Big Brothers

I wrote that Peter and Cooper are off at FSY this week. I failed to mention that Topher got up early so he could hug them before they left. He's really missed them the last few days.

Coming Into Focus

This boy can officially see! We picked up his glasses yesterday evening. He spent most of today looking at books that he most likely couldn't see clearly before. And, like his siblings before him, he looks awfully cute in his new spectacles!

Off On Another Adventure

Today's vacation recap has been postponed, but only by a little. 

Cooper spent most of last week camping with other young men from church at High Adventure. He loved it and had a fantastic time. Maybe someday he'll write a blog post about it. He got home on Saturday, worked on unpacking, cleaning his gear, and showering. Then he turned around and started packing for his next adventure. He and Peter left today for a week of FSY. I stayed up much later than was wise making sure they were packed and that all of their clothes were clean.

It was a rough night.

The Big Reveal

Yesterday I mentioned that we had a second place in California to visit. Bryan and I had planned that leg of the trip for just as many months as we'd been planning the rest of the trip. The big difference was that this part of the trip was a big secret. We had thought about telling the kids as we were on our way, but we were concerned that they might guess the surprise. Also, we were afraid that if we told them while in transit they would scream and Bryan would drive off the road. True story.

So instead we told them on Friday, the last day of virtual school. Bryan had the presence of mind to film the reveal.

So, on Sunday evening, we said our goodbyes to the grandparents and drove up to Anaheim. We had picked a hotel that was a ten minute drive from Disneyland because it included a free breakfast and looked bigger than our other hotel option that was across the street from the parks. When we arrived at said hotel we discovered it was not only much smaller than advertised, it also had a gross dirty mattress on the foldout couch and stunk like cigarette smoke. We were exhausted and discouraged. Cooper took a few pictures of the kitchen, to show it's size.

Bryan called the front desk and asked if they had a different room. No, this was the last room big enough to hold a group of our size. We opened windows and tried to make the best of it. The kids refused to put any of their bags down and stood huddled together near the door. Bryan and I stepped into one of the bedrooms to conference. The smell was even stronger in there. Cigarette smoke is a trigger for my asthma and I was feeling it with every breath. In the few minutes that we'd been there Bryan had found a different, more expensive hotel room for us. But could we get out of this hotel reservation? And if we could, could we afford the more expensive room?

As we talked I said a quick prayer in my head. I didn't ask if we could afford it. I asked if we would be safe staying in that smelly hotel. The answer came to my mind immediately, "You didn't have to pay for a rental car." We had budgeted for a rental car, but hadn't had to use that money thanks to our generous friends letting us borrow their van. We hadn't reallocated the money anywhere, so we did have a financial cushion that would cover the new room. I told Bryan the answer that I got and he left to ask the front desk if they could cancel our reservation.

The front office was in a different building than the one we were standing in. The kids and I watched out the window as Bryan walked into the office. Then, what felt like moments later, Bryan came running out of the office and across the parking lot. He burst into the room and said they wouldn't charge us and would cancel the whole reservation if we left immediately. We hauled ourselves out of that room so fast and were loading back into the van in less than a minute. As soon as the person working the front desk had said they would cancel, Bryan booked the other room. We were on our way to our second hotel of the night.

I wish we had more pictures of that first hotel to highlight how completely different these two hotels were from each other. While the first one was old, small, and stunk, the new one was indeed new, spacious, and gloriously clean. The kids all heartily approved of our new accommodations. In his excitement, Cooper took several pictures of the new hotel.

When Bryan checked in to the new hotel the clerk told him that this was the very last available room in the hotel and apologized that it was an accessible room. That's why it was so huge, it was big enough for a wheelchair. We did not mind at all.

Now that we had a clean, safe place to sleep, we surprised the kids by handing out the souvenirs (little backpacks, hats, shirts) we'd been secretly gathering for months and tried to sleep in spite of our excitement for the next day.

Our Big Adventure: Days 5 and 6

Tuxedo the cat was an important part of our visit to California. Topher spent time each day trying to find where he was hiding. Occasionally Tuxedo would let himself be found and would accept adoration, but mostly he stayed safely out of sight.

On Saturday, now that school was done, Phoebe took over Topher duty while Peter and Cooper helped me and Bryan with a project.

On Sunday we attended church in the same building where Bryan and I had our wedding reception almost twenty-two years ago. There were a handful of people in their ward that I knew from growing up there. Two of those people were serving in Young Women and were so excited to welcome Phoebe. She felt so included that she asked if we could move there. Unfortunately, we can't do that, but I'm thrilled that she felt such a strong sense of belonging.

After church we quickly packed up our hotel room and prepared to switch to our second California location. Then we went back to my parents' house for lunch and a final load of laundry. While that was drying, we drove down to see the San Diego Temple, the place where Bryan and I were married. It's one of my favorite places on earth. Bryan was so tired from the long week that he closed his eyes for a bit in the van while the kids and I walked around. I woke him up for a group shot at the end.

Then we stopped by my parents house for hugs and our now dry clothes. And we finally got pictures of the kids with the grandparents.

Then we piled into the van for the next leg of our journey.

Building a Testimony

We interrupt this travelogue to share Peter's talk from this past Sunday. He commented afterward that he looked up more during this delivery than during his previous talk. Yay for progress! I only edited a few words, the rest are his.

A long time ago I remember sitting in a Sunday school class, trying to come up with a new, unique answer to my teacher's question. I don't exactly remember what the question was, but I do remember my teacher telling us that it was okay to give "primary answers" since they were the clearest and often most accurate answer, simple and to the point.

When asked how to gain a testimony of the gospel, my mind went to these kinds of primary answers, and I'd like to share some of them with you today, while adding some commentary to further expand on them.

Before someone can even go about putting these answers to work, they must first have a desire to seek truth, as stated in an April 1974 conference talk by Elder Franklin D. Richards “However, to obtain a testimony one must have a real desire to know the truth and must be willing to exert considerable effort.” All the sources of a testimony first require a willingness to use them. Something that I am fond of doing when studying my scriptures is verifying what I read by finding the same teachings in other sources. The idea that we must have desire and effort is also illustrated in the often used Matthew 7: 7-8 “7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

Once you’ve found the desire and willingness to seek truth, you must then know what sources to use. A common primary answer given is scripture. Reading your scriptures can help you gain a testimony. That is the answer that a lot of primary kids know and would tell you if you ask them. Personally, I believe that reading scriptures is one of the two most important pillars of a testimony, and my reasoning is this. All that we know about the gospel, all of the stories and lessons we have, apart from those that come from modern revelation, are rooted in the scriptures. If we want to gain an understanding and testimony, we should turn to that writing that we have so readily available to us, and start to read and relate to what we read; searching for ourselves, the meaning of those books. With time and effort, meaning will come to us, and our testimony will begin to strengthen, or even start forming to begin with.

Another common answer given in primary is prayer. We should pray and ask if things are true. This source is the second of those pillars that I believe make a strong testimony. We have a way to directly communicate with the very being that created us and the world we live in. I think we can sometimes take that for granted. If we have doubts, or seek answers, we can literally ask God himself. Isn’t that amazing? What better way to gain a testimony than to ask for a heavenly confirmation that such things are true? This idea is also illustrated in another popular verse, James 1:5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” Something that struck me while copying that scripture into my talk was this: We usually think about that first part, If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, but I feel we oftentimes gloss over the last part: “that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not.” Upbraideth was a word I didn’t quite recognize, but the annotation gave the synonyms “reproaches and censures” both of which mean to disapproval and disappointment. The meaning I take from this, and “giveth to all men liberally” is that it doesn’t matter who you are or really what your personal values and beliefs are, but instead God wants us to ask Him, in any instance where we lack wisdom, and he will not disapprove or be disappointed. That I feel is the essence of a testimony: Us, putting in the effort to learn and seek wisdom, through scripture, and then verifying what we find with our God Himself. That ability to search for answer and meaning, the agency we have to find that for ourselves, I think is a very beautiful thing, and one of the greatest gifts we have from Him. We often, as humans strive for deeper understanding of life, and I bear my testimony that testimonies are our divinely gifted source of that meaning and understanding, strengthened by both God and ourselves, to create a powerful understanding of our lives. I know that if we seek answers in the scriptures, and verify them through prayer, we can gain and strengthen our testimonies, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Our Big Adventure: Days 3 and 4

Our hotel room had a view of the ocean, albeit a distant one.

We spent Thursday visiting with my parents and my grandma. I had an organization project that took up most of my time. Topher and Sophie spent the majority of their time riding scooters on the backyard track. The big kids took turns hanging out with them. At least one of those big kids got a major sunburn from all that time outside after refusing sunscreen. Apparently the California sun was a lot stronger than expected.

Bryan had to work that first day and Phoebe called in for her last day of classes (at 5:30 in the morning PT), so they stayed at the hotel for the morning, then brought us a much sought after lunch.

Friday was very similar to Thursday, with a few exceptions. It was the last day of school for our virtual students. Sophie had her final class meeting and said goodbye to her teacher. Phoebe and Cooper had a few big projects they needed to finish before midnight Eastern Time, so they had to stay on track. They had both done schoolwork during the drive from Utah to California and still had to dedicate  most of those first two days to school. The big lesson here was for the parents: don't schedule a trip until school is out for everyone. Thankfully, they both got their work done! And that meant the schoolyear was officially over.

We had hoped to go to the beach that day, but the chilly weather and work kept us from doing that. We did brave the cool temperatures and walked on the pier that night. The kids loved it! The grownups did too. Then we walked to one of the best restaurants and got amazing Mexican food, including some burritos bigger than Phoebe's head.

Then we dragged ourselves to bed, worn out from another full day.

Our Big Adventure: Days 1 and 2

About a year ago, as we were counting down our time in isolation, we started daydreaming about what adventures we could have this year. Our biggest priority was to spend in-person time with family, particularly the grandparents in our lives. I told my Grandma Bonnie that we would see her this summer, she said she'd put it on her calendar. 

We were serious and we started planning. As we listed all the things we wanted to do and the people we wanted to see, we realized this was going to be a major trip. Bryan talked to his boss and got permission to work remotely for the entire month of June. Sometime back in March we bought plane tickets and our plans became much more concrete. We spent the month of May working hard to finish the school year while also preparing to travel. 

On June 5 Bryan and I picked up a rental car from our local small airport so we could leave our van at home instead of paying to park at the airport while we were gone. Then, on June 6, we woke up ridiculously early and rolled out of our driveway at 4:50 in the morning, on our way to Newark International Airport. We cut it too close and were in such a hurry that we turned in the rental car when we arrived at the airport, but forgot to turn in the key. We somehow lost Peter while going through security, which delayed us further. After he was located, we rushed to our gate and were the last people to board the flight. After all that craziness, we had a pretty calm ride from Newark to Salt Lake City.

Our stop for the night was Bryan's parents' new home, north of Salt Lake City. But first, we had to pick up a car. Our plan had been to rent a vehicle for our visit, but when I told my dear friend Brett (the other half of my two person book club) about our plans, she insisted we borrow their van. Bryan and I were really apprehensive about accepting such a generous offer, we didn't want to hurt their van during our travels. She assured me that no one was using it and that she really wanted us to drive it. It took some discussion and deliberation, but we agreed. It was waiting for us when we got to the airport, full of games and treats and entertainment. We were so thankful for her generosity and kindness!

After our super early morning (and not much sleep the night before) we were exhausted. We rested and visited and prepped for the next leg of our journey the following morning.

We had another early morning (not as early as the day before, thankfully) as we got on the road, this time to California. When we lived in Utah we made the Provo to San Diego county drive multiple times. This drive was a little longer, but still familiar. And it was Sophie and Topher's first time to California, which made it extra fun. Actually, it was Topher's first time to the Mountain Time Zone AND the Pacific Time Zone. Most of the drive looked like this. I should add that these pictures are courtesy of the five people in our house that have access to a phone, I was not the sole photographer.

We finally made it to my hometown. Before we found our hotel, we stopped in for some hugs and hellos.

Then we drove to our hotel and crashed for the night, happy to be done traveling for a few days.