Category: Family Time

July 4th at Spring Lake


There are two stories of our Spring Lake retreat for July 4th. The first story is peaceful, quiet, and relaxed. The next story is more crowded with cousins and family. Each has its place and is important.

Richard J. brought me homemade Swig cookies~La La Land~ice cream run~sunset views of the Payson temple~4 of 5 siblings and families attend~My aunt’s family attends~pretty tables~big lunch~birthday cake for Sarah~nap on the couch in the middle of everything going on~babies ~littles ~middles ~teens ~twenties ~thirties ~forties ~fifties ~sixties

Whirlwind Trip

We had a picnic in the mountains with Richard’s family. We visited our neighbors in Sahuarita, surprised Paige’s dance teacher, and walked around the desert museum. We saw our old house. We toured the Tucson Temple with Maria and her family. And then we came home. Phew!

You get a car… and you get a car!

We learned very quickly that having four drivers, three jobs, and three schools was a real challenge in logistics for our family, so we bought another car. It’s like an episode of Oprah here. Not that I really watched that, but you know what I mean.

Richard finished work on our PUP trailer (notice my lingo) this weekend.

I re-shelved the school books on Friday through teary eyes. I will face the clean-out of elementary school books someday.

Daniel and Timothy have a penchant for finding funny YouTube videos to show our family, especially at bedtime when we all need to be doing other things.

Paige, the sous chef, is back and I love the company in the kitchen. Mark still excels at muffins and other breads. Timothy, growing tall rapidly, lingers at the stove each night, watching things simmer, pitifully hungry, asking when dinner will be served.

Timothy pines for a smart phone and refuses to carry his dumb/non-smart phone. No problem; every other human has one he can use to call home. Slight problem: we can’t get a hold of him. Timothy has always been very smart and determined. He will probably win soon. Don’t tell him that.

I am in the middle of reading 5 books again. I find this is the magic number of what I can’t handle. I look at the stack, can’t decide what to read, throw my hands in the air, and take a nap instead.

Memorial Day weekend was simply the most beautiful and perfect I have ever enjoyed. The weather, the neighbors’ yards, the flags at every house in sight, the memories, the neighbors’ children and grandchildren playing in the cul-de-sac, and good food made it wonderful. I spent an afternoon reading and napping beneath our trees. I love how our neighborhood comes alive this time of year.

Things I loved about last week:

  • going out for pizza with Mark and Paige
  • watching BBC’s War and Peace
  • discovering the Great British Baking show master classes
  • giving some time for a stranger and making a new friend
  • driving in a clean car
  • having a clean mud room and school room
  • helping my boys assemble furniture
  • planning adventures this summer

 

Mark turns 11

11th birthday:

Dinosaur museum

Lunch with Dad, Paige, and Mom

Lego Store, Lego building

Pizza on the red plate

Bike riding

Pack Meeting

Arrow of Light (Cubs in our pack get their faces painted when they receive this award.)

New Boy Scout

Great-great grandmother Violet’s lemon cake

May is bigger than December

May has arrived. Our children are expected to be in 3 places at once sometimes. Baseball, extra piano rehearsals, church activities, work, school concerts, and performances pull them in many directions. With 4 drivers and 3 cars, we are just scraping by. But wait. Richard and I have to be in all of these places and more. I take it back. It is impossible. Last night there was no dinner. We just ate cereal or whatever we could scavenge. Someone said that she felt May was busier than December. It really is, but there is little baking required. No wonder it feels so difficult. May is December without the carbs.

Easter Journals 2017


How do you teach children to rely on the Savior? How do you help them see a need for a relationship with Jesus Christ? What teaching method will work for ages 10-17? How can I share my testimony in a way they will hear it?

These are a few questions I have been thinking about. I know that these questions can’t be addressed with a one-time effort, but I wanted to make something our family could do each day leading up to Easter to bring us closer to Jesus Christ.

I made an Easter journal for each family member with a scripture to read and a question to answer each day for five days. I printed out questions and art and mounted them in the journals to help inspire writing.

We promised each writing activity would only require 10 minutes. We shortened it to 5 minutes after one day. We read the scriptures aloud and then set a timer for each of us to write in our little journals. I promised I wouldn’t make them share what they wrote and we wouldn’t read what they wrote. We had a short discussion after each journal entry, sharing experiences and ideas. I gave them each a container of Jelly Bellies to eat as they wrote. Richard and I also wrote in journals.

How did it go?

  • I don’t know what went on in their hearts, but there was a good feeling in our discussions after we wrote.
  • We couldn’t make it happen every day. We had to double up a few times when we had everyone together, in a good mood, and awake.
  • They ate a lot of Jelly Bellies.
  • We had fun talking about many other things once the activity was over each evening.

These were the scriptures I chose, based on our family’s needs. They are Book of Mormon scriptures to compliment the Bible verses we read every Easter.

  1. Alma 7:11-12 …That he may know… how to succor his people
  2. Alma 26:12,16 In his strength I can do all things.
  3. Alma 38:8-9 No other way or means whereby man can be saved, only in and through Jesus Christ…
  4. Moroni 9:25-26 May Christ lift thee up [over difficult circumstances]
  5. Mosiah 16:6-9 He is the light and the life of the world.

Here are a few things we said about Jesus Christ this week in our family:

  • He is in every genuine smile, true friendship, beautiful scene, and good family relationship; he is in every act of patience, kindness, and generosity.
  • He knows what it’s like to be “us.”
  • When he bore our infirmities, this means he took on everything that makes us fall short of perfection.
  • Repentance is a joyful thing, and easier than carrying guilt.
  • Repentance is simple, like the children of Israel looking to the brazen serpent to be saved from the snakes.
  • Repentance is also like Namaan being told to wash in the Jordan 7 times. It is basic and we can be clean.
  • He helps us do difficult things like learn a language, be a missionary, and take tests.
  • Because of him, can see our family members again who have passed away.
  • He is accessible through good music, acts of charity, walking in nature, and taking time to be still.

Happy Easter!

Arches National Park

We spent a couple of days at Arches National Park this week to replenish our spirits. We did this by depleting all the energy in our bodies. For me, I was pretty depleted to begin, but I made it up the trails. I felt fear like I never remember before, the kind of fear that zings through the body and comes to rest, hot and electric in the feet and fingertips, as I watched the boys climb and jump over rock faces. I felt my spirit expand as I looked out over vistas. Concerns that felt so heavy moved to their proper place in my mind, less prominent and less pressing. We enjoyed our time with Shari’s family. We spent money at a rock shop and ate pop tarts. Comic books and AP History papers littered the back seat of the truck. We played card games in the tent trailer at night and made jokes about signs we saw. My boys said, Look, mom!” a dozen times (My favorite phrase). Food was often the topic of conversation when we weren’t eating. Mark swam at the campground pool until we had to leave. I read four whole pages.

These kite string moments, where we watch the boys soar, are different for Richard than for me. He photographs everything and urges us to do more hikes and make the most of the time. I sit and watch, allowing time to be insignificant, focusing on small moments of how they looked and talked on this day. Then I set the memories away gently in my mind. My favorite moment was sitting under our last arch of the trip, watching the crowds and the boys, Richard and I resting in our little niche in the rock. All was well.