Prayers Answered

This Todd is a thinker.  He's quiet (except when he's making annoying sounds).  He's pensive.  He isn't prone to wild exuberance.  He isn't a constant smiley kind of kid.  Sometimes I worry about him. I worry that he isn't finding joy in life.  I worry that I'm not doing the right thing, not being the right mom, not making the right decisions.  I worry that I'm not pushing him hard enough.  I worry that I'm pushing him too hard.  Sometimes I worry.  And I pray.  I pray for wisdom and guidance.  I pray that I will remember he was first God's son before he was mine.  I pray that there will be people in his life who love him and see his amazingness.  I pray for this kid all the time.

On Sunday, we had our primary program.  Todd volunteered to sing a solo verse in the program.  My shy guy who about died when I suggested he call the dentist to make his own appointment.  That one.  He volunteered to sing a solo in front of 300 people.  And he did a marvelous job.  I know, I know.  I'm his mother and I'm a little biased in my thinking.  But, it was seriously beautiful.  He hit the right notes.  His voice was clear and bright.  He is still a soprano, and he sang it out so beautifully.  I could see that he was so pleased that he had made it through and I was so grateful for his primary leaders who gave him that opportunity.  As I sat there in the next few minutes pondering my oldest child, I felt the spirit teaching me.  

I'm not sure I can adequately explain what I learned, but here is my best effort.  I have prayed so much for Todd, which is right and good.  But then I have held on so tightly to that prayer.  I have held on too tightly.  I have prayed and then instead of turning it over to my Father,  I have tried to MAKE that prayer work.  I have tried to MAKE him choose joy.  I have tried to MAKE him be happy.  I haven't spent enough time looking around at the multitude of ways Heavenly Father has blessed me with answers to my prayers.  Most specifically, Heavenly Father has sent so many people, amazing people, into my life, and into our family's life, who love my boys.  They love Todd and have changed his life.  As I scrolled through pictures this morning, it brought tears to my eyes to look at the love these good people have for my boy.  These, my friends, are the answers to my prayers.  These are the people Heavenly Father has been using to bless my boy.  I am so grateful they have accepted that call from Heavenly Father to take up that challenge.  So grateful.

 This is Todd's 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Smith.  For me and mine, this woman was a miracle worker.  That smile on Tod's face isn't fake.  He loves this woman.  

 Coach Brittany was Todd's swimming coach this summer.  He said he liked her because, "She really makes us work hard."

 This fellow is Todd's cousin.  Sometimes they're super cool.  Sometimes they giggle like girls.  Sometimes they fight like brothers.  Oh how I love them.

 This is Todd's best buddy.  These two are a lot alike.

 This is Todd's great aunt ( I threw that in there to make her feel old :)  She visits every other year and we always have a grand adventure.

 This is Todd's bridge ceremony.  On the right is scout leader extraordinaire, Sister Lambourne, who was also Todd's amazing primary president for several years.  On the left is Brother Thiriot.  Talk about a dynamite 11-year-old scout leader.  

 Wow, does Todd look up to his dad.  I think his greatest desire is to please him.

What fabulous grandparents.  Grandpa even showed Todd how to mow a lawn this summer, and then was patient when Todd missed ummmm, a few spots.

 This was Todd's fifth grade teaching team last year.  Those women are my heroes.

 This is Todd's uncle/surf instructor, Jeremy.  He has made Todd one happy camper to be up on those waves.  (Though Todd does prefer the water temperature in Hawaii to that of Monterey)

 This is Todd's newest cousin, Oscar.  Todd loves those babies.

 These boys are so good to each other.  Yesterday, Ben came home with 62 new Pokemon cards.  Todd spent his hard-earned school money to buy them for him.  

 This is Todd's great great grandmother.  She and Todd share a birthday month.  What a gift it was that Todd knew this wonderful lady before she died 3 years ago.  Lucky, lucky  boy.

This is Todd's grandpa.  (His grandma has a serious gift for photo avoidance, thus no recent photo).  Todd loves and respects this man so very much.  We often talk about how much Grandpa will be able to help Todd even from the other side of the veil.  I'm so grateful that Todd will always remember good moments like this he got to have with his grandpa.

So there you have it.  These people (and more) are the answers to my prayers.  They are the reason I can let go a little bit.  They are Heavenly Father's way of getting us through these times that aren't always easy.  What a blessing.

Halloween in January?

I can't believe I never posted these gems. I seriously love making family Halloween costumes. . .

Every year the camera manages to catch Ryan with a fabulous look on his face. This year was no exception.

A vacation of sorts

In mid December, Ryan had a work training in Salt Lake City and the wives were invited to come along. Some great new friends of ours, the Yancey family, graciously agreed to host our two little munchkins for four days and three nights. They are an fun young couple eagerly anticipating their first baby, so they said this would be great practice for them. So, every day, Elizabeth took the kids to school and picked them up, packed their lunch

es, and made sure they had their miscellaneous items for that last week of
school before break. At night, Russ and Elizabeth played drums, guitars, playstation, and games with the boys. I'm pretty sure after that fun week, T and B decided we are no longer cool parents. Thank you Yanceys!

But enough about the boys. We had a great, great, great time in Salt Lake. Well, I had a great time. Ryan still had meetings all day. This was our agenda:

Monday: Ryan drives to SLC in the afternoon.

Steph gets the boys packed, finishes last minute errands, etc.

Tuesday: Ryan has meetings.

Steph gets the kids to school, then transports a massive pile of stuff to the Yancey house. (because of course you need guitar for lessons, scout uniform for Wednesday night, church clothes for Ben's piano recital (Yep, we missed it), uniforms for school, pajamas both for sleeping and for Friday's wear jammies to school day for Ben, Christmas books for our nightly Christmas book reading tradition, cookies for Todd's class party Friday, etc. etc. etc.

When all this is done, Steph flies on a plane all by herself. She buys a magazine in the airport newsstand because she can. She wears adorable boots and looks like a grown up.

Tuesday night dinner at the Lion House--Ryan and Steph are the youngest by at least 10 years, but it's fun.

Wednesday: Ryan has meetings

Steph sleeps in, gets ready, wears grown-ups clothes (not one surf T-shirt or pair of ratty jeans in the bunch), has brunch at The Blue Lemon overlooking the Salt Lake Temple and reads in her Kindle. She eats an artichoke and sun dried tomato sandwich with sweet potato fries. She sits there for an hour because she can.

No one tells her the food is disgusting or asks "what are we doing now?" She then treks over to the Family History Library. They have her watch a movie and give her a yellow "Newbie" name tag so everyone knows she is clueless. It is fun. Seriously. She stays there for hours.

Wednesday night Ryan and Steph catch a rushed dinner at Red Iguana (not nearly as good as they hype, in Steph's opinion) and then catch a temple session at the Salt Lake temple with Ryan's co-workers. Fantastic.

Thursday: Ryan has meetings (thought he originally wasn't supposed to)

Steph sleeps in, gets up, breaks a record for looking like a grown up three days in a row, has breakfast overlooking the temple at Hagermann's (She'll fess up that it was a croissant smothered with Nutella and then grilled--nothing healthy but everything delicious). She then heads back to the Family History Library for more fun. She even finds some clues to a mystery in Grandpa Bob's family. So exciting.

Ryan and Steph meet for lunch, then back to more meetings and Family History.

Friday night dinner at Bruges waffles (OK, so it wasn't really dinner--more like a heart attack waiting to happen) followed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. The organ solo was amazing!

Friday: Ryan and Steph oversleep a bit, run a few errands, then drive home. Because of some poor communication on Steph's part, they were only unsure about the whereabouts of their kids for 15 minutes on Friday afternoon. Other than that, everything went off without a hitch.

It sure was fun to enjoy my husband without the pressures of parenting and balancing schedules. The best part of all was that by the time we came back, I missed my kids and was ready to dive back into mothering. We are definitely doing this again soon. Next time, maybe we'll just have to get away without the meetings. . .