An Update of Pictures

Wow! I cannot believe just how many pictures I had not published yet. In January we hiked a LOT. We caught the dreaded Covid-19, and luckily for us, our bodies responded to it like a mild cold (if that). So, we quarantined and homeschooled, and once we were no longer contagious, we did a LOT of out-doorsy activities. 

We had a Christmas that was chaotic and filled to the brim with family activities. It was fun, especially for the kids, but next time I need to do a better job of not showing how stressed I was with the cluttered and dirty home (due to all of the company). I think I normally do a good job, but this year was different. I felt the magnitude of the stress load more, and perhaps I didn't hide my feelings as well as I should have. Lesson learned. The kids got a bounce house and they managed to pop it within 5 days. Jon Mark came to the rescue and fixed it. He's a hero. I will be honest, I wish this Christmas had a do-over. Anyway, maybe I should have spent more time contemplating the true meaning of the season.

We went to the Goldfield Ghost Town and wore our masks and socially distanced. We socially distanced all festivities at the Grandparents homes (mostly just at the Mac's--they're higher risk). I found myself growing weary of socially distancing and the mask wearing. Now that a lot of my loved ones have been vaccinated, it's less of a big deal, and with the stores and other entertainment, it's become the new normal. 

I am excited for temples to open again. Today was the first Sunday back to a two-hour block (but it's really not two hours, it's more like a total of 90 minutes. I'm still the primary president, but I am not there because I am still recovering from a hefty abdominoplasty surgery that is taking me a long time to bounce back from (there has been no bouncing). Speaking of surgery, my mom and Jon Mark are the true MVP's and have taken such good care of me. My dad also gets an award and sisters and sister in-laws get an honorable mention. I had many ward members check in on me as well, so I have been well-looked after. It's been two weeks, and I am anxious to get back to my duties, but the dr says to slow down. I'm still a little hunched over and it's still quite uncomfortable. I'm swollen and sore, but it is getting better. Sometimes I need JM to tell me about my progress because it seems so slow that I don't notice it. When all is said and done, I am hoping that having my abs restored will help alleviate some of my chronic back pain. If nothing else, my mid-section looks a whole lot better.

Mercedes broke her foot after Hannah had broken her toe.

Hannah gets baptized soon!

I had fun taking pictures of baby Rose.

Hannah's magical umbrella proved to be truly magical. She didn't complain and hiked like a champ. She told me all she needed was an umbrella. Thanks Mom!

This is how I stayed warm while we socially distanced outside. I am always cold. Now that every doctor's office and business requires a temperature check to allow you inside, it's not uncommon for my temp to dip below 95*. Before my surgery, I was registering at 94.9* F. She thought it was broken, until she took JM temp and he was a toasty 97.6* F. Just so you know, that temp of mine is technically hypothermic. I don't know what is wrong with my body. I am truly a lizard and prefer temps that resemble my mother's womb (according to Jessica). I take my thyroid medication, and I feel healthy other than the cold intolerance and low temp.

Cub had a birthday. We celebrated him three times. Once at Haws dinner, once at McAvoy dinner, and once on a trip to the Frosts where we went go kart racing and played at the arcade.

Oh, how I miss my best friend! Come back!

I was celebrated by girls in my ward, my actual birthday was kind of a flop. I had cut my bangs which my kids hated and they cried for four hours about how much they hated my hair. Mercedes said that I wasn't the mother she knows and loves, that it's just not me anymore. I have it on video. JM also worked late that night, so I sang Happy Birthday to myself with crying kids. Hahaha! My mom did make me a cake (JM tried really hard to not come home late). Anyway, the ladies in the ward helped me feel special. 

This picture of Jazmine was the moment I knew that her mom had just had a baby (LOL). Her hair is usually very well groomed.

We went and visited Tyler where he was working and gave him a hard time. He gave us free food. :)

 

The Lamb of God

 I just had the MOST spiritual moment with my three youngest kids. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to be in a few meetings with an apostle of the Lord, Todd D. Christofferson. Ever since those meetings, I had the thought to be more intentional at teaching my children through every day moments and opportunities. I've tried to look for those little teaching nuggets that would make a huge impact on their testimonies. I also wanted to be more diligent about dedicating my days and my time to the Lord every day. I want to be intentional at consecrating my very life to Him. I slip up, but I am making an effort. I want to come closer to my Savior, and if I'm constantly looking for those opportunities to teach my kids, imagine how much my own testimony will grow.

Tonight I was a mom taxi. I was rushed driving each kid somewhere different, I was hurriedly making dinner, helping with homework, transporting kids, and filling in last second (seriously, last second) for primary activities. After I had successfully completed primary activities and dropped my older kids off to mutual, I drove my three youngest home. I had the thought to do Come Follow Me in the car and listen to "The Lamb of God" composition. The music is phenomenal. There's no other way to put it. It's a musical narration of the events leading up to the resurrection. It starts at Jesus's ministry and follows His life until He is resurrected.

I put the music on and told the kids that listening to the music would be our Come Follow Me lesson for the evening. I helped them understand here and there, but it didn't take long for them to intently listen and take it all in. They were asking question after question and seeking to know more. They wanted me to sit in the driveway and keep the music playing. They wanted to go with me to get the kids so they could listen longer. We listened for probably 30 minutes. It was so powerful. They listened to the scenes of Gethsemane, the Atonement, Peter's Denial, The Cross, they listened all of the way through until they heard Christ declare "it is finished". At that point I stopped the music, and I asked them, "is it all hopeless?" They all answered, "NO! Christ was resurrected. He lives again!" I told them that we'd save the best part of the greatest story ever told for tomorrow. Below is my best effort to summarize the things that they said to me after we were finished listening and back inside the house. 

Luke told me: "Mom, that was the most spiritual experience of my entire life. Did you know that I heard Jesus talk to me? When I asked you to roll down the window, I wanted you to roll it down so that the whole world could hear and know the gospel. I felt Gavin and all of my ancestors giving me hugs. I was thinking about them and about Jesus, and that is when I heard His voice. It was just that He said, "I'm here." Who knew that those two words would be so special and sacred to me. Mom, if I never become a prophet, I am still going to spend my entire life prophesying." He went on to tell me that he would bring his bible and Book of Mormon to school because then kids might ask him what he was doing and he could then share the gospel with them. Then, he told me that his friends may still follow the paths of their parents and that he felt inadequate to reach their parents. I told him to be the best example he could be and let Jesus shine through him. I told him that if he prays to be led to people who are ready to "let God prevail" in their lives, President Nelson has promised us that Heavenly Father will put those people in our paths and that we can assist Him in His great work of proclaiming the gospel.

Hannah told me: "It was also my most spiritual experience of my life. I imagined as we drove down the road that I could see Mary holding her baby Jesus. I imagined that Heaven and my ancestors were also hugging me. I thought I could see angels in the lights and figures of Jesus all along the road on the way home. It was the beauty of life."

Then, both of my children went to their journals and recorded their experiences so that they would never forget the things they learned and the things they felt. Luke told me later that that experience answered so many of his questions and even questions that he didn't know he had.

It was a spiritual highlight for myself included. I am following their examples and writing it down so that I can do so while the feelings and gratitude for all that I experienced are still fresh on my mind. I am so thankful for these teaching opportunities. I am so grateful that ALL of my prayers are answered. I prayed to be more intentional, and the Lord blessed me for it. I want to spend my life prophesying too! I know He lives. I love my Savior.  

Subbing

Life today is good. It's moving along at a steady pace. I have been subbing at the school a lot this year and it has given me a new perspective on working moms. It's so hard to work outside of the home. I hope my daughters are given the opportunity to stay home with their young children like I did. It was really the most wonderful gift that Jon Mark could have ever given me. Working has given me so much gratitude for my sweet and wonderful husband! I love him so much and I don't have enough "thankful" words to communicate my appreciation for his ability and willingness to provide. He's such a good provider. I don't "need" the job. I do it for spending money and to stay involved in the schools amid this pandemic. It's difficult to keep up with my daily chores when I work most of the week (which is not my preference and I try really hard not to, I'd prefer to only work 1 or 2 days a week). Sometimes my weeks are fine and I enjoy subbing, sometimes it's a lot. It gives me peace knowing that I don't have to go to work outside of the home if it ever becomes too stressful. 

It has become a little more stressful. I had an accidental run-in with the principal. I covered for a teacher unexpectedly one morning. Because of the short notice, the teacher did not leave me any lesson plans. I took a few moments that morning, while the students were silently reading, to create my own lesson plans for the day. The day went really well. I was feeling really good about how the day went. It was fun, engaging, educational and I was proud of myself for taking a difficult situation and making it a pleasant one. 

At the end of the day, the principal found me and asked me how the day went. I smiled and said that it had gone really well especially since I wasn't given any lesson plans. That was the wrong thing to say. He got upset with me for not telling him earlier in the day. I told him that I had had everything under control and didn't say anything because it turned out to be a great day as we went along. He really chastised me for it, and basically told me that he absolutely did not want me to handle it in the future because he cannot have the day filled with "activities". He didn't even really let me explain about what the activities were, he was very short with me. I wanted to tell him how I felt the more professional thing to do was to handle it the way I had. I wanted to tell him that the "activities" were all very educational and fun and went along with what the students were learning in their classes. He also got upset with the teacher who failed to leave sub plans even though I explained that it was very short notice and she was very sick. Anyway, it's a long drawn-out story, but I somehow found myself on some sort of mental list that the principal needs to check off daily. 

He now checks on me multiple times a day and asks me if I have lesson plans. He also undermined my authority in front of the students. Twice he had me tell him a list of names of disruptive students from the class the day before (after the situation was handled and the students were forgiven). It's not been very fun. He makes me feel anxious and nervous. I want to tell him that I don't need this job, but he does in fact need me. I could work every day if I wanted to, I am requested daily by teachers at the school. Of course, I never say those things. But, it does help me if I say those things to myself. Really and truly, I have the option to quit if I wanted to, with Jon Mark's full support. 

Anyway, I'm not even sure why I wrote this post, it seems rather long and negative. My point was to record how thankful I am for Jon Mark. ;)

Funny Cubby

 Cubby did a couple of things recently that were funny. Our family got the dreaded Covid this past month, but it didn't seem to affect us hardly at all. Some of us lost our sense of smell for a few weeks, and we had a minor stuffing nose, and hot flashes, but I would say that it was very mild. It was so mild, in fact, that I exercised every day during quarantine. I had to be careful to hit the hiking trails when no one else really goes hiking, and I had to be sure that the trail accounted for social distancing. I took the kids hiking one day, when they were actually done with quarantine, and were allowed back at school. There was a miscommunication with the school and I decided to not send them because they freaked out and it was obvious that they needed a warning. 

Cub isn't a fan of hiking. He gets into the mommy bubble and decides that he's done before the hike is actually done, which is a problem because I can't carry him down the mountain. He tested my patience so much that day. He decided that he was done when there was still a good 1.5 miles left to go. Joshua was kind enough to stay back with me, Hannah, and Caleb. Mercedes and Luke ditched us and headed for the car. 

On this hike, Caleb liked to dramatically stop, kick off his shoes, and then sit down and cry about his shoes falling off. Feeling frustrated, I turned to Joshua and told him that he should call Mrs. Maher and tell her that she could expect Caleb to come to school that day because he was giving his mother a difficult time on the hike. Joshua didn't even have a phone, but he put his hand to his ear and pretended to call Caleb's teacher. Caleb believed him and increased his pace and was obviously distressed at the thought of going back to school. This worked off and on several times until Cub basically shut down and refused to move any further. That's when I got on my "bad dog" voice and told him that if he didn't beat Hannah to the parking lot, then he'd definitely be dropped off at school on the way home from the hike. That worked better than I could have thought! He TOOK OFF! Hannah (not knowing the deal) felt like her own speed was being questioned so she also took off, which angered Caleb because he is still not faster than Hannah. So, Joshua raced up to Hannah and explained the situation and told her to let Caleb win. She wasn't happy about it, but she did. Caleb was so fast that Joshua had a difficult time catching up to him when I began to worry about the busy parking lot. Hannah had to bite her tongue once we were in the car and Caleb began bragging about beating his older sister. Sheesh!

The other story involves the watching of Strawberry Shortcake, a show that Hannah picked out to the dismay of her younger brother. Caleb was very unhappy about having to watch a girl show, but he watched it anyway. The plot climaxed when Strawberry Shortcake and Blueberry were trapped in a cave under ground with a large corn on the cob. They were distressed because they did not know how they could possibly escape through the hole in the top because they were so little. I heard Caleb say to the tv, in a rather annoyed fashion, "move the corn on the cob to the hole and use it as a ladder!" Then, without missing a beat, almost as if Strawberry Shortcake could hear Caleb, the TV answered, "I know! Let's move the corn on the cob to the hole and climb it like a ladder!" Caleb threw his hands in the air, and said to no one, "they are SO stupid!"