N is for November Rain, Again

We have had flooding in the county. 

The Nooksack River is the biggest culprit. Places in Sumas and Everson were affected - same as 2021.

Last Sunday church was helping people muck out houses.

I went to ACTUAL church alone because I had to do primary. There were only old people and junior primary there.

Everyone else, including my family, was out in the muck and the mud. 

They came home filthy dirty with sack lunches. 

Hopefully they find a way to keep the rivers from overflowing in future atmospheric rivers. 

 

G is for God's Only Son Was Born Oh Hallelujah!

hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah!

We did the shadow nativity again this year. 

I love it so much. 

It's so impactful.

We only had one Wednesday to practice, and I was WORRIED at the end of that night. 

Things were not going well, the kids weren't on cue, etc etc. 

The biggest problem was I assigned the stable to two kids who aren't really "attention" payers.

So that Saturday at the party, one of the stable kids was super late, so I put Avery in as the stable gal and from there everything worked flawlessly!

See Avery the stable on the left?

Then Andrew was a wise man, the one in the middle. He was SO solemn and serious about the whole thing. 

When I was debriefing to Jim about how this might be a disaster, he kept giving ideas and discussing how well he knows his part etc.

The main reason I did it this year again is because Andrew has been so excited about it since last year. 

Evan was Jesus on the cross.

Avery said she got teary eyed during this part. It's just so good.

Cooper took pictures from behind the curtain. It's a completely different scene back here. 

That's kind of the best part - you don't have to worry about details (duct tape showing, pink bathrobes) because it doesn't show on the other side. 

You can see all three of my kids here. 

 

Is There Not Room Enough

This past week has been hard for my friend Roxanne. 

On Thursday they were mountain biking and at the top of the Galbraith, Vance had a massive stroke. 

They were thankfully at check point foxtrot, so the three ambulances were able to get to them quickly.

From the hospital, they flew him to Seattle. 

The next day me and Lisa drove to be with her for the day as she learned the extent of the damage and what comes next. 

It's a lot of unknown, highs and lows, big improvements! and patience as speech and communicating are still stunted. 

His physical progress and balance and fine motor have come back completely in one week! 

Wednesday night Roxanne texted the saddest most frustrating information about how Vance had no concept of time, money, his age. 

The very next day I was sitting in Evan's band concert and she texted this:

A video of Vance playing his mandolin! And he was able to communicate through charades questions about the government shutdown and how he will get paid. 

IN ONE DAY! Roxanne said he had turned a corner and "was himself". 

I just could not be more thankful. 

He still cannot speak or write or communicate without a 30 minutes charade session. He can't read. 

They came home yesterday. It was so fun to "talk" with him and recount with the whole family what happened that day on top of Galbraith. 

But Roxanne said it also highlighted the reality of how hard this will be - getting communication back. 

Let's pause here and discuss the scripture we are studying this week:

Doctrine and Covenants 117

This is the scripture that says -

What is property to me?

Will I not make solitary places to blossom and bring forth abundance?

Is there not room enough in Adam-ondi-Ahman?

That phrase "is there not room enough in Adam-ondi-Ahman" has become short hand for me Lisa that means: even during the hardest thing in life, even when very bad things happen - God does not work in scarcity. Only Abundance. 

Because FOUR YEARS AGO, when we were studying the EXACT SAME SECTION,

Joe and Roland were going through the hardest thing after the hunting accident.

READ THIS to refresh your memory of that awful time. 

We were hiking along, discussing "what is property to the Lord?"

Is there not room enough? 

Everything was going to be ok. Because abundance. 

So this exact week that Roxanne is going through the hardest thing, living in the hospital for the week with lots of unknown,

Joe and Roland were out hunting. And they sent this picture of their third deer of the week. 

This exact week that we are collectively studying Section 117. 

I just think all of this is the most amazing, most hard, most beautiful thing. 

Look how full circle it has come.

And what does it mean to Roxanne and Vance? I don't know.

 I know that it is easy for me to pontificate about from afar, 

but I also think it means everything. It's short hand for how much God is involved in our lives.

And abundance comes in places where there is so much scarcity.

Day 18 :: Somewhere I've Been

I usually dedicate an entire post anytime I go anywhere new, 

so lets answer this question with some local places we've been to in the last month: 

Mount Baker

The youth went up for night sledding. Only Andrew was able to go, the rest of us were busy with sports and work. 

Galbraith

Me and Jim go while the kids are at school. I run, Jim rides. 

Most of the time Koda gets to come too. 

Rock Pile

Semiahmoo 

A few weeks ago Avery went to TOLO with a few friends. 

Evan was recovering from an appendectomy right about now. I was going to make him go, but he stayed home and healed instead. 

Home

But with visitors! G and G Larsen came for the weekend! 

It's been so long. They finally got to see the "new" house. 

Tennis Courts

Holy cow this was the most insane match.

We brought the whole family, plus grandparents to watch Avery play her first Varsity match of the season. 

We would have a nice little watch party, and then go eat dinner at Paso.

Right off the bat, Avery and her opponent were evenly match, and they battled for each point neck and neck. 

Think about every possible way that you can tie in tennis, and they did:

First, They had the longest RALLIES - back and forth back and forth for a hard earned point.

Then they would end up at DEUCE for the battle of a game point.

Each GAME would end up close to a tie. Avery won the first game, her opponent won the second game.

Between games, Avery's coach gave her some pointers.

Most of the other girls were done with their matches and finishing up their exhibition matches.

The JV soccer boys started and finished a soccer game while she was still playing her match.

We were hours into it. They were so so tired, but somehow kept their concentration.

So we went to the third game for the best 2 out of 3. Of course they ended that final game at a tie. 

So they had to go to a TIE BREAKER - each serve is a point first to 7. 

Everyone was finished at this point, girls lined up on the chain link fence, watching. 

Tennis is a gentleman's sport, so there is usually no clapping or cheering. 

Avery likes that about tennis. She gets overwhelmed when people "watch" her. 

At this point there was some mild cheering and clapping. 

So at the beginning of the tie breaker-tie breaker she started crying and having a bit of a panic attack. 

Jim and her coach helped calm her down. 

I don't know how they both kept their game faces on. It was so intense and they were hitting the ball so well!

We were at 2.5 hours of playing when Avery finally WON the tie breaker at 7-4.

It was so crazy. 

Again, she cried. I think she was just so overwhelmed. 

The hole field. 

(we don't have an official name for our field yet....)

Jim took the boys out to shoot guns. 

The kitchen counter.

We worked on a puzzle during conference. 

Back to the hole field. 

The boys are supposed to fill the hole back in (so that the county doesn't come and say there is a pond on our land and try and protect it or something).

G and G filled up half of the hole! They worked so hard. 

Koda also "helped". 

Why are dogs so cute when they dig?

Back to the kitchen table.

We finished the puzzle right as Pres Nelson gave the final talk!

I wonder if this will be his last conference? He still looks so "young"!

FIVE YEARS AGO

Day 14 :: Things That Make Me Happy

1. Definitely our new house addition, but especially when Andrew asks if I will watch a movie with him, and then he sits by me and cuddles. Sometimes he even asks "do you want to cuddle?" and he'll bring a blanket and cozy up. 

He loves Wallace and Grommett, which is so Andrew. 

This situation after a day of school, with Andrew laying on my shoulder and my dog at my feet is bliss. 

ps Avery is at tennis and Evan is at track until 5:00 every day, so it's a quiet house for a few hours with just Andrew. 

2. Tuesday was temple trip day, and the whole family was able to go!

This is Jim reminding Andrew how to be baptized. 

It made me so happy to all be together in this great place. What a treasure. 

I told them they also have to get a family picture in front of the temple and they also have to smile. And if they don't smile then that means they don't love their mom. I'm very manipulative. 

3. My new laundry table.

Jim made it out of leftover beams of wood from the new addition. 

He took the beams to our friend's wood mill and cut them into planks, 

then he did all the magic things he does with levels and sanders and nails and glue and wood finish.

That table is where I dump a load of laundry and it gets put directly away into our drawers and hangers. I listen to a podcast in my best closet and it's as great as laundry can possibly be. 

4. "Fri-yay" with my friends.

This week we went to Point Whitehorn to find some driftwood for a thing Roxanne's doing. 

There's so much on my mind, so much going on in the world, so it feels good to get the words out there. 

Plus there were seals chilling on the rocks. 

Then we were starving, so food with a view of Birch Bay was in order. Filled me right up. 

5. Fantasy Basketball. I don't play fantasy basketball, but a few months ago when Evan Andrew Jim and Isaiah made a fantasy league, I didn't realize how fun it would be. 

We watch so many games on our new tv, and they are always discussing players and points. It's the funnest thing that has connected them three boys in a surprising way. 

It makes me happy to hear them discuss their "game" alllll the time. 

6. Brave Avery. This is a random instagram pic from Blaine HS account...Avery happened to be in the background of the picture of the kids making roller coasters in physics. 

But that boy - his name is Shawn Waters. He has discussed religion with Avery a few times. He challenges her beliefs and told her she is pretty wrong in the way she views Jesus and God. (It's SUPER annoying and quite offensive how many kids tell Avery she's not Christian. There is so much God gatekeeping around here - but for real WHATEVER). 

Anyway, she always defends herself as best she can. 

Last week Shawn came to church and sat with us and the Lochridges. He often goes to other churches and scouts out the scene. She knew he wasn't coming with a completely open mind, or looking to join, but she was happy to show him that we are just normal people, worshiping Jesus. 

He came with his note pad and pen and took notes. 

The talks were great and I love my theology, so I thought it was a fabulous meeting. 

Avery and Das were super sweaty the whole time. haha

He said it was good, but there were things he disagrees with (specifically he believes that God is ONE being, whereas we believe the Godhead are three distinct individuals). 

Overall it was a good experience for Avery. She didn't shrink, she didn't argue, she just gladly accepted him to sit by us and that was that. The gospel doesn't need defending. 

FIVE YEARS AGO

 

Day 7 :: A Song

The song that's in my head lately is the new song I'm teaching the primary.

It's called Just Pray. 

It's so good. 

Most primaries are teaching My Own Sacred Grove , but we learned that one last year, so I went hunting for a similar idea. 

It's such a good one, and I feel like the two are complementary to reading about Church History/D&C. 

 I've been listening to it a lot, trying to figure out how to break it down. 

My favorite line is: "there's no time or distance in the way"

We recently watched Interstellar, so the idea of time and space in the way is such a mind bend. What an obstacle time and space are for us humans. 

But prayer (and love!) can miraculously breach those barriers. 

This last Sunday I was trying to teach it with an "exploded flip chart", and for whatever reason, it was a disaster.

 They were not into it. I think a big problem is both of my girls were gone. They really help to balance the energy in that primary room.

But by the end of the half hour I said "phew! that was our worst singing time yet!"

Seriously it was a disaster. Try again next week. 

In other news, we are on our fourth day of no school due to snow. 

It's looking like the whole week is going to be a snow day. The roads are still not very clear. 

The agony of how close we were to not missing any school for Disneyland is killing me to death. 

I have to just be real zen about it. 

Yesterday was so fun. We had all the kids over at our house to play and play. 

Jim spent over an hour taking them up and down the streets car sledding. 

I was inside cooking up taco soup for everyone. They came in all rosey cheeked and cold, and I presented them with a steaming cup of soup. 

There is nothing more satisfying to a mom than warming up a bunch of cold children with food. It like sends a hit of dopamine right into my brain. 

Then me Hunter Andrew and Leif played a game of Monkey Palace for an hour. 

Haha I love this kind of stuff. 

This week feels covid era (but with an end in sight, phew). Just all of us stopping our schedules dead in our tracks and playing with friends of all ages.

FIVE YEARS AGO