Easter

A few months ago, a very sweet 50 something year old woman was baptized into our faith.  One day just before her baptism, we had a lunch date at Applebee’s and she asked me why Mormons don’t wear cross necklaces.  I did my best to sum up this story I’d heard from President Hinckley several years ago.  Here is the exact text:

He told about talking to a Protestant minister following a temple open house. The minister had asked why there were no crosses anywhere if we say we believe in Jesus Christ. President Hinckley answered, “‘I do not wish to give offense to any of my Christian brethren who use the cross on the steeples of their cathedrals and at the altars of their chapels, who wear it on their vestments, and imprint it on their books and other literature. But for us, the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ.’

“He then asked, ‘If you do not use the cross, what is the symbol of your religion?’

“I replied that the lives of our people must become the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship” (“The Symbol of Christ,” New Era, Apr. 1990, p. 4).

President Hinckley further explained, “On Calvary he was the dying Jesus. From the tomb he emerged the living Christ. … Because our Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of his death as the symbol of our faith. But what shall we use? No sign, no work of art, no representation of form is adequate to express the glory and the wonder of the Living Christ. He told us what that symbol should be when he said, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’ (John 14:15)” (pp. 6, 7).

This is the thought that’s been going through my mind the most over the last few weeks as we prepared for Easter to come.  I don’t have any personal issues with the symbol of the cross.  I think it’s a very meaningful symbol to help someone be reminded of their faith and their devotion to Jesus Christ.  In my mind, it’s no different than the CTR ring I wear to remind me to “choose the right”.   But just because I wear a CTR ring, doesn’t mean that I don’t have to actually follow through and make good choices.  I also believe that just wearing a cross around your neck is not action enough to guarantee salvation.  You must live the life God expects of a a follower of Jesus Christ.

I’ve also been thinking about whether or not my actions and thoughts adequately declare my testimony of Jesus Christ.  I definitely have room for improvement.  But in the end it all comes down to my family.  I love my husband and I love my kids.  I don’t want to be separated from my family after death.  And at this time of reflection and recommitment, I am recommitting to be better.  To be a better wife, a better mother, a better daughter, a better sister and a better friend.  I will never be able to repay the gift of the Atonement and Resurrection.  But I want to live a life that is worthy of the sacrifice of the most perfect person who ever lived on earth. 

I am grateful to know that Christ lives.  I am grateful to know that if we live our lives worthy of His blessings, we will all be together again as a family for eternity.  I am grateful to celebrate Easter not because Christ died for us, but because Christ lives for us.  To me, it makes this trial we call life, all worthwhile.

Oranges

Brayden has had a loose tooth for weeks.  I am generally unwilling to traumatize my kids trying to help them get teeth out, so we will wait until they are hanging by a thread and bleeding before we intervene.  Last weekend Brayden’s loose tooth was causing him some distress.  It kept bleeding, but it didn’t come out easily.  So, I had an idea and cut up an orange.  He loves to suck on orange slices.  On slice number four, this is what happened:

The best part about this technique is that all the blood from his mouth was absorbed into the orange slice.  Why didn’t I ever think of this technique before? 

A small part of me is a little sad to say goodbye to Brayden’s baby teeth.  Once they start loosing their baby teeth, their cute little smile is never the same!

Spring Break

How do you post about a spring break without going into a super boring travel log or picture overload?  You don’t.  I loved my vacation, but don’t want to overwhelm you with gazillions of pictures of my kids in all the places most of you have already seen or been to.  So, I decided I would post one picture per day.  Putting that limitation on myself made it so much easier to choose.  Even though I carried around a 15 pound camera bag all week, I didn’t get as many  pictures as I wanted, mostly because of the daily rain.   But here is a recap in just one picture per day:

Day 1:  Disneyland.  By total chance, my parents and my aunt and uncle were there too.   Just after we rode our first ride, the clouds came in and poured.  I mean it poured!  Thankfully it didn’t last longer than an hour or so, and we spent most of the time it was raining in Pirates of the Caribbean, so we didn’t get too drenched.  It was still fun to hang out with the family and they were very cool about doing whatever we wanted to do.  Thanks, guys! 

Day 2:  California Adventure.  The second ride of the day was Grizzly River Run.  I opted out this time around as I just didn’t feel like getting wet early on in the day.  I’m glad I stayed behind so I could get these pics of the rest of the family going through the water spouts.  Classic moment.  I also want to document for the record that Megan and Ian did go on California Screamin’.  They weren’t thrilled about it, but they got a milkshake at Red Robin that night for their bravery.  Another funny thing about this day was what became known as the “cougar count”.  With Taylor and Eric both wearing their BYU gear that day and BYU gearing up to play in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tourney, Taylor got shout outs all day long from complete strangers.  There were A LOT of BYU fans at CA Adventure that day.  A lot.  It was funny… we’d be walking along and all of a sudden hear someone yell “Jimmer!”  or “Go Cougs!” or “BYU!”  Taylor LOVED it.  Cougar Count for the day in the upper 20’s.

Day 3:  Universal Studios.  This was probably Eric’s favorite park.  While I was off buying meal passes, SpongeBob came around so Eric took Ian and Brayden over to get a photo.  Both boys LOVE SpongeBob, but when Brayden got a chance to meet him in person, he go scared.  So they ended up playing cat and mouse with SpongeBob for a few minutes while Eric snapped away.  One good thing I have say about Universal… they’re characters are super accommodating and take extra time with people.  One bad thing I have to say about Universal… they’re employees are programmed to try to upsell everything in the park and they pushed the annual membership upgrade every chance they could get.  It got annoying after a while.  The morning weather was wonderful, but the rain came in the afternoon and lasted the rest of the day.  Lucky for us, most of the shows and rides are inside.  While the rain was bad, the worst part of the day was driving from Anaheim to Universal and back during rush hour.  Of course, when is it NOT rush hour in LA?  Cougar count in Hollywood:  zero. 

Day 4:  Disneyland/California Adventure.  We split the day between Disney and CA Adventure.  In each park, we let each person pick their favorite ride and that’s basically all we did.  Of course, the favorite rides have the longer lines, but everyone was happy and had a good time.  At CA Adventure, Taylor got to ride CA Screamin’ 3 times all on Fast Passes because the younger three didn’t want to do it at all.  (Well, Brayden wanted to ride it, but came in one inch too short.)  At Disneyland, we made it a priority to go to the Jedi Training Academy, in hopes that Brayden would get picked.  Alas, the Jedi Master favored the other side of the audience much more heavily, and overlooked Brayden when picking time came.  It was still a great show though, and they all LOVED it.  Darth Maul was amazing!

Day 5:  SeaWorld.  This was our first trip to SeaWorld.  It was cool.  I could have gotten some amazing pictures from the shows, but I opted to leave the big camera behind.  I was underwhelmed by the Shamu show, as it was completely overrated.  The dolphin show, however, was really cool.  And the sea lion show was hilarious.  Of all the exhibits, I was most impressed with the penguins and the sharks.  I’m glad we went once, but once was enough.

Day 6:  San Diego Zoo.  This is Gau Gau.  We waited in a line for 20-30 minutes to see this guy.  He was facing the world and chomping away on some bamboo.  Super cute!  I hadn’t been to this zoo in 25 years or so, and I’d forgotten how massive it is.  (And hilly.)  We enjoyed walking around and seeing the animals.  The lions were disappointing (aka napping) but the polar bears were awesome.  One of them was dancing and giving us a good show.  Some of the exhibits were old and outdated, but many were new and well suited to mimicking the wild.  I really had fun with my camera at the zoo, and got many cool shots.  The photos I got at the zoo made up for the lack at SeaWorld.

All in all it was a great vacation.  Pros: It was our first theme park run with no stroller, diapers or naps.  Hallelujah!  Cons:  I had a sinus infection that made me miserable off and on for the entire week.  The rain was also definitely a con, although it might have been a blessing in disguise if it kept heavier crowds at bay.  I’m always a little sad to leave Disneyland, but never fear, I will be back! 

Rainy Morning

I woke up at 5:45 a.m.  this morning.
(This is NOT supposed to happen on a Saturday).  After going to the little girls’ room, I tried to go back to sleep, but Eric was already awake and we could hear noises from the room next door.   The alarm was set for 6 a.m. so Eric could get up and head for BoSa.  (If you live in the Phoenix area and haven’t had BoSa donuts, you are missing out.  They taste better than Krispy Kreme and they are cheaper!)  Our EQ is in charge of delivering 300 metal chairs to the Mesa Temple this morning, rain or shine.  Eric left with the 3 older kids at 6:45 and headed to the church.  Brayden had climbed into our bed and gone back to sleep, which is exactly what I would have liked to do, but I was wide awake.  (I guess that means I’m officially over the sinus infection that has bested me for the last 4 weeks.)   
So I decided to break out the tri-pod and figure out how to take pictures of moving water.  I’d read some blog tutorials on the subject, but haven’t had the opportunity to practice it.  The above picture is SOOC (straight out of camera) on the "auto" setting.  Just by manipulating the shutter speed, look at what I got next:

This could have been better if I had remembered to check the white balance and ISO.  Both were off, I later discovered.  Oh well, just goofing around this morning anyway.  Here are some shots I thought turned out kinda neat… I was limited to what I could shoot from my front door.  Didn’t have anyone to hold an umbrella so I could venture out into nature.



And when I came into the kitchen to put my camera down, this is what I found waiting for me.  (I’m hoping Brayden won’t want his… then I can have both!)
Today is the kind of day I really wish I had a fireplace… I feel bad for Eric and the kids… the rain is getting worse and they are out hauling chairs around in it.  I think I better have a nice big hot breakfast with hot chocolate waiting for them when they get back.

Last Month in Books

 These is my Words by Nancy Turner

I first read this book just after I’d moved to Arizona.  I loved it then, but I’d forgotten how much I loved it and why.  It got chosen for our Book Club Book this month and so I hunted far and wide to get the audio version of this book, but it was not to be found!  So, I ordered a paper copy from Amazon and set it aside until I had time to read.  I ended up taking it with me to Science Camp.  It made for a great distraction on the bus and I read it by headlamp at night when I needed something to help me until I got super sleepy.  Once I got home, I couldn’t do anything without picking this book up and reading it some more.  I hate it when that happens, especially since I already knew how it ended… you’d think I could have spread it out a bit more.  But it is that captivating, and was even more so the second time around.  I would love to see a movie version of this book!  It’s a fictional diary of a girl living in the Arizona Territories in the late 1800’s.  I haven’t talked to many people who didn’t like this book. 

 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

I can’t decide what to write about this book.  It’s a “coming of age” book set in turn of the century Brooklyn.  It follows the life of Francie Nolan and all her relations as they work through tough times and extreme poverity.  You get a real feel for how it was to live in New York when most of it’s residents were still considered immigrants.  The descriptions of Brooklyn are detailed and interesting.  Each family member has it’s own unique personality and I think the family dynamics were pretty true to life of what it would have been like.  But on a whole I had a really hard time getting through this book.  I would almost call it drudgery.  Almost.  The only thing that kept me sane and coming back for more was the narrator (this one was audio, thank goodness.)  I’d have never finished it in paper, for sure.  Being from California, I don’t consider myself having an accent.  (Maybe East Coasters think we have one, but I’ve always been fascinated with east coast accents.)  The narrator does a wonderful job of nailing all the accents.  In all honesty, it’s the only reason I finished it.  I’ve decided that I’m just not a big fan of the “coming of age” story.  I can’t decide why, but I’m not.  Here is the proof:  I didn’t really like A Painted House by John Grisham.  I thought The Secret Life of Bees was just okay.  I felt like the ending to this book was really disappointing and quite sad.  I know that’s how life is, and that’s what makes it such a moving story, but I just can’t get into these types of novels.

April Showers

Yesterday it rained.  Rain in April is rare and a welcomed sight after the heat wave we had just a week ago.   I’m still trying to do that picture a week challenge from MCP (see the sidebar for a link) but some weeks are easier than others.  This week the challenge was to edit a photo using a new action set they are selling on their website.  There is a free mini version you can test out before you commit to buying.  Check out this edited version of the above photo.  This is why I must continue to learn Photoshop skills, or in this case, Photoshop cheats.  Amazing results!

In case you are still wondering, this is a picture of yesterday’s rain hitting the surface of my pool. 

Heat Wave

Yesterday we had record heat.  97 degrees on April 1st.  Very uncool April Fool’s Joke by Mother Nature. UGH… I’m not ready for summer!  This has been the first real hot spell this year.  Two weeks ago we were pushing it at 90 a couple days, but it didn’t last long and it still got cold at night.  (Cold at night here translates into the 50’s.)   When the boys got off their bus, they were so hot and miserable.  They decided today would be the first swim day of the year.  Here’s the problem… the pool is only 68 degrees right now.  They didn’t’ let that deter them.

As soon as they went outside I had the thought… GRAB THE CAMERA!  As I rustled around for the camera, I heard the splashes of their cannonballs, but grabbed the camera and ran out the door.  I didn’t know how long they would last in the freezing cold water and I wanted to grab a couple pics.  I was worried that the lens that was on my camera wouldn’t be the right one, it was the 70-300 zoom that Eric got me for Christmas.  But look at the results!  I am in LOVE with these two photos.  In love.  It’s rare I can get Ian to genuinely smile at me.  He is very self conscious of his teeth, and so it tends to affect how he smiles.  You can tell by his eyes that he’s smiling, but he gets to keep his teeth hidden.

And this is the epitome of cuteness.  I know I shouldn’t brag, but I can’t help it sometimes.  And I am so thrilled with how that drop of water is dripping off his chin.  (Taylor thought it was drool.  It’s NOT. It’s pool water.)  Turns out they were shivering after about 5 minutes, so they came inside, wrapped up in jumbo towels, sat down to watch a movie and begged me to make them some hot chocolate.  Not bad for a Friday afternoon. 

The Call to Honor

I don’t know if I’ve ever written a post about College Basketball, but I can’t let this season pass without paying a little online homage to BYU and Jimmer Fredette.  It wasn’t long into the College Basketball season before I started hearing this name around my house:  Jimmer.  Jimmer?  What kind of name is that, anyway?  Well it only took a couple episodes of SportsCenter on ESPN for me to find out… he’s BYU’s Golden Boy.  And arguably, the best College player this year.  And he’s a Mormon kid from upstate New York.

With one of their best seasons ever and just a couple games left to play before the NCAA tournament, the second best player, Brandon Davies, got kicked off the team for a very serious Honor Code Violation.  I was amazed at how quickly this became national news.  But honestly, I was (mostly) pleased with the response from the general public.  I remember being in my car in the drive-up line for In-n-Out that day and listening to the local AZ talk radio guys talking about this on the radio.  They asked BYU Alumni to call into the show and weigh in on the situation and shed a bit more light on the Honor Code and why it’s important at BYU.   

The first caller to respond to the invitation was a women from the next town over.  She was a BYU Alumni and did a fabulous job explaining how the Honor Code works and why it’s so important to us.  The radio host asked her if she was upset that BYU had pulled the offender from the team, when the end of the season was so near.  Other colleges have Honor Codes, but don’t enforce them, especially if a Final Four appearance is all but guaranteed.  What did BYU have to gain by shooting itself in the foot?   Her response brought tears to my eyes.  Tears of Pride.  Is there such a thing? 

I can’t recall her exact words, but it went something like this… she said:  “I’ve been following BYU’s basketball season very closely this year and it’s been super exciting.  Of course, I want the Cougars to go to the Final Four.  But I’ve never been more proud of my school than I am right now.   The school has put Honor above all else, and that means more to me than a basketball trophy ever could.”

I feel exactly the same way.  And I’m not even a BYU Alum.  I did apply for admittance, twice, and got accepted both times, but ended up getting my degree from Ricks College which has since been upgraded to BYU-Idaho.   But I spent 3 years working full-time in Orem so Eric could finish his degree at BYU faster, and my income paid for his tuition, so I feel like it’s my school… even if it’s not.  And our children are all BYU fans.  We didn’t plan on brainwashing them to favor BYU, but it has inadvertently happened, anyway.  And that’s fine.  I will be proud to send my children to one of the only schools in America that upholds Honor and promotes Integrity, Chastity and Virtue.

BYU did not make it to the Final Four this year.  They did get as far as the Sweet Sixteen and lost that game in OT.  ESPN still LOVES Jimmer Fredette…. as does my son, Taylor, who is a die-hard Jimmer fan.  (While we were at Disneyland and California Adventure ee sported his BYU attire and got over 30 Cougar shout-outs from perfect strangers… BYU has fans EVERYWHERE!)  More than ever, I am proud of BYU.  Thank you for standing up for virtue and morality.  I hope it was an easy decision to make.