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Meet Amy
I have struggled with the answer when asked, "What do you do?" and it isn't work-related. Ultimately, we settled on that I find things and untangle things. But I also read (a lot), pretend to wake surf, and watch Hallmark films.
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Apparently this week we got a lot of air. Jade and her cousin were both thrown from the tube while we were boating. Luke actually got WAY higher than Jade but I was not snapping pictures that time. Harrison was loving it, until the tube flipped and he was stuck under it. Luckily he knew enough to push out from under it. It was very scary and we really need to figure out what makes it flip. Last year it never flipped and this year we have had 3 scary flips.
At our church’s Summer swim party, Jade spent a good portion of the night jumping and flipping from the diving boards. The first time she did a flip kind of scared her, as you can tell by the look on her face. At least she got back up on kept jumping after being scared. I have never jumped off a high dive, and I dare say, I have NO intention of EVER jumping off one. Not even to show Ivy that it “isn’t scary” because it is TOTALLY scary.
Be sure to join in the Photo Story Friday and Give Me Your Best Shot with Cecily and Lolli.
Hosted by Cecily and Lolli
Sadly, I don’t have any good “old school photos” this week to link to over at Dumb Mom. I promise I’ll make up for it next week.
My mom, sister and I have only tried a few times to do a “girls’ trip” and there is good reason for that. When my mom and I travel without dad, nothing works out for us. One day I’ll tell you the story of the week we were in DC together.
The journey for today’s story was scary, enlightening and really really frightening. (I have a couple great pictures from that road trip, but they are in my closet waiting to be scanned and I’m not home).
My sister and I were freshman in high school and college and we thought it was time for a trip with just the three of us. Mom carefully mapped out our course. We were going to drive through Southern Utah and Southern Colorado. There were plans for Durango and places to hike. We thought we’d spend the night in Silverton and just explore.
Finally, after our careful planning, we were off.
The drive went smoothly. Until we got to the very treacherous Silverton pass. Then my panic attack started and I wanted to curl up on the floor so that I couldn’t see the long drop off the side of the road. While I was hyperventilating, my mom told us all about how dangerous the pass really is. Especially during the winter when they would leave the cars down there until Spring. (My family really does a great job of embracing and encouraging my fears).
Then we got lost.
Once we finally found our way to Silverton it was after dark. We hadn’t made any reservations. There wasn’t a room available.
So, the three of us slept in our Mazda 626. In the middle of a parking lot. Right by the “Welcome to Silverton” sign. None of us really slept. We were sure there was some chainsaw murderer lurking in the woods that would stumble upon us and cut us into pieces. If not a murderer, then a bear or a mountain lion. Fear was not our friend.
The next morning we woke up. Loaded our stuff up and tried to start the car. I don’t remember how mom finally got it going. I think she might have wandered to the road to find someone to help us. (Oh and yes, that only gave me more anxiety and reason to fear for our lives and our innocence).
We got it started and went for a hike.
We hiked, played in the water fall, got soaking wet and stinky. Then we got back in the car and made the LONG journey home. We ended the road trip early because we just weren’t feeling lucky.
The rest of the drive went off without a hitch. But I don’t think I ever need to make the drive to Durango or Silverton again. Even though it was absolutely GORGEOUS.
My niece and nephew are heading home this week. The kids are all really going to miss each other. Especially after all of the time they have spent together this summer. Camp Grandma has taken place nearly ever single day. There have been a number of sleep-overs and from the moment the kids wake up in the morning, they are asking when they are going to get to play with their cousins.
I’ve mentioned before that Jade doesn’t have many friends in our neighborhood that she actually plays with. She has great friends at dance and at the gym, but not in our neighborhood.
This summer, Jade has gotten to play every single day because of Camp Grandma. She and Ash have really gotten to be close friends and she’s learned a lot about having a good friend. It has made me wish that they lived near us so that they could play together all the time.
For one of their last days, my folks took them to the dollar show of “Shrek 4” and then Asher came to our house to play. They jumped on the tramp, played wii, and the highlights were racing through the maze Scott mowed in the lawn and riding the 4 wheeler.
We’ve had a blast having Ash and Kier around for the summer. We will miss them and Jade is counting the days until she can hopefully see Ash again.
And, as always, Scott proves to be the “fun” parent. And if you ask Asher, he’s also a “fun” uncle.
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President Benson said“When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities. …
“May God bless us to put [him] first and, as a result, reap peace in this life and eternal life with a fulness of joy in the life to come” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1988, 3, 6; or Ensign, May 1988, 4, 6).
This Sunday my lesson was on sacrifice. It was a difficult lesson for me to give. I think it was difficult to give and to receive because the way we sacrifice is such a personal choice.
One of the ladies in my class said that it is much harder to give when we are blessed with so much. She said that it is easier to give when we know we are giving all that we can. I really agree with her. And wish that I could change my ways to be able to give more when I am being blessed.
In the quote above it promises us that if we put God first that all else will fall into place or drop out of our lives. I think I am afraid to give too much for fear of what will fall out of our lives. My pride gets in the way of being able to truly sacrifice. Sure, I can give of my time when asked, I can make meals when someone is in need, I can give an anonymous gift here and there. But I wonder how much more I could give and do if I set my pride aside and opened up my heart and home to those in need. What if??
The lesson has made me question my priorities. It has made me wonder what more can I do and give. I’m questioning how well am I doing on teaching my girls that they need to be charitable and sacrifice whenever the opportunity arises. Now I am looking at each facet of my life wondering how I can sacrifice more. There is also the challenge that in a marriage you both have to agree with what you are sacrificing and how you are doing it. And that presents a whole different challenge.
I know that my family needs to be where I spend the bulk of my time. It is important to have fun and play. But it is also important to spend time teaching and preparing for life.
Last week we went to Lagoon. My parents, Scott’s parents and my brother’s two youngest came with us. It was really difficult for us to go and have “fun” while our thoughts and prayers were with my sister in law. Fortunately, we received good news and my sister in law is doing great right now and the prognosis is great. She is healing and our prayers have definitely been answered. So thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers.
While we were at Lagoon the girls had a blast and we kept the worry in the back of our minds. Plus I got pictures with my girls and got soaked with my parents.
Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?
How are you teaching your children to serve others or sacrifice for another?
I’ve often talked about how different my little girls are. One is adventurous while one is extremely cautious.
The other day, my sister was throwing the little kids in the pool. Kat asked Ivy if she would like to be thrown. Ivy said “sure” and we all had a moment of jaw dropping. A few minutes later, Ivy came over to Kat and said,
“Aunt Kat, you don’t need to throw me now. I already did it in my head.”
There you have it. Two very different little girls.
My sister (she’s the “fun aunt”) was helping the girls with their dives off the side of the pool. In order to help them go up and over she would normally hold one of the sponge noodles or the pool to the net. This time, she decided to hold Jade. It worked like a charm. Ash dives beautifully.
In order to show that being fearless comes from someone, here is a photo of my brother and my dad soooo many years ago.
Sweet little Ivy, who does big jumps in her head, prefers to pose for the camera whenever possible.
And in order to show that this trait is also hereditary, here is a taste of the “posing trait” (again way back in the day)…
Be sure and check out the other GMYBS, PSF and OSPF
Hosted by Cecily and Caitlin
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