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Sunday, June 22, 2014

Letter - Star Scout, Bear Cub Scout, Punishment

Sunday, June 22, 2014
2:00pm

It’s been a nice Sabbath Day.  We made it all the way through sacrament meeting without having to take a noisy child out!  That hardly ever happens.  Our kids are getting older.  Maybe it’s time to have another baby.  J 

I’ve got to go take Spencer to his board of review.

2:33pm

I’m back now.  Spencer is now a Star Scout!!  I’m so proud of him.  He has completed 12 merit badges and has 4 others that are partially completed.  Five of the twelve that he has completed were done at our stake YM encampment last week.  It was so nice he could get so many of them done all in one week.

It’s been about three weeks since I’ve written.  I gave a pretty thorough report about the time I spent at girl’s camp, so I’ll start this report at June 9th.  I took the kids to Big Surf that day.  It was fun, but when we got back home I realized that we forgot about the football camp that we signed Bryant up for.  Oops, he missed one day.

June 9th FHE


Tuesday June 10th through the 14th Spencer was at our stake’s young men encampment.  We really missed him.  On Thursday I asked Bryant to take the kitchen garbage out and then I said, “since Spencer’s gone will you take the big black garbage can out to the curb?”  After quite a while Bryant came back in and I said, “Did you have some trouble?”  He said, “Yes the garbage can was so full I could hardly get it through the rocks, and then when I got to the sidewalk it almost tipped over.  Spencer does a lot!”  I was glad that he learned to appreciate his big brother, and glad he learned how to do something hard.

Bryant had football camp at Benjamin Franklin and basketball camp at Williams Field High School June 9th – 12th.  He loved it!!  I put in a lot of time driving him to his events.  Luckily I had some carpools so I didn’t have to drive quite as much.

June 10th - I made a big batch of cookies to give out as thank you gifts.  Tilly decided to help herself to some cookie dough.
Wednesday the 11th I had a dentist appointment.  My teeth and gums look good.  Thankfully I managing my periodontal disease well now, but my gums receded quite a bit before I got a good handle on it.

June 12th - Movie night

 Friday June 13th we got Mikylah Johnson to babysit so Chad and I could go on a date.  We ate at Chipotle and then went to see Maleficent.  I liked the movie.

June 13th - Bryant made a nest for the kids to read in.
We got some new markers for the summer and the girls have been coloring their hearts out.
Saturday June 14th was a busy day.  We did some yard work, I bottled chicken, the kids had Grammy days at Lowe's and the splash pad, Bryant went to a birthday party, Spencer came home from encampment, we went swimming at the Trogan’s and the boys started taking care of their dog while they were on vacation for a few days, I prepared a junior primary singing time lesson (I subbed for our chorister who just had a baby), and I prepared a lesson for our Laurel class.  Whew! I was wiped out at the end of the day.



Spencer was sure dirty when he came home.  Five days without a shower = Gross


 I love sleeping babies.
Last Sunday was Father’s day.  I sure love Chad and am thankful that he is a good father to our children.  I wrote this special post in honor of the three fathers who mean the most to me.  We had a nice Father’s Day dinner at Shannon and Aaron’s beautiful new home.  It was nice to spend time with Art and get to visit with him.  I sure missed my Daddy though.

Chad opening his Father's Day gifts


The kids brought the Trogan's dog over to play for awhile.  They love dogs.  Me, not so much.



Last week was pretty low key.  I piddled around the house doing different odd jobs and stayed in my PJ’s until late in the afternoon almost every day.  Late Monday afternoon we went swimming at the Trogan’s since they let us use their pool while they were gone. Tuesday I trimmed our flowers and sprayed our front porch and driveway.  Then we went swimming at the Trogan’s again. Tuesday night Bryant got his Bear in cub scouts and then I went out to dinner with Karalee, my Mom, Crystal, Celeste and Ray.  They had been to the temple to go through with my nephew Jake.  We missed going through the temple with Jake so we could support Bryant at cub scouts.
June 16th, the girls playing house
June 17th - Trimming the flowers down.  Since we had such a mild winter without a hard freeze, I've had these same vinca  flowers for over a year now.  I've had to trim them back 3-4 times.
June 17th - Bryant getting his Bear award




Wednesday the girls had a special girl’s only Princess Grammy days.  Bryant and I went on a date while the girls were all gone and Spencer was at basketball camp.  We got him some new school clothes at Kohl’s and then he got a Blizzard at DQ and I had a few bites.  That night I had stake YW’s volleyball which was fun.  After volleyball was over I took Spencer on his date.  He wanted to go to Cold Stone to get Chad a belated birthday present.  So Spencer bought Chad some ice cream and I bought Spencer some ice cream and they both shared a few bites with me.


Thursday was my Mom and Dad’s 55th wedding anniversary.  I called my Mom to see how she was handling it.  She was sad, so I was sad with her.  Thursday evening Spencer and I went to the temple together.  He did baptisms while I did initiatory.  It was fun to go with him!

Friday I met Amy at Celeste’s house to swim.  We swam all afternoon and had a great time.  That night the kids invited some friends over to play basketball and eat pizza.  It was fun!





Karalee and her friends playing just dance on the wii.  I love watching my kids play that game! 
Chad and I jumped in the pool with our girls with all our clothes on.  They thought it was funny.  I also posted a video of Chad jumping clear over the pool on Facebook.
Chad's hairdo by Karalee. 
Last night Chad and I went out to eat at Blue32 sports grill.  They have awesome taco’s al carbon.  Then we went bowling.  We both bowled pretty well.  We each bowled over 100 on both games and we each did better on our 2nd game than we did on our first game.  I think it would be really fun to join a bowling league sometime.  After bowling we went to Fry’s to get some stuff for Sunday dinner where we saw Wynn and Kami and our friends Tyson and Angie Cook.  It was fun to bump into them and visit for a few minutes.

Tilly is still working on potty training.  She doesn’t really like to go to the potty and if I don’t remind her to go she has an accident.  It’s been a slow process, but I’m not giving up and I know she’ll get it eventually.  Once last week she came up to me grunting and said, “I’m not pooping.”  I laughed and ran her to the bathroom.  Luckily we made it in time.

Marlee has a loose tooth!!  She’s getting so big.  Karalee is developing into a beautiful young lady.  She and Tilly are usually the first to wake up each morning and Karalee is a little mother hen and she takes Tilly and plays quite games with her.  It’s so sweet.

Chad’s had a very stressful week at work.  He came home on Thursday with a really stiff neck from spending so many long hours at the computer.  Lucky for him, I know a few tricks for helping a sore neck now.  I helped him do some stretches and I massaged his neck for a long time while we watched a movie on Thurs. night.  He’s gotten a little better each day.  I tried to convince him to go to the chiropractor, but he couldn’t leave work long enough to go.
 
To end today I’ll share a scripture that I’ve been thinking about lately, “But, behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished; for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed” (Mormon 4:5).  I’ve come to realized that if I get angry with someone and try to get back at them then I become wicked.  No matter what wrongs have been done to me, I need to forgive and let the Lord’s judgments overtake the wicked.  I don’t need to worry about seeking revenge or getting even.  My job is to love and make peace and to forgive.

Love,

Mindy 

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Father's Day Tribute to Three Wonderful Men

As today is Father's Day, I'd like to honor the three father's who mean the most to me.

First, Chad, the Father of my Children.  I couldn't ask for a more kind, patient, humble, capable, loving, charitable man to be the father of my children.  He looks for the best in others and is a friend to everyone.  He loves being a Father and I love watching him hold our babies.  I am so lucky to be married to him.  My kids are so lucky to have him as their father.  He is amazing.

Chad's first day as a father.  He is holding Spencer just minutes after he was born. Dec. 6, 2001
Chad and Tilly at the Natural Bridge area.
Chad and Spencer indexing
Playing play-doh with Marlee and Tilly





Next is my Daddy.  I am so lucky to have been raised by such an, outgoing, fun loving cowboy.  My dad was kind, a great teacher, a great motivator (sometimes with a spanking), honorable, honest, respectful and respected.  After a recent conversation with my brother-in-law Trever, I pulled out the letters that my Mom and Dad wrote me as part of a stake youth conference.  My parents loved being parents and they were good about praising their children and helping them reach their potential.  I am so lucky to have such a good Father and Mother.  I loved being around my Dad.  He seemed to receive positive attention and praise wherever he went.  He was a friend to all and could find a connection with pretty much everyone he met.




A trip to the State Capitol when the Snowflake Madrigals were invited to sing the national anthem my Senior year. 









And lastly, but not least, is my father-in-law Arthur Sanders.  I am so thankful for him and the wonderful man he helped raise.  He taught Chad by his good example how to be a fun, loving, kind father.  He is inventive and Chad also has that wonderful trait.  He loves the Lord and is a wonderful father and grandfather.