I Forgot One thing...

As I was sorting papers I found one that I had written on about idea I wanted to record about Braxton on the blog. This story comes from the trip to New Mexico back in May. First of all I was amazed. Braxton is not much of a napper these days and hasn't been for a while but I figured that he would still sleep on the 10 hour drive to New Mexico. Well he did sleep, right about the time we had about half an hour left before we were to grandma's house. Sadly I was a horrible mom and didn't remember to bring much to entertain him while travelling. I was amazed at how well he played and entertained himself the first half of the trip. We stopped in Monticello to get gas and decided to get him some toys as well. It amazed me that he could be good for so long in the car.

The best story from that day was the one that Braxton told us. The story went like this, Braxton said, "Up (looking up and pointing), and then this (pointing left) and then this (pointing right) and then up..." He repeated this story over and over. Kent and I just laughed and wondered what in the world he was jabbering about. Finally at one point it occurred to me that he could be talking about an airplane as we had passed a small airport. When I asked him at the end of this story if it was a plane he yelled, "Yeah!" It may have been one of those had to be there stories, but either way it was so cute that it was a story I didn't want to forget. Even though he may be delayed in his expressive language he is very good at using the words he does know and trying to communicate. The best part is he never holds back when he wants to tell a story. Even if it's not always convenient to try and listen. He's a great kid!

A Little About Braxton

So I keep thinking I need to sit down and make up a huge post about all that Braxton is doing, but I keep forgetting. At this point I will just say what comes to mind as there are a few things I would like to tell about him. A few weeks ago he was crawling all over me and he kept poking me accidentally. I was getting frustrated with him and it hurt so I said Ouch very loud. Immediately he said to me in a very excited tone, "Got ouie?" it was so funny that I started faking ouie's just to get this response. In fact Kent has enjoyed it so much that he tells me he wants to put the words, "Got ouie?" on his window.

Another thing I thought was cute, the other day Kent was getting ready for church and put on his tie. Braxton decided that he wanted a tie also so Kent let Braxton pick out one of his ties and he wore it to church. We tried buying him a nice tie that fit him for the wedding, but Braxton wouldn't have it. So if you look at the pictures below you'll see his super long tie. Good thing you can't tell his tie is loud and has Bart Simpson on it.

Along those same lines Braxton doesn't like to wear different things for church. He got one outfit for church and that is the only one he will wear. He's actually quite particular about his clothes. He has things that he will wear and things he refuses to wear. Well apparently he thinks that I am supposed to wear the same thing to church as well. Last Sunday while I was getting ready for church he handed me a necklace to wear. Then when I put it on he handed me some bracelets. When I went into my room to put my church clothes on I grabbed the dress I wanted to wear and he told me no mommy. I picked up the skirt that I usually wear with the jewelry he had handed me and asked if he wanted me to wear that and he said, "Yeah!" So guess what I wore to church? I guess Kent's mom was right you do do funny things for your kids even if it is at church.

The last thing I would like to share is Braxton's speech development. I am not an oblivious mom. It came to my attention quite a while ago that Braxton's speech was behind. I didn't think there was anything we could do until he was 3 so I didn't worry too much. We got his speech tested and he is quite delayed, but of course insurance won't pay a penny of it. So we called the school district and started down that route and have been waiting to hear back from them and we now have a date scheduled for him to have a speech screening on Sept. 4th. I'm not sure what will happen but I think if he qualifies he may go to preschool for free. That of course would be great for the fact that it would help his speech, but I am having separation anxiety over the idea. I miss him just thinking about it. Either way I know that whatever happens is what will be best. I have faith that if he doesn't qualify that he will be OK anyway, but I really do hope he qualifies because I want him to be able to articulate his words so that people will see him as the bright boy that he is. I do worry that if the speech isn't developed that other kids will think that he is dumb and stop playing with him. No mom wants that for her child. Wish us luck!

Erik and Mariel's Wedding

July 31st my brother Erik married a beautiful woman (inside and out) and joined Mariel Porter to our family. We were blessed to be able to attend their wedding at the Manti temple. It was nice to remember the wonderful day Kent and I were married 6 1/2 years ago as they were married in the same temple as we were. I hope that you enjoy the snapshots of their day. Thanks to everyone who took pictures and posted them on facebook since I forgot my camera.

Pictures of the Manti temple the night before. I'm sure my dad took these.

I love the symbolism in this picture. Mariel looking to Erik

whose head is in direct line with the temple spire pointing to heaven.

Their photographer did a good job.

She has a very artistic eye.

I had to throw this one in because it shows their fun and

cheesy personalities which I absolutely love!

My sister and her family.

Erik's best man John...he is one of the best men I know too.

I'm thankful Erik's has good friends like him in his life.

The bride and groom coming out of the temple.

My younger brothers with the best man

Mariel with her maid of honor...

how fitting that it was her sister!

Who are those good looking people with Aunt Eileen?

The bride and groom with all the kids at the temple

My whole family

My parents, their children, and the bride.

Hip, hip horray!

Your always starving on your day, but these guys take the cake...literally

This is how kind they were to each other.

Mariel's body language told you it was coming though.

It's never a good thing when the bride hold the cake like a ball.
Mom had to work hard to find a man she could look up to while dancing.

Good thing she found a great man who measured up in all ways but one,

and he's only a little bit short on that one too.
This is Liesel...if you couldn't tell she's VERY camera shy... NOT!
Liesel and Devin cleaned up so nice for the wedding,

and although Devin won't believe me they both look very nice in pink!

What a cute kid to take to a wedding!

A beautiful bride!

I refuse to believe that my "little" sister is bigger than me!

Yeah I know it a picture of Cheryl eating, but I'm in it so I had to add it. lol

The bride and grooms individual shots with cheesy smiles.

It's my favorite boys!
Sisters! Sisters! There were never ever better sisters!

Now we are wondering where the other sister is...?

She must be preparing to catch the bouquet!
I barely made it in for the garter toss.

This bouquet toss was quite the production! It was a big fight to get this one...

Liesel and Hannah both caught it and we fighting it out.

Liesel won and now we know she's next.

Good new is the girls made peace...

...Braxton thought he'd do it too.

Erik sang "The Rose" the Mariel with Liesel accompanying.

In the end Uncle Richard, Mariel's dad, and Mariel burst out singing,

Close to You, but the Carpenters. It felt like I'd fallen into a musical.

Congratulations Erik and Mariel!

We love you both and are so happy that you are a part of our family!

Judge Not Lest ye be Judged...

God has a way of teaching you the lessons you need to learn through life's experiences. I have been so blessed lately with God's help in learning something that I feel is so valuable. I only pray that I can truly learn His lesson and live my life accordingly. Many of my friends know that one of my shortcomings is that I struggle to not judge and be critical of the choices others make. I don't pretend that I am cured and will never be guilty of this again, but I have gained a testimony of the truthfulness of this doctrine that we should not judge.

This journey began when a very good friend of mine decided she needed a break from church. Because of my love and concern for her I felt the need to "save" her from her choices. I struggled with allowing her the free agency that God gives. It was as if I wanted to guilt her back to church or something. I did this because of my concern for the circumstances that would follow or the guilt I felt that came from me allowing her to leave. After noticing myself look down on her for missing church and then finding myself critical of many other small choices I realized something. I am no more innocent of sin while I judge her than she is guilty of the choices she is making. Besides that how in the world could she feel any kind of love from me? I had to figure out how to change myself and stop trying to change her mind. I had to find a way to let go of the idea that her choices where a reflection of me in some way. Because the reality is that when it comes to choosing God we can only choose Him for ourselves and no one else. We can't choose for friends, neighbors, family, or even our children. As the saying goes you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Another thing I realized was that when we judge we are in essence saying that we know better than God the path that someone should take. We believe that we are capable of saving souls and don't acknowledge that it is Christ only who is capable of saving souls! We are only instruments who can help Him but, we cannot save them. We also feel as though we are as worthy as Christ to take on that title of judge in Isreal. We also act as if we have walked in an others footsteps when we may have no idea where they have had to walk. The only other person who knows that is Christ. If we knew all we would be able to see that we are in no way worthy to take on those roles that only Christ can bear. Which is why we have been commanded not to judge one another.

The lesson in this education came when I heard of an account from years ago when I was a new mother to Braxton. I was told of a time when family had been critical of me as a mother for serving my son food that was not cut small enough. In my mind it is quite a minor thing, but still it was hurtful to hear that someone would be so critical of me in an area I feel quite confident in. I have worked with children for years and also have my degree in early childhood education. Why would someone be critical of something I thought I did so well. Interestingly enough the same person had also been critical of a meal Kent and I prepared for the family. A meal that had been thought about for a very long time trying to make it nice. I had put so much time into preparing it in order to hopefully make everyone happy and yet all my work had gone unappreciated by this person. Mainly because they felt the need to be critical of me.

I couldn't be angry though because as I said it had happened years ago. What I could do? I could learn from this that is what I could do. I could use this understanding and try to see those times in my own family when we became critical of someone or something we didn't understand and I could change. I could learn to give others the benefit of the doubt and begin to believe the quote I had heard that people are always doing the best they can. That is what I was choosing to do. I was going to take it as a lesson learned.

A few weeks later I was thinking I needed some inspired spiritual guidance and so I decided that I would randomly choose a conference talk to listen to while I folded laundry. It ended up being a talk from the Young Women's session of conference given by President Monson entitled, "May You Have Courage." The contents of the talk as stated in the synopsis were, "My earnest prayer is that you will have the courage required to refrain from judging others, the courage to be chaste and virtuous, and the courage to stand firm for truth and righteousness." As I listened to this talk tears streamed down my face. I realized that I had heard what I needed to hear and I had much need for change myself.

With all of these lessons fresh in my mind I was blessed to see why judging is so damaging. I had a conversation with a dear cousin of mine about the family. The comment she made that hit close to home was that it is hard to come to family functions when you know that after you leave the family will talk about you because of the poor choices your parents made. I may not have been the most guilty of this, but I was also not entirely innocent either. She even recounted a time when her brother who had made plenty of mistakes was shunned by everyone except my grandmother. How can an individual feel loved and supported and grow when they are being looked down on. No one can find the strength needed to rise above their situation when they are constantly reminded (especially by family) of their failures.

The final lesson came on Sunday when the speakers spoke on Faith, Hope, and Charity as moved upon by the spirit while praying at the temple. At first I didn't think much of the topic, but when the first speaker related charity to giving others support and giving the benefit of the doubt I knew her talk was written for me among others. Then the hymns were also testament that her message was the Lord's message that day. The lines, "No longer as strangers on earth need we roam," and "We'll love one another and never dissemble, But cease to do evil and ever be one" also taught not to judge as we sang Now Let Us Rejoice. Then the intermediate hymn was Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words which again reinforced that same message. It was no question to me what the Lord would have me learn to do better. I hope that I can be a better example of love and charity so that I will not pass along judgmental attitudes to my children and so I truly can be a disciple of Jesus Christ and share His love with my brothers and sisters!

First Part of July Recap

July has flown by for me as you can see. It is now August and I am getting around to posting the 4th of July. It truly has been a busy month. I was lucky to catch much of the months activities on camera, but sadly some of the best events the camera was forgotten. I'll share pictures of what I have.

July 4th we got up and enjoyed the events of Sandy City.

I had to work, but we came back to enjoy the parade.

Braxton loved waving his flag.


Had to have a picture of the old fire truck.

Another cool old car.

Cool old truck.

I thought these barrels were an ingenious cheap float.

Can you tell we like fire trucks?

That night we met up with our friends at the last minute for fireworks.

Jill got some great shots of Kent and I.

Braxton loved playing with Bailey and the glow sticks.

Another cute shot with my handsome husband!
I love it when Braxton copies me!
Watching fireworks with Kacey, Jill and Bailey
I tried so very hard to get some cool fireworks shots with a digital delay.

Our cute friends again.

A few shots worked out.

Braxton and Bailey have so much fun together.

I liked the way this firework turned out squiggly.

The other day Braxton found this huge Lightening McQueen car

that was a bubble bath container. He matched it up with his other McQueen cars.
A beautiful sunrise I was lucky to wake up for.

Amazingly I woke up that early and noticed the color of the sky.

There is nothing better than pictures of kids sleeping in funny ways.

What cute little legs.

So on the potty training frontier we have been working on

Braxton letting us know that he's poopy. The other day

he brought out the koala and said it was poopy so we had to get out

the wipes and change it. I'm glad we are finally making headway.

Grandpa and Grandma came for Uncle Erik's wedding. Sadly we didn't have

pictures from the wedding, but Braxton took picture of them

while they were here at our house. We were all worn out from all the wedding stuff.
I'll be sure and post some pictures from the wedding

when I get them from someone on facebook.