A Riddle

With a nine-year old in our house, riddles are pretty popular.  Usually they are of the variety like, "What has a mouth but cannot eat?" (a river).  Or the more sophisticated, "If a rooster laid an egg on the peak of a house, on which side would it roll off?" (Neither, roosters don't lay eggs).

But my all time favorite riddle was shown to me by a fellow teacher quite a few years ago.  It took most of the day, but I finally figured it out.  Maybe I am slow, but I think it is pretty clever.

"Poor people have it.  Rich people need it.  It is Greater than God and more evil than the devil.  If you eat it, you will die."

What is it?

(Michelle figured it out in probably 30 seconds...NOTHING)

Mr. and Mrs. Cade Ashton

On June 5th, Cade and Jorden were married in a beautiful ceremony in our backyard.  Jorden's grandpa (and Cade's bishop) performed the ceremony.  Afterwords, we held a reception with lots of good food, good family and good friends.  What an amazing community we enjoy!  People really came together to give these two a great start in their new life. 

We are excited for both of them.  They are great kids with a great future ahead of them.  Right now, they are living here in St. Johns.  In the fall, they will head to the Valley where Cade will attend MCC and Jorden will continue her studies at ASU.  Congratulations!

PS.  You can see more pictures at my sister-in-law's photography blog.  She is absolutely amazing!
http://loriashtonphotography.blogspot.com/

Lessons Learned at Church

1.  Today in church I sat by my Mother-in-law, Carol.  She is in St. Johns for a few days watching my nieces and nephew.  In front of us, sat a child that I affectionately (?) call the Devil's Spawn.  I really, really, really struggle with this girl.  I'm not sure what it says about me, when a four-year old has this much power.  In my defense, she is so tough that our former Sunbeam teacher, with the patience of Job,  who has taught for YEARS, was ready to quit because of this girl.  Last month, she hooted, like a money, for ten minutes before we could get her settled down.  If you try to wrestle her out in the hall, she kicks, bites and spits.  In fact, today when her grandpa was trying to settle her down in Sacrament Meeting, she head butted him...twice!  Truly, I should be booted from Primary for the dread this child instills in me.  So when she flopped down under her grandparents' pew and proceeded to roll around underneath Carol's feet, I really wanted to suggest a well-placed kick.  (See, I should be booted out!)  I wanted her grandparents to get control.  I wanted her away from me for at least one hour of the three hour block.
     BUT, Carol is a true mother and disciple of Christ.  She smiled at the girl, and patted the seat between us.  Slowly, she coaxed her to sit right by us.  She gently encouraged her to whisper quietly and sit still.  As the little girl settled down, so did I.  I pulled out a piece of paper and pencil.  Quietly, the little girl drew pictures.  For twenty minutes, we sat, side by side.  I remembered that the Gospel is taught and developed individually, whether we are four, or thirty-six.  I remembered that we are all children of Heavenly Parents who love us, even when we are biting and kicking, and thinking ornery thoughts about a four-year old.  And wouldn't you know it-  I didn't hear a single monkey hoot during Primary today!

2.  Our music director does a fabulous job of bringing in talented people from the community to share their skills with us.  Today was no exception.  As the woman walked forward with her violin, I was surprised.  I often see her at the store where she works.  She is very kind and helpful, but I never considered her outside of the workplace.  As she raised her bow, the beautiful strains of "Amazing Grace" filled the chapel.  Tears filled my eyes as she continued a medley that included various hymns, finally ending with "How Great Thou Art".  We often talk about the fact that we never know what trials other may be going through.  That thought often helps me to be more patient or forgiving.  But today, I realized we also are often unaware of the talents and strengths that others possess.  Somewhere along the way, this woman learned to play the violin.  Since that time, she has continued to practice and develop her talent, even though St. Johns is not a place with lots of opportunity to showcase that talent.  Sadly, I'm afraid that this experience is not unique.  How often have I looked at people (or kids) and considered how they affect me rather than seeing their strengths and talents?

So to sum it all up.  Life is about people.  It's about the relationships we develop with our family, our friends our co-workers and our acquaintances.  It's about limiting our judgements and increasing our acceptance. 

It's about love.

If I Ran the World...

At ten o'clock this morning, one of my students walked in and handed me a tardy slip. 

"Where have you been?" I asked, semi-concerned.  Concerned because she HAS missed a lot lot of school, but only "semi" because it is usually by choice and not by necessity.

She giggled, "Sleeping."

Seriously!?!?  I sit here with my eyes half crossed, a headache approaching, and an upset stomach, all from lack of sleep, and she bounces in when she feels like getting up.  I couldn't even reply. 

I am turning into the teacher that I swore I would never become.  You know, the one that has a lecture for every occasion.  Who likes to complain about "kids these days".  Who thinks that a little less "feelings" and a lot more "discipline" would cure the ills of the world.  Luckily, I am still able to hold my tongue.  I give most of my lectures in my head.  The ones I do give are in a normal tone of voice, with (hopefully) more teaching than just talking. 

I so need a Pepsi....

Fifteen Birthday Wishes

For Syd's 15th birthday, here are 15 wishes I have for her:

1.  I hope you see yourself as your Father in Heaven sees you.

2.  I hope that you always have the confidence to stand up for yourself and others.

3.  I hope that you continue to be as independent as you are, but also that you find a way to lean on the ones you love when it is necessary.

4. I hope that you continue your love of reading.

5.  I hope you always have a goal or a dream to work toward.

6.  I hope that you find joy in your future profession (she stresses about this all ready) but you learn to love being a wife and a mother as well.  (All in good time of course)

7.   I hope that with all of your intensity and drive, that you will still be kind and forgiving of yourself.

8.  I hope that you'll continue to be happy with yourself-not worried about what others may say or do.

9.  I hope that you'll clean your room one day.  (Ha ha-just had to throw that in there to see if you were paying attention!)

9b.  The real one:  I hope you continue to love learning and studying.

10.  I hope that your testimony of the gospel stays strong.

11.  One day in the way off future- I hope you find true love.  (Except that I believe true love is created, not necessarily found). 

12.  I hope you remember that your family members are your greatest friends and fans.

13.  I hope that you when you have a dream, you will be brave enough to achieve it.  No matter what obstacles are in your way.

14.  I hope that you continue to have the wide circle of friends that you now enjoy.  I admire how well you can get along with a variety of people.

15.  I hope you know how much I love you!

Happy Birthday Syd the Kid.

Fix the Gate

Easter morning was bright, clear and warm, unlike most of these recent days. I sat in the sun watching Cade and Lauren play soccer. My dad came over to visit and we were just enjoying being together. At some point, I’m not even sure how, one of the pickets on our gate broke off. They are pretty easily repaired, but it does take some time. I knew that it was important, because our dog loved to escape out of any free spot available. In fact, large portions of the fence were wrapped in chicken wire to keep that very thing from happening. But on that warm, lazy Sunday morning, I very clearly thought, “I’ll talk to Ryan about that later. The dog won’t figure it out today.”

Now let me remind you about this dog. She’s an English bulldog, who we’ve named “Tank”. We all love her like crazy. We spent more money that any sane person should, but had justified it, by saying that a dog would bring us more happiness than a one time vacation or the like.

The next day when we got home from school and work, the dog was there to greet us with her over exuberant self. But we had places to go, and things to do. So Lauren and I gave her a little pat, and headed back out the door. An hour later, when we returned, she was gone. We searched the neighborhood, we walked the park. We called the neighbors, our friends and even my parents. After hours of searching, we had to admit she was gone. There were lots of tears. Mostly from me and Lauren. There was regret. I should have told Ryan about the fence. Lauren was distraught because she had been irritated by the dog the day before. There was a little fear-“I hope whoever took her is treating her kindly.” We kept hoping and praying. But our dog never returned to us.

Since then, a thought has been running through my mind fairly often. “Fix the Gate.” Obvioiusly, it was too late for the literal gate at my house. But, how many things have I left undone, or unsaid. How many things have I put off for tomorrow, thinking that I still have time.

All of us have gates that need to be mended. It may be a sin left unresolved. It may be that we need to put a little extra effort into our relationships, our jobs or our callings. It may be lessons that needed to be taught to our children or forgiveness that we need to offer our spouse. It may be that we need to spend a little more time playing board games with the kids and a little less time playing solitaire on the computer. It may be that we just need to try a little harder and be a little better. Really, it could be anything.

Believe it or not, this story has a happy ending. Thirteen days after she went missing, Cade got a call from his friend Kenneth. It seems his brother walked out of the house to find a strange little dog on the steps. Kenneth thought it might be our dog so he called Cade. The rest of us were at Syd’s ball game when here came Tank, pulling on her leash dragging Cade along. I’ve never seen such joy (I know, I know, it’s an animal!) as the prodigal dog was reunited with her family. Sydney even ran out of the dugout to roll in the grass with Tank.  As we all knelt in the grass to welcome her home, I had to say a quick prayer of thanksgiving for our own little miracle. 

And let me tell you, we've all been checking the gate...

Global Warming?!

I don't believe it!  It's May 2nd and this is the view from my back window.

Yes, that's snow. 

I'm out of pellets for the stove.  My pea plants are frozen, along with my toes.  Yesterday, I bought some lavender to plant, but now it is residing in my semi-warm kitchen.

  I've lived here long enough to be grateful for moisture.  But I like mine in the form of lots of summer monsoon showers. 

Spring, where are you?