The moment you have been waiting for! Steve's long, boring weekend.
Brought to you by:
The letter "C" and the number "13"
Wait a minute...that's how Sesame Street ends...sorry I was getting confused!
This weekend was a blast (well, among other things too). It started Friday. I had to get off work early because I had a mission reunion to get too, but at the same time, Katy had double ear infections, so we had to stop by the doctor's office first for a not so fun shot. That went well, and luckily Katy was only angry at us for a moment. Then off to Bountiful to go to the mission reunion. Since it was early and we wanted to beat traffic, we headed to McDonald's in the rain to let the girls play and play to get worn out a little bit prior to going to the reunion so they could be a little calmer. I had no idea the McDonald's had video games! So while the girls were playing, I was playing Play Station :) (see a picture below for details and note how well I propped up my water glass so as not to spill it).
That was cool and then we headed to the reunion. We were there a tad early and I now know how old I am getting based on the fact that most of us are married with kids now, so there was a huge room downstairs dedicated to the children and their play time. That was nice while we could mingle and chat, but none of my companions were even there. There were some of the missionaries I was in zones or districts with, but it is just no the same, so after about 2 hours we left as the girls were getting tired and it was a long drive back to AF. Well, Hannah forgot her shoes, so luckily before we left I ran back in and got them. Crisis averted. But as we were about to get on the freeway Hannah burst out in tears again because she left "Lucky" (her 4-leaf clover build-a-bear she got a few years back). So, turn around I did and tracked back to get the bear who was supposed to be lucky, or so I thought. So we really ended up leaving close to 9pm instead of 8pm. Nevertheless, we made it home and thus ended the first day.
Saturday morning was great. I was up an dearly and to the gym by 5am as always and worked my shoulders and calves. There is never anyone there on Sat morning so it is a good time to reflect and just have a good morning. I was thinking since conference was coming up, that somehow my lifting weights was linked to spiritual things. Sometimes I am strange like this, but I thought you know, I just recently changed my workout routine about 3 weeks ago because I had done something many do when they lift: plateaued. See, when this happens, you are basically no longer moving up or down, you are somewhat stagnant. So in lifting, you have to change things up a bit. Our bodies have the amazing ability to adapt. So while I throw certain routines at it, within months, it has adjusted and it is no longer difficult. As a result, you plateau. So, in order to overcome such a scenario, you have to change. And not just any change, but you have to re-challenge your muscles in different ways so as to break them down so that when they repair themselves, they are much stronger. It is called muscle confusion because now they have to readjust over and over again, The great part about doing this is that it keeps you motivated, it keeps you from becoming stagnant and perhaps lose interest or give up on goals because no progression is being made, and best of all, you get stronger. So I was thinking, sometimes i become spiritually stagnant. Not that I don't do things right or that I am not "exercising" like I should, but I think I plateau spiritually at times. The only way to overcome, is to change it up. Sometimes the Lord has a funny way to force the change, but oh how much better it is to learn of ways you can change it up yourself and keep the motivation there and reach some important goals. So in my prayerful reflection of approaching conference, I was excited about what was in store, knowing that this plateau was not going to last as long as I had anything to do with it. One of the counselors in the Bishopric came in to lift as he was headed to
SLC that morning to go to conference, so I shared with him briefly my spiritual moment and was headed home!
So things did not go as planned as you may have guessed, but it was a great day nevertheless. I got home by 7am as always and the girls were awake, and Alicia was starting her long day of training at the Olive Garden (her new job that she loves). so she was gone by 7:30am and I was excited about the new day. Sesame Street, Pink Panther, Handy Manny, and Signing Time were among the choice shows of the day. As conference got started, I was anticipating something great, but the girls decided that this was not a good idea. Since it was raining like crazy I let the beagles in the house, so they were going crazy too. So I took the girls upstairs and for several hours, we read books and played My Little Pony. Hannah's horse was the teacher and me and Ruby were students. Katy started to fall asleep during this time, so she went down for a nap which was nice, but Ruby and Hannah decided that nap time was not for them. The next session was starting which got skipped too for the Little Mermaid and otter pops. They were actually really and good. I was thinking about something my wife said to me earlier in the week. An incident occurred in the week where gossiping mouths leaked out the fact that no one likes to come to the Smith's house because it is so messy and how can the spirit every reside there, etc. It is unfortunate that sometimes the very religion that is supposed to bring us closer to the Savior is used by some to make an excuse not to be neighborly or use spiritual things in a fanatical way and as an excuse to alienate someone. My wife in response to this said something very profound that had a tremendous influence on what I did this weekend. She said that since our son passed away, she has realized that spending time with the girls is much more important than a clean house every moment of every day. So while the house is messy at times, you can be assured that the day was spent in play with the girls, getting to know them, answering questions, and giving them the mommy time they deserve. It reminded me of the time when the Savior came to visit Mary and Martha, and while Martha was so busy trying to get things cleaned up and in it's perfect state, the Savior himself said:
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Please see:
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/luke/10/38-42#38My wife has chosen the good part and it shall not be taken from her. So with dishes piled high, the house a wreck with muddy dogs all over, I took my wife's counsel and chose the good part this weekend which allowed for a wonderful experience, even if I did miss some of conference which was being recorded anyway. While by some it could be seen as not choosing the better part, I felt the better was chosen and I am grateful for those moments with my girls that will never be taken from me. Ever.
Alicia came home late in the afternoon and I had to shower and head off to priesthood quickly. I was really looking forward to it because of what I missed for the day, but I know Alicia couldn't wait to be with the girls after a long day of training and I didn't even care about the house chores being done or not. Priesthood was great, and while I took notes and received some much needed impressions about my duties and my calling right now, I will not put those here. Suffice it to say, I received the answers I was looking for and am in haste to get them done and in place. Very exciting.
Sunday was a fun day as well. Again, Conference was put off as Alicia left early again to finish her last day of training and I was to be with the girls again. It was a shorter day, but again, playing
Candyland, our own easy version of Pony-
Opoly and other games and such made the morning worth it. My daughters are amazing at what they know and what they can do and say. You can definitely tell that my wife like Mary has chosen the better part with them. While they are the noisiest in the chapel at church and we are in the halls most of the time (which I am sure gives great ammunition for some at church) they are some of the most spiritual girls I know. Hannah of her own accord has asked for 5 blessings this year and specifically tells me that she wants to feel comfort. Deep down I get the impression that she knows that the blessing makes a difference because of the feelings that she gets. We ended the evening by going over to one of my Home Teaching families home with the girls. We visited while Alicia gave away our Beagles. This was really hard on Hannah, but it is much better that they be somewhere they can run around and play instead of being tied up all day because we can't afford to get a fence right now. With our busy street too, heaven forbid we let them loose only to get hit by a car. That would be much worse. Luckily we picked up to kittens yesterday since they don't need a fence, and Hannah picked the names: Riley and Shadow. Don't ask where she got the names, but those are the two names she wanted.
So needless to say, it was a very eventful weekend for me!
Here they are in their costumes!! We had another adventure at Kiddie Kandids again today! Not the best experience again, but at least we got 2 sheets free!! I can pull pics from the web and everyone can see and here we are!! I LOVE their picture together!! Ruby was showing some love for Katy who was not really into taking pictures, but we got what we needed!! Hope that you enjoy!
Here is Ruby being a Horse this year!! I loved the whole apple thing!!
And my Hannah! Looking all grown up already! I can't believe that she is already almost 5 1/2!!
Here is the first one we took!! See Katy was not happy to get pictures taken! Oh well it all turned out great after that. I thought it was totally priceless.
