Sunday Reflection

I am filled with so much love today--there are so many people around me that I care so much about, yet I know I don't show it or say it enough. I came across this message and thought I'd pass it along. The truth drives deep into the soul. Let us choose love over anger. Love heals. Love enlightens. Love is eternal.

Huh?

My baby sister is serving a LDS mission in the Philippines right now. Being the sweet, generous person that she is, she sent a slightly bulky letter to my family a few weeks ago. Inside were 3 tiny packets probably measuring 1" x 2". Inside were mini beads. She said these were all the rage in the Philippines and the kids will love them. The front of the package reads "Seven Color Crystal Boll". I turned over the package to read the directions. I think the first person to decipher what it is I am supposed to do should get a big, fat prize! This is EXACTLY what is written:

product use information:
1. add water 400G on the product, about 4 hours it will grow up.
2. one clear beauty satiety face will grow up.
3. when the flower want to oxygen and nutrition, I will help you too much.

Not only did it leave me and Todd scratching our heads, but we laugh with every letter and every phone call from her because her broken English sounds just like the above directions.

Well, needless to say, we figured it out. Below is about 2 hours into the process.


The final product. They grew at least 10x their original size; and they are squishy, gel-like balls. And, yes, my kids do enjoy playing with them!



We are in the process of trying to dry them out because we heard they can be used and reused, hydrated and dehydrated. We shall see. Thanks Lace!

Catching up

Whew, I feel like it has been a whirlwind at my house the last few weeks since school has started. We've been busy and the blog feels neglected, so hold on to your seats for lots of pictures and a chronological catch-up.

Mid-August Kendra had a summer dance concert and did fab in her two numbers. This is a picture of her with her good friend Ella. Aren't those dresses beautiful? Rental--even better! Great job Steph!



August 20 was the first day of school. The girls were so excited to get back to school. We all walked together the first day and the cougar mascot was there, with "Mission Impossible" music blasting, to greet everyone. The first picture adequately shows the new length of Alli's hair, from the 6 inches we cut off of it the day before! She loves it and it sure makes my life a heck of a lot easier! No tangles baby!






The first weekend after school started, we took a family camping trip with Todd's family. Between wedding planning and summer activities we hadn't been able to get together much, so it was a much-needed, very relaxing (scratch that, camping is NOT relaxing!) getaway. We went to Ephraim canyon where there was a little pond just steps away from our campsite and the kids had a ball catching fish, skipping rocks and playing in the mud. Man, did they get dirty! I couldn't stand it any longer, so that's why Saturday night I filled up a cooler with warm water (isn't that the oxymoron?!) and bathed the boys. Colby wasn't sure about it, but Drew loved it! Other highlights included, but were not limited to, hiking, playing games, making bottle rockets out of Alka-Seltzer and film canisters, water fights, making crafts with the kids, wrestling with Uncle Dave (the kids did), enormous flying black bugs with 4-inch antennae (Todd says this is an exaggeration, but I think not), Dutch oven cooking, homemade ice cream in a bag, campfires and of course, s'mores. We had a great time and here's proof:



Last Monday we decided to take a little hike up American Fork Canyon for FHE. We are so close, yet we don't utilize the beautiful canyon enough. We had driven, hiked and were back home getting ready for bed all within an hour. We love the outdoors and we had a great time.



Kendra planted a cabbage near the end of the school year and it grew, and grew, and grew over the summer. I've never harvested cabbage before so I was unsure when to pick it. Consequently I will take the blame for it splitting, being eaten by numerous bugs and eventually going bad, BUT it was fun to see how big it got. Needless to say, we won't be eating it.



After MUCH anticipation, Andrew FINALLY started preschool last week. I swear he asked every day of the summer if it was time to start preschool. He has had a great time his first two days and hopefully his teacher can teach him his letters more effectively than I can. I have tried and tried, but it just won't stick with him!




Friday I went with my sisters and Mom to Park City for a ladies getaway. We had a great time laughing and having some great food (LOVE Bangkok Thai!) and going to Swiss Days Saturday. There were way too many people there, but it is always fun to go and see what the vendors have. Everyone but me got a bratwurst sandwich with sauerkraut and pickles (doesn't that sound disgusting?) and Ki even asked for extra kraut! The pregnancy hormone in her necessitates some strange things I guess.




While I was away (thanks Jana for watching the boys!), Todd was at a Father/Daughter campout with the girls. Sounds like they had a great time dancing, chasing the "candyman" and watching chick-flicks. They took lots of silly pictures. Here are a few:

Good things come to those who wait.

It has been a long time in coming. There have been many, many, MANY prayers. Faith AND hope that have had to be found, and re-found. There have been many unsuccessful setups, some down-right crappy relationships, frogs kissed and hearts broken. BUT, after all that, and even at 36, my sister-in-law Melissa, has found the love of her life and solemnized her unity to Jason on August 6 of this month. The night before the wedding I asked her if he has been worth the wait and with conviction, she quickly and assuredly answered yes. It was so great to be a part of their day and there was a moment where I couldn't control my emotions as I watched the two of them look at each other and sense the love and completion there are now feeling. She is beautiful. He is handsome. But it comes from more than just an outward glimpse of them. They radiate from the inside.
The reception turned out beautifully. The transformation of my inlaws back yard created Missy's childhood vision of her dream garden wedding. Even through the wind and the chilly August weather (I know--can you believe it?) everything was perfect. Congratulations again Missy and Jason. This is just the beginning. . .






Being goofy with our wrist corsages after a long day. Notice the time on the clock behind us--and our kids were still up, all the way up until the drive home!

No Time

"You cannot take all luggage with you on all journeys. We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the center: rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork you must make a decision. Even on the biological level life is not like a river, but like a tree. It does not move towards unity but away from it and the creatures grow further apart as they increase in perfection. Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil, but from other good. I do not think that all who choose wrong roads perish; but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road. A sum can be put right: but only by going back til you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on. Evil can be undone, but it cannot 'develop' into good. Time does not heal it. The spell must be unwound, bit by bit 'with backward mutters of dissevering power'--or else not. It is still 'either-or'. If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell." (From Preface to "The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis)

Contemplative. That is where I have been lately. Though it seems cliche' to speak of the brevity of life, I must.
Only last night my sister's dear friend lost her father and two brothers in an airplane accident. Today, their families and friends grieve.
Last week a funeral was held for Cooper Kofford, a 4 year old relative of my husband's family who was accidentally backed over in a driveway.
I lost a friend, Lori, five years ago when her husband, whom she trusted, shot her while she slept.
Two other high school friends, Bryan and Marcus, were taken in a car accident just before our senior year.
My cousin, Rachel, who was hit by a car as a child.
My own father was taken nearly 26 years ago in yet another tragic airplane accident. Yet, by his own admittance in a talk to youth just two week prior, he claimed he "was ready" should he be called Home tomorrow. Am I?
Time is short. How arrogant we are to think we will have tomorrow. We might not. Aren't we always chasing after time as if to capture it in our hands, using it to our discretion? In truth, it is too slippery to be held and refuses to be caged.
There IS no time.
No time for choosing--we must know truth prior to any 'fork' our path brings.
No time to offend
To take offense
No time to withhold love, or respect
Or to entertain Pride, in all his ugliness.
No time to ignore Beauty
or simple things
or thoughts of good, no matter how trite.
No time for negative thoughts.
No time to put off acting in the now
Or apologies
or forgiveness
or repentance.
No time to ponder on less-than-perfect physicalities,
because in the end, does it really matter?
Not time to allow our man to drive, to navigate
what we do
our desires
our passions
our addictions.
No time to fill every corner of our life with technology
to avoid speaking true.
For impatience
or using that captured time on things not lasting.
No time to shadow our talents
or to avoid being silly
or laughing.
No time for jealousies
or anger
or on spending money on things not lasting.
No time for closed ears.

What am I making of my life today? For me, not enough. I must cement my convictions, to stand true amongst the many approaching torrents.
Life.
We've only got one.
And the sands are thinning.

Bear Lake

Last weekend we went to Bear Lake with my sister and her family. No elaborate stories or complicated situations to expound upon--it was a lot of relaxing and doing nothing! It was great! We ate smores, sat on the beach, went to Minnetonka Caves and made over 26 sandwiches in 2 days. Of course any trip to Garden City wouldn't be complete without raspberry shakes. Mmmmmmm, so good! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. (Note: ARGH! Sorry the pictures are so small--I didn't mean to put them in so small and switching them would take too long! Just click on them to see them bigger.)




Here we have a young Harry Potter and his trusty sidekick, Hermione.




These are the twins coming out of the womb once again. What you can't hear in this video is all the threats spat at Taylor from Nicole, including, "I'll take your ipod away!" and "Don't you dare!!!!" Made for a good laugh.

Kissing Cousins


We rented these bikes from the KOA and rode to dinner--it was a riot! (and a workout)

Lakeside Pizzeria--Home of the best ranch chicken pizza I've ever tasted!







Thanks Morleys! We had a great time and look forward to doing it again!

On our way home we stopped at Todd's family's cabin in Big Cottonwood Canyon to celebrate Ashley's 19th birthday. The cousins all had fun together and again we enjoyed being with family. Happy Birthday Ash! Thanks for being such an amazing example for our kids--we hope they end up like you!

Don't ask about the cake--apparently it was a folly-full day!


All the girls were excited when she opened this gift. Was anyone as into this show as we all were? I feel a girls' night coming on!


Grandma and Davy on a walk.

For the beauty of the earth.

Being goofy with half of the nieces/nephews.

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon Weekend

So all the miles put on my shoes, endless sweaty runs and months worth of training schedules dictating what to do each day finally came to a head yesterday with my very first half marathon at Bryce Canyon. My brother, Dainon, has done it twice before and said the terrain was not too difficult so I thought it would be a nice one to start with. In March I signed up Todd and myself and got busy with the training. When it finally came close enough, Todd admittedly was unable to get the training in and his knees were bothering him enough, so he said he wouldn't be going with us. :( I scrambled to find a friend to go with me, my brother and his friend, Erica. Luckily April, who has run a few half marathons and a few triathlons this year agreed to come with me!
Friday we headed out to Bryce Canyon and stayed at a brand new Best Western--the carpet and paint still smelled fresh! After picking up our packets, grabbing some pizza, enjoying some music from a genuine mustache-clad, guitar-playing cowboy, and a quick dip in the pool/hot tub, we headed to bed. Though we TRIED to sleep I think the only one sawing logs (literally) was my brother. The race was starting at 6 a.m. so we drug ourselves out of bed at 5 a.m. to prepare for the run. The weather channel informed us that although the day would warm up to be the hottest of the year, it was a chilly 50 degrees when we started. We arrived at the starting line while stars still appeared overhead--no sign of the sun.
Runner friends of mine have talked about the "race atmosphere" and how fun it is. Now that I've experienced it, I would have to agree. Everyone seems to support one another and there is a lightness in the air that is hard to explain. I felt strong the entire run, with the help of my music, the hydration stations and my Shot Blocks. What was entirely hilarious to me was to see people ducking, some not-so-discreetly, behind trees to "take care of business"--even after only 2 miles! I could have gone without seeing the lady ahead of me running in pink shorts with clearly a brown mess between her cheeks. EEWWWWW! While I refused to be numbered among those, or the ones waiting at the long lines at each port-a-potty along the way, I secretly prayed that my innards would hold until I finished the race. At mile 11 I picked up my pace a bit, then again at mile 12. I'd have to say that last mile was the toughest, though I still found a surge to sprint through the finish. It was an emotional thing for me, so much that I almost started crying. First things first for me, though, at that was finding water and yes, a toilet.
Total time was 2 hours, 5 minutes. I'm happy with my time. It's a start and maybe I can better it on my next race. Yes, although today I'm extremely sore and fatigued, I'd have to say I'll be doing another one. Running is an addiction I NEVER thought I'd have. In fact, I was one of those in high school who thought the cross-country team was just plain crazy. Though my knees complain often, the rest of me loves running.

Since none of us wanted to run with a camera, we had to wait until we were shuttled back to the hotel to take our finish-line photo. This is me and April tired, but feeling great!


We stopped on our way out to at least get one photo of the beautiful Bryce scenery that we were able to enjoy while on our run.


We had to stop in Beaver on our way back to get some delicious cheese curd!


What can I say? Without our kids, we acted like kids! Thanks for coming April and to Dainon and Erica for making it a great weekend!


I think my kids will want me to go away every weekend because of the weekend Todd gave them. Friday night, they stayed up late visiting Grandma Startup, eating pizza and watching a movie. Then they got up Saturday morning and went fishing up AF canyon. I guess that's why I couldn't get them on the phone after my race. Though Alli only caught one tiny fish, the kids thoroughly enjoyed using all their mini fishing poles. After grabbing their swimsuits, they headed to Grandma and Grandpa Hillam's to play in their little pool with cousins while Todd helped to get the yard ready for Missy's wedding. Then he got them Slurpees! Mom NEVER gets them Slurpees! All of us were worn out, but had a great time this weekend!