Ellie. 12.

It seems that for several years in a row, poor Ellie has had her birthday disrupted by someone from our family missing on her special day. Two years ago she and Mike were in California for her birthday (American Idol Finale), and last year Megan was gone somewhere (?). This year, Mike and the little boys were in Yellowstone National Park, and Luke went to a camp-out.

But Ellie still had a happy birthday and loved extending the celebration into Sunday when the boys returned home.

I loved Ellie's confidence to wear both birthday glasses and a birthday shirt to school. Had hats been allowed, I've no doubt she would have worn that too.

We're definitely related.

                                   

We all got a little burned out from Ellie's favorite birthday present. A karaoke machine that connects to an ipad and gives you pretty much any song you could possibly want. I couldn't help but send a video of Ellie and her friend singing away to my childhood friend, Karen. What we would have given to have had this at that age. (We used the old school blank tapes to record ourselves singing.)

Twelve years old is a milestone in the LDS church. It is time to leave Primary and join the Young Women's program.

Wow!

Ellie is TWELVE. 

God's Hand. Ellie's Heart.

I’ve hesitated whether to write anything publicly about experiences around here of late. We’ve written plenty in private emails, text exchanges and journal entries, and thought that would be the extent of it. As I laid my head on my pillow last night, it took a surprising effort to fall asleep despite feeling utterly exhausted from a long day. The events of the last month kept playing themselves out in my mind, and after falling to my knees in humble prayer of thanksgiving and gratitude, sleep did come. With it, came the thought that I should be more open about sharing our experiences with others. It is part of our faith, our belief and our testimony--that God is not only in the details of our lives, but He is a God of miracles, and they do still exist in our world today. We have experienced them. Therefore, we will share an abridged version of our experience, in our small way of testifying of God's goodness, mercy and love.

I wrote about Ellie's mystery finger injury a few weeks back. We never did find out a reason for it being broken in two places, but that enigmatic finger turned out to be the start of a series of miracles in Ellie's life. 

I'm going to write the series of events briefly. We know what we view as miracles, I don't need to identify them specifically.

At Ellie's appointment for her finger, the receptionist told me Ellie was due for a well-check up and that I should schedule one. I had planned for her to get one around her upcoming 12th birthday in May to coincide with her getting the required junior high shots. But instead, for whatever reason, I made an appointment for the next week.

A week later at that visit, Ellie's pediatrician spent extra time listening to Ellie's heart. Thinking she heard something abnormal, she had 2 other doctors come in and listen. I stood there as both of the other doctors said everything sounded within the normal range. Our doctor listened again and had the others listen to HER stethoscope, but they still thought everything sounded normal.  Regardless of her co-workers opinions, our pediatrician told me she felt as though Ellie needed to be referred to a pediatric cardiologist at Primary Children's Medical Center.

I was able to get an appointment AT PRIMARY CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER FOUR days later.

The pediatric cardiologist found everything normal that she could HEAR, but routinely did an EKG in which they found a problem within the "electrical system of the heart." The pediatric cardiologist herself, recognized the "powers that be" causing our pediatrician to refer us for something that is impossible to hear. Due to the results of the EKG, she referred us to an electrophysiologist. Knowing Ellie was in the middle of cheer competition season and typically very active (cast was due off the next week and we were planning to go to Portland for a competition), and knowing high exertion could be risky, the cardiologist went up to the front desk and made an appointment with us for the soonest we could be seen. We were to return one week later.

A few days after Ellie's initial cardiologist appointment, I returned to our pediatrician for an unrelated issue with another child. I gave her a brief update on Ellie. After her initial shock that Ellie had already been seen by the cardiologist, she looked me in the eyes and said, "Someone wanted me to hear something that day."

When checking in the next week with the electrophysiologist, I overheard the receptionists talking surprisingly about our appointment. We came to find out a few minutes later, that the doctor actually wasn't "in clinic" that day, but had set up our appointment amidst a conference call and interviews upstairs.

In layman terms, the doctor informed us that Ellie had an abnormality within the functioning of her heart. Unbeknownst to us, she was born with the abnormality, but she never had any symptoms....yet. Due to the lack of symptoms, if she were to continue in physically exerting gymnastics/cheer, it is quite likely we would have never known anything was wrong with her heart until it was quite possibly too late and she could go into cardiac arrest. That could have been 2 weeks or 5 years from now.

Ellie was told she needed to have a procedure done on her heart, and that until it was done, she would be unable to participate in any physically exerting activities (way more devastating to her than the words "at risk of sudden death" that the doctor kept throwing around the conversation). Abruptly stepping down from her competition cheer team smack dab in the middle of competitions was not an easy task for a constant cartwheel flipping and back-hand springing 11 year old girl to do.

Yesterday, March 14th, Ellie underwent a 4 hour procedure on her heart. It was a long 4 hours, but despite me feeling fidgety, Mike and I never felt anxious or worried while waiting for news of the procedure progress. As text after text came through my phone throughout the day, I felt the love, concern, faith and prayers of so many people close to us. 

The procedure went very well. The doctor said it was only a matter of time until the symptoms of her condition would have appeared. It is now 98% likely it is completely fixed, though they'll know with certainty in 2 months

Here we are a day later. Ellie is doing great! She is sore at the sites the three catheters entered into her body, but after a lazy, restful day today, she will be almost completely back to real life tomorrow. 

Today, I gifted Ellie three bracelets I purchased at the hospital gift shop yesterday. I told her, I picked out each one for a specific reason and I want them to always be a tangible reminder of three things. 1. The heart is self-explanatory-but to always remember the story associated with that heart of hers beating inside her body. 2. The "love you" one-is to remember all the people that have given her gifts, sent texts, served us, etc. I hope she always remembers how many people love and care for her. 3. The angel bracelet is to remind her that Heavenly Father uses people here on earth to accomplish His works. There is no end to the angels both seen and unseen that play a part in our lives. (We think our pediatrician is one of them.)

  

We have no explanation for why some youth meet a sudden death on a gym floor or a sports field, and why Ellie was likely spared that ending. We acknowledge the Lord's hand in Ellie's life. We feel humbled and very blessed that we have been the benefactors of true, modern-day miracles.

We believe God lives. We believe He loves us, and we believe that He is involved in the details of our lives. 

A Back-to-School Story

With all of the recent back-to-school posts on social media recently, I was reminded of this experience last year that I never recorded. It motivated me to write the experience down and make sure it isn't forgotten.

In our family, it is quite traditional for my husband Mike to give "priesthood blessings" the night before a new school year.

Last year, for whatever reason, instead of assuming each child wanted a blessing, Mike asked the children to tell him if they wanted one, and he would happily oblige. Four out of five of the children asked for one. One child, my oldest son, Luke did not. {Here I want to  to say, that though I do put faith into Priesthood blessings, I have always been a firm believer that the sincere prayers of mothers are heard in the same light.} However, with Luke starting a brand new school-junior high no less-I was somewhat disappointed at Luke's lack of desire for any heavenly help.

Sending my first-born to junior high 4 years ago was very difficult for me. Likely due in part to my own difficult experiences with junior high after moving to one from another country! Sending my second child to one last year felt just as hard as it had been with my first. Actually though, it felt worse. Typically confident and fearless Luke acted more nervous than Megan ever had. I think exasperated by the fact that at the 7th grade orientation day just a few days previously, Luke could not figure out how to open his locker.

We practiced and we practiced and we practiced. I was determined to not leave the orientation until Luke had it mastered, but it was clear that either a faulty locker, or Luke's inability to master the lock was causing frustration and embarrassment. Instead, I suggested we take a deep breath,  leave the school and maintain high hopes that on the following Monday morning it would work for him.

Back to the Sunday night before school.

My mother heart could tell Luke was heading to bed nervous, yet neither my husband or I felt it appropriate to force any issue of a priesthood blessing thinking it may calm him. One of the last things Luke said to me before he fell asleep that night was, "Maybe I'll just take WD40 to school with me. That will help with the locker."

The next morning, I'm not sure who was more nervous for junior high. Luke or me! One of the first things out of Luke's mouth upon waking up and facing the daunting reality of his first day of junior high was, "I've figured it out. I know what I'll do, I am taking a screwdriver to school with me. That WILL open the locker."

My tough, can-do-nearly-anything-12-year-old son was nervous for junior high. He wouldn't admit it. He didn't admit it. But I knew. My mother heart knew he was nervous, and I knew the deepest root of his nervousness was that darn locker. Luke built a scooter when he was 5, he could change a flat tire on his bike at age 6, he built a make-shift shed when he was 10 and has likely outdone his peers on building or creating numerous projects.

But my then 12 year old, couldn't independently open his locker at 7th grade orientation.

Luke allowed me to walk him to the bus-stop his first morning of junior high. We didn't say much to each other besides me defending my decision that he couldn't take WD40 or a screwdriver to school. One of the last things I said to him, as a sort of consolation for none of his desired tools was, "Luke-I'll be praying for you."

And I did.
I prayed all day.
If I wasn't on my knees praying, I was praying in my heart. If I wasn't praying in my heart, I was praying aloud while going about my chores. My prayers centered around one thing.
Luke and his ability to open his locker.

Luke returned home later that day and of course one of my first questions to him was, "How did the locker go?" He looked at me, as though he didn't have any recollection of it ever being an issue and simply said, "It opened every single time."

With tears streaming down my face, I placed Luke's face in my hands and looked him in the eyes and quietly asked him a question, I didn't need him to answer.

"Luke. Who needs WD40 or a screwdriver, when you have a mother who prays?"

There are a variety of explanations one can offer for Luke's first day of junior high, but there is only one that matters.

I have no doubt that there are few things more powerful than the sincere prayers of a mother. I am grateful that Luke and I learned firsthand that day, that a mother's prayer can transcend an earthly trouble.

Good Women in a Matter of Days

Wow! What a wonderful few days I have had. I am quite in awe at the quality conversations, moments and time I have spent with some of the best women life has to offer.

Back in November, my dear friend Koni asked me if I would be her assistant for a hospitality committee for the annual BYU Women's Conference. I've never attended the conference before, but after a couple of weeks of really thinking about it, I accepted her offer. Last week, all the trainings and meetings regarding our hospitality roles were put to the test. I've opted to leave my conference experiences to my personal journal instead of here, but suffice it to say, it was an amazing two days.

(We were soooo busy on Thursday. We were responsible for the guests at the Marriott Center, which is a LARGE venue. We spent the whole day on our feet running from here to there, and this was the only shot we got of us looking official in our "uniform." Too bad Koni's eyes are closed.)

I loved spending time with two dear friends, Koni and Allyson. Our paths met through Power of Moms, but it was fun to work with them in an entirely different women's venue.

(I think this is a picture of a picture--thus the blurriness.)

I LOVED running into this friend of mine from high school. Sharie was my best friend during much of my 10th grade year. I have fond memories of countless hours spent at her house. Sadly, as high school girls sometimes do, our friendship sort of fizzled at the beginning of 11th grade. I'm not sure I've seen her in person since high school, but when I looked over and saw her and her sister at a nearby photo booth, I couldn't contain my excitement. Loved seeing her!!

(Sharie and Tiffany)

This is a dear friend of Koni's. She is originally from Spain, and now lives in Washington. She came to Utah to help with the conference, and slept at Koni's house the same night as I did. Koni fell asleep early, and Mayte and I were left to visit with each other. I'm so grateful for the few hours of conversation with this lady. Wow! Truly, a woman of faith. We woke up on Friday morning, and each went into a different bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. When we met for breakfast, we were dressed as twins!

Friday night was the Power of Moms board meeting in Park City. I love the opportunity I have to work with so many top notch ladies. I will be forever grateful for my association with Power of Moms and the friendships it has given me.

(This is by no means all of the board--just the ones in attendance on Friday night.)

Not sure I could even begin to describe my feelings for these four ladies. I'll just say I love them. Truly, and deeply I love them. There are some lives whose paths are just meant to cross. These are some of them for me.

I have no idea why my face is tilted the way it is, and with a fake-looking smile. Rest assured, everyone laughed at me (with me?) when Rachelle showed it to us on her camera. We got NOWHERE near enough sleep on Friday night, but our time together laughing until our bellies hurt was well worth the hangover the next day.

(Koni, Rachelle, Allyson, Alisha, Tiffany)

(Shout out to my friend, Cheryl who took the above photo. She's one of my favorite women too, I just didn't get a photo with her THIS time.)

Proof we didn't get enough sleep on Friday night. Why yes, these naps just may happened to have occurred while speakers were speaking on Saturday.

Completely separate from my time at Women's Conference or at the Power of Moms retreat, was the lunch I had with this friend on Monday. In full honesty here, for a few specific reasons, I have never been a big fan of the visiting teaching program in the LDS church. But I think my opinion of it is slowly changing. If it wasn't for that program, my life would never have intersected with this dear friend.

My friendship with Breeanne began just shy of a year ago. Our lives are so very different, yet so strikingly similar. When I think of the time I have spent with Breeanne, our conversations and our text exchanges, I think of two women navigating through life, and the importance of women supporting and loving each other. Breeanne no longer lives in my neighborhood, but when we met up for lunch on Monday, I was reminded what a blessing she is in my life.

(Breeanne and Tiffany)

As much as I would love to do a great blog post about the influential women and friends in my life, I likely never will. But believe me, my personal journal and my gratitude journal are filled often with  mention of women that I feel blessed to know and love. I'm really not much of a chit-chatter. I'm not as friendly as I should be with those I don't know well, but I'm trying to do better at that. The older I get, and the more women I meet, I realize how true it is that everyone of us has our own story. Our own paths, our own lives, our own challenges and joys. And what a true blessing it is when those things are shared with another.

“We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another, and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.

~Lucy Mack Smith

Joshua's Special Day

I've relaxed a lot over the years, and the day of Joshua's baptism was proof. Because amid all the preparations for a baptism service, (us singing a musical number, a child giving a talk, change of underwear and towels, etc. etc.) , plus 40+ people converging at my house for dessert a few hours later, when I pulled out Joshua's white shirt from his closet and realized it was FILTHY,  I... actually laughed out loud. (I may actually have said "damn-it" first, but I did laugh out loud. I promise.)

My toilets were clean for guests to use in a few hours, my sliding glass door wiped free of finger prints, and the kitchen floor swept of debris. But Joshua's shirt, that he hasn't even worn for two weeks (didn't go to church last week due to General Conference), was neglectfully left in his closet with nary a thought about it until 20 minutes before he was due at the church.

Luke was dressed in a brand new suit at his baptism, and of course the girls in perfectly new and clean white dresses at theirs. But not the poor 4th child. He wore a white shirt a size too small.

But I was more relaxed, calm and pleasant than at any of the others, and that's what really matters.

Joshua's baptism service was simple and beautiful.

As Latter-day Saints (Mormons), we believe that baptism is done at eight years of age because it is the age of accountability; the age of discerning between right and wrong. Baptism at age 8, isn't so much the symbolic "washing away of sins" (children under 8 don't "sin") as it is making a promise to follow Jesus, and the first step to returning to live with God and Jesus again.

Four of my children have now been baptized, and for some naive reason, I think my children are going to be so overcome with the baptism ordinance and commitment they are making, that they will be committed to never again disobey, or do wrong. You'd think I of all people would remember children are NOT PERFECT, but instead I seemed shocked somehow when just hours after Joshua's baptism, Drew came into the house to tattle, "Joshua just called me an idiot." (An absolute no-no in our house!)

Four kids, four burst bubbles: baptism doesn't equal perfection.

I looked at Drew and smiled and suggested, "Why don't you go outside to Joshua and say, 'Congratulations. You've just made your first mistake.'" To which Mike piped up, "Perhaps you could offer to help him repent?"

Maybe you had to be there.
But it was funny.

Saturday was a good day. As our home and yard were filled with family and friends that love Joshua and our family, I couldn't help but smile. These days are fleeting, and when I came across these little children sitting out on the step eating ice cream, I couldn't help but wish time would freeze for just a few moments. Instead it keeps marching forward and before I know it, these photos of young children will be only a memory.

They are only young once.

(Damon, Elizabeth, Miles, Drew, Jonah, Joshua)

This photo was taken the next day. 

(Drew, Cousin Kate, Cousin Annie, and Joshua)

Life is good.

Crocodiles in Africa

Beginning a few months ago, Drew has had a fascination with Africa. For a good two weeks, he asked questions incessantly about Africa. "Why don't we ever go to Africa?" "Can we go to Africa this summer?" "Is it scary in Africa?" "Do they have cities in Africa?" "What?! People live in Africa?"

I'm quite certain Drew's love of Africa comes from his deep love for monkeys.

Drew's obsession with Africa has lifted over the last few weeks. Well until last Sunday that is. Since then it's been rekindled, but with a depressing twist to it.

Crocodiles eating animals and people.

Megan was in charge of our weekly Family Home Evening this last week. She pulled out an old (LDS) church video, titled, "Spiritual Crocodiles." Mike remembered seeing it during his youth. I, on the other hand had never seen it before. (Or perhaps I would have questioned the appropriateness of it for a child that loves Africa!?)

With genuine apology for the spoiler alert, the video shows an antelope being eaten by a crocodile, and then without showing it, the viewer realizes a man is also eaten by a crocodile.

The analogy is very good. I loved it...

For my older children.

But for Drew?

He didn't get the lessons of "temptation" or "avoiding bad things." Drew didn't comprehend mud-waters and traps being likened to sin and wrong-doing. All he could think about was crocodiles in AFRICA eating animals and people. In the short six and a half minute segment we watched of the video, Drew's romanticized fascination with Africa was tainted with crocodiles not only living in its waters, but eating its animals and people!

When the video ended, Drew sat on the couch trying hard not to cry. We cajoled him along in participating with our "hunt for crocodiles" activity Megan had arranged, and before long it seemed the video was forgotten.

Or so I thought.

The next morning, Drew enjoyed a very full bath alone. As usual I was nearby, but not close enough for Drew's liking. He exclaimed aloud to me, "Mom! You might want to come watch me be a crocodile." So I moved closer and observed a crocodile-like-child making his way through the tub water. Quickly, Drew arose from the water, and with a serious and sullen face voiced, "I am so glad I was not that animal that got eaten by a crocodile."

And with his announcement, Drew was finished being a pseudo crocodile in the water. He immediately wanted to get out of the tub. I was irritated he didn't stay in there very long for how full the water was, but the look on his face, though completely irrational, was enough for me to give in and allow gallons of warm, soapy water to be wasted.

His obsessive questions have ceased from being about Africa, and he is now completely obsessed about crocodiles and the danger they impose. ("And are there alligators in Africa too?")

I've decided to institute a new rule. Family Home Evening lessons and church video viewing now has to be approved by me.

PS-It's unfortunate that a couple of Drew's favorite people at our office happen to be the son and grandson of the "Spiritual Crocodiles" author. Usually my children love recognizing and reminding each other "that's so and so's"dad/grandpa. Except now for Drew. Right now, Drew can't believe someone's grandpa and dad would tell such a horrible story. (Even though Drew is mightily impressed that Jeff's grandpa has been to Africa and seen a crocodile. Never mind the fact that Drew's grandparents have been there too. Ho hum. )

Megan and Drew

Though there is some definite musical talent with each of our children, the first and the last have a love for music that goes far beyond talent alone.

Megan and Drew will often be found in the piano room singing, playing the piano, playing the harp, conducting music, etc.

This little duet they did yesterday afternoon made me teary for so many reasons.

I don't think you have to be LDS and/or recognize the song to appreciate the tenderness of the singing. Megan will be less than thrilled that her singing has to be heard first, but Drew's part and then the duet part is too tender not to share.

And I know I'm biased, but seriously, take the almost two minutes of your day to enjoy it.

PS-And who can't love almost 13 year old Luke's enthusiasm for his little brother's performance at the end of the video?!

Sometimes I Do Hard Things

There was a time a few years ago when someone asked me if I would lead/conduct a song at church and I responded, "I would rather give a talk naked than do that!" I was then given the assignment of a prayer instead. I've NEVER had much musical confidence, and certainly not in leading music. Part of the problem comes from not being able to figure out what "the beat is", and the other part of the problem is feeling like an idiot waving my hand in the air. And I guess another part is the same question I have as Luke, "Why do you really need someone leading the music?"

Regardless.
Sometimes, I do hard things and over the last couple years I have really made a deliberate effort to (somewhat) learn to conduct music, and did it last year in a very small meeting.

Sometimes I do even harder things...

Like last Sunday, my dear friend Lori was going to be absent from church. Her role each Sunday is to lead the older children (8-11) singing in Primary. (The children's organization in the LDS church.)  A few weeks ago, in a weak moment, I committed to being her substitute.

I'll sum up my past experience and expertise in the area in Mike's simple comment when I told him a month ago what I had committed to do...

His reply? "Oh dear."

So much for that boost of confidence.
So then I told Megan, and her reply was something along the lines of, "You?"

Thanks to her too.

To make a long story short, Sunday was my big debut. Somehow in the days preceding my leading, Mike was asked to play the piano. (Served him right for his "Oh Dear!" comment.) He ended up only playing the opening song, and Megan took over for the rest of them. (He didn't feel confident or able to do the "spontaneous" song choices that my singing time activity required.)

It felt a little bit like a Sowby Family Circus with me conducting, and both Megan and Mike having taken a turn at the piano, but then turned into even more of a circus when the "Singing Time Dice" that was rolled required "stand on one leg" for the duration of a song. Not only did I have to wave a hand self-consciously in the air, while sweating profusely, I also had to stand on one foot IN HEELS, all while singing right along. As if I wasn't feeling self-conscious enough, I happened to look over to my left and saw the Primary President taking a photo of me!

What????? A permanent record of my circus act for all to see?!

Speaking of that "Singing Time Dice" that I used, there was one option on it for "No Chorister". I told the children ahead of time if they rolled that choice, I would personally deliver them a treat that evening. (Only one child rolled it, but she is my new favorite Primary child now.)

One of the options was, "No Piano". Both Megan and I were mildly concerned for this one in the days previous,as we are both well aware of my inability to sing on-key. When one of the children rolled it, I found myself looking over to Megan for some kind of immediate help and escape, and instead found her trying not to laugh. Fortunately she played a nice intro, and then I looked to a capable adult in the room to start everyone.

What a day.

Then, as if enough Sowbys hadn't participated in Senior Primary, Ellie was assigned to give the closing prayer. As proud as I am/was of doing something so completely out of my comfort zone, I am glad the  Sowby Family Meeting last week's Primary meeting is now just a memory. I'd much rather teach or speak than wave my hand in the air while people sing.

Oh well! I did it! I did something hard. When my friend later emailed me the following photo, she praised me for doing hard things and complimented me for staying right on beat! (At least I was during the balanced-on-one-foot song.)

On beat and on one foot in red heels while conducting a song.

I can do hard things.
Yay me.

(Not sure why my mouth is closed here. I was singing too!)

My Son, The Scouting Over-Achiever

I have admitted before that I am not a fan of the Boy Scouts of America as they are associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have nothing against the BSA as an organization, my issue is simply that by default of being an active member of the LDS church, we as parents/families "sign up" for what I think should be an extra-curricular choice of time/money/commitment, etc.

Mike and I have the mind-set that we will support our children in scouting to the extent they wish to be involved. We hold no esteem to the achieving of specific scouting awards, as we feel strongly there are other avenues for boys (and girls for that matter) to reach the same end goals.

As such, we sent Luke off to scout camp the other week having no idea he would come home a scouting star! That kid of OURS earned the most merit badges in the whole camp (200+/- boys), and was one of two boys at the camp to swim a mile. Luke spent the afternoon he returned home researching requirements for future merit badges and wouldn't stop talking about the timeline towards earning longer term rewards.

As Mike and I have stated before, we will support Luke (and Joshua and Drew that will follow) to the extent to which they want to be involved in it. Which at this point with Luke, is translating into a whole lotta BSA talk. That boy is intense. He wears me out.

 

(As a favor to my dear husband, I'll refrain from my long blog post about how this FULL scout uniform came about. He has heard the story one too many times.)

(Think this picture is quite telling of how Mike spent his 36 hours as a father chaperone at scout camp...)

And that's all I'll say about scouting for today.
Lucky you!

Too Honest to Teach

In the LDS church, our teachers and leaders are everyday people like me! No one gets paid, no one is a specialist, it's just a bunch of regular people doing their best to serve. We rotate around different positions, that we refer to as "callings" based off of "inspiration" and let's be honest, convenience. The last few years have found me in the children's organization, we Mormons call "Primary." It was not my favorite place to be, and I admit that I counted down the unknown number of months I was assigned there, more than I should have.

Back in March, I was finally given a new calling/position/assignment. I was thrilled! It's actually been my "dream calling" for years now....Relief Society instructor. Which is teaching once a month the adult women in our church congregation. Between a couple of different church conferences and my traveling abroad, I finally taught my first lesson last week.

I'm not going to mention the title of the lesson here, because the lesson in itself was a huge struggle for me. It was based from a past General Conference talk and seemed to me to be more of a platform about a certain political issue than a goodwill talk. I took the liberty to take a more broad approach to the talk, and one of the subtopics we discussed was having greater love for those around us.

And in the course of such a Christlike theme and discussion, somehow my big mouth shared that the greeters at Wal-Mart bug me. Like the kind of bug me that I don't greet them, and my children have been known to say, "Mom, they said, "Hi" to you and you ignored them. That's rude."

Oh those proud moments when I really shine as a mother.

Among the group of women in our class, one comment briefly reacted to my admittance, and one hand (from a Wal-Mart employee no less) was waiting in the wings, until I really had to move on as time was out. I PROMISE.

Oh dear.
Me and my big mouth.

On the bright side, I had three people come up to me in the week since and tell me how much they appreciated my honesty, and one of them even admitted to disliking the Wal-Mart greeters too. She claims more probably feel the same way we do, but few would admit it. I'm not sure I agree. There are a lot of nice people out there.

And those nice people are probably the ones that the Relief Society lesson the week after mine, taught by no other than the Relief Society President herself was not worried about internalizing. I feel unequivocally and positively certain that the next week's lesson was for me. And me alone.

It was on charity.
And I quote from the good ole' Bible itself:

Chairty suffereth long, and is kind... Doth not behave itself unseemly..is not easily provoked.

I Corinthians 13:4-5

Bet you can't guess what I've been working on in the days since Sunday?

Suffering longer, being more kind, behaving more seemly and being less easily provoked.

AND,

While I'm at it, I'm going to work on being less honest in my admittance about myself and my flaws, and learn to keep my mouth shut more. Oh! And while I'm working on self-improvements, I'll try harder to respond to people that greet me.

It's hard.  Although I'll have you know I walked into Wal-Mart the other day prepared. I had a smile plastered on my face, my hand already in waving position, only to be greeted by...

NO-ONE.

What? No Wal-Mart greeter?! Since when is there no greeter at Wal-Mart? Especially when I'm embarking on some great self-improvement plan!

I tried.

(P.S. It makes Mike crazy when I don't have a photo attached to a post. But I really don't have one that I think would fit. Of course a photo of a Wal-Mart greeter would be appropriate, but I don't think my newfound niceness is quite ready yet to take a selfie with one. But you never know what I might aspire to next....after all, even just my attempt to be kinder/more charitable may be shocking to some.)

Sarah and Susie

Back in February, when I first began considering adding London to my Paris trip, there were a few friends I sent a message to, to see if seeing them would be a possibility. As much as I love London and England, I knew in my heart the reason I wanted to go was to see people, not places.

Sarah and Susie were among some of the first I emailed. I mainly communicated with Sarah, and couldn't believe at one point that Susie may not be able to join us. You see, Sarah and Susie or Susie and Sarah, just kind of go together. They are two sisters, whom I have known since I was a young child. We attended church together throughout our childhood, and many fond memories of Epsom Ward (our LDS church congregation) include them.

(My 8th birthday and baptism day, October 1982. Sarah and Susie are to the right of the photo. Aren't they darling? They look the exact same still today. And just so happens the girl next to me is my friend Karen who I will be writing about soon too.)

Back to 2014. It just so happens the stars aligned, and Sarah and Susie were the first familiar faces I saw when I arrived via train in London on Monday, May 5th. Within 15 minutes of each other, my train from Paris arrived at the same station their train from up north arrived.

I can not describe the happiness and joy I felt as I hugged each of those girls. I've seen them a handful of times over the years since our youth, but sitting and eating lunch with them at a pub across from King's Cross Station was absolutely delightful.

We sat at our table visiting for almost 3 hours, chatting about everything and anything. It was as though having lunch together was the most normal thing in the world. At one point during the lunch, I excused myself to use the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom washing my hands, I could NOT believe I was really with Sarah and Susie. It was one of those surreal moments I really felt as though I had to pinch myself, it truly felt as though I were dreaming.

Sarah and Susie are some seriously top-notch ladies! Although we keep in touch a fair amount via social-media, being able to sit and talk in person with them is hard to put into words. Those ladies are some deliberate, strong, faithful mothers! I meet a lot of mothers and women in the stuff I am involved in, but these two are truly some of the best!

Who knows exactly when we will see each other again, especially just the three of us alone eating lunch in an English pub talking about everything from motherhood to childhood memories. What a fantastic afternoon! I count eating lunch with some of my dearest friends almost 5000 miles away from my home a definite blessing. The thought that our lunch can't and won't be duplicated anytime soon, causes a small pang in my heart, but these ladies are friends for far more than this life while we're separated by an ocean.

Love, love, love Sarah and Susie.

(Tiffany, Sarah, Susie-May, 2014)

Easter Around Here

Our Easter was pretty simple. It started with an impromptu family devotional on my bed before heading downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny brought.

I love Easter. I love the simplicity of the holiday set around the greatest event of all time! I love our daily focus on the days leading up to Easter that reminds us of some of the most important events of Jesus Christ's life. And guess what? I also love Easter eggs and chocolate!

The Easter Bunny always came to my house as a child, and yet I made it to adulthood with an understanding and belief in the realities of the real reasons behind Easter. (Same with Santa and Christmas...It seems so many parents of my generation inherently think their should be no place for such frivolousness amid religious holidays.)

The Easter Bunny brought the traditional flip-flops, candy and a few insignificant things.

(Not sure what in the world the Easter Bunny was thinking by Ellie's flip-flops being 2 sizes too big!)

Joshua had ALL but one of his candies finished by 1pm church and Drew was caught hiding under Joshua's bed secretly consuming more candy than he should have. Megan flew a new twisty plastic flying wand directly into Joshua's face, and Ellie didn't want to share her new chalk with the boys.

Before church, Mike attempted to get a decent photo of the children. Mike was put in charge, because I ran out of patience about the time Joshua's church pants developed permanent grass stains on them. I'm sad to say that was before the photo shoot even began.

(Believe it or not, this is the most decent one!)

We finished up the Easter holiday with cousins and family over for dinner, games, horse-rides, and fun. All in all, a pretty decent day.

Not The Best Idea I've Ever Had

I thought I'd put a little more effort than usual into encouraging my children to listen to the talks during LDS Church General Conference. (One of the 2 weekends of the year we Mormons sit around and "watch church" instead of going to church.)

I got a "Candy Bowl" idea from my friend Shannon. The idea being that when the children heard words or phrases from talks, they could choose a piece of candy from a corresponding bowl. My friend used simple words (pray, family, Jesus, temple, etc.), but I opted to do fewer choices and chose things that weren't likely to come up every few seconds. (My children eat way too much sugar as it is. I'm not exactly sure why I even opted to do this "good idea" in the first place.)

Instead of the desired result I was hoping for, all it seemed to do was encourage dishonesty, exaggeration and over-eating...

It seemed every few seconds, Drew would come up to me and whisper in my ear, "I heard them say 'families are forever' or "They just said 'the Atonement of Jesus Christ.'" Apparently Drew wasn't paying close attention enough to know that the speaker had just barely stood up at the pulpit and hadn't even greeted the audience, let alone announced his topic or said the highly favored words, "Families are forever." The poor kid did eventually hear one "Atonement of Jesus Christ" phrase all by himself and you'd have thought he won the jackpot, rather than just been granted permission to eat one Mini-Egg.

Ellie on the other hand was saying such things as, "They just said the word 'man', a man is part of a family!"

Who knows if Mike was listening or not. According to his eating of Cinnamon Bears (his favorite) you would think "any story of Jesus' life" was being talked about non-stop. Mike eventually conceded that the bowls weren't a good idea either... "I don't like that you have these sitting out. I can't stop eating them."

The bowls of candy, well, what is left of them, have now been hidden. It remains to be seen whether or not the bowls will be a part of our General Conference viewing tomorrow.

A Mini MTC

One of these days, I'm going to get around to writing an article about my mother-in-law. Until then, suffice it to say that I wouldn't have always said the following: My mother-in-law (and for the most part my father-in-law) are pretty dang awesome.

For a lot of reasons.
But today I'll focus on just one.

As Mike said recently, "The best way for them to show their grandchildren their love of the gospel (our Mormon beliefs) is to show them by example." My in-laws love missionary work. They have served 3 missions thus far, and are currently serving in a branch presidency at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, UT.

Last month they held a "Mini-MTC" for their Utah grandchildren. (Although the 3 in Kentucky Face-timed to participate in some of it.)

I met a friend for dessert and then shopped and Mike worked on a bid nearby, while the children engaged in all sorts of activities that taught some pretty valuable life-skills. (And will certainly come in handy as missionaries too.)

They wrote letters to the missionary cousin, and in the process were taught how to correctly address an envelope. They sorted laundry and ironed shirts. They were each paired up (older cousin with a younger cousin) and memorized scriptures, researched a country/city and made a poster collage, learned to lead music and who knows what else?

I returned a little early, and watched from upstairs. I was overwhelmed with the love and dedication, my in-laws have to help teach their grandchildren. It isn't their responsibility to do these things, but how wonderful to have grandparents helping us parent and teach our children life skills. (In a non-controlling and very subtle way.)

The event all ended nicely with the surprise reading of a new mission call...
New York City Public Affairs Mission!

My new found love for traveling (due largely in part to my mother-in-law, see I told you she was awesome) will now take me (and Mike and some children) to NYC sometime in the next 18 months.

I love my in-laws.