A Brief View

Family
We went to Tombstone, AZ with Justin M. on Monday. On Thursday we went in to town in the Scout and bought 40 bags of steer manure. On Saturday we deep cleaned our master bedroom and the two bathrooms. Mama and I have returned to having a water competition. This time the stakes are somewhat higher. Each time one of us drinks a quart of water, the other has to put a dollar into our camera fund. I lead 9 to 4. We’ve started having dinner each night at 6 p.m. to help with going to bed earlier.

L4:
hung a clothes line in our garage so we can dry our clothes in the heat (without heating our house. . . )

Mama:
had a midwife appointment and was given the green light to go back to her gym. We are all very excited for Mama to return to a regular exercise routine- she is always happier when she burns off those endorphins. She also had a cavity filled.

Lucas :
was very attentive while were in the Good Enough Mine at Tombstone, Arizona. He was very concerned for the safety of his family. Underfoot got to play with Friends while Mama had some dental work done on Tuesday.

K2:
started smiling this week. He has slept from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. several nights this week. The ward Relief Society brought a goodie bag for his birth.

Characteristics of Effective Families

I think this information is good for any family. The study was done by professors at BYU. I am cleaning out papers I don't want to hold onto the paper. I might as well share the information.

Acknowledgment: The information below was gathered and reported by Dr. William G Dyer, Dean Emeritus, Brigham Young University, and Dr. Phillip R. Kunz, Professor of Sociology, Brigham Young University.

In 1987 data was gathered from 200 strong LDS families on the characteristics of effective Mormon families. Here are the some of the things that were discovered:

1. Almost 100% of the families are full tithe payers, attend all their meetings regularly and always accept a job or position in the Church.
2. These families have very clear goals as to what they want for their children. Virtually 100% said their goals included: having their children marry in the temple, get a good education, develop a strong self concept, be active in the Church, Develop a strong sense of family unity and have children go on a mission. (We also found that less effective families did not have these clear goals for their children.)
3. In effective families, 73% said they always or usually held daily prayer.
4. Two-thirds of these families said they always or usually held regular weekly family home evening. Th other one third also held family home evening, but not as regularly.
5. These families did not identify movie stars or sports figures as family heroes. They most often said the heroes in their families were church leaders or other older family members.
6. Husbands and wives work at having good personal relationship in their marriages. On a scale of 1 to 10, the average family was an 8.5 in terms of feeling the marriage was strong and good.
7. Ninety-six percent said they most often would do things together as a family. Ninety-two percent said they always went as a family to activities where another family member performed or was in a game or activity.
8. These families are not free from adversity. Eighty percent said they had some real adversities in their lives (illness, death, problems with children, etc.) but they worked as a family to deal with problems. The family was the first line of defense in times of adversity. They worked things out together as much as possible.
9. Over 80% said they daily express affection physically to other family members.
10. These families on the average watch TV only 1/3 as much as the average family in America.
11. Effective families tend to see themselves as somewhat stricter than other families. They had rather few rules but very high expectations. They expect a lot from their children.
12. They tend to reward their children more by giving praise or some special treat, rather than giving money.
13. These families spend a great deal of time talking together. almost 100% said they talk regularly as a family and also to each child individually on a regular, almost, daily basis.

W. G. Dyer and P. R. Kunz, Effective Mormon Families, Deseret Book Co., Salt Lake City, UT, 1986.

K2 & HJM

These two boys are 3 days apart. HJM is a neighbor of our and was blessed today in church. Their Dads commute to work together and are home teaching companions.

Grand Canyon

This week we’ve enjoyed the company of our friend Justin Manalli. Justin lived with us for a short time in the summer of 2006.
















On Friday morning we decided to go to the Grand Canyon.















Merris, my sister, was willing to let us borrow her mini van for the trip. We are very grateful to Merris because her mini van is much more comfortable than our Civic.

We arrived in the quaint town of Williams, AZ on Friday night. We checked into an old motel and tried to get some sleep. Underfoot was not too keen on the idea of sleeping on the floor, but that’s what happened. We got up early on Saturday morning, in an effort to beat the crowds and the heat. Underfoot, Justin, and I went to the train depot to investigate the possibility of taking a train to the park instead of driving. We opted to drive when we found out the train tickets were 70 dollars per adult! We hit the road and enjoyed banana bread and blueberries.

We were pleased to learn upon our arrival that the park was having a free weekend, so we didn’t have to pay the usual 25 dollar entrance fee.















The free weekend in the park translated into a very crowded weekend. There were lots of people in the park. We were able to walk around and see all sorts of beautiful views.

On our way home we decided to stop for something to eat in a small town in northern Arizona- Camp Verde. We ended up in an authentic Mexican restaurant. The owner of the store was from Guatemala and the food was divine! Across the street was the local corn festival. Underfoot played on the jungle gym while I learned about photoelectric cells. We saw a 1923 John Deere single cylinder gasoline engine that powered a homemade ice cream operation (the ice cream was good too!)














On Wednesday Mama took it easy and planted 10 rows of corn. Mama gave Underfoot and I haircuts on Monday for Family Home Evening. This week we harvested two watermelons and three cantaloupe, along with about two dozen tomatoes. We have 5 egg plants growing and a number of flowers that may yield more fruit.


















We found a way to reduce K2’s heat rash by putting baby powder on him after each bath. This week we celebrated our 1 year anniversary of being here.

Corn

Here are the highlights for the week:
As a family:
We harvested and ate our 12 ears of corn.
We pulled out the corn field.
We went to a baptism of a neighbor and enjoyed a BBQ with them.
L4:
helped a neighbor fix his car.
worked to bring home a paycheck.
directed an HOA meeting.
got to work from home!!!
Mama:
went to the midwife for an appointment because she had a set back with
healing from K2's birth.
is taking it easier.
Underfoot:
got to play at different people’s houses.
chased blonde haired girls at the BBQ. (He likes blondes.)
is learning his ABCs and recognizes the letter H and I.
K2:
hit a growth spurt because he ate for about two days straight.
loves to be held and loved.

Things I Am Grateful For....

Certain things are happening in my life to have me reflect on what is important and what I want. Instead of waulering in misery and despair, my Mom suggested that I write a list of things I am truly grateful. They are not in a particular order. All the listed items touch the atonement of Jesus Christ in some way. Some are obvious and others are private experiences to let me know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me. I struggle with giving up my will (a.k.a. stubbornness because I think I know better than others). I'm grateful for the atonement because I sure don't know how most of these things would be in my life without the toning (pruning, plucking, humbling) process of coming to know the Savior.

1. A husband that adores me
2. Two healthy boys
3. Marriage with my husband
4. Parents that listen and give advise and comfort (a tenderhearted Dad and a go-getter Mom)
5. Priesthood blessings
6. Agency
7. Growth in plants but mostly life circumstances
8. In-laws for support and that gave me the best thing they ever had (my husband)
9. Grandparents who taught through love and by example
10. The chance to give life and know that it is a most precious gift
11. Sunshine to remind me that Heavenly Father loves me
12. My husband's employment
13. Family history and remembering the past
14. A visiting teacher that came immediately
15. Opportunities to be humble and ask for help
16. A little boy who prays for Mom
17. The sacrament
18. Siblings that have great perspective about life circumstances
19. Forgiveness and change with repentance
20. The chance to learn to be obedient
21. To know what sorrow is to know what true joy and gratitude are
22. Scriptures
23. Walking with my family at night
24. Job charts
25. Endless lists of things to do
26. Neighbors
27. Kindred spirits
28. Pictures of family, friends, and memories
29. Tears
30. Temples
31. Enthusiasm
32. Louis L'Amour books
33. Nursery Leaders
34. Primary classes
35. Monsoon rain
36. A clean scrubbed kitchen floor and Grandma Melba
37. The desert
38. The Portneuf Gap
39. Education
40. Life after death and the thinness of the veil
41. Health Insurance

Small Things

This week we got a day of rain. Our back yard is getting greener each day! On Saturday I picked two small ears of corn. I also picked a ripe watermelon.

This is a muskmelon. We bought the seed at Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home).

We enjoyed it with friends on Saturday night. We celebrated the Fourth of July in a fairly casual manner.

On Thursday night we went up to P. to stay with Mama’s BYU roommate and her family. In the morning we went to the temple. On Friday night we stayed up late and cracked 20 dozen eggs.

They were for our congregation breakfast celebration on Saturday morning. Mama is part of the activities committee. Underfoot and Daddy cracked most of the eggs while Mama put the mixed up eggs into 1 gallon containers. Underfoot and Daddy had fun cracking the eggs on the back patio while there was thunder and lightning. We got a lot of thunder and lightning, but not a lot of rain.



After the breakfast on Saturday, we came home and rested. We decided to have an impromptu BBQ at our house. Some friends came for ribs and other tasty treats. We visited as the children played on the swings and in the house. It is nice to finally have the back yard in order such that Wendy feels comfortable having the children play outside.

Later that evening, a friend took me for a ride in his homemade sports car. It is an early 1960’s Lotus replica. It weighs about 1500 pounds and has a supercharged Pontiac V6 motor. It certainly was fun to ride in. It was loud, too. It wasn’t the engine that was so loud, but the wind noise, even with ear plugs. After the ride we put on a DVD for the children while the adults played a game of Settlers of Catan. It was a lot of fun.

Mama has returned to teaching piano lessons. She has several students who come for a 30 minute lesson. The piano lessons motivate Mama to keep the house tidy and provide her with a little bit of extra cash. We are grateful that she can do that.

Mama started a job chart for Underfoot this week. It has been very helpful for him and us. He has 4 morning jobs and 4 evening jobs. Each time he completes one of his jobs he is rewarded with a Cars sticker. He chooses the sticker, Mama or I peel it out of the booklet for him, and he places it on his job chart in the appropriate box. If he completes all 4 jobs (in the morning or evening), he gets a 5th sticker that he can put on his shirt. I’m very grateful that Mama has implemented this simple reward system for Underfoot. It helps us teach him about chores and allows him to contribute to the overall cleanliness of our home.

K2 has developed a heat rash this week. We really didn’t know what it was until Mama asked a nurse in our congregation about it. We’ve learned that children don’t develop sweat glands until they are 6-8 months old. Because K2 doesn’t have sweat glands, his body uses the rash to cool down. We have been trying to keep him cool.

This week we have both learned about the small and simple things in life. Regardless of how tough things get, it is the small and simple things that we do which make the difference- both in our lives and in the lives of those around us.