Bravo Broadway!

Saturday evening my hubby and I took our daughter to the Utah Symphony's performance of Bravo Broadway! We enjoyed dinner at Costa Vida at the Gateway then rode trax to Abravanal Hall.
It was a fabulous evening! Our son was not interested, so he spent the evening at Grandma and Grandpa's. I think our daughter really enjoyed being the center of both our attention for the evening. She is such a sweet girl. I appreciate her interest in music. She is a girl after my own heart :)

Sounds of the Season Christmas Concert

After several invitations from my mother-in-law,
I decided to sing with her and my sister-in-law
and the South Jordan community Christmas choir.
Our concerts are December 3rd and 5th at Bingham High School.
The choir is about 100 people strong and will have
a few numbers accompanied by a small orchestra.
It's all coming together and I have to admit that
I'm getting excited. We've learned about 15 songs,
and although it's been exhausting at times, the end is in sight
and sometimes that's the icing :) So, if you are available
Thursday, December 3rd or Saturday December 5th at 7pm, please come!

My New Favorite Quote!

“I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk’s lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.” --Marjorie Peay Hinckley

Time Off!

Ever since our tiny summer break I've been looking forward to October when the kids would be off track and we could play. We had told the kids that when we finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family we would reward ourselves with a vacation. Finishing up just as the kids went off track was perfect! I was dreaming of sunny southern California and the beach. However, looking at our schedule, we found it difficult to head out of town. Every weekend we had flag football and soccer games.
My husband was coaching our daughter's soccer team again (2 games per week + practices), and it was really important to our son that he not miss any of his flag football games (2 per week + a practice). Luckily, it would all be over on the 17th of October and we would have one last week for our vacation. Then, my husband's work went crazy and became stressful. Taking that week off, or even a few days, was not advised. I modified my dreams of California to a weekend in St. George, but in the end, that didn't work out either. So, me and my hopes of visiting the beach ended up spending a day at Lagoon, our somewhat local amusement park. My husband and the kids loved it! In part, because it was only an hour drive :) As for myself, I'm not a huge fan of amusement rides, so yah, not my kind of vacation.
Oh well, what can you do?
Start scanning the future for our next opportunity!!! :)

Fall or Winter?

The kids get out of school early today (2pm) and then are off track until October 26th, so I thought I'd slip in a quick post before my life gets too crazy. I'm looking forward to the time we'll get to spend together. I've been mentally making lists of things we can do. We were hit by a storm last night and I'm needing to get my garden in before it freezes. We have tomatoes galore that we are planning on bottling tomorrow, and now I get to pick them in the cold and the mud. I'm not super excited about that, but plan to wait until after school so the kids can help me. That alone may be an adventure and perhaps an effort in persuasion. You see, my kids can be great workers, once they get started. Getting them started is sometimes a challenge. They often decide to be uncooperative (complaining, arguing, whining, etc.), but I'm determined and have a quiet goal to help them experience the joy of work. I'll have to let you know how it goes.

Being a Mom and a Great Great Great Granddaughter

These last several weeks I have been thinking and considering several options concerning my schooling, working, and anything else I can fill my time with while the kids are in school. Unable to settle the schooling question in time for Fall semester has given me even more free time. I can truly understand why so many women choose to go back to work to fill the time. Unfortunately, that leaves kids home alone when they are out of school, which is something I am not willing to do. I strongly believe that I need to be home when they are and I have had many experienced mothers share their thoughts about the same. Many teenagers get into trouble while mom’s at work and/or because there is no one to check in with after school and during the summer. And I can’t imagine enjoying a job that kept me from spending time with my kids. So after much thought, prayer, and council, I’m even more committed and dedicated to being a mother. We only have one shot at raising these kids, and we can’t afford the risks of me being too busy to be the mom they need. I’ve never questioned the importance of being a mom, but all this free time has caused me to consider all the options. It’s amazing to me how idleness is truly one of Satan’s tools.

I have several grandmas that come get their hair done every Friday. I treasure their friendship and the wisdom and insight that they share with me. One advised me to get my scrapbooking, family history, and genealogy done while I can still see, something she always thought she would get to but now can’t see well enough to do. That sounds like a good plan. I spent a day at the Genealogy Library this week. I was hoping to find that all my ancestors have journals and personal histories they’ve written. No such luck. So I search books and books and more books of all kinds of county records, trying to piece together some portion of their lives. I’ve decided that I’d best use my time visiting family who have already collected information and I can reap the rewards of their research before I spend hours doing what’s already been done. I will say, however, that it was quite a thrill to find an 1870 US Census record with my great great great and great great great great grandparents on it! Oh how I would have loved to have known them.

Education Week/BYU

I've spent these last two days at Education Week at Brigham Young University. I'll be returning the next two days. They have a school days pass that allows me to leave after the kids get on the bus and get back before they get home. Living about 45 minutes away from BYU makes it possible to attend. I've been looking forward to it since last year. It has been a great couple of days. My favorite class so far was taught by Ronald E. Bartholomew, "Learning to Receive and Recognize the Promptings of the Spirit". Wow! And today we enjoyed a devotional with President Boyd K. Packer. What a great day!

Lazy Days . . . ?

I've been meaning to write. It's not that life is busy, in fact it's quite relaxed. Actually, I'm starting to getted bored and restless again. I've been trying to decide how to fill my time now that the kids are in school. So much freedom. I'm just not used to it. I like to be busy and feel like the day has purpose and direction, and that I've accomplished something. But the truth is, I'm not very motivated unless I'm committed to a schedule. I find myself doing almost nothing of value, and I hate that. So, I won't sit here long, because the results of the weekend are still very evident in our home. Mondays I usually spend cleaning up and catching up. My brother and his family were in town Saturday and Sunday, so all the kids played, mostly at our house, and now I've got some tidying up to do. I don't mind though. I love it when my house is full, and I was just saying how I hate doing nothing.
So I'm going to motivate myself!