The Great and Terrible.

I will be back in a couple of days hours. Thanks Sharon!

P.S. Do not let me forget to tell a he-darn-larious tale about this book!

Not Enough Time?

"We will have to make some hard choices of how we use our time. But there should never be a conscious choice to let the spiritual become secondary as a pattern in our lives. Never....

"...When we put God's purposes first, He will give us miracles....

"Those apparent prison walls of 'not enough time' will begin to recede, even as you are called to do more." -President Henry B. Eyring

I am not sure if it is because the kids are out of school and I am struggling to keep up with everything as it is or what, but when I read this quote in the Ensign, it really made me stop and ask myself what I am doing to put God first. I had a really hard time answering that as it seems He got copied and pasted to the end of my list of things to do each day. I don't know how it happened. I used to be so good. Our family scripture study has become nonexistent and you can tell this by the contention that is running rampant in my home since we stopped. My personal prayers and study time might get done at midnight when I finally crawl into bed, if I can keep my eyes open. When they are asking for volunteers in RS for anything, my hand is cemented in my lap and has no intention of raising above my head. I haven't been visiting teaching in who knows how long. I have not been to the temple in ages. Aside from the spiritual, I have let my exercise routine fly out the door too. I have so many things to do each day that I cannot fathom adding anything else to it at this point. But when I read this promise from one of our church leaders, I cannot help but trust in that promise.

I read about an analogy someone presented in a relief society lesson. She had a glass jar, some walnuts and some sand. The sand represented the things that we have to do each day. The walnuts represented our daily duties to God. She asked how both of these things could possibly fit into the jar together. She illustrated by pouring the sand into the jar and filled it more than halfway full. Then she tried unsuccessfully to add the walnuts to the jar. They could not both fit at the same time. She tried the experiment again, this time adding the walnuts first. As she added the sand, it filled in all around the walnuts and this time each one fit perfectly.

As I reflected on this I realized that we cannot grasp God's ways. He knows what we don't. Where we can't do it, He can. If I add the walnuts to my jar first each day, then the rest of the things that I have to do will fall into place just fine.

I would like to know your thoughts on this. What do you do to put God first in your life?

Do you know?

I have ALWAYS wondered how calm I would be in the heat of disaster. Would I be able to use my skillz of CPR and save a choking baby? Would I be able to lift a car off of a trapped child? If Rob fell over and became unresponsive would I be able to revive him? If there were a fire in my home would I be able to get everyone out of the house? If there were ever a fire on my stove would I be able to put it out before it spread?

I have had these thoughts often and I have thanked my lucky stars that I have not had to find out BUT still, I just wonder...

On another note...

If you go to cook some lunch on your stove and there is food in the unit, don't turn the unit on thinking that it will just burn off. And if you do anyway and it starts to really smoke up the house and you wonder why you didn't take my advice, don't try to fan the smoke away. And if you do fan the smoke away and that little fire starts in the unit, ask yourself if this is the moment you have been wondering about and if you are calm enough to take care of the impending disaster. You might also quickly ask yourself these other questions (yes there is time, somehow I just know): Is this the kind of fire that you aren't supposed to put water on or that you are? Isn't there a common household item that I can throw on it to smother it?

Then calmly walk over to the cupboard and try to look through everything while trying to remember what it is. Salt? No. Oil? He he! Snort! That was funny. (Oh yeah you have a fire to put out.) Corn starch? No. That would not be it. Corn starch is flammable. Not that I would know or anything. But... If you do put cornstarch on it and the flames get higher, a kid-size cup of water should do the trick. When it is all out, then you might remember that DUH it wasn't cornstarch. It is baking soda! (At least that is what I have heard. At this point you wouldn't know if it works as you don't have any fire left to try it on.)

As you clean up the awful mess that you made and you realize that the kids are all safe in the living room (and not outside under our if-there-is-ever-a-fire-in-the-house meeting place), then you will know. You got what it takes. You could be a firefighter. You could work as a paramedic, you CAN work in an ER. I wonder if they are in need of volunteer fire fighters.

My prayers will be extra long tonight as I pray real hard that He will NEVER show me my strength through any harder trials than that have much to be thankful for that we are all safe, my mom and dad's house will be here when they get back, and that NOW I KNOW.

Your Highness, I bow to you

Dear Mark (and Steve and Michael):

I surrender. I bow to you. You are King. I sit here defeated even now as you call my house.

"Hi this is Mark... do you want to learn more about getting a satellite TV system for your home?"

Yes I do, thank you. I really didn't know what I have been thinking all this time, not having a satellite system in my home. I will take four ten of them. One for each corner of my house and the other 6 to be evenly distributed across the rest of the roof. I will take every package that Dish Network has to offer. I think we will really like the sports channels now (especially since baseball season is over for us and we will be going through withdrawals). Oh and can you please throw in 5 remotes with each system. We seem to lose those pretty fast. Did you say all this was for free? Oh that's ok, I don't want to burden you. I want to pay for all of it. I will pay anything for all of it.

Dear auto warranty people:

Yes I will renew my auto warranty because you are right, I do not want to be without it. My car is about to break down and I am going to need to switch out the transmission soon and I think the engine is on its last leg. And can you please send me a policy for my bike and for the buggy that I pull behind it? I know that every time you call you promise that this is my last chance but then you find it in your heart to give me chance after chance after chance to change my mind. I really value you for that. I have been unkind to you when you call and yet you are so forgiving.

Dear Las Vegas Vacation Authority:

You know that vacation you keep calling about? Did I say that I didn't want to take you up on it or that I did? I can't quite remember as I have not been thinking clearly lately. Silly me! I definitely think I am ready for that vacation now despite what I might have told you before.

This is one awesome team

Rob was laughing as we dropped Brandon off for his last games saying "wouldn't it be the pits if we didn't have enough players show up to the playoffs and we had to forfeit?" Well he wasn't too far off the mark. As game time came around things were looking really bad. We were 2 players short of having a full field and one player short of not having a penalty every time the not-so-ninth batter got up to bat. To top it all off we were blessed with the same umpire who messed us up the game before. At this point we were just hoping to hang in there and not be trampled by the team who started the playoffs in last place. We were just hoping for 2nd place at best.

We got the home team advantage and started the game. It was so hard to see the outfield so empty. There was only three people in the outfield and no 2nd baseman, but I'll tell you, these boys were all over the place. We were able to hold the other team to 1 point while we got 3. This was an amazing feat considering that we were underfielded and we got an automatic out every time we got through the batting order. It ended up being a great game and we held onto 2nd place. The umpire came through for us too. He had been reminded before the game that he needed to be more fair and he did great.

In order to take 1st place we had to beat the D-Backs twice that same night. That meant that we would have to play three games with the handicap that we had. I will spare you the suspense from here. We played our little hearts out and for awhile we really had hope where there seemed to be none. We were able to hold them really well, but with the automatic out we just could not get the runs in. The final score of the game was 5-1. It was fun to see his coach move those little players all over the field as different players got up to bat. He knew exactly where they were going to hit it every time and most of the time those kids were able to get outs because of it. It was awesome and they did far better than I would have given them credit for.

We got 2nd place in the playoffs. WE. Did you hear that? I was on that team. At least some of the mothers wondered if I was. I was literally having anxiety attacks during those two games.

But here is the greatest highlight of all. Brandon is one of the youngest most inexperienced players on that team. He was lucky to get a hit here and there and he got on base about half of the time, he stopped some great balls that came into the outfield, and he got to play third base off and on. He had a great play that I highlighted before from third base but he was not really ever involved in getting a real out, until the last inning in the last game of the season...

He was playing on second base (never done that until this inning). There was 2 outs, a runner (the scary pitcher from the team and a great player) on 2nd, only one player to cover shortstop and third base. Now I don't rightly remember the play that sent the runner on second toward third, but the shortstop had the ball and started to chase him back to 2nd. As the runner got closer to 2nd the kid threw it to Brandon. They had him in a pickle. I was beside myself. My heart was ready to bust out of my chest. (It is beating a little fast even as I speak type now.) Brandon catches it and the runner turns and runs from him. Brandon chucks it to the shortstop and the shortstop starts to chase the runner BACK to 2nd. Oh have mercy! Please just tag the kid, but no. He throws it back to Brandon who catches it and is knocked down by the runner as he is sliding into the base, and Brandon swipes his mitt at the kid and tags him BEFORE he touches the base. I. was. ecstatic! I have never yelled so loud that my lungs have burned before in my life. I don't even think Jeremy's cow call had anything on me last night. He had a smile on his face that went from ear to ear despite the injury to his man parts that came from being knocked to the ground. There were no tears there.

Anyway, thanks for endearing with me. I am going to be sad to see it end. It was quite an entertaining season. Here are some pictures (from our cell phone as I somehow forgot the camera) of their trophy ceremony.

Don't quite know where the standing at attention comes from, but check out that same smile that never left his face.

Take a look at these 8 little men that pulled off such a great night of games.

9 to ?(5)

Warning this story promises to deliver violence, language, gore, and tears.

Hey can you hear me? I have no voice. I'm sure it is not because I was yelling so loud last night in 40 degree weather at 10:30 at night or anything. I am sick. Yeah that is it. So listen closely as I recount the horrible night for you. If you come a little closer you might be able to hear better.

That's it. Just a little closer.


Ok. So. It was HORRIBLE. Did I already say that? With two teams eliminated and our team in second place, we were set to play the (cough) number one team. (I say that lightly.) These are the dreaded D-Backs; the team that barely beat us twice, tied us once and lost to us once (a much needed victory for us. Especially since that was the game where the catcher chased Brandon back to third base and AFTER Brandon was safe on the base, tackled him off and slammed him to the ground. Keep that in mind as I finish my story.) The kids have all been terrified of this team as they have a pretty fast pitcher that is hard to hit off. Their coaches are really nit picky about everything and always trying to challenge the umpire.

So, back to the horrible story at hand. The teams flipped a coin and we got last bats. Yeah! We started off and our boys were playing so awesome but we had one thing against us. It wasn't the other team, but the umpire. He was calling all kinds of bad calls. You know it is bad when BOTH teams are shaking their heads at almost every call he makes. After a handful of calls that were clearly wrong, (that cost us points) our coaches (who were handling it great up until this point) snapped as one of our players slid across home plate as the ball came flying in. The catcher fumbled the ball and dropped it. While it is still lying on the ground the umpire calls him out. Our main coach becomes understandably irate and goes over to challenge the umpire. The catcher reaches down, picks up the ball while they are arguing over whether he touched the base or not (how can you miss it when your whole body slides over it?) and touches the player(who thinks that he touched the base and was trying to validate that he did so). The umpire sees what he is looking for and calls out again! The crowed erupted in fury at the clear mistake and by this time our coach was in the umpire's face. He gets kicked out of the game, but before he could leave the field, the parents of Mean Catcher Boy told our coach that he was the worst coach they ever saw and that he didn't belong on the field. A yelling match ensued as mother of Poor Tackled Boy jumps up and tells Catcher Boy's mom to SHUT. UP! Mean Lady's attention turned to Hero Mom as she wants to know who just told her to shut up. That is when Hero-sister-in-law jumps in and tells Mean Lady that it was her and she needed to come over and take what was coming to her. Mother of Poor Tackled Boy was glad she did not feel the need to do so, even though her adrenalin was through the roof and she really wanted to put that mean mom (who's son is understandably mean too) in her place. Hero Mom was taken back to the night that she finally let loose on Tonya Taylor after years of being bullied by her. (That felt SOOO good.) After the game I found out that I was not the only Hero Mom there. There were others who had told her to shut up too. (She had been kind of mouthy all season and I think everyone was tired of her. But when she attacked our coach for no other reason than to raise the level of tension for our boys, then most of us couldn't take it anymore.) Thinking back now, Hero Mom feels a little bad that she lost control in front of her kids by slinking almost to the level of Really Mean Mom.

Things got really bad from there. Another of our coaches almost got kicked out and even though we still played so awesome, our moral was stomped out and we lost by 4 points. All the bad calls calculated would have put us ahead, but to no avail. My blood pressure has risen back up just by reliving it.

We were supposed to play today but we got rained out. On Monday we will play the third place team and after we eliminate them with no problemo, we will have to beat the D-Backs twice to take first place. Anyone want to come? Abby? (I did try your gum trick. I think it fell out while I was yelling. Any other ideas?)

Here are some highlights of the game:
1. Brandon gets up and faces the dreaded fast pitcher only to be pegged in the thigh and walked to first base. With his hitting record, that was his only chance of getting on base at this point. He could shake off the pain, but not the humiliation of not being able to hold back the tears that came with it.
2. Brandon gets up and faces a new pitcher. This one is not so scary, but what I didn't know at this point is that Brandon's only desire was to hit that ball out of the park. He wanted to be vindicated for being hit and for the injustices that were happening to his team. He hits the ball infield and gets out on first. The tears were flowing harder (as were many of our players at this point) as he walked back to the dugout.
3. Brandon plays third base (not something he got to do very often, but he loves it when he gets to). He stopped a grounder that came to him. It bounced up and hit him at the waist and so he did not have time to get it to first base. But he stopped it gosh darn it!
4. He gets up to bat for the last time in this game, to the same pitcher, with the same desire to hit it out of the park. He hits it on his first try (and as mentioned before his record of hitting the ball and getting on base was not so good) and it goes toward the second baseman, through him and into the outfield. He makes it to first base and is able to advance to second on an overthrow, a feat that has not been done before by him. He was on fire!

6-2

I don't know if I can take all of this anxiety! We beat the other team 6-2 tonight and we go on to play the winners of the last game tonight (which will be the #1 team in the league). They are tough to beat but we have done it once plus we tied a game with them. I started off the game tonight by wishing the wrong player good luck when he got up to bat. Rob thought I had just jinxed the whole team. I tried to just be quiet but I couldn't. Tune in again for the lowdown tomorrow night. They play at 9:00 PM.

P.S. Thanks for all of your thoughts on my behalf yesterday. They canceled the game yesterday so I didn't have to miss it. I am so glad I didn't. But I did have a wonderful time at Megan's mother-daughter party. I felt like I was in Hawaii. We ate Hawaiian food and played lots of games. Pascaline Squires taught the girls some fun dances and they shook their booties at us.

Happy Birthday Boo!

5 things that Boo wants to know today...

1. What does 5 years old look like?
2. How many more days until I am in Junior High?
3. You don't need a baby anymore mom. Can't you just have school now instead?
4. Will EVERYONE call me today?
5. WHY? CAN'T? I? HAVE? A? FRIEND? PARTY?!?!?!

Brooklyn started in on me a few months ago that she is not a baby anymore and she does not need to sit in a baby car seat anymore and did NOT need her booster at the dinner table anymore. We had to take the training wheels off of her bike and she is well on her way to freedom from them.

While she is in kindergarten this year she has informed me that I may not go anywhere while she is in school. I have to stay home and wait for her. She may need me.

The only thing she wanted for her birthday is "her" puppy back that we sold last week.

Oh, and a Barbie castle. One that is taller than her.

And a swimming pool, lots and lots of Polly Pockets, a new bike, a watch, new clothes, lots of candy AND her own bed.


She will be having chicken enchiladas for her birthday dinner and brownies with ice cream for her dessert. Anyone?

Oh yeah. Do you want to know what 5 years old looks like?




Hang on, that was before her bath...



Besides being taller today than yesterday, she can run faster, eat more, count higher, read more books and give better hugs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOO!

Awe the summer nights!

What do you get when you have lots of puppies, pillows and blankets...

and lots of friends and kittens...

and a great night outside?

Movie night out on the lawn!!!

A great heritage

I was asked to write a letter to Jordan about heritage for Young Women's a couple of weeks ago. She gave me permission to share it with you.


Dear Jordan,

You have been blessed to be part of a very wonderful heritage, into a family who loves you very much. I want to share a story with you today that I may have told you before, but it is one that I want you to remember.

I have fond memories of my Grandma Platt. She loved to bake and she made wonderful things. We got to visit her often and she always had hot homemade bread with her homemade jam waiting every time. We spent many holidays at her home and we got to enjoy feasting on the traditions that were important to her. She was in a wheelchair for most of my life and she was in a lot of pain all of the time. I remember helping her clean out rooms that she could not do herself and I remember how good I felt that I could help her. She died shortly after I got married and I think of her often and try to imagine her pain-free and happy.

Through the years I have tried to be strong through the trials that have come my way. There was one night a few years back when I was particularly struggling with the weight of the world, I remember lying in bed and wondering how I could do what was required of me to continue on. I fell into a fitful sleep and into a dream. I remember standing at the entrance to the dead end street looking up to my grandmother’s house. She was sitting in her wheelchair in front of her house. I started to walk toward her and I could see her stand up out of her wheelchair and start to walk to me. As she did this, I noticed she was no longer old and aged; instead she was a beautiful young woman. She had the happiest smile on her face and I could see that she was laughing.

She started running to me and swept me up into her arms and while swinging me around and around, she gave me the biggest hug. She didn’t say anything to me, but at that moment I knew she was so happy. I knew that she was aware of my pain and wanted me to know that I too would be able to have that happiness someday if I could just hold on.

Heavenly Father knew that I needed that very special moment and I am so grateful to him for allowing me to partake of her love once more. I believe that if the veil could be lifted for just a moment, we would see many of our progenitors surrounding us and lifting us up each time we struggle. I find comfort knowing that those who cleared the path before us are now on that same path walking beside us, helping us, and bringing comfort when it is needed. I am grateful to have a testimony of forever families. The family unit was not meant to be just an earthly institution. It was meant to carry on for eternity and what a beautiful plan.

I also wanted to take this time to tell you how much I love you. I have often said that Heavenly Father must love me very much, because he sent me one of his most precious daughters to help me when times get tough. I truly find strength in your ability to choose to be happy even when everyone around you is not. I feel that you are one of my greatest blessings and I am grateful for the knowledge that this blessing WILL continue on into the next life. I know that if we can hang tight, we too will get to return to live with Him and be apart of a vast heritage that he blessed us with. I love and cherish you so much.

Love forever,

Mom

Baseball fever

So I have been accused of being an embarrassing cheerleader. I don't think that I am. I really don't think that jumping up and down, yelling at the top of my lungs, accidentally sending congrats to a batter who just got a strike, stomping furiously on the metal benches to make as much noise as possible, hollering out the wrong name as I try to send good luck to the upcoming batter, distracting the catcher (on our own team) by telling him in my very loud voice that he is my hero, or running to the dugout after a close game (in which we finally won the number one team) to give all the players a hug, warrants the title of overexcited mom. AND the playoffs have not even started yet. Rob and Jordan are determined to stay in the car and watch those. Well I can go for that. I don't think my legs can take anymore jabs to the shin from an embarrassed daughter telling me to settle down, or my side cannot take the ever so subtle pinches from Rob who has to get up and walk away (with the excuse that his legs hurt) just to get away from me. What can I say? I am sick (with baseball fever).

















Brandon's team is doing very well and is projected to be in the top two. He survived a frustrated catcher who chased him back to third base and tackled him with all his furry. How could anyone hurt innocent Brandon? Rob had to hold me back...
Jordan's team is well, lets just say they have had a taste of victory a few times. BUT they could take second place for the cheering section.
Megan's team really could be great someday. She made catcher the last few games and is in heaven. Finally some action.

The first round of playoffs for Brandon's team start tonight and the forecast does not look so good! Plus Megan's achievement day leaders scheduled an ever so untimely mother-daughter party for tonight. I think God must know that this cheerleader doesn't want to miss a game. Please join in desire with me that the rain will descend ever so hard (otherwise they will still play) so that they will HAVE to reschedule.