Gould family visit

Our guests who were family, and who became a part of our immediate family, have gone home. There was a touch of melancholy as we all woke up yesterday to a quieter than normal house.

There is talk already of a vacation to visit them sometime in the next year or two.

When Megan first approached Tyler about staying with us for two weeks this summer while they were in town for reunions, he immediately said yes. And then I had to remind him that the very week they were coming into town, I would be at girls camp and he would be in Wisconsin for work leaving them here alone with our kids.

Now I'm going to bare my soul here but just know I've done a complete reversal in the last couple of weeks. 

The first time we saw our Gould family was 2 years ago after many, many years. I wasn't sure how my kids would accept having people here whom they barely knew, and I thought they should stay with someone else, at least for those few days. Goodness, they were coming from half way across the country so why not spend some time with other family. None of my talking seemed to work and my kids assured me that they loved the idea of having them here. Talk about becoming as a little child with no reservations and so accepting. I prayed for peace in the situation and a week before they were to arrive, an email from Emily Freeman, a Time Out for Women presenter, showed up.

"There is one season in our family I will never forget. It was a season that began with a prompting. My girls and I were traveling in the car and we began talking about one of my favorite scriptures verses found in D&C 124:23, 'And it shall be…a house that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein; therefore let it be a good house, worthy of all acceptation, that the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord.' I asked my girls if we could try to make our home like that for one whole season. The type of home where people would feel something good when they walked in. I wanted them to come to our doorstep and find a welcoming home. A home where people could come to talk about Jesus."

Hello. Wake up call. Our home was to be a home where they felt comfortable and welcomed and might feel of God's love.

We put them up in Nate's room. Nate was kind enough to vacate himself and all his belongings for two weeks.

At girls camp I included in my testimony my strong feelings of the camaraderie and relationships that are strengthened when you live with people and break bread with them. There is a certain bonding that forges deep friendships. I've seen it with girls camp, with Kiersten and EFY, and when me and my siblings end up at home for the weekend. A couple of hours here and there just aren't comparable.

Well, after two weeks of living with the Goulds, I've done some serious repenting regarding the earlier feelings I had (I even told Megan of these feelings I had had and how grateful I was for the opportunity we had to get to know them better). I loved listening to Ash and Alex giggle and giggle with Hailey and Jaden one night . . . late one night . . . as they made up stories. Yep. I finally climbed out of bed to go snap a picture of their late night antics.

I loved watching Alex develop a bond with "his buddy" Megan as they worked out in the mornings and she helped him gather seashells at the beach.

I loved watching Erik take his younger brother and cousin and help them with a lemonade stand.

I loved getting to know Megan a little more through our casual conversations we had in the kitchen. I loved that my nieces Lexi and Maddie stayed for a few days and that Maddie got to come to church with us. I loved our movie nights and ice cream and slush parties.

This is an experience my family will not forget. It was a little strange at first, getting used to having extra people around, but the day they left was just as strange.

We have missed them and my soul is better for having them here.

*I had to pilfer a few photos because the ones I took of everyone on our front porch were so blurry when I opened them on my computer. I might be looking for a new camera.

What's happening in my yard

Loving the daylilies (red=Red Razzmatazz; white=Blueberry Candy) and blanket flower (Gaillardia X grandiflora) that are blooming this time of year when nothing else is. The blanket flowers are self-seeders and are easy to transplant all over the yard. They do not like a lot of water.

Good things
giggling cousins
horseback rides
pioneer faith

A mother's day tribute

In his address to the BYU graduating class this past April, Elder Clayton spoke of several connections that are of real value, starting with relationships with parents and grandparents and family.

"We hope you will thank them, especially by the way you live," he said. "Your lifelong faithfulness and devotion to the Savior and His Restored Church will be the highest demonstration of gratitude that you can offer your [mother]."

This mother's day I hope my mom knows how much I love her and appreciate her dedication to raising six pretty awesome people. She taught me to clean and to cook. She instilled in me her love of reading, especially the scriptures. Many mornings I would find her out by the fire reading and pondering. I love her spontaneity and love of travel. I hope she knows that the way I live my life in purity and faith is my gift to her.

I've found as I have more and more birthdays that things really don't have any significance in the quality of relationships. In a recent email, my mother-in-law Laura stated, "You know I don't want presents, but I love visits and phone calls." Isn't that true. If you really want depth to a relationship, you have to give of your time and attention. Visit once in awhile. Come out from behind the phone and make an actual call for no reason other than to just keep a healthy connection alive. Send that note in the mail. Retreat behind that phone and type a quick text. Relationships should be so easy to keep vibrate and thriving in this day of instant communication, but sometimes they get stifled because of the easiness of it all.

I too don't really need material gifts. As a mom, the greatest gift I could ever hope to receive from my kids is found in this scripture 2 Nephi 31:20.

1. Pressing forward with a steadfastness in Christ. Faith may have its ups and downs but working on it is key to keeping it alive. Don't let your faith become stagnant or complacent.

2. Having a perfect brightness of hope. Hope is one of the greatest of all things. It brings peace and confidence and light to some very chaotic and dark times. It gives us light to see clearly.

3. Having a love of God. When we truly love God with our all, the inconsequential things in our life will find themselves at the bottom of the heap. And don't forget that with God all things are possible. Remember Gideon in our old testament reading? His army was reduced to 300 and they conquered. Trust God and you win every time. 

4. And [a love] of all men. Be kind. Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be generous. Give of your time and talents and money in helping others and it will come back to you tenfold. Be thoughtful in your service opportunities.

Behind every great man and woman is his mother. Someone imagined the mothers of these well-known sons making the following comments:

Mrs. Morse: “Sam, stop tapping your fingers on the table--it’s driving me crazy!”

Mrs. Lindbergh: “Charles, can’t you do anything by yourself?”

Mrs. Washington: “George never did have a head for money.”

Mrs. Armstrong: “Neil has no more business taking flying lessons than the man on the moon.” (Reader’s Digest)

Mothers do influence their sons and daughters! One of life’s greatest blessings is to have a godly mother. And, thus, one of the greatest gifts you can give your children is to be a godly mother.

I'm soooooo grateful for my godly mother who taught me what it's all about to be godly myself. As Alex likes to tell me, "You are my best mom." Julie Seamons: You are my best mom.

It all started with a baby

Angie was scheduled to have her baby today, three days after Christmas. Instead she came on December 21, four days before. Little Autumn Noelle Carley. We hinted that they should have come up with a middle name that began with B and then her initials would have been ABC. Angie already stole both of my girl names.

When we were growing up, there was a TV show called Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Dr. Quinn's first name was Michaela. All three of us girls fought over that name. Unfortunately Tyler wasn't quite on board and we went with Kiersten, which fits her perfectly. Angie was free to steal our childhood name. Then Alex came along, although we didn't know if Al was going to be a girl or a boy. Tyler and I had decided on two names -- Alex and Autumn. Yep, Ang stole that one too. I guess I'm excited that someone used one of our favorites.

Two sisters: Makayla and Autumn, one very much in love with her baby sister.

Oh, a baby for Christmas just makes the whole season that much more magical. I took the girls for a visit and we were in love. Three weeks earlier Kiersten brought home Ezra Northrup Ruggles Antoninus Pius Marcus Aurelius Pythagonus Charlemagne Muhammed Alpheus Ikemefuna, a fake baby for her child development class. That, by the way, is the name she christened him and is taken from a myriad of sources -- the Doctrine and Covenants; Mr. Henry, her history teacher; and English books. Oh, her poor children. We've had a long chat about how she is to consult her mother before naming any of her own children. I need to know that I can at least pronounce it correctly.

When she walked through the door with that crying baby, my heart melted. Oh how it sounded so real. So real that we even played dress up with the dress we were gifting to baby Autumn. After a few days of hauling baby everywhere, middle-of-the-night feedings, and constant attention, Kiersten was more than happy to hand him back.


Ash pretty much doted on that baby all weekend but refused to hold a real, live, squishy one when she had the chance.

Babies truly are gifts from heaven. And so are sisters.

Pretty exciting day

Mission age for young men has changed from 19 to 18 years upon graduating from high school and young women may serve at age 19 instead of waiting until 21.

I felt that Heavenly Father heard an unspoken prayer of mine. All three of my boys are born later in the school year which, until today, meant they would have to wait an entire year from graduation before leaving on their LDS mission.

This was something I was never excited about. I would have preferred that they leave soon after graduation and not have that year to wait.

And now . . . it is so possible that there could be a joint farewell for both Kiersten and Erik who are only a year apart and will turn 19 and 18 within 4 days of each other should they both decide this is something they would like to do.

Then throw Cousin Scott into the mix. He lives next door, will turn 18 early in the school year and will have to wait until graduation to go. Now you've got three cousins who could potentially be leaving and serving at the same time.

We were all pretty giddy when we heard the news.

Our other exciting news is Uncle Matt, my brother, is going to be a daddy today. Yippee! Last night my sisters, mom, and I drove to Logan for a baby shower and a couple of hours after we got home, Angelene's water broke. We can't wait to meet the little guy and hear what they finally decide to name him. I love that our family is growing!

Lead with the Queen

When I was little I loved to play chess. Initially I didn’t know how to play chess and I didn’t know anybody who could teach me. I went to the community swimming pool and there I watched the teenage boys play. I studied a new piece every day. How did the pawn move? How did the castle move? How did the knights move? After several days, I knew how every piece moved and I began to play chess. Because I was a boy, I guess, I loved the knights. They were fascinating pieces for me. They had those little horse heads. They moved so uniquely. They move in little “L” shapes and they can jump over things. So every game I played during those early years, I led my attack with the two knights. I jumped those two knights over the pawns in the first two moves of the game and then all my strategy centered on their abilities. I had fun playing and I did win some games.

Anyone who has played chess or knows a little bit about chess realizes that the most important piece on the board, the most powerful piece on the playing field is the queen. She has the most moves. She can cover the greatest distance. The queen is the central player, the best able to win the game for you. The loss of the queen is usually devastating. But I was leading with the knights. How many games was I winning? Not as many as I could have. I was leaving my queen back in home territory to protect the king. When I finally realized that if I was going to win I needed to lead with the queen and let all the other pieces support her, I began to win games consistently.

There is a great chess game going on for the souls of men in the world and God will lead with His queens. You will be God’s “enlargement and deliverance” to save His people against the Hamans of the day whether they be shortsighted or hostile.

I read the above by S. Michael Wilcox in his book Walking on Water, which by the way is a fabulous collection of talks he's given. I couldn't help but think of my own mother and how grateful I am that God chose to lead the family I grew up in with her as the Queen. She truly is remarkable. One of her finest characteristics is her ability to stay connected with all six of her children at least on a weekly basis either through a phone call to just to see how things are going or a quick email or actual letter by pony express. I LOVE that about her and want be like her when my kids are grown and left home.

But . . . 

I also know it takes a lot of time and commitment. This Queen has put her priorities in order and knows that a mother's job is never done even if there aren't children in the home. She knows how important it is to keep that relationship alive and thriving . . . and that's through consistent, meaningful contact.

I sure do love her and am so glad that I can call her my mom.

Easter Bash and Lemon cookies

Every year since Tyler can remember the Ellis side of his family has held an Easter Bash. When he was a kid they all traveled to Hurricane, Utah (who wouldn't want to escape to somewhere warm?). Since I've been around it been held a various places, but the usual spot has been Aunt Nancy's, two blocks from our home. How convenient is that!

There's usually a barbecue, yummy salads, snow cone machine, Wheel-of-Terror, tug o' war, and good old visiting. This year we competed in a pie eating contest, Tyler's talented cousin Camilla had a funny photo booth set up, and I brought yummy Lemon Cookies. Spring always brings out the lemon in me.

*Photos courtesy of Camilla and Nancy 

LEMON COOKIES

2 boxes lemon cake mix

1 c. butter, melted

2 eggs

1 T. fresh lemon juice

12 oz. white chocolate chips

1 t. shortening

powdered sugar

Melt butter and add to cake mix. Mix to cool off butter. Add eggs. Add lemon and all but 1/2 c. white chocolate chips (I think it was too many and next time will try less.). Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Don't overbake. Allow to cool. Melt remaining 1/2 c. white chocolate chips in microwave for 30 seconds. Add shortening and continue to melt at 30 second intervals. Don't let the chocolate get too hot or it will seize and not cooperate. Drizzle over cookies and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Maddox

We've reunited and gained a few and missed one. Several years ago all my siblings got together for dinner . . . without the parents.

It was rather fun.

And grownup.

So after 3 1/2 years we decided to do it again at Maddox in Brigham City. It's kind of tradition. I just wish my brother Reed could have made it. But Phoenix is kind of far away.

Anyway, we got talking about food, and food that was eaten on missions and realized we had an eclectic bunch of world travelers.

Mexico

Philippines

South Korea

Russia

Germany

America

and Reed went to the Ukraine

My other brother Matt also told us this story I had not heard before.

My dad is a twin.

His twin brother, Sherwin, was hurt in an automobile accident while on his mission, and was under a lot of anesthesia, ended up having a metal plate put in his head, and remembers someone coming in to give him a blessing.

Later my grandma told him it was Elder Monson who gave him the blessing.

Fast forward many years and my grandma and Uncle Sherwin are having dinner at Maddox when Grandma notices President Monson is seated not far from them.

She tries to convince Uncle Sherwin to go talk to him which he doesn't really want to do and interrupt his dinner.

FINALLY, Grandma wins.

Uncle Sherwin heads over, taps him on the back, and proceeds to say, "I'm not sure if you remember me . . . ". President Monson turns to look at him and exclaims, "Well, how you doing Elder Seamons."

Several years later my dad decided to attend a prominent funeral of five little girls who had died in the trunk of a car. He slipped in the back and soon President Monson came in. He looked at my dad, took a few steps, turned and looked at him again, and then proceeded down the aisle, I'm sure trying to figure out why my dad looked familiar. What an amazing memory President Monson has.

It was such a delightful evening.

I've already calendared it in for next year. None of this waiting 3 years to get together.

Especially if food is involved.

Family pics

So I decided it was about time that we added Alex to the family. I mean he'd already been with us for over a year and the old family photo was still hanging on the wall minus one.

We'd always done the Sears Portrait Studios route and have never had anything to complain about. But this time I wanted to try something outside and knew my sister-in-law was a great photographer. She agreed to do them. They turned out wonderful and I couldn't have been more happy with them. I just wish it wasn't such a huge process to get to the finished product.

WARDROBE. I should have taken a picture of all the clothes that laid on my bedroom floor for two months as I matched and rearranged and coordinated all the fabric and styles and colors. I didn't want to be matchy matchy, but I didn't want to clash either. It's a big job trying to get it all to look great.

LOCATION. I scoured the internet looking at photos and decided on Memory Grove in downtown Salt Lake. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that we had lived five minutes from there at one time and I had never been. It was a beautiful place with some fun things. We even took a quick drive one night to check it out. However, the photos of the kids didn't turn out as expected so one night when Linda was at our house, she snapped some of the kids in our backyard which turned out fantastic. I loved Alex's lip in this one.

DAY AND TIME. Timing is critical for outdoor shots to be able to capture the right lighting. We decided on a weekday evening when it wouldn't be too crowded.

DECIDING AND ORDERING. After all that I had to decide which prints I wanted and what sizes. It was such hard decision when there were so many great ones. Linda surprised us by printing two different family photos. The one we had chosen had a minor flaw that nobody but her would have noticed, but this way I can hang one for half of the year and then switch since one was fall-like and the other looked like spring.

Oh, I am not looking forward to another family photo shoot. I like these so much that they may hang in our home for a long time.

Again, not your typical dry council Sunday

Family.

What's the big deal?

Why are they so important that it is the entire focus of our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)?

And why is it the one thing Satan is trying so hard to destroy with homosexuality, divorce, abortion, premarital sex, cohabitation?

The talks several Sundays ago were about protecting our families and the last one was particularly good. Even Erik on the way home commented on what a good talk it was. That says something if an 11-year-old boy sits up and listens.

"That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory;" -Moses 6:59

The speaker gave an analogy of entering a family through physical birth and entering into God's family through spiritual birth.

Water
Physical birth: Baby is completely surrounded by amniotic fluid.
Spiritual birth:  At baptism one must be completely submerged in water just like a baby is totally submerged within it's mother.

Blood
Physical birth: There is blood associated with birth. BUT it isn't the baby's blood that is spilt to give life, it is the mother's.
Spiritual birth: To give us new life spiritually, someone else had to spill their blood. Christ spilt his blood to give us new life through the atonement.

Spirit
Physical birth: At some point during pregnancy, a spirit enters the body. To have a baby there must be a mother and a father. A baby takes on the name of his father at birth.
Spiritual birth: At some point in our spiritual birth we have to allow the spirit of Christ of enter our body. During baptism we covenant to take on the name of Christ. This is why Christ is also considered our Father, the Father of our spirits. It is He who makes it possible for our re"birth".

Eternal life is God's life which is family life. We are here to learn to love being a mother (or a father). Our whole focus should be on the family, and at the judgment day we will have the choice . . .

God's life that includes families

or not.

Phoenix

My brother recently moved to Phoenix and took his cute family with him.

Relationships take work when family is close and it's even harder when the distance increases. I'd been thinking a lot about how to keep our relationship strong when they are so far away and was talking to my mom about this when she mentioned maybe we should go visit them and their new baby, Dallin. I jumped at the chance. My sister Angie came and brought her 3 young kids and I brought Alex and along the way I was able to surreptitiously cross "go to Grand Canyon"

Okay, this picture makes me look fat. I'm not really that fat. I promise.

and "go to Lake Powell" off our Summer Bucket List.

Ha, ha. My kids didn't go for that. I am already planning a trip to take them because both places are awesome.

Phoenix was wonderfully hot. Can you tell who had been traveling for 10 hours and was ready to cool off a bit?

5 of my mom's 7 boy grandchildren (missing Erik and Nathan)

Reed and Brittney were excited for us to come and I'm glad we made the trip. I arrived home to find the rest of my family anxiously waiting on the front porch for our return. And for some reason, I had this funny feeling that they weren't overly anxious to see me as they were to see their brother. He was greatly missed.

We are alive and well this morning

My good news minute in Relief Society this morning: "I am alive and well this morning."

Last night we held an unplanned escape from our house at one in the morning due to carbon monoxide. Our CO alarm was going off and Tyler started waking all the kids to get them out of the house. I was tempted to turn the thing off and go back to bed but know that carbon monoxide is not something you mess with. Thankfully it was a warm night as we sat on the porch and then eventually moved to the van while we waited for the fire department to show up.

Two firemen did show up in their big fire truck all decked out in their gear like they were attending to a real fire; I was just glad they didn't drive up with lights and sirens but am extra sorry we had to get them out of bed for what seemed like a trivial matter.

After checking things out, no CO was found anywhere. If there was any it's possible it vented out when we opened all the windows. It could also have been a glitch in the alarm. But to be safe we slept with all the windows open. I was awakened this morning to sunshine, slight breeze, and birds singing (and the framer working next door). I was reminded that summer is here to stay for awhile.

A panoramic view of the last 10 days

It just so happens that birthday week and the end of school activities collide . . . every year. This year was no different with a few extra (special) events added to the mix.

Friday commenced our fun-filled crazy week which I've highlighted here.

Saturday I hosted a bridal shower for my new sister-in-law, Angelene. Here's how a conversation with Nate went this week.

Nate: "I can't believe I have a new aunt."

Me: "Ya, and you'll get to see her Saturday."

Nate: "What do you mean?"

Ash: "Nate! This Saturday we are having a baby shower for her."

You'd have thought it was a baby shower when they opened my gift of baby clothes. No pressure. None at all.

Sunday was our traditional 3rd Sunday Siesta. Tyler and I got the idea several years ago from our sister-in-law Jo. Once a month we host an informal get together with family and friends. Bring a treat and come and visit. There is usually a puzzle to put together.
Monday was a birthday get together with cake and ice cream for mom (Grandma), Uncle Jacob, Kiersten, and Erik. This is truly birthday week for us.


Tuesday my first baby went from this:

To this:

The poor girl had CORE testing on her birthday (BTW, we just found out she scored a perfect 100 on her math and only missed one on her language arts), but Grandma and I managed to steal her away for lunch during a snowstorm. And when she came home from school, there was one more surprise waiting.

Making the toy room into Kiersten's own room was something I've been wanting to do for awhile. Natalie and Ashlyn took over the project and made it something special.


Wednesday Nate had his recorder concert (Can I just say how impressed I was with their sound? Mrs. Workman can work miracles.), Kiersten had her orchestra concert, and Erik was receiving his Arrow of Light. Something had to give. Unfortunately, we didn't make it Kiersten's performance.

Oh ya, it was also Night of a Thousand Stars where the kids get to showcase the books they've written and illustrated. Nate informed me Tuesday night that he only had one page done. I came unglued and sadly he spent a long couple of hours putting it together. But after talking with other moms in his class, it sounds like the teacher wasn't all that into it. Nate wasn't the only one so far behind. Frankly, it just wasn't like him. Anyway, he got it done and all is well.





Then it was a race to get to the church for Erik. He is now officially a boy scout. I feel like I've become my mother in regards to scouting. It was a push to get him this far and I vowed I would never push my boys through the scouting process. I'm going to encourage him as much as I can but it won't be my eagle hanging on the wall.




Thursday morning Erik was busily taping and painting to finish his cardboard box car for the 5th grade drive-in movie. After getting him off to school I pretty much spent the day in a fog dealing with a head cold, achy teeth, and a baby who I've self-diagnosed with RSV again. Bring on the breathing treatments.



Friday I sent Kiersten to Lagoon with her friends for a discounted DARE day

and Ash had her kindergarten graduation. Afterwards I took her to McDonald's for a lunch date. It was a good old fashioned class reunion when she discovered her best friend Makayla (I don't know her and I'm sure I spelled her name wrong) in the play area along with another boy from her class. Ash says, "I thought I would never see her again!" They exchanged phone numbers and are hoping to get together this summer.


(Ash with her teacher, Miss Womack)

Saturday was Erik's big day, spent at Tracy Aviary and dinner at Chuck-a-Rama where the waitresses sang to him. He totally ate that up. This is a kid who really enjoys being in the spotlight.

Sunday we finished up with birthday pie for Erik and Alex. Two candles representing the number 11. Eleven years for Erik's life and eleven months for Alex's life.

I'm not even going to attempt to document this coming week. Let's just say there's a few awards assemblies, a field trip that has been washed out, field day, 6th grade graduation, a soccer game and practice, YW and scouts, a spelling bee, Lego League club, and we're scheduled to close on our Stansbury house tomorrow. BRING ON SUMMER! And, you know how we live in Seattle and all, well, I'm ready to move back to Salt Lake, to the desert.

Oh, that's right. I already live there.

I'm off to entice Mother Nature with a little Beatles, "Here comes the sun."