Why????

Why were we born with wisdom teeth? Why, oh why??? I currently have 2 and a HALF wisdom teeth less than I had a couple days ago. Yes...I did say HALF. Long story short...I have to go back and have one and a half of the remaining wisdom teeth taken out at a later date. You mean I have to do this again??????? Who in their right mind would go through this TWICE?? I can't think of anyone - including myself, I KNOW I'm not in my right mind! I also had a major reaction to the pain med they gave me, and at that moment, I thought my life was coming to an end. Oh, fun stuff - can't wait to go back!

Back to a post I posted a while back - am I bragging or complaining??? I'd say...I'm definently COMPLAINING! Can't think of a thing that I'd be bragging about in this case. :) But you know the song..."The sun will come out...tomorrow" (or will it? It's been raining an awful lot the last few weeks!)

OK, enough of my pouting - I just needed to vent. I feel much better now...not really, but I'm sure I will tomorrow, right?

Not to Brag, but...

I have some really talented children. Being the end of the school year, we parents have the opportunity to attend recitals, games and performances that our children have been working so hard on. It is really fun to see all their hard work pay off, and to see their faces shine as they take the spotlight, and see their self-confidence rise a notch when they have done their best. It has been so much fun to watch Brayden especially, just because he's our oldest, try different things, and weed some of them out, and progress with others. I love watching them mold into that person that Heavenly Father intended for them to be. I am so proud of all of them for their accomplishments. Braydens clogging group was incredible to watch this year. They have really crossed that line of being kids learning to clog, to young men who really know what their doing, and can move their feet! Brayden has insisted that this was his last year, and knowing that, I cried when I watched him. He has loved it, and now wants to move on - but I will miss watching this group of boys. They clogged to Pirates of the Caribbean, Sharp Dressed Man, and Signed...Sealed...Delivered.

Braydens true love seems to be anything to do with music. He wants to replace clogging with guitar lessons. He took orchestra at school (playing the cello). Next year he's signed up for band instead, to learn something new. He loves piano. When he's bored and frustrated, he turns to the piano and just starts playing away.

I don't know if the following picture is considered a talent, but it was an accomplishment for Brayden. His Youth group at church did a "ropes course" at Utah State. I'm not sure everything it entales, since I wasn't there. But I think it has to do with overcoming fears and having faith. He loved the activity.

Emilie was in the Smithfield Community Childrens play, where they put on the show "Pirates of Penzance". She was a little pirate, and sang and danced. Emilie seems to love the stage, and having the spotlight on her. The play is amazing. Everything is done is two weeks time, all by children, including the orchestra. Good job Emi Girl. The piano recital this year was a pajama party. It was fun for the kids to get to have it be a relaxed atmosphere, with popcorn and pizza. Emilie was so proud of herself to have memorized her piece - and we were proud of her too!
DANCE! Emilie took dance this year for the first time. It was a ballet, tap, jazz year. Again, she loved performing on stage. Her Grandpa and Grandma brought her a flower for her performance, which made her feel like a true princess. Emi says she would rather do gymnastics than dance next year, which fits her personality to a "T". Emi likes soccer, and she has gotten a little aggressive on the field. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? She even scored a goal this year. Way to go Em!

Where do we begin with Jarin? He isn't in any lessons of any sort, or in school yet. But he has fabulous talents at making us all laugh, and being a wonderful brother. He is our little impersonator. He can quote movies, and even get the accents down. The top picture, he is impersonating (wanting to be just like) his Uncle Derrick, who sometimes wears his hat backwards. He won't let us turn it around either, cuz he wants to be just like Uncle Derrick!

The bottom picture - he's being a sweet big brother to Kamden.

Kamden's talents include learning something new about every day. He's figured out how to play with most of his toys, and he's a great helper to me, especially when I'm doing dishes! He walks along furniture, and will even stand by himself. He hasn't taken any steps yet, but I'm afraid that's not too far off :( . I'm not in any hurry for him to be growing up, but I guess I don't have a say in the matter! Kam is such an easy-going baby. He seldom lets anything upset him too much, and is almost always content just hangin' out.

Boo Hoo...

You know how at every holiday, every blog you read is titled after that holiday, and the events that surrounded that holiday for their family? For example, I think about every blog I read last week was titled, "Memorial Day" (mine included). My title of this blog doesn't surround any holiday, BUT I'll bet I'm only one of a bunch of Smithfield blogs who will have similar postings. So let the crying holiday begin. This holiday started Tuesday night with thunder storm warnings, and hail warnings. Pretty soon, the dark clouds rolled toward our Cache Valley, the wind started howling, and sure enough, the sound of thunder rumbling. Then came the lightning, rain, and the huge hail stones. It was actually quite the exciting storm, until...my friend called to see if our basement had flooded like so many others in our neighborhood had. Sure enough, we have wet walls and carpet. Hence the title of my blog BOO HOO! So since it was very late when the problem was discovered, I figured I'd go to bed - nothing I can do about it that late. Of course the next day, Ira had to go to work, so I was on my own to pull up carpet and padding. I wish I could say it was a fun day, but "eventful" would be a better choice of words. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself, until I heard that some homes had 8 feet of water in their basements. And a guy in our Stake, had his whole window well filled with water, and he walked up to it, and the glass broke under the pressure and shattered on him and he got hurt pretty bad - on top of having a flooded basement! I guess replacing carpet in one room isn't so bad after all!

I forgot to mention that I woke up to a little boy who peed the bed (had to wash sheets and blankets), and another little boy who had a blow-out up to his ears (had to wash clothes, and give baths)! Oh ya, and I had bought a case of strawberries to make jam, and had put it off to do until Wednesday - and the berries couldn't wait another day - so I had to make jam too. Then I looked at my flowers and vegetable garden. Anything that wasn't under cover is shredded to pieces from the hail. I was fortunate enough to still have most of mine covered under the "walls of water", but I'm so sad for my neighbors who lost those too.

What can I say? Except that so far, today is a GREAT day! I guess it takes a bad day to appreciate a good one.

Where in the World????

My parents received their much anticipated mission call this Saturday, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And imagine, if you will, what it was like for them to have received that envelope in the mailbox at approximately 10:00 A.M., and leave it sitting there for 8 HOURS, just staring at them, and begging them to open it. Why would they do such a silly thing?...because their very lives depended on it! Their eight children, and many of their grandchildren threatened them that they better not open it until we could all be present to witness it (4 of them were on speaker phone, 4 of us were standing with cameras and video cameras running). It was much better than Christmas morning!
Before the envelope was opened, we all guessed where in the world we thought they would be serving the Lord for 18 months. Guess who hit the nail on the head??? That would be yours truley! I said that they would be serving in the...(wait, I've skipped some parts of the story - I can't tell you yet where their going).
So back to the events. After everyone was ready, and the phones were all connected, they tore open the envelope (not carefully like they do Christmas paper). While my mom pulled out the papers, my dad sat with his hands over his face - not believing the step they are about to take. When they pulled out the paper and started to read, they both got looks of shock as they read the words from our Prophet of God, for them to serve in the Marshall Islands. I think most of us, in unison, said: "Where?" "Where is that?" (of course, I knew...because as I mentioned before...I had guessed it.) They will be living in and serving the people of the South Pacific Islands - where it's hot and humid. Where (according to the internet), there is LITTLE internet access, FEW phones, and even FEWER cell phones. For a family who call our parents at least once a week (some of us about once a day), this will be a HUGE adjustment. But I guess we've had them our whole lives, and we need to share them with the people of the Marshall Islands. Whom, I am sure, will love them as much as we do.
My parents, especially my dad, has waited for this day their whole adult lives. However, change is never easy when it comes right down to it. I saw lots of emotions in their expressions yesterday - a little bit of excitement, a lot of nervousness, TONS of questions, and even a little sadness for what they will be leaving behind. I will miss them so much, but I am SO EXCITED for them to get to have this new adventure together. They will be doing more service for their family back home, by serving the Lord, then they could ever do for us by sticking around home. I would love for them to stay home with us, BUT...the Lord will pour out His blessings to them, the people they serve, and to their family while they are away. I know this is true!
My only fear is that they will love it there, and the people there SO MUCH that they WON'T come home when their 18 months is done!

Their expression as they read the words: Marshall Islands They each have two phones up to their ears, talking to my siblings who couldn't be there.
It's just that 18 months never seemed so long! Ira and I always said that wherever they go, it better be a cool place to visit. So somehow, we are still determined to visit - it just could be a little trickier than if they went somewhere state-side. BUT Marshall Islands...here we come (maybe)! Any volunteers for babysitters???? haha

Bitter Sweet

My Uncle Dennis Moser passed away this last week from Thyroid cancer. It was a bitter-sweet thing to say goodbye. Cancer is such an ugly disease, and causes so much pain. In that sense, death is a welcome friend. To watch his wife, and kids, grandkids, and his brothers (my dad), experience so much sadness is where the bitter comes in. My dad had such a wonderful relationship with his brother, and I'm sure they parted with no regrets. Their last time together had words of affection expressed. My dad is becoming a professional funeral speaker. I think that is a wonderful tribute to him of how much he loves and is loved by all of us. Dennis left this life, surrounded by his family, knowing that he was loved, and knowing he had fought a good fight, and could finally rest in the presence of his Father in Heaven. What more could anyone ask for than to have that knowledge?!

If you've never had the experience of being present for a military funeral - it is really a wonderful thing. It brings a lot of feelings of pride for our country, and for those who have and currently are serving to protect our freedoms.

Side note: This is the craziest thing ever, so I'll share it with you. Uncle Dennis' Thyroid cancer was caught about a year ago, and it had progressed too far at that point. However, his kids (four of them), one by one decided to get tested as well. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM HAS THE SAME CANCER! And his wife also has it. They have been through surgeries and treatments, hopefully with full positive results since theirs was caught earlier. But wait...theres more. Now two of his grandchildren have also been diagnosed with it. How crazy and sad is that? What in the world would cause an entire family to have the same cancer? The mystery continues...

Hiking: Part IIII (and the final chapter) of our Memorial Day Weekend

Not always is the journey as enjoyable as the destination. But in this case, it was equally as fabulous. I had Brayden and Emilie as my "dates", and I had a great time talking with them as we trudged up the mountain side (talking between huffs and puffs that is). I have never been much for hiking, it's just too much work. I'd rather sit on my 4-wheeler and let the machine do the work. However, there are places that you just can't get to unless you use your own two legs, and this was one of them. Who knew that I lived in a hikers paradise? And have NEVER taken advantage of it. I think after today, that may have changed. I was feeling so dang proud of myself, that I could take on such a challenge...until on the way down, we passed many people who were much older or much, much younger than me, and they were making it to the top. So maybe I wasn't AS "cool" as I thought I was, but to me, it was still an accomplishment. So yeah for me and my kidlets. We hiked the Wind Caves trail in Logan Canyon. It's 1.8 miles EACH WAY - I'm sure that's not a big deal, but not bad for a beginner, right?

Ira had so much paper work to catch up on, that he had to miss our little adventure. So I left Jarin and Kamden with him for the few hours. Do you think he got any paperwork done, or should he have just come with us? Hmmm...I wonder.

Camping (sort of): Memorial Day Weekend Part II & III

Part II of Memorial Day weekend was Sunday morning, we went to the cemeteries where some of our loved ones have been laid to rest. In the years past, I have loved going to the cemeteries with my parents, and my Grandma Wright, and they would point out who my relatives were that had passed on before me. I enjoyed taking my children with me this year, and showing them where these relatives were, and answering their questions the best I could. My Grandma had lots of plastic flowers that she would make sure every relative had a flower on their headstone on Memorial Day, and that they hadn't been forgotten. She has since passed away, and one of my aunts (I think) has taken over the tradition. They still all had plastic flowers next to their headstones. I have been tempted to drop this tradition, and do "funner" things with our family, and some years we chose the funner things. However, there is an experience about just how important this tradition is that I want to write about. It involves these four headstones pictured below.

My Grandma always went with her mother to place flowers on the headstones on Memorial Day to the various cemeteries throughout the valley. They would place these flowers in the Franklin, ID cemetery, where there had been four small children/babies buried in the 1800's. Over time, their little stone markers were buried by dirt and grass and forgotten and lost by everyone except my Grandma. She knew they were there, and she continued to place flowers where she had remembered these markings to be. A few years ago, a family wanted to bury a relative there, and she told them that there were these four already buried there. They tried to settle the dispute by looking on the cemetery records. They had no record of these gravesites. She wouldn't let it rest. She knew they were there, she knew their names, and exactly where they were, because she had been placing flowers there since she was a child. Finally, the cemetery worker prodded into the soil to see if he could find anything that gave any indication of people being buried there. Sure enough, his prodder hit a stone that had the name of Goaslind scratched into it. Then he found another, until he located them all - right where she said they would be. After that experience, my Grandma raised money to have proper headstones placed there, so that they wouldn't be forgotten again. I think that is such a neat story to demonstrate just how important that tradition of going to the cemeteries is to me. I love the opportunity to share with my children how much these ancestors mean to me.

My baby nephew, Cameron, who died at 9 months old.

Going back to these places helps bring back so many memories, some of them sad of course - but so many of them are wonderful.

PART III
We really wanted to go camping for the big kick-off to summer. But with schedule conflicts, it just wasn't happening. So we did what we could. We went to a close -by camping area on Sunday evening and ate our tinfoil dinners and roasted marshmallows. We even explored a cave. The best part of our "camping" trip was that we could go home, shower, and sleep in our comfy-cozy beds!

Ira and Kamden


Me and Kamden with his headlamp on - he didn't like it for too long...can't say I blame him!

The cave of wondersOur fire was going a bit better then that at one time. We didn't just smoke our marshmallows (that sounded bad, didn't it? - but you know what I mean)

Stay tuned for part IIII of our Memorial Day weekend. I know, the anticipation is just too much for you to bear, so make sure to come back and see the final activity!

Mirage (Memorial Day Weekend: Part 1)

This weekend we decided to take the kiddos 4-wheeling. Have you looked at the peaks of the mountains?...still snow. So we decided to take them near the Great Salt Lake, by Golden Spike, where we had heard there are fun trails and salt flats that the kids could get more practice on their motorcycles without too much damage if they tip over. So we are riding out on the salt flats trying to find the shoreline. Guess what, there's NOT a shoreline. There is flat, dried up earth where a lake used to be, and we kept thinking we could see the lake, so we would drive...no lake. We would look on the GPS, sure enough, we were heading right to it...we thought we could see it...but no lake. It was one mirage after another. Thank heavens for the GPS, or we wouldn't have found our way back over all that empty lake bottom and mirages. Anyways, as we kept pushing forward, we began to realize that our bikes were starting to sink just a little bit. Our dry lake bottom was becoming wet, without us even realizing it. So Ira commented that we were in "quick sand", (just a phrase he chose to use to describe how the wet sand snuck up on us without us knowing), and that we needed to turn around and get out of it. Next thing we know, we are wondering where Emilie was. She had heard the words "quicksand", and "get out of here", and she was gone! She was going faster on her little bike then I have ever dared drive the 4-wheeler, and she kept going and going. She was a little speck in the middle of the mirages all around. At the time, we didn't know what possessed her to just take off without the rest of us, and we were getting mad at this child who wasn't obeying the rules to stay together. After the little speck of Emi became full-sized, and we could stop her, we gave her a piece of our minds and told her all the horrible things that could have happened to her if we couldn't find her. Then we take a step back and ask her "WHY"? Her answer made a lot of sense...IF your an EIGHT YEAR OLD! She was scared. She thought we were in quicksand and needed to get out of there fast. After our anger cooled down a bit, and we knew she was safe, then the laughter began...and hasn't stopped. I still laugh when I think about that little girl high-tailing it out of there as fast as she did.
Ira and I have come up with our "deep thought" surrounding that experience, ready for this? (it's really deep)... Driving into that "quicksand" is the way the adversary works. He catches us so slowly before we even realize we are in trouble. Then we have a choice to keep going on the path we're on, or high-tail it out of there. Had we kept going, we all would have been stuck. Turning around, and getting as far away from there without looking back was the right thing. (However in Emi's case, I do wish she had looked back to notice she was alone, and not tried to get out SO DANG FAST!)
It was a fun day, which left us with a memory that we will chuckle at forever!
I took lots of pictures, (what's new?), so happy viewing.

This isn't the time Emi was cruisin', but another time she got ahead of me. Can't you see the lake ahead? It looks like we're almost there...but NO LAKE!

We found this quaint little place for lunch, equipped with palm trees and all. Oh wait, that was a mirage too. It was sagebrush, not palm trees. But we were happy for at least that much in the middle of nowhere. Yes, we had salty sand in EVERYTHING!

Cruizin' along

Ira and Jarin over one of the original bridges of the original train that went from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Me and my baby.

Kamden didn't like our adventure so much. We may be in trouble if we have a child who doesn't like riding as much as the rest of us.

Brayden

Ira and Jarin