June reading

Of course I took several books to read while on my little vacation last month, but then we discovered the ship had a library and had to see what that was all about. I have read several of Mitch Albom's books before and have enjoyed them, so when I saw this one, it seemed like a fitting book for a Sunday read.

 

Have a Little Faith

It's a book about a rabbi, a christian minister, and a man with very little faith (Mitch Albom, himself). Mr. Albom always gives little life lessons in all his books, but with this one gave more insight into himself. It's definitely about finding faith, but not necessarily in any one religion as in something bigger than yourself. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

 

Peter and the Starcatchers

I also finished this one on our cruise. One day I asked my 9 year old for a book recommendation and this is what I got. It's a prequel to Peter Pan telling how he became Peter Pan. Even if the writing wasn't fantastic, I certainly didn't mind it. I could definitely see the intrigue a 9-year-old boy would have with this book: lots of action and mystery with pirates and treasure. There is a sequel but I don't think I'll be picking it up. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.

Heaven Is Here

This book was waiting for me at the library when I got home and immediately delved in amidst loads of laundry and yard work in desperate need of attention.

I had just begun reading Stephanie's blog a week prior to her accident and found it all surreal that something so traumatic could happen to someone I felt like I had just met in a way. I didn't think she tried to sugarcoat anything in the book. She told us exactly how she felt like giving up, how much she hated therapy, and how devastating it was to finally look at herself. I was especially touched as she recounted how they had to bandage her eyes for a week to allow them to heal. It was during that time that she learned that faith is as much about getting up and going to work as it is about lying still and letting her body heal. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

"I needed help, I needed God more than anything. I needed reassurance that the glimmer of hope I had felt was real. I was thankful that a stranger in a strange town could offer me something so familiar and hopeful [as a priesthood blessing]."

"I have accepted myself in a world that doesn't accept me, because I have learned -- and more than any of the lessons of my accident, this is the one I wish I could teach everybody -- that our hearts matter most. Your heart matters most, so be gentler and more patient with yourself, and their hearts matter most, too, so be kinder and more compassionate to others. It's a beautiful heart, not a perfect body, that leads to a beautiful life."

And right now I'm in the middle of . . .

Alaska - Skagway and Canada

After boarding our ship we hit the buffet where I had the most delicious flourless chocolate cake. It was like a dense brownie or fudge. I was quite bummed when they didn't offer it again all week, so I came home, found my own recipe, and made it. So good if rich chocolate is your kind of thing.

When we booked our cruise, we paid more for an exterior room but a little less to have a partially blocked view out our window. I think we scored the right room. On either side were the lifeboats. I loved being able to look outside when were coming into a port or just watching the scenery from our room.

Tyler's type of vacations are go, go, go, see, see, see everything. We paid for it, we're going to see it. I like the hit-the-beach-and-read-all-afternoon kind of vacation. This cruise was a perfect compromise. We saw, saw, saw on land but had to take it easy on the ship. I found my perfect reading nook where I could sit inside by the window and Tyler could watch the water outside. If he happened to see anything, he knew where to find me.

After two days at sea we arrived in Skagway for a day of touring. Skagway was the jumping off point for the gold rush in Canada's Yukon territory. When we got back from our trip, the kids and I watched White Fang where Skagway was briefly shown and mentioned. Our first excursion was to the dog sled mushers camp where we got to ride a wheeled cart while the dogs pulled us, much like a sled. These dogs do their training here with all the tourists that come through and are very ready to compete in the Iditarod, a highly competitive dog sled race of a 1000 miles in early March of every year. Tyler's not terribly fond of dogs and really came along with me for the ride in the unimog.
The dog sled ride was a ton of fun. Those dogs are not the typical Alaskan huskies you think of when dog sledding comes to mind. Huskies are used to pull weight, these other dogs are bred for speed and are often a mixture of different dogs.

 

I had to get a picture of this particular dog for Ashlyn. It isn't hard to tell that that dog has two different colored eyes, just like our Ash, although her's aren't as distinctive.

And no. Tyler wouldn't let me bring this little pup back. Holding that puppy took me back to my childhood when our dog "Lady" had a litter of pups. 

We arrived back at our ship in time to catch our next excursion to Canada and the expansion bridge which I learned was only built six years ago for the tourists. It's nothing more than a chain bridge that extends over the river below and goes really nowhere. It was kind of lame, but I did get a stamp in my passport and got to sample some yummy maple cookies. Tyler even spotted a black bear right next to the bus on the ride up, but our young, Utah bus driver didn't see it and didn't stop. The good tour guides will faithfully keep their eyes peeled for wildlife and will try to stop if reasonably able to because they know that's what people come to Alaska to see.

Back in Skagway we enjoyed a salmon bake for dinner where Dolly, a beautiful 9-month-old Alaskan husky, enjoyed it with us. I would have taken her home with me too.

A sacrament meeting moment

Several weeks ago one of our high councilmen spoke on the importance of the sacrament meeting. It reminded me a lot of the talk I gave at stake conference, and I kept thinking he did a much better job.

The Lord has blessed us with this beautiful world to live in where it is so easy to get caught up in the pleasures and fun that it offers. In exchange all He has asked is that we give back to Him one day. In fact He has blessed us with that one day where we don't need to think about those things that compete for our attention and time during the week. It's a day where we can set aside our worries and fears and stresses. I love that God has said, "Here, let me give you one day where you don't need to worry about the cares of this world. Take a day off and let your spirit and body rest."

During that one day He has then asked us to spend just three hours meeting, worshiping, and learning together to strengthen and unite our spirits. 

And during those three hours, He has asked that for one hour and 10 minutes we give our entire thoughts and feelings to Him. One hour and 10 minutes out of 168 where we concentrate, consecrate, and covenant with Him.

It's not really much to ask is it?

Yet, one of the hardest things our Father in Heaven had to do was to give us agency. We get to choose how we spend that day, those few hours, and ultimately our final destination in the eternities.

That final interview won't be so much a matter of opening the books and God telling us, "Well, it looks like you get to go here." No, we get that final opportunity to choose where we would like to go . . . telestial, terrestial, celestial, exaltation. And I suspect we'll choose where we feel most comfortable.

It just might be playing Angry Birds or answering that phone call during a worship service instead of concentrating on the one being who has given us everything.

True story. Today during sacrament meeting I sat in front of someone who actually answered her cell phone and carried on a 30 second conversation out loud during one of the talks. 

"So, the kids are at the house?"

"I'm in church right now."

"Ya, I'm actually in sacrament meeting."

"We'll be home in a little while." 

For the record I have never seen the couple behind me. I don't know if they were visiting, new to our ward, or what. And apparently she is not text savvy or that would have certainly have been the method for conversing.

Baby Loaf

turned two yesterday.

We didn't do much celebrating besides presents. Kiersten was just getting back from Brighton beehive camp, Ash and Nate had swimming lessons, and I had to sing a quick happy birthday as Alex attempted to blow out the candles on his cake

because I was heading out of town for my 2nd half marathon with these lovely ladies (minus Katie who ran fast in order to hurry home for a date. Priorities, Kate. Priorities.).

But I think he had a small inkling of what his day was all about, even if his mean old mom made him take a nap. After singing to him to get him up in the morning, he raced to the family room and pointed at the presents. He had work to do!

And if you're ever wondering what a two year old likes, well this particular two year old loved the singing/dancing birthday card. He opened it and opened it and opened it, over and over.

In racing news (which for me isn't really racing; I just run to run) I managed to shave 7 minutes off my time from last year. You knew we didn't get much sleep last night when we all got giggly over stealing safety pins in order to better our chances of winning. I think we were all a little ready to have this race over, but I sure had fun hanging out the night before and while we waited at the start line. I also met up with my good friend Sara around mile 2 or 3 on the course and gave her a quick hug. She has been such an inspiration to those around her in losing around 70 pounds. She looks fantastic and I'm sure she feels that way too.

After the race my children and husband walked and I hobbled around the zoo to celebrate Baby Loaf's birthday. The new Rocky Shores exhibit rocked with its seals and sea lions and polar bears and grizzly bears and bald eagles and a walrus. But after battling hordes of people and 100 degree weather, we were all done and called it a day.

I still can't believe my baby is two. He has been a complete joy to our family.

Alaska - Land Tour

To celebrate our 15 year anniversary, Tyler wanted to cruise Alaska, so I packed my long pants, sweatshirts, and jacket. I was so excited to get away, do some reading, and have someone totally pamper me for 11 days.

We flew into Anchorage by way of Houston. That's right, Houston. It seemed so wrong to be going in the opposite direction for three hours to turn around and fly for 7 more surrounded by a 2 year old and 2 month old in front of us and a 1 year old sitting next to Tyler. To their credit those kids did amazingly well for such a long flight. The young mother sitting next to us was returning home after spending several weeks with her husband who is deployed to Afghanistan. I took her little guy from time to time to give her a break.

While we were waiting for our connecting flight in Houston, I told Tyler I wanted to try the Blue Bell ice cream that I've heard is supposed to be some darn good ice cream. Well . . . it was okay. Frankly, I thought Tillamook ice cream in Oregon was just as good, maybe even creamier. So that's my take on Texas's ice cream.

When we finally got settled in our hotel in downtown Anchorage (which really isn't much of a downtown) it was still light out and we decided to see Anchorage. When we came out of a store around 10:30 pm, it was still so light. I knew we should head back to bed, but it sure didn't feel like it. Living in Alaska would definitely take some getting used to. I'm afraid my internal clock would be a little messed up. There were many mornings when I woke up thinking we had overslept only to find that it was only 4:30am!

The next morning we hopped aboard the bus headed to Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge. I happened to score the seat right over the tire wheel and was dozing, listening to our bus driver describe his life living in Alaska, when there was a huge pop right under my feet. I opened my eyes to see something black hit the window and I SCREAMED! I thought for sure we had hit a black bear.

No, it was nothing more than a blown tire. But for the remainder of our land tour I got more comments of where I should and should not sit from all the other passengers who were also on our bus.
Mt. McKinley, also known as Denali, is the United States's and North America's tallest mountain. It's tall enough to have it's own localized weather and is often shrouded by clouds. Not many people get to see the entire mountain. When we checked into the lodge there was an option for the front desk to call us should "the mountain" become visible. It is pretty cool to think that from the base to its peak, Denali is the tallest mountain in the world at 20,320 feet (Mt. Everest may be the tallest but it starts at a higher elevation). I was very surprised at how low in elevation Alaska is. I live at a higher elevation on the foothills of the Oquirrh mountains in Utah than most of Alaska. There were many times in our travels where we would come to a summit to find a sign telling us the elevation was somewhere in the 2000 foot range.
After a day at McKinley we headed to Denali where we were supposed to see grizzly bears. Sadly we got skunked. It was the only day of our entire trip where it rained and I think that kept the animals at bay. Also after talking to several others it looked like we should have paid a little extra and taken the 8-hour excursion that takes you deeper into Denali National Forest. That's where they saw the bears.

We did see a caribou and moose. For reals. This is just Tyler's pretend moose.
Alaska is unique in that you can go from forests, where they only have basically 3 types of trees due to the permafrost and very short summers, to tundras where there is little vegetation. There are no hardwoods like maples and oaks, only softwoods. There are so many lakes that many of them are not even named, and there aren't many roads. In fact the main road connecting Anchorage to Fairbanks was only completed some 40 years ago.

Our final day on land included a 9-hour train ride to meet our cruise ship. It truly was a scenic way to see Alaska, but I was ready to get off the train and experience life on a cruise.

On fire for the Kindle Fire

It all started a year ago when Uncle Aaron came to visit with his Blackberry Playbook. My boys fell in love and started devising ways to get one.

Last fall I had them put together a PowerPoint presentation on the pros and cons where they decided that maybe a Playbook wasn't the best choice for them.

Then several months later we accidentally took them to Best Buy. Erik fell in love with the Kindle Fire and Nathan was nice enough to agree to pay part of it for his birthday present.
I didn't like that they could access the internet with it, and I kept holding them at bay thinking this fascination would go away. It didn't.

It came in the mail two days ago.

But before we pushed that purchase button, Erik and Nate had a good discussion with Tyler and meI about how it would be used and how the wi-fi would be turned off. I even made them write up a contract so they knew we, the parents, had total control over it.
I hope this isn't a big mistake on our part. I'd just assume they didn't have this fun, new, little gadget. But I guess you can't shelter a child forever from this world. They need to learn to navigate and make choices regarding the media that is pushed at them all the time. I just pray they make good choices. One of the hardest things as a parent is giving your children their agency to decide how they're going to live their lives.

I just don't have to give them full agency right now. Thank you parental controls.

I've got a death date

Erik took it upon himself to consult the all-knowing, all-wise internet to find out when his mom would kick the bucket. I'm not sure what his ulterior motive was, but the one ace I've got up my sleeve is I'm scheduled to die on HIS BIRTHDAY! Ha, take that Erik.

So, mark it on your calendars:

Friday, May 21, 2055

Got to go now. I've got an obituary to write.

And a life to finish living.