Sarah's Gone :(

We are not actually wearing black but we are still officially in mourning. Sarah is gone :( She went back to Provo yesterday and you would think that someone had died by the faces of the people in this house. We are missing her like crazy. Pat gave her a priesthood blessing before she left for school and after that it was just floods of tears until she pulled away and actually for awhile after. Her bubbly, sunshiny spirit and wonderful booming laugh will be sorely missed. We love you, Sarah! Please come back soon.

Leave My Church Alone!

At church on Sunday I saw a presentation of how effective anti-Mormon literature is in the media today and how we need to be more aggressive, as members, in getting the truth out to the general public through our computers. I have always been puzzled by the term "anti-Mormon". What in the world could possibly make people upset about our religion? What, about our lifestyle, could possibly be offensive? Is it the not drinking, smoking or taking drugs? The abstinence from pre-marital sex? The lower than usual rate of divorce? The way we teach self-reliance and service? The tons of supplies and money and hours we have donated to those in need all over the world? What, about any of that, would make a church preach against us? Are we harming anyone? Do you EVER hear us preach against another church? We don't believe in some of the things they are preaching but do you ever hear us bash their beliefs? NEVER! Why would they do that to us? I could see if we were advocating practices that would harm them or their children or society as a whole but with the lifestyle we preach? Really? Have you ever met a Mormon you didn't like just because they were a Mormon? Unbelievable! No REAL Mormon living on this earth at this time has ever practiced polygamy. We send missionaries out to offer options to people who can certainly say "no" if they choose to. Most of the Mormons in any given community are talented, happy, friendly people who wouldn't hurt a fly. So what is the "anti" for? I just don't get it. And as for the claim that we aren't "Christians", what the....????? Jesus Christ is the center of our church and our lives. The name of the church is "The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints. What the heck is a Christian? Isn't it someone who recognizes Jesus Christ as the son of God and follows His teachings? What part of that is my church missing? I would never say this to anyone's face because that's just not how I was raised in my good Christian home but I get a lot braver when I'm behind a computer. So for those of you who don't agree with my beliefs (and I'm guessing 99% don't even know what they are) how about you keep your uninformed opinions to yourself and don't knock it till you've tried it! Now I will go repent and pray for more charity.

Natural Moms

I was thinking the other day about how impressed I am with the amazingly quick and natural way Flan and Shell (my daughters-in-law Alana and Michelle) have taken to motherhood. Only Flan has actually had a baby but both of them are raising her and they are doing a marvelous job. Flan had a C-Section and recovered from it in record time. She never seems to get flustered or anxious when it comes to baby Ava. She is always so calm and confident. Shell handles the baby like she's had multiple children and is totally experienced. These girls are only 19 and 20 years old! Besides being great moms they are unbelievably good wives. My sons are blissfully happy with these women and that is all a mother really wants for her adult sons.

What's in a name?

While I was on my walk this morning I was thinking about how fun nicknames are and about how many my silly family has for each other. It is definitely a sign of affection and we give them to everyone who comes into our family. Their origins are varied and the most ridiculously obscure ones can always be attributed to Hunter.

I don't have very many but the most common is probably "muth", short for mother. Some of the kids call me "mams" and Pat calls me by my middle name, Lynn. Pat is "Paps". Pat calls all of the boys "Ed". Brandon goes by "Beer" most of the time but has also been known to answer to "Brenda", "Beernard" "Brandoni" and "Bran Flakes". Kyle is "Kymimo",(the first parts of Kyle Miles Moore), "Kymes", "K-dog" and a multitude of unprintable names from Brandon. Tanner and Logan are "Ren" and "Nag", (the first part of their names backwards) along with every possible variation of those names and I call them Nanny and Nodie (what they called each other when they were little). Jensen is "Nez" which is his name backwards and "Fronies" (no clue). Hunter calls him "J-Dove", "J-Sleuce", "Doverly" and countless other things. Hunter has always been "Hunch" but also answers to "Hunchamabilia", "Hunt", "Superman" (please) and "Deuce" (his football number). Savannah is "Vanicula, Vannie or Van", Dad calls her "Squish" (huh?) and Hunter came up with "Ovularious", "Ovula" and finally "Ov". (Told you.) Now that Alana and Michelle are in our family they have been christened with names also. Michelle is mostly "Shell" (big stretch) but I call her "Smelly shelly belly". Alana got some real humdingers. Kyle labeled her "Lawndart" (?) and Tanner calls her "Tacos" which originated with her dad saying he liked to go to Mexico for tacos y flan which then moved to everyone calling her "Falana", then "Flan" and then just "Tacos" (tacos y flan? Get it?) Tanner calls his daughter, Ava, "Taquito". Since my niece, Sarah, has been staying with us this summer I have started calling her "Sarajevo" while everyone else calls her "Sare-bear".

There is no explaining the strange working of the Moore minds when it comes to nicknames but if we have given you one then you are pretty special to us.

Wicked was Wonderful

Well, even though our seats weren't the best and I sat behind the biggest twit in the theater, Wicked was awesome. The sets and the voices and the story and the songs were so cool that 3 hours just flew by. It was so fun to finally figure out what some of the songs meant. The dialogue was very clever and entertaining. I loved it. So did Savannah. Yay! The only downside was the girl in front of me. She should never be let into another Broadway musical again. She was a hyper twit who couldn't sit still and couldn't keep her hands out of her hair and every time she shifted or lifted her hands to her hair I couldn't see any of the stage. I had to keep leaning back and forth which, I'm sure, thrilled the people behind me. She kept looking at her phone (which was very bright in the dark auditorium) and fanning herself with her program which then prohibited Pat from seeing anything and as a grand finale she got so hot that she took her sweet time putting her hair into the highest bun I've ever seen so that my vision was completely obscured and I had to practically lay in Kyle's lap to see anything. I don't know if she saw any of the show since she was so busy trying to ruin it for the rest of us. She should save her money next time. Other than that, Wicked was wonderful :)

I Thought I Loved You Then

I've been feeling a little emotional lately. I know this may come as a shock to those of you who know me well but I've been quite teary-eyed the last couple of days. I'm not really sure what's going on with me but I think it has to do with up-coming goodbyes, the start of football practice, another school year almost upon me and basically the passing of time, way too fast. Brad Paisley has a new song out and, as always, he has an amazing way with words. The song talks about a man going through the different stages of his life with his woman and realizing as time goes on that he just keeps loving her more and more. He thinks he can't love her any more than he already does and it just keeps getting deeper and better. Being past the halfway mark in my own life I am really feeling this. I love my family so much it physically hurts. Sometimes I think about how fast they are growing up and leaving me and I just ache. Hunter only has two more years in my house. Savannah can wear my clothes now. Sarah and Kyle are leaving in 17 days. Tanner and Logan have other girls to love besides me. I don't really want to go back to the days when I had 7 kids under 14 but deep down in my heart I kind of do. Thank heavens I still have the love of my life and always will. Sharing all of this with him really gives that song special meaning to me. "Now you're my whole life. Now you're my whole world. I just can't believe the way I feel about you ,girl (family). Like the river meets the sea, stronger than it's ever been. We've come so far since that day and I thought I loved you then". Thank you, Moores, for making my life worth living.

Wicked!

I don't know why I'm so chatty today but I keep thinking of things to share. We are going to see the play "Wicked" tonight. We have been listening to the soundtrack for a couple of years now and love the music. The best part for me about going to this play is anticipating how much Savannah will enjoy it. She is so excited and has never been to a Broadway play before. She knows all the songs and has watched many clips of the play on the computer. It's so fun being a mom and introducing your kids to new things. I'm so glad my husband makes a good living and is able to pay for fun things like this. I'm also glad he's willing to go with us even though this is probably not real high on his list of things he'd like to spend his money on. I remember so well the first time I saw Les Miserables. Me, Pat, Brandon and Kyle had listened to the tape (yes, tape) every day ( and I mean EVERY day) for 2 years. We were obsessed with the songs and the story. When we moved to San Diego we had the opportunity to see it in L.A. I was nearly sick with excitement. When the orchestra played the first notes I broke down crying at finally being able to see what I had only heard for so long. I will never forget that feeling. To this day Les Miz is my absolute favorite musical. I've seen it 3 times. I hope Vanny enjoys Wicked as much as I enjoyed Les Miz.

We got our first email from our Mexican boy and I cried the whole time I read it. He is a happy boy but going through the regular growing pains of a new missionary. He has to walk up and down steep hills all day long in Acapulco. He says it's like hiking the Y all day long. I hiked the Y! It's really hard! He is with a companion that doesn't speak any English which is actually good because he will learn the language much faster but right now he is struggling to understand anybody. Also, it is ridiculously hot there and there is no air conditioning anywhere. Jensen is burning hot and sweating all the time. He can't go into a nice air conditioned apartment or church or member's home because there aren't any cool places there. Luckily, he loves his companion and the work so while I cry and pray for him I know that "all this shall be for his good" and he will learn and grow tons while going through these experiences. Only one more missionary after this. Whew!

Utah

I got to spend the last week with my two favorite twins and my favorite granddaughter. We had a blast. Ava is smiling now! She is so adorable. I snuggled her all week. It was very fun spending time with Tanner and Logan and their wives. We played games and went out to eat and went to BYU and to the Nike outlet in Park City where Logan works. He gets a crazy discount so we went...crazy! I got a new sweat suit and shoes. Everyone else got shorts and shirts and shoes and jackets etc. etc. We got a nice surprise with the weather. I expected it to be a million degrees since it was August but it surprised me and was very pleasant. It was in the low eighties and high seventies. Yay! It was very fun visiting with my mom. She talked a lot about the past and Savannah and Brandon found out lots of things they didn't know about her and about my life when I was young. Savannah and Brandon and I went to Pioneer Monument Park in Salt Lake and saw lots of real pioneer homes. One of them was the home my grandmother was born in. It was really cool to see such an old place that had personal meaning to me. They had a book on my grandma's family's history and my mom was in it. We got all excited. The worker there let us go upstairs where no one is normally allowed to go so we could see the actual room where my grandma was born. Very cool. Wonderful trip all in all. Can't wait to go back.