Ah...Sundays...

I am a blogging slacker-part of my problem is that I cannot find my cord to upload my pics and I want to post pics about what we have been up to. But, I thought I could tell a story or two anyway. This picture is actually from the museum, but you will find that it expresses so much about this short tidbit.

Last Sunday (Ok actually the one before yesterday-the 19th) Wes and I were sleeping in, so we were still in bed when Ender woke up. He came in and asked if he could watch PBS kids on our TV. Wes said, "Actually no, because it is not on this morning, today is Sunday and you need to get ready for church." Ender's face fell, began to look like that picture and as he ran out into the hall way he yelled, "Oh Dear! Not againnnnnnnnnn!"

It was hilarious, and I hope not one of those had to be there things...if it is, sorry...just know, we laughed and laughed!

Ah Life...life, family, & ham..Oh my!!

So, this will be about as random as they come...

First, I just wanted to note that I loved General Conference-it is so much better fighting 4 kids in my pajamas and in my own house! Also, there were a few great talks that I actually got to hear (between the fights to get 4 kids under 6-yrs-old to watch 8 hours of church). More on that later!

Second, I have been so struck lately at how fast time flies! I look at Kindle and how much she has grown and developed in her short 5 months and I am amazed and a bit saddened. She could be my last baby, and as that is a possibility, I have been really trying to notice and enjoy each and every phase and development. I have done this with the other children, but I am just so struck this time by the thought that this might be the last of my babies. It is a sad thought...but I do love watching all my kids learn and grow. It is amazing how fast it goes...I know everyone says that, but I feel it now...I really feel it...Life is passing by, and I am making sure I do not miss it!!

Third, On a much lighter tone, I have always thought of ham as the poor mans turkey. I could never understand why anyone would choose ham over turkey for a sandwich-it frankly seemed silly to even have ham sandwiches on a menu when turkey was available. Now, that said, Ender loves ham and always chooses it over turkey. Crazy! But because he loves it (and his siblings, but mostly Ender), I buy both ham and turkey when I buy deli meat. So, the other day, the turkey I love was way too expensive and there was a similar one on sale. There was also some ham on sale. So I bought a pound of each sale meat. When I got home and tried the turkey, I liked it as usual, but it somehow was not hitting the spot if your know what I mean. So I tried a piece of the ham...OH MY GOSH!!! This ham is the reason people eat sandwiches-it was SOOOO good...I have had to readjust my whole view of ham...nice to know I am still able to reassess in my old age...maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks?

Fourth, I owe you all a big catch-up blog about my kids-Solace is star of the week at school this week, Ender is becoming the world's pickiest eater and toughest student, Armour can spell his name (and there is video to prove it), and Kindle is just growing so fast now!! She can almost sit up alone, and we are pretty sure she now has a 3-word vocabulary that includes "hi," "mom," and "dad."

Oh-I better add a fifth and note that in the past 2 weeks in my stupider moments, have managed to catch rice on fire-filling my house with smoke and sending our family on an extended walk to let the house air out (after the fire was out of course). I have also run out my garage door barefoot in pursuit of an escaping child only to step on a rusty old nail. I will spare you the details at this juncture, but it made it so I had to go get a horrible, painful Tetanus shot. At some point I will blog and explain there 2 glowing moments of stupidity, for now the teaser will have to be enough.

If you made it to the end of this-kudos! Oh, and if you talk to Wes you might mention what you read cause there is no way he's reading this whole thing!

A day of rest?!

Holy Cow! Today in church I taught Relief Society and I gave the closing prayer in Sacrament Meeting AND Solace gave a talk in primary. I was teaching when she gave her talk, so I missed it, but Wes helped her with it. Wes said he didn't help much though cause she read the talk herself (yes she reads that well now)!! She did awesome from what I hear. The words were on the back of the pictures, but the end part was jut written out and she read it without showing a picture. Here is her talk: (I will write what was written on the back of each picture underneath it)

Because I know we are all children of God, I will share the gospel.
President David O McKay said "Every Member a Missionary." Sometimes it is hard to share the gospel, but I know it is very important that we do.
This is my great Xiaxia. She is Greek and was raised in the Greek Orthodox church. When she was in college, one of her friends who was being a very good member missionary, asked her to read the Book of Mormon with her. After they read together my great Xiaxia joined the church.
This is my great Grandma-GG. She was also a convert to the church. She had many different members talk to her about the church. They were all being missionaries. It took her a long time to join the church and when she did it was because of the great members that were missionaries to her.

Because my great Xiaxia and my GG joined the church, all the people in our family have been raised as members of the church. We have been greatly blessed as a family by GG and great Xiaxia's friends that shared the gospel.
President Eyring said that to share the gospel, we should "pray for the chance to encounter people who sense there could be something better in their lives. Pray to know what you should do to help them. Your prayers will be answered."

I know this is true. And because I want to share the gospel, I will pray to find people that don=t know about the gospel, but are ready to know about it. I hope we can all Pray for the chance to share the gospel.

Kindle was Blessed

This Sunday (as in yesterday), Kindle was blessed by her dad, in our new ward. My parents were here for that. Wes gave her a great blessing! He talked about her name and her little personality and about the blessings she has and will have. It was very well done and very sweet! She is a very lucky girl. I want to quote the section of her blessing that spoke of her name, as I know that at least my family will appreciate it:

"We have chosen the name Kindle because of its meaning, to ignite, to spark, to arouse, to stimulate. We bless you to stimulate to do good things. We bless you to be the spark that builds faith and to ignite those around you with your enthusiasm and example.

We have chosen Catherine after your great-aunt Cathy, who was an example of love, charity, and service to all those around her. We bless you to continue in that tradition."

There were many other great things she was blessed with, and we were so grateful to have my dad in the circle with Wes to give that blessing to her. Here are some pics from yesterday:

In her beautiful dress Family Pictures (they are so hard to get)

Everyone but me.

Mom & baby

Memorial Day Church activity

For Memorial Day the ward had a little breakfast, program and bike parade (after a bike decorating period). Here are some pics...

Solace singing Ender singing/ sword fighting with his flag...
Armour on his tricycle (for the first time ever I might add)
Ender on his bike.
E & his primary teacher decorating his bike.
Dad helps Solace decorate her bike.
All decorated & riding over to line up (before we grabbed the helmet)

A LOVES the trike.
K in her wheels...
S in the parade
E grumpily leaving the parade.

Ender's talk (non-video format)

Here is Ender's talk from Church. He gave it in Primary on the 20th. My mom helped him as I was stuck at home and Wes was stuck at work. He showed the pictures and read the words (with XiaXia's help). I will put the words above each pictures...(Oh-his talk was supposed to be along the theme "I will Follow the Prophet", and he wanted to talk about his Aunt Cathy, so this is what we came up with.):

In general conference this month, we sustained a new Prophet, President Thomas Spencer Monson. I know he is a true prophet and that we should listen to his words.

In the last Conference President Monson told a story about a boy he knew that had died and what he had told the boys mother. Then he bore his testimony and said:"I expressed to Mrs. Patton my personal testimony as a special witness, telling her that God our Father was mindful of her—that through sincere prayer she could communicate with Him; that He too had a Son who died, and one day we would see Him face-to-face."This is my great aunt Cathy.


My Aunt Cathy died a couple of weeks ago. We were very sad.
I remembered what President Monson had said and I know we will get to see Cathy again
I know we have a living prophet and that we should listen to his words. I am grateful for him.

Ender's first Primary talk

This is Ender's first Primary talk. It is hard to hear over the screaming child and the broken microphone, so I will post the actual talk later!

Solace's primary talk

Yesterday Solace gave a talk in primary. Her topic was "Jesus Christ is my Savior." Pretty broad topic, right? Well, she came home from church with her assignment last Sunday, and already had a talk written. I did help her find a scripture to go along with it. As she gave the talk, she showed the pictures. I will write what she said over each picture. Here was Solace's talk:

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and that he can heal me. Alma 15:8 says "...If thou believest in the redemption of Christ thou canst be healed."

In October 2006 when I was almost 3 years old, I was in Utah visiting my grandparents. My cousin Jaxon and I were racing down the hallway.

I bonked into the wall and cut my head open. I had to go to the hospital.

I got stitches. It hurt a lot, but I knew that Jesus would heal me.

And He did.

I am so grateful for Jesus, and that He healed me. I know He is my Savior and He can heal us all.

She did a great job! Some people didn't like the stitches picture, but oh well. She says her favorite part of her talk was when she said Jesus can heal everybody! Ender liked the picture of Solace's head all healed.

A new Prophet!

In case you care, and hadn't heard yet. Here is our new Prophet and his councilors in the First Presidency.

On a Serious Note: President Hinckley.

President Gordon B Hinckley

June 23, 1910-January 27, 2008

As most of you know (as most of you that read this blog share my faith or are at least familiar with it) the beloved prophet Gordon B Hinckley died this Sunday. Most everyone I have talked to was either crying their eyes out or barely containing their tears as they heard the news. I found that my reaction was quite different. My mom called me Sunday night from an airport in California to let me know that XiaXia had just called to let her know the prophet had just died (XiaXia and Papou happen to be in the prophet's home ward as a total side note.) My mom wanted to know if it was true, and if it was something I could find any info about online. It took me about 30 minutes before I could find anything, but when I did find it was true, I did not feel devastated as I expected to. Obviously, President Hinckley was a very old man, and his death was not entirely unexpected (no less of a loss to us though). I thought I might cry, I knew I would feel a loss. However, surprisingly, I found that my reaction was one of complete peace and comfort. I felt so happy for President Hinckley to be reunited with his wife and with our Heavenly Father. I thought of the warm welcome home he must be receiving, and thought that he must be so happy to be home, and probably somewhat relieved that he has done his work here (and done it well). I love President Hinckley and always will. I am saddened his death, but also greatly uplifted by his life, his example, his works and the prophetic words he has left for us!