Burning Off Some Energy

Grandma and Grandpa Lay, Timmy Bethany, and Ian all came down from Washington for Josh's baptism.  So we met Jon and jenny at Trafalgia a few hours before to have a little fun and get some energy out before the big event. 

 

Grandma Lay, Violet, Grandpa Lay, Joe, Ian, Timmy, Jaxson, Valerie, Josh, and Bethany

 

The kids had a great time playing mini golf and laser tag, but the favorite thing was the Frog Hopper.

 

I think they rode it at least 20 times. 

 

Josh, Valerie, Bethany, a boy we don't know, Joe, Ian, and Timmy.

 

Cousins are so much fun!

Do You Have Any Questions?

     I know that I have been really bad about blogging.  This has been something that I have missed.  Not only for the record of the fun things that we do,  but I am finding that there have been a lot of blessings in my life this past couple of years that I have missed recording.  Unfortunately I was a lot better at blogging and getting things down than I ever was at writing in my journal.  Maybe because I love taking pictures and it is fun for me to put the stories with them.  What ever the reason I now find myself struggling with that and when I go back and read my old posts I am sad I do not have the new things happening recorded too.  This is something that I hope my children will look back on as adults and find love happiness and comfort from our experiences together.  Today as I was cleaning I was thinking about the past few months and things that have happened and an experience came into my mind that I want to write about here so that Josh can remember it also. 

      A few months ago on a regular Monday I was doing my normal Monday activities.  Cleaning up the house and doing the laundry.  As I was working on this task I was thinking about what we should talk about for Family Home Evening that night.  I had a couple of ideas, but then I had a strong impression that I didn't need to plan a lesson that night.  Instead I needed to ask my kids if they had any questions about anything.  That feeling stayed with me the entire day.

     That night after dinner we sat down together as a family and began with a song and prayer.  When it was time for the lesson I simply asked them if any of them had any questions about anything they had seen or heard at Church or at school or anywhere else.  Was there anything they had been taught that they didn't understand or had questions about.  After a minute or two of silence Josh raised his had.  He then asked.  "How do I know it is true?" 

     This question surprised me a little bit because Josh was going to turn eight soon and was getting ready to be baptised.  In preparation for this we had had a lot of discussions on baptism and what it means.  A few weeks prior to this night we had told Josh that baptism was a decision between him and his Heavenly Father and that he needed to make sure it was the correct decision for him.  We had encouraged him to ask for himself. 

     When I was getting ready to turn eight my parents encouraged me to know for myself if baptism was right for me. They encouraged me to pray about it. They knew that they had taught me all that they could to this point.  They had testimonies of the Gospel and knew for themselves it is true, but they also knew that this needed to be my decision. That this was my first real experience with the asking for myself and feeling the Holy Ghost, and that it was an important part of baptism. I remember as a young girl praying for myself and the good feeling I had.  I remember knowing baptism was the right thing for me.  I am grateful my parents encouraged me to know for myself and I have always been grateful.  I want my children to have the same knowledge for themselves and as with Emily and Joe we had encouraged Josh to know for himself. 

     I did not realized that he had not fully understood what we had talked about, and I was so grateful for the promptings I had had that day to ask the simple question of "Do you have any questions?"
 
     The rest of the evening we talked about different experiences we have had and how we know the church is true.  We talked to him about the Holy Ghost and how we can ask him questions and he will give us answers.  We shared our own experiences and Joe and Emily even shared theirs.

     A few weeks later Josh was sitting by his dad in church and he suddenly turned to him with a big smile and said "Dad, I know it is true."

     The Gospel is such a blessing in my life and I am so happy that my children are able to feel the goodness of it for themselves.  I think our own knowledge of it's truthfulness is a powerful tool in this crazy world, and can help us through the many trials in life. 

Natural History Museum Field Trip

Joe's class went to the New Natural History Museum for their field trip.  I was lucky enough to get to go with them.  These are the boys in our group. 

Sam, Joe, Matthew, James and Carter

 

There were a lot of things to see in the short time we were there.  I wish we would have had a couple more hours so we could have gone a little slower. 

 

The boys were a little creeped out ehn we cam accross these skulls. 

And they loved seeing all of the dinosaur bones. 

 

But I think the highlight of the visit was the Chocolate exhibit.  It was fun to read all about the history of chocolate and then have a little sample at the end. 

 

 If you can't tell by the pictures this group of boys were full of energy, but they were really fun to hang out with. 

Lady Thunder

Here are a few shots of Emily.

She loves being on the team and still loves the game. 

This is going to be a fun season.

 Westlake High School #27

 

 

 Her team won their first game against Orem 8-2!

 

A Father's Blessing

      Every year before school starts it is tradition in our home (as it is in most homes in the LDS church) that Dad gives everyone a priesthood blessing.  This was tradition in my and Ryan's home growing up, and we have continued it in our family.  There is nothing that calms the nerves of starting a new school year more than a blessing from our Father In Heaven.  This year was no different for us.  The night before school we gathered together as a family and Ryan gave each of our children a father's blessing.
       Emily was starting 9th grade this year and she has a very heavy schedule.  She had decided to take four honors classes and as her mom I was very nervous for her.   Emily is a great student.  She has always loved to learn, and is self motivated. She pushes herself hard and demands the best out of herself.  This is a good quality, and has served her well, but I always worry a little about what will happen if she gets too much on her plate and fails at something.  I was grateful that one of her classes would be Seminary.  I loved Seminary when I was in High School.  It was a break from the day and I  know many blessings came from it.  I knew that Emily would love Seminary also.  She loves the gospel and has had a desire to do what is right from a very young age.  She also was not afraid at the young age of three to let others know what they were doing that she did not think was right.  I can't tell you how many times she scolded our young neighbor in San Diego for smoking outside his apartment. 
     Even now it is hard to bend her.  To get to our Stake Center from our home you have to cross a busy street (smaller town busy).  One day Emily and I headed to the stake center for a meeting.  when we got to the corner to cross the street Emily insisted that we would be Jay Walking and we needed to walk two blocks down to the Crosswalk and cross there.  I insisted that we were fine and dragged her, with much distress from her, across the road.     After we safely crossed she lectured me all the rest of the way to the Stake Center on how I had just made her break the law.
     When it was her turn to receive her blessing Ryan blessed her with many great things.  He blessed her that she would be able to manage her schedule and that she would enjoy her classes.  Then the blessing turned to a warning.  A warning that I did not understand and made me question what this year had in store for her.  In the blessing Emily was told that Seminary would be one of the most important classes for her this year and that she needed to make sure that she always attended it and make it a priority.  I can't remember the exact wording in the blessing, but I remember the way Ryan was saying it made me feel like there would be a reason that Emily would not want to attend Seminary.
     This was confusing to me because it would be so unlike Emily.  I began to wonder what on Earth was going to happen this year to make Emily feel this way toward Seminary.  My daughter who won't even jay walk with me. 
     As school has progressed this year I have had many conversations with Emily about Seminary and her other classes, and things going on in between.  There has been nothing out of the ordinary, and just as I thought Emily has loved Seminary.  School is more than halfway over and I have been feeling really good about things. 
     In January Emily started going to Spring Warm Ups for the high school softball team.  She has loved softball from the moment she started playing at the age of 7 and she was excited for the opportunity to get to try out for the team.  As more information started coming home I began to realize that if she makes the team she will have to miss a little bit of school.  The way her schedule is now that would mean missing her drawing class and Honors Biology.  Drawing I am not too concerned about,  but I am not sure about her missing Biology.  Unfortunately she had gym last semester so switching her schedule so that is last is not an option.  Looking at her schedule the only class in it that she could miss without too much stress was Seminary.  But as soon as I thought it the words and feelings from her blessing came rushing back to my mind.  I then knew that moving Seminary for softball was not an option.  I also remembered the promise that was given to her in that blessing if she did what she was told and put seminary first.  She was blessed that she would be successful in her classes and be able to manage her time well.  Emily and I talked about her schedule and she too felt the same way I did.  That Seminary was the only class that would be easy to miss,  but that it was the only class she could not miss.  She too remembered her blessing. 
     Yesterday we found out that Emily made the team.  She will be playing on the Westlake Lady Thunder sophomore/freshman softball team.  Her schedule just got a whole lot busier.  I am so grateful for the priesthood blessing she received at the beginning of the year to help us know what we need to do with her schedule.  I know that as we work with her teachers that Emily will still be able to be successful in school and have fun playing softball.  This experience is another time in my life where I have seen that the Lord knows us individually. He knows what is to come for us. He has a plan, and if we listen he will help us along the way.  I hope that Emily realizes just how much her Father in Heaven loves her and is aware of her.  The gospel is such a blessing in my life and I know it will be in hers too. 
     I am so excited for her to get to play on the school Softball team, and I can't wait to cheer her on!

    I love you Emily 

Dancing Valerie

Valerie started taking dance in September and she had her first performance tonight.  Her class had a show case of all the things they had been learning.  This is the tap dance they performed .  I love dance at this age.  They are all so cute. 

Tran Siberian Orchestra

At Christmas time some of our favorite songs to listen to are from the Tran-Siberian Orchestra.  So when Grandpa called Friday and let us know he had tickets I was very excited.  He wanted to take Joe and Emily to see them live, and I got to go because they needed a ride.  (Lucky for me Ryan was going to be out of town so I didn't have to fight him for the ticket.) 

 

Ryan and I had seen them in concert before and I was excited for my kids to get to see them.  The concert was just as fun as I remembered. 

 

What they can do with a white background and lights these days is amazing.

 It was a great show and the kids loved it. 

Thanks Grandpa!!!