Silly Little Anna

On Saturday night we went with my parents to watch the South Jordan Fireworks. The fireworks were supposed to be in July, but they were rained out. I don't think very many people caught on that they were re-scheduled. We went just outside the park, and had a great view of the fireworks.
Anna said the funniest thing. She said, "I wish I were a firework". She was serious. We thought it was funny. Anna is such a delightful little girl.

A small moment

The Teddy Bear 1K last Saturday was quite rainy. Anna thought it was great. She splashed in every puddle and had a lot of fun. Caleb's shoe fell off and he hated the rain. He was crying by the time he finished. He was extremely grumpy.

It is interesting how attitude makes a huge difference in how we deal with things.

I know in life, that sometimes I am the one crying in the rain. But there have also been times where I've been the one splashing in the puddles. One of the biggest things that has helped me as I've gotten older is this: PERSPECTIVE. When I was younger, all I could see was then and there. Sometimes when things are hard, I try to step back and think about the big picture.

Recently, as I was studying my Sunday School lesson (I am now teaching teenagers), I came across these verses. I've know these verses for years, but they really stood out to me.

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

It says that "thine afflictions shall be but a small moment". The Lord was actually talking to Joseph Smith at the time. His entire life was filled with adversity and afflictions. That hardly seems like a small moment, if you only see mortality. In the eternal perspective, it really is a small moment.

I think my trials look really miniscule compared to the trials Joseph Smith went through.

I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers. I know that Jesus Christ atoned for my sins. I know that the gospel is true.

Part 2: More summer rambling

My kids are starting to get really bored with summer. Thankfully, we don't have much time left. School is now staring on Aug 31, since the building will not be finished until then. The house is constantly messy with everyone home all of the time. It doesn't help that Alex has learned to open the game closet, climb the shelves, and dump everything out. The closet has bi-fold doors and no handles. So you would think he wouldn't be able to open it. I think we need to put some knobs on now, and a child lock too.

We were thinking about going to Bear Lake this weekend. However, there's a Teddy Bear 1K that is at the park on Saturday, and Rachel really wants to run it. She missed it last year and the other kids got to run it. I'm not dying to go camping anyways. It is a fun, kid-oriented race. They get a teddy bear as they cross the finish line. It is not even a mile long. If you are in the area, you should bring your kids to it.

Here's a link: http://www.cjcslc.org/pdfs/run5kregistrationform2009.pdf

We went to the new lake in Daybreak. It was fun. We are going there for a day outing instead of Bear Lake. I like sleeping in my own bed.

In my last post, I mentioned that Alex could get his diaper off but hadn't pooped on the floor or made a poopy mess yet. Well, it was just a matter of time.

One day, he took of his diaper and pooped on the living room floor. Thankfully, it is a laminate wood floor and was easy to clean up. The next incident was much worse. I tried to put him down for a nap before church on Sunday. I went to his door and listened to see if he was asleep. What I heard was him saying "Poo". At that moment I wanted to run away rather than open his door and see the damage. He had taken off his pants and diaper, and pooped. And stepped in it. And then Anna came in to see what he had done, and she stepped in it and tracked it down the hallway on her way to tell me that she stepped in it. So, I got to clean the carpets, give baths again, and disinfect the bathtub before church. I felt grouchy by the time we made it to church.

Did you know that it is not considered a stop at a stop sign if your car doesn't rock backwards from stopping? I learned this lesson from the West Jordan for a cost of $90.

I've done beets and corn this week. I'm so sick of canning. I now think that we should turn our garden into a basketball court. We won't really. But its sounds nice at this point.