Summer Fun - fav pics

                                                 Garden Harvest

                                                         Pool Party

                                                       On hike with Winegars

                                                       Caitlin's Carrot Man

                                                Backyard Picnic

                                                     Leslie's wedding in Seattle

                                                             Siblings

                                              Coloring in Nana's trailor

                                                  Waiting for the chipmunk

                                              Caitlin's trap,  yes, they caught 2!

                                                         I'm parasailing!

                                                      Getting dipped on way in.

                                                           800'   rope - yikes!

                                               Sunnyside dessert with Bonnie - Yum!

                                              A Beautiful view of the Lake!

I Can't Stand It Anymore!

Ok, if I see one more article or FB post about the Ordain Women movement or articles like this: New York Times, I am going to vomit.  I just HAVE to shout out my two cents, and I don't want to do it on FB, because I don't want to add fuel to the fire.  It's THAT ridiculous.  But I am irked, and so to stop my irking, I must vent....and with my family, it seemed like the safest place to do it. =)

What is with these people? They profess to "love" the church and are "devastated" by the disciplinary actions proceeding against them, but that's a hard sell.  They've spent a significant amount of their time and energy criticizing and fighting church doctrine, and now profess to be shocked by the actions the church has taken.

These people  need to go read the biblical story of steadying the ark and refresh themselves on what that means.  If they truly believe this is the Lord's church, as they claim, they should have a understanding that the Lord can and will steady His own Ark, or the church, when necessary.  He does not need people organizing campaigns, protesting at the Priesthood session of conference, organizing LDS Gay pride parades (I've seen this on FB), or anything else.  When the Ark needs to be steadied, that's His job.

And the Ark DOES get steadied from time to time.  When the Priesthood was extended to all worthy males, He revealed it to His prophet.  When the missionary age was lowered, He revealed it to His prophet.  No campaigning by various groups, no protesting, no angry bloggers.  He takes care of it.  This is the pattern.

The internet provides such a tempting forum.  The attention and number of hits these people's organizations and blogs have received is enormous. The people running these websites feel validated by the sheer number of people who are paying attention to them.  And the media LOVES it. They are gobbling it up like turkey on Thanksgiving. Kinda hard to repent and change and recant your position when you are doing it in front of the world.  No, much easier to advertise the discipline taken against you and shout even louder about the injustice you've received.

Some people (even many good members of the church) say we should be having these discussions.  We should be questioning, we shouldn't be blind followers.  And they are right.  But the discussion is between one's self and the Lord- through prayer, going to the Temple, and following the commandments.  Not by swirling up a firestorm of controversy around you.  If these people have struggled with aspects of our faith, they should turn to the Lord in prayer. They should seek answers and peace privately and counsel with their Bishops if necessary.  They should NOT organize groups, protest, march, and the like.  The Church is not a government organization, it is not a political process.

If these people have such a problem with so many things in the church, why are they so 'grieved' by the possibility of being out of it?  The doctrine is set by the Lord- so campaigning, etc., is futile. They are, in essence, campaigning and protesting and fighting the Lord.

So yes- when you discover that Joseph Smith had over 40 wives or that this or that happened in church history or you have a problem with having only one set of earrings,or whatever it is- go and pray about it. Have that discussion with the Lord. Read your scriptures. Find answers- privately, through the Spirit.  The Church IS true, and the Lord is real and He will address yours, mine, and their concerns.  He won't leave one's faith floundering. But how can the Spirit touch someone through a fiesty blog or angry protest?

Anyway, thanks for listening, family. =) It was either this, or keep shouting in my head at every FB post that's shown up on my feed about these topics.  So thanks for letting me clear my head!

My Haley

So, I know everyone likes to text or instagram cute pics....but I still like the blog.  It's like taking a few minutes to open a book and read about what everyone's up to. I like sitting down, relaxing for a few minutes, and purposely browsing through our family's posts.  Texting pics just seems so rushed, I can't enjoy it as much! So anyway, even though I realize blogging is become a way of the past when it comes to sharing pics, here's a few updates of my almost-not-the-baby-anymore baby:

While I was taking this I noticed Haley's shirt....didn't even plan it, folks. 

 Haley's excited to get her FIRST haircut!!!! She'll be 3 in a week...I think it's about time. =)

 I'm no hairstylist.  But it's fun to try.

 Her new 'do!! Her baby curls are GONE, folks!  This kid is completely potty-trained, has been sleeping in a bed for almost a year, puts up a good fight with any of her sisters, blames Abby for everything, and now has no baby curls.  The only thing "baby" left about her is her adorable baby belly that's still too huge for her little body. And I know I only have a few more months left of that, then she'll thin out and have regular kid proportions.  So sad! When did she grow up???

Abby is miffed that Haley wanted to be in the pic, too.  Love these two.  They are two peas in a pod all day long, either yelling at each other or loving each other to death.  It's like when Caitlin and Liz were little, running around all day as best buds.  I love getting a second chance to experience how sweet it is to watch precious sister bonds being made!!

That's it for now!!!

Happy late Mother's Day!

                                              Aunt Bonnie, Grandma, and Me

Fav pics from Girl's trip

Hey, Benjum want to play?  Mmm. . .

let me think about it.

Ah . . a moment in the sun!

The nursery - the boys were SO good, they are

welcome to come on our next trip.

Chillin on the deck - a lazy morning.

I love this picture of my girls and boy grands.

Dad even got a little taste of the Girl's trip.

What a great time we had!

Some late updates!

Grandma at her 90th b-day at the ward R.S. social.

Beautiful Carmel-by-the-Sea with my book group in April

Don't ask cuz I'm not sure, but I think its a Viking and an Arab

and soldier and Scotsman and the Scottish games in Woodland.

SOME HAPPENINGS......

This is last month- Lizzie & Abby were both sick (vomiting and all- oh, it was SO fun), and Haley wasn't...but, of course, she has to be doing whatever her big sisters are doing. If that meant sitting on the couch with books, crackers, and soda- so be it. =)

Haley got a black eye on Wednesday.  She was outside, trying to get down from a chair, and flung herself forward and straight into a raised wooden planter bed. Ouch. 

So I'm old and I still love birds. Some things just stay the same, no matter how old you get! Anyway, Caitlin and Lizzie had big long reading lists and chores and other things to do to "earn" their birds (but secretly, they're mine =). This is an armoire/shelf thing I got at a yard sale last summer, and it's been serving as a bookself.  We took out the shelves and converted it into an aviary, and it works great! This is the first piece of furniture I completely refinished (not painted).  It was this red mahogany stain, and I really wanted that barn feel, so I stripped it all and restained it. I like how it turned out. 

 

Unbeknown to anyone, Abby was "playing" with Lizzie's bird and accidentally killed it- it was really sad! So....Rod had to put a lock on it so the kids can't just open it up whenever. 
(And we got Lizzie another bird).

I've been trying to organize and get printed into albums the 13 years' worth of pictures I have on our computer.  I'm chipping away at it.  Anyway, found these old gems that I just had to share....

When you gotta go, you gotta go!

 And this pic just cracked me up!

Queen Elsa

I made Abby this fun Elsa dress. I got the idea from a blog, then made a few changes to make it easier.  I started with a white long-sleeved T-shirt from Savers (that already had sparkly sequins on it!), then added the blue skirt, then the fancy bodice and cape.  It wasn't hard and Abby LOVES it! It's gotten filthy, been washed, and gotten filthy again...

hApPy BiRtHdaY EmiLY!!!!!

So I realized while searching for silly Emily pictures, I noticed I'm also inadvertently posting silly Kate pictures! (sorry, Kate!) 

I love Emily! I love her because she is creative, a great cook, an awesome mom, stylish, beautiful, funny, and makes everything more fun. Add a little Emily to the mix, and she always makes it better! 

Why do YOU love Emily????