Sunday, November 24, 2013

Mary and Kai's Baptism!!

So yesterday Mary and Kai were baptized.  Mary waited an extra month so they could do it together just like Ben and Kali did.  It was awesome!


Kristal's Dad gave a talk on Baptism, Ashley and Jacob sang a musical number and Grandpa Beckstrand talked to Mary and Kai about the Holy Ghost. 


  And these two hooligans played the slapping game until I noticed and slapped them.



After it was over we took pictures, of course, then went to Brain and Holly's to eat, of course.
 

I thought this was a cute picture of everyone taking pictures of the two if them.

 Here's the whole family.
 
Here is the one thing that you can bank on at any Beckstrand get together...an empty bowl of FLUFF.  Look on the side and how full it was to being with.

 Lots and lots of love in this very room.


Scout Trip that turned into a Klondike.

Our scout troop had a camping trip planned for about 3 months and it just happened to be up on Pine Valley Mountain when a HUGE storm passed through.  They loved it!  These are the pictures that he brought back.

This is them passing off the Cooking Merit Badge.

 A Selfie.

The first thing the did when they got there was find dry wood and start a fire.

Josh said that the ground was dusted with snow when they got there.  Then it snowed ALL night and they woke up to this.



This is how deep it was.

Daniel Cluff made this great clothes hanger for them to dry out socks and gloves by the fire.

 This was Lawson Monnett's first campout.  He just turned 12 last week!  He was glad Taylor was with him.

 Here are Daniel and Riley.  Daniel looks like he's posing but really he tied his backpack weird and had to hold it like that to keep from choking himself.

 Here are Skylar and Sterling.  A first for them too!  Look how happy they are!  Hahaha!







Turkey Trot @ Seegmiller Farm

So this year my kids have decided that they like to run.  Not love, yet.  But they want to be running because Joel is running.  There is always a Fun Run or a 5K with every half marathon he runs and we decided that we might as well do it and get in shape.  So when I saw that the Turkey Trot was in conjuction with the local Food Bank it was a no brainer to do.  The cost for kids 9 under was 3 cans of food and $5 plus three cans of food for 10 and up.  So we convinced JoEllen and her kids to come too.  Kyle and George had a computer competition at the University so they kept Matty.  JoEllen, Evan and Emily came running with us.  It was perfectly sunny and cold day.  We started out freezing and ended up sweating.   I was personally so proud of myself for actually finishing.
 
About 3 years ago JoEllen and I ran the Dixie Midnight 5K at the University.  We did fine until 2/3rds of the way in when we were pooped and knew that pretty much everyone else was already finished, so we "took a short cut" through campus and cut about half a mile off our route.  Our time was 48 minutes and I was glad that we did it in under an hour.  We wouldn't have if we didn't cheat.  The Turkey Trot was an out and back trail and about 2/3rds of the way in I said, "Let's turn around as soon as Joel passes us".  JoEllen, Sophie, Emily and Evan and I all ran together.  Josh took off at the beginning and I didn't see him until he passed us coming back.  He was ahead of us all!  Ben, Joel and David were not far behind him but I was so surprised to see Josh in the lead.  Ben can run for days.  I knew he'd be fine.  David is my sprinter and I thought he would have started out strong and ended up with me but he didn't.  He stayed with Joel and Ben.  He did great.  ANYWAY, as soon as Joel came running toward us I thought we were done but JoEllen and Sophie could see the turn around point just down the street and made us go all the way.  Here we are celebrating at the turn around point.  Evan didn't want to be in the picture.  He was embarrassed by us.
 At the very end there is one last turn and then you can see the finish line.  As soon as Evan hit that corner he took off so it didn't look like he was with us.  It was pretty funny.  The 4 of us girls crossed the finish line at 41:41!  A new Personal Record!!  By 7 whole minutes!!!  Josh finished at 30:15 and Joel and the boys crossed at 30:30.  I was very proud of Josh.  He didn't stop once.  I didn't know he had it in him.
 


After the race was over they had drawings for prizes and both families ended up with Frisbee's and Turkeys!  It was awesome!





When we got home we looked up online to see what we could run in Lehi on Turkey Day and sure enough, there's a Half Marathon with a 5K at Thanksgiving Point.  So we all signed up.  We'll let you know how it all turns out.



Sunday, November 17, 2013

PIT & Veteran's Day P-Raid

Sophie decided to play in the orchestra pit for the musical The King and I that PVHS was doing.  She practiced her fanny off and was INCREDIBLE!  She was the only flutist and had quite a few solos pieces where it was only her with a few background instruments.  I was blown away at her performance.  The orchestra was the main reason to go see this play.  It was a good play but I don't think I've ever seriously heard an orchestra as good as this one.  Here are Sophie and Brianna.

 Taylor Monnett was also in the Pit.  
He plays the violin very well and comes from an incredibly talented, musical family.

Sophie and Brianna sat right next to each other.  Sophie on her flute and Brianna on her violin on the second row back straight in front of Mr. Candland.


Veteran's Day was great.  We love a good parade.
William Scoresby carried the banner to start it all off.

 Santa of course made an appearance.

 Ben's class was in it and he carried their sign.  That's his teacher Mrs. Stephenson.  We love her.

 Here's Josh just off center to the right.  He's getting so thin that it's hard to pick him out anymore.

Good old Pine View High.

With Sophie leading the way.  She is the perfect pacer. 

I think this is the last parade of the season.  It's starting to get chilly here and no one wants to stand out in the cold to watch a parade.  Goodbye until next year!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Time Out For Women

So this weekend Amy and I went to the Time Out For Women at the Convention Center.  It was awesome.  Friday we heard from Virginia Pearce, President Hinckley's daughter, John Bytheway and Michael Mcclean.   It was awesome.  John Bytheway is a bishop now and told a story about how our trials are really blessings in disguise.  He told about how his house caught on fire and it totaled his kitchen.  His first thought was "Why me?  I'm the bishop.  I've been doing good."  But the next day the insurance person told him that they'd have to replace all of the carpet in the whole house and the stairway and kitchen.   So it ended up being a blessing because their insurance paid for everything.  It's all about our perception. 
Sister Pearce talked about the key to Happiness.  She said the key to happiness was to "limit your options and lower your expectations."  So true.  
 
Saturday we heard from 5 different speakers and Jericho Road was the musical performers.  They were awesome.  They have a new CD out with hymns and other songs on it.  They played them off and on between speakers.  The theme for this weekend was the scripture  about how His ways are Higher than our ways. 

Our first speaker of the day was Chris Williams.  Chris lost his Pregnant wife, middle son and only daughter in a car accident when they were hit by a drunk driver.  You can see a video on it at: http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=911104787001
He talked on his experience and how important it is to forgive others.  It was amazing.  I think his talk has made the most difference in my life.  He said that he kept hearing a voice in his head that said, "Let it go".  I think that every single day, since I heard him talk, I have had that pop into my head when I have gotten upset about things.  Drivers, things at work, kids, myself, etc... Those things aren't eternal problems.  They are nothing compared to what Chris went through so there is absolutely no reason to get upset about them.  If Chris can forgive a teenager who took half of his family from him then surely I can overlook others faults and remember the Savior and that there is a higher being that knows whats best for me and that I need to act as he would.  Chris taught 3 great things: #1 Have an Eternal Perspective.  #2 Have patience and #3 Continue to progress.
 
Our next speaker was Emily Watts.  She spoke on how if everything is balanced in your life then you're not moving forward.  She said to Lean Into Life and that things in life need to be a little uncomfortable.  Here were her 4 points:
#1 Trust Him to act according to the bigger picture.
#2 Fair is not the same as perfectly equal.
#3 He guides & protcets my children more than I'll ever know.
#4 He needs me to use the gifts he has given me.  He will magnify them if we use them for good. 
She also talked about how if we are where we are supposed to be, then something gets in.  Her explanation about that was how at home when her grand-kids come over to watch General Conference they get to play with certain blocks that are mainly used for Conference.  Well, one day when they were over she heard her 3 year old granddaughter say to her brother, "I want to play with these blocks.  You can use the Uchtdorfs."  Of course meaning the other blocks.  So even a little 3 year old got something out of Conference just because she was where she was supposed to be.  I have ALWAYS thought this way.  We would always have treats for mutual and one leader said that we should stop because that was all they were coming for.  I told her that I didn't care why they were here, all I cared about was that they came.  Something will sink in.  I related a lot with this speaker.  She was great.
 
Next was John Hilton.  He talked about lifting your eyes to Heaven.  He like the others talked about "Tapping into the vision of what God already has in store for you".  The Eternal Perspective. He used Proverbs 29:18  Where there is no avision, the people bperish: but he that ckeepeth the dlaw, ehappy is he.
My favorite quote from him was, "When you are in over your head...Look Up"  
John also said that you can't look up to Heaven and sideways to see what everyone else is doing.   He also touched on how you never know what is going to make the difference so you must ACT.  The mundane can be miraculous!  He was great too.  
 
Next up was Merilee Boyack and she is me 10 years from now.  Her topic was We Are All Enlisted.  She talked about how we are WARRIOR WOMEN and MUST stand for truth and righteousness.  She had us repeat, "I know that I am a warrior in God's army fighting for good.  I will speak up for truth and defend my family."  She used D&C 68:6  Wherefore, be of good acheer, and do not bfear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I cwas, that I am, and that I am to come.  Which is much like my all time favorite scripture Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.  Our YW motto is I will STAND for truth and righteousness.  Not sit.  Stand.  We must stand up to every little thing that tries to bring us and others down.  God depends on us.  I LOVED her talk.  I could listen to her talk over and over.  Heck, I could give her talk.   It was AWESOME!!!

The last speaker was Emily Freeman.  Her title was Reaches My Reaching.  She talked about how the Lord can do miracles if we stretch.  She also talked on Looking up and she said, "In your moment of doubt, turn to the Lord."  

It was a great weekend but at the very end of it I thought to myself that it wasn't as spiritual as I thought it was going to be.  I thought at some point I would have moved by the spirit and the Lord would have let me know that this was more than just a pep talk.  During the whole thing they had booths up selling Deseret stuff.  One table had YW things and they had the cutest rings.  They are 1 big flower in each of the value colors.  Our Young Women in Excellence theme is "Bloom where you're planted."  So I thought it will be perfect.  ANYWAY...I got 24 of them and stood in the huge line to check out and then thought,  danggit I wanted to get one of those new Jericho Road CD's but there was NO WAY that I was getting out of the huge line to go find one.  Just then a lady came up and started talking to the lady in front of me about the Jericho Road CD that she had in her hand.  She asked where she got it and said that she was going to go get one.  Just then the lady in front of them said, "Can you get me one?"  and then I hurried and said, "ME TOO?!"  She laughed and said OK and came back with 2 of their new ones and a couple of their other ones.  So I bought it and all of the rings and sat down.  I didn't look at the CD to see what songs were on it I just put it in my bag and sat down.  At the very end Jericho Road was going to sing the closing song and they were having technical difficulties.  I leaned over to Amy and asked her if we should just go but then they started to talk about the song and how important it is to aim for our Heavenly Home.  Then they said the name of the song was, Homeward Bound.  I instantly got a lump in my throat and told Amy that I hadn't heard that song since my Grandma Schow's funeral.  They sang the most beautiful version I've ever heard.  I cried the entire time and was grateful that the Lord put that lady in my path to get that CD for me because I got it out to look at it and sure enough Homeward Bound was on there.  I knew the Lord heard my thoughts and wanted me to know that he knows I am here and that what I heard this weekend was important and true.  It was a perfect ending to an incredible weekend.
 

Sunday, November 3, 2013

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We had fun decorating this year.  Our theme was "DEATH BY SPIDERS".






















Here are this years pumpkin creations...

Joel's and mine

I did this one for Shayne.
Sophie and Josh's

Ben and David's




It's tradition to take these pictures and this year we had a couple extra people so we let them join in the fun.

For work the girls and I decided to go as Duck Dynasty.  It is a new reality TV show about a family of backwoodsmen who make duck calls and are millionaires because of it.  It's pretty funny.  So Kirsten went at Willie, the CEO and Megin was Phil, the Dad.  I was Jase, the brother, and Kalo was Uncle Silas.  It is Dr. LaRowe's favorite show and he loved our costumes.  He took the entire office out to eat for lunch because it was Devin Graff, Victoria's brother's, last day with us as an intern.  We ended up pulling our beards down to eat because it was impossible to eat with them on. 


 After lunch I left to go see Ben and David at the school in their Halloween parade.  Ben was a Zombie and David was a boxer.

 

Then we went home to get ready for the night.  Josh was Luke Skywalker with Yoda.
  

 Sophie was a cowgirl.
 

 And Joel was a golfer.  We had gotten the parts for the costume the weekend before at the D.I. so he could dress up for a golf tournament at work and he won "Best Dressed" and a gift certificate to Dick's Sporting Goods to get new clothes.
 

The first place we go every year is over to Jillyn's to celebrate her birthday.  She always has dinner waiting so the kids can eat good food before they eat candy.  Evan won the best costume this year.  He was a little old man and his best friend went as a little old lady.  It was darling.  Kyle even shaved the top of his hair off for the part.  It was a work of art.  George was a "Smarty Pants".   
 

 Emily was a Minion, Drew was Napoleon Dynamite, Seth was Pedro and Jack was Rex.  They were awesome!  Drew and Seth quoted parts of the movie for us and the Drew gave us a little dance.  For some strange reason Mason, Mandy, Spencer and Shana pooped out on us and didn't dress up.  It's always the Halloween surprise to see what Mason is going to do but this year he came as himself.
 


Then we had to hurry back to our annual Carnival and Trunk or Treat at the church.  It's not only mandatory now that Joel's bishop but now we have to set up and take down and make sure we're the first ones there and the last to leave.  My YW were in charge of 3 of the booths and had great costumes!


Sarah and Jen DeMille always have to coolest costumes.  This year they are evil statues from the TV show Dr. Who.  If you didn't know the show then you just thought that they were scary gargoyles.

The YM had the other 3 booths and some of them dressed up.


My favorite costumes were the families that dressed up.  Here are the Cluffs: Daniel was a crazy Jazz Fan and little Zack was an Octopus.  Katie was a bee and Kason was a ninja.

Tavien and Myka were super hero's.  Next were the Millers:  Chase was Mario,

Sarah was a mom with 5 kids, Riley was a princess, Logan was a ninja and the twins were foxes!



Ray went as PVHS's student body president, Logan Cox.  Apparently he fooled a lot of people at the school.  Even Principal Mees came into his classroom to watch him teach.  It was awesome. 


Nick was a football player at the ward party but wore one of Bethany's dresses and went as a girl to school.  I'm glad he changed.

                            
After the ward party we went to JoEllen's so the kids could trick or treat in their neighborhood.  It's nice and safe and we know everyone there.  Joel and I took David and Ben around to about 10 houses and called it good.  It was a super fun night.