The Last Eight Months or So

Wow, I've really this blog slide.  After ten years of regularly keeping it up, it was having a family missionary that finally did me in.   Now she's back home again and my family keeps mentioning to me how much they miss having the blog as a family record, so I'm here to give it another go.  

Since I'm so far behind,  let me just start with a summary of the last several months.   And you'll probably notice at a glance, that it's been a pretty exciting and full several months, so there are at least a few things I need to expand on with separate blogposts before I get back to blogging about the present again.   Let's hope I can stay on top of it again!     

Okay, here's the summary....

November--We spent Thanksgiving in Utah

December--Glen found out that his position at work was being discontinued as of February.

I ended my year-long chocolate fast.

We made a goal to visit the temple every week until it closes in March.

January--Cami returned home from her mission on January 30.  

February--Cami spent most of the month of February at home.   She had her mission homecoming, Garrett came for a visit, they got unofficially engaged while he was here, then on February 27 she flew to Utah where he officially proposed.  

Glen's job ended and we had to adjust to him being at home all the time too.

March--Spring break to Savannah, Georgia.  And lots and lots of wedding planning.

April-- Cami and Garrett got married in the Salt Lake Temple on April 21.  Clearly this deserves a blogpost of its own, so stay tuned for more details and pictures coming soon.

Also, Spence moved to Utah to stay.

May--We took our long ago planned trip to visit Cami's mission to Southern France.

We realize that, because of a stupid glitch,  our health insurance has been cancelled.

Homeschool conference in Williamsburg.

June--We had Cami's reception here in Virginia.

YW camp for Ellie, Emma, and me (and Glen)!

Adam went to  scout camp

Glen and Adam head to high adventure.


I think I'll try and do a little post on each month.   Stay tuned for more.....

Our 2015 Month-by-Month!

Here's a glimpse of our 2015 broken into month-by-month highlights!   Read to the end to find my big announcement. 

January--We found  super cheap plane tickets to CA and introduced the kids to their first taste of DisneyLand!

February--Cami got accepted to BYU!

March--Spence's Make-a-Wish trip finally came through and we all went to NEW ZEALAND!!!!

April--Emma went on her 8th grade trip to Turkey!

May--Spencer hit his 3-year mark of being in remission from leukemia!

June--Cami graduated from high school, gave the valedictory speech, received several scholarships, and in general left HS with a bang!

July--I spent my third year in a row at YW camp!

August--road trip to Idaho, Colorado, and Utah!  We enjoy spending time together as a family  before dropping Cami off at BYU.

September--We went to Michigan to witness what turned out to be BYU's biggest football flop of the season.   On the bright side, we got a super cute picture of our family, which had it included Spence and Cam, surely would have been on our Christmas card this year!

October--I stayed completely awake through all four sessions of General Conference and took detailed and colorful notes.  

November--Epic girls' trip to San Diego to celebrate my sister's 40th birthday, which was awesome,  even if it did mean that I lost my brain afterward.

December--Glen and I went on an awesome anniversary trip to NYC.  

And, finally why you're all reading this far in the first place, I have decided that after nearly nine years that it's time for me to retire from regularly posting on this blog.  It's simply too much of a distraction for me and less of a joy than it once was.  I still may post here occasionally for out-of-the-ordinary occurrences, but I will no longer  be challenging myself to blog about the day-to-day happenings in our family anymore.

Alright, alright...you can stop cheering now.

 I will truly miss this blog as an outlet and definitely miss the connection I feel from it.  

Now I will leave all of you, dear readers, with a little Lara silliness in the form of a video we made for my dad's fake birthday today:     

General Conference Summary: Saturday Sessions

Twice a year, us Mormons, take a week off of going to church and watch 8-hours of church at home instead.   Yes, you read that correctly...8 whole hours...and we do it by choice.  It's split four hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday.   What do they talk about for that long?    I'm glad you asked.   Here's a summary from the notes I took:    

Saturday Morning:

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

SIMPLICITY IN CHRIST

Exaltation is our goal, discipleship is our journey!  

Don't make your discipleship too complicated.  

Start where you are and move forward.  

M. Russell Ballard

STAY ON OLD SHIP ZION

Old Ship Zion's destination is exaltation!

Jesus Christ is at the helm of the Old Ship Zion.

We need to stay on the ship to stay safe in the waves of the world.

Richard J. Maynes

CENTER OUR LIVES ON CHRIST

Like a potter needs to keep the clay exactly centered on the potter's wheel, 

we need to keep our lives centered on Christ.  

Neill Marriott

IT WILL ALL WORK OUT

  When we keep an eternal perspective and trust in God, 

it will all work out.  

It doesn't mean that it will be easy or the way we want it, 

but God is in the details and it will work out.  

Larry Lawrence

LISTEN TO THE HOLY GHOST

He will give us personal guidance, meant just for us.  

Be persistent in seeking guidance and always seek for spiritual improvement. 

Our direction is more important than our speed.  

Francisco Vinas

PEACE BE UNTO THY SOUL

The word of God fills us with hope.  

Do not delay the day of our repentance.  

Repentance is a process that requires consistency, but will ultimately bring us peace. 

Quentin L. Cook

"SHIP SHAPE AND BRISTOL FASHION"

BE RIGHTEOUS, FOLOW RULES, AND BE PREPARED

Self control is like a muscle--the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. 

Happiness in this life and the life to come is connected by the thread of righteousness. 

Life will hit hard times (like in the Bristol Channel) and we may feel washed up and knocked on our sides, but when we are spiritually prepared we will be buoyed up.  

Saturday afternoon:   

Three new apostles called: 

Ronald Rasband

Gary Stevenson

Dale Renlund

Robert D. Hales

YOU ARE THE  PILOT OF YOUR LIFE:  NEVER INTENTIONALLY FLY INTO A STORM

If you want the Lord's counsel, be prepared to take it.  

You don't marry for perfection; you marry potential. 

You are rich when you can happily live within your means.   

Jeffrey R. Holland

MATERNAL LOVE IS DIVINE

"No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has  for her child."

Bear, borne, carry, deliver...these similar words are used to describe what the Savior  does for us as well as a mother.   

Bradley D. Foster

HELP CHILDREN UNDERSTAND

We must engage in intentional parenting.  

Children are the largest group of investigators in the church and they should be taught well. 

There's a difference between just hearing the gospel and truly understanding the gospel.  

Hugo Montoya

LET'S HELP EACH OTHER

Go the second mile, Smile.

Express feelings of compassion to others. 

Meditate on the atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Vern Stanfill

GO TOWARD THE LIGHT (OF THE GOSPEL)

Don't be embarrassed to ask for help or look to other's light when you are in darkness.

Trust in the Lord.   

Do not look to those who have no light to give. 

James Martino

ANSWERS WILL COME

keep seeking for answers; they will come. 

Dallin H. Oaks

CHRIST WILL SUCCOR US

He knows our struggles, heartaches, and temptations and will succor us. 

"I can do all things in Christ that strengtheneth me"

Savior can help us overcome any kind of mortal pain--those which come through no fault of our own and those caused by our own choices.  

God is mindful of ALL people.  

Interested in learning more?    You can watch the sessions live HERE.  (at 12:00 and 4:00pm EST)  

Stay tuned for more summaries to come!

(10/3/2015)

2011-- Month-by-Month

Here's a little glimpse of what  I may have put in the Christmas letter this year.  You know if 4-page single-spaced letters were still in vogue.  (they were at one point, right?)

January--We ate too much, exercised too little, and survived the ill-timed Commute-a-geddon snowstorm.  With numerous tales of hellish 8+ hour commutes, we've never been so grateful to live within walking distance of the Metro.

 

February-- Lara has become a certifiable wintertime wimp and breaks down and buys a "happy lamp" to help cope with the dark days. 

March--Our baby turned six.

Lara bores the world when she publishes a list of 101 random things about herself.


April-- After living a mere 2 hours away for 14 years, we took our first ever trip to Philadelphia during Spring Break.  We had a great time seeing all the historic sites, visiting an old friend,  and testing out the Philly Cheesesteaks, so I'm sure it will not take us another 14 years to get back there.   

We visit a bird sanctuary in Philadelphia and see some adorable baby owls.  Adam's second grade teacher has lit a bird-watching bug in us and we think it's one of the coolest parts of our trip. 

Lara wakes up on her birthday to her first cold sore in several years.  It was a lovely indicator of the day.

Spencer anticlimatically turns 16 and does not get his license and does not go on any dates. 


May--On a rainy day drive home from dropping the kids off at school after seminary, Glen totals our 2002 Corolla.  Thankfully, he is unhurt (other than his pride) and insurance pays us a mere $600 less than what we paid for it 8 years previously when we'd bought it on Ebay. 

June--We replace the Corolla and with another Toyota Sienna.  We figure that if we were going to replace one car, that we might as well replace the one that gets driven the most, so we now own two minivans.  We have mixed feelings about the new level of nerdiness this acquisition has raised us to, but I can't deny that it's nice having Spencer doing his practice driving in a 10-year-old Sienna rather than a new (or much smaller) car. 

Glen turns 40.  I'd like to say that it was a fun day and that we celebrated properly, but it wasn't and we didn't.  In fact, I daresay that this day easily goes into our family lore as the worst birthday in the history of mankind and that we still can't talk about it without one of us (usually both of us) getting irritated. 

July--With Girls Camp,  Youth Conference (Trek), EFY, and a High Adventure trip along the Appalachian Trail--it was a busy month for the teenagers of the house. 

Shlepping kids to swim team and youth conference planning keep the parents hopping.

Lara starts school supply shopping for 170.  It's her pet project for the elementary PTA and although it's a wildly successful fundraiser, Lara does not even consider doing it again next year.  

August--We sit front and center at the Kennedy Center and watch Wicked together as a family.   It was wickedly awesome. 

We embark on an epic road trip--Minnesota for Lara's 20-year high school reunion and a little anecdotal swearing, North Dakota (just to say we'd been there), South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and Rapid City, Island Park, Idaho/Yellowstone to stay in a family cabin, then on to Nauvoo for a mad dash tour.

We had a great time together, but we were a little disappointed to have missed the big DC earthquake.  We did cut our trip short and rush back to make it back for the completely anti-climatic Hurricane Irene. 

September--The kids head back to school (Spencer-11th, Cami-9th, Emma-5th, Adam-3rd, Ellie-1st) and it is the first time that Lara does not have any kids at home with her during the day! 

Lara runs the Ragnar relay with 11 friends--200 miles, everyone runs 3 legs.  It turns out to be a fun experience and most importantly gives Lara the bug to keep running. 

Glen and Lara get called to be Stake Youth Conference Directors for summer 2012 in Palmyra, NY.  We are petrified, but excited. 

October--Cami runs on her high school cross country team and Lara gets teary and nostalgic for her own harrier days whenever she attends one of Cami's meets. 

After months and months of listening to the soundtrack nonstop, we take the family to an amazing performance of Les Miserables at the Kennedy Center. 

Afterward, Ellie can sing, "Castle on a Cloud" word-for-word, British accent and all. 

November--On a long weekend, we take the entire family and go on our first youth conference scouting trip to Palmyra.  It is a productive trip that gives us our first true glimpse at all that needs to be accomplished over the next several months.

Lara and Glen run the Richmond half-marathon together.  Lara was left with a bruise the size of a pancake on her hip afterward, but since she's taken almost 20 minutes off her previous best time and the bruise healed quickly, it's all good. 

Ellie's neurologist decides to discontinue one of her medications and almost double the amount of her other.  The numbers of seizures she has on a daily basis has dropped significantly in a matter of a couple weeks.  Additionally,  she seems more energetic, more creative, and she's having a much easier time in math.   Apparently her brain is enjoying not being interrupted every couple of minutes. 

December--Lara foolishly embarks on another goody-a-day posting schedule on her recipe blog.  It serves as a time-consuming distraction for her and has effectively caused the house to become a pitiful disaster and  delayed her Christmas shopping to epically late proportions, but hits on the blog are at an all-time high (19,000+ hits this month), so whatevs.

Lara finds the most spectacular Christmas pajamas EVER!

Spencer gets moccasins for Christmas.  They are awesome.