Grandma Blanche's Memorial

1. My Grandma Blanche. I was able to gather with friends and family today to celebrate and honor the life of my sweet Grandma. I was sad I was unable to go to her funeral in Washington, but the Memorial service that was held in Pleasant Grove Utah today was so nice. I loved reminiscing on the memories we all have of her. She really has left quite a legacy. The memories attached to her that were said today that touched me: service, love, prayers, scripture study, smiles, gardening, chocolate chip cookies, home made jam, companionship, temple and encouragement. Those things were all big parts of what make up my memory of her.

2. Family. I am so blessed to have the family I have.

3. Innocence. Naomi is still so young, but at the funeral she told me a few times that she loved her "grandma" and would point to the picture of my Grandma on the program. After we got home she was telling us that "she died and she's with the fish." (Naomi recently had a gold fish that died after a few weeks, but she really cared about).

Things change, but they stay the same.

Lately I think so much about things that I want to post here. The kids will say something funny that I want to remember, there are spiritual insights or promptings that I feel are significant, or I have moments of deep gratitude for the many blessings in my life. For some reason I have a hard actually sitting down and posting it. I do post a lot of tidbits via instagram and Facebook- but this blog is a place where I should be giving more details and its a better place for me to come back to reference or read things.

Even though life is very busy and constantly changing, in most ways things are also the same. I have faith, it's not always perfect, but I do act on my beliefs, and I see the Lord bless me for that- despite my weaknesses. My kids are good kids. They drive me crazy and sometimes I let them see my frustrations more than I should- but they forgive me and love me anyway, and then I am humbled that I am entrusted with such strong sweet spirits. Jake is a hard worker, always thinking and striving to be better. He makes me laugh and I'ms so lucky that after 10 years of being together he still spends so much of his energy just trying to make me happy. I AM SO BLESSED!

1.  New calling. I was recently called to be a Laurel Advisor in my ward. This means I'll be teaching and "leading" the 16-18 year old girls in our congregation. I was a bit surprised at first because I'd recently substituted in Relief Society and so I'd thought I'd be called to serve there- but I was HAPPY to accept the calling since I LOVED serving with the Laurels in my old ward. I really don't know the young women in this ward at all, or even most of the women who are serving there. When Deanne (the YW President) called to thank me for accepting the call and to talk to me about my service she said, "I don't want to sound too weird, but I want you to know that I felt VERY strongly about your name when considering this call. I was telling one of the other leaders who was asking who you are that I don't really know you too well either, but Heavenly Father must have really wanted you there because I just knew I was supposed to call you." Then later at church a friend was talking to me about my new call and said, "You'll do such a great job. Especially with your experience having served a full time mission" It was like tingles were straight to my heart when she said that. The eligibility age for sister missionaries recently changed from 21 to 19, and that will make it so much more easy for young women to choose and serve a mission. I knew that a big reason I was called was so that I can help these young women prepare to serve full time missions!

2. Studying the scriptures helps us choose the right. The other day I was reading in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi chapter 12. Verse 42 says, "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of the turn thou no away". It made me think of a RS lesson I sat in on a while back about helping the needy and how I when I see "beggars" I often excuse myself from helping because I don't usually carry much cash, but that I know in my heart its also because sometimes I'm judging them as scammers trying to make a quick buck, or people who will spend it on boos or drugs, but even deeper inside I know that I should not judge and should give more freely. I'm not saying we have to give money to every panhandler that we see, but it did make me think about where my heart is when it comes to giving and lending to those who ASK (notice the Scripture says ask, not need). Well, today I had all my kids in the car and was driving to meet Brea and Dot at a park in Salt Lake. We came to an intersection and the light was turning red. I saw a guy holding a sign at the corner saying, "Traveling broke & hungry". I needed to turn and there were two turn lanes. There were two cars in front of me stopped and I noticed all of us chose the lane furthest from this man. The scripture I'd been reading came into my head, and then I remembered I actually had a couple dollar bills in my wallet. I quickly pulled them out and pulled into the lane next to him. I rolled down my window and waved it at him. As he came to take it from my I saw a cigarette in his other hand, but reminded myself it is not my place to judge. He said "thank you sister", my light turned green and I rolled up my window and drove away. I FELT AWESOME!!! And I'm not sharing this or saying I felt good because wow- look at me I did a good thing, but it simply felt right and good. The boys who'd been quiet in the back perked up, "Mom, why did you pay that guy money?" I explained that I wasn't paying him, but just giving it to him. I told him what his sign had said and that I'd felt I should help him out. A couple seconds later Dekker said, "Mom, we're a good family, huh?' "We try to be Dekker". I would have missed out on this teaching moment if I hadn't acted on the prompting I'd received, and I would probably not have been prepared to receive the prompting had I not been reading my scriptures.

3. I'm kind of a big deal :) In January we had a nasty flu bug go 'round our house and when it hit me it hit me hard. I was out of commission for a couple days, and at half pace for about a week. Then at my first YW activity (walley-ball at the rec center) I sprained my ankle REALLY bad. I couldn't even walk on it for two days and was hobbling for three weeks! Jake had to work from home and help out a lot more in the mornings and evenings for a while. Josh also stepped up to be more independent and helpful where he could. Even with their help the house was not running like it usually does. It's not something I want to go through again- but it made me so thankful for the things that I am able to do so easily most of the time, and it was nice that all of us realized more just how important I am. (I'm also glad we recently started a life insurance policy for me, and not just Jake).

Party, party, party!

Let me just review the events of the last week or so...

Friday the 14th- Magellan Christmas party (Rachael- one of my laurels from a long time back- watched the kids and stayed the night). Saturday the 15th, Josh's 8th Birthday party in the afternoon, Neighborhood Christmas party in the Evening (Trish came up for Josh's Party and stayed til Monday morning). Sunday we had our family Christmas party here.  Monday we had a combined FHE with a few neighborhood families. Tuesday was Josh's 2nd grade program and I skipped the RS dinner to take Josh out for a family dinner celebrating his actual birthday. Wednesday we went to Dekker's Kindergarten program and to Clay's 30th Birthday party (kids went to Tio and Bryn's house). Yesterday was our mellow night- so we watched a Christmas movie with the kids. Today is the start of winter break for the kids. Josh had Brigham (his latest BFF) and then went with him and his family to see a movie, and Dekker invited his friend Braden over. Tomorrow we are going over to the Eaton family's for dinner and games. Sunday we're having Brea and Tom and Elise (cousin on Jake's side) and her boyfriend and hopefully another of Jake's cousin over for dinner. Then Monday is Christmas Eve (possibly getting together with my cousins again) and Tuesday Christmas!

1. Friends and family. I am SOOSOSOSO thankful that we are surrounded by such good friends and family. We may not have parents nearby- but we have such kind loving friends and family that make this season enjoyable.

2. Additional activities. We've also been making and taking gifts (as well as receiving  to neighbors, teachers, and friends. We are doing the 12 days of Christmas for one neighbor- and Josh loves to knock and hide each night and wait to hear their "Merry Christmas, Whoever you are!" each time.

3. Baptismal preparation. I was able to witness Josh's interview by the bishop for his worthiness to be baptized. I got tears a couple different times. Josh is very excited, and VERY prepared. He was so excited to talk to the Bishop about his testimony and the things he's been learning in preparation for his baptism. He explained the dispensations of times in a way the Bishop "had never heard and 8 year old explain so well before".

I love this busy time of year!!!

My kids are cute

1. Heard in the car yesterday:
Dekker: I have so many friends. Christian, Nathan, Logan, Ethan, Stevie...
Josh: Crystal!
Dekker: Yeah, I guess Crystal too
Josh: She's your GIRLFRIEND.
Dekker: No she's not. She has a crush on me- but I broke that love!

Haha!

2. Most morning I bring Titus in to bed to nurse before getting up. He lays next to me and has his breakfast- then when he's done he rolls over- scoots up to Jake and gives him "boob-warmed kisses" (that's what Jake calls them) right on the mouth. Jake says its his favorite way to wake up.

3.  We love Naomi- but she can be a grumpy pants. She lights to cry and whine to get things- a lot of times when we ask why she's crying she says, "You made me sad!" We've been trying to teach her lately that she needs to "choose to be happy and smile". Well, sometimes during they day if I'm working on something or frustrated with something I must make my own "frowny face" because I'll be in the middle of something and she'll tell me, "Mom, be HAPPY! Be happy to me!" Always a good reminder.

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Where did summer go?

This summer has gone by incredibly fast. I could sit here and write about so many things from this summer that I'm thankful for. I hate that I'm always playing catch up on this blog anymore! Instead I'll just write what I'm thinking about right now.

1. Josh is in 2nd grade! My first born is getting so big. It's a little sad to have him gone for so much of each day again- be we had such a jam packed full of fun summer that I don't feel too bad about it. In fact, the timing is pretty good since things just started winding down and I started to hear the "Mom- what can we do for fun now?" a lot. At least they don't say "I'm bored!".

2. Dekker is going into Kindergarten! He doesn't start until next Tuesday. So these few days where Josh goes and he doesn't are hard on him. He misses his play buddy. The nice thing is that he plays more and much nicer with Naomi when Josh isn't around- and she loves that. Sending Dex to Kindergarten won't be nearly as hard as it was to send Josh- since he went to preschool 4 days a week last year- it's really just one more day a week. And then I get time to focus more on my little two.

3. Father's Blessings. Tonight for FHE Jake gave Josh and Dekker there blessings. Naomi wanted a "turn" too. She sat up on the stool and folded her arms and squeezed her eyes shut and bowed her head for the whole time. I couldn't help but peak. I felt an overwhelming love from our Heavenly Father for this, the only baby girl in our family. It really was distinct. I'm so happy she's part of our home.

I love my family.

Trip to California

1. Safe travels. The Tahoe passed 110k miles on our trip. Some of the weather stripping came loose, at one point the thermostate on the drivers side wouldn't work right, Naomi stuck something in and broke our DVD player, and by the end of the trip our car was a MESS- but there were no major car issues, and we had safe roads and travel- so I am very thankful for that.

2. Jake caught the Disney bug! Jake had never been to Disneyland and wasn't super excited to go. With his bad ankle all he could imagine was being uncomfortable standing in lines all day. Since he's just a big kid at heart though, I knew that once I got him there he'd have fun. That was the truth. He had a blast and even ended up being the one hurrying our kids onto as many rides as possible. And once we learned how to manage a line time app and fast passes- we really didn't have to do too much standing in line anyway.

3. Minnie meets Minnie. It was cute when at our Character Breakfast our Minnie met Minnie. She was being very shy of course and didn't want to get close to her- but she made the connection I guess, because later when we were in one of the gift shops she found some Minnie ears and latched onto them and wouldn't let go. She also sweet talked her dad into buying her a little Minnie pin. Oh- and  another favorite Minnie moment was on the first day when Jake let her pick out a sucker- as they were walking to the register she found a GIANT one, and without taking her eyes off of it she handed the smaller one back to Jake and with a big grin grabbed the big one!

4. Dekker at CARS LAND. Dekker LOVES the CARS movies and all things cars really- so when he found out CARS LAND would be opening two week before we got there he got super excited. That's where the lines were the longest of course- but luckily he has a sweet aunt and cousin who were kind enough to go first thing in the morning to stand in line and get fast passes for the Speedway ride. They got there as early as they could, stood in line for 45 minutes and the fast passes were STILL not till 4:40 that evening. We got to go though and it was Dekker's favorite ride.

5. Just tall enough. Josh was just tall enough to go on all the big roller coaster rides. The first one we took him on was California Screamin. He was so nervous- but such a good sport. Jake talked him into doing a lot of them. He said in the end that Star Tours and Space Mountain were his favorites.

6. Family, family, and more family! We got to see Mom and Denny, Garrett & Rachel with Charlie, Kari, and Kjerstin at Disneyland. Then we headed up to my Dad's for the forth. It was SO GOOD to see Kjerstin there talking to her dad again (Brian). And we got to see Brian and Erin, Sera and Shaun, my DAD and his crazy beard.

7. Enjoyed the Bybee Ranch. It'll be interesting to see what happens with that place. My dad still has it listed, but with all his retirement wrapped up in it, and the supressed real estate market, who knows if he'll ever get an offer that will be attractive enough to actually let go of the place. I know that when we are all there and enjoying it- he remembers why he worked so hard to buy and establish the place- but when he's there all alone dealing with the maintenance, finances, and legalities- it's another story. So it was great to be there and make more memories in that beautiful, magical place. We had fun fetching eggs from the chickens, picking raspberries, catching frogs, trying paddle boards, swimming, skiing, canoeing, jumping on the trampoline, playing in the sand pit, picking flowers, walking the vineyards and watching the sunset.

8. Visiting friends. My good friend from high school, Camille, and her family live in the bay area now. So she and her family came up and spent the 4th of July with us. She had her baby just two and a half weeks before so I got to meet her little tiny one. One the way home we also stopped in Reno for a break and visited Rebecca, who was my "companion" for the semester I spent in Guatemala. I haven't seen her in years- and so it was fun to catch up with her as well.