Pioneer Day

Having been a Mormon my whole life and not really discussing religion with my friends growing up I have discovered that I am terrible at knowing what my church believes as compared to what other religions teach.  When I was about 12 I just off-handedly mentioned Joseph Smith in a sentence and my best friend said, "Who's Joseph Smith?".  I was floored.  I couldn't believe that someone so central to my religion was unknown to lots of people in the world.  When my son's girlfriend joined our church she informed me of some of the differences in what her family believed and what my family believed but I'm still not clear on all the differences.  So, at Savannah's tennis lesson the other day I informed her coach that she wouldn't be at her next lesson because we were going to Utah for Pioneer Day.  Of course he said, "What's Pioneer Day?"  I wasn't as surprised this time but it got me thinking, again, about how many things are "Mormon" and how many people don't know what these things are.  I was very proud to tell him that Pioneer Day was the day we commemorate the saints pulling into the Salt Lake Valley and realizing that this dry, dusty desert was going to be their new home.  They had fled the east on the heels of religious persecution and came to a place "where none shall come to hurt or make afraid".  I get choked up even thinking about those valiant Latter Day Saints who sacrificed all to maintain their religious freedom, even in a country that was founded on the concept of freedom of religion.  These brave, bold saints are why I enjoy the blessings of worshipping how I want to even though we are still being persecuted today.  I'll take the occasional snide comment or the social snub any day as opposed to the burning of my home and the killing of my loved ones.  I have the utmost respect for the early saints and all they sacrificed for their religion and I am very excited to go back to where it all began, in Salt Lake City, UT to celebrate with my people.

Pretty good summer so far:)

It's been a pretty decent summer so far and it looks like it will finish strong.  In May Tanner and Alana went on a cruise for their 5 year anniversary and I got to play with Ava and Sienna.  Soooo fun!  I love those girls.  We painted nails, colored in coloring books, went birthday shopping for Ava, played in the park with Emmerson and Hudson, swang on the hammocks and ran around the yard.  Loved it.  Right after school got out we took our first trip to Fairzona (Landon's pronunciation of Arizona).  It was hot but very fun.  We ate at lots of restaurants, visited some friends who had recently moved there and went to an outlet mall where Bubs got the courage to ride a mechanical bull.  We played in the blow up pool and took a very short nature walk around the neighborhood (it was 90 something at 8:30 in the morning).   Shortly after returning home Van and I went to Catalina Island for Stake Girls' Camp.  It was a blast!  I had so much fun and I think all of the girls did too.  It was so nice to have my sweet daughter with me.  Next we had visitors from Utah.  My niece, Mekell, and her husband, Zach, came to stay with us for his birthday and the 4th of July.  Lichelle and crew came home for the 4th also and we had a wonderful BBQ and pool party at Michelle's parent's house in Valley Center.  So fun to see everyone.  Zach and Mekell went to the temple with Pat and I and I was so impressed that they wanted to take time out of their vacation to attend the temple.  Aleigh Joy got left alone in her house when the rest of the crew went to Utah so she came over and had some sleepovers with us so she wouldn't be scared.  Love her:) Lots more fun things planned so stay tuned:)

Sweet Rylie Ann

I am sooo happy!  Our sweet baby girl is getting better and better.  She is in a big girl crib now that doesn't have any special heated mattress or anything else that is unusual.  She is wearing clothes for the first time.  They are super tiny and cute.  She is unplugged from the millions of wires and tubes that she has been on since birth.  All she has is a little feeding tube, a heart monitor and two little wires in her nose for oxygen  Aubrie and Kyle can hold her whenever they want and they don't have to have a nurse unhook her from tons of stuff.  She can cry now.  She is moving steadily toward the 3 lb. mark.  She is truly our little miracle or series of miracles.  I am eternally indebted to my Heavenly Father for hearing our many, many prayers and granting us this child's life.  I got to stroke her silky little hair the other day and it was pure heaven.  I can't wait to hold her and kiss her and someday tell her the story of her amazing life.  I love you, Rylie.  Keep fighting!

Happy Anniversary, Aleigh!

I know I'm a little late but I wanted to wish Aleigh Joy a Happy Anniversary on the one year mark of her baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which took place on June 14th.  Because of her decision generations of my family will be affected.  It's hard to believe that a cute little 19 year old could be so important to my family's eternal link to each other.  Because she chose to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ she will be sealed to my son and their children and their children and so on and so on.  She will raise my beloved grandchildren the way that I raised my beloved children and there is nothing in this world that brings me greater joy and happiness.  All of my sons have married girls that were raised in our faith so when Hunter fell in love with Aleigh my heart was very troubled because I knew that Hunter could never be happy raising his children outside of his faith but I also knew that he loved Aleigh very much.  Ours is not an easy religion to embrace.  We are not "one hour on Sunday" Christians.  Our religion is a way of life and not an easy one if you aren't used to it.  She embraced it more fully than most people who have been born into it do.  When she entered the waters of baptism my prayers were answered.  Happy Anniversary, Aleigh Joy.  You may never know how much your decision has affected my life and how much it means to me.  I love you:)

Oh No!

Since today was the last day of my daughter's junior year of high school that makes her technically a senior now.  Nooooooo!!!!!  I can't stand it!  I already started crying today.  Yep.  I get to look forward to a whole year of "lasts".  I know I shouldn't think of it that way but I can't help it.  I am going to die when she leaves for college.  That will be the end of my child raising.  I really can't think about it too much or I will fall apart.  I'm going to bed now and not thinking about it.

May Blahs

I think I'm the only person in the world who gets sad at the end of a school year.  Everyone else is looking forward to no school and summer fun and no schedule.  All I feel is that it's the end.  I think of the seniors all over the world who are so sad to leave their friends and so scared to start a new life.  I think of the fact that we have endless days ahead of no set schedule and nothing much planned to do.  Mostly I think of the end of the most fun time of my life, high school with my teenagers.  6 of them have finished high school and it was some of the saddest times of my life to go to their graduations.  It meant that they would be leaving me and starting their own lives.  This week marks the last time I will have a high schooler in my life past this date.  Next year my sweet Van will graduate and leave me and I will have no wonderful children in my home.  I'm crying as I write.  I always live through it and even enjoy summers but just for these few days each year I have a heavy heart. 

My Life's Mission in Someone Else's Words

While reading BYU Magazine today I came across an article about a woman who has written many books and given many talks on being a homemaker.  When asked what she would say to the women of the church if given a chance she summed everything up in a less than a minute talk.  This is it.

Managing a home involves much more than keeping a house clean, organized, and attractive.  These skills are important, and I've spent much of my life teaching women how to attain them, but these skills are only a means to an end.  The paramount objective is to create a setting where family and friends are comfortable and happy, where there are good dinners and good times, where there is fun and laughter, where children acquire good habits and are taught life skills and how to be self-reliant and responsible, where challenges are faced by coupling temporal endeavors with eternal perspectives, where joy through gospel teaching and living prevails, where kindness and respect reign supreme, where love is strong enough to bind the family forever, and where children are nurtured toward eternal life.

If I didn't already have a family mission statement, this would be it.  If all households in America lived by these words we would probably be translated as a country.  Thank you, Daryl Hoole, for writing the words of my heart.