Fun in the Sun

"Month of Love" preparations for Seminary turned into this

magnificent window display

... am I the only one who does window displays for my home?

My goal, aside from creative outlet, is to bring a tiny bit of festive joy to all the cars I watch drive past my window each day.

The best part is the shadows it makes when it's sunny (which is rare lately).

... or maybe the best part is playing in the shadows it makes

with a darling two (and a half) year old...

who needs sunglasses...

...because this is how you sun bathe in February.

Sledding

Kaci tell Papa Call about sledding!

kaci: "we go sledding. WEEEEE! BOOM!"

translation: We went sledding, in 16 degree weather with a wind chill of 5 degrees (according to those "weather people"), Kaci is shaking and near hypothermia but tells us that she wants to go "one more time". Some bystanders who had noticed our sweet "calendar sleds" (really just laminated posters from the dollar store) offered to let us use one of their toboggans. We gladly accepted and all piled in for a good "family run".

As we took off down the hill we all started screaming our heads off because the toboggan went like 2o times faster than our "sleds".

In between our screaming we hear a fading voice yell, "WATCH Out for the juuuummmm..."

Then, as Kaci puts it, "BOOM!"

Next thing I know, I'm a good two feet off the ground. I look up and see Kaci flying, powder flying, and Brad reaching out to catch her. We manage to slide to a stop and realize we have just white washed a two year old. She was not happy. From the top of the hill we hear a bunch of voices "SORRY!"

All in a day of fun folks.... all in a day of fun. No big deal. She's raving about it now!

5:45AM for nothin'

Do you live in the city or the county?

me: um, both?

(In AZ, I lived in Glendale, Maricopa County. In HI, I lived in Laie, Honolulu County)

No, the ci-ty or the coun-ty?

me: I really have no idea.

Okay, we'll just say city.

me: um, o-kay

And that's how you know you're in a strange new land. When people start differentiating between city and county.

In VA, I live in the ci-ty of H'burg, and "technically" the coun-ty of Rockingham, but I never (no NEVER) say I live in Rockingham County, because I live in the city. Some people live in the city of Bridgewater (3 miles south), but they are to claim living in the county.

Make any sense? Yeah, ridiculous.

You see H'burg is the BIG city out here folks. We're talking 50,000 people! Wowsers!?! So, if you live in this BIG city you get to claim the city (which always gets me discounts).

Why am I telling you this?

Because seminary is cancelled automatically AGAIN today (we've only had 9 classes ALL of January) because the County school was delayed or cancelled due to weather (that's a whole new post). I have to wake up to check the closings and delays and naturally can not fall back asleep after starring into the light of a computer screen. Yup, 5:45 for nothin' TWICE this week already....grrrr!

Because when I first got to VA it really was a whole new ball game. I'm fully adjusted now, (I confidently say CITY when they ask where I live!) but last night... I BOUGHT MY TICKET OUT OF HERE!

137 days til I see my soon-to-be-married sister and lots of family

137 days til I leave this BIG city in the dust and fly to one of the biggest cities in the US.

137 days of fretting over packing, moving, a new city, and finishing the BoM w/ my kids.

137 days til I no longer live on the East Coast.

Am I ever sad when I get to relocate? I guess someday I'll miss VA too, like I sometimes miss HI, but that's just really hard to imagine.

You've got a friend in me

Sometimes you just gotta say "goodbye"

The Flip

Kaci has mastered the flip! She's been trying for so long. On Saturday she finally mastered it!

She's really into gymnastics right now. We went to one of my seminary kid's gymnastic meet and Kaci has been doing spin jumps, walking on her hands (with help), flips, and kicks ever since. She really liked the floor routines and balance beam routines. So, I put some masking tape on the floor so she could practice her balance beam routines. She really likes it. She does slides, flips, kicks, jumps, spins... she loves it!

If ya need something to do, buy a big roll of masking tape. We've made a hopscotch and played mummy too. It's loads of fun and pretty cheap! The possibilities are endless!

Rupert

It's been below freezing since... before Christmas.

Rupert has been lovin' it!

Today it's in the 40's!

Rupert isn't lovin' it. I wonder how long Brad's snow monster will last...

You Do It!

Brad listens to talk radio.

I listen to John Tesh, Intelligence for Your Life.

This morning John said "stop planning, start doing."

I wanted to scream!

I don't know how many of you have ever lived with someone who is getting the chance to fulfill a

life dream...

but I live with Brad who is getting exactly that chance.

ALASKA

is all Brad thinks about, talks about, researches...

if our computer were a human it'd burn out with Alaska searches.

We've thought about setting a time limit every day for it, but why set yourself up to fail?

There's nothing but planning to do right now.

Nothing to actually DO about it all yet.

Nevermind what we can't do, let's focus on what we can do.

Kaci just learned (thx for teaching her laura h.) to do this:

And then she says, "YOU DO IT!"

... I know Nancy, you can't. I'm not trying to rub it in your face, Kaci is :)

Daddy Time

All you moms and dads out there are remembering very similar nights. All you single and not-yet-parents are highly worried about the effects of running around the house with a piece of bologna in your mouth.

Eternal Perspective part 2

"Life is difficult... Once we truly know that life is difficult--once we truly understand and accept it--then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters." --M. Scott Peck, in The Road Less Traveled

When I read that quote I understood it as follows:

"The atonement is all encompassing... once we truly know that the atonement is all encompassing, then life and death is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life and death are difficult no longer matters."

Christ gives us reason to have hope and have a measure of joy even when the love, the time, the memories you no longer get to experience in the mortal present or future is gone until eternities become your present.

I guess we live for that eternity. We live because of Christ.

One time...

**update**

Gavin did not survive despite the many prayers offered in his behalf.

We'll continue to pray for the family he left behind.

************

One time I went to a baby shower at the Norton's Ohana. I knew her from, well, living in the same 3 square miles, but I hadn't ever actually met Natalie til I was sitting on her couch. She was fun and inspiring. She talked about her pictures like I'd talk about folding my laundry. She's an artist.

What I remember most about her is how she taught her kids to eat healthy. She said she explained to her kids that junk food doesn't make you strong like superman. She told the following story: one night at a church party, it was time for dessert. Someone offered her son (the oldest one I think) some cookies. Her sun replied, "no thank you, that won't make me strong... I want to be strong!" Not to say her kids don't enjoy some treats, but that in general they honestly believe that junk food won't make them strong and they avoid it, because what little boy doesn't want to be strong?

I saw her again almost two years later at a reception in Utah (she lives in Laie) and she remembered me. In between shooting her fabulous pictures, we chatted a bit. She needed chap stick, so did I. Dang dry climate, ya don't use chap stick when you live by an ocean. We were both too far from our Laie home.

That's who Natalie is. I keep tabs on her, ya know check her blog and always mention her to people who seek a super kind and talented photographer. I'm telling you about her because she needs some prayers. For her and her new baby, Gavin.

For Gavin's story, go to her blog www.natalienortonphoto.blogspot.com.

Once you've read his story, you'll want to see a funny picture that only a mother could capture and then share it with the world. (I've linked this before, but I think it's hilarious and it totally relates right now) click here.

Pray!

pray that little Gavin can be like his big brother

Be strong and pee, pee, pee!

GranMa Lynda

Who makes a chocolate fountain for a snack and lets the grand kids go at it?

GranMa Lynda

Who plays pretend with the kids in the playroom all day long?

GranMa Lynda

Who lets you jump rope in her living room?

GranMa Lynda

Who volunteers to change a poopy diaper?

GranMa Lynda

Who do you go to when you need a

real vacation/break

from being a full time mom?

GranMa Lynda

Dating in Utah...

Snow Day Fun

A little factoid for ya...

Here we are seeing the temple lights this year with all the family. So fun to ooh and aahh at them. I especially liked the red tree by the temple. A little fun fact for ya: Brad's cousin told me that his Grandma donated that tree to the temple grounds when it was just a seedling, it's a Cedar of Lebanon. When they re-did the landscaping at the temple, some people wanted to cut down the tree, but the head gardener said they couldn't, so they did the landscaping around the tree. So there ya have it. That beautiful tree that has red leaves in the fall and red lights in the winter has history and I'm very distantly related to it, kinda, in a way, ok not really, but kinda :)

CALL it Tradition!