The Rock

This summer Thomas and I read two books by Gennifer Choldenko, Al Capone Does My Shirts and Al Capone Shines My Shoes. (Thanks for the suggestion Peggy). Great little books, we both enjoyed them a lot. In the past I have paid more attention to the stories of the famous prisoners of Alcatraz than I have to the guards, wardens and their families who also lived on the island. These books peaked my interest in the civilian community on the island and their day to day lives there. It had been 20 years since Matt & I visited Alcatraz and so it was fun to take the kids and go for a day.

It does seem weird to put on sweatshirts in August, but the City almost always has fog in the summer. It actually feels good to cool off.

I believe Doug has the TransAmerica building in the palm his hand.

Inside Building 64 where the families of employees lived in apartments. I cannot imagine how cold and wet it must have been.

Al Capone lived here.

I wonder if humiliation meant anything to these criminals. No privacy - ever. Well, except in solitary confinement.

In the bookstore, visiting with a former guard of Alcatraz.

The recreation yard.

The warden's home, destroyed by fire in the 70's.

We also celebrated our anniversary - 24 years.

10,000 Hours

Recently, I was visiting with a girlfriend about the book Outliers which we both read this year. I appreciated some insight she shared with me.

A brief synopsis:
One of the things the book discusses is whether there is such a thing as innate talent or is success determined by work. One of the studies considered was conducted at Berlin's Academy of Music. Students were divided into three groups.
I - students with the potential to become world-class soloists
II - students that were good
III - students who were unlikely to ever play professionally and who intended to be teachers in the public school system

Students from all three groups began playing at about the same age - 5years old. In the first few years they practiced about the same amount - 2 to 3 hours per week. But differences began to appear around the age of 8. Students who would end up in the top group (I) began to practice more than the others - about 6 hours a week, by age 12 - 8 hours, by age 14 - 16 hours. By the age of 20 they were practicing 30 or more hours per week. In fact, by the age of 20 the top group had logged in over 10,000 hours of practicing, group II had 8,000 hours and group III had just 4,000 hours.

Outliers gives others examples of this 10,000 hours of work for other success stories from the Beatles to Bill Joy and Bill Gates.

Then my girlfriend reflected on a time when her daughter was in the symphony band and they had attended a workshop that involved playing for a series of judges and then one of the judges working with the band to improve their playing. The woman sat in on the workshop and the judge said to the students that they had played every note correctly and had played every rhythm correctly. He then asked the students what the difference was between them and a professional orchestra. He then said, "It's the quality of the tone." My girlfriend realizes now that it translated to the 10,000 hours. These high school students had not put in 10,000 and thus they did not have the "quality of tone" that professional musicians have.

Here's the idea that has stayed with me:
She then talked about our most recent Stake Conference where a visiting General Authority, Elder Pearson, spoke. She questioned, "What was it about his talk that touched us?" He did not teach us anything new. Every messgae he gave we had heard before and yet we were very touched by him. She concluded that is was the "quality of his tone." Or in other words he had spent 10,000 hours with the Spirit.

I have continued to ponder her thoughts since our discussion. It has made me think almost daily about what I am doing that either allows the Spirit to be in my life or keeps it away. I love the thought of Sister M. Catherine Thomas who describes how easily we will give up the opportunity to live in Zion by, "trying to impose one's will on others, or by criticism, anger, irritability, selfishness, failure to forgive, failure to revere another's agency, retaliation, moodiness, fear, worry, or simply forgetting to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." (Spiritual Lightening, pg 79) These are the things that allow me to either live with or without the Spirit. I've thought about what daily habits I want in both tangible things I do and the attitude I want to have. It requires that I let many of the things I "want" to do - go, because I don't have time to do everything. That's hard.

I've thought about Elder Eyring's talk in the most recent General Conference concerning doing our duty with all diligence. I cannot imagine how hard this man works, and two of his comments struck me - first he said, "When I find myself drawn away from my priesthood duties by other interests and when my body begs for rest, I give to myself this rallying cry: 'Remember Him'." His second comment was, " Whenever we remember Him, it becomes easier to resist temptation to want a rest from our priesthod labors." I wonder how at his age and with all he must do, how does he keep doing his labors? And, how can I change my heart to be like his? How do I "remember" correctly? It seems like remembering Christ is easy, but the work of doing our duty is what makes us tired. How do I reconcile those? I think that it must require the Spirit. I know that I've never worked as hard as an apostle, but I do know what it feels like to be both physically and emotionally exhausted and yet my heart has such a desire to continue to serve and do my duty. But there have also been times when I have felt almost rebellious. I've wanted to go on vacation to get away from duties and remain on vacation even when I physically return home.

I guess I hope that searching for the answers to my questions will help my heart change and make it soft and more receptive to the Spirt. I think I want 10,000 hours with the Spirit.

First Day of School and Goodbye to Summer

I can't believe how quickly this summer has passed. I think the kids were ready and excited to return to school; but I enjoy being with them so much, that I really miss them today. My home is much too quiet. Yesterday, we measured everyone as we do at the beginning of each school year. Emily has grown 3 inches since last August. She is wearing a new backpack and didn't even want me to walk her to the door. I have felt sad the last couple of weeks, knowing that my little companion would go off to school without me. It's a stage of motherhood I don't get to repeat and that makes me cry. I stood in line Saturday evening at a wedding reception and visited with a lady in front of me. Even though I don't know this lady well, when I told her my youngest was beginning school, she immediately knew how I was feeling and the tears welled up in my eyes as she verbalized the tenderness in my heart. I was grateful to know I'm not the only woman who enjoys being a mother and being with her children. I look for the promise of eternal increase in the future.

Thomas grew 3 inches as well since last August. We mark all of these measurements on a wall in our garage. I had to laugh when I saw that my sister had added her height and name to the wall when she was here in June for Karin's wedding. Every time Kelly is with me or in my home or in my car, she leave little traces of herself. I love these little surprises. My favorite thing is when my kids say, "You sound just like Aunt Kelly". Kelly did not grow at all last year.

Doug grew 4 inches in a year and started high school this morning. Scott grew 1/2 inch and wished he had grown more. If only he would eat his vegetables. I know my heart is also tender because Scott will not be here next year. I will miss talking to him. We have a lot fun discussing books, history, music and philosophy. The boys were very helpful in preparing me for the RUSH concert (I'm not a follower of RUSH), they made play lists and printed lyrics for me. They are good boys.

For our end-of-summer party, the kids had friends over and we did a BBQ and built a campfire and roasted marshmallows. Here is Thomas and his friend watching for falling starts (Perseid shower). They are too funny.

I love this view from the back patio, across the fountain to the yard.
What can I say? Except that at 2 am I rolled up in a blanket in the backyard to watch the Perseid shower and couldn't go to sleep until the teenagers were home from tping somewhere. It was much later than 2 am when they finally returned.

Emily with cousin Davis.

This summer I have loved watching the boys and their friends play ping pong on the patio outside my kitchen window. This is Matt's good friend, Tristan and some of his family. We love them.

I loved sleeping in the tent.

Tom loved Cub Scout Day Camp.

Almost everyday I think about Ben & Karin's wedding. It was such a perfect event. I'm just so glad that everything was so peaceful and happy. We love the Myer's family and think the world of Ben. It is so fun to read their weekly blog. So Much Joy.

I was so glad my parents could come to the Temple to be with us. It was a long journey for them, but we will always remember it. My father and father-in-law always have so much to talk about. I loved watching them. I was grateful to receive a father's blessing while we had some time together.

The end of the story:

At the end of the 1st day of school I picked up Emily. She seemed perfectly fine until she spotted me among the other parents - then she burst into sobs and cried and cried her little heart out. She gave me a big hug and said, "I love you". It made me cry but it also made my day.

Book Review: Travels with Charley

Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Definitely a lighter book than his most famous ones, yet many of the same themes revisited.

Interesting to see so many of his predictions come true about how America was changing in 1960 and what it would do to us as a people both collectively and indiviually.

View all my reviews >>

Book Review: Dandelion Wine

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


First of all, I can't believe that it took me so long to get around to reading this book. A young girlfriend recommended it to me years ago and I resisted because I'm not a science fiction reader. I remembered reading Bradbury in junior high and I didn't like it then and I almost never read it now. This, however, is not a science fiction book but a delightful semi-autobiographical novel of Bradbury's own childhood. I loved this book and think it is the perfect summer read. In fact, I think it should only be read in the summer. I love the themes of being alive, happiness, magic, and change. I love the idea of bottling dandelion wine and then in the winter opening a bottle and reliving a summer day.

This book made me laugh and cry and gave me a good scare.


View all my reviews >>

What I'm Really Dreading About School

Yes, of course I'll be crying next Monday when all my little children march out the door to school. But today, what I'm really not looking forward to, is making school lunches. I am so tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and I don't even have to eat them.

Any good ideas out there?

Here are my two dilemmas:

For Thomas and Emily - I don't want to fill their lunches with fishy crackers and fruit snacks - I need some new ideas for truly nutritional foods - something beyond carrots and apple slices.

For Scott and Doug - some ideas for things that don't need to be refrigerated. They will not carry a lunch box, only a paper bag. They leave the house at 6:00 am and lunch is at 12:30. It makes me nervous to put lunch meat in their sandwiches. They will not carry an icepack. Yes, I can freeze their drinks - but does anyone have any new ideas?

Help!

Best FHE Ever

At least that is what Scott said.
Napping on the way to the concert.
My boys happy and excited to see RUSH.
Lousy picture but it proves we were there.

Getting Ready for School

With only one week until the beginning of school, all necessary appointments took place this week.

• Doctor check-up



• Dental exam and cleaning



• Backpack shopping



• Shoes, socks and underwear reviewed and replaced

And of course haircuts. Emily LOVES to go to the salon for a haircut, something she's only done a couple of times in her life. So before we went we talked about how short to cut her hair and she was so excited. We took this picture before going so we could compare how cute her new haircut would look afterwards. Then I took her and Tom to the shop. Later in the day Scott and Doug went for their haircuts, which usually means you can't even tell that they got a haircut. So imagine my surprise when they walked in the house. This is the shortest that Scott's hair has been since 6th grade. I can actually see his eyes AND eyebrows. I wish I had taken a "before" picture of them.

My Daily Life

I feel pressure to have something new, different or exciting to post on my blog. However, my life is really a circle of seasons and I find our family repeating the same activites each year. It's a great daily life though and I love the things we do - especially spending time together. I think the activities are different for me because the kids are growing and changing each year. In July, we were back at Girls Camp.

We began the week with Matt featured on a talk radio show as an expert in Endodontics, which has nothing to do with Girls Camp. Doesn't he look like a relaxed expert?

We went on a new 3-mile hike at Harmony Headlands State Park. It is very dry this time of year but still beautiful. I can't wait to hike it in the spring when everything is green and the flowers are blooming. We pulled up and saw this No Parking sign. Emily saw it differently, she said, "Nobody with the letter 'P' in their name can go on this hike."

It is fun to race your big brother and win. It's also nice that he gives you a ride after you win.

I'm not a great photographer, but I just loved these limpets clustered together on the rock. Below them, is pictured an owl limpet, larger and more colorful than I've seen.

Thomas found this six-legged sea star, called a Brooding Star. Yes, they usually come with five legs. This one is also different because it protects its' young on it's underside for a couple of months before leaving them. Most sea stars broadcast thousands of young into the ocean without providing any protection. So it was exciting for us to see both a large (momma) and small(baby) star on the same rock.

I love watching the waves come in and crash on the rocks.

On the return trip, we turned a corner in time to see a dozen rabbits hopping back and forth across the road and feeding in the bushes. Click on the picture and look on the left side of the road to see 3 bunnies resting. Emily was very excited by this and no wonder, she keeps Beatrix Potters' Peter Rabbit on her nightstand.

Prior to teaching his marine biology class, Matt does a lot of prep work at home and then spends several hours for a few days ahead of time collecting kelp, invertebrates, crabs and whatever else he can find. This year the low tide was at 6:00am, so here he is in the early morning hours looking for creatures. (This is my own Doc Ricketts).

This is my favorite picture of the trip. There is only one child of mine who will get up on his own this early to join his dad in a hunting expedition. He is following in his footsteps, and this has so many meanings to me. I am so grateful to have married a wonderful man who is a wonderful father.

This is a chiton I had never seen before. The ones I always see are gray or black. This one gets its' color from the algae it feeds on in the tide pools.

There was a minus tide this year which makes for especially good tide pooling. We were able to get far out on the rocks where lots of interesting things can be found.

Matt taught over 100 girls, leaders and Priesthood support this year. I think it's rewarding to him that he can be the first to share his love of the ocean and God's creations with some girls that have never been to the ocean. It's also satisfying to see that the girls really do learn and retain many of the things he has taught them over the years. Girls that have been to camp several times, remember how tides, the moon and gravity work. They also remember interesting facts about his collections and seem to continue to enjoy searching the tide pools.

It makes me smile to see that Emily placed herself among the Young Women.

It also makes me smile to see that on the morning when the girls were coming to the beach, Scott was also happy to get up early and help out. See him in the background with his baseball cap on?

This a picture of our wonderful Stake Young Women's President, Erin, on the left and her able assistant, Lisa.