Sister Mikayla: crazypazzyweekstuff =)

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Mikayla
Date: Mon, Jul 22, 2013 at 12:35 PM

Hey Guys!

I love you all!

Kayla

  

Haha just kidding, but sometimes I wish I could beam the full impact of what I mean when I say I love you and then there would really be no need for me to write anymore =), but that wouldn't be as interesting, so here we go!

This week is a smear of color and Its getting harder and harder to remember the things that happen. Its weird, we are living our lives at such a slower pace, yet I feel like we are running around so much!

I had a sad experience this week and it has made me think about our purpose in life. So we had tracted into this lady about a month ago and she said she wasn't interested and was pretty firm about not letting us in. We gave her a pass-along card with our number on it and told her to call if she needed anything and she just kind of shook her head and laid the card down and shut the door. Nothing too unusual, and I'm getting used to that kind of response, but I didn't think anything of it. This week she called us and asked us to come and help her put her mom into her chair in the mornings and into bed in the evenings. (the lady we are helping is named Vi, she is in her 70s and her mom is 97, we don't know her moms name, vi just calls her grandma, so we do too). Anyway, we got into the room and there was a crumpled old lady sitting in a chair in the corner, Vi said she is only 70 pounds if that and I wouldn't doubt that, you can see her bones sticking out everywhere, sort of like pictures you see of people in concentration camps. She had a lost look in her half open red eyes and scabs all over her small body. Every time we come we try as gently as we can to put her in bed, but no matter what she always cries out, in her soft lost sounding voice, "Mama! Mama! Help me mama! Don't hurt me! mama, oh where is mama?" It just makes me so sad to see her like that, Like her spirit is yearning to return back home. It just opened my eyes a little bit. Life is so short 97 years isn't really long at all, and though there is suffering here we will all come back home some day.

On a lighter note, I'm glad you got to talk to Brother Zellers! He actually showed me because he was excited, because he has been trying to friend everyone in the family so he could get some contact with you guys, and it finally happened 1 month later haha =). Anyway I read some of what he wrote, and lest you be confused about his termige, what he means when he says he is sometimes "irreverent" are experiences like the following.

So we were doing a big service project over at their house shoveling gravel for about two hours and everyone was exhausted so Gary decided to take us all out to lunch. We all ordered and the waiter brought out the plates and set them in front of us and Gary and Laurie started eating. Sister Betts was like, "so are we all saying our own prayers?" And Brother and sister Zellers eyes both got really big, Sister Zellers stuffed her hands by her side and then brother Zellers opened his mouth, spit all the food he was eating back onto his plate and said, "Sorry I forgot!" It was a very unexpected thing to do, especially in a restaurant and the table was giggling for a while and it was a little while before anyone could keep it together enough to offer a prayer.

We are all going hiking today, but I will try to write some hand-letters =) It looks like Abe's birthday was fun, sorry for turning him into a Whovian (jejejeje....)

I love hearing about you all =) And I'm sorry you broke your heel off mom, but I'm sure it will be a funny memory later =) Nerds rule abe...! You will be like Dr. Who one day (I only say one day because he kisses a girl in one episode).

And I love the Zooey Deschanel quote, inspiration can come from many places, and it soo fits in with all the lessons I've been learning about allowing myself to be vulnerable.

We have to be vulnerable, its hard for us, but it allows people to love us freely!

I hope you all have a fanstappodanstapoodle week.

Kayla

P.S. sorry the writing turned into italics, There was no way I was going to be able to spell Zooey Deschanels name with out copy and pasting.

P.P.S. if you ever get another dog, get a Labrodoodle, its a poodle/ lab mix, so they are as big as a lab, and they look like labs but they have curly hair, one of the family's here have one, super cute.

Connor and Alexis--Teaching on the tramp (Teaching teenagers is different sometimes) =)

Extra materials for Pioneer Day...

Dinner with the Neilsen's granddaughters

Sister Eisenhower--Bishop's wife-- going back to South Carolina for a few months, so we probably won't see her again before we get transferred =(

The Whole Hodge Podge

Birthday weeks are always busy in my head and usually busy in my house. This one, preparing for Abe to hit that initial teenage mark, was no exception. I've decided that if our family just stopped eating my life would be much less stressful! However, apparently this wasn't the week for fasting, so I started cooking a day early. I got dinner prepped in the fridge and the decadent chocolate cake Abe wanted (and which turned out beautifully for Fred's birthday) in the oven and went out to weed my flower beds. I came in just as the timer went off and opened my oven, only to be greeted with a heat wave and a semi-shriveled, volcanic disappointment. With over two decades of experience under my belt, I have become a fairly competent cook, so failures like that aren't the norm and a huge frustration, especially when I can't identify the cause. After figuratively scratching my head for a good half hour, and re-checking the oven temperature and recipe for clues, I finally realized that an inverted serving plate, covering the burner plate directly over the oven vent must have been the cause. I didn't want to start over because the cake is a little pricey and time intensive, but I also didn't want to present my sweet 13 year old with a "dump cake", when he remembered how I had presented the same recipe to his father a couple of months previous, so I had to improvise (which is another stress elevator for me). I decided the only thing I could do was fill the gaping hole in the middle with chocolate ganache, cut down the sides in order to bring the cake back to level and embed those in small pieces into the ganache to give it more substance, freeze it so the center wasn't liquified, and cover the whole hodge podge with some of Fred's fancy cake decorating skills (which consist of him pushing frosting through a bag like one of my Sunbeams coloring a picture, only it magically looks better in chocolate than it does in crayon. =) For the most part it worked. Instead of being a two layer cake with a center layer of filling, it was a dense one layer with a gradient layer of a chocolate filling that became significantly thicker toward the center, but it was all so rich colored that you couldn't tell, by looking where the layers changed and Abe still loved it. Of course he would have been content even if I had presented him with dump cake because he's a boy who's more concerned about content than presentation, but he's also grateful and kind and he often offers to "sacrifice" things if he thinks it will ease my burden, which is ironically why I went to all the trouble to make it nice in the first place. He's a sensitive boy, who takes care of his mother.

We took him to Wahooz for his birthday date and had fun playing miniature golf, taking turns on the go cart and in laser tag and ultimately by being drenched by him in the bumper boats. I had no idea that piddly stream of water could get you so wet in such a short amount of time! Luckily it was a 97 degree day, so we sat out in the sun for a short time and dried out...mostly, but so much for getting ready that morning. Even so, it was relaxing and enjoyable. I love that rare, long block of one on one time with my children.

Abe has hit the difficult gift age, if you aren't willing to go technological, and that's always my last resort, especially at this age, so we ended up buying him a book, which sounds awfully pitiful and boring for a 13 year old, but before leaving on her mission, Mikayla got him hooked on a British, science fiction TV show called Dr. Who, that he sometimes watches on the computer for movie night and talks about incessantly. I perused a few shows with Mikayla months ago, just long enough for me to understand her "appreciation" for the charming and intelligently "nerdy" doctor--which is the kind that sweeps her off her feet) =) and to see that the genre is not at all my style (full of aliens and fantastical time traveling DNA mutating, superhero action/adventure). From what I've seen and read, the show isn't completely content flawless and there is much good vs. evil fighting, but the show seems to be grounded in positive role models and good moral lessons, so I've let him watch, so far. For a boy with a passion for Star Wars (all of which comes from his father), and an appreciation for witty dialogue (none of which can be found in Star Wars!=)) this entertainment past time seems to fill a nice niche for a certain audience and since my son is a self proclaimed "nerd", which in our family is defined as highly intelligent, exceptionally odd, and well loved, the pick was a winner. He had his nose buried in the Dr. Who-ology book for hours last night. I'm not sure this pairing of parents will ever produce a competitive athlete, though we sometimes enjoy playing sports games for fun. but we've got wild artists and dreamy musicians and mad scientists running amok! =)

My thoughts from this week seem to be weaving in and out of each other in a random muddle--no smooth transitioning from paragraph to paragraph, but I'm been writing too long and the hour is too late to change that smorgasboard pattern, so onward...

Date night this week was interesting. Fred took me out for ice cream and then we ate it in the park. The weather was beautiful and of course the company was charming. =) We were strolling through the rose gardens and out through the arbors and one moment my shoes were fine and the next step the entire platform heel of one of them was left in the grass and I was walking like Peg Leg Annie! It was an odd, slightly disconcerting experience, but it was a park so I just picked up my shoes, in pieces, and walked through barefoot. However, we had planned to spend some time browsing in a bookstore after our park stroll and since walking through retail establishments, barefooted, is generally frowned upon and the idea of walking through with a 4" limp wasn't very enticing either, we had a problem. We didn't want to just go home, so Fred had the brilliant idea of pulling into Savers as we were driving by. His mentality was that at a thrift store, my gimpy shoe and lopsided cantor would fit right in and nobody would notice--we could find another pair of shoes and get out quickly. His plan didn't seem probable or appealing to me, but it was better than ending date night early, so I awkwardly followed him into the store, with his constant reassurances that he was "covering for me", feeling just as conspicuous as possible, and hobbled back to the shoe section, where we easily found an adequate pair of shoes, which I promptly put on. I felt like a bunch of giggly teenagers, except we were trying to avoid attention instead of attracting it...well, I was...I think Fred was rather enjoying my predicament!

Eden made a skirt this week, which may not seem like an accomplishment except that I stopped sewing, except when necessary, years ago and haven't taught my girls any sewing skills. Eden wanted to learn to make a maxi skirt for a P.P. project so I figured, "how hard could it be"? We did have a few cutting and sewing glitches, since we weren't using a pattern, and Eden's inexperience made me laugh and shake my head a few times, but it wasn't bad and the end product was a pretty, feminine creation that she looked lovely in today, and most importantly she was so proud of herself. She now thinks she's a pro, after a few straight stitches and an elastic waistband, but I say more power to her--confidence is half the battle, though I'm not sure she'll be too happy when she decides to do something more difficult and has to use a detailed pattern. She's not real keen on following precise directions, but she's had a good experience for starters and that can make all of the difference. Now the twins are determined to make skirts as well, so that is on their agenda for this week. My agenda involves maintaining patience. =)

I had two sweet "and a little child shall lead them" moments this past week. First in choir: It was a week where all of our men were in auxiliary meetings right after church so we only had the women's sections. We were trying to work on a song where we really needed to hear the men singing in order to get the womens timing and parts right, so the choir director asked a small group of boys, between the ages of 8 and 10, who were sitting on the side of the room just waiting for their mothers, to fill in for the men. The part we needed was a medley of primary songs, so it was somewhat familiar to them, but intimidating. The four of them quietly walked to the back row of seats, their feet dangling off of the chairs and sang in pure, childish voices for the rest of practice. I don't know if it helped us with our notes and timing as much as it made me emotional and helped remind  me that "a song of the righteous is a prayer unto me". Second in my back yard: Every night we cover our big, plastic pool. It usually takes two people and can be a little tricky, but is usually pretty simple. Last week, while Fred was in Florida, we had a wind storm start up just as Abe and I were trying to get the cover on. Eden wasn't home so there were only 4 of us, but I had to yell for the little girls and even then, the cover kept billowing and blowing off. I knew if I left it, we would lose it over the fence, but if I didn't cover the pool it would be full of debris in the morning. We worked at securing it for a good 20 minutes by tightening the rope, and laying objects against it, but it was out of our control. I laid my plastic leaf rakes on the section I was holding and they stayed just long enough to run in the house and check the weather report, and see that 12+mph winds were expected until after midnight, which was 4 hours away. We were all standing there fighting with the whipping tarp, wondering what else we could do, when Lily suggested that we pray. Sometimes I forget or even feel a little sheepish about praying for such temporal, "unimportant" things, but you can't contradict or question a child's faith, so I asked Lily to be voice and the wind promptly ceased and stayed calm the rest of the night. I don't know why I am ever surprised by those immediate answers to a child's prayer, but it stirred my soul.

Speaking of emotions and stirring of souls, I was in an early morning choir practice today, minding my own business, when our next door neighbor, who leaves for his mission on Tuesday, walked in the back of the chapel wearing the tie that Eden had given him as a gift. He's a good kid, a loyal friend, and a former primary student, but I didn't expect the sudden emotions that I felt and by the time I left the stand to sit with my family, I was an emotional mess. You would have thought it was my son giving his farewell talk! I think it was just the culmination of feelings, some for this young man, some for my daughters 2 year loss, some for being a missionary mom, some for just being a mom, period, and some for love of all of the youth in general, who had come to hear Gabe talk. My over-emotions should seem common place by now, but they often catch me unawares. I often wonder if everyone else but me is used to my tear stained face or if most people worry what is endlessly wrong with me. It bothers me--this lack of control. I'm afraid it always will.

Jordan traveled almost 10 hours this weekend to experience the Hill Cumorah pageant and was also able to visit the Sacred Grove and the surrounding church sites. He is constantly amazed at the richness of history, not only of the church but of our country in the area surrounding him. Being in the same places as actual people and events has made quite an impact and I can appreciate those profound experiences. He's hoping that one of these years our family can visit those special places all together. Me too--before we get too large to make that possible. Unfortunately, I didn't look into it until his trip was over, but it appears on the map, that he would have driven very near Mys and Dave's during his travels. It seems such a shame that I didn't figure that out beforehand and he missed that opportunity to visit family. I'm not always on the ball, unfortunately.

I happened upon a blog several months ago, that I now subscribe to and find enlightenment from. If anyone ever wants some good food for thought, you might check out Russ Hill Media.

Quote of the Week:
"Being tender and open is beautiful. As a woman, I feel continually shhh'ed. Too sensitive. Too mushy. Too wishy washy. Blah blah. Don't let someone steal your tenderness. Don't allow the coldness and fear of others to tarnish your perfectly vulnerable beating heart. Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to truly be affected by things. Whether it's a song, a stranger, a mountain, a raindrop, a teakettle, an article, a sentence, a footstep, feel it all – look around you. All of this is for you. Take it and have gratitude. Give it and feel love." (Zooey Deschanel)

Signing out...

Birthday Morning--Card from "Sister Bloomquist"

Fred's Breakfast in bed flower addition

Mini Golf with "Spin the Wheel" rules

The Master

Final Shot

Start your engines...

Crazy Teenage Driver

We had fun watching Abe move like "The Speed of Light"

Abe's "exceptionally odd" side

Getting excited for Laser Tag

Thinking of all of his birthday wishes =)

My Uber Reader

Dr. Who Mania

"Bella"--A Movie Review

It's risky to post a movie review on a family blog because everyone's tastes and filters are so different, but even if most of you are bored, some of you are offended and even one of you are touched, like I was, it will be worth it to me. Maybe if I carefully pre-weed the assumptive bored and offended parties out, they won't even be interested, which means they won't be frustrated with me from the start and the "one" will be the only person interested enough to try it. We'll hope for that scenario.

The weeding: First of all this is an independent festival film--translation: "artsy", small budget, and could be classified by the action/adventure crowd as a painfully slow "talker". There half of you weeded already. =) Secondly, this is rated PG-13 and I would not watch it with anyone of a more fragile age as it deals with some very heavy emotional and moral issues,  a wrenching car accident, dysfunctional relationships and abortion among them. It also portrays some minor drinking and smoking. All of that baggage will weed some of you that shouldn't be weeded--it would normally weed out me. To unweed a few of you, the film is anti-abortion, inappropriate relationships are all pre-story, off screen and portrayed as destructive. The accident is not graphic, but still profoundly harrowing. I may have heard one reference to Hades, but other than that, no language, and the drinking and smoking aren't glorified or promoted. The movie does jump back and forth between the past, present and future and gets a little confusing at times, but it still works. The guys beard will make you crazy, but it's symbolic. This isn't "entertainment"--it's food for thought. Any of you still with me? Maybe one? That's all I need. =)

Why I feel compelled to share: Among all of the noise and "entertainment" of most movies (and we watch a lot in the summer, often scraping the artistic barrel looking for something "clean") this one stood out, luminous and full of heart. The messages were poignant, with no agenda except to promote charity and light by presenting a few glimpses into the opposition between humanities natural man and the spiritual dictate to love one another. It is a movie where nothing happens on the outside because everything is happening on the inside. It is about suffering and solace. It is about doing what's right even in the face of everything that is wrong. It is about how we treat each other. It is about family--about pure love.

If you had to read this and aren't interested, that's 5 minutes wasted and 91 minutes saved. If you watch this and hate it, I'm sorry. If you watch it and love it, you are most welcome; I want to know.

Bella--People's Choice Award Winner, Toronto Film Festival 

Sister Mikayla: Good News, Bad News

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Mikayla Bloomquist
Date: Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 12:16 PM

Hi all! Good news bad news epiphany for me this week =). Also, forgive me if I fail to answer any questions that were asked in previous letters, I believe I have read them all by now (now that mom resent the letter that didn't get to me last week) but as I have said before, and I am realizing ever more, I have a terrible memory, but I try my best. I have lost several large no very losable items since being out on my mission and I haven't the slightest idea as to where they have gone. In the end its a blessing and a curse, but mostly a blessing. I have learned to become less attached to material things because they run away from me all the time anyway, and I've learned to rely on God for the missing pieces of history in my life that have left and make life confusing. Isn't it wonderful the trials we are given, when we realize that having the trials actually make us happier than not having them? =) 

Anyway, sorry about that random thought.

After several weeks of receiving the answer to my prayer for charity and humility I am finally coming back up to the light. (only for the present of course =), God is all about pushing us to be better).

We were sharing a message with the Zellars (I don't know if I've mentioned this, but he is a recent convert, baptized in April, so that is why we teach their family) Anyway, I wish you guys could meet their family, but they are some of the most Christlike people, and brother Zellers said something that was profound to me last night. I will try to get this as close as possible, so this is a quoteish, "We just have to open our hearts and love everybody, and get rid of our walls, we have to be going down this two way street of either receiving or giving love at all times, only when we break down the worldly walls can we feel the love and light of Christ reflecting in our lives."

I've been learning how true this is! We have to be willing to say I love you to the people who will laugh at us for saying it, we have to be willing to pull the weeds for the neighbor down the street, even if she yells and says were doing it wrong. We have to be willing to tear open our hearts, and pour our souls out to any and all of gods children, even when there is a high possibility that we will be laughed at by them. The key is not to make our hearts strong from the outside in, by building a hard crust around our hearts and making ourselves oblivious to the people around us! No we have to strengthen it from the inside out, by letting every person in, every kind person, every mean person, every person at all. It is such a scary thing to leave the heart open. Its so vulnerable! But when we allow everyone in, and turn to the other cheek when it gets bruised and love them again and again and again, fully and openly, it becomes strong and so full our lives just burst and overflow with happiness.

A few days ago the Sister Trainer Leaders (they are like the Assistants to the President, but girls) came and stayed the night with us. One of them could tell I was sad, and even though she is a complete Stanger she came over to me, gave me a giant hug and said "I love you sister Bloomquist!" And strangely I knew that she did! that's the power of charity and Christ's love, we can love even complete strangers as deeply and sincerely as our family through Christ.

"Whosoever shall loose his life for my sake shall find it!"

Well your guyses 4th sounds like it turned out exciting! The parade sounded like it was spiced up more than usual! (poor little girl!) But even though not many people were able to make it I bet you all had a wonderful time with the Joneses! They are wonderful people! I love them so much, they are all great examples of charity and service, and full of the Spirit! It beams off of them!

Lily told me that they set off another "bomb" firework! Fun =) Did you feel the heat from it like last time? Middleton is pretty intense! 

Summer sounds like it has been full! with so many fun things. I remember summer reading time, which was wonderful- reading Hank the Cow dog underneath the trees on the farm, great memories =).

So I'm guessing that mom went on that new ride at roaring springs right? The one that takes 4 seconds to get down? Remember the "Wicked"...? Ya sorry about that. Anyway, Abe said he went down, were there any other braves? 

Man, I haven't really told you about specific experiences this week and I've already written a long letter!

Well its all good, everything is sort of a blur right now...

oh Ya! We met with President Murdock and Sister Murdock this week! They are amazing and are going to add so much in their own way to the mission! Its their 2nd week I believe and our zone was the 15th one they were meeting with so they looked pretty exhausted, but it was really cool to meet with them!

Anyway, have a beautiful week with all of your escapades! Sweet that you had a family bike ride! I think me and sister Betts are going to start doing that in the mornings for workout! 

Love you all!

Kay

Favorite Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 13:2-7, Moroni 7:45, 1 Corinthians 10:31

Me and my letter-writing hick outfit (I love the hat and the shirt and the pants, 

so I wore them all together, even though they are all different styles haha)

Skeeter the Clown, who we helped for the day 

(Sister Betts is afraid of clowns and was very quiet all day)

"Summertime, And the Livin' Is Easy"

I'll admit I am not usually good about going to weeknight R.S. By the time 7:00 rolls around we've only eaten and cleaned up dinner and I just want to be with Fred and spend time with my family relaxing, but this month daughters were invited for a Spa Night and the announcement was made in primary, so of course the twins knew and were looking forward to it enormously, so I couldn't let them down. Besides, since I was taking half of my family with me, it was much easier to be motivated. It was a low key evening where mothers and daughters just sat around and did each other nails and then gave each other pedicures. Eden's nails and toes were already done and Lily and Sophie would rather do than have done, so I was really the one who got pampered that night. I now have little flowers on my toes, thanks to Lily. =) Eden painted my nails a glittering silver, which was lovely, though not exactly comfortable and which started chipping, even though she had done all the steps of topcoating, as soon as I started dishes and gardening the next morning, so I took off the polish before 24 hours was up. I love painted nails, especially french manicures, for a few hours, for a special event, but my hands are tools and I just can't have them too decorative for too long or it drives me CRAZY! On the other hand, or should I say foot, I'm not as talented or as jointed as Fred or Mikayla and so my feet aren't used as tools--at least not the tops--so they can be painted and stay untouched for weeks, so I like pretty feet--especially in summer.

Every year our orthodontist sponsors a Roaring Springs patient appreciation day and makes extremely discounted tickets available to patients, family and friends, so, occasionally we go once a year. It makes for a fun, mini vacation, where the family is captive together for an entire day. I know the world can be a visually promiscuous place, especially when the weather gets hot, I also know I'm very sheltered being home so much, but I did feel like we had walked into Perdition when we entered the gates of the water park. We were definitely surrounded by "the world" and all it's delusions. I don't think I have ever seen so many bodies exposed, tattooed, pierced, painted, unkempt, unhealthy, advertised and in short completely disrespected, all in one place. It wasn't pleasant for me, but I felt extremely protective of my young children, especially my almost 13 year old son, and sorry for my husband. But as the day wore on, I felt, most of all, a deep sadness that there were so many people who didn't know who they were. Hollywood likes to try to glamorous some of those kinds of attitudes, and on the silver screen, with the artificial lighting, the airbrushing, the carefully scripted dialogue, the controlled environments, they are even almost successful, if we aren't discerning, but in the real world, their is nothing glamorous about disobedient or lost souls--there is only heart wrenching. I suppose we could avoid the water park, but unfortunately I've seen the same things walking through my local Walmart, just not in quite the accumulated abundance, so we just tried to focus on each other and I thought is was a memorable day, in happy ways. My thrill seeking children go on all of the rides, Fred goes on most of them, and I watch on the "wild" side of the park and play on the mild side. I missed my boy and girl, but I am so thankful for the time I still have with these younger 4. They make my life fulfilling.

Abrahm's birthday is on Saturday and I'm a little stumped this year. He is changing so quickly--growing up--but still has so much little boy left. He hasn't produced any Lego clues (which is rare for him) so I'm trying to figure out what to get him that would be magical this year. Fred is out of town this week, at a RT conference in Florida, so I'm on my "shopping own" on this one. 

Things always feel a little flat and spontaneous (not in a good way) for me when Fred is gone. I don't cry anymore, like I used to. (No more Girls Camp leaders making fun--no young girls swooning over the "romance" of it all) but I miss him just as much. He left on Saturday, which we filled up with work. Sundays are always good days to contemplate individually, so the day was still pleasant and I finished a good book by Sis. Oaks, and spent some quiet time, listening to the trees and just feeling blessed. Oh the difference perspective makes! Tonight is FHE, which makes missing a husband more poignant, so I think we will join our neighborhood in their "Walkabout" this evening, getting to know our neighbors better. I'm still working on planning "distractions" for Tuesday and Wednesday--probably Personal Progress projects with Eden--so the time will fly by. It will be good to have Fred back on Thursday. I've already put in my time of "separate lives" when he worked night shift for all those years at the hospital and I don't long to go back. It's interesting, this hole; Fred works all day, so he wouldn't be here during the day anyway and at night, when I climb into bed and it feels the loneliest, he would normally already be in dreamland and I would open up a book, just the same as I will every night this week, but even just his presence beside me makes all of the difference. 

I just looked at my calendar and their is only one week left in the summer that is void of some big event happening for someone in our family. I guess I had better schedule something to get dibbs on my family before someone else does. It seems that our time together is always fragile.

Quote of the Week:
"When we focus on what is good and beautiful in someone, whether or not we think that they "deserve" it, the good and beautiful are strengthened merely by the light of our attention....Sometimes it is a long, slow flowering. Sometimes it is necessary .."to reteach a thing its loveliness, to put a hand on its brow of the flower, and retell it in words and in touch it is lovely until if flowers again from within, of self-blessing."" 

(Katrina Kenison, and quoting Galway Kinnell)

My Lily/Sophie Pedicure

Jet's Lily/Sophie Makeover

Jet promoting and encouraging unruly behavior--ALWAYS. Trying to act innocent--NEVER.

Sunday walk--missing 1/3 of my family =(

Forgot to check the mail on Saturday--Reading Mikayla's letters =)

My Edey Pede

Our Olive is getting old These walks are hard for her now-- but we love this dog!

Feeding the horses on Duff--a favorite part of our Sunday walks

The Camera Man

Long Enough to Listen

It has felt like a festive summer week with Independence Day and Mikayla turning 20 and children swimming everyday! Monday we spent hours setting up the pool and were still heavily into the process when Jet came over at 3:30. He had walked over from his house and didn't want anything more to do with the heat so we put he and Eden on dinner duty together, which probably wasn't the most effective decision since his culinary skills are more limited than my 9 year olds =) and Eden is more concerned with having a good time than managing it. Under normal circumstances it could have been more problematic, but even though they didn't follow the directions precisely =S and it took almost 2-1/2 hours for them to get a pasta salad on the table, and the presentation needed a little help, the pool had us occupied until they called us in and by then we were grateful diners, so it all worked out and everyone was happy. The pool took almost 24 hours to fill completely, but my young children were crawling around in inchless water at the bottom of it within minutes. "Opposition in all things" can make you grateful for the smallest of things.

I love the 4th of July in Middleton--it's such a community day. We missed a lot of the public events this year because the kids wanted to cool off after the parade in the pool, but we did ride our bikes downtown for a snow cone and saw the mayor in the dunk tank (looking like a happy, drowned rat) and friends and acquaintances all around. It just felt like one big, extended reunion. Even the "strangers" seemed to feel like family for a day. This year even the parade was even more "exciting" than usual. We always sit a block from the beginning, so some of the kinks get worked out in front of us and this year one of those kinks was a young colt who got spooked, dropped it's 3 year old rider, and went galloping full speed (well as full speed as a horse can go with shoes on asphalt--slipping and sliding) down the street in front of us, sending people jumping up and scurrying from the roadway. Another rider finally got ahold of the reigns a couple of blocks later and back in the owners hands, but not before another child was knocked over. Fortunately, neither of the children were seriously hurt, but their was some crying, which made us all sad. And then, just as we were all getting over that shock and re-settled, a firetruck drove by and sprung a leak from one of the hoses that they use to spray the crowd. Within seconds the street was filled with water and several teenagers dropped and tried to "swim" in it. That was also fixed quickly, but it made for a "never a dull moment" experience.

We were prepared to spend the day with just us, which isn't bad because I love "us" =) but we were so excited that Renee's family ended up being able to come again, in the evening, this year. It has become almost traditional to have our two families together for this holiday and we love their company. They had plans to go up to Cascade and unfortunately, for them, there weren't any camping spots open, but it worked out in our favor, which I know won't always be the case. We did miss Ben, who had a lot on his mind and more things to accomplish than time to accomplish it in (a state which I'm sure we can all relate to =), but it was still so much fun to visit and try to keep all our little pyro's safe. =)

I was talking to Renee about trying to figure out what direction to head our family in physically, and as is usual, she had insight that made me think--unknowingly so did Jake (which I'll come to in a bit). Renee said she loved the privacy of her 10 acres, but it was also a constant pressure, especially for Ben, to keep it up. It's that old irony of with more freedom comes more responsibility...or is it the other way around? Maybe it's actually a symbiotic relationship, but whatever it is, my "dream" of largesse and freedom has increasingly felt more confusing, stressful, expensive and out of reach at every turn. Then Saturday, as our family rode our bikes into town to browse at the new thrift shop's open house, I was reflecting on how much I loved being so close to everything. How lucky we are to be able to ride bikes or walk to the grocery store, library and parks. How we can walk a couple of blocks to my little girls school in the Fall and the city fireworks show in the summer. How Eden has access to free transportation, riding her bike to work. How, though I'd prefer solitude, we have ideal neighbors in every direction. And I started wondering if the timing to move on wasn't just yet.

On Fast Sunday, I decided I was going to mentally take all the worrisome, current frustrations in my head, which are many, and just lay them all out emotionally and study and ponder until some kind of clarity emerged. At 12:30, I gathered books and paper and pen and went into my backyard. I didn't request solitude, but because I have a house full of nappers on Fast Sunday, there were hours of that serendipitous gift available. Eventually people would drift in and out, but never breaking the peace and quiet. However, I guess Lily was counting, because at dusk, Fred informed me that in amazement, she announced to the family that, "Mom has been outside for over 9 hours!" It didn't feel like that, but eventually answers did start coming and then they started flowing in succession and my hand couldn't keep up with my head and my heart. They just started as many little fragments--a piece here, a piece there--but by days end I started to feel an accumulated feeling that seemed to be, "Get your house in order"--in all senses of the phrase. Monday more answers came and by Tuesday, I had a big answer and contentment for the present. It's not a light at the end of the tunnel that I've been pleading for kind of answer, it's just an immediately right now answer, but it's a next step and none of us can move forward faster than a step at a time and I feel content with one inspired foot in front of the other. Maybe each step will come individually as I master the one previous. Maybe this is going to be a very slow process and I am being taught to be patient for a heavenly timetable or maybe Heavenly Father is just trying to show me that it's up to me how quickly I want to learn to walk. That lesson I'm still not sure of. I have felt rushed to see the end goal in sight--rushed by rising interest rates, by lots that won't be forever available in this small town, by the dynamics of my family that seem to be bringing us to an uncomfortable and inevitable crossroads, by wants that have started to seem like needs. And this is where Jacob's insight comes in. Come to find out, in the course of normal conversation, that he is "living in a closet"...technically. It's of his own doing. Ben and Renee's house inhabits thousands of square feet, but his little sister wanted her own room and he had been sleeping outside for months, even in the winter, and apparently doesn't care that much about ownership of personal space so he handed it over and stashed his belonging in a closet. We had a good laugh when the situation came to light and made good sport of it, but it got me thinking... Maybe Jacob doesn't feel the need to own a particular space because he has so much space around him, but just maybe the truth of the matter is that we all have the opportunity to "live" in the same amount of space because living can't be about what surrounds us but what flows through us. If that isn't true then so many of us would be symbolically paralyzed, forever, inside of our circumstances, which is how I have been feeling. But, the unintended perspective, from a kind and bright 18 year old boy, has helped me gain some movement in my almost petrified, spiritual limbs, and the irony of that is, I have found that when my stillness is voluntary, it makes all of the listening and learning difference in the world. I just never realized, with such understanding, that "Be still and know that I am God" was a promise preceded by two action verbs.

One other important lesson that I learned this week is that if we are diligently searching, Heavenly Father can answer our questions using just about any resource. Though I did study my scriptures and my patriarchal blessing, though I was spending time on my knees, my most insightful answers came this week from excerpts from a book on being single (written by Elder Oaks second wife) and a tiny little passage in my Dave Ramsey (the only man my husband is jealous of) =) book. And if I shared them with anyone else, except Fred, who is having to experience all of this soul searching with me, they wouldn't mean anything significant by themselves. It is the individual pondering--the quiet reflection--that allows personal revelation, which is different for each of us. It is so difficult, sometimes, to be still long enough to listen.

So, for at least the next year we will put our efforts into making this home a haven and reinforcing the "closeness" of our family without any of the added stresses of something new. We will allow gratitude to seep into our souls for the things that we have been blessed with. I will work at regaining that inner personal peace that I have lacked. We will keep planning and preparing--studying and learning. We will even keep dreaming, but in the magical, uncoveting way that is progressive and purposeful. In short, we will work on getting "our house in order" and keeping "our eye single to the glory of God".

Quotes of the Week:
"Some of our long-held dreams may need closer scrutiny. I have learned that I can 'rewrite my dreams' to be in better alignment with the blessings that Heavenly Father wants me to have. Blessings are better than dreams. too many dreams are based on wishes and romantic illusions. The more I live, the more I recognize that some dreams really are foolish or unnecessary. Even righteous desires may need to be realigned into an eternal perspective and timeline. The delivery schedule may not be of my own making."

"What I dream of and desire often has little to do with the blessings Heavenly Father ahas in store for me. Our dreams may be of our own making: how we expect our future mate to look, the homes we will live in, and the children we will have. These dreams have little root in reality; in fact, the dreams I've conjured up for myself actually have prevented me from seeing the blessings I do have, the ones the Lord has extended me."
(Quoted by Kristen M. Oaks, from two close friends in, "A Single Voice")

"We must go forward. God expects you to have enough faith, determination, and trust in HIm to keep moving, keep living, and keep rejoicing. He expects you not simply to face the future; He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it, rejoice in it, and delight in your opportunities." (Jeffrey R. Holland)

Walking to the Parade

Waiting for the Parade

Watching the Parade

Visiting with the Jones's--Daytime Fireworks

Nightime Fireworks after the Big Show

"Lovely" Cousins--They're Keepers!'

Sister Bloomquist: !htruof yppah ylimaf olleh

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Mikayla
Date: Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 11:34 AM

Heya guys!

this week has been a little bit different because of the fourth, the 4th is big here and everybody's family's from who knows where are in town, so we had a lot of trouble stopping by to visit people, but we ended up doing a lot of service. On the fourth we were only allowed to make set appointments and no tracting, so that was a strange day as well! We were able to watch the fireworks for a little bit with the Zellers, but it was just a strange day! I'm probably pretty tan now, though, which is a plus =)

Anyway, thank you all so much for the package you sent! It got here on Tuesday, but I waited until Friday to open it. I love all the pictures you sent! Yay!!!! And the skirt was super cute, but I forgot to take a picture of it on Saturday, because I wore it then, it was nice to mix it up a little a wear something different haha!

Hey I can't believe that I've been in Meeker nearly 2 months! WOW! Time flies when your head gets spun! Or something like that.

Also we made the apple cinnamon muffins this morning which were amazing and magical because they were super fast! Yum! Thank you! I'm saving the others... I'm not sure for what, maybe a low day or something, cause they made me feel right at home. (Hey by the way, I was reading in the old testament this week and found a scripture that I think is referring to the cookie, cake, or brownie batter on the sides on the bowl when baking. Leviticus 19:9-10. Cookie batter is better than cookies anyway haha =)

So we are visiting this older lady named Maxine and her son John, they are from the south and both have fun southern drawls. I love both of them, and I even got Maxine to look for Song of Years, so she might be reading it next time we go over!

So I also had the second stake of my life yesterday and it was probably a little larger than my face and an inch and a half thick. Lets just say I'm glad our culture doesn't get offended about food because I couldn't finish it all =).

We finally got Alexis to start reading again! We made a deal that we would do 20 pushups everyday if she would read, and she has been doing great, and I have been getting buff =).

Sorry this letter is kinda random, but I feel like several random things have happened this week and I just keep remembering different things.

Oh ya, so we ran into President Hinckley's great niece the other day(she isn't active and has a few fun facial piercings) and talked to her for a bit and asked her if we could come back and share a message with her when she wasn't so busy, she just smiled and said, "Sweet heart, I'm a Hinckley, I think I know pretty much how things work" Well I wasn't really expecting that and it kinda caught me off guard. We are reading with her brother right now though, so maybe we will be able to share something with her sometime!

I hope your guys's 4th was fanstabulousious! I love you all!

Have a great week!

Kayla

Bowling Pictures from Last P-Day

Chubby Bunny

Hummingbird

Sister Betts and Marshal, with his epich RC car

Baby Deer

Camo = Extra Class

4th of July Outfits!

Bro. Zellers, Photo Bombing

Mullet During the Parade!

Me and Alexis

The Zellers! (our Meeker mama and papa)

20 Years old!

My Family! thank you for being wonderful and beautiful and amazing!

Cowgirl outfits with AJ Gardner, the picture is out of proportion, but he is really small. He's 5 and calls me Sista Blooms. Also he sprinkled pixie dust on me the other day, so now I can fly. Just Sayin.

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Posted By Rachel to KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES at 7/09/2013 12:13:00 PM

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I Am a "Mormon"
A member of The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints
See what I believe @ http://mormon.org/me/1MFJ/