Strengthen your family!

Awhile ago, our High Councilman gave an excellent talk that included 15 things we can do together to increase the strength of our family.  Jared was out with Preston, and I was kicking myself that I wasn't taking notes so that I could share it with him and others.  Fortunately, our Bishop decided to put the list in our ward newsletter this month, so now I have the opportunity to share it with all of you.  (Talk was given by Bryan Pope, Sharon Stake High Council).

1.  Turn off distractions.

Not just bad things, but anything that distracts from family unity.

2.  Set meaningful, adequately high, yet attainable expectations.

Discuss and set expectations as a family.  Be clear and make sure everyone understands them thoroughly.

3.  Pray together as a family and individually every day.

There's great strength in having family members pray for each other.

4.  Read scriptures together as a family and individually every day.

The promise of increased love and understanding is true!

5.  Attend church meetings as a family every Sunday.

Then discuss what each person learned over Sunday dinner or in family council.

6.  Hold regular Family Home Evenings every Monday night.

Actively promote harmony, understanding and involvement in the home.

7.  Spend quality and quantity time together.

No one on his deathbed ever uttered the words, "I wish I had spent more time at the office."

8.  Mom, be at home at all costs.

Carefully consider what this means in your situation and to your family.

9.  Dad, be at home at all costs.

It is easy to let outside distractions keep us away.  Work hard, and then be with your family.

10.  Hold regular, conversational interviews with the children.

Interviews, not interrogations.  Make open communications part of a healthy family culture.

11.  Give Father's blessings.

At the beginning of school, during difficult times, before missions, before marriage, etc.

12.  Settle all disputes, issues, and differences before the close of the day.

Seek understanding and forgiveness; Live each day as if it were your entire lifetime; Focus on what is important today.

13.  Actively inject spiritual influences into the home.

Listen to good, uplifting music; Provide mutual support of each other's undertakings and interests; Create opportunities to share spiritual experiences and feelings.

14.  Eat together.

Prepare meals as a family and use this opportunity to teach valuable skills to children; Sit down and enjoy the meal with good conversation; Clean up together.  Don't leave it to Mom or one individual; many studies support the power and positive influence of family dinnertime.

15.  Create family traditions centered around gospel living.

Provide opportunities for service both within the family and to others.

Good stuff, right?  Feel free to add some of your own in the comments.

Basement: before pictures

We are in the process of finishing our basement.  I am beyond excited to have the extra space.  When all is said and done, there will be a large toy room (could be used as a bedroom, though), 2 additional bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room.  We are also having some shelves built in the storage room area so that we can finally get organized.  As of right now, they have just about finished framing.  Here are some before pictures.  Expect updates often!  

One of the bedrooms.

Family room with the soon-to-be-former treadmill.  (We found it a nice home with some people who will take good care of it.)

Preston checking out the pile of lumber that now frames the wall.

Pinewood Derby 2008

From the title of this post, you probably thought, "Pinewood Derby?  That's weird.  They don't have anyone of 'scout' age in their family."  This year our ward did an Elder's Quorum vs. YM pinewood derby.  Jared got really into it.  He took his car to his office and used his 'dental' tools to drill out areas and then filled them with amalgam.  He spent countless hours in our garage working with our little boys observing.  His car was painted and repainted at least a few times.  BUT, it was all worth it, when he won FIRST PLACE!  Jared's dad and Brother and 3 of our Hemmert nephews came to watch.  Wynn said, that Jared finally broke the Hemmert Pinewood derby curse.  (I guess they have come in second place numerous times over the years).  Jared is already looking forward to Chandler being in scouts so they can do it again.

A Sampling of some of the cars.  I think the Swiss Army knife one is really cool.  His car is the gold one with black stripes: #5.  Chandler chose 5, because he's 5 (obviously).

Chandler with the winning car.

The Champion and his car!  **P.S. Sorry about the cultural hall lighting.

Good ol' Number 5 is now mounted and on display in Jared's office. 

My name is Preston, and I'm a potty-mouth...

Lately Preston's favorite words have been of the "naughty" variety, and we're getting pretty fed up with it.  I'm not talking the 4-letter words that the parents of teens would worry about the the 3-letter variety that toddlers seem to love.  Here's an example:

Me: "Preston, what would you like for lunch?"

Preston: "Pee!" followed by giggles, of course.

These words have found their way into every situation you can think of; even sacrament meeting.  (Yes, we are the main entertaining attraction of our ward.  Certain families like sitting by us because it's so amusing).

He even changes songs.  Example:

Preston: "Twinkle, twinkle, little bum!"  giggles again.  

Cereal has gone from 'Frosted mini-wheats' to 'Frosted mini-poops'.  You get the idea.  No more examples needed.

We started out reprimanding him, but this only seemed to make it worse.  Like most kids, Preston thrives on attention.  We are currently trying to ignore the behavior.  We'll see how it goes.  We've talked about using soap or cayenne pepper, but we'd really like to save these punishments for the 4-letter words when they make their inevitable appearance.   Any parents out there have any bright ideas? 

T-ball is here!

Well soccer is over, and we are onto the next sport: T-ball!  Chandler picked out his new mitt at the store.  Of course, he picked the one that has lights in it and lights up when you catch a ball-who wouldn't!  His team has 15 kids on it, so the pace is much slower than it was for soccer.  So far, he seems to really like it.  It's so funny watching these young ones play.  Chandler was playing third base and someone from the other team hit the ball near 1st.  All of the kids, including those in the outfield, ran clear across the field to try to get to the ball first.  I'm sure they'll figure it out as time goes by.  Entertaining for all!

Posing in his new uniform.  They are the only team who has matching pants and hats along with the requisite 'Orem City' T-shirt.

Batting.  Look at that awesome swing!

Running between 2nd and 3rd bases.

Memorial day weekend '08

We spent Memorial Day weekend up in Midway this year.  All of the Hemmert clan that currently lived in the area were up there too.  Some at the cabin and some at the Zermatt resort.  We also had our annual ride on Thomas the train.  My boys aren't really as "into" Thomas as the have been in years past, but they still wanted to go, so we went.

Preston and Chandler in front of Thomas, himself.

Chandler getting a temporary (sigh of relief uttered here) Thomas tattoo.  Jared and I both got tattoos as well.  Preston was scared for some unknown reason.

Preston and I on the train.  (notice the lovely 'Rosie' tattoo on my hand).

Jared and Chandler on the train.

Another 'Midway tradition' for us is feeding the ducks at Wasatch state park.  A word of caution: the ducks do have some aggressive tendencies!  You will never see my mom there, in other words.

Another feature of Wasatch State Park is the large pond.  Chandler got to fish in it with Jared and Wynn.  Jared caught a trout and we enjoyed it for dinner.

Chandler riding the carosel at Zermatt with his cousin, Mason, and Mason's mom, Julie.  Everyone is all smiles because we had just finished a wonderful prime rib buffet dinner.  Yummy!

I'm actually going to run...I think.

Let me start by saying, I hate running and always have.  But having said that, I really admire and even envy my running friends and family members, so I have decided to run the Freedom Festival 5k this year.  It's always been good for me to have something to work toward.  By putting this out into cyberspace, I am trying to further commit myself.  First of all,  I know 5k is not that far, but I am not a runner, so for me to be able to run the whole distance will really be something.  Most of my friends and family could run this (and beat me!) in their sleep, but I'm trying to not let intimidate me.  My sister, Natalie, an avid runner who has even won a 5k herself, is going to run with me.  (When I say run with me, I mean start the race with me).  She'll be fully recovered and finishing her breakfast by the time I'm done, but that's okay with me.  

I started running about 3 weeks ago.  I still don't like it.  For my runner friends out there, when does it get fun?  Until this morning, I have been running on the treadmill at the gym.  I'm up to a couple of miles, though now, and it is very boring at the gym.  I just keep looking at the display panel wishing it would move along faster.  I decided to run outside this morning, so the plan was to park my car at Will's and run on the path so that I would know how far I was running.  It turns out you are not supposed to park there so I decided to park at Riverwoods and run the other direction.  On my way to Riverwoods, I noticed there were a couple of homeless-types with all their stuff along the path, and NO OTHER RUNNERS.  I guess it wasn't such a great idea, so I went home and decided to run from home.  I did it, and now I need to find some places to run from my house.  If anyone sees me running, pretend you don't see me; it will make me feel better about this.

My goal is not to run the race fast, but be able to actually run the whole distance.  I simply want to be able to run 5k and not die.  Whether or not, I continue to run after the race is a big question mark.  I would like to think that by then, it will be enjoyable, and I will want to keep running.  Only time will tell, I guess.