strike it up

One night while driving we hear this song on the radio and Nate turned it up and said..



"Why don't they make music like this anymore? You know, good stuff, like Jock Jams. You know, stuff I can do this to over and over again," as he does the Diddy and Mase shoulder bounce to the beat over and over again.

He was serious, and his tone was that of a grandpa nostalgic for the good ole' days when music was quality. This is why I love him.

pioneers

Please watch this even if you don't read my post:)


This is the multinational celebration of the opening of a temple in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is a huge celebration because a temple (NOT the building we attend every Sunday for church) is necessary in our faith and there had not been one in this area of the world until now. It serves the people of Ukraine as well as the people of it's surrounding countries. These people had been waiting a long time for this day to come.



I cried a lot when I saw this. (Thanks Chelsea.) I started crying when the two young men said that not many people know about their country, Kazakhstan. And then I lost it when they said that they want the people in the church to know they are strong youth, and that "there is a rising generation in the church that can be relied on, that the church can continue to build on the new generations, because we're the pioneers in our countries."

Hearing him talk about the youth being pioneers, and seeing that this video featured strictly the youth of the church just completely tugged at my heart strings. In the past, I don't think my church had realized how strong today's youth could be. I remember my mission president ( head of our efforts in Argentina) consulting with me personally on a few occasions when he was concerned about the age of some people I was teaching who wanted to be baptized and become part of our church. He was hesitant with my decision to move forward before talking with me privately because they were teenagers without the support of their family. Typically in the past, the statistics of a teenager without family support staying faithful were depressing. I reminded him of my own life story and talked with him about the hearts of these young people. After speaking with me, he trusted my judgment from then on, but let me know my scenarios would be exceptions and not the norm.

Now I see the youth in this video, and the youth I dealt with years ago in Argentina, and I think they are becoming the norm, and not the exception. Teenagers and young people all over the world are inundated in filth, dishonesty, deceit, and hate and exposed to so many disgusting horrors, that it's no wonder why so many youth are seeking for good things. It's no wonder why so many young kids are becoming pioneers of their generation.

This was not to toot my own horn in any kind of way or a fish for compliments, but a realization that things are changing. In every aspect of the world I have known and lived in, things are changing and paradigms are shifting. And one of the things I am in awe of, is the change I see in the makeup of my faith. The youth of the world are carrying this church on their backs. They are breaking ground and clearing paths in every country. I see young converts updating their statuses on facebook in Spanish with scriptures, and I see videos like these in languages I've never heard before, and I'm amazed that they are young people without any family support and who were denied most of the tools for success that parents gives to their children.

God bless these young people that make such beautiful lives for themselves out of such discouraging circumstances.

phoenix zoo

My neighbor across the street has 6 kids under the age of 10 and they are our little buddies. They come over to our house to play all the time and they LOVE Oscar and Oscar loves them. Their mom, now my friend Jessica, invited Oscar and I to go to the Phoenix Zoo with them today since her husband couldn't make it. I was so happy she thought of me because Oscar and I had a blast with them.


Oscar and I on the safari tram checking out the tigers and lions


flamingos



oscar loving the ducks that were walking right up to us







so many little monkeys jumping and hanging from their tails! this was my favorite





oscar's buddies




kamodo dragon


oscar loves his friends already


elephants

heartbroken

First one, now the other. I guess if being a fan required having a testimony, I'd say my testimony was wavering and weak right now. D. Will was my Gordon B. Hinckley of basketball, so today is a pretty sad day.

family dinner

My mother in law suggested I borrow this book "The Family Dinner" by Laurie David. I'm glad she did because it was probably one of the best parenting books I've read so far. I think if anyone has a family or is planning on having a family, this is probably a must read for parenting books. It's about how sacred the family dinner should be and how it has practically become an endangered tradition. It is about how the family dinner forms relationship bonds, teaches etiquette and manners, develops health habits, and basically determines much of the success of a family.

Laurie David outlines rules for the family dinner like no cell phones or screens of any kind, WATER ONLY, at least trying everything on your plate, and everyone helping with clean up. She has chapters on dinner conversation and dinner games for when your children become teenagers and only respond with "fine' when you ask them how their day went. She offers many unique and simple recipes and stresses how dinner doesn't have to be a roast and three sides, but it can be grilled cheese sandwiches and dessert can be orange slices.

She also has a chapter on eating less meat and how the amount of meat our society now consumes has greatly changed many aspects of our life. I really enjoyed this chapter as I've been trying to follow my faith's commandment to eat meat SPARINGLY.

The best part about this book though was when I saw this picture..


I realized halfway through the book that her husband (now ex-husband) and father of her children she told so many stories about, was none other than the HILARIOUS Larry David. That fact really just sealed the deal for me implementing this book's principle into my life. So check it out from your local library!

so i exaggerated a little on the clone thing

Oscar's not quite Nate's twin because he got my giggles/laughing and my tickle sensitivity. He thinks everything is hilarious and you can make him laugh so hard he'll lose his breath if you get just the right tickle spot. Here he is laughing at me doing nothing but showing him my face after it's been turned around.


sorry i can't figure out how to make this not sideways

my man and his little clone

Some days I look at Oscar and I see some of myself in him. But most days I just look at him and see Nate. I see Nate as an adult and Nate as a child. Oscar's expressions, his dramatic eyebrows that already have their own reoccurring formations, are 3 parts Nate and no parts me. He is the the cutest most handsome little baby, and I couldn't be happier that he resembles his handsome daddy so much. Nate and I were going through his baby pictures and my breath was really taken away being reminded of how much Nate there is in Oscar. I love it. They have similar expressions and mannerisms, and of course their bodies are of very notable size. The only big difference I see in them is that Oscar is a lot chunkier than long and lean Nate.


That's Nate in the middle with the blue overalls when he was Oscar's age.



Oscar on Christmas morning


Nate




Oscar





Nate




Oscar





Nate




Oscar




Oscar's new favorite past time: Putting the little knob on the end of the blinds drawstring in his mouth. He closes his mouth around it and stands on the couch while bouncing for joy.

Then he looks at you to make sure you see how proud of himself he is.

loved atonement, but it left me unfulfilled

I almost gave up on this book after my sister in law Susan told me about her 50 pg. rule- if by 50 pages the book hasn't grabbed you, no matter how much buzz it's gotten, it's onto the next one. And by page 50, Atonement was still piddling around describing every little leaf on the tree without much substance. It was frustrating, but for some reason I just kept reading it knowing something had to happen. Well, finally by around page 70 something, it picked up and and never stopped. After some long awaited dialogue and a wonderful story to follow, I actually came to appreciate the extremely detailed imagery that was so annoying to me in the first 50 pages.

So in case you haven't heard anything about this story like I hadn't, it's about "An upper-middle-class girl in interwar England who makes a serious mistake that has life-changing effects for many." I was tearing through this book trying to see what kind of atonement would play out and kind of expecting some parallels to Christianity. That was not the case. I also had my own guesses of how Briony Tallis' atonement would come about, but I was completely off and my guesses were so far from what actually happened. The ending was a huge surprise. I have to say, I was pretty disappointed. I know a lot of people loved the ending because it was unexpected and realistic. I however, was left feeling like the author dug out this big whole in my heart and didn't fill it back up like I needed him to. I don't want to say too much more because I will give away the ending, but this is definitely a must read even though I was left completely unsatisfied at the end. I am extremely excited to see the movie now!