Disney Volunteers

Last year Disney had the promotion where you could go to Disneyland (or World) on your birthday for free.  I registered the whole family, however the only convenient option was for Joe and me to go for our birthdays and anniversary.  I bought 2 discounted 2-day park hopper passes online so we could each go every day.  On my birthday I used my free pass and Joe used his first day ticket.  On our anniversary we both used our tickets at both parks, and on his birthday I used the last day of my ticket and he used his free pass.  Since our birthdays are 2 days apart and our anniversary is right in the middle it makes celebrating easy.  This was Joe’s first visit to Disneyland and both of our first visit to California Adventure.

This year Disney’s promotion made it possible for the entire family to go all at once.  The only problem was actually trying to get registered for it.  Everyone was trying to register for the promotion.  We were able to finally get accepted to volunteer somewhere and I was excited about that.  I have heard there are volunteer vacations that people can do but I don’t know much about them.  I remember reading a brief article once about them in LDS Living magazine.   So I was excited that that with this promotion, the kids could earn their ticket and go.  All but Sam were eligible

The first appointment that I set up only would take adults.  I would have done it but it while partially while I was at work so Joe got to take it.  It was working at a bake sale for a retirement community fundraiser event.  He had fun.  They even fed him.  I should have done this job.  What I got to do with the boys (Adam, Joseph and Joshua) is yard work.  We brought 3 hibiscus plants.  The boys each planted one.  Then we asked what else we could do.    We went and placed mulch down over a flower garden.  Then we shoveled gravel and moved it from a big gravel pile to another area where they were laying down plastic.  Under that plastic had been weeds, which Joseph had helped weed.  It was fun nonetheless. 

About a week later, we received our vouchers by email.  Now it's time to plan a trip.

Photos

Adam working hard

Joshua posing

Joseph planting
Adam posing

Admiration

Have you ever looked at your children with complete admiration?  I secretly check them out while thinking about what handsome men they will be.  I hope their good looks will be surpassed by their good nature.

I was checking out Joshua the other day.  He's so gorgeous.  And he's sweet and an all around good kid. I was admiring him, forgetting all his flaws and mistakes and looking at him for all his goodness.  He demonstrated his goodness today.  His brothers were playing a game and he knows they can be rather competitive and he wanted to play too.  He told them he wanted to play but just for fun, they didn't need to keep his score.  He was showing his peace-making skills.

Sam was sleeping.  I love to look at my boys when they are sleeping.  They are so peaceful and it's the only time they aren't trying to drive anyone crazy!  I was noticing how much (as always) Sam looks like Joe.  His personality is a lot like mine, but he looks like Joe.  I admire him when out of the blue he'll say "I love you," "you have pretty green eyes," or "you're awesome."  He gets his affirmations from his dad.  I admire his willingness to show unconditional love and express his love for others.

Adam is going to be such a great man.  He's still learning and growing.  He can be very sensitive to some things and I attribute that to teen hormones, but that sensitivity shows me his softer side.  He is really good at remembering to open my door and let ladies enter first.  I was thinking about that today how he can be chivalrous and I hope he finds a girl that appreciate that.  I look at him and admire how mature he wants to be.  Although he wants to grow up quickly, at this time he's still happy to be my little boy. (don't tell him I said that!)

Joseph is a momma's boy (they all are actually, but he's more so.)  He wants to do everything for me.  I admire him for his servitude.  We went to a wedding reception the other day and Joseph was in the kitchen helping them dish and serve cake and various foods.  He was so well-behaved.  Joseph has ALWAYS been a good helper and getting him to help out is actually the best way to get him to behave.  His teachers at church  let him get the classroom ready and pick up the chalk and eraser from the library.  When he helps, he feels needed.  I admire his service to others.  He is the first one to fall asleep and I stare at him praying that he'll have friends and success in his life.

I feel like I can understand how Heavenly Father and Jesus felt when they created man and saw that it was good!!!  I feel joy in my posterity when I look at my children with admiration.

Braces

Joshua went to the orthodontist today and got braces.  He chose green and gold for St Patty's Day.  His next appointment is right after so it was fitting to have those colors now.  He is so excited to get braces.

What we did in 2009

So I've never done a Christmas Letter and I used to be so good at sending out cards. I actually do have a box of cards that I can use to send out. However, I've become lazy and haven't done it. So this year I am writing a New Year letter of what we accomplished last year. So if you don't care to read it, then you can move onto another of my blog entries instead.

Joe – He fixed the green car (Dodge intrepid) so now it works and Victoria can drive it to work. He went to Disneyland (and CA Adventure) for the first time for his and Victoria's birthdays and anniversary. He works in the Junior Nursery in the ward.

Victoria – She learned to make pumpkin desserts out of fresh (not canned) pumpkins. She went to Disneyland, CA Adventure and Magic Mountain this year. She also works in the nursery in the ward. She learned seasonal loan products (RVs, boats, etc) at work. She's been with USAA 2 years now and her 401k now is completely vested.

Adam – He received the Aaronic priesthood and was ordained a Deacon by his Papa. He serves as the second counselor in the Deacon's Quorum. He played softball for his school earlier this year (7^th grade.) He made the football team again for this school year (8^th) and made the basketball team (8th,) all that practicing with the scouts paid off. He went to camp Geronimo for the first time. He went to Magic Mountain to celebrate his entrance into teenager-hood. He got glasses. He got to play with the Ironwood marching band during halftime of an Ironwood Football game. He went to the temple for the first time with the youth. He got stitches earlier in the year when he collided with a fence at school and it cut his leg.

Joseph – He earned his Webelos and Arrow of light. He is in his 2^nd year of home schooling through AZ Virtual Academy. He is in 5^th grade. He started taking medication. He got glasses. He almost met a rattlesnake. He has recently started reading books and really enjoys them. He went to Day Camp during the summer.

Joshua – He turned 8 and had a fun Army party. He got baptized along with his best friend Aaron on the 4^th of July. He got glasses too. He earned his Bobcat (with help from Aaron's mom, too.) He is in 3rd grade and his teacher at school is one of the counselors in the Primary so he sees her almost every day. He loves his teacher. He got to go to Cub Scout Day Camp for the first time.

Sam – He had surgery. He spent his last year in nursery and will be joining the ranks of Sunbeams. He was potty-trained and had a big boy party. He turned three. He fell in love with Lydia (Aaron's baby sister.) He loves to talk and tell stories and his language has improved since we started blogging although he still can't pronounce eses (S.) He kissed a chick. He dislocated his elbow once when Joshua and he were playing.

I am sure there is more and find that as I blog more I'll have a better record for 2010. Happy 2010!!

Beaded Bracelets

Joseph wanted to get out my beading supplies since Adam wasn't home nor has he used them lately.  Then Joshua wanted to bead too.  They each made a necklace to give as gifts for Christmas.  I then made a couple bracelets and finished some I had already started or had laid out to do.  I am posting the photos here.  If you are interested in buying one or having us make one we'll sell them for $10-$14.  Most of these will be given as gifts this Christmas, but if there's one you like that I can make that works too.  All money for this goes to the costs of the beads and any profit is put into my children's (mostly Adam's) bank account to save for his mission in 6 years.  He earns money other ways too.

This bracelet has orange, green, gold and pearl colored glass and plastic beads with a gold-colored circle toggle clasp. $12.

This bracelet has clear and pearly white plastic beads and pink heart-shaped glass beads with a silver-colored heart toggle clasp.  $10.

This bracelet is made with blue iridescent, pearly white and clear plastic beads.  It also has silver -colored metal beads and silver bead caps.  I didn't have any more silver toggle claps so it has a gold-circle toggle clasp.  $12

This bracelet has a gold-colored hummingbird charm in the middle surrounded by light blue, gold, and dark blue glass beads with a few clear plastic beads.  It has a gold circle toggle clasp.   $14

This bracelet is cute and dainty in design.  The beads are smaller in size.  There are plastic black, pink glass hearts, and silver metal beads and bead caps.  It has a silver heart toggle clasp.  Made for a larger wrist (larger than mine.) $12

Similar to the blue and white one above, except this one is black and white with clear and silver beads and caps.  All plastic beads. Gold heart toggle clasp.  Joseph made me a necklace to match this one, so I will need to make myself a bracelet similar to this one to wear with my necklace.  I will post a photo of the necklace when I unwrap it for Christmas.  Yes, I've seen it because I strung it, but he laid out all the beads for it.  I plan to give this one as a gift, but I have many black beads to make again, but will make with a silver clasp when I buy more.  $12.

So that was what we worked on today.  Made two for presents and now that I think about it, I could give another one as a gift.  And maybe one day I'll do one as a give-away.  But not enough people read my blog yet to do that.

   

The Strattera® Chronicles (part 1)

*WARNING: This will be a long blog entry as it contains a 10-day log of Joseph’s reactions to Strattera®.  It was started to identify any reactions he might have experienced.  I did not want to post it as a daily log.  I was going to wait the full 30-days, however I have found a 10-day log is still educational and will continue my 30-day log and will update every 10 days.*

Joseph has been home-schooling for over a year and has started to decline again in his schoolwork.  Some days he can get many assignments done, but after the first month of school, he started to decline.  He was getting behind in every subject and in overall attendance hours.  His teacher put him on an action plan today to bring his work up to par and make up for lost time. 

I took Joshua to the doctor for some allergy medicine and the doctor gave me a sample of Strattera® to try out on Joseph.  Straterra® was previously recommended as the correct medication for him to take, however due to the suicidal tendency side-effect we elected to try all other non-medical options for him first.  That was one of the reasons why we moved Joseph to home-schooling.  The other reason was that we felt the school really wasn’t going to do anything more for Joseph.  They refused to give him an IEP because they didn’t feel it was necessary.

 

Day One (11-20-2009)

We gave Joseph his first introductory dose at 5pm.  Like most medications Joseph needs to be weaned onto it.  When I switched from Dilantin® to Tegretol®, I had to wean off one while weaning onto the other.  So it’s understandable that he would start with a low dosage and work his way up to a higher one.  At first I wasn’t noticing any changes because he’d wrestle with his brothers and after removing them from him so he could do his work, he actually started doing work (after he already told Joe before taking it he was done for the day) and when he finished an assignment he asked for more.  When I switched him to another subject at first he contested and then he willingly moved on to the work.  Was this merely a placebo effect?

Day Two

Joseph took his dose at 10:15am.  We decided to start giving him the medication in the morning so it will give him the most benefit during the day.  He said he had a little trouble sleeping last night.  He said as he was laying there he’d feel dizzy as if the house was moving.  He’s noticed he has the burps (like the almost vomit kind.)  He sat next to me on the couch as started shaking like he was convulsing but he was doing it all himself.  He said there are words spinning in his head and he was trying to stop them by shaking his head.  The words in his head don’t hurt him but he is getting a headache.  He feels yesterday was perfect.   So far an hour later he is still acting just like Joseph always does.   Just when I think it is working because he seems focused on his art project, he starts humming, singing or making some ghastly noise.

Day Three

I was at work when Joseph took his medicine this morning and was gone most of the day so I was unable to observe his behavior.  After coming home, however he is still acting like his normal self.  When I asked Joe if he noticed anything different about Joseph’s behavior today, his reply was, “No, he was the same.” 

Day Four

Joseph took his medicine after he came home from church.  We finished up packing the car for our annual trip to Sedona.  His behavior was not noticeably different.  He did sleep in the car on the way up and when we arrived he unpacked his own suitcase and watched television with his brothers until dinner.  We sent him to bed a bit later than normal and he did have difficulty falling to sleep.

Day Five

We gave Joseph his last low dosage pill today because he was annoying.  He was playing miniature golf and getting frustrated when he was losing and he wasn’t remaining calm.  After we gave him his medicine, he still was rather active and did not want to work on school work.  By the end of the day he was two assignments short of his overall daily plan.  This took literally all day to complete 5 assignments.   The two remaining assignments he’ll have to make up tomorrow in addition to the 7 needed.  Tomorrow a slightly higher dosage starts as well.

Day Six

Joseph was a bit less difficult today.  He was able to complete all his school work for today as well as the two assignments left over from yesterday.  After wards, he had time to play.   I am not sure if he worked hard because the next 3 days are going to be vacation time or if he was just more focused.

Day Seven

This morning we competed in the miniature golf contest and Joseph was very active.  He kept “practicing” because he was bored waiting again for his turn.  He had not yet had his medicine so we can’t expect him to act differently.  After it was over, we went back to our room and ate breakfast and he took his medicine.  His brothers wanted to play outside afterward and so we made Joseph wait until it had been an hour.  Before sending him out to play we instructed him to behave, act calmly, and be respectful of our reputations (not so much that I care, but I wanted him to understand his behavior reflects on us.)  Joe checked up on him and he was acting fine.  I am watching him play in the pool right now and he is a bit crazy, however he is playing with other children.  It is the day before Thanksgiving and he’s swimming in a pool.  At least he is burning off extra energy so he can sleep well tonight.  Oh occasionally he has said he has a hard time falling to sleep.

Day Eight

Joseph was able to go out and play today with his brothers.  We didn’t hear any complaints.  He and his brothers have developed a rash and Adam is sick from eating cookie dough that was left out all night.  Other than those ailments, none of which affect Joseph he’s been fine.  We went to a park today and Joseph sat alone watching everyone else play.  Then I decided to do the fitness trail and he joined me.  We then played wall-ball, or a variation of it.

Day Nine

Joseph was acting a bit wild this morning so I reminded him to take his medicine.  He did before taking his medicine decide to build the racecar kit (like pinewood derby, but not as intense) that I had bought for him.  While his brothers played outside he sat mostly quietly watching television and building his racecar.  Later he played outside too.  I am watching him now in the pool and he is playing with his brothers and a guy that is playing with the kids in the pool.  I think he’s one of the other kid’s dad or grandpa.  The real test will be tonight when we get together with Joe’s siblings and their kids.  Ours will be the oldest there, but none the less, we’ll see how he acts tonight.  His behavior was fine tonight.  Only once did I hear someone else tell him to stop doing something and it was while he was outside playing.  In fact the three three-year-olds were wilder than he was.

Day Ten

Joseph took his medicine a little later today than normal. That was mostly due to him leaving to play mini golf and not being in our room to give him the medicine.  For the most part he was cooperative.  He worked on an Art project for school, the lesson he has yet to do, but we had time to just do the project.  Occasionally, he gets a bit wild, but for the most part he is okay.

Recap from first 10 days:

So far I've noticed Joseph is very wild in the mornings and that reminds us to give him his medication.  I don't know if the medication is working for him or if it gives him a placebo effect.  I try and ask him his opinion about the medication and he doesn't want to provide one.  He still has a hard time following multiple instructions.  I do like how he plays better with his brothers (not in the morning) and doesn't seem to cause as many problems as he normally does.

Our Week in Sedona

So I must say that this year we did not receive any grief from any of the staff members this year (except for my last blog.) I believe there were a couple of reasons for this.

The first being that there were tons of kids here this week and so our boys didn't stand out as much. In fact, I observed a couple of kids breaking the rules that our children have gotten in trouble with in the past. One thing my boys have not done that kids were doing was swimming alone. The pool rule is no one under 14 without an adult. I was watching the boys swim and there were other kids around. There were a couple of adults at the pool so I figured they belonged to them. It wasn't until the parents came to pick up the kids that I realized they were swimming unsupervised. Technically they weren't unsupervised because there were plenty of adults around. The resort has a rule that children under 12 must be accompanied anywhere by an adult. We allow Adam to take Josh to the sport court or golfing. They aren't given a key so they can't go to the pool.

Another reason is that the majority of the staff has been on vacation this week. Being Thanksgiving week the majority of the staff has been off since Wednesday. The minimal staff has been the housekeeping, maintenance, front desk and only one concierge. We left a couple of cookies for the housekeeping staff the other day. Maybe that helped? Probably not.

The final reason our children have not gotten into as much trouble this week is that there are two look-alikes here. There was a neighbor boy who looked almost exactly like Joseph. In fact, he was standing outside our cottage and I almost told him to come inside. I talked to his grandparents about this and they had seen Joseph and agreed. There was another Joshua look-alike, but I didn't see him. Josh told me all about him. My thought is it would be hard to identify the culprit in a line up when they look alike. Funny thing about Zach (Joseph's twin) is that his parent's didn't look like us either.

So this week in Sedona has been uneventful in regards to our boys getting into trouble. We haven't felt as pressured to stay inside or leave all day. The boys have been able to play outside without getting into trouble.

Twelve Eyes

Joshua has been getting headaches and nausea every now and then so we took him to the doctor. The doctor considered his issue could be due to allergies. Sinus pressure can lead to headache and nasal drainage can lead to nausea. I know headaches/migraines can also cause nausea so I wanted to rule out poor vision before we inundate his body with allergies pills since the diagnosis was probable. I scheduled an eye appointment for Joshua.



A couple of years ago we gave the boys color blindness tests found on the internet. It was discovered that both Adam and Joshua are color blind and Joseph is not. The boys (Adam and Josh) freaked out as they tend to do over trivial things. I then explained that I am not a doctor and the test was not given by an eye doctor and therefore I cannot accurately diagnose it.



My grandfather (mom's dad) was color-blind so it was quite possible that my boys could be color-blind as well. It would appear that my mother passed on her color-blind recessive gene to me and my dad gave me his non-color-blind gene. With that probability it would likely be that half my boys could end up color-blind so I would not be surprised if they were.



And now back to the story about Joshua. We went to Nationwide Vision for an appointment. He took all the vision tests and sat in the big chair and wore the eye doctor examination mask (as I like to call it.) It was determined that he is color blind (4 out of 5,) that he has 20/30 vision and is near-sighted. He was told he needed glasses to wear while in school, reading, or watching television. Really? So he told me to help him pick out the cheapest frames to save me money and we ordered his pair. While there I set appointments for Adam and Joseph too.



The very next day, Joseph had his eye appointment. He enjoyed looking at the frames and really liked the nice designer ones!! He took all the tests and got to wear the fancy eye doctor mask. His vision perfect, well almost. He had 20/30 in the right, 20/20 in the left with overall 20/20. He, on the other hand, was far-sighted with astigmatism. He was advised to pick out a pair of glasses to use for reading. We eventually settled on a nice shiny pair and he was so excited. At this point I've decided that Nationwide just wants to sell glasses and having an eye exam is really not about "eye health."



Adam attended his appointment a week later and the other two get to pick up their glasses. They acted like they are so cool. Josh was excited because he had always wanted to wear glasses. Poor kid, braces and glasses, luckily he's cute and can bypass all that teasing kids get. So Adam found out he is color blind 4 out of 5 like Josh. I don't remember ever hearing Adam's test results but I know he wasn't too bad. I know he is near-sighted in one eye and astigmatism in the other. He, like Josh, just needed them for school. He picked out about 20 pairs and we had to narrow it down. Writing this, I realized he is a lot like his mother.



Sam went for his appointment and picked out a pair of glasses that he would not take off. He was so excited he could be Dr. Daniel Jackson that he was highly disappointed when he didn't need them. I was told he was fine now but would need glasses in first grade. Seriously?

So here's your chance to guess which eyes fit the kid. All you get are the eyes and glasses.

A.

B.

C.

D.

Wow look how blue eyes vary among the boys.

Now you can check your answers by looking at face shots here

Joshua's Journal

We came across a journal that we think Josh made in 1st grade. We are guessing first grade only because one entry he referenced the Super Bowl and it listed the Giants and the Patriots. His last article was titled "Dum mom." It went like this:


“I Love you. Sarry for calling you Dum mom.”

Wow!  I wonder what I did to make him mad and call me dumb. I do, however, admire his cute apology.

Here are a few entries, let me know if you can decipher:

"My favorite part of Halloween is chuckrchreting and eting cande.”

“When I line up I poot my bubl in. When I line up I be cwiyit.”

“At breakfast I est pesaoue. At breakfast I est sosise.”

“When Rudolph’s nose turned green he strerts to fly and he is sileye.”

It was very interesting to read the whole journal. So is learning a new language harder than decoding 6-year-old’s free writing? I don’t think so.  May god continue to bless all the teachers out there who have to learn the phonetic spelling of all the words in the English vocabulary.

Pack Meeting

So the guys went to pack meeting last night. I missed it because I was at work. However, there is some pretty exciting news that came from this pack meeting. One is about Joseph and the other about Joshua.

Joseph earned his Bobcat when he was new to scouting. He tends to not be dedicated to accomplishing things, so I was not surprised when he didn’t earn his Bear and Wolf. I know that sounds horrible, but we tried to get him to work on the tasks and he did about half of them, but he loses focus very easily. I can blame it on the ADHD, but I won’t. He chooses not to work on them. It seems like he needs to be tricked into accomplishing tasks he doesn’t want to do, so Sara Smith has been really good at tricking him into doing the items needed to pass off requirements. I am very excited that he earned his Webelos along with the Aquanaut, Fitness, Readyman, and Citizen Badges (pins.) He might even earn the Arrow of Light. Joseph, you are so awesome! Keep it up!

Joshua, the new kid in scouting, is always faithful and works to accomplish things, however he can be a perfectionist. I was working with him on his Bobcat requirements as soon as he turned 8. He got frustrated when he wasn’t saying the Cub Scout promise verbatim. Therefore, he did not want to work on it anymore. Since his best friend Aaron also just turned eight, his mom Sara (the same as above) said Josh could come over one day and she’d work on it with both of them. Afterwards, she told me we only needed to go over the child abuse requirements with him and he’d be done. Last night, Josh earned his Bobcat. Way to go, Joshua!

So there is my good news for the day. I am so happy for my two little Cubbies. I know Joseph was excited this morning about it because he came in to show me all his awards. He inspired me to write this blog today. I am sure Josh is excited too, but he gets up before I do and goes to bed before I get home, so I won’t actually be able to congratulate him until tomorrow.

Sam’s Big Boy Party

Sam is having his “Big Boy Party.” I started this tradition with Adam. Once my child is potty-trained we reward him with a big boy party. To avoid embarrassment, if the child is too old, a party is not given. Ever since Sam had his first birthday party he has been fascinated with parties. He loves the candles, the cake, and the ambiance. In fact, he thinks every birthday party he attends is his. He started potty-training right after he turned two. He really liked the potty and whenever we thought he was going to be serious, he’d refuse to use it. He likes to flush the toilet (and other things along with it) and play in the bathroom so he didn’t have a fear for us to be concerned with. We couldn’t figure out how to motivate him. After Adam had his 12th birthday party and Josh had his 8th, Sam was excited and talked about his birthday party all the time. We decided to let Sam know about the Big Boy Party. We gave him two months to earn it and except for occasional accidents, he’s done very well. He picked the venue, Chuck E Cheeses. He has never been there, but has always wanted to go. I am not sure if the desire comes from commercials or his brothers talking about how cool it is there. So we have a Big Boy Party planned for this Thursday. We invited his friends from nursery (those on Facebook at least,) family friends, and family members.

The Seventh Deadly Heresy

The Seven Deadly Heresies
by Elder Bruce R. McConkie
June 1, 1980
Posted at: http://www.lds-mormon.com/heresies.shtml

So I looked for this talk the other day after reading Chris’ blog about another heresy in the talk. His blog, as always, was so intriguing I read the whole address and was enlightened by this, the last heresy. I know we don’t have to be perfect to gain salvation, although sometimes it feels like we do.

“Heresy seven: There are those who believe we must be perfect to gain salvation. This is not really a great heresy, only a doctrinal misunderstanding that I mention here in order to help round out our discussion and to turn our attention from negative to positive things. If we keep two principles in mind we will thereby know that good and faithful members of the Church will be saved even though they are far from perfect in this life. These two principles are:

(1) That this life is the appointed time for men to prepare to meet God-this life is the day of our probation; and
(2) That the same spirit which possesses our bodies at the time we go out of this mortal life shall have power to possess our bodies in that eternal world.

What we are doing as members of the Church is charting a course leading to eternal life. There was only one perfect being, the Lord Jesus. If men had to be perfect and live all of the law -strictly, wholly, and completely, there would be only one saved person in eternity. The prophet taught that there are many things to be done, even beyond the grave, in working out our salvation.

And so what we do in this life is chart a course leading to eternal life. That course begins here and now and continues in the realms ahead. We must determine in our hearts and in our souls, with all the power and ability we have, that from this time forward we will press on in righteousness; by so doing we can go where God and Christ are. If we make that firm determination, and are in the course of our duty when this life is over, we will continue in that course in eternity. That same spirit that possesses our bodies at the time we depart from this mortal life will have power to possess our bodies in the eternal world. If we go out of this life loving the Lord, desiring righteousness, and seeking to acquire the attributes of godliness, we will have that same spirit in the eternal world, and we will then continue to advance and progress until an ultimate, destined day when we will possess, receive, and inherit all things.”

I know people work very hard at being near perfect. Sometimes they are called perfectionists. My son, Joshua, is a perfectionist sometimes. It drives me crazy. For example, when he turned 8 he got the privilege of joining Cub Scouts. He was very excited to get started so we went to work on the requirements for his Bobcat. Once he got to the promise he freaked out because he kept messing up. He wanted to be perfect or he wouldn’t do it all. It’s very frustrating that he has the all or nothing attitude. While I am like that sometimes, I try to instill in the boys that it’s okay to break things down and do it slowly if necessary. That eventually they’ll get it perfectly but for now it’s okay if they need to practice. It was so bad, that he wouldn’t work on his requirements with me anymore. I didn’t expect perfection, he did. So he went over to his friend, who also just turned 8, Aaron’s house and worked on it with his mom. And by the end of an hour, they had all the requirements (except one) done. Maybe I do demand perfection.

In reference to the last paragraph of the above quote, I felt the acknowledgement of the Holy Ghost that Elder McConkie’s words are true. We must decide today how we are going to live our lives. We need to decide in our hearts and souls to press on in righteousness. We need to hold tight to the iron rod as we trudge through the mists of darkness, ignoring the laughs and mockery from those in the great and spacious building. If we must reach out to save another from the river of sin we can’t do it alone, and we must create a human chain of friends and supporters to help us avoid being caught in its tumultuous flow. We must follow Lot’s example, forsaking all and not looking back. Our spirit bodies are very powerful and knowledgeable. We must allow our better half to set the example of love and righteousness. We must continue to ponder the words of the apostles and prophets and local leaders. We must stand for truth and righteousness and show our desire to follow Him.

Thank you, Chris for inspiring me to read this address and learn more. I am grateful for friends who inspire and encourage me. I can’t know everything and love when others share their knowledge. “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” - Henry Ford.

How my children got their names

I read a friend's blog and she posted where her children's name came from so I thought I'd do the same. If you have ever had me explain anything to you, then you understand I go into details that many feel are not necessary to the story, however they are a part of the story so I share all the details.

When I was little, not older than 12-14, I wanted to name all my children so that their initials were ACE. The boys’ names were Aaron, Adam, Andrew and Anthony, with Charles and Christopher as middle names. The girls’ names were Abigail, Alison (any spelling,) Alysabeth (variation of Elizabeth that my mom came up with when I was 10,) and Amanda, with the middle names of Crystal and Catherine. I was hoping to marry someone with the last name beginning with ‘E.’ Anthony Edwards would have been perfect (this was well before E.R.) so that I could have the last initial I wanted. But then I realized there are few people with last names that begin with an E (or that I’d come across.)

Then I started researching names and their meanings and I decided that I wanted to give my children names that had nice meanings. For example, Mary means bitter. While Mary is a nice name, I did not want my child to feel like I was bitter about having her. During this process I found all the names that meant “Gift of God.” Children are gifts from God so I wanted to have all my children have a name (first of middle) that meant that. Some examples are Jesse, Matthew, Nathanael/Nathan, and Natalie (from Nathanael.) So then I was on a quest to give all my children a gift of/from god name. So I made a list of all the names and tried to put names together that sounded good together. I think I still have the list somewhere. Now we will fast forward to my children and I’ll give you the rest of the story.

Michael Adam: Adam was one of my original names and I have always admired Adam (of Adam and Eve.) Before I was married, a friend was taking a psychology class and needed to provide names that he would name his children. Then in a group setting they would pick the name and share with the class. The name he and I came up with was Michael Adam, but his classmates picked Michael. I had been taught that Michael (the archangel) came to Earth and was known on Earth as Adam. Therefore, I named my son Michael Adam and we call him Adam. If he had been a girl, Alysabeth Crystal. Michael Adam = Who is like God, First Man = First man who is like God.

Joseph Nathanael: As you learned previously Nathanael means Gift of God from my gift from God phase. I have always loved the name Joseph, not Joe or Joey, just Joseph. I love Joseph (of Egypt.) I have a friend, Joseph Langkilde, who encouraged everyone to call him Joseph. So he was an example that it is possible to name someone Joseph with the name being immediately shortened. My husband, Joseph, prefers to be called Joseph. I only call him Joe to differentiate between the two of them. I suppose when the kids have moved out I can call him by his true name. There was this black and white movie that was on television when I was about 16 and this preacher kept calling the character, named Jonathan, Jo Nathan. I thought it would be funny (I have a strange sense of humor) if I named a son Joseph Nathanael (Joe Nathan) and called him Jonathan instead. It was a reverse of the movie and became an inside joke between my mother and me. I would have called him Jonathan except he had an uncle by that name and it wouldn't have worked out. We also thought about calling him Nathan or Nate, but 2 others in our ward had boys around the same time he was born and named them Nathan, so we opted for my favorite name, Joseph. If he had been a girl, Alysabeth Crystal or Natalie. Joseph Nathanael = he shall add, gift of God = He shall add gifts of God (more children or lots of grandchildren.)

Joshua Caleb Alexander: Since my boys' names were prophet names I decided to keep the tradition. I was really hoping for Jacob Spencer, however my ex did not like that name. So I made a list of acceptable names and gave it to him. He didn't live with me at the time (he left as soon as I found out I was pregnant,) so I literally gave him a list. My mom wanted Alexander (as a first name,) because she wanted to call him her little Alex. I wanted Caleb Alexander. But my ex knew a kid named Caleb who would bang his head against the wall, so because of name association that became a no. My ex did not like Alexander as a name either for some reason, but was willing to have as a middle name to please my mom. So he had decided on a name and called me and told me that I had to promise that whatever name he chose would be the name otherwise he wouldn't tell me. So Joshua Alexander was born. I was okay with Joshua because he and Caleb were buddies and were the only 2 tribe leaders that came back and reported. Years later, I told Joseph (Joe) the story and he started calling Josh, Caleb. Joshua was about 2 and would act like Caleb was an alter ego. When Joseph (Joe) adopted the boys in 2005, Josh was given the option to add or change his name. We decided to name him Joshua Caleb Alexander, with 2 middle names. We only let him do it because the other 2 were picking strange names and he really was the only one who's name I was unhappy with. Not that I don't love the name Joshua and have become accustomed to it, it wasn't my choice. So I suppose we did it to spite the ex. My ex has since had 2 children named Alex and Natalie. No name was chosen for a girl other then the ones I previously listed as possibilities. Joshua Caleb Alexander = God is Salvation, Dog, Defender of man = God saves and defends men and dogs. (Maybe adding Caleb wasn't so smart??)

Samuel Allen: Joseph (Joe) really wanted to name a son Allen his dad's name. That happens to be my (biological)dad's middle name. I really didn't care for it as a first name, but was willing to consider it for a middle name. It is also Joseph's middle name. Doing genealogy I find that Joseph descended from a Samuel Allen (Allen being the last name) and it was his descendant Elizabeth Allen who married 2 Allreds (Joseph Gilbert Anderson Allred & George Riley.) Her first husband died so she married his brother whose wife had also died around the same time. She had children with both and helped raise his children. So that's where the Allens and the Allreds merge (twice.) So I told Joseph we can name him Samuel Allen in honor of his great-grandfather (about 8 greats.) We were really hoping Sam would be a girl because we worked so hard to chose Emily Elise for him, and then had to scramble for the last 6 months trying to come up with a name for Sammy. Samuel Allen = God hears, handsome = God hears only from handsome people?? (It's a bit ironic (God hears) because we fasted and prayed for a sister. So in His wisdom he sent us a boy. I think He has a strange sense of humor too.)

Emily Elise: the daughter we hope to have some day. I say she's our next one, but Joseph's not ready for a fifth. I know why we chose Elise. Joseph's favorite car is the Lotus Elise. Elise (derived from Elizabeth) is actually a girl's name so we are honoring his car with her name. I like Emma and Joseph's not happy with the name. Imagine having a Joseph and Emma in the same household. So he allowed me the satisfaction of Emily which is similar. Can't wait until he says we can plan for her. I've given up on Alysabeth because I don't her to deal with having her name spelled so differently people can't get it, but my mom will always like it. Emily Elise = rival (I've seen industrious too,) my God is abundance = God will send me many rivals or if she is industrious she will have abundance. (silly isn't it.)

So while Emily hasn't joined our family, I decided to add it since we still plan on having Emily. We talk about her as if she exists and is real. She's just not here yet. I am happy with my 4 boys, whose names are still prophetic names. They seem to be happy with their names. Adam goes by Michael at school because he doesn't want to deal with teachers having to adjust to his middle name. So we have to use both names when we speak with teachers. Joseph is happy with his name. Joshua prefers to be called Josh. Samuel prefers to be called Sammy, Sam or Samuel. When he says his name now it's Samuel Awen Awred (can't pronounce his l's yet.) So now we wait until Joseph (Joe) decides he can handle five. If he does you'll be the first to know.