A hop, skip, and a jump

We’re teaching Alli to skip and despite the defective teacher (me) she has, she is surprisingly good. For whatever reason, I’ve never been a great hopper—jumping and bouncing around haven’t ever been super appealing to me. Today, whilst merrily watering the cucumbers in my garden, a teeny tiny garter snake quickly slithered inches from my Chaco exposed toes. I jumped and the height I reached in that air time might have qualified me for the China summer games. I HATE SNAKES. Loathe, despise, abhor, detest…there is nothing I like about them. Two distinct memories vividly flashed in my mind during that Michael Jordan “hang time” in the garden. Once, when I was seven, my mom and sister Rachel were at the cabin in AZ and went creek wading. A very harmless, very unknowing water snake made its way back home via the top of my immersed foot. I vaguely remember learning that snakes have ears and I’m sure he, regrettably, heard my unending screams. That’s the closest I’ve ever come to fainting. The second memory was of a trip to Santa Barbara, CA to learn to surf a couple years ago. In the quaint downtown of that seaside city there are “snake people” hanging out on the street with boxes (really, boxes) full of snakes. They let people see how many they can drape on their bodies and my friends really got into it. I sat on a bench on the street corner, trying to control my breathing. Am I just as abnormal as I’ve always joked I am?

***What are some of your phobias?

***Have you had any close encounters with unconsciousness in dealing with them?

PS I had a really hard time putting the picture of the snake up, it creeps me out!

The Land of Enchantment

New Mexico is called the land of enchantment for several obvious reasons. By unanimous approval it is the best state in the United States (yes, folks, New Mexico is a part of the USA) based solely on the fact that it is the home of green chile—no need to say more, but, no worries, I will say more. It is where you can find some of the best pizza and sandwiches (thanks, Dion’s), made even better because of green chile. And let’s not forget the best place for dining anytime of the day or night, Flying Star, who, by the way, also has some great green chile dishes.

Eating aside, New Mexico also offers some other really great attractions, like family. Alli loved playing with her cousin, Rachel, and the two were inseparable from the time we got there. Nick and I love spending time with my parents and brother, Matthew and his wife, Samantha and their adorable family. We really feel blessed to have such a wonderful extended family.

One of the highlights of our vacation was the time spent at my grandparents’ cabin in the White Mountains of Alpine, Arizona (on the NM/AZ border). The real perk (for me) was no internet and no cell phone reception (since I got more Nick time). Activities there included hiking, relaxing to the big band tunes played on the 8 Track, hiking, fishing, and hiking. We even got to hike Chapache Peak (a pretty rigorous hike close to the cabin) on our one year anniversary (never fear, I plan to create a post exclusively based on our one year of marital bliss later—prepare to vomit—we’re still head over heels!).



At the amazing Albuquerque Zoo....move over, Hogle, this is a REAL zoo! Alli is soaked from having played in the water park they have there.

It's not a vacation unless you go swimming with cousins! Alli wins the 180 degree award becasue last summer Nick and I used to have claw marks on our shoulders after going swimming, but now we can't keep up with her!

Carson and Landon celebrated thier birthdays cowboy style and the party was decked out with hats, bandanas, horse back riding, crafts, a BBQ........and 60 mph winds which honestly only dampened some of the party.
These two were best buds the whole time. Thanks to Rachel, Alli had the Barbie awakening. It was so fun to see them use "Barbie" voices and trade dresses and make Barbie houses.
At first, Carson wasn't so sure how he felt about being in a boat. Being as daring as he is, I was shoked to see him being so timid.

Hope Brightened by Pain

Yesterday I spent the majority of my evening reading a most remarkable blog that I had found while “blog hopping” (thanks, Force for Good for the link!). The author is a mother of four children. During the pregnancy of her fourth child, she found out that the baby would be born fatally ill and would not live beyond a few hours after birth. This woman, Angie, painfully and spiritually follows the grief journey of a mother losing her child. She is an adept writer whose talent is amplified by her experience as a psychologist. Her husband sings in the Christian group, Selah, which adds a very meaningful gospel perspective into gaining wisdom despite the hardships of life. The bitter pain of Angie’s loss is eased by her deep and ongoing relationship with the One who knows all our pains and a Father who also watched life being taken from His Son.

Angie’s anguish and unfathomable strength mirrors another mother who admirably has dealt with countless trials that have helped her become who she is today. My amazing mother has taught me about the Gospel in many ways. It has been through my mother's example of enduring a life of hardships (accompanied with countless blessings, of course) where others might crumple, she has risen above. Nephi explained best what my mother busies herself doing, “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2N 31:20).

This coming weekend will mark seven years since my sister, Rachel, passed away in a car accident. I have never felt as close to my Father in Heaven with such a clear understanding of the Plan of Happiness as during the weeks and months following her passing. My greatest understanding that led to peace in continuing on with life, despite having lost my best friend, was my need to keep up with her progression. She has the advantage of being relieved of many of the cares and burdens we carry in mortality. Her spiritual journey will continue and surpass my own if I am not diligent in daily communicating with my Maker and studying His Word through the scriptures and living prophets.

Rachel is a bright example of love, joy, beauty and side-splitting humor. Do I miss her? Yes. Am I disappointed at the way life sometimes turns out? Yes. Do I believe in a God whose understanding can turn my nighttime sorrows into an eternity of joys? Yes.

My heart right now is reaching in prayer to mothers and fathers who have lost their children. I believe that Christ “…will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces…” (Isaiah 25:8)

Discovery in the Deluge

With all the nostalgia associated with rainy days, it is darling to see that Alli loves them as much as I did as a child. The Eyre’s tell me to foster her creativity and imagination that are innate gears built into a child’s mental engine. So, when she devised a way to keep her eyes dry while playing in the rain, I didn’t comment on the perceived “waste” of two circular Band-Aids (what use are those things, anyways?) but praised her on her adept use of her resources. The result was one happy child who successfully performed her first hands-on science experiment.

The Making of a Triathlete

So it was in St. George that I learned even more about the dexterity and fortitude of the human body and soul. Wow, triathlons are awesome. Wow, Nick is awesome. He ended up finishing 26th out of 128 in his age group.

We left Friday morning so we could get into town soon enough for Nick to do a trial swim at the reservoir and a run on the course. Meanwhile, Alli Jean (our newest nickname), Nene, Drew, and I spent some hard working time at the hotel pool sweating to the oldies. Nick returned donned in Sharpie pronouncing his number 1423 placed conspicuously on arms, legs, and hands. The cool thing about the marking is that they put the participant’s age on the left calf—which feeds the voyeur in me and engenders admiration for the amazing stuff that 65 year-olds can do. We attended the Tri-Club carb dinner at the park and returned to the hotel to service Nick’s bike and dowse all his gear in baby powder (to improve transition times).

Despite the horrid temperature battles we all face while sleeping in hotels (why can’t those dang box fans accommodate us through the night!?), all three of us were up at 5 a.m. slathered in sunscreen and wearing our finest to suit the predicted 84 degree sunnyness in Dixie. Ummm, did someone forget to tell us that 5 a.m. temperatures are far below the daily high? That was my airhead moment for the trip. Brrrr! Nick’s age group put him in about the fourth wave to start the swim. He was out in the water waiting for about forty minutes freezing in his slick looking wetsuit before they called off the swim since they had to rescue about forty people from the previous waves. So, we dashed to the starting lines and watched him begin his bike ride and return to complete a record breaking run (based on his personal best). Nick did better than his last St. George tri and we are very proud of him.

I wonder what Alli really thought of the race. Maybe in her head were thoughts like these, “My mommy woke me up when it’s still nighttime, put me in shorts, and drove me to a place where we sit on lava rocks by a lake and freeze while eating raisins. We move around a lot looking at all these people who look just like my daddy when all I want to do is ‘Go back to the hotel!’ At least my mommy keeps me entertained while I watch her jump up and down and sing songs!”

Self-Appointed Hiatus

Lest the cybershpere deem us boring, I would like to assert that we have indeed been living a fruitful life. Occasionally, I think it is healthy to just fall off the face of technology. So, we did! But, we have had several fun happenings recently.

1. It has finally stopped snowing and we have christened the BBQ and eat outdoors twice a day (if not more!). The routine of several mile-long walks have started up again and Alli was glad to be stroller-free on our last outing.

2. Alli turned four and had a successful book party full of family and new books. She has found a new passion in the recreation center gymnastics class she is attending.

3. Nick is prepping for the first triathlon of the year that will take place this weekend in St. George.

4. Miriam is loving stay-at-home mommyhood and felt spoiled to be able to attend BYU Women’s Conference

Loving Literacy

We are book nerds. I’m not ashamed to admit that. Nor am I abashed to say that we have no TV. The truth is we prefer to read. This love of literacy applies especially to Alli. We have even decided to have Alli’s fourth birthday be a Birthday Book Bash (with her resounding approval, of course) where the guests who choose to bring a gift will bring a book rather than the traditional present pick. This is particularly useful since of late she favors feathers, movie ticket stubs, and stuffed animal innards as her “treasures”. We still have several unopened Christmas and birthday (yes, they’re almost a year old now) presents that she does not care to open and play with.


I digress…

My objective for this post is to share some of the really keen ideas for imbuing the love of literacy in little ones. Disclaimer: do not attribute any of these ideas to my own intelligence; mostly I have gleaned them from my ever-enthusiastic pseudo-sister, Shauna. She is a powerhouse of a woman and actually wrote an article for our Church magazine last spring that helped to substantiate the spiritual affirmations surrounding my impending marriage and stay-home-motherhood with Nick and Alli. So, here’s a shout out for fellow book nerds:

1. The “Book Fairy”

This is one of my favorites since I get to dress up in my wedding dress and tiara (what newly married bride doesn’t seek for that opportunity?!) Also, I made my own wand which was surprisingly gratifying. The idea is that when I catch Alli reading on her own—I quick make the Clark Kent change and come down the stairs carrying a lavishly wrapped box. By the way, the box is reusable so I don’t have to wrap each for each fairy visit—and as Shauna says, “It’s all in the presentation. It could be a D.I. (Salvation Army or Goodwill) book and it still looks appealing to them”. In my “fairy” voice I ask Alli what kinds of books she’s been reading lately, which are her recent favorites, why she likes reading, etc. and then she gets to open the box and the Book Fairy reads them to her. Alli still doesn’t know it’s me but says, “The Book Fairy had your lips” so I think she’s on to me! Also, the Book Fairy only visits once or twice a month, so it's really low pressure and enforces the pleasure of independant reading with a sporadic, big reward.

2. Book Clubs

Since I am currently a multiple book club groupie I thought it only fair that Alli gets to share in the joys of sharing a good book. Alli’s book club took place on a Saturday afternoon and lasted about an hour, so it really is not too hefty of a commitment on my part or participating mothers. The agenda went something like this: we read several books on birds (The Magpie’s Nest, Stellaluna, selected poems from Wings on the Wind, and talking about pictures from a reference guide), interspersed with finger plays and songs, we built paper bag nests with pompom birds inside plastic Easter eggs, and we ended with making edible nests from yogurt, All Bran, shredded fruits and veggies, and grapes for eggs.

Shauna’s most recent book club for her daughter, Coco (Alli’s peer), was not thematic but rather based on the fabulous author and illustrator Kevin Henkes. Really, I encourage any mother of children as young as preschoolers and every age on up to create a book club. This comes from the tremendously profound writings of….

3. Jim Trelease

His book, The Read Aloud Handbook (aka “The Literacy Bible”), has not only changed my life but helped to solidify many of the methods I was already involved in with Alli. I am inadequate in my writing to sufficiently shed light on this remarkable book. It is jam packed with reasons to READ READ READ READ. Please buy this book. You will want to write in it, take it with you to bookstores and libraries, take it to the restroom (what better place is there to ponder on the betterment of mankind?), sleep with it under your pillow….

**What are some of the things you do with kids to boost book lovin’?