Laura's personal lessons from sept 30,2012

No gas no gas left in my car- 
Last week I let our week get away from us. There was a lot we didn't get done but needed to. Before I knew it we were canning on Sunday just to fit it all in. I realized I needed to manage better to make it so I did no have to do that.
Well that was not all- I let my gas tank get too low and before I knew it I was way to low on gas and it was Sunday.my instant thought without hesitation, guess I will be going to the gas station. I was that willing to break the sabbath because of my lack of preparation. I then figured out I should try doing my own part and dumped our lawn mower gas. My luck it wasn't working. So I had to borrow from my neighbor . How often do we find ourselves red face and begging others for our lack of preparation and lack of good choices? I need to do more to not be found in these situations .

Do more venture out- 
Lately I have had conflicts and been judging what others have been doing with their time. After asking for the spirit I had to realize it was not my job nor right to judge them. It was their choice. I found peace by realizing that my goal is for my kids to know I am here for than and will support all aspects of their life.

Save someone's life

I have a journal that I write some random thoughts in... I'm going to add those things into this so they are not lost.
While Nelson is bishop he holds bishop youth discussion at our house. The kids come over and he teaches them, the youth love it. Last night Nelson told them about when he was 16-17 years old and had to take over his dads carpet business to provide for his family. 
One August day he was on the third floor of an apartment working. He was looking out the window daydreaming when he noticed a little girl face down in the pool. He and his cousin ran down the stairs to get her out of the big aprattment pool. They were able to get the water out of her air way and get her breathing.
He told the youth we all have situations where we need to be "saved" so many times we can help others.
He challenged the youth to find someone to "save" and send him a text of what they did. I took the challenge and this is what happened to me...I was driving home from picking lily up from preschool when a car pulled in front of me. I honked my horn because I was a little irritated. I kept going but noticed they looked lost. The spirit whispered to go back. I followed them wondering if they were lost they came to the four way stop and headed down 1200 towards by house. I said a little prayer if they are lost have them pull over. They pulled over right in front of the veterans home. I pulled my car down our street and jumped out. I asked them if they needed help. They were from Idaho and were very lost. I got the number of where they were heading and called and got directions for them. They were the sweetest people I have ever met. 
What a tender mercy I was blessed with in order to help someone out. I am sure it wouldn't of happened if I hadn't prayed for guidance that day or watched for opportunities. I learned a lot from thT challenge from Nelson. 

Fourth of July

For a few years now it has been a tradition for our little family to go meet my 2 sisters and parents in Riverdale for the 5k run. It is cheap, fun run and a good middle meeting point for all of us. The whole family has enjoyed participating in this run. Everyone did great and we had a fun time. Max is pretty beat after that run- he completed it in 24 minutes

Asher finishing his run

Boy we sure have some crazy people in our family

Takara, Bruce,Nelson & Asher after the race

OUr cute little family

Everyone after the race

On the way home Nelson rolled down the car windows and was waving to everyone on the parade route. I was a tiny embarrased but the kids thought it was the greatest thing in the world. Nelson got a lot of people to waive at us.

June Happenings

It is so hard to believe that we have already completed one month of our Summer break. I have a feeling it is going to go way to fast, yet with 4 kids in the house there are days that it seems to drag. Yes in the summer we play non-stop. If you ask Nelson he would say we play too much. Here are a few highlights from our first month: - Me- I have loved that half the time I don't even know the date and that the kids never match. The fun playing days of summer allow you to do that. Believe it or not I actually read a book. For my birthday this month I asked my sister to get me the book Heaven is Here. I know everyone about passed out that I actually asked for a book. The bigger shocker is that I actually read it, and mostly enjoyed it. (Yes I admit I did catch myself skipping a bit, for some reason I still can't sit still that long to read, but I did it.) - The Family- I have to admit at the beginning of the summer we make a "Summer to do List" and go a little overboard. I think this year we ended up with 45 things to accomplish. Each year we have yet to accomplish all of them. But we have been able to enjoy a few trips to get air (kids favorite), hiking to waterfall, biking to the overpasses and jumping up and down until the semis honk, swimming, running and the fun archery competitions. They were hosting the Olympic Archery Qualifiers at the fairgrounds this month. Max asked to go watch them. We were able to go over a few times, even though we did not know much of the rules, we enjoyed watching it. -Willard- The kids have been asking to go swim and play at Willard. Not necessarily the cleanest place to go play, but oh well. So we loaded them up and headed out.
Asher- not much more needs said about that-

- Quilt- For the past few years I have been saving up the boys old sport jerseys and some of their favorite shirts in hopes to make a quilt. We have worked on it here and there for the past few months and now I am glad to say this month it was finally completed. I need to admit that there is no way this quilt would have been completed with out the help of my awesome mom. The kids have loved taking turns wrapping up and sleeping with their blanket.

- Asher- Glad to report that we were finally able to get Asher a new suit. I am glad we can replace the one he has been wearing for the last year. There is a bit of a storey behind the suit coat he has on in the picture below. Last year I went to the DI in pursuit of the best suit coat for his homemade Mad Hatter Halloween costume. I found this green tweed one and snatched it up in hopes I could dye it and make it look how I needed it to. Nelson later told me it was not going to work. If I would have known that Asher was going to beg to wear it I would have looked a littler harder. This jacket has been one of his favorites (not mine, but that is ok)

I needed to add one more thing about Asher. Just the other day he came to me and said "Mom I seriously need to be put into counseling" With the girls in our home, counseling is a thing they really need right now. I smiled at him and asked why. he said "can't you see i am a mess, look at me last night, I was crying like crazy." Yes he was but it doesnt help that bed time has been after 10 most the summer. Oh the fun that the fun lazy days of summer brings.

Discouragement

Do you ever wonder why we have to have discouragement in our lives? We all face it day to day, but why? We all have different situations in our lives that lead to it. Can you tell this has been on my mind a lot this week? One of my biggest discouragements is having a body that is capable, but pain that limits me in different ways. The desire to run (for physical activity) yet having the feeling I want to barf from the pain that always resides in the same place, in the middle of my back and up to my neck. My poor legs that just feel like they 100 lb weights in them because of the pain. Granted this is not everyday, just when the pain is at its worse. Luckily this week in the early morning time (during a very frustrating run) I was able to think about this for a minute and realize some of the blessings of discouragement: - Through discouragement we have the ability to realize what we really can accomplish. If we don't keep pushing on, we don't truly realize what we are capable of and what we can do. - Knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father that truly knows and loves me. He knows what I am capable of (when I have no clue). He gives me no more than I can handle. I know he is truly aware of me and the struggles that we all have. -Perspective and what is truly important. In our life, like everyone elses, we have tons of things going on. I have the expectations that it all has to get taken care of. In a blessing Nelson recently gave me it talked about focusing on things that truly matter most. Sometimes I need those reminders to help me focus on my little ones and not worry about the constant mess that is always being created. Even though at times it is not fun experiencing discouragement I know there is a reason and it is all for our good!

End of school

I swear the last few weeks of school are jam-packed with so many things. By time you times that by 4 (number kids in our house) there is a ton going on. When the end of the month is here I am so grateful school is over. glad to be living by no routine for a week or two. Here are a few highlights from the last few weeks of school: Max was able to compete in the iron kid at the science olympiad over at the Fairgrounds. He did good at the relays, not so hot at the hola hooping ( i think he gets his talent there from me). He had a super fun team and was glad he could go.
Then Max's class was able to compete in the football game against the facilty staff. They class had the most reading minutes in the competition held by the school. His teacher is amazing on encouraging the kids to read. I have never seen Max read so much in his life. He has also been able to participate in movie days, fun at toads fun zone and dinner at Timpanoki with his teach for completing extra stuff. He has one amazing teacher.

Shurtleff 1st Annual Family Race

This year Nelson and some of his cousins decided to organize a family 5k. A family get together is organized for basically any holiday that comes up, we love our time together. We decided it would be fun to promote some physical activity. We originally planned to host a 5k, 10k, half marathon and kids k. Decided we had better scale this down a bit since it was a bit lofty for the first race. It was awesome to see all the family members who had prepared so they could come be apart of the day. Thank heavens the family was patient with our inability to get everything set up on time. Everyone getting ready to race/run-

The race was held on Cinco De Mayo. Good thing Nelson's brother Spencer came into town and most of all came prepared with costume. I have to say there is never ever a dull moment with Spencer around.

Our handy nurse Jen who took all measures to ensure she had all equipment needed while riding her bike. Where do you find support like that at a race?

Max was convinced he was going to run the 10k. That would be the furthest distance he has ever ran, let alone his first run for the year. As we learned that everyone was backing out of the 10k I was a little skeptical to let him do it. I told him to just see how his body was doing and see what he could do. I also told him as he was headed to the finish line the first time to make up his mind of what he wanted to do so it was not easier to quiet. I just have to say he is one determined kid. He did not even hesitate. He crossed the finish line and just kept on running. He and his 9 year old cousin Tanner were the only ones that ran the 10k. When he finished he wanted to make sure he helped his cousin finish. He ran back and got him and helped him finish his run. Super proud of Max and the accomplishment that he made that day. He was also determined he was not going to quit before he hit 7 miles. He did hit that goal as well. Hope from this experience he remembers and realizes that he can do hard/tiring things. Asher ended up running the full 5k and was the first finisher (excluding Max and Tanner who kept going). Yes of course my silly crazy kids

Max after he finished running. Can you tell he is a little proud? He did a great job.

We were so grateful for being able to see everyone cheer and encourage each other to keep going. What a great way to start our morning out. No worries we have more of these events planned for the future.