RS general Broadcast

My little sister scored some tickets for the General Relief Society broadcast at the conference center.  I had been to the conference center only once before for a Christmas devotional taping so I was excited for it. My mom and all my sisters minus one went so it was a good girls night out. The seats were as far as you could get but it you could still feel the spirit.  There was a lot of good points brought up. I loved the play on words with the quote that went something like this; There is so much need for RELIEF in this world, that is our goal.  Relief not so much in the sense of  helping with natural disasters but the fact that the adversary has caused so much turmoil that we need to help.  They urged us to "Unite to protect the families from adversity."

 My favorite was Dieter F. Uctdorf, I love his style of speaking.  He talked about how he was at garden and was admiring all the beautiful flowers when one particular flower caught his eye.  It may be small but is equally as beautiful and significant. That flower is called a Forget Me Not. He  then went on to use this particular flower for an analogy.  Because the flower has 5 petals he came up with 5 forget me nots.

1. Forget Not to be patient with ourselves. god is aware that we are not perfect, he is also aware that the people that WE thing are perfect are not perfect.  He said that so often we compare our weaknesses to others strengths, and we should stop punishing ourselves but never stop striving to be the best that's in us.

I am guilty of this myself. I always get mad at myself for not doing better. I know that if I put all my energy into it I should be able to get it perfect.
2. Forget Not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish/unnecessary sacrifice. Sacrificing sleep to wake up with a child that has had a bad dream is a good sacrifice.  Staying up to the wee hours to crochet the Sunday lesson in a potholder for each sister is an unnecessary sacrifice.  Basically are we committing out time wisely?
3.Forget Not to be happy NOW!  Don't wait for your golden ticket. Be happy with what you have and are experiencing now.  If you wait for your ideal, you will miss all those sweet moments in life.
This is one I am really trying to keep in mind this year.  I am trying really hard to enjoy every moment and all stages of life whether it is mine or my children's lives.

I love how happy everyone looks in this picture

4. Forget Not the WHY of Jesus Christ. In the church we often get caught up in all the have to's or supposed to's and it turns into one big list of things we have to do.  While those things are good, do not let them over shadow the why of Jesus Christ.

5.Forget Not the Lord loves YOU. Your are not forgotten no matter what circumstance you are in.  Whether you are struggling with little ones or major situations Jesus knows you and loves you.  We need to let his love into our lives.

We are closer to heaven than we suppose.

This talk really hit home for me.  So often I get overwhelmed with striving for perfection that I am so far from its weighs me down.  I keep thinking that if I just worked harder, if I just focused more and was less selfish I could get closer to that goal.  Its nice to know that I could be okay.

Discovery Park

 

My sister and I went to a discovery park in PG.  Many years ago I used to live right by this park and it is still just as cool as I remember it. They have all kinds of spinners and climbing apparatuses. Every square inch is covered in some new fun way to learn about the world around us. There are cool facts about nature and animals at each station.  They have fun things like kaleidoscopes hidden in random posts, sound tubes that carry your voice to the other end of the park. Obstacle courses and much much more.  My favorite is the interactive musics things surprise surprise. There are quiet a few and they are made up of  all kinds of things you would find in a junk yard.  The best part was how much fun the kids had.  Look at the pure joy on their faces as they swung on the tire swing, They could have kept that up all day long.

balancing the Universe

 I am always wary when I have a feeling of life is good . Don't get me wrong I am grateful for these precious times, but I have been around long enough to know that when I recognize these times something around the corner will come up so I don't get too comfortable.
Yesterday is a good example of that.  I was having a good day thinking how happy I was with all my relationships.  I was getting into routines and staying on top of all things that needed to get done.  I was just all around feeling good about how things were going. I even stated that in my prayers that I was happy and grateful for how things were developing. Then Brennen chose the dark side.  We had a terrible horrible no good very bad day.  I was tempted to stick him in a box and ship him to Australia.  He started by "forgetting" to use the toilet, more than once.  Then he was just down right nasty to his little brother constantly fighting, hurting, and fighting with everyone including me.  He was defiant and showed no remorse when he was doing something I did NOT approve of.  Peter noticing my frustration turned on the charm trying to balance out the universe by constantly giving me loves and saying the sweetest "I love you mommy's" (I swear its the only thing that saved me that day)  The last straw was while I was grocery shopping Brennen terrorized his brother while simultaneously dismantling the store.  I started checking out while the boys played with the redbox machine right next to the register I was at.  As I was unloading my cart the two of them disappeared.  They were no where to be found. (guess who was the instigator.)  I searched the front of the store, paused my search to pay the cashier then ran around the store with my full cart calling their names.  I finally found them OUTSIDE in the middle of the parking lot throwing rocks at cars!! It took everything in me not to spank his butt black and blue. I was shaking with frustration.  Thank goodness daddy was home by the time I got home.  I really needed someone to take over.
On the flip side, today as I was outside doing the lawn I marveled at my barefooted Huck fin boys running amuck in the orchard and climbing trees, and feeding apples to the horses.  Just playing wonderfully in the great outdoors.  Shouts of joy and sounds of laughter echoing throughout the backyard.  I couldn't help but think how great it is that they can just play like kids should be able to play.  With plenty of space to play and run wild.  Not a care in the world. And that I could witness it like a bee on a flower.
 Maybe its just me that one day I am ready to give up and the next I am hungry for more. Or maybe its just the universe trying to balance itself out. Thankgoodness for tomorrows.

Great Day

The other day the little boys and I went to the legacy center to run around the track.  This is my way of trying to kill 2 birds with 1 stone.  We both get exercise only Brennen thinks I am just playing tag.  First I am it then he is it, then we do some animal laps.  Walk like a dinosaur, or hop like a kangaroo, or Brennen's favorite the monkey walk.  Basically we do the grapevine very quickly.  We have so much fun just laughing and chasing each other.  i hardly realize I'm exercising myself. Peter usually stays in the stroller giggling at us both.  Sometimes he gets out to run with us but his little legs just can't keep up.  On Wednesday after we ran we went swimming.  Just the 3 of us.  Its nice because there is only about 6 other people in the pool so I could focus totally on them.  Teaching them to swim and just plain enjoying time with them.  What a great day.  I want to remember it for always.
I am torn because I love seeing all my children grow and accomplish new things but then I think they are growing up. How I am going to miss the days when they were little and fit right in my arms when we watch TV or they give me unembarrassed kisses and sweetly say I love you mommy.
 Hopefully I can  pull out these memories when they are teenagers and driving me crazy

Garden harvest

 Living here has a few perks, one of them is that my neighbor has a HUGE!! garden full of delicious produce and he said I could get anything I want whenever I want. I haven't had to buy produce since I've lived here. The other perk is the produce thats on our side of the fence. It is coming along so nicely my little helpers keep helping themselves. I have only had 5 rasberries because of them. Luckily we have tons of apples grapes and pears left for me to devour.

the state fair

The State fair is always a sign that the summer is coming to an end.  We went for the first time in over 10 years.  I made all my kids do the boring stuff first.  We saw the arts and crafts, then the fine paintings, and the photography.  I found a couple of pieces that I absolutely loved and if I had money I would have bought them.  I tried to keep the kids interest by having them choose their favorite piece and tell me why it was their favorite. William kept asking why we were here and what we needed to learn.  I told him the fair was about seeing the amazing things people can create and the bounties they can grow.  He said "great.  Now can we go on some rides?" We lost their interest halfway through the photography so much to my disappointment we headed to the  "fun stuff".

They each got to choose 2 rides.  Ellie and William chose a hanglider ride where they were sure they were flying.  Ellie's next choice was a bungee trampoline.  She was hooked up to a harness attached to bungees and jumped as high as her body could go soaring though the sky.

Brennen headed for a little airplane ride hoping Peter could join him.  Sadly Peter was too small so he just had to watch.  After Brennens ride Scott and I took the little boys on the tilt-a-whirl.  One of my favorite carnival rides.  we had such a blast spinning spinning and spinning some more.

Williams second ride was Pharaoh's fury. A large boat that rocked back and forth really high. He was so excited to go on it until he waited his turn in line, then we started to get nervous.  very nervous. In the end he was glad he did it.

We saved the best for last.  The animals.  We started at the pigs where Peter was quite concerned that the little pigs were eating the big one.  It was so cute to watch them experience animals so close.  The cows were sweet with a little calf who had the biggest brown eyes you ever saw.

My favorite are the chickens.  I love the quirky looking ones that seem to have such a personality.  Then there were the bunnies.  Oh how the kids LOVED the bunnies.  They begged and pleaded to buy a fluffy little bunny.  Promising to do everything under the sun to get one.  After so much begging I said "Okay I'll get you a bunny for Easter."  Where smart mouth Scott blows my cover and says "ya a chocolate one."

I said I would rather get a chicken.  So we compromised they could get a bunny that lays eggs.  Like the cadburry bunny.  It took them 2 days to figure out there was no such thing.

cheap idea

I saw something similar to this in a magazine and thought, "what a cute idea" So I looked it up online to see how much the fish were.  $15 for one sheet = 5 fish.  that was a little too much for me.  Okay I'm super cheap so it was a lot too much. I have a hard time spending money on a place thats not mine so I had a brilliant idea.  I could just of get contact paper and spray it the color I want, then cut out the fish with a template.  So the whole project cost me around $10. not bad for an entire wall of fish, and the boy just love em.

free at last

FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, THANK GOODNESS I AM FREE AT LAST.
It has been way too long but I finally have my brace off.   To backtrack I hurt my hand while trying to move and put away my whole house by myself.  Scott kept telling me to wait for him to get home from work but as you all know I am NOT a patient person in that regard.  I just couldn't fathom "waisting" all that time.  Plus everyone knows I CAN DO ANYTHING right?  apparently not.  With all the lifting and moving of big heavy things I noticed it was hurting.  I went to urgent care a week later who referred me to a specialist that I saw a week after that and he told me I created some stress fractures in my palm which is actually an easy heal but I also tore the ligament? tendon? (I forget which) the one that runs from my wrist to my thumb.  Long story short he said " QUIT USING YOUR HAND!!"  the more I use it the longer its going to take to heal and soft tissue takes longer to heal.  So he put me in a more restricting  brace and told me to treat it like a cast.

Basically I had no use of my hand for 4- 6weeks.  Can I tell you how hard that was for me?  It meant I had to ask for help with things and we all know how hard that is for me. 
So we are marking this day as a day of freedom. . . . For me.
and hopefully I have learned my lesson on patience.  When I don't wait patiently for help I will be forced to be patient.

food for thought

The other day I ran into my mom at the grocery store and I couldn't help but think isn't that amazing that I live close enough to family that I would run into them at the grocery store.  Its just one of those things that takes me by surprise and I am happy for it. 

I also notice that I still get excited when I see someone with a BYU shirt, or a CTR ring and I whisper quietly "Oh look. . they must be LDS."  When in reality probably most people here have a BYU shirt or CTR ring in their possession.  When you are not the majority you take notice of such things and get excited because you have something to connect you with another person.  Here its the norm.

The other day I was driving and could see 3 temples all at once.  Isn't that amazing 3 temples so close together you can see them while standing in one place, I am just at awe with what that means for us.

So many things I see, hear, or smell bring me back to good memories and I can't help but think, my children will be able to experience those same things, and have some of those same happy memories.

Its not that I didn't love living in California because I did!  and its not that I couldn't thrive there. . .  Its just nice that I have this happy feeling like I'm Home.  Its almost like I have been on a mission and now I have come home. (although the other day I called a pine tree a palm tree.  I guess I do miss Cali a little, especially the beach.) Regardless I hope I never take this feeling for granted.

swiss days

SWISS DAYS

It was the annual Swiss festival on the first weekend in September and for the first time in over 10 years I got to go. Swiss Days is a very Swiss inspired festival. It is held in Midway Utah where most of the arcitetcure is Swiss inspired due to the people whom settled the town. Midway is a beautiful little town nestled in the green mountains with plenty of fields and open space to keep it the small town that it is. The festival is held at the town square (yes they are that small they have a town square). It is largely run by the church. All of the profits from the food goes straight to the missionaries. I was told that they support all the missionaries from Africa. A lot of the food and all of the man hours are donated in order to give the most amount of money to these missionaries, and what good food it is!!! My favorite is the ham and Swiss sandwich which is more than just a ham and cheese. They also have a wonderful knockwurst sandwich and one of the must haves is the scones the size of a serving platter.they also have yummy baked goods like Swiss bread, delicious cookies of different varieties and the iconic Swiss cookie called a Bratzelis.
I love the Swiss days atmosphere.  The cute little Swiss miss.  The yodeling, the puppet show, the dancers the yodeling, the horns, did I mention the yodeling?  I know its can be silly sounding but I love it.  maybe its because its tied to good memories, maybe its built into my DNA or maybe I am just weird but it makes me happy.
I have been going to Swiss days for as long as I can remember.  My heritage is part Swiss, and my mom being a florist had a booth there every year. We kids worked in the booth as soon as we could count backwards. (We had to do math and figure out how much change to give the patrons.) It was at Swiss days where I learned percents, division, multiplication, taxes and how to make change.  We Loved it.  When we got a little older our entrepreneur skills kicked in and we started making our own money by creating a product and selling it. When I was smaller we made old fashioned wooden stilts with my Dad. I remember late nights screwing gluing, and staining the stilts and depending on your age we each had a different job.  The smallest kids would put the screws in the pre-drilled holes.  The next age would be the gluers, and the older ones were the stainer's, drillers, and sanders  The leftovers would wipe down the stain and stack. Dad handed all the cutting.
As we got older we began making different things.  My sister and I often put together wreaths and other flower arrangements of our own
 After all the products were made it was selling time.  We learned the value of advertising.  We would take turns parading around on our own set of stilts until people would ask us where we got them.  We would promptly send them over to our booth to pick up a pair of their own.  Often giving lessons on how to walk on them.We even wore the Swiss garb. Dirndls for the girls and lederhousin for the boys.

This year we did a girls trip.  We took the motor home up on Friday and got the lay of the land. When it was time to close up shop we headed back to the motor home and stayed up late playing games, talking, and laughing, laughing, laughing.  It was so good to be with my mom and sisters. We got up early on Saturday morning and shopped shopped shopped. It was nice to see that my entrepreneur skills were still intact when we came upon a cute broom stick that I really liked.  It turned out to be an old crafter friend of my moms.  She was complaining that her broomsticks weren't selling as good as she liked. I piped up, "what you need is someone to advertise them for you.  You need someone to walk around with one and tell em where you got it." 

 She said "I'll give you one for free if you would do that for me."

Of course I would!!  So I did as I promised and sent probably 40 people her way.  They started selling like hot cakes.

cute little boy in traditional garb.  We had outfits just like this.