Family of Eight

Christmas Blog

2011-12-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our 2011 Christmas Blog!

This is the 2010 Christmas Eve picture. We'll take a new one tomorrow night!

We'll start with Joshua Bruce, because he has the most exciting news of the year with his mission call for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve in the El Salvador San Salvador mission.

He will report to the MTC on Jan 25, 2012. We are so excited that he is learning Spanish! Joshua also went to two semesters at BYU Idaho this year, and earned a 4.0 in both. This Fall he was also privileged to be the youngest member of one of BYU-Idaho's elite choirs, the Collegiate Singers (or the "Collegiates", as he called it). He auditioned on a whim, and made it, so he adjusted his schedule somewhat and thoroughly enjoyed this choir, including a performance of the Messiah in December.

Here am I on our annual family pack trip with the llamas in Idaho's wilderness country. I have enjoyed a year of learning, growth and sharing. I got to attend a C.A.R.E. (Center for Aromatherapy and Education) Training in Utah with Dr. David Stewart, and Young Living's National Convention in Orlando, Florida, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I began teaching Kindness Foot Zone Classes, as well as training others in Raindrop training and VitaFlex training. I love teaching these classes! I made a big change at the end of the year by pulling out of piano teaching, soccer refereeing and assigning, and one of my callings in our Church. Simplicity and focus are some of my goals. Being a Mom remains my biggest joy and challenge, and I'm so grateful to have such wonderful children.

Bruce has been able to go on several trips this year, including a llama pack trip with just the girls, which is what this picture's from . He enjoys working from home full time now, and has moved into an architect position for his software engineering. He really enjoyed playing indoor soccer with Joshua and Joseph. They had a great team and put the whoopin' on a lot of teams. He continues to maintain his parents' 20 acre hay farm.

Joseph is pictured here in two of his Senior pictures. Isn't he handsome!! Yes - he's a Senior and is going to graduate in May 2012! Joseph was co-captain for his Varsity Soccer Team and was named Honorable Mention mid-fielder in the conference.

Jesse had an amazing year. She is pictured here at Shoshone Falls in Idaho. She is so happy here, because we had just come from buying a Kawai 5'1 baby grand piano right before this. She is preparing to become a piano performance major, hopefully at BYU, and playing on this piano is getting her ready for that big challenge.

She also went to SummerFest at BYU (which is a musician's camp) this summer and had the time of her life. She thought she had died and gone to heaven to be surrounded by great kids who understood her passion for playing the piano. Besides playing the piano 3-4 hours a day, she is in Show Choir, Madrigals and maintains a 4.0 at school.

Mary is having a great time in her first year in High School. She has found a friend who is teaching her how to ballroom dance and swing dance. He comes every week and they are getting a swing routine down while they practice. She is singing in the auditioned all-girls choir at school, and excelling at that, as well as playing JV Soccer.

Peter and Libby are the caretakers (along with Dad) of our new puppies - Thor and Ellie. After all these years, I finally gave in and told the kids they could get some puppies from our friends who were giving them away. They are part golden retriever and part who knows what (we're thinking part lab and part retriever).
They are a lot of fun, and provide a lot of entertainment.

These are some of our favorite Elders that have come through our ward. You will not soon be forgotten!

I love this picture of me and my girls!

Peter received his Arrow of Light this summer. He is now enjoying 11-year old scouts and excelling in school. His teacher really appreciates having him in class. For our family reunion in Bear Lake he showed off his shoulder blade skills and whistled. You'd have to see it to believe it!

Libby is a gymnast! This is a new sport for our family (at least for the kids - I was on the gymnastics team at Bonneville Junior High in 7th grade). We are excited to see what she does with it. She also loves playing the piano and has straight A's in school.

For any of you who know Dave Ramsey, we are in the middle of our Total Money Makeover!! For those of you not familiar, I highly recommend his book by the same name.

It is a joy this time of year to focus more closely on our Savior Jesus Christ. To learn more about what we do as a family (and what I do personally) to worship and follow Jesus Christ please visit my profile on mormon.org.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, Bruce & Lorena, Josh, Joseph, Jesse, Mary, Peter, and Libby - Family of Eight

Gymnastics Routine

2011-11-13T20:27:00.000-07:00

Libby performs for our local Community talent show.

Harvest Dance

2011-11-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

Jesse went with Dasan to the dance at the High School yesterday. They had a lot of fun. Jesse regretted not having a picture of everyone in the T-shirts that they bought and decorated for the dance, but at least we got this one.


Dasan & Jesse, Kalli & Hunter, Amanda & Travis

I'm an Aunt again!

2011-10-13T10:11:00.000-06:00

My two youngest brothers and their wives had babies only ten days apart. How fun is that?!

Introducing Bryant Knowlton and Hannah Sophia:

Bryant Knowlton

Hannah Sophia

Bryant belongs to Chris and Elena, and Hannah belongs to Craig and Jenette. Elena and Jenette - thank you for bringing such beautiful children into the world! I'm so happy to be their Aunt!

El Salvador!

2011-09-16T23:15:00.003-06:00

We finally opened Josh call tonight! He is going to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the El Salvador San Salvador mission! He will be speaking Spanish, and he will report on late January.

This is wonderful! I had all my friends dial up my siblings (that were in MST or PST) and Bruce's siblings on cell phones. It must have been chaotic over the phone, but I wanted all of them to hear. I can't believe he will be speaking Spanish. What a blessing!

Out of the nearly 100 guesses, nobody guessed El Salvador, so we don't have to give away a jug of apple cider. Ha ha

The time has come...

2011-09-15T21:36:00.003-06:00

The call has arrived. We have a letter sized envelope addressed to Elder Joshua Bruce Holmstead from the Office of the First Presidency sitting in our kitchen. That is amazing!!

We will be opening Josh's mission call tomorrow night - Friday - after the local college football game. Please come to our house, one and all, and join us!

Mission Call on its way

2011-09-12T15:05:00.003-06:00

We got word that the call is coming in the mail! It is likely it will arrive in our mailbox on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, Josh is in Rexburg, and still trying to figure out his classes, so he won't be here until probably Friday night or Saturday. Bruce has already said he would steam it open. I don't know I can talk him out of it. Ha ha I've updated the predictions list on the last blog - there were 97 guesses at last count, with somewhere North America (which includes Mexico and Central America) having the most votes. Very fun stuff!!

Where will Josh go?

2011-09-05T22:26:00.000-06:00

The long-awaited day has come! Elder Joshua Bruce will be his getting his mission call to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the next few weeks (probably on 9/15). His availability date to leave is 12/19/11 (after he goes to BYU-I for another semester).

So, it’s time to hear all of your predictions. I decided that the winner wins a free opportunity to milk Buttercup for a week. Or, as Bruce suggested, you get the rights to Joshua’s firstborn child. Well, maybe a jug of cider at the Cider Festival?? And first dibs on the homemade doughnuts? Ha ha

At the least you’ll get bragging rights.

You are all invited over when he opens his call. And it will be the real thing - we don't plan to open it beforehand. We'll let you know exactly when that is.

Both Bruce and I felt it a great privilege to serve the Lord on our missions. When I met Bruce after he had served his mission, I told him that I was planning on serving a mission too. Instead of wanting me to stay home, he was very excited for me, and in the end, he was willing to postpone getting married for a year and a half in order for me to be able to serve a mission. It means a great deal to our family that Josh would be willing, worthy and ready to serve as well. We already feel a warm feeling of love for the people he will serve - wherever it is in the world. (Of course, if they spoke Spanish, there would be just a smidgen of extra excitement in my little Mexican heart - ha ha!)

Here are the predictions:

Lorena - Bolivia, La Paz (if this happens, you will see a re-enactment of the Book of Mormon scene where Ammon faints)
Bruce - Hong Kong (the closest to China he could get)
Joseph - Germany
Jesse - Portugal
Mary - North Dakota
Peter - New York
Libby - Spain
Jarom - Sao Paulo North, Brazil
Lindsey - Venezuela
Cedric - Wichita Kansas
Carol - Florida Orlando - Spanish speaking
Matt and Chantel - Brazil
Whitney - Japan
Stetson - California Arcadia - Spanish speaking
Gale - Vancouver, B.C.
Mindy - Taiwan
Tom - Ukraine
Adam - Sao Paulo South, Brazil
Grace - Japan
Darcy - Korea Seoul
Stephanie Ann - Spain
Jacob - Poland
Sterling - Oregon
Capri - Taiwan
Connor - South Africa
Carlie - Philippines
Dalin - Utah
Samantha - South Dakota
Robert - Ireland
Alicia - Guatemala
Mayra - Mexico Durango
Hno. M. - Utah
Goldie - Spain
Paul - Mexico
Murlene - Spain, Madrid
Shauna - Spain
Shellie - Thailand
Adele - Washington (state)
Dania - Peru
Linda - Brazil
Carlie - Chile
Kenna - Bolivia (a wise guess)
Shelly - Bolivia (another wise guess)
Barbara - Ecuador
Sophia - Paraguay
Amber - Guatemala City, Guatemala
Todd - Australia, English speaking
Josh (cousin-in-law) - Uruguay Montevideo oeste
Bow - California Sacramento, Jive speaking
Curtis - Oklahoma
Michelle - Idaho Pocatello, English speaking
Carl - Japan
Carol - Columbia
Tracie - Russia
Lorna - Mexico
Natalie - Ukraine
Andrea - Wisconsin
Theran - Washington D.C. South
Richard - Michigan
Clarissa - Texas
Whitney - Australia
Isaac - Turkey
Elaine - Spain Madrid
Elder Josh - Alabama
Rex - Ukraine
Conal - Washington D.C. South
Kristie - Taiwan
Clark - Milan, Italy
Rachelle - Mexico City
Michelle - Argentina
Julie - Hong Kong
Jennifer - Taiwan Taipei
Aaron - Spain Madrid
Bruce - Truth or Consequences, New Mexico - Navajo speaking (Josh's grandpa went Navajo speaking!)
Monique - Houston, Texas - Spanish speaking
Rodney - Lisbon, Portugal
Craig - Samoa
Jenette - Madagascar speaking Malagasay
Hannah Sophia - Barcelona, Spain
Caralee - Paraguay
Vickie - New York
Leslie - Czech Republic
Teresa - Montreal, Quebec
Laura - Brazil
Kevin - New Zealand
Chris - France, Toulouse
Joshua Wayne - Brazil
Lynsie - Florida
Renae - Brazil
Marcy - Bolivia (my friends are wise)
Carson - Canada
Caleb - Washington (state)
Alyssa - Florida
Ethan - Australia
Angie - Denver, Colorado Spanish speaking
Kalli - Honduras
Laurel - Argentina
Tyson - Wisconsin

Awesome Awegust

2011-08-29T00:46:00.000-06:00

Happy 19th Birthday to Joshua!! Every mother wonders, dreams and worries about what it will be like, or more appropriately, what their son will be like, when his 19th birthday comes. Well, could a mother be prouder or happier about where a son is than I am of Josh? He just finished the Spring Semester at BYU-Idaho and received a 4.0! He worked really hard for it too - the hardest I've ever seen him work at school. I have to say that Bruce put in a fair amount of time (as in hours and hours) over the phone with Josh, helping him with his computer science class. Josh is as handsome as ever. Bruce and I went out to dinner at a really nice Italian Restaurant with Jesse and Josh for their birthdays. At one point during the dinner, Josh looked over and said something to me with this look on his face that was picture perfect. I said, "Don't ever look at a girl like that unless you really, really like her." It's a look of calmness, self-assurance and strength. We had a great dinner, the only thing missing was the rest of the children. :) We took the whole family there in April right before Josh went to school and it was wonderful. We had a gift certificate from Bruce's boss in order to afford it. We are in the middle of getting Josh's papers ready to send in for a mission. Yeah! We decided that he will be going back to another semester of school in the Fall instead of waiting around to go on a mission.

We went to a local reservoir for our annual camping trip that we do with our friends. Fred & Amy, Elizabeth & Calvin, Todd & Kristie and their families, along with us, were the ones attending. The water was high, especially for August, so the kayaks and the canoe were a hit. Joseph, Jesse, Freddy and Kalli were inseparable. We brought Britta and Dallas with us, friends of Mary and Libby, respectively.

Peter and Libby had their first day of 5th and 4th grade respectively. They have great teachers and are enjoying school!

Jesse turned 16 this month! Her friends had a surprise birthday party for her the day before her birthday, and then they also brought her breakfast on the morning of her birthday. Talk about royal treatment! She has already been on a "first date", which was fun. She is a beautiful 16 year old, and Bruce is going to be cleaning his gun a lot. Ha ha

Joseph, Jesse and Mary on their first day of school.

Mary gets to join the "high-schoolers" this year, which is right up her alley. She will love the wider social circle. She is in the AnimaMea choir at school, which is an audition all-girls choir.

Jesse is now the full-time organist in our ward, and also accompanies the choir. She made the decision not to play soccer this year, in order to concentrate on piano practicing. She practices around 3 hours a day. She is also on a competitive clogging team, which she loves!

Joseph and Jesse have Show Choir together this year, and also Madrigals. They LOVE these two activities.

Peter received his Arrow of Light Award. Congratulations Peter!

Bruce has been busy working on the farm, coaching Peter's soccer team, and trying to keep up with all the children's activities. Lorena has loved having all the children home for a short time.

Joseph scored the first two goals in his Varsity soccer game last week He is doing great on the field, and is a real asset to his team.

Jesse has her Dad wrapped around her little finger, because this is what he found on Craigslist for her:

Of course it's not just for her, it's for the whole family, but she is the one who will play it the most. This is one of the most wonderful things we have ever invested in, and fulfills a life-long dream of mine. It's a 5' 1" Kawai GM-10 Baby Grand with a wonderful tone and touch. It was built in Japan in 2005. When Josh and Joseph first heard it being played, they said that from the kitchen it sounded like a recording coming from the computer. The thing that has struck me the most about playing it is the ability to play piano, or soft. I've never played on a piano that could go so soft. And you can play loud to, so the dynamics you can produce are lovely. We went around and around on where to put it, but ended up putting it in the only spot it could have been in the house, and that is the Living Room. We have to invest in blinds for that room now, but it is worth it. This Sunday afternoon we were all sitting around listening to Jesse play - it was so fun.

We had our Family Street Dance last night. It was so fun! Am I saying everything is "so fun"? Well, that's just it. Our life is fun. There are challenging parts too, but mostly, we are very, very blessed and feel to thank the Lord every day for his bounteous blessings.

We have had Josh's friend Sterling staying with us for a week, and we had Kaleb overnight - so fun to see him!! We also had our old Bishop and his family from Poulsbo stay with us overnight. Since July we have had a family living with us up in our Entertainment Room. Their little daughter Emma, who is 3, entertains us to no end. Tonight she happened to be there for family council, and when we were discussing Mary walking to mutual, she piped up and said, "From the high school? No way!" Oh, we just get a kick out of her - she's a hoot. We also had some other friends from Poulsbo pass through - Bill and Laura and family. We loved seeing them too!

One thing that has sorely needed attention that is not getting it is our garden. We have harvested a few things - cucumbers, green beans, onions, tomatoes, and green peppers. Soon there will be corn and squash. We haven't been over to look at the carrots. I'm to scared to. ha ha That will just make my mother squirm when she reads that. Sorry, Mom - I'll get to it, I promise!

We love all of our friends and family. You truly bring us great joy.

July - one great vacation after another!

2011-08-01T01:32:00.000-06:00

July was one crazy and fun month!

It began with a trip to Portland, OR for the wedding of my nephew Jarom in the Portland Temple on July 2nd. Bruce & I, Mary and Libby were the only ones able to go, and it was a wonderful time.

The 4th of July was spent here at home. We went to the parade and got in the "wet zone" where the firefighters have a heyday getting everyone soaking wet. It was way fun! We had my nephew Corbin with us all that week - from my side of the family - and he entertained us with his great sense of humor.

On July 9th we took off to Rexburg to see Joshua perform in the new BYU Idaho Center (a new building on the campus that is almost exactly like the Conference Center only smaller). He sang in the Men's Chorus and was on the big screen several times for us to ooh and ahh. The concert was great! The next Monday we took off to Bear Lake for the reunion for my side of the family.

Peter playing Ultimate Frisbee

We stayed at a Lodge for five days and had a wonderful time, especially because it was my Dad's 80th birthday and all ten of us siblings were there.

Libby and cousin Hailey

Playing with cousins - Libby, Hailey and Alyssa

Bruce - in classic family reunion pose

We finished that week out with a quick trip to Utah for Jarom & Whitney's reception in Lehi.

Hells Canyon River Trip

Two days after getting home from that, we turned around and went on a 3-day River Trip to Hells Canyon. We were invited by our friends, Dave and Shelly, who drew a tag for the first time in five years. We have never done anything like this before, and it was amazing! Josh couldn't go with us to that because he was finishing up finals week at BYU-I, and Joseph was down at EFY in Provo. Hells Canyon was ruggedly beautiful. We put in at the same visitors center that we went to at the Family Reunion years ago for Bruce's side of the family. We traveled about thirty miles over three days and took the boats out at Pittsburgh Landing. The oarsman for our boat was Steven, who is an Olympic downhill skier. He is a long time friend of Erik, the son of our hosts, who is also a world cup skier. Bruce was supposed to be the oarsman, but he broke his fourth metacarpal in his right hand, so he couldn't keep up the oaring without being in a lot of pain. Luckily, Steven was able to step in and cover for him.

The week after the River Trip, we went on a pack trip with our whole family. (Yes - the fun has not stopped - the whole month!) We decided to go back to an old favorite - Langer Lake in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.

It is a 2 mile hike in, which was "just about right" according to Bruce after we'd gotten there. He had much higher ambitions in our discussions beforehand, but we were glad we opted for easier. We took two horses - Lady and Sleepy River McGee, and two llamas - Achacachi an Huacuyo. It was the first time we took horses.

They can carry a lot, but we found them labor intensive while we were camping, and also a lot more volatile while crossing rocks and streams. Either they need to be trained better or we need to not take them again! We found we much preferred the llamas. Horses are more for riding than leading, that is for sure.

We thoroughly enjoyed the pack trip. The highlight was the hike up to Ruffneck Peak.

We met Lookout Dave up there (the first time we have seen the Lookout manned), and had a fun time eating lunch and rolling huge rocks down the glacier. Jesse was sick most of the trip and made a gargantuan effort to even attempt the hike, and she made it! We treasured having all of our family together.

I'll have to post more pictures later of this trip - too many to put on right now.

Tomorrow we are off on another camping trip - I know - very crazy - to Sage Hen Reservoir, where we had the Family reunion many years ago on Bruce's side, and Joshua Wayne saw the moose swimming across the reservoir. He also came with us another year. I wish he and Rachel could come with us - maybe another year.

We have made many great memories this month. Hurrah for summer, good friends and family, and beautiful places to visit!

Camps, Camps, and more Camps

2011-06-26T21:05:00.001-06:00

Joseph got to go the BYU Soccer Camp last week. He came away with new friends, increased soccer skills, and two awards - one for the best tricks in juggling, and the other entitled "Camp Juggling Champ". He won that by juggling 10,001 times! It took him 2 hours and five minutes. One time he had to tie his shoe, so he kicked the ball up onto his back and held it right below his neck while he tied his shoe. Another time he had to get a drink so he did the same thing with the ball while he walked over to the cooler and got a drink. He was still juggling by the time everyone had gone to lunch, so finally, the head coach came over and told him to just stop on a number he could remember! The previous all-time record, for all the camps, had been 3,002. So, Joseph kind of busted that one.

On the same week, Jesse was at the Young Musician's Camp at BYU. She had the time of her life! She also made some great friends, learned a lot of great things for the piano, and is more determined than ever to be a piano performance major. She got in the top group of pianists while she was there, so she's well on her way to becoming just that.

Mary was at Girl's Camp last week too! She had a great time, and was especially proud that our ward won the "Safari Sunrise" award almost every morning. She missed Jesse, but still had fun with her friends.

So Peter and Libby were home for most of the week just with Bruce & I. Wow - that was different! They got really good at doing their jobs! I was really proud of them. Peter would have most of his done before I even made the chart in the morning. This motivated Libby, so one morning Peter & I went on an errand, she had most of her jobs done by the time we got home. Way to go Libby!

On the weekend, we got to go to Washington for Nicole's wedding, Bruce's niece on his side of the family. She and Shawn had a wonderful wedding. Michelle, Bruce's sister, was organized to the hilt, and we thoroughly enjoyed our little weekend get-away. We were able to rent a PT-Cruiser-like car, (I don't even know what it was), and drive up there. Unfortunately, Bruce did something to his back, because he is laid up this morning with bad pain in his back. He is sleeping right now, but as soon as he wakes up I'll give him a Raindrop to see if that will help.

Peter and Libby got to stay with friends while we were gone, so they had a fun time this weekend too. Josh has been more challenged this last week in school than I can ever remember him being. He is taking some classes that are tough! But he is getting through them and will come out just fine. He is starting his papers for his mission. YEAH!!!

Happy June to everyone!

A Happy Mother's Day for me

2011-05-08T19:00:00.000-06:00

What a happy Mother's Day for me. I woke up early - 6:30 am - and worked on the Relief Society presentation for today. I'm in our ward Relief Society presidency, and I'm in charge of Sunday instruction. We chose to do a panel and have a group discussion instead of a lesson. We asked three Sisters in the ward to be on the panel - Melanie, Maria and Kim - and I asked them to read Sheri Dew's talk "Are We Not All Mothers" and Pres. Monson's talk from last fall "Charity Never Faileth". After reading a couple of quotes from Sis. Dew's talk, I asked the following questions:
Do you have any experience with a woman who "mothered" you, other than your own mother?
What keeps us from nurturing?
What worldly views have you run into that degrade motherhood?
Just those three questions took up the whole time. There were some very tender, sweet comments made. The Spirit was present in large supply, and I was very grateful. One comment was made by Chelsea, a new sister in the ward, who related that she had been a foster mother to many teenage boys. One of the lessons she learned is that no matter what they had been through with their mothers, the boys always loved their own mother. One of the other comments that was made was by Maria relating to us what she had heard Jayne Clayson say in a Time Out for Women. Clayson said that women would not take stay-at-home mothers seriously until they took themselves seriously, meaning that they needed to stop apologizing and making excuses, and saying, "I'm just a Mom". I can tell you one thing - I never said that, or felt that I should apologize for it. I think that is because I knew I could choose differently, and that I had chosen - literally - to be at home instead of in the work place. At first it was a struggle for me, but when I finally came to the realization, and deep assurance, that no one could replace me as the mother of my children - NO ONE, not even Bruce could do what I could do for them and be for them - then I felt that I had a purpose, and that I was doing the most important thing I could be doing, bar none. That was a huge life-changer for me, and I've been blessed by that knowledge and assurance. I'm also grateful to know that my Savior Jesus Christ has offered the Atonement to me as a gift, and this makes all sacrifice, love, work - everything I do as a Mother have meaning and hope.

I went back to sleep after awhile, and about 10 am, Joseph and Peter came in to escort me to the kitchen table. They each offered me an arm, and I walked into the clean kitchen with a beautifully set table and Love One Another from Joyspring II, by Kurt Bestor playing. I had the "You are special today" red plate, a big glass of orange juice, NingXia Red and chia seed on the side, and Libby poured me a glass of hot chocolate. At my feet was the foot massager, and there were a dozen pink roses in a vase from Bruce. The kids wrote me a poster with an acrostic poem on it. L - lovely, O - outstanding, R - Reverent, E - Excellent, N - Never-failing, A - Awesome (at making smoothies). Isn't that cute! Bruce made the standard eggs, hashbrowns and bacon, and Jesse made crepes as well. I'm telling you - I got the royal treatment!! They even put a picture of Josh in his place on the table. :)

I spoke to Josh this afternoon. He is over with Grandma and Grandpa, and Aunt Angie and her kids. I told my Mother, "You are still mothering for me!"

Bruce had a fun time fishing the last two days. They went up into WA state to fish on the Columbia river. He said it drizzled the whole time and reminded him so much of Seattle with the low-lying clouds and the beautiful evergreen trees. The trip cost him over $200 and he came home with one salmon fillet. That is one expensive salmon!! But he went with great friends, so he came home with more than just a fillet of salmon - good memories were involved also. :)

I have been enjoying my Kindness Foot Zone Therapy class. Wow - have I learned a lot! I also did the Farmer's Market in our town yesterday, and had fun doing that with Karen, my friend and upline.

Soccer is over! Whew - we made it through another outdoor season. Luckily, Bruce and Joseph are still playing indoor, because I LOVE going to their games. I want them to just keep playing year round.

It has finally started to warm up around here. It doesn't fully seem like spring to me until it starts to warm up.

I have been buying Thrive freeze-dried Food Storage from Shelf-Reliance through my sister Angie. I sent a can of Strawberries with Josh for school, and we opened up a can recently for Bruce to take fishing with him. Wow - I really like the food. I'm glad to have this new source of food storage, especially for the fruits and vegetables.

I read a great book - The Healing Code by Alex Lloyd and Ben Johnson. Did I mention that already? I think I did. Anyway, I recommend it to anyone who has a health, relationship, or any kind of problem that you can't figure out how to deal with.

Can I just say that I love May? I loev the green and flowers, the end-of-the-year things, and looking forward to summer. And of course, there's Mother's Day and my birthday all in the same month. It's just a GREAT month.

Happy Mother's Day to you all!

Young Womanhood Recognition

2011-04-24T21:59:00.000-06:00

Jesse has received her Young Womanhood Award! She set a goal last year at this time to have it done in a year, and she accomplished it. She is the personification of what the Personal Progress program is all about, and I'm so proud of her. One of the neat things she did for one of her projects was to go over and help Rachelle, a young mother in our ward who has five children under the age of nine. Rachelle told me that after the last time she was there, that her six year old son said, "I've noticed that the ______ (our last name)'s are always working to get to the Celestial Kingdom." How cute is that? Jesse is a great example for our family, and is a great strength in our home. Congratulations Jesse!

PS In case you feel like I've give Joseph the slight on his Eagle Scout Award, he'll get his due recognition on his Court of Honor. Speaking of which, I need to start planning...

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T21:48:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter to everyone! What a wonderful time of year. We had our dear friends, David and Elysia and their three children, over for Easter Sunday. We had pozole, which was a treat! We colored Easter eggs, had an Easter egg hunt, and then had a beautiful lesson about the last week of the Savior's life and the Resurrection. We had Stake Conference this weekend, so we were able to discuss the talks that were given and the impressions we had from the talks. It was wonderful, and I felt the Spirit during our discussion.

A quick update on everyone:

Bruce - has been struggling with constant congestion in his sinuses and nose. We have been working with essential oils and supplements for two years. Although he has avoided infection, we have not been able to clear up the congestion. Recently, he went on a strict diet of no grain and no dairy. He started to see improvement for the first time in years. He had been doing that somewhat already, but he was much more strict this time. He could use some prayers, in his behalf, if you are so inclined, because he is still in the middle of figuring this out. Other good news - he applied for and received the position of Architect on his team at work. What this means is that he will now design the software instead of just implementing another programmer's design. He is enjoying the position, as it is something he has wanted to do for a long time, but has a lot of work to do! He really enjoyed having Josh home the last four months. He and Josh worked out on our weight set almost every day, along with 2-3 of Josh's friends. He has also LOVED organizing and playing on a men's indoor soccer team. They are on their second session in a row (ten games apiece) and have improved a ton. They moved up a level, and have been winning almost every game.

Lorena - is loving life. I am taking a Kindness Foot Zone Therapy class (reflexology), and have been learning about chakras and energy. I have come full circle, as I started to study some of this 20 years ago, and then moved to Washington and didn't do much with it after that. But I'm back to studying about it again, and have loved learning. I put oils on people's feet all the time (this is one of the best places for oils to absorb into the body), so I will be more effective with that with this new knowledge. I also read a really interesting book called The Healing Code, and can recommend it to everyone. I became a Young Living Executive in February, which was an exciting step for me. I also enjoyed having Josh home, and watching Josh, Joseph and Bruce on this indoor soccer team. I have been to every single game, and am well known as their best fan! They play late at night (from 8 pm to 11:30 pm starting time!), so I am able to go to the games.

Josh - I thought Josh would be bored being home, but he was not. He had three friends who received mission calls and were waiting to go while he was here. They spent a lot of time at our house, and it was so fun! Our entertainment room became the defacto hangout for that age group, and there were a lot of midnight parties at our house the last few months. Bruce and I have our bedroom directly underneath the ER (as we call the entertainment room), and many nights we would say, "That's really loud up there", and then we would turn off the lights and go to sleep. Conclusion - it never bothered us past that one sentence. Our big house was a blessing these past few months (as it continually has been). There were also a ton of Institute activities that Josh enjoyed. Josh played really well on the indoor soccer team, scoring lots of goals, and came to the conclusion that he enjoyed indoor better than outdoor. Josh is now at BYU-I, and settling in to his classes. He was making fajitas last night, so that is a good sign. :)

Joseph - has been so busy! He sleeps little during the week, and many long hours on the weekend, and sometimes not even then. He went to prom with Tiffany, and had a great time. They (three couples) ate at a fancy Italian Restaurant and had fun wandering around parks after the dance. Joseph is playing on three different soccer teams - crazy! I've already mentioned the men's indoor team, and man, is he playing well on that team. He is the leading scorer on the team, and makes some sweet moves on a regular basis. Of course, he has great backup on this team that get the ball to him in just the right place, but it still takes a great deal of skill to finish, which he has and does. He also plays on an outdoor team for our local soccer club, and another indoor team with high school players from his Varsity team of last fall. A great accomplishment for Joseph - he has earned his Eagle Scout! He has an Idaho Driver's License to show for it, too.

Jesse - Jesse took over Josh's milking of Natalie, the Jersey cow when he went to college. She gets up at 4:30 in the morning to milk, and then starts practicing the piano at 5:00. She milks again at 4:30 pm after school. Both Joseph and Jesse have LOVED singing with the Madrigal Choir at the high school. They performed at Festival last week and got a score of 39 out of 40 from more than one judge. They get to sing at a Choir Showcase this Saturday, to which only select choirs are invited. Last Thursday I got to be the substitute teacher in their choir class, and got a personal recital of some of their songs. It was awesome!! I had tears in my eyes as I sat there and thought, "I'm the most fortunate person in the world!".

Mary - is in the "head turning" stage, meaning that every time one sees her, one has to do a double-take because she is getting to be so pretty. She told me today that one of her friends has on the background of her phone, "Pretty girls turn heads. My friends and I break necks." Ha ha Mary has been learning to play "Hallelujah" on the guitar - the recent pop song. She will be trying out for the middle school talent show singing this song with her friend, and then also singing a solo of "The Call", a song from the Disney movie "Prince Caspian". She sang this song for festival, and it is beautiful. She is also playing soccer and running the hurdles on her school track team. The track team is a big social event, which is what Mary's all about.

Peter - got a cracked bone in his right forearm last week. He had a rough day the first day, but he is healing quickly with the oils we're putting on him, and already has a lot of mobility. He got Advanced on his Language Arts ISAT, which is a big accomplishment. Peter's soccer team relies on him to play keeper, and he does a great job.

Libby - had her Gymnastics recital last week! She performed beautifully, and it was fun to see the amazing skill she has gained in just 8 months. She can do a free-standing back hand spring, which is so fun to watch! She is working on a Science Fair project of watering plants with water that has been warmed up in the microwave, the stove, and tap water. She spends a great deal of time doing flips on the trampoline.

Family - we had a fun trip to Jackson Hole for Spring Break. Just Bruce and I and the three younger kids went. It was nice to give them some added attention. Mary had a great time ruling the roost. We went to art gallery after art gallery, and became quite the western art connoisseurs. Unfortunately, we didn't get a view of the Tetons because of stormy weather, but the visitors centers were really cool! We loved watching General Conference, and feeling the power and spirit that comes from listening to prophets and apostles. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and keeping the commandments and covenants we have been given is a continual and deeply profound blessing for our family. We have protection and guidance, and best of all - great joy!

Happy Easter to all!

March Meanderings

2011-03-13T22:27:00.000-06:00

Josh finally got some work this week, thanks to the generosity of our friend Lane. He has a Jersey cow that he uses as a nurse cow for raising calves, and circumstances were such that he needed to have someone milk her (Natalie is her name) for a few months. With the milk he gets, he will nurse four calves and sell them in a few months for a handsome profit. It's a very generous deal from Lane, and we're very grateful that Josh will have some cash flow. It's like a part-time job to do the milking twice a day on your own, so this is an adjustment, but he's been doing very well!

Today, one of Josh's best friends for the past eleven years, Drew, gave his Farewell talk in our ward, and he'll be leaving on Tuesday for his mission in Iowa. He has spent countless hours at our house just hanging out over the years, so I feel like our family has a small part in sending him out as well as his own. Josh also received his Duty to God Award today. Congratulations Josh!

Joseph and Jesse have been busy with Choir happenings. They sang in Solo & Ensemble Festival last week. Joseph sang a duet with Amanda called "When I Close My Eyes" that was beautiful. Jesse and her best friends Kalli sang "I'm a Wanderer", which is a spiritual. They got a high enough score that they got to do a repeat performance at the high school choir concert. Jesse also accompanied for three people, including Joseph and Amanda.

The High School Choir concert was awesome! The Madrigals sang an extremely technical song called "The Sounding Sea", and it was one of the highlights of the evening. Mary also had a Middle School concert the week before that, and she had fun doing that.

She had such a busy month of February playing the piano and the organ, that it was a miracle she got through it. She had Piano Festival (which she got a "Superior" rating on - Yeah!), the Solo & Ensemble Festival, which I just talked about, she accompanied the congregation on the organ, and she played for the choir too. Good thing she loves to play the piano and sing!

Mary also played in Piano Festival (and got a "Superior" also - Wahoo!), and sang "The Call" in the Middle School Solo & Ensemble Festival. She sang beautifully - I was so proud of her. Mary had some time off of soccer and track (yes, I know - two sports is crazy) this week because of a hurt knee. We have been putting Lemongrass, Marjoram and PanAway essential oils on it, and they have helped it heal much more quickly than it would otherwise.

Peter has had two outdoor soccer games, with Bruce as his Coach. He plays goalie for half the game, trading off with other players. He also played in Piano Festival - one song called "Race Across the Serenghettti" and another called "Un Poco Espanol", and he got an Excellent rating.

Libby played "A Knight's Tale" and "Bewitching Boogie" for Piano Festival and got a "Superior" rating! Way to go Libster! She also had a gymnastics performance last weekend, and she was the only one to do several hard moves. She is going to start soccer this week, and now soccer and gymnastics are on the same day!

Bruce Josh and Joseph have had a great time playing for an Indoor Soccer League, and I've had a ball being their #1 fan. They have a really good team, so watching them is a clinic in soccer every week. Their last game was this week, so now they're thinking of signing up for a new round of play, which I hope they do!

I gave a lesson today in Relief Society about Service, which was really fun. I enjoy teaching RS!

The Lord has been blessing us in so many ways, and we are so grateful.

Our Family's Got Talent!

2011-02-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

I started to write this a month ago, but never finished, so I'll post it now:

While this title may raise some eyebrows, it simply must be the title of this blog, because I have to report that three of our children participated in _________ (the name of our town)'s Got Talent last weekend! Fifty-two contestants auditioned for the finals, and twenty-two made it in, three of which were Josh and his friend Connor, Jesse and Libby. Josh played the piano while Connor sang "Go the Distance" from Hercules, Jesse played the Revolutionary Etude by Chopin, and Libby did a gymnastics floor routine to "He's a Pirate" from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Libby was the youngest solo contestant, and she did great on her routine. It wasn't quite as good as what she had practiced, but to get out in front of a crowd of 300-400 people and perform is brave, and she did it! Two days before she did a back-handspring on her own, so she added that to the routine. She stumbled on it during the performance, but it was fun that she even attempted it!

Jesse's number was amazing! Her fingers were flying up and down the keys. Unfortunately, before she started the piano was moved to the middle of the stage, and the top was left down and there was no microphone on it, so you could hardly hear the piano at all. It was such a disappointment. Bruce had nightmares that night about not going up on the stage and fixing it right in the middle of the performance. But we didn't think of it while she was performing, and I will explain in just a moment why we think that happened.

Josh and Connor were the next to last performers. The arrangement Josh played is actually an arrangement for piano, and they took an arrangement for voice and put them together, even adding a whole last page that they made up on their own. This made a big difference, because when Connor wasn't singing, the attention switched to Josh on the piano, and his part was just as exciting, so the energy never went down during the performance. Two other women with beautiful voices had sung earlier, but they both sang to recordings, and when they weren't singing, it was just awkward, watching them pass the time up on the stage. In addition, "Go the Distance" is a familiar song to many in the audience, and since the audience had a vote and many in the audience were young kids, I think that helped. Also, Connor and Josh are well known because of the MAD Boys (an acapella group that they performed and recorded a CD with in High School), so that helped also. Interestingly enough, Connor's microphone got a short in it right when he started singing. It kept cutting out, but Connor just kept singing without missing a beat, and Josh did the same playing. I was amazed at how they acted cool as cucumbers and it didn't affect their performance in the least. It turns out that they didn't even know! They couldn't tell at all that it was happening, but we couldn't tell that in the audience, so it sort of earned the audience's respect right off the bat. So the long and short of it is, they won the whole thing! They won the top prize, which was $500 in cash! They were thrilled, of course! They split the cash and have put it away for mission funds. Connor already has his call to the Manchester New Hampshire mission, and Josh will start processing his papers in April.

So it was a character building experience for Jesse! She handled it SO WELL. I was more proud of her for how she handled the disappointment than if she had won. She did have to go out to the car right after it ended and pull herself together, but by the time we got home, she went to the piano and played the Etude for us again while we gathered around and did our own cheering for her. Bruce came home and said that one of the ladies there said that she had played the same piece when she was a teenager. She said it was one of the hardest pieces she ever learned, and that she played it about 1/2 the tempo that Jesse had played. She was impressed! I think what really happened is that if Jesse had performed at full capacity, it would have been too close of a contest. It was Joshua's night to win, and Jesse had a character building experience - and WOW, did she handle it well! She will have other nights and other "wins".

The last three weeks have also been a big transformation as far as eating goes. I saw some videos put out by the Gerson Institute that really galvanized me into action. The videos talk about how they heal all sorts of very serious disease, even life-threatening ones, by changing the diet to fruit and vegetable juices. One of the facts they gave (and this was in the early '90's) was that if you practiced medicine in the State of California, if you treated cancer with anything other than surgery, radiation or chemotherapy, you would loose your license. So when patients at the Gerson Institute would go back to their doctors and tell them that they were cured, the doctors would say, "Well, keep on doing what you're doing, but I don't want to know about it." What a truly dismal state of affairs. Sadly, I don't think much has changed in twenty years on the doctor side of things, but I think things have changed tremendously on the patient side. People have choices and they are researching and figuring out a better way to live!

So the action I have taken is to go to much more of a diet that follows the Word of Wisdom. (Why do we - mostly meaning me -- need an outside source to confirm that the Word of Wisdom is wise???) Another impetus was that Bruce has been having severe congestion in his nose and sinus area. It is not getting infected, which is due to the oils that we use, but we haven't been able to pin point what's causing all the mucus formation.

I found a great website that has the education, the research and the recipes that I have been looking for. It is www.whfoods.org. I wrote a seven page document in the last couple of weeks that details what substitutions you can make to eat healthier. It is fun to have done that.

I have good news - I am a new Young Living Exectutive! This a level in YL that I've been striving to meet for awhile, so I'm very excited!

Joseph and Jesse sang a trio in Sacrament Meeting today. It was a beautiful arrangement of Come Thou Fount with the words being the lyrics from "Oh How Lovely was the Morning". It was very nicely done!

Peter scored 2 or 3 goals yesterday in his indoor soccer team. He is a great player! Bruce is coaching his indoor team, and has already started practices for Spring outdoor soccer.

Mary did a great job on her Festival songs yesterday. She played a Jazz piece and then a Clementi Sonatina for her numbers. Jesse, Peter and Libby also played, and they did great!

Have a good week, everyone!

The Games Report

2011-01-09T22:05:00.002-07:00

Nobody wanted the break to be over. We just played and had the best time. Telestrations has been the hit game so far. We played twice on Christmas Day and laughed so hard!! The game is basically like the telephone game, where you whisper something to the person next to you and it goes around the circle and you see what you end up with. In this game instead of whispering, you alternate between drawing a word and guessing what was drawn by the person next to you. We actually took pictures of two of the drawings, but you have to look at the progression going down, not left to right. On the left is one word, and on the right is another.

You won't laugh nearly as hard as we did - it was one of those things where you had to be there, but I tell you, when we saw Bruce reveal that he had written "Fun", we laughed until we were crying. Fun? How is Josh supposed to draw "Fun"?? And when Jesse put "Ugly Man", there were more tears going down faces.

We have gone to the late church schedule. Hallelujah! Since we don't get to sleep in on Saturdays a good part of the year (because of soccer games), I love sleeping in on Sunday. One of life's little luxuries that I am grateful for.

Josh is still looking for work. He has applied at a lot of places, but nothing has come up yet. He will keep looking!

Joseph gave a great talk in Church today on Faith. He used a lot of material from True to the Faith, Preach My Gospel, the scriptures and conference talks. He spent about 5 hours researching material and another five hours putting it together for the talk. He said he only included about 1/2 of what he had written down, and even at that his talk was still 12 minutes long. The counselor in the bishopric had to tap on his leg to tell him to stop. :) I told him afterward to not give Joseph 3 minutes. He's got to have more time than that!

Jesse made the commitment to learn Jeux d'eau (by Ravel) for Festival in about 6 weeks. She has learned 7 out of 13 pages. This is the hardest piece she has learned yet by far. She knows the first 7 pages really well, but they are not a tempo yet. A tempo is an eighth note equals 144 bpm, and there are 32nd notes all over the song. Craziness!! I love hearing her playing this song.

Mary had to do a project for science class in which they had to model an element, and her group is "Neon". She made a vest out of purple felt. She did it by making her own pattern from butcher paper and sewed it herself! I was really proud of her.

Peter has been playing the Wii like crazy. So has Bruce. I won't make any more comment on that. Ha ha Peter has made a goal to read the Book of Mormon this year. Yeah!

Libby surprised me this week. I was getting her piano pieces ready for Festival. I made a guess at what level she was on and played through some of the songs and thought that they would be challenging, but she could do it. When I played them for her, she listened and then sat down and played through one of them. She learned the whole song in about 10 minutes, playing it all the way through, a tempo, no problems. Wow! Needless to say, I went back to the store and picked a book that was at the next level for her. Festival songs are not supposed to be terribly hard, but if you can sight read them and play them in ten minutes, that's too easy! She's only eight, but she's really moving along in piano.

Libby also performed at halftime for the boys basketball game on Friday. She did her Gymnastics routine. She got lots of compliments afterward because she did so well!

I did 3 Raindrops this week within a twenty-seven hour period! In case you haven't heard of the Raindrop Technique, it's a method of applying essential oils to the feet and to the back, incorporating massage and reflexology techniques. One lady I work with has had wonderful results with the Raindrop. She gets one every two weeks. I incorporate the oils that come up on the Compass for her, and she takes NingXia Red Juice on a regular basis. (Contact me if you want to know more NingXia - I have a good website for it, but it has my full name on it, so I don't want to give it out on this public blog.) It has been a tremendous blessing for me to be an instrument in the hand of the Lord in bringing some healing to her life.

A few months ago, at Bruce's work, they announced that they wanted to reduce the on-site workforce by 20%. Bruce promptly signed up for it and got it approved. At the end of last year he cleaned out his cubicle, and now works completely from home. This makes sense, since his team is all in Vancouver and Israel. If you wonder if globalization has taken place, let that be an indicator. So we can live on our 2 1/2 acres, have our little farm here in Idaho and be close to great outdoor recreation and beautiful rural surroundings while Bruce works from his office in our home with Israelis in Tel Aviv. It's a beautiful life.

A Happy and Abundant New Year

2011-01-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Here is my schedule for the new year for gospel study:

Sun: Patriarchal Blessing/Review Primary Lesson
Mon: Primary Lesson
Tue: New Testament (following the Class Member Study Guide)
Wed: Gospel Principles manual
Thu: General Conference talks
Fri: Topical Guide/Personal Progress scriptures
Sat: Current Ensign magazine

It's nice to have the resources online, as well as in print. I'm planning on actively looking up the scriptures in the lessons to keep me involved in the actual scriptures.

I love studying the scriptures and the words of apostles and prophets. What a treasure! I hope never to take for granted the marvelous blessing we have of the word of God so readily available to us. One of my favorite verses this week was, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for withou me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5)

I love the concept of Jesus being the vine and being able to connect into that vine. I have been concentrating on Abundance Mentality in my life. This concept comes from Stephen Covey in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He talks about Abundance Mentality vs. Scarcity Mentality. An Abundance Mentality means that you believe "there is enough and to spare" (Doctrine & Covenants 104:17), and that includes love, resources, time and energy. With this mentality, when another succeeds, you can celebrate with them. A Scarcity Mentality means that there is not enough, and when another person succeeds, you fail. If another has enough, you do not have enough.

When I think of Abundance Mentality in connection with Jesus being the vine, I can better visualize what it means to have the Savior as our ally and friend, and how the Abundance Mentality is a true principle. When Jesus is the vine, and I am the branch, then I have all the love, the time, the energy, and the resources that I need. Although it may appear in a mortal sense that I do not have enough, when I am connected with the Savior, it is enough, and I am not burdened by scarcity!

I teach this often to my children, and it's brings me joy to see the change in their outlook and demeanor when they understand it and apply it.

I wish everyone a Happy and Abundant New Year!

'Tis the Season

2010-12-27T01:51:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas to one and all!

What a wonderful Christmas we've had!

One of the fun things we did was to take something to a family every day for the Twelve Days of Christmas. We had a lot of laughs over what we took, sneaking around, whether they had "found us out", etc. In the end, they gave us a far nicer gift than anything we gave them, and we are left with a bond of friendship and love for this family, even though it was all anonymous. Interesting how that works!

Having Josh home has also made the season special. I've mentioned this before, but this is the last Christmas where we'll all be together until 2015. At that Christmas we'll have two returned missionaries! But let's not think about that, let's concentrate on this Christmas!

We enjoyed a Christmas Piano Recital. Libby played a duet of "Ode to Joy with her friend Sydney. Peter played Libiamo, from the Opera "La Traviata", and Mary played a Sonatina by Clementi. Jesse played "Consolation" by Franz Listz. The video is on my last post, in case you missed it. I told her that when she wants to marry someone, if he doesn't absolutely melt when she plays that for him, then she shouldn't marry him. Ha ha

Libby had a Christmas Gymnastics Recital. Here is a short video of her floor and vault routine. She took a summer camp in July, and now goes once a week to a local gymnastics teacher. She has come a long way in just four months!

On Sunday, during Sacrament Meeting, we sang the Hallelujah Chorus again, with Jesse accompanying on the piano. The conductor asked me to lead that number because she had never done it before and didn't feel confident doing it, so I got to conduct. What a thrill! A literal, physical and spiritual thrill.

This is Libby at the Ward Christmas Party with Santa Claus!

At the same party, Joseph was asked to play the part of "Joseph" for the song, "When Joseph went to Bethlehem". He sang the part with the primary children. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see it because we had to go to Mary's choir concert. I heard Joseph, Peter and Libby all did a great job. I did get to see Joseph practice with the Junior Primary, and I had tears streaming down my face the whole time, seeing him play that part. He was not named Joseph by chance.

Mary had a wonderful Choir Concert! Here she is singing a duet:

Mary has also had fun this past month playing on an indoor soccer team. She played goalie in the last game and did a great job!

As luck would have it, Peter and Libby's choir concert was scheduled on the same night and at the same time as Joseph and Jesse's Madrigal Concert. Joseph also performed with the Show Choir at this concert. Oh, the pain of it! Bruce watched the first part of Peter and Libby's concert with me, and then he took off to the High School. I had watched the Madrigals practice one day when I was subbing at the High School, so I had at least heard their songs.

Peter and Libby have a wonderful music teacher at their Charter School, so they always do great music programs, and this was no exception.

Libby and Peter before their Concert

Peter's class also did some bell ringing songs. Unfortunately the stage and the lighting weren't that great, so I wasn't able to see their faces as well as I would have liked, but the music was great!

I did get over to the High School in time to see Joseph perform in the lats half of a number from "Grease". From all accounts, it was a wonderful concert.

Jesse and Joseph after their Concert

A lot of people said it was one of the best Christmas concerts they had been to, which was exciting to hear! (Too bad I wasn't there to here it - ARGGGH!) Just had to release a little frustration there...

Christmas Eve brought caroling to friends (almost all said, "Wow - you guys sound good!"), Posole dinner, the Nativity Scene, and the opening of the first presents of Christmas, accompanied by the usual picture by the fireplace. For our Posole dinner, we used a chicken that Peter and Bruce had killed and plucked a couple of days before.

Mary is taking the picture

We also had the last of the Cider from our Cider Festival. It was fun to use some of our own harvest.

Joseph and Mary are perfect for the Nativity Scene, of course. I was struck by how pretty Mary looked.

Jesse was the angel, Peter a shepherd, Libby a Wiseman, and Josh was the Innkeeper/King Herod.

Then came the pajamas...

And the chaos that always ensues...

After prayers, they were off to make the famed fort.

They took every blanket, sheet, pillow, and MATTRESS in the house, except from our bedroom, and put them all into a big "Fort". All six children sleep here for days on end starting on Christmas Eve.

You can't see Libby very well, but she's already asleep. You can see her face peeking out from covers right above Peter's head.

Last year they were so sad to clean the Fort up that we let them move it down to an empty bedroom downstairs. Josh bailed after a week or so, but the rest slept in that bedroom together for the next five months, until May 29th when Josh left. That empty bedroom is now our Master Bedroom, so that won't work for this year. We'll see what they come up with...

Christmas morning is always a joy! Here are some presents and smiles:

The beautiful painting that I got from Josh, Joseph and Jesse

Libby and her Zsu Zsu pets

Mary and her new cleats

What? Doesn't he go to BYU-I? "It's the football team!" he said.

Cousin Murlene sent this straight from Spain!

Now there's two happy farmers

Jesse eating an orange (a constant) and perusing her new Anatomy book.

My Zone Bar (the only chocolate treat I eat), my new sweatshirt, and my new boots

The Elders came over for some Posole, which we were happy to serve up.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Jesse playing "Consolation No. 3" by Franz Liszt

2010-12-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

Into December

2010-12-06T00:05:00.000-07:00

Since Josh was stuck at home because of closed roads, we were able to do our annual "Measuring of the Heights" last Sunday. We always do it in November.

The results? I thought Jesse would be the one to grow the least, if at all, but it was Josh! He grew a few millimeters only. Jesse grew a whole half an inch! This was a first - the first time each of our children has not grown at least two inches. Signs of the times! Mary wins for growing the most with more than two inches. You do that when you're thirteen!

On Tuesday evening of this week, it started to snow. All across Facebook and texts, the word snow day and wishing kept popping up in the same sentence.

I was lying in bed at 5:30 am Wednesday morning thinking about substitute teaching in a 5th grade class versus playing with the kids all day. You can guess which one I wanted. All of a sudden I heard a pause in the practicing coming from the piano room, and I heard Jesse yell, "Wohoo!" That's when I knew we had a snow day! Holli told me later that's when she figured it out too!

I thought we would all sleep in, but no, it was practically like Christmas morning.

By 6:30, everyone was jumping around the kitchen and giddily happy. We did get the scripture study in, and some breakfast and then by eight something, Peter was out with the four wheeler and the sled. The others soon followed.

With 8 inches of snow on the ground, the street was snow-packed and perfect for sledding. We had the usual melee in the laundry room where all the snow gear is stored. Between sledding, we played board games and had hot chocolate and crepes.

Libby in the snow

Walker, Skyler, Trent, Kalli, Nathan and Darrin all came over, so with Kyle, Dustin and Brooke already here, there were lots of kids floating around here. Four year old Payton rode on the back of the 4-wheeler for so long that I thought he was going to be half-frozen. Nathan came in and said, "I can't feel my legs." Having moved here only a year and half ago from CA, I believe this was his first snow day, and his jeans were soaked from top to bottom. He recovered. There is something very unique about a snow day. It's a guilt-free play day, and we did take advantage of it!


Libby

Libby got a new gymnastics uniform. This is what she'll wear in her Gymnastics "Recital" on the 18th. I can't wait to see it!

Tara and Mary

We got to go to Brooke's baptism on Saturday. Holli's mom made her white dress, patterned after white dresses that Holli saw on Pride and Prejudice. Wow - I admire that kind of talent!

Here is a picture of Wade and Holli's family - the ones that have been staying with us. And here is a picture of Payton (the one I mentioned earlier).

Payton

Wade and Holli and family moved out today, but not before leaving us with this:

It was so clever and fun!

Kyle, Dustin, Mary and Holli

They also left a big bucket of ping pong balls, many clean and organized closets, shelves and drawers, thanks to Holli's incredible organizing skills, and a huge empty place in our home.

Both families together

After they left, we sat around the kitchen table, kind of quiet, and we talked about what we had learned from having them stay with us. The conclusion - they gave us a lot more than we gave them. It left us with a desire to leave things better than when you got there, in whatever circumstance you are in. That's what their family did for us. I can't believe how much more we learned to love them while they were here, and how grateful we are for the time they were here. Thank you Wade, Holli, Kyle, Dustin, Brooke, Payton and Tara!!

Thanksgiving!

2010-11-28T15:16:00.003-07:00

I think I mentioned in the last blog that Josh played his guitar non-stop while he was here.

Tara, the 18-month old daughter of the family that is staying with us, came down and snuggled in with Josh to listen to him play. Joseph captured the moment. Having our friends here with us has made me think about how much we're missing not having little children anymore. We're in an in-between stage where we don't have much interaction with young children, and it's a true loss.

On the other hand, there are many things we can do that would not otherwise be possible, so we are trying to taking full advantage of those opportunities. And one of those this week was to do a "Harry Potter" marathon in anticipation of the 7th movie coming out. We started on Tuesday night and watched the first two. Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked so young! I didn't get to see the movies because I had to do some shopping, but most everyone else did. On Wednesday we watched the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth movies. It lasted until midnight! That was a lot of fun, as the kids had friends over, and Josh was with us, of course.

For Thanksgiving we went over to Paul and Karen's house. Karen is my 2nd cousin on my Mom's side of the family. We have become good friends over the years, with Cider Festivals, Thanksgivings, and through the piano teacher's group that I belong to. The highlight of the day, besides the meal, of course, was the Talent Show. When we had Thanksgiving with these guys a few years ago, we had an impromptu talent show that inspired my children so much, that I wanted to have it again. Paul and Karen's children are talented in the extreme, so it's always fun to have a show with them.

Libby played her duet of Ode to Joy and Sakura. Peter played Libiamo, from La Traviata.

Mary

Mary played a Clementi Sonatina, and Jesse played Consolation, by Franz Listz. Joseph played his original composition entitled "A Bite of Sunshine". Josh played the guitar and played "What Child is This" and "Hallelujah" (from the Shrek soundtrack), with Jesse providing backup harmony on the chorus.

Jesse and Josh

Bruce even sang John Denver's "Rocky Top Tennessee". I thoroughly enjoyed ever minute!

On Monday night, we had a Family Home Evening where we wrote down a list of what we were thankful for and then read them to the family. Mary was lucky because she kept writing things down while others were reading their lists, and read hers last, so she had the best list of all! She was pretty sick on Thursday and Friday, but her fever broke late Friday night, and she was OK after that. When her fever broke, it was so funny - she was totally out of it. She sat up on the couch and said, "It's cold. It's cold, it's cold, it's cold!" I could tell she was not awake. I got her up and tried to get her to bedroom. On the way she had to sit down and started talking about swimming. I started to get a bit nervous and called for Peter to bring some Frankincense, which I put on her head. That seemed to bring her to her senses somewhat, and I was able to get her to her bed. She slept well the rest of the night!

On Saturday morning, we got up to a delicious breakfast cooked by Dad! Thanks Bruce! We then put up the Christmas tree, which always involves a great deal of commotion.

Josh is sporting a very handsome "cowboy athlete" outfit.

Libby dancing on the tree stand

Mom, Libby, Dad, Joseph and Jesse setting up the tree

Josh (aka Superman, or "Master of the Universe", as he likes to call himself lately)

It's up!

The tree is not decorated yet. I wonder how long it will take to get to the actual decorating?! I started to yesterday, but the first string of lights I plugged in had only half the bulbs working. Does this frustrate anyone besides me?

After setting up the Christmas tree, we played the rest of the day. Grandma and Grandpa (Bruce's parents) were here, and they took Bruce and I shopping for awhile. That is always fun! Later in the afternoon, we all went to see Harry Potter 7, the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. One time I looked over and Joseph had Libby curled up in his arms and comforting her during the scary part. It was cute! I thought it the movie was well-done, but I sure could have done with a few more happy moments. But as Bruce said, it was a dark time, and they had to go through some hard things with Voldemort in power.

Right after Harry Potter, we went to the Forgotten Carols, a musical production by Michael McLeane. Jesse saw the DVD over at a friend's house, and loved it, so when I saw the tickets for sale, I decided I wanted this to be my present to her for Christmas. But then I thought of everyone else that would want to go, and I ended up buying for everyone. We don't do things like that very often because of the expense, so it was fun to go to a nice cultural event with the whole family. I liked the singing at the end the best. Even Peter said, "That was cool!" after the last strains of Silent Night died away.

We have snow on the ground! If it's going to be winter and cold, I like there to be snow! But I just heard from Bruce that Josh had to turn around and come home from going back to school this afternoon because the roads on the way there are blocked. Well, I can't say I'm very sad about that!

I figured out this astonishing fact this morning: this is likely the last time our family will be together - the eight of us - at Christsmas time without either somebody gone or somebody added to the family. Here's how it all plays out:

2011 - Josh on a mission
2012 - Josh on a mission
2013 - Joseph on a mission
2014 - Joseph on a mission
2015 - Everybody home! (But Josh will be 23, and possibly married - so we could have an addition, or he could be at the in-laws!)
2016 - Jesse on a mission
2017 - Jesse on a misison
2018 - Mary on mission
2019 - Peter on a mission
2020 - Peter on a mission
2021 - Everybody home! (But Josh will be 29 and maybe starting to have their own Christmas? And Joseph, Jesse and Mary possiby married. Yikes!!)
2022 - Everybody home! (The "buts" are an even more likely scenario than the year before)
2023 - Libby on a mission
2024 - Everybody home!

Those are some sobering numbers for me. I don't know how people can stand it that don't know the Plan of Salvation. If you are reading this and don't know what I'm talking about, look up the link, but also know that families can be together forever! (We sang this last night all together at Forgotten Carols). This brief mortal journey is a sliver in the eternities, and if we make choices that lead us there, our families can be together in the eternities, with glorified, resurrected bodies and infinite possibilities ahead of us. While we may experience scarcity of time and location on this earth, abundance lies ahead of us and we will be TOGETHER forever someday.

Honor Choir and Other Happenings

2010-11-21T17:56:00.003-07:00

Joseph and Jesse sang in the local "Honor Choir". It was where all the smaller schools in the area had choir students audition to be in this Honor Choir.

All of the students from our high school that participated in the choir. Jesse is on the bottom row on the left, and Joseph is near the top row on the left.

They rehearsed on three Monday nights, and all day on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then performed on Wednesday night. For the concert they sang four songs, and they were very unique and beautifully done. I loved that concert. So did Joseph and Jesse. Jesse said she was as happy singing up there as she had ever been in her life. She does love to perform! And Joseph - we had several friends comment that they couldn't keep their eyes away from Joseph because he look liked he was having so much fun.

During one of the songs, the conductor, unrehearsed, told the choir members to join hands. Joseph never heard him say that. The irony of it was that Joseph was standing right next to a really cute girl that he has had his eye on for awhile now. When he found out that he could have held her hand for four minutes and fifty five seconds, he couldn't believe his bad luck! Ha ha Oh, we had a good laugh over that one. Jesse did hear the conductor say that, and got to hold the hand of one of her good friends who's a very handsome fellow. She said that wasn't so bad. :)

Josh is home again, and this time to stay for nine days for Thanksgiving. He has been playing the guitar non-stop, and it's beautiful. He told me that his roommate Stephen said, "Josh, you can play Silent Night a million times, but please play something in between." Ha ha! Uncle Craig was nice enough to let Josh borrow his guitar this semester. I guess that will have to be a future purchase for Josh since he's getting so good. Thanks Craig! Speaking of Craig, he and Jennette went up to visit Grandma and Grandpa, and took a small side-trip over to visit Josh. I wish we could have been there. Thanks guys for taking the effort to go and see Josh!

Bruce and I spoke in Church today. My talk was based on Elder Richard C. Edgley's talk "Faith - The Choice is Yours" from October Conference. I chose to focus on faith over fear, and I told three different stories. I told of when the missionaries were killed in Bolivia, when there was that trouble on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where Palestinians were killed, and then when that guy threatened Pres. Hunter in the Marriott Center at BYU during a devotional. The parallel I drew between all of them was that when frightening things happen, the adversary attempts to distract us from our work and fulfilling our purpose by using fear as a tool. Fear is immobilizing, and is the opposite of faith, which is motivating and gets us moving and working.

Bruce spoke on Elder Richard G. Scott's talk, also from General Conference. One of the poignant images I had from the talk was when Bruce described our faith as fine pottery that we have worked very hard to create, and that has gone through the furnace of affliction. Even so, it can be shattered in a moment by transgression. Thus, we have to be ever-vigilent and careful to keep it safe.

As a follow-up on my eating too many calories trying to keep myself awake, I found this week that I could drink water and get a similar effect. So I made sure I had a water bottle on hand all the time. And I also realized that if I make sure I have vegetables on hand, I can eat all the veggies I want and that will help keep me awake without contributing to an overload of calories. I also worked really hard on getting to bed on time this week!

This is a fun picture that I didn't add last week. I think Josh is the coolest in this picture! I'm gonna get grief about that from all the other kids, including Bruce - ha ha.

It's been snowing today! I like it when it snows. If it's going to be cold, I like to see white instead of brown and gray. I am so grateful to have a warm home and to be here with all my family in it, and another family as well! We have been blessed, and continue, every day, to see the hand of the Lord in our lives.

Descending into Winter

2010-11-14T20:05:00.001-07:00

We had our first hard frost this week, and dipped into the twenties. For the first time this week I started to feel some of those winter blues. When I realized this, I put on Bergamot, Joy and Valor, and right away I could feel a difference, as if my heart felt "lighter". I was very grateful!

One of the reasons I got the winter blues is that I substituted four out of five days last week, which is just too much! Thankfully Bruce helped a ton with keeping the kitchen clean, and Holli, my friend who is living here, worked organizing and cleaning too. We have a clean playroom, a clean food storage room, and clean windows in the kitchen!! You should come over to see it, Mom!

Last Friday I was at a high school in a neighboring school district. I was the Boy's PE teacher, and that was a little wild! I was shocked at the lack of fitness of some of these boys. It was a good reminder that my boys, being soccer players, are in extraordinary shape and I shouldn't take that for granted! I'm really grateful for what good shape they've kept themselves in. The activity in PE was soccer, so when I put the soccer ball down at the halfway line in the gym, I announced that I was a certified soccer referee. You should have see their faces! "Are you really?", was the common question. "I really am," I announced, and then proceeded to call fouls and handballs and all kinds of stuff that they weren't used to. Ha ha That was kind of fun.

Another two days I was a substitute for English Language Development classes. I get a good reaction in these classes when I tell them that I speak Spanish, and that I was born in Mexico City. "Are you really?", is again the common question. I then start spewing off Spanish like a pro and it's really fun to see their faces.

The other fun reaction I get is when I call them by name. "How do you know my name?", they ask. I just smile and say, "I know you're name!". They forget that 1) I'm really good at names and a lot of times remember it from calling roll, and 2) I have a seating chart right in front of me, and 3) I listen to what the students call each other. I get a certain satisfaction, I'll have to admit, out of them thinking I'm really smart! Ha ha

Mary's basketball team is wracking up the wins! The have been winning by at least 20 points in every game. Mary even scored this week, and not on a free throw. Good job Mary! Oh, and speaking of Mary doing a good job - my, oh my - you should have seen her at the Ballroom Dance Class that we started on Friday night. She was dancing around with the instructor with poise and her held high like she had been doing the dance for ages. She has been asking for awhile now to take Ballroom dance classes, and I found an instructor that agreed to come for an hour on Friday nights. We had about nine kids there, ages 12 to 17, and we had a great time learning the Lindy Hop, with more lessons to come on that dance. We did it to the slow beat of "The Pink Panther" and it was fun! I don't know how those boys felt about dancing with "Sis. Holmstead", but they were sure good sports about it. If you want to make comments and ask where Bruce was, I'll forward them on to him for his perusal. Ha ha I hope it will grow and we can get some more dancing skills going on.

I love to dance. I hear a good beat and that's all she wrote. Kevin, our instructor, turned on "Cotton-Eye Joe" after the official hour of instruction was over, and there we all were, Peter and Libby included now, doing the line dance. That was followed by line dances to Men in Black, the Boot-Scootin' Boogie and others. And then some country swing to boot. Later in the evening we played games with some of our adult friends.

Saturday night, I went with Joseph over to the "Stake Prom". All the Priests and Laurels, and their friends 16 and over, from our Stake were invited, and the purpose was to give the kids a prom-like experience, especially for those who may not get asked to dances. Our Stake has a Youth Committee, which is one boy and one girl from each ward. The Youth Committee planned the activities and put up the decorations. Since my calling is that of Stake Dance Director, I went to help in any way I could. We had a good DJ that actually got the kids to dance more than they do at Stake Dances, so it was fun to see that. Joseph had a good time, and I think the others did too.

I have a big announcement about Jesse that I forgot to put in last week. She played the organ for Sacrament meeting for the first time last week! In our ward, we have three different organists, and they rotate months, so this month was Jesse's turn. She played so well, and even played the pedals! Our neighbors across the street have an organ in their home, and they have generously allowed Jesse to go over there and practice, so that has been a huge blessing. Jesse is also the ward choir accompanist, and she's doing a fantastic job for that. On top of all that, she is learning to play the Hallelujah Chorus for the Community Choir. When you're in demand, you're in demand! She is sometimes overwhelmed by all that she's doing, which puts me in a very tough position as a parent. It is generally understood that a parent teaches a child because they are wiser and have "figured things out" because of their experiences. Unfortunately, I have not figured out how NOT to be overwhelmed by responsibilities. So when Jesse gets in that position, I am sadly lacking in how to counsel her, except that to say that it doesn't get any easier.

Josh came home this weekend! One of his best friends from High School, Braiden, who was also his MAD Boys companion, spoke in Church in preparation for going on his mission on Wednesday. He gave a GREAT talk, testifying about the Holy Ghost. It is strange to have Joshua's friends and peers start leaving for their missions. Saturday morning Josh got up and started playing the piano. "Ah," I thought, "Josh is home!" I went in a gave him a hug and told him to keep playing. It's great to hear my children tickle the keys.

Libby and Peter are having a ball with Dustin, Kyle and Brooke (children of the family that is living with us). I'm not quite sure what they'll do when December comes and they move to their new home. Peter and Libby are getting really used to having someone around that will do their jobs with them. I'm going to miss them too! They sang today in Church, with Jesse accompanying them, and I was just in tears because of how much we love this family. We were friends before, but now there is this bond being created that is a special thing. When you serve, you love; that is a true principle!

I had a revelation this week. I realized that I am consuming extra calories that I don't need because I eat a lot to keep me awake. I know you usually think of that when you're driving, and I do do that, but also just around the house, or at school when I'm subbing. I eat to keep me awake because I'm so tired. So even when I'm home, I find myself getting up and snacking on something if I start to feel drowsy. The conclusion: I need to sleep more! I'm actually really grateful for this insight.

While Josh was here we were able to get a family picture taken, and the result is at the top! We had a lot of fun taking it (not getting ready to take it - that was wild). Hopefully this will go on Christmas cards soon!

The Cool Down

2010-11-07T19:47:00.000-07:00

That's what I feel like November is - the Cool Down after Soccer Season. We're glad to have it here! Not that we're not busy. But I think a change is as good as a rest. The Fall leaves have been beautiful.

Bruce and Joseph went elk hunting at the first of the week. They took six llamas and hiked in. As they were hiking, they took a wrong turn, and started going down the wrong canyon. It was disastrous. The vegetation was really thick, and there was no trail. Besides, it was snowy, so they couldn't find the trail anyway. By the time they figured out they were in the wrong canyon they were "deep in the heart o' Texas", so to speak. So they said a prayer, and headed for a ridge to get a look at where they could go. They ended up camping on that ridge. One of the things Joseph commented on was the silence at certain times of the day. When there wasn't even a hint of a breeze, and the birds weren't singing, it was so silent that it was almost noise in itself. He also said that being in the mountains felt like being in the Temple. They didn't even see a bull elk, let alone get a shot at one. Bummer. They got home Wednesday night, and I was glad to see them. One funny thing on Bruce: Joseph said that one night Bruce said, "Joseph, if you get cold you can come and snuggle with me." Joseph said, "I think I'm good Dad." When do boys get to old to want to snuggle?

With Bruce gone, my adventures on Monday were compounded. Monday morning at 5:30 am, I got up to read my scriptures. I wanted to listen to a Conference talk, so I opened up my laptop. On the screen, I saw that one of the kids had gotten me a Sub job (substitute teaching) for that day. I had until 6:00 am to cancel the job or not. I thought of all the things I had to do that day, and on the other hand, all the reasons I needed to go and earn an extra $70 to help out. It was a dead even between the pro and con. Finally, I decided to stay home, and prayed - asking Heavenly Father to confirm that decision, which He did. Only later would I know just how good of a decision it was.

After getting the kids on the bus, I didn't go exercise because Jesse ended up being sick and staying home from school. (The first reason it was good I stayed home). As I started checking my email, I glanced out and saw Buttercup (our dairy cow) on her side. I wondered if something was wrong, but then I dismissed it thinking that she was just tired from having calved the day before. Bad choice! About an hour and a half later, I looked out and saw her still laying on her side. Oh-oh. I high-tailed it out to the field and found her head all twisted around, groaning, and looking awful. Oh, man. I'm not really an animal person, and although I care about our animals, I'm not too attached to any of them. Except for Buttercup. I guess it's the milking and taking care of her, but I really do care for Buttercup. I called Lane, our friend who also has a dairy cow, and asked for the name of a vet. The vet said he could come out in about two hours.

So then I had to figure out how to keep her alive until the vet got there. Of course I took oils out there - Geranium, Frankincense, and Peppermint. I tried giving her grain and water, but she wouldn't having anything to do with that. I got Jesse out there to help me get her head around, and it took us awhile to figure that out. I brought out a calf bottle and milked Buttercup and fed it to the calf. He was mooing, and putting his nose up against her face.

At long last the vet came and diagnosed her with hypo-calcemia (spelling?), also known as "milk fever". It is a condition where the regulatory mechanism for blood-calcium levels is malfunctioning, and the body sends all the calcium to the milk instead of keeping it in the blood. I have a new respect for calcium! The vet gave her an IV of a calcium-magnesium solution. But she didn't respond, she just stayed the same. He then gave her a calcium paste in the back of her throat. He didn't give me much hope when he left. He said she was probably too far gone.

This was hard to hear. I spent the next hour in mourning - feeling guilty that I had not checked on her the first time I saw her down, and just overall feeling bad. It was sobering. I prayed for her, but not with much hope.

In an hour or so, the vet called me and said that in talking to a local university veterinary clinic, they had offered to do a blood test on her. So he came back out and drew her blood, which I then drove down to the Veterinary Clinic. They ran a test quickly and determined that his diagnosis was right - very low blood calcium. They said to use another bag of solution, so he came out again and put another IV in her. She was a little more alert, but still wouldn't get up. He decided to put in the rest of the calcium paste in the back of her throat, but when she saw him coming with that white tube, she pushed herself up on her feet and got the heck out of there. It was so funny! She didn't want anything to do with that paste in her throat. We were very relieved that she was up. She fully recovered, and by Wednesday was being a Mama again and letting her calf nurse. I am grateful for good vet care, and grateful that Buttercup did not die on my watch!

Even though this was just one of our animals, it gave me a perspective on how people feel when a loved one has health problems and their life is in danger. It was very taxing emotionally. I chalked that one of up for experience, and will be more empathetic in the future. Oh, which brings me back to my decision at 5:30 am to stay home and not go in to sub. If I had, Buttercup would have died, I'm pretty sure. I'm grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and being able to be guided and directed by the hand of the Lord.

On Tuesday night, I had a Soccer Board Meeting. At the end something came up that involved a close friend of ours, and I found myself in the tough position of defending actions that were thought to be indefensible by the rest of the board. I had to do it, because I had to look my friend in the eye and tell her that I did my best to be loyal to her. It caused me much reflection, because I was divided between my loyalty on the one hand to our Soccer Club, and on the other hand to a friend. I feel satisfied that I handled it the best way I could, but it was a tough spot to be in.

On Wednesday, we had Young Women in Excellence. The YW leaders in our ward are amazing, and I appreciate so much all they do for Jesse and Mary. For her display, Jesse showed her Hymn book with the list of Hymns she is playing on the organ, and Mary showed the material and the skirt she is making for one of her projects. I am very proud of the girls and how hard they work on Personal Progress!

On Friday night my friend Tauna texted and said that she was grateful that we had Wade & Holli at our house, and that she was bringing over a Lasagna dinner for us! Wow! So we had dinner with them and later played Ticket to Ride with Wade & Holli. That was fun! Bruce beat us all by a long ways. It's a good thing I'm not too competitive when playing with Bruce because he almost always wins. I need to play him in ping-pong and serve up some humble pie.

On Saturday morning, I told Bruce that we should go over to Rexburg and watch Josh's game. He agreed to go, but only after naming off all the "projects" that he wanted to get done in this "work" Saturday, as he called it. This was a big sacrifice for him. There's almost nothing he loves more than to get a lot of things done on a Saturday. But thankfully, he loves his children more than his projects, so we all loaded up in the van and went off to Rexburg. We showed up on the very minute that the game started! My Mom and Dad and Aunt Angie were there with Ethan and Alyssa. Angie knew we were coming, but not Mom & Dad. My Mom's reaction was just what every daughter wants to hear, "Lorena!", and then she wraps me in a big hug. Dad grabbed my arms and with a big smile said, "What are YOU doing here?" Ha ha I told him it was my son that was playing and I wanted to see him play!

Josh was on the "Hurricanes", and his team made it to the championship. They played a great game - very skilled players - and won 1-0. It was fun to watch! After the game, we went over to Josh's apartment for a bit and he played us some songs on his guitar. We then took off to to another town to watch our high school football team play in State game. They lost, but it was fun to be there with all the other people from out community.

We drove home after the game, each taking an hour to drive. We got home at 1:20 am, but luckily we got to set our clocks back, so that helped us get up this morning. I loved testimony meeting this morning. How wonderful to hear each individual share the feelings of their heart and express their love for the gospel, for the Lord, and for their families and our ward members.

I just got done reading The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. You'll have to see my review on Goodreads (see the link on this blog.). Wow - it was a good book.

Fall Time

2010-10-31T18:23:00.000-06:00

I've been enjoying the Fall colors more than ever this autumn. Usually, fall makes me sad because I know winter is coming on. But this season I am choosing more to enjoy the warmth and beauty of the colors, instead of the bare branches when the leaves fall off.

I got a surprise call from my brother Cedric on Wednesday to come and pick him up at the airport that night. Yeah! He stayed for four days, and it was so great to have him. Before I tell you how our ping-pong game turned out, I must report that Cedric loaded the dishwasher every day he was here, and deep-cleaned the kitchen on Saturday. He steam-cleaned the wood floor too. He worked really hard while he was here!

And now, let it be know that I beat my brother in ping-pong for the first time since I was six or so. He won the first game, and I won the next two. I warned him from the beginning that all that spinny stuff wouldn't work on me. Ha ha He said Julianne and I play exactly the same way. I had a laugh about that.

We went to two last soccer games on Saturday - one each of Peter's and Mary's. They both lost, but they played well, and it was fun to watch their games.

Halloween came and went with out too much trouble on our part. Libby was a musician. She found the dress at Walmart, and then added the other stuff from home, including the home-made guitar. Peter was a Knight, and Mary was a clown. We went over to the trunk-or-treat at the Church in the afternoon, and then took the kids around to some neighborhoods later in the evening. We only went to members' homes, since we didn't know if others would be celebrating Halloween on the 30th instead of Sunday.

Bruce has been preparing for the last two weeks to go hunting. He bought a wall tent this year off of craigslist, and he worked hard getting it patched up and waterproofed. He bought new boots, tarps, and all sorts of gear. Elk meat is the most expensive meat on the planet! He took Joseph along with him. I'm not sure how much hiking Joseph can do with his hip still healing up, but he wanted to go, no matter what. Six llamas went along also - Achacachi, Achumani, La Paz, Cusco, Ruffneck and Huacuyo.

Oh, and we have an announcement! Buttercup had a calf today! It was born during church today. I haven't been out to look closely at it, so I'll give more details later.

We got to hold Mazey today in Church. She is only a few months old, and so adorable. I was holding her during the sacrmaent today, and I felt that the reason that Christ did everything for us in the Atonement is easily understood if one holds a baby. It was such a treat to hold her and think about who she will become someday. If she's like her parents, well, she has a bright future.

Our friends Wade and Holli and their five children are moving in with us this week! They will stay about two months until the rental house they are moving into becomes available. They are staying in the Entertainment Room and Peter/Josh's room. It will be fun to have them here. I hope everything works out and they are comfortable while they're here. I'm VERY grateful that we can use this large house and be of service to someone. We kind of had that in mind all along when we added it on, so this will be the second time we'll have used it that way. Our friends Aaron and DaraDee also stayed with us for awhile before they moved.

Josh's intramural soccer team is playing in the Final of the Tournament! They show the Final game on Web-cam, so I'll let you know when that will be and where you can watch it. I'm so excited about that because I've not been liking it that Josh is playing and I'm not there to see him play. :) Now if I can just get a recording of his choir concerts...

Jesse played for one of the local university piano professors this week! Her teacher arranged the lesson with his former teacher, the professor, whom he still has a close relationship with. Jesse got some good tips and played really well for him! She has been working towards this goal for months, so it was exciting to see her accomplish it and do it well.

State High School Tournament

2010-10-25T14:35:00.001-06:00

Joseph's Varsity team made it to State!! This last week was spent preparing for and going to the State Tournament in northern Idaho. One of the preparations was Joseph going over to a teammates house and getting his hair dyed to a "bleached blond". The whole team did it.

We (as in our whole family) got to ride on a chartered bus with the team, since Bruce is an Assistant Coach.

Man, it was the lap of luxury. I got to sit by Bruce the whole time and watch movies.

It was like being on an extended date.

The head coaches family was also on the bus, so our families got to hang out.

We don't eat out hardly ever (besides Taco Bell), so this weekend we made up for it. We got to eat at Panda Express, Olive Garden, Subway, KFC, and Grannie's Buffet. And all that besides eating at the hotel buffet every morning. My oh my! It was so nice not to have to cook!

Beautiful view from the hotel Cafeteria

It rained on the last day - truly reminding me of our home in Washington state!

Within two minutes of walking into the hotel room, Jesse said, "I need to play the piano." Notice - not wants, NEEDS. ha ha Jesse asked at the front desk if they had a piano, and the answer was no. She went into "Wo is me" mode. The next morning, her friend Maddy bounded in to tell Jesse that she had found a piano down by the hallway in the recreation area. Yea! Jesse was happy about that. She played her pieces one morning, and finally a lady in an office across the hall came out and said she couldn't hear, so we would have to stop playing. So we left, but I couldn't believe she wouldn't say anything to Jesse about her playing. Am I a biased Mom with a Mama Bear attitude? But seriously, it's not every day that you hear a Rachmaninoff and a Chopin played beautifully out your office door. C'mon lady!

On Thursday, Joseph's team played really well and beat the opposing team 2-0.

Joseph is #4 in Blue (I know - hard to recognize, huh?)

It was so fun to be on the sidelines with parents and a few classmates. You get really close to these people throughout the season.

After this win, Bruce and Theron (the team manager) were the only ones who hadn't dyed their hair, so one of the mothers of a boy on the team dyed their hair in the hotel room. With his long hair, Bruce looked like "Doc" on Back to the Future.

Our family (sans Josh)

The next day we took a walk on the boardwalk with all the team.

Peter and Neil looking off the boardwalk.

The Coaches - Wayne, Larren, Theron and Bruce

That afternoon we played the team from our own district that beat us in the District Tournament in a 1 on 1 shootout. It was a tough loss in District, so they boys were anxious to get out there and win the game.

Cameron, Paul, Dane and Curtis

Unless you've seen a varsity soccer team, you can't imagine how these boys give it their all when they play. They "leave it all on the field," as the saying goes. All through regulation, there were some close shots, but nothing went in for either team. They started the first overtime period of ten minutes, and about half way through that period, the other team got it down near the goal line. One of our defenders blocked a shot wtih his chest, but it went towards a guy on offense. This guy was being marked, but not closely enough, and he kicked the ball into the back of the net from close range. Jaren, our first-team All-Conference keeper, didn't have a chance at it. AHHHH. It's hard even to write about it now. We lost! Our hopes of winning the state championship were gone. I was standing up, and I had to turn around and walk away from the field, and barely contained the desire to cry. Oh, that was tough to swallow. Our boys just stood in place on the field for awhile, and finally made their way over to the sidelines and sat.

At game's end

They did jog over to clapping parents, but it was slow. The ride home on the bus was very quiet.

The next day we had to regroup and come back and play another game for 3rd place.

We lost that game 3-0. The field was soaked, and the boys were slipping all over the place. Although we lost soundly, this loss wasn't nearly as hard to swallow as the day before.

Just before halftime, Joseph got a through ball and was going one on one with the goalie. It was pretty even between them, and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Joseph went in hard, not slowing at all. He slid in for the toe touch to try to get the ball past the goalie, but the goalie slid in also and got the ball and slammed his knee into Joseph's hip. When it was over, both of them were on the ground and not getting up. After a bit, Joseph got up and limped to the edge of the penalty box, only to go to the ground again in pain. While he was doing that, the ref gave him a yellow card for colliding with the goalie. Both coaches came out and attended to the players. Joseph went out of the game, and the goalie got up and played. Before this, Joseph had been playing really well. He gave it his all, and left the field with no regrets, as did all of his team. Congratulations Joseph and teammates! We will miss watching you play!

Joseph is feeling a lit bit better this morning, but he got a pretty bad injury. He feels like his hip got knocked out of alignment, so I'll be taking him in to a chiropractor today.

Josh is doing great! He had a choir concert this week and a soccer game also. I wish I could have been to those! It's weird hearing from Josh that he's doing these things without me being there to see it.

Mary made the 8th grade "B" Volleyball team! Last year she was on the "C" team, so she moved up this year, which she was really excited about. She practices at 6:10 in the morning!

Peter had a great game last Saturday. He played keeper during the second half and made some great saves. Peter is the first keeper we've had in our family, so it is fun to see him develop that skill. It will be interesting to see if he continues with that. I'm not sure how I can stand to even write about it, especially with Joseph's experience above, but we're not to that stage yet, so it's OK. :)

Libby has decided that she wants to be a Musician for Halloween. Yesterday she made four or five instruments out of cardboard and paper for her costume.

We got home from the State Tournament at 2:15 am, and then turned around and got to Church at 9:00 am for the Primary Program. Before Church, Bruce pulled out the men's hair coloring kit that's been in the closet for years, and dyed his hair back. Only this time it came out black - really black! He and Joseph were quite a site on Sunday, for sure.

Bruce really does look like he's 35 again, instead of 45. I'm certain a more handsome man does not walk on the earth!

The Primary Program was awesome! Libby sang with her class and gave her part well. And Peter sang a solo to "Follow the Prophet" about the prophet Moses. Afterward, I was talking to Bruce about it, and he
said, "Peter has a great singing voice." I replied, "Yes, he takes after his brother." (Because he really did sound a lot like Josh to me). Bruce hastily replied, "He takes after his Dad!". Oh, oops - I forgot about that! OK - he takes after his Dad. :)

The Spirit was so strong during the Primary Program. The first song we sang was "I Know He Lives", which is a new song this year. I have yet to sing the song without chocking up on the part where we sing, "The love that he felt for his little ones, I know he feels for me. I did not see him or sit on his knee, yet Jesus is real to me."

I have the distinct privilege of teaching the seven year olds that are turning eight all through the year and getting baptized. Yesterday in class, our lesson was on the Sacrament. After asking some questions, I realized that they did not really understand when Jesus did the Atonement, or what was involved. So I took them through the Last Supper, through the Garden of Gethsemane, and on to Golgotha. From the absolute silence in the room, and their steady gazes on me, I was certain they were hearing this described for one of the first time their minds could understand it. It was an absolute departure from the lesson, but I just taught from my own knowledge and experience, and they were riveted. I felt that they were ready to understand more of they symbolism behind the broken body and the water representing blood. When I talked about the juice that Jesus gave them being like grape juice, Libby said with a serious face, "Was it red?" As I said, "It might have been a reddish color," I could see her little mind processing that and seeing the symbolism. It was a precious teaching moment! And not just with her, but the whole class.

I feel like that often with this group of children. It's a big class - we had eleven there yesterday, and when I look at them all together, I feel this power and strength emanating from them. I can feel what an enormous influence they are going to have in the world, and what a stunning influence for good. When I told Bruce I feel like crying every time I look at my class, he asked why. I felt like saying, "Well, don't you??" Isn't it obvious!?! They are beautiful and I love them so much.

One more word on Jesse's Varsity Soccer team - they did not make it past the District Tournament, but they were the best girls team our HS has seen in a while, and it was so fun to watch all season long. They did great!

Look on the far right in the fans and you can see Bruce and I watching Jeses's game. (This is Annie throwing the ball in).

Jesse got recruited to a club team on the last two games, so she'll be playing for a club team in the Spring. This is the first time we've done that, but the Coach made us an offer we couldn't refuse. I think it will be good for her. One of her favorite teammates, Mary, will be playing with her, and they are both excited about that.

One more soccer game for Peter and Mary, and then we'll be done with the season. Whew! And Bummer! at the same time.

And finally, CONGRATULATIONS to my brother Craig and his new bride Jenette! They were married in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple last Friday. Oh, how I would have loved to have been there, but I decided to be a mother first, so I needed to be with the rest of the family in Idaho. Joshua was able to be there, however, so I was glad for that.

Conference Weekend!

2010-10-03T22:18:00.004-06:00

Varsity soccer is a dangerous activity, as our family can attest. We pulled out the crutches (Joshua's old ones from when he broke his leg two years ago) for the second time this fall season, but this time for Jesse. At her game on Wednesday, she stuck out her foot to block a shot on goal, and the full force of the opponents kick came onto her right ankle. She went down and had to be carried off the field by her coach. The frustrating thing was that this was the one time in the last six months that I haven't had Deep Relief in my purse. I ran home and got the oils that she needed and brought them back to her. She was in a lot of pain and could not put any weight on it. It turned out to only be a deep muscle bruise. I was frankly relieved that it was only that - not a broken bone or torn ligaments! She went to school the next day on crutches, hating every minute of it. She hated the attention, but most of all she did NOT like that people had to help her. It was a learning experience for her! The next day she only needed one crutch, and Sat and Sunday she's been walking without even a limp. I'm hoping she'll be back playing by Wednesday. That was what her team was saying also. Her teammate Sydney told me, smacking her hands together, "We just have to have Jesse. We have to!" Have I ever said how grateful I am to Heavenly Father for blessing us with essential oils?

Varsity soccer is also a very exciting activity, as Joseph can attest. For the first time this season, Joseph scored a goal! And he did it two games in a row - on Monday and Wednesday! On Monday, I was so excited when he scored a goal, that I did a cartwheel on the sideline. Yes - it's true. I did a cartwheel. I think it was seeing Libby doing it all the time that made it come to mind, and I did it! And guess what - it didn't even hurt or anything! Ha ha (That was adrenaline). I looked up from the cartwheel, and a parent (I think it was Tammy), was holding up their hands, so then I went down the line of parents giving high fives. Yes, that is true also.

The next game was in a town an hour and a half away, and I was in charge of the referees for our local club's tournament, so I couldn't go to Joseph's game. After the game should have been over, I checked my phone, and there was a text from an unkown number that said, "You owe us another cartwheel." "What?", I thought to myself. "Is this for Libby?", and then it donned on me. It was for me, and that meant that our boys had scored a goal! I called the number, and it was my friend Bob, and he let me know that not only was it our team, but Joseph specifically that had scored the goal! Wahoo! I was so excited, I couldn't believe it!! Two games in a row?! Just for the record, we had been putting on an oil called Highest Potential for about a week before that on his ankle and leg, where hurt it last month.

I had to laugh a few weeks ago when Cedric, my brother, told me that as a parent, I needed to stay detached from the high school games. I laughed and laughed. What a joke - who ever came up with that paradigm? He understood why I was laughing - I wasn't laughing at him, but my word, what parent that has watched their child play soccer since they were five is detached when they see them play Varsity games? Ha ha Not me, that's for sure.

Mary and her friend Trent made a display in the library for the upcoming Book Fair that the librarian raved about. I haven't seen it yet, but apparently is very creative. It is really cool that Mary has such a neat circle of friends right now, both boys and girls. That doesn't happen very often in 8th grade. This is one of Mary's gifts, however, and she is using her gifts well!

Guess who came home this weekend?! Josh came up to the door Friday night and Libby went to answer the door. Josh said her jaw dropped and she just stared for a minute or two before giving him a hug. I knew he was coming, but nobody else did. We got Joseph so good Friday night. He came home from his date (with one of the cutest girls in the school - and yes, that's two weekends in a row with a date) and I was rubbing oils on Jesse's foot. I said, Joseph, "Please go get me the Lavender in the bathroom." When he turned the corner, Josh was there with a hockey stick in his hand raised up. They both yelled, and it scared Joseph so badly! Oh, we were laughing so hard!

This is a picture of us right before Josh left to go back to BYU-I. Notice that Jesse, Mary and I are nearly the same height? With raised eyebrows, I'm examining that fact in this picture. It had to have been uneven ground, or else Josh is standing on his toes, which is entirely possible, because he is not taller than Bruce. Yet.

I love General Conference! We were able to go over David and Elysia's and spend the day. David and Elysia moved here a little over a year ago from another state, and now our families have become dear friends. David cooked us breakfast, their family tradition, and we made BLT's for lunch. Add peaches and cream to that, also, and it tells you that we were stuffed at the beginning of the fourth session!

Obedience, repentance, following the prophet, addiction, and the Holy Ghost were some of the salient points of the Conference for me. I can't wait to take each talk individually and study every word. I am so thankful that we have this privilege. One speaker said something to the effect that humans usually take things for granted. So I express my gratitude for apostles and prophets!

From their own Perspective

2010-09-26T22:01:00.000-06:00

I asked the kids what I should write about them, and Joseph, Jesse and Mary responded. The rest is my input. You have to chuckle just a little at this, I'm sure!

Jesse is legit and she can play the piano like Beethoven. And she likes going to bed, and she wakes up at 5:00 in the morning to practice, and still makes it to family scripture study.

Joseph's Varsity soccer team beat the other top team in the league 3-0 on Saturday! Wohoo! Joseph is so awesome that he doesn't even need to say anything about how cool he is. Oh, and all the chicks dig Joseph. He also started on his Eagle Scout Project. He is building a sand volleyball court at a local park.

Mary is tired! She played two soccer games on Saturday, and came home exhausted. Fasting today also contributed, but she was faithful and fasted the whole time. Mary is having an awesome time in 8th grade with all her friends. They meet every day at lunch in the art teacher's room. The art teacher has nicknamed them her "Lunch Entourage".

Peter made a goal in his U-11 game last Saturday. I was just getting to the game, so I happened to be walking behind the goal at the time. All of a sudden here came Peter up the left side of the field with the ball. And there was a kick and the ball was in the back of the net! Wohoo Peter! It was fun to see that #25 with our last name on it running down the field. Since Peter is in U-11 this year, he got to purchase his own uniform. Boy, is he proud of that uniform! He takes good care of it too.

Libby is learning to do a back walkover on the balance beam in gymnastics. Can you believe it? And she can also do a front handspring. Her gymnastics teacher says you just tell Libby to do something and she does it. When we take her to Jesse and Joseph's soccer games at the park, she can easily be spotted as the girl doing cartwheels and walkovers and handsprings all over the park.

Bruce was injured badly on Thursday helping a friend round up some cows for an auction. Bruce said when he came home that they learned that it was a bad idea to round up black cows at night! One cow decided to run right into him, so his right quadriceps muscle is deeply bruised. He finally started to feel some relief today, which was good because he was grimacing with every step. Of course this didn't stop him from working from morning until late at night. He worked helping Joseph with his Eagle Project, and then helped round up horses for Joseph's date. (Oh yes, I forgot to write that Joseph went on a date last night, and part of it was horseback riding.) Then he set up the sound system, etc, etc. AND he loaded the dishwasher to boot!!

I enjoyed the General Relief Society Meeting! When Sis Allred showed the picture of the Paraguayan family I all of a sudden had tears streaming down my face. I thought of the Villareal family in Huanuni (a small mining town in Bolivia where I served my mission), and of course I started to cry. I loved Sis. Thompson's words when she said, "Visiting teaching is never done!"

I got to give two Raindrops this week, which was so fun. I love doing that.

I am looking forward to General Conference this week! As a family we watch in on lds.org or byu.tv. I love hearing from apostles and prophets.

Today when we came home from Church, we walked into the living room and had our own family testimony meeting. I am so grateful that the children are willing to do that. I don't think they have any idea how much I love to hear them bear their testimonies. We need to Skype Joshua next time we do that.

Joshua is doing great at BYU-I. He is enjoying his classes. He had his first competitive soccer game (at 10:00 pm no less!) this week, and they won 2-1. Only in a college town!!

I want to say how much I love being a mother and doing what I'm doing in my life right now. The other day Peter said to me, "Mom you dream of having a clean house." I thought about that for a moment, and then said. "No, I don't dream about that, because if I did, then we would have a clean house." My point was, that I have put a lot of other things as higher priorities. I told Peter, "My dream is to have children that play the piano, and read, and get good grades, and are good soccer players." He said, "But you already have that!" Ha ha My point exactly. This is what I really want, and that's what I've got. I also love my Young Living business. It is exactly what I've wanted to do for the last twenty years, and now I find myself with all the tools, the timing, the product, the mentoring - everything flowing together so I can live that dream. All I'm missing now is about 12 more hours in the day!! Ha ha :)

I know, I know. Everybody has the same 24 hours. We just do the best we can with the time given.

I love you all who read this blog - thank you for all your comments. I love them!!

Soccer

2010-09-19T23:06:00.011-06:00

We are smack in the middle of the Fall soccer season and all it's attendant hair-wringing, heart-pounding, and house-ignoring days. But most of all, it's happy children days. In the end, I told my friends the other day, that's what it comes down to. When the kids get in the car after being at soccer, they are laughing, chatting away, telling me all about it. They love it. I think the outdoors, the exercise, the social aspect, plus the competition - it all works together to make it so they love it.

Except Libby. She plays soccer and it's OK, but her new passion is GYMNASTICS! She has learned to do a back walkover! She takes classes with a local teacher, and it's low key but fun.

Here are some pictures that a friend took of some of this season of the Boys High School Soccer Team.

Joseph snatches the ball...

And gets around his man!

Go Joseph!

Now here's the wind up...

And the release!

And it was a miss - wide and to the left. But a great shot!

Josh reported that he tried out and made it on a competitive Intermural soccer team at BYU-I. He was really excited about that!

We had Stake Conference this weekend. On the Sat evening session, I led the music for the congregation, and also sang with a octet, singing Love One Another. We sang the same arrangement years ago in 4th Ward. We brought a lot of the same people back to sing - LeeAnn, Suzanne, Aaron, DaraDee and Justin, and then added Tyson and Clark, and we had a really nice group. It was fun to sing with them!

This morning, I led the music again for the congregation, and I also directed the Youth Choir, who was the choir for the conference. Jesse accompanied on the piano. For prelude we sang "I Stand All Amazed", "The Lord is My Shepherd", "Abide With Me!", and "Nearer My God to Thee." On that one, I started them a cappella, and led them for about a measure, and then I just went and sat down. It was the coolest thing. They sang all three verses a cappella by themselves. Afterwards, everyone that talked to me said that was their favorite part. We also sang Sweet Hour of Prayer, a Hymnplicity arrangement, and O Holy Jesus, the same arrangement that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings on their "Consider the Lilies" album. I loved it. When I was walking out in the hall before the meeting, I heard a choir member, a 15 year old girl, humming that tune as she walked down the hall! That's what I'm talking about! Having that beautiful melody and the attendant reverence that it brings, going through your heard. I loved that. It was SO FUN to lead the music today, both for the choir and the congregation. Choir director - that would be my next job occupation after alternative health care.

Besides that, the speakers from the Stake Presidency were great. Pres. _____ talked today and last night about covenants, and being bound to the Lord. I am thankful for my covenants, and I'm grateful that they bring me unto Christ, because I want to talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ and prophesy of Christ. I want to be like Him, and to be with Him.

Friday we went out to pull pipe. We had some good teams going - we're getting better every time because the kids are getting older and better. We only got halfway done, though, before it got dark, so now we have to carve out another two hours sometime to go out and finish. No easy task, with our schedules, I'll tell you.

Thank goodness Grandma stacks her freezer full of good food for us!

Tender Mercies

2010-09-15T22:22:00.000-06:00

I volunteered to coach Mary's soccer game today because both coaches were going to be gone. I was supposed to take the net and the flags as part of my coaching responsibility. I forgot them. I didn't remember until we were at the game, getting out of the car. OH NO. The game was away, and we were half hour from being able to get the net and flags, so that option was out. My only hope was that the other coach would be close enough to pick up a net and flags, if possible. As I walked morosely out toward the field, I noticed that each corner had a flag already, and the nets were already up. This is a brand new field this year, and apparently they saw fit to outfit the field with flags and the nets. A parent was there, and aware of my situation commented, "You must be living right." Well, I don't know about that, but I'm so grateful that the Lord provided a tender mercy for me.

Besides that, I got to the field with "Drive to Empty" miles on our truck. And I went a long ways on that. (I know it's not good for the engine).

Two very tender mercies for me today. I acknowledge the hand of the Lord in blessing my life.

Dinner?

2010-09-13T23:32:00.000-06:00

I forgot to post this about Josh being dropped off at BYU-I. We said good-bye to him around 5:30 pm, and then we went over to Mom and Dad's and spent some time with Angie and kids there before taking off for home. (Grandpa literally pushed us out the door).

Josh called around 10:30 pm just brimming with excitement. They had watched the BSU game over at Jancen's (with more and more girls coming in all the time, including Raigen), and then gone to play Ultimae Frisbee. After Raigen insisted that they "must do something for the talent show", Josh informed me that they were going over to his courtyard to practice "Beat It", the Michael Jackson dance they did last year for Show Choir. This was at 10:30 pm. After all that, I asked him what he ate for dinner? He replied, "Dinner? Oh, I never had dinner. I'm not hungry." Ha ha ha ha. He was having so much fun that dinner was way down on the priority list. Now that is college life isn't it? I love it.

Renewed Commitment

2010-09-12T21:59:00.005-06:00

I'm going to blog. Even if it's only a few sentences at a time. I used to blog on Sunday afternoons. That time seems to have disappeared into thin air.

We dropped off Josh last weekend at college! He started classes on Thursday. He reported that none of his classes "were hard at all". Ha ha That made me grin. I hope that remains true! He went with three of his roommates to Grandma and Grandpa's. How fun is that? Is was weird for me to think that he was at my parent's house without me. That doesn't happen very often. I had to admit to myself that I was a little envious.

Joseph got a hairline fracture in his right fibula last Tuesday. It didn't even show up in the x-rays, but my friend Karen tested that the bone was compromised. We have been putting basil and marjoram (for muscle), wintergreen (for bone) and lemongrass (for ligaments) on the injury. He is able to put weight on it and walk without pain, but not for very long. It starts hurting soon. But it will heal up quickly, and he won't be out the entire season like we thought at first. Sadly, my nephew Chris did break his wrist and will be out for the rest of the season.

A sad thing happened at our high school this past week. A 15 year old classmate of Jesse's - a sophomore - was hit by a car driven by an 89-year old man in a cross-walk by the school, and died. He was not a friend of Jesse's but she had classes with him last year. Today Jesse told me that she had learned he was an only child. Oh, I just can't imagine something like that. Unfathomable.

Jesse is working so hard in soccer and piano. We got to go to a Faculty Recital last Friday night of a renowned local professor of piano performance. He did a concert in honor of the 100 year anniversary of Chopin. Two of the dozen or so pieces he played were pieces that Jesse has learned to play in the last six months. It was awesome to hear them in the concert! She is also starting as a stopper on the Varsity soccer team, and doing a great job.

Mary, Jesse and Joseph are singing in a Stake Youth Choir for Stake Conference next Sunday. I'm the director. It's so fun to direct this choir. They have a great sound, and certainly bring the Spirit when they sing. Mary is also a staple of defense on her soccer team.

Peter got invited by the U12 team to play up as a guest player on their team when he can. He was strutting around like he'd received an invitation to play in the World Cup, he was so proud and excited about that. He really enjoys his U11 team too. Last game he played forward, mid, defense, and he practices as keeper a lot too.

Libby made up a board game tonight. We played for awhile and had fun doing it. This is the second game she's made up, and they are quite creative! She is in 3rd grad and Peter in 4th now. Their classrooms are just opposite each other in the school.

Bruce is coaching the High School JV boys soccer team. They have been doing well. He is a good coach - all the Moms say their sons appreciate Bruce as their coach. He is also still irrigating on his parent's farm, although that should be ending soon.

I had a hard day today. I have so much on my plate right now. There's simply a lot to do, a lot of irons in the fire. Trying to balance everything is challenging in the extreme. Speaking of which, I need to go to bed!

So, I'll try to get in more blogging. It's another thing I'm trying to balance.

May was Marvelous

2010-05-30T20:14:00.008-06:00

I'm going to go in Chronological order:

Joseph ran in the 3200 meter and 1600 meter races in the District Track Meet. He had a PR in both races and did so well! He got 10:47 in the 3200, and his best race was the 1600 meter, in which he got an incredible 4:47. He placed 8th in the District. They take the top five to State, so to do that well as a sophomore is fantastic! He told me afterward that at the hardest spot in the race he thought to himself, "I've got to keep going because Mom is going to talk about me on the blog, so it has to be good." Ha ha! So there you go Joseph! I have a lot to brag about!!

Peter got a rabbit and named him "Pita Bread" or "Petey".
He loves this rabbit and takes really good care of him, although Grandma did catch him without water one day, so Peter heard about that! :)

Mary turned 13!She had a fun birthday party with lots of friends. Grandma and Grandpa got here that day, so they got to be here for all the festivities.e
The same night as Mary's party, Josh announced that the seniors from the show choir were coming over to practice a dance for their performance the next day. So they were upstairs in the dance room, Mary's friends were downstairs eating cake and ice cream, and Grandma and Grandpa were going to bed quietly in their room, AND Jesse was practicing her Chopin Valse in the piano room, and Joseph was meditating over scriptures in his room. I'm glad we have a big house!!

A Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T13:04:00.006-06:00

What more joy could a mother have than I have today?

I want to share a little about why my Mother's Day is happy today. If it sounds like bragging or whatever - I don't care. I'm just putting it all out there.

A few months ago, Libby took a special marker for drawing on windows, and wrote, "I love everybody. - Elisabeth" It's been there for months and I won't clean it off. I look out at the beautiful landscape around us every morning and see those words, and I feel happy. Having Libby as a daughter brings me joy!

Peter wrote me a letter for Mother's Day that really touched me. He went through a lot of the things I do, like teach piano, assign referees for the soccer club, help people with oils, and substitute at the schools, and told me I did a good job at those things. It was a really thoughtful letter. And seeing him take good care of his new rabbit "Petey" is fun. Having Peter as a son brings me joy!

Last Friday, Mary got together with a friend in her Beehive class and made a Mother's Day gift for her Beehive advisers. They did this on their own, without any outside prompting. They were delightful gifts - a vase with the "flowers" being a cut out of a flower with the girls' picture on it. I love it that Mary's doing things like this on a Friday afternoon when she could be doing so many other things. Having Mary as a daughter brings me great joy!

Yesterday morning, Jesse said, "Mom, come and listen to my song." I immediately went up the stairs (I don't always do this). She sat down at our Petrof piano and played a beautiful Valse by Chopin. She was only assigned the song ten days ago by her piano teacher, so she didn't have it perfected, but it was amazing how well she played it. She plays with a great deal of feeling and emotion, which you need for Chopin. I went outside to milk the cow (I know - ironic, isn't it?) and started to cry with the sheer thrill of hearing my own daughter play something like that! The day before, she also got an award for being in the Top 10 academically at school. Having Jesse as a daughter brings me great joy!

Friday afternoon, Bruce and I went to Joseph's track meet. Without consulting each other, we both brought along the book we were reading. (For those interested - Bruce was reading Fablehaven and I was reading Mallorean Vol. 1). Joseph said later that he was looking up in the stands and saw us sitting there reading our books. I told Bruce that we were going to look really nerdy, and his reply was, "Woopdidoo - who cares?" I thought the same thing, so there we sat between races (there really is a lot of time between races), reading our books. Instead of being embarrassed, Joseph told us, "You guys are really cool." Ha ha And then, after a trip to Taco Bell to fill him with some carbs, Joseph went out and raced a PR (personal record) of 4:48 in the 1600 meter. WOW!! I can't believe he can run that fast. I was so proud of him. Having Joseph as a son brings me great joy!

And now Josh. Friday morning they had the Academic Assembly at the High School, and Josh also got in the Top 10 academically of the Senior class. He also had a lead part in the video that was the entertainment for the assembly, because of being a Studentbody Officer. I had one Mom tell me that he stole the show. And then, yesterday, the MAD Boys were guest performers in a Concert put on by a local singing group. They got to perform in the ______ Civic Center (a nice auditorium). They sang three different songs, and they turned out great. They sold CD's at Intermission, signed autographs, and had very pretty girls hanging out with them. I was just about bursting buttons the whole night. Today Josh spoke in Church, bearing his testimony and talking about mothers. I felt so foolish when he was talking because I was smiling, no - not just smiling - I was grinning ridiculously wide the whole time. I thought to myself, "Calm down and look a little more dignified," but I couldn't do it. Having Josh as a son brings me great joy!

And then after all this, Mary Jean, my dear friend in our ward, said in Relief Society that if your children are making bad choices it's not all your fault, and if they are making good choices, you can't take all the credit. Very true! The truth with our children is that more than me making them who they are, they have weathered well my motherhood. Ha ha! Ah, they really are good kids.

I came down this morning to a beautiful breakfast with all the children at the table and a wonderful husband serving it. Thanks Bruce!

I also want to thank my own Mother for all she has done and continues to do for me. Besides everything she has taught me and the wonderful example she is, I think I am most grateful for my Mom because she is my best cheerleader! Even recently, I had this reaffirmed when I was doing a presentation on essential oils on a Conference Call. I was on with a brother and a sister and my Mother. I had started the presentation, and then we had small break. My brother and sister both said,"You should probably use a script." My mother said, "You're doing great, just keep going!" Now, please don't misunderstand - my brother and sister were totally right, and I didn't get offended by what they said. And at the same time, hearing my mother give me encouraging words just like she has done my whole life, well, it made me feel so good. I had to laugh right out loud at how her simple words made me feel. Thank you, Mom, for being my best cheerleader!

This is a picture I really like of my Mom. The trees are shading her face, but that's how she likes it - to be outdoors among the plants and trees, and surrounded by children and grandchildren.This picture was taken 6/30/2004.

Happy Mother's Day to my own Mother, my wonderful Mother-in-law, and all women who nurture and love others.

My New Life

2010-05-05T12:13:00.000-06:00

I have followed Stephanie's blog at http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ from time to time and loved it. Now she's featured in this video on Mormon Messages. I don't know if it will touch you the same as if you had been following her blog, but I still want to share it. She's an inspiration to me!

My New Life

Family Happenings

2010-04-18T17:11:00.010-06:00

Quiz: This is a baby picture of one of our children. Any guesses which one?
Libby got a kite at a friend's birthday party, and one evening, she wanted to fly it. In my limited experience, kite flying has not been successful, so with the little dollar store kite, I didn't have much hope. But I've obviously never flown one in windy Idaho.

It went right up and Libby and I had a fun time flying this kite!Here's Josh singing with the high school Madrigals at the 100 year celebration of our town.
Later on the same day, Josh went to Prom with Mary. I've been hoping Josh would go out with Mary for a long time, because I like her so much, and this was the right time. They doubled with Jancen and McKenzie, Josh and Krissy, Sterling and Hannah, and Dallin and Jayme. For their "day date", they rode tandem bikes on the green belt. After gathering for pictures, they went to dinner at a fine Italian Restaurant, and then to the dance. I am continually grateful that Josh has consistently chosen good friends, and these are no exception.

We thoroughly enjoyed General Conference! I felt that the theme of the conference was how to teach and guide the youth. This is not surprising seeing that I'm in the throes of doing that very thing.

The next week, Joseph was asked to speak in Church. He took all these talks from General Conference and coalesced them into a wonderful talk. He said that when he wrote the talk, he felt that it was exactly what he should say.

Jesse went to a clogging competition. We didn't get to go with her because I wanted to be here for Josh's prom date, but she had a good time. I was so glad to see her when she got home!The same night as Prom, we had an Un-Prom party for Joseph and his friends that didn't go to prom. It was fun - we had teenagers in and out of the house all night long. One time I went out on the back porch and found two of them on the roof! (It's easy to access from our back deck). Needless to say, they were asked to come down. I had to smile later, though, when I overheard the girl telling her friend that when they were up there talking, she was testifying the guy about the importance of serving a mission. :)

I've been having so much fun with Young Living Essential Oils. I set up a new website this week that I'm really excited about. It's lorena.vibrantscents.com and lorena.myningxia.com. It's explains a lot why I love these essential oils. The myningxia.com website is about NingXia Red, which is a juice that is very high in nutrition and anti-oxidants. We drink it almost every day as a family, and love it.

Bruce and Peter went horseback riding almost every day last week, and Joseph joined them one day also.

The last two days have been WARM with no wind. Absolutely heavenly. Spring has sprung!

Bruce, Jesse, Mary and I are starting a Health Challenge this week. We get points for not eating refined sugar, exercising for 60 minutes, not drinking pop, eating a healthy breakfast, drinking at least 80 oz. of water, eating a handful of vegetables, and doing all these for six days a week. The challenge lasts for 7 weeks. Each participant puts in $10. Whoever has the most points at the end of the 7 weeks gets the whole pot of $$. It's community wide, and 32 people are in it so far. Jesse said earlier, "All these adults think they're going to win, but they're not because I'm going to win." Ha ha. Since there are four of us in the household, I think we are going to be pretty competitive about it! If you want more details, I can send you the blog address. I don't want to publish it here because it has the name of our town on it, and I try not to publish that in this blog.

One last word - Mary gave a wonderful talk in Church today about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. She was a really good sport too, because I knew about the talk on Tuesday, and forgot to tell her until late Saturday night. Yes, it's true - Saturday night. We got up at 6:45 this morning and worked on it together. Thankfully it was an easy topic with easy material to find. I was proud of her though, because she just got up and gave the talk and didn't say anything about who called her to speak, or when, or how she prepared it that morning. She just dove into the talk. Good job Mary!

Oh, the Lovely Color of Green

2010-03-07T16:14:00.016-07:00

Lovely, lovely green. Our pastures are the first thing that we notice in the spring. Several in the family commented on them today. Bruce put the llamas out on them temporarily, because the dry pasture was a mucky, muddy mess. I love seeing the llamas graze on pasture.

The other farm news is that we traded Gussie for Millie. My Mom's gonna be sad about that because she thought Gussie was so cute, and she actually named her. I'll miss Gussie too (as much as I miss animals, which is actually not very much). Gussie was a black/red angus mix. We traded her to someone on craigslist who had a seven-month old jersey heifer. This is a really good trade for us, because we've been wanting another jersey cow for milking. We still have Buttercup, but we need another one to trade off with when they dry up and calve. I named her Millie, and the name stuck.

Bruce also bought two new calves that he named Toodles and Toodleloo. Toodles

Toodleloo

We are bottle-feeding them right now. He bought them for $25 each, and in a few months, we'll be able to sell them for about $200 each. Since we get the milk from Buttercup, it's no cost to us, except for the time it takes to milk her (which we do anyway) and the time it takes to feed the calves (10 min max) . When we spread it out between 8 of us, it's not so bad.
Libby got put on the milking schedule for the first time. She now has a turn with Joseph and me.
She also gets to feed Toodles and Toodleloo.Mary had a choir concert, and she did a great job. See if you can pick her out in this crowd of brightly colored 7th graders!
Bruce and Peter had to round up our horses for Libby's birthday party. This is a great shot of father and son on the horses. Peter is getting really good at riding. He is the one that most asks to ride out of all the kids.Libby turned eight years old in March!We had a fun birthday party for her. The night before she asked me if I would wake her up right when she was born, which was 2:00 am. I said no. Even then, at 6:00 am when we sang Las Mananitas to her, she was wide awake. Happy Birthday Libby!

Josh was in the first musical that Middleton High School has ever done. He was the evil dentist in Little Shop of Horrors. If you don't recognize him from this picture, join the crowd. Even close friends here didn't know who he was at the beginning of the play! Josh said they kept telling him, "You've got to be more mean!" He had to be cruel to one of the female characters. Afterward, he told me that he didn't like how that felt, and didn't want to ever do that again (not the acting - but the being cruel to a female part).

One evening in March we went over to our friends' work, which is a warehouse where they package nutritional supplements, and played hiding go seek. This is Joseph and Jesse hanging out with one of their best friends, Erica.This is Libby and Elysia.It was fun because Craig came to stay with us for two nights. He came to the warehouse with us, and got the nickname of "Mountain Man".

Jesse posted this on her Facebook profile.She spends every spare second with this piano.

For Spring Break, we went to Island Park to a condo. Bruce had to stay home and work, which was a bummer, but the rest of us went for five days. We had a most relaxing time, not being hurried by anything. On our way home, we went by Hebegon Lake, which was totally frozen over. The kids got these pictures:
On March 27th, Libby got baptized!She chose Joseph to perform the ordinance. She was SO excited for her baptism. She counted the weeks and days down, and absolutely loved the whole occasion. I was asked to give the prayer at the baptism, and as I sat on the stand and looked down at Joseph and Libby sitting on the front row dressed in white, it was one of the moments of pure joy in life that make all the others worth it. Grandma and Grandpa from Idaho came,as well as Grandma and Grandpa from Colorado, as well as Bruce's brothers - Gary and Stephen, and families. Thank you to everyone who attended!

Peter came in 4th on the Pinewood Derby. He had the green car below. (That is John Deere green, by the way).Mary had a Beehive activity where they carved ice cream. She has wonderful Beehive leaders.
Coming soon: Pictures of Josh's prom date!

We made it!

2010-02-28T18:09:00.010-07:00

We made it through the long, cold winter! I don't like winter. I don't like anything about it, except that it makes you appreciate the other seasons more. I love to see January and February go! I must say though, that we've had very mild weather in Jan and Feb, and quite a bit of sun, so I haven't had the "winter blues" as much as I've had in the past. I also think that essential oils have helped a lot too.

So much has been happening. I'm so glad I have a few minutes on this Sunday to write.

Joshua sang with the MAD Boys last week at a youth missionary fireside for the Stake. They sang an arrangement of "Be Still My Soul". It was stunning, it was so beautiful. At midnight on the night before, they practiced it a few last times at our house. So I got to sit in the piano room and listen to these six boys (Josh, Jancen, Connor C, Braiden, Sterling and Connor O) sing this beautiful hymn. Listening to music live is different than hearing it on a recording, or even through a microphone. There is a different feel, a different energy. Having learned more about energy and frequency since starting with essential oils, I understand more about why it's so different. I told Josh after his friends had left, "I'm the luckiest Mom in the world!"

Tomorrow he is singing with Jancen, Connor and Sterling for a Solo and Ensemble Festival at the High School. They are singing Prayer of the Children by Kurt Bestor. They are going to rehearse tonight, so I get a personal concert again tonight!

Joseph and Jesse got their patriarchal blessings recently. What a treat that was for them and for Bruce and I. There was no doubt that each blessing was exactly tailored for each one individually. I was so grateful for the Lord's revelation to our Patriarch.

Today in Church, Libby bore her testimony. She does this every testimony meeting, and it's just wonderful. Today I followed her, and then a little later, Jesse went up and bore her testimony about prayer. She said that no matter how hard her day has been, she can kneel down and pray when she gets home, and she is able to communicate with Heavenly Father and feel His love for her. Soon after that, Joseph got up and bore his testimony. He said that he has a picture in his room of the Savior with the sheep around Him, and one His shoulder. Joseph said that he often feels like he is the lamb on the Savior's shoulders, and that he is being carried and supported by the Savior. He also thanked Jesse for her example. Soon after that, Mary got up and bore her testimony too, also thanking Jesse for her great example. Jesse next to me was shaking, she was crying so hard. I was about to loose it - you know when you're crying so hard that you're going to embarrass yourself by making a loud noise - well, that was me.

Nothing makes me happier than to hear my children bear their testimony. They could win state in soccer, they could win the finest piano competition, they could get a 36 on the ACT and have 4.0's, but it would not make me happier than to hear their genuine testimonies shared. Thank you for doing that today!

Joseph turned 16 in January! He has yet to go on a date... Maybe he could use some good ribbing from his cousins to get him to go on one!

Josh went on a date with Hailey to the Tip-Off Dance at the High School.

They gathered at our neighbors house for pictures.
Afterwards, we got a shot of the Moms, and Joseph!
After that, they blindfolded the girls and told them they were taking them out to eat. The destination was two wall tents that were set up in the front yard of some friends.

It was decorated beautifully, with a fountain, plants, and a gorgeous table setting.

Josh and Hailey had a good time, and the dinner made for a memorable night!

Christms Eve!

2009-12-27T18:18:00.012-07:00

On Christmas Eve, we eat pozole, which is a traditional Mexican eaten on holidays.We put on the tablecloth and use our fine china. Pozole is made of chicken broth, with chicken and hominy in it. For toppings you add lettuce, radishes, onion, oregano, chili and fresh lime juice. Yummy!After dinner, we had a small "Christmas Recital". Libby accompanied on the piano to the family singing Angels We Have Heard on High, and Jesse, Mary and I sang the First Noel. Jesse played What Child is This, arranged by Jim Brickman, and I played I Wonder as I Wander.

We then went to the Living Room and talked about the Savior's life, as we went around the room and each person talked about their favorite part of Christ's life. This is a really special thing to do with the beautiful lights of the Christmas tree lighting the room.

Then it was on to the Family Room, where we enacted the Nativity, complete with authentic clothing from our Semester Abroad in Israel 19 years ago. We even have our Joseph and Mary! (The Superman t-shirt underneath is not authentic - ha ha).
Josh was the innkeeper.
Peter was the shepherd,and Jesse was the angel.Libby was the wiseman following the star (that was swinging around on the fan, thanks to Josh).
Since we're in between the baby stage and the grandkid stage, we had to use a doll for the baby Jesus. Of course, I was delighted to have the real thing for Libby the Wiseman to give to baby Jesus - real Frankincense, real Myrhh and gold. (Have I mentioned that I love essential oils?)
And then comes the kids' favorite part - the opening of the first present from Santa, which is, surprise, surprise - a pair of pajamas bottoms.

Oh, no, the pajamas are not the kid's favorite part of the night. Their very favorite part of the night comes after family prayers, and then the kids are up to the Entertainment Room and making a "Fort". The Fort consists of every blanket, sheet and pillow in the house, except for Mom & Dad's bed. This year they even brought in matresses off their beds! They pile these all together and then all the kids sleep on it for the next week or so. They love this tradition! And they really went all out this year and organized every step of it.

Next post: Christmas Day!

Essential Oils

2009-12-06T18:19:00.006-07:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've blogged. I used to write every week, and now I've only blogged twice in about four months. Yikes.

The reason is because I've had a new passion take over my life: essential oils. I became a distributor of Young Living Essential Oils in April, and started using and sharing the products seriously in July. That coincides to when my blogging fell off.

Can I just tell you that I've absolutely fallen in love with essential oils? My family will laugh when they read this. Their going to say that's a huge understatement. Ha ha

The first thing is that most of them smell SO GOOD. I've never been big on scent. I haven't worn perfumes, burned candles, or used the Glad plug-in things, etc., mostly because they give me a headache. So when a friend of mine, that I trust a lot, began using oils and becoming very excited about them, it piqued my interest and I began using them and learning about them. They smelled wonderful! And when I learned of their therapeutic value, I was enthralled. To have something smell good and be good for you at the same time - wahoo!

Another thing that helped is that a family moved into our ward while we were in the Spanish branch that has used essential oils for about 13 years, and my friend Karen has taught me and tutored me on the how, why and practical application of the oils. She is amazing and I have learned so much from her.

I have been using herbs, homeopathics, and other alternative medicine modalities since I worked at Nature's Sunshine when Josh was born. What I've found is that essential oils are the "Cadillac" of natural supplements, and they really are powerful.

There are many uses for them, especially for infections. Microbes quickly become resistant to antibiotics and other pharmaceutical drugs, but they don't become resistant to essential oils because the compounds in oils are so complex that microbes cannot overcome them. And if they do, the plant changes it's essential oil (because it also protects the plant itself), and once again the microbes are not resistant to it.

I'm having so much fun learning about these oils and sharing them with people. A web site I can recommend is oil-testimonials.com, if you are interested in hearing the stories people have about how well they work.

I'll post some of our own stories soon!

Cider Festival 2009

2009-11-01T17:05:00.009-07:00

These are events from October 17th, 2009:

Last year we didn't have the Cider Festival, the first time in eight years. So it meant even more to have it again this year. On Friday night, after a whirlwind of cleaning, our guests started to arrive.
First to come in were my youngest brother Craig and his wife Jaclyn. Next came my younger sister Angelina with her husband Rodney, and their four children. They also brought my Mom and Dad with them. This is my Mom's report of getting here: 'We had a good ride over on Friday late afternoon, going through the Craters of the Moon route. The scenery is interesting but it took us two hours longer...we were seven hours on the road and we were in the dark for the last two hours and Dad was tired and confused. When we drove up to Lorena's house and he got out and saw Bruce, he just said...'Oh.....Oh....', and hugged and hugged him. He was SO glad to see Bruce. He said, 'How did you get clear out here?'"

Dad said that same thing two or three more times in the house, "How did you get clear out here?" I think coming in the dark really confused him, but in the morning when he could see out the windows he wasn't disoriented anymore.

A few hours later my niece Linsdey Kay came with her three friends Ryan, Jeff and Garrett from Provo. What fun to meet them and make some new friends. Good choice of friends Lindsey!!

On Saturday morning we had crepes for breakfast and then took off to the orchard to pick apples. All except for Mom and Dad - they stayed at the house so Dad could have a rest. Man, we had fun at that orchard! The trees were mostly bare, so we had to hunt for apples. While we were there my other nieces came, Darcy and Clarissa. Unfortunately Clarissa's husband Josh couldn't make it - we missed you Josh - but it was sure fun to have Clarissa here. (BTW - I missed doing the Yoga! Next year for sure...)
Tim, Darcy's friend, took a ton of pictures while he was here. I have sprinkled some through this post, but here is the link to all the pictures he took:

http://picasaweb.google.com/my.name.is.timo/CiderFestival?feat=directlink

Thanks so much Tim! If anyone else has pictures, please send them to us or post a link!

So with that many people looking for apples, we ended up with 11 bushels! Every apple was a prize, and we found some HUGE ones at the tops of trees that had to go into a contest.After we came home, we had club sandwiches for lunch, and then everyone worked together to get things setup for the Festival. (Thank you so much for all your hard work!)

It started about four and went to six in the afternoon. We had some fabulous fiddlers: David, our friend and neighbor, and Kaylee, Michelle and Nicole - our Clark cousins that come every year. And we did some square dancing to the Virginia Reel. And of course the fresh apple cider and homemade doughnuts were delicious. For the first time this year we added chili to the menu, and thanks to some very dear friends that brought the chili, that added a lot to the party. Bruce takes the kids on hay rides, and you'd think these kids had died and gone to heaven to get the chance to ride down to the end of the lane and back on a hay wagon. Bruce borrowed his Dad's old red tractor, and it was very authentic. I was going to say it "looked" authentic - but, really it "was" authentic! It was beautiful weather, the best we've ever had for the Cider Festival. Towards the end, the teenagers were having fun playing games, and it was fun to sit around and visit with friends.This is our filly Cookie that was born in April.This is Jaclyn feeding Lady an apple.

THANKS SO MUCH to everyone that came and contributed. We had a fantastic time and enjoyed it the same as we do every year. And we came out with about 9 gallons of cider and some to send home with the out-of-town guests, so that is a bonus!

This is definitely one of the highlights of the year, every year, and we look forward to next year!

Four Months Worth

2009-10-12T21:12:00.020-06:00

Oh, that's a scary title. Judging from how long my posts were when I was only reporting on a week, this could be book length! :)

Highlights of the last four months:

Jesse goes to Blanding, UT with her best friend Kalli.
Bruce & Trevor win the Horseshoe Tournament at our Ward Campout,
and the rest of us have a great time.

Josh, Joseph and Bruce go an a High Adventure trip in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness (yes, that's really what it's called), with the Teachers and Priests.

Summer fun for Libby and friends:Canyon County Fair:
Peter gets first place in the Market show for his class, and earns a blue ribbon in Showmanship.
Mary tells about her fair experience on her blog - mjblogger.blogspot.com.

Josh, Joseph and Jesse go on a roadtrip with soccer buddies to watch a Salt Lake REAL game. Josh gets to go down on the field at half time to participate in activities.

On the way home from our Trek in Wyoming, we went through Jackson Hole. This has to be one of the most beautiful spots on the earth.(A little tired Josh??)

Our friends Greg and Rachelle were kind enough to treat our WHOLE FAMILY to dinner at Bar J Chuckwagon. It was fabulous! We loved the dinner and the entertainment. Libby was completely taken with the cowboy music and had to buy a CD afterward with her own money. We listened to cowboys crooning all the way home.
We stayed overnight at Mom & Dad's after the long trip from the Trek. This is all of our shoes drying out,and visiting Dad at the Care Center.We were so surprised when Dad got up and walked us out to the front of the care center. He came home shortly after this. Thanks for your hospitality, Mom!

In August, Bruce's brother Gary, Heidi, Kaylee, Kaleb and cousin Daniel came to visit.
Daniel, Kaleb and Peter had a ton of fun together. Peter went back with them to Oregon, and spent a few days.Have to get in the picture of the cousins playing a serious game of Risk! Josh insisted that I remark on how he dominated everyone else, especially Joseph...Soon after this, Jesse, Joseph, and Josh had Two-a-day tryouts for the High School soccer team. Bruce was the Boys JV Coach, so he was involved as well. They were successful, because Jesse made the Girls Varsity team, and Joshua and Joseph made the Boys Varsity team! Holy cow!
We knew Josh would be on Varsity for sure, but Joseph making Varsity was awesome, and Jesse making Varsity as a freshman - WOW! Joseph did have a bit of a scare for about two weeks when they moved him and two other guys down to JV. But he handled it extremely well, and kept working hard. When Josh got sick for a few days, they asked Joseph to take his spot, and Joseph played well enough that they kept him on Varsity for the rest of the season, even when Josh came back.

And then the kids started back to school! Libby is in 2rd grade, Peter in 3rd (both at a local Charter School), Mary in 7th at the Middle School (all by her lonesome), and Jesse in 9th, Joseph in 10th and Josh in 12th at the High School. They are having fun being there together.

At the end of August, we had the great privilege of going down to Utah for our nephew Josh's wedding to Rachel in the Salt Lake Temple. That was wonderful! They were married in the same room that Bruce and I were, so there were wonderful memories. We had a great time being with Bruce's side of the family. A few weeks later, Josh and Rachel came up here for their Open House, and we had the honor of having them stay at our house. I got to talk to Josh and Rachel 'til one the morning. It was so fun! I was the DJ at their Open House and got a few people to get out and boogie. :)

Josh went to Homecoming with a friend named Genny. They look great together, don't you think? This is a great group of kids. I'm so thankful Josh has good friends.

The next few months were filled with soccer games! Monday through Thursday night we had Varsity games, and then on Saturday Mary, Peter and Libby had games. It was fun, but very, very busy.

Josh, then Bruce, then Joseph all had a bout with the swine flu. It was miserable for them, but they came out OK, without any complications. This was a miracle for Bruce especially, because he had influenza about five years ago and developed pneumonia as a complication. Once you get pneumonia, you are more susceptible the next time to get it, so we are so thankful that he was OK this time.

We enjoyed General Conference, as always. Pres. Holland's talk was a classic on the Book of Mormon, and there were many others I enjoyed thoroughly.

In the District Tournament for the Boys JV Soccer team, which Bruce coached, his team took first place, which our HS has never done before. Congratulations Bruce!

In the District Tournament for the girls, Jesse's team played hard and won their first game. Unfortunately, they lost their next two games to finish the season. Jesse really had a great season! She came out and started almost every game and the coaches played her on defense most of every game. Way to go Jesse!

In the District Tournament for the Varsity boys (Josh and Joseph), the boys came back and took 2nd in the District! This was a total surprise, because they were in 7th place out of 8 teams during the season. They were able to go to State, which is always so fun for the team. They lost both of their games in state, but they were SO CLOSE. In the first game, they lost only by a PK, and in the second game it went all the way through two ten-minute overtimes, and through a 5-on-5 shootout with the score still tied. Then it was down to a one-on-one shootout, and our guy missed and the other guy scored. Josh and Joseph were both in the line-up to shoot next if it came to it, but it didn't. It was a heartbreaker, but they came back from so far down, that there was nothing to feel bad about! Congratulations Josh and Joseph on a great season!

Mary's team struggled throughout the season because they didn't have a true goalie on their team, but she played well and worked hard. I got to ref a lot of her games, which was fun for me. Yesterday she got in a tangle and went down hard, and then got up and went at it again as fast as she could. It was one moment when I wanted to be Mom and cheer for her as hard as I could. On the other hand, if I hadn't been the ref, I wouldn't have been out there to see it up close like I did. Good job, Mary!Peter was really a star on his team. One time he even scored on the kick-off. He made a goal recently to be a really good keeper, so we'll see what comes of that!

Libby, well, let's just say that Libby has not QUITE caught on to what the soccer thing is all about. One game I told her I'd give her a quarter for every time she kicked the ball. This is about the first time that she actually went for the ball instead of running around on the edge of the crowd!

Oh well, none of our kids have gotten what soccer was all about until the second half of U8, so she still has another half of a season to get there. :) If she doesn't, hmm, I don't know quite what we'll do. A child not playing soccer?!? Now, don't get all worked up over this - we'll survive if she doesn't. Ha ha

To be continued next week with a report on the Cider Festival!

Handcart Trek 2009 - Part 3

2009-08-03T10:52:00.011-06:00

This has been TWO MONTHS in coming, but here it is - DAY 3 of our Handcart Trek in July.

On Thursday morning we woke up to rainy and cold weather. Not exactly what we had planned! It was in the 40's! After breakfast we went to the Visitor's Center and watched a very touching presentation there. Have I mentioned that the missionaries were wonderful everywhere we went? In the Visitor's Center, there was a saying posted on a white sheet of paper hanging on the wall. It touched me deeply. On my way out, I noticed a stack of papers with the same saying on it, so it was apparent that I wasn't the only one touched by it, and they had prepared sheets for people to take. The quote was this:

"When you understand the Atonement,
then you understand the joy of being rescued."
-Elder M. Russell Ballard

We put our buckets in our handcarts and headed out. Jesse and Britani didn't come on the trek this day, opting to drive to Rock Creek Hollow and visit there instead. With the rain and cold, Greg and Rachelle almost didn't come either, but they decided to do it, which they were glad for afterward.

The trek was a four mile loop. The first mile was no problem, but after that the conditions on the trail started to deteriorate, as it started to rain more. It was muddy and slippery. It made me think of the Saints going through Iowa in Feb of 1846. The mud and sand splattered all over the bottom of our skirts, and made it really uncomfortable, like sandpaper rubbing on your legs every step you took. I read where the ice that formed on the bottom of the women's skirts cut up their legs. I could see how easily this could happen. At one point we got to a building that looked like a restroom, which I badly needed. We walked up to the doors and they were all locked! I have to confess that this was the point on the whole trek, where I was really tired, frustrated, cold (as in hands numb) and desperate! When those doors were locked, it was very discouraging! This sounds so dumb now, writing from the comfort of home, but I was pretty low at that point. Thankfully, right after that disappointing blow, a missionary showed up and pointed to some older restrooms about 100 yards away that were open.

It was interesting to me at this point, that the missionaries were out there with us, and making sure we were headed in the right direction, but not once did they say, "Are you OK?", or "Do you need some help?", or anything of the kind. And I think they purposely stayed away from that, even though they may have wanted to. After all, a trek has to be a TREK!

After that short break, and hiking up my skirt so it wasn't rubbing on my legs, I was better off.
It was a good thing too, because right around the bend was a hill that was a steep climb. Mary and I had been pushing together on and off, but for awhile she had not pushed. On seeing the hill, I said, "Mary, you've got to push." She started to complain, because her hands were so cold, but I told her that she was absolutely needed, and we couldn't do it without her, which was true. So she put her cold hands on the cart, and with Josh and Jesse pulling, we hit it hard and pushed the cart up the hill. This was harder than the Women's Pull - we really worked hard. (Jesse and Josh will not say that - "it was a piece of cake" is what they would say).

Anyway, when we got to the top, as we were pushing along, Mary started to cry. I think she might be a little embarrassed about me putting that fact in, but her hands were so cold that she was crying. I have to put it in, because of how it made me feel, and the depth of my empathy at that point, as I thought of other mothers long ago, going through much worse. After a minute or two of deep thought, I came to my senses and had Mary stop pushing, take her gloves off, and put her hands under her armpits. This warmed them up and she was fine the rest of the time. (No use suffering/empathizing more than necessary - ha ha!)

We took a short break to get some snacks.One challenge here was the two youngest children started to ball their eyes out in the handcarts. We let them cry for a while, but then Rachelle picked up Lincoln (he is a big, heavy kid), wrapped him in a blanket, and carried him the last mile of the trek.Soon after that, we came to our first river crossing. Before, the boys had taken us all across, but this river crossing, we were to push the handcarts through the river - kids, equipment and all! Some missionaries gave us a short talk (they were out in the rain with us), and then in we went. It wasn't too deep, as you can see in the pictures, but enough to really make you think about ice chunks in the water, and exhaustion, etc.

Bruce went ahead, and took all these pictures of us coming across.
Greg and Joseph pulling the little kids in the handcart.
Josh and Jess pulling, me pushing.Rachelle carrying Libby, with Mary walking beside.

These pictures of Rachelle carrying Lincoln, with Mary walking along side, are so touching to me. Rachelle never complained about this. I kept offering to trade her off, but she wouldn't hear of it. She too wanted to get the "full" experience.Adam and Libby in the back of the handcart. Note the mud!

A short jaunt after that, and we were back to the campground. Whew! That four mile loop was a whole different story than the two days before. As we found out for ourselves, weather conditions in Wyoming change awfully fast, and have a big impact. In retrospect, I am so glad that we had a struggle on that 4-miler, because otherwise, it would have just seemed like a walk in the park. I'm really glad we went through that.

Handcart Trek 2009 - Part 2

2009-07-31T18:25:00.018-06:00

In modern times, there is a bridge over the Sweetwater River close to Martin's Cove. In 1856, it was a freezing, ice filled river, with the only bridge being the arms of brave young men. To remember this event, we walked to the edge of the river and Josh and Joseph carried our whole "company" across the water. To say I shed a tear or two watching my boys do this is an understatement.

They started with Peter,and then Libby,and then on down through the company. Here's Joseph picking up Adam,and Josh carrying Jennifer. This picture is priceless. In two years, when he's turning nineteen, I won't be able to look at it at all. :)
Joseph carrying Mary,and Josh carrying Jesse.Joseph carried me across (without even grunting - ha ha),and Josh carried Bruce.Here are the "rescued", waiting for the others. Why Libby is sitting off to the side, I don't know!Three more to go.The missionaries here asked us to do the River Crossing in silence, to maintain a reverent atmosphere. It was a very tender and unforgettable experience.

Speaking of the missionaries - what a difference they made! They were sprinkled out all through the trek, and every time we saw them they told stories, bore testimony, brought the Spirit in, and made connections to our modern day lives. They were wonderful!

After the River Crossing, we stopped at Handcart Parking, as it's called, and had lunch. They had a whole bunch of picnic tables under a pavilion. I looked at the side of one table and saw a plaque indicating that this was an Eagle Scout Project. I think many of the improvements and conveniences all along the trail are Eagle Scout Projects. I know Jesse B. was in a troop where a Scout had started a project and then passed away. Their troop went ahead and finished the project without him, of putting up a flag pole at the Visitor's Center.

The next step was to walk around Martin's Cove.
In our meeting in Dan Jones Cove with Elder Llewellyn, he explained that when Pres. Hinckley dedicated Martin's Cove, he dedicated it as an open-air temple in Wyoming. He said that Martin's Cove and Rock Creek Hollow are two of the most hallowed and sacred places on the earth, because of what transpired there.When I heard this, I was so happy, because I knew that Mary would be able to keep up her streak! Mary has now been to the temple 6 weeks in a row. Five times doing baptisms for the dead in Idaho, and now a 6th time in a very sacred place in Wyoming.

Peter found a rabbit along the trail. (Click on the picture to get a close-up!)
It was so satisfying and wonderful to be there together as a family.
Elder and Sister Sorenson were at the "top" of Martin's Cove, and talked to us there. Sis. Sorenson said something that touched me deeply. She said that Pres. Faust, when asked why the wind and the elements were not tempered by the Lord for the Saints in Martin's Cove, answered that he did not know why, but that those who were involved came out of it with a deep faith, as did those who were involved in their rescue. That was the First Rescue, and in the recent past, those that were involved in the Second Rescue were deeply touched. Sister Sorenson continued, with a break in her voice, that now a Third Rescue was going on, with all the people that were visiting Martin's Cove and going on the Trek, and being touched by the Spirit because of their experiences there. That resonated deeply with me, as my children can testify because I've already told a dozen people about it! Ha ha

I shared the story with her about one of our ancestors, John Clark, who served a mission in Palestine, against the will of his father, who had already lost one son on a mission when he contracted a disease and died while helping the immigrants on Ellis Island on his way home. John and his companion also lost their lives when they contracted smallpox from German immigrants that they were teaching. Ezra Thompson Clark, his father, traveled all the way to Palestine to retrieve their bodies and bring them home. He was not allowed to do so because of the smallpox, so he buried them in Haifa, with a gravestone engraved with their names.

More than a hundred years later, when BYU was attempting to build the Jerusalem Center, an obscure law was brought forth in an attempt to thwart the building, stating that any church that wanted to build a new structure in Jerusalem had to demonstrate a presence in Jerusalem more than 50 years prior to that time. BYU authorities were able to show the graves of John Clark and his companion, with their gravestone, as proof of the Church's presence. John, although unwittingly, just as the Willie and Martin Handcart pioneers, did their part to build up the Kingdom! And they did so with faith and resolve. I am very grateful for their sacrifice!

It truly was wonderful to be in Martin's Cove. I wanted more time there, to sit and meditate, but that wasn't really possible with all the family, so I gathered our family around in a circle and told them I was so glad to be with them there and wanted to be with them forever. Bruce said, "And I kinda like you too." Ha ha We put our hands together in the middle, and did a "Sure love ya" like my family does. :)

After Martin's Cove, we trekked back to the Visitor's Center, which was about 1.3 miles.
Jesse and Britani start teaching their kids early! :)From here we dropped of the handcarts, loaded up the cars, and drove about an hour to Sixth Crossing, which is where the Willie Company crossed the Sweetwater. There is a Visitor's Center here and a nice campground. While Bruce was in talking to the missionaries, it was raining, and Mary took a million pictures of the beautiful double rainbow,while I sat in the car and read "Remember", a book published by the Riverton Wyoming stake about the Handcart companies and the Second Rescue (highly recommended).After we got camp set up, the missionaries called for Square Dancing. We went over and did the Virginia Reel a few times. The other group took too long, so Bruce started calling our own dance, and we moved right along. It was the most fun to watch Brenlee and Libby twirl around and do the reel!Right after the Square Dancing, a wind and rain storm whipped in that made us all hop around. The tinfoil dinners were ready, so we dished out the food to everyone the best we could in the rain and wind. I said, "This is pretty extreme!" I told our friends, "Only certain families I know could handle this, and you guys are some of them!"

Our tents thankfully were all together under a small pavilion, but they were literally inches from each other. Since it was storming so much, as soon as food was eaten, everyone hurried into the tents. The cacophony of sound that ensued was amazing!! I started to laugh so hard. Then Bruce started to crow like a rooster, and of course others followed with mooing, barking, etc. I had to give Peter Peace & Calming essential oil before he would calm down and stop hopping around the tent.

And that was the end of Day 2! To be continued...

Handcart Trek 2009 - Part 1

2009-07-31T15:06:00.032-06:00

Prelude: For a great article on the events that took place at this site in 1856, as well as the historic happenings in 1992, there is an excellent article here.

After years of planning (Bruce started in 2006) and delays, we finally made it as a family to the high plains of Wyoming (6200 ft) for our Handcart Trek!
After visiting my Mom and Dad and sister on Sunday, we arrived at the Martin's Cove Visitor Center around 2:30 pm. Our friends, Jesse and Britani and their four children, and Greg and Rachelle and their four children, were already there waiting for us.
We had ten children with us that were 9 and under, and ten people that were 12 and older, so it was a one to one ratio! Camille, pictured here, was the youngest.
We took three handcarts - two for gear, and then one for pulling children. Most of the food and tents and sleeping bags had to be taken by car to the campsite. We felt a little chagrined about that, but then we learned along the way that the pioneers didn't take their own food, as there were provision wagons that went along with the companies.

Cordell, Adam and Peter pulled the handcart most of the way this first night.Brenlee, another of our little pioneers was so fun to have along. She smiled and made everyone happy.
So off we went!

This is Jennifer. I love this picture!
Britani and Rachelle are pulling here, but later on they both got in the cart and Jesse B. (as to differentiate from my daughter Jesse) insisted that all the kids pull them in the cart on the last stretch into our campsite.
We hiked three miles that afternoon and set up camp at Cherry Creek Campground.
I love this picture of Bruce. He was absolutely made for something like this Trek. He loves the outdoors, the work, the spiritual purpose and meaning laced into everything at the camp. This picture seems to capture all that to me.That night, a missionary couple came into camp. Elder Fenn was dressed as Ephraim K. Hanks, who is my great-great grandfather, and Sister Fenn was dressed as a pioneer woman depicting Thisbe Reed Hanks, Ephraims' wife. Another family came along with them just to see this presentation, so we made room around our campfire. It was announced that missionary dressed up in a buckskin jacket like Eph Hanks was a descendant of Nellie Unthank, and the other father of the family that came was a descendant of Francis Webster. "Oh, wow!", I exclaimed. We had just read the story of Francis Webster as we were coming along the road that afternoon. And here I was, the descendant of Eph Hanks, and we were all sitting around the campfire together right in front of Martin's Cove! Imagine that...

Elder Fenn told all about Ephraim, starting from his boyhood in Wisconsin. It was so great! I was just about bursting my buttons. Starting with the missionary in the Visitors Center at the beginning, every missionary I talked to loved Ephraim K. Hanks, and when I told them I was his great-great granddaughter, they would invariably exclaim, "Oh!", and give me a big hug. That was really a special experience. While Elder Fenn was talking, the wind started blowing hard and it started to rain a little. He had to cut his presentation short, which was too bad, but it was wonderful to hear what he did say.

As they were leaving, the one brother came up and put his arm around my shoulder and said, "Thank you for your ancestor saving my ancestor!" It was a great moment.

After most everyone went to bed, the wind died down, and Josh and I had a great talk around the campfire. At one point he said, "I'm in a rare mood to open up and talk, so you'd better take advantage of it!" Ha ha - I did my best!

We were packed like sardines in our six-man tent, but we did just fit. In the morning, Joseph woke up and was completely upside down, with his head facing the opposite way of the way he went to sleep. His first thought was, "Why is Peter upside down?" His next thought was, "Why is everybody upside down?" We laughed so hard when he told us about that.
That was a memorable moment, all of us in the tent together, laughing. One of those precious moments, that I want to remember forever.

The morning dawned foggy, cool and windy. Peter and Jesse worked hard to make a fire that morning, as they did the night before. In the pioneer accounts they mention that wood was scarce and hard to find, and we could see how that would be the case.Thankfully at this campground there was a big load of wood for the taking, so we sent the kids over with a handcart periodically to bring in some logs.Mary was a great help with the younger children, especially Camille!After eating some yummy breakfast burritos, we packed up camp,and headed back to Martin's Cove on the actual Historical Trail.Bruce thought it important that the children get a taste of pulling something heavy, so he took it upon himself to climb on the cart and hitch a ride! Luckily, for both parties, this didn't last too long!Lincoln was the next to the youngest member of our group, and he made us laugh to no end. What a character! His grunts were replicated widely, as was his smile.Greg and Rachelle got a rare moment on a handcart together, with Mary pushing in the background.
Jesse B., pictured in the cowboy hat here, grew up in the Riverton, Wyoming Stake, which is the Stake that was involved in the Second Rescue. He was 14 at the time, and was deeply affected by the events that took place. When we invited their family to come, only a week before, he said, "I don't think I can stay away." It was great to be there with him and Britani and their family.I can't even say how proud I was of Joshua, Joseph and Jesse during this Trek. They were pushing or pulling a cart the whole time, and just had great attitudes.

Along the trail we saw antelope, dozens of them, bucks, does and young ones jaunting about the plains. It was an awesome sight!
We hit a particularly green spot, which made for a great picture!
I love this picture of Rachelle. Mostly because I love her. Someday, when I grow up, I'm gonna be like her.I loved the pioneer clothes we wore. It made it SO much more authentic. We borrowed the clothes for Bruce, me, Jesse and Mary from very kind friends. I did make Libby's skirt!! I was glad I made something.

After coming off down the hill, we found Elder and Sister Pae waiting for us. He informed us that the US Army needed soldiers for the Mexican War, so would the men please line up in two lines for enlistment. It was the reenacment of the Mormon Battalion. We said good-bye to the men, including Josh, Joseph and Peter, and they went and climbed up a bluff with Elder Pae. I was doing OK with that, until I looked over and saw Britani crying, and then that did me in. Apparently, Cordell, her oldest son, started to cry becasue he thought his Dad was really going away.This was just one of the many instances on the Trek where one came a little closer to feeling how the pioneers felt. Sister Pae gave us some stories and her testimony, and then we began the "Women's Pull", where the women pull the handcarts by themselves, while the men watched.It was a hard pull! Jesse and I pulled in front,and Mary and Libby pushed in the back. It was short, so it wasn't a big ordeal, but while we pushed, we were pushing as hard as we could. I started to laugh and cry at the same time. It was very emotional.

When the families were reunited, we took the opportunity to get a picture of each family.Here are Jesse B. and Britani and their family.And Greg and Rachelle and their family.
Isn't that what it's all about?? I love these family pictures!

So that was the first 24 hours... To be continued...

From the classical to country - and everything in between

2009-07-12T19:29:00.037-06:00

We had a busy, busy June. And it hasn't stopped!
The High School boys' soccer team put on a soccer camp for the younger kids. This is Peter and Libby all geared up and ready to go!

I got bucked off my horse, May, on Wednesday, June 17th. We were riding along the side of the street in the neighborhood behind ours when she got spooked by Cookie, the 3-month old filly, and started to shy onto the street. Then she started to buck, and off I went onto the asphalt, of all things. Bruce later commented that he thought there was a belt on her saddle that was too tight underneath. Anyway, I got the wind knocked out of me, but I got up and started to walk. My first thought was, I need to go to Karen's house! She lives right by there, and she is an essential oils guru. Just a few weeks prior to that I had seen her do a world of good on Jesse, who had a really sore tailbone from falling in the garage.

I walked to her house, about a block away, in pretty bad shape. Well, I could walk, but it was all I could do to concentrate on that and get to her house. Unfortunately, she wasn't home, but some other members of our ward were home across the street, so they took me home. I had Bruce put some PanAway on me (a Young Living Essential Oil), and I could feel the ache drain away from that spot. I was very grateful. I was able to sleep that night, and the next day Karen came and did the Raindrop Technique on me. It made it so I was totally functional the next day when I needed to be. Once again, I was so grateful.

Thursday night Peter and Libby had Showmanship Practice for 4-H.
Our wonderful project leader, Kevin, and his daughter Kelsey, helped them get ready for showmanship at the fair.
Friday and Saturday was the annual Idaho Youth Games. I coached two soccer teams - Mary's and Peter's, and we had a fun time. Here are some highlights in photos from the Friday night Fun Night.Here is the long process of trying to get these three to smile all at once for a picture. Nearly impossible.
Jora and Bailey were on Mary's team,
and Jay and Jaren were on Peter's team.
Jesse's team won 2nd place in their division! Veronica, Maddy, Sarah and Allie are her soccer buddies.This is my friend Karla, who Libby has nicknamed "The Master of Soccer". Our children play soccer together, and we have become good friends sitting on the sidelines together the last few years. She just finished a round of radiation for the cancer she was diagnosed with, so I was really glad to see her and get this picture with her.
Here is Libby on the rock climbing wall. The guide said, "Has she taken a rock-climbing class somewhere?"

She must have climbed this wall at least a dozen times.

This is Josh and Joseph racing up the wall. Josh wants you to know that "Joseph started before me." :)

And here is Mary climibing the wall too.

Bruce went fishing with Dave, the fishing guru, on Friday night and Saturday. Dave told me later that he was done about four hours earlier than Bruce, but Bruce would not stop fishing. On the way home, late at night, Bruce was driving, and Dave said, "Are you tired?" Bruce replied, "No, I'm all right." So Dave said, "Then why are you listening to head-banging rock, hugging the steering wheel and going 45 mph? Let me drive!" We had a good laugh about that. But NO SALMON. That stunk.

On Monday we packed up and went camping with friends to Sage Hen Reservoir. We've been going there every year (except for last year when we thought we were moving) since 2002. This year we had Fred & Amy, Calvin & Elizabeth, Todd & Kristie, Greg & Rachelle, Gary & Tami, and Jesse and Britani up there with us. It was SO FUN. We love this trip.

The Saturday after we got home from camping, we went downtown to a nice restaurant and Josh, Joseph and Jesse were part of the Youth Pianist Showcase for the day. They got to play on the piano for the restaurant guests, and received a free lunch and about $8 in tips (each) to boot! Grandma and Grandpa (Bruce's parents) happened to be in town, so they came with us. It was just a delightful experience. But one sad thing - I forgot to get a picture of Josh while he was playing. Can you see a big capital L on my forehead for LAME!! Sorry Josh...

I also had one of my other students play at the restaurant, so that was fun too.

That night, I took Mary and Peter over to our project leader's house for another showmanship practice. The next day I wondered at the variety in my life. In the morning to be going to a fancy restaurant and then in the evening going to a farm and working with sheep. I'm glad to have that kind of diversity, and glad my kids have it.