Olivia becomes an adult!

 Liv was born a mom. She would carry Parkin on her hip at 5 and I would have complete confidence as she multitasked with a kid on her hip. I feel like she is finally the age she was born to be! The day started with our first "party" the family watched a movie and then we were interrupted by her friends dropping by balloons, donuts and flowers. It truly was so sweet and everything you would want for your daughter. The love continued as church friends dropped presents off and well wishes came in from aunts, uncles and grandparents. We went to Jasons' Deli for dinner. We have been eating non-stop during the holiday so a soup, salad and sandwich joint was perfect.  We came home for the second "party" We watched WonderWoman 84. Then we ate the most delicious chocolate and peanut butter bunt cake made by me...no pressure since Olivia is our resident baker, but I came through! 

Olivia's future is bright. She has gotten accepted into several Universities all offering scholarship money. Ultimately she will attend the university that offers the most money. I can't think of a time in life that has been harder on seniors than this year has been. No first day being the oldest on campus, no winter formal, no prom, no senior culture dance...its been incredibly disappointing. Oliva has born it well. She has written some insightful essays based on this difficult season. I know a greet season is yet to come for her and it will be glorious.

Holman.... one giant step toward adulthood!

 Holman turned 16th on the the 1st. If you ask Holman what he would like for his birthday or Christmas you will get the same response, "I want for nothing"....Isn't that the most content answer!!  Hard to buy for but he genuinely has a hard time thinking of things that he wants. To add to this selfless attitude Homan attended youth council the night of his birthday, because `who doesn't want to attend meetings?! We had subs that night, one of his favorite meals and then Benjamin and I took him shopping and we were able to eek out a couple of items that he would like. On Sunday we had both sets of Grandparents over to have cheesy barley soup Holman's other favorite meal. 

The best gift Holman got for his birthday was independence, Holman got his license! The whole family was praying for this because parking a van doing the whole 3 point turn can be difficult! I asked how he would like to celebrate, thinking he would want to grab a breakfast meal or ice cream but Holman said lets get ice cream tonight with the family...We just love this kid. He is hardworking, funny and has a big brother heart. 

Baby girl gets her ears pierced!!

 Not sure why 11 is the magical number for ear piercing. That's when I got mine done. My mom didn't get hers till she was in her 20's. My mother-in-law was also an adult when she got hers. For whatever reason I've chosen to keep that age, my daughters may not continue that age and that's ok!! 

Anna turned 11 on November 27th! We went to the mall with her sisters and both Grandmas to get her ears pierced, to have lunch, and to do a little shopping. It was a total girls trip! Anna did great, no tears but she said it did hurt, despite what everyone told her.

She also had two friends bring gifts over. It was really sweet. I think it felt like a celebration despite it being during Covid.  

We had grandparents over for dinner and an ice cream cake decorated by Bella. It was a great day that honored our favorite blonde 💕

Crazy health week

 This week a coworker of mine had major surgery on Tuesday morning. I made her dinner on Monday as well as things she could eat after the surgery. And by the phrase "I made" I mean my family. Olivia went to the store with my list, Parkin made the Jello, and Anna helped me deliver it. She is a sweet co-worker who is always helping others. I enjoyed expressing my appreciation. 

Later that evening Holman kept complaining about stomach cramps and was moaning. Benjamin and our friend Clint gave him a blessing. The pain didn't stop and so Benjamin took him to urgent care. They thought it could be his appendix but couldn't tell for sure so they sent him to the ER. At the ER they did an MRI and it showed fluid by the appendix but it wasn't conclusive. They sent him home to wait and see. 

The next day Benjamin had a heart appointment with electrophysiologist and I was at work. Holman's pain got to a fever pitch. I called my parents and they took Holman to the ER and Benjamin met them there after his appointment. An x-ray showed that he had a bowel obstruction, luckily no surgery was needed.. That night my mom brought my family dinner complete with Jello... isn't life a crazy back and forth of giving help and needing help?!

Holman is much better. He is on a very strict diet. Basically he can't eat anything that brings joy.  Benjamin seems to be right in the middle of his heart issues. He's be having arrhythmias in addition to his heart birth defect that he was born with. He has another appointment tomorrow. He has three medications and if those don't do the trick he would have obliteration procedure....sounds frightening to me. 2020 just continues it's rollercoaster.

Civility

 I have what I call a "patience" job. This job is extremely difficult because it requires this attribute for 8 hours straight. This skill is not valued in terms of monetary compensation but every parent hopes that the person who has my job has copious amounts because they know all to well how difficult it is to maintain prolonged patience. A couple of weeks ago I had a particularly rough day at work, one that tested me to the brink. I got off work and headed to the grocery store to grab dinner. This is the last place I wanted to be. The lines were backed up with one cashier working. A lady behind me proceeds to go to a bagger and yell "this is so stupid to only have one cashier open"...she said "what is your name" the teenager looks down. The lady continues, "you have to look at your name tag for the answer?! Stupid. I've been coming here longer than you've been alive this is ridiculous! This is terrible." I was shocked who talks to someone like that? I said the first thing that came to my mind. "Ma'am why don't you cut in front of me, you only have a couple of items and you seem to be in a hurry." She replies with, "no it's no big deal you were here first," I tell her apparently it is a big deal since you yelled at that teenage employee. She says I didn't yell at him. I said, yes you did. She said no I didn't. Then a young couple behind me both chimed in you defently yelled at him. Then the lady replied with all I said was "can you open another checkout lane?" I said if you had said it like that then there wouldn't be an issue. I told her that I have two teenage daughters who work at an ice cream store and get yelled at by strangers over ice cream. They work for minimum wage just like that teenage boy. He's not in charge of anything. She starts to cry and tells me she didn't mean to yell and her husband has cancer. I told her how sorry I was for her. They opened a new checkout lane and she goes next. She leaves the store and the couple behind me says, "ma'am I want you to know if you were my mom I'd be real proud that you stood up for that teenager. I work at a store and you'd be surprised how often I get yelled at" I thanked them for backing me up when I told her she was speaking rudely. 

This week a "friend" posted a political question on Facebook. This person wasn't really wanting a discussion based on his tone. Lindsey however tried to engage in a civil discussion. Then a stranger responds with name calling and total rudeness. The original friend said nothing and frankly joined the fight. I was so disappointed with the lack of civility and this friend standing behind his rude friend.  I had to post about civility and humanity. Our original friend showed how he values our friendship. I have no time or space for people that can't be kind. 

We desperately need civility in our country right now more than ever. I hope I will always stand up for civility with kindness and courage.

 

22 years and we still got the heat!

22 years of married life under our belts. I think we have officially reached that time where it doesn't feel like just yesterday we got married. No, it feels like a lot of blood, sweat and tears and...a lot of laughs. We kept up our recent tradition of going away to a small town in Arizona, this year it was Prescott which is not so little anymore. The first night we stumbled upon a concert at town square. It was awesome. We also had the best pizza we have ever had at a small mom and pop shop. The next day we hit a farmers market, a museum and two trails. After hiking we went to a soda shop and ordered 4 different drinks, cause we are still young at heart.  That night we had yummy BBQ and later DQ, to honor our roots.

On Sunday we zoomed into our ward sacrament meeting and walked around a lake before heading home. What a crazy journey life is. So many ups and downs. So many. Grateful this man came into my life and that he had no idea how good looking he was. Grateful his love language is time and service. He justs wants to spend time with me and plan outings, simple date nights and future adventures. Grateful that when I go grocery shopping he cleans out the fridge. Grateful that he does all of our laundry. Grateful that he loves the gospel and loves people. Grateful he is a good tipper. Grateful he can fix almost anything. Grateful he chose me.

 

Benjamin and Anna go to Bama!..I.n July

Benjamin and Anna had a trip of a life time back in July. They drove to Alabama with Sarah's family. It was a two day journey with 5 kids. The trip looked amazing and the rest of my family needs to make this journey! We love getting to See Sarah and Reece's family several time  year when they visit their Arizona family, we need to do the same! Benjamin was also happy to visit with his brother Jeremy and their mazing crew. It was Annas first time meeting those cousins. Its just so green!!

The Beautiful Potter family!

The Amazing Howe family!

 

Olivia's favorite childhood toy

This is an essay Liv wrote for a college application. The prompt was "tell us about your favorite childhood toy."

Growing up, Christmas at my house was always a little different than what I imagine is typical. That isn’t to say we didn’t celebrate, because we did. Hardcore. I’m talking whole house, inside and out, decked out in wreaths and knicknacks. On top of the extreme interior decorating, my family is religious so this season was always extra special. But what made my Christmases different than most was that none of my siblings or I really ever believed in Santa. I tell people this and they’re always shocked that my parents spilled the beans when we were so young, but what were they supposed to do when their 3 and 5 year old daughters came to them and asked “ why are we wrapping presents for people? Does Santa not love the poor? Why don’t they just get presents from him”? After my parents had explained systemic poverty and the consumerist christmas machine to us, all of my wish lists were addressed straight to mom and dad. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of the mythical fat man who brings toys and we continued to celebrate the spirit of santa, but I knew he was a phony and went straight to the source of my toys. Unfortunately for my parents, their candor created a problem. We knew that they did all the buying and would go on and on about specific things so they knew exactly what we wanted. 

Christmas 2007 was a particularly memorable christmas for my mom for this very reason. Unfortunately, I don’t actually remember much from this time (my whole childhood is basically a blur), but my mom does- like it was yesterday, so i'm going off her version of events. I was almost 5, had a killer bob and self-cut bangs, and I was absolutely obsessed with dogs. So when it came time to write my list, I knew exactly what I wanted- a remote control dog. I waxed poetic about this remote control dog for weeks and weeks, and so my mom made finding one a priority. My birthday is the day after christmas so she has always tried hard to make the two days distinct and special. WIth the weight of one of  two most important days of my year on her shoulders, She looked far and wide for this remote control dog because it was nowhere to be found. After searching through an insane number of stores, she finally found one and was so excited to give it to me. 

Christmas day rolled around, and my family gathered by the tree in matching pjs and opened presents. It came time for me to open my dog and my mom waited with baited breath while I undid the wrapping. I opened the present to find a really cute, very fluffy  animatronic dog that walked and barked when I pressed a button on a remote. Seeing the excitement of my face, my mom said something like “look sweetheart, a remote control dog! is it exactly what you wanted?”. Unfortunately for her, my poor, long suffering mother realized that she missed the mark when i said “ no momma, I actually just wanted a cover for our tv remote, you know, like a cover that looks like a dog”. She was halfway heartbroken but mostly just amused that a remote cover was the object of my obsession. All i really wanted for christmas that year  was a cool way to change the volume of my favorite pbs shows. 

But Luckily for my mom, that dog toy ended up being one of my favorites for years, even if it wasn’t what I wanted. I guess I should have been a little more specific. This story of a mother's love for her daughter has an important message- People don’t really change. My mom still loves me, and I am still just as obsessed with television as I was then.

Bella back at college

Bella is back in the dorm. Major upgrades this year 1) more room 2) better lighting 3) better views 4) a sink in the room 5) more indoor bike lock space 6) Morgan Clark and Hailey are in the same dorm 7)  Madison Holman is her roommate!!

We were about to leave for campus so I had to run upstairs and put on a black shirt and black baseball hat to match her 🤣 Bella was a good sport.

First day of school during the pandemic

 Online education is no fun unless that is your first choice. These four kiddos are doing their best during these unconventional times. All are checking in online to some bit of virtual classroom. There was a lot of love for seniors last spring that had to graduate virtually and missed all their spring activities because of the pandemic. Well just as much love needs to go our for those seniors who are starting school with the pandemic. So many unknowns. I pray we can all go back to normal or at least a new normal that involves school attendance!

.

Olivia my beautiful Senior. Tonight she is doing a talk for a back to school night for our Stake via Zoom. Her talk is really awesome maybe I can make a post of it so I don't forget it. She is sewing and knitting and "stress baking" the most delectable desserts!

Holman is a Sophmore, he plans to graduate next year so do I call him a Junior? He's driving and gardening and making us all laugh.

Parkin is an 8th grader. He is an excellent artist who now draws with an online program. He loves things Japanese and is great for a hug.

Anna is in 5th grade. She loves creating. This week she made a Ken doll clothes complete with a face mask so that he could go to school and shop...a face mask!

Bella moves back to the dorms On Saturday. I willtak her picture then. She works at ColdStone, works hard but plays hard too. She is always there for a cheerful pick me up!

Green grass, green pool, do-over

Our generous friends laid sod in their new home and they had left overs and we were the lucky recipients!  We got the call on Friday and prepped and bought fertilizer on Friday and quickly laid it on Saturday. It looks beautiful!! We love it. However, our pool did not. Our pool quickly matched our grass a lovely shade of lime green. Apparently we got too much fertilizer and mulch in the pool and we never could get the levels back to normal. So we had to drain the pool and power wash the sides. Power-washing is so satisfying. Now the pool looks great ... if we cold just keep the frogs at bay!

Who doesn't want to wade in green slimy water?!

Bella taking her turn.

Anna braving the blaster.

Parkin slipped into the water lucky for him boxers are the 

 

Operation Underground Railroad

This week Bella and Olivia and I went to an Operation Underground Railroad rally with the Whetten ladies. It's an anti trafficking organization that sets to bring to light this modern day slavery that effects children world wide and ultimately sets to liberate them. The United States is the number one consumer of child pornography and sex trafficking. It's absolutely heart breaking. It truly makes me fear for the US because this wickedness has a reckoning overdue.

The rally was on Thursday night. Luckily I got off work an hour early. We headed downtown for the rally. It was so hot that day there was a heat advisory even though it was early in the evening. When we arrived I thought, these are my people. People who show up to say we have got to care that this is happening in our community. Later I noticed that much of the crowd was made up of Latter Day Saints..truly my people. Sisters activily engaged in a good cause. 

The Founder of this organization is a member of the church.He worked for Homeland Security and now goes undercover to recover the children caught in this slavery. He gave an interview where he said when he first would go undercover he struggled seeing his own children in their faces and was taught how to remove those images from his mind so that he could accomplish the tasks that he needed to do. But later when he was experiencing the same sensation of seeing his own children in the faces of the enslaved children he heard a voice tell him no imagine that they are your children. He said once he realized that when he imagined those kids as his own children he began to fight that much harder to recover them. His message is to always think of the children as if they are your own. That's what we need to do. I would run on broken glass to rescue my kids. My Sabbath day fast is for those children. Pleading for their freedom. All I can do is rally, speak up, donate and pray.

RIP Luke the best dog ever

2020 has brought many, MANY questions. One that woke me from my sleep last night was this, “Did my family in fact have the greatest dog that ever lived, or was he made great by the many whisperings of love in his ear?” At one years old, we took our dog Luke camping with us. We took him because he always proved to be so loyal and he never would stray from us. He left the tent early in the morning and he wasn’t coming when we called him. When we found him he looked terrible. He had received some sort of blunt force trauma to the head. We raced him to the emergency room whispering in his ear, “you are the best dog we've ever had please stay with us.” Luke lost his eyesight that day and proved to us in the process that there can be joy in disability. Weeks after the accident the family set off for an evening walk in the neighborhood, we thought should we take Luke with a cone on his head? Nah, he doesn't want to walk, he's still recovering. We got about 3 blocks away from home and looked behind us to see little blind Luke running to catch up with us. We knelt down whispering in his ear, “aren’t you the bravest dog that ever lived?!” Throughout the years when we have gone on family vacations our poor pet sitters found out how sad this dog can be when his pack is not around. Twice breaking out of the backyard, searching the street to find us. That little black dog crossed eight lanes of traffic searching for his pack. The angels have been busy protecting this one. Every time we returned home we would drive to the rescuers house with tears in our eyes holding homemade cards, and gifts thanking them for picking up our wandering dog. Once in the car whispering in Luke's ear, “buddy we would never leave you, you're the best dog.” In his almost 11 years of life it was not uncommon to see one of my kids bending down whispering in his ear, “I love you so much Luke, you're the best dog.” I myself often whispered into his ear, “As a little girl I always prayed to have a dog like you. Heavenly Father answered my prayer decades later when we got you.” This blind beloved dog used up all 9 of his lives and then some, so many near misses but still allowed to stay a little longer with us. During Covid he developed a mass on his lip with further workups it was discovered he had cancer in multiple places. We knew it was time to say goodbye. Whispering in his ear, “you are the best dog that ever lived thank you for all the unconditional love.”

Holman gets a permit!!

Holman has been driving for almost a month. His commentary while driving is hysterical. "Mommy I'm scared" 🤣 Our first drive out was quite the adventure it was like a Mario kart ride. He has taken to it really well. We love this crazy fun guy💕

2 camp outs in one pandemic summer... Father's day!!

Pandemic has been going on for months and the family way to cope is to get out of town and go camping. We first went to Parker Canyon lake to boat around and camp the night. Dan, Pete and Grandpa Ronnie came out to join us, the lake was lovely.. Camping the night did not work out. Because of the pandemic the national and state parks are closed so the nice campgrounds were/are not available so we went to camp in a remote area off the main road.  There was hardly any good trees and we didn't even have enough camping chairs for everybody to sit in. We boated all morning and were hot,  I looked around and thought this is nuts we packed up and headed back to home.

The second cam pout luckily was actually at a cabin. We got to stay in the Bell's cabin in Greer. I was racing to get a paper done for school, right before we left on the trip because there wasn't going to be any Wi-Fi and so I packed rather hastily. I didn't grab a book and phones don't work out there so I was a little unprepared for the peace and quiet we were going to experience. Benjamin was in heaven which was good because it was Father's day weekend. Holman fished,  Benjamin and I hiked we watched a lot of family movies and had sacrament in the woods it was very beautiful. The kids did a special musical number for Fathers Day it was lovely.

On the drive home Benjamin saw a man on the side of the road and it was one of the Bell's brothers. Benjamin had met him 2 weeks earlier. He got in a car accident 5  minutes earlier. Because of a detore we took we were able to help him get back to Mesa because his car was totaled.