More visitors!

Last week we enjoyed a visit from Michael's sister, L'Anita, her husband, Erik, and their two beautiful girls, Abigail and Anne.

 This almost two-year-old was on the go (hence the blurriness) and a joy to be around. I loved how she would climb up into her booster seat frequently throughout the day showing she was ready to eat--my kind of girl.

 Abigail cracked me up with her thoughtfulness and imagination. I was treated to several gourmet dinners at this table.

 Wagon rides were a huge hit (except for some sharing scuffles). Fortunately, she did share for the most part and we enjoyed walking around the neighborhood in the cool weather.

 L'Anita celebrated her birthday while she was here.

Fun fun fun!

Productivity?

I have been thinking about being productive lately. I know I've ranted on about the illusion of to-do lists and how they make me feel better about myself. When Michael asks how my day was, I feel happy and worthwhile when I've been "productive," ie. done work on my callings, cleaned the house, done visiting teaching, etc. etc.

But productivity also begs the question, "What exactly am I producing?"

Am I producing order and a clean home? That's nice.

But is that what we're here for? To produce a clean home? To produce a perfect, glossy life with no kids in mismatched clothing and no dirty laundry lurking in corners?

How about producing peace? And contentment? How about a place where we can just be?

During the summer, Michael and I took a really wonderful parenting class for parents of children on the autism spectrum. We learned a lot and are still trying to apply all that we learned. One of the things the consultant said was, "Sometimes you have to slow down in order to be able to speed up." She meant that slowing down now, while Clara was young, was important in order to be able for her (and us) to handle the acceleration that will be necessary later in adolescence and in adulthood.


Today was Clara's last horseback riding lesson, at least for a few months. I have felt too busy, too stretched, too little at home, and something had to give. I have mixed feelings about it because (1) I don't want her to think that we can quit something just because it's hard, and (2) she has made so much progress. Perhaps in January we will be able to start up again.

. . . .

And here I am, just interrupted from my musings with a call from the sister missionaries, reminding me of a dinner appointment we had scheduled for tomorrow night . . . sandwiched in between adaptive therapy, and a Cub Scout pack meeting.

Well, apparently I just like to type about simplifying my life instead of actually doing it. Who was I kidding?

While I am trying to figure out what the heck I am going to be cooking (did I mention that I am attending a funeral service during the day and our house is being shown by a realtor--the owner is selling but we're still staying so I need to make sure everything looks nice--during the day?), I hope you can sense the absolute pleasure that being rolled up into a cocoon (and the subsequent butterfly emergence) gives my kid.

It's all about enjoying the moment. And the moment is telling me to go to bed now, so that is what I am going to do.

29 reasons to be happy

Sometimes I look on the bad side of things. I want to change this weakness and always look for the good because both sides of the coin--the good and the bad--are always present. But if there weren't two sides to it, the coin wouldn't be authentic and therefore would have no value. I want a valuable authentic life, even if that means accepting the reality of opposition in all the things.

1. It was my birthday on Wednesday. I pampered myself by spending some time at Barnes and Noble reading an interesting book and then placing it unabashedly back on the shelf and leaving the store. I seriously don't know how bookstores make any money with people like me around.
2. My husband bought me an electronic pepper grinder. (I didn't even know those existed, but I am excited to try it out.)
3. Clara got on the bus happily yesterday.
4. My family is in good health. What a blessing to be healthy.
5. I get to eat peanut butter every day. I like good peanut butter.
6. The weather here is lovely. It's currently 78 degrees and the blue sky is filled with giant cumulus clouds.
7. We are going to the temple tomorrow, and Hyrum is babysitting. First time we've done a session at the same time since we moved here.
8. We went to Coldstone to celebrate my birthday.

9. We are spreading out my birthday fun even more by going to Five Guys tonight.
10. I have wonderful parents and in-laws and siblings. A good family cannot be purchased. What a blessing it is to be part of these people whom I admire so much.
11. In two weeks I can put out our fall decorations.
12. I have been having some trouble with my left wrist and thumb for the past few months but I am currently in no pain.
13. I love reading. I feel bad for people who don't love reading. What a world to miss.
14. I finally got my hymnbook back from the stake center last night. I have missed it.
15. Michael and I have been taking an enormously informative "parenting" class for parents of kids on the spectrum. We've learned a lot about how to help Clara be a dynamic communicator and share experiences with her.
16. Michael is loving his job. It is very stressful and busy, but I am so glad he loves what he does. It makes paying off the student loans less painful.
17. I just cleaned out my Contacts list in my email account. There were some really old addresses in there.
18. I finally replaced the burnt-out lightbulbs in the hall.
19. I don't think it's supposed to rain tonight, which means that Clara will (most likely) sleep through the night.
20. Swimsuit season is over.
21. I listened to Mozart while baking this morning.
22. I am married to a wonderful man.
23. Hyrum wrote me a very nice note for my birthday.
24. We are reading These Happy Golden Years in the Little House series. I love these stories.
25. There are no roaches here.
26. My dream last night about giant frogs the size of dogs coming into the store and of me picking horn-wormed caterpillars off my tomato plants wasn't real. Phew.
27. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true.
28. I am a morning person.
29. Our lives are divided into days, separated by sleep. What a miserable life it would be if we never got a break and had to carry our burdens without stopping. I can do anything for a day, knowing that I will have night before I have to start again the next day. Almost any time that I am upset or feeling discouraged, I am really just super tired. Thank goodness for a good night's sleep.

Horseback adventures

{a final post reminiscing about our visit from the Weilers}

Michael's youngest sister, Melody, turned thirteen when they were here. On a previous visit she had mentioned that she would love to ride a horse, so for her birthday we arranged with Clara's horseback riding instructor for Melody to have a lesson right after Clara's.

 Here Melody is helping brush Macy, Clara's horse. Clara has helped to brush in the past (which is a pretty significant thing for her) but wasn't interested that day.

 Bethany came to observe as well--she was a volunteer at a similar therapeutic riding program out in Provo.

 Here Clara is leading Macy out to the ring.

 She has really come far since her first lesson--now she rides without a lead rope and is learning to turn Macy and start and stop her.

 After Clara's ride was done, it was Melody's turn. She is riding Apple, a very gentle 22-year-old horse (hence her boniness).

 An instant pro.

 Happy 13th, Melody! We just love this girl--she is patient and kind with Clara and a real pleasure to be around.

Fun fun fun

Last weekend I got to hang out with two of my favorite people--Joy and Chelsey--who were two of my roommates at BYU. Much to our dismay, our third roommate, Karisa, was left stranded at her parents' house in Philly due to the weather. We missed you!!

We enjoyed lots of chatting time, delicious food, and some foot pampering time.

 Sadly I didn't get any pics of our faces, but this pedicure kind of sums up our friendship: colorful, easy to maintain, and rejuvenating.