I am on a repeat adventure taking care of my three grandchildren in Utah: Mae, 7; Henry, 3 1/2; and Huey, 1 1/2 while their parents have a vacation far away in Spain and France. This time is a bit different for I will be looking after all three of them and for a longer time period--ten days to be exact. Recalling how busy I was as a young mother, I knew I would have little time to write a weekly blog while in Utah so I have decided the next two weekly blogs would be about being aware of the extraordinary in the ordinary. In other words, notice the toast! Whether toast is eaten plain, buttered, with sugar and cinnamon, or jam, toast tastes good and so is life if we look for it. We may do some activities that are new; mostly, I see us making memories doing the simple things I loved doing with my own children mostly at home and sometimes farther away.
In addition, on Saturday a much more extraordinary event needs to be mentioned since it has been over 100 years that three new apostles were called and sustained in the same General Conference of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson, and Elder Dale G. Renlund were called by God and then sustained in the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference. Each will bear a special witness of the Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel. During this same session, I also felt deeply connected to Elder Jeffery R. Holland's talk entitled "Behold Thy Mother".
Saturday evening became a Notice the Toast outing. A simple pinkie promise found Juliann, the kiddos, and me at the nearby fabulous pumpkin patch an hour before sunset with ordinary farm animals, hay bales, mazes and more. I am still not sure how Juliann managed to squeeze this in before her trip, but am so thankful she did. The children and I are sure to repeat this fun place as we did last year as well.
Notice the Toast at Jaker's Jack-O-Lanterns,
On Sunday, Brett and Juliann left for the airport and Notice the Toast, Part One began in earnest. Just four conference talks were heard all the way through as I am the only one taking care of the children for a while and we moved from one simple, creative mess to another with the rule that we had to clean up one before the other. We pretended the unmade bed was a pool or ocean while the sheets were being washed so I could move to the upstairs bedroom near the children. The room became an imaginary sea of blue with mermaids and sharks. Mae was Merma the Mermaid and Henry was the sometimes nice shark and the sometimes mean shark. After, we made a fort downstairs with blankets and the sofa. Later, we made paper rings to count down when Daddy and Mommy would be home; glued together paper candy corn (purchased from Paper Source which we love); we put together puzzles (thanks Mommy), we pretended I was a nice witch (no laughing Rick) as I cooked dinner and tried to put Henry's "ears in the caldron"; I changed lots of diapers for Huey was not feeling well; we made their bath water turn colors (thanks Mommy); and read lots and lots of books till they all tuckered out, including Marme! That same day, Mae asked why Sunday came twice this weekend (not yet understanding so many church meetings on TV are held twice a year) and Henry half asleep whispered about his cheeks being so smooth as he rubbed them with one hand and held my hand with his other hand.
Notice the Toast as Mae, Henry and Hugh
Notice the Toast
included seeing Brett and Juliann's home under construction
in Springville, Utah
In addition, on Saturday a much more extraordinary event needs to be mentioned since it has been over 100 years that three new apostles were called and sustained in the same General Conference of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson, and Elder Dale G. Renlund were called by God and then sustained in the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference. Each will bear a special witness of the Savior Jesus Christ and His gospel. During this same session, I also felt deeply connected to Elder Jeffery R. Holland's talk entitled "Behold Thy Mother".
Saturday evening became a Notice the Toast outing. A simple pinkie promise found Juliann, the kiddos, and me at the nearby fabulous pumpkin patch an hour before sunset with ordinary farm animals, hay bales, mazes and more. I am still not sure how Juliann managed to squeeze this in before her trip, but am so thankful she did. The children and I are sure to repeat this fun place as we did last year as well.
Notice the Toast at Jaker's Jack-O-Lanterns,
Springville, Utah
On Sunday, Brett and Juliann left for the airport and Notice the Toast, Part One began in earnest. Just four conference talks were heard all the way through as I am the only one taking care of the children for a while and we moved from one simple, creative mess to another with the rule that we had to clean up one before the other. We pretended the unmade bed was a pool or ocean while the sheets were being washed so I could move to the upstairs bedroom near the children. The room became an imaginary sea of blue with mermaids and sharks. Mae was Merma the Mermaid and Henry was the sometimes nice shark and the sometimes mean shark. After, we made a fort downstairs with blankets and the sofa. Later, we made paper rings to count down when Daddy and Mommy would be home; glued together paper candy corn (purchased from Paper Source which we love); we put together puzzles (thanks Mommy), we pretended I was a nice witch (no laughing Rick) as I cooked dinner and tried to put Henry's "ears in the caldron"; I changed lots of diapers for Huey was not feeling well; we made their bath water turn colors (thanks Mommy); and read lots and lots of books till they all tuckered out, including Marme! That same day, Mae asked why Sunday came twice this weekend (not yet understanding so many church meetings on TV are held twice a year) and Henry half asleep whispered about his cheeks being so smooth as he rubbed them with one hand and held my hand with his other hand.
Notice the Toast as Mae, Henry and Hugh
played with Marme after Daddy and Mommy
left on their vacation
Monday's "Notice the Toast" highlights were playing with Cameron at Grandma's before taking Cameron to the airport. On the way back to Grandma Joan's in Sandy, both Henry and Huey fell asleep, but miraculously both woke up happy and loved playing in Grandma Joan's toy room in the basement. If you know Henry, he usually does not wake up from naps happy so this indeed was extraordinary.
Mae and Henry's friends: Avery, Brynn and Kate came over to play after Mae came home from school and practiced spelling. For Family Home Evening, we repeated Jaker's Pumpkin Patch with Chad and Jenessa bringing home with us more sweet donuts we had not finished, more cute pumpkins, more corn in our clothes, and more hay in our hair.
Notice the Toast: Henry and Huey
love playing in Grandma's basement.
Henry is happy before and after his nap
Mae and Henry's friends: Avery, Brynn and Kate came over to play after Mae came home from school and practiced spelling. For Family Home Evening, we repeated Jaker's Pumpkin Patch with Chad and Jenessa bringing home with us more sweet donuts we had not finished, more cute pumpkins, more corn in our clothes, and more hay in our hair.
Notice the Toast includes a return trip to
Jaker's Jack-O-Lanterns,
Springville, Utah so it must be good
I enjoy looking for the good in the ordinary days of our lives that are filled with extraordinary things if we just open our eyes and actually look in between our work, chores, school, schedules, challenges and so forth. Life is good!
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