A Lesson For Me.

Kids amaze me. They constantly astonish me in the best kind of way. They're pure and humble. Forgiving and kind. And they are the best sort of teacher around. I was reading a past issue of the Ensign Magazine, and came across a lovely talk by Margaret S. Lifferth titled, "Behold Your Little Ones" I remember the impression this talk had on me the first time I heard it back in 2006, so I was happy to come across it again tonight.

These a few of the quotes from her talk.

"Children are open to gospel truths more than at any other time, and protected childhood is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to teach and strengthen children to choose the right.

It’s easy to know what to teach. The scriptures and our prophets are clear about what to teach our children. Nephi summarizes it in this verse, “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ … that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:26)."

Brothers and sisters, as a mother and a Primary leader, I know this work with children is not easy. Protecting, teaching, and loving children can be demanding, often discouraging, sometimes exhausting, and occasionally the fruits of our efforts are long delayed. But it is precisely because it is not easy to bring children to the Savior that we must come to Him ourselves.

As we seek Him and His Spirit to help us, we will see a miracle. We will recognize that our own hearts are changing and we too are becoming “submissive, meek, humble, patient, [and] full of love” (Mosiah 3:19). We too will reflect the light of the gospel in our own countenance. We will come to understand these words of the Savior: “And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me” (Matthew 18:5).

I'm not always great at remembering that this is my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to teach my children all they need to know to be happy and successful in this life, but talks like this reinforce my motivation to do better and to be a better person. Observing my own kids reminds me why it's so important that I give them a strong spiritual foundation at an early age. Jordan taught me this lesson just last week at a baptism of two little girls in our church. While the girls were changing out of their wet baptismal clothing, friends and family who attended the baptism were asked if they would write down their thoughts or their testimony on a piece of paper that the girls could then take home for a remembrance book. I was so touched by the words Jordan wrote down that I made a copy of them for myself. This is part of what he wrote, "When I was baptized I was a little worried, but after I got in the water I felt nice and clean. I am proud that I got baptized. I am for you, too.....I'd like to bear my testimony to you that I know that Heavenly Father is happy that you got baptized....I know this church is true. I'm grateful I came today."

That little guy amazes me. Even more than that, he astonishes me. He makes my heart swell with happiness because I know he gets "it"! He understands the simplicity of our Heavenly Father's gospel, and that it is attainable to all. I'm grateful I was reminded of that little lesson tonight.

Hooray for teenagers!

It's official~~~I'm the mom of a teenage boy! Today Kyler turned 13, and in doing so I was inducted into the Moms of Teenagers Club. Lucky for me I've got an above average teenager. He's polite. He does his homework and gets straight A's. He always gets ready for school by himself and never complains that he has to wake up at 5:45 even though the rest of us sleep in an extra hour. He's a planner and reaches all the goals he sets for himself. He is an amazing example to others at church, at school, and at home. Quite honestly, he's an amazing kid. I am so lucky to be his mom.

Happy birthday, Kyler!

Here are some of his favorites as well as accomplishments from the past year.

Favorite food: Fettuccine Alfredo

Accomplishment: Kyler developed a love for choir this year, and even earned himself a singing solo at the Young Americans concert.

Favorite color: Blue

Accomplishment: It was announced the boys needed to fund the entire $250 cost of Scout Camp this year so Kyler got a babysitting job and had all his money earned within 2 months. He was the only one in his entire troop to have any, let alone all of his money saved last month.

Favorite Books: Kyler LOVES to read. This usually involves reading into the wee hours of the morning, but I'm very grateful he has a love for books. Some of his favorites this year included the Percy Jackson series, The Alex Rider series, The Kingdom Keepers series, and Among the Hidden series.

Accomplishment: Kyler was called into the Deacon's Quorum presidency at church and one of the first things he did was create a blog with a newsletter for the boys to read. He's great on the computer and a great organizer.

Favorite vacation: Disney or cruising. He's a master travel agent.

Accomplishment: Kyler was asked to be a Den Chief for our Cub Scouts. Within 48 hours he had all his online training done and was ready to be put to work. Again, he did all of this without being asked. He is such a go-getter.

Favorite Television Series: Kyler loves NCIS and Psych. He also likes different cooking shows on the Food Network.

Accomplishment: Kyler was in advanced science and math this year and they'd really like him to be in advanced English.

Favorite subject at school: Math. This might have a little to do with his ultra cool teacher~ Ms. Nancy Reynolds. I told him he had an ultra-cool aunt with the same name so it was in the cards she would be amazing.

Accomplishment: He made it to 13 and his mom and dad still don't want to trade him in. I think that's one of the greatest accomplishments a teenager can achieve.

Fishes, dolls, and even more fish.

Spring Break reached our house the first week of April, and we tried to make the most of it by heading to Chicago for a few days of relaxation and fun. Stop #1 along our route was to the "Fish Store" aka "The Bass Pro Shop." Caleb was in heeaavveenn!! He couldn't believe his good fortune to be in a store that not only had an aquarium, but also an assortment of taxidermy animals. It was quite possibly the most exciting store he's ever been to. I suppose having 3 boys warrants more trips to hunting, fishing and all-around outdoor stores, but hello...I'm a girl and usually prefer the mall over a bait shop.

Once we made it to Chicago Kevin and I decided to wipe the calendar clean of most everything in favor of sitting poolside with a good book while the kids swam. It was so relaxing, and just the sort of break we needed this week.

On our second day in the Windy City, we ventured into downtown Chicago where we ate at the Grand Lux Cafe, and can I just add that it was Mmm...Mmm....good! Kyler even got an edible birthday card from our waitress.

We also checked out the Disney Store on Michigan Avenue, and just for fun we ventured into this "little" boutique:

Yep...That's an American Girl Store, and let me assure you, we were like fish out of water walking into a girls doll store with 3 little boys. Kevin's always wanted to take a peek inside one of the shops though so we seized the opportunity and went inside this enormous store . What we saw amazed us. I'm talking jaw hits the ground while eyes pop out of your head amazement. There were hundreds & hundreds of dolls, doll stations, doll dressing rooms, doll photo booths, a doll hospital, and even a doll salon. Unbelievable! We watched one dad who was obviously from out-of-town with his wife and young daughter while they waited in line for their new American Girl doll to be called in for her spa treatment. Yep...you read that right. You can visit an American Girl shop and for around $20 your doll can have a relaxing day at the spa which includes a visit to the salon for facial scrub, cucumber stickers for the dolls eyes, flip-flops, a salon cape, a faux face mask, and nail decals. You can even get your doll's ears pierced. The dad we watched had his camcorder out filming his daughters new doll sitting in the salon chair as she was getting her make-over. Every so often he'd look down at his feet and give a slight shake of his head. You could practically hear him thinking out loud, "Man, I saved all year to visit Chicago so I could pay this much money for a doll and her day at the spa" It was sort of hilarious. Not that I'm knocking anyone who has an American Girl doll. Believe me, if I had a daughter I'd probably be lined up to pick the perfect doll, too, but this guy was so clearly out of his element that Kevin and I couldn't help but chuckle. We would have had the exact same look on our faces if our places had been swapped.

Alas, our time in Chicago was winding down. We had enough fun in downtown Chicago for the day so we went back to the hotel for some more poolside reading and swimming. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. I'd do it all over again today if I could. The next day we drove home and decided to let Caleb hit nirvana once again, only this time we stopped at Cabela's where the boys tried their hand at rifle shooting:

Pretended they were back at a zoo with all their favorite animals.

and relished the time we had before arriving back home.
This has been an awesome Spring Break!

My little 9 year old!

It's this little munchkin's birthday

and boy do I lova lova him!!

Jordan changed my life forever when he was born 9 years ago, and I am so grateful to be his mom. In case you didn't know, Jordan is magic. I know, it's hard to believe that someone who is a mere 9 years old can be a magician, but it's true~I promise. Jordan has magic twinkle eyes and a little boy giggle that can make the most ornery person delightful . Of course I wouldn't state this fact without a little first-hand knowledge. There are plenty of days where I walk around with the "World's Most Ornery Award" dangling from my neck, but then Jordan enters the room, and with a little giggle and a twinkle in his eye, the award goes POOF and vanishes out of sight. I'm thinking I should trace back his genealogy a little farther. I have a feeling he could be related to the one and only Nicholas Claus. I for one look forward to many more years of Jordan and his magical disposition.

Here are a few of Jordan's favorites now that he's 9:

Favorite TV Show: He told me Wild Kratt's, but I think he likes Wipeout a little bit more.

Favorite Board Game: Any game will do...He loves them all, but Disney's Apples to Apples is one of his favorites.

Favorite Wii game: Again, most will do, but lately he's played a lot of Mario Cart and Epic Mickey.

Favorite School Activities: Gym, Art, and Computer Lab

Favorite Food: He still loves Mac N' Cheese

Favorite Drink: Pineapple Orange Mango Juice

Favorite Book Series: Magic Tree House, Geronimo Stilton, Ready Freddy

Favorite Vacation: Any Cruise. He loves going on big ships.

Favorite Spare Time Activities: Playing with Caleb and going outside

What he would like to be when he grows up: A Cruise Ship Director (please no...living on the ship for endless months would be a tough life ), or a Theme Park Planner.

Favorite Color: YELLOW

I also asked Jordan if he had any goals he would like to accomplish before he turned 10, and after a minute of pondering he said, "I'd like to go on a 10 day cruise, and I'd like to make more goals later 'cause I can't think of more than 1." Yep~That's my boy for you. Leave your options open-ended so you can add to that list later. I love you Jordan!!

Okay...2 posts in one day. Is the world coming to an end??? Possibly, my kids are home for a third straight snow day in a row, and it hasn't snowed since Tuesday evening. We're all going a little stir-crazy, and even worst, we were on vacation before the snow days took place so my kids have only been in school 1 day in over 3 weeks. It's like summer vacation all over for them but instead of sunblock and beaches we're pulling out the snowpants and making our own snowhills.
As I mentioned, we were on a vacation last month, and what a nice get-away it was. We headed on a western Caribbean Cruise with a bunch of my family, and it was heavenly.

Here are a few highlights, and of course oodles of pictures. Some of our family members use this site to check out pictures so I tend to over-do it:

Mom and dad who always plan the most fabulous vacation experiences for all of us!

Travis, Brooks, and Kelcee

Caleb and Hailey

Dave and Jordan

Kyler and Hannah

The ship offered plenty of fun activities. There was mini-golf.

Dancing

Swimming and water sliding.

Eating

and of course homework (we never seem to escape that for too long.)

Outside of the ship.

One of the coolest experience aboard the ship was the filming taking place the week we were aboard the Carnival Dream. The production team of Alvin and the Chipmunks 3 Chip-Wrecked sailed the same week we did. One afternoon they even asked Jordan and Caleb to come be extras for one of the scenes. My kids thought this was the coolest experience ever, and are hoping to see their faces on the big screen this December. There were even a couple *star* sightings. Jordan met Jason Lee in the bathroom where he was changing clothes, and Kyler and Hannah spotted David Cross on the ship. The cast, crew, and production team could not have been nicer to all of us.

Hailey, Dave, Hannah & Caleb

Caleb getting munched on his own!

My family in Cozumel.

Mom, Dad, and Kelcee in Cozumel.

The whole gang in Cozumel.

My handsome boys.

Kyler and Jordan relaxing in style in Cozumel.

Belize

Belize.
This happened to be our least favorite port. The city was pretty dirty and the people a bit more aggressive than I'm used to. Kyler had a great time though. He went with my parents and brothers to the Mayan ruins, and found them fascinating. We found out later there have been some problems with the Belize government and Carnival Cruise ships lately. You can tell the people in Belize live very humble lives, and I bet many of the families depend on passengers of cruise ships for their livelihood. It's always an eye-opening experience to see how people live in other countries, and it reminds me of the many blessings I have in my own life.

We went to an iguana farm while we were in Isla Roatan.
Here's a picture of Jordan feeding a few of the iguanas.

Caleb feeding the iguanas.

Kyler feeding the iguanas.

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Isla Roatan, Honduras

Souvenir shopping in Honduras.

Hitting the beach in Honduras.

Relaxing back on the ship.

Costa Maya, Mexico

Costa Maya, Mexico

Dressing-up in Costa Maya.

Costa Maya was a pretty packed port. There were 3 cruise ships that stopped by that day, but it was a beautiful port to stop and see.

One of our formal nights. Funship Freddy stopped by for a photo-op with the kids.

We met so many wonderful people on board. Many of the workers come from other countries and work for 6-9 months on the ship before they have the opportunity to go home for a couple of months to see their families. It's amazing to me the sacrifices they make to make sure their families are taken care of. The man in the picture above is named Imade Wiraguna (Wii for short). He is from Bali, Indonesia and was heading home this weekend for the 1st time in over 6 months to see his wife, kids, and family. He's worked for Carnival for years, and is an amazing individual. Caleb absolutely loved him, and even cried the one night we weren't seated in his section. He made it a point to come over and give Caleb a lot of attention and hugs to make him feel better. On the last day he gave Caleb his e-mail address so we can keep in contact. Caleb tried to go one step further and asked if Wii would take him home to Bali instead. He's one crazy kid, but at least he found a lasting friendship on the ship.

This is Pornpun from Thailand and Irene from the Phillipines. They were bartenders down in the atrium of the ship, and a couple more amazing ladies we were fortunate enough to meet. On the 1st day at sea Caleb went and sat down, looked at Irene and announced, "You're my new best friend. Today I'd like to order one glass of nice healthy water." Every day he returned to talk with the girls, and by day 3 his healthy water had turned into diet coke with grenadine. By day 5 his brothers and cousins were able to come with him to get drinks with umbrellas and cherries, too. Caleb became a mini-celeb on board. There were workers on practically every level of the ship that knew him by name. Kevin and I were amazed by all the people that knew Caleb.

We ended the trip with a couple of days at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The new Wizarding World of Harry Potter was outstanding, and one of the rides in particular was incredible. I can't wait to go on The Forbidden Journey again. It's unlike any other ride I've ever been on.

Universal Orlando Florida.


The streets of Universal Studios.

Meeting a Minion at Universal Studios.

Islands of Adventure. This park was more Caleb's style.
Suess Landing was especially cool for him.

Outside Islands of Adventure.

Suess Landing

Inside the queue to The Forbidden Journey.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The castle in Harry Potter.

Hannah, Jordan, Dave, and Caleb.

Ollivander's Wand Shop.

The chomping book from Harry Potter.
It almost got a taste of Jordan's fingers!!

Caleb can't pass up any picture involving an animal, whether real or fake.