Reading is Fundamental

Remember when we were younger and there were only like 5 TV channels TOTAL, two of them being PBS? I remember the Reading is Fundamental commercials and was happy to see that this program is still in existence today.

I LOVE to read! Right now I am actually reading three different books at the same time...

Jana's Journal by Jeannette Windle was on sale for 25 cents at FYE about a month ago, so I picked it up. I don't read it a lot.. a few pages a week. It's a pretty good book.... aimed toward much younger readers than myself, but the style of book I always imagined I would write someday.

I've been reading the first book in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. I loved the Twilight series mostly because Stephenie Meyer is an LDS author who went to BYU. If she can do it, anyone can! Stephenie Meyer makes me believe in dreams. Her books definitely started a trend among authors, though, this series being one of them. So I'm reading about dhampirs, guardians and so on in this series. I was reading a couple chapters a day until yesterday when Ashli brought me Catching Fire,

the second book in The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. CANNOT put it down! But I'm at the end of Chapter 12 in Catching Fire, and I'm furious at what is happening! So I took a little break, did some housecleaning and some blogging while I take a breath before I get back to the book. The third book in the series came out last week, and since Ashli, Tyler and I are all reading the series, maybe we can all pitch in and buy the hardcover edition since paperbacks won't be out for a while. Ah.. I LOVE to read!

Odds and Ends

I'm not sure we've EVER had a matching full set of silverware in our house. As a result, all of us somehow ended up with our favorite fork. Ashli's had a wooden handle and we think it fell behind the stove a few years ago, but we never did find it even when we put in a wood floor and moved the appliances out.

Kurt's has a blue handle and it was lost for a long time, too. But I found it one day under the shoe rack in our closet along with a plate... apparently he had hurriedly stashed it there when he heard me coming down the hall ..in an effort to hide the fact that he was eating messy, greasy enchiladas in the bedroom.

Tyler likes the one with rounded edges on the handle and if there is a drawer full of clean forks, but that one is dirty, he will wash that one fork in order to use it.

But of us all, Zack is the most loyal to his fork, a tiny little fork with an intricate design on the handle. I actually think it belongs to a set of Kurt's Moms and we ended up with it somehow, but Zack loves it. When Mack married into the family, one of the first "rules" he learned was NOT to use Zack's fork when he ate at our house. So... Zack moved to college last week.. and took his fork with him. Tonight when I washed the dishes and put Tyler and Kurt's forks in the drawer, I was way sad that Zack's wasn't there. I miss him. And his fork.

Collage

So the other day I was thinking about some of the things that define who I am~both good and bad experiences that have molded me. Most of it is too personal to blog about, but I made a collage of some of the things that have played a big role in shaping the Me I am today. There are days when I look in the mirror and like what I see, and days when I don't. But I am grateful for the character-building moments that I've had and continue to have. Sometimes when things are really tough, I think I absolutely CANNOT handle one more challenge. Then another challenge comes along, and you know what? I handle it:) Fortunately for me I have some AMAZING people in my corner who are always on my side, even when I don't deserve it. Thank you to everyone who has played a part in my life in one way or another, and especially to those who have hung around long enough to see how the collage looks today.

~Sons~

I've been thinking a lot about the men in my life lately, and particularly my sons. My oldest son, Zack, moved to Ephraim to attend Snow College last Saturday. And, my GOSH, it was harder than I thought it would be. I'm so proud of him, but can't help but be sad that he's all grown up now.

Tyler is working SO hard at football this year. Tomorrow is his first game, and I CAN'T WAIT to see him play! I'll be wearing my Juab football tshirt all day:)

And of course there is Dixie's son, Kurt. She tells me all the time how proud she is of the man he has become.

And Becky's son, Paul aka Woggy... I LOVE this man more every single year. My brother is an amazing man and I am so proud to be his sister.

And all three of Tawni's sons... Logan, Landen and Lincoln:) Tawni spent years trying to get pregnant after she and Mark got married. We were all so worried that she'd never have the blessing of being a Mom, which would have been devastating. She is the sweetest, most patient among the four of us sisters, and she was born to be a Mother. So, when she finally got pregnant with Logan, we were SO excited! And along came two more adorable sons. They're such a cute family:)

I didn't get any pictures of my other nephews in this blog, but they're all amazing. Sissy wrote this on a card to Tawni when Lincoln was born, and it touched my heart so deeply. It's really personal to our family how much we all love Stephen's son, Aaron. He and Aaron's mom divorced when Aaron and Brittany were very young, and Tara and Stephen spent many, many years and many thousands of dollars trying to get the kids back here in Utah. They are finally here, and it's been so hard for Aaron to really figure out where he wants to be-- here or with his mom.

He'll be 18 in a couple months, and I pray that life brings him all of the opportunities and blessings that he deserves. I love him so much.

An Amazing Day

SO.... I know I brag about this amazing family A LOT! But, seriously, how blessed am I?

They're all beautiful, inside and out. But today they were exceptionally beautiful. Kurt and Zack have been working in Blanding, Utah, since about March. They do come home occasionally for a couple days at a time, and we've all been to Blanding a few times this summer, but our family has not been all together in church for months. Well, today was the last Sunday before Zack goes to college in Ephraim, Utah. He moves next Saturday. So, when we all arrived at the church this morning for Sacrament meeting, it meant a lot to me to have us all there.. together. And then...there were no Priests sitting at the Sacrament table. Our ward has threePriests at a time, all of them preparing the bread and two of them offering the blessings on the Sacrament. Well, my husband, Kurt, is the 1st counselor in the Young Mens' Presidency and Zack and Tyler were the only Priests at the meeting today, so the three of them went up to the Sacrament table. Oh WOW!! I looked up to the front of the chapel and saw all of the men in my family sitting there together to bless the Sacrament and I was absolutely overwhelmed. With love and pride and just a sense of peace and security that I am surrounded by this Priesthood power in my home. That all of the men under my roof are worthy to sit together and perform a Priesthood ordinance is amazing, humbling, awe-inspiring. I just can't put it into words. I'm proud of them for so many things, but this is probably the top of the list. I have the life I always dreamed of. Wow. I love these guys...

The first fish Tyler ever caught.. probably about 1997.

Kurt could have made more money working somewhere else all these years, but it was important to us that he have free time to coach the kids in sports and be there for the important events in their lives. We wouldn't trade it for anything.

I love that Kurt works with the Young Men in the Church, so our boys can see him honor his Priesthood and look to him for guidance throughout their lives.

How lucky am I to live with these guys?

But.. I'm going to miss Zack SO MUCH! Just the other day, we were praying that he'd live through the night in the NICU and now he's off to college! I'm so proud of him and the man he is.

And so honored that I get to be the woman in their lives, atleast for now:)

~Family~

So this is the newest addition to our

FAMILY~

a teeny little dog named

Hemi

I tend her every day while Ashli and Mack go to work.

I'm ready to be a Grandma, but I am glad Ashli and Mack are waiting to have children until life is somewhat stable.. they're only 20 years old, after all....

So, I'll wait... patiently... and tend their baby dog in the meantime:)

I've been thinking about FAMILIES a LOT lately...

A couple of my high school friends have faced some challenges in their families and it just got me thinking... it absolutely breaks my heart to see families fall apart.

Sometimes marriages just have to end.. after every effort has been made, after every avenue has been explored, after lots of advice and prayer and tears...

Sometimes it just has to end..

But the family unit doesn't have to end... Mom and Dad are mutual parents of their joint children forever.... so I'm happy when I see people putting their own issues aside for the good of their children and maintaining a strong family bond even when Mom and Dad aren't together anymore. One of my friends said "Happiness is all that matters" I could not DISAGREE more.

Integrity matters. Morals matter. Compassion matters. Sacrifice matters. There is much more to life than our personal "happiness". In our marriage, we have both given up personal happiness at one point or another for the good of the children, for the good of each other, or just simply because it was the right thing to do.

So, my rambling thoughts about family brought me to the definition of a

FAMILY

I have some gay friends. I love them. They're good parents. They're good people. They want to be legal families.. they want to be able to legally get married.

And I'm not sure how I feel about this. My political party and my religion are pretty clear about where they stand on California's Proposition 8. But where do I stand on a personal level? It's so easy on paper... Satan is attacking the family. He is trying to destroy the family unit. But you ask the two adorable kids of my gay friends and they'll say they have a great family. They have a Mom and a Dad and Mom's partner and all of these adults absolutely ADORE them. Sure, it's nontraditional. But my family is nontraditional, too. We haven't had a Mom for 23 years. Is it worse to have two Moms than no Mom at all? I don't know....

But I do know that there is simply no continuation of the human race whatsoever without a man AND a woman creating a child, thus creating a family...

Here's what I do know... whatever the family unit.. a dog named Hemi instead of a baby, two Moms, a single Dad, my newly divorced friend with four kids... I think it is absolutely vital that we as adults make the lives of children as "traditional" as possible. Men bring something to the lives of children that women simply can't and vice versa. I hope that when we find ourselves in a position where our children are no longer in a home with Mom and Dad together, we give them opportunities to spend quality time with Grandmas or Grandpas, Uncles or Aunts, religious leaders, teachers, people of both genders, to bring their unique gifts and talents to the lives of children.

This past summer, we've had to find a balance between all of the things we want in our family. Money is tight, so we didn't go to a Yankees game this year... we went camping.

Ah! I'm so GLAD that money was tight.. this camping trip blessed our lives tremendously.

Read a great scripture in Sacrament Meeting today...

2 Timothy 2:20

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver,

but also of wood and of earth..

Love that..

We do still love our baseball, so we've gone to a couple Orem Owlz

games on Sundays, when it's only $1 to get in....

It's been fun, but nothing can compare to the feeling we

had last August when our daughter married the love of her

life in the Manti temple...

So I think we've decided to skip the Sundays at the ball park.

I think we can spring for $4 on a Tuesday if we really

want to hit an Owlz game:)

It's vital that we teach our children the value of hard work,

no matter what their chosen profession will eventually be.

Whatever we do, wherever we are, the bottom

line is simply this...

Together is the best place to be...

...And I vow to never take it for granted that

we have six people (and two dogs) who love each

other immensely... who are willing to

sacrifice time, money, and personal desires

for the good of each other.

I am SO blessed to have this amazing

family..