One Word Tag

Okay, I saw this on Beth's blog, so I thought I'd play. I have about 1000 things I need to accomplish today, but when I get overwhelmed, I usually do something silly like this to avoid getting anything else done. Yeah, I'm odd....it's okay.

ONE WORD TAG!! -- its kinda hard to only think of ONE word!

1. Where is your cell phone? car
2.Your significant other? working
3. Your hair? long
4. Your mother? Vacaville
5. Your father? dead
6.Your favorite thing? creating
7. Your dream last night? angry
8. Your favorite drink? water
9. Your dream/goal? peace
10. The room you're in? den
11. What makes you happy? playing
12. Your fear? snakes
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
14. Favorite snack? pistachios
15. What you're not? glamorous
16. Chocolate? no
17. One of your wish list items? sanity
18. Where you grew up? Vacaville
19. The last thing you did? clean
20. What are you wearing? Gap
21. Your TV? busy
22.Your pets? Chyna
23. How many kids do you want? done
24.Your life? great
25. Your mood? anxious
26. Missing someone? daddy
27. Your car? Lexus
28. Something you're not wearing? Mascara
29. Favorite Store? Pottery Barn
30. Your summer? short
31. Your favorite color? red
32. Your favorite word? Seriously
33. When is the last time you laughed? today
34. Last time you cried? today

Oh, Canada!

Rock on, dude!

I have a LOT of pictures from our trip to Banff, Canada to post, but I had to take the time to put in this one of Jason's cool hairdo. We were walking along this river near Cave Basin in Banff, and Jason was teasing his dad (as usual) and Dave said, "Dude, you'd better knock it off, or I'm going to dunk you in the river!" Now, the river (and all water in this area) is FREEZING because it's all glacial runoff. But Jason, who never heard a threat he didn't like, says, "Hey, that sounds cool! Go ahead!" So Dave picked him up, and dunked his head in the river. The rockin' do, is the result.

And the item of the day is......THIS!

Today the kids and I went to Lake Solano Park in Vacaville. They found this cool peacock feather in the grass just after we met a daddy peacock, 2 mommies, and their 6 little peacock chickies. They were VERY tame, and got right up close to us, within a few inches, as they were begging for food. We were right next to a feed machine that was like those candy machines that you put a quarter in to get the "stuff", except that it was broken and the peacocks weren't quite understanding that part.

I haven't been to this park in years....I think the last time I went was when Haley was a toddler and the swimming hole was still in the back of the park and I took her there to play in the water. Alas, the swimming hole is all dried up now, and the smaller one has been turned into a children's fishing area. We might have to return one day to try that part out. We saw lots of little "almost" frogs....they had legs and googly eyes, but still had their tails and no front legs yet. There was also a small area off in the actual lake part that you can now swim in, so we all got in and splashed around. Seriously cold water, my friends! Yikes!

We got there too late to rent a paddle boat, and there's a geocache across the lake we want to get, so we're going back tomorrow. Now, my nephews and niece might remember this, but I took them to this same lake one time and we rented one of the paddle boats. There is room for 2 people to pedal, and one adult, or in our case, two small children can sit and ride. My oldest nephew Erik and I were going to be the paddlers, but Erik was too wimpy to handle it so I was doing all the work! Okay, to be fair, he was probably 9 or 10 years old....but he'd probably wimp out no matter what his age! It was a typical Vacaville summer day, probably around 100 degrees, so I didn't last long. I think I threw them all in the water and that was the end of the paddle boat! There's a playground structure there, lots of trees and picnic benches, so I'm sure we finished that day somewhere else, but I distinctly remember the boat.

It was a nice trip down memory lane to be there, as I remember many girl scout outings there, as well as church BBQ's when I was a little kid, then time with my nephews and niece when I was a teenager, and now as an adult, time with my own kids as well. Hopefully tomorrow we'll find the geocache.

Chihuly at the De Young

On Wednesday of last week, the kids and I went to the De Young museum in San Francisco to see the Chihuly exhibit. Very cool stuff! He's a glassblower from Tacoma, Washington....our old stomping grounds. It was beautiful weather in the City as we went through the museum and the Japanese Tea Garden. Then we took a drive through the Haight so I could show the kids some real, live hippies, but they weren't out that day. Maybe next time. We finished off at the Ferry building where we had some awesome cupcakes.

A little bit about me....

I've titled this post "A little bit about me" because I was perusing the blogs of other people I know and I always enjoy how much you get to know other people by reading their stuff. It allows you to see sides of them you might not already know about. So I was thinkin' to myself, "What kinds of things define ME?" I'm a mom who loves being a mom...even on those days I say I don't love it, and you can see lots of kiddo pics on my blog so that's covered. I love art and design, so more of that will be appearing; I love my husband, I love to read, I love the outdoors, and I love my spiritual self, too. So the latter is what you're getting today.

I was born into a family that are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I'm the first one of my immediate family with that distinction, because my parents and brother joined the church a couple of years before I was born. When I look at my son who is about to be baptized when he turns 8 this month, I hope I've prepared him for this moment in his life. I hope I've taught him to choose the right, that he has a Heavenly Father who loves him more than anything he could imagine, and that if he trusts in Him, he will never be disappointed. Also, when I look at him sleeping in his bed at night, with his hair all rumpled, and his skinned knees, and his sweet little face I wonder if I have what it takes to teach him what he needs to become a missionary when he turns 19. My little boy will have the opportunity to completely change people's lives when he knocks on their door one day.....will I have him ready? There are not many things in this life that I can accomplish that will be more important than preparing my children to have testimonies, to serve missions, to be married in the temple, and to be prepared to meet the Lamb of God. Wow....the Lord chose ME to do raise these sweet spirits and I cannot fail!

I chose this picture because it represents one of my favorite stories in the scriptures....the Woman at the Well. There are so many layers to this story in the Bible, and most of all is the great love of the Master. He takes this precious opportunity to talk to this woman, to let her know He knows her heart, and He sees her potential. He gives her the strength to be better, and to redeem herself. She leaves this encounter declaring that she has met the Messiah, and He is real. She leaves this meeting at the well a new woman of faith and courage.

Am I becoming the woman I promised I would be? Am I doing the things He has asked me to do? Am I drawing my strength at the well of the Savior and leaving a better person? I hope so, but I do know some simple truths. I know that the Lord lives, and that He loves me. I know that He knows my name, and reaches out to me on a daily basis to let me know He's there. I may not have seen His hands, but I have felt His peace when I've needed it most. I know that by studying the scriptures, I will find all I need to teach my family. I know that when I am down on my knees asking my Father in Heaven for guidance and direction, I will receive what I ask.

I guess that's it for now.....there's more to come, I'm sure. :)