inspiring quotes

I've read a few things recently that have inspired me. I'll share.
This one is from Music and the Spoken Word, yesterday, I think...
It's interesting how two people can approach similar circumstances with entirely different outlooks. The optimist tries to look on the bright side, believes that good days are ahead, and holds on to the hope that things will get better. The pessimist sees dark rain clouds even on sunny days and believes that the best has passed him by.

There's no question whom we'd rather be around. As one commentator writes: "Optimists . . . make life better just by being part of it. They enjoy people, places and things. Their enthusiasm is contagious. . . . The greatest gift anyone can give another is a positive attitude, a smile and genuine interest. Some claim the only person you can change is yourself. Not true! You can and do change everyone with whom you come in contact. The question is whether you add to or subtract from the day's experience."

Some people seem to have more hopeful dispositions, more natural cheerfulness, and more affirmative expectations. But most of us are not always the optimist or always the pessimist. There's probably a little bit of both in all of us. We'd like to be the optimist more often, but depending on the day, the weather, the aches and pains, the disappointments and challenges we face, that can be harder than it sounds.

Even during our difficult moments, however, we can decide to be happier, more positive today than we may have been yesterday. Optimism is learned; we can practice and work at it until it becomes a habit. We can talk to ourselves and others in more upbeat ways, look for the bright side, and resolve to be more optimistic. When we do, our optimism is a gift not only to ourselves but to everyone around us.

RAIN...and thoughts

I feel like singing the song, "rain, rain, go away, come again another day" but it has been so nice to not have to water our garden or grass. This week, we had a huge amount of rain. To help us not go stir crazy, Whitney and I took the kiddos to see Toy Story 3. It was good. In fact, I liked it better than the first one. The kids loved it. It was a real treat for us as we hardly ever do things like that.

I LOVE having my sister-in-law Whitney living with us. It is so much fun. She and I have been exercising regularly and having a great time. Since this last stint I've been on, I can actually "see" progress being made. I don't know if I've lost weight, I don't like scales, but I can see something different in my shape. Finally! I plan to keep it up. I am loving the variety that we are doing, some cardio, some weights, some flexibility ie. pilates/yoga.
Exercising isn't been the only fun thing about Whitney. She cooks dinner for me periodically, babysits, gives comfort, a listening ear, and brightens our home with her happy, engaged self. I'm going to miss her more than anyone here at this house. We only have one week left and then she is off to southern Alberta to finish planning her wedding that is at the end of August.

We finished moving rocks off our front yard area, finally! I don't really want to know how many hours we have put into that job. I'm extremely grateful that it is done and we can move onto something else.

I'm not sure I mentioned that I'm in the primary presidency now. I love it. I was so grateful for the Lord's help today in giving a sharing time that I found out about yesterday. The counselor in charge became ill. We talked about the story of Nephi breaking his bow and related principles taught to loving others and serving, following the commandments, etc. I was really impressed with the senior primary. We made up a new verse to "Nephi's Courage."
Random thoughts. I know my mother-in-law reads this so this is mostly for her... Does anyone else read it?

What we've been up to

I guess Canada Day is first! We had a really fun ward party and Brynn invited our neighbors to come. They have two girls that are fun to play with. It was great.

A crazy attempt at flag cookies. They tasted delicious.

I have pretty much disappeared. Lots of projects going on around here. Moving rock, planting garden, playing, enjoying some nice weather, ripping out flooring due to broken washing machine that leaked. (only minor damage).

The first few are of the kids playing the hat game or some people call it scum. My sister-in-law has a really great collection.

Macy was crying at my door one day while I was having some quiet time. She was more tired than I realized and fell asleep in the hall outside my door.

Petting zoo for the Beaumont Daze. Bunnies, wombat, goats, turkeys, guinea pigs. the kids loved it and we had our niece Kali with us to enjoy it all.

You have to blow up this picture to see why I took it. Macy really wanting her shorts under her swimsuit yesterday. So I let her.

"New" washer and dryer. They work so great! They are much quieter than my old ones and I'm pretty sure we can put our closet doors back on.

After not having laundry machines for 10 or 11 days, I was never so excited to do my pile of laundry. It doesn't look like much but what I did do, took me most of the day, before dinner.

Happy 4th of July! This was so yummy. I'm addicted to angel food cake. I mixed whipped cream with vanilla yogurt and topped it with blueberries and strawberries. We even had 50 blueberries on there.

Our garden. I'm so happy with how it is growing, even though we've had tons of rain storms, wind, and some hail. Lots of tomatoes, peppers, hopefully peas and beans will give us something one day. My spinach is doing the best. I've harvested several times already and it is so yummy. The kids like it too. I love fresh stuff.

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

This is excellent. We all need reminders and encouragement that being a mom is important, challenging, rewarding, and a divine calling and that Heavenly Father will help us if we will rely on Him.

What we aren't teaching

So, during our family home evening lesson last Monday we were talking about and sharing our testimonies. At the end, Brynn said she was grateful for primary and all the things she learns there that she doesn't learn at home. At first I was offended, thinking that all our efforts are in vain, but then I felt grateful that primary was doing exactly what it is supposed to be doing. A supplement and help for what we are trying to do here at home.

Spokane trip

Girl Cousins are so fun! Some of my siblings. My oldest sister spent the previous day with us and we got some pictures of the three sisters but I don't have them. Maybe I'll post one after I get it.

She is the reason we were all together! We spent a fun weekend with most of our family, sharing in the joy of a lost sheep returned! We love you Niki and are so happy we could be in the Temple with you. The trip was short, but sweet. The kids were amazing travelers.

too much

I'm going nuts with yard work, planting a garden and other things I wish I enjoyed more.
We had a fun trip to Taber last weekend. Joel's birthday is coming up. The house is a mess. I have to teach a Relief Society activity about summer learning activities (any ideas?) And school is not happening! Tell me it will get better. I can't handle a whole summer at this pace.
I hope to update with pictures sometime.

Great Book

I just read an awesome book I want to recommend. It's called, Seven Miracles that saved America.
If you have even the slightest interest in history or the U.S. you should read this book. The authors did an excellent job of briefly summarizing events, giving you just enough information to understand the situation. It made me want to study more in-depth some of the events that were talked about.

Council Bluffs and Winter Quarters

This is at the visitor's center in Winter Quarters. We had a cute sister missionary give us the tour and she was SO patient with our extremely tired kiddos.

Brynn LOVES flowers so we take lots of pictures by them.

The stained glass windows at the Temple are so beautiful. Brynn was bummed that she can't go inside any of the Temples. We tried to reassure her that she can go when she turns 12. She looked at us and said in disgust "but I'm not even 8!" It's sometimes hard for us to remember those anxious times of waiting when we are kids.

This is at the Kanesville Tabernacle in Council Bluffs. We debated about stopping here. We felt pressured by time. We are SO glad we stopped. We got a different view of the Mormom Battalion and felt the Spirit of this wonderful building where Brigham Young was sustained as the 2nd President of the Church. Also Oliver Cowdery, (someone correct me if I'm wrong), returned to Church activity here.

The missionary couple who talked to us and led us through were with Mom and Dad T. in the MTC .

Of course the pictures are in reverse order!

Brynn got a hair cut!

We love our grandmas

We are so grateful for our wonderful mothers and grandmothers and great grandmother who have taught us so many wonderful things. They are great examples of service, sacrifice, unconditional love, patience, faith, and many other wonderful qualities! We love you so much.

D.C.

The background picture is the U.S. capitol with my mom and Aunt Lorene in front. Top left is me in front of the D.C. Temple. Directly below that is me with Laura and Bridget in front of the Mesa Temple. Bottom left, me with the Washington Monument in the background.
Top right two pictures are me at Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home/farm etc. Below that we are in the Library of Congress. Below that my parents and me in front of the National Cathredal. It is huge and we couldn't get any pictures this close of the whole thing. The bottom right picture is of us on a WWII army truck that was water and land ready.

Highlights of my trip to Washington D.C.:
-The Temple, I'm always so excited to see a new one, but most of all I just love being there. There isn't anywhere on Earth I'd rather be.
-spending time with my mom and aunt.
-Fiddler on the Roof-we saw it at the National Theatre. It was well done and moved along quickly. Much shorter than the movie. I hadn't really caught the story line before. I felt a little saddened at the loss of tradition they experienced, even though I don't agree with the practice of choosing spouses. I'm sure grateful I was able to choose my spouse!
-Amazing tour guides. We went on a lot of tours. They talk the whole time you are with them so it's impossible to remember all they say. I gained an appreciation for new ideas, many sacrifices from the founding fathers and others througout history. The night time tour was particularly amazing.
-The Lincoln Memorial was a favorite, he is an inspiring man. I'm excited to learn more about him and his life.
-Mt. Vernon-George Washington's farm and mansion.
-Holocaust Museum- so much to see there and too much to read and think about on one visit.
-Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was shot
-Korean War Memorial
-Arlington National Cemetary- we saw a changing of the guard and wreath ceremony. It was amazing. The cemetary seemed quieter than sacrament meeting. I probably wouldn't take my young children there anyway. It's a special place. I wish we would have had more time to walk around there.

I spent a really fun day with friends in Arizona. I had a big layover. We went to the Temple in Mesa and visited a lot. It was so nice to be able to see them and enjoy the beautiful warmth of Arizona in springtime.

I'm overwhelmed with the amount of things I want to study! What a wonderful time I had. I enjoyed some time away from the kiddos, even though I missed them. I came back refreshed and ready to begin again. Thanks to my wonderful husband who made this trip possible and for my parents for inviting me along!

In Nauvoo

The favorite activities for the kids included:
throwing rocks in the Mississippi River, and spending time with Grandma and Grandpa

The pictures, left to right, then down
top left: Brynn and Joel sitting in front of a mouse trap from the pioneer days
Macy had a thing for bending sideways, this is one of many
Brynn, Joel and Macy on the wagon ride(Temple in the background).
We are all at the blacksmith shop. Joel was right in there "helping"
Macy in grandma's apron, showing off her face wound.
Joel and Grandpa in front of some of the tools they used.
Stan and Joel in front of Grandparent's door to their apartment (the upstairs of a farm house)
Me, Brynn and Joel, rope making
Joel took the picture of us in the grass.
Mom and Dad T. are site leaders at the Family Living Center
Brynn and Macy on Easter morning
Brynn throwing rocks in the river, barge in the background
Wagon ride
Joel in front of the horses pulling the wagon.
Kids in front of Grandma and grandpa's home.

Did I really miss Macy's birthday?

Macy is 3 now! Brynn really wanted to help decorate these cupcakes and she had a great time doing it. Macy wanted to help too, maybe next year...

I LOVE these faces

Kids are so easy to please. I love the family parties with just the five of us. They played and played until way past their bedtime.

Why we love Macy:

-She is funny and entertaining (she often sneaks into Brynn's bed and eats her candy. I still haven't figured out why Brynn doesn't choose a different spot to "hide" her stuff. Macy always finds it. It's like she can smell it or something.)

-She is sweet and says "I love you" more times in a day than you can count.

We are so happy and blessed to have this special girl in our family!

"Now Let Us Rejoice"

For Easter we bought ourselves the book "Our Latter-Day Hymns," by Karen Lynn Davidson.
Since our kids are young and we wanted at least Brynn to remember this trip, I felt the need to keep talking about our experiences with the Church History sites and our testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I decided to give our Family Home Evening lesson on "Now Let Us Rejoice", Hymn no. 3 in LDS Hymnbook. This song was written by W.W, Phelps. I'm going to share a little history provided from the above book. I hope I'm not infringing on copyright laws.
The author quotes from the Comprehensive history of the Church: "In, 1833, a mob, plentifully armed and numbering between four and five hundred, came upon the settlement at Independence. They tore down the two story brick building in which the press was housed and in the lower par of which the Phelps family lived; they destroyed the press, burned the books and papers, drove Mrs. Phelps and her baby out upon the street;...and they served warning on all the Saints living in the county not to do any more work or build or buy or sell in their settlements." The Saints were soon after driven from their homes in the dead of winter.
Here is a link to the words of this hymn:
http://www.lds.org/churchmusic/detailmusicPlayer/index.html?searchlanguage=1&searchcollection=1&searchseqstart=3&searchsubseqstart=%20&searchseqend=3&searchsubseqend=ZZZ

This song is powerful evidence of the testimonies of the early Saints. I have always liked this song but it has taken on a deeper meaning to me now. After witnessing the strength of the parents of our nephew who just passed away, I know they believe this too. It is because of the Savior's atonement that we still can rejoice when really hard things come our way.

Salt Lake

We left Thursday, March 25, after work and traveled 5 hours to Lethbridge.
Friday morning we met up with family to caravan down to Logan, UT. It was great fun. Maybe because they took my two oldest kids and Macy slept for a big chunk of the afternoon. =)
The beginning of the 2 + weeks road trip. Click this link to see our route and note the kilometers and days traveled. I feel triumphant in accomplishing this adventure! We all still love each other and had a wonderful time!
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=beaumont,+alberta&daddr=Pleasant+Grove,+ut+to:broomfield,+colorado+to:nauvoo,+illinois+to:Sioux+Falls,+Minnehaha,+South+Dakota,+United+States+to:keystone,+south+dakota+to:great+falls,+montana+to:beaumont,+alberta&hl=en&geocode=Fd0XLgMdb2s9-SnhkO3NwRygUzHFHVGccsDFcw%3BFVboZwIdVAFX-Snnx5tBH4RNhzEeLL208h-9pg%3BFZ0jYQIdRoG8-Sk7-IhbzIprhzGwQryQ6JcFBw%3BFZq-agId1ZON-im3UcGO4SXnhzFJYMOFT3_S4A%3BFReFmAIdWXg8-inXrL3gmLSOhzHP_LKoOv-V3g%3BFfjKnQIdevbV-Sm7AKUYFjZ9hzGgi8c_-4kZLg%3BFcvL1AIdOK9d-Sk7uIxljTdCUzGoRVmOsVbe1g%3BFd0XLgMdb2s9-SnhkO3NwRygUzHFHVGccsDFcw&mra=pe&mrcr=3,4&sll=46.591631,-102.398471&sspn=14.466076,43.198242&ie=UTF8&ll=46.589069,-102.392578&spn=14.466076,43.198242&z=5

Interesting sign. Joel lost his first tooth in Logan!

It was just a one room Pulled it out himself.

bathroom at a gas station.

We visited Temple Square. It was so much more meaningful

now that the kids are older. We went in '07 and Brynn didn't

remember anything. They loved the "big Jesus statue"

Fun to "touch" the Temple and talk about the pioneers who

built it by hand. Just these doors alone are amazing!

I'll put our trip posts in pieces so I can add the best pictures and some journaling with it. We don't have any from the funeral weekend yet and we had some great family pictures taken, just our crew and all the Torries. Those will come at some point...

Teaser

I have some updating to do. But, my computer is having trouble loading all the pictures from our trip so I'll try again later.
While visiting some great friends in Colorado on our adventure, they introduced us to this FUNNY and clean comedian. Here's a favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bVblNA3drM

We are grateful for blessings of the Temple

We are so thankful to have the gospel in our lives! Our nephew, obituary attached below, was killed in an accident almost two weeks ago. The funeral was amazing. His mom and dad have been comforted by the prayers of many and the knowledge that Wayne is alive and they will be able to be with him again one day. We were able to have all the Torrie family together, which hasn't happened since the summer of 2003.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/hjnews/obituary.aspx?n=wayne-julien-torrie&pid=141131869

Run

So, my friend talked my into running a 1/2 marathon in September. The thought of running again was exciting but scary. It's been a long time since I've done any real running. I thought I was pretty out of shape. I decided to go jogging just before dinner last night and Brynn and Joel really wanted to come. So I told them the loop we were going to make and that we would be doing some walking. I had total confidence that they would be just fine, since I'm really out of shape. I forgot to take into account that they are 5 and 7. Kids seem like they can go forever and ever. After 30 seconds of VERY slow jogging, they stopped to walk. Our loop was just over a mile and we walked most of it. The funny thing was that they kept moaning and asking if we were ever going to be done, all the while knowing that the only way to get home was to keep walking. As we approached the last leg, out of nowhere Joel said, "where's a taxi when we need one?" Random and very funny comment. It also kept them minds busy for a few minutes.

School's out

Stan finished his 2nd class. It was much more difficult but he ended up getting a good grade. It's been nice having a break. We finished reading "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Great book. Stan's oldest brother Mel and some of his family came for a visit. It was really fun! We missed the boys but I have to admit that it was pretty quiet. The girls had so much fun together. We had lots of fun with other cousins that live here near us. It's fun to have visitors. We are preparing for our big trip at the end of this month to Mt. Rushmore and Nauvoo. Can't wait!