We May Not Have It All Together...But Together We Have It All: October 2011

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Seasons of Life

Once again I'm posting about another favorite of mine. (I think my last few posts have been my favorites). This favorite is camping/4-wheeling in the fall. The campgrounds are mostly empty. The air is crisp, which makes the evening fire and morning hot chocolate feel even warmer and more comforting than normal summer camping. There is a smell of wet dirt and decaying leaves that leaves me.......well, I can't really put into words how I feel when I smell that. I know, it sounds odd - but I just love it! The crisp air, the smells, the quietness...all of it - it brings back memories of the many falls of my youth, and it brings an excitement for the falls of the future, and it brings a peace and comfort for the present. I think I know the word I was looking for...content.

Usually this fall camping/4-wheeling has involved my parents. The last two years it didn't because they were on the other side of heaven. I remember the last two years feeling a kind of emptiness as I knew how much they would have loved to be there with us, and see the fall leaves. So last year, we collected leaves to bring to them. This year, they were with us, and I felt complete again. But as I look to next year, doing this again, I realize that they probably won't be with us again - as they are preparing for another mission. But the seasons of life will go on, and with each season, there are the sweet memories of the past, and the anticipation of the future, but mostly - the contentment for the present.

I enjoyed every minute with having my parents with us this year.

And...I enjoyed every minute of having our children with us. Brayden was at scout camp, and I missed having him with us. :( He's in another season of life I suppose.

Jarin

Kamden & Ira

Jarin and Nicky

We even rode through some of this white stuff. I'm not sure if "content" would be the right word for that! It was less than 3 months ago that we were riding through snow because it was such a long spring. And it's here again...so soon!

Emilie

Emilie & Grandpa

Kamden cleaning up the camp. What a good helper *wink*.

We rode through the mountain trails over to Bear Lake where we got hamburgers and milk shakes - then headed back through the mountains. Fun Times!! I'm praying that the good weather holds out for two more weeks so we can get one more camping/riding in this season. (Is is wrong to pray for such silly things?...possibly. But I can't help it!)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

September

September is my very favorite month of the year.

I love that the leaves start to change color. I love the crispness in the air.

It is one of my favorite months to 4-wheel (because the leaves changing gives the back country a certain magic).

Our family at Logan Peak - Jarin is in there, if you look close enough you can see him hiding behind me. He wasn't thrilled about having his picture taken.

September also means our wedding anniversary. This year marked 18 grand and adventurous years. 18 years??? I married Ira when I was 20. So another 2 years, and I've been with him as long as I was with my parents. Wowsers...we're getting old! Anyways, to celebrate, Ira and I got away for a couple days in SLC. We went to the BYU game that was way fun to watch. And Saturday we did a whole lot of nothing. Just walked around different shopping places, didn't buy much, but held hands and talked. My kind of date.

Our good friends, Chuck and Irene watched our kids for us. Irene was a patient of Ira's when we lived in Sandy, and we became instant friends, and have stayed that way since we met them 10 years ago. We hadn't seen them in too long - but our kids came to love them (again) in the short time they spent with them. Pretty neat people.

Ira looks about 12 years old in our engagement picture. Good thing he became a dad and a bishop to give him lots of gray hair so he looks somewhat his age now! ha ha. Unfortunantly it's had the same affect on me :(

September also means lots and lots of canning produce. It is really a pain in the keester to can, and every year I wonder why I do it. But every year, when it's all done, and my shelves are full of yummy fruits and vegies, some of which came from our garden or the gardens of family and friends - I have a sense of satisfaction that I can't get when I just go buy the stuff. And the store bought just doesn't compare to the yumminess of homemade.

I do love September the best. BUT, I really, really like October too. So another great month coming right up - can't wait to see what adventures it holds for us. So far so good...

Kute Komments!

Jarin: "I've been waiting all day for Kamden to grow up...when will he grow up like me?"
4-2010

We were driving by a farm which was being fertilized. Jarin sniffs a big sniff and says, "Mmmm...that smells like my strawberry nose" (the strawberry nose was a yummy smelling gas mask from the dentist)!
Jarin: "Is is "fat man or bat man"?
Jarin "My heart is dirty and needs to be cleaned." Then I wash his face, and he says, "My heart is clean!" (He watched me put lipstick on once, and thought my top lips looked like hearts. Now he thinks that lips are hearts). Which makes me wonder what he thinks when he says, "The Holy Ghost makes our heart feel good."
Jarin asked with a great big smile that melts my heart, "Mom, are you being grumpy with me?" (yes, I was - but that started us both laughing instead!)
We were having a family home evening helping Emilie to prepare for baptism. We talked to her about making good choices and right vs. wrong. We were trying to prompt her to give an answer when Ira asked her, "What's opposite of right, (he asked it in the context of right choices), and she answered, "Left." (you should have seen the look Ira and I gave each other - it spoke volumes!)
Same family home evening... we were talking about the Holy Ghost. Jarin (being very tired and very sensitive at the moment anyways), started going balistic on us. Not only did he say he was scared of the Holy Ghost. And not only was he crying because he was scared, but he was SOBBING, and it continued for about an hour (which is when he fell asleep still crying)!! Then first thing out of his mouth when he woke up was that he was scared of the Holy Ghost! We think we are doing the right thing by teaching our children, but really - we have taumatized Jarin! I can only imagine what was going on in his little imagination. Did I mention that FHE finished earlier than planned?
Ira was feeling the baby move at a particularly active time. He said, "Is he moving furniture around in there?" (some days it sure feels like it!)
There was a baby being blessed in church Sunday, and Jarin saw the priesthood men in a circle, and loudly proclaims "Look mom, their playing ring around the rosies!"
Emilie asked me, "Since our eyes are blue, how come everything doesn't look blue to us?" I explained how we see through the black circle in our eyes. She said, "Then the blue is just for decoration?"
Jarin walks around the house constantly saying, and singing "I am a Child of God, and He has sent me here." And when anyones voices get too loud, he sings, "Love at home... Love at home..." I'm not sure he even knows the meaning of what he's singing, but it stops the contention and usually starts a few giggles.
Ira was talking about leap year, and Emilie asked, "What is leap year? Is it when we leap to school?"
Ira asked Emilie if you put plastic wrap or foil over a pan going in the oven. She said tinfoil. Ira said "Good thinking Emilie." She responded by saying, "No, I didn't think...my teacher told me." (thank goodness for teachers, so we don't have to think!)
Jarin asked me if he could have something, and I had told him no. He responded by asking again, then answering his own question as if he were me, "Of course you can sweetheart." (it's no wonder he gets whatever he wants - how cute is that?)
In church today, a half a second before the sacrament prayer was being said, (so it was very quiet in the room), Jarin observed that his dad was sitting on the stand, and calls out in his loudest voice, "That's my daddy up there!"
Brayden said, "I've learned to never mess with a pregnant person."
Today I told Jarin he was a sweetHEART, and he said, "No, I have a beautiful HEART, and mommy is beautiful too." (a comment like that, he can have whatever he wants!)
This one was said a year or so ago, but it was one of the best we've had ever - so it bears repeating! Emilie said to mom, "Someday I am going to marry my prince, just like you married your prince."
Jarin said, "We don't say 'monkey butt' do we?"
Jarin see's a bumble bee and says, "It's a bum-bum bee".
Emilie singing, "Loose, footloose, kick off my church shoes."

Hmmmmm...

I copied this from my sisters blog, but it's just too perfectly perfect to not be reminded of as often as possible!

Hmmmm....
There once was a woman who woke up one morning, looked in the mirror, and noticed she had only three hairs on her head.'Well,' she said, 'I think I'll braid my hair today!'So she did, and she had a wonderful day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw that she had only two hairs on her head.'H-M-M,' she said, 'I think I'll part my hair down the middle today!'So she did and she had a grand day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that she had only one hair on her head.'Well,' she said, 'today I'm going to wear my hair in a pony tail.'So she did and she had a fun, fun day.The next day she woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed that there wasn't a single hair on her head.'YEA!' she exclaimed, 'I don't have to fix my hair today!'Attitude is everything. Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

INSPIRATION

"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation." Joseph Smith

"The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone. The things you do for others remain as your legacy."

"Fix it up...wear it out... make due...or do without!" - Gordon B Hinckley

"In righteousness there is great simplicity" - William R. Bradford

"The most important thing parents can do for their children is to teach them to feel The Spirit and recognize when it is no longer with them."

Elder M. Russell Ballard: "There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children...What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."

The adversary would keep us busily engaged in a multitude of trivial things in an effort to keep us distracted from the few vital things that make all the difference."-Ardeth G. Kapp