First Trip Up American Fork Canyon

We went up the canyon on Easter Sunday.  I felt like I was being rebellious or "weird" for not doing something more traditional.  After we had all eaten though, and were exploring the new life of the canyon, I began to ask Jeremiah and Caleb questions about what they saw that was different.  Were the leaves different and if so, how?  How about the trees? The grass? Bugs?  It is always fun to watch your children discover things.  The excitement in a child is one of the best parts of parenting.

I was surprised to find myself loving the new life of the canyon, of spring time.  The timing could not have been more perfect- Easter Sunday.  Usually it's day of family and a nice ham, Easter baskets and candy, gifts for the little ones.  None of these things point to The Resurrection of Our Savior.  As I walked among all the new life of spring time though, it seemed to me that everything was pointing to the Savior!

The new life of Spring and Christ Rising from the tomb to live again.  I couldn't help but think of the winter we are coming out of though- how dark and snowy it was.  Yet all these plants are on schedule to bloom and grow in their own right, despite the winter.  And we too can grow and bloom in our right, despite the harsh things this world can throw at us.  Despite our own weaknesses, shortcomings, and sins we can apply the Miracle of Christ to our lives and have new joy and hope, just as we can see all around us at this time of year!  Christ rose on the third day and we too can over come because He over came!

I am grateful we took the time to enjoy the canyon before it seemed like the canyon would be ready for us.  We went and enjoyed the new life, the beauty of nature at this time of year, and the Resurrection of Christ!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day 1999 found me single and with out a date (as did most Valentines until I met my husband).  I was in college, sharing an apartment with 5 other girls, and loving it.  I did not mind that I didn't have a date, because my roommates and I always had so much fun together, no matter what others were celebrating.  On this Valentines Day though, I was to be taken by surprise.  One of my roommates gave each of us a card.  I don't remember what the card said.  I do remember the gesture, and Valentines Day was never to be the same again.  It was no longer about romantic love for me.

This Valentines day we will be delivering cards to those that mean the most to us!  I want my boys to use Valentines Day as a reminder to say I love you, to ALL the important people in our lives, not just our spouse. So we are currently in the process of making valentine cards and will be delivering them to friends and family on Thursday.  Then we will share a nice dinner together, ALL of us, as a family, so that we can read the valentines cards that we have made for each other!  I love sharing Valentines Day with ALL of my family, not just my husband.

Pulse of the Home

Everyone knows it all goes down in the kitchen.  The kitchen/dining room is where the pulse of the home is.  Even more so in our home since that is where we have school.  To date, our kitchen, unless there is a structured and guided activity for the children, is noisy mayhem.  It is often frustrating to have to yell at my children just to get them to quite down so they can hear what I am going to ask them.  They love to run around the island and that is usually accompanied by loud laughter/screaming and eventually crying and then a time out.  At which point my husband walks through the door.  Dinner isn't ready, the children are all upset and crying, and I feel like crying.  Welcome home honey!!

A glimmer of light shone down on us today.  Church was over, lunch was over and the table cleaned up.  Jeremiah asked John if he would play with a circuit board with him.  So they got that out and I asked Caleb if he wanted to do a puzzle with me.  We were all sitting at the table and rather amicably I might add.  It was very pleasant, and an experience I would like to see repeated often!

Such moments give me hope for the not too distant future and I feel that someday Caleb's fits of screaming and shrieking will subside.  The boys will stop running around the island and trying to hurt each other in the process.   And instead of walking into a room filled with mayhem, my husband will be able to walk through the door and be greeted with smiles.

The Importance of a Good Looking Home

  It was finally time to stack the bunk beds that the boys have been sleeping in.  Caleb is old enough and they were both very excited about doing it.  To date they have been sleeping in two separate beds, with the option of being stacked as bunk beds.

  After stacking them and doing the mandatory vacuuming that comes with rearranging it was time to put some decorations on the wall.  This is my favorite part!!  Jeremiah's desk is in the corner so I put up his things there.  He has a picture of the temple, his letter "J" from Grandma, a faith rock sitting on his desk, and a few framed things that he colored.  Above Caleb's dresser are his letter "C", also from Grandma, and some painted wood things: car, train, airplane.  He was involved in the process of putting them up so they are not perfectly spaced and arranged as I would have liked them to be.

  As I stood back to admire their room and its decorations, Caleb was playing on the floor with a toy.  I liked the way everything looked!  I was proud of myself for actually "getting around to decorating".  

  I turned to leave the room but then took another look, and couldn't help but notice Caleb- now very involved in his toy.  No matter how cute his room and its decor is; watching him and his brothers play will always be my favorite part of it!  So how important is decorating?  How important is it to have a home that is constantly clean?  Perhaps I cannot pin down a perfectly quantified answer to those questions, but I can say that before we decorate, before we spend tons of money on the perfectly placed eye-catching ornaments for the cutest shelf from the latest store; we should make sure all is well with our children.  We should be spending time with them in those rooms that we love to decorate so much- before they are grown and all we have left are the decorations, and the time for our children to fill those rooms has passed.

I missed a couple of weeks, but we made it up the canyon each week.  I have been trying hard to find new things to cook.  One time we made biscuits in a paper sack that had been sprayed with grease.  They were good, but under cooked.  Then I brought a can of baked beans this last Monday and we cut up our hot dogs in it.  The boys gobbled that right up!  I took the opportunity to talk to Jeremiah about peer pressure one night and then another night John read a scripture from Alma, about learning wisdom in our youth and talked to Jeremiah about why its important to learn things now, while he's young.

They both still love to get out their boats each time, and are starting to feel at home in the canyon.  I am getting better and better at starting a fire, and finding things that we can cook together.  I am trying to get my hands on a dutch oven, so I can try my hand at some of those recipes.  Let me know if you have any favorites, I'd love to try them out!

Wild Boys!!

We didn't make it up the canyon tonight.  After dinner we told the boys we were going to sing a bunch of what they calll fun songs.  They love to sing fun songs!  So we get the song book and before we even started they were bouncing off the walls!  So we sang fun songs, but cut it short because they were both being so anoying!  So after a short lesson on not lying, I went outside to make sure they got some of their ya-ya's out, and John stayed inside with James Henry. 

And that was it.  Jeremiah was interested in the lesson, and sat still for it, but caleb was running around like a wild banchee!  So outside we went.  I felt like it got cut short and like jeremiah didn't really get it, but that's how it goes sometimes.  I have to remind myself that they still get something out of it, and they still hear what is being said, even though they really don't seem like it.  I know its important to have family home evening!

The next couple of weeks topics

Went up the canyon tonight with my parents, and my sisters family.  So much fun!!!!  But amid all the craziness, and every one fighting for a spot over the fire to cook their sish ka bobs, the kids playing in the river, caleb getting a small gash in his leg,  Tash and Kevin dissappearing for a while, going on a little hike, we were still able to pull of a short lesson.

With so many people there I just explained a bit about our boats, and then said that we are talking about things that can pull our boats into the whirlpool.  Jeremiah seemed very excited to name all the parts of the boat and share with everyone what they meant. 

We went around the circle and everyone said something that can pull our boats away from the right path.  So here is our list of topics for the next couple weeks....

Stealing/robbbing
Not keeping the word of wisdom
Peer pressure
Lying
Selfishness