Jan the Man

I have four equally cute and equally wonderful sons, and I will say right here at the start - in black and white that I LOVE EACH OF THEM EQUALLY. Got that, "equality" is the theme I'm going for here. That being said, I really just have to brag about Jan for a minute. He is a classic middle child. Very creative, happy, attention seeking, peacemaking, etc. He is an all around great kid. He became my hero when he volunteered to coach Leah's soccer team that was made up of 3rd-5th grade girls.

The girls really responded well to Jan and his friends and they turned a bunch of giggly girls in to a lean, mean scorin' machine. They took on the responsibility of practicing 2 times a week and playing 2 games a week on top of that. The part I loved best is that they would give the girls a chance to play any position they wanted and had tons more patience with them than any parent-coach could have.

We even made it to the championship game! The coaching staff wore special shirts to the game. How cute is that? Is it just me, or is Jan drop dead handsome?

We ended up losing that game by one point, it was very close, and we lost to a team we had lost to by 5 points earlier in the season. Leah was pretty excited to take second place.

Jordie's championship game was played on the same field right after Leah's. He wasn't as happy about his second place medal (if you look really close, you can tell).

Thanks coach Jan, for taking 12 girls, teaching them soccer skills and turning them into a team. You did it without being asked and without being paid, you really are awesome and I love you! (and I'm pretty sure just about every little girl on your team does too!)I've said it before, and I'll say it again, "Jan, You are the man!"

I Am the Precious Adornment that Hangs About the Neck of My Ancestors

At the end of April, our Stake hosted a Women's Conference. I didn't know how bad I needed that spiritual boost until I got it. The keynote speaker was Merilee Webb. She is a petite, animated woman who often conducts youth choirs for conference and other special occassions. Included in her remarks was a polynesian song that she and her friend sang, it was so beautiful, even when I couldn't understand the words. The translation is "I am the precious adornment that hangs about the neck of my ancestors", and she had us repeat that phrase several times. What a powerful statement. Another powerful point she made was that we cannot do one thing to increase or diminish the love that our Heavenly Father bears for us. She said that all self esteem is rooted in our relationship with Him and our Savior, not our kids, not our husbands or parents or the mirror. And then she said "If you don't believe that, you are spending too much time in the world and not enough time with the Lord." I could've listened to her for hours. She was happy, spunky and matter of fact, and not only was I fascinated with the things she said, but my mind was open to new ways to come closer to the Savior. I'm so thankful I was there!

The conference was broken up into 50 minute workshops that the sisters attending could rotate around to. I was asked to present a class on "Who am I to be a Mother of a Stripling Warrior?" I was asked in December to prepare for this class and between then and April I had stress overload with my personal life and with the topic. I am a mother everyday, and have been for 20 some years, and between December and March I could hardly think of anything to say that would be of any worth to anyone. So I kept studying the story of the stripling warriors and their parents and sometime in the 2nd week of April, ideas started to come. I learned more than I was able to teach. I used some really neat videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX6flpUweIQ And http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k (You can copy and paste to see them)and on the whole it was a great experience.