Bike Races

Moses never sits at the table through dinner. He lets himself out the back door and grabs his bike to make laps around the pool.

A self portrait.

We went to a beach in Indonesia, not far away and the beaches were closed because of tar balls- oil spilt by ships and then turns to tar. The water and beaches were covered.

We walked down to the beach only once while there- when we returned we had to throw two pairs of shoes away and wash hands and feet with oil to remove the tar.

Scout talks and talks. This evening I asked her to tell me something about grandma.

“She has a dog. And she has an ancestor-because she is a ancestor. That means she is my grandma.”

We signed Mary up for basketball camp with Zoe this summer... 😬 Everyone gets out to play 3-4 nights a week.

9 going on 14. Help.

And always hungry.

Family History and Temple Work

Blessings from Family History and Temple Work

If you come from a family like ours, it seems like a lot of family history work has already been done, at least all the easy stuff or anything that I can do from here. so we've been getting creative as we think of ways that we can make this a bigger part of our family life. I'd like this to more integrated into our routines. presiden Nelson said 'I invite you to prayerfully consider what kind of sacrifice- and preferably a sacrifice of time- you can make to do more family history and temple work this year." (March 2017) We have a family history moment each week in FHE, the children take turns choosing a story from the books and then reading part or summarising it. Then they tell us one thing we could learn from the story. I really love it, but we're going to go from Good to Better and hopefully to Best!

We're going to move the family history moment to Sunday, same format, but we'll follow it up with time to write in our journals. I'll probably take some of that time to write the weekly email as I usually just copy and paste part of my journal for you guys anyway. Today was our first run. We read about Grandma Alice Skousen and flipped through some of her pictures. I think it prompted the children to write more than they usually would. 

The greatest part about this whole thing is that it seemed like a small thing to do. But there was an immediate blessing. I have been to Hong Kong to go to the temple twice already this year. For me, I feel that is an amazing effort. Last year, I was only able to attend the temple during our summer break, but mom or a cousin watched the children each week so I could go. (THANK YOU!) This year, with Ann's help, I have tried to tidy up my family tree on Family Search, write frequently in my journal, create family search accounts for my older children.... and then I've been stumped on what else I could do. We make family recipes and I'll talk about the person with the children while we eat the food (Skousen enchiladas, Vondie's bread/granola, Grandpa's favorite banana bread/cookie, bran muffins, eblaskivers, Grandpa's walnuts...) There are so many blessings promised to those who make family history and temple work a blessing. And tonight, as I gave Abe and Maeser journals and explained what we would be doing (Mary already had a journal) I received an email at the very same time- I had received a name to take to the temple! It was a very small thing, but not a coincidence. 

Elder Renlund said, "If you accept this challenge, blessings will begin to flow to you and your family like the power of the river spoken of by Ezekiel. And the river will grow as you continue to perform this work and teach others to do the same. You will find not only protection from the temptation and ills of the world, but you will also find personal power—power to change, power to repent, power to learn, power to be sanctified, and power to turn the hearts of your family members to each other and heal that which needs healing.”

I excitedly shared with the children who were still writing what had happened. Now... I am concerned that I shouldn't reserve the name as someone else could do the work much faster than I. Both times that I attended the temple this year I tried to take a family name myself, but didn't have something prepared to do so. And as I don't plan to go until this summer, or maybe late April is seems almost selfish to keep it just so I can do something that so many others are qualified to do.

What an immediate blessing. I know this promise is sure. I would love to hear what you are doing to make family history a family affair, I could use some more ideas.

On to the rest of our week. 

Dan spent some time in Bangkok, a day in Singapore, and the rest of the week in Utah. I spent the week walking children to and from school or activities, hopping between spash pads and swimming lessons, helping with a primary activity and singing karaoke for the first time in my life.

I'm also learning how to use my camera and can't wait for Ann to give me some pointers this summer. 

We are also trying to come out a little sooner in June so we can maximise cousin time while Ann is studying. We would love to keep all the cousins in the bunk room at the cabin. We'll keep you posted, but looking at an itinerary that puts us in town almost as soon as Ann.

Splash Pads.

 Zerah's Play

 Our Primary Activity.

Bowls of peanut butter for lunch.

Garbage Truck

Something I thought about this morning, and then by noon forgot about… again resurfaced a moment ago. I’d like to think about it more.

So, before tomorrow morning arrives (with all its chaos) I’ll write it down.

Every morning I walk my children to school. Some mornings are rushed, some are slow. But always the same three blocks down the hill. The youngest two aren’t enrolled yet, and they make the long trudge back up the hill. This part of the walk is never hurried. There is a small swing at the top of the hill. We stop to rest and play almost every day. This morning as we rested a garbage truck pulled onto our street. Two men work together, one drives while the other runs between the curbs emptying bins into the compactor. The tiny humans with me watch carefully, garbage and dump trucks have a hypnotizing effect on small children.

I watched as our garbage man pull two pieces of bread from the half empty bins and fold them neatly into the hinges of his dirty compactor, was he saving them for later? I took a second look at the man to see if he looked hungry… can you really tell from a glance? But maybe. He was thin, yet strong enough to be emptying hundreds of cans before his lunch break. I thought, most likely there is water with birds or ducks nearby that he’d be saving it for? My curiosity wasn’t greater than my pride, and though I may have felt compassion I didn’t act on it. He continued to run between the curbs, working quickly.

The children watched and waved enthusiastically as the truck moved on down the street. The man at the back tapped the side of the tuck and it stopped. The men waived as the driver walked back to hand them each small chocolates wrapped in foil. I didn’t stop them from eating the chocolate… I thought about it but let that thought pass. It was a generous gift from two men I had just determined weren’t hungry.

I thought about their work. Always polite, and friendly. Doing a job that is usually only acknowledged as a complaint is lodged when someone isn’t there to take the waste away. Maybe the driver was just glad to have a “Hello” and a smile.

Bikes and Lacrosse

Another note short on reading material.

Quick trick to HK for Women’s conference and the temple. Only picture taken was waiting to collect my bags at the belt.

Cray cray. Outward manifestation of my mental state while experiencing a combination of Fast Sunday/Jet Lag and putting the kids to bed solo while Dan catches a flight whilst being unable to unbutton the back of my dress. The moment passed and became more hilarious after I sent Dan this photo.

Oh Mercy. (I’m certain we caption 85% of her photos in the same manner.)

Always on a bike... humming his own theme song.

If not on a bike, then playing cars.

Budding artist, 3 minutes at a time.

Our future Lacrosse Star.

Abraham. 9

Mary. 11

Maeser turned 6

And the next day, in all seriousness, he said he'd already turned 7. 

He requested donuts, pokemon and we went to the Singapore Airshow on Saturday morning to celebrate. We arrived late, so pulled over at a beach as close to the show as we could get and couldn't have had better seats. The planes flew just off shore- the kids spent 10 minutes watching the show and the remaining 30 minutes playing in the sand while Dan and I awed over the skill of pilots and manoeuvres of powerful machines. 

Love this kid.

Bullet points it is.

At breakfast this week:
Abe, “Can we stop at Hyrum’s house on the way home from the airport?”
Me, “When? In June, like in 3 months? I think it will be late and time to go to bed.”
Abe, “Well, can we just pick him up on the way?”

Mary and Dan went to Korea for some meetings and got to see one of the hockey games before catching their flight.

The rest of us hit the beach.

Moses can never get enough of small people.

Or banana bread.

Scout, “This is my famiwy.”

Photo Dump

A dear friend made me lunch on her lunch break. Bulgogi, kimchi, tofu soup. So much love on one tray.

Nap time when nobody puts him to bed.

Grateful thoughts brimmed while watching this guy and his fist full of cars... Quiet moments. Small smiles. Tiny people. Good books. Savory food and dark chocolate. A good pen. The sound of rain. Running children.  Brave people. Prayers of faith.

Playing in the dirt.

More dirt. More smiles.

It’s remote control. 

Family night.

Lil’ Mo.