Thoughts on the Passing of President Hinckley

What a tremendous life! We love our beloved President Hinckley for his example of leadership, love, work, and wit. No doubt there is a jubulant reception for him in heaven. He will be missed, but his life is something to behold.
My favorite memory of President Hinckley was when he came to Boston to dedicate the Boston temple. There was opposition to the building of the temple, and we felt it was a blessing and a miracle to have it, albeit steeple-less, completed at the time.
Wayne and I were in attendance at the dedication on October 1, 2000. I remember President Hinckley enjoyed the youth choir's performance. Afterward, inside the temple, we heard President Hinckley offer the dedicatory prayer. He prayed that we would have a steeple. The prayer was beautiful and it is a memory I hold dear. Following the dedication we were encouraged to pray in our homes and churches for a steeple to be added to our temple. We prayed, our children prayed, and our congregation prayed.
On September 21, 2001, I was driving down route 2 and was shocked to see a crane at the temple hoisting a steeple on our temple! In an effort to not rub the legal victory in the neighbors' faces, this was not an announced event, but rather was done quietly and without any fanfare whatsoever. It was quite a sight to witness countless prayers answered. I hurried to Christina's school, picked her up, and hurried back down to the temple. Sure enough the crane was there, only this time it was hoisting the statue of Moroni on top of the steeple. We were thrilled to be there. I called Wayne. I called my dad. I took pictures & once I scan them I'll add them to this post.
I don't think I gave steeples much thought or appreciation before we faced the prospect of NOT having a steeple on our temple. I learned that although our temple would function perfectly without the steeple, the steeple does have religious significance. When I see our temple I look up and appreciate the steeple's symbolism- it points to the heavens, reminding us of God's existence and role in our lives. Our steeple will also always remind me of the glorious Boston temple dedication day, President Hinckley's beautiful dedicatory prayer, and the day I saw his prayer (& our prayers) answered.

"Candids" slideshow, Cubs & New Beginnings!

Candids of Wesley and Grace...

Tonight was Thomas' cub scout pack mtg. Theme: recycling. Thomas is shown here (w/ his patchless shirt...my bad!) w/ his friend Christian, and Christina.

Tonight I attended New Beginnings with Christina. Wayne and I can't believe that our first child will graduate from primary this year! Christina loves primary, but after the really sweet and fun New Beginnings presentation I think she's got one foot out the door. The YW and leaders did a great job presenting the YW program to the girls and it's clear that they are excited about having 4 new girls come into YW this year. During the presentation I realized that Christina will absolutely be ready to move on to YW in August and felt so proud of how she's grown up so far. She's beautiful, smart, considers all of the girls in her classes her friend, she's my huge helper at home, and has a sensitive, confident spirit. She's still our little girl, but at the same time I see a beautiful road ahead for her, and I'm thrilled that I get to be alongside for awhile.

Birthday fun

Yesterday was my 29th birthday, again! (How did you know, Shay?) Funny how I never tire of turning 29. Yesterday was no exception. The only bummer was that Wayne had to work. I think spouses should get the day off on the other's birthday. I'm sure I'd get bipartisan support for such a bill.
Wayne got up with Wesley so I could sleep in just a tad. Before he headed out the door, Wayne gave me a box of See's Candy (the way to my heart:)). Christina made me a yummy breakfast and the kids and I had a low-key day at home- meaning no huge messes or disasters. Wayne and the kids gave me a super soft pink robe (available at Costco) and funny thing, now I get smothered with cuddles and loves. It's a hug magnet! They also gave me a glass hurricane with tulip bulbs set at the bottom (also at Costco-I've had my eye on them since they first arrived). Grace picked the tulip colors...can you guess? I'll take pics once they bloom. They are growing like crazy. I'm so excited to have real flowers in our window sill in February!!! Not a big deal for my dear ones in the west, but a real treat for me.
Finally, in the afternoon we drove out to my friend, Lei's house. I'm going to digress...I am thankful for my friend, Leilani. She and I met in 1991 at the LA temple. We were both there just prior to our missions in Fort Worth TX. We were comps. in the MTC and fast friends. We got to the mission and met separately with Pres. White. It turned out that they needed Spanish speaking sister missionaries. Pres. White said to me, "I see you took Spanish in school." "No," I replied, "I took French." He saw that he was looking at Lei's folder not mine and then asked, "Well, do you speak Spanish?" I said, "The only Spanish I know is burrito, taco, and fajita." He laughed and needless to say Lei was sent Spanish speaking and I stuck to English.
Since our missions we've managed to keep in touch despite 9 kids between the two of us- BUSY lives, and the fact that we only briefly lived in the same state post-TX. Now we are both in MA, and it's been so great with Lei here! Our families get along like family and it was perfect spending my birthday with them.
Lei made a delicious dinner and b-day cake. Afterward I was introduce to the Wii. My serving shoulder was sore after playing tennis. I haven't played much since I was in Jr. High, but I learned that I don't know how to play low key tennis. We had a blast and now a Wii is on our wish list. I love that it gets you up and moving around.
So, that was my b-day in a little more than a nutshell. I'm going to go find my See's now...can't wait for my next 29th birthday!

PS. I forgot my camera at Lei's, but I'm included a recent pic of Wes. Getting him here was a highlight of this last year for me, and being the sweetheart he is, Wes had several slobbery birthday kisses for me. I love my Wes!

Wheel of Wow

My friend, Dottie came up with this use of K'nex for sharing time in our former ward's primary. Thomas dubbed it the "Wheel of Wow." I introduced the Wheel of Wow to our primary today and the kids were good about one by one, gently giving the wheel a spin and learning through different methods about valiance in our lives.

The different sections were:

1. Picture of a clock- a minute of reverence (it never took the full minute for the kids to be reverent. We talked about the importance of reverence.

2. Practice makes perfect- This was the older kids' favorite. I had a list of situations of kids being valiant and the kids picked one to act out- expressing gratitude, sharing, keeping Sabbath Day holy.

3. Musical note- We sang a primary song about being valiant.

4. Follow- The kids chose a picture of Jesus on display and told about it and how they can follow Jesus' example.

5. Testify- The kids could a) explain how they can gain a testimony of a specific truth, b) share a time when they shared their testimony, or c) share their testimony with the primary

6. Serve- The kids explained how they could serve someone--lonely, new to school/primary, family member, shy child, etc.

7. Valiant?- I explained a little bit about someone in the scriptures (Joseph Smith, Nephi, Esther, Korihor) The kids explained if the person was valiant or not--and why.

8. I believe- the kids picked an article of faith to say with the primary, recite, or sing.

I love primary!

Meet your primary teacher pancake breakfast

 I'm going to blog all of the successes in our primary to have on hand for future reference.

This morning we had our first primary quarterly activity of the year & it was a lot of fun.  We held it at the church.  When the kids arrived (in their pj's of course:), they sat at a table with their new primary teacher and their classmates.  There were crayons and coloring pages from this month's issue of The Friend for the kids to work on until everyone arrived.  We blessed the food, and the kids filled their plates with a breakfast fit for champs...pancakes (blueberry, plain, & the most popular- choc. chip), scrambled eggs, bacon, OJ, and milk.  (For reference: 40 kids+ about 10 adults- 1 box Bisquick, 5 dozen eggs, 1 jug of syrup, & I need to find out about the bacon, blueberries & choc. chips) The older kids helped the younger kids with their plates and then got in line themselves.  Parents who brought their kids pitched in and helped in the kitchen and with manning the breakfast table.  No one was asked, they just jumped in and helped out...it was wonderful!

After they finished eating, they went as classes to their new classrooms.  The teachers' new binder/lesson manual was there along with directions and fixings for two fun get-to-know you games.  1. M&M game- with age appropriate questions  2. String Game.  The kids were given a mini bag of M&Ms to take home with a little sticker on it that read, "Happiness is being a part of the [N.] Ward."

Within an hour we were done.  Easy clean-up.  All in all, a great primary quarterly activity!

Enjoying winter

Yesterday I was sitting with Caroline by our family room window which overlooks our front yard. Just then Christina arrived from school and was walking along our snow-covered lawn. She seemed to enjoy seeing and feeling each boot sink in the snow. I realized this scenario is the norm for her growing up with New England winters, and so I grabbed my camera, snapped these pictures of Christina.

Having grown up in So. Cal., we (my family & I) had to scrounge for hats, gloves, and snow gear for our family excursions to Mt. Baldy (oh, the memories there!), and so it's hard for me to believe that throwing all this gear on is the norm for us Beantown Menzies nearly 4 months of every year. Watching Christina play in the snow, I thought about how I never imagined living with snowy day winters, and how New England winters have grown on two native Californians (that would be me & Waynerd). We've come to realize that happiness isn't contingent on the weather, it's a choice. Every location comes with it's pros and cons, and being happy wherever we are is something we choose.

Our family makes the most of the winter months by building snowmen, sledding, having snowball fights, making s'mores AT HOME!, skiing, watching snowflakes fall, sipping hot chocolate, bundling up, waking up to silence outdoors & fresh white snow, feeling snowflakes melt on our tongues, digging out of the driveway w/ the help of the snow blower, and warming up by the fire. My sister, Sara pointed out that figuring out where to put wet clothes and gear when the kids finish playing in the snow is key to enjoying a snowy winter...SO true, and spoken like a mom:).

When the April comes around we watch with anticipation every budding leaf and every sprouting bulb. We throw on our flip-flops as soon as we can and bask in every ray of sunshine as we go about our days. For me this anticipation and appreciation that comes with the changing seasons is truly childlike wonder. I thank our children for making the wonderment of discovery and rediscovery a regular part of our lives.

Obviously one doesn't need changing seasons to find childlike wonder. One of my favorite moments on my church mission in Texas was when my companion, Sis. Rivera, and I were walking down the street in Lubbock and came across some sort of blossoming tree. I walked right past it. We had places to go, people to see...we were busy people! Soon I realized Sis. Rivera was no longer by my side. I turned around and she was standing at the tree admiring a blossom..."Look at this! Did you see this? It's beautiful!" She was in awe and I was embarrassed for having walked right by and not appreciated it as she had. This was the norm for Sis. Rivera, who had come all the way from Ecuador to serve a mission. She was constantly pointing out blossoms and the beauty of the world around us (in west Texas no less!). I loved that about her, and count my blessings that now I have children who point out the beautiful things in the world just outside our home.

I hope that you're finding happiness this winter wherever you are...in the snow, at the seashore, out in the middle of nowhere, under the vast Texas sky, under a sunless Alaskan sky, or in the buzz of a big city.

Warmest wishes!