Karate

 

Joe took 2nd Place in his Schools Karate Tournament for his Kata. 

 

Utah, This Is The Place

Joe's 4th Grade program at school this year was all about UTAH.

 

The program is copyrighted so we could not take video,  but I was able to get a couple of pictures. 

The kids were all dressed as different things that represent the state.   Joe was assigned to be a baseball player.  There were pioneers, Mountain men, business men.  Jazz players, Native Americans, and a few other things. 

 

 

This is Joe with his friends Makayla and James. 

 

 I loved the songs in the program. and the kids all did great! 

 

One Very Determined Girl

   

 

    Valerie is one of the most determined girls I have ever met.  While sometimes this means that we are butting heads over things, it is also something that serves her well.  At 23 months old she decided that she could use the potty just like her older siblings did.  So she did.  I was not even thinking about potty training her.  I had not even mentioned it,  but she did not like being messy and had decided it was time.  I was very happy about this,  because potty training is NOT my favorite thing. 

    

     Now Valerie is 4 years old and some of her friends have started learning to ride their bikes without training wheels.  A couple of weeks ago we were outside and Valerie told me that she was ready to ride her bike without training wheels.  I told her to tell her dad when he got home and he could help her.  (Bikes are Ryan's department.)  She said okay and rode off with her training wheels that were bent and probably getting in her way. 

   

     A week later we were outside again and another of Valerie's friends was learning how to ride her bike.  Again Valerie came up to me and this time she demanded that I take her training wheels off.  So I did thinking that she would get on, fall, and then cry and ask for them to be put back on.   

 

Boy was I wrong!

    

     She got on and rode it down the street like she had been riding it for a week.  By the next day she was riding it like a pro.     

 

 

 

     I love this determination in her.  She is never afraid to take the next step or speak her mind.  While sometimes this can make it hard in the parenting department.  I know it will serve her well through life.
    

Chef Joe

       These past few months Joe has discovered that he likes to cook.  At least when it means making a treat. 

     For the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet the boys had to bake and decorate a cake.  The theme this year for our troop was "Lights Camera Action"

     The number one rule in the cake baking is Mom can not help at all.  Joe was happy about this.  He and Josh made and baked the cake all by themselves and then when dad got home he helped with the decorating.  They did a great job. 

     One of his favorite treats to make are lemon bars.  One Sunday I discovered that Joe had been asking his primary teachers for treats every week.  They have been remodeling their kitchen and had been telling the boys in their class that when it was completed they would bring them a treat.  So Joe and his friends asked them every week if this was the week.  One Sunday Joe made the mistake of bugging his teacher in front of me.  As his mother I was a little mortified at how rude my child was being.  So after church Joe and I had a little chat and he was given the task to make his teachers a treat.  I was going to make lemon bars that day anyway so I told Joe he could help me.  Instead Joe got out all of the ingredients and began making them himself.  I kept asking if he needed help,  but aside from asking me what Lemon Zest was he did it all on his own and they turned out great!

 His Primary Teachers were very happy to receive a plate of Lemon Bars.  Joe was a little embarrassed taking them to them, and I hope he learned a lesson,  But his primary teachers love him and I don't know if they would tell me if he was still asking for treats. 

Joe has made a few other treats for us since then and is becoming quite a little chef.  I like to encourage this.  He will be glad he knows how to do it in a few years when he doesn't live with mom anymore.   

Joshua's Baptism

 

Josh's Baptism was originally scheduled for Saturday February 1, 2014, but the night before he came down with strep throat.  So his baptism was rescheduled for Friday February 7, 2014.  Which was also Ryan and my 16th wedding anniversary.  What a great way to celebrate! 

Because we had to move his baptism to another date we were told that we were responsible for everything.  when Ryan called the Baptism Coordinators to get instructions on set up and filling the font they insisted that they would take care of it.  So we took care of everything else, and didn't worry about it. At 5:45pm, 45 minutes before the baptism was supposed to start, we arrived at the church to set up the refreshment table and run through Joe and Valerie's musical number a couple of times. When we walked in nothing was set up and I could not hear the font filling. Ryan made a phone call and we discovered that the coordinators had forgotten. They rushed over and began filling the font, but they usually give it 2 hours to fill and we had 30 minute. Needless to say that the Baptism started a little late. At 6:45 there was still not enough water, but we started the program anyway hoping for the best.

 

Grandpa Lay gave his talk on Baptism.  Then Joe and Valerie sang "He Sent His Son."  after they were done there was still not enough water so Emily shared her testimony.  Then the Primary President, Sister Skinner passed out note papers for everyone to write Josh a message.  By then we decided that there was probably enough water if josh and his dad knelt down. 

 

 

 

When they got into the font and Ryan turned off the water we could hear the water slowly draining.  Ryan decided that if he just got to it and baptised josh that it would be fine.   So he did not fix the plug.  Because they were kneeling, the first two tries Josh's knees popped up.  The water was getting shallower.  So the third time Ryan had Josh sit on his bum and when he laid him down he made sure Josh went all the way under by throwing his leg over Josh's and pushing him under.  It almost looked like your dad was laying on top of you.  There was just enough water left and it was a success. 

 

Things had not been going quite as planned,  but luckily everyone was pretty willing to go with the flow, and Brother Moore who was presiding over the meeting had a great sense of humor and was able to find much humor in this situation.  Grandma Bolander made the comment that she had never been to a baptism before where she could heckle.  To be honest I had not either,  but that just made it even more memorable. 

 

From there on out things went really smoothly.  Grandpa Bolander gave a nice talk on the Holy Ghost.  Josh was then confirmed a member of  The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 

 

 

There was a moment when I wondered if it was ever going to be able to happen for josh. It seemed like there were a lot of little bumps in the road, but I am so happy that he made this choice. I know it will bless him for the rest of his life. This will be a day that will always make me smile. 

 Congratulations Joshua!

  I love you!

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.