The Lamoreaux Family: Our weekend in Utah

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Our weekend in Utah

On April 9, 2010 Bob and I went to Utah overnight to attend his sister Natalie's wedding.

It has been a long time since we have gone away without the kids! We left Friday morning, and I decided to drive at first since I had made a photo book all about Bob, with pictures, quotes and my own thoughts in it, all highlighting a few of the things that I think are wonderful about him. I had made it originally to give to him for Father's day, or our anniversary, but I couldn't wait any longer to show it to him. So, I drove while he read it.

I can "share" this photo book with friends, so if you'd like to see it online, just let me know, and I'll send you the link to view it. I'm rather pleased with how it turned out!

We decided later that it is a great idea to have me drive, because when Bob is driving, he's always focusing on driving, and we don't have great conversations. While I was driving, we talked and talked. It made us both realize that it sure has been a while since we've had a long period of time to just talk about our plans for the future, etc. There isn't anyone in the world that I would rather spend time with than Bob. Being just with him for two whole days was so wonderful!

We got to Salt Lake in time to eat at Costa Vida, it was delicious. Then we went to Hale Center Theater and saw one of our favorite plays, Fiddler on the Roof. The acting was excellent, the stage setup was amazing, and we really enjoyed it. If you ever have a chance to attend a play at Hale Center Theater, make sure you do it.

Then we went to Nan's reception (it was held the evening before her wedding). ...We had fun just being there with most of Bob's siblings. It is always a party when you get the Lamoreauxs together.

I decided beforehand that I needed to just overcome my huge phobia about hotels, and stay in one while we were in Utah. I realized if I kept being so grossed out about the idea of staying in a hotel, we'd never get to go away and have time just to the two of us. So, I looked at bed and breakfasts, but decided to save money and stay at La Quinta in Orem. The pictures on the internet looked really nice, and it definitely looked newer than other hotels I looked at. Well...I still have no desire to ever stay in a hotel again. Next time we go away, I will not worry about saving money. It's not that it was really dirty, but it just didn't seem nice and clean. The colors and decorations were wierd, the carpet looked old, etc. During the night I woke up & thought "Oh! I'm sure they can't wash the pillows every day!" I threw my pillow off the bed and slept without one the rest of the night. I still can't believe I didn't think about that and bring my own pillow!

Saturday we went shopping, drank smoothies, found a place that would still let us order croissants for Nan's luncheon, and then we went to the wedding. Everything went well, except when Bob walked Nan down the aisle, and Bet realized that the camera wasn't working. They told Nan & Bob to start over, so they both immediately began walking backward, so it looked just like they were being "rewinded." It gave us all a good chuckle.

Then we had the wedding luncheon, and went to Nan's house for a while, then we headed over and visited with my Mom and Dad for a short time, and headed home.

It was great to get home. Our kids were angels while we were gone. They had so much fun being in charge of the house. It was spotlessly clean from top to bottom, and they had all had a great time together. They missed gymnastics while we were gone, so on Friday, they brought lots of foam pads down into the family room and had their own gymnastics classes. Aliysa is a great babysitter. She's always willing to watch our children, and she is such a peacemaker that they always are happy and well cared for while we're gone. What lucky parents we are!

We called when we were on our way home, to tell Aliysa and Jace that we got off late and wouldn't be home when we had planned. They wanted to stay up until we got home, but we told them to go to bed. When we got home, we saw this letter on the counter (we get notes like this from Aliysa all the time)

Dear Parents,
Firstly, we wish to let you know that we still love you, even though our hard work and efforts are met with "Go to bed, we do not desire your company."
Yet we do not mind, and hope that this epistle finds you in good health and spirits (let us know).
Secondly, all the petals are falling off your tulips.
Love,
Aliysa and Jace,
(your so called favorite children)

2 comments:

Brittany H said...: Hey it's your cousin, Brittany! I got your blog address from your mom awhile back and I love reading all about you and the kiddos! Sounds like you had fun in Utah. I'm jealous! Congrats on the new baby! We are only a week apart! I'm due June 24!; April 20, 2010 at 11:23 AM
Tara said...: What a great two days...except for the nasty hotel that is.; April 20, 2010 at 6:46 PM

Fill the spiritual needs

“some parents become so expert at filling every physical desire for their children that they begin to suppose that all is well in this life and that their eternal stewardship is progressing right on schedule. … I believe that we must pause and take a careful inventory to determine how well our families are doing spiritually. We could ask how well are we feeding, nurturing, training, and exercising the spirits of our children; or how well have we taught, trained, loved, and inspired our children to build their spiritual muscles and strength? … Remember, eternity is now, not a vague, distant future. We prepare each day, right now, for eternal life. If we are not preparing for eternal life, we are preparing for something else, perhaps something far less.”

–M. Russell Ballard

Pray with your little ones

"Behold your little ones. Pray with them. Pray for them and bless them. The world into which they are moving is a complex and difficult world. They will run into heavy seas of adversity. They will need all the strength and all the faith you can give them while they are yet near you. And they also will need a greater strength which comes of a higher power. They must do more than go along with what they find.

They must lift the world, and the only levers they will have are the example of their own lives and the powers of persuasion that will come of their testimonies and their knowledge of the things of God. They will need the help of the Lord. While they are young, pray with them that they may come to know that source of strength which shall then always be available in every hour of need."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Be Wise In Our Diet

“…let us consider our relationship with ourselves. We must each take proper care to see that the little things regarding our personal life are in order. We must learn to care for our health and our mental well-being. Do we maintain proper exercise to give us the energy and alertness of mind necessary to keep our spirit strong & our attitude positive? Are we wise in our diet? Do we avoid the unnourishing snack that might keep our stomach full but our health quite empty?

–Joseph B. Wirthlin, Finding Peace in Our Lives, p. 59

Turn it off, walk out...

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:

“Tragically, the same computer and Internet service that allows me to do my family history and prepare those names for temple work could, without filters and controls, allow my children or grandchildren access to a global cesspool of perceptions that could blast a crater in their brains forever. . .

“Along with filters on computers and a lock on affections, remember that the only real control in life is self-control. Exercise more control over even the marginal moments that confront you. If a TV show is indecent, turn it off. If a movie is crude, walk out. If an improper relationship is developing, sever it. Many of these influences, at least initially, may not technically be evil, but they can blunt our judgment, dull our spirituality, and lead to something that could be evil. An old proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, so watch your step.” (Place No More For the Enemy of My Soul, April 2010)

Only a teacher

"If any parent needs added inspiration to commence his God-given teaching task, let him remember that the most powerful combination of emotions in the world is not called out by any grand cosmic events nor found in novels or history books—but merely by a parent gazing down upon a sleeping child. That glorious biblical passage, 'created in the image of God,' will acquire new and vibrant meaning as a parent repeats this experience. Home will become a haven called heaven, and loving parents will teach their children 'to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.' (D&C 68:28.)"
--Thomas S. Monson

Quote

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. …”
--C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Raise up patriots

The importance of teaching & training

"In 1904, President Joseph F. Smith said to parents: “Do not let your children out to specialists … , but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth.

… Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with the truth in the gospel of Christ, as revealed and taught to the Latter-day Saints.”

The ideal way to transform your home into a house of learning is to hold family home evening faithfully. The Church has reserved Monday evening for that purpose. In 1915, the First Presidency instructed local leaders and parents to inaugurate a home evening, a time when parents should teach their families the principles of the gospel.

The Presidency wrote: “If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influence and temptations which beset them.”

President David O. McKay gave the same promise in 1965 and added that the youth will gain power “to choose righteousness and peace, and be assured an eternal place in the family circle of our Father.”

In 1976, the Presidency reaffirmed that “regular participation in family home evening will develop increased personal worth, family unity, love for our fellowmen, and trust in our Father in heaven.

Considering these glorious promises, we would expect every faithful member to be exceedingly diligent in following this prophetic counsel. But, of course, we are all human, and our best plans don’t always materialize. Why not? Let it not be for lack of commitment."

--Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, Spiritually Strong Homes and Families

Our Health Duty

“I am grateful to understand that my physical body is an eternal component of my eternal soul, and that I have a duty to honor and respect and care for it, and to refrain from knowingly imposing upon it any treatment or substances deleterious to it. While I could not choose nor govern the condition of the body into which I came, I have the responsibility to give it the best care I can, and if I do not I am acting in derogation of a great gift of God.”
--Marion D. Hanks, “For Man is Spirit”

Come to the Temple

"The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Just as this is the dispensation of the fullness of times, so it is also the dispensation of the fullness of evil. There is no safety in the world: wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot assure it, membership in this church alone cannot bring it. We must come to the temple for light and safety. There are hosts of unseen sentinels watching over and guarding our temples. There will come a period of time when even the elect will lose hope if they do not come to the temples. They will long to bring their children here for safety's sake. The covenants and ordinances will fill us with faith as a living fire. In a day of desolating sickness, scorched earth, barren wastes, sickening plagues, disease, destruction, and death: we as a people will rest in the shade of trees, we will drink from the cooling fountain. We will abide in places of refuge from the storm, we will mount up as on eagle's wings."
--Vaughn J. Featherstone