Family Camping Trip to Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon is just a quick 30-minute drive down the road from us.  We'd never camped there before and decided to try it out.  The views and weather were perfect.  Since we were there on a Monday night-Tuesday morning, we practically had the place to ourselves, too.  There wasn't a perfect flat spot for the tent, but we made it work.   We were close to a bathroom and running water, too.  

Menu included:

Dinner--hot dogs, hamburgers, Pringles, carrots, grapes

Dessert--roasted Starburst candies and marshmallows (for s'mores)

Breakfast--pancakes, sausages, oranges  (we skipped the hot cocoa because it wasn't cold outside!)

We played a few rounds of the Great Dalmuti card game that night in the tent and went to bed.  There wasn't a lot of sleeping with the dogs sharing our tent, but all things considered, the dogs did okay, too, haha!  In the morning we ate breakfast, packed up, and went for a little hike in the area.  It was a blast!

We had a great time and enjoyed each other's company.  It was great to relax together and get away for a night!

Happy Easter 2016!

We've all had the day off on this Good Friday--it's been nice.  Rhiannon has been the busiest of us all, taking on a babysitting job and now partying up at a friend's 5-hour birthday party (whew!).  Both the kids pulled lots of weeds for me today, too, which I really appreciated.  Wade's Scout camp-out got cancelled, so he's enjoyed a lot of video game time!

Our Easter baskets are very simple this year.  We have a tradition of doing the baskets on Saturday morning, to be able to focus more on the Savior on Sunday, instead of candy, candy, candy.

Instead of buying gobs of candy like I've usually done, I just bought a couple things and then filled plastic eggs with little strips of paper on which I wrote either love notes, coupons for fun things or acts of service, and a favorite Easter scripture (Matthew 28:6).

I even gave myself a few love notes, such as "Remember to enjoy the magic of ordinary days!"  I feel really good about the baskets and hope they will be received well, haha! :)   Idea for the Easter love notes here:  http://growingupgabel.com/easter-baskets-idea-for-kids/

Jason was out of town Monday thru Thursday this week and got back yesterday afternoon.  He is still not 100%, but feeling a little better each day.  Tuesday was an absolutely crazy insane day (Wade gone to Disneyland from 5am to almost 1am the next morning), drumline for Rhiannon, institute class and a sub job for me....but we made it through!

Institute class was magical this week.  I came prepared to teach several highlights from the whole book of Deuteronomy, but we spent almost half the class time talking about temple marriage.  In fact, the class joked that it was a "Face-to-Face Event with Sister Cushing."  One of our class members said something to the effect of, "Well, here we are talking about temple marriage and there's only one person in the room who's been married in the temple.  So, Sister Cushing, mind if we ask you some questions?"

It was an incredible experience for me.  Everyone appreciated that I set my lesson notes aside and just rolled with it.  They asked me how a temple marriage had blessed us, what Jason and I did to strengthen our marriage, etc, and then they all thanked me for taking that time with them.  There was an amazing spirit in the room, a feeling of openness and hope and love for each other and our potential.  I can't remember half of the things I shared, but I do know I came home and texted Jason about what had happened, told him I loved him, and appreciated all he did for me!

Not every lesson is like that.  This one was special, and, I felt, particularly guided by the Spirit, Usually I glaze over anything having to do with "marriage" because these young single adults hear it over and over and over, ya know?  But it was meant to be that night, and we were all blessed by it!

Our first family temple trip--2015 Highlight of the Year

In January we set a family goal to go to the temple together to do baptisms for Wade's first time once he turned 12.

During our Utah trip, we took off to the LDS Bountiful temple one morning and had an amazing experience serving in the temple together.  It was so sweet to be back in the temple where Jason and I were sealed, and even sweeter to have both our kids with us there.

We did many cool things this year, but this trip made it to the top of our 2015 family moments.  We were so happy to be there together.  And it was cool to see Wade do 42 baptisms in a row, haha!

Families are forever!

Our family is...

On Monday Rhiannon, Wade, and I, and Rhiannon's friend JenAi Evans, drove down to Anaheim to see the Imagine Dragons concert.  (It was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Post and videos coming soon!)  Today I was thinking about something JenAi said after we'd left Brant and Chris's home in San Bernardino on Tuesday morning.  (We had stayed there overnight after the concert and then hung out for breakfast the next day before heading home.)

JenAi said she noticed that families seemed to have a defining characteristic.  Her family valued honesty and keeping it real.  Then she said, "After being around you and your brother's family, I think your family's virtue is kindness."

That made me so happy to hear that!  Our family definitely tries to be kind.  We're not perfect, but we do value being nice to others! :)

Post Number 1,003

This little blog has been going strong since 2007.

The secret to its longevity?

The subject matter.

Love this family of ours so much!  Can't wait to see what the future holds!

Thanks for reading!

EPIC Valentine's Day, Part 2--Ontario Mall and a hockey game!

After Willow Springs, we continued our family Valentine's Day experience!

In-and-Out was the unanimous choice for lunch, and then we drove to Ontario.  First stop was the Ontario Mills mall which was SUPER CROWDED but fun.  The stop at Ghiradelli's at the very end made it all worth it--thanks for the chocolate, Daddy!  Wade bought a Lego set, Rhiannon bought a shirt, and we all enjoyed Bath and Body Works, haha--we desert rats are pretty easy to please. :)

Then we went to an Ontario Reign hockey game--it was a ton of fun!  The Ontario Reign won in a shoot-out against the Alaska Aces.  It was a nice arena and ticket prices were decent--we'll have to go again sometime!

It was a long, busy, fun day.  We drove home that night pretty quiet, basking in the memories we'd made together.  So thankful!

Oh, and before I forget, since we weren't going to be home on Valentine's Day, Jason surprised Rhiannon and me with flowers the day before, on Friday.  So thoughtful and sweet!  And those flowers bloomed and stayed beautiful for a solid 3 weeks later!!!  Love you, babe!  Thank you!

Family in California!

These guys.

They are wonderful!  Brant, Chris, and Greyson were in Indiana, and Brant took a position within his company at the Sherwin Williams plant in Ontario, CA a few weeks ago.  He and Chris sent me a text on Saturday afternoon and asked if they could come up for the afternoon on Sunday--what fun!

They are about 2 hours away, driving north, and then they have worse traffic going home to San Bernardino/Ontario (Las Vegas...) adding an hour, but, boy, it was sure great to be with them and visit!  We gabbed, had dinner, and enjoyed their company.  

I think this "family in CA" thing is going to be pretty great!

A special video...and we're in it! :)

Our friend and neighbor Kristin, and her sister Heather, put together this video for the Primary kids in our ward, using pictures of families in the ward.  The first day Kristin put it online, I probably watched it 10 times in a row.  Such a powerful message about prayer!

Extended "Family"

This morning we all jumped in the van and headed to a local elementary school to help with a community service project.  There's this large desert area full of scrub brush that kids walk through to get to the school, and it was FULL of trash.  We had a surprisingly good time working with friends in our LDS stake and other community members, filling bag after bag and finding everything from furniture to toys to swimsuits.  We only stayed a couple hours but felt we'd put in a good effort!

Then tonight we went to an open house to say goodbye to some friends moving back to Utah.  The Kimbler family opened their home to us all and hosted the party for the Calls.  There was a HUGE turnout.  HUGE. Wall-to-wall people.  Kids everywhere, plenty of food, and adults mingling all over the house and yard to visit and catch up.  When we left there were close to 20 kids running around just in the front yard, if that gives you an idea.  We were kind of the outsiders being from a different ward, but we knew so many people there and had a great time.  The Calls are off to Logan, UT so that Ben can get his PhD and teach engineering--he was telling Rhiannon and me that Texas A&M would be a place he'd want to teach at.  We geeked out over that!

There are times when I wish we lived closer to our grandpas and grandmas and aunts and uncles and cousins and really miss all the fun family times that we can't attend because we live too far away.

It's tough.

But we are blessed to live in this small community full of good people who look out for one another and become extended family for each other!

This week a woman posted on a Ridgecrest Facebook page with questions about the community.  She said her family was LDS, coming from Cedar City, and she wanted to know about it all--schools, wards, weather, houses, neighborhoods, community, renting, all of it.  The response she got was overwhelming, over 100 comments and counting.  She said she felt the love and her family was excited to come.

I learned a lot from this woman, someone I've never met.  I admire the way she jumped in and was doing homework on Ridgecrest, trying to have an upbeat attitude and really get to know the place, instead of moving into town and waiting for people to get to know her.  Through that simple Facebook inquiry, I think half of our stake knows her and can't wait to see which ward her family moves into, ha-ha!

She is definitely preparing to bloom where she'll be planted.

I love that.

Thoughtful people make the world go 'round

Yesterday some thoughtful people made me very happy.

One friend came by in the morning with some divine cookies, STILL WARM, and visited with me for a bit.  She wanted to thank me for pointing out an article in the January 2014 Ensign called "The Healing Power of Grief" to another friend, who quickly called her and told her about it.  My friend's visit was unexpected--I hadn't showered and had just come inside from washing windows, I was in my old red sweatshirt, purple leggings and brown shorts (I know, I know, tacky!)--but, boy, was her visit wonderful!  We had a very real conversation, beyond those "How are you?" ones.  My friend had been gone for a few months taking care of her sister, who died after a battle of cancer just a few weeks ago.  It meant a lot to me that she would take that time to stop by, especially when she's dealing with her own sadness and grief.

Shortly after that friend left, I got a call from Wade's school asking me to please, please come in and sub for a teacher who'd gone home sick in the morning.  I'm thankful for thoughtful friends who were willing to change plans and pick up Rhiannon for me from school, especially since it was my turn to carpool that day!

Then there was my handsome, hard-working hubby, Jason, who kindly drove Rhiannon and her friend down and back to the stake center for a dance activity.  I was at Cub Scouts with Wade, and it helped a lot to have Jason do that.  It's the little things that mean a lot!

Then another friend called during the day and invited me to join her next Friday for a temple trip.  She has to go down to LA anyways to pick up a friend from the airport, but she figured she'd carve some time out to do a temple session, too.  She remembered me mentioning to her that I had a goal to attend the temple more this year, and so she called me up to see if I'd like to go with her.  I really appreciated that!

Then there was our daughter Rhiannon who sent me upbeat texts, got dinner started while I was driving Wade to flag football, and just all-around makes me happy with the sunlight she spreads around her!

Then there was Wade, who put the icing on a busy, happy day when he said he wished that our Webelos den meeting had been longer last night!  Cool!

So, cheers to thoughtful people who make my life easier, brighter, and happier!  Happy Friday!

The plan of happiness

Rhiannon and Wade, circa February 2004

Yesterday at church our stake president gave a little message that I really appreciated.  He talked about how sometimes it's hard to find the "happiness" in our Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness!  Life is designed to be challenging, but we need to remember to look for the "fruits" of the plan of happiness.  President Hedman told this cute story about reading a book with his granddaughter.  The picture book was about a little boy who had an alligator under his bed.  When President Hedman's granddaughter turned to the page in the book where the mom is standing by the boy's bed, grumpy and with her arms crossed, she said, "Look, they're saying family prayer!"  Pres Hedman said it was a wonderful feeling to know that his son and daughter-in-law were teaching the gospel in their home.

Sometimes I get bogged down by the silly details, the day-to-day stresses that really aren't that big a deal in the grand scheme of things.  I have so much to be grateful for, and I know it!  I'm particularly grateful for Jason, Rhiannon, and Wade, that we are a family and that we can be together forever!  These three individuals make everything worth it!  I love them so much!

Thanks for the gingerbread kit, Grandma Deb!

We had a really good time putting together gingerbread houses this month.  Thanks, Grandma Deb, for the kit that came with all the goodies!  Jason won "prettiest"--he used a special tool to place his candies just right.  Must be the engineer part of his brain! :)

Our 2012 Christmas Card/Newsletter/Family Photo!

I broke with tradition this year and did something a little different from our usual Cushing Christmas Chronicle newsletter.   This time I bought cards through Shutterfly and included a little family update on the card itself.  I loved how they turned out.  The only thing I don't love is the ever-increasing cost of stamps! :)

 

Many thanks to Aunt Heather who took our family photo for us at Grandma Deb's house, too--I think it turned out well!

 

 

Rewind: Utah Spring Break 2012, part 1

We REALLY enjoyed our Spring Break to Salt Lake City back in March.  On Sunday we went to church with Grandma Deb and were excited to see snow flurries on our way out of the building!

Yeah, I know, it's hard to tell it was snowing, but we LOVED it!

That evening we gathered to celebrate Colton's birthday.  It's always a PARTY when we get together at Grandma Deb and Grandpa Rod's house!

It was fun to see how much this little guy had changed, too...

Sweet cousin Charlie!

Many thanks to Aunt Rochelle who brought some little visitors for us to play with!

Stay tuned...time with cousins, Great-Grandpa Rod, the Provo Sheens, and Grandma Sue and Uncle Max!