running/jogging, but because I really had hoped it was going to be the thing that brought me back down to a normal weight. It feels SO GOOD! I feel so accomplished when I'm done and it's brought my confidence level up a ton! I wish so much that it was going to help me lose weight. I'll admit, I think this whole jogging/running thing has been a miracle and something that was inspired, so I'm going to go on thinking it will help me lose weight and just hope for that little miracle to go along with it. Otherwise, it will just be the cure for my hip problem, and the thing that sets me apart from my former self. 11-14-16
COUNTING BY SEVENS
I read the book Counting By Sevens and we reviewed it at Book Club this week. I really liked this one. It was one that I wish had been a little more exciting, there were slow parts and times when I was wanting it to get more interesting, but then, that ended up making it really cool in the end. The girl is an inspiration to me. I want to be the type of person who even amid my own trials and hardships is able to look beyond and see the good in others, the good in each moment, and the hope of a new day. I love that she was so aware of other's feelings and what they might be going through. I need to develop that. 11-15-16
BLUE SLIPS
Erika and Bradley got blue slips this week! Erika got hers for "always being helpful" and I am not sure why Brad got his. I didn't get to see it of course. But then, as I was getting my light and timer out Thursday morning, I noticed a blue slip Noah had received a while ago for "being helpful" as well! Way cool! 11-15-16
NOT MINE
Had a few kind of rough moments this week. I got too emotional about things. I knew my period was coming, so I was trying so hard not to think about anything too hard, but I failed. We had playgroup at the church this week and set up for YW in excellence was right after so I was going to help set up, but as soon as a few of the new leaders got there I just about lost it! All the feelings I had when I was released came flooding back and then on top of it, I had the frustration of the lack of youth lead pouring in as well. It's so hard to just let go of Young Womens! I don't know why. I love my new calling, I don't want to change, but letting go of that calling has been challenging! I miss being with my girls. I miss having so much say in what they did. I miss being aware of all the issues they faced with friends and fellow Young women. I miss just being part of that part of their lives. I miss the youth! I miss the fun and happiness that surrounds them. I miss the friendship with the leaders. I miss feeling like I have a reason to get together and talk with people. I miss my girls learning how to be leaders and filling a role. I miss seeing them struggle and then resolve to plan and carry out an assignment. I miss watching them go above and beyond with their callings and assignments. I miss feeling like what I was doing was getting the youth somewhere. It's SO HARD to feel like where we got them, and the position we were in with youth lead with the Shadowbrook YW is now several steps behind! SO FRUSTRATING!! But anyway. I just miss it! I wish I'd been able to suck it up long enough to just help out because I'm sure I looked like an idiot just picking up and hauling kids out of their like a crazy person. I wish I'd had the strength to be supportive and love what they were doing rather than think I could do better. They are the leaders now. They are doing what they can do and how they are going to do it! I don't need to control everything. It has been fun to see all that the new leaders have done for the girls. It's been kind of a nice break for them too for sure, with the leaders doing it all. I know they've been disappointed in some areas, but really, I think they'll look back and have fond memories of things this way. I need to get myself past all this mentally. Might take a little more time I guess. 11-16-16
TILT TABLE
Nate and I (and Molly and Jack of course :) ) went to visit Grandpa Russ and Grandma Ruthie in the hospital. Nate went in first and visited with his mom and dad together and then Ruth came out and I went in. He looked SO MUCH BETTER! So much like himself! Since the last time we saw him. It was nice. He was still not feeling well, and was not very comfortable. We tried to help him shift positions a little, but that didn't really work. He was nice though, and tried really hard to be interested in us and have a conversation. He has been so patient through all of this. It's not fun to be in the hospital and have everyone doing things for you, so I think it's been hard on him even just in that regard. But he's doing great! Unfortunately, after I left, things got really hairy. They came in to put him on the tilt table and test his blood pressure in all the different positions they can on there. Nate was there with him, and can hardly express how awful that was to see his dad going through that. Apparently, he was in excruciating pain when tilted up to an upright position. He was begging them to put him back down, but they of course couldn't if they were going to help him with this blood pressure problem. He was so patient, but also very persistent. This was really hard for Nate to witness. I'm glad I wasn't there. And poor Ruth has had to watch a lot of this through this whole process. I think she was glad she got out of it too. It was pretty overwhelming. He even fell asleep shortly after. He is doing a little better in some areas, but not in others. They still can seem to get his kidney functioning, and his blood pressure and infection continue to be a problem. So he's still in the ICU. We're hoping and praying for him regularly though, so hopefully he is able to get things under control soon. In the meantime we will just have to keep visiting. 11-17-16
PUZZLES
Luke and I love to do puzzles together and it's been a while! I found one at the dollar store that kept us busy for a couple days this week :). Lots of fun! 11-17-16
RUNNING/JOGGING
SO we finished our 8 week running schedule (I think it took us a little more than 8 weeks, but who's counting :) )! Kind of exciting, but also somewhat anti-climactic! I have wondered what we should do when we finish it and now that it's here, I still haven't settled on a plan. The one I'm leaning toward is to start back over with it, but rather than walk/jog, I would like to jog/run. So the first day will be jog 2 min, run 1 min, times 7. I think this could help me improve my speed. Hopefully. I'd really like to get down to a 10 minute mile soon. I'm still really slow. So we'll see. I guess if this doesn't seem to be working we could just keep trying to lengthen our distance in a certain amount of time. I like progressing, so I guess that's my focus. I might just need to be happy with where I'm at though, who knows :). We'll have to see. I'm a little discouraged right now because on Friday, we woke up so late and decided really quickly to still go running, but I forgot to warm up and stretch!! This is the first time I've forgotten to do that and ended up pulling a muscle in my right thigh. It's incredibly painful! Hurts to push on the gas and break when I'm driving. In fact that morning, when I was driving kids to school, I almost cried when I stopped for a stop sign suddenly! Crazy. Hopefully the ibuprofen and rest is helping that. When we got on Monday it better be better!! The other bad thing about our run on Friday was people saw us! Julia Worthen at the school asked me how far I was going in the morning and I was of course embarrassed to say, almost 2 miles. I've been up to more, but at the end of this schedule that day was only at 2. So that was a bummer. But whatever. I am not doing this for anyone or anyone's acceptance or validation. I am doing this for me. One of the few things I get to do for myself. So I'm just going to leave it at that. 11-17-16
COLONIAL DAY WITH LUKE
I got to go help with Colonial day in Luke's grade! Fun stuff! I was helping with candle-making and besides almost burning the school down (I partly blame Mrs. Sweeten and her newspaper hot pad idea), and one of the other moms spilling a whole jar of hot wax on the floor--- It was a LOT of fun!!
I love being there and being part of all the excitement! Luke seemed to love the whole activity. He talked about the butter and how good it tasted on the corn bread after school :). I wish I could have been able to see him doing more things. I am going to have to make sure I sign up to do photography again next time like I did with Kelly's group, I got to see more that way. 11-18-16
BIRTHDAY DATE WITH ERIKA
Erika and I went on her birthday date this Friday! So much fun! She chose to go to IHOP and then to As You Wish painting place. This was such a good time for the two of us and felt so needed! She was so talkative and so much fun to joke around with and laugh with. We had a lot of fun. The ceramic painting ended up being a lot of fun too. She was SO good at it! She seemed like a big girl there, choosing her piece and colors without hesitation. It was fun to see what she did with hers! She really did a great job! So much fun. I got to make us a new You Are Special plate like our old one- hopefully it turns out okay. That was so fun to have for birthdays and stuff. We stopped in at the game store next to the ceramic place, on our way out of Station Park. That was a lot of fun too- she couldn't get enough of the bear with the huge body and tiny head. So weird. One thing we need to do differently next time is wear our coats!!! It was FREEZING!! 11-18-16
GAME 2
Erika wowed us all again at her second basketball game! She really is serious about this sport! It's a LOT of fun to watch. The boys even looked forward to it and loved it! She made several baskets this time, which she attributes some of them to how the girl who was supposed to be guarding her didn't. Funny girl. She did great though! We were so amazed! 11-19-16
VISITING GRANDPA AGAIN
Grandma had enjoyed our visit earlier this week so much, we decided we needed to go again and with the big kids. We thought it would be fun to bring some games so that we could entertain Grandma instead of the other way around. Unfortunately, this ended up being one of his worse days. And Grandma was not really herself either. Seemed overwhelmed and distracted. We were glad we got to see them though and enjoyed the time there. Hopefully things will look up soon! Charity, Kelly and Bradley all got to see him for the first time too- that was new and fun. I think they were surprised to see him in that condition, but very loving about it. 11-20-16
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Journaling from the kids
KELLY:
Pie night
on Thursday we went to the church for pie night, right after we went swimming for Erika's birthday. There was so much pie!! I got like 5 slices which probably wasn't the smartest idea but, while we were in line Kara bumped me and all my pie fell off my plate :( so I "had" to get some more :) I had invited by best friend Hannah to come and she showed up while I was in line for the 2nd time. And of course, after I sat down and ate and talked for a little bit, they brought out some even more delicious pies that I couldn't pass up so I got some more. Again, not a smart idea. We all decided to go play cops and robbers and on the way out I bumped into Hannah and she dropped her mini cheescake. Saddest day ever! we played cops and robbers for like what felt like 2 hours but probably wasn't. And can I just say, I'd make a pretty amazing robber! I was the last one caught and then while I was in "prison" I had an idea to climb out the window so all of the robbers escaped! It was a total blast!
LUKE:
This week me, mom, and Brad cleaned mine and brads room. It was a huge mess. It was fun and also boring. The boring part was the cleaning part. the fun part was the arranging, the organizing, and, playing with molly on my bed and eating molly's crackers. Some weard things I found cleaning up was the present I made for Noah on Christmas. I'm so glad we cleaned it because I found alot of my toys and we moved the foosball table and we love playing it now
CHARITY:
11/13/16
Wow! Recently, I just finished my play "Romeo and Juliet to teh Max!" It was such a fun experience! I played Romeo's hippie cousin, Benvolio. It was so neat to see the play evolve into what it ended up being. The second show was 10x better than the first one just because we learned through trial and error. Now that the play is over, I'll definitely have more time for hmwk which will be nice. This experience just got me more excited for musical theatre next semester. During this week, I got super nervous about my performance so I got a blessing from my dad. That was a nice comfort.
Also, we had temple tuesday this week. I LOVE going to the temple! I feel such an incredible peace and warmth there. It was especially special because it was just me, Kelly and mom. I love spending time with them.
Saturday was a rough day for me after Erika's basketball game. I think I was just super exhausted from my play but I just felt really sick. I did feel better today though!
I HAD A REALLY FUN WEEK!!!
NOAH
11/13/16
We went to the stem for family night. We got to filla pigs hart up with ear we did it with a hart that was smoked and one that wasn't. And my brother build a giant tower of blocks. And we got to see a reall owl it was so fun thanks mom.
BRADLEY
This week I was able to go do baptisms for the dead. It was sooo cool when we got there we changed into our suits to do the baptisms. My locker # was B-8 I had to wait a long time to get baptised for them I had 3 names I got baptized for. Then while dad was baptizing 2 other girls I go tunchanged and showered I didn't know where the clothing shoot was then I found it after awhile. After I got ordained for the people. Once we left we went and got ice cream.
It was so cool!!
ERIKA:
On saturday I had a baskitboll gam. I made lots of hoops! On my frist try I was so osome! on my socund try the other team made a tonol for me to go throw and I made a hoop!
JACK:
[he spent the ENTIRE time scribbling "words" on his lined paper, I need to get a pic of it- it's seriously a LOT of work! He's adorable. He doesn't like to draw as much as he likes to "write" :)]
Pie night
on Thursday we went to the church for pie night, right after we went swimming for Erika's birthday. There was so much pie!! I got like 5 slices which probably wasn't the smartest idea but, while we were in line Kara bumped me and all my pie fell off my plate :( so I "had" to get some more :) I had invited by best friend Hannah to come and she showed up while I was in line for the 2nd time. And of course, after I sat down and ate and talked for a little bit, they brought out some even more delicious pies that I couldn't pass up so I got some more. Again, not a smart idea. We all decided to go play cops and robbers and on the way out I bumped into Hannah and she dropped her mini cheescake. Saddest day ever! we played cops and robbers for like what felt like 2 hours but probably wasn't. And can I just say, I'd make a pretty amazing robber! I was the last one caught and then while I was in "prison" I had an idea to climb out the window so all of the robbers escaped! It was a total blast!
LUKE:
This week me, mom, and Brad cleaned mine and brads room. It was a huge mess. It was fun and also boring. The boring part was the cleaning part. the fun part was the arranging, the organizing, and, playing with molly on my bed and eating molly's crackers. Some weard things I found cleaning up was the present I made for Noah on Christmas. I'm so glad we cleaned it because I found alot of my toys and we moved the foosball table and we love playing it now
CHARITY:
11/13/16
Wow! Recently, I just finished my play "Romeo and Juliet to teh Max!" It was such a fun experience! I played Romeo's hippie cousin, Benvolio. It was so neat to see the play evolve into what it ended up being. The second show was 10x better than the first one just because we learned through trial and error. Now that the play is over, I'll definitely have more time for hmwk which will be nice. This experience just got me more excited for musical theatre next semester. During this week, I got super nervous about my performance so I got a blessing from my dad. That was a nice comfort.
Also, we had temple tuesday this week. I LOVE going to the temple! I feel such an incredible peace and warmth there. It was especially special because it was just me, Kelly and mom. I love spending time with them.
Saturday was a rough day for me after Erika's basketball game. I think I was just super exhausted from my play but I just felt really sick. I did feel better today though!
I HAD A REALLY FUN WEEK!!!
NOAH
11/13/16
We went to the stem for family night. We got to filla pigs hart up with ear we did it with a hart that was smoked and one that wasn't. And my brother build a giant tower of blocks. And we got to see a reall owl it was so fun thanks mom.
BRADLEY
This week I was able to go do baptisms for the dead. It was sooo cool when we got there we changed into our suits to do the baptisms. My locker # was B-8 I had to wait a long time to get baptised for them I had 3 names I got baptized for. Then while dad was baptizing 2 other girls I go tunchanged and showered I didn't know where the clothing shoot was then I found it after awhile. After I got ordained for the people. Once we left we went and got ice cream.
It was so cool!!
ERIKA:
On saturday I had a baskitboll gam. I made lots of hoops! On my frist try I was so osome! on my socund try the other team made a tonol for me to go throw and I made a hoop!
JACK:
[he spent the ENTIRE time scribbling "words" on his lined paper, I need to get a pic of it- it's seriously a LOT of work! He's adorable. He doesn't like to draw as much as he likes to "write" :)]
Sunday, November 6, 2016
Journaling from the kids- two weeks in a row!
LUKE:
Halloween was a BLAST! and since we changed wards recently , we still know alot of the people in the shadowbrook ward so we went to the shadowbrook ward and the ponds park ward and my teacher gave me a huge hershey bar... with almonds :(. but I ate it any way. I already at all my candy and I wish I still had it. my favorite thing about halloween is when we get home and sort and trade candy and now we invite friends over to
ERIKA:
I'm so exided for my Brithday! I will get so many prusits (presents) I Am going to swim for my brthday I will get a cacke. I will be turnig seven I want sum lagose!
KELLY:
So on Friday the 4th, I was able to go to this young women retreat/late night thingy. It was one of the funnest things I've ever done! And I don't think it would've been fun without Kara Larsen being there. When we first got there all the Beehives got to hekp set up because we were in charge. Me, Kara, and Jacks Thaxton goofed around a lot with the microphones :) Then when everyone else arrived the first thing we did was play the candy bar game. And of course I (being so unlucky) was the last one to get something. I got milk duds. Then after that we sat in a circle and said something about us that no one else knew, or we could tell a funny story. The fashion show we did next was so much fun! We turned Aubrey Noriega into a Hipster clown and then I got to MC the whole thing which was fun too :) As you probably know, I love to do service projects which was the next thing we did. We cut and tied those fleece blankets and I thought we did a really good job! They turned out really good. then we played this fun dice game called "Bunko" And guess what!!? I won for having lost the most! So Sometimes bad luck comes in handy :) The next thing we did was definately over all my favorite! :) We each got to do two games against someone on the other team. The first one I did was where we had to blow a bubble and get it to go through the hula hoop without popping. It was a piece of cake! The second one that I had to do was this thing called the ding dong stack. I had to unwrap a ding dong and then balance it on my forhead and whoever stacked up the most was the winner and I won again! My team ended up as the winner!! :) By this time it was probably like 10:00ish. Then we all got our treats and put out our spots for where we wanted to watch the movie :) me and kara sat front and center so we could easily see the screen. we watched once I was a Beehive on a projector. I ate so many treats that night I think I might still be full from it :) It got so freezing and me and Kara we trying to share this tiny little blanket I brought :) By the end of the movie it was 12:30 and we had been there for 7ish hours!! We were all sooooo tired! But I had a blast and I cannot wait to do it again next year! :)
BRADLEY:
today I got to be able to teach a lesson in Deacons quorum. It went great!! This is how it went. We did opening excercises then left to o ur quroms. Teachers went to teachers qurom, elders went to elders qurom, and Deacons we got set apart and sustained. It was really spiritual and awesome! After that me and bridger gave the lesson It went really well. We talked about becomeing more self-reliant. I had rodrick read 13 verses then had dad read 2 Timothy chapter 5 verse 8. Then had bridgers dad read a verse. We tried to show a video about it but it didn't work. After that I passed out fast offerings and went to one house and she gave out lots of candy if we didn't eat it till we broke our fast.
CHARITY:
Charity Maynes
11/6/16
On Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, Kelly and I had a late night with the young women in our ward. It was SO MUCH FUN!! We did so many fun activities and games that really brought us together as a group. The firs tthing we did was eat from the snack table :). We played the "candy bar game" but it included lots of really cute pens and notebooks and stuff. Then, we did a fashion show but we had to make the dresses from a garbage sack and other craft materials. It was sooo fun. Then we did our service project. We cut and tied blankets. Then we played Bunko. This was a really fun game to play. I won a bag of specialty popcorn for losing the most games. :) Then we started our minute to win it games. Our team lost. I forgot to mention that after the candy bar game we got pizza and soda. We all layed out on the floor and watched "Once I was a Beehive. It was a really fun night!
Also, I am doing a play called "Romeo and Juliet to the Max" I am so nervous but so excited.
JACK:
[a full page of squiggly lines- the kid is adorable. He says it's about Halloween :) ]
NOAH:
Halloween this year was so fun we got so much candy I got big peases of candy mostly becaus we went to two wards the shadow brook and the ponds park ward then we came home and sorted are candy and traytet are candy and went to sleep
Halloween was a BLAST! and since we changed wards recently , we still know alot of the people in the shadowbrook ward so we went to the shadowbrook ward and the ponds park ward and my teacher gave me a huge hershey bar... with almonds :(. but I ate it any way. I already at all my candy and I wish I still had it. my favorite thing about halloween is when we get home and sort and trade candy and now we invite friends over to
ERIKA:
I'm so exided for my Brithday! I will get so many prusits (presents) I Am going to swim for my brthday I will get a cacke. I will be turnig seven I want sum lagose!
KELLY:
So on Friday the 4th, I was able to go to this young women retreat/late night thingy. It was one of the funnest things I've ever done! And I don't think it would've been fun without Kara Larsen being there. When we first got there all the Beehives got to hekp set up because we were in charge. Me, Kara, and Jacks Thaxton goofed around a lot with the microphones :) Then when everyone else arrived the first thing we did was play the candy bar game. And of course I (being so unlucky) was the last one to get something. I got milk duds. Then after that we sat in a circle and said something about us that no one else knew, or we could tell a funny story. The fashion show we did next was so much fun! We turned Aubrey Noriega into a Hipster clown and then I got to MC the whole thing which was fun too :) As you probably know, I love to do service projects which was the next thing we did. We cut and tied those fleece blankets and I thought we did a really good job! They turned out really good. then we played this fun dice game called "Bunko" And guess what!!? I won for having lost the most! So Sometimes bad luck comes in handy :) The next thing we did was definately over all my favorite! :) We each got to do two games against someone on the other team. The first one I did was where we had to blow a bubble and get it to go through the hula hoop without popping. It was a piece of cake! The second one that I had to do was this thing called the ding dong stack. I had to unwrap a ding dong and then balance it on my forhead and whoever stacked up the most was the winner and I won again! My team ended up as the winner!! :) By this time it was probably like 10:00ish. Then we all got our treats and put out our spots for where we wanted to watch the movie :) me and kara sat front and center so we could easily see the screen. we watched once I was a Beehive on a projector. I ate so many treats that night I think I might still be full from it :) It got so freezing and me and Kara we trying to share this tiny little blanket I brought :) By the end of the movie it was 12:30 and we had been there for 7ish hours!! We were all sooooo tired! But I had a blast and I cannot wait to do it again next year! :)
BRADLEY:
today I got to be able to teach a lesson in Deacons quorum. It went great!! This is how it went. We did opening excercises then left to o ur quroms. Teachers went to teachers qurom, elders went to elders qurom, and Deacons we got set apart and sustained. It was really spiritual and awesome! After that me and bridger gave the lesson It went really well. We talked about becomeing more self-reliant. I had rodrick read 13 verses then had dad read 2 Timothy chapter 5 verse 8. Then had bridgers dad read a verse. We tried to show a video about it but it didn't work. After that I passed out fast offerings and went to one house and she gave out lots of candy if we didn't eat it till we broke our fast.
CHARITY:
Charity Maynes
11/6/16
On Friday, Nov. 4, 2016, Kelly and I had a late night with the young women in our ward. It was SO MUCH FUN!! We did so many fun activities and games that really brought us together as a group. The firs tthing we did was eat from the snack table :). We played the "candy bar game" but it included lots of really cute pens and notebooks and stuff. Then, we did a fashion show but we had to make the dresses from a garbage sack and other craft materials. It was sooo fun. Then we did our service project. We cut and tied blankets. Then we played Bunko. This was a really fun game to play. I won a bag of specialty popcorn for losing the most games. :) Then we started our minute to win it games. Our team lost. I forgot to mention that after the candy bar game we got pizza and soda. We all layed out on the floor and watched "Once I was a Beehive. It was a really fun night!
Also, I am doing a play called "Romeo and Juliet to the Max" I am so nervous but so excited.
JACK:
[a full page of squiggly lines- the kid is adorable. He says it's about Halloween :) ]
NOAH:
Halloween this year was so fun we got so much candy I got big peases of candy mostly becaus we went to two wards the shadow brook and the ponds park ward then we came home and sorted are candy and traytet are candy and went to sleep
Things to Remember Week of 11-6-16
CALLINGS
Kelly and Bradley both got set apart for their new callings today! So cool! Kelly is the new Beehive Secretary and Bradley is the new Deacon Quorum Secretary :). Lots of note taking and calendar making in their near future I'm guessing :). They totally should work together on this I think :). It was neat to listen to the things they were blessed with in their settings apart. I love the Priesthood and all the sweetness it brings to my life. 11-6-16
ARBY'S AND THE DI
Charity's theater play costume had been stressing me out and weighing on my mind since the day before Halloween when Charity told me she needed it. It wasn't that it was going to be hard to make bell-bottoms it was that it was going to be hard to get a minute with Charity to go to the DI and get some pants we could cut up! How sad that I really just don't get that kind of time with her! So I went out on a limb and suggested that we go during her lunch break! I picked her up about 15 minutes before and we raced off to the DI (making a little stop at Arby's- she needed lunch :) ), and ran around like crazy people trying to get the right pants. It was a mad dash! I was seriously tired when we pulled into the school just MINUTES before her theater class started!! That is not a very long lunch break! But we did it!! And it took me about 15 minutes to make them into bell-bottoms when I got home! Such a relief to have that done! And it was kind of fun to be with Charity in the middle of the day. She's a sweetheart. 11-7-16
STEM FAMILY NIGHT
For FHE (minus Charity :(, we're going to have to get used to the idea of the big kids needing to miss FHE once in a while for things- Charity had a dress rehearsal for her play- MANDATORY!- so that was kind of a sad thing for me, but we'll need to be flexible I think) we went to STEM Family night at the Davis Convention Center. When we first walked in I was a little blown away by how crowded it was. I probably would have just turned around if it wasn't for Nate. We barreled our way through the crowds and learned about satellites first off. Then a little about drone cameras. It didn't really get exciting until the Thanksgiving Point booth where the kids got to stack blocks :). These things are so funny because it's not like we don't have blocks at home to play with- but at this place they were really exciting! Bradley built a really tall tower and everyone stood around waiting for it to fall :). Kinda fun though, not sure why. We got to see a set of healthy pig lungs and a set that had been ruined with cigarette smoke and see the effects of that. Kinda cool. They even feel different. The healthy ones were spongy-er. Lighter and easier to fill up with air. Kinda cool. Then we saw some cool art where you set a metal cylinder at a spot on the picture and it shows something else in the reflection! I don't know how to describe this. There was a picture of a woods scene and on the cylinder it was a picture of a man! So cool!! We got to do some aircraft trivia and watched some robots... what else? I can't even remember it all... but the kids said they had a good time :). We got there a little late, felt too soon when they were announcing it was time to close up. We ran into the Blauers there, from Holbrook, that was fun and Aiden Hunsaker and his family too- Bradley LOVED Aiden. So that was fun too. Poor Molly was not having the time of her life. She cried through a lot of it and thankfully Kelly was willing to push her around in the stroller to keep her happy. It was a good night overall. We headed over to the mall food court for some Pretzel Bites for our treat :). The cutest thing ever: Bradley got Molly out of her seat for us (this is one of the BONUSES of having 8 kids, there's usually a big kid willing to get the baby out so we don't have to crawl in there and do it ourselves. Call it laziness if you want, I'm going to call it a BONUS!) and first thing he does with her is curl her up in his arms and give her a sweet little kiss on the forehead! SO SWEET!! I just loved it. He really is such a sweet SWEET boy! He carried her all the way into the mall, no complaints, while talking to her and saying sweet little things in her ears, and then found her a high chair and put her in one all on his own. He even sat by her and kept her company the whole time. I was in heaven of course, but even Nate leaned over and pointed all this out to me. Kind of a sweet moment for us parents. All the kids are really sweet to her and we have moments like this pretty frequently, I usually just forget to document. Fun night for all. 11-7-16
TEMPLE TUESDAY
It was Temple Tuesday this week. Charity and Kelly were the only ones who wanted to go. Which was great! I love that we started that and that even now if it fizzles out for everyone else, my girls and I have this set and will be able to keep it up pretty easily regardless. Makes me happy that they are going to the temple at least once a month. So we did that and then when we got out to the car Nate had run out of gas on Legacy so we stopped to help him get back to his car- three miles of walking to a gas station and he was still smiling! He's so awesome. Not a grumbling word at all the whole time- he's pretty awesome. 11-8-16
LUNCH WITH DEBBIE AND DIANE
Debbie and Diane and I miss visiting teaching together. So we went to lunch :). I just love that I have those two in my life. For completely different reasons. It's funny how different they are and yet how well they get along. They crack me up! Jack and Molly were angels!! They made me so proud! 11-8-16
BRADLEY'S FIRST TIME DOING BAPTISMS
We FINALLY made time for Bradley to go to the temple! I had scheduled something for the week he turned 12 not realizing he would need to be ordained first and then we had a few weeks where we were just not able to fit it in!! It was totally our faults for not just making it happen, but what a relief when we finally got to go :). We planned on Tuesday evening, so while I was at the temple in the morning, I asked the temple worker if that was going to be okay to bring him that night and found out it was no walk-ins night! I was so bummed! I expressed to the temple worker that we'd been struggling to get him in for his first time so he went and pulled some strings for me!! Sometimes it pays to complain ;) He was really nice about it and put us on the schedule! I was so thankful!! So anyway- the evening was hectic as is always the case when we want to go to the temple, but we made it! I LOVED bringing him there! It's such a neat feeling to experience all of it all over again for the first time. He was so cute and sweet the whole time and I could tell he was a little nervous, but he totally kept his cool and looked like a pro :). I wish I could have been in the font area with he and Nate, but what a neat experience for the two of them! I'm so glad we've made it this far with Bradley. Such a cool kid- I'm so proud of him! We went to Dairy Queen afterwards :). And then came home to the election! 11-8-16
TRUMP 2016
So I must say I was a little relieved at the results of the election. I really hadn't seen that coming so it was a pleasant surprise. I can't say I think he's going to be the best thing for our country, but compared to Hilary, I am definitely relieved. It really came down to the Supreme Court for me. After reading his tax plan the other day, too, I kind of liked it. It's crazy to see who is angry about it all and who hated him more than Hilary- I just don't see it! But anyway- guess we'll see how it goes! Door number 2. 11-8-16
SEPs
What a fun afternoon we had!! I can't get over how fun it is to sit and listen to the kids' teachers talk about them :). So many awesome things to say. They ALL have such great teachers this year and their teachers all feel like they are great students. Makes me feel so good! I wish I was doing more to help them out and could take credit, but they really do so much of it on their own. They really can take so much of the credit. I try to make that clear to their teachers because they automatically think it's us. Nope. We let them all pick out a book from the Book Fair for their awesome report cards and praise from the techers. 11-9-16
REFLECTIONS NIGHT
Erika and Luke both had entries in the Elementary school Reflections. We got to attend the awards night on Wednesday. They both got participation metals and prizes from the drawing. They both did such a great job, and I'm so happy they took the initiative to submit things. 11-9-16
WARD PIE NIGHT
Ponds Park Ward has this Pie Night tradition. We were SO excited for a ward gathering! It's been really nice to have these kinds of opportunities to meet more people and get to know our ward more. I loved talking with Emily the most though :). So comfortable and such my best friend. I did meet the Barklays. It was a lot of fun. I was glad we didn't miss it. 11-10-16
DEEP CLEAN FRIDAY
Nate and I decided to skip the Game room and do the storage room this week. It was pretty easy, not as bad as I thought it would be. We organized the shelves and took a ton of stuff to the DI. I probably should have taken all of the baby stuff to the DI as well, but I'm holding off on that stuff for now. Hopefully it can all find a home soon. It's taking up so much room! Felt good to get it all done though and be able to walk through it! Since that was done and a lot of things were now in the game room, I took it upon myself to deep clean the game room too. Thankfully Kelly joined me when she got home and helped out a ton. We finished it up Saturday morning. It feels like a different place down there with all the rooms cleaned up! Now I need to make my advent calendar for Christmas and get the Pringles cans out of there :). 11-11-16
ROMEO AND JULIET TO THE MAX
Charity's theater 2 class put on a fun little play. It was a spoof on Romeo and Juliet. They did such a great job! So much fun! I loved all of Charity's lines the most. And she had a LOT of them! I had no idea she was in so much of the play. She did so well!! Kelly, Bradley, Erika and I loved it. Aunt Heidi came to show support as well. I just love that Charity keeps up on her acting :). She's always loved it so much. 11-11-16
ERIKA'S FIRST BASKETBALL GAME
What a fun game!!! We all couldn't get enough of Erika! She totally rocked it! She was all over the place, dribbling like a pro, shooting several times, making most of the teams points. She's so good at passing and sharing the ball, but so good at getting in there and being aggressive! Her steals!! She really was just amazing! We were all so excited about it and couldn't believe our eyes :). Her first time playing and she's already so good at it! We all loved the moment when she realized she just needed to barrel through the other team to get up closer to the basket and made a shot! Fun stuff. It was a bit of a step backwards for her since they don't call double-dribbling or travels, she took advantage of that a few times. But so much fun!! I'm really excited about this season! It's gonna be fun. 11-12-16
BRAD AND LUKE'S ROOM
Oh man, what a job this was today!! I think we were down there for six hours, but Bradley says it was only four. "ONLY"?!!!!! We got their room so clean! It's like a brand new room! I think we emptied about 4 big boxes of garbage, and removed 4 big bags of clothes from their room. Hopefully they will at least try to keep it clean from now on! I can't handle another one of those cleaning marathons! 11-12-16
Kelly and Bradley both got set apart for their new callings today! So cool! Kelly is the new Beehive Secretary and Bradley is the new Deacon Quorum Secretary :). Lots of note taking and calendar making in their near future I'm guessing :). They totally should work together on this I think :). It was neat to listen to the things they were blessed with in their settings apart. I love the Priesthood and all the sweetness it brings to my life. 11-6-16
ARBY'S AND THE DI
Charity's theater play costume had been stressing me out and weighing on my mind since the day before Halloween when Charity told me she needed it. It wasn't that it was going to be hard to make bell-bottoms it was that it was going to be hard to get a minute with Charity to go to the DI and get some pants we could cut up! How sad that I really just don't get that kind of time with her! So I went out on a limb and suggested that we go during her lunch break! I picked her up about 15 minutes before and we raced off to the DI (making a little stop at Arby's- she needed lunch :) ), and ran around like crazy people trying to get the right pants. It was a mad dash! I was seriously tired when we pulled into the school just MINUTES before her theater class started!! That is not a very long lunch break! But we did it!! And it took me about 15 minutes to make them into bell-bottoms when I got home! Such a relief to have that done! And it was kind of fun to be with Charity in the middle of the day. She's a sweetheart. 11-7-16
STEM FAMILY NIGHT
For FHE (minus Charity :(, we're going to have to get used to the idea of the big kids needing to miss FHE once in a while for things- Charity had a dress rehearsal for her play- MANDATORY!- so that was kind of a sad thing for me, but we'll need to be flexible I think) we went to STEM Family night at the Davis Convention Center. When we first walked in I was a little blown away by how crowded it was. I probably would have just turned around if it wasn't for Nate. We barreled our way through the crowds and learned about satellites first off. Then a little about drone cameras. It didn't really get exciting until the Thanksgiving Point booth where the kids got to stack blocks :). These things are so funny because it's not like we don't have blocks at home to play with- but at this place they were really exciting! Bradley built a really tall tower and everyone stood around waiting for it to fall :). Kinda fun though, not sure why. We got to see a set of healthy pig lungs and a set that had been ruined with cigarette smoke and see the effects of that. Kinda cool. They even feel different. The healthy ones were spongy-er. Lighter and easier to fill up with air. Kinda cool. Then we saw some cool art where you set a metal cylinder at a spot on the picture and it shows something else in the reflection! I don't know how to describe this. There was a picture of a woods scene and on the cylinder it was a picture of a man! So cool!! We got to do some aircraft trivia and watched some robots... what else? I can't even remember it all... but the kids said they had a good time :). We got there a little late, felt too soon when they were announcing it was time to close up. We ran into the Blauers there, from Holbrook, that was fun and Aiden Hunsaker and his family too- Bradley LOVED Aiden. So that was fun too. Poor Molly was not having the time of her life. She cried through a lot of it and thankfully Kelly was willing to push her around in the stroller to keep her happy. It was a good night overall. We headed over to the mall food court for some Pretzel Bites for our treat :). The cutest thing ever: Bradley got Molly out of her seat for us (this is one of the BONUSES of having 8 kids, there's usually a big kid willing to get the baby out so we don't have to crawl in there and do it ourselves. Call it laziness if you want, I'm going to call it a BONUS!) and first thing he does with her is curl her up in his arms and give her a sweet little kiss on the forehead! SO SWEET!! I just loved it. He really is such a sweet SWEET boy! He carried her all the way into the mall, no complaints, while talking to her and saying sweet little things in her ears, and then found her a high chair and put her in one all on his own. He even sat by her and kept her company the whole time. I was in heaven of course, but even Nate leaned over and pointed all this out to me. Kind of a sweet moment for us parents. All the kids are really sweet to her and we have moments like this pretty frequently, I usually just forget to document. Fun night for all. 11-7-16
TEMPLE TUESDAY
It was Temple Tuesday this week. Charity and Kelly were the only ones who wanted to go. Which was great! I love that we started that and that even now if it fizzles out for everyone else, my girls and I have this set and will be able to keep it up pretty easily regardless. Makes me happy that they are going to the temple at least once a month. So we did that and then when we got out to the car Nate had run out of gas on Legacy so we stopped to help him get back to his car- three miles of walking to a gas station and he was still smiling! He's so awesome. Not a grumbling word at all the whole time- he's pretty awesome. 11-8-16
LUNCH WITH DEBBIE AND DIANE
Debbie and Diane and I miss visiting teaching together. So we went to lunch :). I just love that I have those two in my life. For completely different reasons. It's funny how different they are and yet how well they get along. They crack me up! Jack and Molly were angels!! They made me so proud! 11-8-16
BRADLEY'S FIRST TIME DOING BAPTISMS
We FINALLY made time for Bradley to go to the temple! I had scheduled something for the week he turned 12 not realizing he would need to be ordained first and then we had a few weeks where we were just not able to fit it in!! It was totally our faults for not just making it happen, but what a relief when we finally got to go :). We planned on Tuesday evening, so while I was at the temple in the morning, I asked the temple worker if that was going to be okay to bring him that night and found out it was no walk-ins night! I was so bummed! I expressed to the temple worker that we'd been struggling to get him in for his first time so he went and pulled some strings for me!! Sometimes it pays to complain ;) He was really nice about it and put us on the schedule! I was so thankful!! So anyway- the evening was hectic as is always the case when we want to go to the temple, but we made it! I LOVED bringing him there! It's such a neat feeling to experience all of it all over again for the first time. He was so cute and sweet the whole time and I could tell he was a little nervous, but he totally kept his cool and looked like a pro :). I wish I could have been in the font area with he and Nate, but what a neat experience for the two of them! I'm so glad we've made it this far with Bradley. Such a cool kid- I'm so proud of him! We went to Dairy Queen afterwards :). And then came home to the election! 11-8-16
TRUMP 2016
So I must say I was a little relieved at the results of the election. I really hadn't seen that coming so it was a pleasant surprise. I can't say I think he's going to be the best thing for our country, but compared to Hilary, I am definitely relieved. It really came down to the Supreme Court for me. After reading his tax plan the other day, too, I kind of liked it. It's crazy to see who is angry about it all and who hated him more than Hilary- I just don't see it! But anyway- guess we'll see how it goes! Door number 2. 11-8-16
SEPs
What a fun afternoon we had!! I can't get over how fun it is to sit and listen to the kids' teachers talk about them :). So many awesome things to say. They ALL have such great teachers this year and their teachers all feel like they are great students. Makes me feel so good! I wish I was doing more to help them out and could take credit, but they really do so much of it on their own. They really can take so much of the credit. I try to make that clear to their teachers because they automatically think it's us. Nope. We let them all pick out a book from the Book Fair for their awesome report cards and praise from the techers. 11-9-16
REFLECTIONS NIGHT
Erika and Luke both had entries in the Elementary school Reflections. We got to attend the awards night on Wednesday. They both got participation metals and prizes from the drawing. They both did such a great job, and I'm so happy they took the initiative to submit things. 11-9-16
WARD PIE NIGHT
Ponds Park Ward has this Pie Night tradition. We were SO excited for a ward gathering! It's been really nice to have these kinds of opportunities to meet more people and get to know our ward more. I loved talking with Emily the most though :). So comfortable and such my best friend. I did meet the Barklays. It was a lot of fun. I was glad we didn't miss it. 11-10-16
DEEP CLEAN FRIDAY
Nate and I decided to skip the Game room and do the storage room this week. It was pretty easy, not as bad as I thought it would be. We organized the shelves and took a ton of stuff to the DI. I probably should have taken all of the baby stuff to the DI as well, but I'm holding off on that stuff for now. Hopefully it can all find a home soon. It's taking up so much room! Felt good to get it all done though and be able to walk through it! Since that was done and a lot of things were now in the game room, I took it upon myself to deep clean the game room too. Thankfully Kelly joined me when she got home and helped out a ton. We finished it up Saturday morning. It feels like a different place down there with all the rooms cleaned up! Now I need to make my advent calendar for Christmas and get the Pringles cans out of there :). 11-11-16
ROMEO AND JULIET TO THE MAX
Charity's theater 2 class put on a fun little play. It was a spoof on Romeo and Juliet. They did such a great job! So much fun! I loved all of Charity's lines the most. And she had a LOT of them! I had no idea she was in so much of the play. She did so well!! Kelly, Bradley, Erika and I loved it. Aunt Heidi came to show support as well. I just love that Charity keeps up on her acting :). She's always loved it so much. 11-11-16
ERIKA'S FIRST BASKETBALL GAME
What a fun game!!! We all couldn't get enough of Erika! She totally rocked it! She was all over the place, dribbling like a pro, shooting several times, making most of the teams points. She's so good at passing and sharing the ball, but so good at getting in there and being aggressive! Her steals!! She really was just amazing! We were all so excited about it and couldn't believe our eyes :). Her first time playing and she's already so good at it! We all loved the moment when she realized she just needed to barrel through the other team to get up closer to the basket and made a shot! Fun stuff. It was a bit of a step backwards for her since they don't call double-dribbling or travels, she took advantage of that a few times. But so much fun!! I'm really excited about this season! It's gonna be fun. 11-12-16
BRAD AND LUKE'S ROOM
Oh man, what a job this was today!! I think we were down there for six hours, but Bradley says it was only four. "ONLY"?!!!!! We got their room so clean! It's like a brand new room! I think we emptied about 4 big boxes of garbage, and removed 4 big bags of clothes from their room. Hopefully they will at least try to keep it clean from now on! I can't handle another one of those cleaning marathons! 11-12-16
Things to Remember Week of 10-30-16
CUB COMMITTEE MEETING
I went to my second meeting for scouts on Sunday. This was much anticipated! I was SO anxious to discuss the need for awards in our Pack meeting! I know that sounds silly, but I've suddenly become really passionate about the cub scouts and how things are run. Probably comes with the calling- who knows. I had never received an email back from Butch so the suspense was killing me. Luckily, he took it seriously and even had it on the agenda! He kept my name anonymous so that nobody was mad at me for bringing up something that had already been discussed a while ago, which was interesting, because eventually it became obvious it was me, but whatever. So the good news is- they're bringing back awards to Pack Meeting! Wahoo!! I'm happy :). Funny thing is- the Primary counselor from Country Lane ward approached me after the meeting to tell me that her President was planning on separating their Primary from the Super Pack for Pack meetings starting in January! So I think we will too- that will be AWESOME! I'm probably not supposed to tell anyone yet, so if there happens to be someone reading this- pretend you don't know- but I don't think anyone pertinent does. Anyway. This is all very good news! 10-30-16
THE AFTERMATH
I'm kidding about the heading- I was really nervous for the day after Halloween and what it would entail. I could imagine sick/tired/unmotivated- sugared up kids who couldn't wake up/couldn't hurry and get ready/didn't want to go to school/not able to find things.... you know. But it went just fine! The kids all got up, got ready and we were even on time for school! This was a beautiful beginning to what turned out to be one of the most productive days I've had in a VERY long time! It was AWESOME! I felt bipolar or something, like I'd come out of a down and was having an up! I got SO much done. And Molly took the world's longest nap so it was all allowed! I wasn't neglecting her! Jack on the other hand... but it was a screen day so it was okay. SO anyway. Very cool! Felt good to get so much done! I hope I can keep the momentum! 11-1-16
HAPPINESS VS. JOY
The concept that happiness and joy are two different things has been on my mind a lot lately. Must have been in a talk or something- I don't know- but I wanted to get some feelings down. I've been struggling a lot lately with some mild depression and feeling like there isn't much in my life that is truly satisfying. I was really happy with myself when I was able to put those feelings into words. The word "satisfying" was actually kind of satisfying if that's not too weird :). I've had a hard time enjoying the things that I normally do enjoy. It's been frustrating. Until recently I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to be able to pull myself out of this without those little things that would make me smile and make me happy. But thankfully, this comparison was brought to my attention and I have been able to recognize more joy in my life than I thought existed. I think happiness is about fun. It's about smiling and laughing and having a good time. It's about outings or relaxing or celebrations. These things were usually somewhat satisfying. I would plan, carry something out, enjoy it with everyone and feel completed for a moment. Like I had succeeded. This has been missing lately. I have been left feeling empty and open-ended. Like things never got closure so they would rest in my mind and start to circle. In a way that was really overwhelming (not the usual rethinking and over thinking that I do- that's normal for me:) ). This was just as I said, really dissatisfying. BUT when I think about the meaning of joy--- Joy is the happy that Heavenly Father wanted most for us. Peace, love, the Spirit. It's the stuff that eternity is made of. The comfort that the Holy Ghost can bring. THIS is what I think joy is, and what Heavenly Father really wants us to feel. Joy is what is still existing in my life right now! And that is a very good thing. Joy is what I feel when Nate smiles at me. Joy is what I feel when my kids are getting along. Joy is what I feel when I finish cleaning up a room and can sit and feel the Spirit filling it rather than clutter. Joy is what I feel when the little sunbeam says his own prayer to begin Sharing Time. Joy is what I feel when I see Nate walk through the front door from a long day at work. Joy is the hugs and kisses after family prayer and the fun handshakes and secret waves as my littles go off to school. Joy is the snuggles with Molly when I'm rocking her to sleep. Joy is what I feel when Nate and Molly are teasing each other :). Joy is what I feel when I get a funny text from a good friend. Joy is what I feel when I look at pictures of my kids and know that they will be mine forever. These are the things that bring me comfort, peace, and feelings of love. These still exist! Maybe I'm not feeling the happiness that the things this life has to offer, and maybe I never will, but it's been such a relief to recognize that JOY, the most valuable kind of happiness, is still here! And going strong. And even if I don't smile or recognize it in the moment, or feel overwhelming satisfaction from it- that comfort, peace, and love is far more worthwhile and long-lasting. It's such a great blessing to think about these things and be able to come up with even more each day. It's really pulling me out of this hole in a way that feels more permanent. I am so grateful for that. I'm so grateful we have joy! I'm so grateful we have peace, love, and comfort from a Heavenly Father who has the whole picture in front of Him. He knows me. He knows what I need. He is aware of what I am thinking and feeling and he wants me to be able to feel joy regardless of what my situation is. He loves me!! Knowing that is pure joy. What an amazing life we have here. Anyway. I can't say this is always right at the tip of my mind, and I am still struggling more often than not, but hopefully I can bring this to a more accessible place in my mind and lean on it when I'm feeling weak. I'm so grateful for my family- my sweet husband and my adorable kiddos- I really don't know what I'd be without them. Probably a big huge mess :). I hope I can get my mind in the best place to give them what they need. There's definitely a brighter light at the end of the tunnel!! Thankfully. 11-2-16
WEDNESDAY
I don't know what else to call this post. Wednesday DAY was supposed to be really hectic and busy for me, but when Nate's mom called to see if we'd come up- I kind of cleared most of it out. So it wasn't too bad. Playgroup, PTA meeting, which I'll probably post about later, since it's been weighing pretty heavily on my mind. It was great to see Ruth and Russ- we got to visit him right after they took out the ventilator so that was pretty exciting. It was too bad that the oxygen mask was bugging him so much. He was very unhappy with it, kept asking us to take it off. That's pretty much all he wanted to talk about. It's gotta be so frustrating for him to wake up tied to the bed with tubes and things all over him. Poor guy. He did look way better though. When we got home from the hospital I just hit the couch. I had really hit a brick wall. I tried to sleep a little which is never very good on the couch- and it was time for me to start on dinner anyway, so I tried to get started on that, but I just couldn't do anything! I was having the hardest time functioning! I felt so crappy, headache, stomach ache, pretty much everything ached really and it was all unexplainable as far as I could tell. I just really wanted to sleep and not being able to find the cumin that I KNOW we have was basically the last straw. I tossed all the spices back into the cupboard and went up to bed. It's been a VERY long time since I did that- even counting this last pregnancy- so I think there was something really wrong. I slept for about 3 hours and then felt weird about sleeping the evening away and came down. Everyone (mostly) had gone to bed. Charity was still up stalling and Luke came up with a shoulder ache, but everyone else. And the house was all clean! It was amazing! Even Molly was sound asleep. I guess Nate had left Luke in charge while he went to YM and Luke got Molly to sleep. How nice is that! I had been so out of it I didn't hear a thing, they maintained things really well. I was so relieved. And a little bummed that it wasn't harder for them to replace me (just kidding :) ). Nate is amazing. So are my kids. I'm so lucky. 11-2-16
PTA
Okay, so I'm really stuck on this right now- I went to my PTA meeting, found out a few more things that I will be responsible for next year, mostly meetings- that's fine- but the thing that I can't get over is my dear, sweet, friend Jami. She is making me a little crazy :). She's so overwhelmed with life already and then getting called back into YW and everything else she has on her plate, and adding PTA to it is really stressing her out. It's hard to listen to her talk about it all- I know she has too much to do. I keep telling her I can find someone else and trying to let her off the hook or give her an out. She keeps saying that she will probably be okay, but that if she's not, she'll find someone else.... which I kind of feel like- if you're not going to do it- tell me so I can get someone else and they can get started. I understand where she's coming from and I feel really bad that I even asked her to do this- I thought we would both have emptier plates with no YW at the time. But anyway. So after the meeting, I was trying to run a few ideas by her and I'm learning that she just doesn't really want to do anything new next year. She's wanting to slim things down, not add more to the picture. Which is kind of frustrating to me. If I'm going to go to the trouble of being the President, I'd like it to be a productive experience. I'd like to make things better rather than just leave them the same. I think things are fine right now, no big complaints, but there's always room for improvement, or just new ideas!! So I personally have started to get a little excited about PTA and what we could possibly accomplish next year, but I feel like Jami is just wanting to get it over with. I wish she was trying to get excited about it or wanting it to be a good experience and not just something we endure and rush through. I get that it's going to be a lot of work and I'm pretty sure I have no idea how much or how stressful it will be, but if I'm going to do it- I'd like to do it all the way and do it well. I want to leave a good mark on the school. So anyway. Nothing against Jami- I really love Jami and think she's just so awesome. I think we're just not on the same page and don't have the same agenda. And that's my fault for not asking her what her plans would be or what direction she would go as co-president. I should have thought that out more. It's always weird for me to find out that not everyone feels the same way I do about things and some people are actually okay with how things are and don't feel the need to change it. So I guess we'll see how things go. I hope I can just carry on and do what I want while maintaining a good relationship with her and not overwhelming her more. We'll see. 11-3-16
PRIMARY IN-SERVICE
We had our cool little dinner for all the Primary workers. Nate made the meat of course, Terrie talked about all the housekeeping things, Natalie showed a video clip and spoke, Barbara spoke- and actually gave a really cool analogy about her silk comforter from China- so cool! and I did nothing really. We had decided it would just be Terrie and Barbara, so I'm not sure how it evolved and why I didn't get the memo. I probably looked stupid and uninvolved, but whatever. It was a good night. It was a lot of fun talking with Barbara in the kitchen before it started. She's so awesome! 11-3-16
BIRTHDAY TABLES WITH ERIKA!
This was Erika's fist time as a school kid- having lunch at the birthday tables. It was so fun to see her being the big kid :). She was so cute about what she wanted to eat, and had a hard time deciding, but Wendy's kids meal and Pizza Pie Cafe dessert pizza it was :). Luckily Jack, Molly and I were able to deliver :). The PPC guy seriously almost screwed it up, giving me change for a $20 instead of the $50 I gave him! That would have been disastrous if I hadn't noticed! Good thing I did :). It was fun to sit by Becky too, and spend some time with them. Erika was excited about the pencil and was "SO FULL!!!" when she was done, so she couldn't even finish her pizza dessert :). But she was so sweet, not sure if she should tell me she wanted to go to recess :). I totally get it! Cute, sweet girl, I can't believe she's going to be another year older next week!! 11-4-16
YW LATE NIGHT
Charity and Kelly got to go to a fun "Young Women Retreat" on Friday night. For six hours!! They seemed to have a really great time! It was a good thing I wasn't a leader this time because I could not stay awake to save my life! I was so tired for some reason. I texted the girls and told them to wake me up when they got home! At like 10:30!!! Kinda weird for me. But I was planning on going running the next morning and that usually makes me tired just thinking about it. I'll have to have the girls journal about their fun. I'm so grateful for YW leaders who sacrifice time with their families to make those things happen. 11-4-16
DONUTS
For our movie night, since we don't have enough treats in the house, we went and got free donuts from Krispy Kreme with report cards. We watched Ice Age Collision Course from Vidangel. The kids LOVED it!! I was smiling the whole time just listening to their laughter! 11-4-16
I went to my second meeting for scouts on Sunday. This was much anticipated! I was SO anxious to discuss the need for awards in our Pack meeting! I know that sounds silly, but I've suddenly become really passionate about the cub scouts and how things are run. Probably comes with the calling- who knows. I had never received an email back from Butch so the suspense was killing me. Luckily, he took it seriously and even had it on the agenda! He kept my name anonymous so that nobody was mad at me for bringing up something that had already been discussed a while ago, which was interesting, because eventually it became obvious it was me, but whatever. So the good news is- they're bringing back awards to Pack Meeting! Wahoo!! I'm happy :). Funny thing is- the Primary counselor from Country Lane ward approached me after the meeting to tell me that her President was planning on separating their Primary from the Super Pack for Pack meetings starting in January! So I think we will too- that will be AWESOME! I'm probably not supposed to tell anyone yet, so if there happens to be someone reading this- pretend you don't know- but I don't think anyone pertinent does. Anyway. This is all very good news! 10-30-16
THE AFTERMATH
I'm kidding about the heading- I was really nervous for the day after Halloween and what it would entail. I could imagine sick/tired/unmotivated- sugared up kids who couldn't wake up/couldn't hurry and get ready/didn't want to go to school/not able to find things.... you know. But it went just fine! The kids all got up, got ready and we were even on time for school! This was a beautiful beginning to what turned out to be one of the most productive days I've had in a VERY long time! It was AWESOME! I felt bipolar or something, like I'd come out of a down and was having an up! I got SO much done. And Molly took the world's longest nap so it was all allowed! I wasn't neglecting her! Jack on the other hand... but it was a screen day so it was okay. SO anyway. Very cool! Felt good to get so much done! I hope I can keep the momentum! 11-1-16
HAPPINESS VS. JOY
The concept that happiness and joy are two different things has been on my mind a lot lately. Must have been in a talk or something- I don't know- but I wanted to get some feelings down. I've been struggling a lot lately with some mild depression and feeling like there isn't much in my life that is truly satisfying. I was really happy with myself when I was able to put those feelings into words. The word "satisfying" was actually kind of satisfying if that's not too weird :). I've had a hard time enjoying the things that I normally do enjoy. It's been frustrating. Until recently I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to be able to pull myself out of this without those little things that would make me smile and make me happy. But thankfully, this comparison was brought to my attention and I have been able to recognize more joy in my life than I thought existed. I think happiness is about fun. It's about smiling and laughing and having a good time. It's about outings or relaxing or celebrations. These things were usually somewhat satisfying. I would plan, carry something out, enjoy it with everyone and feel completed for a moment. Like I had succeeded. This has been missing lately. I have been left feeling empty and open-ended. Like things never got closure so they would rest in my mind and start to circle. In a way that was really overwhelming (not the usual rethinking and over thinking that I do- that's normal for me:) ). This was just as I said, really dissatisfying. BUT when I think about the meaning of joy--- Joy is the happy that Heavenly Father wanted most for us. Peace, love, the Spirit. It's the stuff that eternity is made of. The comfort that the Holy Ghost can bring. THIS is what I think joy is, and what Heavenly Father really wants us to feel. Joy is what is still existing in my life right now! And that is a very good thing. Joy is what I feel when Nate smiles at me. Joy is what I feel when my kids are getting along. Joy is what I feel when I finish cleaning up a room and can sit and feel the Spirit filling it rather than clutter. Joy is what I feel when the little sunbeam says his own prayer to begin Sharing Time. Joy is what I feel when I see Nate walk through the front door from a long day at work. Joy is the hugs and kisses after family prayer and the fun handshakes and secret waves as my littles go off to school. Joy is the snuggles with Molly when I'm rocking her to sleep. Joy is what I feel when Nate and Molly are teasing each other :). Joy is what I feel when I get a funny text from a good friend. Joy is what I feel when I look at pictures of my kids and know that they will be mine forever. These are the things that bring me comfort, peace, and feelings of love. These still exist! Maybe I'm not feeling the happiness that the things this life has to offer, and maybe I never will, but it's been such a relief to recognize that JOY, the most valuable kind of happiness, is still here! And going strong. And even if I don't smile or recognize it in the moment, or feel overwhelming satisfaction from it- that comfort, peace, and love is far more worthwhile and long-lasting. It's such a great blessing to think about these things and be able to come up with even more each day. It's really pulling me out of this hole in a way that feels more permanent. I am so grateful for that. I'm so grateful we have joy! I'm so grateful we have peace, love, and comfort from a Heavenly Father who has the whole picture in front of Him. He knows me. He knows what I need. He is aware of what I am thinking and feeling and he wants me to be able to feel joy regardless of what my situation is. He loves me!! Knowing that is pure joy. What an amazing life we have here. Anyway. I can't say this is always right at the tip of my mind, and I am still struggling more often than not, but hopefully I can bring this to a more accessible place in my mind and lean on it when I'm feeling weak. I'm so grateful for my family- my sweet husband and my adorable kiddos- I really don't know what I'd be without them. Probably a big huge mess :). I hope I can get my mind in the best place to give them what they need. There's definitely a brighter light at the end of the tunnel!! Thankfully. 11-2-16
WEDNESDAY
I don't know what else to call this post. Wednesday DAY was supposed to be really hectic and busy for me, but when Nate's mom called to see if we'd come up- I kind of cleared most of it out. So it wasn't too bad. Playgroup, PTA meeting, which I'll probably post about later, since it's been weighing pretty heavily on my mind. It was great to see Ruth and Russ- we got to visit him right after they took out the ventilator so that was pretty exciting. It was too bad that the oxygen mask was bugging him so much. He was very unhappy with it, kept asking us to take it off. That's pretty much all he wanted to talk about. It's gotta be so frustrating for him to wake up tied to the bed with tubes and things all over him. Poor guy. He did look way better though. When we got home from the hospital I just hit the couch. I had really hit a brick wall. I tried to sleep a little which is never very good on the couch- and it was time for me to start on dinner anyway, so I tried to get started on that, but I just couldn't do anything! I was having the hardest time functioning! I felt so crappy, headache, stomach ache, pretty much everything ached really and it was all unexplainable as far as I could tell. I just really wanted to sleep and not being able to find the cumin that I KNOW we have was basically the last straw. I tossed all the spices back into the cupboard and went up to bed. It's been a VERY long time since I did that- even counting this last pregnancy- so I think there was something really wrong. I slept for about 3 hours and then felt weird about sleeping the evening away and came down. Everyone (mostly) had gone to bed. Charity was still up stalling and Luke came up with a shoulder ache, but everyone else. And the house was all clean! It was amazing! Even Molly was sound asleep. I guess Nate had left Luke in charge while he went to YM and Luke got Molly to sleep. How nice is that! I had been so out of it I didn't hear a thing, they maintained things really well. I was so relieved. And a little bummed that it wasn't harder for them to replace me (just kidding :) ). Nate is amazing. So are my kids. I'm so lucky. 11-2-16
PTA
Okay, so I'm really stuck on this right now- I went to my PTA meeting, found out a few more things that I will be responsible for next year, mostly meetings- that's fine- but the thing that I can't get over is my dear, sweet, friend Jami. She is making me a little crazy :). She's so overwhelmed with life already and then getting called back into YW and everything else she has on her plate, and adding PTA to it is really stressing her out. It's hard to listen to her talk about it all- I know she has too much to do. I keep telling her I can find someone else and trying to let her off the hook or give her an out. She keeps saying that she will probably be okay, but that if she's not, she'll find someone else.... which I kind of feel like- if you're not going to do it- tell me so I can get someone else and they can get started. I understand where she's coming from and I feel really bad that I even asked her to do this- I thought we would both have emptier plates with no YW at the time. But anyway. So after the meeting, I was trying to run a few ideas by her and I'm learning that she just doesn't really want to do anything new next year. She's wanting to slim things down, not add more to the picture. Which is kind of frustrating to me. If I'm going to go to the trouble of being the President, I'd like it to be a productive experience. I'd like to make things better rather than just leave them the same. I think things are fine right now, no big complaints, but there's always room for improvement, or just new ideas!! So I personally have started to get a little excited about PTA and what we could possibly accomplish next year, but I feel like Jami is just wanting to get it over with. I wish she was trying to get excited about it or wanting it to be a good experience and not just something we endure and rush through. I get that it's going to be a lot of work and I'm pretty sure I have no idea how much or how stressful it will be, but if I'm going to do it- I'd like to do it all the way and do it well. I want to leave a good mark on the school. So anyway. Nothing against Jami- I really love Jami and think she's just so awesome. I think we're just not on the same page and don't have the same agenda. And that's my fault for not asking her what her plans would be or what direction she would go as co-president. I should have thought that out more. It's always weird for me to find out that not everyone feels the same way I do about things and some people are actually okay with how things are and don't feel the need to change it. So I guess we'll see how things go. I hope I can just carry on and do what I want while maintaining a good relationship with her and not overwhelming her more. We'll see. 11-3-16
PRIMARY IN-SERVICE
We had our cool little dinner for all the Primary workers. Nate made the meat of course, Terrie talked about all the housekeeping things, Natalie showed a video clip and spoke, Barbara spoke- and actually gave a really cool analogy about her silk comforter from China- so cool! and I did nothing really. We had decided it would just be Terrie and Barbara, so I'm not sure how it evolved and why I didn't get the memo. I probably looked stupid and uninvolved, but whatever. It was a good night. It was a lot of fun talking with Barbara in the kitchen before it started. She's so awesome! 11-3-16
BIRTHDAY TABLES WITH ERIKA!
This was Erika's fist time as a school kid- having lunch at the birthday tables. It was so fun to see her being the big kid :). She was so cute about what she wanted to eat, and had a hard time deciding, but Wendy's kids meal and Pizza Pie Cafe dessert pizza it was :). Luckily Jack, Molly and I were able to deliver :). The PPC guy seriously almost screwed it up, giving me change for a $20 instead of the $50 I gave him! That would have been disastrous if I hadn't noticed! Good thing I did :). It was fun to sit by Becky too, and spend some time with them. Erika was excited about the pencil and was "SO FULL!!!" when she was done, so she couldn't even finish her pizza dessert :). But she was so sweet, not sure if she should tell me she wanted to go to recess :). I totally get it! Cute, sweet girl, I can't believe she's going to be another year older next week!! 11-4-16
YW LATE NIGHT
Charity and Kelly got to go to a fun "Young Women Retreat" on Friday night. For six hours!! They seemed to have a really great time! It was a good thing I wasn't a leader this time because I could not stay awake to save my life! I was so tired for some reason. I texted the girls and told them to wake me up when they got home! At like 10:30!!! Kinda weird for me. But I was planning on going running the next morning and that usually makes me tired just thinking about it. I'll have to have the girls journal about their fun. I'm so grateful for YW leaders who sacrifice time with their families to make those things happen. 11-4-16
DONUTS
For our movie night, since we don't have enough treats in the house, we went and got free donuts from Krispy Kreme with report cards. We watched Ice Age Collision Course from Vidangel. The kids LOVED it!! I was smiling the whole time just listening to their laughter! 11-4-16
Friday, November 4, 2016
Phone Pictures
Bradley's birthday field trip to the State Capitol
Molly actually loved this and made Charity do it several times :). Funny girl.
The only picture of Molly's finished crib :). Should get a better one- but it turned out pretty cute! I'm pretty proud of myself. Although it did take me about 6 months longer than I wanted it to take :).
Luke, Brad and Noah did this puzzle while in the waiting room at the hospital on Halloween.
Trick-or-treat!
Look how cute these two are :). Cassidy needs a cane though.
This is the picture I found online that totally eased my mind about my kitchen ideas. I am dying to paint my cupboards and walls in the kitchen and had this vision in mind, but wasn't sure I'd really like it until I saw this picture :). It's almost all the exact same colors minus the countertop, which this one is actually brown, so more of an issue in my mind than my marble. I think I want a lighter gray on the walls too- but I love it otherwise! Even with the same color of flooring. Pretty cool that this idea is already out there.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Phone Pics in backwards order
More conference
Priesthood Session
Conference watching
Molly and Ali at Grandma Ruthie's Leatherby's birthday party. She had so much fun with her!!
Kelly's picture of the lighting striking the Caldwell's house. Not really, but how cool that she caught lighting while taking a panoramic picture of the rainbow and stuff.
Jack's drawing- I LOVE it!
Noah crossing the finish line
Erika is near the end of this picture
Healthy Kids Running Series
Jack at Kids Town dentist- he loved that place- had no idea he was being looked at.
Creamie eating contest at the All-you-can-eat-ice cream exhibit
FFA booth at the State Fair
This was at the Marine tent at the State Fair
I think this is Erika's description of our trip to Oregon.
Jack Jack's birthday sign
Tilamook I think
Nate's version of my picture :)
On the Pier next to the Port Hole restaurant
In the Redwoods
I think this was on our drive to Oregon.
Molly had some helpers one day for her bath :). I couldn't resist taking a picture of them playing with her :).
Two of my most favorite people! Annie and Julie sent me this picture of them when Annie was in Oklahoma for Jake's training. I can't believe Julie lives in OK now!! So crazy. Anyway- I love these two. Miss 'em too!
Nate and Jack :). HAHA!!! The eyebrows!!
This is a picture Jack drew for me of a Lagoon ride. So cool :).
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