Coleman Goes To Kindergarten

Last week Coleman started kindergarten... he was so excited to finally be able to go to school!

Here he is with a few of his friends before going in...

...and at this point I needed him to need me more than he actually did. He was so thrilled to be there and ran right up to sit on the line with all of his other classmates. I kept waving to him and telling him to have a great day and he finally told me I could just go. Couldnt' he have clung a little longer (or at all)? Hmph.

He said he had a great first day... and his favorite part about it all? Recess.

I'll admit, I shed a tear or two, but it feels pretty good that he's adjusted well and is loving his first experience in school.

**Do you cry on the first day of school?

It's In the Mail

Everyone knows I love good mail... packages, cards, letters, pretty invitations... it makes my day to open the mailbox and find treasures just for me.

Lately my mailbox has been full of bills and offers and ads for things I don't want or need or really need or want but can't afford. It's disheartening to even open the mailbox.

The other day though, I was not disappointed... not only was there a colorful package, it was full of all sorts of good and useful surprises.

The best part of it was that my favorite store (that very regrettably just went out of business in my town) sent it to... Ryan. (It's barely legible in the photo, but I swear to you, it's addressed to him.) We laughed and laughed out loud for many minutes.

**Have you gotten any good mail lately?

Because I'm the Mom

We were able to attend the morning dedication session of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple today. I loved that Olivia was old enough to experience it too. The speakers were wonderful and I was reminded of the great many blessings that I enjoy because of the temples.

One of the speakers talked about how there are only minutes (or hours) needed to travel to arrive at one of 13 temples in Utah, but that the spiritual journey takes many years. I was grateful to be sitting next to Olivia who is in the beginning of that journey, forming her testimony of temples and learning more about the blessings that come from temple attendance. I felt so much gratitude too for my place in that spiritual journey... that I am trying harder to make my temple experiences more meaningful and I am trying to attend more often.

Another speaker--Margaret Lifferth of the Primary general presidency--spoke about obedience and mentioned that she often hears her 3 year old grandson ask his mom "Why?" when she tells him to do something. Many times his mama will take the time to explain to him why he should obey, but sometimes her answer is just a simple, "Because I'm the mom." Sister Lifferth said that she wanted her grandson to understand that it was because she loved him most of all, and she wanted only the very best for him... that his obedience would help bring him the full joy that she desired for him.

She compared that to all of us and the need to listen and hearken to the counsel of the Lord... He loves us the most of all and knows what will bring us joy.

I hope that I will keep that in mind as I strive to listen and be obedient.

I can't end this post without saying what a cry baby I am... President Monson reminded us that the closing songs were a part of the Kirtland, Ohio Temple dedication and the Salt Lake Temple dedication. I was all choked up and emotional before the first note was played. Needless to say, the warbled notes and words coming from me weren't pretty, yet heartfelt still the same.

**Do you get emotional easily?
**Do you ever say "Because I'm the mom" (or the teacher or the aunt or the grandma) to children in your life?

Third Grade is for Big Kids

The summer has flown by... last week Olivia started 3rd grade and is officially a "big kid" (her words, not mine).

About her day she said... "I really like my new teacher.... zzzz... " (she has one core teacher and two specialty class teachers) and "I am making a lot of new friends... and I really miss you during the day." (I miss her during the day too.)

**What do you think about school starting?

Efficient, or not so much?

I have a sweet friend who always asks me how I get so much done in a day. My answer is always that I don't know, but I'm usually doing two or three things at once.... and that I'm extremely tired at the end of the day.



I was reading last night September's issue of my favorite magazine (truthfully, the only magazine I subscribe to that I read from cover to cover) and I found a fabulous article that got me thinking. It's by A.J. Jacobs and it's called, "Stop the Madness! One man's quest to go from manic multitasker to zen unitasker in one month flat."

Could multitasking really be madness???

An interesting quote from the article: "I've been reading a bunch of books on multitasking. It's really a life-or-death problem--no exaggeration. The culture of distraction is rewiring our brains, making us less happy, less able to connect with people and form a conscience. Multitasking makes us feel efficient. But it's an insane delusion; it actually just slows our thinking down. Our brains can't handle more than one higher cognitive function at a time. We may think we're multitasking, but we're really switch-tasking. Toggling between one task and another. First the phone, then the e-mail, then the phone, back to the e-mail. And each time you switch, there area few milliseconds of start-up cost. The neurons need time to rev up."

Is it true??? Am I really wasting time by trying to be so efficient???

It all makes sense... and yet I still feel that I must do more than one thing at a time, or I will waste my life away, despite the milliseconds in start-up costs.

I believe I will continue to listen to a book on CD on my drive to work.

I'm sure I will still fold laundry and iron (hate ironing!) while watching TV.

I'll probably still take a book or magazine to the kid's swimming lessons and glance up to see their wonderful progress every few minutes.

I'm sticking to my program of reading the Book of Mormon while I blow dry my hair.

I'll still make phone calls while I'm doing my 30 minutes of Healthy Lifestyle walking at the park near my clinic.

I just might soak up a few rays when I'm relaxing at said park and eating my lunch after my walk.

I'm convinced that even while I am paying attention to my cute Coleman and Olivia I might sneak a peek at my email, just to see if any of you make any fun comments on this or any other blog post.

And I will do my best to carry on a decent conversation with Ryan while we cook or wash dishes together.


But for now, I think I'll go snuggle up in bed and read the fabulous book I'm reading without trying to do anything else at all (except maybe eat a piece of dark chocolate here and there).

(I think I should admit that I took a break from the following tasks to do this blog post: Sharing a cute font with Ryan for his Court of Honor, commenting on peoples status updates on Facebook, chatting on Facebook with a friend, watching this hilarious mash-up video, and staring at my several loads of yet to be folded laundry trying to figure out if I could possibly type with one hand and fold with another... don't think that would work so well.)

**Are you a multitasker?

A Day with the Dinos

A week or so ago we had a fun outing with my friend Heidi and her kids... we met at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point and all of the kids loved it.

Our kids hadn't ever met before, so both of us were a little anxious (and hopeful) that our kids would get along. They acted like they've known each other their whole lives... it was great to spend the day with them!

They loved the dino that looks like the T-Rex from Night at the Museum.

David and Coleman had a great time playing in the sand...

...and Audrey and Olivia enjoyed it too.

Liv just really likes to pose.

They all had fun on the interactive computer games... and I should have grabbed a picture of David who was enchanted with the scale that tells you what kind of dinosaur weighs the same as you (or your group).

Of course they loved the shark. Sweet David said, "He's not real, right? So he won't come back in the resurrection?" (I love that he understands such deep gospel principles!)

Yet another skeleton to pose in front of (I think they were trying to look like they were holding spears?).

...and finally the dig at the end.

We had a great day with fun friends that we can't wait to see again.

(I regret not getting a picture with Heidi this time around... we had so much fun visiting and taking photos of the kids that I forgot about posing for one with her... next time!)

By the way, Tuesdays in August are $2 days at Thanksgiving Point for any of their venues... might be worth a last summer outing before school starts!

One whole decade...

...of marital bliss.

We celebrated in Paris in April (thanks Terri and Bruce for watching the kids), doing sealings at the temple yesterday (thanks Mom and Mike for watching the kids), and with our little family at home today. It is our family's birthday after all!

Looking over our wedding photos I thought it would be fun to post a few of our favorites:

Coming up the stairs at the Salt Lake Temple...

...with my Granddad and Grandma Wirthlin.... one of my regrets from my wedding day is that I didn't ask the photographer to get photos of us with each set of grandparents... I wish we had.

...my dad made me some awesome shoes for my wedding day... they were very comfortable and classy!

...the flowers were lovely, no? It was a very, very warm day.

One of our overall favorite photos.

There was so much construction going on when we got married... the construction workers thought this was pretty great of Ryan to carry me across the dirt. (I thought it was great too.)

With Ryan's parents...

Me and my daddy...

Mike and my mom with me and Ryan....

Me and all my sisters... front row: Cheristy, Stephanie, and Megan; back row: Lauren, Erin, Lindsey, Ryan's sister Traci, and Heather. Love these girls!

Ryan with all his boys. Left to right: my brother David, Ry's Dad Bruce, Ry's brother Tim, my Dad Stan, and my brother Matt. What handsome men!

This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole day... I love Ryan with the bouquet!

This is such a great picture of Ryan and his mom!

Not a favorite picture, just a funny memory of Ryan shoving the cake in my face, even though he was told many, many times to gently feed it to me. I should have known I'd have many more years of being teased and tickled.

I'm so glad Ryan and I were married 10 years ago... it was the best decision I've made in my life. Love you Ry!