Splash!

So this morning, Ben Bardwell was nursing a nearly-full can of soda and hauling around an empty. He carried them into the garage to fetch a mallet to squish the empty can. Unfortunately he hammered the wrong can and now our ENITRE garage is sticky!

Provo City Center Open House

 This is the fifth temple my kids have been able to tour (Draper, Oquirrh Mt., Brigham, Ogden).

All of the amazing woodwork, the beautiful Gothic and Victorian touches, and the great history of this building and this place may possibly make this my favorite temple--

other than the one in which I joined with my best friend for time and all eternity.

When we entered on the bottom floor, and looked up at this staircase, 

Ben said it reminded him of Hogwarts.

Sweety said his favorite part was the Sealing Room (below), because our family began in a sealing 

room, and now we will be bound together forever.

Smarty's favorite part was the baptistry (below), because he will be eligible to get his own 

recommend and participate in these ordinances next fall. 

This incredible art glass window of the Savior just blew me away. It is so incredible!  When I visit this temple again, I will need to carve out time to enjoy this window properly. 

As with all temples, even now, before it is dedicated and work begins inside, the peace of God and the Holy Spirit is so prevalent. This was a lovely experience, and I hope and pray that my boys will hang on to what they felt and learned here. I hope and pray they will want to come back.

REAL Tolerance

Alright friends and family. After several recent conversations involving differences of opinion, I feel the need to jump up on my soapbox again. Feel free to stop reading if you aren't in the mood. 

Occasionally, well-meaning individuals stop me short of expressing my beliefs (or at least stop listening), and say something like, "I know you believe that way, BECAUSE YOU WERE RAISED THAT WAY." I understand this is most often meant as a gesture of respect or tolerance, but I actually really hate it...like a lot. 

My life decisions have been thoughtful, conscious choices. I have not blindly chosen everything that my parents wanted for me. I've actually thrown them a few curve-balls once in a while--believe it or not. Luckily they are good enough people to accept my choices and move on. 

But, back to the point, as we discuss religion, politics, and other hot topics, I will always have the curtesy to assume that, regardless of circumstances, you have made the most informed, conscious decisions you are capable of making. Please have the curtesy to do the same for me.

Sweety's Tender Testimony

My Sweety's prayer tonight: (to the best of my remembrance)

"Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for this day. It was a good day. How was your day today? I hope you had a good day, Father. I hope you are real. I think you are. My dad says you are real, and I trust him. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Thanks, Dad, for the inspiring Family Home Evening lesson. This kid is such a special soul. Oh, how I pray we can help him learn everything he needs to nourish his beautiful spirit!

Christmas Cookies!

Today the boys had the special opportunity to make Christmas Cookies with Grandma Bardwell. They had a wonderful time making special memories, and apparently so did Grandma. Here's what she had to say:

"Just loved having Smarty and Sweety here to make cookies. They were so good and really did their best to do it right. It made Christmas for me to spend the time with them. They are such cute boys and they make me laugh at all the fun things they said. Sweety just kept thanking me for letting them come do it. Smarty really seems to be growing up, and he was happy with so many things.

"Love the pictures with their happy faces and all the four and Christmas clutter. We read Christmas stories and had cocoa and soda pop (since we had so much). Smarty wanted to go out and jump in a hole in the snow in the bushes out from of the house. He's truly a boy!

"Thanks for making it possible for them to come. Just love them and all your family. You add so much joy to my life!

"Love, Mom"

Later that day the boys had a great time frosting them with Dad. I'm pretty sure it made his Christmas as well.

Which One are You?

The first one to apologize is the bravest. The first one to forgive is the strongest. And the first one to forget is the happiest.

Last Year's Thanksgiving-Eve Adventure

Note: I wrote most of this last year; I'm just dang slow at getting it posted. But since we're a whole year later, and Thanksgiving is rolling around again, I figure it's absolutely time the truth were told!

Picture the scene: Walmart grocery section the evening before Thanksgiving, 2014. Every single inch of the building was packed with frantic, last-minute shoppers such as myself. Apparently we all lacked one or two little things without which our year-long anticipated celebration would surely implode into dismal failure and disappointment for all.

My squirrely boys were so anxious for the looming break from school that they could not calm their wiggly bodies. They were playing a giggly game of chase while climbing over and around and in and out and above and below the cart. I was doing my best to mentally organize my shopping list into the most efficient route possible, thereby getting us away from the sweaty, stressed out Walmart mob A.S.A.P, while calmly and gently (ha!) encouraging my boys to regain control of themselves, and navigating between the hundreds of carts and shoppers per aisle without mowing anyone down. I assure you, my mental and physical resources were all but maxed.

We finally made it to the freezer section--only two or three aisles away from checkout. Victory was so close I could taste it! A few last minute setbacks required no less than 3 apologies in roughly only 4 minutes or so. First to the huffy woman on the cell-phone who's cart collided with mine when I incorrectly predicted the next move of the chase game. Next to the elderly gentleman who blanched, but then smiled knowingly when my oldest asked him an honest, but socially unaccepted question. Thirdly to the woman that stumbled backward over my youngest, who was bent over double directly behind her, reaching for his dropped keys. After apologizing to these poor, stunned victims of my kids' enthusiasm, and verifying their recovery, I ushered my left and right tackles toward the end of the isle.

There, in the main isle-space between the meats, the freezers, and the produce is where the real excitement began. I was in the process of merging with traffic and navigating the corner. At that moment, Sweety decided to jump off the front of the cart. My reflexes apparently leave something to be desired, so I promptly ran him over, smashing his feet and ankles. Naturally, he plopped right down and set up an impressive wail.

Poor kid. In mili-seconds flat, we were surrounded by a crowd of well-wishers hoping to catch the sight of blood or some such. And if you know my youngest child, you'll know that being the center of attention in a crowd of chatty well-wishers is about the most efficient way to send him right over the edge--injury or no.

I squatted down on the floor with everyone else to figure out how to help my ailing, panicked child, which was apparently a huge mistake. In that moment, while everyone was turned away, Smarty decided to execute a move he'd already done half a dozen times that day (despite my oft-repeated objections, mind you). From a foot or so away, he launched his 65lb. body onto the starboard side of our overloaded grocery cart.

Up until then, the cart had put up a good fight under my kids' constant attack, there were sketchy moments, but it had managed to pull through. However, right then, without my steadying hand on the keel, this cart had finally had enough. It heaved a great groan and gave up--collapsing over sideways and burying Smarty in an onslaught of meats, cleaning supplies, vegetables and fruits, toiletries, and sticky-gooey unidentifiable ooze.

My milk and eggs went sailing across the floor, some bumping into a short gray-haired woman who raised her leg and squealed as if a rodent had just bit her ankle. Our chips and other items went airborne, landing in carts and meat bins and who-knows-where, some of which I know we never recovered. (I wonder how many shoppers went home to be surprised by their purchases that day.)

And Smarty, ever loyal to the cause, proved that he could raise just as much alarm as his brother. I hastily righted the cart, and all our well-wishers helped us put stuff back in it. Despite the fact that I still hadn't grabbed my last few things, that items in my cart no longer directly correlated to the items on my shopping list, and the liquid evidence all around us suggested that not all items were even properly contained at this point, I'd had all the fun I cared for. We went directly to the checkout and took everything home exactly as it was.

Once we got things put away and the boys settled down, we all sat down to a snack and reflected on our adventure. Thank heaven for hot chocolate and ice cream and the soothing properties contained therein. I'm not sure if any of us would have fully recovered without them. Also, apparently milk cartons and other groceries have healing abilities, because by the time I got home my only casualty was one broken egg.

...or it's possible that we were blessed, and that's something to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Ogden Canyon

School got out today!!!! Woo hoo! The boys and I are extremely excited and eager to commence with summer frivolities. Please join us for our celebratory trip up the canyon:

All of the rain we've enjoyed for the last 6 weeks or so, has brought Pineview's level way up. I think we're only about 6 feet below the high water mark at this point.

We stopped at the Oaks for fries, ice-cream, and the incredible views. 

I love how vivid everything becomes in the rain. Why is that?
It's so beautiful.

 We stopped to check out the lime kiln. I can't remember ever doing that before. 

It was about time, don't you think?

The boys were pretending to shovel coals or something.

Here's the info if you're curious:

Climbing up on top:

Here's the chute where they would drop alternating layers of wood and limestone. We didn't have any wood or limestone on hand, so Sweety dropped some rocks.
A few of them actually made it through the grate.

Smarty stood on top of the kiln and said, "I can see the whole world!"

Here's the school-is-out celebratory dance:

 Apparently, the best way down is the good 'ole denim slide:

 Sweety wanted to capture the fluffy cloud behind the temple spire. He couldn't decide if it was Santa's beard or Olaf the Snowman. What do you think?

Sweety's Sprouting Testimony

Sweety will be turning eight next summer and making a decision about being baptized. In preparation for that, we want him to have at least a basic understanding of what the gospel is and what he's agreeing to try to do.

We also want him to genuinely understand what faith is and how it works. And above all, we want him to definitely feel the Holy Ghost communicating with him through thoughts and feelings. We don't expect him to have a total understanding or a ton of experience, but we want him to at least know how to go about finding and recognizing truth.

So, we've begun missionary discussions. We only do one a month, so we can have lots of time to work on the assignments and absorb the material. I hope that will give us enough material to amply prepare Sweety to make a decision.

This last month, the discussion was all about the Joseph Smith story. The assignment was to learn about it, ponder on it, then pray about it. So we spent the next Family Home Evening on it and then pondered it for two weeks. Over that time, we continually brought the story up and talked about various parts of it. We also studied about what a testimony is and how to get one.

Yesterday, we went over the Joseph Smith story again. Then we all knelt as Sweety prayed and told Heavenly Father what he thought about it and asked Heavenly Father to help him know if it was a true story or not. When Sweety finished his prayer, we waited for stirrings and feelings.

At first, nothing much happened. Sweety said he felt good feelings in his heart, but it was pretty clear that he was only responding out of obligation. So we waited and talked some more, and pretty soon, the spirit was abundant. We were all feeling it. I could see it written on my boys' faces as they smiled and laughed.

Smarty said, "I feel like I'm being tickled, but I'm not being tickled." Which I thought was a perfect way to describe the bubbly happiness that was welling up in him.

At that point, Sweety identified that the Holy Ghost was sending happy, peaceful feelings to his heart. It was so fun to witness this beginning of a testimony in him. I asked him, "What happened to your swelling testimony seed?" He made a fist by his chest and popped one finger up to indicate that his testimony seed was sprouting.

I hope he never forgets that experience or the feeling that came with it. I promised him he could have that great feeling always once he was baptized and received the Holy Ghost.

Smarty Finds a Kindred Spirit

We've been reading this with Smarty:

It's a little bit more meaty than Smarty is used to, but he's handling it okay. We definitely love all the pictures.

Smarty was fascinated by stories of early 1800's frontier living, but I think he was having a hard time trying to relate to this situation so far removed from his own. However, when we got to page 15, the light turned on.

We were learning about Abraham Lincoln's stepmother, Sally. Smarty suddenly perked up when I read, "As a boy, Abraham was not noted for being particularly smart. But Sally could see that he was; he simply had a different way of learning."

Smarty stopped me and said, "Hey! That's like me!"

I nodded and went on, "He wasn't fast, but he worked at what he wanted to learn with a passion."

Again, Smarty stopped me and said, "Like me!"

I read some more, "And once he knew something, he never forgot it."

Smarty, "Like me!"

"Sally said, '...he must understand everything--even to the smallest thing--minutely and exactly--he would then repeat it over to himself again and again...'"

Smarty, "Like me! Like me!"

By this time, Smarty was bouncing up and down on the couch, but the similarities kept on going. I continued to read Sally's words, "'...and when [the thing] was fixed in his mind to suit him, he became easy and he never lost that fact or his understanding of it.'"

A laughing Smarty exclaimed, "Me too! Me too!"

Smarty is now enraptured with Abraham Lincoln--at the least the boy version. I just think it's great to see him identifying with someone who grew up to do something meaningful for humankind. I have no doubts that Smarty can too.