Jr High Basketball (Winter 2014-15)

Sadie decided to play basketball this year. She played with a lot of heart and gave it her best. She isn't very confident in her basketball skills and that made her a bit more hesitant on the floor than some of the other girls. But when she was put in the game she gave it her all. It was kind of fun watching her get a little aggressive and committing some fouls. She actually became very good at setting screens for the other girls, which is a great skill to have. And she was pretty darn good on defense. I enjoyed watching her stretch herself a little bit, doing something that was a bit out of her comfort zone. Way to go, Sadie!!

Sadie is #21 in the orange and black :)

Winter Solstice in Bluff or how to burn up really cool sculptures!

Bluff is an interesting place. As I've shared before, it is the place where the pioneers of the San Juan Mission said, 'Enough!' and stopped. For many years the town consisted of this group of pioneers and their descendants. In the latter part of the 20th century, other people began to move to Bluff. It's an eclectic mix of river-runners, tour guides, artists, hippies and whatever else you can come up with. A couple of times in the last few years the people of town, I'm not sure who started or plans this, have had a large statue built of wood and wire and brush. The first time I saw it, they had built a mastodon. It was pretty amazing. Here's a link to an article about it.

http://durangoherald.com/article/20121208/NEWS01/121209593/Honoring-ancient-petroglyphs-in-Utah-to-be-mammoth-event#

This year we were in Bluff to have a family Pre-Christmas dinner and to celebrate Shiala's birthday on the 21st, which happens to be the winter solstice. This years sculpture was scheduled to be burned at dusk so Mom wondered if we'd like to go see it before it was burned. We walked over in the late afternoon to look at the bison. The sculptures are simply amazing and I'm sad they burn them at all! I was amazed at the size of the thing. We walked around it, looked at the construction of it, (it had coconut shells for eyes!) and snapped a few photos. Then we walked back home. Curtis and I both felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea of celebrating the winter solstice. Not a part of our religious beliefs. But a few of us went back at dusk in cars and parked across the street to see it go up in flames. We didn't hear what was said or anything, just watched the big bonfire! 

L-R: Shiala (behind Hannah), Hannah (in the white beanie), Cambria, Kassie in the back, James and Charles. Soren is behind the bison.

James, Charles and Soren. They look tiny!

How did they make this thing!?!

It's huge!

I love walking through the quiet streets of Bluff. It's like going back in time.

The ever changing face of the Abajos

My favorite part of living in Monticello, in this house, is the view of the mountains out my front windows. I love looking at them every day to see what's going on up there. I have always found it interesting how clouds seem to be drawn to mountains, as if to a magnet. Some days the mountain is readily visible, and keeps me grounded. Other days it's partially hidden behind wisps of clouds, and appears as if it's floating. Then there are the days when it's completely covered by clouds and if you didn't know it was there you'd think we lived on flat land. On those days I feel like I've lost my moorings, like I'm drifting.
At times in my life I've fantasized about living in the Midwest, with endless prairie and sky. (Probably comes from reading Little House on the Prairie countless times!) But I truly do love our little mountains here. I'm thankful they are there to provide a catch place for snow to supply our need for water in this desert land. How generous is our Heavenly Father for placing that little bunch of mountains right here where it could provide for the needs of a couple of small communities? I'm thankful for:

•  the visual variety they provide for me every day
• I love them in the spring when the green starts to creep up their sides
• I love them in the summer when they are full, deep green and we can go up into the cool air there
• I love them in the fall with their subtle fall colors. I've learned to appreciate the many shades an oak tree can turn
• I love them in the winter with their winter white coat on. That's when the Horsehead on the side is most easily seen

I love them just about any old time!

Christmas 2014

Christmas was a little low key this year. We had decided to put our money towards a family trip to be taken next summer, so the kids were not expecting to get anything. For most of the month the real estate under the tree was unused and available.  Eventually a few gifts from the kids friends made their way under the tree and things looked better.

I had helped a friend and her husband with funding their toy company and in return I was sent three of their awesome swords. The boys were so surprised to open the large gift bags to find these interchangeable, awesome toy swords. The girls got new pajama pants and some other assorted goodies. Montana got tools and a first aid kit to take with him back to BYUI, as he is now the proud owner of a little beater truck.

Other things that made the holidays special;

• Band/Choir Concert - I always enjoy listening to my kids perform. Our new music teacher did a good job. Sadie was in the 8th grade band, high school band and the choir. Cambria was in the choir.
• Christmas dinner in Bluff - We went to Grandma's, along with Ford and Shiala, and the Eberlings on the Sunday before Christmas to have a nice dinner and to spend an evening together at the holidays. We also watched a driftwood buffalo burn….more about that coming
• Pandora Christmas music stations - usually I pull out the trusty old CD's we've had for years. But there was so much music available on Pandora that i never did get them out.
• We planned to do the 12 days of Christmas for someone. But due to my overwhelm with the ward Choir Christmas program it never happened. I had to take something off my plate :(
• Grandma gave us a 12 days of Christmas from the Bluff Fort box. In the picture below you see the bags hanging over the window as a garland. In each bag was a treat that corresponded to a story in a little book. So we read the story, ate the treat and played with the contents of the bags.
• We have our own little Christ-Centered Advent. It's a bit like a Mormon Jesse Tree. Instead of a tree we hang our little ornaments on a wreath. Each night we read the scripture that corresponds with the ornament and try to explain/understand who the ornament represents and how it typifies of Christ or witnesses of Christ. We've done it for about 3 years now and I love it. It brings in scriptures from the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible. I'm in the process of making felt ornaments rather than the paper ones I hurriedly made 3 years ago.

Watch out Bad Guys!

My girls in their Christmas finery

Gotcha with a mouthful again!!

This was about the extent of our trash….pretty good for a family of this size

Ever since I made these cloth gift bags a few years ago we have had so much less trash after Christmas.
They have served us well!

Thanksgiving 2014

Everyone else had other plans for Thanksgiving this year, so we were on our own. We are  happy that Ford and Shiala are living here now, so that they can join us. We just planned the good ol' traditional Thanksgiving meal and it was a wonderful day spent with the people I love most (Only thing that would have made it better would be to have had Jordan and Lindsey here.) 

This is the little kid's table this year… only my 3 little boys
I found some printable placemats with activities on them…that helped pass the time for them.

The big people's table...

The PIES!!
Shiala helped make pies. She loves to bake and we are glad!

Sweet little Kami! So fun to have her close so we can see her and she can get to know us better.

Shiala and Ford - they're so cute. Love them.

Playing a little Canasta after dinner…teaching Shiala the Welch Family Favorite Card Game! HaHa! We sure don't play it as often as we used to...

We have so much to be grateful for. If I tried to write everything down, my poor fingers would likely fall off. I am so thankful to my Heavenly Father for all his tender mercies and care of our family. He has ALWAYS taken care of us, in good times and not so good times. He is always faithful and anxious to bless His children. Any good thing that I have in my life is a direct result of His love and generosity. His greatest blessing to us all is the gift of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The Plan of Salvation and Christ's gift is the ultimate expression of God's love for His Children.

What would a holy woman do?

I have been a reader of Shannon's blog for a long time. She has some amazing helps for studying scriptures and teaching. I read this post at the beginning of this year and decided to also read the book she spoke of and focus on becoming a more holy woman this year. I printed off her posters and placed them around my home in places where I would see them often.

At first, I really did think about how I was doing things as I went through my day. Was I mothering in a more holy way? Was I serving my family with holy intentions rather than grudgingly, out of duty? Was I serving in my calling in a more holy way? Was I being a better daughter, sister, friend, wife, neighbor?

However, I noticed as the year went on and I became accustomed to the signs, I noticed them less. They became part of the 'landscape' and as I noticed them less, I put less thought into my actions. I think the one that helped me the most was having a picture of this as the screensaver on my phone. I saw it every time I looked at my phone. I should probably put it back. 

I am thankful for the introspection and intentionality I had at the beginning of the year and I think it's been a very worthwhile experiment. I need to try to continue it because after all, what do I want more than to be like my Savior and my Heavenly Father? I want to rejoin them more than anything. I need to think daily about how my actions reflect that desire and make necessary changes to realign myself with that goal. 

None of us will be perfected in this life, but we must work towards that all our days. Learning to think outside ourselves (our carnal, selfish selves) and to have His will be our will is what we are here to work on. It's a lifelong process, and I'm thankful I have a lifetime to work on getting to that point. 

The Jordan Welch Family

I adore this picture. I love this little family. So fun to watch our family grow!

Awww….

I'm so wishy-washy...

Lately I've been really disenchanted with my 'farm chores'. This will be the second winter of caring for chickens and I find myself dreading going out into the cold to take care of them. So each day it seems to be later in the day before I get out there. I mentioned to Curtis how tired I was of the chore and he said that, if I want to, we can give them all to our farmer friend and just buy the eggs from him....I'm thinking I like the sound of that.

When we moved here 5 years ago I was so excited and gung-ho to have the space to build a mini-farm. I wanted chickens, possibly goats or a milk cow, and a LARGE garden. It took us a while to get our feet under us and start collecting. We built garden boxes, we got more bees, we got the chickens and came thisclose to getting milking goats. In the last three years, this is what I've learned:

• I'm not a gardener. I like growing food, but I'm not Mavis and I'm not going to grow tons of food because I don't like being outside working in the garden all day!
• I'm not my dad. I don't like having daily feeding chores. Last winter I kept asking myself why I had turned myself into my dad. I had animals that I HAD to feed every day... rain, snow or shine.
• I'm SSSOOOOOOOO glad I never got a goat or cow to milk! If I think feeding chickens, collecting eggs and cleaning a coop is bad...! Yikes. 
• I thought the kids would be more involved in all this, but that was my dream, not theirs, hence the fact that C and I are the ones doing all the work....
• Although I'm thankful to have tried these things and for what I've learned (about chickens and gardening) through this experience, it's not my love and passion. I don't dream about it...anymore. 

My friend and I were discussing this the other day, (she still loves this stuff) and she asked me what my passion was. What do I love to do and long to do? And I had to say, "I don't know." I truly don't. I wonder if I'll every figure it out, or if I'll just go through life, trying this or that or whatever is sounding good at the moment only to realized it's not IT either.

I have heard of mothers who feel like they've lost themselves in the process of mothering and I've never quite related to that. But now, after 25+ years of being a mom I'm realizing I'm not sure who I am or what I am beyond a mom. I'm not angry or resentful about it, mostly I'm confused and curious. What lies within me waiting to be discovered?

I recently read a blog post, (can't find the link or I'd post it) and it talked about how people have either a 'fixed' mindset or a 'growth' mindset. It was very interesting and has given me a lot to think about. I've realized that logically I say I have or believe in a 'growth' mindset but my behavior and history tell me I've lived a 'fixed' mindset. I want to change that. I want to stop being afraid to try new things or to learn. I have a number of things I've wanted to do/learn but as I have grown older when I think of them, I usually think to myself that "it's too late, the time for such things is past". I think it's more that I'm letting fear of failure stop me from attempting things. I've always said it's never too late to learn or that learning never stops, yet I stop my learning at the doing stage. I study, research and digest information and then never DO anything with it other than think about it.

I'm hoping that in my wishy-washy way I can find what my passion is, or at least find something I truly enjoy doing, and actually make myself DO IT!

Halloween 2014

Halloween was a simple affair this year. Since the school has stopped having a carnival on Halloween day, it surely eases up the schedule on that day. We had planned to go to the Harvest Festival on the Saturday before Halloween that is sponsored by the school and the city, but when it came down to it the kids didn't really want to go and I wasn't about to force them to go. We all know how much I "love" Halloween anyway. We then decided to have our own little carnival here and had plans to do it on Halloween afternoon after school. But then a football game was scheduled for that afternoon and it preempted our carnival. Oh, well. Best laid plans of mice and men.....

We did do our traditional little jack-o-lantern pizzas and then dressed the boys up and sent them out around the neighborhood with Montana. They each got a little load of candy in their buckets and it was enough to tide them over while we watched 'The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" to end the evening.

Fix It Felix aka James

I splurged a little bit this year and let the two older boys get store bought costumes from the thrift store. They were both new and can be used year-round since they are not Halloween specific costumes. Sadie helped James with his costume and I think it turned out super cute.

Darth Vader aka Charles

Power Ranger aka Soren

Ready to go trick-or-treating

making little Jack 0 Lantern pizzas...

Soren must be related to his Grandpa Barton...

Hannah had to cheer at the quarterfinal football game and they all dressed up as zombie cheerleaders...

Good Things:

Helpful older sisters and brothers who lighten mom and dad's load...

It was not too cold this year...no snow

We don't get many trick-or-treaters since we live on the edge of town, so we don't have to buy a ton of candy....

'School' for James

I decided to do a little preschool with James this year since he and I would have one-on-one time in the afternoons. I found a fun little curriculum at Brightly Beaming. It focuses on learning the letters, shapes, colors, numbers, etc. Sometimes it's been hit and miss, like when apple-processing took over my life, but we have had fun with it. James really likes the number learning because he gets to stick the correct number of stickers on the number pages and he likes the number matching game I made for him. He is doing well with learning the names of the letters and how to write them. He is particularly fond of A and H. Down, down, over! He has gone from demanding that I color his letters and pictures to happily doing his own.

I love this little guy and his quick mind. I have to persuade him to participate at times, but when he finally does, we always have a good time together.....

learning about 'squares' by making square cookies

practicing writing B in rice

we have a little poster that we put all the week's information on as we learn about it. 

James was standing on a stool with a flashlight, turning around to be a 'lighthouse' (not very happily)

learning about stars...did you know there's a star in every apple?...

Good Things:

people willing to share their ideas and hard work 

solo time with James

Nashville Tribute Band

I don't know how it came about but the Nashville Tribute Band did a concert in our little town in our stake center last night. It was awesome. All the songs were sung from the point of view of someone who knew or interacted with Christ. I loved the music and the messages of the songs. I need to purchase this album as well as the others they have done.
It's nice to know that there are some good, strong, LDS people in the music industry who are not ashamed of their faith and are willing to share it openly.

crappy picture but it proves they were here!

Helping at the kindergarten Halloween party

I got the opportunity to help in Charles' classroom with the Halloween Party. He was very excited to have me there. There were several stations set up for the kids to rotate through. I was in charge of the decorate a cupcake/make an oreo spider station.  There was also a candy corn bingo station and a wrap a mummy station. Lots of goodies to be had as well.

Charlie playing candy corn bingo

I really enjoyed the chance to see him in his classroom and to watch him interact with his classmates and teacher. He's quiet as he goes about his business but I could tell he was comfortable and happy to be there. He LOVES school!

Learning to feel comfortable being me

I have always struggled with me. I have had a hard time liking myself and who I am and the way I am. I have always hated pictures of myself and usually avoid being in them if possible. After reading some articles/blog posts about being in the pictures anyway, I decided that I need to just quit worrying about what I look like and whether I like how I look in the pictures and just be in them. I don't think my kids will be worried about how I looked. Hopefully they'll just be happy I'm in them at all.
I am also learning to love myself for who I am. DYT has helped me realize that I am not a mistake or flawed. I am not like my mom in lots of ways but that's ok. It's ok if I do things slower cause I get caught in the details and 'what ifs'. I have learned that some of the things I thought were weaknesses are actually my gifts to the world.
I have learned that Heavenly Father has made me the way I am and that as His child I have value and worth. Maybe some of that acceptance comes from age as well. I find as I get older I care less what anyone else thinks about me. That's a nice place to be...to finally feel comfortable being me!

probably my favorite picture of myself. I didn't smile big enough to squish my eyes shut! LOL

We were taking pictures for a DYT contest of a mom and daughter dressing their truths.

She's much more comfortable in front of a camera than I am...

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Trying to make beach waves in my hair with salt spray...

Not too wavy, but I kind of liked it...

Not bad for a girl with stick-straight hair...

This was a really GOOD hair day...

Used a flat iron to make these soft curls. Oh, the irony. Using a flat iron to add curls to naturally straight hair.

I felt really pretty this day...

Not afraid to be in pictures anymore. If I wait until I think I look good enough for pictures there will never  be any of me in them for my kids to see...

Holding Kami on her blessing day. So fun to be a grandma!