Temple Trip

We had a fabulous day at the St. Louis Temple yesterday with 24 of our 50 youth attending for Baptisms for the Dead. They did approximately 240 names. I heard several people talk about various temples they have attended and about past Youth Temple Trips. My youth was rather boring since we traveled 30 minutes for our temple trips. I heard of people traveling 8 hours to go to Dallas or Chicago once a year. Our ward had the added blessing this year of going twice to St. Louis.

As a leader, those trips to Dallas or Chicago would take a lot of commitment to take two days away from your family, spend a night in a motel keeping track of all your youth, and the 16 hours of driving round trip. Kudos to these dedicated youth leaders who sacrificed so much to fulfill their callings. A one day trip to St. Louis and back seems such a small comparison, not that I'm complaining, just comparing the differences that members face around the globe.

We had planned for all of us to attend, but because of Chris' broken foot, Mike stayed home and took care of our boy. I was sad about that because I wanted all of us to be in the temple together. But, I came home to a sparkling clean house and the laundry all done. I have the best husband! Even though our men couldn't attend the temple with Nayna and I, we can be comforted with the knowledge that our family is eternal, no matter where we go or what happens to us in this life.

I remembered a talk that touched me deeply called "Steadfast and Immovable" by Silvia Alred at the last Relief Society General Broadcast where she related this story:

Soon after my husband was called to preside over the Paraguay Asunción Mission in 1992, we attended a branch conference in an isolated community in the Paraguayan Chaco. We traveled four hours on a paved road and then seven more hours on a primitive road. The perils and discomfort of the long trip were soon forgotten when we greeted the happy and welcoming members of Mistolar.

Julio Yegros was the young branch president, and he and his wife, Margarita, were one of the few families who had been sealed in the temple. I asked them to share their experience of their trip to the temple.

At the time, the closest temple was the Buenos Aires Temple in Argentina. The trip from Mistolar required 27 hours one way to reach the temple, and they had gone with their two small children. It was in the middle of a very cold winter, but with much sacrifice they made it to the temple and were sealed together as an eternal family. On the way back, the two babies got very sick and died. They buried them along the way and returned home empty-handed. They were sad and lonely but amazingly felt comforted and peaceful. They said of the experience: “Our children were sealed to us in the house of the Lord. We know we will have them back with us for all eternity. This knowledge has given us peace and comfort. We have to remain worthy and faithful to the covenants we made in the temple, and then we will be reunited with them.”

Broken Bones

Every now and then in the life of a family, a broken bone comes along...or maybe several broken bones come along. Chris is laid-up from breaking 4-5 bones in his foot, with one bone also being "buckled". We have not gotten into a specialist yet, so we do not have any idea how bad it really is or how long it will take yet. Hopefully we will get into someone early next week.

The good news is that nothing was sticking out of the skin or even looked broken. I truly thought it was sprained and was in complete shock when they showed me the x-rays with all those little fractures near the joints. All he did was slip on the basketball court. His own weight and the way that he fell snapped the foot too far towards his shin and broke the bones all the way across his foot. Ouch!

A Drive Through the Countryside

Sam and Chris

I was talking to my good friend Jane from Utah last night and was again surprised at how difficult it is to explain what life is like for us now. I really didn't understand until I started living it myself. Life is slower, yet still busy for basic family things. People are nicer, almost everyone holds the door open for each other. I've even had to convince people in line that they really were there before me and I have not been flipped off or honked at on the road yet, even though I never know where I'm going.

Nayna

One weird thing about living here is that the sky seems HUGE! There are no mountains to judge where I am at in the world. In the Phoenix Metro Valley there are mountains surrounding the valley that let you know where you are at. In Flagstaff we could always tell where we were based on the mountains and hills. Here in the Ozarks, it all looks the same! Every farm road and rolling hill looks exactly the same. Directions are given by stores and man-made landmarks as well as odd things like "stump of that big oak" on the corner of Farm Road 79 and Highway Z. I'm learning to give the right directions so people can find our house.

For all my Arizona friends and family, I thought you might enjoy a little view of "God's Country" as everyone calls it here. This is a small clip of a civil war driving tour we took a couple miles from our home. All our Missouri friends will just think we are being silly video taping the trees. LOL! It is about how Arizonans feel when people take pictures of themselves in front of cactus.



Beautiful isn't it!?! If only it was as cool (temperature) as it looks. It was actually a very humid and muggy day, but we had a blast anyway.

From Bored to Busy

Nayna and Chris' Art - A Combined Effort

I don't know why I always do this, but every time we move to a new place I always feel like we will be eternally bored. Yet in a matter of weeks or a few months our lives are just as busy and hectic as they always are. This move is no different!

We are now busy as bees...

• Callings - Mike is a Sunday School teacher for 16-17 year olds. I am the 2nd Counselor in Young Women's. Chris is 2nd Counselor in Deacons.
• Weekly - Nayna (changed from Marly, she doesn't like Marly anymore) will be in homeschool choir. Chris is still hoping the football team works out. Plus, we have weekly park days for socialization and our Mutual activities.
• Monthly - TJED Teens Club, book colloquium, scout campouts, Temple trips, and church dances (called Super Saturday's here).
• Work - Mike is still working 60-70 hours a week. I am starting my part-time substitute teaching job.
• Volunteering - I am organizing several events including a Face-to-Face with Greatness seminar in October and trying to recruit other speakers for this area. Chris and Nayna help with that as well.
• Daily - Of course we are still homeschooling. I am only working 1-2 days a week. The kids will have their tasks to complete and will suffer the consequences if they have not completed them.

Considering that the St. Louis Temple is a 3.5 hour drive each way and we are trying to go once a month, which takes up a whole Saturday (and 1 1/2 tanks of gas), then I think we have successfully booked all our weekends. LOL! At least the yard is cared for by the owner. I thought our Flagstaff house had a lot of mowing, but Missouri is a whole other story...it MUST be mowed every week or it is a jungle.

The Best Husband!

I have the best husband! I do not say it enough and I need to say it more.

I have a friend who told me once that when she sees older couples, not newlyweds, holding hands or kissing or sitting really close in public she thinks, "They are just faking it. Nobody really feels that way after a few years of marriage."

I was so saddened by her statement! I really feel like being close to my husband. In fact, I have asked him to hold my hand more in public and he is happy to oblige. Neither of us are perfect, but we still have that lovin' feelin'. We have weathered the storms of life and held onto the most beautiful of gifts that Heavenly Father has for us - an Eternal Marriage.

I just want to wish my honey a happy birthday! 

I am so thankful for the love he shows for me and our children, how hard he works for our family, and for all the crap he has put up with from me over the past 16 years. He has weathered my mental health issues, overcoming abuse from my past, and an ex-husband. Well, the list could go on, but you get the idea.

He married me without ever knowing if we would be sealed in the Temple. He just took a huge leap of faith. We were blessed to be sealed for Time and All Eternity on December 6, 1993, just three weeks after being married for Time Only in the Temple. I didn't know then what a special man I married, but I do now.

We love you!

Cleaning Mess and 4th of July (A Bit Late)

It took me long enough to get my photos and videos off my camera this time. Lots of little things going on...getting in the way...like,oh, cleaning! LOL! Yes, we had some cleaning to do. We unpacked so fast that I can't remember where things are. *blush* So, I tore through a bunch of boxes looking for things that I thought we still had which created a very large mess. I still can't find my box of dry erase markers (which I need for educating the kids). Marlayna needed a bunch of camping things and I had to unpack the entire storage room looking for all the things. Now the task is to finish putting it all back.

4th of July
Now, you can't see much in this video, but the SOUND is what you need to hear. It sounded like a war zone for hours. Our fireworks were a bit lame...we will know better what to get next year. We got a great show from all the surrounding neighborhoods though.

Why Can't Things Stay Nice?

When we moved into this house three months ago I bought brand new towels for the hall bathroom that the kids use and new shower curtains for both bathrooms. I was so excited, buying higher quality towels since my kids are older now and things should stay nice longer. Well, that little theory didn't go too well for me...

Apparently my kids can't handle having whitening toothpaste.

Change My Blog?

I have taken a little break from writing about two of my passions - great classic books and home education. Our family typically takes June and December off from our regular education schedule. This month we have also had Sam home and so we have spent a lot of time showing her around our new city/state. Fun times! We are so glad to have her here.

I have also had a few thoughts (and some comments) about what my blog should be. I know several people who have a blog for family and a separate blog about whatever else they are passionate about - home education, motherhood, cooking, vinyl wall art, scrap-booking, jewelry, etc. I think all these are fabulous! I am reluctant to separate my blog to make one for education and one for family. My reasons are that I am all of these things together. I do not separate myself from my passions. This is a way of LIFE for us and not two different things.

I am not saying that those who have separate blogs should put everything in one. This is just my personal choice. Several months ago I added links for each family member and another row of links to home education topics. This is all I'm going to do to separate the topics...so you can subscribe or not as you wish. You can just delete the topics you don't want to read...I won't know the difference!

I hope I have not offended anyone, it is not my intention. I will make more of an effort to post family happenings along with my other passions. I know that our blog is one of the key features for staying in touch with our family that is so far away now. We love you all!

Wipeout!

Our city has a pretty decent public pool with a surfing/boogie boarding feature called "The Huna". Our kids tried it out, but I only got one on video. :-( We invited some families we have met to come too. It was pretty fun, but public pools here costs a LOT more than the ones in Arizona. So, this will not be a daily or even weekly event.

Christian is one of the only active young men in our area, so we have not found him too many "dudes" to hang out with yet. But, I don't think he is complaining.

Father's Day

All Mike wanted for Father's Day (besides a big flat screen TV) was to have his truck detailed inside and out. So, we swapped out cars Friday and we spent all day detailing Mike's truck. It was a lot of work!

Happy Father's Day to the best dad around!

Family Pics Summer 2010

I love having photos of everyone, I just don't like BEING in the photos. Let's face it, I'm heavier than I would like to be and I'm not very photogenic. I just never look very good in pictures. This was my Mother's Day gift. I know...getting my gift on Father's Day weekend is kind of weird, but we had to wait for Sam to come visit and we had to have a day when Mike could be there, which was only THIS Saturday. It had to rain off and on today on top of everything else, thus making the humidity VERY high and my hair was just too funky. Anyway, it will have to do for this year I guess.

Stockton Lake and The Peacock Incident

Stockton Lake
Some ward members invited us to go to Stockton Lake yesterday. They have a boat and take turns pulling everyone around the lake on a big tube. She invites people every year, what a trooper to be in her boat all day dragging everyone around! We had an awesome time! I never fell off once and she was really pulling the broadies! I am very sore today however. LOL!

The kids loved it and got to spend time with other youth from our ward. Sam was the only one really without anybody to hang with. The older boys had jobs and didn't come to the lake. (Bummer for Sam!)

I forgot my camera and so I didn't get any pictures! Grrr! I rely heavily on my camera to capture all these awesome moments in our lives. Words just can't do it justice.

The Peacock Incident
After the lake, we quickly drove home, showered, and left again for the Court of Honor for Chris and Marly had a camp meeting that parents were supposed to attend. WHY the ward schedules two things where parents have to attend on the SAME night is beyond me, but it happens all the time it seems.

On the way home from the Court of Honor I decided to take some back roads to go pick-up Marly. I typically take the same route, but wanted to see more of  the countryside. We suddenly came upon a peacock walking down the middle of the road.

I told Sam, "Here! Take the camera and get a picture!"

She hopped out and started edging closer to get a picture. But, the peacock was not too thrilled about a young woman with a camera getting closer to him, so he started belting out these crazy honking sounds and took off flying. I have never seen a peacock fly before! It was more or less gliding from one place to another.

Anyway, it scared Sam half out of her wits and she started screaming and running for the van. Chris is nearly dying with laughter at this point. It was the most hilarious thing I've seen in awhile. A good laugh!

Here is the snapshot Sam took just before the peacock turned kamikaze.

Summertime Projects!

Summer brings a lot of changes for most families, ours is no exception. We typically take June off as a family break from the regular home education schedule. This year we have already traveled to Arizona and Sam is home with us for the next few weeks. Everyone just seemed itching to do some personal projects so we made a trip to Wal-mart and Lowe's to get some supplies and here is what everyone is doing.

Duck Tape

"I don't believe in much, but I believe in Duct Tape." ~ Miles on the final episode of Lost.

Duct tape is amazing stuff! I seriously think everyone needs an abundant amount of it for emergency preparedness. We have been making luggage tags, purses, book bags, wallets, etc. Mike was so surprised that my book bag was completely made of duct tape. He just couldn't believe it!


There are a lot of cool colors out there for Duct Tape. Here are some of the plans we used for our first projects before we started doing our own designs. Duct Tape Woven Purse and Cute Duct Tape Purse

Marshmallow Guns and Nunchucks

Chris has always loved making weapons, including wooden swords and shields. He made three different models of marshmallow guns to determine which design worked the best. Another tip he told me was to stuff the handles and the butt of the gun with TP to make the air pressure higher inside the gun.

The nunchucks are solid wood from a piece of dowel he had already. I was a little concerned about having him practice with these in the house. I wish he would have used a softer substance!

Fieldtrips in the Spring

Spring really is the best time to get out and explore nature. Everything is growing, sprouting, blooming, and just plain beautiful! Here are the last two fieldtrips we've been on in the past few of weeks.

Wilson Creek National Battlefield

Mike went with us on this fieldtrip. We were still staying in a hotel and he had not started work yet. It was a nice break from waiting around to move in to our house. I didn't know this, but the battle at Wilson Creek was the 2nd major battle in the Civil War and that Missouri was greatly divided between feelings for the North and South. In fact, they had troops fighting for BOTH sides. Enjoy some pictures of our visit. We'll have to go back now that the trees have their leaves.

Springfield Conservation Nature Center

A few days ago we decided to go to this free Nature Center. There are several hikes so we can return often and have several different adventures. The best part...it is all free! We saw wild turkeys, squirrels, caterpillars, several types of birds, and some frogs.

This is what the landscape looks like near our home. Many areas have been cleared of trees for farming and pastures for cattle and horses. We live in a pasture area that is now being turned into home sites.

Time to Post Some Pics!

We are getting settled in and finally have a home phone and Internet hooked up. Today I am getting around to downloading the 200+ pictures on my camera and getting a few posted. Finally!

We lived in a couple of different hotels for a week before finding a home. We looked at several homes, but everything had cats (Celeste is allergic) or smokers (Christian's asthma can't take that)...so we went with a brand new duplex home instead. It is a comfortable 1600 sq. ft. Our only complaints are that we share a wall and there is no fenced yard. In the mid-west only a few have fenced yards. The ward is super nice. When I hear about people from "the West" being rude (No offense! I'm one of those rude westerners, too) I now know what they are talking about. I guess you have to have something to compare to understand.

Odd Things

• People drive SUPER fast on skinny little farm roads that have no shoulder. You have the white line and then a grassy ditch. I've had several people fly past me going 70 mph in a no passing zone. Yikes! Marlayna is nervous now about getting her permit after seeing how people drive here. I thought Arizona, California, and Utah had bad drivers...but Missouri drivers take the cake in this area.
• No Mountains. I didn't realize how much I rely on visual clues to know where I am. In the Phoenix area, the valley is surrounded by mountains and you can judge where you are by which set of mountains you are by. In Flagstaff, it is pretty obvious with the large San Fransisco Peaks. Here...no mountains and I'm directionally challenged now! Thank goodness my van has a digital compass or I would be REALLY lost.

So far, we are loving it! Enjoy the slideshow of what we've been up to the past couple of weeks.

10 Days Sick and Counting

I know...I'm a big BAWL BABY and complaining about being sick still. This is seriously the sickest I've been in years...at least since I had walking pneumonia a few years ago. I think I pretty much had it again, but I didn't go to the doctor since I don't think I have an infection. There ya have it...too stupid cheap to go to the doctor since we have not met our deductible yet this year.

I was feeling better yesterday and then woke up this morning with a swollen, red, nasty feeling throat and both ears hurting. *sigh* I guess I'm going to continue being sick for a while longer. Time to switch to new herbs and meds for these new symptoms.

Anyway, so I have not posted anything new about homeschooling, packing, or what-not about our lives. Here is the basic run down...

• Still homeschooling even when sick...of course! What else would I be doing?
• Still packing to move in a few weeks...duh!
• The earth still rotates around the sun and the moon still rotates around the earth...wow! Who knew?

I'll have to catch-up on the other stuff some other time. Right now...I'm just surviving and trying to pack while still trying to get over being sick...it's not working very well for me. Go figure?

Is It Too Late to Change My Mind?

Women are allowed to change their mind...right? I would meet the stereotype for once I guess. LOL! Well, I'm beginning to feel like a lot of my decisions lately are not working out. So...should I change my mind and back out...or stick to it...or admit defeat and say, "I'm sorry, but this was a mistake and I'd like to bow out gracefully." I'm not sure what to do at this point.

Decision #1 - Moving to Flagstaff

Mike loves Flagstaff, the kids like it here, and I tolerate it. Not because of the snow or beautiful trees, but because of the people and the cost of living. I have made MANY good friends here, but the majority of people are complete wackos! I am sick of seeing "I Love OBAMA" and "Obama/Biden" bumper stickers. I'm sick of hearing liberals talk about being open minded and then actually turning out to be unable to listen to any point of view but their own. I'm tired of being called a "Phoenician" and being made fun of because I'm wearing gloves and a heavy coat when they are wearing a sweatshirt.

Don't even get me started on the cost of living here...

I really want to move out of Arizona all together. My biggest problem is that Sam wants to stay in Mesa with her dad, which is where she lives now. It breaks my heart to think of living so far away from her, but she is an adult now and will continue to move towards her own life and away from parents being influential on a daily basis. Letting go has been VERY hard, but I know it is part of parenting, just like potty training and weaning. This is just another major step (the last step really) towards complete independence.

Decision #2 - Foster Parenting

This is probably not a surprise for many of you, but I don't think we are cut out to be a foster family. Not because of the kids, but because of CPS and other agencies that SAY they are about the children and really do not advocate for the children they represent. They are either cynical or accept the status quo of dealing with children as a number rather than a human being. I wanted to help children, but I'm finding that it is so stressful for me to fight for the children that it is causing me to have difficulty dealing with my anxiety problems.

Most of the children we have had in our home have been really good kids with rotten parents. We have had a couple that are so messed up by their parents that I do not see how they will ever live a normal life. It is so tragic that my heart hurts for them, but I cannot save them. No matter how hard I try. They have needs that our family cannot fix and the agencies refuse to get them what they really need. It is so sad.

Decision #3 - Living on Acreage

I have always dreamed of living on a large lot or on acreage....until we had to mow it and shovel it! If we had the money to truly maintain it as it should be maintained, then I can see how it would be advantageous to have at least 1 acre. As it stands now, the land drains our money and energy. Just shoveling the driveway takes all day. We just need the income to buy all the things to make living here easier. When we move we plan on downsizing to a manageable house/lot size.

The only thing I love is not hearing my neighbors. In Queen Creek we could hear our neighbor swearing and beating his kids. So this is definitely an improvement, although a little freaky sometimes because at night it seems like there is nobody around. Spooky!

Record Snow! - Digging OUT of 3 Feet of Snow

What a crazy amount of snow! There is still a ton of snow on the roof, which was re-roofed about two years ago. The biggest problem we faced was some broken tree limbs that fell because they were laden with snow and the wind was fierce at 50 mph. The sound of tree limbs crashing onto the roof in the night is not a pretty sound!

Here are some photos of the storm of the century here in Flagstaff, AZ.

Thankfully, we had power the entire time and were prepared with plenty of wood, water, food, and clothing. We were very blessed!

Feeling the Cold

Everything has been canceled all week...Seminary...guitar lessons...mutual...work. Mike barely made it back into town this morning. We had 12 inches last night and it has been snowing all day. Here are some pics of the snow!

Church Callings

Today, Chris was set apart as the new Deacon's Quorum President. Last week, Marly was set apart as the new Mia Maid's First Counselor. Sam has been the First Counselor in her Laurel Class for several months. I am very aware that Heavenly Father has prepared them for these new leadership opportunities. I have seen great improvements in my children in their abilities, their maturity, and their desire to serve. Some I believe is because of educating my children using the Thomas Jefferson Education method, but I know all can be attributed to Heavenly Father and His knowledge of their missions in this life.

The ward we live in has a very large youth, 40 young women and 20 young men. When our youth went to the Snowflake Temple to do Baptisms for the Dead the Temple workers thought it was a youth stake activity, not just one ward. I am very thankful for the service provided to my children by their leaders and for our Bishop.

Even if we move this year, I feel confident that what my children learn during this season of service to their individual classes will prepare them for their future. I know my various callings have taught me so much. I'm excited to see what this new adventure brings.