Rebecca’s Blog

The 4th was on a Sunday this year, so we nixed the pool and settled for fireworks and a BBQ at my parents’ school for superheroes.  Take a look.

Sariah glows.  We’re not sure if it’s her personality or some chemical reaction, but we’re looking into it.  If we could bottle whatever it is, we would no longer need flashlights that need constant battery changes.  We could make a fortune!!

Benjamin is able to throw fireballs.  Apparently he’s strong as well.  Here he seems to be spouting fire and nonchalantly checking out his biceps.

Elizabeth is some kind of superhero, but we’re not quite sure what her power is.  Our theory is that those two fiery infernos work similarly to a black hole.  If you get sucked into one of them, you may just end up on the other side of the the universe or in a different time or something.  Nobody really wants to test the theory though.

After a long night of hero training, Monday was dedicating to rejuvenating their hero powers in the sprinklers

Apparently Josh thinks that the job is best done when pants-less.

Water is definitely a must on rejuvenation days.  It allows the body to return to their normal temperatures after creating all that light and fire.  They look forward to these days excitedly.

Happy very late Independence Day everyone.  Hope yours was as explosive as ours!!!  And thank you to our forefathers who made it possible for everyone to live in a country with the freedoms we enjoy daily - including superheroes.

It quite often happens that a Saturday hits and our family is restless.  We no longer can stay within the confines of the city, but feel the call of the wild.  It is unfortunate that more often than not we are unable to heed the call.  However, there are days when we throw caution to the wind, spontaneously jump in the car and head for nature.  Such was the case on July 3rd.

During the summer there is but one option to ease our need for nature - Mt. Charleston.  It is not far and the only place nearby that allows some respite from the heat.  The drive to this small, but sufficient haven is quite interesting.  The scenery changes ever so slightly with each mile, slowly transforming from desert wasteland to pine forest.  Each elevation has its own foliage - and its own wildlife.

This picture of part of the mountain was taken about halfway up.  Here the desert landscape - complete with Joshua trees and small bushes - has mostly disappeared to make way for shorter, rounder pine trees.  Further up lies the towering pines one thinks of when talking of the mountains.

Unprepared as we were for hiking - remember, this was quite spontaneous - we drove around the mountain looking for ideal camping spots for future use.  Then we found an easy, flat trail to lose ourselves on and fully immerse ourselves in the peace nature brings.

Along our trail we find a hint of the desert peeking through the mountain floor.

Sufficiently edified by our bout outdoors, we head home.  We are happy and tired - and eagerly planning our next trip to the mountains.

On June 26th, my mom and I took off for a couple days to go to Utah.  Jaimie, my cousin and flower girl for my wedding, was sealed for time and all eternity to her sweetheart in the Salt Lake temple.

OK.  Before I go on, I must point one thing out.  When I first took this picture I thought it was to perfect picture.  Then I noticed something that really bugs.  Aaron, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO KISS WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED!!!!

OK.  I’m good.  Now we can continue.

This is the bride’s only niece.  She belongs to the oldest daughter of this larger-than-life-personality family - a family I love dearly.  Isn’t she adorable?  Consequently, she is also the flower girl of this shin-dig.  (I’m sure she would have been the flower girl if she were hideous too.  It’s just a plus that she’s so dang cute.)

Awww.  All the girls.  The one on the left with the crazy sense of style is the flower girl’s mommy.  The shining mother-to-be is carrying grandma’s #2 grandbaby.  (That’s #2 as in order, not importance.)

One thing you must know about this family is that although they are thoroughly schooled in the proper way to do things, they put their own spin on it.  This was very much in evidence at the reception - which was of a Moroccan theme complete with belly dancers.

And, scary enough, this is how my nephew, Gavin, watched the belly dancers.

Awwww…  The glowing parents to be.

Momma and flower girl.

My cousin Katie with her little one.

Then there was the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  Oh, sorry, it was the cake.  Unfortunately, this beautiful Moroccan themed cake started to get a little saggy under the lights.  I thought it was quite impressive, though, despite the tilt.  And, to make it even better, there was a funfetti layer!  I took some home to my kids.  Thanks Aunt Kim - my kids loved it!!

The little black splotch you see to the left of the picture is actually part of the groom’s cake.  It’s shaped like a grand piano.  I’ve been told that Aaron plays the piano very well.  Maybe someday I’ll be able to hear it.

On a different note, on display at Temple square there is a replica of the Salt Lake Temple.  The detail is amazing.  They took the wall off two sides and showed what the interior looks like.  I was able to see this beautiful model while I was waiting for the bride and groom to appear after the sealing.

On our way home the next day, my mom and I took a different route.  I’ve never been through Manti, so we thought it would be fun for me to be able to see the Manti temple.  Unfortunately, it was the weekend of the pageant so the chairs and equipment was set up all over the lawn, but it was still magnificent.  The above picture was my first view off this beautiful building.

The view from the other side.

All in all, I had a wonderful weekend.  It was fun to get away from the ever-present chaos of home and spend some time with my mom.  The sealing was beautiful - the reception fabulous and memorable.  It was definitely a much needed boost.

I’m going to take a wild guess and say that if you are reading this, you know me.  AND, if you know me, you know that I’m TERRIBLE at getting the laundry folded and put it away.  Can I just say, that it’s not ENTIRELY my fault?

Now, how am I supposed to get it done if they’re sitting in the baskets?

I figured I need to wrap up my posts about our trip to California in June.  While we were down there, we had a mini-celebration of Josh’s 4th birthday.  Gotta celebrate with BOTH sides of the family when possible.

Then, on the last night of our stay, there was the ever popular and highly anticipated arm wrestling rematch.  Jared, unable to reconcile himself to being beaten by a girl, wanted to reclaim his manhood.  I, having worked out consistently for six months, was pretty sure of my strength and complied without fear.  Here’s how it went down:

Of course, being a lefty, he beat me hands down left handed, but why would I show myself losing on my own blog?  Better to leave you impressed.

Have you ever gotten your kids what you think is the coolest gift only for them to ignore the gift and play with the box it came in?  Perhaps, like me, you’ve found yourself wondering why you’d spent the money on said gift and wished you’d just gotten them a couple of cheap boxes made of cardboard.

That’s where my brother-in-law, Andrew, is smart.  He knows the desires of kids’ hearts.  Who needs expensive toys when you can bring home 40 or so boxes?

The kids had so much fun coming up with things to do with these boxes that it led to hours of fun one June afternoon in California.

Between the boxes and the beach, no one wanted to head home and resume normal life.

Mid-June we headed down to California to bug our relatives again - we really love to do this.  Anyway, while there we decided to check out a new little stretch of beach called Little Corona.  I must say that despite the flies - of which there were massive swarms - it was the ideal little spot.  In the summer, most beaches in California are over crowded.  This little mecca wasn’t too bad.

OK, I must warn you.  There aren’t too many words in this post, BUT there are 23 pictures.  I really had a hard time cutting it down, but you need to give me some credit because it’s only a fraction of the near 70 that were taken.

SO, without further adieu, I give you Little Corona!

This kids loved the water!

Well, all except Michael.

Sariah seems to be having an exceptionally good time.  I wonder what she’s laughing at.

Oh.

What’s a trip to the beach without seeing a little booty?

Uneventful and definitely not as entertaining.

Should we tell him there’s no fish here in the shallows and that their meal of choice is probably not kelp?

Poor Josh got knocked over by a wave.

So he spent some quality time with Mommy.

Michael spent some quality time with Grandpa B.

And Grandma B.

We had a birthday in June.  The Joshinator turned 4!  It’s amazing how quickly this little guy is growing up.  Just one more year and he’s off to school, though he wishes he was going this year.  He’s completely ready.

This little guy amazes me sometimes.  He really is a special little guy.  He pretty much potty trained himself.  He’s taught himself to count to 47 and he’s learning his alphabet on his own.    I really need to start working with him.  That’s the plan this next school year when I have 3 kids in school all day long.

I know, there’s nothing like a little mommy bragging, huh?  Honestly, though, I need to look at how awesome he is or I would probably sell him.  He has really earned the name THE JOSHINATOR!  He destroys EVERYTHING and is beyond stubborn.  However, he can be really sweet when he wants to be - mainly when no one is looking.

Anyway, in celebration of his birth 4 years ago, we invited over Gaga and Papa for dinner, cake and ice cream.  Of course, the dinner of choice was macaroni and cheese and dessert was 100% chocolate.

And, of course, there were the presents.

Happy Birthday my little guy!

About 2 months ago, we had a family home evening on fire safety.  As predicted, the lesson, which was presented very factually with a reassurance that they would most likely never have a fire, proved scary to all but Michael.  For about a week or two, every child was praying that our house would not catch fire in every single prayer.  As time passed, so did the fear and I thought we were free and clear.  What I didn’t realize was that Benjamin’s teacher was going to show a video that would bring the fear back at a level I didn’t think possible in a five year old.

For those of you who don’t know Benjamin well, he is one of the most sensitive children I have ever met.  He’s my child that can’t watch Hook because he gets really upset and starts to cry during the scene where Pan, as a baby, rolls away from his nanny in the parameter and ends up lying in the street in the rain without ever getting saved by a loving parent.  He can’t handle the baby’s dilemma.

Anyway, being the sensitive child that he is, I was worried as I walked up to get him after class one day and saw him crying. I thought that he had gotten in trouble and scolded in front of the class.  (He’s seen a friend yelled at by an administrator in front of the class and it upset him.)  My fears increased when the teacher pulled me aside.  I thought for sure that I was going to get a full report of misbehavior.

I was wrong.  His teacher expressed her concern that Benjamin was overly afraid of fire.  She showed a video in class depicting firemen putting out homes on fire.  Benjamin immediately started crying and, instead of turning off the video or sending Benjamin out of the room, she just had another student put her arm around Benjamin for the remainder of the video.

This, paired with the FHE, just pushed Benjamin’s fears over the edge.  He wouldn’t come in the house at night.  When we finally forced him in, he would go into uncontrollable hysterics until he finally fell asleep from exhaustion.  Ry and I were at our wits end.  We had no idea how to handle the situation.   We had several long, reassuring talks with him about how we wouldn’t have a fire, how we are careful with fire and how houses are made not to catch fire easily, but nothing we said seemed to get through to him.  We had him thinking of happy things and praying for comfort whenever he felt scared, which would calm him, but not for long.  Eventually I got out of him that he was only afraid at night because that’s when the bad people set fire to people’s houses.  Once I understood that, I was able to tell him that wouldn’t happen because we don’t have any enemies and he started to improve - though I think that time was more a factor in that than my reassurance.

Thankfully, Benjamin seems to have forgotten his fears for now, but I’m sure they would resurface with anymore talk of fire.  For that reason, I told the teacher I was going to keep Benjamin home the day she was going to show the video again.  Thankfully, she chose not to show it.

Honestly, I can’t believe she is surprised that the video would scare a 5-year-old.  Though Benjamin was the only one to show his fear, I’m sure there had to be others frightened by the images of houses on fire.  I would have been at that age.

Anyway, during the several weeks of pyrophobia, I made an appointment with the local fire station for a tour.  They were really gracious and showed us everything about how the fire station runs, all the tools and, most importantly, the trucks.  They even set off the alarm telling the firemen to get to their truck.  It was really cool.  Here’s some pictures of our trip.

What trip to the fire station would be complete without being able to sit in the driver’s seat of the fire truck?

This is the infrared camera they use to detect life in smoke filled rooms.

Looks like a successful trip to me.  Hopefully we won’t ever had a resurfacing of this little episode.