I DO! . . .

I have been reading quite a bit about the Duggar family (with 17 children, I believe) and have been so impressed with their values.  One motto they use is "JOY:  Jesus, Others, You!"  We'll have joy when we place importance on people in that order.  So, I taught it to my kids and brought it up at every convenience (dinner table, car rides, play time . . . you get the idea). 

One day, near Easter, Ivy left the table first and was playing "Easter Bunny" in the living room adjacent to the living room.  She had a basket on her arm and was hiding plastic eggs and then finding them and plunking them in the basket.  She was completely entertained and satisfied.  Well, then, her brother finished eating and decided to join in the fun . . . his way.  He wanted to hide all the eggs and then let her find them.  She wanted to "find" them the moment he hid them and, as she was right on his heels, it was an easy thing to do.  So Cooper decided to block her from finding them immediately by spreading his arms and legs out and sashaying back and forth to keep her from the treasure.  They were both frustrated by the other's lack of cooperation!

I addressed Cooper.  "Cooper, do you want to feel joy?"  "Remember, how to feel joy."  I repeated this a few times, in slightly different versions.  He never took his eyes off his sister or stopped his physical blocking strategy.  Her screams grew shriller.  I tried again.  "Cooper, do you want to have joy?"

This time it was Ivy who answered at the top of his lungs.  "I DO!  BUT HE WON'T LET ME!"

Patriots' Day

April 19 is Patriots' Day - and it's fun! It's a day to commemorate when the colonists fought the British Regulars - and hence we are a free country! Although we didn't attend all the events we had hoped, we did go to the reenactment of the battle at Lexington - right on the very spot!! We got up at 4:00 am (yes, just imagine the fun of pulling 5 children and one mother from their beds at that hour - the 18 year old refused!) and met our friends, who are "old-timers" and had all the necessary equipment. ie: ladder and boards to make a high-rise bench to see over the crowds.

The Millers and Boyce boys wait for the action.


You notice that only one of the children looks thrilled at 5:00 am to be watching a BATTLE with GUNS and BAYONETS and CANNONS and so on!

I know he's secretly wishing he could take that home!

Everyone perked up a little - especially since we were heading to donuts. I think Richard's the only one who didn't have a nap that day.

Martha's Visit - In April

In August of 1985 I arrived at Deseret Towers (T-Hall) at BYU. The cute blonde with whom I shared my room was Mindi and next door were Megan and Martha and next door to them was Michelle. Down two flights of stairs was Kristen (my childhood friend). We all became close friends and roomed together at Raintree Apartments the next year (and some beyond that). Although Michelle passed away years ago, the rest of us have remained dear friends. I was lucky to have both Mindi and Martha come to visit this year while I was in Boston.

At Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. On "Author's Ridge" is buried Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and more. A BEAUTIFUL old cemetery. It's in Concord - where many of these authors had homes.


At "Walden Pond" of Henry David Thoreau fame. Okay - here's the truth. It's really NOT Walden Pond, but we thought it was at that moment. We were in a hurry to finish up Concord because Martha had to catch her plane and so we followed the GPS and signs to the state park. We parked our car in the lot with a handful of others (still a chilly season), passed the group of school students eating lunch by their bus and walked to the hill's edge and peered in. No one was around. When we returned to the car we walked to the opposite end of the lot and explored the replica of Thoreau's tiny home he lived in at Walden. There were people around again. Fast forward a month. Now my friend Evelyn (from Cedar City) and her daughter were visiting. We took Cooper and Maia and made a quick trip out to Concord and Walden before church. This time we saw people crossing the road across from the little house so we followed. Down that little hill is the REAL Walden Pond! (Seems Marth and I had checked out "Goose Pond.) Anyway - a great place. With a gift shop and bathrooms and everything. It all makes sense now!

Ready for a night out. We went to a Mexican Restaurant and the waiter was very nice - he gave my vegan friend and I samples of all the weird stuff on the menu (grilled cactus, chocolate mole, etc.) so we could make an informed decision. Later, he brought another "sample" over - one we hadn't asked for. We politely told him we didn't drink alcohol!

Two Harvard Hopefuls. You know the drill - touch the foot of John Harvard (see how shiny it is from being rubbed?) and one of your children will attend Harvard. (Then use Germ-X because that toe is the recipient of Freshmen initiation pranks! ) Notice I used the word HOPEFUL!

Cape Cod - in April

Cape Cod is GORGEOUS - just like the postcards. We spent a day there and enjoyed every minute of it. You cannot believe the shells (and crab legs and animal skeletons) on the shore! They are huge like I've never found on the West Coast. We collected a bunch and I'm still working on Cloroxing out the smell so I can add them to my jar of coral I found in Florida.

No words necessary.

Beautiful girl.

Just having fun. Notice that is MARTHA - not Rhonda - who is picking up the slimy thing or crab body or whatever. I've got to work on being a better mom, but for now I'm just glad Martha was along.

Boy + Sand = DIG

Boy + Water + Any Object = THROW

Days like this we're especially glad we made the choice to move the family across the country. It's been an experience of a life-time.

With Marth. We try to fool ourselves that we look the same as we did Freshman & Sophomore year, and we do a pretty good job until we remember we have children who are just a year younger than we were when we met each other!

Little explorer.

Tuckered out.

About April

Lots of fun happened this month!

(Most of the pictures, unfortunately, were taken with our not-so-great camera and so are not great quality! Got a new camera for Mother's Day!)

Maia had her performance to cap off an 8-week music class. She had such fun with this group of 7-10 year olds - and they learned some darling songs! (I hadn't heard "Candy Man" for SO long!!) They also performed at a senior center and got a kick out of the little old lady who stood up to sing one of the songs...wish I could remember which one, 'cause that's what makes the story so funny! I'll have to ask Maia and tell you later.

With her teacher, Judianne Peterson. Judianne is not only extremely musically talented, but a wonderful person. We have loved getting to know her and her family. The "weird" thing is that we actually met her brother when we were first driving to Mass. His family and our family ended up at the Sacred Grove on the same Sunday as we were traveling - he back to Idaho and us to Belmont. Their family has endured much loss and pain.

Tessa's in the back row, third from left, I THINK! How terrible is that? This picture was taken with the cell phone at her school concert.

Cute boy. When I uploaded this picture I thought it was the one showing his empty space from his first lost tooth...hope I have a picture of that somewhere. But anyway, here's our Coop.

With friends at dinner. These two guys were in one of Richard's classes at Harvard Business School. They are both West Point graduates and former service members. Jesus is on the left with his wife, and that's his little boy in the middle. Ali is in the white shirt (his wife was unable to come). They both served in Iraq, I believe. They have excelled at Harvard and have great jobs lined up. Very nice people.

Goofy Girl. -- I guess this is my best picture of Maia on her 9th birthday! (So glad I later got a camera so I can be in control of photograph quality again!)

Here's the beauty queen, wearing one of her favorite outfits. An 18-month size slip, which she calls her "tutu" or "suit." She also wears her black velvet church jacket all over the place (no matter the weather) and I finally just gave away these boots! Ivy is always a source of fashion entertainment for the family...and, alas, neighbors, other grocery shoppers, church members, bus riders, pedestrians ... you get the idea.