Power of Moms

Me, Saren Loosli, Shawni Pothier, my friend Danette, and April Perry

In between weekends of photo shoots, I nabbed the opportunity to go to the Power of Moms retreat here in Gilbert on November 19th. I learned so much in one day - the day was uplifting and so encouraging.  Motherhood isn't easy and I have my own share of troubles and just trying to learn how to be a good mother day by day.  A few things I realized while at the retreat: one is that my kids are perfect for me and I am good for them.  And that as long as I am trying to be righteous and teach them to really know Jesus Christ I am on the right path.  I am a person and I have needs like my children - physical, mental, social, spiritual, and emotional, and that to be a good mother, I need to take care of myself first (April's "Mommy is a person" phrase really resonated with a lot of people), and that it is important for me to grow in all those areas mentioned while raising my children.  We spent the morning talking about taking care of ourselves first, and then family systems in the afternoon.

I was glad to have read the Entitlement Trap by Richard and Linda Eyre a couple of months before -- the gals running Power of Moms talked about those systems described in the book.  If you have been an Eyre fan for years like me, you are already familiar with the family legal system and the family economy.  Still honing those family systems in our home - but for starters, one concrete thing I haven't gotten to do is to get our family rules/motto framed up and displayed in a prominent place in our home:

I am not sure about the colors yet though.  Or if I should do canvas.
Everyone picked these out together - a close runner up was: endure (in place of do).  "Play" is Maddie's addition to the family rules.
Our family scripture is 2 Nephi 5:27 (Kevin's pick and favorite - won the votes too) - "and we lived after the manner of happiness".  My all-time favorite 1 Nephi 3:7 - "I will go and do...." comes in super close second, so I am still having my kids memorize that one.

While there I ran into my BYU roomie Catherine and dormie Peggy. Catherine was my Spring roommate at Heritage Halls (Maeser) and Peggy was one of my dormies at Deseret Towers-U Hall.  It was so good to reconnect with old friends!

Halloween 2011

We were in Utah for Halloween this year.  We went to our old ward's trunk or treat at 5 p.m. and then enjoyed Goodwood at home with my family.  It was fun and the weather was nice and warm.

 I shot this image of the Provo Temple as we were driving down the hill on University Parkway (just past 800 South).  I love the yellow fall trees and the blue hue of the sunset.

Miss Maddie couldn't decide what to be for Halloween.  She packed a dragon costume in the suitcase, and ended up wearing this princess dress that her Grandma got her for Halloween.  She liked trying on this Rasta wig that Aireen had at home.  and the french girl beret and glasses below:

In the end she chose to wear just the dress, which also doubles as pajamas. :)

 

Allie the French girl and her friend Alyssa.  These two were in nursery together many years ago.  Crazy how time flies.  They are only two weeks apart and are still good friends!

 

 Maddie ended up with the MOST candy for some reason.  We had no idea how she did that.  She packed it all in the suitcase and enjoyed it for the next two or three weeks after.

Our family at trunk or treat

 Aireen, Danny, and Bubsy

 Chad and Megan came to the trunk or treat

A better look at Danny's dorky nerdy headpiece. Check out their costumes this year:

Kevin and I are boring beige squares compared to these two. Ha ha!

Day 313 - Halloween!

Zane was in Utah for Halloween.  Here he is before he put on his costume:

I love that his toes are curled up like that!  He was "helping" Kevin rake the leaves in our backyard.

 Sadly I didn't get good photos of him in his tiger costume - he was way too sleepy and just wanted to cuddle with his grandma.  So my mom just had him the whole time at trunk or treat while I handed candy out to the kids.

And here he is enjoying his very first lollipop.

archie and emily's wedding

I got a new cool little sister when my only brother got married in October!  The wedding was beautiful, and archie and emily had the privilege of having Elder Richard G. Hinckley seal them.  Archie served as Pres. Hinckley's assistant on his mission in Salt Lake City a few years ago.  He gave the most wonderful advice, including one that his mother, Sister Hinckley, always used to say about how to have a successful marriage - "lower your expectations."  Funny, but true! 

Elder Hinckley and his wife, Jane, also came to the luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  Archie & Em chose very well the menu - Hawaiian! It was all so so good.  Kevin ended up sick from Cafe Rio that day, so he spent the rest of the day (after pictures) throwing up - put a little damper on his vacation, but at least it happened after the sealing, luncheon, and pictures.

My in-laws have come and attended all the weddings in my family!  This was their fifth wedding - and with one more eligible bachelorette (see pretty girl below), they are not yet done! How did this one get so gorgeous?  The one who snags this beauty is lucky - she's an excellent babysitter too (all my sisters and brother have watched my kids for at least 1 year of their life and got their parent life training at my house, lol).

Kevin and Collin

the only good one I got of all my parents' grandkids.

My mom and her granddaughters

My parents and siblings. Archie and Papa are SO outnumbered.

The Rabasto Family 2011 (we need more babies in there!)

We had so much fun with all of our family whom we don't get to see much and the weather was perfect on their wedding!  Glad that Archie found someone to love and cook for (he really is a good cook and a great babysitter too) - she is perfect for him and we love her a whole lot - she fit right with the girls the first time we met her. 

Dance Recital 2011

Dance recital was quite fun and interesting for us this year.  Maddie had two dances to perform.  She was all dolled up in this cute little Christmas dress - she was super excited but was a little bothered by the fact that the back of the costume was "holey" and wanted to wear a sweater over it.  Of course the morning of the recital, her white cardigan or a white undershirt couldn't be found!  Blame that one on her unprepared mom. :)
She of course chose a bright purple sweater to wear with the costume - and once Maddie makes up her mind about something, it's pretty much set, unless you reason with her and use your best persuasive skills.

We got to the recital and she refused to go up the stage without her bright purple sweater on.  I finally rationalized and told her that it was only for a minute and she can get that sweater back on right after the dance.  In my mind I felt a little two-faced teaching my girls modesty and then asking her to remove the sweater for a minute!  I could actually hear Maddie's voice in my head saying "Really, Mom?" - something she always says whenever I do something ridiculous in her mind's eye (like me drinking from the side of a sippy cup).  I hoped that when her teacher took her sweater off she would be fine!  But...I saw Maddie throw on this mad face, mouth in a pout... and then she proceeded to stand still throughout the entire song!

This was how she looked the entire time.  Funny Maddie.

After the song, she came running to me and asked if I could get her favorite cupcake (I had told her we would go get cupcakes if she danced at the recital).  Ha!  I told her (in a matter-of-fact way) that the cupcakes were only if she danced.  She says grudgingly, "okay, fine."  And she did dance to the Nutcracker tune, still with a little pouty mouth (of course) but she did it and it was super cute.

I did video mostly during the second song and this was one of the two stills I got of her dancing.

As promised we went to her favorite place - the cupcake shop after.  I love this little girl!

Daily Happenings Notes Feb 2008- September 2009

So I just was going through draft posts and realized I never posted this one possibly because it was a bit more personal. :-) 2/29/2008 thru 09/25/2009

• Sep 25 - Mindy and I canned 28 quarts and 42 pints of peaches, then ended the day with Little Caesars (we weren't about to cook dinner :)) and swam in their pool. I got 17 quarts and 12 pints total. That's after we opened the 2 pints that didn't seal. :)
• Aug 26 - Collin's first soccer practice. He was so cute in his cleats!
• Aug 24 - Allie's first day at ballet.
• June 22 - Bro and Sis Cox came! They are here for their grand-daughter's wedding. It was so nice to catch up!
• Mar 17 - I discovered the number of years we've been married changed again! (it's been 11, 14, 17, now 8). I think Kevin's been doing some editing on the side.
• Feb 8 - Kevin and I gave talks at church.
• Feb 3 - Maddie walked from our bedroom closet all the way to her room! Yay!
• Jan 24 - Although Maddie took her first two steps two weeks ago, today she really practiced the walking. She walked 3-4 steps at a time and was pretty excited about it.
• Jan 14 - Maddie cut her two front teeth.
• Dec 20 - Our 11th Anniv; simple lunch date flowers and the works. :)
• Dec 10 - Maddie's 1st Year Checkup: 16 lbs 4 oz, 28.5 inches long, 17.5 (head circumference), iron okay.
• Nov 19 - I caught Maddie dancing and opening kitchen cupboards.
• Oct 15 - Maddie cut another tooth (left central incisor)
• Sep 29 - Maddie cut her first tooth!
• Sep 29 - Maddie got herself out of the high chair and crawled across the countertops.
• Sep 11 - Maddie stood by herself for a few seconds.
• Sep 2 - Allie rode the school bus, but did not like it.
• Aug 18 - Allie's 1st day of school.
• Aug 16 - Our truck is unloaded late in the p.m.
• Aug 13 - The girls and I fly to AZ, Kevin and Collin (& Archie - LV) drive the car.
• Aug 12 - Our truck is loaded.
• Aug 10 - Our last Sunday in the Edgemont 3rd Ward.
• Aug 7 - Maddie learned to clap her hands / play pat-a-cake; also says mama
• July 26 - Lights went out at about 10 p.m. and didn't come back on until 1 a.m. The kids had fun and wish the lights would go out again.
• July 23 - We received keys to our new house!
• July 22 - Maddie fell (rolled) down the stairs.
• July 21 - Maddie pulled herself up! She loves holding on to the kids' bottom bunk, the school chairs, and the hearth.
• July 18 - Maddie crawled up the stairs.
• July 6 - Maddie crawls. She is good and can now go places. She also sits up all by herself.
• June 9 - I got my Canon Rebel XT - had fun trying it out and playing with it tonight.
• May 30 - Allie's last day at school; kids sleepover at Aunt Aireen's
• May 19 - Collin's quotable quote: If a girl has a mohawk, it's a bow-hawk.
• May 16 - Collin wanted his own blog too. So we set that up. Allie went swimming at Karly's.
• May 15 - With my help, Allie started her own blog. We made burgers and grilled cheese for dinner.
• May 10 - We went to the BYU Creamery for lunch with the kids, and took them to Build-a-Bear. Kevin and I weeded and planted flowers out front. We were out working for 6 hours. Fun times!
• May 9 - We went to the Rock Canyon Extravaganza. Collin loved the firetruck and Allie spent the whole time with her BFF's Karly and Hallie.
• May 4 - Maddie ate rice cereal for the first time. She finished about an ounce.
• Apr 2 - She really is sleeping thru the night! (all of March!)
• Mar 28 - Madz babbles "ah" & squeals to get Kev's attention
• Mar 1 - Maddie slept thru the night (11-5)
• Feb 29- Maddie slept thru the night (11-7)

Christmas Cards!

Three down, two more to go - been busy with these yesterday - and now can't wait to see them printed on pearl paper. **Update: 12/13 - I can now lay low - I finished all four designs plus ours.  I got three sets in the mail yesterday from my lab and they are gorgeous!!! 

 

Christmas Program 12-02

Collin's Christmas music program was cute! And it was nice to finally see it in a warm auditorium with a stage, so you could see everyone's faces while they sang (ALA had a circus tent last year, and we do not miss that!).  Anyway...we were running late, so we didn't get good seats. It was so packed by the time we got there - next year they are splitting the grades up into 3 music programs instead of just two to remedy the crowd!  I like to get up close when taking photos at an event like this, so I left my back row standing spot and walked my way up closer to the stage and took video and photos.
Anyway, I happened to sit next to Natalie Norton, sitting a couple of rows from the front, whom I had never met in person, just through photos (I love her photography style!).  So as I sat there clicking away, she leans over to me and says, "hey, do you want to swap your lens out? you look like you know what you're doing", pointing to her massive lens, which I recognized right away - after all, it was just the 70-200 mm f.2.8 IS L-glass (my other dream lens). I couldn't resist, so right there in the dark auditorium I put that baby on my camera!
My favorite part was getting to talk a little bit of photography after she told me who she was, and I said "oh, you're THE Natalie Norton", told her I loved her photography, her photo blog and all that jazz.  Lucky her kids had just finished their parts in the Christmas program, so she didn't have to click away during Collin's singing.

 This is as close as I could get with my 85 (we were probably sitting about 30 feet away).
85mm 1/200 @f 3.2 ISO 1600 no flash

145mm, 1/160 sec @ f3.2, ISO 1600 no flash

(Technically, my shutter speed should have been faster to get a tack sharp image, but it came out OK still, good lens!)

 

   200 mm 1/160 @f3.5 - still pretty good at 200 mm, and high ISO levels and no flash. 

 Collin, Cameron, and Ethan

 How lucky, too, that Collin was standing right by his two friends from our ward (to his left)?

Sharing Traditions

Christmas trees decorated with the 24 Days of Christmas ornaments

December 1st  - I shared our 24 Days of Christmas tradition at our Relief Society Meeting.  After my presentation, we watched a DVD slideshow depicting the events and people represented by the 24 ornaments (thanks to Jennette!).  After that our Bishop gave a very wonderful message about establishing righteous traditions and issued a challenge for us sisters to be scriptorians.  I thought it was right on - especially that quite simply, the 24 Days of Christmas is the story of Christ straight from the scriptures, and that reading from the scriptures (AKA the storybook of Christ) is the number 1 righteous tradition we should emphasize in our daily lives.  Anyway, we had a great ham dinner, with scalloped potatoes, the best creamed corn!, and enjoyed traditional desserts brought by the wonderful sisters in our ward.

Every sister took home a booklet and paper ornaments 

We gave away copies of the booklet, "24 Days of Christmas", including paper ornaments to help kick off the tradition in the homes of our ward members.  A select few were lucky to get complete ornament kits (ribbon and decorative paper backings included).   I hope that it has made a difference in people's homes just as it has in my home - since its conception in late 2007, to its better, and ever evolving version today.  I think my family has learned to appreciate more and more Christ and less presents at Christmas time - a Christ-centered Christmas is truly the only way to go -- and it can be very beautiful and fun!  To view the post with the link to the materials, please click here.