Bridal Veil Falls

This week's adventure was a trip to Bridal Veil falls to play in the water and have a picnic lunch. Thank goodness we have cousins that live close and make all our adventures so much more fun!

The Obligatory Doilie

As I was preparing for my Young Women's lesson this week, I was wondering what I could do to make it extra special or interesting, so I turned to some popular websites dedicated to this very purpose. In my searching, I stumbled upon the fruits of many LDS women's creativity. For my lesson alone, there were specially designed bookmarks, stunning handouts, treat ideas, visual aides, clever poems and songs, etc. After sifting through all these websites and concluding that I am the world's worst Young Women's advisor, I went upstairs to vent to Dan. There is a whole other world out there, Dan, I said.

He didn't indulge my pity party for a second, though. It's all ridiculous he argued. You women and your doilies! Do you know what men need to teach a lesson? Chalk and the scriptures! You don't need a tablecloth, treats, visual aides, a special gimmick, and especially not a doilie!

So this is what they mean by yin and yang!

To My Dear and Loving Husband

Today is Dan's 31st birthday. My own words usually fail me, so I'll turn to one of my favorite poems from college. It's entitled To My Dear and Loving Husband written by Anne Broadstreet in 1678. Hundreds of years ago, and yet her words can still ring true--the mark of a truly inspired author.

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me ye women if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so perservere,
That when we live nor more, we may live ever.

Repenting

Who could ever lose their cool with these little angels? Well, I did today. Perhaps summer has gotten the better of me, or maybe I temporarily lost sight of the ultimate goal. But, for whatever reason, my patience temporarily escaped me today. Nothing drastic, never you fear. I chided them for saying how bored they were, how there was nothing to do at our house, yada yada. Yeah, we've all heard it. But I guess today I had heard it one (or fifty) too many times.

But, truth be told, the fault was mine. I was trying to clean out the cupboards and had left them to their own devices for far too long. Once again, I need to learn the lesson: God doesn't care about my cupboards, or my tile, or the laundry. Ten years from now, I won't remember that they got cleaned today and neither will my kids. What they will remember is that I finally refocused and took them to the dollar store to get sand toys for the sandbox.

P.S. The cool photo is courtesy of my "playing" with Photoshop and the tutorials from my beloved cousin Jenny. Thanks Jen!

Thomas the Train

This is Thomas the Train. He is an evil, hypnotic tempter masquerading as a fun-loving train. He

successfully lures my two-year old into a semi-vegetative state several times a day. And when Fisher is not watching Thomas, he begs me in broken-record fashion, "choo choo show, choo choo show." I have come to despise Thomas to my very core.

Tiffany bought Fisher some Thomas books in an attempt to divert his attention from the television. Although they're a nice supplement, they don't fully satisfy Fisher's Thomas "fix." And now Fisher is sick, and being a somewhat of a "softie," I feel bad for him and indulge his little addiction more than I should. I am an enabler! So, I'm mentally steeling myself for yet another day of "Monus" as Fisher likes to call him.

Fourth of July

The Fourth of July has become a thing of legend in my family. A notion that has been romanticized and storied for years. When I was little, the Fourth of July was the Christmas of summer. It was a grand coming-together of cousins near and far, cram-packed with fun activities, and ultimately ending in total exhaustion. And year after year of this created an expectation that cannot be lived up to. I'll admit that if there is even one second of down-time during the Fourth of July, I feel uncomfortable and disappointed. Dan doesn't get it.


So, in the true spirit of Fourth of July, we filled the weekend of fun. Or attempted to at least. We attended the Balloon Fest and Kiwanis Breakfast Friday morning. Papa Ace and Uncle Arnie weren't flipping the pancakes as they did when I was young, but it was fun nonetheless.

On Saturday, I dragged my kids to the parade, literally. They wanted to go, but the dragging ensued because I took them on an extremely long detour. The parade is definitely one of those things that loses its lustre in adulthood, I'm thinking. But my kids seemed to enjoy it. Thanks Tiffany for helping us out!

Later, we went swimming at Uncle Gary's and hosted a BBQ for my family. This year, we opted for the more laid back of option of watching fireworks from home rather than attending the Stadium of Fire. Inspired! It was a cool, casual evening of chatting with neighbors, snacking on munchies, and watching the fireworks to our own playlist. Much preferred to being packed into a stadium like sardines to comingle sweat and ash! And at the end of the day, Mission Exhaustion: Accomplished! My Grandma Laynie would be so proud.