Some more summering!

Next night, same spot, a little earlier in the evening. 

Yesterday Grace had Khloe (and Magic) and Belle (and Emberly) over to hang out. The girls (and dogs) had a great time:)

Today Grace and I went to the bank. She’s been babysitting a lot and wanted to open a savings account. She’s excited to have her own debit card!

Then we went to the mall and walked around. We were looking for a birthday present for Makayla. The malls here are fun, with lots of unusual stores to browse thru. It was pouring rain when we left and we got soaked on the way to the car, but it was warm rain!

Tonight I took Ethan to a meeting for the youth leaders of youth conference (which starts tomorrow). They were setting up and decorating. Rob went fishing. 

Grace had a FaceTime voice lesson and was also supposed to clean the kitchen while we were gone. 


I guess Luka was the supervisor. :)

And in other news our application to adopt a dog was denied. Grace was very disappointed. I am sad for her but delighted not to have a dog (I didn’t sabotage the process though). We didn’t even make it to the home study portion of the application. I guess our past vet visits with our current pets wasn’t up to par so we are out. 

Summer lovin

I love the lazy days of summer!! Love them. We slept until 8 ish, which is awesome! 

Then Grace had an orthodontist appointment. Only 3 more months! Hopefully. 

We went grocery shopping. 

Bub and I finished season 1 of “gallivant”, a very silly show but we like watching it together. 

Grace also had a rheumatologist appointment in the afternoon.

She and I watched a movie about a brother and sister who’s mom dies and they meet a dolphin that cheers them up. I don’t remember what it’s called. 

Bub went to play basketball at the stake center.

After work Rob went fishing.

Saw this cute cartoon. It said don’t hold your baby all the time, then they will continue to want to sit in your lap.

What’s the down side? :)

We made Grace’s favorite dinner and then she and I sat on our back porch and chatted.

We ended the evening with FHE and talked about the last supper and how to remember the Savior in our day to day lives.

21 Years

We couldn't celebrate on the actual day because I was at girls camp and he was in MD on a business trip. Neither of us was upset, we are not the super romantic type.  But I did want to mark the occasion so after we dropped Grace off at her baby sitting job we went to Universal City walk.  I had been but he had not so we thought it would be a fun change.  It's not nearly as fabulous as Disney Springs.  We did look around the chocolate emporium which had beautiful chocolates. We bought a box of voodoo donuts to bring home to the kids.  We looked at stuff and bought a fun pair of Einstein socks for Rob to wear to work.  Then we went to dinner at what we hoped would be the best Mexican restaurant.  We sat on the upstairs patio and it rained which was nice.  It was fun to watch and listen to, and it cooled the air down to a nice temperature. My food was good but Rob didn't like his and the service was pretty dismal.  So that was disappointing.
Rob tweaked his back painting earlier in the day and had taken some flexoril, he was sleepy and grumpy.

I was mad.  He had a conversation with Grace earlier in the day where he told her something about a friend of hers that was very confidential. She wasn't supposed to know so I was upset that he accidentally told. I was also mad because we are getting a dog.  All along we have been united in saying no to a dog.  Then yesterday we were at the pet store buying doggy nail clippers because Grace wants to take over grooming Ziva to make money and they had dog adoptions there.  G and R fell in love with a one year old black lab and they launched a sneak attack.  I said no for a while but felt bad dictating what had to be done.  I didn't want to say over my dead body (although that is what I was thinking) I adamantly said I don't want one and they said they really did. I said that I wasn't going to stop them but I didn't want one.

we look tired

These situations are tricky.  Sometimes people just.want.different.things.  This is often the case with us.  Sometimes we will never sway the other to our p.o.v. and someone has to not have what they want.   The tricky thing is knowing who that should be.

Grace LOVES dogs and in always lobbying for another.  In particular she wants a service dog, or a dog she can train as a service dog.  She is exhaustingly unrelenting in her drive to get a dog.  We have been saying no no no, for many good reason & for a really long time. Rob has, however, always wanted another big dog.  He wants a manly dog to ride in his truck and to go fishing with him.  He's also nervous about intruders and bad guys and likes the idea of the security a big dog offers.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE not having a big shedding dog.  I loved Millie, she was a good dog.  I do not, however, miss her.  At all. I do not miss hair balls everywhere.  I do not miss cleaning nose prints off of window sills or sliding glass door or the bottoms of low windows.  I do not miss shedding, stains on the walls, a huge dog walking around the house.  I do not want to walk two dogs.  I do not want the vet bills and life costs of having two dogs.  I am looking forward to Ziva's perfectly timed death a few years after Grace goes to college and being dogless.  I do not want a fence around the yard, to have to find pet sitters for 3 animals, or a panting dog face following me around.  I like dogs, a lot actually, but I do not want another. 

And therein lies our problem.  I could put my foot down but is that the right thing to dictate.  They could just go and get one. Either way someone is unhappy. So I was mad that he flopped sides. I want to be the one who gets what she wants. :(

cat antics, he took advantage of a new view point since we were painting and moved furniture to the middle of the room

Speaking of getting what they want, we already have a black cat walking around.  Leaving a wake of mess behing him....didn't they already get what they wanted?

Being married is sometimes hard.  I know I'm a hard wife to have too so there is that. 

The only good thing about getting another dog is that Grace will be happy.  Rob will be happy and he promised to mop the floor once a week for the rest of eternity so that will be nice. And, good news, by the time we celebrate another 21 years the dog will be long gone, so there is that.

Today Rob, Brad, Doug and Adam sang in sacrament meeting.  They did a really nice job. I was proud of Rob and wished that I could record it.

Follow the Prophet

President Russell Nelson and Wendy Nelson, along with Elder Uchtdorf and Harriett Uchtdorf came to do a devotional. It was awesome. We loved it!

The youth got to sit on the floor right in front of him. We got there early and Ethan and Grace were in the 3rd row! They loved it!

What an amazing experience.

After we took some quick photos!

Conner, Ty and Sage; Stefan, Isabella and Madison; Ethan and Grace; Brianna

Camp memories

The time when all the girls went in the cabin and blasted the music and had a dance party!

The time when there was a leader beat box competition and the winning ward got to eat lunch first. I won. After the girls said it sounded like farting...but they were impressed.

The time we went swimming and Magic barked so we knew Khloe needed to get out. She did and then she had 2 seizures. That’s when we started to trust the dog.

The time when the girls somehow managed to spill 21 drinks. (It took 4 days but still!)

The time when everyone braided everyone’s hair.

The time when Magic was doing her business and a snake fell out of the tree, wrapped around a baby squirrel. Khloe ran to get me (like what could I do?) and Danika and Grace poked it. 

The time Lilly was so excited to canoe for the first time.

The time we “hiked” to the temple and it was so.stinkin.HOT!

The time we rounded the corner and saw the temple and saw Bishop Scherere with a lemonade stand set up! Best lemonade ever!!!

The time we laughed and laughed as the Bishops did trivia, a guessing game and a beatbox competition.

The time our bishop made homemade creme puffs and they were delicious.

The awesome talks, fun games, cute crafts.

The repeat after me songs!

The loud laughing girls that slowly turned into whispering giggling girls as the clock spun round and round and the morning drew closer and closer. 

The silly skits. Campy songs. Secret sister gifts.

The countless bug bites.

The time a girl, who shall remain nameless, didn’t want to walk from the lake to the potty and opted for a facili”tree” and got poison ivy on her bum:(

The time we laughed until we cried. 

And cried until we laughed. 

There is nothing like camp!

Words

There are many things that bring me joy. The first thing that comes to mind is my children and grandchildren. They are a delight to me.  Especially as the years pass, and the labor intensive long days of having babies and toddlers and active little kids fade to rosy colored nostalgic memories it seems even sweeter. 

Serving in YW is another one. It has been my privilege for a long time, and even though I feel inadequate for the job, and even though I often wish I said or did something different, or remembered something at the right time, I am ever grateful.

This week at camp has been one for those joyful weeks. It was also a very difficult one. 

Our camp was beautiful. It is nestled in the middle of the city, a hidden oasis, right on the lake and shaded by tall beautiful trees. It has a nice pool, soccer fields, basketball courts, canoeing on the lake, hammocks hanging in trees, picnic tables for outside conversation, a nice big air conditioned mess hall, comfy cabins, fire pits & a craft cabin  and all the things you would want in a camp. Including a big wrap around porch with rocking chairs and a cute little chapel.

Many months ago I was working one day and my assignment was to proctor a test. Another sub and I got to talking and after finding out I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints she asked some follow up questions. She didn’t know that we were Christians, a common misunderstanding. She asked me what that meant in my day to day life (maybe testing me? Was I really Christian?) I told her it changed everything. That I started and ended my day kneeling in prayer. That every morning during the school year I woke up at 5 am to take my high school age son to early morning religion class. That my family reads the scriptures together every day, prays together, and tries to be like the Savior. That we study together for a hour on Sunday’s from the New Testament. That we go to church every week, pay 10% tithing, serve in callings, minister to each other, make and keep sacred covenants, that we intend to keep and strive earnestly to do just that.  She said wow and agreed that it sounded like we were Christians and marveled that her church asks so much less of her. 

This week that conversation played back in my head and I realized that I forgot the most important part of being Christian, of following His example and striving to be His disciple. I forgot that what it mostly means is loving my neighbor, treating others like they are children or God, helping, serving, becoming more like him. The girls were such sweet examples of that to me this week. We had Grace’s good friend Khloe and her dog Magic ( who deserves her whole own post at some point )with us. Khloe has 2 brain tumors. She has many seizures each day, different kinds, and needs her dog with her at all times. The YW were so welcoming to her, so so sweet and fun. They really showed Christlike love. Honestly I really was so impressed with Grace and her selfless service to her friend. She was calm, knowledgeable and attentive and her attitude and response to Khloe set a tone of acceptance and love that all the girls followed. They also loved and looked out for each other. They worked together on all the tasks they were assigned. They helped each other, comforted each other and were so humble and fabulous. They ran to one another to offer a hug, to lift up the sad and to share in the happy. That is what being Christian is all about.

Taking Khloe was a lot more difficult than I expected. It was emotionally challenging to always be so engaged in her. She had many many seizures, sometimes 10-20 in an hour and we were always with her and always a little nervous about that.  We missed some camp activities and left the other girls with other wards leaders. It was hard. I am so grateful that I could do that though. Hard but  is good.

The feelings of my heart were definitely that God knows her and loves her. He loves each of us and comes to us where we are. 

In real life I sometimes don’t want someone too close because I don’t want to offend them if I think I’m too sweaty, snore too loudly, have bad breathe, am uninteresting or unaccomplished.  Or any thing else that plagues my peace.

Jesus Christ doesn’t care about that though. That is not the measure he uses on us. He comes to us where we are. He  walks by our side, always ready to help, teach and testify. 

He kealt down and washed the disciples stinking, dusty feet and did not recoil, he touched lepers and sat with sinners. He sees each of us for who we really are and who we can become.  He loves us in our imperfections. He loves us when we are awful, slow to remember,  ugly, over weight, cruel, overwhelmed, lazy etc. nothing is too much or too ugly or too anything else. He just loves us and comes to us.  What amazing grace.

We had a beautiful moving testimony meeting. We felt the spirit during classes and activities. We felt our prayers answered as we dealt with fighting girls, lots of seizures, bug bites, high temps, grumpy camp chores and our own fears and selfishness. I felt God’s Love. Hopefully I am now different, better. Repentance means change and we change each day as we strive to be more like the Savior. Always more.

So I am grateful for this exhausting, stretching, beautiful week. For the chance to serve, and to see the service of others. 

My heart is full. 

Camp day 3