SNOW!

The Wisdom of Children

I've mentioned our annual desert trip. I failed to mention how much we love this trip and look forward to it every single year. This is a BIG family reunion involving several generations of my husbands family. There are usually about 130-150 people who camp out in the desert for 3 days and 4 nights. We all have such a great time 4-wheeling and riding the trails all over this area where my husband's ancestors lived. It is a really sacred place for the family.

This years trip was wonderful and fun right up until Saturday, the last full day we had on our trip. My husband's cousin's wife was killed in a tragic 4-wheeling accident. The details are unimportant. She was wearing a helmet. It was a complete accident, and we all know that nothing could have been done to prevent it and that knowledge has been comforting. Even still it has been so very hard for all of us, most especially her husband.

The day that we got home from the desert, with the pain of Marina's death fresh in my heart, I got on Facebook to see what had been said about her death. Word had spread fast. Between Marina's page and her husbands, so many people had said so many kind things about her.

As I read these wonderful things about Marina, I cried and cried and cried. My sweet short one asked me why I was crying. I asked him if he remembered Marina. He's only five, but he has an incredible memory, so I knew he would.  He said that he did remember her so I explained to him that she had died and I was sad because I was going to miss her. Then he said to me with the wisdom of a five year old, "But, mom, she'll rise with living breath."

I'm so grateful for my sweet short one. I hope he never forgets the knowledge he has of Heavenly Father and eternal life.

This post is in loving memory of Marina Toffanelli-Birch. You were a bright spot of sunshine in our lives for the short time we had you. We miss you dearly.

The Escape Artist

Every year, one weekend in October, my husband's family and extended family go camping out in the desert of Southern Nevada where his grandmother was born and where his great grandparents and great great grandparents lived. This is a family reunion that lasts for several days with about 130 people. It's great fun! We just got back from this year's trip a week ago, and there are many stories to tell.

One afternoon while we were camping, the shortest one was doing the head bob during lunch. He was so tired he just could not stay awake. So after lunch my husband put him down for a nap in our tent and then my husband went off to go shooting with his cousins. The shortest one fussed for a bit and then was quiet, so I assumed all was well. Yes, that was my mistake. But in mydefense, that's how it works at home.

So a little while later, here comes the shortest one walking around the end of my husband's uncle's trailer. My brother-in-law had just been over by our tent, so I asked him if he let the shortest one out. He said he hadn't but he'd heard him rustling around by the door. I thought, oh no, the tent must be destroyed inside!

So I went to our tent to see what the damage was. The door was still zipped. I unzipped it and went inside. The tent was fine except that the portable crib was tipped over. So this is what I deduced had happened. The shortest one had rocked the portable crib until it tipped over, which wasn't extremely hard to do since it was on uneven ground in a tent. Then he had shimmied out under the door of the tent.

After that we just didn't put him down for a nap while we were camping. It just worked out better that way.

A Trashcan?

For a while our dishwasher became a collector of odd things. The shortest one decided that it was his personal garbage receptacle. We would find fruit snack wrappers, cereal bar wrappers, whatever garbage he could get his hands on. He had yet to figure out how to open doors, so this was the easiest place for him to dispose of trash. I suppose we should have been grateful that he would "throw stuff away," but occasionally (like when my hubby would run the dishwasher) we wouldn't find the wrappers or whatever until after the dishwasher had been ran. In those cases we were left with a bit of a mess. Still pretty stinking funny.

A couple of months ago he discovered how to open doors. It's been downhill since then. He's great at bringing me fruit snacks to open, terrible at throwing them away. :)