Category: Personal

“Family prayer is a powerful and sustaining influence. During the dark days of World War II, a 500-pound bomb fell outside the little home of Brother Patey, a young father in Liverpool, England, but the bomb did not go off. His wife had died, so he was rearing his five children alone. He gathered them together at this very anxious time for family prayer. They ‘all prayed . . . earnestly and when they had finished praying, the children said: “Daddy, we will be all right. We will be all right in our home tonight.”“ ‘And so they went to bed, imagine, with that terrific bomb lying just outside the door half submerged in the ground. If it had gone off it would have destroyed probably forty or fifty houses and killed two or three hundred people. . . . “ ‘The next morning the . . . whole neighborhood was removed for forty-eight hours and the bomb was finally taken away. . . . “ ‘On the way back Brother Patey asked the foreman of the A. R. P. Squad: “Well, what did you find?”“ ‘ “Mr. Patey, we got at the bomb outside of your door and found it ready to explode at any moment. There was nothing wrong with it. We are puzzled why it did not go off” ’ (Andre K. Anastasiou, in Conference Report, Oct. 1946, 26). Miraculous things happen when families pray together.”

James E. Faust, “The Lifeline of Prayer,” Liahona, July 2002, 68

I’d say they look related, wouldn’t you? (I already know that my mom and Amber will agree! They’ve been pointing it out all along!)

The first photo is Chase when he was 4 months old, and the second is Charlotte at 2 1/2 months. I’ve seen mostly differences between Chase and Charlotte as newborns, but these photos show how alike (in appearance) they seem! However, Charlotte’s eyes are lighter, and her hair is definitely darker than Chase’s was (she has a little mullet in the back where her hair is clearly brown)! I think she might be bigger than he was, too…

Okay. Looking at these photos, I just had yet another moment when the thought hit me, “What? I have two children? Where has the time gone? Am I not in high school anymore? guess not.”

I had one of those moments earlier when I was taking Chase to a Sports class at The Little Gym (which was awesome, by the way). I thought, “Do I really have a child who’s old enough for me to be carting around to such activities? guess so.”

I am realizing, now that Chase is turning 3, that the time really does fly by. I mean, it’s great that Chase is at this age when he can do so much all by himself– there are benefits to having a child get older. But right now I am also really cherishing Charlotte in all her baby glory. This time around I’m not anxiously awaiting the next milestone, even though milestones are fun. But I just love babyhood! You may stay a baby as long as you’d like, Little One!

YUM. Pace bought us 2 boxes of the most amazing cookies ever– Samoas. They used to be called something else… Caramel Delights I think? I LOVE them. I even used to order them from MYSELF. Yes, they take me back to my girl scout days when I was the top seller in my troop, probably because I skipped the door-to-door approach, busted out the ward list, and sold to most of the people on there… Yeah that would help. I remember Art Hollingsworth always bought 6 boxes of Thin Mints! Thanks to my dedicated mom for helping me deliver all those cookies so I could get that coveted special patch on my sash! Oh my.

Today as we were driving up the freeway to hang out with Becky and the girls, Chase yelled, “Mommy slow down!!!” When I asked him why, he responded, “Because I don’t want the policemen to come and get us and take me away and throw me in the garbage.” I laughed and told him the policemen wouldn’t do that because they are nice, and he said “Well policemen are nice AND mean.” …. And I didn’t have anything more to say about that! 🙂 Especially as my thoughts flashed back to high school, when that butch policeWOMAN gave me a ticket at 6:30 am as I rushed to seminary….

Day before yesterday I took Chase to a free trial gymnastics class to see if he would like it. He desperately needs something to do besides follow me around all day and check out the window in case anyone is playing outside (very slim chances). So after the gymnastics class, he said he’d had fun but didn’t want to go back. Alrighty then… Next week he’s going to try a Sports Skills Class which I think he might enjoy more!

Then after a couple of quick errands, we went to the playground at the library. It was super windy, but Chase had a good time… until I saw him doing something that looked like a headstand, which was actually him falling on his nose. After consoling him, I took the kids inside for Story Time, found a little room where I could feed Charlotte, and Chase followed me in there. Suddenly some of the lights went out in the library, including those in our little room. No big deal.

Later I heard some moms saying that they were out at the playground with their kids, when they heard what sounded like a gunshot. It actually only turned out to be a power line that had snapped somehow from the wind, and had fallen on the playground! Yikes. The parents screamed at their kids and went inside the library to find most of the power out. The library staff decided to close the library for a few hours, so everyone was leaving. I didn’t think much more of it all until I was stepping outside to brave the winds and go get in the car… And there were the maintenance guys, working right above our minivan!

Yes, the other part of the power line had been dangling above our car. We had to wait a while inside the library ‘til they finished fixing it. We were fine with that; we sat and read some books, but it was funny because all the library staff and city workers passing by asked if we were okay and if we needed anything! Now that I think of it, I should’ve asked them to go get me a steak, or a sundae or something… haha!  I was just glad that no one got hurt.  And even without the use of the computer, we still got to check out a few dvds (50 cent fee waived—YES!) and Berenstain Bears books. When we got home, we wiped off our dusty windblown faces, had lunch, and Chase went straight down for a nap. What an eventful morning it was!

I’m very busy at work, but took time to watch this from my co-worker.

Today I got to go to the temple with my beautiful friend Amanda. (Thanks for watching the kids at home, Pace!) Amanda was my very first roommate in Heritage Halls at BYU, and we totally hit it off from Day One! We would always talk to each other into the late hours of the night, even when we were half asleep and not even making any sense!

Amanda is an awesome example to me. She is the only LDS member in her family, and was baptized only months before she came to BYU. And she has “stuck with it” ever since! 🙂 I got to accompany Amanda to get her patriarchal blessing during our freshman year, so I felt especially privileged today to witness another great milestone in her life! Amanda is amazing; she is a great listener, and is definitely one of the most thoughtful and loving people I know. Why, just yesterday she took Chase off my hands (and spoiled him) for a while so I could have a little break. Thanks so much for your friendship, Amanda, and I love you!

This was the first time I put a headband on Charlotte… I’m not sure how I feel about headbands because I think if I were a baby I’d be irritated having that thing on my head. I guess they’re okay as long as they’re not too big and flashy!

Chase sure loves his baby sister! She HAD been sleeping, before he came and hopped in the crib with her and started kissing and squeezing her… I have to really keep an eye on this kid! I love that first photo that shows their big blue eyes. I think Charlotte’s eyes might be blue just like Chase’s. Fun!

“What can . . . young mother[s] [do] . . . to reduce the pressure [of raising young children] and enjoy [their families] more? . . .

“Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

“Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: ‘The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less’ (Loud and Clear [1004], 10-11).”

M. Russell Ballard, “Daughters of God,” Ensign, May 2008, 109

Charlotte is such a sweet baby! I just love her. She has smiled at me a few times over the past couple weeks, but I haven’t been able to tell for sure if they were official smiles or just gas. However, yesterday I knew it was for real because she smiled at me three different times while I was “playing” with her! And today when I went to pick her up after a nap she gave me a big grin again! There’s nothing sweeter than a baby’s smile.