Captain Moroni and the Standard of Liberty

In preparation for Independence Day (and because Vince love swords and fighting and armies and war…. son of a solider? I think so) we talked about Captain Moroni for Family Home Evening a few weeks ago. We even made our own standard of liberty. 

We re-enacted the scene of Moroni tearing his cloak and fastening it to a pole and talked about why he did it, and why they fought.

Then we talked about the founders of our country, what they did, and why they fought. We recited the Declaration of Independence (well, this part: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”) and talked about George Washington and what the American flag means, and how it is like the standard of liberty that Captain Moroni made. We hung our standard of liberty and an American flag on the wall for a little while (until the tape failed and they fell down).

Playing soldiers wouldn’t be complete without making helmets and having swords. Russ has a super cool sword he got for Christmas when we were first married, and Vincente has his little foam sword Grandpa Victor got for him last summer (because Vince kept trying to use the knife sharpener for a sword…) and we made helmets out of boxes and tinfoil. They were awesome.

I’m glad we got to talk to Vincente about both the standard of liberty and the American flag and what they stand for. The kids love pointing out American flags (almost as much as they love pointing out the temple) and always tell me when they see one. We’re trying to teach our kids that there are times when fighting is okay – but it is only when we are protecting our freedom, our families, and our religion.

I am so grateful for the example of Captain Moroni – especially for my children because we are a military family. We can help them understand that their Papai is fighting for a reason – that we don’t just fight because we want to, we fight to preserve freedom – and freedom is indeed a very important thing to fight for.

4th of July

We enjoyed our first Independence Day in Utah! We live really close to the West Jordan city park so the city festivities were near by.
The city had a carnival of sorts at the park. There were little roller coasters, a bunch of kid rides, and of course a Ferris wheel (the horrible kind with the bucket seats instead of the bench seats. I hated it…)
The kids loved being there, though. And we even brought Doc. He loved being out and about with us. The kids went on a pony ride. They liked learning the names of the horses. I think Vincente was riding on “Rocky.” (that’s right, like Rocky Balboa – he got a kick out of that).
Later we had a BBQ with a bunch of friends and family. My sister and her husband were there, along with Russ’ grandma Carolyn and his Uncle Logan and his wife Vicky and their baby Valentino. Also in attendance was our good friends from BYU, Jorge and Rebecca Rosello. We love those guys so much and we were so excited to see them! (it’s been a while!) They brought their little munchkins Bella and Lessa (and one in the oven).
After the BBQ, we did some little fire crackers and fountains that we had bought. We let the kids do sparklers, too. We bought a huge pack of sparklers from Sam’s – we should have plenty for the next three or four Independence Days…
And of course we had glo-sticks! I think those were the biggest hits, especially after it got dark. We even put a bunch of them on Doc, who didn’t seem to mind the fireworks (apparently that is unusual for a dog – but he seemed to like them as much as the kids did!)

Since we live so close to the city park we had a pretty good view of the fireworks just sitting in our driveway. It was really fun to be able to just sit in our driveway and enjoy the fireworks. We avoided traffic and everything! It was awesome. The display was pretty good. If I had a better camera I would have better pictures, but you’ll just have to accept and iPhone shot and a shot with my point-and-shoot for now. Someday  I’ll  have a DSLR and I’ll learn how to take photographs of fireworks. That will be cool.
     Thanks for coming, everyone! We had a blast and we’re so grateful for such good friends and family!!

Good Men and a Great Country

 

I wanted to write something about Independence Day this year, but I couldn’t really think of anything eloquent, so I’m including a picture of the kids so that this post isn’t a complete waste.

I am proud to be an American, and I am proud to be an Army wife.

People say that our country doesn’t have any business fighting in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, and other Middle Eastern countries. I do agree with those who say there are things we need to fix inside our own country first, but really, our problems, serious as they may be, are not even close to the problems people face in other countries.

Some people are losing faith in the “American Dream” but I think what we have really lost is work ethic, determination, and personal accountability. As a people, we have forgotten what is important, we have forgotten how to get what is important, and we have forgotten that the best part of having something is sharing it.

I hope this year, on this Independence Day, we can re-evaluate our “American Dream” and what we  are doing, not only to achieve our dream, but to share it with others – all around the world.

And I also hope that we will continue to fight to protect our freedoms that we enjoy in this country, particularly religious freedom.

I feel so blessed to live in this, the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

Bricked

Playing Legos with the kids...


Don't touch the outlet, Superman!!

I love these days. There won't be nearly enough of them. I am re-learning how to appreciate my children and every moment with them - being amazed by each thing they do and learn.




And then Rocky beat up Superman. Apparently Rocky is more than just an amazing boxer. Ha ha.


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Potty Training Volume 2 Issue 3 - well, that was easy

Potty training is (almost) officially done. In basically one day. She still hasn’t pooped in the potty (she’s done it twice in her undies) but I think that is just a matter of me paying better attention, and her getting used to doing it on the potty. It’s a lot of new stuff for one stinker to learn! And she’s done SO well!

We’re doing the potty-every-half-hour routine, and so far she’ll go right away by herself to the potty and go pee. Her diaper was dry when she woke up this morning, and she went pee right away in the potty. She’s been dry all day (she doesn’t pee when she poops, and I think that is part of why it’s hard for her to learn to poo in the potty – she used to poop in a perfectly dry diaper before we started potty training).

I’m so grateful that it was so easy. I feel like I can go back to life as normal again. Things are going to get better. I know it.

PS – the kids are so entertained in this picture because I took it with the webcam and they could see themselves on the computer screen. They thought that was hilarious. I LOVE these babies!!

Potty Training Vol 2 Issue 2

Why do I feel like I've done this before?




We originally started with Joseline back in February, but she was too stubborn (and I too impatient) for it to work. Maybe if had been more patient.... Anyway, the important part is that we had brains enough to stop. And then life happened (a LOT) and we had brains enough to know we should wait until things got a little less crazy (that is, we waited until I got a little less crazy - but that is another story entirely).

Now we're back at it - and we decided to do it kind of randomly yesterday.



So far (about and hour and a half) we're already to the timer phase - I set the timer for 10 min (I started with 15, but after she went to the potty herself(!) once before the timer rang I shortened the intervals to 10 min just to make sure it wasn't a fluke). I think she just wanted a cookie...

No accidents (yet - I'm prepared for it to happen, but crossing my fingers that it doesn't).

This second time around has been easier than Vincente ever was!

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Motorcycle Family

When the weather is good, we like to ride on Papai’s motorcycle. Vincente has a DOT approved helmet we found at DI, so Russ will take him around the block (just on our neighborhood streets) and back.

Joseline had never been on a motorcycle before this picture was taken, and she freaked out. Russ was just letting them ride while he pulled the bike into the garage. Silly babies.

When Russ and I go on dates, our preferred mode of transportation is the motorcycle is the weather is even half decent. Our favorite rides together were in California when we rode to Santa Cruz for a marriage retreat, and then our frequent rides to the movie theater in Monterey. That ocean air all around you, the smell of sea brine, the cool breeze – it was perfect. We miss that place a lot, and if we get a chance to go back we will in a heart beat!

Now our motorcycle dates are usually to the dollar theater in Sandy or West Valley.

Russ is such a responsible motorcycle driver, and so observant. I never worry about riding with him on his bike (ironically, I’m more scared riding with him driving a car than I am with him riding a bike…)

Buying that bike is probably one of the best decisions we ever made! And it’s paid for, which makes it that much sweeter.

Teach Me How To Jimmer

Ahh…. Jimmer Fredette.
Well, when things got crazy with Jimmer Fredette, we had to watch a few games. I think we watched a few games leading up to March Madness, and then we watched the sweet sixteen game when they lost (you know, when Jimmer practically choked). Anyway, the games leading up to March Madness were fun, and Vincente quickly learned who Jimmer was.

I watched this music video with Vincente, and he quickly learned the “chorus”: “Teach me how to Jimmer, teach me, teach me how to Jimmer.” He was a Jimmer fan from the first time he knew who Jimmer was.

A few days after seeing this video (and maybe watching a game or two) Vincente was out on the deck “shooting hoops” and ran to the door to tell me, very excitedly, “Look, Mamãe!! I’m Jimmer!!” and proceeded to carry the ball across the deck and dunk it.

Later in the summer, the BYU Alumni magazine had a four-page fold out of Jimmer, and Vincente wanted to hang it on his wall.
It was there for a while until Joseline ripped it into a few pieces. Crazy child.

Back Again

Well, here I am, a month between posts again, with not really much desire to post anyway, but feeling like I should (since it’s been so long…)

Writing usually makes me feel better, but right now all I can think about it all the things that need to get done and haven’t in the past few days (weeks?).

Basically I feel behind, overwhelmed, sick, and tired (allergies, anyone?). Blah.

Neighborhood Fun Run

The first weekend of June is our neighborhood’s annual Fun Run. It’s free, fun, and mostly just for kicks.

 

This is our first year to participate, but I am sure it won’t be our last. It was really a lot of fun to get out with our neighborhood, and the run was around our neighborhood, so it was perfectly safe for the kids.

They had a 1/2 miler, a 1 miler, and a 5K. I would like to do the 5K next year, but this year I just did the 1/2 miler with the kids.

This year the run was on a drill weekend, so Russ wasn’t there, but we had a blast anyway!

Vincente ran almost the entire 1/2 mile (I was so proud of him!) and I ended up carrying Joseline for most of the 1/2 mile – I figure that carrying a 20-something pound two-year-old would make up for the fact that it was only a 1/2 mile.

Don’t you love it! And look at that Army haircut
(he wanted me to cut his hair like “Papai”)

Vincente at “parade rest” – don’t you love that serious “attention” look?
What a kid.

And then when people noticed his haircut he would say
“You can call me ‘Papai’”
Ba ha ha ha! Such a funny kid!!

Backyard Campout

We love camping. A lot. You wouldn’t know because we haven’t really ever been camping since we were married (other than the summer we spent in a cabin at Scout Camp – which was pretty much the most adventurous thing we have ever done).
Memorial Day weekend this year (2011) was the perfect opportunity for us to head out on a long awaited adventure. We were going to do it. It was going to be a blast. Then we looked at our budget. There was no way we could pay for a campground and gas to get there and still be able to pay the bills. Being the responsible (HA!) grown-ups we are, we decided to have a backyard campout.

It ended up being perfect. The weather was fine (a little cold, but hey, camping out is about roughing it, so that was perfect). Our backyard was mostly a big level area of dirt, perfect for pitching a tent. So pitch a tent is what we did. Then we started up a fire and cooked tinfoil dinners, then roasted marshmallows for S’mores, and then stayed up late into the night eating horrible snacks around the campfire, simply enjoying one another’s company. Then we piled into our little tent (we have got to upgrade before we go on a real campout) and spent the night enjoying the outdoors in our backyard. Doc stood guard over the campsite. And then slept in the tent with us. That sweet dog. We really like him!
Because I have lots of pictures about this campout, and not much to say, I have included recipes of the evenings food for your camping enjoyment!

And remember, you don’t have to even leave your backyard to have an adventure! Camping can be super fun (and super cheap) if you just camp in your backyard. You can even invite a few neighbors over and pull out the guitar and ukulele (what we always did at family campouts) and sing some fun camp songs.  Don’t know any camp songs? Check out the LDS Young Women’s camp songs on the Church website. Or just do a Google search for camp songs. You won’t come up empty, I’m sure of it.
Tin Foil (aka “Hobo”) Dinnerspotatoes
carrots
onions
meat (ground beef, chicken, steak, whatever whets your appetite)salt
pepper
other seasonings as desired (we use seasoned salt and a little garlic powder – we love garlic!)butter
square pieces of tin foil
---------------------------Slice the veggies (potatoes, carrots, onions, and any other veggies you decided to use) very thinly. If desired, spray your tin foil with non-stick spray, then line with carrots, then potatoes, then onions, then meat, then layer it again, but backwards (onions, potatoes, carrots). Your meat should be surrounded on all sides by the veggies – otherwise your meat will get dry and your veggies will be crunchy. No one likes a hobo dinner that is crunchy. On each layer, sprinkle some of your seasonings, and add a little blob of butter.
Once you are finished layering your food, take two sides of the tinfoil and pull them together, forming a triangle with the tinfoil (your food is at the bottom of the tinfoil). Roll the top (where the ends meet) down until it is tight on top of the food. Then roll up the ends.
Throw your dinner on the hot coals. Let it cook about 5-10 minutes on each side (depending on the amount of veggies, etc). When it’s done, dump it all out on a plate and enjoy!
Campfire Cornenough ears of corn for everyone in your campsite (plus extras if you want to share with the neighbors) – do not shuck your corn
salt water
-------------------------------------Make a big bucket or bowl of cold salt water and soak your (unshucked) corn for a few hours (we only let ours soak for about an hour and a half, and that was fine). About five minutes or so after you put your Hobo dinners on the coals, set your unshucked ears of corn on the coals as well. Turn the corn constantly – every few minutes or so – until the husks start looking cooked. It probably will only take about 5 minutes to cook the ears of corn. Take them off the coals and let them cool for a minute (probably about as long as it takes you to unwrap your Hobo dinner). Pull the husks down, but leave them on the corn – no need for ear holder things, just hold the husks. Smother your cob of corn in butter and salt, and enjoy!


S’moresAs if I need to post this recipe.name brand graham crackers (I’ve tried store brand, and unless they are different, store brand crackers are too crumbly to squish the marshmallow – our favorite brand is Honey Maid, but you use whatever you like – or have a coupon for)Hershey’s chocolate (again, a place you should not skimp when it comes to S’mores)Large Marshmallows (here, doesn’t matter what the brand is. But we tried these chocolate swirl marshmallows a while ago – WHOO HOO they were yummy)------------------------------------------------
   Take a whole graham cracker and break it in half. Place three squares (more if you like) of chocolate on one of the crackers. Place the marshmallow on a roasting stick. Hold it over the coals, turning constantly. Don’t worry that it doesn’t brown up all at once – the key to a perfectly brown marshmallow is to be patient, and turn it constantly. Once the marshmallow is all goldeny-brown, lay it (using the roasting stick) on top of the chocolate cracker. Take the other cracker and smash it down on top of the marshmallow. Slowly pull the roasting stick out of the marshmallow. This is the perfect way to make a S’more with the least amount of stickiness.

 

A Little Bit of Everything

I haven’t dropped off the face of the planet – I promise. There’s proof over here and over there. Okay, not super recent proof, but proof enough.

You know how when you’re climbing a mountain, you can’t really tell how far it is to the top when you’re actually on the mountain, doing the climbing. Well, that’s kind of how I feel right now.

Although, the nice thing about climbing a mountain is that you can usually stop for a breathtaking view every now and then, making the uncertainty of when you’ll reach the top somewhat bearable.

The view of the Arkansas River on the way up Pinnacle Mountain in Arkansas. I had a picture of the fog coming off the river from a different hike, but I couldn’t find it – so this will have to do. Not quite breathtaking, but beautiful nonetheless.

So we’re still working through some things (I say working through because we really are working through them. Things are getting better, not worse, so that’s good) but in the meantime, we’re enjoying the view from the side of the mountain.

Remember how much we missed this face? (photo courtesy of Vincente, of course) He came back from Brazil on May 15 with lots of goodies for us! Mostly books, but some flip flops for me (I basically live in flip flops – especially in the summer, but I’ve been known to wear them even in the dead of winter – as long as the ground is dry), and a berimbau, from which the airline took the tall stick – because they were going to charge him $100 to check it, and they wouldn’t let it in the cabin. Bummer. But Russ managed to take it apart and brought home everything except the long stick, which are not really a rare commodity around here.

Thanks to a lot of thiswith a few days of this in between, our yard has been growing a lot of these and a bunch of these

(disclaimer – the four previous pictures are not mine – I found them on Google images. I’m pretty sure as long as none of you say anything, no one will sue me. Right?)
Needless to say, whenever the heavens aren’t pouring their liquid gold upon us, we’ve been outside working the yard. I’ve got to put some before and afters of the little patch of our backyard where we laid some seed. Thanks to all the rain, it looks thick and luscious without us even running the sprinklers! And I wish I had taken pictures of our tulips. We ended up with mostly orangy-red ones, but a few yellows, purples, purple-whites, and a few pinks showed up later in the season. We’ve got what appear to be some dark purple irises coming up, too, and an unknown bush that I think is a hibiscus, but not entirely sure. And a lot of decorative grass. I mean… a LOT. If anyone wants some, please let me know, because I’m going to tear it all out.

Tonight we’ll be building the vegetable garden, and hopefully planting tomorrow. I know it’s kind of late in the season, but all this rain has made it nearly impossible to plant anything.

Russ mowed the lawn a little over a week ago, and it looks like a jungle again already! I’m not complaining – we’ve had to do a lot of repair work on the landscaping of this house. Remember what our yard used to look liked? (if you don’t, there are pictures in this post) I’ll post an update on the yard later, probably after we get the garden up.

We’ve been enjoying visits from friends – especially this friend who now lives very close to us, and who we adore very much!

We’ve been working out and running, and in general just plugging on with life.

Oh, and enjoying some really yummy watermelon ($.17/lb at Sunflower Market a few weeks ago! The absolute best! PS, Vincente took this picture)

So I can’t really complain about much, but I can’t wait to be at the top of the mountain. I’m sure the view will be amazing.

I’ll post a picture of the view from the top when we get there. And we will get there.

Little Slugger

Because I just downloaded these pictures from my camera today, and we have a T-ball game tonight, I thought I would share our little slugger:

Running home -

With “coach” -

And would he be a man (or a jock) if he wasn’t caught adjusting himself?

I promise that I wasn’t trying to get this shot! He moved his hand just as I snapped the picture. I think it’s adorable.

T-ball is certainly fun. No stress, just fun, every gets a chance to hit, everyone gets a chance to “catch” (and by catch I mean, hold up their mitt, then after the ball sails past them, or falls 4 feet in front of them, run to pick it up, and throw it at – er, to – a teammate, who then throws it home), no strikes, no outs, just fun! And the last kid up to bat hits a home run by default (so all the kids can come back in and the teams can switch).

The worst drama is when two kids run after the same ball when they are playing on the field. And then there was the kid that did somersaults to second base. And the one who skipped first base altogether and decided he’d go straight to second. The fun that is 4-year-old T-ball.

wisdom

Remember this recent post, and this one?

Sometimes I think Heavenly Father likes to build us up before He allows us to experience trials. That sounds kind of mean – seriously, it’s almost like a really mean joke. “Here are a bunch of blessings. And now I will try you beyond anything you’ve ever experienced.” I’m not sure if He is teaching me to appreciate my blessings more, or if He just wants to give me extra strength to get through the hard times.

But I know that Heavenly Father just knows so much more than we do. Our little human minds can’t even begin to fathom the duties and blessings He has in store for us.

In the talk from Elder Cook that I quoted in my last post, he goes on to recite this passage from Doctrine and Covenants – when Joseph Smith is in jail and cries to God, and Heavenly Father, in His infinite wisdom and mercy comforts Joseph with this powerful promise:

“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”

Recently in our family scripture study we have been reading 2 Nephi 2, where Lehi teaches his family about opposition and gives an excellent logical argument for God existing. Elder Cook teaches us (in that same talk) that an essential gospel doctrine “is that there must be opposition in all things for righteousness to be brought to pass.”

Well, we’re definitely experiencing that.

“We know from the scriptures that some trials are for our good and are suited for our own personal development. We also know that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. It is also true that every cloud we see doesn’t result in rain.”

Right now, what we are experiencing is a very very ominous looking cloud. It hasn’t rained (yet) and we hope that it won’t, and fortunately, this cloud is the kind that we can blow away if we have enough faith and work hard enough.

But the best part about having trials?

“Regardless of the challenges, trials, and hardships we endure, the reassuring doctrine of the Atonement wrought by Jesus Christ includes Alma’s teaching that the Savior would take upon Him our infirmities and ‘succor his people according to their infirmities.’”

Being able to partake of the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, and feel its power in our lives, and feel the Savior succoring us, “according to [our] infirmities.”

And how sweet that feeling is.

Ultimate Mothering Success

Vincente just woke up from his nap crying, and I could tell he needed to go pee. When he got on the potty, I realized that he had peed a little bit in his undies, but he woke himself up to go pee! And then, he went back to his nap!

He has been dry for the past week or so, but we still make him wear a Pull-Up to bed (mostly because I hate changing pee sheets every morning – especially now that he sleeps in a full bed).

I feel like this is a huge step toward dry nights and dry naps!

I could not feel better as mother as I do right. Not that it has anything to do with me – but it’s just one less thing I have to worry so much about!

hope ya know, we had a hard time

“…many of the trials and hardships we encounter in life are severe and appear to have lasting consequences. Each of us will experience some of these during the vicissitudes of life.” (Elder Quentin L. Cook)

We’re experiencing a little bit of this right now and could use some extra prayers.

Don’t ask for any details, because I won’t give them, but we could use some extra prayers for the next little while.

Monday Musings – To Delay Action

From the Google Dictionary:

wait
    verb /wāt/
waited, past participle; waited, past tense; waiting, present participle; waits, 3rd person singular present

1. Stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something else happens

We had scheduled our home study for Wednesday a week and a half ago, and about 45 minutes before our appointment, our licenser called and said he was stuck in traffic, so we would have to reschedule. Well, we rescheduled for Tuesday, and then on Monday we remembered that it was Vincente’s first T-ball game that night. So we called our licensor on Tuesday morning and asked if we could reschedule (again!) – and not three hours later, we were getting phone calls from the rec center saying the game had been rained out.

So since Russ is going to be gone for two weeks (military stuff) we have to wait until he gets back for the home study.

What we thought was the last step to getting our foster care license and getting a placement has turned into the last leap. As frustrating as it is, we know that this is the right thing for us to be doing right now, and there is a reason for all the waiting.

Probably to teach Miss-Impatience over here to be okay with waiting.

I am not okay with waiting.