Summer of Love: Ward Picnic

Christmas Projects

With Dad gone in Europe, Cal and I tackled a lot of projects around the house. Nesting was in full swing for me, so I took on several organization projects. 

I know this probably seems weird, but I LOVE organizing. I've grown to appreciate a good organization system even more since living in our small apartment -- every inch counts.

A lot of the projects were more fun, and involved decorating for Christmas, shopping, and wrapping presents. Although, we didn't get high marks for organization in this department. Take a look at Santa's workshop. Yikes!

Cal was actually a huge help in getting everything ready for Christmas. He is very skilled at using scissors (seriously), so we made good use of his talents and had him cut the wrapping paper.

He was very interested in who each present was for, and kept telling me how excited he was for his cousins and grandparents to open his gifts. It was sweet to see how much he was thinking of others.

We got Cal an advent calendar from Ikea again this year, and each morning, one of the first things he'd say was, "My cander!" before running to open the flap and retrieve the chocolate inside. As a surprise, Reed made me an advent calendar of my own, filled with 25 hints that led me on a search for little gifts around the house.

I couldn't believe that he'd set it al up before he left for Europe. It was such a sweet and romantic idea!

We had a fun time at our ward Christmas party, even though we had to attend with no Dad. Here is Cal ringing his heart out to jingle bells with the primary kids.

We definitely missed Reed while he was gone, but I'm glad we got to fill our time with such fun projects and activities.

Bell Choir (Again!)

Since my pregnancy has been so uncomfortable, I've been saying no to a lot of events that sound fun this Christmas season in an attempt to preserve what little energy I do have.  But one thing that was tempting enough to convince me was Christmas bell choir. If you remember, my aunt Heather and I rang with Jessica's group last Christmas, and when she asked us to participate again this year, neither of us could turn it down.

All the ringers were returning members from last year, which was really fun, and meant that we got into the groove of working together faster than we did last year. We performed at the Palo Alto Creche Festival, with our own 45-minute program (last year we just did two numbers as part of another group's program). We did about a dozen songs. It was a little daunting to learn all of the music, but I think we did a great job. Jessica chose beautiful arrangements of religious carols. It's so fun working with this group of people.

Reed took a few videos of the performance. Here is a clip of "What Child is This?":

I got a chance to sing during the program, too. Here is a clip of "Gesu Bambino", with the bells accompanying me underneath:

The Palo Alto Stake really does such a wonderful job with the festival. In addition to the continuous musical programs that serenade visitors, there are hundreds of nativities, grouped by theme or origin. One feature of the festival that we took advantage of this year was the children's room, where volunteers told the nativity story with marionette puppets.

Cal was absolutely transfixed. He loved the show so much that he suggested "Fluffy Marionette" as a name for the new baby. Thanks, Cal. We'll keep that in mind.

Family History Love

Something people might not know about me? I am a family history nut. I got interested in genealogy when we moved here -- a time when I had few friends and needed a serious hobby to keep myself sane. I'm happy to say that the hobby has turned into a pretty fruitful passion that will last the rest of my life. 

One of the things that has always held me back from getting involved in my family's genealogy was the assumption that all the work has already been done. Both my grandmothers are wonderful genealogists and family historians, and they've been working on our lines for years -- what hope do I have of making any difference?

The starting point for me was the realization that Reed's father's line was largely untouched. Richard is convert, so there are only a few people working on specific branches of the tree. I decided to start there, because it felt like a blank canvas. It was also easier to learn how to find sources, because I was working with more recent (20th- and 19th-century) census records. When I called Richard to ask a couple questions, it lit a fire under him. We both started searching, finding, and entering names. On a trip to Utah, we ended up scanning boxes of family records that had been in his possession for a while. He had been working hard on his line since I'd talked to him, and showed me this:

Look at that family tree! We looked at all the names, and decided where there were holes and where each of us would search. It led us both to interesting avenues of searching, including making letters to historical clubs in tiny rural towns in the south (no email).

Richard has even made trips to the sites himself, which is invaluable, since lots of the records we need are not digitized -- they're just in a storage room at the county office (a tiny building on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere). The search has yielded precious fruit. We've found photos, records, letters, graves, and even living relatives with memories of those we're searching for. Richard, Mr. Likeable himself, cold called distant Olsen relatives and was recounted a priceless oral history of August Olsen, the first Olsen of his line to come to America from Sweden. 

And after years of searching into Reed's paternal line, I've looked at mine, and realized that it has mistakes and holes. It was wonderful learning how to do genealogy with Richard's line, and I feel like I have a much higher level of discernment now, which I need, since being what I call a "proof-reading genealogist" is pretty nuanced and tricky. It has been wonderfully rewarding, though, to know that I am contributing to the accuracy and completeness of my own family line. I also appreciate the church's new family history system (familysearch.com) so much. The fact that we are all working on one live document feels so much more efficient that duplicating work privately and without connection. It is completely inspired, and makes me feel like my efforts make a cosmic difference.

I've also tried to make family history real in the here and now for my family. Cal had a cultural celebration at his preschool this year, where they asked each student to bring a dish from his country. I had him bring rosenmunnar (red lips) cookies, a traditional Swedish treat. The teachers loved it -- we are one of the only scandinavian-descent families, so we felt exotic amid all the other nationalities represented. What an awesome activity for all the children.

When we were in Boston, Reed and I took Olsen family names to the temple and did their work. It is so beautiful to feel connected to these people through ordinances. Names that need work from MY family tree are rare, but I have found three that need all the work done. I've mailed them around to my siblings, because I want us all to participate in the work. Family history binds us not only to our ancestors, but to each other, too. And as one of my local heroes, Julie Nef, said in ward conference a few years ago, doing the work for our ancestors frees them to bless our lives here on Earth.

I love that. I love genealogy, and I love how it transforms my heart.

Sunday in Salt Lake

We spent Sunday with Reed's parents and went to church in Salt Lake. Rosemary made a delicious dinner and Richard and I brainstormed over genealogy. The best was seeing Cal bonding with Grandpa. He absolutely loves the time he gets to spend with the Olsens. We were so glad Richard was in town this time around!

Conference Weekend

 Conference weekend is always so uplifting, and this April's session was no exception.  We always tune in on the internet, and listen while snuggling as a family on our beg, during the morning sessions especially. It warmed my heart to look over on Sunday, and see Cal eating his breakfast while listening to Uchtdorf.

 I'm grateful that the talks are all made available in writing so soon.  As much as I love listening to my leaders' voices, it is reading the talks that helps me better internalize and remember their words.

After the Sunday afternoon session, we went up to Palo Alto to try out Cal's new kite. Heather took us on a little hike to the top of Kite Hill, and we were able to catch a breeze! (Side note: little did any of us know that Heather was suffering from a pulmonary embolism, and the hike nearly killed her, quite literally.)

What a lovely Spring day, and the perfect end to a wonderful conference weekend.

Sunbeams!

Look who started sunbeams this week!

Cal was so proud to sit in his chair in primary. His friend Nolan (behind) comes and gets him each week to walk to primary together. Isn't that so sweet?

I love my little sunbean!

Quick Thoughts on Easter

I have had a very contemplative Easter week. I'm grateful I've been given so many opportunities to sit still and ponder. It may have begun with my Stabat Mater concert on Wednesday; I had to write on my music the translation of Latin text about Christ and Mary's suffering at the crucifixion. Performing those words meant truly connecting with the text. The performance also included sitting through a sermon, which was wonderful, but something I probably would not have sought out on my own.

Every day this week, Mormon.org has issued Easter cards, designed for sharing on facebook and other social sites. I absolutely loved them, and shared several on my page. Take a look:

On Sunday, I sang with a trio of girls at an Easter music program for the community. We sang "Beautiful Savior." It was another situation where I was obliged to listen to a sermon (something I would have skipped because of how busy I've been feeling lately). It was on Grace, and it was exactly what I needed to hear.

The speaker told of a student who had asked a teacher, "I know I need to do my best, and Christ will make up the difference, but I can't even handle doing my best." The speaker held up a sheet of paper and said, "the top of the paper is God, and the bottom is you. Draw a line to represent where your efforts end and Christ's grace begins." The student drew a line across the middle of the page. When the teacher said "Wrong," the student replied, "I knew it needed to be higher." The teacher said, "No, there is no line. Christ is the entire paper."

We are completely saved by Grace. So why must we obey the commandments? Because Christ has asked us to. Because it shows him that His sacrifice has earned our love and devotion. Because it is an offering unto him when we spend our lives as He would wish. It is not a repayment -- we cannot repay our debt. It is an offering of gratitude and devotion.

It was a wonderful Easter week for me, and I'm glad my mind and heart were "checked in" these past several days. What a meaningful, overwhelming message of love--for those who stop to recognize it.

Christ and the Rich Man

Today, in our Sunday School Lesson, we were taught about the story of the

rich man who asked Christ how to obtain eternal life.

The instructor displayed the painting shown above, by Heinrich Hoffman. This painting always reminds me of my friend Kirstin. I remember walking into her room one day during college, and she was posting it on her wall. She'd just returned from a semester in Spain, and was unpacking some things for her desk and walls. I asked her about it, and I'll never forget her response. She said, "I think this is one of the most memorable lessons from the New Testament, at least for me. The fact that Christ would tell him to give his riches unto the poor, and that the young man just couldn't do it . . . it is a huge lesson to me, and a reminder to search my life for things that may be holding me back from true devotion to Christ."

I will never forget that conversation, nor will I forget Kirstin's good example to me. Whenever I see this painting, I am reminded of a close friend who is striving to have no limits to her sacrifice and devotion to the gospel. And I recommit to doing the same.

Preparedness

A week or so ago, I was at my Aunt Heather's house watching the BYU game, and she had a big orange duffle bag out on the floor. I asked her about it, and she said she was updating her 72-hour emergency kit. I don't know what it was about that exchange, but I have launched into full-scale preparation mode. It's been a fun project to do with Cal while Reed is "away" (working 80-hour weeks), and I may or may not have reached the "too involved" point. Haha! I thought I'd list some of the ways I've become more prepared lately, and some of the resources I've come across as I've tried to learn more about this subject.

1. 72-Hour-Kit -- I've put this off for a while, because it always seems like there is SO much stuff to pack up. I mean, pretty soon the kit starts sounding like an entire U-haul truck, filled to the brim. But as I went over recommendations from the church, and began collecting items, I figured out that it wasn't such a huge imposition. Technically, I used a website that isn't officially affiliated with the church. Click here for the checklist that I used.

And voila! Everything on the list, with room to spare. With one exception: water. It recommends a staggering 3 gallons per person, but even with a disaster-induced adrenaline rush, I doubt I'll be able to haul 9 gallons of water as I'm fleeing with my nearly two-year old son. (I picture a meteor storm in my hypothetical apocalyptic scenarios, just fyi.)

So instead, I have six, 12-oz water bottles tucked in the orange duffle bag, and extra water stored in my home.

Included inside the orange duffle is our emergency binder, which I have learned is an important part of any emergency kit. It took a little bit of time, but I collected all of our important documents: medical records, insurance info, house and car key (yes I had to go make copies specifically for the kit), copies of prescriptions, passports, cash, checks, etc. It actually felt very refreshing to have it all organized in one safe place.

I went to ReadyAmerica and filled out emergency plan forms to include in the binder. It was a pain to collect all of our doctors' numbers and info, but it made me realize that I didn't have a lot of that information ready at my fingertips in case of emergency -- now I do.

2. Food Storage -- I guess I'm a real grown-up now. For those of you who don't know my dad, he is actually a food storage JUNKIE. When it comes to food storage, I've always sort of felt like I'd just run to my dad and he'd provide for my little family, too. But I need to grow up now. I've got Cal. I can't run to my dad, even though he has a sweet generator-powered emergency stove top, and we'd eat like kings during a nuclear holocaust.

I've found a lot of good information about how to start and maintain a food storage system, utilizing the resources that the church has for us. I found this blog post to be helpful regarding the LDS Cannery, which I plan to use. You can even download the order form and fill it out ahead of time, which is nice, because it lists the prices. This is a goal for this year. I plan to increase our supply each month, if possible, AND learn to cook the foods kept in our food storage. (What the heck do you do with a bag of dry beans?) :)

3. Gardening -- All of the preparedness sites (LDS and otherwise) have stressed the importance of knowing how to start a garden, including how to germinate seeds and properly take care of and harvest plants. I've always discounted this, because I live in an apartment. But I have a nice, sunny balcony now -- I can easily start a container garden, and why not practice gardening skills (something I've never really done before). Worse case scenario, I waste $10 and don't grow anything. Best case, I grow red peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers and have free gazpacho all summer long, AND prove to myself that I could start and maintain a garden if the need arose in my life.

4. Education -- As hokey as it sounds, I'm trying to learn skills (things that are probably second nature to other people), such as how to purify unclean water, how to sprout seeds, how to turn off the gas or put out a fire, first aid skills, etc. I want to know that, should an emergency arise, I would have the [cultivated] common sense and knowledge to handle the situation properly. So over the last two weeks or so, I've been going to eHow and google, looking up random things like "how to manually open a garage door during a power outage" or "how to safely collect rainwater." Haha, Rachel, I bet you know ALL of these things!

So wish me luck in my continued preparations. I highly recommend a similar project to each of you. I never hurts to be prepared for emergencies, and we have a lot of support and resources from the church and from our communities. Plus, I may get free gazpacho out of it! :)

I am really loving my time as an Achievement Days leader. The group of girls that I work with are really fun, and super spunky. I find myself looking forward to activities, and am constantly brainstorming about ways to teach them. I also really appreciate the program itself. The self-expression, introspection, community service, and talent development that Achievement Days promotes is such a fabulous resource for both parents and tweens. I am grateful to be a part of this awesome program!

It's fun being up here in the Giants' home turf while the World Series is going on. Cal is really getting into the spirit of things...

In other news, I've been called as an Achievement Days leader in my ward. I was a little nervous about it at first, but it has turned out to be extremely fun. I'm getting along really well with the girls (I'm with the 11-year-olds), and the leader all treat me like I'm an expert with "tweens". I do feel pretty happy where I am, but I definitely walk into every activity thinking, "Welp, hope they like this." I'm very relieved when they get into the activity. Last week, I taught them Halloween songs, and tonight we did a modest costume fashion show. I'll probably be hitting you all up for ideas, so please stay tuned!