Word on the Streets

the summer schedule. . .

this summer is the first summer i have school-aged children out of school for a normal, long summer break. the summer between their kinder year and first grade they were on a year-round school schedule with only one two-week break during the hottest months of the summer. this year we have from June to August to really enjoy our time off together. 

time off however does not mean that we don't maintain a loose daily schedule. i know that my boys and i function best when we have goals and i wanted them to be able to retain much of the academic skills they picked-up this last year. so we have created what i call a summer schedule. it is loose and adaptable and i don't have it in place to stress any of us but rather to give us something constructive to do each day. and if we go for a few days without doing it because something more important or completely inviting comes up--then we let it go and know we will get back to it later during the week at some point. i've really enjoyed it so far and found that it serves as a helpful cure to boredom. 

some of that "schedule" is just a list of to-do's i've come up with for all of us daily. 

the boys to-do's goes something like this:

do one cleaning job each day.

usually this is emptying the dishwasher or setting the table. added to that could be bringing down all the dirty clothing or taking up and distributing all of the clean and folded clothing. 

read scriptures.

i try to get this done with them each breakfast. they read anywhere from one to five verses depending on what it is we are reading. some mornings i find they just desire to read more than other mornings. at least we try to read one to two verses per day. i find it really helps set their moods for the rest of the days doings. there has been a peace in our home since we started doing this that is noticeable. they still have days and hours where they don't get along but the quantity of those hours and days has lessened considerably. i firmly believe that reading the scriptures as a family in the mornings just arms my children with a desire to choose better choices during the day.

write in journal--one paragraph about the previous day.

this is part of their binders that we put together for the summer. each boy was at target with me and was able to choose his own three-ring binder and spiral notebook to act as a summer journal. as much as i can, i try to remember to set aside time for them to write at least 5 sentences in their "journals" about their doings or feelings on the previous day. some of the entries are hilarious and some have been insightful. i love to hear them share their sentences with me. i get to know more about what they remember and deemed important enough to document. i don't often check spelling on these entires. maybe one entry of every five i sit with them and go over for spelling and grammar corrections. it is more important to me that they write and enjoy it than feel as though it will be torn apart by mom for mistakes.

do one task in an academic subject. 

this is another part of their summer binders. their binders have dividers for different subjects. each boy created his own labels for those dividers with my label maker and had such fun doing it! they have a divider for math, reading, language, science, art and chart. i went online and found old standardized tests for math and reading and language that i could print out. each boy has a copy of these past tests of which i assign them parts to do. i also printed out science worksheets and worksheets on things like telling time and capitalization or grammar. we also created math facts flash cards so they might choose to do those with me for a time that day. i try not to make it overly burdensome and long to do. if it is one page or a few easy pages i find they respond so much better to doing it. they actually like it many of the times. it is a nice change from always playing with toys and since they put the binders together themselves they have a vested interest in doing the things that are in there. 

earn reward stickers on their charts. 

each boy has a set of small reward charts. there are 25 places for stickers. for every little job i ask of them or each page of schoolwork they complete they are eligible to get a sticker for their chart. if we have a problem during the day they either forfeit the earning of a reward sticker or they have to remove a sticker from their chart. this has come to be something they love doing. it is a helpful tool for me to use in most any circumstance. once they have filled 5 charts they get to choose a lego pack in the amount of $4.99. filling five charts of 25 stickers takes them plenty of time and so far this summer they have only finished one set of five each. but that was my plan. i didn't want it too easy that they would not value the reward. they work consistently and diligently at making good choices and feel so accomplished when they turn in five of those reward charts full of stickers.

reading one library book.

we raid the library of any good books during the summer. we take them with us on vacation and read them in the car or during down time. we read together sometimes and each boy reads on his own. i love books! i love having a huge stack of library books for them to go to and choose from when they tell me they are bored or ask what they can do. i see that their love for books has increased in correlation with the more books i have around the house. i view summer reading as an essential part of our summertime. on my own i like to get through a few really good reads each summer. when we have a healthy stack of library books i feel as though there is always some quality time we can create together. 

do jobs for pennies or money.

my boys are actually employed. our neighbor has them clean up her yard twice a week because she has two of the cutest little wiener dogs. so twice a week we go down to her home and clean up their grass for them. they earn really good money which they can save and use to pay tithing and legos. this job has been really helpful in teaching them the value of a dollar. they understand more now about taking 10% out for tithing to pay to the church for things like electricity in our church building and fixing things in the buildings that break or building new temples. they understand that it takes a good amount of work and time to save up enough money to buy a popular (and expensive) lego set of their liking. and they understand that when i take them to the cabin for two weeks and daddy is  kind enough to go and do their job on their behalf that they have to pay him for doing that. they forfeit the money to him for doing their job. it teaches them responsibility and so much more. i love that they have that little job to do! i hope they can keep it through the school year too.

i have what i call penny jobs. rod has a container of loose pennies and i create little jobs around the house that are not their normal jobs which they can do to earn pennies. some of those little jobs are helping me with my bigger summer goals. for example, i have been wanting to clean out two of my closets and the smaller garage. so that process left a ton of things that needed shredding. shredding papers or old film negatives are what i deem as penny jobs. i also have them organize the tupperware kitchen cabinet or help me cook the dinner. these little jobs are fun for them because i always change up the number of pennies they can earn. they still get excited about earning one penny or five. i love that about the age they are right now! simple pleasures! 

unofficially on our summer schedule---the creation of a million lego toys! we have what might be the largest collection of random and star wars themed legos on the planet! our obsession started about two years ago when i found a huge box of donated legos at the thrift store. i waited for the store to process them and put them out for sale. i bought the entire box and came home with them. we immediately made the shift from thomas trains to lego mania! from then rod found a bunch of the star wars lego sets on ebay for a steal of a price and they boys have gotten them for birthdays and christmas. they have recently started buying them with their own money (this is the kind i like the best!)

so much of the boy's free time is spent playing in their playroom creating all sorts of lego space ships and cars. i love to see what they come up with. i especially love that they often ditch any instructions and create ships from their own imagination. they can both follow the lego instructions to make a certain set but they then they eventually mix and match bricks and such to create their own toys. morgan made his own Guido character from the "cars" movie since the second movie came out this summer.  yep, i would say that of all of the toys on the market for boys, thomas the train and legos happen to be my very favorites. i love how they stimulate the imagination and allow them to reconfigure patterns and shapes. 

so far this summer has been wonderful! my goal for this time was to savor as much time alone as i can with just my boys before this third sibling arrives in november. we have trips to the cabin with friends, cousin's camp and a family reunion on our schedule as well. i am making a concentrated effort to remember these summer days--like i try to freeze them as they happen in my mind because come the end of august my seven-year olds will be in second grade all day long and i'll be less mobile being seven months into this pregnancy. and from there our entire world as we have known it for seven years as a family of four will change forever. it will be a change we want and are excited about. still, just before i know things will change in my life i tend to want to suck everything i can out of the time and place i'm in (and have been in this case) for seven great years. rod and i feel so blessed to have had all this time with our two first boys. adding a third boy, we realize will increase the love our family enjoys. 

our stack of library books:

jack's binder and journal:

shredding negatives and old teaching papers from the closet cleaning:

morgan's homemade Quido from Cars and his tire stack creation:

on the subject of boys. . .

lately i've been asked if i am sad that i am having yet another boy. for a time, i hesitated with my answer wondering if i should be? i don't hesitate anymore. i've come to know that it will be very fitting for me to have all boys.

i am so happy that we are able to have yet another boy. there was a time when i longed to have a girl in our family but through the process of doing two rounds of in-vitro fertilization we learned from the contents of those petri dishes that we are just really good at making boys! and it just fits with us. it fits with me specifically.

i love boys. 

i always have loved being around boys.

when i was a teenager my dad was in charge of the young men at church. he was always having them over to our house and doing fun activities with them. they went snow skiing and to basketball games and other outings. the best part was that my dad almost always took me along with him! i went on so many young men ski trips that i think i was viewed as the mascot. i couldn't have been happier. i loved how the guys would joke and tease one another and me for that matter. i love how they interacted with my dad. i was close friends with so many of them that i felt like i had a posse of older brothers to protect me. 

in my later teen years i tried out for a local ballroom dance team. i did it primarily to get to know the boys on the team! there was such a dynamic, athletic and popular group of boys on the dance team at the time from all over the valley. i tried out two years in a row just trying to secure a spot on the team while those guys were on it. i finally made the cut and the weekly practices, the performances and the touring trips was one of the best parts of my high school years. those guys became excellent friends. i trusted them. i had to--as dance partners they propelled me into the air for lifts! a cadre of them were my dates to my high school homecomings, sadie hawkins and prom dances. in the summers we played sand volleyball, had pool parties and golfed. though they were from all corners of the las vegas valley they were all members of the same church i was (mormon.org). 

when the time came for the guys in my ward to go on missions and the guys on the dance team to go on missions, i found myself writing to most of them. i was a regular post office, producing crazy amounts of friendly letters and getting a stack of letters weekly in return. i loved getting letters from them! i wrote to support them and they shared with me some of their lessons learned and tender spiritual ups and downs. it was such a fun thing to be involved in during high school. many of those letters helped me to know what it was like to serve a mission in any part of the world. it helped me learn mission protocol and how when one is busiest with the work one is happiest. 

my university years were full of being friends with guys. sometimes it was a bit of a hinderance when i liked one more than another. and i had many good girlfriends just as i had had in high school. i would say however, that if there were a room of girls right next to a room of boys i would always have chosen to walk in and strike up conversation with the boys. this same tendency followed me into my single years after university. i have so many great memories of the men i associated with in the bay area. again i had a few really close girlfriends in the bay area (with whom i am still closely tied and cherish) but there were all these terrifically fun guys who were our friends. 

when it came to dating i was not coy. i was simple and straightforward. many times i was too straightforward. but it was always my goal to find just one man who would understand me and want nothing more than to team up with me and go the rest of the way through life together as just that...well matched partners. thank goodness rod found me. thank goodness rod appreciates me as i am. rod had no sisters but he loved his mother. he has a great ability to make women feel special and i am sure that if we did have a girl he would play barbies with her and read her girly books and take her on tons of daddy daughter dates. but we have boys. and he is so great with his boys! he builds legos with them and has built incredible train track set ups for them! he teaches them how to respect women and to act when mother calls them. our boys are in the best of company with him as their father. 

this new little boy due in november to our family will fit in perfectly. i know my boys will embrace him. he will be on his own in many ways, not being a twin and being so much younger. however, we all are looking forward to his arrival. he will give us all a chance to serve and learn more patience. he will allow jack and morgan plenty of teaching moments as he grows. i can see them teaching him all about thomas trains and then legos will shortly follow. they will teach him along with rod teaching him how to ride a bike and shoot a hoop. i loved the little boy toys. i'm looking forward again to having the floors littered with trains and animals and hot wheels. i'm sure hoping he likes legos as much as jack and morgan do because we have plenty for him to have his own small store! 

point is...i am the mother of boys. i'm happy with it. i find great comfort among them. i couldn't be happier and love more the boys i get to claim as my own!

photos: my boys watching t.v. morgan' soft skin called me from across the room to kiss him and capture his dear little profile. my boys playing with their friend, ben wallace. ben is a second generation zobrist playing with the second generation harris twins. (my twin brothers played with ben's mom's youngest brother for years!)

my high adventure planner. . .

rod has always been known as the boy scout who was most prepared for the trip. as a youth he was the one who had every tool he needed, every snack possible, every life saving skill in his pack or noggin. i've known this about him and seen it myself while we've been married. he is always prepared. he has forethought and can fix just about anything that goes array because of his preparations. 

i think the young men and some of the leaders at church now know this about him. they might even consider him their jack bauer. he put together a fairly rigorous high adventure trip for the boy scouts ages 14-17 years old. it centered around mountain biking (which is something rod loves to do.) he mapped out trails the boys and the leaders could all go on with various skill levels and terrain. he included a difficult hike in zion's national park (angel's landing.) the trip would take he and 10 boys and 4 other leaders 5 days to complete. when it came time to plan how to transport all those mountain bikes to their destinations rod found a friend on facebook who had made a bike rack from pvc pipe. he got the instructions from his friend and adapted it for his own use in hauling 10 mountain bikes on my dad's long trailer. i love this about him. i love that he has ingenuity. i love that he is resourceful and takes initiative. i also love that he included the boys in helping him make one of the racks--so as to give them a hands on experience with the prep work needed for such an endeavor. granted, he could have just made both bike racks faster all by himself but it was important to him to include the young men. and it was important to him to include our own boys! he enlisted jack and morgan to help him make the first prototype rack. 

rod worked with the young men's leader and his friend brad wallace to get all of the gear packed and tied down. together they had all of the gear and food loaded for the week. it was a big job. but i loved seeing how it all came together. as he pulled out of our garage to pick up the youth at the church i wondered what the young men would learn from him that week. if they were paying attention i knew they would be able to learn invaluable skills not just in wielding a mountain bike down a tough trail but in how to be on the watch out for other's needs, how to be prepared for things that go wrong, and how to treat those who differ from you. i got report calls from rod periodically during the week. he enjoyed himself and was happy to see all of the young men try their very best they could give to the challenges he set before them. he was so pleased with their efforts and willingness to stretch themselves. 

when they returned from the trip they unloaded at our home and i got to hear the boys tell their dad's who came to pick them up some of their highlights. a number of them shared how rod had patched together one of the boy's bikes on the trail with electrical tape he had on him! they talked about how incredible he was on the bike and yet how at one point he used caution and had them all walk their bikes when the trail went on the rim on the mesa. i think they caught a glimpse of the guy i know. he loves to work hard and play hard. (that is sort of our family motto we have created.) he knows there are times one needs to slow down and watch out for other's safety and that there is something we can learn from everyone. he knows that everyone's abilities are different and that those abilities can each be challenged in equitable degrees. and he is patient with those who need extra time or encouragement. he knows most of all that one can never be too prepared for things that might go wrong on the trails.

i know rod enjoyed the trip and was overly proud of the boys. i know he learned that brad wallace is a master dutch oven camping cook and that he has lots to learn about that from him. i know he came home with a vision of the future and of taking his own boys out for such adventures.

i share that same vision for the future. i crave for my boys to come to know their dad well! i want those times for them to go away on an adventure with their dad--an adventure that pushes them and teaches them things about themselves, their abilities and their testimonies of all that is true. it makes me happy to look into the future and know that my boys have a great role model in their dad!

 

2011's father's day weekend. . .

this year father's day was just what my dad would have wanted if he could have planned it i think. my dad is not too into getting packaged gifts. he would rather have something sentimental written to him by way of a "thank you" or "i love you because..." or i think even more than that he would rather have just what happened this father's day: sandbagging with his sons-in-law at the cabin. 

the river at our cabin was especially high this year. there is a portion of it that runs over and heads behind our cabin but if not managed and steered with sandbags could wash out our driveway. so the friday before father's day the river was super high and my dad called rod and jon (steph's husband) to run up to the cabin with him that night, sandbag that next day and return for saturday night. rod and jon happily went and the three of them bagged around 250.          

that time spent with his boys is some of the best time for my dad. he loves it. it is the best gift they could have given him. when they returned we were all at my house with dinner to celebrate father's day. rod was getting dad's trailer outfitted for the church scouting high adventure trip that next week. after dinner rod and dad spent the rest of the night working together in the garage on the trailer and bike racks. this again was just what my dad loves. he loves a project. he loves doing a project with his sons/sons-in-laws. 

it is such a comfort to me to have a husband who appreciates and gets along with my father. the two have lots of common sense and are good at fixing things. they each have different approaches but work well enough together that the results are always amazing. rod really has a great deal of respect for my dad. he is amazed by his generosity and selflessness.

i love my dad. He is just amazing. there are not very man men like him in this world. he has provided me with opportunities to travel, the confidence to serve a mission in a foreign land with a foreign language, cars that gave me my independence, schools that broadened my knowledge base, an affinity towards the elderly, the desire to go with guns blazing on tasks, the sense to know right from wrong and a strong desire to always obey the Lord. 

My husband is a remarkable man. he is a great father to our boys. he teaches them to respect women and treat them with kindness and equality. he is self-disciplined, goal oriented, driven to succeed at his career and as a family. he is creative and inventive. he loves to learn. he supports me and cheers me on with my hobbies and interests. he loves to do things for me. he does the dishes and cleans the house when I am exhausted. he likes to travel and do new things. he dreams of living in the caymen owning a dive shop but settles for adventures such as hiking from rim to rim of the grand canyon. he is a loyal friend and brother-in-law.

my boys made gifts for rod for sunday complete with a cheer they chanted while coming down the stairs. we had an easy lunch and a very relaxing sunday. 

i have men in my life with my twin boys, one new baby boy on the way and then these two: my dad and rod. they keep me in-line and laughing. it is a great way to live.

talk in church. . .learning from the lds pioneers in nauvoo, il

in june i gave a talk in church. it was a three-prong speaking group. three of us women in the congregation were asked to study three consecutive time periods of early lds church history. i was assigned the last portion of the timeline where the early members of the restored church of Jesus Christ settled the area of nauvoo, illinois. i had studied this time period while studying in high school and then again at university and i'd even been on a church history tour of nauvoo. but it had been such a long time ago that i sort of looked forward on reviewing what i knew. more than that i think anytime we restudy something we always bring new eyes to it. i was happy to find things and read accounts of the time i had not before heard or remembered. it was a joy to read of what the women's journals were like. maybe with more life experience behind me as a wife and mother now i relished in learning what they chose to write in their personal diaries. i also enjoyed trying to apply to my life today lessons that i could find to translate from their time period to mine. 

sometimes when i have to give a talk i write an outline. other times i just write it out and then when i go to give it from the pulpit i sort of read it and infuse it with comments that come to mind. a friend of mine expressed an interest in reading my talk after i posted about it probably on facebook. so i thought this might be a good place to park it for her to read as well as any others who might be interested. and it will then be able to go into my blub book for my own family to have. so if you have any interest in reading, please feel free. know that i've not fully and properly noted my sources from the articles i used. i should do that technically since this is now the publishing of it written and not shared only verbally. but if anyone is interested i can get the sources to them. keep in mind this was written just as my own copy from which to speak and not as an academic paper. take from it what you like. cheers, lesli

Learning from the Nauvoo Saints examples

I was asked to study the early saints who established the city of Nauvoo, Illinois from 1839 to 1846 and then find from their lives----lessons that could help us today in our lives. I found reading about Nauvoo fascinating! The lessons we can learn from their brief time of only 7-8 years building and thriving in Nauvoo are many. I’ve only chosen a few to share today.

{Here is where I interjected and shared with the audience the experience I had practicing my talk the night before in my family room alone. I read and re-read my talk just to practice and each time I tried to read it tears filled my eyes and my whole soul was full of a wonderful feeling of gratitude. It was as if people of the time were there with me and wanting me to know of their stories. I had the distinct feeling that they want their experiences to be told, that we might not forget all they went through. I hardly made it through with my practicing--just for the wonderful spirit of love and gratitude that I felt.}

Nauvoo was not always a beautiful place. Let me share some of the story of how it came to be. In 1838, Any Latter-day Saints living in Missiouri were forced to leave the state because of an extermination order given by Missouri’s Governor Boggs. These saints crossed the Mississippi River and found land available for purchase in Commerce, Illinois. The prophet, Joseph Smith, had been in Liberty Jail at the same time and when he was able to get out a short time later he came to the area they had found and purchased the properties at Commerce. The saints immediately began to settle there.

Joseph Smith is quoted as describing the place as follows:

The place was literally a wilderness. The land was mostly covered with trees and bushes, and much of it was so wet that it was with the utmost difficulty that a footman could get through, and totally impossible for teams. Commerce was unhealthy, very few could live there; but believing that it might become a healthy place by the blessing of heaven to the saints, and no more eligible place presenting itself, I considered it wisdom to make an attempt to build up a city.”

This was not a coveted location! This was a swamp-land where malaria and other diseases nearly sank the venture before it began. But the saints got to work and drained the swamps, cleared the land for home sites and plowed the prairies. Eliza R. Snow wrote that the believers who streamed into the new city from all directions “seemed to have been held in reserve to meet the occasion, for non but Saints full of faith, and trusting in the power of God could have established that city.” Over the next seven years the population grew to about 20,000, the city at its peak the city rivaled Chicago as the largest city in the state! It was a vibrant and culturally eclectic place and was known as Nauvoo the Beautiful.

The saints who first came to Nauvoo had had their faith tested previously. They had suffered much in following the prophet Joseph up to this point. Their trails had drawn them closer to the Lord and they were entirely committed to this movement that was bigger than themselves. They seemed to have been prepared to take on the challenge of making a swamp and disease ridden land into one of the most beautiful of its day. 

Some questions we can pose to ourselves today are: How strong is my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? When trials come to me in my life, do I turn to the Lord for help? Are things I am going through now preparing me for things that will come in the future? Am I sufficiently passing these tests of my faith? Do I have resolve to follow the prophet today? Do I live what he teaches?

Establishing Nauvoo was not easy. Did the saints complain?

One Nauvoo pioneer was Mary Field Garner. She who lost her husband and two children after reaching Nauvoo. She wrote “We were too thankful to be at Nauvoo with the other Saints of God, and to be associated with our Prophet and leader, Joseph Smith, and to listen to his teachings…to complain about our problems.”

Taking from Sister Garner of Nauvoo’s words I am led to ask myself—

Am I “too thankful to be in Henderson, Nevada in the Seven Hills ward, with the other Saints of God? And to be associated with our dear bishop, Bishop Messina? And to be able to live in this age of technology where the use of satellite broadcasting and the internet can bring me so close to the words our dear Prophet and leader, Thomas S. Monson. Yes, am I too thankful for all of these blessings to complain about my problems?

Isn’t it possible that like Sister Mary Field Garner, having gone through great adversity can make us focus on our blessings rather than our problems? I believe this is one test of a faithful saint-- To take the problems that beset our lives and while in them find the things to be grateful for from the hand of the Lord.

Carol Cornwall Madsen, while an associate professor of history at BYU wrote:

Though seemingly preoccupied with the continuous challenge of housing shortages, scarcity of commodities, and ubiquitous diseases, the women’s writings are predominantly religious narratives. It is as though their daily struggles gave testimony to the greater truth that informed their lives. Thus it is that in the presence of so much adversity they wrote accounts remarkably free of self-pity or regret.

I loved learning this fact about the women’s journals—that they contain very little complaint. They are full of testimony, spiritual experiences and gratitude. This made me think of my own journals and if I am writing things that I go through that bolster my faith. Am I writing about my spiritual growth?

For example: Am I only writing things like, “It is Sunday today. I taught the sharing time in primary then I came home and fed my family and took a nap.” Or am I including in that writing how much I felt the spirit guide me in my preparation of my sharing time lesson and how receptive the primary children were to the message? Or how great their questions were? Or how comforted I was that the spirit helped me get through the lesson and how I am praying that the children got some one thing from it! Am I writing about how I sincerely treasure Sunday family meals together? How much I learn from my children about their lives when we take the time to eat as a family? And how grateful I am that the Lord set Sunday as the Sabbath where we try to rest from our normal weekly doings and a short nap is possible some Sundays!

Yes, I need to write more in my journal about things that make my faith strong.

Children in Nauvoo were expected to work. As soon as they were old enough, they helped to care for the animals, gather wood and berries and help make soap and candles. They also went to school and studied hard to learn all they could!

Seven Hills ward primary children, I know you. I know that as soon as you are old enough you get the opportunity to go to school. You can do your best at your schoolwork and learn all you can! Hopefully your mom and dad have you do jobs at home. You can do your best at those jobs! You are just like the children who lived in Nauvoo. They followed the prophet like you do and they obeyed their mothers and fathers and helped make their families happy.

The hard work of the saints in Nauvoo led to the completion of a temple. The temple blessed their lives immeasurably. The saints had worked long and hard to build the temple. They then were able to partake of the saving ordinances within it. This made it possible for so many who crossed the plains to be sustained by the assurances they had received in the temple ordinances.

We all have the same opportunity to attend the temple. We can make ourselves worthy and attend the temple often to remind ourselves of our covenants and the further blessings the Lord has for us. The Nauvoo saints were eventually forced to leave and had to wait until Salt Lake City and wait through another long season of construction to have their next temple. We however, are richly blessed with a temple within a 40 minute drive. Do we take advantage of our opportunity?

It was during the Nauvoo era that the prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed in Carthage. What a trying time this must have been for the saints in Nauvoo! He had been living among the saints in Nauvoo with his family and they had heard so many of his sermons. They knew him personally. He was their beloved leader and prophet. The prophet’s death was a rallying point for the faithful saints. There were those who left the church at this point.

Sister Zina Jacob, a member in Nauvoo at the time, wrote that what was left after the turmoil of the prophet’s death was a strong corps of saints more untied than before. Alive, Joseph Smith was the unifying leader for the whole latter-day movement. His death increased the faith of the followers in the authenticity of his mission. Their conviction sustained them in the trying times of the abandonment of his city and their trek westward to Zion.

So much good could be said regarding the saints of Nauvoo. Their accomplishments are astonishing really. This sort of left me wondering if I would ever measure up like they did? It also left me wondering how I could ever thank them enough for their sacrifices and faithfulness for without them I would not enjoy the blessings of the church today.

I’ll leave you with two quotes that helped me address those feelings. One:

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin wrote:

We who have been blessed to know the fullness of the restored gospel owe a debt of gratitude to those who have gone before us, who have given so much to build the kingdom. Our debt of gratitude to our forebears is a debt that can best be paid in service to this great cause.

And President James E. Faust said:

This church does not necessarily attract great people but more often makes ordinary people great.

May all of us ordinary people, no matter our talents, abilities, financial resources, education or experience---just do the best we can in serving in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I believe that just as with the saints in Nauvoo, Christ will qualify us for the work if we will serve with humility, prayer, diligence and faith.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

 

last day off to first grade together. . .

today as i dropped jack and morgan off for the last day of first grade i snapped a quick photo of them in the car before getting out. i just wanted to remember what i saw when i looked back in the car each morning as they began their day. then when they came home they were done with first grade.

first grade teachers. . .

last year at the beginning of first grade i was nervous. i had not heard anything much about the teachers that my boys were assigned for first grade. if anything i had heard how i had not gotten the most popular teachers. i had a slight panic attack and really was upset in the days just after getting the notices. but i sat on it. the more i waited the more it seemed to be o.k. i was stressed still but i figured that i would not have any trouble with their teachers unless the teachers had any trouble or issues with one of my children. i was willing to give them a chance. 

jack and morgan were in classrooms that were right next to each other. their teachers were sisters. they were not warm and fuzzy and never once had parents volunteer in the classroom except to go on the two field trips (which i was fortunate enough to be asked to go on both trips.) but somehow i was able to get to know these ladies a little over the last year. morgan's teacher was incredibly helpful with getting him over the first rough months of being separate from jack. she helped his self-confidence incredibly. she also really encouraged his artwork ability. jack's teacher gave him tons of leadership responsibilities and challenged him to do his very best work. each teacher ended up being just right for each boy for different reasons.

i was grateful in the end of the year to have had them as instructors for my children. no neither teacher held big class parties. no neither teacher is the social queen of the teacher's lounge (they don't even go to eat in there.) and no neither teacher asked for help in their classroom responsibilities. and you know what? i was great with that! i never worried that academics was their focus. i never worried that they would be able to get everything covered that they needed to know. i never worried that either boy was being bullied or picked on in class. their rooms were controlled environments and my children relished the structure. it ended up being a good first year of school. it wasn't all fun and games. they had to work hard. but each of my children were happy and came away with self-respect and confidence. thank goodness for good teachers who care for my children and help them be better little persons.

art time picnic with popcorn snack. . .

the other day both of my boys decided it was nice enough outside to have an art project hour. so they rounded up their paints and papers and set up shop out on their picnic table. i popped them some yummy air popped popcorn with real butter and salt as a treat. they were in heaven. i loved watching them from the kitchen. it makes me so happy that my boys love art. the fact that they think it up to do all on their own makes me happy inside. they are good for the most part of coming up with something constructive to do when they have down time. i am grateful they have never been the kind of children to feel the need to create havoc like flushing experimental items down the toilets to see what will happen! hooray for the desire to paint and devour popcorn! they are the best boys ever.

rod on the pain train. . .hiking rim to rim of the grand canyon

[post written by rod]

my first rim-to-rim day hike of the grand canyon was back in 2008. it was such a great experience that i wanted to do it again, and of course i shouldn't be selfish and hog all the breath-taking vistas and pain for myself. why not share it with friends so they can also meet the pain train? 

our group started out all smiles as we left for the north rim on friday night. ken wallace was kind enough to be our driver and after the 4.5 hour trip to the north rim we spent the night at the rustic, but comfortable kaibab lodge. we got about 4 hours of sleep and ate a quick bite for breakfast in the car on the way to the trailhead. the hike started out with crisp 25 degree temperatures so everyone had to put on an extra layer to start the trek.

my best friend matt flew down from canada for the hike and ended up being the trip's de-facto ansel adams, being the only one brave enough to lug a digital slr camera on the hike. the morning trek down the north rim was one of the highlights of the trip as the north rim is heavily wooded and the trail meanders along the canyon walls with dizzying drop-offs providing spectacular photo opportunities.

about 10 miles down the north rim we reached the canyon floor and we followed the trail as it moved through narrow canyons next to small creeks running down into the colorado river. at mile 15 we reached phantom ranch, situated 1 mile north of the colorado river. about half our group got our camelbacks and water bottles filled before the system providing the drinkable water stopped working. temperatures during this part of the day reached 100 degrees and the rangers told everyone to stay at phantom ranch until 4pm. over the next hour we ate lunch and the rest of our team were able to get their water bottles filled. brad looked like a buddhist monk as he sat absolutely motionless for nearly 45 minutes in order to fill his camelback from a dripping spigot.

we left phantom ranch at 1pm and crossed the colorado river on a steel suspension bridge provided for hikers. the river was very full and raging so it is a good thing we didn't have to swim across (although with the 100 degree temperatures we contemplated jumping in to cool off). after crossing the colorado river we hiked through a mile long section of trail that was mostly sand and the sun reflected off it like a tanning mirror. we then proceeded another 4.5 miles to indian gardens, the next water stop and the start of the climb out of the canyon. 

the final 4.5 miles from indian gardens is there the real pain train started. some trekkers said at different points in the day that they knew why i had said that they would feel the pain train, but i assured them that the pain train was coming much later. what is that i hear? chooo-chooo, yes, the pain train has arrived. the final 4.5 miles of the hike was comprised of never-ending switch-backs up the north rim with water and rest-stops every 1.5 miles. however, each 1.5 miles felt like the longest 1.5 miles of our lives. 

fortunately, all trekkers made it out under their own power and our trip concluded with a stop at mcdonalds right outside the park gate where ken wallace stared in disbelief at the amount of food we ordered and pounded down. i am confident that i will never look at licorice, cliff bars,  or trail mix the same ever again. (recently inquiries have been made by some team members about doing the trip again in october... the pain train lives on).