My Father is a Prophet by Ann M. Dibb

My Mom gave me a copy of this talk and I really really loved it. President Monson's daughter Ann M. Dibb gave a talk at BYU Idaho about her father... not long after he was sustained as the new President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is called My Father is a Prophet. It is really so beautiful and just makes me love President Monson more. He is such a remarkable man and in so many ways has been prepared for this calling his entire life. Reading this talk really makes me want to get up and working harder at the things that I know to be most important. Read it here.

I can read!!

One of my favorite books is "These is My Words" by Nancy Turner. It is based on the true story of Sarah Agnes Prine....a pioneer woman. While crossing the plains...she finds a wagon full of books. Although she has lost her father and brother and faces enormous difficulty throughout her travels....she manages to bring these books with her. As she reads and gains knowledge about the world and thus herself...her life is changed. She has a passion for learning and reading throughout her life. I feel much the same way....like reading is the way I connect with something larger than myself. As C.S. Lewis said, "We read to know we are not alone." I'm amazed at how much knowledge is out there for the taking. I can sit down at my computer and in 1 minute have endless readings on a certain topic. It is unbelievable and humbling.

Another favorite quote is by Dr. Suess..." The more that you read the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." Well...the whole point of this post is just to document how very excited I am that Lizzy is learning to read. She gets so excited when she sees a sign somewhere and manages to sound it out. It's also fun to see her working hard at something and then really feel proud when she accomplishes it. So yeah for Lizzy and if you haven't read "These is My Words" ... you should.

10 Years

Yes it's true...I graduated from highschool almost 10 years ago. Our class has a website now for everyone to find each other and let people know what you have been up to. I have had so much fun reading about many long lost friends that I had to put it up on here so any of you beetdiggers that see this can go and fill out your profiles. To access the site click here. And any non-beetdiggers who try to make fun of our mascot had better think twice about that. You never want to mess with a beetdigger.

Kite Flying Festival

Lizzy and Andrew dancing in front of the Washington Monument.

I have had my parents and brother in town for the past week and I feel like I have been on vacation. It was so much fun, but now I have a lot of catch up to do. Although my house is a mess and laundry is piled high, first things first, I am catching up on the blog. I know...I am pathetic. Two weeks ago we attended the Kite Flying Festival in Washington DC. It was at the beginning of the cherry blossom festival. It turned out to be a chilly day....but it was worth the cold because hundreds of kites in the sky was quite a site. The favorite (at least of the kids) was this giant shark kite. The owner had trouble getting it up for more than a few minutes at a time.

Isn't this a great picture?? Andrew and Lizzy look like we are torturing them. It wasn't that cold. Honest!!

Andrew chowing down!!

Since then it has warmed up quite a bit. So much in fact that the kids have decided that we need another trip to the beach. They have spent the morning playing beach. Here they are soaking up some sun on the living room floor.

The Power of Silence

Confession: I talk a lot. Several months ago I made a resolution to talk less... and listen more. I put signs up all over my house to help remind me of my new goal. I realized that I often instructed my kids so quickly that I didn't let them do anything good on their own. I needed to listen more to my husband, my friends and it was also an effort to make my prayers more meaningful....less talking and more listening. Apparently.... I was not making enough progress in this goal because on Friday I woke up to find that I had no voice. I had been getting an increasingly sore throat, but I didn't expect to lose it altogether. I could whisper and that was all. It was quite frustrating. Instead of yelling an instruction to the kids from the other room... I had to get up and walk to them and whisper in their ears. Even whispering was pretty exhausting and so I had to choose to say only the most important things. Now...3 days later... I almost completely have my voice back, but here are a few things I learned during my days of silence.

1) My kids will listen to a whisper more than to a loud voice.

2) When I was whispering...the kids also used softer voices.

3) The things I said while my kids were tantruming...were really not useful anyway.

4) My kids often would say please or thank-you all by themselves...without me reminding them.

5) Silence allows others to think.

6) I have really sweet kids.

7) My friends are the greatest. My friend Kaelene invited Lizzy over for a sleep-over to give me a break and then when I picked her up the next day...she had made dinner for us for the next evening. Kaelene--you are amazing.

I love Aaron

Yes it's true. I do love Aaron. Call me crazy. He's the greatest guy in the world and he makes me laugh everyday. I couldn't ask for a better man. Happy Birthday Aaron!!! This is what I got Aaron for his birthday. I'm sure you can't tell what it is, but there is money frozen in the middle of this. I told him that I decided to just give him Cold, Hard Cash. Ha ha!! That is giving a boring gift in a slightly less boring way. Hopefully with $ from me, and both of our parents, he'll be able to buy the GPS that he's been wanting. Any suggestions for the best brand? Lizzy and I made this birthday sign. Isn't that a great picture. The purple guy over on the left is Aaron resting on the couch. Lizzy was wishing him a relaxing day.

Happy 2 weeks after Easter

Okay....I know I am a little behind things, but we did have a wonderful Easter. Aaron's parents were able to be here and on the Saturday before Easter....we did our annual Easter egg dye. This is always a little scary with young kids...but we managed with no major mishaps. And...if I do say so myself...we ended up with some pretty great looking eggs.

On Sunday, after church, Andrew and Lizzy found that someone had "snucked into our house" (Lizzy's words) and left us some fun surprises. My favorite was the cool animal hats that the Easter Bunny got at A.C. Moore for only a dollar. They wore them all day and ran around acting like their respective animals. I may have to follow the Easter Bunny's example and go and buy some more. They also had lots of fun with a few new books and of course CANDY!!!! We loved having Grandma and Grandpa with us and the yummy candy they provided as well.