Here are the dog tags I made for each member of the Sanchez family. It was a lot of work, but as I hammered out the names, I thought of their personalities, challenges, and accomplishments. My appreciation for them grew as the names gathered in front of me on the step.
We read in the Book of Mormon that “all things are written by the Father” (3 Nephi 27:26) referring to the records that are kept by which the world will be judged. Perhaps one “parenting tip” or “family relationship tip” we can gain from this is that keeping records of the people in our lives can help us be better judges of their motives and needs.
Sometimes I will write a paragraph about each child in my journal so I can remember their lives. When I do this, sometimes I feel inspiration about what they need. Patterns in their behavior become clear messages of what they are going through.
Angie’s advice for the day: write down the names of each family member. Pause and think of their strengths, challenges, and contribution to your life. Perhaps say a prayer of gratitude for each of them by name. Take action on the things you feel inspired to do for them.
I’m proud of how my kids handled themselves at the family cabin this week. They are among the oldest of the cousins, so a lot of responsibility fell on them to entertain the littles. And there were a lot of them.
Cousins are important. They are your built-in friends that you will see regularly nearly your whole time growing up. If you’re lucky, you’ll stay in touch after you’re all grown. Some cousins share similar genes; many of our kids’ cousins are adopted, step, or foster children, but the concept of family is still just as strong, maybe stronger because of them. This year I loved watching our kids interact with their cousins.
Daniel stood in the cold river for a long time helping to take the kids to shore after their tube runs.What a crew of kids!Paige is loved by all her cousins, from the rambunctious ones to the the more quiet and introverted. She makes them all happy. She was also our photographer of the week.Mark was a joy to watch. He loved the water, playing Legos with his cousin Michael, and all of the white bread.Timothy enjoyed tubing, but he smiled during every activity. Richard and I love to watch Timothy because he is without guile and ready to be happy.There were lots of games to supervise. Paige, Daniel, and Timothy played a lot of UNO and other games with younger cousins.One day a little cousin was upset and said, “I need Timmy!” to make him feel better.This little cousin liked Daniel a lot. They wrestled, walked, and scooted together all of the time.Mark is a true friend to his cousins, regardless if they are boys or girls. Here he is dancing the Virginia Reel with Kaitlyn. We had to do it inside because of the rainstorm!
Just like everyone, our extended family deals with some difficult issues. One day when I was really worried about a situation and praying to know how to act, I was reminded by the Spirit to focus on my children, not the problem which was out of my control. Our kids are independent so I don’t always take time to watch what they’re up to. Because of this answer to prayer, I perched at different vantage points and focused on them during the last half of the week. This exercise changed the way I felt about everything. Just as our children need our guidance, sometimes we need to look to our children to remember joy.
I put together a Boot Camp activity for the kids at the family reunion. I was the drill sergeant and did a good amount of yelling. I also made them do push ups for talking out of order. I wore my cowboy hat. I actually wear it every chance I get.These were the stations they rotated through. I made dog tags for each person and they earned beads for each station and for good sportsmanship.Timothy was in the group with the older cousins.Marksmanship was really a beanbag toss.Daniel and Michael were in charge of the station about following orders. They played “Soldier Says” and “Red Light Green Light” with the kids.This was a minefield activity where the ground was littered with water balloons and a buddy had to guide the person who was blindfolded through the field with verbal cues.One station was a memory game where the kids had to remember objects on a tray. Some kids were really good at this and some kids could hardly do it at all. Interesting.At the end, each warrior was given a headband.Paige led one of the younger groups. All of the cousins love Paige.Ready for Red Light Green LightI like these pictures that Richard took of the beanbag toss.Mark was especially excited to earn beads during the activity.Daniel spends his time at the Weber playing with the younger cousins. He catches them in the river when they are tubing. He lets them bury him in pillows and jump on him. Love it.
Summer is my fallow season for writing. Since I’m not doing well connecting sentences, the next few days I have decided to share lists of my favorite things, beginning with books. About 10 years ago I discovered that I enjoy reading history. Here are 5 of my favorite works of history/biography. Do you have some favorites not listed here?
Truman by David McCullough (It’s so thorough. It was great.)
John Adams by David McCullough (I have read this a couple of times I liked it so much. I like all of the letters to and from Abigail. It was a good study about Jefferson, too.)
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K Massie (Fascinating! I have an affinity for Russian history and this was my favorite so far.)
The Forgotten Man by Amity Schlaes (Conservative author; scathing review of the failed policies and philosophies of Roosevelt and his cabinet during the Depression)
A Day in Old Rome by William Stearns Davis (This made me want to visit Rome. Perhaps any book on Rome would have done it, though.)
I took hundreds of photos at Youth Conference but very few have Paige in them and I didn’t take any selfies. I am hoping to collect more photos from other people so we can prove that the Ross Women were also there! Daniel had a great time. Each time I saw him, he was hanging out with someone different. I like to see that.
Rockin’ R Ranch lodge is in the background. We are at line dance lessons here.Line dancingA view of some of the horsesThe Lodge where we ate and where the girls slept. The boys were in the bunk house across the way.Daniel won 3rd place in the barrel races at the rodeo.The donkey relay was hilarious.Daniel’s donkey relay teamMaple Leaf Rag on a twangy piano was just the thing to play in the Lodge.Human foosball
Tomorrow Paige, Daniel, and I go to a western ranch for youth conference. Of all the things I need to do to prepare, I am fixated on finding a proper cowboy hat.
I am tired of going places. Once we return from youth conference, we will have 6 whole days at home before we leave again. During those precious days, I plan to mulch my backyard flower bed (since summer is half over), read Coolidge by Amity Schlaes, and avoid going out as much as possible.
