Time flies when you're havin' fun!

Wow! Summer time is coming to an end fast. We have had some great adventures. Besides the hikes, the trips to the pool, the road trips to Moab and Bryce, the swimming meets, the softball and baseball games, I really enjoyed the great conversation and lessons learned. REALLY!

I saw how much my kids had grown up since last summer. Shelby is taller than I am now. Taylor has grown so much I call her Shelby because in my head Shelby is still that size. Ricky went from my little man, to a big boy. He is almost to heavy to sit in my lap in the mornings for our morning hugs.

"Jane! Stop this crazy thing...called life". (Love that quote)

Raising these beauties I have learned so much about myself. One of my great revelations in life came from teaching my kids. Is what you THINK you believe and hold dear REALLY what you hold dear? I could talk the talk before and be very convincing. But not till I was teaching my kids and reinforcing our values to them and helping them cope in the real world did I realize how important it is for us to be strong and vigilant. I began to realize how important my values where to me. How strongly I really felt about outside forces teaching wrong values to MY family.

Suddenly I understood the drive that the Prophets in the scriptures had in standing up for what is right. Even if it meant not being popular, being portrayed as the bad guy, or even cast out. It is so hard to be true to your beliefs and who you are when everyone (and I do mean everyone) is against you. Leaders, "friends", neighbors, schools, you name it. Standing up and saying "this is wrong and not acceptable" is a hard thing to do. It is a lonely thing to do.

You are doing a great job! Keep it up! I look up to a lot of you and the example you are. Call someone today and tell them you think they are doing a great job and you care.

Our German experience.

This Summer we hosted a 15 year old German student. On our cruise in March the German family asked us if we would be willing to host their son. I went into this with really high hopes. I thought he would be so excited to do the things we had planned for him. I had explained before hand that we aren't that exciting. The dad assured us that he didn't expect us to "entertain" his son. He would be here to get better at English.

I should have gotten an idea of what was to come when in an email before his arrival he told us he would like to visit Bryce Canyon, The Grand Canyon, and other National Parks that are more than a day trip away.

He got here the week before 4th of July. Rick took him and his dad, along with two of our kids, to Arches National Park. They seemed to really enjoy that. That night we took them to a local steak house for dinner. The next day was Sunday. Sundays at our house are very quiet. We read, watch NASCAR, nap, etc. The dad seemed a little put out, even though I had explained our routine to him beforehand.

That next week was terrible. Niklas didn't understand English as well as his parents thought. We thought we were communicating with him, but found out later we weren't. I would get frustrated when I asked him questions and he nodded that he understood, only to have him seem to ignore me. He also made rude comments about our food. He wouldn't eat at the family picnic. He said hamburgers make you fat. I took that as him suggesting that our family was fat.

4th of July weekend came and we had a lot of activities planned. Saturday we went to the Freedom Festival in Provo. It was very exciting. The kids had earned some money helping me get ready for Niklas' visit and found some great souvenirs. Ricky got a steel sword. Niklas was very concerned. He asked Rick if he was getting it, and Rick explained no, that Ricky was. Niklas told us that in Germany you aren't allowed to purchase blades. Then we went on through out the Festival. He didn't seem interested. We went to Colonial Days and participated in some pioneer activities and he refused to participate. It was very uncomfortable. We felt like we needed to move on. When it was time to have lunch we all found our favorite vendor and got what we wanted. He didn't like any of the choices. Nothing we seemed to do was up to what he expected or wanted. It didn't get better.

We had tickets for the Stadium of Fire and went early as usual to participate in the Pre concert activities. Shelby won the limbo contest and won 4 tickets to Seven Peaks water park. Ricky won a lunch box. And Rick won tickets to next years Stadium of Fire. Niklas just stood on the side with his arms folded and refused again to participate. We got into the stadium about 45 minutes before it started. We found our seats and Niklas seemed a little bugged. He pointed to the seats below us and asked "why are we sitting down there. Those are much better seats". I told him that those seats cost more money and these are the ones we purchased. He didn't want to get anything from the concessions with the kids either. During the show he asked a number of times "when is this over". I think his lack of English was starting to make things really difficult.

At home he doesn't like to do anything with the girls. When I am not around he teases them. They don't like it at all. If I don't have an activity planned he goes to his room and closes the door and plays video games or goes online to "check email".

We have gone to the pool a number of times, and he enjoys that. We also took him to Timp Cave. I wasn't sure if he enjoyed that or not. But we did. He took some pictures, but he seemed irritated that we weren't walking up the mountain as fast as him and we kept asking him to wait for us. He told us his 80 year old grandma was in great shape and hiked all the time.

This week was a little better. He finally (out of starvation) had a cheeseburger. He said "Hamburgers here are better than in Germany". That was the first time he had anything nice to say about things here. He seems to always want to tell us that things in Germany are better.

He has taught Ricky some German. Ricky likes to ask you your name in German now.

We have 2 more weeks left. We are going to Park City today to take him shopping. The Mall here isn't good enough. I took him there this week and he didn't want to go into any of the shops because he wants "Abercrombie and Fitch" and other name brand stores.

We are planning a trip to Bryce Canyon this weekend.

Calgon!!!!!!!

As the World Turns

No, I am not going to post about a soap opera. But my life right now would make some great writing material.

Our family has had a rough summer. We have been left feeling very alone. I won't go into details. If you want give me a call I'd love to go on and on about everything. It might help knowing someone cared.

What I did want to write about was what we are learning from it all. When you are going through hard times it is not so easy to see any good. When I was younger I quickly would ask God why he was doing this to me. But I know now he isn't doing anything to me. He is there helping me get through. Other people in our lives have their free agency to choose. They get to choose how they act, how they treat others, how they deal with hard times in their lives, etc. Sometimes their choices have negative effects on our lives. Sometimes they don't mean their choices to effect anyone else. Other times they are hurt, lonely themselves, looking for attention, etc and are lashing out at whomever is there.

“If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be".

I have a quote plaque in my room. It reads "Enjoy the journey". Sometimes the journey is rocky with steep mountains to climb. I pray Heavenly Father continues to push me up the mountain, and shows me paths around the rocks and thorns.

A long talk with my daughter last night probably helped me more than it helped her. As I was giving her advice on concentrating on the positive things in her life and not letting the negative things weigh her down, a light bulb went on. "Good advice Teresa". "Now follow it".

Onward and upward. Those who are worth having in our lives will seek us out and uplift us, not tear us down.

Our family relies a lot on the story of Job in the scriptures. We tell ourselves, we can "bare all things". "This to shall pass".

Thine adversity shall be but a small moment, D&C 121: 7-8. All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good, D&C 122: 5-8. They taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good, Moses 6: 55.

xxxxooooo

The birds are back

Our Robin came back again this year to lay her eggs. This year there were 5 eggs. 4 hatched. We watched every day looking at the birds grow. The one day I missed looking to see if they were ready to fly away....they all left the nest.

Last year we watched two of them leave the nest and fly across the street.

We hope to see our Robin again next year.

Opportunities make us

25 years + ago I was so excited. I was 14 and was going to my first Youth Conference with our church. I had an amazing experience. Great classes that uplifted me, testimony meeting where I felt the Holy Ghost so strongly. I was glad I made the decision to be baptised. I was scared to go to the dance. I really didn't know anyone. But there was a Bishop there who took this opportunity to teach the young men of the stake how to make the girls feel special. It wasn't a date, or a marriage proposal. It was a simple dance. He had taught his leaders to encourage the youth to be kind to each other. I had a great time that night and met a lot of good friends I would later rely on when decisions in life got tougher as a teen.

Girls camp was also one of the high lights of my youth experience. Being a convert to the church I went to a lot of activities not expecting much. These kids had grown up together and knew each other well. But they were always very warm to everyone. The leaders encouraged kindness at church always. They expected us to be friends. And we were. The leaders weren't our friends. They were just that. LEADERS. They were there to show us the way.

I remember one year fellowshipping a girl who wasn't coming out to church. I met her for the first time one morning when our Laurel class went and woke her up and took her to breakfast. She was a great girl. We kept calling her and inviting her to activities. She finally came out and joined us a few times. We even sat together a few times at school for lunch. She graduated that year and I never saw her again. But that year I learned how to truly fellowship. The leaders encouraged us to really become her friend and care about her. She felt our concern and love for her and it was easier for her to come out and join us at church.

Today in a world where it is funny to call names and tease, I would hope that church would be a place away from all that. A place everyone was accepted and felt the spirit of the Lord. That is what being a Christian means. Acting as Christ would at all times and in all places.

The scriptures read "Thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better".

The writer of Proverbs said, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). I have witnessed in my short life that this includes good and bad behaviors and attitudes.

There is a saying that big gates move on small hinges. Sisters, your example in seemingly small things will make a big difference in the lives of our young people. The way you dress and groom yourselves, the way you talk, the way you pray, the way you testify, the way you live every day will make the difference. This includes which TV shows you watch, which music you prefer, and how you use the Internet. If you love to go to the temple, the young people who value your example will also love to go, and they will learn from you. I would also like to add that what you talk about at activities will get the youths attention and they will seek after those things. Talking about movies you have seen, books you have read, gossip about other people and what is going on in the neighborhood, etc. will be copied by the youth. These are the things they will hold onto.

I have been to great meetings that have left an impression on me 'til this day. I have met people who were such great example to me and have helped my testimony grow. I pray for such people in my children's lives. I pray that when I send them to church I can be confident that what goes on there is uplifting and helping build their testimony. That is what church meetings are for.

Ezra Taft Benson once said in a talk "Do not settle for mediocrity in this great incentive program for the young women of the Church."

The purpose of the Young Women organization is to help each young woman, ages 12 to 18, "come unto Christ" (Moroni 10:32) (taken from the Young Women website)

A new Era

Wow! Time has flown by the past 14 years. First steps, first words, first friend, first fight, first day of public school, first day of homeschooling, first dance class, first cheer team, first gymnastics meet, first swim lesson, first swim meet, first time on the computer, first typing lesson, first blog, first time on Facebook, first time learning to clean her room, first babysitting job, and now FIRST PART-TIME JOB.

Shelby got her first part-time job this week. She went in and filled out her first application, had her first interview, and worked her first day and loved it. I wish I had pictures of her face at each step like I did when she was younger and did all those FIRSTS. She is to old to pull out the camera at every step now. I love to document the milestones. The come and go so quickly. I want to be careful to enjoy everyone.

Good luck Shelby. This lifelong love of working hard and doing well will serve you well in life. I'm so proud of her.

End of school woos

I felt a little blue this last month. Was the school year really over? Now what?! Did I do enough for the kids this year? What should I do with my restless 10 year old son?

Now that Shelby is in High School I have become preoccupied with looking into college requirements. There are all kinds of scholarships out there. You can find a number of scholarships your child's talents fit into. But you have to look. Shelby's school made sure all the students were given the opportunity to do service this year. She earned the Presidential Service Award. That will help with Leadership scholarships. She also ran for class Secretary and won. That will help her as well for Leadership scholarships. If your child has any aspiration to play college sports be aware that the NCAA no longer accepts BYU Independent study classes. If you took core classes before Aug. 1 2010 you are alright.

Fat Cats has a Bowl for Free summer deal for the kids so I signed them up. Our local pool offers a discount on swimming passes if you buy 25 or more. We will have 5 of us going so I figured we will definitely go 5 times, so we'll be getting a pool pass as well. Shelby asked to fit in a trip to the library every week. I'll reward Ricky with a trip to the playground afterwards. A group of homeschoolers will have a "park day" every Wednesday that we will probably make it to.

I thought I didn't want a "schedule" this summer. However, I have found it keeps everyone motivated and keeps the "I'm bored" attitude at bay. So I've put together a morning schedule for the kids and myself so we have everything done so we can play in the afternoon.

Summer here we come!