Thanks for Giving...

We had an awesome Thanksgiving this year hosted by my very brave, very patient cousins, Billy and Rhonda. They recently bought a new home in Lehi, Utah which was remarkably big enough to house 25 people, if my count is right.
We all had so much fun together at Rebekah's wedding in July, we just had to get together again. Those of you who have followed my blog may remember the last time all of us got together. Does "Norovirus" ring a bell? It does with our family. Nearly everyone who attended the wedding lunch at PF Changs came down with this horribly violent "curse." Nearly everyone, that is except me. I'm not sure how that happened. I remember saying my prayers when everyone was getting sick and begging the Lord, "Please don't let me get sick. I have to much to do..." Have you mom's ever said prayers like that? I'm confident you have.
Well, this gathering was no exception. When our family arrived at Billy's on Wednesday night, we immediately got the kids ready for bed. I noticed the toilet in "our" bathroom was a little sluggish, but didn't think anything of it. The next morning, it was a bit worse and when I sought out a plunger, the "mess" seemed to increase in severity, if you know what I mean. I notified the homeowner, but we were all having so much fun, we just closed the door to the bathroom and told everyone not to use it until we could fix it. Later that evening, disaster struck...
One of the children in the course of the day had either forgotten, or did not get the memo, that the bathroom was off limits and had gone ahead and used it. No one knew until there was two inches of raw sewage in the bathroom. Not only that, it was pouring down through the vent into the unfinished basement. I was so proud of all of the cousins that rolled up pant legs and waded through the mess to help clean up. More over, I was in awe at Billy and Rhonda who shrugged their shoulders and said, "Don't worry. These things happen." They even kept a smile on their faces when we woke up in the morning to see that the beautiful walnut floor outside of the bathroom had buckled. They set a new standard of patience for me.
We went on to have great fun shopping at IKEA and Tai-Pan (whoo-hoo for me!) and spent the evening at Temple Square taking in the gorgeous lights. My brother's new apartment is right behind the temple. You literally walk out his front door and the temple is right in front of you. What a blessing for him. My parents we able to join us for the weekend as well. My mom had the blessing of taking a whole 4 days all for herself and didn't have to take care of anybody but her.
So, here is to another adventure-filled holiday with the cousins. I can't wait to see what happens next time!

When ye are in the service of your fellow beings...

As I get older, I love attending church on Sunday more and more. This may be because my children are getting older as well and I can actually sit through sacrament meeting with fairly little interruption. This week I had the opportunity to discuss some upcoming service that I was participating in. I was surprised at the reaction. I was told that I was actually enabling the person that I was serving. That by doing the service I was not encouraging the person to help themselves. It actually made a little bit of sense and even though I was determined to follow through on my promise, I started to feel a little bit bitter. This was going to take time away from my family and from all of the things I needed to get done for the holidays...

As I sat in sacrament meeting this morning, a sister spoke about compassion and I suddenly was brought back to the Spirit. I was gently, but strongly, reminded that the services I was needed for were not for those I was serving. Those acts of service were to benefit me and my family. I needed to be of service so that I would be humbled, so that I would be grateful for my blessings. The help that I was providing was meant to be a lesson for me and those around me.

"Oh, I get it!!" I said in my head. I was cheered to be reassured, but disappointed in myself for not thinking of it sooner. Disappointed for letting someone else try to discourage me from doing the Lord's work. I also wish I would have thought of it while the original disparaging conversation was taking place. I'm sure it will come up again. That is the beauty of Relief Society, right?

So, in this season of giving, I share with you this lesson that I learned this week. I hope it helps you in your efforts this season and in those to come.

Birthday Boy Jonah!

While I have been neglectful to my blog, I ask for it's forgiveness as I try to catch up, once again, over the next few days.
We just can't get enough of birthdays around here. Jonah just recently turned 6 and for the life of me I can't remember where I put those last six years. As I watch my children grow, I try to revel in every moment and conveniently forget that I am aging as well. Not that 31 is that old, it's just closer to 40 than I would like to believe. Can I get an "amen?"
Anyway, I digress. Jonah had an awesome birthday! We had an Indiana Jones themed party for him and Cole (I just couldn't do two parties) and each of them invited a few buddies. It is amazing to me how 11 small people seem to occupy and fill every corner of the house. We invited new friends from Jonah's kindergarten and for most of them it was their first time in our home. Of course everything was an adventure, just as Indiana himself would have had it. Enjoy the pictures from the party. I couldn't have done it alone. My sweetie and my brother were both quite instrumental in the success of the day. I had this great idea to let the kids shoot blow darts at a scary native instead of the usual "pin the tail on the whatever" game. I gave each child a straw and a q-tip that had been cut in half and dipped in poison (ketchup). It made the perfect dart to blow at the bad guy, which was beautifully created by my illustrator brother, David. Damon was less than thrilled with the mess that it created, but he was very patient and waited off to the side with a cleaning rag. Good man...I know this picture is dark, but I made a pretty cool Indian Jones hat cake. The "sand" around it was crushed up graham crackers and I placed little jewels around it. I forgot to buy a number 6 candle, but I had a 1 and a 5! Thanks to the dollar store, each child got their own Indiana Jones hat, a candy whip and a bag of treasure. We even sat at the table and made paper snakes and our favorite librarian (Buddie) read stories. It was great afternoon. I hope Jonah loved it as much as we did. Happy birthday, Indiana Jonah!!

Cole is how old?

Look at that handsome little face. Can you believe he is already three? Saturday our little Colie had a big birthday. So many things have changed over the last year. When he turned two, Cars were the big thing. Now it is Star Wars. He made out like a bandit this year and acquired quite a collection of "guys" as he calls them. We even outfitted him with his own light saber (life saber, as he calls it). I especially love it when he runs around with the light saber and sings the Star Wars theme song. What a little champ.

Last year Cole wanted a Lightning McQueen cake and I did a decent job. This year he wanted Yoda and I was pretty pleased with the outcome. I regretted after I was finished that I had used chocolate cake instead of red velvet cake for the Yoda head. That would have been awesome when we cut into it! Oh well.
The whole day was great. We went with Buddie and Boppo to see Madagascar 2, took pizza to Grandpa Gombert's house, ate cake, opened presents and then went home and watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. What a super great day with just our little family.

We are so grateful for you, Colie, and are so happy that you are such an important part of our family. You are our favorite three year old.
Happy Birthday, Little Jedi!!

Happy Halloween, Aarg!

I see because of the obvious lack of comments on my last post, except for Nancy (thanks!), I need to return to the lighter side of my life for my blog posts. So here's our official Halloween entry. We decided this year to go as pirates and have Cole dress up as Peter Pan. He's pretty fierce with a sword, so we knew he was up to the challenge. Halloween is the beginning of my favorite time of year. October through January are the months that I long for every year. I love the spirit in the air and in my home and look forward to all of the family time we get. It is just so warm and toasty all over. Hmmm, toast.It was actually my first year to get "Halloween-ed out." Between parties with friends (Rogers throw a wicked party), school parties, church parties and the actual Halloween night, I was pretty tired of being the "Buccaneer Beauty," although my sweetie seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. We are very fortunate to have children who only enjoy trick or treating for about two blocks. Then, when their buckets are about halfway full, they declare themselves done and we head home. I love that the greed of Halloween candy has not set in. I hope it never does.Well, I hope you all enjoyed this entry better than the last one! Have a super fun Fall! It is the shortest season of all but, in my opinion, by far the best. Love you all!!

A New Day...

Alright friends. Buckle in because I'm going to write some unpopular things in this entry. But, when my children look back at this family journal, this is one event that I want them to remember. I want them to know how their mom felt and the special memories our family shared on November 4, 2008. And while I know that I am publicly outing our family as Democrats, those of you that really know and love us, and I mean really know and love us, will understand and it will hopefully give you pause to think.

At dinner time on November 4th, we turned on CNN. We don't usually have TV on at dinner, but we considered this a special exception. We explained to the kids what we were watching. That the new president of our country was going to be decided tonight. Unfortunately my kids did not get the chance to see us vote. We took the opportunity to vote absentee through the mail to avoid the lines. However, in the spirit of celebration that we were making our marks, that we were showing appreciation to all those who lived and died and continue to do so for our freedoms and rights, I walked out to the mail box, placed my ballot inside, raised the red flag and yelled into the empty street "Rachel Sutherland has voted!!!" and silently said a prayer that this election year would be different.

So, back to election night. We pointed to the lower right corner of the screen where electoral votes were being tabulated. We explained to the kids that Obama needed 270 votes to win. At that point the count was 8 to 3 in favor of McCain. After dinner the kids ran upstairs to play Candyland while Damon and I settled in to watch till the bitter end. Periodically, Jonah would run down the stairs and look through the banister to check the count on the screen. However, the kids had to go to bed before the results were announced and the next morning, Jonah ran into our bedroom, jumped on our bed and asked "Did Obama win?" I gave him a hug and said yes to which he said, "I vote that Obama will have a great time as president." I vote for that too. Just not too much fun.

While some may only see that a Democrat has won over a Republican, I choose to see the amazing change that has come over our country. The vast majority of citizens actually feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves, that their votes actually matter. There is a sense of hope, of risen spirits that our country desperately needed.

It is time to set aside our fear. I know that it is comfortable and easy to do what we have always done, to vote the way that we have always voted. That luxury is gone and was never really an option in the first place. What a blessing we have in America and in the Gospel that we have our agency. That those of us raised in the church can take what we have learned, what we know to be true and put it to work to make good decisions, ones that ensure our freedoms and please our Heavenly Father.

Do I think Obama is perfect? Heck no. He's a man and he's a politician. Not the most stable of combinations. But right now, he is our best shot at making the necessary changes that need to happen to our economy and our government. The fact that our family chose to vote Democrat has zero bearing on our testimonies and our beliefs. It doesn't make us any less in our Heavenly Father's eyes, simply because we didn't do what everyone else around us was doing. Our excitement does not only come from who was elected president, but at the prospect of something new and different for our world. Nothing great was achieved by people who simply did what was done before.

I want to live my life like the famous bumper sticker, "Quiet women rarely make history." I challenge you to back away from gossip and assumptions. Do your own research if you have a question. I know it is much more interesting to listen to radical statements and assume the worst about someone, but instead, encourage the wave of positive thinking that is sweeping the country and do your part to keep it moving.

I pray that I'm right. I hope that my children look back at this entry and say, "That must have been hard for Mom and Dad to do, but I'm glad they did it."

Two more kids?

My dear sweet husband has been after me for some time to have another child. I smile, maybe laugh, give him an assuring pat on the back and go back to the endless loads of laundry, dishes, fruit snack wrappers and yucky little drips around the toilet that come from living with three males. While I may have a hand in the laundry and the dishes, I claim zero responsibility for the bathroom mess.

So, my dear friend Michelle and I came up with the next best thing. She and her husband had the faith to allow Damon and I to watch their children, Thomas and Taylor, for 5 days while they went on vacation to Japan. It is only day two and things are going great. I actually had to pause for a minute this morning when I realized I actually had to do Taylor's hair. I've had it pretty easy with two boys. A little water and some gel and we are out the door. However, I was very proud of myself. When Michelle called to check in this morning at 7:45 a.m. I was showered and dressed, the children were dressed and fed, backpacks were ready by the door, the dishwasher was unloaded and loaded with the dirty breakfast dishes, beds were made AND the kids were quietly watching a morning cartoon show. Ta-Da!! Go ahead, ask me what time I got up this morning to make that all happen. 5:00 AM!! Oh, well, at least I was proud of myself.

The following few days will detail what we do while Michelle and Emmett are away so that they can check on their little ones through, as Tommy says, cyprospace. Have a great time on your trip guys!! We love you!!

Cole, Thomas, Jonah and Taylor are bowing down to the "Shine to Media" as we call it. Cartoon Network came out with a Star Wars cartoon and it gave me just enough time to whip up a big pot of spaghetti. Thank you George Lucas!

After baths and jammies, everyone came downstairts to decorate Halloween cookies. Exactly what they needed right before bed - more sugar...

Taylor loves to be nude, much like her Aunt Roo (just kidding, kind of). Bedtime is no exception. Emmett and Michelle warned us that she likes to take off her jammies and to promise her a candy if she could keep them on all night. I took it one further and promised her chocolate chip pancakes in the morning if she stayed dressed. When I checked on her when I went to bed, this is what I found at the end of the couch. Apparently she has heard about my cooking and decided she could risk it.

Invisible Poop

One of my favorite things about Jonah is his ability to tell a story. Honestly, there are times that I wish he would just cut to the chase. I don't need to know every last detail. But I have to remember, no matter how insignificant it seems to me, it is absolutely critical to his 5, almost 6, year old mind. Today, I was grateful that I had the patience to listen to this story, because if I had cut him short, the story simply would not have even been remotely as hilarious as this one he told me over lunch today. Bear with me as I try to share it with you as it was shared with me:

"Mom, you know what happened on the playground today? I had to go potty, and I felt a little bit of poop come out. (I'm silently saying "Oh no.." in my head) So I went to the bathroom and pulled down my pants but there was nothing there! But I could still feel it! When I pulled down my pants again, there was something glowing! And ya know what? I think it was invisible poop!"

The only thing lacking in this retelling is the expressions on his face as he told this tale. He told it with such conviction that I was actually thinking, "Wow, invisible poop. Who knew?"

Go Lightning Lions!!

Ok, I think we are up to fun thing number 4: Jonah started soccer! I had no idea that they made cleats, balls and shin guards so small. Jonah's first game was last Saturday and these boys were the picture of good sports. The team that they played from Longfellow Elementary had very obviously been playing for a while and were more than likely quite a bit older. "Slaughter" is the word that comes to mind when I think of the score. But I have to hand it to the self named Lightning Lions. They ran out there and had an awesome time. Practices have also been fun as they have played "games" with Coach Nate to teach them the basics. Jonah is confident, excited and continuing to learn how great it is to be on a team.

Here, the Lightning Lions are checking out the other team, trying to figure out their stragedy, I mean strategy.

Getting their game faces on...

Jonah helping his team mate, Jonah (yes there are two of them!) on the field.

Way to go Jonah!!

Well, Cole is down for a nap and Jonah is playing Lego Indiana Jones, which makes now the perfect time to blog. Ok, time for fun thing number three: My birthday! I have to admit, I feel a little funny blogging about my own birthday, but we had so much fun I just have to share. My birthday was on the 1st, which was Labor Day, which allowed for a little extra fun. My brother David was in town (fun to the extreme) and my awesome husband planned a great party for me and some of our closest buds: My parents and brother, The Schultz Family, the Egbert Family (who only partially came due to illness :( ) and the Ricks Family. We played fun games with the kids and had cake and ice cream.
But we didn't want the fun to end and since there was no school or work the next day the Ricks and Schultz spent the night!! We just rolled out sleeping bags and blankets and let the kids fall where they were. It was great. The whole night simply proved even more that you don't need booze to have a fabulous time.
The first game was an egg race with small wiffle balls instead of eggs. Sorry, groceries are just too expensive to waste. Here the teams ready themselves for the whistle.

Chip Schultz, as usual, does everything with style and grace. Fortunately, no bones were broken with this one.

Even when the game was over, the Tommy and Jonah would not give up. I love how they insisted on following the rules of not touching the "egg."

Speaking of style and grace, here is my brother David with my Dad getting ready for the three-legged race. Look at the length of those legs! Hardly a fair contest when compared with their competitors.

And these were the competitors: Jonah and Jack...

The birthday girl trying not to be too embarrassed that everyone in the house was singing to her and taking her picture...
I'm not sure who was more excited that I got a Wii: Me or the boys. Let's put it this way; it was in the house for two days before I had a turn to play it.

One of the finest gifts I have ever received in my life was given to me on this, my 31st birthday. It was a photo bag, but not just any photo bag. The Schultz family took time, love and care to put truly priceless photos in the bag for me. Photos that would make me laugh, cry and reminisce. Photos of Chip half naked when he was a teenager. No, I'm not kidding; your just going to have to believe me. Don't ask me to see it. I have been sworn to secrecy and was also asked to surrender said photos at the end of the evening. But the memory will live on forever. I know because the images are permanently burned into my cornea...

Thank you everyone for an awesome night. I will never forget it and am so grateful that I could share it with you. An especially big hug and kiss to my sweetie for giving me the best birthday gift ever: time with people I love.

Horray for the Big K!

OK friends. Time for fun thing number two: Jonah started Kindergarten. As many of you know, it was much harder on me than it was on him to leave Jonah that first day at the "big kid school." However, he ran out of class the first day and immediately asked me when he could ride the bus by himself. Apparently there is no separation anxiety there. My answer? "Heck No!"

Jonah's teacher is Mrs. Young and we already love her. She only stands about as tall as my shoulder and she is a firm believer in teaching the kids independence. Very cool.

I was a little embarrassed about asking Mrs. Young if I could take her picture, but she assured me that I was not the first one to ask.

Many moons ago when I started the first grade, my mom took my picture on the front porch of our apartment with my arm around my little brother. I just couldn't help but try to recreate the moment with my little guys.

Go White Pine Timberwolves! Kindergarten Rocks!!

Where to begin...

I have become so consumed with all that is going on around me that I don't even know where to begin when it comes to filling everyone in about the last 3 weeks. However, I'm going to give it a shot and will try to post something new and fun over the next few days. Too put it all in one post would make my head, and yours, explode.

So, fun thing number one: Our yearly camping trip with the Ricks family. This year it was in Stanley, Idaho. Did you know that even in the dead of August, when all around the country people are sweltering and sweating in 100 degree heat, the nights in Stanley get down to 28 degrees?! Can I just say @#$%^&*!! I like cool weather probably more than most, but give me a freaking break! So imagine with me, if you will, two families, 8 people: 4 adults, 4 children hopped up on s'mores and Capri Sun crammed into one small trailer. Add to that three children (Jonah, Tommy and Taylor) sleeping in the overhead bunk, Taylor sleeping perilously close to the edge. If you think any of us got a lick of real recuperative sleep, you are smoking crack. But let me tell ya, we had more fun than that proverbial barrel of monkeys. Enjoy the following pictures. I sure enjoyed taking them.

The kids went to a "Junior Rangers" class Saturday morning and learned about the local wildlife as well as "respecting nature." Here Tommy and Jonah hold their "warm fuzzies" that they made in class.

Here Cole accurately portrays how unbelievably cold the water was on the lake.

Jonah loves the water so much, by the end of the morning he was almost naked, only in his underwear, wading around and catching fish in a plastic cup. He'd bring them in to shore to show us moms sitting in lawn chairs in the sand, the cup shaking so badly from his shivering that some of the fish actually jumped out of the cup. Be free fishies!!

And of course, Nude Taylor, putting sand in her hair. She is such a little mermaid, you can't help but smile when she plays.

The Fruits of Their Labors

My children celebrated a momentous occasion this week - the eating of the first tomato off of our plants in the back yard. Jonah had been asking me all winter if we could plant a garden and, not wanting to dig up our already landscaped yard, we compromised and bought large oak barrels for our "starter garden." As I dragged the barrels from the trunk of my car to the back yard in the spring, cursing at myself for not waiting until Damon got home, I was doubtful that we would be able to grow anything. I have a horrible history of killing plants. It's hard enough keeping my children alive; other living things are just too much pressure. However, we pressed forward. One barrel became the home for two patio tomato plants, the other, with a trellis, for green beans. I dubbed Jonah the official waterer and watched as he became very dedicated to the cause. He learned to have patience, that the tomatoes were not going to appear overnight. Even worse were the green beans that went in as seeds. We had to wait even longer for that blessed first sprout.
Now three months have gone by and those little tiny tomato plants are heavily laden with golf-ball sized fruit. Still no beans on the beautiful vines, but we remain hopeful.
Last Sunday we had a lesson in Sunday School about faith, from Alma 32. We learned that faith, like our tomato plants, has to be nurtured. We can't go a day without watering our plants in the sweltering heat and likewise cannot go a day in our lives without doing the same for our spirit. I know for myself that I have days where I only need a small sip of "water" to strengthen me, but there are other days when only the hose on high will sustain me. The reward is when that fruit appears, ripens and we get to partake.
These two sweet boys were so thrilled to run into the kitchen holding up that perfect first tomato. Of course I had to rush them back outside to take their picture with it. Then we immediately came back inside, cut it in half, and I watched those little gardeners partake in the fruits of their labors. Gives you hope for the future doesn't it?

Goin' to the Chapel of Love!!

Last weekend we had a semi-family reunion in Portland when my cousin Rebeckah got married in the Portland Temple. If you've never been to that temple and you find yourself in the area, do yourself a favor and just walk around the grounds. It is gorgeous!! My cousins and I picked up right where we left off and that always includes lost of "making fun of Rachel." Oh, well. That's how they show me they love me...I hope.

The newlyweds, Rebeckah and Adam Orton. Aren't they cute? Boy, were Damon and I ever that young? Nope, we were younger...

We had a ball together and even had some grown up time as well. Burgandy, the daughter of my cousin Billy who is 14, who was very generous and patient, watched the little ones while myself, my cousins Daniel, Billy, and Joanna and our spouses went on a hike up to Punch Bowl Falls in the amazing Oregon forests.

These are our "Look Ma!" pictures as we laugh in the face of danger on the edge of the path going up to the falls. Pictured here are Billy and Rhonda, Joanna, Daniel and Heather, Me and Damon. Joanna's husband Steve is standing on the edge of the cliff taking the pictures. Way to take one for the team, Steve!

Here is myself, Daniel, his wife Heather, and Joanna on the opposite side of Punch Bowl Falls. The water is about the same temperature as a glass of ice water. We braved it across the knee deep water, loosing most of the feeling in our limbs about half way across. The smart ones stayed on the other side to take pictures.

Speaking of smart, this is what happens when guys get together and egg eachother on. One guy ends up doing something really crazy while the others look on laughing. Remember, this is ice cold water. I think Steve just wanted to make sure he ended up on my blog. Good thing he and his wife are done having kids...

I wish I could show you all of the fun things we did that weekend. Perhaps one of the most memorable activities was when half of our family (most of whom stayed together at Joanna's house) came down with something called the Norovirus on Saturday night. I later learned from a friend that Noro means "curse" in Japanese. No wonder! It is perhaps the most violent flu I've ever seen. Not to mention a real downer to the trip. It made its way through the family over the next week. We later found out that the PF Changs where we had the wedding lunch had been shut down the day after we ate there because there were so many complaints about people getting sick. It was serious enough that I ended up playing phone tag with the Washington County Department of Health for a couple of days. It was so contaigous that when we came home my mom and my best friend came down with it. Ah the guilt!!

However, it was a dynamite trip. Well worth the drive for sure and we definitely can't wait to do it again...without the crazy Japanese curse of course.

Shoot! I forgot about the 4th of July!!

In all of the excitement about our cruise, I failed to mark the fun 4th of July we had before we left for Mexico! It was one of those days where we actually had too many fun things to do and it was hard to pick which ones we would attend. We started off the day with a fun pancake breakfast at the church. It included a bike parade and Jonah rode his two wheeler for only the second time. As we were going down a slight hill, the bike started to gain some speed and Jonah started to panic a bit. I kept calling to him, "Step back on the pedals!" but he was too scared to hear me. Instead he bailed off the bike. That's right, he actually jumped off the bike and we all watched it go down the road without its rider. Not to mention, Jonah skinned up his knees pretty good, too. Oh, well. It makes for a good story and a good lesson, right?

Next, we went to a rockin' hot party at our friend the Schultz's. They sure know how to throw a party, that's for sure. There is nothing like barbeque and an inflatable water slide to make for Independence Day excitement. Here's Cole taking a little break with, what else? Candy!
Cole was a little bit wary of the water slide, but Jonah as adventurous as ever took to it like a duck to, well, water!!

And there was no way that Damon was going to let the kids have all of the fun. He borrowed some trunks and jumped right on there himself!

Later that evening we hooked up with Buddie and Boppo and went to the city's 4th of July parade. I would stand in the heat and tolerate way too many politician's floats to see the Highlanders play their bag pipes. I always get a little misty when they play "It's a Long Way to Tiperary."

After the parade we went back to Grandpa's house to have our own little fireworks celebration. Here's Boppo showing Jonah that you have to pull really hard on those little champagne poppers. Thanks to Boppo for teaching my 5 year old the finer nuances of explosives.

No matter how loud or how late, the Sutherlands are always up for a party!

Happy late 4th of July everyone!!