Bonsall West Round-Up and other tidbits

Last Friday we had a great time at the Bonsall West Annual Round-Up. The PTA did a great job putting on a fun night. They had a yummy BBQ dinner catered by a local steakhouse, a climbing wall, petting zoo, lots of arts and craft activities, a bounce house and about 20 booths with different games. I volunteered at both of the booths for the girls' classes. They had fun running around with Dad and their friends.

The PTA had a drawing for prizes and I thought for sure we were going to win the Disneyland tickets, but it wasn't our lucky night. ;)

We love the school. It's been a wonderful part of our move.

On a side note: The black skirt Abby is wearing is her favorite and the yellow striped shirt she is also very fond of. The other day I looked at her and said, "Abby, for some reason I feel like I've seen that skirt on you quite a few days this week." She informed me, "Yeah, this is my fifth time wearing it." She wore the same skirt for a whole week, if not more. No joke! I don't even know if I washed it in between. Normally, I would say I'm an awful mother, but it's not like she didn't have anything else to wear, she just wanted to wear her old stand-by. What she is wearing is the last thing on my mind in the morning. I've tried the whole "setting her clothes out for her" routine, it doesn't work, the girl has a mind of her own. We're switching things up a bit now...every other day. ;) She also wears pig tails everyday, she comes bouncing into the kitchen every morning asking, "Mom, will give me fresh piggy tails?" For Abby right now, pig tails are the new headband. The last couple of times I've sent her to shower, she gets out and her hair is still in the pig-tails. Brynn says she's mastered the art of washing her hair with the pig tails in. Oh Abby, what are we going to do with you?



We visited some ballet programs today. We think we've found one that will work, it's 5 blocks away from the beach (bonus!) so we'll have to make a trip there on dance day too. But oh how we miss Applegate Dance and our friends there. It is seriously painful! It made me sad all afternoon just thinking about it. It was a little slice of heaven, and a part of life we have really missed. But, everyday I'm trying to remind myself of this advice...

".....try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths that will yet be efficacious in our lives." Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

We have been blessed to remember so many good things about the past few years of our lives, so many glowing experiences. We are looking with faith to the future. Good things are happening here. We have experienced tender mercies and we know Heavenly Father is watchful of us.

Fanning the Flame

I loved this past LDS General Conference. There was so much directed toward our responsibility as parents. Having children is such a sacred stewardship. I loved what Elder Neil A. Anderson said about that stewardship.

"We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith.
In our world today, each child, each young man and young woman needs his or her own conversion to the truth. Each needs his or her own light, his or her own “steadfast and immovable” faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, independent of parents, youth leaders, and supportive friends."

I love how he emphasized the plea of a child from the primary song, “Tell me the stories of Jesus." Elder Anderson said that the stories of Jesus shared over and over bring faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strength to the testimony.

He asked....

Are the life and teachings of Jesus Christ imbedded in our children?
Do they think about the Savior’s life when they think of their own life?
“Do they know of the love Jesus has for children?”

Do they think about His humble birth, the Savior of the world lying in a manger?

Do His circumstances help them better understand the proper place of material possessions?
Do they know that he stands with open arms to receive them?”

Do they know of the loneliness he felt and how he can help them overcome loneliness in their own lives?

Have they felt the power of the Savior’s miracles?

And then he promised....

As you reverently speak about the Savior—in the car, on the bus, at the dinner table, as you kneel in prayer, during scripture study, or in late-night conversations—the Spirit of the Lord will accompany your words.
If a child is not listening, don’t despair. Time and truth are on your side. At the right moment, your words will return as if from heaven itself. Your testimony will never leave your children.
He promised that As you do your best, the testimony of Jesus will gently distill upon your children’s hearts.

Elder Anderson’s talk was especially meaningful to me because it reinforced specific promptings I had had earlier in the week prior to conference. For the past few years, the week prior to Easter Sunday we spend a little time each evening talking about the last week of the Savior’s mortal ministry. We talk of the triumphal entry, the cleansing of the temple, his day of rest in Bethany, the feast of the Passover, prayer in Gethsemane, the crucifixion , his resurrection and appearances after his resurrection. We also read and talk about parables he taught, and the miracles and teachings of his earthly ministry. Sometimes we prepare well for this and other times we just throw something together last minute. This year, with the move and all, was rather thrown together. But as I watched my children sit quietly next to my husband and attentively listen to the stories, I had a distinct impression that this was something we needed to do more often, not just at Easter, or Christmas, or on Sundays, or Monday nights, but all the time. I could tell they loved hearing the stories. When I heard Elder Anderson give this counsel, the importance of what I felt earlier in the week was reaffirmed to a greater degree. I want for my children the promises that Elder Anderson proclaimed, I want the life and teachings of Jesus Christ embedded in their minds and their souls.

I want to help them develop a personal faith in Jesus Christ that will prepare them for the challenges they will face.

I want them to think of the words Helaman spoke to his sons, “Remember, remember, that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” Helaman Chapter 5 verse 12~The Book of Mormon

I want them to feel that they can do all things through Christ.

As this session of General Conference concluded, I felt a greater desire to actively and intentionally parent, to live by the spirit, to bear testimony spontaneously and regularly, I want our children to feel the love of our Heavenly Father and Savior in their lives and I want them to desire to have the spirit with them always. I know that the purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to make individuals and families whole and unified. I want to make sure that my everyday habits and efforts are focused on principles and activities that will support this purpose.

La Jolla Shores and San Diego Temple

On Friday, Joseph took us to La Jolla Shores where he had taken the girls just a week before. The water was a beautiful, clear color and the sand was so nice and.....I don't know...fluffy? It felt good, even to me the girl who doesn't love sand.
Living so close to the beach gives us many opportunities to explain to the girls appropriate and inappropriate behavior and dress. I caught Abby staring at quite a few scantily dressed young women, and I said to her, "Abby, don't you ever even think of coming to the beach in something like that or I will come and drag you home by your piggy tails!" :)



Mom and Dad watched the kids while Joseph and I did a session at the San Diego temple in La Jolla. When we arrived, I reached into my bag and then into my purse for my recommend and realized that I left it in my scripture case at home. They had to call my current and former bishop, but we were were able to make it for the last session of the evening. It was so nice to be there. Getting to spend time at the beach and this temple makes me feel happy to be living here.

Mom and Dad left Saturday morning and then we had the treat of hosting Joseph's sister, Michal , along with her husband Matthew and their kids, for some homemade Cafe Rio. They were visiting SoCal for their spring break. The kids loved having cousins over to play with. We loved having them in our home and were sad when they left. It was a great spring break!

Spring Break with Grandma and Grandpa

All the days of the week of spring break are now mushing together since it was a few weeks ago, but we spent time going on walks, playing at the park, swimming at our neighborhood pool, and hiking through the neighborhood trails. Dad helped me appreciate where we live a little more. Whenever he came up missing we just looked on the deck or the patio to see him watching golfers. He was in heaven. Sometimes he was laughing hysterically and sometimes he was just simply smiling. Joseph and I are not golfers, we appreciate the beautiful view we have, but having my Dad here was fun because he loves the game and really appreciated our surroundings. It was fun to see it through his eyes.

For my Dad's birthday we gave him a round of golf. The kids didn't realize how long a round of golf is, so I had the pleasure hearing this question all day long, "Why is he taking so long?" We live on the 16th hole and they were so excited to get to cheer on a golfer that they actually knew. They set up their chairs on the deck, then they moved to the patio, then they came inside, over and over and over again. Finally about 4 hours after he started, they got to see him on our hole! (Which, according to Dad is the hardest of the course. He told me to be careful when the kids are outside playing because he heard some choice words from a few golfers who didn't have they're A game on).

Dad was probably humiliated as we cheered from the deck while he played. The kids were so happy to see him on the course. I'll appreciate where we live a little more now after having dad here to point out the beauty of it all. Mom went with him for the first half and then came home to sew while Dad finished the rest of the course.

Brynn wrote the cute birthday card below for Dad. Hearing her read it was the best! It really says it all. He is such a great guy! Everytime he comes he looks for things around the house and car that need to be done and puts himself to work. He replaced light bulbs, secured the fence, cleaned up animal droppings, made the random beeping sound go away, took trips to the hardware store, took trips to the grocery store, and I'm sure did many other things that we haven't noticed yet. He quietly goes about doing good. I am so lucky to have such a great dad and my kids could not ask for a better grandpa.

At times I am tormented by the fact that my parents miss so much of my children's lives. There are times I think it nothing of it and then there are times that it really hurts. Just last night, Isaac was squeezing my neck and giggling as I put him to bed, and I thought, "I wish Grandma and Grandpa could see how cute you are right now." I love my kids so much and I know that my parents do too. No one celebrates and enjoys your children like family, atleast that's the way it is with my family. The silver lining of living away is that when we visit each other, we really get to spend alot of time seeing regular everyday life, whereas I know that if we lived closer, we probably wouldn't get to spend that kind of time together. It would just be quick visits here and there. Sometimes I just want it all.

A Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

During spring break this year, we had a visit from Grandma Rowene and Grandpa Billy! We had a great week with them. They arrived on Saturday, near the end of the second session of our LDS General Conference. Dad and Joe headed off for the priesthood session of general conference at a local stake center, while we hung out with Grandma. On Sunday, we watched the rest of General Conference on BYUtv and then I took my mom and dad on a drive to see the area. It was so nice having them as guests. The week was a perfect combination of relaxation and fun.

On Monday, it was Dad's Birthday and we decided to go have breakfast at Ruby's Diner on the Oceanside Pier. It was a little overcast, but we timed it just right and we were inside eating breakfast when the worst of the rain came down.

After breakfast, we chased the pelicans on the pier, talked to the fishermen, and then played on the beach. The kids loved writing in the sand and drawing pictures of themselves. We then went to do some shopping at the outlets in Carlsbad. After shopping, the rain started pouring again, so we headed south to Old Town San Diego to visit the newly renovated Mormon Batallion Museum. It very entertaining and informative. The church has done a great job with new technology to make it really fun and interactive for adults and kids. When we entered the museum it was pouring rain and when we came out it was sunny and beautiful. Perfect timing!

Mom and Dad treated us to lunch at a very yummy mexican restaurant in Old Town and then we walked through some of the shops. The kids loved the toy store and dancing on the stage to the latin music. It was a perfect afternoon at Old Town San Diego.

Daddy Daughters Weekend

While I was in Utah with the boys, Joseph and the girls had fun playing here at home. They went out to eat a few times, spend some time reading at the bookstore and of course, they enjoyed playing at the beach. At one point, while playing on the beach, Abby said to Joe, "Dad, I love growing up at the beach!" This little affirmation means alot to me because this move has been really hard for me. There are lots of reasons why it's been good for our family, but often, I think of the simplicity of our former life (for me), even though it wasn't perfect, I learned to really like it. I'm sounding really selfish here. I also think it's been hard because I've realized that moving here means that many more years of living away from our extended families.

Enough of the complaining. Joseph loves work and is so happy with the new change. Don't get me wrong, he has to work very hard and be very smart about things, but already it has proved to be more family friendly. To name a just a few pros, his hours are better and more flexible, he is compensated more equitably , he doesn't have to do his own payroll anymore, nor does he have to hand out paychecks in the middle of the night to his p.m. nurses, he has less demanding long-term patients (less psychiatric ones), which means less calls in the middle of the night (none so far) to tell us that someone has scratched someone else, or that someone has stolen someone else's teeth, or that a male patient has propositioned a female nurse, etc. Which in turn means alot less reports to the state and less stress and paperwork for him. Anyway, here I just set out to post some pictures and it's turned into a full-on vent session. All the emotion comes in waves (no pun intended). Next week I might confess that I love it here and never want to leave, but even then I think I'll always wish that we could share more of our lives with extended family.

I need to enjoy the moment more. I know that someday when I am living in the high desert trudging through 6 feet of snow in mid-April, I am going to miss the days when I was living less than 10 miles from the beach and enjoying a year-round temperate climate. There are so many lessons to learn in life. I am so thankful for a patient and loving Father in Heaven who allows me to learn and grow and gives me opportunities to learn patience. I can be a very slow and resistant learner. I know I can be happy anywhere because I really believe that happiness is a choice. I need to make that decision to be happy here as long as we are here.

Utah Trip

The boys and I took a quick trip to Utah to attend a baby shower for Emily and Sara. We had a great time. The girls stayed home and had a girl's weekend with Dad! I was lucky enough to be able to catch two of our niece's in their school play, The Perfect Princess Pageant. McKenzie and Sariah were both so fun to watch. I can't believe how much they are growing up.

Southwest doesn't fly directly to Salt Lake City from San Diego, so I had a quick stop in Oakland and a brush with fame! During pre-boarding in Oakland, a young family walked on the plane and I immediately recognized the woman as Barbara Young, Steve Young's wife, with a few children trailing behind her. Moments later Steve walked on holding another baby. It was fun watching their family during the flight. They have 2 boys and 2 girls.

Emily picked me up and we headed to my friend Tatum's house to pick up the awesome cupcakes she made for the shower. They were so yummy and so cute. I met Tatum during our days in Spokane and I hadn't seen her in person for a few years so it was fun to have a quick visit. She is so talented!

We had the shower at Scott and Annette's house. I loved spending time with family. It was great, but makes me miss them so much! Someday I would love to live closer to them.

Emily and Sara are only one day apart in their due dates (Em has already delivered as I write this and Sara is very close). They both look great and it was fun to finally see them with their full tummies!

One of the highlights for me was getting to visit with the Fish girls again. My mom and Nancy have been friends forever and I always love it when we get together with them. We have so many shared memories of fun times we have had together. From family trips to family dinners, we've had some great times. It's always a riot hearing my mom and Nancy tell stories. I can't think of my childhood without thinking about the Fish family because we did so much with them. Fun, fun, fun memories. I told Nancy that when I was a little girl, I found out that they weren't my cousins, aunt, uncle, etc. and that her mom and dad weren't another set of my grandparents. I was so confused....I remember at that time thinking, "If they aren't my cousins, then what are they?" Now, though they aren't blood relatives, I consider them family.

It was a great weekend. The boys had fun hanging out with grandpa while I had fun with the ladies. They rode the four-wheeler all over the neighborhood and dad's highlight was when he got to change one of Isaac's super-poopers! ;) Now that's the true test of a good grandpa! Thanks Dad, I owe you huge one!