The seeds that were planted

On a visit to my home early last spring, my dad, unbeknownst to me, planted some bulbs in my small garden. The bulbs lay in the ground for several months. As the sprouts pushed up through the soil, Tamara actually plucked out a few, thinking they were weeds. The flowers grew, but no blossoms ever appeared. Just a few days ago, a beautiful lily opened up, dazzling me with its large pink petals.

As I stooped over the lily this morning, guarding my camera from a light spring drizzle, I thought that the history of the unexpected lily in my garden was quite like the character traits and traditions that my father planted in me--now cropping up here and there as the conditions in my life allow for such full and fragrant blossoms. What a patient gardener my father must be to have sown such precious seeds and wait to see them bloom. I hope the soil of my heart will prove to be fertile, and I will nurture the garden that my father started.

Thanks, Dad. Thank you for helping shape the person that I am today. Thanks for telling me that you're proud of me. Thanks for telling me and showing me that you love me.

I love you, too.

Happy Father's Day.

Your son forever,
Jeremiah

What we teach our kids

Tamara walked out to the bus stop with me this morning. Trevor and Abigail walked along with us, enjoying a day much less humid than yesterday.

Trevor saw his friend, Vlad, at the playground flying a kite with his babushka. Vlad is from Belarus.

"My friend! My friend!"

"Trevor, would you like to learn something in Russian to say to Vlad?" I asked.

"Noooo..."

"Come on, big guy! Can you say molodjets?"

"Mmmmm," was followed by an indistinct growl.

"Mah," I offered.

"Mawwwwh."

"Lah," I continued to prompt him.

"Laaaaa!"

"Dyets," I pronounced.

"Jets," Trevor mimicked.

"Good job! Molodjets!" Molodjets means 'good job' in Russian.

"Mallow-jets!" echoed Trevor with an impish grin.

My bus pulled up. As we walked over, Abigail looked at me and said, "Maaaaaaah."

"Lah," I said expectantly.

"Maaah."

"Dyets."

"Maaaaaaaah."

Tamara and I both had a good laugh, and I got on the bus.

Later, Trevor sent me an instant message.

"TRUCK"

Tamara had told Trevor how to spell the word, and he had remembered the letters and pecked them out on the keyboard.

"DUCK"

It wasn't too big a leap from 'truck,' and, partially thanks to Word World on PBS, Trevor can now spell his name and two words. Not bad for a pre-preschooler.

Fifth Grade Field Trip

Today was the day Michaela has been looking forward to for months and the day I was hoping I wouldn't regret volunteering. I don't know what I was thinking but I sure wasn't thinking about being 6 months pregnant when this event arrived. Luckily I'm still feeling really good and the day was great fun!

Wondering where we ventured to?

I was one of the chaperons on Michaela's field trip to Plymouth Plantation. Our weather didn't cooperate and we never saw the sun, were cold most of the time, and even got rained on a little. Our bus driver heard of a "short cut" and our 1 1/2 hour bus ride ended up taking us 2 1/2 hours. He promised not to go home that same way but he still didn't take a very direct route and it took us almost 2 hours to get back. Even with these few annoying mishaps we had a really good day and I survived being on the bus for 4 hours with 36 fifth graders!

I've never had the opportunity to go with any of my children on a field trip so it was lots of fun to be with Michaela and her classmates. The only way this was possible was because Jeremiah worked at home today. He was home with Trevor and Abigail and since Michaela and I didn't get back until 4:30 p.m. Jeremiah was home to greet Anthony and Natalie when they got off the bus this afternoon.

Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

This is the group I was in charge of on our tour. Michaela is pretty easy to spot. Isn't she?

Michaela sitting on a cannon in the fort just outside the village

A replica of the Mayflower.
This was my favorite part but unfortunately because of our tight schedule we didn't get to spend much time there.

Michaela on board the Mayflower.
It was so cold and windy! Didn't seem like June at all.

What a way to start the week

I was pushing back the covers this morning when I heard Trevor knock on the bathroom and announce to Mommy, "I smelled my underwear, and it's not stinky!"

I think I need a different wake up call service...

Sad Day! II

I was released from my calling as Primary chorister today. Honestly, I am a little down about it. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with wonderful children, including five of my own, these past few years. I cried a little as I did Singing Time for the last time, but we sang some songs to help me feel better.

And... I got this cool picture of all my little brothers and sisters, and some woman who wandered into the shot. ;)



A few, somewhat random, notes on this picture:

1. My daughter is the blonde to my right, not the brunette to my left, who is my good friend Kelsey Herrera.
2. Thank goodness I know how to use the cloning tool in Photoshop, otherwise you would now feel as if you had just stared straight into the gorgon's eyes.
3. Yes, it was that bad.
4. No she's not completely deleted from the picture--just about three feet shorter.
5. Yes, thank goodness she's turning twelve soon. No, 'gorgon' is from the Greek gorgos, meaning 'terrible', and shares no etymology with 'gorgeous,' which is from the Old French gorgias, meaning 'fine, elegant.'
6. Yes, I am enough of a nerd to have looked up the etymology of those words.
7. No, I didn't have to look up 'gorgon' before I put it in this caption.
8. (Not the gorgon now--just to clarify) Tamara didn't really wander in, and she does improve the shot quite a bit.

I have to say that it's probably about time that I moved on to a different calling. Tamara, who has been indispensable as a pianist and very helpful as a resource for helping me plan my Singing Time activities, is no longer in the Primary presidency (see Sad Day! part 1). Liz Johnson, whom I served under these past few years, is also out, as she and her family will be moving to Jackson Hole later this week.

On that subject--we had a very nice visit with Liz and Adam Johnson, who came with their children to have dinner with us last Sunday. I enjoyed learning more about their past and hearing about their plans for the future. An evening together doesn't make up for losing their companionship after they have gone, but it was nice to be able to express our appreciation for them and take another picture or two before they left.

A night out

I can't remember the last time Jeremiah and I went out but I'm sure it was probably sometime in March when our parents were here visiting.

Last night we actually got away on a date. For my birthday last month Jeremiah presented me with tickets to go see BYU Chamber Orchestra while they were on tour in Boston. So I've spent the last month looking forward to our date and last night was the big night.

Camille Butler was nice enough to come over and stay with the kids and we hit the road ready for a chance to actually talk uninterrupted while we drove into Boston.

It was a lovely evening with a chance to be sitting in a historic concert hall listening to amazing music performed by the Orchestra. I think we both got a little laugh with ourselves as we caught ourselves thinking how much the kids would have enjoyed it as well. Funny how we look forward so much to getting away but then spend our time thinking of our children.

Sad Day!

I've been meaning to write for several days now but time has slipped away from me. Where does it all go?

Saturday morning I found out I was being released from my calling as Second Counselor in the Primary Presidency. I was a little shocked at my feelings of sadness over this but I guess it is always hard to see a good thing end. Saturday I spent the day trying to hold back my tears and Sunday they all broke loose. Maybe if I had cried over it on Saturday I wouldn't have been so out of control on Sunday. I managed to get through my last sharing time without crying but cried during just about everything else. Looking back on it now I am a bit embarrassed at how I couldn't keep from crying. I'm going to blame it on hormones. I am an emotional person to begin with but when you add pregnancy to the equation the end result is not pretty.

I have really enjoyed my time with the primary children and will really miss them. I have learned so much from the 3 sisters I have worked with and am so grateful for their friendship.

It has been about 3 years since I've been to Relief Society or Sunday School so I have a feeling it will be quite an adjustment! I wonder if I can even sit still that long. I never seemed to do much sitting in primary.

I still have my calling as Ward Organist but wasn't called to anything else. I really don't think that will last so I will have to wait and see what comes my way.

For all my non-ninja friends...

Ah, the perfect Sabbath day post!

We laughed HARD at this one. If you have never watched an episode at askaninja.com, then stop and take one in.



Ninjormon? I guess not--I've always considered my self as more of a follower of Kung-formon or maybe a Tae-kwan-dormon master.

Personality? Me?

Here are some of the results from a personality test I took at signalpatterns.com. Some of the questions were ambiguous, but I found that the site returned a profile that was surprising accurate. Tamara even thought the description was realistic.

Visit SignalPatterns.com to get your own!

People like Jeremiah Jones

Visit SignalPatterns.com
to see more!

Mother's Day Surprises!

This past weekend seemed to be full of all kinds of fun. Friday afternoon I was able to visit Natalie's kindergarten class for a Mother's Day tea party. A neighbor came and sat with Abigail (who was napping) and Trevor so it was nice to just have some time with Natalie and her class. The class sang two little songs they had been working on and presented us each with a potted plant complete with colorfully decorated pots, and little books they had written. We were then served muffins and iced tea. Natalie was upset that they were having iced tea but I told her we would just not have any. Sometimes it is really cute how concerned my children are with caffeine drinks. It was a fun way to start the Mother's day weekend.

Saturday I went with Natalie to a birthday party and Jeremiah and the kids stayed home to work on their "projects". When we got home I tried hard to stay out of their way and not really pay attention to what they were working on.




I really had no idea what they were making but laughed when I kept hearing Trevor say, "Dad, that's a really cool birdhouse!" The secret was blown. Oh well. I was still very much surprised when the birdhouse/bird feeder was put up in our little garden. It looks great and Anthony was able to pass off several cub scout requirements while making it. We have all enjoyed watching the little house sparrows coming to eat out of the bird feeder and this morning we had a surprise visit from a blue jay as well.



Even with our church starting at 9am on Sunday Jeremiah and the kids still made me a wonderful breakfast of cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and fresh fruit. It was delicious and we even made it to church on time! Lunch was served to me afterwards and since I had mentioned that french toast sounded good that was what we had. The kids thought it was great to have another breakfast for lunch. I then was given a great Mother's Day gift. The chance to take a nap without interruption. I didn't realize I was so tired but crashed for 2 1/2 hours. It was 5 pm when Jeremiah came in to see if I was still alive. Man that felt good! I was pampered some more and Jeremiah and the kids made dinner. BBQ London Broil, french bread, Parmesan zucchini, cantaloupe and blackberries.

The kids all had little gifts of flowers they had made at school, scouts, or activity days. My China hutch is now so full of colorful flowers and Trevor even gave up having his baby doll for the day so I could have a turn with him. So sweet!

It was a wonderful day to spend with my family and I have thought of it often these last few days as the business of the week is setting in.