A beautiful thing . . . Seeing your boy share the gospel.

Sam and his buddy Travis have been sharing the gospel with Victor. They have all been good friends since 6th grade (they are going into 10th). Victor is an excellent student (super smart), a hard worker, a loyal friend and one of the most humble teens I have ever met.

He started going to Wednesday night activities at the church several months ago and started attending church on Sundays about a month and a half ago. He even attended the last two weeks of early morning seminary with Sam and Travis. Seminary starts every morning at 5:45.

Just less than two weeks ago, Victor started meeting with the missionaries at our house to learn more. He was eager to learn so he met with them again at our home the next day for dinner and a lesson. Victor set up to have another lesson the following day. The lesson went great and they asked him if he wanted to be baptized. He said he knew that the church was true and that he wanted to be baptized soon. They asked him to think about a date to be baptized. Victor said, "How about tomorrow night?" We asked him if he was serious. He said his mother had told him that she was ok with him getting baptized and that he was serious so the missionaries made the arrangements. They said he had one more lesson to have before baptism, but that they had another appointment to go to. We arranged for them to come back later that evening to have it.

Victor's baptism was the following night. I couldn't believe all the youth, ward members and friends that attended. Travis gave a talk on baptism and Sam gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. They both did a fabulous job and the Spirit was felt. Victor was then baptized. After, Sam and Madison, another friend, sang a duet, "I Know He Lives". It was so sweet and touching. Many of us had tears the Spirit was felt so strongly. The bishop spoke and tied up the evening nicely. It was a wonderful experience for all of us.

Victor is an amazing guy and has been an influence for good in our family. We love him and are grateful to get to be a part of his life.

I am proud of Sam for sharing what he believes with his friends and for being such a strong, caring, and spiritual young man. I love him!

Yummies From The Garden

We were not going to have a garden this year since we were ripping out all the landscaping, but it was just too sad to think of a year with out tomatoes. They are our FAVORITE! So we threw one together. We also planted dianthus (edible flowers), cucumbers, muskmelons, rosemary, thyme and tomatillos.

I didn't get pictures of the cucumbers, but we have lots of them and they are yummy and fresh to munch on too.

We will have to wait and see how the muskmelons do. They have pretty flowers all over them.

The little girls go out theiving in the tomatoes. They love to sneak out in the morning eat them before everyone else.
And I just read that tomatillos don't pollinate well if you only have one plant, that's what we have, so we will have to try again next year. Oh well.

I love gardening. It is fun to see everyone in the family putting effort into something that we all can enjoy for months and months.

Stripping It Down

When we moved into our new home, it had a neatly landscaped back yard that was by no means lush or kid friendly. There were strange "lily pads" of cement, a small "lily pad" patch of grass and desert trees and plants. We do love the built in grill and the the fire pit, but pretty much everything else had to go.

First we took out the bougainvilleas. They are pretty, but SUPER thorny and messy. Then we listed free palm trees on Craigs List. He brought a crane and took them out. He got free trees and we didn't have to do any of the work. It was great. We then pulled out the lantana, sage bushes and other desert plants. Last we chopped down the African Sumac trees (weed trees, yuck!) and then had to dig out the stumps. It was hard work, but luckily we had a couple of extra awesome teenage boys to help get out the second stump.

Then we had to break up the four smaller cement "lily pads". We borrowed one sledgehammer and took turns breaking it up. I did swing the sledgehammer a few times, but mostly I used the pick to break the cracked pieces away and then hauled them out of the way so Richard, Sam and Josh could break it up more. We did have Victor and Lorenzo, (Sam's friends that helped with the tree stump) help us break up the last one. We hauled 3 tons of broken cement and curbing to the dump, 2 loads in the van.

We all worked on removing the rock from the back yard. I had the kids work with me for 10 minutes every day for several weeks and then we spent several weekends raking, shoveling and hauling rock out of the back. We now have a VERY thick layer of rock in the front, luckily it was the same kind of rock, and a few new hills of rock. We didn't want to pay to have it hauled off.

When we were finished clearing the yard we paid to have the hills removed and have the yard leveled for grass, paving stones and trees. Yea!

It is amazing how much better it looks having it all leveled. It had been such a mess all through the clearing process. We are having the walk way and the rest of the patio put in next week and the curbing for our flower beds and garden. We are also working out our plans for the watering system and then we are going to plant LOTS AND LOTS of pretty GREEN things!!!! I can't wait for green grass and SHADE!

Laney is 5!

Laney and Zanna were jumping with anticipation. We let Laney open her big gift the night before her birthday. We just couldn't wait any longer, hence the jumping. She got a new doll house. The old one passed on with our move last fall. It had been loved to pieces. She was thrilled.
Last year Laney requested a rainbow cake with orange frosting, this year she decided to mix it up and have a rainbow cake with pink frosting. It is such fun cake!

It took her a while to get the candles blown out because she kept her eyes closed the whole time, to make sure her wish came true.

Laney is a sweety. She is kind and gentle mannered, most of the time, and loves to share with her siblings, especially her little buddy Zanna. She will be missed much next year while she is away at Kindergarten, but she is SUPER eager to start school and take on the world of reading, writing and arithmetic. She begs to practice her phonograms and is dying to read big kid books.

We'll keep her, she is pretty awesome!

Project Vincent John Ely

Tim just finished a project for school, a biographical project about his Grandpa Ely (my daddy). He interviewed Papa for about an hour, asking 50 questions he had prepared. He wrote a paper about him, created a time line and put together a great presentation. He did an excellent job and learned a lot about Papa that he didn't know. It was a great experience for him.

Reflections

Yesterday was a fabulous Mother's Day! I have the most darling, loving husband who made sure the day went smoothly and happily, and lots of little sweeties to cuddle and love me. I have the most amazing mom that has taught me and teaches me how to be a mommy and to serve and love others. I am so grateful for them all.

As I was sitting in the chapel at church yesterday I was thinking of all that I have in my life to be grateful for, all the comforts and luxuries that much of the world is without. This has weighed heavily on my mind much of my life. I found myself thinking of my Gram. For many years she would send us a card for Christmas that said for our Christmas gift she had purchased something like a cow, a goat and 5 chickens that were given to a needy family somewhere in the world through Heifer International. As a kid I didn't understand what a great gift that was.

Now, as a mother, I think of all the mothers around the world that are struggling to have just necessities for their children. While I LOVE the See's candy bars that our ward gives us each year on Mother's Day, I couldn't help wishing that the ward could donate that money to needy mothers as a gift to the women in our ward. What a heart warming, thought provoking, humbling gift that would be.

I have thought a lot in the last year or so about all the parties and fancy handouts that we have every year at church. Though I love the spirit of love and friendship that is felt through these things, I feel selfish and saddened by the unconscious sense of entitlement we have. It is hard not to think of the difference 50¢ can make buying Atmit to feed those suffering severely from malnutrition and starvation, or hundreds of other ways such a small amount of money can serve. While I love a good party as much as the next person, I just can't help thinking of all that we have and often take for granted.

I want to do more to serve those around me and around the world. I want my children to open their hearts more and reach out to lift others in need. I challenge you all to do the same. What a difference we can make even if we all just do a little!

Joshy All Growed Up

Josh came into our room after the church dance just to chat. He had had a great time with all his friends. There are a lot of kids from our ward that just turned 14 and are going to dances now. Josh is glad he is not the only one of his group anymore. Sam and his friends are great with Josh but it just isn't the same. Anyhow, when he came in he looked so cute I had to snap a picture of him. I just can't believe how old he is getting, and how grown up he looks.