Gratitude

Today was the Primary Program at church--my favorite Sunday of the year! The kids were so sweet and cute, and the Sunbeams were so entertaining :) As they sang the songs and said their parts I felt such a sense of gratitude for this young generation.  The future is in good hands. These kids are so valiant and want to do good and be good. We sang "Love Is Spoken Here" for the closing song and I felt the spirit so strongly. It is such a noble and humbling job we do as parents. We are shaping the future by teaching and leading our kids. And they are teaching and shaping us into better individuals as well. More patient and understanding, full of unconditional love. I know so many days I fall short of what I want to be as a parent, but I figure that as long as I am trying and never give up, then eventually, someday, eons from now, I'll be that parent.

So the kids today bore testimony by standing up, holding up their scriptures and saying, "I know the scriptures are true!" I want to add my testimony to theirs. I know the scriptures are true and I am so grateful for them. I'm grateful for those who sacrificed all to pave the way for the Bible to be translated into English and made available to the common man, and I'm grateful to the prophets of old who lived here in the Americas and understood how important it would be for us to have a second witness of our Savior. They took the great time and effort to record the gospel so that we could have it and read it everyday and find the strength to face our challenges and stand tall in the world today. And i'm grateful to Joseph Smith, having the faith and the courage to ask God and then be obedient in all things so the gospel could be restored to the earth again. I know we have a living prophet today, even Pres. Monson, and look forward to hearing from him in a few weeks at General Conference. I know that he speaks the words of Christ, and that I will be uplifted, encouraged and prompted to make changes in my life that will bring me closer to Christ. I know he is my Savior and the Savior of all the world. Such a humbling thought to know that he gave all, even his very life, for me. And for you.

And now for some pictures--totally unrelated to my ramblings today. This is our pitiful garden this year. In spite of our neglect, we were able to enjoy some delicious tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and peppers. I think if I spent some time with the garden watering and weeding it it would do a little better. Just a theory I have, but I think I'll have to try it next year :)

 Miya loved the eggplant

 Trying to get Miya to hold the cucumber--she didn't like the pokeys. Yes, this cucumber was left on the vine a BIT too long. And yes, it is bigger than the eggplant.

 My blonde girl

Hurrah for fresh produce! There is something so satisfying about picking food out of our garden right before dinner and knowing how fresh and good it is. Hopefully next year I will feel motivated to spend a little more time with the garden and we'll have a better harvest.

1st Day of School

The kids are back in school and loving it!

Too much togetherness...

 Yesterday was the last day of summer break, so in honor of the occasion I told the kids they could take the day off--no piano practicing or big jobs. Hurrah! I thought it was a great idea until they decided to fill their spare time with non-stop fighting. Maybe they were just trying to get me excited to send them back to school...

So I told Shayla and Ty that they had lost all priviledges (i.e. no football practice for Ty or gymnastics or friends for Shayla) until they wrote a letter to each other. They had to apologize and then tell each other 5 things they liked about each other. So...here are the letters. As you can see they did EXACTLY what was asked, no more, but still it did help them turn things around and be a LITTLE nicer to each other.

We did eventually make it on a bike ride (adventurous to say the least) to play at the park.

And Ty was able to go to football practice, so it wasn't all bad. Miya loves wearing Ty's pads around. 

Garrett: Mom, did you know that the tongue is the strongest muscle?
Me: Really? I didn't know that...
Garrett: But...probably not for sumo wrestlers. Those guys are HUGE!

Curly Girl

My naturally curly hair has been a blessing and a curse my whole life. I love that it is relatively low maintenance and that I don't have to do much with it, but I sure wish I could have a change of style every once in a while. It's just too much work to straighten it though. I've tried before getting it cut in cute straight styles, but I only fix it straight the first time or two and then I'm back to letting it stay curly. My hair just wants to be curly, so I let it. We are both happier that way.

Recently my hairdresser told me about a book, "Curly Girl," that has changed my curls for the better. The secret for curly hair is...

NO SHAMPOO.

That's right...it has been 42 days and counting since I washed my hair. Before you get all grossed out, let me explain. Instead of using shampoo, I just condition twice. The first time I use the conditioner like shampoo and massage my scalp really well. After rinsing I condition again, this time letting it soak into my hair, then rinse like normal. That's it--it is so simple, but it has made my curls much less frizzy and more manageable. I'm even thinking of growing my hair out to see how it looks long now that I know this secret.

If you are a curly girl reading this and want to try to kick the shampoo habit, be patient. Give it a full 3 weeks with no shampoo before you decide if you like the results or not. When I hit 2 weeks of no shampoo I almost caved because my scalp felt itchy, and i kept thinking my hair must be stinking by then (Tyler assured me it didn't, but I didn't really believe him :)  But once I hit the 3 week mark I was sold. I use much less product now and don't fight the frizz like I used to (well, at least not as much). What have you got to lose? Try it and you'll be a believer!

 Photographic proof: I don't have a good picture of me, but this is the most recent one. After a day of playing water baseball my hair would normally be frizzing out like crazy, and be 3x's it's normal size. But with the curly girl miracle, it's not too bad (all things considered :) 

Totally unrelated, but I thought Miya's wet diaper sag was impressive :) 

What are your hair secrets?

A Mom-of-the Year-Moment

So I know I usually post all the good stuff on my blog, but in wanting to keep it real I thought I'd post my real-great-mom moment I had at the triathlon. The purpose of this post is to make you feel good about yourself, so enjoy!

So when we got to the triathlon for the kids, Tyler took Ty and Garrett in through the boys locker room, and I was to take Shayla, Grant and Miya through the girl's to get to the pool. Well, Grant was being a bit stubborn, and didn't want to go in the girl's locker room. After finally convincing him to come with us, he came in the locker room door, but refused to go into the bathrooms with us. I was pretty frustrated with him and feeling a bit frazzled, wanting Shayla to be out to the race in time and all...So I took Shayla to the bathroom and thought Grant would just follow us. After finishing up in the bathroom we exited the locker room out to the pool area and sat down on the bleachers to wait for instructions. I was looking around, taking in all of the race day excitement, feeling as nervous as the people actually in the race, when a lady walked in the pool area and began asking parents if they had lost a little boy with dark hair. She actually asked 1 or 2 parents before she got to me, and I was about to say no, when I realized that I DIDN'T HAVE GRANT WITH ME!!! I ran out to the lobby with the lady and saw Grant standing there with a bunch of adults around him. He looked mostly mad, and just a little bit scared and lonely. I tried to give him a hug, but he just shoved me away, I thanked the people who found him (just inside the girls' locker room door) and walked back into the pool area.

When Grant was finally talking to me again, he sat on my lap and I asked him where he was. He said he was waiting by the door 'cause he knew I'd have to come out that way. He looked so little and innocent and I felt so bad for misplacing him. I thought, what kind of parent loses their child and doesn't even realize it?!!? Lucky for me, Grant is a pretty forgiving boy, and after a few minutes all was back to normal.

So, this was a first for me. I mean I've lost a kid before, but I've always been franticly searching until I've found him or her. This is a new high--I'm just waiting for the phone to ring for the "mother-of-the-year people to interview me :) On the bright side, I didn't lose Shayla or Miya, so really 2 out of 3 isn't all that bad, right?!

Triathlon!!!

 On Saturday Aug. 13th, 2011 Ty, Shayla and Garrett competed in their very first triathlon. They swam 2 laps, biked 2 miles and ran 1/2 mile. They did amazing!!!

 Getting pumped up before the big race--they were nervous and excited and ready to go. We had been training by biking and running around our neighborhood, and swimming at the YMCA.

 Here is Garrett in the pool for the swim--I didn't get many pictures, mostly videos. 

 Shayla right before her heat started...I loved watching her swim. She was pretty nervous about the swim, but once she started she loved it. She did mostly the backstroke so I could see her face and she had a smile on it the whole time.

Ty actually took 1st place in his division (10 and under)!!!

All of them did their very best and really pushed themselves.

We were so proud of them!
If you'd like to see more pics, click on this link:http://gallery.me.com/briteideaphoto#100784&view=mosaic&sel=0

Minot, North Dakota

Minot, North Dakota was badly flooded the end of June and left 4,100 people with homes under 4 feet of water. They have had so many people volunteering to help out but weren't even close to getting the houses gutted so they could be rebuilt before winter hits so they sent a plea all the way down to us in the Twin Cities area (and out to Wyoming/Montana, etc) for help. I was able to go up with a group of 4 of us from the Hudson Ward August 4-7th and help out. We drove up on a Thursday afternoon (it took 10 hours instead of the normal 8 because of traffic) and returned late Sunday night. It was a life changing experience and I loved every minute of it.

We went to the church at 7am to get our first assignment, were grouped with about 7 others and went off to our first house. Our assignment was to completely gut the house down to the 2x4's. The first house was full of stuff that we had to remove first before we could even get to the carpeting/pad, drywall, insulation, etc. It was sad to haul out all of the muddy, soggy personal belongings of this family. I got to shovel out the game room so pieces from Sorry and Pictionary were all sogged in the muddy mucky basement I shoveled out. I heard that this was a military family who had been deployed, so they couldn't get any of their personal belongings out before the flood. So sad.

They built dirt levies around the downtown shopping area and were able to protect a lot of it.

The Souris River--looking pretty innocent now

Our second house-the owner is in an orange shirt with his 9 and 11 yr old sons. They were there the whole time we worked and were so helpful, sweeping up debris and pulling out nails. Such a cute family! They were so well prepared and had put all of their personal belongings on the 2nd level of their home and removed the carpets so it was much easier to gut their home. There was such a heavy feeling of loss, but also of determination to rebuild at the same time. 

I didn't really get pictures of the inside of the homes--it really wasn't a place for cameras we were working so hard. But here is a sample of the hallway in our 3rd home. The stench was nauseating and we had to wear masks because of the mold. It was work that I would never do for payment, but serving together with my crew I felt so close to the Savior.

Me standing by the pile of debris we had hauled out of our 3rd home by the end of the day.

It was normal to see huge piles of stuff like this up and down the streets in front of all of the houses.

The man with oxygen tank is the owner of the 3rd house we worked on. He is a retired army man who lived here with his daughter. With no flood insurance he wasn't sure what he would do. Only 10-15% of the people who were flooded had flood insurance. FEMA was giving $30,000 to flood victims to help them rebuild. That might work if you were young and strong and could do all of the work yourself, but for this man it would be tough.

Malia and Carlos (Tyler's cousin) were so kind and let us stay with them (the other option was pitching a tent on the church grounds and showering in the temporary outdoor tarp-surrounded luke-warm-at-best-showers, which many people did). They had a hot shower and a hot meal for us ready at the end of everyday, and being in their home with their cute kids made me feel at home. Curtis had great fun playing with their kids, Joseph, Lizzy, David and Alaina (not pictured is Jacob--born the weekend of the flood)

Sunday morning we had a brief church service at 7am and then headed back out to work. We sang the song "Lord, I Would Follow Thee", which is now one of my favorite hymns. When we sang the line, "Savior, may I learn to love thee, Walk the path that thou hast shown, Pause to help and lift another, Finding strength beyond my own..." my heart was touched and I knew that we had all been blessed with strength beyond our own in what we had accomplished in one weekend. It was such a privilege to be there and meet the people I did.

On the home front Tyler took the day off of work on Friday and PARTIED with the kids. They went to the movies and saw Cars II, went swimming at Willow River State Park, attended Rib Fest and ate tons of ribs, played the Wii and camped out in the basement together. The kids loved having their dad all to themselves. On Sunday they told the Primary President, "When our Dad is home we get to party. My Mom just makes us work." I'd say we're pretty balanced between the two of us. Life is so very good.

Tackle Football!

Ty is playing tackle football! 

 Funny but when you look at him you see the top picture, I just see this. 

My baby, playing tackle football. 

Just to put my mind at ease, they passed out "how to spot a concussion" papers at the first parent meeting. Thanks a lot.

I told Ty I may not be able to attend his games.

Ty has been waiting for this day for a long time...on the drive home from evaluation night where he got to tackle in full gear for the first time, Ty said, "That was the most fun EVER!!" His smile says it all.

Happy Birthday, Grant!!!

The Big FOUR!!!

Most of my kids aren't big cake fans, so instead we had pudding, Jo-jo, strawberry, blueberry, cool whip delight. They love it and request it for most every birthday.

Figuring out his new Lightning McQueen car...

New birthday shirt. Perfect as the kids have been running football drills non-stop in the backyard this summer.

Grant turned 4 on August 2. He requested Orange Rolls for his breakfast in bed. He is such a fun, smart little boy. We love laughing at his antics each day and are so glad he is a member of our family.

Happy Birthday, G2!! We love you!

Cabin Time!

Just a quick 24 hour trip, but we enjoyed a delicious cabin breakfast (thanks, Tyler), hot dogs and s'mores for dinner, salamander hunting in the pond, moose spotting and lots of good time to talk. Thanks so much to Ang and Jeff for coming up with us.

Tyler and Lani

Playing guns is always a favorite cabin activity.

Whenever the camera appears, Miya puts on her cheesy smile :)

Angie and Tate

Swimming in the ice-cold beaver pond. Ang and I watched from the side. Brrrrr...

On our trek home we camped somewhere in a beautiful valley in Wyoming. It was a fun end to our vacation.

Grant all smiles for our last breakfast. Until next vacation!

Wagner Reunion

From the race we went on to the Wagner Family Reunion. Your thinking right now, 'will their vacation ever end?' I know, we were traveling for 2 weeks and it was great.

I didn't get photos but the kids enjoyed relay races with their cousins, and the adults got into the fun as well. 3-legged, gunny sack, running races--you get the picture. Good clean fun. Tyler and I were pretty sore from our race, but managed to compete in the 3-legged race without falling over :)

Picnicking out on the deck

Weeding and mulching Grandma's yard

Giant freezies after--perfect refreshment!

Garrett on the slip-n-slide after the work day

Curt & Eva

Hadley, Sarah & Ty soaking up the sun

Grant, McKay & Grandma Jeena at the pool

Swimming at the Lindon Pool. The community pools in Utah are more like what water parks were when I was a kid. Do I sound old?

Oh how I miss the mountains

Rock Band!!! The kids were so glad Ricky brought the band--they loved it all from the guitar, bass, drums to singing they jammed out.

We had family photos taken at a beautiful home close by. Only problem was Miya threw-up when we were getting ready to go. I think she was on her 3rd outfit by the time we actually took the pictures...looking forward to seeing how those pictures turned out. This was Miya after the pictures-just having fun playing.

Big helpers Garrett and Hyrum

We had fun visiting the Art and Bean Museum at BYU, and of course enjoying creamery ice cream.

Almost all of us

Garrett & Hyrum catching a ride from Laura and Jacob

It was such a great reunion--so fun to see everyone. Can't wait until the next one!