Our introduction to the Mechanicsville Ward and Showing Love For God Talk

It's long so if you don't want to read it I'm not offended.  This is the quickest way for me to direct people to a copy of my talk......feels weird to say that....like there are thronging hords of people begging to hear my words of wisdom...pwaaahahahahahaha!  Not happening.  But I have had a handful of people ask and I hate it when I copy and paste and email and then other people trickle in and tell me they also want a copy.  This way it saves me from having to remember one more thing I promised to do.   I never remember.....so here it is.  Oh, the first part is introductions, the Bishop asked us to do some introductions and maybe a little bit about how we came to live here in Mechanicsville....like I said...it's long.


Introductions- Married 12 years in August.  4 kids, Natalie-10, Alyssa-8, Conner-5, & Ethan-3
I like enjoy being a mom, love to bake, eat, exercise, read, garden and go on family bike rides.  I have 1 brother and 3 sisters and inherited 8 more brothers and 5 more sisters when Nate and I and all our other siblings married.

As part of our introduction, I thought I would share my perspective about how we came to live in Mechanicsville, part of our history, and how the Lord can work in our lives.  For me, we weren't supposed to end up in virginia.  You see, I had a plan.  And a big part of that plan was where we were living at the time.  Nate and I were both born and raised in a smaller town called Yuba City which is about 45 minutes north of Sacramento, California.  At one point when I was very young my parents even rented a house from his parents in that town.  We weren't in the same ward though so we didn't know each other.  Growing up Nate lived in the same house his entire life, with the exception of when he served his mission. I moved a lot, mostly around town but  I did move to Utah and Nevada for a brief stint of about 4 years total when I was 12 and moved back to our town the summer I turned 16.  I'd seen enough of some other places to know that I wanted to live in Yuba City.  During high school when all my friends were bored and wanted to get out of the town.  I was content. 
    Nate and I officially met at a stake dance the same summer I moved back and we shared the same group of friends.  Eventually, we became best friends, he took me to seminary, to work, to wherever I needed to go and we helped each other out with different things.  We started dating, a while later and we wrote while he served his mission in Chile and the rest is history.  When we married and planned our life out, or as much as we figured we could, we knew that we both wanted to stay in Yuba City and raise the children we would someday have.  Both of our parents were there and we both loved it.  Then about 5 years ago we were renting a home and trying to wait out the market so that we could buy a home when the prices weren't sky high.  I talked about maybe moving to Idaho because it's cooler up there or else Utah because Nate has siblings that live there.  One morning as I was walking to the laundry room with my arms full of laundry  I had the distinct impression that our family would be making a move that would be very far away, and that I needed to prepare myself and my family for this.  The impression was so strong that I remember stopping exactly where I stood and nearly dropped the basket of laundry I had in my arms.  At first I thought maybe I was just being silly because I had mentioned to Nate about the thought of moving somewhere else before neither of us really wanted to.  I dismissed the impression but it was strong and persisted. It was so strong that I felt like I needed to tell Nate.  So I did.  He looked at me and said, "Well, do you WANT to move far away?"  I said NOPE, but I think we are going to. To which he replied ok, then we won't.  That was the end of that.... That seemed to make the nagging impression go away and it worked for me!  I really didn't want to move far away anyway.

     The time came for us to move from that house and we looked into buying other houses but couldn't find one.  We vacationed in Utah with Nate's brothers and looked at house after house figuring this might be the time and place that we were supposed to be moving.  Driving near the end of the day  Nate asked me what I thought, I asked him what he thought and then we both looked at each other and simultaneously said, "Nope."   We knew this wasn't it either.   I felt a bit confused but sure of two things.  It wasn't time and this wasn't the place.  We enjoyed the rest of our visit and I left feeling confused but happy, because I really didn't want to live in Utah.  we went home and after some prayer and looking we found the home we just left and put an offer in on it.  Within 3 days the house was basically ours.  By now I felt that we were supposed to stay in Yuba City.  Everything kept falling into place.  So why the impression to prepare to move my family so far away?  Confused but not wanting to ask too many questions we went ahead with the purchase.  Nate and I both felt that we needed to stay in Yuba City.

It was only a  year or so after we moved into the house we learned  why.  Nate's father was diagnosed with Lou Gherig's disease.   We were only 2 miles from his parents house.  Nate had the blessing of helping to care for him and as a family we had the blessing of spending time with him.  Sunday dinners and and sitting by them in church were special.  My kids were able to spend time with him, they played with him and when he was too weak to walk or even hold them in his arms, they would sit on his lap and he would take them for rides in his wheelchair.  Both Nate and  I felt like we were called to be there at that time.  We cherish the time we had  with him.

         Because of an experience that I had before Nate's Dad was showing symptoms, I knew that his passing would be quick.  Lou Gherig's disease typically runs anywhere from 3 to 5 years from onset of symptoms to death.  There is no cure.  Nate's father made it only one year and passed on our sweet Alyssa's 7th birthday a year and a half ago.  Nate was there to help when his father fell during the night his mom couldn't help him up.  Nate was there to help him in and out of his wheelchair, until his mom could figure out how to do it without hurting him.  He  mowed their lawn, trimmed hedges and bushes, and helped with things around the house.  After we lost Glenn I knew that things would change but I had forgotten about my previous prompting.   I figured that since we were supposed to stay and help with Glenn that I must have either misunderstood the prompting or made it up altogether.  ( I write things like this down now.) I never thought about that impression again.  The kids were happy with lots and lots of friends and I had my family including my Grandmother and my mother-in-law.  Life was perfect, except for one thing....Nate was NEVER home.  His job as a technician was one that demanded much of his time. He  traveled nearly every week of every month of every year.  Rare exceptions were Christmas.  He was home on Saturday & Sunday and gone on Monday morning. Neither one of us liked it, but we were thankful that he had a job.  He had applied for several different jobs over the course of a year or more, but nothing came of any of them.  It was frustrating for him and really hard for me.  There were times I had to call other men in the ward to come and fix things because my Dad was working and Nate was in Germany, Dubai or Finland for two weeks and couldn't be reached.  We missed him.

Then one day when Nate had come home from a work related visit here in Richmond he told me of a job opportunity that they had specifically mentioned him for.  They wanted him to do it and knew that the skills he had were what they needed.  When he mentioned it to me something clicked and I perked up.  I told him that he needed to find out some specifics about it.  He asked me, "It would mean we would have to move.  Would you want to move to Richmond?"  I said no, but we should find out if they'll pay us more money!   And before we make any kind of decision about anything we should pray about it.  I did have some concerns.  One of them being, the kids were already a month or two into the school year and they each had teachers that were perfect for  them.  Our seven chickens that we had raised from eggs were finally laying eggs, we needed a lot more money,  insurance etc. before I would even consider leaving my comfort zone.
    The proposal from his boss was given and I was amazed when they had addressed every concern I had.  The date Nate would report was June, when the kids would already be out of school, and several other things that I had concerns about were addressed.  We prayed and fasted about it. It would mean 8 months of Nate living in Richmond for 2 weeks and traveling the rest until the rest of us got here.  While Nate and I were discussing all the pros and cons, the challenges and rewards, Nate reminded me of my impression from 4 years prior.  As soon as he said it I knew that this was what the Lord had been preparing me for.  This was it and I was completely shocked.   I'm not sure why I was surprised at that point.  This is how the Lord works with me much of the time.  Whenever anything is big is coming my way a move, a calling, things like that,  if I'm in tune enough, he always prepares me.   Sometimes it's an gentle impression, sometimes a dream, sometimes just a thought but it always comes if I'm living correctly. That is one way that I know he knows me and loves me.  He knows I'm not great with those kinds of surprises...  So how do I show God I love Him?  I'm going to talk a little bit about how we show love for God.

I have thought about how I personally do this.  It's interesting and a lot humbling to see what you are doing.....and what you aren't on paper....The things I'll say today are things that I try to do in my own life.  Some more successfully that others. Today I want to  share just a couple ways that I show love  for God.

For me it came down to 4 things: Obedience, forgiveness, service, and faith &  spirituality.  The first 3 are things that you or others can see done, the last only God and the individual can see. 

1. I Obey.   Obedience is the first law of heaven.  D&C 82: 10: I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.  In my house I call this the law of consequences.  If they do something good for a sibling or parent they get a treat if they do something unkind they get a bad feeling and possibly a time-out.  They can pick, but not choosing means I get to choose which is also followed by a consequence.

We can be obedient by paying tithing, attending our meetings, saying our prayers, reading our scriptures, insert other primary answers here... we all know we what they are and what we should do.   I looked up several scriptures and made myself a list of blessings that come from obedience to commandments.
1.  We can see the face of Christ
2.  We can gain knowledge and intelligence
3.  Health
4.  We will be saved
5.  Eternal life
6.  Eat the good of the land of Zion
7.  Wisdom  
8.  Gain a testimony
9.  Access to God
10.  Power
This is not a complete list.  But it says in D&C 130: 20-21:" There is a law, irrevoceably decreed in heaven before the foundation s of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated– and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."

Someone who is obedient is steadfast, humble, submissive, diligent and works hard.  Keeping the commandments is  work and effort. Pres. Monson says, "Obey the laws of God.  They are given us of a Loving Heavenly Father.  When they re obeyed our lives will be more fulfilling, less complicated.  Our challenges and problems will be easier to bear.  We will receive the Lord's promised blessings.  He has said, "The Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days."  You have one life to live.  Keep it as free from trouble as you can."

When you're a child or teenager obedience can feel and looks like handcuffs.  As you grow and spiritually mature obedience looks and feels like freedom and joy.  Pres. Benson said, "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power."

In my every day life obedience looks like waking up earlier than I normally would so I can pray and  really study the scriptures.  It looks like daily family prayer and scripture study even when it seems pointless because everyone is either laughing, fighting, tickling, poking, or  wrestling someone else.  Obedience in my home  looks like going to church even when it has to be without my husband there to sit with me, and our 4 energetic children. It's being  happy that I have the blessing of being able to teach them by example the importance of attending church even as they grind crackers I gave them into the floor, in a vain attempt to keep them quiet.  Obedience looks like daily talks with my children about the Spirit, how it works, how it feels and how they can hear it and have it with them always.  Then going and creating opportunities for them to feel and hear so that their little seed of faith will grow into a strong testimony.    It looks like paying tithing not only on what we earn but every time a tooth is lost or allowance given. 

Obedience is preventative. obedience brings blessings.

2.  Forgiveness.


For me, in general, being forgiving in daily life is not challenging.  It's actually something that can be done pre-emptively. In my own life Tolerance goes hand-in-hand with forgiveness.  When tolerance fails I ask for forgiveness.  If you can be tolerant of others quirks and behaviors you really won't need to forgive as much because things won't offend you as often.  One of my favorite quotes on the subject comes from Pres. Uchtdorf.  He said, "We re not perfect.  The people around us are not perfect.  People do things that annoy, disappoint, and anger.  In this mortal life it will always be that way.  Remember, heaven is filled with those who have this in common: They are forgiven, and they forgive."

Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds.  It is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves.  Forgiveness isn't waiting for our spouse or friend to repent first.  Forgiveness is forgiving even when repentance has not taken place. 
D&C 98: 40-43: and as oft as thine enemy repenteth of the trespass wherewith he has trespassed against thee, thou shalt forgive him, until seventy times seven.  And if he trespass against thee and repent not the first time nevertheless, thou shalt forgive him.

D&C 64: 9-10 : Wherefore, I say unto you that ye ought to forgive one another for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.  I, the Lord will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.  By showing forgiveness and mercy to other of Father's children we draw closer to him because we are emulating him.  The next is service.


3. Service

Everyone knows service is one way we show love for God and our fellow men.  Blessings for service are activated by our diligent efforts, our willingness to sacrifice and our desire to do what's right. 

I don't know if this is true of anyone else but there have been  a few callings that I might have considered turning down had I not known they were from God.  Normally I would never refuse any call that came to me but there was  a time that I really wanted to.  It came at a time  that  Nate and I moved into a different ward back in California. A month after we moved in  I had the distinct impression that a calling would be coming to me very soon that would be difficult for me.  I had no idea what it  was only that it was coming.  I told Nate my impression and figured that it wouldn't be that difficult or time consuming because they knew I had a 2 month old baby.  A month or two later when I was sitting with a member of the bishopric they issued me a calling....... primary chorister.  To say that I was terrified would be accurate.  You can't just prepare for that on Saturday night.  I didn't' sing in front of people, little or big and I don't know how to play the piano, and I can't read music and I had a two year old and a now 3 month old.  I asked if they were sure they were issuing the call to the right person. He assured me that he was.   That the primary president was very insistent after attending the temple that this was where the Lord wanted me to serve.  After informing him of my lack of ability to do what was being asked  I believe my response was, "well, if you are sure that this is inspired I'll do it but I have no idea how."  I walked away completely overwhelmed.  I was being asked to learn things I thought completely impossible for me to learn and overcome a big fear of mine as well.  The primary presidency all had babies of their own and it was a very busy calling.  One that I learned a LOT from.  I grew in many different way and was stretched beyond what I thought that I could do.  From that calling I had to learn to rely on the Lord for everything I was supposed to do. The first few months were really hard.  I really had no idea what I was doing so I made an arrangement with the pianist Sister Mallory (who had been playing for 50 years) to meet after church so that she could teach me some basics of how to lead music.  She helped me understand some basic things about music, like when to make them sing louder or softer, when to make them stop singing and the pattern you wave your arm with when you lead a song in 4/4 time.  She was an angel and so patient with me.  After a few months I felt a little more comfortable and I would go into the nursery, junior primary, and senior primary  to lead music with a prayer in my heart, a baby on my hip, the things I had prepared during the week, and  faith knowing the Lord would help me and my meager abilities to teach those little guys the gospel thru music.  
In my time as primary chorister  I learned some really important lessons. Here are a few: 
1. There is a primary song for almost any situation or gospel topic.
2.  I learned that we have to be humble to be able to serve effectively. 
3.  I learned that we need to be diligent, work hard, and be patient with ourselves and others.
4.  I learned that We are entitled to inspiration and revelation pertaining to our spheres of responsibility and that it comes when we need it.
5.   I learned that music can bring the spirit into a home, meeting or a persons heart faster than any spoken word and it can be the foundation for seeds of faith to grow into giant testimonies  
6.  I learned that my sisters in the gospel who are older than I am, are also wiser than I am.  I love drawing on their wisdom and experience to help me serve better.
7.  I learned that we love those we serve.
8.  I learned that when we are doing what the Lord asks of us, we are never alone, he walks with us or when we need him to, he carries us.  And he magnifies our abilities, or our efforts because of our lack of abilities.  I still don't like to sing in front of people, but I can.  I still can't read many notes, but I can read some, and I can lead a song that is in 4/4 time. I know and can sing nearly every primary song and I sing them and  teach them to my children because in them are simple and important gospel truths.

Pres. Monson said, "Remember that this work is not yours and mine alone.  It is the Lord's work, and when we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to his help.  Remember that the Lord will shape the back to bear the burden placed upon it."

4.  Faith & spirituality.

As I said before, I came to love primary songs.  They are so simple and succinct here's one I taught the kids, "Faith is knowing the sun will rise lighting each new day.  Faith is knowing the Lord will hear my prayers each time I pray.  Faith is like a little seed.  If planted it will grow.  Faith is a swelling within my heart.  When I do right I know.  Faith is knowing I lived with God before my mortal birth.  Faith is knowing I can return when my life ends on earth.  Faith is trust in god above; In Christ who showed the way.  Faith is strengthened; I feel it grow Whenever I obey."  
Believing something you can't see comes easy for some and for others it's difficult.  Spirituality brings eternal perspective.  You need both.  It takes faith to pay your tithing when there isn't enough money to pay your bills.  It takes faith to keep the word of wisdom. It takes faith to raise and bear children in the Lord's way.
Elder Oakes also tells of an example of perspective.  " In a BYU devotional several years ago, Elder Loren C. Dunn described how his father, a busy stake president in Tooele, gave his two young sons the responsibility of raising cows on the family farm. He gave the boys large latitude in what they could do, and they made some mistakes. These were observed by an alert neighbor, who complained to their father about what the young cow-raisers were doing. "Jim, you don't understand," President Dunn replied. "You see, I'm raising boys, not cows." What a marvelous insight! What an example for parents who are inclined to view and evaluate their children's performance solely in temporal terms."

What we see around us depends on what we seek in life.  So if we are seeking spirituality how do we get there?

I found a list of 10 things we can do in our day to day lives to increase or develop faith and spirituality.

1.  Faith is developed in a setting where we cannot see what lies ahead. Sometimes it means taking a few steps into the dark before we see the light.  Paying our tithing when money is tight is just one way we can exercise faith.
2.  Read the scriptures daily.
3.   Really pray and not just say our prayers.  President Brigham Young said, "It matters not whether you or I feel like praying. … If we do not feel like it, we should pray till we do"
4.  Go to bed early and get up early.  This one is hard for me.  I don't like mornings, and I don't think they like me much either.  Some of you may wonder what this has to do with spirituality. Remember the scripture "Cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated" (D&C 88:124).  Elder Joe J. Christensen tells of an experience he had.

"Barbara, my wife, and I had the choice experience of being asked to be chauffeur for President and Sister Marion G. Romney and drove them from Provo to their home in Salt Lake City. Along the way, President Romney shared some of his personal experiences from when he was first called to serve as a General Authority in 1941. He had been serving as a stake president at the time and had gone to general conference. To his amazement, he was sustained as a new General Authority—an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve—without his prior knowledge; no one had talked to him about the calling before the session started. He was shocked and very nervous. He felt that he needed some advice, so he went to Elder Harold B. Lee, a relatively new member of the Quorum of the Twelve and a former contemporary as a stake president. Elder Romney asked him for advice about how to be successful as a General Authority.

Elder Lee spoke about the necessity of receiving personal revelation in order to be effective and said: "If you are to be successful as a General Authority, you will need to be inspired. You will need to receive revelation. I will give you one piece of advice: Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested, and then in the quiet of those early-morning hours, you will receive more flashes of insight and inspiration than at any other time of the day."

President Romney said: "From that day on, I put that counsel into practice, and I know it works. Whenever I have a serious problem, or some assignment of a creative nature with which I hope to receive the influence of the Spirit, I always receive more assistance in the early-morning hours than at any other time of the day. Following that counsel has helped me a great deal through the years."

5. Work hard.  Laziness and spirituality don't go together. The most spiritual people I know are also some of the hardest-working people I have ever met. So if you want to increase your level of spirituality, work hard, and Magnify your callings within the Church.

6.  Share your testimony with others.

7.  When we are fasting do we do more than just get hungry? (see D&C 59:13–23). Sometimes that is all we do because our level of spirituality hasn't matured.
Meaningful fasting is one sure method of cultivating spirituality in our lives.  Focus, fast, and pray. It seems that every time the scriptures refer to fasting, prayer is also mentioned. They go together.

One example is the sons of Mosiah.  In Alma Chapter 17:3 it says, "but this is not all, they had given themselves to much prayer and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy , and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught they taught with power and authority of God."

Having faith and spirituality are the key.  We can obey and lack faith.  We can forgive and lack spirituality.  We can go thru the motions but we can't fool God.  If we obey, forgive, serve, and walk with faith our testimonies will be strengthened and we will be become more like Him.  We will develop and mature in our  spirituality and live every day life with an eternal perspective.  We will be able to claim the Lord's  promised blessings and be a blessing and a strength to others. 

talking

Sometimes I do it too much.  We gave our talks in church today and I told Nate not to worry about preparing to much or going short because I would over prepare so that he wouldn't have to speak much.  Well, the meeting started a little bit early and then with sacrament being passed it was only 9:20am.  that meant 40 minutes to fill.  The youth speaker took his 2 and then I was up.  I spoke for 40 MINUTES!  I mean who does that.  Poor Nate.  Not only did he only have 5 minutes but he only gave like 2 paragraphs of his talk which I would have really liked to have heard.  Luckily he was very forgiving and not too broken up about it.  I would say borderline grateful.  :-)  Oh and I got a calling right after that....me and my big mouth!!!

Some days....

I was going to blog about something else entirely, something thought provoking even.  I had most of it typed out and took a break to help Natalie help me make lunch.  And then I heard it.  My youngest son calling my name.  I asked him what he needed because I was helping Natalie make lunch.  He replied, "I want you to see my house!"  He was very enthusiastic and excited even.  So I told him I would be there in one second.  I rounded the corner and saw something that just about sent me into a panic....it was my sweet boy with a red violet crayon in his hand.  When he saw me he said, "look at my house mommy it's pretty now!"  I thought about putting him in a box and sending him to his grandma, I thought about hanging him upside down by his toenails (just an expression), but all that came out was Ethan, (said not too calmly) what is this?!"  He replied, "it's my house mommy."  I said, "Ethan your picture is so pretty, but we don't color on walls.  (getting louder here) We don't color on anything but PAPER!"  Ok that last word was probably too loud.  I realized I was losing it and told him he needed to go to his room for a few minutes while I tried to figure out how to get hot pink/purple color off of our newly painted, flat paint based walls.  I sat for a second, freaking out and then I realized I had some shout that I use to get stains out of our clothes.  I ran and grabbed it.  Sprayed on just a little and started scrubbing with my Pampered Chef cleaning brush.  It came off in one spot but required a lot of elbow grease and I was losing the craptastic flat paint on the walls.  When I realized I could probably get MOST of it off (by removing the paint)  I call Ethan in, talked to him calmly and rationally and told him that because he decided to color on the wall he had to help scrub it off.  He did.  I started calming down more.  I realized that I might have over-reacted just a bit by panicking and yelling at my sweet little 3 year old, (not my finer parenting moment) but in all fairness it would have been much worse had his father been the one to find it.  While we were cleaning he said, "mommy I made the house so pretty."  He was trying to help me in his child-like way and I got angry with him.  His big blue eyes melted my angry heart.  I knew he wasn't trying to be destructive, truth be told, he was trying to show me he loved me. We talked about what he COULD do to help me make the house pretty and that he needed to ask me before making the house pretty. And when it's all said and done, and truth be told when I'm looking at that little guy I see this big one....

 Some days....

The 4th of July- in Virginia

I forgot one thing.  When we first got here the fourth of July was only about a week away.  I wanted to do something fun because we always do.  It's one of my FAVORITE holidays.  So our Bishop and his wife invited us to a place called Dogwood Dell.  We were actually considering not going but honestly had no other plans and wanted to get to know the Bishop and his wife so we told them we'd go.  OH MY!  I was NOT disappointed!  It was hands down the best 4th of July EVER!  We met them at his (the Bishops) office and followed them over.  We parked and they had free buses busing everyone in (which my kids LOVED).  They love riding on buses.  Once we got there, got off the bus, hauled all of our things over with us, we plopped down to people watch.  (I should add that we had to bring folding chairs, snacks, Ethan and the stroller came too!  ;-)   Anyway, we had 6 folding chairs so we were pretty packed down.  We get to the place we're going and it's an arena type setting only it goes down to a stage that looks like this:

This picture is of the orchestra playing.  but you get the idea.  I wish I had taken more pictures but the batteries were done.  Anyway, we people watched the man in front of us wearing nothing but a pair of small cotton shorts and a bad comeover going the wrong way walk up and down the aisle-way and laughed every time.  Watched the person next to us love on her ugly guy friend and then looked away when she took her top off to put on her bakini top.  It was.............well funny!  There were ALL kinds of people there.  We had to get there early, like hours early in order to get seats.  There were vendors of all kinds and we ignored them.  The show starts with this orchestra playing different selections to show off  different parts of the group.  They are really pretty good.  It was nice.  Then they do an intermission and the director comes out in a patriotic uniform and they have a sing-a-long to all these different patriotic songs.  After that they played each branch of the military's songs.  They have whoever served in that branch of the military at any time stand as they play the song.  Then they play the 1812 overture.  While they play that at random points in the piece cannons go off or fireworks go off or the bells chime.  At the end you have all of them going all at once.  They have what's called the Richmond Howitzers.  They are cannons and they are loud.  They were next to the stadium and we could see the smoke coming from them.  It looked like this:

Then when that was over then the real fireworks started!!!  I've never experienced fireworks like THAT before!  It was AMAZING!  so many and so many going off at the same time with the cannons and all that.  It was actually a bit overwhelming.  I don't need to tell you at this point that my kids were in HEAVEN!  Ethan watched with plugged ears but kept asking for more.  I plugged my ears too but loved every second!  The finale' was something else too.  They had roughly 3-4 going off at the same time but back-to-back-to-back!  It was INSANE!  We will definitely be going back again next year with the Blasers (pronounced Blaw-zers).  It was so much fun!!  Plus Natalie, Alyssa, Conner and Ethan made new friends that night!!  Yeaaa for new friends!  If anyone ever wants to come out our way to visit, the fourth of July is a GREAT time to do it!!!

The Start Of Our New Adventure-Part 5- Virginia

Well, there are several things that stand out about our journey across the country.  The fun things aside, I HATE Wyoming!  It is ugly rolling hills with nothing but brown on them.  There was no vegitation and no color.  Second, I LOVE Omaha and the state of Nebraska in general for many reasons the first 4 are: My bro and sis & soon to be 2 nieces live there, they produce mass quantities of CORN!!  Did I mention that corn happens to be my FAVORITE veggie of ALL TIME?!  I LOVE IT! 3.  Home of Cabelas!  I'm a preparedness nut, love that store!  and 4.  Thunder/lightning storms!!!  I LOVE them!  These storms shook the house and rocked my world!  So, I loved Omaha!  So we left Omaha and drove thru St. Louis I believe.  Here is the famous arch, from the road.

It took us 2 days, roughly, to get from Omaha to Mechanicsville, where our home is.  We tried to stop at a rest stop to sleep but Nate couldn't sleep much so we just kept going.  He amazes me.  We stopped also in a town in West Virginia that I can't remember the name of to eat breakfast and let Nate sleep in the car.  We ate at a McDonalds and I had oatmeal that was SOOOOOO good!  Seriously the only thing I've ever said that about from McDonalds!  It was yummy.  Nate slept for about an hour and we got back on the road.  We saw a different route that was shorter distance wise and decided to take that to get there faster........it was shorter alright because of all the hairpin turns and windy roads....It was crazy!!  It was also crazy beautiful!!!!  Sadly, I didn't give Alyssa and Conner the meds in time to kick in and well 1/2 way into this part of the drive we hear, "Mommy, I feel sickeey!"  GREAT!  We pulled over into this quiant little gas station and used the bathroom and got gas.  I asked the clerk how much more we had in curvey windy roads.  Her response, "Oh honey, ya'll got a good piece a drivin' yet! It's 2 hours that way until ya'll get out of these mountains!"  Great I said....  So we went outside and walked around hoping that the medication would kick in and a man in a tractor pulled up to fill up his .....vehicle?....He was really really nice and shook our hands.  Then he asked where we were from and where we were going.  We told him a little bit about our situation and he said, "If ya'll need a place to sit and rest and let the little ones play, I got a church I go to just up the road with a playground for the kids and a bench for ya'll to sit on.  You can go there if ya'll want.  I said, that would be GREAT!  Let's do that.  I thanked him profusely and he was very gregarious and helpful!  We drove about 30 seconds up the road and saw the church he was talking about, and the playground behind it:

I'm so grateful for that guy!  The kids had fun and it was just enough time for the meds to kick in.  Here's more of the scenery.

Yes, it's this green EVERYWHERE!  It's so pretty!
Then, after 24 hours in the car we finally arrived!  The kids jumped out of the car and I snapped a few pictures.

This is what you see pulling up to the house, this view is from New London Rd. which is our street.  There is a street that runs right next to ours called Charleston.  It's a tiny dirt road that runs down the left side of the the house when you are looking at this picture.  It looks like this:

This view is the truck pulling up with all of our things.  We were pretty excited about that!

Here comes the truck and the second one is the kids waiting.  Not much to do in an empty house with no friends and not much food.  They were troopers, they handled everything really well.
Here is the view of the backyard from that little side road.

This is just the backyard I'm trying to get the other pictures I have from Nate's camera that have the inside of the house.  I'll get those tonight.  I feel like I'm going camping every time I look out the window.  It's really pretty, I just don't really dig the bugs though.  They all look really weird and the cicadia's are LOUD!  They sound like rattle snakes.  Overall, we are really happy with being here and I LOVE the yard!  In the next post I'll post the pictures I took of the boys riding their ATV's around our acre!!!!  Oh and it rains here about 2-3 times per week.  Complete with thunder and lightning!!  I'm in weather heaven!  Honestly!  I can just crank down my AC to 72 degrees make some comfort food for dinner and pretend that it's cold outside.  It's nice!  Until you go outside, then it's 90 degrees and still raining.  That is something I don't think I will get used to, but in the house, I love it!!!!  More later....

The Start Of Our New Adventure-Part 4- more Omaha

So warning, another long post.  Omaha was really fantastic!  I think it was the company just as much as the fun things we did and saw but either way, it made for some great pictures and some really wonderful memories that I treasure!  Being able to visit family made my transition from California to Virginia much easier and a whole lot more smooth!  Stacey, and Sara you two are the PERFECT hostesses!  So now to pick up where I left off. Still with the fishes.  We saw penguins and the kids played in a little play area. 

They were feeding the penguins.  Natalie really like this part.

 The first picture above is neat because you can see how close the penguins were swimming in front of us.  They were a lot of fun!  The next one is the little play area next to the eels.  You can't see it in the picture but it was a projector type thing that showed on the floor.  It was an aquarium type scene that when you put your foot on it the water rippled just like water would if you were standing in it.  There were fish that would swim away from you so the kids were chasing them, or in Conner's case above, trying to kill them....

On the way out....sea horses.  :-)
Now onto the butterflies!  Alyssa loves her some butterflies!  This was really beautiful and sort of serene in a way!  The colors on some of the butterflies was so pretty and vibrant.  Here are some of those.  I tried to get my kids in these shots but they were too excited and all over the place!

They had this orange sitting out and you can see the butterfly sucking out the juice with whatever that long thing is....tongue?  anntenna?  Not sure.  I'm sure if I asked Natalie she could tell me......

The sad thing about the butterflies was that there were so many, yellow, purple, orange, etc.  They fly......which makes it difficult to capture on camera.  These above are the cacoons.  There were a bunch of different ones.  Really neat.  After the butterflies we went to the...gulp....insects...this one was neat but I HATE bugs.  I'm not sure if I can stress that enough.....I have gotten to the point, because of Nate being gone all the time, that I CAN squish them, but I really, really don't like it.  AND if it's huge.....I struggle.....motivated only out of absolute FEAR of waking up with something crawling on me or my babies I plug my ears (so I don't hear any crunching) and yell,  "lalalalalalalalalaalla" and go after it with a fury I rarely have.  My thoughts at the moment are usually something to the effect of, "die you disgusting creature, this is what you get for coming into my house!!!!!!!!!!!!"  Anyway, sorry for the rant but you'll see in the pictures that these bugs, some of them, were HUGE.....caged....but huge.

Ok so you get the idea.  I think they are fascinating and disgusting all at a the same time. After these we walked over to the jungle.  The jungle....was SUPER AWESOME!  Again, you are walking thru it, not around it or by it.  We hung from vines, walked thru caves, under a waterfall, and got dive-bombed and nearly pooped on by a ginormous bat.  A complete sensory experience!  Here it is:

Walking to somewhere.  Alyssa HAD to hold Emelia's hand.

We are in a building for this remember.  Can you tell?  Walking thru it you can't tell.  You forget that you are in a building.  You are completely surrounded by animals and vegitation that would be typical of a jungle!

Ok, this picture of those adorable monkeys I love because if you look closely you can see a little baby monkey, clinging to it's mama!!!  We went at a good time because there were baby animals everywhere....

There's the waterfall I was talking about.  It was really nice and cool under there.  The cave up ahead housed a cage of vampire bats....

Yes, that is a vampire bat, and yes, it is drinking blood out of a dish, and yes, it was gross.....

Hippo above and the one above that is a fresh water sting ray.....I think.

The picture above that's kinda dark is a tray of fruit being attacked by bats that were flying free in the jungle.....seriously we walked right by them, as you can see.  I would be lying if I didn't tell you that this part freaked me out a little bit.  These bats were swooping down and one nearly flew into the side of Alyssa's head.  I don't think you can see it in the picture but one of the bats measured about 14" tall and the wing span had to be about 3 ft. wide.  Honestly, I"ve never seen a bat that big!  These things were hanging from rocks and crawling all over these trays of fruit.  We were pushing a stroller with Ethan in it, (thanks Sara) and before we escaped the bat cave, that's what I called it, the stroller, right by the handles where you hold on to push the thing got pooped on......YUCK!!!  They were EVERYWHERE!  I couldn't believe that they let them just fly free without a net or anything but it was cool too.  Then the last picture was us leaving the zoo.  Alyssa HAD to hold Emelia's hand.   Like I said, my kids LOVE this girl!

Uncle Brian and Aunt Sara too!!  Our kids didn't want to walk with Nate and I.  No, they wanted to walk with their cousin and aunt and uncle!  I was ok with that.  I think they are pretty great too!

And just like that, the next morning, we left.  Leaving was hard for the kids and I.  I loved being there and for me I was one step closer to ending this vacation we were on and starting our new real life.....Not scary, just overwhelming......Thank you Sara and Brian for being such great hosts and entertaining us.  We had so much fun with you and look forward to doing it again sometime.  We promise to stay longer this next time!!