Why I'm Going to Love This...

About three weeks ago, I got the news that the Bishop wanted to see me. You know that means something new to do. I was actually excited to get in and get involved in this ward because we've been here since the last week in August and I still had no calling other than being a visiting teacher. So, Derek, the kids and I headed to the Bishop's office to find out what awaited me.
I like to think of myself as a very willing participant--someone who realizes the importance in the small callings. Especially after being Relief Society President in my last ward, I appreciated those people who took their smaller callings seriously, allowing my job to run smoothly.
That being said, when the Bishop asked me to be the Assistant Nursery Coordinator, I was a bit disheartened. I accepted of course because, like I said, I'm willing to help and not every calling is glamorous. However, it was a very hard day for me following this news because I don't feel like the nursery calling utilizes my natural talents in anyway. One of my only talents (the other talent is eating) is being organized. I asked the Bishop if I should contact the Nursery leader to find out what I should do and he said, "Nah, just show up." That made me feel worse, thinking, "Great, I'm just going to be hanging out in the nursery all day."
I realize that callings are supposed to help us to grow in areas where we are weak and apparently I still haven't mastered what this calling is supposed to teach me because this is my third time in this calling in the last 4 years. It's still hard for me though because I'm with small kids all week long and I'm one of those people who goes to church and is actually willing to participate and enjoys learning while I'm there. I know plenty of people who would vie for this job because they just endure church. That's not me.
So, today I was sustained in my new calling and I showed up at the nursery only to find no other adults and a bunch of kids running around. I don't know what happened to the coordinator today, but she didn't show up. Luckily, there was another couple there who knew the kids and helped me out. It actually wasn't bad and the time went pretty fast.
The best part though was feeling a little connection to the kids. I really did feel a little close to them--one of the blessings of a calling. It's not that I don't like other people's kids, but nursery is a lot of kids running around usually and you, as the director, trying to keep them from hurting themselves or each other. One of the little girls sat on my lap during singing time and told me how beautiful my shirt was and was so sweet. Aren't children fun? This same girl asked me to take her to the bathroom and this is where the conversation occured that made my day.
We arrive at the bathroom stall. I asked her, "Do you need any help or can you do it yourself?" She replied that she could do it herself. While she's using the bathroom, I'm standing outside the stall door and then she says the following:
Kennedy: "My mom says that I'm going to have to start wiping better."
Me: "Oh yeah? That's a good idea."
Kennedy: "Yeah, she said if I don't wipe better I'm going to get an infection."
Me: "Oh no, that wouldn't be good."
Kennedy: "Yeah, and it will last a long time and hurt a lot."

I can hardly wait to find out all of the secrets in the ward. You know I'm going to hear it all. This is going to be so fun!

On the Road Again, I Can't Wait To Get on the Road Again...

Well, I most certainly CAN wait to get on the road again. When I was a teenager, I actually really enjoyed my various drives from Provo back to Montrose where I would crank up the volume on the radio and sing as loudly and as badly as I wanted to. In fact, most drives I arrived almost hoarse from those nearly six hour drives. I even thought, from time to time, how I would love to be a trucker just chugging down the road listening to my tunes, singing and chatting on my CV radio to other truckers...
How scenarios change when you add a four year old and a barely one year old. I knew the drive from Gilbert to Montrose would be long (it's 11 hours if things go well), but I couldn't imagine how poorly it would really go.
We started off by finding ourselves on major icy roads--in Arizona!!! I realize that northern Arizona gets snow, but I never really take it all that seriously since I don't live there. Well, just before we reached Holbrook (the town with all the dinosaur replicas for you who have driven this path) the roads were really bad. I was driving--I like to drive okay. Like I said, I was driving and we were last in a line of about six cars. We were all going about 25-30 miles an hour. All of a sudden, I see the car in front start to spin off the road. I gently applied my brakes and watched as our car started to fall off the road as well.
It was really a little bit surreal as I didn't panic and neither did Derek. It was like one of those action scenes from the Mission Impossible movies where everything is in slow motion. In fact, during the car sliding off the road, Derek looked at me and calmly said, "Audrey? Blah, blah, blah" (I don't remember) I said, "Derek, I am putting on the brakes." So lovingly spoken to each other--must be the Christmas holiday spirit or something.
When we finally stopped, I was glad to see no one was hurt although it did wake Owen up from his nap, which is plenty enough damage in my book. Out from the car that originally slid off the road emerges three of the skinniest teenage boys you'll ever see. I promptly employed these boys as well as Derek to try and push the car back on the road. Given that the total weight of the four combined was probably about 450 pounds, I wasn't giving much hope to this activity and sadly, they couldn't do it. We had to wait until the highway patrol came and towed us back on the road.
The fun doesn't stop there as we slowly wove our way to Cortez, Colorado. Upon our arrival there, we called my grandma only to find out that there was a crazy snowstorm by Telluride and they were requiring chains and possibly closing the whole pass, so we needed to turn around and go to Utah and venture through that way. Well, Moab was clear as the reports promised, but Monticello was a nightmare. Derek was about to fall asleep, so we switched driving again and I drove the rest of the 14 hour drive home. Yes, 14 hours in the car with the kids. In the first two hours Ryanna asked that terrible question, "Are we almost there yet?" at least five times until we mentioned Santa's route may be flying directly past our house if she didn't desist. Owen was actually an angel and cried a tiny bit on and off and slept a lot. This is quite an improvement since the last time this drive was made he screamed for two hours straight without stopping.
After all of this driving, I can most definitely attest to the fact that Willie Nelson did not drive in snow-packed roads nor did he travel with small children or his lyrics would be greatly altered. I would also like to offer my greatest thanks to the creators of the portable DVD player. Bless you.

Double Threat

So, as you see in the post below, Ryanna plays the violin. Well, she's also taken quite a liking to one of my Christmas CD's. She has taught herself the lyrics during the course of this last month. Tonight she grabbed this huge microphone she has that echos and started to sing the song. You'll notice the initial verses are a bit vague for her, but the chorus is all hers. Enjoy! (Since I don't think this will post on blogger correctly--is anyone else out there having major issues with their pics and videos posting weirdly?), go to youtube here and view it.

****UPDATE!!!*** Okay, after all this constant teasing about me owning a Britney Spears Christmas album, I had to set the record straight. I do NOT own a Britney Spears Christmas album. I own an album called Platinum Christmas which features various artists, one of whom is Britney Spears. To further repair my tarnished image, it also features such artists as: Dave Matthews, Dido & Whitney Houston. Enough!

How to Play Jingle Bells Without Looking at Your Violin

So, Ryanna's violin concert was this morning. I was very happy to see that several kids who are older than her were playing the same song she was "Jingle Bells." I also am happy to report that she can play "Jolly, Old St. Nicholaus" and has learned the beginning of "Joy to the World" as well.
Now, we have been talking for weeks about her playing for this recital. One of the biggest problems for her in the last year is she is a people watcher violin player. This means that instead of looking at her violin, she'll learn a song so well that she won't even look at her instrument while she plays the song.
This was exactly what happened today. Since she wasn't looking at her instrument, she also played herself completely off her strings which caused her to lose her grip on her bow. She played on though. The crowd cheers---she played on, she played on! You can't see it especially well, but she's holding her bow a really crazy way after she loses her grip. She caught right back up to the music though. She did a great job overall. She played it perfectly three times before we left the house, but we apparently aren't nearly as fun to watch. Also, I have a video of her teacher playing a song as well. It's beautiful! I mean, it's not Jingle Bells, but it'll do--hee, hee.
If you can't get these video below to work, please go here and watch the video.
PLEASE let me know if you were able to view these videos on my blog or if you had to go to youtube.

Projects that suck up my energy and time

I have always had the desire to create a picture DVD for my grandparents that documents their marriage and all of us that have come from their union. Well, I never had a program to do it before, but I decided this was the year. They also celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year, so I thought the timing was perfect.
The problem lies in the fact that they reside in Colorado while I live in Arizona. One time while I was visiting, I was able to chronologically organize a bunch of snapshots through the years. When I say chronologically, I mean to the best of my memory and realize that I was not even alive for a lot of these photos.
I was able to convince my grandma to let me take those a year ago. The best photos are in a box at her house. Yes, a box, they should be on the wall or burned to a CD so all of us can enjoy them, but at least they're safe I guess. There's only a few things my grandparents really guard--jewelry, guns and photos. You psychoanalyze that. My aunt did manage to scan quite a few photos for the 50th Anniversary celebration, so that she could make these huge posters. She provided me with a copy of the CD and it has been a great resource for my project.
This is the very reason why I have been neglecting my blog. I have easily spent over 30 hours thus far (and I'm STILL not done) trying to create this thing. It's about 30minutes long with each photo taking up 5 seconds. Yes, that's over 400 photos. I scanned probably 150 of them myself. I have had to crop a lot of them and tried to improve color on a few.
Needless to say, my husband and kids have been awesome in giving me the time to do this. Especially my husband. I usually wait till the kids are in bed, but poor Derek has been incredibly understanding that his wife is bound and determined to finish what she set out to do.
So, I thought I'd post of few of me as a little girl, so you can enjoy my cuteness too.

Christmas Carols, Christmas Trees & Christmas Cheer

So, let's start right in with the Christmas carols. Since I'm 29, that's right, I'm enjoying the last year of my 20s. Wow, I can't believe it. I digress, as I usually do when I write these things. Anyway, since I'm a mature adult, I have long since taken forgranted the lyrics to the Christmas carols we sing every year. Now I have a four year old who is very interested in learning the lyrics and I want to teach them to her. I want you to stop and think for a minute about the verbage in these songs and how antiquated or foreign it sounds to a four year old in this day and age.

Start with a simple song, "Jingle Bells"
Dashing through the snow (okay, that's not bad other than we live in Arizona, but she still knows what snow is although she doesn't think it's fair that I can't make it snow down here.)
In a one horse open sleigh
Over the hills we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bobtails ring WAIT, what? What's a bobtail? I'm assuming here the author is discussing the bells put on the horse's tail although I'm not an equestrian, is "bobtail" a correct term for the horse's tail?
Making spirit's bright
what fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight!

Overall, not too bad of a song, let's move on to "Deck the Halls"
Deck the Halls with boughs of holly. Problem--I know what a bough is, but it's not a word I ever, ever use in conversation with her.
Tra-la-la (etc.)
'Tis the season to be jolly
repeat
Don we now our gay apparel. Okay for this generation that phrase right there could take on a whole different meaning than during the writer's time don't you think?
repeat
Troll the ancient yuletide carol. I'm not gonna lie, I don't even know what this means, but I don't think it has anything to do with an ugly creature that scares small children.
See the blazing Yule before us. What the heck is this yule junk he keeps mentioning?
(Yule: Christmas, or Christmas season) Don't act like you knew that one either. So, since there were definitely not any Christmas lights then, is this a pyromaniac's song or what?
There's more, but I think that I've made my point with this song.

Okay, I had to get that out. Most of the songs aren't too bad, but the language is definitely old school.

Now, moving onto Christmas trees and Christmas Cheer. We decorated our tree last week. Well, Ryanna and I decorated it and Owen tried to systematically remove as many of the ornaments as he could reach. It didn't help our cause that the ornaments are shaped like balls either. As soon as he tore it off the tree, he launched it across the room. He also put the really little ones in his mouth (see picture). Good thing these suckers are made of plastic 'cause I can't tell you how many times a day now I start thinking, "Owen is playing so quietly and it's so wonderful that he's reached this stage," only to slowly realize that he is playing quietly because he's being NAUGHTY!!!

Do boys come programmed to think that the word "no" means that you are playing some sort of tag or keep away or is this just a second child syndrome? Instead of crying or looking guilty, he puts on his beautiful, dimpled grin and I have to start to giggle and it's really hard to discipline him. Plus, he's getting to be a pretty quick runner. I blame all of these characteristics on his dad because I was very obedient as a child (the fact I had no siblings to fight with is insignificant).
Owen fell asleep later after all of his mischief and I put his in his new sleeping bag by the tree. It was so cute!
While we put up the tree, I played Christmas music. It was also overcast and rainy here, as close to "snowy" as you're gonna get. It really did feel like Christmas. Plus, since it was gloomy outside, we could immediately plug in our tree and see the pretty lights. Not all of them 'cause two of my strands don't work and I don't know how to fix it and my hubby is too busy to deal with it, so with some strategic turning and placement of the tree, we just pretend. Santa isn't real, so why can't I pretend all my lights work?

Now, all I have to do is put on the necessary five pounds of weight from received goodies from others. So, I'm waiting...bring it on. Santa you ain't got nothin' on me!

The movie stars do it, so why shouldn't we?

Okay folks, you remember those family shots that we had taken? Well a couple of you are photoshop masters out there and you graciously volunteered to "fix" them if you will. I have been seriously impressed and a little bit disturbed to see exactly how much my friends are able to manipulate these photos. Let me just provide an example for you:
Do you see the second shot below? (I would move it to the first position, but blogger is having issues with picture downloads and I can't understand the help language they provided) My friend, and Photoshop master manipulator Jessica, did the following to this photo:
1. Erased all the bird droppings from the bridge.
2. Whitened all of our teeth.
3. Erased all of our wrinkles (must be talking about my hubby here-since I'm so naturally beautiful).
4. Eliminated people and a red bag that were in the background.
5. CHANGED Owen's head from a different photo onto this one.
6. Brightened my jewelry.
7. Erased a bird in the background. Disclaimer: No birds were injured during the editing of this photo.
8. Brightened the grass from yellowish/green to beautiful, like it was summer green!

NO, she did not remove any weight from me. I bet she would if I asked her to. However, when you all finally see me in person you might be a little disappointed if I had her edit that.
So, the moral of the story is twofold: When those Christmas cards and photos come this year. Don't believe them for a second! AND, why diet when you can photoshop?
Here are some other photos edited by Jess and by sister & brother in law Kjirsti and Tom.

Feeling our Hearts

Last week I went out somewhere for awhile. When I came back, Ryanna was really excited to show me the note she had made. She is very into the idea of writing notes to people and is constantly coloring pictures or writing little notes to send to people. I have never actually mailed any of her stuff unless it was going to be part of a card or letter I was planning on sending anyway. I figured she'd whip out a picture she had colored while I was gone or show me a page with a bunch of random words she had written.
Well, I was partly right. The page she showed me did have some nonsense words on it, but what she said really touched me. She said, "Look mom. I made this because I wanted you to feel my heart."
I remember doing a similar thing when I was young. I used to write little notes to my grandparents and leave them on their pillows. I thought that they would really appreciate knowing that I loved them. They never did say anything about them, I hope they actually found them.
Nowadays, it seems that people in general, spend more time hiding or guarding their hearts instead of wanting others to "feel their hearts." It's a bit sad that as we grow up, we learn that people aren't always going to respect or love us and so we have to protect ourselves from pain. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could each love one another enough to allow us all to "show our hearts" to everyone without worry? Ryanna had no fear that I would unconditionally love her writing and her artistic efforts. She knows that I think she's fabulous. She knows I'm incredibly proud of who she is.
What a blessing it is to have a husband and children that let me "show them my heart." I never worry about anything I say or do around them. Do I say or do things I regret to them? All the time, but I know that they will always forgive me and our relationship will continue without blemish. What a wonderful idea it is that we can have a family that allows us to be completely open with each of our hearts.