Miles's Baptism (Catch Up Post)

Months ago in the middle of a bedtime story, in the middle of a chapter, in the middle of a sentence, Miles interrupted Dad's voice. "Dad?" he asked. "Do I have to get baptized?" Brian realized at that moment that Miles was not focusing on the story about aliens and spaceships and a boy called Ender so he slowly lowered the book to his lap and thoughtfully responded, "No, bud. You don't have to get baptized. Are you worried about something?" Miles just shrugged his shoulders and after a few moments of silence he said, "I just don't know if I want to." And then after another short pause, "you can keep reading the story now."

And so Brian and I embarked on the ever complex journey of discovering the thoughts in Miles's mind.

Over the next few weeks we uncovered little pieces and slowly assembled the story of what was bothering Miles, what he was concerned about, where his fears lived, and we discussed them openly.

Through it all we made it clear over and over again that he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to. That making the choice to be baptized was not one to be taken lightly and that it was okay if he needed to think more about it and wait.

And as his eighth birthday grew closer I saw him pulling on faith. The fears did not disappear, but he began to develop his own faith that getting baptized was something his Heavenly Father wanted him to do, and that things would all be okay.

The morning of his baptismal interview with the bishop he got out his brand new suit and carefully put it on. He was quiet and anxious and outside the rain fell in sheets. Minutes before the interview, hail started shooting like bullets from the sky in such quantities that we couldn't even hear each other speak as we drove to the bishops house. It added excitement into the mixture of Miles's emotions and I couldn't decide whether that was helpful, or not. We covered as much of ourselves as we could with umbrellas to protect from the sideways rain and ran through the porch into the bishops living room where we laughed about the weather before Miles anxiously went into the bishops office. I visited with the bishops wife for a few minutes until Miles came back out. And when he did I almost didn't recognize him for the change in his disposition! He was absolutely beaming from ear to ear, bouncing on his toes, and I recognized the sparkle in his eyes - he had felt the spirit confirm to him that he was doing the right thing. He had acted on his faith all the way to this point and the blessings of that action were now visible in his countenance.

We walked back outside into the most gorgeous sunlight. The rain had gone and left the earth in front of us glistening and fresh. The combination of Miles's sparkle and the sparkle of the earth was too much for me and we had an impromptu photo shoot right then and there (which is where all the above pictures came from).

The excitement and eagerness to get baptized followed Miles through the next week and on the morning of his baptism he was emotionally ready.

So we spent the rest of the morning getting him physically ready.

The following picture is one of my very favorites taken as Poppy was helping him with his tie.

At the church, Miles and Brian dressed in white, and Miles made the covenants with Heavenly Father that he was ready to make through baptism.

Eliza did not like being upstaged, however, so she made sure to blow out all over her beautiful dress and call some attention to herself. Thank goodness for Grandmas, and Eliza was soon bathed in the kitchen sink and changed into fresh clothes (much to her dismay).

It had been a long day, and the sun was beating down in its desert way, but everyone kindly agreed to stand for pictures as soon as we got home.

Miles is so blessed to have strong men and women surrounding him in his life.

Soon enough this little face below will be getting baptized too.

Miles is the middle child, which makes him a perfect fit to stand in the middle of all the love.

I hope Miles always feels the love and support that these people shower on him.

We are proud of you, son. Always remember how following your faith through the middle of your fears brought you to this place of happiness.

Pine Valley Vacation (Catch Up Post)

I don't know if I've mention this before, but it's hot in the summers here in Las Vegas. So, we decided to pack up all of our kids and a few laundry baskets full of games and head to the mountains for the weekend.

It was delightful and relaxing.

There was a a perfect little stream tucked away at the corner of the lot we were staying on. But it took a bit of a hike to get there. Carson navigated it slowly and surely and needed an occasional piggy back ride, but he was awesome!

Admittedly, he had to work a little harder for his fun, and sometimes he felt a little left out, but he was such a great sport about it all and seemed genuinely happy.

And he was a master at taking care of his baby sister.

There was a brand new croquet set sitting on the porch and we took no time at all to open it up and break it play it. 

Timothy caught the vision,

but couldn't seem to get the hold right on the mallet.

Carson ditched his crutches halfway through the game and started hopping on one leg through the rest of the game and then for the rest of the weekend.

At sunset we decided to take a walk around the lake.

And at one point all three of the boys needed to go the the bathroom at the same time, which left my beautiful girls and me together to enjoy the gorgeous scenery. 

I wonder if every mother has conversations with her children about the appropriate way to use a hammock.

And I also wonder if every child ignores that council and treats the hammock like the offspring of a swing and a trampoline.

And, also, let's talk about this little lady in the tree:

She is a climber, this one. She loves a good climbing tree and the higher the challenge, the better. But she hates bugs. She got so far up in this tree that I started to fear that she'd come across a bug on a branch and let go. So I mentioned casually that she might see a bug up there and to be smart about her reaction, which killed her momentum and caused her to shimmy her way back down.

Much of the weekend was spent cuddling up on the couches inside the cabin. It rained hard on our one real day up there, but we were so happy to be out of the heat and holed up together that it didn't even matter. 

On Sunday we went to the historic Pine Valley chapel for church. There were so many people visiting on this particular Sunday that the chapel was full, and the extra building they have on the side of the building for such scenarios was also full. So they started bringing out lawn chairs and they opened the windows on the side of the building so we could hear what was happening inside while one of the ward members rushed home to gather his television and a few speakers which he set up to broadcast the meeting for us. It was beautiful.

And after church, perhaps my favorite sight of the whole weekend, I walked up the stairs and saw this handsome boy donning his hat and getting dressed down for the drive back home.

A happy weekend, indeed.

4th of July (Catch Up Post)

The 4th of July has turned out to be one of my very favorite holidays. It could be because it gives us a bit of reprieve from the insane desert heat of summer by giving us justification for getting in our swimming suits in the early morning hours and not getting out of them until evening. It's a day of water here in Boulder City. Water, water, water. 

It starts with the Boulder City parade where we all wait patiently, watching the first floats go by following the 'Non Water Entries' banner. We cheer for the mayor and the local businesses, we clap for the horses Rotary Club Members and cheerleaders, and then a gap in the procession and a glimpse of the 'Water Entries' banner causes the crowds to go wild, pick up their water guns and explode into a town-wide water fight. We spray each other, we spray the parade entries, we spray the sky and the trees and the streets... we laugh and drip and go back for more.

Most of us anyway.

Some of us hide far away from the intensity of the action. And some of us cry when the stream of water is a little colder than we were expecting.

But it's impossible to cry for long because it's just so dang fun.

After the parade this year (and last year) we went to the Larsons to play in their big pool.

Kyle had bought a big floating mat and in an effort to make it a bit safer, tied it in a way that it would stay far from the edges of the pool. Because he knew that the kids would want to stand on it.

And push people off of it.

Which they did.

Most of them, anyway.

Carson and his little broken foot were great sports about the whole thing. I let him take off his boot and float around in the water with his friends, and he was grateful for that (I was a bit of a nervous wreck about it though because I knew one little jolt to that foot could displace the broken bones and mean surgery. But he knew that, too, so I decided to trust him). But it was hard for him to watch the fun and not be able to participate fully.

After the BBQ and pool party at the Larsons we went to the Calverts to eat dinner.

As always, the soda was the favorite part for my kids.

And then we were off on our way to watch the Boulder City fireworks on the golf course close to their house. We packed little Liza in her stroller and I couldn't help but grin at her for a few minutes before strolling her along her way.

She's just so easy to please. Which pleases me.

Once we got to the golf course we spent a ridiculous amount of time setting up our chairs and blankets, packing up our chairs and blankets, moving down the fairway a bit, setting up our chairs and blankets, packing up our chairs and blankets, moving across the hill a bit, setting up our chairs and blankets... you get the idea. We moved four different times because we kept placing ourselves right in line with the next set of monstrous golf course sprinklers.

The kids didn't seem to care one little bit.

All except for Carson, that is. It was a little more difficult for him to maneuver around on his crutches, and by the end of the night he was sore and ready to be done moving for the day. Eventually the sun set all the way and we pulled out the sparklers. 

And shortly after that, the Boulder City fireworks started. Which really are some of the best fireworks I've seen. There were unique ones that I'd never seen before, and I caught myself exclaiming out loud over and over at the beauty of them.

How delightful it is to live in Boulder City on the 4th of July.

Shark Reef (Catch Up Post)

When my good friend, Alycia, asked me if I'd be interested in buying a Pogo pass, my first thought was, "What the heck is a Pogo pass?" Then I learned that it was a pass you could buy for a small price that would get you admission to all sorts of cool things to do in and around the Vegas area and I decided that, "Yes! For sure we want to do cool stuff this summer!" So I bought six of them. One for each member of the family.

And then Carson broke his foot.

So out went the trampoline parks. Out went the museums. Out went bowling and race car driving and water parks.

It took some scanning through the app to find a fun place for us to go on this completely open day in July, but Shark Reef ended up being the right answer.

We went with the Calverts and most of our time was spent at the Pet A Sting Ray tank.

They were slimy and friendly and always looked like they were happy to see you (which they probably were because most people have food for them (or which they probably weren't because who wants to be looked at and fed all day every day anyway?)).

The sea has always drawn me. I know many people have that same story in their hearts, and I'm happy to share that with all the people who love it as much as I do. It's so mysterious and beautiful.

That year we spent on the beaches in Miami will always have a space in my Favorite Years of All Time box and while most of our year was spent looking on the surface of the beach and the ocean (of course), I'm so in love with aquariums that give us a glimpse of what's underneath the surface.

I'll look at fish like the ones below and they almost don't seem real to me. It seems like they're taken straight out of an animated movie... yet, it's the movie that was taken straight from them.

Here's McKenzie with her friend, Emma. Which is funny to me because McKenzie's middle name is Emma. So, here's Emma and McKenzie Emma.

I don't really understand why there is a long, creepy snake at the Shark Reef. He doesn't really seem to fit with the theme. But here are a few brave kids anyway:

Ethnie and Carson make me laugh. Ethnie is full of spunk and fun, and Carson is full of humor and gentleness - they make a pretty great team.

Along with the out of character snake, there were birds:

Cute and beautiful and happy birds that were pleased to sit on my hand and pick seeds from my palm. Charming.

They were also glad to pick at Miles's flip flop. Which wasn't so charming.

Timothy felt extra special every time one of them came to his little outstretched hand.

And was a little irritated that not more than one would ever come at a time. I tried to explain that the size of his hand might be playing a part in the birds' lack of interest, but he remained irritated.

At the end of the day we tried to pose for a family picture. But somehow we only managed to get two of the five children in the frame.

The rest were off chasing the sharks.

It was a great day!