The Fiercest Warrior in the Galaxy

He put his whole heart and soul into defeating that villain.  But, I guess he got a little too into it.  The girl stopped him saying, "Whoa Youngun.  You are doing it too hard."

Disneyland

 I can't put into words how important this trip was to me.  I have stragegized for years on how I could take my kids to Disneyland, but couldn't figure out a way to do it.  I had almost let go of the idea, but I think God opened the way for me to do it again because He knew my heart and how much I wanted this.  I am not even sure why it was so important to me.  I think part of it is because it was one of my most treasured memories of my childhood.  Somehow my parents got a family of 10 children there many times.  Even after my mom died and my dad was a widow with 7 children he still took us to Disney World by himself!  Disneyland to me is about rejoicing in the joy of children.  I imagined many times what Miss R would think when she saw the real Snow White.  She is just so imaginative I knew she would love it.  I wanted Master I to expereince it when he was young so that he could still really get into it and not just wish that he could have done it when he was a kid.  And finally, I wanted to drag Master W around the park like my parents drug around our my younger brothers.  I wanted to tell him, "This is childhood and being part of a family.  This is what we do."  My siblings and I only look back on it with fondness and strong familial bonds.  I wanted to take my kids like Dad took his  and do hard things to make the lives of my children happy and memorable.  I am a little ashamed that I had less than half of the amount of children that he had and I had a helper, but I am proud that I really did do it.  And I will love Kristina and Aunt Karen forever for it.

Let the games begin.  On the tram on the way into the park.

Miss R with "her friend."  She refered to Kristina as her friend instead of calling her by name.

What could be better than this?  This made it all worth it.

And then we had to go and break the Snow White ride after visiting with her.  Miss R's hat fell off on to the track.  The next car on the ride rode over it and it got caught in the wheels.  The ride stopped and we had to wait to get escorted off.  I told them that my daughter's hat fell off the ride.  They said that they knew.  Ah well.  This is the ruined hat.

                                       

Just like my joy was complete in seeing Miss R hug Snow White, so was my joy full here.  Master I got totally into it.  So much so that the Jedi Disney worker tried to calm him down saying, "Wo, Youngun! Not so hard."  I  am so glad that he got to do this in this little window of time while he is not embarassed to imagine and pretend.

 

Trying to zap the mean Emporer Zurg

 

I know it is a boring ride, but my kids loved it.  We rode it three times.  We have watched the movie countless times.  I love how innocent and childlike it is.



By the end of the day she fell asleep.  To her credit, she stayed up late enough to watch the late fireworks and water shows.  And after that we went on Space Mountain together. She told me she never wanted to go on that ride again.  I couldn't believe I took my three year old on it.  She is so tall we could, buy maybe not developmental old enough to love it.  To tell the truth, I don't think I ever enjoyed roller coasters as a kid, but I relished in being cheered on by older siblings and feeling a part of their fun group.  Master I didn't disappoint here either.  He was so happy she want on this ride with him and couldn't stop talking to her about it after.  With aching feet and completely exahausted I left the park near closing time while I listened to Master I talk about what he loved and I felt satisfied.  I did for them what my parents did for me and all was right in the world. 

 

 

4th of July

After the morning parade and our 4th of July program we went up to the big pool to swim and bbq.



What would be a holiday without a good program?

The Ride of Paul Revere

Happy Anniversary to Grandma and Grandpa

We threw a suprise anniversary party for Grandma and Grandpa.  The best part of all was the proram on the patio where the kids got to ask questions to their grandparents about how they met, fell in love, decided to marry, and life as newlyweds.  The kids thought of their questions ahead of time and wrote them down on paper.  I think this must have prepared them to listen attentively.  They were absolutely riveted.  We all commented after about the kid's interest and attention.  It was a unique experience.  We are used to having family programs being a little more rowdy. We wanted to do this because we wanted to celebrate this special occasion.   The unanticipated benefit was having an opportunity for the Grandparents to pass on advice about the most important decision of your life.

 

 

Beach Days

Pool Days

Wasn't that fun?  I loved those pool days.  I look back and feel proud that I did my part that made those day possible.  They were fun and I look back and feel satisfied.

 

Conversion

I had such a marvelous conversation on the playground with a new Jewish friend that I have made.  She mentioned that she was going through a crisis of faith.  In talking to her it seemed that her crisis stemmed from trying to reconcile terrible things that have happened to her and to those she loves with a loving and caring God.  I truly empathized with her concerns because she has gone through many things that my family has experienced.

I thought of so many scriptures that I wanted to share with her all at once.

I quoted to her 1 Nephi 11:17 of Nephi saying that he knew that God loveth his children, nevertheless he knoweth not the meaning of all things.

I refrenced 2 Nephi 2 about men being free to choose for themselves and said, "God gives to man freedom to choose and he will not take that from us.  That means that bad things happen to good people, but he has the power to heal the bad."

I shared with her one of my favorite nuances from  Alma 36:3.  That God doesn't take away our hardships, but "...whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day."

I didn't say the smallest part of what I felt. I wanted to say, "I know you are a daughter of God and that He loves you.  I know He loves you for what you have done for your daughters.     It will all be made right. ..all of those sorrows.  Keep praying, keep believing.  Go to Synagogue and teach your children about all of the marvelous things that He has done for you in your life and of how he parted the sea for your ancestors .  You are the seed of Abraham and are a part of God's covenant people and so He will not forget you!!"

The irony of the situation had me chuckling all day long.  I thought to myself, "I think I just tried to use the Book of Mormon to prove to my Jewish friend that her church was true."

Do You Want a Knuckle Sandwich?

I was watching the Relief Society Conference and noticed that the leaders in their talks shared that they loved the women of the Relief Society.  I wondered at why it is important for those who are teaching to love whom they teach and why it is so important that the student feels loved by the teacher.

Later this week I remembering an interesting experience that Mark had.  He sat down with a three year old patient and her parents to discuss the risks and benefits of a procedure that he was going to do.  This little girl had spent much of her young life in the hospital and in her mind the doctors were her enemies that tortured her.  When Mark entered the room she immediately made a fist, shook it at him, and asked if he wanted a knuckle sandwich.  Mark just laughed and said no.  He chatted with her briefly but spent the time having the necessary conversation with the parents.  Throughout the conversation when he would look at her she would bring her fist up again and give him and warning look with her eyes.

The poor little girl.  I wish she could understand that Mark doesn't want to hurt her.  In fact, he loves her. It was the big blue eyes of a toddler with a scar on his chest that broke his heart in medical school and first turned him to helping children. I remember him hurrying home to tell me about the surgical case and showing the picture of the little boy. He searched for the words to try to express the strong feelings he had as he heard of this boy's plight and how touched he was that his life was saved.   His words caught in his throat when he said, "I can't stop thinking of this boy. Do you want to see the picture?"he asked lamely. If his words failed in helping me to understand, then I got the message when I saw Mark brush away the tears on his cheeks  as he stared at the picture on his computer of the boy. It was in that conversation that I understood what this meant to him and I let go of my reservations about him becoming a pediatric CT surgeon.   Since then Mark's specialty has changed, but he has devoted his life and sacrificed so much to be able to help sick children all the same.  If that little girl could just understand that Mark doesn't want to hurt her.  He wants to help her because he loves her.

I don't know if I have ever made more enemies than when I taught a lesson about how important I felt that it was to nurture our families by preparing dinner.  I had no idea anyone was going to be hurt. My friend explained to me that the reason that people were mad was because they felt guilty.   I guess you never know when you are going to hurt someone when you are teaching.

I thought back to my Relief Society meeting and I imagine those Relief Society leaders saying, "I hope that nothing I said hurt, but if it did, know that I am filled with love for you.  I am sacrificing my life to be able to help you."  And then, in my mind's eye, I see myself and wonder if I am not the three year old girl with her fist up; daring anyone to get near her and get a knuckle sandwich.

How I Found Joy Today

I made rice and beans for dinner.  I think I am getting that recipe down to a science.  After the rice is cooked I toss in freshly chopped cilantro and the juice of a lime.  I cook the black beans with 5 slices of jalepeno from a jar, a spoonful of garlic, 3 cubes of beef bullion, and about 1/4 tsp of oregano, chili powder, and cumin.  I salt it to taste and squeeze a little lime at the end.  My new addition this week was so fun.  I served it in a bowl with chips around the outside and it ended up looking like a sunflower.  The chips looked like the petals and the beans looked like the center of the flower.  The kids loved it.

I remembered a funny story that Mark told me about the hospital.  Mark was commenting to his attending physician about the interesting names of the patients in Philadelphia.  The attending said, "You are going to see a lot of interesting names here.  One time I met a girl named Usnavy. (Pronounced Us-nah-vee) I asked the parents how they thought of their daughter's name.  They told me that they saw a ship that had the letters U-S-N-A-V-Y one the side.  The decided that they liked the unique name and used it for their daughter.