January Summed up in One Word - "BUSY"

It has been a very full month. It doesn't seem like it will settle down until March when we'll have to reevaluate if we can do it all: Cub Scouts, Piano, Soccer, 4H, Achievement Days, and Jonny/Christi fulfilling all church callings and work obligations. We really only have 3/5 of our kids involved in extracurricular activities. I shudder to think about all 5 kids doing something in the future. Like Jonny pointed out to me, the kids are not the over-scheduled ones...I am. Eventually when the older kids are teenagers, I'll have to recruit them to help me cover attendance at the younger kids' activities.

When I think about what activities we could do without, it's a hard choice because we enjoy them all. Jay and Britton are getting some great exercise physically in Soccer as well as developing responsibility and discovering the hard work:success ratio.

In soccer practice yesterday, Jay's team focused on passing the ball. Their last game was pretty rough. The other team scored 9 goals on them in 15 minutes because they knew how to "cross the field" (pass the ball) to advance it to the punter standing near the goal box. Hopefully they have it figured out for their next game which is tonight.

Jay and Nikki were showing some interest in Piano and pianists are in short supply here in Yuma. How can I discourage them there? I love watching Jay and Nikki handling their animals, loving them and caring for them.

Andrew, Salem, and Jay showing their Polish chickens to a mock judge in 4-H.

Cub Scouts and Achievement Days are hardly negotiable. The activities do help Jay and Nikki cross of achievements on their lists. The younger boys are enjoying a life of few responsibilities, jumping on the trampoline, and watching too much TV. I need to wean them from the TV a bit.

My work at the hospital is more steady in the winter time. If I cut back, then my experience level goes down. I have been working sporadically during the last 6 years and I sense that I am using references a lot more lately instead of my brain. Do I keep trucking along and add in some review education?

Finding balance in life is not always easy. My brother-in-law Steve sent me a "Read through the Bible in a Year" schedule. I am so glad because every day of the year has a designated reading with a checkbox to keep me on track. As of today, I should have read Luke 5:27 thru 14:35, Genesis 1-26, and Psalms 1-19. I am behind but not impossibly. I was gung-ho on my scripture study the first week then my time was poorly managed last week so I have a lot of catch-up to do.

Jay advanced to his school spelling bee and surprised me with some of the hard words he was able to spell. He made it to 4th place before misspelling celery. He'll never forget how to spell it again. He even had celery and peanut butter for lunch prior to the bee. I asked him if he ate all of it because if not he may have offended the gods of celery causing him to misspell. He says he ate it all so that wasn't it. He was able to shrug and laugh it off and say "next year".

On Friday, Jonny was home for a visit from my Jehovah's witness friend Viola, who comes about once per month sometimes skipping a month (She's probably in her 70s). Her visits last year started with sharing a message from the bible which she has continued to do each month. We have so much doctrine in common but occasionally differ and I let her know politely that we believe differently on those points. During this last visit, she provided a great opening with her scripture message that mentioned authority for me to tell her that we have a prophet today with that same authority. Jonny and I both shared our testimony on some things and we felt the spirit confirming it. We offered them a Book of Mormon which she and her partner wouldn't accept. We couldn't agree on the identity of Jehovah but we hugged at parting and I told them that they are always welcome in our home despite our differences.

Last weekend, we attended the Elders Quorum Bonfire. Jonny is in the presidency. The EQ president and his kids collect Christmas Trees every year throughout neighborhoods. He is a realtor and has his own moving truck. We built a bonfire to put last year's to shame and last year's was pretty impressive. This bonfire was about 20 feet tall. We built it out in the desert surrounded by sand just outside of the city limits. The EQ president is also an ex-firefighter and kindly notified the Fire Department not to be alarmed when they saw our bonfire. He also had donated pallets and some scrapped roof trusses from another church member. Jonny engineered the tower to collapse into the center and it fell just like he said it would. They doused the tower with gasoline then poured a trail away from it so that they could light it like a fuse. The fuse fizzled out so they threw a firecracker into it from a distance and that got it going. We knew it would be scorching (and it was) so everyone sat back about 50 feet. Then we had a get-to-know each other activity, singing accompanied by a guitar, and hot cocoa and smores at the end. The picture doesn't do it justice because there are no size markers in the picture. I hope it will be an annual tradition.