Joseph Smith Musical

A family in our neighborhood decided to put on a production. For those who aren't in my ward right now, the mom of this family is the current YW president so we have gotten to know their family pretty well. They have a son Dylan's age and a son Preston's age too, which is fun. Our kids LOVE going to their house. Anyway, they decided as a family to put on a play with friends and family members, which was a Joseph Smith musical. They felt inspired to do it this year, especially when they realized that the anniversary of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith fell on a Sunday. And they asked Marcos to play the part of Joseph. Sarah Slade made each person's role in the play a matter of prayer and she felt very strongly that Marcos was meant to play Joseph. Now, for those who may not know him, although Marcos is very social and doesn't mind being in the spotlight, he has never done anything drama related in his life. He was SHOCKED and honored at the same time, but was hesitant when accepting the part. It has been a busy month of memorizing lines and practices for him on top of an already crazy schedule at work and with church stuff...not to mention my doctor appointments and unexpected stuff like our swamp cooler dying. Yeah, life is always hard when you feel like you need a break, but somehow those are the times we really seem to grow.

The cast had a full rehearsal Saturday (like all day), but we had family here to help put in our new swamp cooler (there's a post to come on this adventure later...how's that for a teaser) Anyway, let's just say it was a stressful day for Marcos. He was late for practice because he had to help here and then went stressed out feeling like he was letting everyone down. And then I think the nerves just got to him. Just one of those crappy days that everyone has...but his just happened to be in front of a bunch of people. Poor kid! I didn't even know what was going on because I was at my nephew's birthday party, but I had a nervous feeling the entire time. And I must have been somewhat in tune because he really did have a rough day. But that's what I love about Marcos. We can talk through anything if we are both calm enough (sometimes we need a minute, but in general we communicate really well). He still had to prepare his high council talk, which happened to be in our ward this time (even more stressful than normal). I tried to be a good wife and printed him off a couple articles that seemed to stick out to me in case he needed extra material. He used a little, but really the kid just writes a basic outline and then speaks with the Spirit (something I wish I was a little better at doing).

Sunday was BEAUTIFUL! His talk went so well, the kids were fairly well behaved for me in church so I could actually listen, the 2nd counselor in the bishopric said some really kind words about Marcos recounting some of the ups and downs he's seen Marcos go through and how he's grown and made choices in faith that were necessary for him. The talk was on faith and trusting the Lord by the way. Anyway, then because the missionary who was supposed to speak had canceled at the last minute, the 1st counselor in the stake presidency spoke for about 10 minutes to wrap things up. I love listening to him. He always has a great story and speaks from the heart. Anyway, good meeting. And everyone commented on how well Marcos did and even on how his words were an answer to their prayers. He really is so inspirational. He's a humble, loving, caring man who would do anything for anyone. I'm a lucky gal!

He came home and watched Argentina cream Mexico, which continued the highlight of his day and gave him a bit of down time. Then we went over his lines one more time, he got dressed, and headed off for his big moment. I think I may have been more nervous than him. I have never had a moment like that with him. I always know he'll do well giving a talk or playing the guitar or playing sports or anything else that he has done that I've been a part of, but this was new to him and he was nervous. Thanks to some friends, the kids did really well during the play and I was able to take some pictures. They did it twice so I took the kids the first time and then went back alone while the kids played at a neighbor's because I didn't think twice in one day would fly with my little ones. Anyway, it was AMAZING! Some of you may have seen it, most probably didn't, but it was an experience not to be missed. My step dad commented that he figured it would be pretty good, but he had no idea how great of a production it would be. They went all out. They had a sound system, 300 chairs set up in their yard and the music and talent was incredible. Marcos was the only one without experience in the performing arts, which explains his nerves. But his love and testimony of Joseph Smith was apparent in every word he spoke. It was awesome to sit back and watch my husband shine, to watch him overcome this fear and be something different than he'd ever been before. And then to watch everyone congratulate him and the little kids who anxiously waited in line to meet Joseph. So cute! By the way, my kids sat with our neighbors for 90% of the play and then wandered up front where I was taking pictures. They sat quietly though and it was great to get to hold them and talk to them a little at the end. The very end of the play was amazing! John Taylor (played by Travis Slade - the dad) sings "A Poor Way Faring Man of Grief" to Joseph and their incredible brotherhood comes through during the whole thing. Then the narrator (Sarah Slade - the mom) says a few lines about the shots killing Hyrum, Joseph leaning over his brother and then finally about Joseph being shot. I don't think there was a dry eye in the crowd. But the best part of the entire thing for me was watching my sweet Dylan. He got so choked up about the prophet being killed and was almost overcome by the Spirit. I have never seen a 6 year old react to something quite the way he did. He asked me so many questions last night and today. He just could not figure out why someone would kill a prophet. He really does have a spiritual side to him that often catches me completely off guard. Marcos said one of the cast members saw him crying and made a comment about it. "What are you doing at home with that kid? I have never seen a child so young so touched by the Spirit." Marcos did the sweet, husbandly thing and said it wasn't what he was doing, but what I was doing. But that's not true either. It's true that we try to teach our kids the gospel and right and wrong, but that spirituality is Dylan's - it's who he is - and we're just blessed to be the ones raising him. Marcos mentioned it to the rest of the cast before they had a prayer to start the second showing of the production and Brother Slade said, "If we touch no one else but that young child tonight, we will have done our job." It's true, although I'm pretty sure they touched everyone through word, music and song. INCREDIBLE! For me, it solidified what I already considered to be a pretty firm testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Here are a few of the hundreds of pictures I took last night.

Cool Poem

I found this poem online and LOVED it. Check it out if you want.

June 2010

In case you think I've gone completely AWOL, we have actually had stuff going on this summer. Yes, we've had multiple crises to deal with (including my own breakdowns over everything) but we had done a few fun things as well. I just have had no time or energy to think about blogging any of it. I thought I had caught my cold in time and was feeling better, but it's back with a vengeance so I'm going to try to have a relaxing week with the family and just do the basics at home and call it good. Here are some of the things I never blogged about because I was either too busy, too tired, too sick or having a complete breakdown. :)

School Carnival

We went to the school carnival and wasted a bunch of money. Dave and Anthony had invited us to go to dinner that night, but when we remembered about the carnival we did that instead. The kids had a good time and we left when the weather got too cold and miserable to endure.

Planting the garden

Yes, we did finally get our garden planted. We were going to borrow our neighbor's tiller, but when he realized we had a double gate, he brought over the tractor and plowed it for us with that instead. That was definitely fun for the kids. They were both in the dirt and mud all day driving me crazy while I was trying to plant. I finally had to give Preston a timeout. When he doesn't cooperate for timeouts, we strap him in his booster seat (the high chair kind strapped on a chair). I decided we would do that outside, but unhooked it from the chair. Duh, how dumb can I get? He just stood up and walked around with the chair hooked to him. He was a complete mess, but we got the garden planted so we're good to go. I was so sore for a couple days after that, but it was worth it to get the garden planted. Now, if only it will grow!

Bird Preserve

Marcos took the kids to the bird preserve one day so I could get some stuff done at home. I love when they get to spend quality time with Marcos and it's obvious they had tons of fun exploring the great outdoors with him! He wore Preston out completely! He came home and crashed on the love sac in the family room.

Summer Party at Grandpa Mike & Grandma Suzanne's

We had our annual summer party at my dad and step mom's house a couple weeks ago. Marcos had church stuff and couldn't go and neither could Justin or Gustavo, but it was fun even without half of the "big boys" there. I had a weird pregnancy moment toward the end of the night and could not keep anything down. Angie had to drive me home because I couldn't stop throwing up, but we made it and the kids had a blast so it was worth it. Here are some of the pictures from that little adventure.

Backyard Swimming Pool

This is a picture of the little pool we ended up buying this year. It's actually really big and awesome, but it's kind of hard to fill. The sides don't want to stay up until there's water in it so holding them up while you fill it can be a problem. It's been a really good backyard entertainer though and a great way to cool down during our air conditioning crisis (we're still unsure what we're doing about all that...we'll keep you posted though).

Discovery Gateway

Our pass to Discovery Gateway is going to expire soon so we took a chance to go down and play there again. The kids had a blast and were so good! Preston played in the water and with the eggs. He has an obsession with eggs lately. Every morning he wants to help make eggs for breakfast, but the kids don't really eat them. I've finally gotten smart so we crack eggs and make french toast, pancakes or waffles a lot. He filled his basket so high with eggs, then he would walk a few steps, drop two eggs, bend down and pick them up and start the whole process again. But it kept him VERY entertained! I couldn't help but laugh at the whole process. Dylan was content playing in the market and barn area so the whole time I could just sit and watch both kids play. It was perfect! After that, we went to visit GG since we were already in SLC. The kids were pretty good there too. It was a really fun day!

Wrestling Camp

One of our neighbors called me last Monday to ask if Dylan would want to go to wrestling camp. Her older son had decided he didn't want to, plus she really needed him home that week to babysit the younger kids. So Dylan got to take his place at the wrestling camp. Dylan went Tuesday and LOVED it! I also found out I was going to be watching Anthony for 4 days while his dad went to Florida so I called the coach and asked if Anthony could come too. It was perfect! It was hard for Preston to be left alone, but it really helped break up the week of having an extra kid and I think they both really enjoyed it. It's a pretty good sport for rowdy little boys who just want to "fight" all the time. :) Coach said he did really well learning the moves and is super strong and competitive. Yep, that's Dylan! They had a bbq Friday night that Marcos took the kids to (I had to get ready for a Girls' Camp activity so I sent him alone). Poor man was on his own for a bbq, baths, movie night and bedtime, but he survived it!

Sleepovers

Here are some pictures from the week long sleepover that happened as a result of my tending Anthony. We put the blowup mattress in the baby's room and hooked up the portable DVD player there. I tried to have a sort of normal routine so they wouldn't be so grumpy, but it was hard. They were up at 6:30 every morning. At night we did baths, books and then they could have one 30 minute movie, then lights out. I learned the hard way the last time Anthony was over that he literally could stay up FOREVER and watch show after show without ever falling asleep. This worked perfectly, but they were still wasted by the end of the week. It was a long, hard week with lots of physical activities. The last night (well what we thought was the last night, but turned out to be the second to last night) Marcos let the kids watch a movie and have popcorn downstairs. Then he put them to bed...all while I was at a camp activity. He's the best!

Swimming

Saturday we took the kids swimming. Anthony lives in a community that has a pool so it was perfect. We had the pool to ourselves until a HUGE extended family came to the pool. Perfect timing to get some pizza and have lunch. It was a bit chaotic while the others were there, but we stayed until they left and enjoyed the quiet pool once again. We all got a little sun and were able to keep cool when our house was anything but pleasant. It worked out great!

Father's Day

Father's Day wasn't as special as I would have liked. I still wasn't feeling well and was way worn down from a LONG week. Marcos was cute in the morning and went in and laid with the kids on the blowup mattress. Then I fixed him (and the kids) waffles and orange juice before he had to leave for church meetings. Dave came to pick up Anthony and then I rushed to get ready for church. Preston was exhausted! I had planned on giving him an afternoon nap, but his body had other plans. We didn't even make it through the bread and water. He was so grumpy and poor Marcos had to take him home since I had to teach the lesson in YW. Nice Father's Day present huh? He cried in the car so Marcos took him home and held him - he was out within 10 minutes. He took over a 3 hour nap and Marcos was able to relax and watch a little soccer. Anyway, we went to my mom and Barney's house for dinner and had delicious Italian food. The kids were well behaved (for the most part) and got to spend a little time with grandpa. Nothing too special and I don't have many pictures, but it turned out okay. We got Marcos a book that he's been wanting (I didn't know that when I bought it so apparently I was in sync with him that day) and overall he didn't have too many responsibilities to take care of. We made the most of it and that's what counts. Marcos really is such a great dad! My boys absolutely adore him! I couldn't have picked a better father for my children!

Spiritual Ramblings

I started a blog to record my journal entries. I used to be an awesome, detailed journal type and have been horrible at journal writing pretty much since I got married (minus a few good attempts to get back into it). I decided the biggest reason was because of the time it takes to write my thoughts down. My thoughts RACE and my fingers do not and it's like I forget what I'm talking about before I can get the sentence down on paper. So my answer was to have a personal private blog to just record those thoughts down onto and then I could print it out for my records or whatever. Well, good intentions sometimes do not come to fruition. I haven't been the best about that either, but am trying to record the more important moments that I don't want to forget. You know the thoughts you don't quite dare share with the world on your regular blog, but you know you will want to reflect upon later. So that's what I'm doing. Things have been tough. Not super tough I really can't handle this, but a lot of little overwhelming things all at once that really seem to be adding up, plus some potentially big changes that are being contemplated (a few of them, but nothing too real or serious yet so I'll leave ya'll hangin' until there's real news to talk about)...oh yeah and the emotions of a pregnancy of 35 weeks. The one good thing is that moments like these seem to bring me into focus a little bit more. And right now I just have more of a desire to learn and study and ponder (everything really, but the scriptures in particular). Anyway, today I had a pretty decent scripture study session and decided I should record the experience in my "online journal." No lightning bolts or anything like that (oh how I would love a lightning bolt right about now!), just a good relatable scripture study moment...so I decided I would share it here. Not word for word, but the basic experience. I figured maybe someone else might find my moment useful as well. Who knows? Here's part of what I wrote.

During my studying tonight I was browsing the Topical Guide. I can't remember what the topic was now. It may have been teaching by the Spirit. I was all over the place in that Topical Guide. Anyway, my reading took me to Psalms 25. Yikes, Old Testament! My spiritual Achilles' heel. I read the couple of verses that I had originally sought out and loved them. So I read the entire chapter. It was amazing! I don't know if it was what I needed tonight or if it's one of those great chapters that just always gets you when you read it, but it really moved me. For one thing, I love the language. It's so beautiful and poetic. Sometimes I wish we still spoke as eloquently as they did back in the "olden days." I also loved how well I could relate to David's pleadings with the Lord while simultaneously trusting Him and appreciating the tender mercies that the Lord bestows. It's like I wrote the majority of the chapter from my heart. I want to write the whole thing down so I don't miss a word, but here are some of the highlights. It starts out:

1 Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

...

4 Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.

5 Lead me in thy truth and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day,

6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.

...

16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.

17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.

...

I don't even know how to put my words into this post (journal entry?) All I know is that this chapter is exactly how I feel right now. It's as if these words came from my personal prayer tonight. Lord, I'm pouring out my soul to thee. I trust in thee. Please show me the way. Teach me what I should do. Remember thy tender mercies. Please help and bring me the answers I seek because I am really struggling here, Lord. Amen!

Dylan's Prayer

The last few weeks of school, I really made an effort to say morning prayers with the kids (or at least with Dylan, depending on whether or not Preston was awake and/or cooperative). I have never been the best at consistent morning prayer so this took some definite effort on my part. Just before our morning prayer routine began, Dylan was going through an "I don't want to say the prayer phase" which is fine. I didn't push him. But after a while, he started to volunteer to say it more times than not. Kids offering to say the prayer again after not wanting to for awhile is one of those blissful mommy moments. His prayers are always good and not completely repetitive, but one morning he just about made me cry. Everything he said was new and different and it was like he was really talking to the Lord. I wish I had written it down right after it happened so I would remember EVERYTHING, but here is what I remember about Dylan's sweet prayer.

Heavenly Father,

We thank thee for this day. We thank thee that I can go to school and Papi can go to work and Mommy can stay home and take care of Preston. Please bless Papi at work that he will be safe and have a good day. Please bless me at school and help me to make good choices and always choose the right. Please bless the prophet. Please bless Jesus. Bless us to have the Spirit be with us today. Bless Mommy and Papi and me and Preston and please bless the baby in Mommy's tummy that she will grow up to be a really great girl. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I know, you've probably all experienced these moments, but I had to write it down. I need to remember these sweet moments, especially when it is so easy to focus on all the stressful frustrating parts of life. I am truly blessed to have such loving, sweet children and a man who is perfect for me! :)

Murphy's Law...Or Just Adversity?

It seems like especially during times when I am trying to make a potentially life-changing decision, that everything else goes wrong as well. I don't know if it's part of being tested and tried or if it's just plain bad luck, but it seems to be the case. I have been reading and studying and pondering and praying...a lot. It can be super overwhelming! I guess anything that changes and improves us for good requires hard work and sweat, but everything seems bigger and more dramatic when you're pregnant.

During my time of good intentions (the last couple of weeks or so) Marcos and I have had a few large miscommunications that unfortunately lead to pointless fights. I don't say this to complain because thankfully we are both adult enough to usually get past such things relatively quickly. But still, it adds to the stress. It's the kind of thing where I really feel Satan working against us because a fight should not have taken place based on the discussions we were having at the time.

To make matters worse, EVERYTHING seems to be falling apart in this stupid house. Marcos got up on the roof to set up the swamp cooler Saturday. Saturday evening, I could tell it wasn't as cool as it normally was, but didn't think much of it. I had been at a party at my dad's house while Marcos was stuck here finishing the swamp cooler and attending to stake business (that's a whole other story I won't get into now). Anyway, while I was at my dad's house, I had a major pregnancy moment and was sick and throwing up and just not doing well at all. Like sick enough that I had to have my sister drive me back home...yeah, it was BAD! And now I seem to have caught a blasted summer cold. The worst part about that is it means I could really have this stupid cold until the baby is born and that would really suck! My body just does not fight stuff off very well when I'm pregnant. Anyway, I stayed home from church Sunday still feeling like I could puke again at any moment. Plus the congestion setting in big time by that point. By the time Marcos came home from church, I knew the swamp cooler wasn't working. He told me sorry, but he couldn't get around to it until after work Monday. By 3:00 in the afternoon I was having a sobbing meltdown about the heat and everything being broken. We finally had a major "ox in the meyer" day and Marcos got up there to fix it. The air was blowing, but it wouldn't cool. We bought a new pump, a net cover so stuff wouldn't get caught in the pump and bought new grass stuff (even though he'd bought the sponge kind already this season - we heard the other kind works better). We had success! Cool air was blowing, but it was already over 85 in the house so I knew it would take a while to cool everything down. I went to work on a couple things in the office (where it was a little cooler) while Marcos took the boys to see his mom. I still hadn't showered, was a gross sweaty mess and needed to rest since I felt so sick. But I thought I would sort papers (my absolute LEAST favorite job in the universe) while I tried to stay cool. I went upstairs an hour and a half later to get something and realized the cold air was no longer blowing. CRAP! I called Marcos and he came home. Sure enough, the fan belt was going out so the motor wasn't turning as quickly anymore. He went back to the store, got a new fan belt and replaced that. He came in, exhausted and frustrated and faint from fasting all day. Poor man! We were both having a really rough day. Our neighbor stopped by to check on the process and gave us some pointers. But at least the machine was now cooling!

About 11:00 p.m. the stupid fire alarms start going off. For better or worse, it didn't wake the kids. Now I know if there's a fire, it'll be my job to wake everyone. We have some serious deep sleepers in this family! :) Anyway, we pushed reset buttons and messed with it for awhile and finally it stopped. But I could hear a weird faint beeping/buzzing upstairs. Marcos swore it was the swamp cooler, but I couldn't ignore it. So I followed the noise upstairs and it was the fire alarm in my bedroom. I thought it was broken for a minute and figured that was what had caused the alarms to go off in the first place and then I realized it was leaking water. SUCK! There was a big puddle on the carpet already and a pretty good sized water spot on the ceiling. I called to Marcos and then called my brother-in-law who told me to turn the swamp cooler to vent and go turn the water off downstairs. He walked us through a few things to try to figure out what it was. Is the water line broken or is it something leaking from the swamp cooler/duct itself? We were both up in the attic trying to figure out what was leaking from where (you should have seen me try to get back onto the ladder to get down...this belly is definitely in the way at this point!) We think it's probably the swamp cooler. Something about the tray and duct and there probably being a leak somewhere in that area. So for now, we basically have a glorified fan in the house until we get all these problems figured out. Grrr....

I hate complaining and wanting more or "coveting" (especially when things are so tight already) but I swear to you, if I do not get central air sooner than later, I may lose it completely. I know it's way more expensive to run and then I'll have yet another thing to gripe about, but honestly, this is ridiculous! I'm pretty sure we've spent quite a sum of money just to get this thing up and running this year...and it's still not doing that yet. I tell you, when it rains, it pours. The same thing happened last year when the water heater went out, and then the car died. It's never good timing and it seems to always be when you're already stressed or strapped or trying to learn and grow anyway. There's nothing like really testing you when you're already feeling pushed to the limit. So in case you've been wondering where I've been. I've been reading, studying, praying...and now doing major damage control to make sure our house doesn't fall down. Good times!