Bryce's Big Day

Bryce has been counting down the days for months. He wanted to be a Deacon, hold the priesthood and pass the sacrament. He was also the last one in his primary class to turn 12 by a few months so that also had him wishing his birthday had come sooner. Nevertheless , he patiently prepared and today he was introduced as the ward's final addition to the quorum for 2012. Bishop said he was impressed with his preparation and that he had not seen another deacon so excited and well prepared as Bryce was. We love our kids, and joy in their goodness.

Bryce had a solo in the primary program

Dear Family
The primary had their program yesterday and both boys did fantastic in it. Jeff has a strong voice and sang out on every song. Bryce was the narrator and also had a short solo. We were very proud of our little guys that are not so little any more! We enjoyed so many years of firsts and now are experiencing many lasts. Next year will be our last year of having kids in Primary and I love what it has taught our children.
Love
Mom

A Birthday Tribute to my Mom

I notice things
the sunset
a flower
unique pottery shapes and glazes
remembering images from my youth.

You filled our home
with beauty
learning
smells of baking bread and dinner
homemaking skills are mine now

life is hard
but joy
radiates
it comes from deep inside and shows
that peace and love will overcome

I see you
in me
inheritance
is not something with price,
I see it's what I have become

My job now
as mother
teacher
is to give to my children
what you have given to me. Jewels.

Happy Birthday Mom

Love

Mechel

A visit from the fire department

Rogers fire department just got a new ladder fire truck and it is every boys dream to play with all of the levers and dials if a fire truck. We had time to wait around for the carbon monoxide to clear out of the house so they lay the boys work the ladder, went for a ride around the neighborhood and chatted in the front yard for an hour or two.
It all started with the cold snap. With a flip of a switch we went from cloudy and cool to sleet and cold. We turned the furnace on after we got back from the property where we had spent the night and had worked since dawn. We were chilled to the bone.

The usual burning dust smell was there but shortly after that burned off the carbon monoxide sensors began buzzing. We took batteries out so we could enjoy conference. The alarms continued. We replaced batteries and they kept buzzing. Annoying, because we were really trying to focus on the talks. Everyone was tired and naps would be great if the darn alarms would just stop!

I began to smell gas so we opened the doors and turned off the furnace and called a repair man. That was finally the right move.

I called a firefighter friend and asked if he has a sensor to see of there really was CO in the house... Since we could not smell it. Duh. That is what the alarm was for. He said to call the fire department and that is how we ended up outside hanging with the firemen. There was a LOT of CO gas inside and they smelled a gas leak just standing by the front door. The readings just inside the front door were so high that they had to get out too and no one was allowed back in until the gas company came and shut everything down.
We were all affected by the exposure and had headaches and were sleepy. We will get a new furnace next week.

Now to get rested up for another great day of conference!

Field Trip Thursday: Bug Festival at the UofA In spite of the long lines of school children snaking through the Equestrian Arena, where the UofA had set up tables covered with creepy crawlies, we managed to see and touch some very unusual creatures on our field trip today.

Bryce was brave and held a walking stick that had body parts that looked like leaves layered down the middle of him.

The hissing cockroaches were a huge hit and they used them for races which were quite entertaining.

The spiders were not my favorite because I really have seen some like this around - which freaks me out. Killing 6 huge black momma widows last week and a very large wolf spider had me shivering - but seeing this very large tarantula crawling all over this guy, not wanting to get back in its box, up and down his back, on his neck, down his arm - it made me scream (yes the boys thought my startled scream was funny) - I just did not expect to turn around and see a large spider on this guy's back!

We had a great time and enjoyed seeing so many of God's wonderful creatures and appreciated that they were in boxes or in display cases and not hiding in our closets!

Run for a child

The ward has been practicing for several weeks to do a flash mob dance at the Run for a Child. We got there at the appointed time and there were not very many people around. You have to have more than the flash mob people to pull it off so we decided to wait until the races were over.

Meanwhile Bryce and Jeff decided that they really did want to run and headed off to the starting line. Jeff ran the mile and Bryce ran the 5k.

When it was determined that the time was right to dance, the music started and we did our thing. People got a kick out of it and we got on the news so I guess the goal was met.

Rogers Stake Youth Trek 2012

The trek is over and as I ponder over the past few days I realize that there is great value in these type of experiences and activities. I have read many journal entries of pioneers and they attempt to share the process by which they learned the valuable lessons that carried them through their adversity. I understand just a little bit of what they felt and experienced.

As the first day began, we were all excited, dressed as pioneers and ready to embark on our journey. At first it was about keeping clean and working as a family and being nice. As the day wore on, the excitement was still there but I began to ask myself why the saints willingly took these arduous journeys. People died, they sustained injuries and the trip was just plain hard even in mild weather. Difficult conditions would have compounded the strain, naturally. We saw a few cars stop on the road and take some photos, and I don't know if they were family members or just strangers stopping to see what we were up to. We did not see anyone outside of our group for the rest of the trek.

Ma and Pa teams were asked to prepare pioneer stories to share at devotional stops. We prepared and had stories of our ancestors as well as documented handcart pioneer families. I was constantly pondering how their experience was similar, and yet very different than ours. Many of us had very nice hiking boots, a doctor on hand with what ever we needed, angels who provided us with food each morning and along the trail. We were encouraged along the way by a very energetic brother who made sure we were keeping hydrated and having fun. He carried a megaphone. He was not a still small voice, yet his message was heard and felt by all.

We learned to appreciate porta-potties (although I kept trying to "flush") and looked forward to seeing them around the bend. However, when we had to pee, we had no problem using a tree (or bush or even tall grass). I really enjoyed using our indoor plumbing again. We were being brave souls our first night and opted to sleep out under the stars without any tarp over us, after all, tarps are for whimps. Wrong. Tarps are for the smart ones who remembered the warning about "dew". The dew that settled in left puddles of water on anything it touched. I can now see why, before Noah, the earth's plants grew just fine with "dew". It was heavy dew. My sleeping bag was wet, my feet were wet, my pillow was wet except for where my head lay. The next night, we built the most amazing lean-to which covered everything. Ahhh, dry sleeping bag!

After the first day of trekking we were all tired and hot. The kids needed to swim, so I went down to the river and watched a hundred or more kids splash about, jump off boulders, swim, float, cool off and enjoy the company of fellow trekkers. It was great! For dinner we had chili which even the most picky of eaters devoured, saying it was the best chili ever. They were hungry kids! I loved being able to go to the mess truck and get a bucket of food for our meals that day! We enjoyed biscuits and gravy for breakfast, cooked in dutch ovens. That is some good camping food! We took bread, peanut butter, jelly, cookies and chips for our lunch picnic. At our lunch break, we did a human tug-of-war with no ropes. We locked arms and pulled. Our teams strategized on the best linking method and took first place in girls and finals with boys. Our kids had a competitive streak!

During one of the breaks, we stopped in a beautiful pasture and the Pony Express Rider arrived with letters from home. Each of the kids got a letter, read it, then wrote in their journals. We found out that one of the brothers who had come from Grove Ward to participate as an "unfriendly" indian was in an ATV accident and they thought he had broken his back. He asked for a blessing and was given one. He was picked up by ambulance and taken in for x-rays and CT scans. Not one bone was broken even though he could not move his legs or feel sensation. What a blessing for him and his family to have a miracle performed on his behalf. Everyone knelt in prayer together to combine our faith to pray for his recovery. His name had been included on the OKC temple prayer roll that night as well. I am so thankful for the priesthood power and for the power of prayer.

The second day was overcast and drizzling which was great because it kept us just damp enough to stay cool, not enough to soak us. The girls were separated from the boys for a short time as the men went to find buffalo. We had to pull the handcarts for a time without help from our men. The girls also had a chance to see what role service played in making it across the plains. Some handcarts only had 2-3 women. The girls noticed and left our family to go help. As leaders, we knew this would happen but we were told not to ask the girls to help the others. They needed to notice it and act on their feelings. Two of our girls left our handcart to help. Good for them! We were psyched up for the pull. We encouraged one another saying "We can do HARD THINGS!" When it came time for us to pull our cart up the muddy slippery incline, the men had returned and came to help. Some of our brothers lent a hand but we did make it up for the most part on our own. This was valuable for the girls to realize how strong they really were.

My testimony was strengthened as I thought of Zions Camp and the work it did in making the brothers work together in love and cooperation and to rid themselves of pride and contention. This kind of exertion, working together to survive and being led through the "wilderness" by our church leaders is a testimony building experience like no other.

I am so glad I was able to attend and watch our youth have this intense growing experience. So, why did the saints endure this with faith. They knew the Gospel was true. Why do we let our youth stretch themselves and have this experience, so they too can have the kind of faith and testimony that will be required in these latter days.