Halloween

Halloween is still 5 days you crazy woman. I know thats what you are thinking. But our ward had our "Trunker Treat" (as Natalie wrote it on our calendar) tonight. And since Chad is at a conference he didn't get to see the kids costumes. So here are some pictures of our 3 little witches and a wizard.

Megan wouldn't wear the hat. This is about as long as we could get her to leave it alone.

 Claire carried around a little black stuffed cat that was really cute. She even had me tie ribbons on it to match her tutu.

 Natalie wanted to be Rapunzel. It was easy to get her to change her mind,  though, when she found out she'd get new black boots to complete her ensemble.

 Caleb had a blast being Harry Potter. His favorite 2 spells are "Expelliarmus" and "Avada Kadavra."

This isn't a great picture of any of them except Megan, and she looks so cute I couldn't resist putting it on here.

10 years and counting...

Today is our 10th Wedding anniversary. I'm so grateful every day that I chose to marry the man that I did because we are a great match for each other.

Cars

Yesterday Chad spend the day in surgery. As he was leaving the hospital he ran into a guy whom we shall call Mr. F. Mr. F. grew up here, and went to high school with Chad's older brother. He is not a member of the church. Chad became re-aquainted with Mr. F. shortly after we moved here. Mr. F. recently completed P.A. school and accepted a position back here in town, and happened to be leaving the hospital at the same time as Chad. They were parked next to each other in the parking garage. Mr. F. climbed into his nice, shiny new silver Toytoa Tundra, which I'm sure is very clean inside. Chad climbed into his 2001 Toytoa Corolla, also silver but not quite so shiny and new. Inside were 2 carseats, a package of babywipes, and other paraphernalia associated with being a soccer dad of 4.3 children and a counselor in the bishopric. Chad commented to me that the cars are such a symbol of the choices they've made.

Mr. F. probably drove that shiny truck home to an empty house and ate a solitary dinner and spent the evening watching sports.

Chad drove his not-so-shiny car home to a house full of love and noisy children. The minute he walked in the door Megan ran as fast as her tiny little legs could carry her over to him and wrapped her arms around his legs. He spent some time watching sports too, but it was Natalie's soccer game. Then he ate dinner while feeding the kids because I was at my book club, checked Caleb's homework, had them clean their rooms, then got them in jammies and in bed. When I got home 3 of the 4 were asleep, and the 4th soon followed.

I can't help but be grateful that Chad wouldn't trade his not-so-shiny car and lots of love for that shiny new pickup.

And I can't help but wonder if Mr. F. would trade his shiny truck for the crazy but full life that comes with that not-so-shiny car. I wonder if he even knows what he's missing.

My sister posted this on her blog, and I think its my new favorite poem.

Dishwashers

My dishwasher is dead. May it rest in peace. It hasn't worked well for a couple of years now. There's a short in the computer that would make it only run half a cycle or switch from a "wash" to a "rinse." The short has now caused the control panel buttons to lock, thereby prohibiting me from pushing any buttons. I've tried unplugging and resetting and holding down buttons til my fingers hurt and kicking it. Nothing seems to work. So now I'm asking my friends... what kind of dishwasher do you have? Do you like it? If you were in the market for a new one what would you get? Thanks for the input!

Privilege

It has been forever since I've written anything on this blog. We've had a really fun summer. I'll write more on that later, but I have been thinking a lot about something the last few days, and I wanted to document it somewhere.

Last week, the family traveled to Utah so Chad and I could be with some friends who were sealed in the temple. (I'll include some of the details of that later). While there, we stayed with my sister, Shari, and she was wonderful enough to watch all 4 of the kids for 7 hours while Chad and I drove from Logan to Boutiful, did a session in that beautiful temple, and drove back to Logan. That night after we got back to Logan we went to the Cache County Fair. It was so fun just to wander around and look at the animals (Megan was terrified of them!) and enjoy fair food. I'm lame and wouldn't let the kids ride any rides--$3 for 30 seconds on a car that you don't even steer... LAME!! But at one point Shari and I were haggling over who was paying for her dinner. I was insisting that I pay because she'd watched my kids all day. And she said, "It was a privilege to watch them." I jokingly said, "I do it all day, every day... its not that great of a privilege."

And that's what has made me think.

One definition of privilege is a right ... or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most.

It is a privilege for me to have these 4 special little people in my house, under my care, every single day. They are children of our Heavenly Father and I have the responsibility to teach them, and to train them, and to love them, and to show them the things they need to know so they can be strong citizens and builders of the kingdom of God. I need to remember this more.

Thanks, Shari, for reminding me of this privilege.

The other key word in that definition is enjoy. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the mundane routine that I forget this part. My mom and I were talking last week about being quick to laugh at things. I used to be... probably a little TOO quick to laugh at things... but I don't know that I am anymore. I forget that "Men are that they might have JOY!" That is our Heavenly Father's plan. Sure, its to have joy with our families for eternity, but we should seek to enjoy this life. Even though sometimes life is hard. And even the privilege of raising my children is hard.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin gave this talk in 2008. His mother gave him some advice one day: "Joseph, come what may, and love it!" Of this he said, "I think she may have meant that every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result."

So even as having this privilege has its times when the birds don't sing, I can be enjoy it.

Another Blog

My sister Shari and I started this blog. She's much more clever of a writer than I am, but we are excited to work on it together.

Happy New Year

One of my goals for the New Year is to be a better blogger. Not because I think we are all that interesting, or because I even think that many people read this blog, but because I want to use it as a kind-of a journal, a place where I can record some of the happenings at our house for our family.

Our holidays were filled with lots a family, friends, food, and fun. Claire and I have had birthdays since my last post. She is now 3. And BOY is she ever three. It is such a fun age, but she sure has a mind of her own. She wants to do everything on her own. She started Sunbeams yesterday and is really excited to be in primary with "the kids." Her favorite things to eat are macaroni and cheese and cheeseball. Claire is always the first to say thank you. She fills our house with laughter.

I didn't write much about Natalie on her birthday, so I'll do that now. She is 6 now, and she loves everything girly. She was taking violin lessons, but we've decided to take a break from that and start learning the piano. Natalie loves to read.... often at night we let the kids read for a short time before bed. There have been a few nights when we've thought she was long-since asleep, and she'll come out of her room carrying a book and pronounce, "I've finished this one!" She gets extra reading time at school, by far the best reader in kindergarten. Natalie loves to snuggle and loves to hold her baby sister. Unfortunately, that baby sister doesn't always like being held by her. Natalie is also very creative. She's always writing books, coloring pictures, and making up songs. She had a ballet recital in December and loved getting dressed up and performing. Not sure where she gets that from. ;)

Megan is growing so fast I can't even believe it. She is the proud owner of 2 new teeth. She loves eat baby food and big people food. Club crackers are her new favorite--and very messy--snack. She hasn't been sleeping as well lately as she was, but hopefully we'll be getting her on a better schedule. She loves to sit on the floor and play with toys, pull hair, and put fingerprints on my glasses. She hates getting in her car seat and when mom leaves the room.

Caleb's birthday is coming up soon, so I'm not going to write as much about him. He is very excited to get baptised and start Cub Scouts. He thinks he needs a pocket knife--I don't think so! Last month he taught himself to play "Jolly Old St. Nicolas" on the piano. And of course he loves school!

Chad is keeping busy with work and fulfilling his calling as 1st counselor in the bishopric. One of the physicians at work has moved to a different practice, so he's going to get even busier at work, but he's excited for the challenge. He was able to go to Texas one day last month and get some extra training to help with surgeries, so he's hoping to be spending more time in the OR.

I love being able to be home with our kids. Its certainly not without it challenges, but I wouldn't trade it. They keep me busy with their hobbies and homework. I have decided I am going to train for my first century bike ride, and I am very excited for that challenge. I am teaching Gospel Doctrine to the 16 and 17 yr olds in the ward and look forward to learning more about the life of Jesus this year.

Tonight for FHE we are setting goals for the coming year. I am excited to hear what the kids want to do!