Remembering 8/26/2011

I wanted to blog this on the Friday, but I ran out of hours in my day. I didn't want to forget what happened and how I felt though, so just pretend with me! :)

Today has been a trying day for me. Dustin has been gone all week for SWAT training, so I have been really stressed. I have not felt good all week.

Ryan has been the number one priority on my mind. He has been acting like a teenager lately. No surprise because he is one, but surprising to me because he has always been a good kid. He is a good kid, just annoyed by his family, I guess. Doesn't want to be with us much. It kind of hurts my feelings. I think we're a pretty cool family. He told his friend, Nathan, today that we embarrass him. Not sure how. I guess it is something I will have to get used to.

I'm sick and tired of feeling yucky. I have had neck and back pain for way too long. I finally have an appointment to get checked out. Hopefully it is not too serious. It seems it gets really bad when I start my period. I hate that too. Love being a woman, except for that one week of the month!

My fridge is driving me nuts! It needs to be cleaned out, I just haven't had the chance. I opened it this evening and the sour cream container wanted to escape, I guess. It jumped out of the fridge, fell to the floor, and burst open. We had sour cream everywhere. That was the third spill of the day and I just lost it. I wanted to retire for the night, but no one to tag team. :(

After dinner was cleaned up- which went fast because my 13 year-old son who doesn't like us helped- Dustin showed up! Everyone ran out side to greet him. I had a new surge of energy and he was a sight for sore eyes!

We were all sitting in the living room enjoying Dad. Becca came up to me with a note:

to: MoM
From: BeccA

Mom I hAve A fAvorite color And it is green.
What is your's?

I wrote:

Becca, my favorite color is green too! I have a favorite toe. It is on my right foot. It is the third toe. Do you have a favorite toe?

Becca wrote:

MY fAvorite toe is on MY Jeft Foot. it is the second toe.

We giggled and I wrote:

Oh, alright. I will remember to kiss it goodnight!

I was so thankful for that note because it made me laugh and got me out of my incredibly bad mood. My kids could tell and suggested a movie. We let them pick. They picked a family home video, my favorite one! We watched the year 2004. Kate's birth is on that one. It reminded me to let Dustin know I wasn't pregnant. We were worried.

When the fhv was done we packed the truck with blankets and pillows and headed over to our stake center. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying our Stake movie night.

Maybe being a woman this week wasn't so bad. Not when I've got such a good family. They can turn a yucky day into a great day. I'm so thankful for that.

Family Motto

I have said before that I love quotes. I love them so much at one point my collection started taking over my half of the bedroom (yes, our room is equally divided). I think I love them so much because I am not an eloquent speaker. My thoughts get all jumbled in my head and they never come out of my mouth right. So, when I hear something so well spoken, I save it!

One of my favorite quotes sits over our heads at the dinner table.

"Be true to who you are and the family name you bear."
~ Gordon B Hinckley ~

It sits there so we see it everyday. We will continue to see it until we move. My thought in doing this was by reading it everyday, which we do, we might think twice before we choose to do something that goes against our family standards. When I first put it up there, it was the first thing out of my kids' mouths every morning and they would say it out loud at dinner time. I never told them they had to read it, they just did. Now, I just see them mouth the words, but it's still making them think.

Kate asked me yesterday, "Mom what's a family name?"
I responded, "You don't know our family name?"
"Yes, I do. It's Merritt! Well, what does the 'be true to who you are' part mean?"
I asked her, "Kate, whose daughter are you?"
"Yours," she said.
"And?" I replied.
"Dad's," she answered.
"AND?" I asked a little louder.
"Heavenly Father's," she shouted to make sure I heard her.
"That's right. If you don't remember anything I ever taught you, you remember that because that is the most important thing you could ever know."
"Why?" (such an inquisitive mind!)
I waited a minute to think my answer through. I had all these things that I felt she needed to know, but how do you say it in 7 1/2 year-old language? I simply said, "Because if you know you are a Daughter of God, you should act like a Daughter of God."

That seemed good enough for her, so I left it at that. But it got me thinking.
Am I wrong to expect so much out of her? Out of my kids?

I came to the conclusion, no. I think I'm doing her a favor. When I was growing up, I was known as a Taylor. For those who don't know my parents, they are pretty remarkable people. They left an imprint wherever they went. Because of that imprint, there were expectations of me. I was expected to act a certain way. I felt that saved me on a number of occasions. I wasn't perfect, believe me, but I did think twice before I did something.

I realize this can have an opposite effect as well. It was hard to live up to those expectations and when I fell short, I felt awful. But that's where my parents stepped in. They acknowledged the mistake, but they never shamed me. I always felt loved and encouraged to keep trying. I was ALWAYS a part of the family. And I ALWAYS knew who I was.

That is what I desire for my children. I just hope I can do it.

Spencer's Wedding

On August 6th Spencer, Dustin's brother, tied the knot! We are excited for both him and Alex, his new bride.

Their wedding was up Little Cottonwood Canyon at SnoBird Ski Resort. It was beautiful! I have never been up that canyon before. While up there, it did not even feel like we were in some big city. Honestly, I could have stayed the night and made a vacation out of it.

After the ceremony, we had dinner and then the reception. My kids were excited to have wedding cake. they even loved the dance floor! My girls did, anyway.

Here are few pictures we took up there. I wish I had taken more of the scenery, but that gives me an excuse to go up there again, right?

all the girls: Grace, Becca, Rylee, Lexi, Kate, & Malori

Aaron and Baby Cole

All the girls enjoyed 'walking down the aisle'. They each took a turn being the bride. I was able to catch a shot of Becca. When you weren't the one getting married you got to be a flower girl.

The dance floor was new to us. In our family we don't dance. The girls loved getting their own dance with Dad.

If they weren't dancing with dad, they were looking for a partner.

This little boy named Ryker thought highly of Becca. He came and asked her to dance. After doing so he moved his eyebrows up and down. Of course she said yes and even showed him what to do. He took her hand and even lead her to the floor. It was so cute!

We sure had a fun time. It isn't everyday that someone gets married, so we made the most of it. Congratulations, Spencer and Alex!!!

What Becca, Kate, and One Fried Egg Taught Me

My scheduled post for my kids was going to be on modesty, but the timing just is not right. Instead I decided to write about something a little more important.

Yesterday morning, one bright Sunday, I was in the front room reading the Ensign. I had made the kids breakfast. They all got what they wanted. The boys wanted cereal, Grace and Kate wanted a sausage sandwich, and Becca wanted to try a fried egg. They were all eating happily so I figured I'd do some reading before the rat race of Sunday began.

I must give you a little background before I continue. Kate has a fried egg almost every morning. They are one of her favorites, especially the runny yoke. Becca has always been a little stand-offish, so she is being brave to try something new.

I'm on the couch and I hear these two girls start fighting. Becca is screaming, " I can do it! Give it back!"

"You're doing it wrong! That's not how you cut it!" Kate yells.

This fight continues for about a minute. If you're wondering if I intervened, I didn't. You might think I'm lazy, but I believe in letting my kids work out their own solutions, as long as no one is injuring the other. Finally Becca breaks the plate free from her sisters grasp.

"I don't care how I do it. It's just how I roll, Kate." She continues cutting her egg her way. Kate couldn't argue with that because it was the truth. After I got my laugh because she just said, "that's how I roll", a light bulb went off in my head. And I started thinking.

A few days before, someone was trying to tell me the same thing. It had nothing to do with a fried egg, but the concept was the same. I was trying to tell her what I felt was the right way to do something, not very nicely I'm ashamed to admit, but with good intention. Just like Kate.

I remembered something I had always been taught and thought I lived: We may feel our way is best, but the truth is there is more than one one way to do something. The only thing that matters is the goal is reached and is successful.

When it comes to Gospel living we will not all live it the same. What's important to me, may not be as important to another. The reason being we are different people. Our spirits are different, our upbringings are different, where we live is different. She was trying to tell me this, but I wasn't listening and wasn't understanding.

I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows how reach me. He knows he can get me to see things through my children and through music. I'm grateful for my kids. They are true teachers. Because of them, I'm remembering to only concern myself with the way I cut my egg. Because that's the way I [should] roll.

A New Plan and My (Sheri's) Thoughts on Integrity

I have been worried lately. Really worried. My thoughts have been about my kids.

Dustin and I had a conversation the other night.

"How are our kids going to make it?" I asked. "This world is so crazy and so backwards."

His reply, "We just teach them."

So, I came up with a plan. I have decided that every Sunday I would pick a gospel principle and share my thoughts. I would then commit to being better. After all, "Actions speak louder than words."

Today I was studying one of my favorite talks by Sheri Dew (you all know how much I love her). Her talk: True Blue, Through and Through is excellent! I love it!! (you can read it here, I highly suggest taking the time to read it) She speaks on integrity.

Integrity is more than being honest. It is being " true to yourself, meaning who you are as a son or daughter of God, and who you are in the process of becoming. True to others, meaning you do what you say you will do. And true to God, meaning that you practice what you preach and that you are doing what you covenanted to do here in mortality."

I feel that if I can pound this principle into their little heads they stand a chance! It is not always easy to stand, especially when there are times you are standing alone. I think this is why I got scared. I knew there would be times that my kids would be forced to stand alone. I don't want them to shrink at those times. I want them to know who they are and do what they need to do. I don't live in the same world that they do. My life consists of mom things. I cook, clean, run errands, get kids ready for school, etc, etc. But somehow, I need to get them to understand that I have walked the path they are on and that it is possible to stand for the right.

She lists 7 things we can do to be people of integrity:

1. Be worthy of TRUST
2. Have FAITH that the Lord will help you, ask for that help
3. DO what you say you will do
4. STAND UP for what you believe
5. EXPECT your integrity to be challenged
6. DON'T GIVE UP!
7. RENEW your COVENANT to do what you came here to do

Number 7 is my favorite. It reminds me of who I really am and who my children really are. She says it best:

My dear young friends, whom I believe to be the best this world has ever seen, you were sent now because you have everything it takes to deal with the world now.
We made premortal commitments, among them surely being a willingness to come during this 'eleventh hour'. Surely we followed our Elder Brother's example. Perhaps we said something like this: 'If you need someone who will have the courage and determination to face the world at its worse, here am I, send me. If you need husbands and wives who will be faithful to each other, raise their children in the admonition of the Lord, and defend the family, here am I, send me. If you need men and women who will see through the lies of the world about family, gender, and intimacy, and who will never confuse being tolerant of others with tolerating sin, here am I, send me. If you need men and women who will be fearless in building the Kingdom of God, please, here am I, send me'."

I'm not sure how I'm doing at keeping my "premortal covenants". But I know I could be doing a little better. I know there are cracks in my own integrity, but I promise to mend them and fortify them. My kids are depending on me. If I'm not willing to model, as the Savior has done, who else will for my children? I must! It is why they were entrusted to me. It lies solely on mine and Dustin's shoulders. We will not fail them.

What Clue- the board game- is Really About

How many of you grew up playing this game?





Yeah, me too. It was one of my favorites.

Today Kate let me know why this game was totally "inappropriate" for children.

Kate: Mom, you know this game?
Me: Yeah.
Kate: These guys are all murderers.
Me: No they're not.
Kate:Uh-huh. Mom, all they do is kill kids!

I guess I didn't teach my kids to play the game properly. I will have to have a re-cap. They are obviously playing the game wrong. I don't remember kids dying anyway!