Vegas Wedding

My beautiful second cousin, Megan, was married on April 24, and I was fortunate enough to travel to Las Vegas to witness it. Megan and Stephen were sealed for time and all eternity in the Las Vegas LDS temple. Without trying to sound cheesy, they were absolutely radiant. The love they feel for each other was obvious, and the excitement they were feeling was extremely contagious! Here are a few photos from their day:

This is my mom and dad, and cute niece, Mckenzy, waiting for the bride and groom to come out of the temple. It seemed to be taking them FOREVER, but shortly after this photo was taken we found out the Megan's zipper on the back of her dress split out, and my cousin, Wendy, had to sew her into her dress! Here's Wendy and I taking photos of each other. hee hee hee.

I thought it was funny.

Very anxious dads
The adorable coupleMegan and Stephen with my Aunt Charlyce and Uncle Don

(Megan's grandma and grandpa)The reception
It was a wonderful day, and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it!

The Strip

While I was in Las Vegas I went with my niece, Mckenzy, my aunt and uncle, and my parents, to the strip so Kenzy could see the water show at the Bellagio Hotel. After the water show, we headed into the hotel to see their gorgeous flower display. The fragrance of all of the fresh flowers was incredible, and the displays were amazing! This is the ceiling of the lobby. These discs are made from the same glass used to make the "Tiffany" lamps. Gorgeous!I love the looks of the Paris HotelOne of these days I'm going to get to the Donny and Marie show.And, just in case you were wondering...

Father and Sons 2010

I should have know by the groan that Kevin gave me when I handed him the camera, that there wouldn't be any decent pictures of this year's Father and Sons outing.

We do, however, have a photo of Brian and Keaton, and Steve and Colin. And a picture of Colby Mallet.Oh, wait...here's Tate......and Tanner.And, there's actually one of Kevin helping with breakfast. But that's it. I know Treyson was there with them...but I have no photo proof of it. And, since I sent the camera with Kevin, I only got one photo (from my camera) of my evening with Ty. He had an 8 a.m. game on Saturday morning, so he stayed home with me! I told him he could have ANYTHING for dinner from ANYWHERE HE WANTED.

He chose Little Caesars.

Ty was ecstatic and I was thrilled. (Can you sense the sarcasm?)

Look Up

In February, my parents were here watching my kids while Kev and I went to San Diego for our anniversary. During one phone conversation with my mom she had mentioned that they wanted to take the kids to the Superstition Springs mall for dinner. She asked me to remind her of the best way to get there from my house. I told her, and then added that the boys would be able to direct them, in case they were having trouble finding it. I've taken the boys to the mall a million times. Surely they knew how to get there. When we got home from our trip, my mom and I were discussing what they had done in our absence when she said something to the effect of, "Your kids have no idea where things are down here." Come to find out, the boys were no help at all in finding the mall, or anything else for that matter.

This morning, as I was driving Tanner to school in my half-asleep stupor, I asked Tanner a question. He didn't pay any attention. He was texting. I asked it again, to which I got the same silent reply. At that moment I started to look around and notice all of the kids walking to school, and I started noticing kids sitting in the passenger seats of their parents cars. Not one kid was looking up.

Not one.

Every kid I observed had their eyes buried in their cell phones. My heart sank a little bit. I finally said to Tanner, "Your missing it."

To which he answered, "Missing what?".

"Everything", I said.

Everything.

(photo courtesy of Google Images)

On most days, I count the cell phone as a blessing. I love that I can get ahold of Tanner, or anyone else, at any time. I love that Tanner texts me during the day, just to say "hi". I love that he and his Grandma L texted back and forth yesterday for nearly 2 hours. I love that I don't have to worry when I drop him off at baseball practice, because I know that he can call me if something happens--good or bad.

But, I also can't help but worry a little bit that it's just another way that Satan uses to remove my child from the present. Another little cunning way to disconnect my child from our family. When Tanner has his phone in hand, he's definitely not "with" us. He's somewhere else, in someone else's conversation.

Ezra Taft Benson said, "In his cunning [Satan] knows where and how to strike. It is in youth when his victims are most vulnerable. … The devil uses many, many tools"

(Ezra Taft Benson, God, Family, Country: Our Three Great Loyalties [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974], p. 247).

Satan knows exactly what he is doing. It's frightening that he uses something as innocent as a simple cell phone, computer, iPod, etc, to lead people, especially the youth, away. He uses these tools to distract them, to keep their eyes "down"and averted from the things that are most important.

In an April 1970 Conference Address, Sterling Sill said , "Satan has no power over us except as we give it to him. … God never forces us to do right, and Satan has no power to force us to do wrong."

(Sterling W. Sill, in Conference Report, Apr. 1970, pp. 29–30; or Improvement Era, June 1970, p. 45).

As a parent, it is my responsibility to help my children resist the power of Satan. It is my responsibility to do everything in my power to teach my kids to not allow Satan to use every day things to get to them. It is also my responsibility to teach them that they ultimately choose whether to let Satan have that power over them or not.

Who knows when they will be called upon to lead someone in the right direction. Without occasionally "looking up" they will have no idea which direction to point them in. Today I am going to re-commit to continually encourage my kids to "look up", because I certainly don't want them to miss anything.

Spring Sweets

One of the best things about spring is fresh strawberries and freezer jam!!! And, I'm loving this no-cook pectin that Sara introduced me to...it seriously takes 10 minutes and then you have... THIS!!!

Guess What Day Today Is!!! ???

Here's a hint:

My SECOND favorite day of the year...

(The first being Little League opening day. Oh, and Christmas, of course, my anniversary, Kev's b-day, and the kids b-days...maybe I'd better re-phrase...)

ONE OF MY VERY FAVORITE DAYS OF THE YEAR!!!

MLB OPENING DAY, BABY!!!!

And, as of right now, the D-Backs are beating the Padres!!
Woot, woot!!

Easter And Such

We had a really easy-going Easter this year. On Saturday we all dyed Easter eggs...and by "all" I mean the 4 boys I gave birth to, and 1 that we've recently adopted as part of the Lewis family. His name is Ian. We love him. And so does his mom! He recently lost his dad to cancer, and we have loved being able to be a support to him. On Easter morning the boys got up and hunted for colored eggs in the backyard. Tanner didn't participate...but was there to help the other boys eat their candy once they were all gathered.
I had to take a photo of the blossoms on my orange tree. They are gorgeous and smell insanely good. Hopefully we'll have a bunch of oranges this year!!