Author: Angela

I write so my family will always have letters from home.

A little hike

Little Cottonwood Canyon is about 4 minutes from our house. I decided to take the kids on an introductory hike to see how things looked from higher up on the mountain.

The locals said it was easy and only a half a mile. Baloney. It was hard.

But like any good hike, there is a reward when you can’t go another step.

I let the kids walk around the reservoir while I curled up in the shade and cooled off.

It was a gorgeous place to rest.

I love going on adventures with my kids.

This weekend was such a gift. The kids had some days off from school and the weather was gorgeous. We saw cousins on two different days; Richard and I spoke in church; Paige played a piano solo in sacrament meeting. These have been really good days.

BYU football season tickets

Ray, Joe, Mom, Daniel, and Timothy at the “blackout” game last Saturday. We’re not talking about the score.

We finally remembered to take a photo at a BYU football game. My mom is the BYU student who makes these tickets in the student section possible. Richard has gone to every game and I go to the night games with him and we call it a date. For Saturday games, Richard takes one or two of our boys with him. It’s a little bit tricky to go to games when there is so much to do on the weekends, but we couldn’t pass up this opportunity. My mom graduates soon and we’re savoring life here. It’s the right thing to do.

 

Tiny characters

Each morning I watch my youngest children grow small as they walk away from me, eventually merging into lines of children ready to go in to school. For a time, I am able to distinguish Mark’s backpack and Timothy’s walk, but eventually I turn away, realizing they have become indistinguishable from the other children and there is no sense in watching any longer.

It’s one of those paradoxes in life, I guess, that when seeing so many children, I am reminded of the individual nature of Heavenly Father’s love. He knows my little ones better than I do and I can trust them to His care when I’m not there. He knows his children and can pick out each of us from the crowd.

Conference Memories

What a memorable General Conference. I sobbed when I heard the announcement for a Tucson temple. We are thrilled about lowering the age for missionaries to serve. I loved Elder Holland’s talk.

Richard and Daniel were able to attend the General Priesthood meeting. I’m having technical difficulties with the annual father-son photo, but when I get that worked out, I’ll post Daniel and Richard standing beside one another in front of our house, Daniel’s limbs creeping out of bounds on the hems of last year’s suit.

Richard and Daniel rode Trax to downtown Salt Lake to avoid having to park.

We watched conference at home and one session at my parents’ mountain retreat. The little boys played with blocks and Lego Mindstorms as they listened to the speakers.

I just noticed Timothy’s awesome foundation.

 

Firsts

On Sunday I accompanied the choir on my violin for the first time in my new congregation. The first time is always nerve wracking, but with Daniel’s encouragement and prayers and holding a text message from Richard, I braved another “first” and it went just fine.

The kids are settling in very well to school. It’s taken a month, but we’re falling into a routine. The transition was a lot smoother than I expected. Richard gave each child a priesthood blessing the night before school began. I know that this has helped. I look back without regret at the years we spent together and pat myself on the back when I see their reading, math, and science scores. It helps soothe the ignominy of facing the skeptical public school administration a few weeks ago.

We went to our first church party. Paige and Daniel immediately found their friends and we didn’t see them all evening. Let me repeat: Paige and Daniel IMMEDIATELY FOUND THEIR FRIENDS. Tim and Mark played ball with a handful of primary children and came home with pockets stuffed with candy from the pinata. On the drive home, I asked the kids if they had a good time. They all said yes. Let me repeat: THEY ALL SAID YES! Daniel said, “Mom, this must be the right place for us.”

Absolutely.

I’m emotionally spent, despite most of these things being good developments in our lives. My sister-in-law Becky Sanchez unexpectedly stopped by our house late one night this week. She was in town for a funeral and had an just an hour to see us. It was a good visit. Her conversation was just what my tired nerves needed. I’m thankful to have her as a sister in law and that I got to hold her sweet new baby.

I am a tired but very blessed woman.

 

Our Piano Guy

Daniel is a big fan of the Piano Guys so we got him tickets to an outdoor Piano Guys concert for his birthday. He and Richard had a great time.

Daniel continues to play the piano and has recently started playing the cello. I love having another string player in the family.

If you don’t know the Piano Guys, here are a few of Daniel’s favorite songs.

httpv://youtu.be/BgAlQuqzl8o

httpv://youtu.be/0VqTwnAuHws

httpv://youtu.be/NzGgX1DihPw

My 18 month project

Hello, friend. Thanks for reading and checking on our family adventures. Some posts I write for myself, others are a history, and sometimes I write with just you (dear reader) in mind. What can I share that will help and lift you? Today I’m writing a religious post.

Sometimes the familiar can become almost invisible. About a year ago I realized that my religious study was not feeding me. The familiar words of scripture weren’t making a difference in my life. I needed something to help me focus.

I decided to journal what I learned about my Father in Heaven as I read The Book of Mormon. At first I kept a notebook at my side, but then I found that notes in the margins of the scriptures kept my mind focused on the words more effectively. I just wrote short statements about Heavenly Father’s interactions with his children based on the stories I was reading. It wasn’t difficult. I just asked myself over and over, “What does this passage tell me about my Heavenly Father?”

I didn’t use my regular set of scriptures. I used an old copy so I wouldn’t worry about taking up too much room in the margins with my notes. I did this for 18 months (I’m a slow study). What I now have is an old copy of the Book of Mormon filled with insights about my Father in Heaven. I learned so much and I am sure I could repeat the project and wonder why I didn’t see more.

I’m not going to make a list of what I learned, but perhaps if you feel that your study of scripture has become a little peripheral this may help you to focus. I found my Father in Heaven in the words and I felt his influence in my life more fully through the exercise. If God is unchanging, these miracles and principles from the Bible and The Book of Mormon should still occur today. As I searched for principles and practices, I found that my life was rich with blessings and my mind was opened to the miracles in my life. It was a simple way to feel the power and love of God.

Here is what a few of my pages look like. Sorry some pictures are blurry. I’m in a hurry today.

 

Autumn joys

The familiar back-to-school feeling with its gold-toned memories and crisp air is all around us. I can’t keep my eyes off the mountains above our house. The red maples have been brilliant for a few weeks, but this weekend, the aspen trees erupted into bright yellow color. My autumn heart is satisfied and happy.

Over the weekend we opened up our bed and breakfast to some cousins. Some of our activities included playing with Legos, Styrofoam, cars, planes, remote controlled vehicles, board games, markers, Sparky, Polly Pockets, and Ellos. We played basketball, painted the girls’ nails, gave jeep rides, slid down the banister, watched Scooby Doo, and invited my aunt and her family to join us for dinner. Nine house guests at once made me smile. That’s the total we would accumulate in 2 or 3 years in Arizona.