The Barefeet Rescue

Today I brought Vienna and Felicity with me to Walmart. When we got there, Felicity realized that she had forgotten to bring any shoes. I was annoyed and said, “we’ll, we’re not going home. You’ll have to ride in the basket.” She immediately started to cry out of embarrassment and frustration. I got a cart, put her in the back and she started to cry louder. I told she should stop crying because it would bring more attention to her and then more people would notice her barefeet. That did not entice her to calm down. We got in the store and she was still fussing. Vienna tried to tell her it was alright, that she could cover her feet with my purse, etc. Then sweet, empathetic Vienna realized on her own that Felicity was really crying because she had to sit in the basket. Vienna said, “do you want me to sit in the basket with you?” Felicity nodded and immediately stopped crying. Vienna climbed in and was a good sport the whole time, saying that riding in the basket was better because you didn’t have to walk. I know Vienna really doesn’t like to ride on the basket; it really embarrasses her since she is already 8 years old. Yet, in order to help her sister, she gave up her pride and joined Felicity. What am impressive display of love. She is teaching me all the time what it means to Christlike!

FHE gets real

Tonight for FHE I taught a lesson on repentance. I used an object lesson from the Friend. I poured salt on a plate, representing our souls. Then a sprinkled on some pepper, representing our sins.

After rubbing the back of a plastic spoon on a paper towel, I hovered it over the plate and The peppered jumped up to cling to the spoon, leaving just the salt behind. That represented Jesus and his ability to forgive and wash away sins. Then the kids all wanted a turn to pour the pepper and use the spoon. I let Vienna shake out some pepper, but Felicity was very upset that she didn’t get to do the pepper part. I told her it to grab the pepper because the lid was loose. In an effort to show us all what sin looks like, she disobeyed and yanked the pepper container away from her sister. She ran off with it to the kitchen where the loose lid did fly off and Felicity accidentally dumped out the entire container of pepper. That resulted in wailing sobs and angry yells from her siblings. We then ended our lesson in a bit of a foul mood with a reminder that we should obey our parents. Felicity gave us a very real life demonstration of the need for repentance!

Felicity on Losing Toys

Felicity and Vienna couldn’t find their tablets earlier one Saturday morning. As I was passing by them,  I heard Felicity tell Vienna, “Sometimes Heavenly Father hides our toys while we’re sleeping.” 
Vienna asked skeptically, “who told you that?”
Felicity said confidently,”No one. I just believe that.”

Swearing and My Grandparents

Grammy dropped something in the kitchen and said “dang it!” But not dang it. Uncle Scott was there and said his mouth dropped open. "Oh sorry,
" Grammy said.

Uncle Layne remembers Grammy getting really upset about having to clean out the kids’ fish bowl for the umpteenth time. She told the boys it smelled like horse s-. Again mouths dropped open. 

Grammy grew up on a farm and heard her father use all sorts of “barnyard” language. She said that just they way they talked!


Once Grammy was driving Scott and Brent and their friend home from a ski trip and they were listening to a James Taylor cassette tape. Uncle Scott says the next day Grandpa pulled them into his office and said, “do you know what the worst swear word is our language?” Scott and Brent didn’t want to answer any that. Grandpa said, “ its m- f-.” The boys were shocked that he actually said those words. He told them Grammy had heard those words in their music and he had cut the tape and spliced out the offending phrase. “But that’s not our tape! It’s our friend’s!” Grandpa replied,”too bad. It shouldn’t have been in there anyway.”

Vienna's tough Soccer Day

An email from Vienna's coach after a tough soccer game for her.

Vienna played great today. I know she’s used to scoring a lot of goals, but she played against the opponent’s tougher group today and probably prevented them from scoring 5-6 more goals. I don’t think we tie today if not for her defense against those pretty tough/big girls. She played great!

Ben

Vienna in the California Caves

We recently toured the California Caverns with all its beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. The guide told us about one part of the cavern that used to be popular for weddings. Traditionally the bride and groom would smash a bottle of wine or champagne on one of the rock formations. Later in the caves Vienna told me about her ponderings: "I don’t want to get married in this caves for two reasons: 1) I wouldn’t be together forever with my family in heaven 2) it’s dark and scary down here and 3) it’s a waste of wine!"

Vienna's 6th Birthday Slideshow