Family Christmas Pictures

An annual ordeal, family pictures. This time, though, we really lucked out. I was telling a friend that we needed a family picture to send to Grandpa and Grandma (they had to ask us explicitly to send one for Christmas because the last one they had was taken when Nathan was born and Marion was baptized). She offered to look up some fun poses and background ideas and take the pictures for free because she's not professional yet. If you can believe it, she got Jacob to smile his gorgeous real smile. She's good. We ended up with more than one good shot. I didn't think it was possible. Between the tantrums about not wearing the styleless outfits Mom picked out and which child gets to sit on which parent's lap, I thought all my hopes for a memorable picture were gone with that freezing cold wind blowing our hair around by the blue spruces. We did end up with good pictures, though, and another great example of nice things friends do for each other.

How do I know when it's a good time to blog? When I have a million things to do, of course! So many fun avoidance behaviors to choose from and this time it's blogging. We had a great time during our Thanksgiving trip to Texas. My five favorites were: (The Alamo --->)
1. Leaving the Colorado cold behind for the Texas sunshine. We had temperatures in the 70s and 80s the whole time with only one day of rain!
2. The kids were great travelers. No fights in the car (thank you Jumanji DVD and well-placed Dairy Queens!) Nobody threw up!
3. The Alamo was an incredible place. Hundreds of people were there the day we went to visit but it was unbelievably quiet and almost sacred. The IMAX movie at the mall on the River Walk moved me to tears for the sacrifices of the band of ordinary men who stayed to defend their freedom.

4. Allen's cousins and aunts and uncles are some of my very favorite people. (Aunt Cora Beth in

Weatherford--->)

They all have this tradition of thinking of and serving others that makes them very friendly and comfortable to be around.
5. Returning to Allen's uncle's home after a 3-hour walk that should have been only 1 but the little boys were simply incapable of walking in a straight line through a dry river bed or walking on their own on the access road and always wanted to be carried. My relief was palpable when Allen's aunt showed up to guide us back out. Jacob was an absolute warrior staying behind with me and Nathan and Samuel, continually shepherding the younger brothers and distracting them with great whacks of machete-sticks on dead limbs, rocks, you name it. Whew.
It was one of my favorite family vacations ever!

(Uncle Lewis and Aunt Mary Bliss in Oklahoma City--->)

Change is in the Air

Fall reminds me of continuous change in all our lives. Looking back at family pictures does the same thing. This picture was taken last summer and already the children look older. I love the colors of fall. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the colors this year. But even with all the changing, I know fall will happen again next year. Who knows what the future will be like? New president, new opportunities. My candidate wasn't elected, but I can make sure he knows my opinions. I can teach my children values and the values of virtue. I love living in a country where individuals can voice their opinions and make something of themselves with hard work and a lot of heart. Allen and I stood on these same steps 16 years ago, all by ourselves. Some really great changes have happened in my life and I'm glad I wasn't so hooked on the way things had been that I wasn't willing to embrace the good changes that have come into my life. 6 really great changes, especially.

My dad is 70

Yesterday was my dad's 70th birthday. We threw a big party for him and his twin brother on Saturday in South Jordan, Utah. His remaining living brothers and sisters came and brought lots of their children to eat a really yummy potluck dinner and cake and ice cream (lots of maple walnut!). Robyn wrote an amazing poem for him. Noel copied and put up lots of old pictures. Samuel played in every dirt pile around the clubhouse. Nathan climbed everything he wasn't supposed to climb. Marion, Jacob and Adam played with at least 100 cousins. :) Dad looked really happy.

I attended his older brother John's funeral last year. It struck me that so many family members were there, they'd put together a great slide presentation, beautiful old pictures displayed everywhere - and we couldn't enjoy it with him! I really wanted to do a great party for Dad before we had to do his funeral - when we could tell him how grateful we are for him and what a great person he is.

Don't wait for your parents' funerals to put on a great party for them!

Erin

Joy in the Journey

I've thought a lot about President Monson's last talk in Sunday pm GenConf. It seems that mothers of small children never get enough quiet time, sleep, clean floors, or shiny windows. What we get instead is lots of hugs, lots of attention, lots of conversation, and never a dull moment. Now fast forward 15 years. All we'll have is quiet time, full-nights' sleep, clean floors and shiny windows. We'll never get enough hugs, attention, conversation, and excitement. So, finding the joy in the here and now seems like the easy part. But that's not all President Monson said. He also said we shouldn't put things off for tomorrow. I want to sing in Colorado Mormon Chorale. I want to dig into family history. I want to learn to sew quilts. I want to spend more time with my preteen daughter. I want to exercise every day. I want to play the violin and piano every day. Those are the things I seem to be putting off. Like I put off learning to do a cartwheel until it's everlastingly too late. That's the hard part. Balancing family needs with things I'm putting off. I wonder if that's what he meant.

Sunday am GenConf

I loved Sister Dalton's talk on Virtue. Is it true that most people don't try the virtue of ideas before they espouse them? The word virtue comes from the Latin word for 'strength'. I like thinking of virtue as strength. Like, a person who chooses the right, ethical, good-feeling way shows strength by not consulting the majority first. We seek after virtuous, lovely, and praiseworthy things. Does virtue exist outside, apart, independent in the universe? Can it be relative and still be virtue? If virtuous things tend to seek out one another, is it a quality, a quality that God possesses? He possesses all virtues.
My husband, who is virtuous, wishes every weekend could be conference weekend. Honestly. Today was so pleasant with the children. Everyone worked on a Lehi Roller Mills puzzle by Eric Dowdle, whose artwork I want in my house, while we listened to the conference talks. We've had good discussions at mealtimes and fun being together.