Trip to Dino Land!

Over a month ago, I told the boys we would go to the Dinosaur Museum near here (in Lehi, Utah). We checked out a bunch of dino books, drew pictures, studied, said "stinked" (extinct) a lot, and projected our future as Paleontologists. And finally, we went on Tuesday, a special price, two bucks. And although lots of fun, since it was 2$ there were a million people there. It was so crowded! But, we got to see lots of fun things, and now I know what it is like and if it is worth the money (8-10$ I think) to go back another time (less crowded hopefully). It is, but we probably won't go back all that often. It is a good museum with lots of fun things for the kids to see and do.

Stegasaurus (the boys are acting like dinosaurs)At the sand table (supposedly learning about erosion)

Eeekk T-rex!

Brennan was the only boy not scared of having his photo taken with the shark.

We went with my friend Heather and her kids, Hannah, Abe, and Maxwell.

Beautiful Beautiful Brennan Boy

An Olympic FHE

I, along with lots of you, did an FHE centered around the olympics. We first took a look at the globe and found where several countries were. Then, we marched around carrying a torch and flags. Then I had several little things--high jump, long jump, somersault, discus (fribee), shot put (little basketball), hurdles, etc--written on scraps of paper, and those chose one out of a basket, and then performed it. The kids loved it. Weston said to me as I was preparing, "But this can't be an FHE, it doesn't help up learn about Jesus or the temple." I guess we haven't done a lot of "fun" FHE's... I explained to him that we can learn about the world and the people in it, because Jesus and Heavenly Father created the earth. And, we learn to keep our bodies physically fit because they gave us our bodies as gifts that we need to take care of. They did enjoy it, though for all the effort it took to prepare for it, it didn't last long, and immediately after, Weston said, "Can we have FHE treat now?" Sigh... I hope they are getting something out of all of this.

Medals to celebrate the success of an Olympic Family Home Evening!

Thoughts on parenting

You know, coming from the family which I do, you would think I would be a semi decent writer. They are all literary folk, and for some reason, it skipped me. I thought I had it, I guess, and so during high school and college, I really didn't work hard at learning how to write well. Well, now I am paying for it. Here I "blog", but with difficulty. I wish I could express better my feelings, describe better my experiences, and easily say what I want to say! Alas, you will have to just deal with it, and I will in later years, read back and shake my head in disgust.

Enough of that.

I wanted to preface my thoughts with those statements so you understood that I am trying to portray some big, deep stuff, and it isn't going to come across as pretty as it should. Hopefully, the general idea, and the idea of what I am feeling will make it through.

Lately I have been feeling rather down about raising children. I have had experiences which cause me to be scared to raise children in todays world. All the scary things that could happen to them--from bad people doing bad things, to bad people influencing them. All the bad things they could do (I don't even want to think about that!). All the sad things that could happen to them. All the sadness they could feel (and do feel now! I hate to see Weston sad because of what others say to him, or when others hurt him). The hurt, the anger. (I notice that I am writing COULD, but really should have WILL in there instead) What if they leave the church? Okay, people can find happiness other places... But, the blessings they would miss out on! It would crush me to see them miss out on the happiness they could TRULY have (it has taken being a parent to understand so much of this). What if I am not a good enough parent to teach them of that happiness? What if they are mad at me for not raising them right? What if, what if, what if?

(Don't worry, this won't all be a downer)

So, I sat looking at Weston and thought, "If I only would have had him--one child--he would probably be raised practically to be perfect. I would have more patience if there was only one child around. I would have more time to spend working on teaching that child correct principles. Teaching how to behave, how to act, etc. I would have more time to show love. I would be less cranky. Would it have been better?" Please don't think of me as bad. I was just going through thought processes. Because then, I looked at Aidan. And I thought, "If I would have stopped at one, then I wouldn't have Aidan. What a kid! What a joy to my life! I can't imagine my life without him. He brings me so much happiness." And then looking at Brennan. Again what joy!

I've always said I wanted five kids. It is just what Scott and I have always said. We even think we know what we are going to have (three boys and two girls), we'll see if that turns out right. It isn't because the spirit has specifically said anything to me. I just feel it. Should I stop because of my insecurities? Should I let fear overcome me? Do I think God would set me up to fail? I think he believes in me. I think he is allowing me to have these children and raise them in these days. I think I can do it. I will do my best, and ask for the Lord to help me. If bad things happen, we push on through using the Holy Ghost as our guide. If they choose incorrectly, we continue loving and use the Holy Ghost as our guide.

So, I will look on the brighter side of life. I will see the good in the world. I will do things that will help me be a better mother. I will strive to love the boys more, and be angry at them less. I will pray for guidance daily. I will slow down. I will look forward to my future children (even if it is two more boys instead of two girls).

I will hope for the best, have faith in my Savior, and learn charity through loving my children.

This is the Place Heritage Park

Well, the other day, we had to run some errands, and they took a lot less time than we thought, and we had driven halfway to downtown, so we tried to find something fun to do. We decided to try out "This is the Place" park. It was a spur of the moment thing, and it turned out great! The kids loved it. I had never been, and I really enjoyed it, too. There were lots of fun things for the kids to do, and it was really cheap. It turned out to be one of the funnest Saturdays for our family.

Here is another attempt at a slideshow. The photos were taken with Scott's camera, so not the greatest quality.


I love that the first photo of Brennan he is hot, sweaty and not happy. But, by the end, he is still hot and sweaty, but he is happy! Aidan was so go hung about it all, and Weston a little afraid (mostly of the horse), but they both loved it all. We highly recommend it to ya'll.

Fire and Rain

Here is a video of one of JT's most famous songs. Love it!

James Taylor

My lovely huzzy got two (free) tickets to James Taylor. He knows I LOOOOOVE JT and I was so excited to go with him! It was a late night, and I so appreciate my neighbors for watching my kids til the wee hours (well, 11:30 is pretty late for us). It was a great concert--he is such an amazing singer. He reaches all types of people: older, younger, families, men, women, hippie, non-hippie..., and drunk and sober. I was one of the sober ones, but others might not have guessed that. I had lots of fun letting loose and Scott had fun watching me (and I think he was a little embarrassed). The photos were taken with his camera phone, so not great, but at least they document that I was there and saw "sweet baby James".

It was great to get out and go! It was greater that I got to see one of my all time favorite singers. Here is a link to his site (for you sad people who don't know who he is): www.jamestaylor.com