Wow! Did You See That Shooting Star?

I adore being a Mother (I can't emphasize that enough), but if I'm really telling it like it is... I have to admit that, at times, the job can be a tad rough. As the resident chauffeur, cook, maid, teacher, referee, and entertainer, I run myself pretty ragged.  Most nights I drag my exhausted body into bed for a restless night filled with bottle feedings and a number of other interruptions ("Mommy, I need to go to potty." "I had a bad dream." or the dreaded "I threw-up.") only to wake up and repeat the entire process again the next day. It can be a thankless job. I think that most of the time, mothering is like a blank, black night sky. It may appear, at first glance, like a vast expansion of nothing spectacular. It looks the same in all directions, and like it has no beginning and no end.  However, upon closer inspection, you notice millions of specks of beautiful light dotting the otherwise dull sky. Then, all of a sudden, out of no-where a dazzling bright star shoots across the sky, and takes your breath away.

Tonight was one of those "bright shooting star" moments. Kyle asked us all to gather in the living room for a little devotional. He began by asking, "Who can tell me what agency is?" He then went on to give us the most detailed lesson on the Plan of Salvation, complete with homemade visual aids. He talked about the war in heaven, and that Michael led the "good side". He even mentioned that Michael later became Adam. He had a glove to demonstrate the difference between a spirit and a body, and what happens at birth and death, and again at the Resurrection. He had assigned Ryan a scripture to read about the pre-existence. It was the scripture about when Moses saw many of the "noble and great ones." The kids asked what that meant, and we explained that he may have seen Presidents, and Prophets. I loved it because Kailani then added, "...and Grandpa."  I agree, Grandpa is a noble and great one.   Kyle's lesson was so sweet, and detailed that it was almost comical because Ryan and I both sat there with our jaws on the ground. I think we were both asking ourselves "Who is this kid, and where did he come from?"  I asked Kyle how he knew all of those things? Had he learned them in church that day? He responded by saying, "No, I just know it from all of my church learning my whole life."  I was so proud, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

The Council in heaven.  (Notice the third on top have frowny faces.)

The war in heaven.

Pre-existence, the veil, earth life, and death.

Spirit paradise, the Resurrection, and judgment (see the gavel).

The 3 degrees of glory.

To top it all off, Kyle went to bed singing the articles of faith to himself. It was wonderful. It was dazzling, and-- like a shooting star-- it was gone too fast. It reminded me why I love this job so much!

We've Got a Crawler!

Creed is 7 months old, and he is on the move!  I am always amazed at how quickly babies can master a skill once they realize they have the ability to do it. It seems like within a week, he went from barely getting up on his hands and knees to cruising all over the place. He is so curious, and wants to touch and feel EVERYTHING! In fact, we have been calling him Mr Grabby-hands, because he is very quick at grabbing anything within his reach. It must have been so frustrating to him to not be able to explore before he became mobile.

He is 18 pounds, and so delightful! I love his beautiful smile, and think he has the most precious little angel face (but then again, I may be a little biased).

"The Jokes On Us" or "Look Out! Don't Get That On Your Shirt!"

A few days before Christmas vacation, our family came up with an idea that, on the surface, sounded like something fun. We thought it would be fun to make matching shirts to wear one of the days we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We decided to do white shirts with individual snowmen comics on each of them. I won't go into details, but what ensued was a major pain in the neck. What started as a seed of a great idea turned into a $75.00 project and a headache. They turned out really cute, and it was so fun to be twinsies for a day. However,  the real joke ended up being on us because after making them, we realized that they can't be washed without being ruined.  Needless to say we were all very careful with our WHITE limited-use snowman shirts! (Well, except Creed, who got all sorts of gunk on his shirt. I think I can safely predict that his shirt is going to be the first one to bite the dust! Go figure.)

We found a lot of funny snowmen jokes, but these were our favorites. Enjoy...

Ryan's shirt



Kristen's shirt



Cameron's shirt

Kyle's shirt

Kailani's shirt

Karen thought this joke was SO funny!

Creed's shirt

The children were so excited on the day we wore our shirts. I think matching Christmas shirts may have to be a new family tradition-- making the shirts, however, may or may not be included in the tradition!

They pulled a fast one on me!

For months, I have been mentally preparing myself for February 25th. On February 25th, my baby turns 12 years old. On February 25th, my baby graduates from Primary-- and moves into mutual. I have secretly been dreading February 25th, and trying to keep it as far away as possible. So, you can imagine my horror a couple weeks ago when I was informed that, instead of waiting until February 25th, they were going to go ahead and move Cameron out of Primary and into Young Mens on January 1st. As I stood there suppressing a mommy-panic-attack, I smiled and nodded, and even though the words in my head were screaming, "WHAT??? Wait just a minute... I was guaranteed more time. What about February 25th? He isn't ready to grow up!" --  the words that actually came out of my shocked mouth were, "OK, that sounds good."  The truth is, it isn't Cameron that's not ready for the change-- he is more than excited to be done with primary and in mutual with his friends. The hard cold truth is,  its me that wants to keep him small. If I had it my way, I would put him back on the front row with the Sunbeams. However, I don't get to have it my way (which is probably a good thing). So, even though it is not yet February 25th (grrrrrr...) , I now have a wonderful, kind, smart, tall, ever-growing son in Young Mens. How did this happen so fast? I am tremendously proud of him and the Young Man he is becoming. He has such righteous desires, and is a great example to me.

Ariann Matchett-- December 9, 1977- December 31, 2010

This was a very sad week. Last Friday (December 31st), Ryan got a call in the middle of the night. It was his brother Richard calling to let us know that Ryan's younger sister, Ariann, had died. We were both so shocked. She had a blood clot that, unexpectedly travelled to her lungs, and killed her. She was the same age as me. It's just so sad. It is always difficult to cope with something like this... but, as a Mother, it is even more tricky because-- not only am I having to adjust-- but I am also trying to help each of my children (as well as my husband) mourn in their own individual ways.

Ariann had been living in Rexburg, with her husband Terry, for the last 9 months. She was a frequent visitor in our home. My children will miss her visits greatly.  We took having her so close for granted.  My sweet husband is so sad. He has a lifetime of memories with her, and feels the greatest loss.

Some things I admired about Ariann were--

She ALWAYS sent a card on our birthdays (and anniversaries). If you ever needed to know when someone's birthday was, you called Ariann. Her husband told me that she never just grabbed a card and sent it, they were always meticulously chosen for the individual.

She was child-like in a lot of ways. Her favorite movie was Finding Nemo. When she was excited, she would shake her hands and do a funny dance that I will never forget.

She was very generous-- with her things, her time, and her kind words. Cameron said, "I will miss Ariann because she always said nice things to me, and made me feel good about myself."

She was very concerned with others feeling loved and loving each other.

In addition to missing these things, I will miss running into her at the library, the grocery store, and Wal-mart each Saturday morning.

I am grateful we were able to have her and Terry over to watch Muppet Christmas Carol about a week before we left for our vacation, and even got to visit with her for about a half hour on the night before we left town. That night, she gave me a card telling me how much she loved me and admired my example.

She was a sunshiny spirit, and the world is a little bit darker without her here.

Christmas Vacation 2010

We had such a fun time visiting Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. We got to be there for 2 fun-filled weeks. It went by WAY too quickly. Here are a few of the fun things we did...

Ryan, Cameron, Kyle, Kailani, and I got to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Ryan and the boys read the book this past summer, so it was fun for them to see the book come to life. It was a little too scary for Kailani. At one especially scary part, I looked down the row and saw Cameron and Kailani covering their eyes.  Kyle-- on the other hand-- had his eyes wide open and his hand clasped tight over his mouth. Later I asked him what he was doing. He said it was to keep him from screaming like a little girl!

We also went swimming at the Rec-center. The pool there is really nice, and they have a rock wall the kids really enjoyed.

Another thing we did that was a lot of fun was make gingerbread houses. There were 5 little houses to make. I was surprised how hard each person worked on their house. They all turned out cute, and everyone had fun.

We went to the Hardware Ranch elk reserve. We had to wait in a VERY long line on a VERY cold day, but it was worth the wait. We went on a wagon ride right through the herd of elk. The kids were so good. It was really neat to see the elk so close.  We decided our favorite part were all the baby elk calling for their mothers.

We went to a Thai restaurant that belongs to some family friends (Lek and Chen) and tried all sorts of interesting foods. I really liked the Pad Thai. Ryan had some very spicy Thai fried rice. The wantons and egg rolls were definitely the best though.

The best part of the trip was simply being with family. My mom made the most delicious meals. It was fun having so many people to spend time with.  It was nice to laugh together. The cousins had such a fun time playing with one another.  We made precious memories. My heart hurt when it was time to come home. I wish our vacation together could have lasted  forever-- maybe that is what heaven feel like.  It really was wonderful!