I ordered some pizzas yesterday from Papa Murphy’s for our Beckwith family get together. The guy asked me for my name. I told him Candice, he wrote “Katniss”. My name has been butchered in many ways, but that is the first time ever it has been mistaken for that name! Made me want to go get myself a weapon…
Some Holiday Rememberances
The holidays have been so wonderful! I have wanted to write for many weeks about some of the extraordinary and memorable experiences we have been having but have been so busy with either holiday preparations or working on the functionality of my new blog. It is amazing how difficult this process has been! Everything I want to do on this blog I have had to look up some tutorial on how to do it! Or watch a YouTube video, or read long, boring articles on my question. It has been very tedious. I really want to just jump into the creative part of this instead of getting mired by the technical part. However, instead of waiting to get everything perfect I need to just record a few things. I will start with Thanksgiving. This year, we decided to have Thanksgiving with just our own little family. AND, we decided to eat out! For any of you out there, and as a reminder to myself, if you want to eat out for Thanksgiving dinner book your reservations early! Most ski resort restaurants provide amazing feasts as well as a few restaurants in Salt Lake (and there is always Chuck a Rama). We chose to go to Little America, downtown SLC. They do not take reservations and when I called they said it would be about an hour wait. We showed up at 11 am which was THE WRONG time to come. We waited for almost three hours! I stood in line, chatting with those around me while Grant took the children to Temple Square and then we swapped and I took the children to the Grand America to see the huge gingerbread house. When it was finally our turn to eat, the wait was certainly worth it! The food was amazing! So fresh, so varied, so delicious! Shortly after we started eating (it was after 2pm by this time) my friend Katie and her husband showed up. She said they come every year and arrive after 2 and only wait about 10 minutes. So now we know the secret! We had a great time, even with the wait.
…
New to WordPress
I had this little seed of an idea. Why don’t I try to make a really useful blog? One with all of my stuff on it, recipes, articles, links, thoughts, book reviews and lists…as well as my online record of our family. Here I am letting that seed take sprout and working really hard to make it all come together. It is terrifying and exhilarating all the same time. We’ll see if it works out as I hope…
Wants vs. Needs
We decided to follow some good advice and give our children something they want, need and something to read for Christmas. Anna was asking for many, many things and so I said, “Wait Anna, you already told me you wanted those Frozen dolls, now you are telling me you want something else.” She replied, “But Mom! Frozen stuff isn’t something I WANT! It’s something I NEED!”
Smart, smart girl.
Ode To Lizzie
My little girl is 12! She has been eagerly awaiting this day for…12 years! No, I’m kidding, it just seems that way. This last year of waiting to be twelve has been torture. Twelve means the following things for Lizzie (not in order of importance): She gets to wear makeup and dangly earrings, she gets to babysit other people’s children and go to the Young Women’s program at church for girls ages 12-18, and she is old enough to go to the temple. All such wonderful and exciting things!
So what is Lizzie like at 12? Today I got to introduce her to the other girls in the Young Women’s program at church. I got two minutes but could have taken an hour to describe this incredible daughter o’ mine. So here I go…
Lizzie. Sweet Lizzie. Twelve years ago you were born 7 weeks early. You weighed 5 lbs 10 oz. Your birth was induced because you were dangerously anemic. (A blood incompatibility.) Seconds after you were born you were placed on my chest, next to my heart and I was allowed to hold you for what I think was less than a minute. I was totally smitten by your tiny perfection. Then you were whisked away by the huge team of doctors and nurses that were waiting to take care of you. You were given a blood transfusion and then spent a month in the hospital to grow and to learn how to breath and eat. You were the sweetest little thing, though you looked like a giant in the NICU with all those other preemies. (Some who weighed less than two pounds!) That month of waiting for you to come home was probably much like the last month has been for you waiting to turn twelve! It seemed to last for an eternity. Every little thing was a celebration, when you ate by yourself, when you breathed by yourself, your first poopy diaper…
…
So We Don’t Forget
The link to Sam’s DC trip: http://americanheritagedctrip.wordpress.com/
The Canary in the Coal Mine
A few weeks ago I mentioned to Grant that I felt like we needed to refocus on our relationship and spend some quality time. He had been very busy and pulled in a thousand directions and so had I. He agreed and with gratitude said that I was like the canary used in coal mines. The canary detected harmful levels of methane or carbon monoxide. Sadly, the super-sensitive canary died when things got too toxic. Thankfully at that point the level wasn’t deadly for the humans…yet. I thought the connection he made was nice. I thought Grant’s willingness to make changes even nicer. The fact that I don’t die when things get a little busy, I thought the nicest of all.
A Random Sample
Awhile ago William said, “Kung Fu Panda really has a lot of good lessons in it. Like how it teaches you how to build a rocket.”
Anna complained to me that it is getting annoying that everywhere she goes (preschool and primary) the boys all want to sit by her and she just wants to be by herself. I said, “Well, it’s just because you are so cute and nice!” She said, “Well, then I just want to be not cute like you, and then the boys won’t want to sit by me!”
This week I presented at book club. The topic of discussion was man/woman marriage and the same-sex marriage debate. I was a nervous wreck about leading a discussion about this since I don’t enjoy politics, current events or conflict in general. I also feel very weak when it comes to debating or discussing high emotion topics. My heart rushes, my voice quivers and my knees go weak. Not to mention the discomfort of my brain going blank. I was also very nervous because I knew there would be some people present that felt very differently on the topic than I do. Well, the discussion went quite well due largely to the great turnout and many thoughtful people who wanted to discuss this topic in a civil and caring way. I felt good knowing that I had done the leg work necessary to make this topic personal. I could finally discuss it with my own words and not just quoting someone else. I could speak with passion and authority because I had read and prayed and pondered. I spent hours reading articles and books and although it was still not my favorite way to spend my time (I’d rather be reading food blogs), I am glad I did it. It also made me very grateful for the LDS church’s stand on man/woman marriage. It makes so much sense to me and in my heart of hearts it just feels right.
https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation
Now for a fall recap: (I’m hoping to do a summer re-cap, maybe in February when I am really longing for some warm weather.)
…
Anna’s Dream Man and Mine
In the car Anna was wondering who she will marry some day. I asked her what she was looking for in a husband (remember she is four). This is her list, in order:
1) Smart
2) He has to be the Bishop
3) Funny
4) He has to play in the backyard with the children
5) He has to take her out to eat
Our children learn so much about what they want by what they see. I would say that in this list she included things she sees in her Dad and things that she sees that are important to me. (eating out)
Dad and Sheri have been staying with us for the past three weeks as they prepare for their mission. It has been SO WONDERFUL! What a unique and memorable time to share with them. Today was their farewell address at church which was great, then a dinner for family and friends, then their setting apart. The stake president came over here and we had a little devotional where we all talked about what qualities Dad and Sheri have that will make them great missionaries. Then Dad and Sheri bore testimony of the importance of what they are doing. I felt the spirit of the Lord so strongly as we shared our feelings. Sheri talked about how she felt that there are angels all around us, helping us. Dad talked about how he knows there is a loving Heavenly Father who listens and cares. I felt overwhelmed with gratitude that my children could be surrounded, enveloped with the peace that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings. I am grateful for their example of service and sacrifice. I also felt so excited as Grant and I sat together holding hands that we will be able to walk through all the phases of our life together. I love being parents together, I look forward to being missionaries together, grandparents… I don’t feel like I mind what the future brings for us as long as we are together.
Gramma and Grampa Z at their missionary farewell
Someday I Will Look Back…
…And say, “What were we thinking?!?!” Or maybe, “How did we do all that?” Or, “Too bad we were so busy we are all now insane.” Or, “I’m sure glad we were able to do all of those wonderful things.”
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- …
- 20
- Next Page »