The wintry day

One of my favorite rarely-sung hymns is "The Wintry Day, Descending to Its Close." The lyrics of the first verse read as follows:

The wintry day, descending to its close,
Invites all wearied nature to repose,
And shades of night are falling dense and fast,
Like sable curtains closing o'er the past,
Pale through the gloom the newly fallen snow
Wraps in a shroud the silent earth below
As tho 'twere mercy's hand had spread the pall,
A symbol of forgiveness unto all.

With the significant (two feet!) snowfall we just received, I thought of this hymn last night. This morning, I read in 2 Nephi 2:8 that "no flesh can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah." And how can I come into the presence of God except I be forgiven of my sins? And how can I be forgiven except I truly repent? I love Preach My Gospel's explanation of repentance. It says that repentance is "making the necessary changes to bring [my] life into agreement with His teachings" (p. 2).

 (the backyard)

So on this snowy, Sunday morning, I am thinking of the "necessary changes" I need to make so that I may be forgiven and clean again, like the snow outside my house.



And although it's always embarrassing and shameful to admit my sins to Heavenly Father, I always feel happier afterwards. So repentance and forgiveness are actually be quite joyful instead of something to dread.

Hooray for snow! (unless school is canceled all week, and then go away, snow)

First Annual Weiler Family Awards Dinner

I got this idea from a Relief Society meeting about family traditions and raising children. I talked about it to Michael, and he thought it was a good idea as well. So, last weekend we held our first annual Weiler Family Awards dinner.

I had been looking for an excuse to use my mom's beautiful china and silver--this was the perfect opportunity. Plus I was able to talk to the kids about place settings with more than one fork, etc.

We all dressed up, and we ate three "courses"--salad (Robbie actually ate two pieces of lettuce--amazing!); homemade mac (very fancy) and broccoli, and clementines for the main course; and dessert (cupcakes from the Cupcake Co. here in Harrisonburg).

 Spiffy little banner I got from Target.

I enjoyed setting the table. Robbie is really into stickers right now and had a super tough time keeping his "R" on his napkin and not taking it off. Fortunately he resisted until dinner time.

 Enjoying the first course. Check out Robbie's monster salad.

 After dinner, we retired to the living room to give and receive awards. Clara got the award for courage--courage for participating in her school spelling bee, chorus concert, and being the older sister to two younger brothers.

 Hug with a foot pop!

 Robbie got the award for creativity--for his Lego creations, drawings, and coming up with new ways to charm and cajole. Michael got the award for balancing--effectively prioritizing his practice, playing with the kids, helping me, working on his golf game, and serving as bishop. I got the award (from Michael) for patience--enduring patiently through Henry's birth, nurturing three children, loving my husband.


Michael put together a great slideshow of photos from 2015. Henry was into it!

Then we moved the coffee table out of the way, put on an oldies playlist, and had a dance party.

The night was a whole lot of fun, and it was worth having to hand wash the dishes. I realize more and more that anything you want to do as a parent has to be done intentionally because it is a whole lot easier to just let each day pass by, putting out the fires and doing the same routines, than it is to take life by the horns and do with it what you wish.

Clara and Robbie will occasionally put their hands in the middle and shout, "Goooo family!" as they raise their hands up like a team cheer. I have to agree--Gooooo family!!

Christmas 2015 continued

Later Christmas day, David and Char and their kids came over to hang out. It was so fun to have them.

Melody is an amazing hair-braider. Check out this do on cousin Lily!

Nothing like hanging out in the pool tubes on the basement floor next to a pile of insulation, right Kate and Charlotte?

The plasma cars were a big hit in the basement for young and adult alike.

Char and Jenna enjoyed some time talking together.  Don't they look like sisters?

That afternoon, we drove over to the church and played basketball and dodge ball (both kids and adults), which was super fun. I wish we had a women's team or something at church--not that I'm good, but just that I enjoy that type of active play. 

Dinner was awesome--pigs in blankets, breaded shrimp, meatballs, pizza, veggies, baked brie, crackers, cream puffs, and cookies. After dinner we watched some Studio C and other funny videos before David and Char had to head back to D.C. It was a lot of fun.

On Sunday, we drove to D.C. to watch and celebrate the baptism of Christina (Nina), David and Char's eight-year-old daughter. She is such a sweetheart and is so sweet with Henry. I don't have a pic of her, unfortunately, but here is one of Melody and Henry.

 Here is Clara and Lily and Charlotte at the baptism. We are so proud of Nina's decision to be baptized.

On Monday, the Weilers left and Michael had a full day of patients at the office. The next day, we drove down to Georgia to see the Dunford side.

 Nothing like reading with Bapa (here with cousin Grace). Nana made tons of great food and I enjoyed going on a walk with Nana and with Bapa two mornings. It was fun seeing their cute new place (they moved to a townhome this past summer) and how comfortable my mom has made it.

 A highlight of the trip was spending a day at Clay and Amie's. We enjoyed playing a card game and eating lots of yummy food. I appreciated Amie talking with me and taking the time out of their busy schedule just hang out and be in the moment. I love that about Clay and Amie.

 Everyone calls Henry a mini version of my dad. I think this picture verifies that.

My oldest brother Matt took the time out of his day to come over and see us, which was really special. Robbie loved him and was crawling all over him.

 Oldest and the youngest.

 We spent New Year's at my parents' house. Bryan and Emily joined us for dinner (Chinese) and a yummy ice cream dessert from my mom, and then my parents and Michael watched the first and second (well, technically fourth and fifth) Star Wars. I loved having some quiet time thinking about my goals and getting to bed by 10pm. That's my kind of New Year's Eve :-).

Happy 2016!

Christmas 2015

We had a great Christmas season. I didn't get my advent calendar figured out yet but next year's will be better. We did a little "secret service" manger scene (where you add hay when you do a good deed), which we'll do again next year. We enjoyed some secret Santa-ing, eating goodies, listening to Christmas music, and being together. I really wanted to get all my shopping done before December 1st, which unfortunately did not happen. Hopefully in 2016.

The week before Christmas, we enjoyed an evening session at the D.C. temple (thanks to Hyrum's babysitting!) and saw the lights with a family in our ward before going to Cafe Rio for a late dinner. I am getting better at not stressing quite as much about sleep schedules, etc. It helps that Henry is a pretty easy-going kid! We all had a good time.

We also enjoyed a fun time on Sunday evening acting out the nativity story with Hyrum.

 Clara was Mary (that's a baby doll, not Henry), Hyrum was Joseph (Clara did not want Robbie to be Joseph), Robbie was a Jedi shepherd, Michael was a ghetto wise man, and I was an angel.

And a silly one for the record.

Moving on.

This year we spent Christmas day at home, which was so nice. Michael's parents and a few of his siblings were able to come up, and it made the time all the more fun. It was great getting to know Michael's brother Joseph's new wife Jenna and getting to hang out with Hyrum more. Melody was so sweet with the kids and slept in Clara's room. She was super helpful with Henry.

On Christmas Eve, the adults saw Star Wars, which I really liked. I didn't want to have super high expectations and was pleasantly pleased. That evening we enjoyed the traditional Joseph and Mary dinner, followed by singing Christmas carols and reading Luke 2. I love this tradition. Michael spent some time finishing up Robbie's Lego table and we got to bed around 10:30, I believe, which was pretty good.

I told everyone we wouldn't be opening stockings until at least 7am, gearing up for the kids to be early risers. Ironically, Clara and Robbie didn't wake up until nearly 8am. I guess they were pooped from all the excitement the day before. All the adults were awake and were waiting around, and finally they awoke and so we could get the party started. We opened stockings in the playroom.

 Some of the stockings lined up with one excited boy.

 Something sure was exciting!

 Chocolate coins!

 This little snowball is just happy to be alive.

 Happy to have this guy back in this neck of the woods.

 Enjoying a pre-breakfast granola bar, gorgeous even with her mouth full.

 Oh boy! Razors and a Star Wars coloring book!

 First Christmas for these lovebirds.

 Lining up from youngest to oldest.

 I think this was a bit posed, but Clara was excited to receive this "knot-a-quilt"--unfortunately it's a bit harder than I thought, but I think we'll make it a goal to finish it this year. Doesn't Clara's haircut look so cute?

 Robbie discovered the Lego table that Michael made him (he cut out holes from a plain Ikea table, painted it, and put in containers and glued Lego plates on (thanks to Pinterest) before we had finished opening presents, so he wasn't really interested in anything else.

 We got the kids scooters (and one adult scooter to share) for the basement. The Micro brand seems to be a little harder to steer, though it got great reviews, and I am hoping they'll work out all right.

I was really happy with how breakfast turned out and feel like I finally have a good menu to keep that is doable in advance: cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole, fruit, hot cocoa, and OJ. 

Hanging out after presents are opened. Love that.

2015 in review

2015 was a great year. The highlight of the year was the birth of Henry. It is very nice writing this looking back on a year ago at this point--I am glad not to be morning sick any more! My personal theme for 2015 was to "Be of Good Courage." I felt like I have improved on this by just being more mindful of it, especially as I approached Henry's birth and being able to give birth naturally. I continue to look back with great gratitude and awe on that experience and the closeness that Michael and I felt as we worked together. I feel empowered knowing that courage is not the absence of fear but simply the choice to continue doing something you know is right even though you are scared. (I'm not talking about giving birth naturally--that's not a "right" or "wrong" choice--I had great epidural births with Clara and Robbie!) Motherhood requires a lot of courage for me. I have so many fears that I will do something wrong or that my children will make choices that lead them away from the Savior and His gospel. I have finally come to terms with the fact that the Lord will not force my children to follow Him and that I cannot force them either. However, if I do all I can to provide them opportunities to feel, recognize, and follow the Spirit, and do my utmost to live the gospel myself with Michael, and try to teach them correct principles while also enforcing consequences when they make a poor choice (while also recognizing that some decisions are not yet choices given to them, like going to church, dressing modestly, etc.), then that will be enough, and the Savior stands ready to draw near unto them after any effort they make to follow Him. I cannot convert them, only the Holy Ghost can. It is incredible to me that Heavenly Father respects agency so much that He is willing to lose His children who don't choose to follow Him. But I can also understand--who wants someone to be with them who is forced to be there?

It has been rewarding this year to see each of my children grow. Henry, of course, is super fun to watch and enjoy. He just started army crawling yesterday and can get up on his knees. Wow. Solids are still an adventure. Robbie is learning and growing all the time--watching him begin building with Legos is pretty awesome--and says the funniest things sometimes. Like the other day in the car, Henry was hiccuping and Robbie was laughing. I asked him, "What are you laughing at?" He responded. "At Henry. He's hicking up." Clara has really been maturing at school and her teachers have been impressed. The fact that she participated in the school spelling bee and in her school chorus concert as well as giving a prayer in Primary are some examples of her own courage and maturity. I have also been touched at the times she has helped and shared with Robbie, and she is very sweet with Henry. I am surprised that the hardest part of parenting for me at this point is the sibling challenges--knowing when to intervene, when to ignore, etc. The issue of agency is also a challenge as well as personal accountability and the effort to help with independence but also get things done properly or quickly (hair washing for Clara, getting socks on for Robbie, for example).

I am continuing to struggle with the balance of personal, marriage, children, Church, and home duties. I guess it's a lifelong effort to learn to prioritize. I let go of taking voice lessons in 2014 when I became pregnant, and I hate that my singing (not that it was that stellar beforehand) is fallen into disuse and is rusty. Piano as well--I want to play more on Sundays. However, I feel that I must be very careful about what I involve myself and my family in and do not want to do too much. Hopefully there will be a future time for that again.

I am excited for my goals for the New Year. I always have so much to work on, but this year I received the idea/inspiration to set a goal for each of the important relationships in my life--a goal for my relationship with the Savior, with Michael, with each of my children, and with myself (two goals for myself). I hope and pray that I will be better at the end of 2016 than I am now at the end of 2015.

Clara and the Spelling Bee

Clara is a great speller. She rarely misses words on her spelling tests, and it comes pretty naturally to her. So when her teacher told me she had qualified to represent her class in the school spelling bee, I wasn't surprised. I was surprised, however, that Clara wanted to participate. She has been getting braver and braver at these sorts of things over the past year or so, but she hasn't even wanted to participate in the Sacrament meeting program for the past five years or so.

Her teacher, Mrs. Morris (love her!), got permission from the county to sit up with Clara on the stage. She also went up to the microphone with her each time, but Clara spoke into the mike to spell her word. For the practice round, Mrs. Morris introduced Clara for her and then Clara spelled the word "cough" correctly (I was so nervous for her). She had a teddy bear from Mrs. Morris on the practice round, but she didn't bring it up on subsequent rounds. She made it to the fourth round, spelling words like "watchdog" and "bonkers," and then getting out on the word "tropical." I was so incredibly proud of her courage to get up there and do it. It was awesome and made me want to cry. She overcame a big fear and did a hard thing.

 She got to come and sit on my lap while we waited for the Bee to finish. Lots of people congratulated her. The counselor, Ms. Kratz, had also helped a lot by letting Clara hold a fidget toy and talking to her with the other contestants the day before.

Mrs. Morris even sent her an encouraging video via text to my phone and painted Clara's nails that morning to help her be calm. And it was a fun coincidence that they were both wearing red that day.

Clara even got up for the group picture at the end, which she hadn't wanted to do.

Way to go, kiddo!!!

Solid food

I started introducing Henry to solid foods this past week in honor of his turning six months old (!). Previously, he has enjoyed sucking on apple slices (under watchful care--both mine and Robbie, who informs me, "Don't give him that; he'll choke!") and bell pepper slices, and I thought he would be super excited about eating solid food.

 Hi there, big brother. What's going to happen to me? I'm a little concerned.

Oh boy! A spoon with something orange on it! Gimme gimme gimme!

 Uh, Mom? What exactly was that?

This ain't no mama's milk.

 I thought you said these potatoes were sweet.

 Do I have to?

Thanks, I'm done now.

Poor guy! It was my fault for feeding him too soon after a nursing. He has tried a little banana and some applesauce. He'll get the hang of it in no time.