Fun at Hollywood Beach Part 1

So glad to be out of the car!

I wish I had a picture that conveyed how slow these cars were going. And that they were backed up for miles and miles!

Here is the gorgeous little boy that we took on our trip with us. Here is the 45 minute nap John took yesterday during our 13 hours of driving. (It proved to be not enough.)

He tried so hard, and did so well. It took us two days to drive from Columbus Ohio, to Fort Lauderdale Florida. On the GPS it says it is a 17 hour trip. But from the time that we got in the car and got out of the car and then got in the car next day and got out of the car to stop driving, it was 22 hours.

I had prepared 19 different little boxes that John could open with different toys in them, that I planned to give him each hour that we drove., But he wanted a new one every five minutes. I ran out of boxes a lot faster than I hoped. And apparently selection of 10 DVDs that I brought, we're not to John's liking as I had hoped. And ironically, "frozen" kept freezing. He just was beyond interested even in movies by the end of the trip.

 Poor John really struggled on the evening of the second day. I felt like I was torturing him every time we put them back in the car seat after a rest stop. Just when we were about an hour away. He just lost it! Nothing could soothe him but getting out of the car. And we just couldn't do that 30 minutes away from my destination. Then, when we got just a couple minutes away, we got stopped by the guard in the gated community where Seth's sister Leilani lives. He didn't want to let us in, and I lost it! John was crying and screaming at the top of his lungs, but I just couldn't believe that the guard would not let us in! I told him that we have been driving for 22 hours, and we just needed to get there. When he finally let us in, he told us that John was crying because been sitting too long. I wanted to get out of the car and punch him. 😡

When we arrived at Leilani and Tyler's house. John was almost inconsolable. Even though I was holding him and telling him we were not going to get back in the car, he was just so shaken. It broke my heart. After about 30 more minutes of clinging to me and feeling scared, John settled down, and realized he was in a safe with his cousins and aunt and uncle, whom he really does know, and remember. He started playing with his littler cousins, Miya and Kalia. They ran around the house giggling and laughing, and he seem to forget the whole thing! And he forgave me for not releasing him out of his constraining car seat, even for all of the times when I could do nothing, when he was crying "mama! Please get out! Owie, bottom!"

We are so thankful not to be driving today! And we are truly enjoying relaxing with family in sunny Florida, and are amazed that it is 80° in March 😄

John and Kalia are buddies!

Hooray for Sunny Days

Went to the park today for the first time in  ages!! Hooray for sunny days! 45 degrees  feels so wonderful! Come on spring!!

"I'm like Jesus!"

Regular size spoons just aren't big enough for john!

This little sweetheart came up to me today with my scarf on his head, and said "I'm like Jesus!" In many ways he truly is :-)

14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 19:14

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/19?lang=eng

Who knew?

John loves eating frozen corn, just like his aunt Claire!

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On a note of gratitude, God has blessed me so much today! I have been having a really hard time trying to get doctors appointments, and dentist appointments, and pediatrician appointments, etc. for us before we leave for summer internship. Today I had one breakthrough! I got John into a wonderful pediatrician who is "not taking new patients!" It was amazing :-) I really have not been happy with her pediatrician. I know the Lord pulled some strings for me there.

Also, I have been really concerned about what we are going to do about medical insurance this summer. And I didn't know how I could even find anyone to talk to you. But I felt ideas come to my mind of where I could go to find information, and God led me to a friend who knew someone I could talk to, and she helped me figure out my dilemma! It's a miracle! We're going to be fine :-) We will have insurance, and it will all be okay. I am so thankful!

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And, today, Seth came home and told me, "This quarter, I want to change my focus. I feel like I have just been concentrating on getting good grades. But I haven't been having much fun.... And I want to really focus on just learning. Having the experiences that I came here to have. I am sure I will do well enough if I just focus on learning as much as I can. Then I don't have to worry so much about grades, or competing. That will help me feel happier."

I am so proud of him!!! He is growing so much.

Mr. Personality

This little boy is so fun!

John loves to play his pretend trumpet!

A Place of Love and Beauty

This week, I went to the temple. (I try to go every week whenever I can, since we live so close to the temple now). I love the temple. In one of John's favorite songs, "I Love to See the Temple," it calls the temple "A place of love and beauty," and I truly felt that. not just on the outside is the temple beautiful, but on the inside. It not just that though. The people who are in the temple make it beautiful, maybe not because they look like super models, but just because they are full of goodness and light and kindness and joy. When I was leaving, one of the nice women that was working with me in the temple, a temple worker (a volunteer who spends about 6 hours every other week, helping people in the temple - a wonderful job!!), said to me with such sincerity, "Oh thank you so much for being here! You are so lovely! You have such a pretty face." On that day, I wasn't wearing any make-up, and hadn't even gotten a shower in that day, but she thought I was beautiful. I hope that was partly because of the way I am on the inside. I hope that I can add to the beauty and love in the temple. I felt so much love there. Everything we do in the temple is because of love.

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It snowed a whole heap this morning, and the roads were deemed unsafe. Church was cancelled. We live in an amazing place, in which more than half of the tenants are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some of our friends, the Shurtz family, invited everyone who wanted to to join them at there home to have church there. They had already prepared a lesson for the children in their primary class (the children's Sunday School), and their neighbor had already prepared a lesson that she could teach to the adults. So we all got dressed in our Sunday Best (John loves to wear a tie and go to church!) and walked the 7 houses down to the Shurtz' home. It was wonderful! We had an inspiring discussion about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to be a member of this church. It enriches every aspect of my life, and I could not do without it.