William

This is Michael here home from school, so I will be doing a blog. William loves yogurt a lot. He loves it so much he makes lots of messes. William is a great little brother and is worth more than the messes he makes.

Deprived children and the Desolation of Days

David here.

On the way back from Church activities tonight, the 3 oldest were talking about how spoiled William (10 month old) is going to be "when he gets older and the house is paid off." They then began to list the things they have been, or are deprived of, which he certainly will not have to experience (it was all in good fun and we were laughing).

Now, before I give the list and in my defense, let me explain a few things. First of all, I have 7 children; second, we are trying to get our house paid off 3 years from now; and third, I am no cheapskate...we spend plenty of money and have plenty of fun. Most of what you will see below is to help pay off our house and to raise kids who are not spoiled, know how to work, and can grow spiritually (and no, we are not perfect...far from it, just pointed in the right direction, I hope).

Now that I have successfully convinced you to be on my side, here is the list of things they are "deprived" of:

1. A cell phone (we have only one cell phone, with the basic plan)
2. High speed Internet (we have Dial-up Internet--this helps us limit our time on the Internet and allows us to spend more time together as a family)
3. T.V. - our antenna works about 1% of the time
4. Milk (yes, we drank powdered milk for 2 years when real milk was about $4 / gallon. Thanks to our friend Ellen for bringing by a gallon of 2% which helped us remember what we were missing)
5. Pets (well, no pets that they want...they had gerbils that Marilyn released into the yard and I told them they could have the neighborhood Tomcat, who we call Stalker)
6. Free-time after dinner (They act like dinner jobs are the end of the world and their bones turn to rubber when we mention that the jobs will "only take a second")
7. Costly birthday parties (over $5)
8. School lunch and "lunchables" (they get to have school lunch one time per week, and actually prefer to take their lunch)
9. Unlimited electronics and gaming time (they are only allowed to play video games and watch movies on Friday's. This works well for me and Marilyn because they always want us to go on a date on Friday so they can binge on electronics)
10. Free-time on Saturday (we do yard work or house work in the morning and then do something fun in the afternoon)

I don't think this is what Daniel meant when he was referring to the Desolation of Days, but they seem to think so.

Well kids, to put things in perspective, when William is "your age" Mom and I will be in our 50s and will be too tired, worn out, and boring to:

1. Go sledding at Roan Mountain
2. 4-wheeling
3. Clean the pool so you can swim in it
4. Wrestle on the ground
5. Build a $40 homemade projector that projects a 11' X 15' movie on our wall
6. Go camping
7. Drive 6000 miles out West and back
8. Visit church history sites
9. Take an outing every weekend
10. Play video games
11. Etc... - read the blog for the rest of the list

Although this post is really meant to be tongue-in-cheek, someday our children will thank us that they were "deprived"....

It Takes a Village....

Ahh--the big kids are back in school--they went back on Wednesday. It is sure more calm around here. I've been playing with the little kids--they always want to do an "activity"--they are going through withdrawal symptoms of not having everyone around all day for endless entertainment. So, we got out "The Village". I made this several years ago--it was designed after one that my Grandma had made for us when we (myself and siblings) were young. It seems like we were always playing with it. I loved the Zoo and the Lumber Co. It also had homes of our Grandparents, the church, school, airport, and post office. I'm sure my siblings can picture the fabrics, layout and remember their coveted dwelling spot. We spent hours playing on it and driving cars and living our little village life. I think my Mom later added the roads and stop signs. It was like magic--so I had to make one for my kids. (I think I have more fun playing on it than they do). Peter and KK had fun for a few hours going to "visit Grandma", to the BYU game, to the temple, and to Fountain Green. It was sheer bliss until they had a brawl over the orange 4-wheeler! It is a good thing we have cameras to capture the moments we want to remember.

Frosties and Waterfalls

A treat at Wendy's--thanks to Grandma for the gift cards!
Headed down the tube slide (sideways).

The "HOT" tub!
The view from above.

The big pool and slides.

Nothing like spending a COLD winter day at the pool. It was crazy to be in the pool and see snow and icicles outside. We had a blast at WILD BEAR FALLS--an indoor waterpark in Gatlinburg. We went with several other families and got the group discount which made the usually over-priced paradise doable for us. The only bummer was that the air and water were kinda cold so we spent a lot of time in the hot tub warming up. In between the slide and lazy river we'd head over to the hot tub to get warm again. It was fun though and we all had "raisin fingers", blue lips, and bleached suits when we left. I think they must have over- chlorinated the pool. Our skin was pretty thrashed after swimming in the stuff for hours.

Snow Days

"And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"

I think this line must have been written by a Mom who had a week of "snow days" after the long Christmas Break.

Or the Dad who called home on his lunch break to see how things were going at home.

Schedule Changes
Sullivan County Schools will be closed on Thursday, January 7, 2010.

The safety of our students and employees is the most important factor in making these decisions.

This is from the Sullivan County Department of Education web-site. I think the mental and emotional state of the mothers needs to rank higher as a consideration when deciding to close the schools!

It has actually been fun having them home all week. I have extra help with the little kids and we just read, watch movies, craft, bake and sew.

Survival Part 2

Lots of heavy wet snow!
David takes the kids on the 3-wheeler
Trees down in the neighbors yard

Friends cars parked in our yard--they had to walk up the hill to get home.

A while back we had a great storm. The biggest storm in 10 years! VERY heavy, wet snow covered the ground, roads, and trees. The kids loved playing outside and had several snowball fights. We were outside playing in the yard when the neighbors tree broke and snapped the power line...that was pretty scary and we could hear trees craking and snapping all throughout the neighborhood. One of their big tree limbs later fell on their house and punched a hole through the roof and into their bathroom. David put temporary shingles over the hole until the insurance gets it fixed. We lost power--many neighborhoods were without power and water for a few days. It was a good test of preparedness--we did OK, but learned a few things:

#1 I have to know how to do everything and where it all is!

(Since David was stuck on the freeway for 3+ hours--after a friend came his rescue--they were still a long time getting home).

#2 We have lots of stuff packed away for "emergencies" but it is not very accessible or very easy to use.

#3 The kids had a pretty good attitude--I need to work on mine a little!

#4 We had several friends and neighbors that needed help (water, heater/kerosene, wood, warm snow clothes) so it is good to have extra stuff on hand.

Overall, it was great to have snow--it was beautiful and we had some great adventures. I took the kids and some friends sledding at the park and then at the golf course. They had a great time and were exhausted after a few hours. Peter was going non-stop. We could only find one of his snow boots so he wore one cowboy boot. When I helped him get undressed the boot was filled with snow. He must of been having fun because his foot was frozen!

Praise To the Man

Parker and Eliza at the Palmyra Temple. They did baptisms for the dead.

Parker celebrated his 12th birthday on November 27th. Here he is with his new warm coat in the Sacred Grove.
Thanksgiving Dinner in our cabin at Seneca Lake Camp.

We walked around the Sacred Grove for about an hour on Thanksgiving Day.

We had a great trip to New York over the Thanksgiving Holiday. Overall the kids were great (good thing I am writing this a month later to forget some of the "moments"). We had lots of time to just be together and relax. We stayed at the Church's Girls Camp in a 16-bunk cabin. Very nice facilities, but a little chilly. We brought a space heater that did not quite heat the space--we just stayed bundled up. We watched movies, hiked, played DS, and drove to all the church sites. The Finger-Lakes area is really beautiful. I thought about my brother Steve who served his mission in that area and also later lived there with Denise and the boys.

Some of the highlights:

Hill Cumorah, Scared Grove, Grandin Building, Smith Farm

Thanksgiving Dinner--Crock-Pot Turkey cooked overnight (very juicy), micro-waved "sides"

Parker got the priesthood and went to the temple. He was SO happy.

"Aliens in the Attic" Movie--downloaded on David's laptop.

Card Games, puzzles, ginger ale, egg nog, Tole House Cookie Pie

Eating at McDonalds (David told the kids "this is where Joseph and Emma ate after they got the gold plates"--some of the kids fell for it--we all had a good laugh.)

We made a stop at Niagara Falls on the way home--VERY COLD and WET! Then on to the Camille and Chads for some fun with the cousins in Ohio. We spent the night, went to church , talked, ate yummy chicken and rice dinner and several dozen pumpkin cookies--thanks Camille. They are great hosts--it is fun to live near them.

All in all, we drove 1800 miles, but it didn't seem that long.

Just a few other thoughts:

It was really sad for me to see Alvin's grave. It is alone on the top of a small hill in Palmyra. It didn't help that it was raining, cold and muddy. He was at the prime of his life and loved by his family. It was sobering.

Joseph Smith was young and strong. His family loved and supported him. He held up under tribulation (even when he was very young) and did what the Lord needed and wanted him to do. He was faithful and held true to his word and testimony. He was happy and people loved to be with him. He was a prophet who restored truths to the earth.

Happy Birthday. Thanks for your life and example.