Big day for Joe!

Today Joe took out his endowments at the Houston Texas Temple. Wow, what an amazing experience! Being a parent is such a difficult job at times, but this was definitely a day where we were able to experience the true joy of being parents. This morning before we went to the temple we attended the world wide training broadcast on the family where we were told that "the family comes first" and that it is an obligation to raise up a righteous family. This afternoon as we watched our son take a major step in his spiritual progression, that message was reinforced. Everything we do should be focused on the goal of having an eternal family. This was our first day in the temple with one of our children. I look forward to having this experience with each of our three daughters!

Throughout the session, I kept looking over at Joe. I loved watching his face, and seeing Greg help him along. I kept wondering how this could be my little boy. Time has gone so fast! Just before I went through the veil, I glanced back over my shoulder and gave Joe a smile. I then joined Greg in the Celestial room and we waited for Joe to follow. Our Bishop told me later that after we were both gone, he moved up behind Joe and told him that this was just like life--he'll see me smile at him and then slip through the veil, and then I'd be waiting for him in the Celestial Kingdom. (I had a similar thought as I passed through the veil)

I am so thankful that we were able to be with Joe in the temple today. What a great blessing it is as a parent to watch your child make such an important commitment to live the gospel to its fullest. We are so proud of Joe and his decision to serve a mission. He has an amazing spirit and I know he will be a force for much good in Colorado!

Funny girl!

A few weeks ago we were talking about the Green Bay Packers and how it takes more than 30 yrs on the waiting list to get season tickets for them. Well, Erin decided she better get on the list because you never know she might live in Green Bay someday. So early last week she received her letter from the Packers saying she is on the waiting list for 4 tickets. And she only has 77,735 people in front of her!

Out of my comfort zone

Last Friday (Feb 1) we got a call from the sister missionaries that serve in our ward. Not an unusual event, as they often call to have Joe go out with them. I answered, expecting them to ask for Joe, but instead they asked if I was available to go out with them on a visit. This really took me back. I said just a minute, put my hand over the phone and just stood there. Greg asked what was wrong. I said the missionaries had just asked me to go out with them and that I didn't want to go. He and Joe both laughed, and said they understood that dilemma. So I stood there and fought with the urge to say no and the knowledge that my whole family was watching me and that I would be setting an example by the choice I made. So I said yes.

I met the sisters at by the house where there appointment was. Unfortunately the woman who they were supposed to meet wasn't there. So we got in my van and went to visit one of their other contacts. It has been a long time since I have gone out with the missionaries. It was really good to see them teach an investigator and deal with the objections that were brought up. Gave me a good insight on what Joe will be doing on his mission. I am not sure I added anything to the evening (although I did play with a 3 yr old so at least I was able to try to keep him focused on me and not being such a big distraction for his Grandmother). I am glad I went--even if I really didn't want to.

Words you don't want to hear

Yesterday I got a call from Melissa. It started out normal--Hi Mom. I asked how she was doing and heard the word parents don't want to hear--"I got hit by a car". Luckily they were followed by "but I am fine". Turns out that Melissa was crossing the street when a car decided not to make a stop at the red light before making a right turn. The car hit Melissa, making her stumble but not knocking her down. The driver jumped out of the car, freaking out as he should have. Melissa told him he was fine and walked off. I told her she should have gotten his information in case it turns out she was injured but didn't know it. She told me that she felt fine at the time and just wanted to get away from the situation. Now, of course her knee and arm were both a little sore. I told her to go to the Dr. and get checked out--just in case she had an injury that would get worse if she kept up normal activities. She agreed, and then told me that she thought she was being a hyprocondriact because she was feeling things on the side that wasn't even hit.
Later that day I received a text from her saying she was now afraid to cross the street. Several years ago while visiting Greg's sister in Cedar City, Melissa was shot in the shoulder with a BB gun by a juvenile delinquent that lived across the street from Sherri. After that Melissa suffered from what only could be described as post traumatic stress disorder for a while and was very afraid to go outside. This brought back memories of this for me, and I can only assume it did for her too. My poor baby! I told her I would come to Austin if she needed me to take care of her. She jokingly replied that I may need to move there to help her cross the street. I guess it's true that laughter is the best medicine!

Today Melissa and I were texting and she sent me a note that she hadn't made it to the Dr., and asking if I still wanted her to go. I asked how she was feeling and she said that she had a bruise on her knee--but that she hadn't hurt at all since taking some Ibuprofen yesterday. So we decided to count our blessings and let it go. We always try to remember to ask that Melissa be watched over and kept safe in our prayers. This is one occasion where I know our prayers were answered.

Our amazing clarinet player

Erin is a very talented clarinet player who likes to play for fun and not necessarily to be "the best". This week we have had a couple of reminders of that. First, during her private lesson, her teacher told Erin she really frustrated her. Erin asked why and the response was "because you could be amazing if you wanted, but you just don't care". This comment just rolled of Erin's back. We have had issues with this private lesson teacher's attitude in the past, but have stuck with her because she is a good teacher and because Erin doesn't let her comments get to her. When Erin told me about this incident, I told her that her teacher was probably right--that if she practiced more she could probably get a scholarship. Her response was "I don't want to study music, so why would they give me a scholarship". Good point. Later that same week, Rachel came home to tell us that her high school band director had called her into his office. He started off with small talk about the new tuba they are getting next year, and then asked about Erin. He said he heard that she is a really good clarinet player. Rachel confirmed this. He than said that he had heard that Erin was thinking about quitting band. Rachel said no, that we had talked her into giving marching band a try and that she planned to take band next year. He was very relieved, told Rachel how much the band needs Erin and then told her to let Erin know they are getting some new Bass Clarinets next year and that she might get to play on a brand new instrument. Too funny!
















On Saturday, Feb 2, Erin had her Solo and Ensemble competition. She had been working on this for quite a while, and I hadn't realized how much it was stressing her out. Friday night we took some brownies over to Sarah Richardson for her birthday. We sat in their living room talking, and S & E came up. Erin said she was so stressed out she could wait until it was over. I looked over at her and she had tears in her eyes. I asked her what was wrong and she said she knew she was going to do bad, would get a bad grade and then get grounded. Let me explain this by saying that Rachel did get grounded once for getting a B in band--not because a B is a bad grade but because she got it simply because she wouldn't turn in her practice records. We do expect our kids to do well in school--however, the standard is that we expect you to do your best. In this case, Rachel got a B simply because she would not bother to turn in her practice sheets. The grounding was an attempt to get Rachel to be more responsible. I assured Erin that no matter how she did at competition, she would not get grounded. That I knew she had prepared her pieces well, and that I wanted her just to go and enjoy playing them. This seemed to calm her down a little. The next day she went to competition and seemed pretty calm. When we picked her up, she announced that she had earned a 1 on both her solo and ensemble. She said she lucked out and got the easy judge, so even though she messed up on her solo she still earned her medal. She also said she would have been happy with a 2 on her solo. It was good to see that she had taken our talk to heart and would have been ok with not being perfect.