Things I Admire About My Children

I have been thinking a lot lately about my children and how much I truly admire their individual qualities.

I can definitely understand why Christ tells us "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."


Nathan:

• Has always been the nicest big brother. He helps his sisters with everything. He is so patient with their demands. He gives them his advice. He teaches them. He makes them smile.

• Loves to have discussions with his mom and dad. He likes to talk about the day, his interests, struggles, politics, anything having to do with science, and the gospel.

• Gets very sensitive about hurting feelings, his own guilt, and disappointing others. It takes very, very little to correct him. 

Madeleine:

• Is gregarious, joyful, smiley, and playful. She reads, acts, sings, dances, bounces, and loves life to the fullest.

• Tries really hard to be inclusive. She is a caretaker. She gives up her own needs for those of others. She is gentle with little children. She is selfless. 

• Craves physical touch and loves to hug, wrestle, hold hands, and anything else that helps her feel important and connected with others.

Caroline:

• Has constantly shifting emotions but tries really hard to be her best self. She works to follow rules and instructions. She tries hard to overcome obstacles and impulses. She never gives up.

• Is soulful. She is learning what feeling the spirit is like and what she can do to feel it more often. She is in tune with how good it feels to have the Holy Ghost with her and bursts into song about it. 

• Smiles a lot. She laughs. She giggles. She loves surprising others and making them laugh. She wants to be in on the joke.

Admittedly, I don't always feel only gratitude and awe at these little ones...but I'm realizing more and more how much I need them.

I need them to teach me. I need them to lead me, guide me, and walk beside me. I need them to help me find the way.

I also need them to love me.

And the amazing thing is that even through all of my seemingly insurmountable motherly imperfections, they do!

What a gift.

Rob's Talk: Emotional/Physical Health and Well Being (and Addiction)

Rob spoke in Sacrament Meeting last Sunday and I like to document our talks. This isn't a full transcript, just notes, but you'll get a good grasp of his thoughts.



"Dad, it feels good to really see right." 

My youngest got a new pair of glasses yesterday after we learned that her vision had deteriorated a little over the last couple years. How pleased she is to correctly resolve the world around her!

A few years ago I injured my back and had quite a bit of pain in it and going down my leg. During that time I experienced much more difficulty being my usual pleasant self. I was edgy, short-tempered, and found that the pain cast a negative shadow on my experiences. 

Prolonged periods of highly demanding projects at work can at times induce enough stress to cast a pale attitude on other aspects of my physical health (lack of exercise and even feeling the stress physically at times).

I share these short experiences to illustrate a point. I've enjoyed a life relatively free of pain and stress. However, I find that even short-lived episodes of pain and stress affect my outlook, relationships, and spirituality. I can only imagine how much chronic pain would affect me. 

The For the Strength of Youth booklet states that we should seek healthy solutions to problems in all aspects of your life. I think healthy solutions include actions that tend to bring balance to our life rather than those that promote drastic actions. Why introduce a new stress as a means to resolve prior stress?

When I have back pain, I could be unwilling to accept my new limitations by taking on a new (intense) exercise and diet program, fester, continue getting annoyed because I can't contribute in the same ways I used to, build up emotional barriers, whine, and re-injure myself due to lack of patience. Or, I could follow the advice of medical professionals, give adequate time for healing, do yoga to strengthen my core and back, and undertake another appropriate exercise program when the time is right. 

When suffering from work-related stress I could micro-manage, refuse to accept help, think that my spouse just doesn't understand, build up emotional barriers, start an extreme organization system, quit my job, stop exercising, gain weight, spend less time with my kids, get less sleep, get sick, etc. Or, I could allow more people to get involved, maintain family, exercise, and sleep needs, take on fewer obligations, learn to say no, confide with Julie, and communicate with others. 

*Do all you can to safeguard your physical and emotional health so that you can fulfill your divine potential as a son or daughter of God.* 

This may include professional medical help and and mental health specialists. 

Addictions harm your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. They damage relationships with family and friends and diminish your feelings of self-worth. They limit your ability to make choices for yourself. In the lightest sense, addictions redirect our time and attention from the most important parts of life. 

Watching sports, gaming, using social media, viewing pornography, abusing prescription drugs, drinking alcohol, or having a Twinkie or Nutella obsession seems pretty innocuous; however, all can be taken to selfish extremes, distorting our view of reality and what is important. 

 

Just like uncorrected vision in the case of Cara's glasses, the affects of addiction take us from reality. It introduces secrecy, distrust, and dishonesty into our most sacred relationships.

Quote from Elder Holland, "If in the days ahead you not only see limitations in those around you, but also find elements in your own life that don’t yet measure up to the messages you have heard this weekend, please don’t be cast down in spirit and don’t give up. 

The gospel, the Church, and these wonderful semiannual gatherings (and Sunday meetings) are intended to give hope and inspiration. They are not intended to discourage you. 

Only the adversary, the enemy of us all, would try to convince us that the ideals outlined in general conference (and Sacrament Meeting) are depressing and unrealistic...that people don’t really improve, that no one really progresses. And why does Lucifer give that speech? Because he knows he can’t improve, he can’t progress, that worlds without end he will never have a bright future. He is a miserable man bound by eternal limitations and he wants you to be miserable too. Well, don’t fall for that. 

With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we CAN improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed. 

Keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. 

Heaven is cheering you on today and forever."

Alma 53:20-21
"And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all--they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. Yay, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him."

Testimony - gain and maintain physical and emotional health can improve our well- being and spirituality. We can use simple actions, family and friends, professional help, and the atonement to overcome imbalance, addiction, and stress. We get credit for trying.

If you are struggling with any type of addiction, seek help.

Home Decor: Master Bath Update

After 6 weeks, we're finally here. The big bathroom reveal!

Here is the reason. I lived with this for almost 6 years. 

For Christmas, I couldn't think of anything I wanted more than new bathroom tile. 

The week before Christmas I just couldn't wait any longer so Rob and the kids demolished the floor. 

Then Christmas came. Then I got sick. Then came New Year's. 

Then I had to hit pause until I figured out a couple of decorating dilemmas. 

Then Rob was doing a lot of overtime at work. Then Rob got sick. 

So...yeah...SIX weeks later and the tile/paint/hardware update is finally complete! Phew!

This was a bit of a toughy for us. First of all, I've had my heart set on hex floor tile ever since we lived in a vintage apartment downtown 10 years ago. Well, hex tile was way over my budget. I then thought about using patterned tile because I loved the look from our trip in Mexico. 

Turns out patterned tile was also way over my budget. 

Finally, I settled on Octagon and Gray Dot tile. It was in budget and still has a vintage look to it.

Rob has done tile a couple of times before but this mosaic style was rough. The pieces weren't set on a mesh backing but instead were held together with dollops of superglue. Rob and I are both quite particular and NONE of the spacing between the individual tiles were uniform! ARGH. 

Rob worked his hiney off trying to get perfect spacing but it was just impossible because the product wasn't put together well (at all) in the first place. Is that what we get for buying tile within our budget? Luckily the finished look is so pretty that you don't really notice the uneven spacing. 

We ended up over budget anyway just because the mosaic tile took a LOT of grout. 

It also took three different tubs of grout to find the right color. 

WHY don't they sell samples of grout???!! Come on, people!

I hung our Eiffel Tower painting here for now but we will be replacing it with a more modern frame and print after our next trip. I already have an idea of what I want so now I just have to wait to find it.

By now you've noticed my walls are pink. Yep. They are. 

(The ceiling above the toilet is actually white but it doesn't look like it in this pic.)

I don't consider myself very girly and no where else in my house sports a feminine look. 

That's why I thought it would be fun to do something a little different and paint this room a 

vintage-y, dusty/gray pink. Well, remember the decorating dilemmas I mentioned? 

This was one of them because the walls turned out way less 

dusty/gray and way more cotton candy then I had anticipated. 

The funny thing is that I was planning on doing white walls and just the ceiling would be pink. However, at the last minute I decided to try the pink on the walls and loved the color so much 

that I decided to paint all the walls with it and switched the ceiling to white. 

...We were more than halfway done when I realized the color was off...

Depending on your monitor/screen settings, my walls will look more or less pink to you. 

In person, the pink is actually pretty subtle.

I was pretty annoyed because we were already way behind on getting this thing done. 

That's why I just kept on painting, hoping it would turn out ok. It didn't.
I hated it but after about a week it dawned on me that if we just change the lightbulbs
to a cooler temperature then it should make the pink tone down to an acceptable level.
Sure enough, it worked! 

The walls in the toilet room still look a bit pink-ish because it's a small room 

but it's not so bad that I think "PINK!" every time I walk in.

The other decorating dilemma obviously had to do with the orange-y wood vanity. 

I had my heart set on NOT painting or refinishing it. 

I was hoping it would play more "vintage" and less "out-of-place" 

but I'm not sure that's the case. 

I didn't want white (too sterile), I didn't want more gray, and I didn't want something too dark. 

I also wanted to keep a touch of warmth in the room so after weeks of indecision 

I decided to cut us both some slack and leave it for now. 

I'm sure we will change it at some point but that point is not now.

  

'Cuz we are d-o-n-e.

In our "before" bathroom the towel rack was across the room from the shower and so we'd have to remember to grab our towel before we hopped in. If we didn't, we were left yelling for someone to get us one or we had to hop out dripping wet to get one ourselves. 

Super annoying! 

It was obvious that I needed to put hooks right next to the shower. It wasn't obvious that we would end up with the perk of heated towels since they are hanging right above the heater vent. Score!

Everyone says air plants are the best because they are so low-care and last forever. Well, mine don't. I've had many and they keep dying on me no matter where I put them or how I water or not water them. This is my remaining one and we will see how it does here 

with the humidity on the ledge above the shower. 

I used Wayfair for my hardware and was pleasantly surprised at the quality! 

These knobs were a steal but feel very hefty. I will definitely shop there again. 

I added the longer drawer pulls to the upper fake drawers of the vanity 

so we could hang hand towels conveniently. 

Here's another Wayfair purchase. So pretty but I've gotta say... not so easy to clean. 

I really do love the finished bathroom. It's so much lighter and brighter and happier.

I'm really grateful for all the work Rob put into it. 

This one took it out of us a bit so it might be a little while before we start another project.

Snowy Ice Castles

As a member of a photography group, Rob was offered 5 free tickets to the Ice Castles in Midway, Utah in exchange for 5 professional photos of the event. Score!

It was frigid that night. 5 degrees, I think? The kids had a blast and barely noticed the arctic temps. Rob and I were frozen solid but enjoyed watching the kids have fun. 

Verdict: Pretty cool. Kinda fun. Glad we didn't pay to go.  

Here are some pics of us exploring and playing around.

Here are the requested "candid photos of people enjoying themselves" that he shot for the marketing campaign.

(Can I just say that it takes a VERY good photographer to be able to pull off these AMAZINGLY crisp and PERFECTLY exposed pictures of both people and colored ice at night without even using a tripod?!!)

End of Year Wrap Up

2016: OVER

Thanksgiving was splendid. Here are a few funny family candids by the Rob. He thinks it's great being in everyone's faces all night long. He got some lovely shots as well but these are more fun to post :)

We had a wonderful surprise party for Rob's grandpa. Family came in from out of town and we all went to lunch and had a good visit with all.

December was really nice. One night we went to the live nativity in Alpine.

We always put up our Christmas decorations on the 1st Sunday of December but this is torture for our kids because all their friends decorate up to a month earlier than us. Nate, Madeleine, and Caroline think Rob and I are the biggest grumps because we make them wait until December hits. We make up for it by being one of the last to take them down...

I had a work casino-themed Christmas party. I've been writing for the company for 2 years now but I've never met anyone in person so it was nice to put faces to names.

One night we went downtown for a bunch of festivities. We ate dinner and then took in the view of Temple Square from the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We looked at the Macy's Christmas windows made out of candy. We took the train to the Grand America Hotel to do their window display scavenger hunt and eat gelato while listening to a great band in the lounge. We rode the Jingle Bus around town back to our car.

The 23rd brought the Raines Family Christmas Dinner and Party. There was a kid and an adult scavenger hunt, Christmas Pictionary, and lots of delicious food. After, we drove through Christmas Street in Taylorsville just like I did as a kid. More silly shots!

 

Madeleine had her Scera Theatre Christmas Performance. She is a natural.



Nate had his birthday at Top Golf with a few friends. I can't believe I have an 11 year old! At his checkup the doc said he needs to start eating 1 1/2 portions for his meals because he's under weight. He is 4th % for height.

We (Rob) tiled our bathroom floor. We (Rob) still have some decorating to do but it's looking beautiful!

I had the kids earn some money so we could take them to Dollar Tree so they could each buy gifts for their siblings. They love doing this!

On Christmas Eve Rob baked rolls, pizzas, and sugar cookies. We watched a Christmas movie, played board games, and did all the other traditional Christmas Eve things.

Christmas Day brought church and a lot of relaxing and playing with our new stuff. Rob's family was sick so festivities with them were pushed back a week.

I ended up getting sick Christmas afternoon, had a day off of sick on Tuesday, then woke up Wednesday morning really sick all the way through the end of the week.

New Year's Eve I was still recovering so I sent Rob ice skating with the kids. Cara bit a chunk out of her tongue while jumping on the couch. Then we all made it to midnight playing games and watching movies.

New Year's Day we had a delightful Christmas dinner with Rob's family.

I'm pretty sure there were a bunch of other things we did, like the usual shopping/returning/re-shopping dance, wrapping, losing gifts, buying too much, eating way too much, and listening to GOOD Christmas music (Anyone else sick of Mariah Carey's Christmas??? We like to find hidden gems that are awesome but never get played on the radio. Next year we'll have to share our playlist because it's da bomb and I promise you'll love it).

Bring on 2017 and all the LOVE and LIFE that it will bring!