Thoughts about Girls' Camp

In preparation for Girls’ Camp, I went to a meeting last week with five other YW leaders in the ward. Our ward got reservations to go up to the church’s Heber Valley Campground, and as a requirement for going, your ward needed to attend this two-hour training where they tell you all that you need to know about the dress code, the activities they already have planned, the facilities, etc.. It was really interesting. I think all of us left feeling excited to take the girls up there. I like the idea of having a cabin to sleep in, it sounds like we will have some privacy even though there will be other stakes and wards there, and I have such nice memories of girls’ camp from when I was younger.

All of the camps kind of mesh together in my mind, but I thought I would share some of my memories:

My first year, Sister Milligan and Sister Utley were our leaders. I was grateful that they steered the older girls to do nice things for us instead of mean things – all I remember is that they gave us orange straws with a Frankenstein-ish character on them that we drank out of at every meal. I also cut a little piece of my thumb off while I peeled potatoes for our dinner one night. Ouch!

I remember Mom coming up the couple of years that she was in Young Women’s. She taught a class on journal-keeping that was really well done. I have this memory of sitting in the class wondering why I had never heard her say any of these things? Looking back though, I can see that she did teach me about journal-keeping at home. She would set all of our journals out on the dining room table on Sundays so that we would write in them. That training led to the very detailed records I kept in my teenage journals of every boy who ever said ‘hi’ to me in Junior High and High School. Hmmm. :)

I remember having a lot of fun being with the ward and stake girls. I honestly don’t remember anyone being catty or unkind.

My favorite memories of girls’ camp are of the testimony meetings. Those were some of the first times I felt and recognized the spirit. I remember sitting next to the warm campfire, listening to my leaders and friends bear testimony of God, then looking up into the star-filled sky and feeling so strongly that God loved me. I feel so grateful for the camp program and for those leaders who helped it to be such a good experience for me - hope I said thank you! :)

Here you go, Wendy!

Here are some pictures from Garrett's birthday. I can't believe how quickly his first year has gone by! He is crawling/slithering, standing up next to things, and getting his fifth tooth! He didn't care too much about the gifts, but he did want to get at the cake - :)

Enjoying the kids -

We had Stake Conference this past Sunday. I always love Stake Conference and General Conference because I try to come away with a goal or two. It doesn't necessarily coincide with what the speakers talked about, but I have really tried over the past few years to try to be more open to the things I can do better.

This conference's theme was really straightforward - pray, read the scriptures, have family home evening, and attend the temple. There are ways that I can improve in all of those areas, but as I sat in the Saturday night meeting, I felt that what I need to do better is show the kids that I love them. I am so grateful for that prompting! I realized that I want to smile at the kids more, I want to tell them positive things more often, I want to speak more gently with them, I want them to know that they are capable, good people, and I want them to enjoy being at home. I can still do better, but I can honestly say that this week has been so fun. :) I really enjoy our kids, and it has been so satisfying to show them a little better this week just how much I love them.

Ethan's baptism

It was so great to see Ethan baptized a few weeks ago. Every time I saw him during the day - waiting for Scott to help him with his tie in the morning, sitting in the Relief Society room waiting to be baptized, playing with cousins at our house after the baptism - he had a big smile on his face. I think he really liked that people would gather just for him, and I hope he also felt the importance of what he did. He is a good boy. It was another one of those days where I felt such gratitude to have him in our family. I also felt some awe that Heavenly Father would trust Scott and me with Ethan's little soul. It makes me want to do better at showing him and the other kids that I love them. I remember a talk from Women's Conference a few years ago where the speaker said that we needed to show our love for our children because that is how they learn about Heavenly Father's love for them too.

As I was sitting in the audience during the baptismal service, I felt a little emotional because Dad and Wendy could not be there. The thought came to me though that although they could not be there, Mom could be there. I hope that she is still able to be a part of our lives from time to time. I am grateful not only for people on earth who love us, but also for people who are in the spirit world who continue to love and care for us too.

My lesson today

I have been with the Beehives now for a little over two months, but have just noticed in the past couple of weeks that the girls sit by the same people every week, and visit with the same 1 or 2 girls every activity night too. It is interesting to me because there are so many of them! We have 16 girls in the class. Oh, they are so cute, but I like the idea of helping them to have comfort zones that are bigger than just 2 or 3 people! Wouldn't that be a great skill for them to learn now - to be able to stretch their comfort zones to include all of the girls in the group? Maybe it is expecting a lot of them, but I have high hopes that they could learn how to look beyond themselves and think more of helping others feel loved and needed.

I feel strongly about this too because the problem never seems to go away - I don't know how many times we talked in Relief Society about helping women in the ward to feel accepted and loved, and I have to admit that I have had times where my insecurites take hold, and I feel like the odd man out. Another reason this has been on my mind, is because it is something that I have had to work on consciously - I told Scott today that I would label myself a "recovering introvert". :) He didn't think that I should label myself, but it describes some of the tugging that I have felt from Heavenly Father over the years. Because I know the gospel is true, because I know that Heavenly Father loves me, and because I know that Heavenly Father can use me to help others that He also loves, I need to look outside of myself to try and lift others. I really try to smile, to call people by name, to ask them questions about things I know about them - most of the time it feels natural, and I really do care about people in general, but sometimes I have to push myself to Enrichment Night or to a neighborhood function because the socializing seems like an effort to me.

Anyway, with all this in mind, I gave the lesson today. The theme for the lesson was following the example of Christ, and it seemed to go well. I think the girls took away some ideas about things they could do in their homes and with the other neighborhood girls that would be more Christlike, and it was such a good reminder for me too! We wrote some of Christ's qualities up on the board, and as we listed "forgiving", "perfect example", "healer", "served and loved others", I thought to myself, and I said to the girls too, "Who wouldn't want to have all of these qualities!? I know that I want them!" You can't go wrong teaching a lesson about Christ -

Almost as great as the lesson topic though, was what we did beforehand. :) I had the girls sit in alphabetical order so their little comfort zones were all destroyed! (heh, heh, heh!) Then, they visited with the girl next to them for a minute and found out one good thing that had happened to them that week, then shared what their partner told them with the group. I loved seeing them mixed up all crazy! (That sounded a little bit like something Junie B. Jones would say!) They are all such good, kind girls, and were cute as they told about the good thing that had happened in their friend's life that week. My biggest hope in this calling is that they would know enough about God's love for them, so that they could forget about themselves and go forward in helping others.

My other happy feeling about the lesson comes because all of the girls commented. Usually we have three of the sixteen girls who answer all of the questions, so today, I asked a question, gave them a minute to think about how they would answer, then I called on specific girls so that we heard from all sixteen! Hooray! For next time, I need to come up with a better closer. I got to the end and really didn't have a clear idea of what I was going to say. Hmmm. It is good to have something to work on. :)

January birthdays

Today is Ethan's birthday, and Justin's birthday was last Thursday. Their birthdays have been really tender for me this year. I have felt so much gratitude that they could be in our family - that they are both so nice to the littler kids, that they enjoy goofing off together - even if the decibel level is not always to my liking :), and mostly that I get to be their mother. They are good boys. It is humbling to me that Heavenly Father trusted their souls to my care. Their birthdays are a reminder of the joy they brought into Scott's and my life when they were born, and a reminder of the joy that they continue to bring to our family. Happy Birthday, guys!

Adam's up and coming music career

I keep a little journal for all of our kids like Mom did for us. I have started doing Justin and Ethan's from my perspective, but still do the younger kids' journals in first person. Here is what I wrote from Adam's perspective in December:

"When Mommy or Daddy say goodnight to Lindsey and me, they sing us a couple of songs. My favorite is “Follow the Prophet” because there is a verse about me! I love to sing “Adam was a prophet, first one that we know. In a place called Eden, he helped things to grow.” I always smile really big when I hear my name in the song. I have four or five songs that I like to hear – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Up on the Housetop, Follow the Prophet, and I am a Child of God. I usually ask for the same song three or four days in a row, then move onto another song for a few days.

One night while Mommy was singing goodnight songs to Lindsey and me in our bedroom, Garrett was slithering around out in the hall. I was more interested in getting his attention, so went into the hall with him while Mommy sang a song to Lindsey. While she sang, I started singing too. I was trying to get Garrett to come into our bedroom, so held the blanket out in front of him and sang to the melody of “Follow the Prophet”: “Follow the blankie, follow the blankie . . .” I am quite a lyricist. The family still sings my song to the tune of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” – “I’m stirring a fish. I’m stirring a fish. I’m stirring a fish. It very not nice. Santa Claus is coming to town.” (And yes, the words are “it very not nice”.)"

Yes!

Three days and 116 pages later, I have finished scrapbooking 2005!!!!!!!!! Yes, I just typed in eight exclamation points, and they still don't quite capture my mood. I am going to enjoy this GLORIOUS feeling before I think too much about the prep work I need to do to get 2006 ready. :)

Christmas memory

I was thinking tonight about which Christmases were memorable from my younger years, and remembered the Christmas when I was 15. It had been a sad year - Michael had just passed away in August, so just David, Nathan, and I were living at home. (Angela, Bruce and Staci had just moved to Texas, Alison, Quin, and Andrew had just moved to California, Matthew started his Freshman year at BYU, and Valerie had gone back to Utah State. I think that information is right anyway. It seemed like we had a lot of people leaving all at once.) The house had been really quiet, so I was so excited for the Christmas break when Matthew and Valerie would be home, and we found out that Alison, Quin, and Andrew were coming to be with us on Christmas too! We were so giddy! I remember driving around Salt Lake on Christmas Eve to look at Christmas lights, then we came home and danced to that silly record with "I'm Morris the Moose" and "Chris, Chris, the Christmas Tree" on it while we waited for the Soderquists to come. My memory is that it was almost midnight when they arrived, that we were just loud and so happy to see them, and that poor little 7-month-old Andrew was sick. I honestly don't remember much of anything after that, but the anticipation of knowing that they were coming was Christmas enough.

Our professional potty trainer

Adam learned how to use the bathroom back in October. We bought him some Skittles to use as potty treats and a new little potty that is just his size. Lindsey is going to be a professional potty trainer by the time she is a parent because she has been a really important part of Adam’s training! She likes to get his potty treats for him when he has earned them, she sits with him while he uses the bathroom, and she encourages him too. I have enjoyed seeing how much she wants to help him. Adam still likes someone to be with him while he uses the bathroom, and if I am unavailable because I am feeding Garrett or not home, he likes Lindsey to be with him. She is such a sweet, nurturing little girl.

Ethan's Halloween costume

It isn't Halloween anymore, but here is a litte story about Ethan. One of his distinguishing characteristics is that he wears his emotions on his sleeve. If he is sad we all know it, and if he is happy we all know it because energy absolutely exudes from him.

We have so many Halloween costumes now, that I decided I did not want to spend any money on them this year. Scott just pulled the costume box down about two weeks before Halloween, the kids looked through it, and they all found something they liked enough to wear. Ethan was a little pickier than Lindsey and Adam, and looked and looked through the box. At one point, he had on a Jedi robe, Batman’s belt, and knight gloves so that he could be a secret agent, but still did not seem quite satisfied. He did wear that costume to our Lewis Halloween party though. During the party Aunt Angela and Staci did some face painting. When I saw Ethan after a little while, I noticed that he had a big silver and blue “Y” on his forehead and nose. When we got home from the party that night, Ethan got this excited look on his face and said that he finally knew what he was going to be for Halloween – a BYU fan! It was fun to see him come to that conclusion on his own, and then to be so exuberant about it too. Ethan is a happy gift in our home.

I'm not his mother . . .

Justin has always been a clever little guy, and is developing a sense of humor that is so grown up. I have been on his case a little bit lately because if he is around, and I am critiquing something that Ethan is doing, Justin inevitably joins in and either repeats what I am saying, or pipes in with some follow-up comment. My response to Justin when he does this is that Ethan only needs one mother. After I say that, he leaves Ethan alone.

When we were at Scott’s work for trick-or-treating on Halloween, all of us but Scott were in his office passing out candy. I corrected something that Ethan did, and sure enough Justin joined in the correction. When I said my usual “Ethan only needs one mother”, Justin immediately came back with “I’m not his mother. I’m his mentor.” I wish I could come up with clever responses like that on the fly. Hmmm. I wonder if he had been practicing? It surprises me sometimes how quickly the kids are growing up and getting all clever on me. :)

Life is good

Okay, so I changed the name of my blog to "Life is good" and here is an explanation. A couple of years ago, Scott bought me a pair of pajama pants from Cabela's that had the slogan "Life is good" written on them. I like wearing those pajamas because they remind me that life is good. There is power in positive thinking. :) Even though I have stretchy things in my life, I also have so many things for which I am grateful - a husband that is so perfect for me, kids who are trying to be good little people, an extended family filled with people that I am so grateful to also call friends, some great friends outside of the family, and faith in my Savior and the healing power He can have in my life. Yes, life is good.

The Bronze Bow

I finished a book last week that I really enjoyed - "The Bronze Bow" by Elizabeth George Speare. She also wrote "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" which I have probably read 10 times because it is such a sweet love story told in colonial Massachussetts. You might call it my escape book. When I just want to lose myself in someone else's life, I pull it out. Knowing how much I enjoy that Speare book, and then the fact that "The Bronze Bow" is a Newberry winner, I bought it about two years ago.

I finally read it, and it was great! Long story short - it tells the story of a boy named Daniel who lives during the time of Christ. Because of some family tragedies, he gets caught up with a zealot group that is trying to free Israel from its Roman conquerors by force. The characters were believable and lovable - I especially thought the development of the hero's sister, Leah, was sweet, and the development of Daniel as he cared for his sister was touching. One of the things that I liked the most about reading it, was hearing about that time in Israel from the perspective of someone who was waiting for a Messiah - not the Messianic role that we recognize, but someone who would save them from Roman rule. Reading good things opens our minds and our worlds. I love it -

I'm public - eek!

I am so flattered that all of you would check in on me. :) I have honestly really, really enjoyed checking your blogs regularly since Labor Day when Kimberly showed me where they all were. I have felt some resistance to entering the blogging world - I guess it just seemed like another of the million things that I could do, but didn't feel like I had the time, and I was not really sure how I would use a blog. Anyway, I have softened because as I have looked in on your blogs more frequently, I think it is so sweet to hear about what you are thinking, and to hear little anecdotes about your kids. So, Valerie has made my entrance into blogdom very easy! (Thanks, Val!) She called me on a Sunday evening, asked for my google account password, and set me up.

Now I just need to work on coming up with things to write. . .