This week in review

This summer is F-L-Y-I-N-G by!

It's been a fast, busy week for us.  Having our family complete again after last week was super nice, too!

On Sunday night I did a batch of indexing to support the Worldwide Indexing Event through the Church's Family Search service.  It was an exciting 24 hours for me, as I kept checking to see if the 50,000 people-mark had been met.  Later this week, I found out that this goal had been shot out of the water! 66,511 people participated and more than 5.7 MILLION records were indexed!  My family made fun of me for being obsessed with this, but I caught a tiny vision of the importance of family history and indexing and was so happy to be a part of it!

Monday night we joined our neighbors the Hawkins family and a new family in our ward, the Randalls, for a family home evening night and some delicious ice cream pies for dessert.  It was loud, crazy fun, and we had a good time getting to know each other.

Monday and Tuesday the kids and I shopped for a few school clothes locally.  It might be the first year we don't "make a trip out of town" to do that--yay!  Rhiannon and Wade did a great job staying in budget, so to speak, and had small lists, so it was an easy process.  We still need school supplies but will get to that eventually.

Tuesday night I taught institute and was very, very happy with how the lesson was received.  It was on Doctrine and Covenants sections 18 and 19, focusing on the Savior's Atonement and the worth of souls, and I'm not gonna lie, I labored over this lesson preparation.  I could feel the importance of the message and DID NOT WANT TO MESS IT UP!!!  On the way to the church, I prayed and said I didn't care how many people showed, I just wanted us to be able to feel the Spirit.  Well, there was a GREAT turnout and so many comments.  It's hard to describe it, but I know my prayer was answered and those who were there felt God's love for them.  I'm thankful for that!

The following day I found out via Facebook that the very building I'd been in last night, our stake center, had some structural integrity issues and had been shut down, as in condemned until further notice.  This is huge!  For now all 4 wards will meet in the smaller meetinghouse where we attend, just for sacrament meetings this coming Sunday.  We are all anxiously waiting to see how that will play out, as the stake center's issues will take months to fix.  Our meetinghouse doesn't have a baptismal font and its parking lot is CONSIDERABLY smaller.  Should be interesting!

Thursday night we had Wade's Webelos group over to get in our pool and pass off the Aquanaut badge--all 7 boys did a great job and completed the badge!  Wade is a good little swimmer!

Then last night  Jason and I hosted a group date night over here.  Jason grilled some tasty burgers and friends brought some delicious sides.  We played Mexican Train dominoes, laughed and talked a lot, and then a few of us jumped in the pool.  It was a perfect night and we enjoyed our friends' company!

This morning we all got outside, at Jason's encouragement, and got our yard all cleaned up, including taking down a dead pine tree, mowing the lawn, sweeping the porch, and fixing sprinklers, all before 9 am.

So we have the rest of the day to PAR-TAY! :)

Life is good. :)

Girls Camp 2014

Rhiannon promises me a full report on here later on her perfect week at Girls Camp this summer.  She came home yesterday and talked all night long about the fun she had.  This momma is very happy and so grateful to all those who made it a happy experience for her!

Wade's pool party

Wade and I managed to have some fun this week while Jason and Rhiannon were gone.  We ate way too much junk food, talked, got groceries, played several rounds of Tri-ominoes, and stayed up late watching movies.

On Wednesday he finally got to have his pool party that he's been wanting to do since school got out.  A few friends were out of town, but he had a B-L-A-S-T with those who could make it--Tucker, Ben, and Nick were a ton of fun.  They swam for an hour, talked and ate, and played Need for Speed.  We will definitely need to have them over again.  They were wonderful guests and fun boys!

That night Wade had a hard time falling sleep (maybe it was the 2-liter of Dr Pepper from the party??).  Around midnight I let him hang out with me and I told him stories about my childhood for a while until he finally, finally could sleep.  It was a sweet experience for me.

Wade also got really good at sewing on a button.  We failed in our attempt to have an electronics-free week, BUT we got a lot of good and fun accomplished, too.  Love you, buddy!

The plan is to have no plans--fun on a flex Friday

Jason packed two trips in 4 days this week--we were glad to get him home last night at 11pm.  At least he had a nice drive home from the LA airport in a S-W-E-E-T rental car:

Mustang GT Premium

He took Wade for a spin before returning it to Avis--very happy boys!!!!

I splurged...

I splurged, with Jason's blessing, and purchased one of these planners, an academic-calendar-year one for Aug 2014-July 2015. It's supposed to arrive this week and I am STOKED!  I haven't used a planner in a couple years, but with life changing around here in a month (high school, seminary, Institute, etc, etc), I'm hoping it will help me feel a little more put together and help me focus on the things, the PEOPLE, that matter the most!


 

I don't know how I came across it exactly, but this blog post inspired me:

http://intheleafytreetops.com/blog/ideas-on-using-the-mormon-mom-planner/

Happy Organizing!

We did something big

Last weekend we did something big, really big.

We took everything out of our storage room above the garage and cleaned it out.  See that pile there? That's all the empty storage and packing boxes we were hanging on to for "when we moved someday."   They're getting recycled now.

It was a bittersweet, cathartic process and a physical symbol that we will probably be staying here in Ridgecrest for a while.  

And that's okay!

An added bonus--this once very packed storage room is now only 1/3 full!  YAY for clean-outs!

4th of July Fun!

We had a wonderful 4th of July holiday.  In the morning we did a bunch of yard work, and in the evening we joined some friends--the Allen, Baker, and Tomlinson families--for dinner, swimming, and fireworks.  We had a great time! 

Wasatch Ragnar!

Another Ragnar complete!  We are so happy for Jason and his "We Run For Fun in the Hot, Hot Sun" team! Here was the report from their team's Facebook page:

What an amazing adventure by this group of 12 friends. After 30 hours and 45 minutes and 196.5 miles we accomplished something special. We overcame the mother of Ragnars. We took on the hills, the downhills, the cold, the rain, the lack of sleep and we kept on going. Way to GO! The results are in and we ROCKED!!! In the mixed division we were 68 out of 795 teams. In the Co-Ed Open division we were 45 out of 714. We killed it!

Team members:  Brandon and Marie Fitt (and baby Fitt), Rob and Crystal Tomlinson, Jon Meikle, Gavin and Emily MacGregor, Jason and Denise Allen, Deanna Bell, Kate Winder, and JASON CUSHING!

What a TREMENDOUS accomplishment--way to go, guys!!!

Spiritual gifts

I've finished preparing for my talk on Sunday--it's on recognizing, strengthening, and gaining more spiritual gifts.  One of the resources I used was an article by Elder Robert D. Hales, in the February 2002 Ensign, where he talks about spiritual gifts and why they're important.  One major reason, he said, is that spiritual gifts help us weather the storms of life.

This morning I saw a Facebook post by a college friend Leanna.  Leanna is a couple years older than me, with two small girls.  She just found out that her cancer has returned with a vengeance and is inoperable, giving her about 6 months to live.  In the middle of her second pregnancy, she found out about the cancer and had her baby early so that she could get the chemotherapy treatments.  I listened to an audiorecording of her feelings on this diagnosis and of the peace that she feels because of priesthood blessings and knowing about God's plan of salvation.  Leanna plans to try some holistic medicine and other therapies and feels the Lord's help in all that she does--she recognizes the many angels around her, helping her and her family.  I was very touched when she said that she knows her mission on earth is not finished, but she accepts that it will come, someday, in God's time.

It was super, super inspiring to hear her calm, clear voice, enthusiastic and happy about what lies ahead of her.  The only time she got emotional was when she talked about the prayers of so many people around the world helping her.

I thought about this talk on spiritual gifts, and how my friend Leanna definitely feels the power and strength of many of them right now as she weathers this big storm in her life!

I'm grateful for this, for the truth in Elder Scott's words:  "Heavenly Father did not put on the earth to fail, but to succeed gloriously."

Hopefully this won't crash my Blogger account...pics from the Rod & Deb Cushing Reunion!

Our big trip for the summer was up to St. George (then Salt Lake City) for a Cushing reunion.  Boy, were we spoiled!!!!  Many, many thanks to Grandpa Rod and Grandma Deb for a wonderful week together!   Here were some highlights, in no particular order: 

Cousin time, and lots of it

Random photos that really captured the magic and beauty and fun of this vacation for me!

Fun dinners and games around that table; plus Heather and Ver's selfie tradition!

Stairs leading up to the...boys cave!

Celebrating McKaleigh's SIXTEENTH birthday with her!  Watching her walk out of the Hurricane DMV with her LICENSE!  We love you, McK!

Volleyball with Uncle Brett, Grandpa, and Uncle Matt

Finding matching MarioKart shirts for the boys, shopping with Aunt Heather, Aunt Jaymie, and McKaleigh, and cute smiles from Lilly

Grandpa offering to get his toenails painted, no lie

Enjoying the outdoors (once the heat went down) and watching some tennis matches!

This was way fun to watch!  We felt like millionaires having a tennis court on the grounds of the home!

Fractured Prune Doughnuts (Thanks, Brett and Jaymie!), cute Charlie, being lazy!

The pool was MAGICAL!!!

Alex's rubber band bracelets that he made for everyone, Lego t-shirt, cinnamon bundt cake  (thank you, Matt and Heather!!!), and that big wonderful kitchen

Watching our first Tuacahn play, The Little Mermaid, with Grandma and Brett and Jaymie's family

Boys being boys, watching the World Cup on the little screen, selfies, and those big leather chairs

Some pics of the home, located in Bloomington, UT--WHOA!

I made a list of our favorite things--I hope I'm not forgetting too many!

Swimming!  Tennis!  Volleyball!  Basketball!

Watching the Little Mermaid

Celebrating McKaleigh's birthday!

Visiting Zion National Park and going on the Narrows hike with Brett and Jaymie's family

Shopping with the girls

The boy cave upstairs where lots of Nintendo DS was played

Watching movies

Playing in the pool

Playing hide and seek in that gigantic house

Games, especially Dominion, golf, and What Ifff, and that iPhone Charades game  ("Mosh Pit!")

Big boys golfing trip

Soda in glass bottles

Fantastic food and plenty of it

Grandpa getting his toenails painted

Alex's rainbow bracelets

MarioKart t-shirts

Lots of time to talk, talk, talk, and sleep, sleep, sleep, and swim, swim, swim, and eat, eat, eat!



There were some sad-face moments--Grandma got hurt and a bunch of us got sick.  But we lived to fight another day!

Fun in urgent care--Wade was having a hard time breathing and had to get 3 breathing treatments.  

One more fun day with Matt and Heather's family and a visit with GGPa Rod and Grandma Nan before we had to head back to Ridgecrest

What a FANTASTIC vacation!  Thanks for everything and thanks for the memories!  We love our Cushing and Cropper peeps!

Gospel study

I've been teaching Institute since the end of May, and I'm learning quickly that in order to stay on top of my game I need to take time to study every single day, among other things.  I haven't had that habit for a long time, and it feels good to make it a priority.

Especially during this week, when I just finished a lesson last night, have to start preparing for next week's lesson, and have to give a talk in church on Sunday.  I've felt like I've been juggling lately and having a hard time keeping everything up in the air, haha!  Thank goodness I have time to figure this all out before school starts next month when our schedules--school! seminary!--get busier!

I'm also thankful for the Church's Notebook feature on lds.org.  This morning I spent about an hour and a half reading scriptures, reading talks, making notes, and highlighting important things, all online.  And I discovered that I can print all of my notes and highlights when I'm done--GENIUS!