Deep thought, not Jack Handey but the real thing

So, lately my posts have been just pictures of my kids, but I just had a deep thought that I would like to write about. "Your kids wouldn't blame you every time they fell down learning how to roller skate, so why should we assume that tragedy isn't "supposed to" happen." By supposed to I mean that God allows tragedy to happen the same way we let our kids fall down when they are learning how to rollerskate. I had a discussion with an old friend of mine a while ago where I implied that something bad that had happened was "all part of the plan" when she expressed her thought that her mother and my sister weren't supposed to die young. That that is not what Heavenly Father wanted to have happen. I don't believe that He wanted it to happen anymore than we want our kids to get all bruised up roller skating, but we know it will probably happen and we don't prevent it by not allowing them to roller skate. Maybe it is her way of saying "We can't blame God for their deaths." Which I agree with, we can't, and I never did for a minute, but have accepted that bad things do happen, and it is OK, albeit difficult near to impossible for us to deal with.
For me this was an epiphany, becasue at the time, months ago, I didn't know how to respond to her.

I guess what is so hard to deal with when someone dies prematurely, is that we had plans for a future with them, and now our plans ave been altered, and we miss them, even if we know they are in a better place. Everytime I see a couple with thier cute kids where the wife is Asian and the husband is blond, I think that that should have been Sarah. The house we bought was owned by a Korean family and a couple times when I drove by, their kids were playing in the yard, and it was like a flashback to Peter and Sarah, playing together. I guess I am not done greiving, but I don't want to ever be either. So if you see a crazy blond lady crying in the gocery store in line behind Korean people, that is me. I am thinking about watching all of the movies from Sarah's list of favorite movies on her blog. What do you think? Anyone want to join me.

Mini Golf

Here are some shots from the miniature golfing adventure that Grandma Svetlana took us on.

Butterflies

Adriana had me order some caterpillars to watch turn into butterflies and here are some pictures of the day we released them.






Adriana had me order some caterpillars to watch turn into butterflies and here are some pictures of the day we released them.

Ariel's Baptism

In the weeks leading up to Ariel's baptism on several occasions it really hit me that as much as we love and cherish Ariel and are grateful that she is part of our family and that she is alive, her life doesn't belong to us, we have the privilege of being a very important part of it, and are doing the best we can to fulfill our responsibilities as parents and set her on the right path, but ultimately she belongs to our Heavenly Father. She was His daughter before she was ours. This perspective is both humbling and motivating. It motivates me to be a better parent and fills me with a sense of purpose and gives meaning to my interactions with her. I am so happy that she chose to follow the Savior and be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. A few years ago I was worried that she might not be prepared for baptism when she was eight, so in the past few months, I pulled out my old missionary "discussions" and went over the basic principles of the Gospel with her and was satisfied with her understanding and impressed with her insights. It has strengthen my testimony in the doctrine that at age eight a person really is ready to be held accountable for their decisions and that they can really grasp deep spiritual principles like repentance and forgiveness.
With the commotion of the day, I didn't manage to get a picture of Ariel and Nikolay in their white clothes before the baptism, but this is right after they changed their clothes (for the second time, Nikolay had missed the word "and" in the baptismal prayer, and they had to change back into their wet clothes and do it again, I was glad to be able to share with Ariel that I had to be baptized 3 times before it was just right because my hair kept floating up) before we headed back to the chapel. The sweet peacefulness and assurance from the Holy Spirit overwhelmed me with a marked impression that this was one of the most important moments in her mortal existence.

So many people came to support Ariel on this special day. I felt an outpouring of love from both family and friends. With all the details that rested on my shoulders as the mom, from inviting people to participate in the program and printing it out, to deciding on and preparing refreshments, to preparing the white clothes for Nikolay and Ariel, I was worried that something wasn't going to go right, but everyone around us pitched in and everything went smoothly and I was able to really enjoy this important day. From my family my parents flew out from Wisconsin, the Miners drove down from Boston, Jacob and Emily hopped on a bus from NYC, and Svetlana flew out from Salt Lake City. For the program Emily and Jacob said the opening and closing prayers, Mom and Dad gave the talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost, Rebekah played the piano and accompanied her girls plus Adriana and Annika for a special musical number. Two of Ariel's friends from school also came, one of which is the daughter of my dear walking friend, and it was so nice to have her there too and get to introduce her to my family. There were also plenty of close friends from our ward who came to support her and share this special day with us.
It was so nice to spend time with our extended family the whole weekend, swimming at the hotel pool, staying up late talking 2 nights in row. And the girls had a ball with their cousins who go to sleep over Saturday night. Friday night Mom, Dad, Emily and Jacob came over when they all got in town and the kids got to show off and goof off with everyone. At one point Mom said that watching my kids interact at this age reminds her of us when we were little.

We went to our favorite park and photo shoot location here in Alburtis, Lock Ridge Park. Ariel just loved spending time with her favorite cousin, Elise.
The kids had a great time playing hide and go seek/tag with Grandpa, and later Jacob.
Dallin and cousin Camille, "hiding" in a doorway of an old stone structure.
The whole crew.
Grandma and Grandpa with eight out of their 14 grandkids.

It was so much fun having Grandma Svetlana stay with us for 3 nights. She really spoiled everyone with gifts and taking us out to eat and miniature golfing, pictures to follow.