Lessons learned

Isn't he handsome?

This little guy had the opportunity to sing in the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  What a cool thing to do!  Practices began back in August and they were every Sunday for 2 hours and an occasional Saturday-including one at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City  It was quite the commitment of time-especially for a 9 year old.  The rules were EXTREMELY strict, such as no food, no leaving to go potty, legs are straight forward, no raising up of the arms, etc, etc, etc.  If a child did need to leave to use the restroom, then they could not go back to their seat.  As far as I know, most of the kids handled it just fine.  In fact, Sporty came away from this experience with a new sense of obedience and respect.  He truly enjoyed the performance-not so much the practices-and he enjoyed being in the presence of The Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and all the other General Authorities.   What a great feeling that is to be their presence. Sporty told us that it was awesome to see them in person.  What a testimony builder! 

He was on TV lots of times.  The camera seemed to always be in the general area where he was AND he constantly swayed side to side so we could spot him VERY easily!

On Sunday when we watched conference, Sporty paid attention the entire time!  Usually during the afternoon session he starts to drift off to sleep or gets pesky, but not this time.  He wrote down the names of all who spoke and he truly paid attention and even made comments!  Wowza!  He is growing up and we are loving the young man he is becoming!  Like all our kids, he is such a great kid!  And we are blessed to be their parents!

Time

Where has the time gone?  Goodness.  There are so many potential things to blog about like Diva is soooooo close to getting her back-hand-spring to Sporty starting ANOTHER season of basketball, to Lolo absolutely HATING soccer, to Z-man still stripping.  I guess it's just another day in our household.  But the heck-it's almost November.  NOVEMBER! 

Grandma Faye's funeral was last week and I have to tell you, as far as funerals go, this one was top notch.  The speakers were phenomenal, the music was tender, and the weather was perfect.  Grandma was truly one AMAZING woman and this funeral was a great tribute to her and her family. 

It was also good to see Trevor's relatives that we don't get to see often. It was good to catch up, laugh a bit, and reminisce.

One thing I took away from it was that I wanted to be a better mom-a more loving mom, a more tender hearted mom (which can get difficult when your 6 year-old's purpose in life is to push every.single.button.I.have), a mom that is more conscientious about teaching my children, and a better wife.  No pressure,eh?

Tribute to a great woman

Grandma Faye-This great lady passed away Oct. 10. 2011.  While our hearts will ache and miss her, we know she is in a better place and she is feeling much better.  She has not been herself in a long time and now her body is free from the restrictions and pain.  I can only imagine what her reunion was like with her beloved Wade.  He passed away in 2006, so this was a joyous occasion, I am sure!  Little Lolo here is actually named after this grandma.  You see, she was born on Wade's birthday, but we couldn't name her Wade or Vance.  It didn't fit... :)

Some things I remember about Grandma Faye:  She always was happy, had a spunky personality, had a great sense of humor, could cook and bake, and was always welcoming to me.  While growing up, I always lived out of state, so I wasn't around my own grandparents very much and they passed away when I was younger.  But Grandma Faye was in my life for the last 12 years and I am so grateful for those years! 

This was on Grandma's birthday back in 2009.  I was 7 months pregnant in this photo, so please, no fat jokes :)  Of course, Trevor has many fond memories of being with his Grandma from horse riding to holidays, to camping and family reunions where everyone got food poisoning (and then again, the same food poisoning at Lolo's baby blessing-eeek!)  He loved going to his Grandparent's house and visiting them and all his cousins that lived up there.  Such great memories!

Grandma Faye and her son, Grandpa Roger, with some of the great-grand kids.

"God be with you til we meet again!"

We love you and we will miss you, but we are comforted that we will see you again.  We know this because of our Savior Jesus Christ and through Him we will all be reunited again one day!  How grateful I am for Christ's Atonement and for His Resurrection.

Boring

One thing I could blog about is how I found out I have some MAJOR allergies.  I know, snooze-fest, but it's true.  I have been miserable since the end of August and last week I found out why...DARN ALLERGIES.  Cats, horses, ragweed, thistle, any weed, grass, trees, and a few other outdoorsie stuff.

When this all started back in August, I was informed that alfalfa tablets were great for the sinuses.  So I went to the health food store and the owner whole-heartedly agreed as well as Grizzly Adams who was standing in line behind me.   In his words, alfalfa is "the perfect plant to take for overall health".  Well, if he claims it, then it must be true.  After all, he looks like he lives off the land and probably takes "medicinal" marijuana for those crazy leg cramps.  So I got them home and was taking 3 pills, 3 times a day (those were the instructions).  My sinus infection was not clearing up (even on antibiotics), my nose was still snotty and congested-these pills were a crock of crap.  Flash forward to my allergy test,  Dun, Dun, DUN.   I am allergic to ALFALFA!  Who knew, who knew.  Even Grizzly Adams was wrong on this one.

Surprisingly, I am only moderately allergic to my highly-trained dog, Belle (that's a shout-out to Roger).  Good news, except for the cat and horses, they are all seasonal.  But what to do about my psycho cat, Callie.....She was a 4 on the scale where everything was a 5 or 6.

I also have to go in and have a small procedure done in a week so this will be interesting-hopefully it will help clear up some of the side problems associated with my allergies.  Maybe I will come out with a slightly new nose....  Just sayin.

absent

I know, I have been absent.  What can I say?  Nothing.  Sometimes I feel like blogging and other times I don't.  Simple as that.  Sometimes I want to go all out with a no-holds-bar attitude, and then I remember that I have family that I could possibly embarrass.  And since I don't make a buck for doing this, well, then, it wouldn't be worth it to spill all the family secrets, would it?  hee hee.  I really do have things to blog about-I just need to do it.  So here's a preview:

Sporty had one of the most amazing opportunities last week-he was able to go to SLC and sing in the afternoon session of General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Yes, we are Mormons (as the world knows us) and YES we are CHRISTIAN.  Some people, including the so-called professional that was featured on the news and referred to us as The Church of Latter-day Saints, should research what they are talking about, including the correct name.  Just saying.  But I will give her the benefit of the doubt-it is a long name :)

That's my sneak peak of what will come in the future-or at least in the near future.