Just Stopping By

     I have a good friend who blogs and I challenged us both to update our blogs this weekend. Well, Robin already did, so I gotta come through.I just don`t seem to have much to say!

      To catch up on what has happened since I last blogged. Four of my kids live in Utah. Wow!!! Gary`s dad passed away in July. We were all able to gather for his funeral, really more of a celebration of a great man`s life.Everyone was able to be there but Megan and Taylor who were serving missions and Andy who I believe had to work. It was a wonderful family time. Whenever Chelsons are together there is going to be lots of singing. And lots of children. And lots of food.


     School started. So we took Nathan down to Provo to start his feshman year at BYU. He lives in brand new dorms that were built on the site of the dorms I lived in a hundred years ago. Good old Deseret Towers. They were obviously torn down to make way for these wonderful new buildings. From his living room you can see Y Mountain. I think his apartment is nicer than our house! Porter got a job working with the BYU athletic department, he was kind of in charge of anything Cosmo. I think! Hannah is working for the LDS Business College, she gets to meet important people. I think! Bear works some kind of cement or construction jobs while deciding where he might like to attend school. I think! I really do talk to them all quite frequently, contrary to what this paragraph might make it seem. I am done with elementary school!!! Wahoo! Brigham and Nat are at the junior high and Emily is at the high school.



   I get to teach the Laurels in our ward. I love it, I love them. I love our Young Women`s president Chris Erickson. She is amazing and I learn from her every week. Seriously, I LOVE teaching the Laurels.


   We all are aware of the unspeakable, evil act committed last Friday. As I watched the news updates come in and the news went from the vague-there was a school shooting- to the specific horrors of 20 little babies and 6 adults killed I couldn`t help but weep. That some twisted man would perpetrate such a crime. That those innocent children had to endure those final minutes of fear, that the brave and valiant caretakers died. There is such pain in life. Those who have passed on are safe, safe from fear or pain. But their loved ones and to some extent the country must live on.I am going to try to be kinder to those around me, those I come in contact with. I don`t know what else to do.Because at one time that killer was an innocent 6 year child himself. And I wonder what happened to him to make him lose any sense of human-ness he must at one time had possessed? Sometimes it is just too much to take in. So I turn to the Savior and Heavenly Father, for They promised us peace, not as the world gives but as They give.


     Today I wore a skirt to church. Apparently some women in the church were planning to wear pants today as some kind of protest or call for equality. I speak only for myself, but I am happy to be a woman. I AM EQUAL TO MY HUSBAND. But I am not exactly like him. Thank goodness for that.Anyone who knows me would probably tell you I am not meek nor submissive. Gary respects me, lets me be me and we lead our family together. I have never felt less than because of my gender. And we have raised STRONG,opinionated sons AND daughters. I feel  for the women who don`t enjoy the same feelings I enjoy. But today I wore a skirt because it is my best and I want to show my reverence as I attended church today for the primary purpose to renew my sacred covenants with my Savior and Father in Heaven.


  One of my goals this year is to learn how to put pictures on this blog, because apparently that is what makes blogs cool.


  And there you have it. I came, I blogged I caught you all up.



    

Time marches on.

My grandma used to say good intentions pave the road to he_ _. And all I seem to have with this blog is good intentions. It has been a crazy, busy few weeks. What a good thing, right? But it has been so busy I haven`t even had my nails done. For those of you who know me you will recognize the gravity of my situation!! About a week ago our dear family friend Colleen passed away.Last year she was diagnosed with colon cancer and she fought it like a warrior, but eventually cancer overcame. Colleen was a warm,elegant,witty woman. And one of the best mothers I have ever known. She has been Hannah`s other mother for over 15 years. I am grateful for what Hannah learned from Colleen and she will be missed. Porter and Hannah were here for Mother`s Day weekend. Hannah actually came for the funeral and was here til yesterday. It is so fun to have the college kids come visit. They are grown ups now so it is like having friends visit. Our niece Tashya and her husband Andy also were here for a visit. They have to be the perfect couple! I can`t believe they were each able to find the perfect spouse for themselves. It is a joy to see them interact. And they cleaned my house before they left! That was a wonderful surprise to come home to. They both just graduated from BYU and will soon be off to Texas where Andy has a great job waiting and Tashya will be the world`s best homemaker. I plan to visit them in the depths of January and enjoy some warmth. Nathan graduates in less than a week. REALLY? I sometimes wonder how I have come to this point. Four kids in college? In December I will have 3 kids in their twenties. How?? Where has the time gone? I remember whenever we had a new baby a few weeks before the due date I would start to panic a little when I realized our family was about to change forever. Well, it is a little like that now. Except there isn`t a big event like a new baby, there are more little events like graduations and missions and college. I guess those aren`t necessarily little events, and they do initially change the dynamics of our family. And then the changes begin to happen to the children living away from home. So life is different, but we don`t feel it so much within the walls of our home. I still feel that panic and am trying to figure out how to adjust to this new stage in our lives. So any suggestions would be helpful. How do you parent grown ups? I am still a mom, but with a different role. How do you balance little kids with big kids? It is weird to think we will only have 3 kids at home soon. And I embarrassed to admit this, but sometimes I forget that we still need to carry on and do all the traditions we always have and that I still have a little boy who deserves all the enthusiasm we had for his older siblings: piano recitals, pack meetings,field trips and so on.His brothers and sisters think Brigham is spoiled and lucky because he gets more than they did. But I don`t think they realize he also gets older, tired-er parents! And busier parents. Guess I have lots to think about huh? Again, any advice would be awesome!

Rocky Mountain High.......

COLORADO! John Denver nailed it with that song! I am in Colorado with my mom. She has remodeled the family cabin. It has come to the point where. Myriad of decisions must be made. Paint, carpet, cabinets, light fixtures, doors, flooring, tile and so on. My mom made all the other big decisions about contractors, floor plans etc. But I have gotten to help with this phase. And it has been fun!

Who wouldn't love the fun of picking stuff out without the pain of footing the bill?

Anyway, it really has been wonderful. My mom ALWAYS spoils me ROTTEN. And it has been awesome getting to see her vision and dream come to life. And I LOVE Colorado. Really, I think Heavenly Father created these mountains first and then saw to the rest of the world. Most of my favorite childhood memories are here. Sometimes at night I close my eyes and page through my mental scrapbooks and let my heart remember. Most of my ancestors are buried here. These are my roots and I am grateful to be able to be here.


And today I went to a Whole Foods for the first time. WOW. It was truly amazing!

Celebrate the lasts!

I once read a book by Karen Kingsbury about celebrating your children`s lasts. We all celebrate their firsts, but there are also significant lasts. Like their last primary program, their last time registering for high school, their last first day of school and so on. Well, yesterday Brigham and I celebrated a last.

His last elememtary parent/teacher conference!!!

From now on I will just go stand in line to talk to his various teachers. It occured to me that most of HIS lasts will also be MY lasts. We will share them. I will never have an elementary parent/teacher conference again. And that is weird. I started in 1994. I figured out I have attended 84 of them between 7 children. Yesterday was also his last grade school program, and my last one. And I gotta admit, I`m not too sad about that milestone! It will be a bit strange next year not to have a grade schooler. But a good strange.
After the conference I took Brigham to Subway to celebrate. I can`t think of a better person to share so many lasts with.

Potpourri

I really have no specific post in mind. Nothing to say or get off my chest, but I promised myself I would post more regularly. Because I know Robin, Connie and Britta read this! And I don`t want to let down my faithful readers! ; )

Last night I finally deactivated my facebook for awhile. When I found myself in the middle of a rather stupid, yet mean-spirited teenage disagreement. And really, the only reason I said anything was because my own child was being "attacked",and nobody does that! I have also found myself hurt when I am not included in things, things I don`t even want to be included in but still wish I had been invited. Gary calls it my high school insecurities. Boy does he have that right! So I just decided for my mental health to get off for some time. I will miss seeing what old friends are up to, but not enough to keep driving myself crazy.

Conference was good. So good. I am such a visual learner though, that while I remember being uplifted I can`t tell you by which speaker or what they said. So I eagerly await the Conference Ensign issue so I can read and remember and savor all the divine counsel. Was anyone else sad to find out Julie Beck and her counselors were released? Sister Beck has inspired me and pushed me through her years of service. At times I have felt very challenged by her expectations of women and mothers today. But at the same time so grateful that she sees us for what we can become. She taught me about living with intention, or rather striving to live with intention. And I love Sister Thompson`s real-ness. That she is a single woman who has found a happy, fulfilled place in a family oriented church. And Sister Allred for her unfailing optimism and loving talks. I will miss them, but look forward to learning from the new presidency.

Well, this was definately a potpourri of thoughts. I am looking forward to spring and summer. Letting warm air in and watching the flowers bloom. Trips to Disneyland and Colorado. So many good things to look forward to! Life is good.

Have you considered.......?

Today I subbed in band. Just before I left the high school the power went out, and as I was stalling my departure to the junior high I decided to wait for a minute, or sixty, to see what would happen. Because if the high school got out I was going to force, er, ask Emily to come help me at the junior high. I sat in the main office so I got a front row seat to the whole experience. First of all, so many students came in wanting to know what was going ON!? Would school get out? What caused it? How long did the power have to be out to call school out? What about the blood drive in the gym? Keep in mind this was within mere minutes of the power going out. There was no way to know those answers yet. In addition there was a principals meeting at the district office so our secretary had to notify them before anything could be done. Eventually an electrician was called in and power was restored. What was so fascinating to me was watching people come in and offer opinions about getting out, about finding the problem, how to fix it, what the students should do and so on. All of this when they had no idea what was being discussed and done by the few who knew what to do, who to call.
And then I wondered. How often do I do this? Do we all do this? Make snap judgements, or believe we know better than others about a situation that we probably know little or nothing about? Do we ever consider that we just don't know? And maybe we should trust that sometimes there are people who know better than us. Maybe the angry, disrespectful kid is just looking for a bit of acceptance. That a parent who seems to be handling THEIR child wrong is really just praying and listening to answers they are receiving. Maybe someone snapped at us because they had a bad day. We just don't know. Maybe the kind and Christian thing to do is to be loving and considerate to those around us. We just don't know
I need to remember this tomorrow as I get to sub in the junior high bands again. And believe me, if you see ME tomorrow afternoon please be loving, because I had a stressful day!

All's Well That Ends Well.......

We never were able to find tickets to the Broadcast. BUT! We had Gary drop us off right at the gates on the north side of Temple Square. Gary had said that was where the standby line would start. So we walked up to a senior missionary and asked him where the line began. And a lady standing there said SHE HAD EXTRA TICKETS! And we were welcome to two of them! And she didn't seem to mind when I cried and hugged her! THANK YOU NICE SISTER FROM CLINTON, UTAH!!!!!!AND the seats turned out to be in the section on the floor level right next to the door the Brethren come in. And we were close to the podium. So close it was easier to see them at the podium than on the big screens. So we SAW the First Presidency come in. And felt them. And just for general information, President' Uchtdorf's hair is just as splendid in real life as on the TV. And Sister Dalton is just a wonderful woman, she came in on our floor level. And she thanked us all for being there and said how beautiful the Young Women all were. it was just amazing. And I learned from this that Heavenly Father really, REALLY loves Gary because He made sure I would not be able to hold this against him for years to come. Before we left Brigham blessed our dinner and he prayed that Natalie and I would be able to get in. Oh the power of a child's prayer. I am just so happy Nataliecand I got to have that experience.
We were able to have dinner with all of our kids, except Nathan, and there were also Talisa, Tashya, Andy and Liberty. It was just so much fun to be with family. I love Tashya's husband Andy. She is our niece and it was fun to visit with them. Sometimes it seems like we were just their age, starting out in life together! I hope the future holds many, many more family get togethers. Something I learned this weekend. Young adults change their minds, when you think you know what path they are embarking on.....BAM....the path takes a sharp turn in another direction! It is exhausting. So just like I did on the California Screamin roller coaster at Disneyland, I am going to put on the safety harness, close my eyes tight, hold on and wait for the end so we can go on It's A Small World!

Took a big breath.

Well, I couldn't sleep last night. I just worried and worried about the Young Women's broadcast. And because I am me, I then traveled down numerous paths of worry. I have come to the conclusion we will just wait in line. If Natalie has a book to pass the time,all is well. The most important thing is we will be together, right? Now if I could just solve all the other stuff I stewed about. The Sports awards Booster night next week, will Nate be able to keep up his 4.0 while being a Senate Page for 6 weeks? how will we pay for four kids in college? Where are we going to put a basketball hoop? what does one wear at Time Out For Women? will I be able to lose weight? man, are we going to be squished in the Suburban when we go to Disneyland or what? why can't I figure out how to change my blog? why can't I go to sleep? And on and on. Around 4:00 I finally took a breath, got a grip and fell asleep.
So now I am going to read Hunger Games, well, REread Hunger Games and attempt to go to sleep. Night all!

What to do? What to say?

I could complain about the challenges of raising children, but most people can. And I need to be positive, need to remember to put things in perspective. When our kids were just little I decided I wanted to make a tradition of Gary taking the boys to their first priesthood session in Salt Lake, to the Conference Center. Then we had Hannah and I decided that I would take her and any other daughters to their first Young Women Broadcast in the Conference Center. I thought it would be good for each of them to have some individual time with me or Gary. And I want/ed them to realize how important they are and how important the priesthood and young womens are. And it has been a great experience. Every one of them. But this time it isn't working out, I guess we waited too long to have the stake presidency call. There are no tickets. And I don't know how to tell her!? Natalie is our youngest girl. She gets lost in the crowd of siblings I am afraid. Of all the seven she is the most reserved, the slowest to express what she might be thinking or feeling. And I worry that she will feel slighted, I know I would. Heck, I know I do. So, I guess I we will go early and stand in the standby line. And hope it doesn't rain or snow. Ironically enough, as I have more children getting older I feel less and less capable or successful as a mother. And I gotta say, this didn't help.

New,my favorite color!

I just love new! I love to go grocery shopping and fill my cupboards, freezer and fridge with new food. It is really fun to refill our cereal containers. Or how about the seasons changing? There is a cool Target commercial with people landing and dispersing from a hot air balloon and running while magically changing from the dull winter blahs to the bright, cheerful colors of spring and summer. All to a catchy French tune. LOVE IT!!!!! But lest anyone think it is just spring fever, I also love in the Fall when colors deepen and the air crisps.
And I also REALLY love new stuff. Shoes, socks, pajamas, clothes for my kids. But I am trying to reel that in some. I have a weakness for buying new Bath and Body Works stuff. So, my goal has been to use what I have before purchasing anything new. Challenging! Today I decided to clean out the pantry (UGH). And discovered we have a LOT of home decor thingamajigs. So I lugged them upstairs and have covered our dining room table with years of ideas and choices. My intention is to figure out where to use it, and to rotate stuff. So it will be like NEW!
I am also working on a new me. That is not as easy as getting new stuff. January went well, February was more difficult. But I have a NEW commitment. I think I am realizing that this is going to be a life long issue. The exercise part has also been challenging. Mostly because I HATE it. But if I want a new me, I have to do new things. So I have to buck up and just do it. Those are brave words, the question is, can I back them up?
Finally, the BEST new thing happening is my good friend's daughter is about to have a NEW baby! I have known her since she was 5 years old. I was there when she got ready for her first high school dance, I was there at her sealing and now she is about to be a mama! Newborns are the best new things in the world.
So here we are at the start of a new season (well almost) and a new little life!

Oh what a slacker!

Well, it has obviously been over a month. There are many reasons for that, some valid, others not so much. I am sometimes torn between the idea that I have so much I want to blog and the idea that I really have nothing worthwhile to say.
My children sat me down at the end of December and told me that they love me ANY way I am, but they don`t think I am happy with how I look. You that know me know I am a bit........."fluffy". And my kids are right. I hate my appearance.It is funny because I often forget that I am no longer that smaller 20 year old girl. Til I see a mirror or WORSE a glass door that reflects me in all of my glory. So with their gentle support I have embarked on a lifestyle change. In January I gave up pop and treats and candy and junk food. I do allow myself a free day on Sunday, but no pop. It was brutal. I also write down what I eat in my special Angry Bird notebook. (Which is highly appropriate because I feel like an angry bird a lot). And at my doctor`s appointment I had indeed lost a TINY LITTLE BIT of weight. And I try not to be discouraged because it really is such a small amount. It is now February and I am supposed to add in exercise. So far, I haven`t. I loath and detest exercise. But I really gotta buck up and get on that bandwagon. I really want to be free of this weight, it weighs me down. Ha! Pun intended. It is a challenge for me. As I put on Facebook recently, it is SO much more fun getting fat than getting unfat.
I have also been subbing every day since December. And I am just so grateful and at the same time overwhelmed. Life at our house seems to be out of control and I am slacking. I seem to be coming up short everywhere I turn. I think I need to adopt Nike`s slogan. Just Do It. But I am not sure how to do that? So, if any of you 3 people reading this have any advice, ideas, inspiration. Well, let me know!
And I am going to be better at this blogging thing. I love blogging and blog stalking too much to slack so much.