Jamaica

So here is a little bit about Jamaica: It is an island nation about 90 miles south of Cuba. Close to 3 million people live in Jamaica and the minimum wage is $60 a week (compared to around $220 in Utah)

Jamaica is very hilly. The highest mountain is 7000 feet above sea level. It takes about 8 hours to drive the 150 mile length of the island because the roads are so narrow and hilly. They drive on "the other side of the street" The driver who took us from the airport in Montego Bay to the resort told us instead of freaking out about his driving to close our eyes and count to ten. By then he would have completed whatever scary maneuver he was attempting. It turned out to be good advice. Driving in Jamaica is scary. Our resort was on the west end of the island in a town called Negril.

The grounds of the resort were beautiful. this was our private patio. The beach is a 30 second walk to the left.

A couple of resorts down from ours was Margaritaville. We didn't go in. But we did pass it on our walk down the beach and during my morning run.

Nothing like toes in fine white powdery sand.

One of our favorite stops was Ricks Cafe to see the cliff divers and the sunset.

The resort offered a catamaran sunset cruise that took us along the coast ( I had the best view of all right there in the boat)

We saw some gorgeous sunsets!

This was our beautiful beach.

Our favorite entertainment was the Piano Man "Ultimate Chocolate". This man could play! There were nightly sing- alongs and a crazy game of "name that tune" which Kelly totally dominated (if you call 2nd place total domination)

We have to do this more often- every 5 years is WAY to long!

Christmas is a classroom

The Christmas season offers such an amazing opportunity for learning and growth. I think of all the values I hope to teach my kids and Christmas is the perfect time to do it. Things like compassion and having a giving heart, priorities, budgeting, dreaming big, being grateful and also accepting small disappointments and trying new things. I learned a lot this year, about myself, mostly. Some good and some not quite.

Here are a few of the lessons I learned this year: Riding the bus with the third graders on a field trip is not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact it was an awesome, fun, good time. BE ADVENTUROUS!

You can make anything out of gingerbread. I am amazed at the imagination and creativity I saw at the Festival of Trees. BE CREATIVE!

Not everyone is going to cooperate. They are not going to sit still or want to go see the Christmas lights at Temple Square when you want to go. BE FLEXIBLE!

They are only 9 once. JUST BE!

Trying new things can be scary but they usually turn out to be super fun. BE BRAVE!

Dinner is what you make it. BE FUN!

manna

This summer our family walked through our own wilderness. Our desert was full of uncertainty, waiting, apprehension, anger, annoyance, and fear. It started last fall when my husband got a new general manager at work. This GM began to systematically fire every department head. We knew in the spring that our time was coming and we waited anxiously, wondering when, hoping it wouldn't, hoping it would. Waiting. Waiting is a hard thing to do. After a few MONTHS of being toyed with, of being told one thing, then being told something else, and shortly before the contract expired, my husband was told none of it mattered, new eyes were needed. His contract would not be renewed, his services (after 15 years) were no longer needed. At least we knew. That wait was over. Then we got to the sand dunes. Up one side down the other, like a roller coaster. Apply for this, apply for that. Wait. "We have decided to go in a different direction". Apply, interview, wait some more. Rejection. Repeat the cycle. Climb another dune. Then there was the 8 week interview process and finally...The PROMISED LAND.

And like Moses and the Israelites, we were not left to wander aimlessly. We had the oasis of faith,

knowing that we must trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-7) ,

knowing that the Lord has plans for us, plans to prosper us and not harm us, plans to give us hope and a future ( Jeramiah 29:11),

knowing that we cannot comprehend all that the Lord can comprehend,

knowing that we are little children, and don't yet understand the great blessings the Father has in his own hands and prepared for us ( Doctrine and Covenants 78:17),

knowing that "We are troubled on every side, yet we are not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

And we had manna from heaven. Our friends were manna to us, everyone who prayed for us and wandered with us, who encouraged us and comforted us, waited with us and rejoiced with us. Thank you. Thank you for being the manna in our wilderness. Without you, we couldn't have made it to the Promised Land.

you know you've had a good summer when...

You know you've had a good summer when....
your swimsuits completely loose their elastic and start to sag...
You have so many different tan lines that you almost look like a tiger... all the blankets in your house smell like smoke from camping...
you know the best days and times to go to Lagoon to avoid the crowds....

You know your way around Lagoon better than the employees....

You are still a little sore from hiking....




You have a permanent chlorine smell that doesn't shower off...

Your car is full of sand and empty water bottles....

you have gone through 8 bottles of spray on sunscreen...

You have watched the moon rise while enjoying dinner in the back yard with friends...

You have worn scuff marks on the seat of your bike...

You have eaten tomatoes right off the vine...

You made home made ice cream....

you have played badmitten so much you have lost all the birdies...

Picture perfect

I was walking this morning with a friend of mine and the rode we walk on passes through open fields. In one of the fields was a flock of migrating cranes. They were beautiful birds and when they would take flight over the green alfafla their brown wings would turn gold in the early morning sunlight. When I saw these birds, my first thought was that I wished I had my camera. As though somehow, this moment would mean more if I could capture it, if I could keep it and show it off, if I could have a trophy to prove that I get up early and do good things (like walking)and don't you wish you were walking early too so you could see sights like this? I started thinking about this compulsive need I (and many like me)have to document every moment so they don't slip away, to hide behind a camera and watch the world though a lens instead of participating in it. It is hard to be in the present and take take things for what they are with out trying to "capture" them and "save" them. I wonder sometimes about the thousands of pictures we take of our kids. Every milestone of their life is documented. I overheard a conversation one at a Children's museum about how we are raising the most documented generation in history. Pictures of our great grandparents are precious because they are rare. Our great-great-grandparents might have had one picture taken of them their whole lives. Will our over-documenting of our children's lives seem cheap and meaningless to them or will they believe them selves to be super-stars stalked by their poperatzi paretns. Or maybe it doesn't have any meaning at all.

Taking off the training wheels and letting go...

Last week one of my kids friends mom suggested that we let our kids ride to the train track trail on their own. "ohh, they will have to ride on a busy road, with no side walk to get to the trail " I thought. " And they will have to cross three busy roads" I felt anxious about this but the other Mom reminded me of when we were kids and rode free for hours and about how kids need a certain amount of freedom. " I know, I know, but my kids aren't very street savvy" I confessed. I finally agreed (after calling Kelly to see if he agreed too) realizing that I was worried that my 11 year old might have trouble crossing a street. If that is truly the case, then I have failed as a parent. I believe that as parents, our job is to give our kids roots and wings, so as I watched our helmeted and sunscreened boys head off on a wild adventure to the convenience store, I repeated under my breath Roots and Wings, Roots and Wings. I want my kids to grow up believing in their ability to navigate the world and to have the confidence to solve their own problems. But desiring and doing are different and agonizing things. It never seems to get easier to take off the training wheels and let go of the bike.

For Lauren...more Palace of Fine Arts