2023 Goals Recap

Every January I make a few goals for the new year. Generally, it involves fasting and prayer. This year was no exception. Today, I got to think back on the goals I made and how well I have done with them.

• Read twelve books I already own that I have not previously read. 

I started off pretty strong with this one, but eventually got side tracked. I realized I am not much of a non-fiction reader, of which most of my non-read, already-owned books consist. I switched to a series that Matthew had purchased and got into it enough to purchase the rest of the series before realizing that the author veers fairly substantially from her young adult fiction into straight up adult fiction. It started affecting my mood for the worse and I ended up giving up and switching to re-reading a series Matthew has written and is trying to prepare for self-publication. So while I haven't kept strictly to my original goal, I did read over 12 books and have a better habit of reading before bedtime instead of being on my phone. I'm calling this a win-win.

• Walk/run 5 miles at least once a week.

This one ended up being a great goal for me given my new work schedule. It was a doable goal, but one that still kept me moving to some extent every week. This was especially good in September and October when I was working more or less full-time. It was a good reminder for me to prioritize moving my body along with making lots of money.

• Say yes to at least one invitation once a month to do something with friends.

I'm not sure I did this every month, but I was better about keeping an open mind and being flexible as friends invited me out to do things. Oftentimes when I have an idea of how my day is going to play out, I have a hard time letting it go in lieu of playing. I need to have it scheduled. This year I worked at keeping this goal in mind. It was definitely helpful to keep in there.

• Expect miracles

This goal was definitely an inspired one for me since it didn't really seem like a goal, and I had no action items I could attach to it. But I was grateful, again, for the reminder to have it in my mind. Between Matthew doing therapy, getting a new job with more pay, his parents moving 15 minutes away, working again and actually enjoying it, it definitely felt like a year of miracles.

I love goals. As you can tell, I am not 100% perfect at them, but really, that's just fine. I am definitely better at the end of this year than I was last year, and I am so excited to sit down with God and come up with four new ones. I have no doubt God and I will come up with just the right ones tailor-made for this next year. 

New Year's Eve 2023

We had a fun time saying goodbye to 2023 tonight. Dude and I made it all the way, but Matthew and Luca only made it to about 10pm. The past several years, we've rung in the new year with my sister Melissa's family, but with most of her kids in town, the Jones decided to do their own thing, which meant we were doing our own thing. If left to our own devices, the Marlers are prone to board games and movies. But with New Year's Eve falling on a Sunday, we were forced to reach deep and get slightly more creative. 

We had Matthew's brother's family over for dinner which was fun. They were supposed to come the Sunday before for Christmas Eve, but as their whole family was out for the count with bad colds, we had to reschedule. They left about 6ish to start getting their babies ready for bed. By about 7 we were ready to kick off our own festivities. We had gone to Target earlier in the week trying to come up with a game plan. We bought slime, a new game, silly string, and a yummy snack.

It ended being a really fun evening, even if we did spend twice as long cleaning up the silly string as we did battling it out with it. The kids declared it a rousing success and claimed the silly string needed to become a new annual tradition.

After the silly string battle of 2023, we did bedtime. Everyone went to their respective bedrooms. I promised Dude nothing, but said, if I was still awake at midnight, I would celebrate midnight with him, which we did, just the two of us. There wasn't a lot of fanfare. Just the count down and a few poppers Dude bought with his own money. And just like that, we made it to 2024. 

2023 ended up being a pretty great year; it honestly makes me a little nervous that 2024 might not live up to its predecessor, but here's  at least hoping that we finally make it to the financial goal that has loomed so distant for so long.

Happy New Year!

December Sewing Projects

I promised to make a dear friend a quilt. We took a long time looking for just the right fabric and the right pattern. I fudged on the pattern and found some different background color than I was anticipating. I loved it until I hated it and didn't want to continue. I finished because I knew I had to eventually and then loved it all over again. Quilting is funny. Thankfully she loved it as much as I did.

And then it was Christmas break and we had a lot of time together, and I decided to make use of a bunch of scraps I've been holding on to for years and years.

This one I put together in a pleasing way, but then I didn't know what to do with it. Facebook to the rescue, and a friend (incidentally the one from above) said her daughter wanted it for her dolls. Love it.

While I was buying the orange fabric featured above, I saw this adorable charm pack and bought it on a whim. I've been wanting a cute little mat upon which to put my laptop on my desk. This is perfect.

More fabric I've had since the kids were babies. I finally pulled out all the miscellaneous pieces and came up with these interesting blocks. This is probably my favorite random something I made. I especially love that when I asked how I should quilt it, Luca suggested circles so that's what I did. One large spiral that was surprisingly really fun to do. And now it is my new Christmas table topper.

Christmas 2023

This Christmas was an interesting one, mainly because everyone knew what they were getting ahead of time. Matthew and I went to REI and bought all my gifts at the beginning of December and they just lived, unwrapped, behind the tree for the rest of the month. Luca only wanted one thing, an American Girl Doll that she wanted to pick out herself. They are pretty expensive so it was more or less her only gift. Dude wanted Warhammer figurines, also pretty expensive. Matthew wanted new shoes and to share in my REI backpacking supplies. The only surprises came when we opened the gifts the kids had purchased for each other and for Matthew and I. The gifts the kids give each other are normally opened on Christmas Eve, but with so few presents to open in the morning, they opted to wait until the next day. And yet, despite the more or less lack of surprise, they were still so excited to wake up Christmas morning, open their presents and have a day of family and cousins.

This Christmas was also special, because we were able to spend some alone time with each set of grandparents. We exchanged gifts with Matthew's parents a couple of weeks before since they were headed out of town for the rest of the month. They have never watched their grandchildren open their presents before, for any occasion, so that was a fun experience for them and us. Thankfully, my kids are wonderful about being thankful and enthusiastic for their gifts (so long as they aren't clothing).

Christmas Eve after church, my mother invited us over to her house to open the presents she had for us. What I thought was going to be a 10-20 minute experience, ended up being gifts, brunch, and a Sabbath-appropriate Christmas movie. It was so lovely spending time with them, even if we do see them on the regular. 

Overall, we had a lovely Christmas. We are thankful for all that our Savior has done for us during 2023 and are so excited to be able to celebrate His remarkable birthday.

 

Our only picture from Christmas - the kids having a slumber party in Dude's room on Christmas Eve.

Luca Reads the Book of Mormon all by Herself

I finished the book of Mormon today. This is not the first time I have finished it alone, but it was the first time I made the goal to read it all in one year. I started out reading one page a night over and over again, but I was not feeling like I was gonna finish by the end of the year, so I started reading two pages every night, except when I was away from home or something like that. my experience with this was an all year long kind of experience. I think it is so cool that guys from ancient times poured their soul into this book. and then Joseph Smith translated all of it! just wow. I don't get the tools he was using, like the stones!? how did that work? Kinda confusing. I was able to read most of the words, which makes me very proud. T At one point I was just reading, but now I try to read to get something out of it. but that's about all I can talk about, so I'd say I've had a pretty good time with it. 

Slipper Gets to Play

We enjoy playing Apples to Apples together as a family, and somehow, we have taken to playing while laying on the floor. Anything that can be played lying down will probably be played in the recumbent posture.

While we were playing, we noticed Luca's slipper was hanging out within our circle, and I commented that it looked like it was trying to play. Cue Dude giving Slipper its own hand to play, which was just a random card from its pile. It made the most random addition to our game, especially when it won a card. I mean, when the card is "athletic" and slipper submitted "dodgeball", it's going to win. We decided that Slipper just might have to play all the time from now on, it gives the game an extra entertainment factor that was universally amusing to all.

Welcome slipper to our game-playing family

A Beautiful Kitchen

I don't love cleaning my house. But every now and again, I have both the time and the inclination to get some deep cleaning done. This time, it was that sweet kitchen's turn for some good lovin.

Everything was taken out of every cupboard, decluttered, wiped down, and organized. After two days, it was a thing of glory and I was so proud of the work I had done. And then Matthew put the cherry on top with three wonderful words - "Let's Get Takeout." So this beautiful kitchen got to stay beautiful for longer than twenty minutes.

Halloween 2023

This is the second year that the kids went trick or treating without Matthew or I to supervise. Last year, E's mom tagged along, and this year it was A's dad, but they are definitely moving in that independent direction. They came back after only an hour and a half, having faithfully kept to their route they mapped out the previous week, completely laden with candy. Here they are prior to setting out and antsy with excitement and anticipation. Not pictured is Luca's friend G who came shortly after the picture was taken. We have a baseball player, the grim reaper, a woodland fairy (Luca bought and/or made her entire costume by herself, complete with buying a green shirt and fake flowers that she hot-glued onto it herself), and a character from the Marvel movies that I am still at a loss as to what she is.

Overall, I'm pretty sure they had one of the best nights of their lives.

And a couple more shots of the pumpkins, this time with some guts Dude made using his chemistry kit.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Pumpkins 2023

This October really got away from me. I worked really hard for the first two weeks and then went out of town after that. I guess we could have gone to a pumpkin patch sometime this week, but it just never happened. So Saturday afternoon, while we were out running errands, we stopped by a grocery store and quickly picked out something acceptable. Honestly, I might start doing that from now on if the kids will let me. Matthew, was infinitely happier with the arrangement as well.

Dude made me promise that my pumpkin would not be a pattern as I've done in years past. Fine, fine, fine. Matthew, who thinks Halloween is otherwise a pretty worthless holiday seems to get the most pleasure out of carving his pumpkin. So here we are, Dude's mine, Luca's (not pictured is the knife wedged in the top with pumpkin guts spewing out from the wound), and Matthew's raven.

Did I mention this month got away from me? Conference weekend I pulled out our bin with our Halloween decorations. The kids were in charge of putting them up. Luca put up what she wanted and then asked that, at some point, I get to the rest of them. Yeah, I never did. This afternoon, she took it upon herself to at least put up the spider's web. She couldn't reach with just the stepstool so I pulled out the ladder and made her put on a helmet. 

She was so scared to be so high, but I think that spider's web is pretty entertaining with her "additions". 

Family Pictures 2023

 Some  beautiful pictures of my most darlingest of people.

Quite possibly the easiest set of pictures, not once did I freak out and threaten anyone in my family. Dude, a few days before picture day, lamented that the photoshoot always takes so long. Why couldn't everyone just be perfect and smile nicely so we could get in and out in short order. I agreed wholeheartedly and challenged him to do his best so we could make the whole experience as painless as possible. I am happy to report that everyone did admirably and we were in and out in record timing, getting Chick-fil-A as a reward - complete with milkshakes. Oooh. And three weeks later, I am so pleased with how they turned out, gray hair and everything.

2023-2024 School Pictures

School pictures are in for the new year and I am once again in love with those babies of mine. At first I might have been a wee bit disappointed in that boy child of mine, but the more I look at him, and his lopsided haircut and family reunion t-shirt, I think he looks pretty distinguished. Luca, let me do her hair in braids so she could get a cute wave effect. Both are adorable.

I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

You may know that I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's not a perfect institution and I'm not a perfect person for belonging, but here are a few reasons (in no particular order) why I go every week, even when I travel.

1. I love learning about how Christ's Atonement is helping my church family in ways that are meaningful to them that may be different than for me.

2. I love when I get to hear the children singing songs of love and Christ and families and snowmen.

3. I love how serving in different capacities over the years has made me a better person than I would otherwise be on my own.

4. I love the meaningful relationships I have built with those I have served, served with, and been served by.

5. I love that wherever I have moved, there has always been a community of people I have come to love and adore.

6. I love the peace and guidance and joy I have found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because life is so so hard, but it's so much easier with Jesus.

7. I love the people who have served and loved my children through their own dedicated service in the Church.

8. I love that I know for sure that I am a changed and kinder person through my relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ, my Heavenly Parents and church family.

If you are curious about how your life could be better with Christ, I invite you to reach out and learn more. Find out when the children in your area will be taking over Sunday church services and be prepared for the cutest hour of your life. For my area, it's happening on October 29th at 9am. I sure hope you can join.

Luca's Last Jogathon

 Alert - The pictures are not great. I didn't have the time in my schedule to volunteer and Luca insisted that I was "allowed" to come support her, but I could only wave politely from afar. I know the next statement will be controversial to some, but I decided to honor my daughter's request. Mostly because I remember the torture of my freshman year track experience and how much I wished people would just ignore I existed while I lost each and every race.

So the following pictures are a bit pixelated because of my afarness.

Here's the girl child at the beginning. All smiles, all running.

Here she is a few laps in. She has not been running the whole time, but she's still giving it some solid effort from time to time.

This is somewhere near the end. Her look is just so expressive. I would say she only ran for about 25% of the time. At the end when they encourage the kids to quickly finish their lap to they can count a whole extra cool down lap, her friend, the boy in yellow, wanted to comply. Luca had no such ambition. He took off and she serenely walked the rest of her lap and called it good. I love this girl of mine. I love that no amount of cheering or monetary rewards (we paid her a little bit of money per lap she did) was going to get her to do anything she didn't want to do. And running is NOT something this chica wants to do. Good job my Luca. You made it through 6 agonizing years of Jogathons.

Grace Talk

I spoke in church this morning. I think this talk makes three in less than a year which is definitely the most I've ever spoken. But I learn so much when I prepare to speak, and our ward has gotten so small, that I actually don't mind.

Here are my remarks

Good morning my darling brothers and sisters. I have never lived in anywhere this long and I love how much you have all come to mean to me in the 7+ years we have lived and served among you. 

Last fall, I was fortunate to have the choice to start working again. Not full-time, but with the kids in school and virtually no demands on my time, going from nothing to anything definitely made me have to re-prioritize my commitments. No longer could I say yes to every invitation.

This has been a year of growth for me as I’ve learned to say no to some good things, yes to some better things, and ask for help from a loving Heavenly Father to help me figure out which is which.

I am not great at multi-tasking and I can be single-minded in whatever path I pursue so I am ashamed to admit that at times this year, I have wished that others asked for less of my time so I could just focus on getting myself and my family taken care of. Have you ever felt that way? Is it just me? To think, I’m working hard to be self-sufficient, why can’t everyone else do the same and leave me alone? What a jerk-face. 

So when I was asked to sub seminary this week about Christ’s grace and speak on the very same topic, I took it as a sign that this was something God wanted me studying. Given my recent thoughts, it didn’t come as a surprise.

So here, is a little stream of consciousness of what I’ve gained this week about my topic of grace.

First some scriptures. I’m going to read them, and then, just as I have my students do, I’m going to summarize them in my own words. 

2 Corinthians 12:9 - And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

ME: Christ’s strength and glory is most evidenced when helping us with our weaknesses.

 Moroni 10:32 - Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfected in Christ: and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

ME: When we come to Christ and love him completely, He has the power to perfect us and make us whole.

Elder Uchtdorf - A powerful expression of [God’s] love is what the scriptures often call the grace of God - the divine assistance and endowment of strength by which we grow from the flawed and limited beings we are now into exalted beings of “truth and light until we are glorified in truth and know all things.”

ME: Christ’s grace, an expression of His love, His Atoning sacrifice, gives us the space to give up our old selves and become the people He needs us to be. 

Those are my grace scriptures. Now, here are some other scriptures and quotes that come to the point I really want to talk about. 

Luke 22:32 - But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Me: Your conversion is not just for you. Use it to help others.

John 13:34-35 - A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

ME: God will know that we love Him when we follow His example to love as He loves.

Doctrine and Covenants 128:15 - And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers - that they without us cannot be made perfect - neither we without our dead be made perfect.

ME: We will never be perfect unless we are bringing others with us, on both sides of the veil.

Elder Holland - Little wonder that King Benjamin says we obtain a remission of sins by pleading to God, who compassionately responds, but we retain a remission of our sins by compassionately responding to the poor who plead to us.

So I come back to my original thought - I’m working hard to be self-sufficient, why can’t everyone else do the same? Why can’t we just be islands working out our own salvation? 

The answer is given in the two great commandments to love God and to love one another.  Our loving Heavenly Parents sent us to earth in families for a reason. They gave us weaknesses so we would turn to Their son Jesus Christ AND others for a reason. They ask us to attend church with others who experience the gospel of Jesus Christ differently than us and ask us to serve each other for a reason. We were never meant to be islands. We are social beings for a reason.  Even the blessed introverts among us aren’t meant to be islands. 

We are meant to be interdependent on each other, to help God in Their work and Their glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of mankind. It’s Their work and it’s Their glory, but it is our blessing to be a part of it. And we can only be a part of it if we are on the grid, socially speaking.

How does all of this come back to grace. Christ offers His grace freely to us as we turn to Him. That grace enables us help and joy in this world and eternal salvation in the world to come. I have felt His grace strengthen me time and time again as I’ve served in callings, struggled with motherhood, and life in general. Every day I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

But sometimes Christ uses the people around us to be the strengths for our weaknesses. I think of Moses when God tells him to go and deliver Israel. Moses gives a lot of excuses as to why he is unfit for the job. At first God gives Moses evidence of the Power He is going to give Him to wield. Yet when Moses complains that he is slow of speech and slow of tongue, Christ doesn’t make that weakness a strength for Him, rather He provides Aaron, his brother to be his spokesperson. I love that 1. He gets to reunite and grow a relationship with his brother, 2. His brother gets to serve alongside and grow in His own salvation, 3. They are inextricably linked in their goal to deliver Israel. 

I find this a regular theme in my life. Sometimes God strengthens me in my weaknesses through His grace, but oftentimes He puts someone in my path to be the strength for me. I have loved serving alongside you and learning and benefiting from your own strengths. Whether that be your gentle kindness, your eloquence, your ability to see others needs, your steadfastness in the face of crushing adversity. I have learned so much from my ward family.

I also think of marriage and it’s pairing of unlike individuals who strengthen each other. Matthew is good at seeing the big picture. I am not. I get way too excited about the details that I can’t step back and see where the issues might be. So when I have an idea about anything, I really appreciate being able to talk it through with him so he can help me notice something I might be missing.

On the other hand, I am good at organizing our family and getting stuff done on mine and our to do lists. That’s not a traditional strength of Matthew’s. God knew we needed each other. To both mentor the other towards being better people and to be the strength the other person needs. 

So much of life is that. Strengthening others and sometimes being their strength when they don’t have it for themselves and sometimes letting others do that and be that for us. That is the grace we have to offer and receive from those with whom we are sharing this mortal journey.

I also think of the commandment to forgive others and how grace so beautifully comes into play. I am finding in my own efforts to forgive others and myself that I need the Savior’s help to change the hard feelings that come so quickly at times. I am generally not an easy to offend kind of person, but Matthew is helping me to see that my son’s high expectations for life come from my side of the gene pool. Together we struggle with moving forward when expectations aren’t met and we don’t understand why. Forgiveness can be hard to muster  and I often find myself unable to do it without the Savior’s enabling grace. And yet, giving that grace to others that I so frequently need for myself is precisely what we have been asked to do. So I am working on those darned expectations of mine. I’m working on giving grace to others and myself more freely.

Another way to give grace to others is through patience. Giving someone space to make  mistakes and loving them despite them. That doesn’t mean we are to allow others to repeatedly walk all over us, but it does mean that when my child forgets to hang up their wet towel yet again, I can be patient and remember they aren’t purposefully forgetting just to make me angry and I can maybe hang it up for them just this once or twice or three times.

We can also give each other more grace by not judging others and loving them the way we are loved by our Heavenly Parents and by Jesus Christ. Because, that grace, that love, that sanctification He offers us isn’t just for our salvation but so that we can help others along that same covenant path. And we can’t help others along that path if we are more focused on judging then loving. 

We are a human family who all chose to come to earth. Christ atoned for our sins on an individual basis, and it is only through Him that we can receive eternal life but we need each other to get through this life too. It feels like the Pandemic taught us all that. We need each other to learn about Him, to practice on each other the principles He taught, to help and be helped as circumstances dictate. It takes vulnerability. It takes grace on everyone’s part, God’s included, to enable do overs and strength in times of weakness. I love The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know that even though we as members of the Church aren’t perfect, that what is perfect is us coming together week after week and day after day of serving each other and learning from each other. I know that Christ loved us enough to atone for our sins, and our weaknesses, and our hard things in part to enable us to love others like He does. I know that our capacity to love and serve will look different from day to day and year to year, but as we try our best, God will accept our offerings and perfect them for our good and the good of those we are trying to love. 

President Nelson - “Giving help to others - making a conscientious effort to care about others as much as or more than we care about ourselves - is our joy. Especially, I might add, when it is not convenient and when it takes us out of our comfort zone. Living that second great commandment is the key to becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ.”

But as King Benjamin said in Mosiah 4:27 - See that all these things are done in wisdom and order, for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore all things must be done in order.

I have loved thinking about our need for each other and how I have been offered grace in the last few years.

I have felt grace from Matthew when I asked for help around the house as I try to finish up my busy season and he lovingly picked up the slack.

I felt grace at work, when I didn’t know what I was doing, and my clients and coworkers were kind and patient with me and my shortcomings.

I felt grace from my children when I, once again, had to apologize for another day’s bad behavior, only for them to freely forgive me and tell me I am the best mom.

I felt grace from Bishop Harrington when I was serving as Young Women’s President and he pulled me aside to gave me tender admonishment and counsel on how to do better.

I felt grace from my Sunday School students and their parents as I try to love them and learn to teach them in ways that will be meaningful to them.

I know that as we strive to give the same grace Christ offers to us to ourselves and those around us, no matter how big or small that might be, we will all grow closer to our Savior together and be saved as a human family.

First Day of School - Sixth and Fifth Grades

First Day of School. Dude actually went to school a day earlier than Luca because sixth graders get a day in middle school all to themselves before the 7th and 8th graders join in. Dude wasn't excited for school to begin with, and having to go to school when his sister didn't have to was double insult to injury.

However, the day dawned bright and Dude woke resigned to his fate. Thankfully, this year, middle school doesn't start until 9:20 and he no longer has music class. I'm pretty sure they are the saving graces for this boy. He walked into that new big school so small, yet getting so old, that my mama heart had a bit of a hard time that day.

The next day it was Luca's turn. She, unlike her brother, had been looking forward to school, eager to wear her new clothes and meet her new class. And while her first day also dawned bright and beautiful she didn't wake as eager as she had been the night before. She walked into school with such fear and anxiety that I was nervous for her all the way home. 

Thankfully when they got home from their respective first days both were in good spirits. Dude ended up having at least a couple friends in all of his classes and Luca stopped being nervous the moment she walked into class. Let's hope this is a great year, one of the few they get where they get to be in a school without the other. To new adventures!

 

State Fair

Luca has been asking about the State Fair for the last few months. Could we go again? She pleaded. With so much we didn't get to do as a family this summer since I worked a lot, I couldn't refuse my daughter one last adventure before school started. We invited my dad, got some free tickets from a friend and headed over for the last day of the fair. We bought a bunch of rides and Matthew, my dad, and I watched with entertainment as the kids did a few rides by themselves. One ride, Dude looked like he was bored most of the time, but when he got off, he exclaimed it was super fun. We ate funnel cakes, looked at the quilt, photography, lego, and wood turning exhibitions. We even did the super big ferris wheel all together as a family.

By the time we left, Matthew was super done, and so were the kids. We still had a bunch of money left on our card that killed my saver self to let go to waste, but then we saw a young mom heading into the fair with her young family by herself and it did my heart good to know someone else would appreciate it. We made it home and got Dude ready for school the next morning. And now, we don't need to go back for at least another couple of years!!

She's Double Digits

She's a Tenner!

That sweet, cute girl is now a ten year old. This year for her birthday she wanted to go to Aumsville Pond with a couple of friends. They couldn't make her birthday so we planned her party for a couple days before. Their cousin C happened to be staying with us for a few days so he joined the fun. Deluxe picnic lunches and swimming for five at one of her favorite places on earth. She had a great day and was a lovely host.

That Friday we celebrated her actual birthday quietly at home. She woke up eager to open presents and have a yummy breakfast. I made sure she knew she could pick whatever activity she wanted all day long. So we started with bracelet and earring making with her new bead kit and cuddled while we watched a movie. After that, I offered a few more suggestions and she chose some alone time. I love that. I love that she felt comfortable spending her birthday anyway she chose, and part of that was all by herself enjoying her gifts and time outside in the sunshine.

I love this girl of mine. I love that she is learning to advocate for herself. I love that she has a tender heart but she is also starting to set boundaries with her friends and communicate her desires. I love that she enjoys dressing up in costumes and putting on bizarre makeup. I love that she wants to be involved in the Choose To Include program at school this year that allows her opportunities to hang out with the kids with disabilities. I love that the neighborhood kids look up to her. I love that she wants to be good and has a desire to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. She is such a great girl and I feel so honored that I get to call her mine for eternity.

Luca Gets Creative

I love my girl's creativity. While at dinner at my parents' house, she made a cute little mouse/cat/creature and then proceeded to make clothes or her. At home she took  it to the next level and made a home with separate bathroom. I am in love with all of the attention to detail and tenderness she put into creating such a wonderful home for her.

Here is her darling creation for her to remember forever.

Marlers Go Backpacking - Day 3

Saturday morning, we had a quick breakfast and headed out. With a two-hour hike back to the car, a 3ish hour drive home, and a 4:00 meeting Matthew needed to get to, we had needed to get up and get moving.

Thankfully packing up went pretty quick and we were on our way shortly after 9:00 am. Dude, ever the kid to just put his head down and get a job done was in the front for the most of the way back.

Luca needed a bit more help. Matthew found on the way into camp on Thursday that she does a lot better listening to music. Thankfully we had just enough cell service to listen to spotify to help her along, but she and I also got a lot of mama-daughter time on that hike back. Slow but steady.

 
At some point about half-way back, slow and steady was getting a lot slower and a lot less steady and Matthew helped out his sweet little girl by carrying her pack the rest of the way. At first she declined the offer, stating that her bag was her burden to carry, but when we explained that she was right but she could still ask for help, she relented. Everyone was a lot faster after that. It helped to let her know that she's only 9 and this is a big adventure for a 9-year old.

Multiple miles later, we made it back to the car and while they were tired, they were definitely happier than they look in the picture.

So the question is, would we do it again. Matthew always enjoys backpacking, so he's a given. I was nervous since I haven't been in over 30 years, but it was way better than expected. I would super do it again. I had the kids give their assessment. 

First Dude:

In my opinion the best part of backpacking is the fact that this time we went with our cousins. The reason is that it is nice to have more people to play with that not only share the same-ish blood, you have similar interests. I had loads of fun playing on this particularly flat and big rock that we turned into our fortress. It was super fun.

The worst part of backpacking being the entire time we went I was getting munched by mosquitos. The reason I say this is because the bites stay with your for days and itch like crazy I HATE MOSQUITOS!!!!! Mosquitos are nature's demons and if we ever go back I would sincerely hope that it would be in a place that would have less mosquitos.

In conclusion I'd say that I would go back sometime. Because not only was the echo great, the scenery was awesome and the terrain super fun to play in. I know how to pack lightly and how important that is to the trip. So all in all at some point in the distant future I would say yes to going back to backpacking.

Now Luca:

So, one time in August we went backpacking. We drove like, 2 or 3 hours to get to the trailhead then hiked 5 miles to our campsite. Halfway through 1 cousin, my brother, and an uncle went ahead and got the campsite without the rest of us. My mom asked me to write to her about what things I liked, what things I did not like, and if I would do it again.

What I liked was getting to hang out with a few cousins and getting good leg muscles to make me healthy and seeing 2 baby deer.

What I did not like was seeing all of my poor family's bug bites and peeing in the woods and finally . . . The food! It was chewy and non fresh, just bleh.

Would I do it again? heck yeah! I'd totally do that again. and I can't wait to do it again.

So I guess the Marlers are game for going again!

Marlers Go Backpacking - Day 2

The second day dawned bright and beautiful. Jared had the great idea to finish the hike to the top of Mount Yoran after breakfast. Everyone was game except for Dude and Matthew didn't feel comfortable with him staying back at camp by himself, so they stayed home together. Luca and I went, slowly but surely up to the top, well almost the top. The very tippy top looked a little dicey, so the two of us found some great rocks to enjoy the view and let the rest of the boys and men finish it without us. We might now have gone the full way, but I feel pretty great about the view we enjoyed while we waited.

After we got back, I felt bad that Matthew had missed out and encouraged him to go on his own hike after lunch. Jared and John both readily agreed to another hike, and so after lunch they summited Mount Yoran on the other side while the kids and I stayed back at camp. 

The kids found an epic rock and spent hours whittling spears, talking out of the earshot of prying parents, and played all sorts of king of the mountain games.

They also swam. The water was cold, but that didn't stop them from enjoying it all the same. At one point, I gave them the challenge to swim to the other side of the pond, they all started but Dude was the only one victorious. He was pretty proud of himself, although we declined to swim back, preferring instead to walk barefooted back around to where we were. 

They played card games, including rich man, poor man, and war (surprisingly enough that was the highlight game for them).

And then Luca found some bark chips and made phones out of them. She started calling her cousins and they answered on their own bark chips and soon there were a lot of bagels, bombs, and cookies that were being ordered, delivered, and blown up. I thought it was odd and a bit gruesome, but they had a grand old time.

I relaxed, went on a solo hike, took fun pictures of my children, and then relaxed some more. It was a great day for all of us.

Marlers Go Backpacking - Day 1

This is a first for the Marlers. We went backpacking together. Matthew's gone in the past five years. I went once when I was 12, but we as a family have never gone. Last summer the kids decided it was activity they were excited to try, reasoning that they enjoy camping and Matthew and I enjoy hiking, so it must be a reasonable compromise. I invited my brother and sister and their respective families, hoping my brother would use his extensive planning and backpacking skills to help make our first experience a good one. 

And then last Christmas we had the idea of buying everyone all the gear they would need but while standing in REI, Matthew and I thought that maybe it was a lot to spend on an activity we don't even know if the kids or I will enjoy. 

Thankfully we have very generous friends who leant us all the items we needed. And off we went, Jared and his two youngest boys, my brother-in-law John and his youngest son, and the four of us. We started hiking at about 6:00 on Thursday evening. Not ideal since we had about 5ish miles to our campsite and the sun would set at some point while we were still on the trail, but it was the earliest Jared could make it work for him, he was running the show, and these little beggars could not be choosers.

Here the kids are, and us as a little family while we are still at the trailhead. Everyone is super pumped to be there and eager to start our adventure.

Here we are at some point along the hike, Matthew and I still going strong, the kids showing just how much they don't enjoy hiking.

And another stop along the hike. So many mosquitos that the bug spray starts becoming a necessity. Everyone is a touch tired, but still in fairly good spirits.

We got to our campsite about 8:30 but the sun went down at about 8:00 and somewhere in the 7:00-8:00 time frame, Jared, our fearless leader, his son S, and Dude got separated somewhere out in front of us. We yelled to them, but they were far enough ahead not to hear us. We hoped we were still heading in the right direction since we were quickly losing light and didn't know how much farther we still needed to go. We also gently banned any further breaks and kept the kids moving as quickly as possible. Finally, Jared came back for us and helped us go the last few minutes to our campsite where we very quickly put up our tents and got everyone situated before they got to relax with their cousins.

Definitely an exciting first start to our adventure.