The Deacon Pah-r-tay!

For several months I have been feeling like I need to make more of an effort with making sure Xander has a good support system when it comes to his friends. He is a wonderful young man and has a lot of good friends, but I want to make sure I foster those friendships. We are blessed to have a huge group of boys in church that are all about the same age. Right now, there are 12 boys in the deacon's quorum, the group of boys ages 12-13.

So, at the end of January, I invited all the parents of the boys to a dinner at our house. I am kicking myself now that I didn't take any pictures. It was Pinterest worthy, for sure! I was too busy trying to get everything done and ran out of time! Oh, well!

Anyway, dinner was a huge success and I told the parents that I wanted to start getting the boys together more often. Everyone agreed. We volunteered to host the first party, since Xander wanted to have the boys over on the night we had dinner, but I told him they all had to babysit!

So, a few weeks later, we hosted an ice cream sundae party at our house.......
The amount of sugar that went in the bowls was mind blowing! They loved it and had a great time making huge bowls of all sorts of stuff....




I hadn't moved the furniture back into the living room since the dinner, so they all sat on a blanket and ate their ice cream.
Eating ice cream can get serious and some had to lay on the floor to shovel it in!


When they went back for seconds - yes, seconds! the game became "who can put the most whipped cream in your mouth...."






Then we had a "chubby bunny" contest. It was hysterical!



Overall, I think they had a great time!

I remember my younger sisters having a great group of kids they hung out with called the "mormon posse" and I want Xander to have that same experience, where they all help each other out and stick up for each other and build great memories. Some day, these will be the missionaries that go all over the world to preach the gospel and hopefully, the friendships they build now will remain through missions and college and everything life brings!

One of the reasons I wanted to do this also was because of a situation that happened earlier this year. Xander was being bullied on the bus and I mentioned something to a few of the parents of these boys. They spoke to their sons and two of the boys, Avery Olsen and Avery Volgelzang, immediately went to Xander's aide. They made sure they sat with him on the bus and kept this kid away from him. They made a birthday card for him and made sure that he felt loved.

I thanked the parents for this and one of the moms told me that Xander had done the same for her son. He was being bullied at scout camp and Xander stuck up for him and made sure he was never alone with the bullies the rest of the time. She said that she was so impressed with Xander for doing this.

It's these types of situations that made me want to start this tradition. I had crazy, sugar-filled boys at my house for several hours and was exhausted when they left, but it was worth it. Now, we have a standing night each month that we will get the boys together to do something fun together. I am excited for Xander to make these friends and these amazing memories!

Grateful for the Spirit in my life....

I was asked to give a talk on Sunday. All week long I have thought about it. The subject is LOVE, which is appropriate for Valentine's Day, of course. But that is a broad subject with a million different ways you can go. Even though I have been praying and pondering about it all week, this morning was the first time I have had to sit down and figure out what I am going to say...I am amazed how Heavenly Father showed me his will and guided my thoughts as to what direction I am to go with this subject. It is a manifestation of his love, for sure, and I am so grateful for the spirit in my life.

The song I taught the primary children in January states, "As a child of God I receive special light, the Holy Ghost helps me to know what is right." I am grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me enough to bless me with the Holy Ghost, to guide me and protect me and bless me.

I am truly blessed.

So much to catch up on.......

I have so much to catch up on with this blog........but let's just start with our latest adventure......

First, we still have Grandpa Johnnie here. After being overseas for twelve years, it is good to have him around. We are loving every minute of his presence.

Xander needed to attend an art museum to finish up his Art Merit Badge for scouts. So we took the Metrorail downtown Washington DC to go to the Smithsonian.

We haven't ridden the Metro in a long time and the kids were so excited!

Just look at the excitement on that teenagers face!

Savannah was hysterical. She squealed and yelled "rockstar" every time we went through a tunnel and then wanted Xander to read her the newspaper.

Garrett sat quietly and looked out the window most of the ride. Sometimes it's nice to just chill.

Since Garrett has been studying Hinduism and Buddhism, we made sure we went to the rooms dedicated to its art. He really liked this statue!

The museum itself is gorgeous. Marble floors, beautiful chandeliers, not to mention the amazing art work!

And these guys greeted you at either end of the hallways.

We had invited our friends, Garrett Janiak and his Grandma, Doris, better known as Meemaw.

Garrett Janiak, or Janiak, as we call him, was born 6 months after Garrett and they have been best of friends since birth. We try and get together with them whenever possible because the boys have a great time. It will be fun to look back on this picture someday when they are grown and remember how little they were once....

Yeah, that's me in a picture....I know, shocking!

Grandpa Johnnie hasn't been to DC for a long time. We had to remember this moment for him too!

One of our favorite parts of the day was the air vent that was blowing on the walkway. It made their shirts blow up and hair stand on end!

Our favorite museum is the Natural History Museum. We decided that Xander is almost as tall as a giraffe!!!

What a great day!

A reminder....

This afternoon my mom called. She is working on my grandparents life history. She was reading through some entries and came across an entry that she had to call me about.

I am so glad she followed the spirit and did.

You see, my dad and I had an intense discussion this morning about life and me and my parenting and our business and other things. He told me things I needed to hear. I cried, because I always cry when I talk about things like this. And we had a great conversation. It helped me resolve to do better on a lot of things. And he was very honest and loving with what he said. He in no way was critical, but gave suggestions and observations.

So when my mom called me to remind me of this story, I started crying again. I needed to be reminded that I am supposed to be here doing what I am doing. After getting home from a mission, sometimes it is hard to remember how many spiritual experiences I really had. Hearing my mom today tell my grandma's version of the story was a great reminder of my mission, my purpose and everything my dad and I discussed.

So, here is the story.....

One evening after a meeting, one of the Elders and I were standing on the street corner getting ready to cross a busy street. We were talking and laughing and our companions were just a few feet behind us. Moments later, we were three feet back from where we had been standing. A car came speeding past, very close the edge of the road.

In the moments before, it was as if I was in slow motion and was being lifted up and placed away from the road and harms way. Afterwards, we looked at each other in amazement, as did our companions. We both realized that our lives had just been spared. The car was out of control and ran into a man, who was later pronounced dead. The spirit bore witness to all of us that we were supposed to be saved in that moment. The overwhelming feelings of the spirit stayed with me for weeks afterwards and it renewed my testimony of the divinity of the plan of salvation and my Savior Jesus Christ.

So, it has been a day of reflection for me. One that I needed. One that I hope I can take the feelings and the conversations and the reminders and make myself a better person.

Focus Word for the new year.......ENJOY

Yesterday my dad was expecting a gentleman with whom he does business. They were going to use our house for a meeting place for a couple of hours and then go out to dinner to finish their meeting. This man is investing in some companies and has A LOT , and I mean A LOT of money to invest.

So, I went into panic mode, like I always do. I started cleaning the house. And as I am cleaning, the walls looked dirty and I realized I still haven't painted the kitchen wall. The other day I went crazy and moved furniture all around which left us with no rug and two non-matching chairs in the living room. I started to get frustrated. I have such a vision for my house and I know what I want it to LOOK like, that I get angry sometimes. I start projects and run out of time. I try and make it different and never get the project completed.

I finally had to take a deep breath. I wasn't going to get the wall painted, the chairs weren't going to get reupholstered and I couldn't afford a rug in the next three hours. I sat down and closed my eyes and asked Heavenly Father to help me out.

Of course, the immediate thought I had was that more importantly what my house looked like, was that it felt like a HOME. I made some minor changes in the decor and made sure the floors were vacuumed. I said a prayer that when this gentleman came to my home, he would feel the spirit. He would feel the love and happiness we have here. He would see the children's artwork and the pictures of family and never see the wall that needed to be painted or the mismatched chairs. Because I know my home has the spirit and we try hard to keep the spirit here. And that is more important to me than anything!

I tend to not ENJOY my surroundings sometimes. Maybe it is because I have such a vision for decor and other things, but I am always thinking of how it could be better. I am also guilty of that with my family and other things.

My dad and I had a conversation about Eleanor the other day. She was on her third major outfit. Clothes, tights, shoes and hair accessories. All I could think about was the laundry. He reminded me to pick my battles. I had to take a deep breath and not ask him to try and do the laundry in my house for a week, but I knew he was right. I need to let her experiment with her clothes. She does an amazing job for a six year old!!! She has creativity bursting from her little body and I tend to not let her express herself.

So this year I am going to try and ENJOY life a little more. Enjoy my home and pick a project that is attainable in a reasonable amount of time. ENJOY my children and not always be on them about something. ENJOY my husband who keeps me sane and helps me out so much. I want to ENJOY the moments , ENJOY the laughter, ENJOY the 13 year old who still hugs me, ENJOY the 10 year old who is the sweetest boy in the world, ENJOY the 6 year old who keeps me on my toes and blows me away with her maturity, ENJOY the three year old because she is growing up so fast.

I am going to try and ENJOY the time I have with each of these amazing children and ENJOY being a mom more. I think I do a pretty good job right now, but I am really going to try hard an embrace the word in my life......ENJOY!!!!

My Beautiful, Sweet Eleanor.......

My little Eleanor is an amazing child. She can try my patience to its uttermost limits and make me so happy the next. She is an intense child. She is creative and dramatic, musical and a fashionista. In her new school, the first graders put on a holiday extravaganza. It is a big deal. At least it was for Eleanor. She wanted a new dress. We looked everywhere and finally I decided to make her one.....then we went to plan B and asked Grandpa Day to make the dress. (I got in a little over my head!) We went and got her a special headband and a necklace and a ring. Then we happened on some really cute shoes that were silver like her dress and "high heels" just like she wanted. She was in seventh heaven!!!! Here is my beautiful Eleanor......

The dress was a simple one, but we found this amazing snowflake material that we thought would be pretty as an overlay. It turned out amazing! Thank you, Grandpa Day, for making it!

Here she is after the concert with her cute friend, Penelope...

The concert was amazing! Each class dressed up like either a penguin, in winter hats and Eleanor's class was dressed up like reindeers.....so cute!

They sang several songs and then performed several grand finale songs.....it was really good!!!

The decorating was amazing also.....I wish I could take the credit, but I just helped my friend, Sara, create this amazing entrance and then the snowy backdrop....

We made it out of paper and glued the figures on top. Then I added detail to the stars and we added glitter to everything!!! There were snowflakes hanging from the ceiling and the children had decorated candy canes and gingerbread men that were also on the walls.

I was really proud of her! She loves to work the camera also, as you can tell!

I can't believe that my girls are growing up so much!

She is such a cutie pie too!!!

I love you beautiful Eleanor!