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Jail 101

We had an eye-opening visit to the county jail last night for a combined YW/YM activity. I had never been inside a jail before. Shocking, I know! But, let me tell you, this one time made a mighty big impression on me and hopefully on the youth as well.

We had a wonderful and very informative deputy(?) tour guide. The guy was full of statistics and info. Just one window in the jail cost $50,000. It is a supervision type jail. There are about 650 inmates and they are building on another unit to house up to 1000 (not a good sign). 80% of the inmates are LDS. 40% are women. The different wings are named after ski resort in the area. Most of the people in the jail aren't bad people, they just made bad choices and are now paying the consequence. And why are most of the people in jail? DRUGS! And to bring his point home he brought in 3 ladies,22, 23 and 32 yrs old, all in jail for drug use and other related charges, to do a question and answer session. 2 are meth addicts and one is a heroin addict and has the track marks to prove it. As they related their stories of how they got into drugs in their YOUNG teen years, (divorced parents, father died) and how they used the drugs to numb the pain, I couldn't help but think that that one choice changed the course of their lives forever. All are repeat offenders, two have children. And to bring it way too close to home for me, the heroin addict is pregnant and due 10 days before me in August, sleeping on a hard mattress, eating bologna sandwiches every day for lunch, going to doctors appointments in the jail, using the facilities multiple times throughout the day in front of a cellmate! They all definitely don't want to ever return to jail again, but who knows what will happen when they leave and are confronted once again with the people, the places, the choice to use or not use.

I think the one thing I don't want to forget is that doing any kind of drug just one time is too many. I want complete and open communication with my kids. I need to teach my children the Gospel of Jesus Christ and instill in them their self-worth.

It seemed so surreal to be sitting there as they told us what their lives are, what they have become because of their addiction. They seemed so normal, laughing and talking with us. They are just like anyone's sister, daughter, aunt, mom, friend. And then the deputy led them out of the room and back to their 6x12 foot cells.

And then we walked out of the jail and I returned to my home and to my wonderful family. I ate ice cream and pineapple for dessert (yes, I am pregnant!). I said my prayers last night and prayed for those women, our Heavenly Father's daughters who are lost and searching for something. I know that I am a daughter of God and his spirit is with me everyday because I CHOOSE to be obedient. No one will tell me when to get up in the morning or when I can leave my room or make me eat dry bologna sandwiches or make me walk with my hands behind my back or tell me when to talk or when to sleep. Whoever believes that doing whatever you want will bring you happiness and freedom needs to visit the jail.

P.S. If any of the info isn't exactly accurate you other leaders can correct me. I don't have the best memory these days!

Oh, The Happiest Place on Earth!

Here is the proof of the long awaited trip to none other than Disneyland! We journeyed, we played, we survived!

Here is more of a play-by-play for those really needing to waste some time reading the details.

We arrived at our hotel about 5pm, with enough time to eat, swim, and get settled for the next few days. Upon arrival at the hotel, our 6 year old said "Disneyland is a little different than I imagined." We thought that was pretty funny and explained to her that although the hotel was pretty cool (not really, just basic) that tomorrow we would take her to see the real Disneyland.

Day 1: Of course everyone was up bright and early, so we all got ready, ate breakfast and waited for the park to open. Come on people, most of us are coming from a different time zone and have very excited children ready to make the most of this experience and you don't open until 10am? We headed to California Adventure. Minnie was the first character we saw. Don't worry, I won't post all of the pictures that were taken, just enough for you all to get your fix!


Notice the jackets. I am glad we brought them along because it wasn't quite as warm as we had anticipated. I am not complaining at all. I think it was perfect weather for a six month pregnant mom and kids. (In fact day 2 ended up being a bit sunnier and there was much more complaining of being hot and thirsty.) Drew took the girls on the Tower of Terror I guess just to set the mood for the trip! I thought Mady would be in tears, but she was actually smiling when she got back. She did say she didn't want to go on it again.

We spent the rest of the time riding on rides, watching a Playhouse Disney show, and eating snacks until a late lunch. Disneyland was calling our name so we spent the remainder of the day there.

Eli Manning and I even had a special moment as he rode through in a special parade just for him.

The girls got to be co-captains on this ride!

We watched the parade that night. I would have to say this was one of my favorite parts. It was very entertaining and it was fun to see all of the characters.




Day 2: We tried to use our fast passes only to discover the park wasn't really opening early that day. We did get in about 10 minutes early, but only with enough time to get a good spot for the Pirates of the Carribbean ride. It was pretty cool. The girls kept asking if the people and skeletons were real. More fun rides, meeting princessess, too much money spent on food and souvenirs, and we were absolutely exhausted by the end of the day.



Day 3: Definitely a slower start. We checked out of our hotel because we spent the remainder of the week with friends. We still had a few rides to try out and things to see. I think the favorites were: Buzz, Pirates, Splash and Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Buzz, Nemo, the Princesses, Buzz, Monsters Inc, Matterhorn, Star Tours, and Buzz. We stayed until 9:30pm to watch the fireworks over the castle and it was well worth it. I don't think we will be forgetting this anytime soon. And the begging to go back has already started!

Sundays

I absolutely love Sundays! I love that I have my whole family together and no one has anything else to do. I get to go to church and worship as I please. I can take a nap, read a book, take a walk, visit family and friends, play games with the kids or whatever else I want to do. But I don't have to do laundry, go to the store, run kids to activities, etc. The kids and I love it because dad is home all day long, from the moment they wake up until he tucks them in at night. We love daddy! He is so good to entertain them while I nap and he almost always does the all the cooking on Sundays!

The other thing I have been enjoying on Sundays is my baby boy. He has been having issues napping on Sunday, I think mostly because his dad is home and he doesn't want to miss a moment with him! But he is so tired he needs a nap. So, the routine for the last month or so has been that his dad lays him down for a nap and immediately he starts crying (which he rarely ever does, and is probably the reason he lets me rock him). I go in and take him out of bed to rock him until he falls asleep. This usually never happens because 1)he usually thinks we are just rocking for fun and he tries to get away or 2)I feel like I have other things to do that are so much more important than rocking my baby to sleep. I realized on Sunday that this is such a special moment for me and he is getting so big! These little ones are so sweet and pure and the time flies by so fast.


Notice how he takes up my whole lap!

Happy Birthday To Two!

We have two April birthdays- one turned 2 and one turned 30! Can you guess who matches which birthday?


We have been busy celebrating. On the day of my birthday we went to Outback for dinner. I have been craving it for some time! The kids were so good, so that was an awesome present. My hubby put together an adult only dinner out that weekend with friends and family. He put together some fun games for us to play while eating. And I finally realized that turning 30 wasn't going to change me. I am still the same old me!



Our little guy's birthday was 11 days later and we decided to just do a quiet family day. We headed to Kangaroo Zoo, a big warehouse that has a bunch of blowup playsets and slides. It was a lot of fun for all of us!



Back at home, we had cake and opened presents. As we were singing to him, our little guy was singing "Appy birday to tew. It sounded like two, which I thought was appropriate!


We are so glad that we have a boy in the family to even things out with the girls. He is so much fun! He is so sweet, always giving me kisses, and he is very polite. He says "day tew"(thank you) when I give him a drink or treat, change his bum, or even wipe his nose! He loves his sisters. He is definitely all boy, running and jumping and throwing things! I love it and we all love him!

On to the next celebration, DISNEYLAND! 13 days and counting! Anyone near by is welcome to join us.

OH BOY!

I was paying bills. He was...

PLAYING

WITH

GLUE!!!!!!!
Or maybe he has heard something about glue masks being good for your pores. I did laugh when I saw him and took pictures. Then I went and got his sister and cousins who had left the glue out and they cleaned up the mess! And they did an excellent job. Later that day while I was showering he was dunking his pants in the toilet! What if the next one is a boy too?

On the SPOT

OK, this is going to be boring without pictures. The problem is that I forgot to take my camera with me to Idaho and now I have nothing to prove what we did. Oh well, you can believe me if you want to.

My parents' stake put on a production of "The City of Joseph" musical this past week. My father directed the outdoor musical for 20 years and consequently our whole family performed in it every summer from 1976 to 1996. I have many fond memories of those two weeks spent in the blazing Illinois sun, practicing from 8am(or 6:30am when I was on the dance team) to midnight with breaks for eating only! I attribute that experience to the testimony I have today of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Anyway, my dad directed this stake production and my mom supervised the costumes, backdrop, etc. My little sister and I decided we wanted to be there for the opening night which was Thursday night. Well, my dad called us Tuesday night to ask if there was any way we could head up Wednesday as early as possible for the dress rehearsal so that we could help my mom out with all of the last minute costume issues that had come up. Sure, we could do that.

I took my first grader out of school early on Wednesday and we made good time, with only one stop for potty/diaper changes. We got right into the sewing and didn't stop until we headed over to the Institute Building where it was being performed, arriving about 5 minutes before the show was to start. Upon arrival with 4 kids in tow, my 3 and my sister's 1, my dad says "Due to circumstances out of my control I need the two of you to run the spotlights for the show tonight and the rest of the weekend's shows." What? Excuse me? Have I ever in my life done this? NO. And what about the kids? Our husbands weren't coming until Friday night, and mom was busy with costume changes back stage. Luckily that night another sister had come up to watch so she took on the 6, 4, 23 month and 18 month old kiddies and some nice ladies who had come to watch the dress rehearsal helped out as well.

As we are being handed our head sets from the nice lighting coordinator he says "So your dad says you know what you are doing," I think he meant you are familiar with the show. Sure I know the show, but I can't say I ever paid one bit of attention to what the spotlight guys were doing! We climbed up the scaffolding to our spotlights and my sister got a mini lesson. I guess he really thought I would be fine because I didn't get a thing besides "Can you hear me?" through the ear piece. So, after the first scene was over and I was doing my best he says "Do you have a filter on your light?" and I say I don't know, do I? He had told me I had the crappy light and yes, you couldn't really tell that it was on. I just figured it was really, really bad but I did have the filter on. Upon removal it wasn't much better! We got a babysitter for the next night and family showed up to help for the last shows. We did a really good job in my opinion and knowing the show did help us to know who was talking and once we figured out where they were on stage, well, lets just say that if you need a SPOTLIGHT PERSON I am your lady. And I am sure my sister would also be available... for a small fee!

The show was really good. The leads did an excellent job. My oldest was dancing and singing along and kept saying "This is my FAVORITE SONG," and then the next one would start and it was "actually THIS is my favorite song." So cute!

The kids had a lot of fun during the days playing at Grandma and Grandpa's with their cousins. We were able to watch General Conference on Grandpa's projector, which is a good thing since there were 30 of us there by the end of the weekend! We enjoyed hearing from our new prophet President Monson and the others who spoke. We drove home today. As we were eating dinner, my four year old said "It feels good to be home." I agree. It is fun to visit other places but it always feels good to be home!