October in the Third Grade

Kids seem to understand better than we do sometimes.

I know you can't really see what's going on in this photo, but allow me to explain.

A little boy in Eliza's class brought an old-school lunch box to school filled to bursting with Pokémon cards, and within a span of three minutes, dropped the tin box with the flimsy latch twice - spilling what must have been 350 Pokémon cards in a large, scattered pile at everyone's feet. 

The first time it happened in the otherwise quiet line, Eliza dropped my hand and ran to help gather. The second time, the kids were walking in straight lines towards the school and, again, several kids (including Eliza) dropped to their knees to help.

While the crouching herd of children were gathering cards, Eliza's teacher passed by, and upon finding out the story simply quipped over her shoulder, "Caiden, you should not be bringing that to school in the first place."

Now, before I dissect this, the teacher is absolutely right. Toys are not allowed at school for good reason, and they have had enough trouble with that rule already in this particular class that a notice was sent home a couple of weeks ago reminding parents that no toys were allowed. Not in hands, not in backpacks, and not in lunch-boxes. I am sure Mrs. Campbell was justified in her frustration.

But because of it, she missed the magic of what was happening. Kids (I count six in that photo) were rushing to Caiden's side when they saw his need, and it was quite beautiful to me. 

Kids don't generally attach morals on to good behavioral instincts... they just act on them. Somewhere along the line we start to weigh in our minds whether the person in help 'deserves' the help, or whether or not our help will fuel an underlying problem. And, perhaps, some of that is okay, but wouldn't the world be a much better place if we stopped thinking so much and just rushed in to gather when we saw someone spilling?

In other news, October is a fun month around here because it's still hot enough to have water parties at school,

but not so hot as to be miserable parents while we watch them.

The Fun Run at King happened, and if that smile on Eliza's face up there doesn't tell you a bit about how much she enjoyed it, nothing will.

Brian even got to join us for it this year, which was extra special.

In other school news, Eliza had crazy hair day and rocked it. 

Crazy hair in October is something fun indeed.

And if you're going to win a Student of the Month Award, 

I would highly suggest you win it in the month of October on the day everyone dresses up for Halloween. 

It was quite magical. 

The principal, Mr. Shrock, is delightful and really tries to make school fun and exciting for the kids. This particular awards assembly is held outside once a month just after morning announcements, and all of the award winners stand in anticipation at the top of the hill near the fence. Mr. Shrock then calls each child's name through the loudspeakers (...and the winner ISSSSSSS.......), and he or she runs down the corridor of cheering peers, dancing to the rhythm of loud music and high-fiving everyone along her way until she finally ends up at the feet of Mr. Shrock who gives her a paper award.

To do it in costume makes it so much better.

Eliza is a great kid, and it's easy for her teachers to see that. Not long after her student of the month award was received, she was picked again for the Cobra Kai award:

The highest school honor. Because of her excellency, she is now the proud owner of a wristband that will get her into every school party for free (instead of having to pay the cherished Cobra Cash for such a thing). She is elated and very, very honored. There were only two kids in the whole school who won the award, so perhaps she should be elated and honored.

Third grade is going well.

All about Light

It felt a little sad not to have a President of the Church preside over General Conference this year, but thankfully God has such a secure safety net in place that we almost didn't notice. Prophet after prophet after prophet shared carefully sought wisdom, direction, and Light, and I just can't get over the blessing and miracle and comfort of it all. It's one of my favorite things, and one that keeps my feet so firmly rooted in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Prophets on the earth... amazing.

We were in Flagstaff for General Conference this year. 

Josh Birdno was getting married, and just as we couldn't imagine missing General Conference, we couldn't imagine missing his wedding. We were there in North Carolina for his birth (did we watch his big sister Mikayla during that night?) and have watched him grow all the way up into a fun and happy man.

So, we blended the two events.

We were still able to keep most of our General Conference traditions alive. We rented a quiet airbnb with cozy couches and a big tv, prepared the breakfast casserole and soups ahead of time, bought the greatest cinnamon rolls of all time from Chais, and packed the frozen orange juice concentrate in coolers to make Orange Julius. We emptied small candies from pretty cups and filled small pages in plain notebooks.

And now we have been taking those notes and continuing our work of becoming.

Sunday night was Josh's wedding, and this was the cutest thing ever.

Josh and Cami did some swing dancing to "Life is a Highway" for the mother/groom dance, and now I have to figure out how to convince Carson to swing dance with me at his wedding. 

It might be easier to ask an axolotl to fly, but I will certainly try.

The whole wedding was beautiful and centered on Christ from the ceremony to the vows to the party. Even their guest book was a Bible; each guest put a tiny post-it note next to their favorite verse explaining why it was their favorite. 

It was special and wonderful to feel the Light of Christ shining brightly all through the evening. It didn't come close to the Light I feel in the temples, but if I were to get married again today, I would certainly take a lot of ideas from Josh and Mckennah, starting with that Bible.

Speaking of axolotls...

All dressed up and ready for stake conference. 

These two are the funniest. They are so different in the best ways possible and help to balance out each others extremes. Sometimes the Lord sends his Light in the form of a very best friend.

Lisa sent me this picture moments before they all got into the car to come meet us at stake conference (Brian and I had to go early), and we hoped that Nora would show up as an axolotl. It would have added a bit of liveliness to the stake center that morning.

But she did not.

Amazing as that would have been, it still would have taken second place in the competition of My Favorite Things of the Week, because this is hands down my favorite: 

Those smiles are all genuine and I can't believe how blessed I feel to have such a closeness in our family. Lots and lots and lots of Light here.

And I hope that closeness lasts forever.

One of my favorite things about Carson's weekly calls is how much we laugh. With all seven of us on the call it's hard to have a thought make it all the way from its beginning to its end, but we really do get there eventually. Carson leads the discussion with a play-by-play of his week, but it usually takes us close to two hours to get through it with all the tangents and laughter.

For example, while Carson was screen sharing to show us the incredible, amazing pictures of his foreign land, Miles and Timothy (sitting in separate cars) only had eyes for themselves and were perfecting this: 

I wouldn't change a thing.

But of course, change is a part of life, so I will cherish this moment in time and then cherish the next moment when it shifts and comes in differently (easy to say now when things are all rosy...).

I'm currently cherishing this shift:

This is (obviously) not my picture, but I love it so much and had to screenshot it from the church's newsroom to add to my library. 

Their testimonies were so beautiful on the day they were sustained and set apart, and it was remarkable to hear through their words and examples how humility and confidence can blend together to create power. It will be fun to watch the prophetic mantle rest on President Oaks' shoulders and see what that does to him. I love them all so much, and can't wait to watch them fill the world with Light.

Run

Miles turned 16 four months ago. 

We threw 'Happy Birthday' wishes over our shoulders all day long and a brand new set of air pods his way, but the truth was that his 16th birthday was never really about him.

With a house full of family and neighbors and friends, he turned his spotlight willingly to Carson whose farewell was the exact same day.

I get that for many people it wouldn't be that big of a deal to stand in the shadows on their birthday, but we do birthdays big around here, so the fall is long when traditional celebrations don't happen. Even so, Miles did not utter one complaint, did not let his smile falter, and unless he improved his acting skills remarkably on that day, did not even feel a measure of disappointment. He was happy to be with his cousins and to celebrate Carson.

He behaved so graciously, so maturely, that Brian and I knew we wanted to celebrate him big when the dust settled, and three months later we planned a big experience for him around the theme: RUN.

We could read the skepticism on our kids faces the moment we unveiled the theme. Brian and I literally 'ran' into the room shouting, "the party is starting! The party is starting! Right NOW! The party is starting right now and the theme is RUN! So 'run!' Go grab your tennis shoes and 'run' to the car!!!" Miles raised a judgy eyebrow, but after I assured him that there would be no actual running, he got cheerier.

The kids had known that the party would start right after school on the chosen day and had assumed that it would continue all through the evening and finish long after the sun went down. But the actual plan was to pick the kids up from school, 'run' straight to the airport to (surprise!) pick up McKenzie, and (double surprise!) make a two night 'run' to San Diego.

But while Brian and I 'ran' around the kids to stir their excitement, our original plan was being derailed in real time because a thunderstorm had rolled in thick enough to ground every plane in and out of the Las Vegas airport, so McKenzie was delayed and would not be landing at her scheduled time of 3:30.

The inertia of the party was strong when the kids came home from school. They were ready to learn the theme and begin whatever adventures were awaiting, and we knew that quietly waiting around on our own couches for McKenzie's flight to depart would be to kill that inertia, so we decided we would 'run' to the Green Valley Ranch casino to hit the arcade.

• A Funny Little Window Into Eliza's Mind •

Through the gathering lightning storm on the way to the arcade, I told two personal stories about close encounters with lightning which enthralled Eliza due to the danger of it all and, as she does, she began to manufacture and absorb the emotions of what it must have been like to be so close to an ear-splitting bolt of electricity. Several minutes after the stories had ended, we stopped at a red light, and looking out the window at an extraordinarily tall streetlight a few feet away from us, Eliza said in a half-joking/half-serious voice, "Wow... that sure is a long metal pole we're parked right next to."

She was right, and we've all been laughing about it ever since. It illustrates the anxiousness she feels in life, but this is the first time I've heard her tease her own self about it. It felt healthy to me and I was proud of her.

Anyway, we made it to the parking lot of the arcade, and after finding out that McKenzie's flight was pushed back another hour, decided to tell the kids what was going on. The excitement exploded like lightning.  

We passed a couple of hours before getting the final word that McKenzie's flight from Salt Lake was no longer delayed but cancelled, and we broke the news to the kids that unfortunately, McKenzie would not be making the road trip with us. 

But! Fortunately there was a flight leaving the Salt Lake airport later that night going straight to San Diego! So we got the refund from the cancelled flight and used it to (partially) pay for the new flight to San Diego.

Here is Miles blaming the clouds.

McKenzie's new flight would arrive in San Diego at 11:30pm, which mean we had just enough time to finish all the tokens on our arcade cards, cash the tickets in for prizes, and eat a burger at Shake Shack

before beginning the long drive. We arrived just in time for Brian to drop me and the kids off at the airbnb and get to the airport to pick her up. McKenzie even got back to the airbnb in time to say goodnight to Eliza before Eliza fell asleep.

It's one of my favorite things: seeing my kids love each other.

The surprise of the trip was fun. The kids were amazed that we had packed all of their suitcases and that we were leaving for two nights, and we all fell asleep at the airbnb feeling very happy.

The next day we revealed the shirts:

It's an inside joke. I read somewhere that one of the best things you can do as a mom to help cultivate an atmosphere of unity and love is to keep inside jokes alive.

So, I made shirts.

• The Inside Joke Explained •

Years ago, I was running late to pick McKenzie up one afternoon, so I sent her a quick text to let her know I was on my way.

"I'm coming" I said, and then to further explain that I was leaving right away, I sent "rn" which auto corrected to "run" so, to correct the auto correct I spelled the whole thing out "right now." Which all together looked on her phone like this:

I'm coming

Run

Right now

Anyway, it's been funny to us ever since, and when we opened the shirts, McKenzie almost peed her pants laughing so hard. 

We ate breakfast at a fancy smoothie/acai bowl/avocado toast place

and headed straight to Sea World.

The stars of the day were the jellyfish,

the Dippin-Dots,

and the orcas.

Eliza might say the orcas were here favorite. The whole day was technically for Miles, but Eliza probably had the most fun. She had never seen penguins ("in real life!") before, was absolutely amazed by the size of the orcas, and could name a moon-jelly every time she saw one. Her one true desire by the end of the day was to have a stuffed orca all of her own. 

Meet Orcle (a name born from the marriage of Orca and Sea World).

There really is something fun about a gift shop. I almost never buy anything, but it's fun to browse.

One of my favorite parts was sticking my hand in this pool with the sucker fish.

Overall, I think Miles had a good time at Sea World. 

When the roller coasters started closing for the night, we decided we were done with our Sea World segment of the day and headed to an escape room to save the world in record time. We 'ran' through several different time dimensions and solved everything so fast to finish with over 18 minutes left on our one hour timer!

Just call us talented. 

Then on to a pizza dinner and back to the airbnb to put an exhausted Eliza to bed and stay up late playing In the Bag and Scattegories. Halfway through our In the Bag game, mid-laughter, McKenzie received the news that President Nelson had just passed away, and it changed our mood appropriately. I can only imagine the cheering in heaven when he returned home. 

• A Small Break to Share a Spiritual Thought •

When we sustained President Nelson as prophet all those years ago, I knew. I knew he was a prophet... it's one of those inexplainable things. All I can say is that my body felt one way before I raised my hand to sustain him, and my body felt a different way afterwards. Tingly and warm, full and expansive-- so full and expansive, in fact, that the feeling could not be contained in my body and flooded me with tears. It was the Spirit testifying of truth. And it changed me a little.

I didn't ask for it, and I don't know why I received that gift when others didn't, but it turned out to be one of the most important gifts of my life so far (I don't say that lightly). While friends have wrestled with deep and valid concerns over these past few years, I have been able to stay outside of those murky waters with this simple truth: I believe that President Nelson is a prophet, a Prophet!, and if he is a prophet then I will follow him. I trust him more than I trust myself, and certainly more than I trust anyone else, no matter how influential they may be. 

The Lord knows what we need before we do. He knew that I would need that truth to be clear, and in His mercy and wisdom, He gave it to me.

He will give you gifts, too.

• End of Spiritual Break •

(Haha, is it ever the end of my spiritual break?)

The game momentarily forgotten, we talked about President Nelson around that table and shared some of the most important lessons we had learned from him over the years. Brian pointed out later that night that he was so grateful we had all been gathered together like that when we received the news. It really did create a beautiful moment. 

But before long, we had picked up our cards again and were laughing and moving and acting out stacks of words, and in that, too, was a tender beauty. We will miss President Nelson. We love him and are deeply grateful for his guidance in our lives. And we also know that his death was a wonderful thing. We know where he is, who he's with, and we can imagine the celebrations.

The next morning we packed everything up again and made it back home in time for McKenzie to catch a flight back to Salt Lake. 

Traveling is fun, but home is best.

(Eliza has a bed tent, and she loves it. It's a great way for her to feel a little more protected and cozy and seems to help her fall asleep a little faster.)