Mother's Day Butterfly

My mom had her own unique perspectives on afterlife.  As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we know that "when we die, our spirits will enter the spirit world and await the resurrection. At the time of the resurrection, our spirit and body will reunite, and we will be judged and received into a kingdom of glory" (click here for more about that).

But immediately after returning to heaven, she imagined there might be a period appropriated for some "Q & A" about the tough-to-answer questions here on earth.  Specifically, she envisioned a large space, like maybe an auditorium, with different stations all categorized so you could get in line to obtain whatever sort of knowledge you sought.  For instance, if you were amazed by the universe and all its incredible parts, and wanted to know more, you line up at table #1.  At table #2, you might get answers to questions such as "why did God invent mosquitoes?"  I've pictured Mom since she passed away, lining up to wait for answers to her questions, and I've wondered what kinds of answers she's getting!

Another funny thing she thought about life after death is that we would get to join "committees" to watch over, protect, or put ourselves into whatever corner of creation interests us.  I remember her saying once on a rainy day as we looked at a rainbow over the mountains, how fun it would be to join the rainbow committee.  I know she would have loved to be on the puppy committee, or any other cuddly animal committee.  But not long before she died, Mom told a good family friend that she would be joining the butterfly committee very soon.  This thoughtful friend had these tiles made for us the week mom died, so this is displayed in my home:

On Mother's Day morning, my family met up with my dad, Emily and Dave, and Adam and Andrea's family at the cemetery to remember and honor our mom.  It was really a happy visit; the cemetery was beautiful and it was such a pretty day.  The kids were exploring and the adults were visiting when suddenly someone spotted a big, fancy, yellow-and-black butterfly zip past us on the breeze.  It landed on a tree just near Mom's headstone and watched us for a while. 

Someone commented about Mom and the butterfly committee, and I wondered if she had sent this one to be a part of us in her stead that morning.  Either way, I felt like she was close by and that she was happy to see us all getting together, business as usual, no sadness or tears.  That would have pleased her.  I love that kind of sweet, ordinary, ever-day miracle our Heavenly Father uses to show us we are special to Him and He knows what we are going through.  Love you, Mom, and miss you.  Thank you, butterfly, for coming to be with us that morning.  It made for a very special Mother's Day moment.

A Not-So-Broken Heart

Last night during our family scripture study, Jon and I were teaching the boys about what it means to have a "broken heart and a contrite spirit." We were explaining to them our need to willingly submit our lives to God, like how a horse obeys its master after is has been "broken," or how we mind ourselves after we have "broken" a bad habit. I thought the older kids were just starting to get it, and it seemed the younger two weren't paying any attention. But then I noticed Samuel frowning up at a picture of Jesus on our wall, and he said something I didn't understand. I asked him to repeat himself and he looked at me with the same frown and said, "Mom, Jesus not gonna broke me!"
I wanted to laugh rolling on the floor, and at the same time I wanted to cry! Of course he is too young to understand the concept we'd been discussing, but he didn't want the Lord to "break" him, the way he understands breaking! Oh, it was just too funny! I love you, Sam, and the darling things you say!

Enoch's Current Quirks

This morning as I was getting the kids dressed, I had changed Enoch's diaper but I hadn't put his clothes on him yet. He loves to run away from me when he's only half dressed so that I will chase him. Well, he ran away, but I was also dressing the other boys and didn't chase after him. Caleb was getting dressed to go outside, and I finished dressing Sam before looking for Enoch. It took me a while, but this is where and how I found him:
Yes, he had followed Caleb (who was fully dressed and wearing a coat) right outside in nothing but a diaper, despite the 45 degree temperature. He didn't even seem bugged by the cold! He LOVES to be outside right now.

A new skill Encoh has lately acquired is climbing. He especially loves that he can get up onto the kitchen table unassisted, so long as someone has left a chair "untucked." That's where I found him after lunch one day last week; the kids had eaten Ramen noodles and Oreo cookies:
He was pretty pleased with himself, and who can blame him? One step closer to a self-sufficient, independent little guy! And yes, he smiles all the time. He is such a happy kid. Love you, E!

Thor Lives at Our House

In case anyone wondered where he has gone to, the Almighty Thor is alive and well and living at our house!
I don't think Samuel has taken the helmet off for anything more than bedtime, bath time, and church for about five or six weeks now. And he carries around the beat-up foam hammer every where he goes. It is absolutely precious.
(After Halloween, he wore around a Baby Jaguar costume for about a month, then it was Winnie-the-Pooh for a couple of weeks, and then Super Man, until he discovered Thor. This one is definitely the most long-lived. Wonder who he'll be next?)

Pinewood Derby

We have entered a new phase of life now that Hyrum is eight years old: we have a Cub Scout! He loves it; so far he has had several den meetings, a Blue and Gold Banquet, a Winter Day Camp, and most recently, last week's Pinewood Derby. Hyrum got to pick the design for his car and help his dad cut and paint it:

Hryum and Andrew watching the cars race:
His was by no means the fastest car out there, but it didn't do too badly! Each of the boys received an award afterward; Hyrum's won the "Most Aerodynamic Car" award. I think he had a great time and was proud of his little car. Thanks to the wonderful Scout leaders that do so much to help these boys have a great time in Scouts!

Playing Catch-Up...

A lot happens in 3 months. I feel like I ought to play catch-up here; sorry if I miss something great and forget to report it. The boys are darling and growing fast:




We had a fantastic Christmas, probably our best ever. Going to Sacrament Meeting in the middle of the day was a wonderful way to break up the fun and remember why we celebrate Christmas in the first place.

We celebrated baby Enoch's 1st birthday between Christmas and New Year's. His first year has flown by for me.
Getting through the holidays and back to normalcy is always nice for me. I love the "care-free-ness" of time off, but there is so much hustle and bustle, and trying to stay on top of our household during a long break is trying for me. I like the routine of the non-holidays.

Hyrum celebrated his 8th birthday at the end of January with his very 1st "friends" party (we've always just celebrated with family in the past). He invited 8 friends to come to a Beyblade Battle Birthday Bash.

We ended January with Hyrum's baptism:
His cousins, Sadie and Erica, were baptized the same night.
Sorry about the rushed "catch-up." Hopefully I'll be able to keep up better with blogging for the rest of this year!

Gooseberry with Grandpa & Grandma B.

Three blog posts in one day, whew!!!

This is now such a treasured memory. Jon had been wanting to take our family fishing for a long while. A colleague of his told him about this place called Gooseberry, which was not too far away and where we would be able to wheel my Mom right up to the side of the lake to watch the fishing. So on October 21st, we tried it out, and it was perfect! We got there before dawn and everything was gray and covered with frost. That didn't seem to bother Enoch, who kept crawling off the picnic blanket:
Poor Jon's fingers were absolutely frozen as he tied flies on the fishing poles. (I don't think he minded, though; he was really having a great time!)
When the sun (finally) came up and began to melt the frost, we realized that this was not some dismal gray place, it was GORGEOUS!
Without light, we couldn't tell, but once it was lit by the sun, it was really beautiful.


Hyrum caught the first fish of the day (and the first fish in our family history!). He was so proud:What's great is that next, Caleb caught one:
...and then so did Andrew:
By the time Grandma and Grandma joined us at about 11:00 am, we had caught 5 fish already! And with Grandpa's help we caught 6 more. Even Sam helped Grandpa reel one in:
We all had such a great time, freezimg temperatures or not.
We'll definitely be doing this again!
It was a wonderful memory for us and the boys with their Grandma and Grandpa B. The boys love doing this kind of thing with their Grandpa, and just 20 short days later their Grandma was gone. I'm so glad they were able to come with us, despite how sick Mom was feeling. Thanks to her perpetual sense of adventure, and a great daddy who wanted to introduce his boys to fishing, we will remember this day forever.