Family Home Evening - as conducted by Matthew

I had an appointment today after work to have a lipoma removed from my left forearm. Pretty minor surgery. Five stitches. It doesn't even hurt (yet).

Matthew "conducted" Family Home Evening tonight. He stood on the brick fireplace ("the stage") and told us the order of events from the agenda. "And now we will have the lesson! The lesson is: roll a ball and say a letter. Then name a car with that letter." Emily redirected that one by asking, "And how would that help us get to heaven?" So he chose a different activity. He announced that first Hayley and then Nathan were to recite poems, which they both did very well. Matthew directed that we all "Sit in a circle and talk about nice things." Emily was assigned to "say two nice things - about flowers." I was given the assignment to "say nice things about 'how conductors do family home evening'." Nathan was asked to talk "about sitting in a circle talking about nice things" which Nathan politely declined to comment on. As an item of Business in our little circle, Emily reminded the children of the pattern of later and later school assignment completion and admonished them to begin in on their lessons promptly after breakfast so school could be done tomorrow by 1 pm instead of 6pm (when Nathan finally finished his math today). Prayer and song were followed by ice cream, Family Scripture Time (we're in Alma 51 dealing with the King Men), reading time (any book quiet time until 9:30) and sleep.

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young love

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Matthew scored a pizza and 'fishies!

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Hayley downs a tall stack of pancakes with jell-o and hot chocolate for reading at least 250 pages per week.

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Nathan and his prize meal from reading library books.

7/6/9

Family Home Evening

Emily: "What's something you learned at home?"

Matthew: "I learned "Th" at home!"

- Apparently Emily has been practicing pronunciation with Matthew.

Nahtn: "How to ride a bike."

- Nathan learned to ride his "two-wheeler" without training wheels in no less than 3 minutes!

Hayley: "How to do fractions - today in math. It's easy."

Emily: "What's something you learned in church?"

Matthew & Nathan: (no response)

Hayley: "I learned about Ammon - how he chop-chop-chopped off the arms."

Emily: "I leaned about being creative and doing service. And that doing that makes us happy."

Emily: "Say something nice aobut someone else in the family."

Matthew: "Nathan hits me." (after some further thought) "Hayley always draws me dragons."

Nahtan: "Hayley tickles me."

Hayley: "I think Nathan does a good job brushing his teeth."

Ridley Weekly Update, Monday June 15 - Sunday June 21

Nathan & Matthew at the Orem Utah Windsor Stake Conference, Sunday June 21 2009.

Monday – On Sunday night (following the last update), Emily had discovered that the hard drive of one of our computers had crashed. Monday marked the first of three days she spent fixing that problem with intensive tech support phone calls from her rather genius and loving father. Emily made her McMillan family recipe pizza for everyone along with family home evening...the significance of which shall be seen in the next sad paragraph.

Tuesday – Emily sent Dave a text message while he was at work in a therapy session letting him know that she got the results of her blood test back and…she has celiac. This presents a significant change in our lives because most of you would not BELIEVE how many foods are made with wheat in them; she has to stop eating all wheat gluten for the rest of her life. Thus, Emily will not be eating pizza again and must now mourn the memory of so many other food items.

Wednesday – ...Nothing significant whatever appears to have happened at all...except that Emily took the kids shopping and purchased new food items.

Thursday - Emily’s birthday was celebrated by having a truly great ice cream cake which was home-made by Emily and our dedicated, wonderful brother, Glenn. The gluten-free cake was simply made by combining Breyers chocolate ice cream with crushed Butterfinger and Snickers bars and re-freezing it in a cake pan. You all shoulda had some! Emily received birthday cards from Verl & RenDena Rasmussen (Dave’s parents), and from Dave & Karyn McMillan (Emily’s parents). Phone calls, emails, and well-wishing came to Emily throughout the day and we thank all of you for your expressions of love. (For any who are just now remembering that they should have sent expressions of love, please remit the customary $20 late fee with said expressions).

Friday – We attended the wedding reception of a girl Emily used to babysit when she lived in Bolton, Connecticut. Lovely location, lovely people, lovely desserts. The kids also loved the pool of fish, the trampoline, and the dancing. Photographs from the event should be coming soon!

Saturday – Christa and Steve Nelson came over to share dinner with us (Lasagnia) and to watch our kids while Emily and Dave had a little date to attend the adult session of Orem Utah Windsor Stake Conference where we heard Elder William R. Walker of the First Quorum of the Seventy (who is the chairman of the church Temple Committee) speak on 1) the (apparently) high number of active temple recomend holders in our stake, 2) on the Love of the Saints in caring for those in and out of the church and, 3) how that example has brought many closer to Our Lord.

Sunday – Kids particularly enjoyed the thrilling balcony seats of the American Fork Tabernacle during Stake Conference Sunday morning. Photos (in sad cell-phone quality) are included in this very blog entry! After church, Hayley and Nathan spent much of the Father's Day eagerly immersed in “The Liahona Legacies, Vol. 1: Moroni's Treasure,” a book on CD read by John Bytheway which was given to them by Grandma Dena (and we send our thanks, as this is the second time they have joyfully completed the CD set). Meanwhile, Dave read some Winnie the Pooh stories and other book to Matthew to help him accomplish his library goal (or just because it was fun). In the evening, Matthew and Nathan got a long overdue trimming and now their buzzed heads look quite different. Father's Day was celebrated in grand style as marked by napping and Leftover Lasagnia for Dave for both breakfast AND lunch. Cheesecake was also a feature of the day and was consumed in approximately 15 minutes, cherry topping and all. This is especially remarkable because Emily was unable to have any due to celiac issues & Nathan and Matthew both decided they didn't like it (what is wrong with them, we're not sure). This left only Hayley and David to face the challenge - and Hayley, while enthusiatic, is, you must remember, only seven.

Hayley, at the Orem Utah Stake Conference.

Glowing!

Sitting in the Orem Utah Stake Conference.

Ridley Weekly Update, Sun June 7 - Sunday June 14

Sun.

There was a party of friends and family at our apartment to say good bye to “Uncle Matt & Aunt Becky” (who departed to became New Mexicans on Tuesday) and to celebrate Dave turning 33 (the previous Tuesday). Becky brought a rather marvelous frosty orange cream layered dessert which...was worthy of repetition.

Mon

Matt and Becky departed in earnest and we mourn their passing Becky tells us that the drive down that way is WAY more entertaining than the drive between here and Boise, so she's already angling for visits. At work, Dave conquered the High Ropes Course as part of a recreation therapy activity

Dave standing in manful victory atop the uppermost beam of the High Ropes Course.

Family Home Evening was about “Dad’s work.” We sang Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel, quoted scriptures (such as “Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer” ) and did some role-plays of “What Dad does at the office.” To illustrate, Dave played himself, Emily played the part of a disgruntled teenage boy with an attitude & anger issues and Hayley & Nathan played the supportive parents doing phone therapy with their son from several states away. Emily particularly recalls Matthew pretending to call on the phone and giving a remarkable, unrehearsed, long, in-character monologue about how frustrating it is to be a parent and what a parent should do if their child refuses to come in the house when they are told.

Tue

This was the birthday of beloved Aunt Maurine. Hayley had her weekly dance class. She says she was working on “jazz dance” rather than the usual ballet and reports, “it was rather fun.” She says her favorite dance move in jazz was actually the warm-up stretch and posing back to back with her dance partner at the end of the dance.

Wed

At the Orem Public Library, the kids watched a child’s play of

Shakespeare’s Othello wherein other children were called up and were prompted lines to say. Tragically (if not predictably), Othello lost all he loved through the plotting and deception of the wicked Iago. In the evening, Dave and Emily went on a date to Bombay House to meet with another couple to discuss the possibility of Dave & Emily teaching together a series lectures, small group workshops, and couples therapy around marital intimacy. Dave learned that he really likes Chicken Tikka Masala.

Thu

Hayley had dance class again, per usual, and did ballet. She says she likes doing the splits and "rolling around on the ground" (this is ballet??). David did some therapy that actually made him cry. (Those that know Dave may recognize that this is significant, because, though he often is much moved by therapy sessions, it rarely manifests through tears). Emily went to Mother’s Night Out. She says she had fun and there was good conversation with other homeschooling moms.

Fri
Emily took the kids to Orem’s Summer Fest. They waited in line for an hour to get on the Ferris Wheel. Hayley had to ride by herself because of some policy about having no more than three persons per passenger gondola. Despite Hayley and Nathan’s initial crying and wailing (Matthew was, by far, the bravest), all three children came home RAVING about the ride.

Sat.

Returning to Summer Fest for day two, the kids all rode “the Motorcycle Ride.” Hayley reports that the “Center Stage” was “two groups of really good dancing people” and that she enjoyed the martial arts which was “Karate – people broke boards with their feet and did sparring. They kicked high; they hit a tennis racket someone held up higher and higher. One person did a front flip by himself and didn’t use his hands.”

Emily finished reading The Odyssey.

Sun
Dave & Emily assertively circulated sign-up sheets for the ward dinner groups they are organizing for the activities committee and David requested that the Bishopric along with Elders Quorum & Relief Society presidencies submit names of those who don’t often get to come to the regular meetings who might like to be invited in for some dinner and socializing with their neighbors. Emily says there are enough people for about five dinner groups of 4-5 couples to be arranged later in the month.

After dinner, Nathan announced that he had “Taped everything together.” By this he meant to inform us that he had used much of a roll of scotch tape randomly adhesing various and sundry objects downstairs. Parental disapproval followed. The kids also want it noted that they had ice cream tonight for dessert. The traditional Bryers was served and the usual good times ensued. Hayley got to stay up later and help with this update with the condition that she put the dinner dishes in the dishwasher (Good job, Hayley – now good night).

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2009-06-01-03 - Dave's Birthday Hike to Silver Lake

Nathan Accompanies me on a Visit to Primary Children's Hospital

Good Reads

David's book montage

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