The Whitsunday Adventure

One night, nearly a year ago, Robert whispered "For my 40th birthday, I think it would be really great to sail the Whitsundays". Thus began the adventure that ended not a bit as we thought it would. What could be more romantic then spending a whole week alone with your best friend and husband. We prepared well by taking a class, organizing a sail guide for a day, reading 3 different books, practicing tying knots and avoiding any movies or books involving death or storms at sea. I bought the cute new swim togs, sunglasses, organized the food and had everything perfect.

The night we were leaving was deceptively calm. We knew the forecast called for a little wind, but you can't sail without wind, right? We also saw that a few showers were forecast as well. No big deal, you sail to another side of the island and it will be clear, right?

The next morning was a little brisk, but we boldly sailed forth with our sail guide, Kate, and our skipper, Robert, at the helm. We hoisted the main sail, learned to tie reefs in the line and felt comfortable with the wind and the waves. We dropped Kate at Daydream Island and headed for Nara Inlet. 

You can't imagine what it is like to be so involved in the lives of 6 children and a husband, and suddenly to not have that responsibility. Robert's sister had flown over from the states to stay with the monkeys. The isolation was wonderful. Robert would tell you that the food was one of the best parts of the vacation. I had planned some great meals and as I'm used to cooking for 8, we had a great deal of food. 

After the visit to the Aboriginal Caves at Nara Inlet by the Ngaro people, we tried to tie off at another, rockier shore. We had bought beautiful reef shoes to explore the shores, which we forgot on the boat. I learned first-hand why people wear reef shoes on the rocks and spent the remainder of the trip with the bottom's of my feet in band-aids. 

It started to rain shortly after that and rained that night although our night was relatively calm in this inlet. The next morning dawned overcast and we made our way out of the inlet and up the western coast of Hook Island. We hoisted sail around the point and had a good time riding the wind on a beam reach. Just a little rocky as the wind had picked up some. We went a little farther out to sea to pull in the sails as we planned to moor and do a little snorkeling. The ropes wrapped a little around the headsail, but we felt we had everything tied up, so headed into shore. Suddenly a large gust of wind ripped the headsail out with ropes flinging everywhere. The ropes got more tangled and neither of us knew what to do. The wind was blowing at 25 knots and we were having all sorts of trouble keeping the boat headed into the wind. I haven't prayed so hard in a very long time. I am certain the Lord answered my prayers when the sails suddenly caught wind in the right direction and untangled the ropes from the sail. We were able to pull the headsail in and that was the end of our sailing.

We made it to shore and did some snorkeling. It was very cold! Luckily we had wetsuits on. The coral was every brilliant blue, orange, green, yellow, pink you could imagine. The fish were amazing colors and designs. My favorite was the Emperor, a large, bright, red fish with white mouth. After motoring back to Stonehaven, we spent a very rocky night on board Fizzle-gig. But, the food was good! The next morning we attempted to go back to Nara Inlet where we might at least get a better night sleep. Robert, as skipper, bravely took us out in 30 knot winds around the point. The waves were pounding our ship with force and we came crashing over 3-4 meter waves. We finally made the decision to head back to our moor at Stonehaven and radio for a rescue. We spent that day moored at Stonehaven and explored the shore. There were definitely breaks in the clouds and when we could get out of the wind, the sun was quite pleasant. We found a sanctuary for beautiful butterflies and saw prints from a wallaby.

After another rocky night, I was determined to get home, so took the helm and held on tight through the point where the waves were most rocky. I didn't want to let Robert take the wheel as I knew he would most likely turn back and I wanted to get back. All I could do was to sing. I sang every hymn I could think of. Finally, I got us around the point and to a place I felt Robert wouldn't turn back and let him at it. I sat at the top of the stairs and just tried to keep from getting sick. The wind picked up more than 30 knots and the swells were up to 4 meters high. We would get rocked nearly on one side only to be picked up on the other, then come crashing down on top of the waves. We were now going wind over tide which means we were against the wind and the tide was going against the wind. This made for a very rocky ride. At one point, one of the cupboard latches came loose and all the plates and dishes came crashing down and shattered on the floor. As I tried to salvage the dishes that hadn't completely been destroyed, I had to come above board where I efficaciously lost my breakfast.

We made it back to the marina in one piece. The best part of the adventure was that evening after we had gone on a walk and had dinner. We talked about the kinds of things going through our minds as we were fearing for our lives. We laughed for a good half hour and continued to giggle all evening long.

We came home to a house full of sick kids, grey skies and the coldest June Brisbane has seen since 1973. As Kyle (9-year-old) put it to Ingrid when she got back from taking us to the airport to find milk and cereal all over the floor "And you thought you were coming on vacation..."

Sometimes life doesn't go exactly as planned, but in the end all you can do is laugh! I'm glad I have my best friend to laugh with.

Coming soon....All the incredible anecdotes and analogies Robert and I thought up as a result of this adventure. It should keep us with plenty of material for talks and lessons for a very long time.

Oh, and maybe you're asking, boy...will they ever sail again? The morning of our departure we woke up to clear skies and waters and were both thinking, "Maybe we ought to take her out."

Faith

Here is THE FABULOUS PLAN FOR RAISING SPIRITUAL, WELL-BEHAVED AND CIVILIZED CHILDREN. This is the Faith installment. Of course, this plan is still in the beginning stages and is as yet completely tested, but it's better than nothing. Let me know how it works for you.

Develop a Testimony of Jesus Christ

Scripture Study

Age 0-3 – Be there during scripture study, tell stories from the scriptures

Age 3-5 – Read scriptures with family repeating after parent

Age 6 – Read as much as possible with family on own during family scripture study

Age 8 –

1. Receive first copy of scriptures with much pomp and circumstance
2. Personal scripture study begins with Book of Mormon – Reads with a buddy (devotional with older sibling or with mom or dad) Can be on own next to buddy. Buddy teaches child how to study properly, marking, journaling, praying. Set a time daily to do this and set timer so it only takes a set amount of time (10 minutes)
3. Continue Family scripture study

Age 12 – Continue personal scripture study on own

Age 14 –

1. Begin Seminary
2. Start a Seminary journal if haven’t already and write thoughts about what you are reading
3. Memorize Scripture Mastery (10 minutes a day following scripture study time, set a timer)

Prayer

Age 0-3 –

1. Pray for them
2. Allow them to be there during family prayers
3. Tell them often that Jesus and Heavenly Father love them
4. Show them pictures often of Jesus telling them who it is and that they are loved

Age 2-6 –

1. All the above
2. Parent pray with child, giving them words to repeat.
3. Parent models proper prayer terms and things to pray for; 3 things to be grateful, 3 things to ask for self, 3 things to ask for someone else
4. Include child in family prayer queue
5. Give them opportunities to pray for food, etc

Age 6

1. All the above
2. Pray aloud at bedtime and in the morning

Church Attendance

Age 0-3 –

1. Taken out of meetings only if very fussy.
2. Sits on lap in hallway, no playing in Nursery.
3. No snacks during Sacrament Meeting

Age 3-7 –

1. Attends Primary activities
2. Quiet drawing and sew cards, etc allowed after Sacrament
3. Reverence expected during Sacrament, may lean on Mom or Dad but not lie on bench

Age 8-12

1. All of the Above
2. Faith in God –  at least15 minutes every Sunday
3. Sits up during Sacrament Meeting. No leaning.
4. Scouts or Achievement Days Attendance

Age 12

1. Personal Progress/Duty to God
2. Attend all mutual activities and service projects
3. No reading or activities during Sacrament Meeting. Quietly listening to speakers. May take notes

***Confession: No, I don't do all of these things with my children, but I do some of them and I think I would like to do all of them, but as mentioned earlier, there is simply not enough time in the day, so try a few. It can't hurt***

The three most important things you can do with your family to increase faith is
1. Family Prayer
2. Family Scripture Study
3. Family Home Evening
Actually, I would probably add Family Dinner to that as well.

Tips for Successful Marriage

So, Robert was giving me a hard time the other night about trying to give people advice on marriage and family. I've stopped writing in my blog because of that in the past. I never wanted anyone to think I had it all figured out and I never wanted anyone to feel that I thought I did. But, recently, I’ve come to the determination that if everyone felt that way, only the arrogant would ever publish a book, write a talk or a lesson. So, at the risk of feeling as if I've come off as being arrogant, I'll share the few things that have helped me in my marriage, realizing that no two people, nor two marriages are the same. Still, if nobody ever wrote down what worked for them, nobody would ever benefit except the person it worked for (does that make any sense?).

1. Your spouse cannot make you happy. - I learned this shortly after I was married. I thought once we were married, I would blissfully trot off with Robert into a garden of perpetual joy where he would shower me with praise, think all my ideas were the best he had ever heard, agree with me on everything and do everything he could to make me happy. Well, the truth is, Robert did everything he could to make me happy. And, he continues to do everything he can to make me happy. Then, why was I not always blissfully happy? It came as quite the revelation to me one day in the depths of my despair that Robert wasn't in charge of making me happy. Only I could make myself happy. Happiness is a choice. Sometimes people may say unkind things to you or sometimes even your spouse will disappoint you, but it is how you react that makes the difference in your life. If someone hurts your feelings for some reason, so what? Will it make anyone feel any better to belittle or make them feel bad about themselves? Let it go! Choose to be happy.

2. Selfishness always kills the relationship. The golden rule applies here. Try it for a while and see what happens. If you want him to show you more respect, show him more respect. If you want him to speak more softly to you, speak more softly to him. If you want him to be more tender with you, be more tender with him. Think of his needs before you think of your own. You might feel in the beginning that you are getting walked over, but don’t despair, unless you’re married to a tyrant (and then sometimes, even if you are), it will be reciprocated. You don’t have anything to lose for trying it out. Be less selfish. Charity is the antithesis of selfishness. If you serve and care for a person with all your heart, you will love that person. It doesn’t always matter if they love you back, but it will make you happier to have good feelings for that person.

3. Never stop flirting! Remember what it was like to fall in love with your husband, and use some of the same tactics you used then. They will still work. Send him love notes in his lunchbox or work bag. Call him during the day just to say “I love you”. Sometimes when Robert kisses me, I’ll say “Can I have another please?” Do it, even if you don’t currently feel that way about him. There was a time in my marriage when things sort of started to go stale. We’d been married for about 10 years and with 3 young kids around, I wasn’t really flirting and not even that interested most of the time. I read a book by Merrilee Boyack-Browne called “Strangling Your Husband is Not an Option”. I highly recommend this book to anyone in the same predicament. It reminded me among other things to fall in love with my husband again. From that moment on, our marriage continued to improve and continues to get better with the years.

4. Practice Communicating. Find things that are interesting to both of you and talk about it together. Stay up to date on news or books so you feel smart, and talk about the things you’re learning with your spouse. Caution: Men can only concentrate on one thing at a time (i.e. Men have boxes in their brains and women have a ball of wire--See Mark Gungor’s talk on Men’s Brain, Women’s Brain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BxckAMaTDc). So, if your husband is busy working on something else, wait until he has finished and then talk to him. If you’re not interested in anything he is interested in, choose something!! I read The Wall Street Journal and discuss articles I read with my husband. It comes in handy too, when I’m talking to professional people who think I’m “just a mom”. I think I sometimes surprise people that I know something about current events. If he’s more into sports, get into sports. I have sisters and sisters-in-law that are bigger sports fans than their husbands and they are able to share the passion with their husband. Yes, you may have to sacrifice some of your passions to get to know his, but isn’t a good marriage about sacrifice? And, yes you will think it is one sided, but it’s not. He is sacrificing for you whether you always see it or not.

5. Don’t ever sleep on the couch or make him sleep on the couch. Have a rule that you will always work it out before you go to sleep. This was Robert’s rule, not mine. But, he is right, and even though I generally need a little more time to let it go, I am always glad to wake up next to him in the morning after we’ve worked things out.

6. Even if you don’t feel like being intimate, do it anyway and decide to enjoy it. If you are enjoying it, he will. ‘nuff said!

7. Learn your spouse’s love language and use it. You can refer to a wonderful book by Gary Chapman “The Five Love Languages”. It really does work.

8. When arguing, try to avoid using infinitives like always and never. They will always come back to haunt you.

9. You will not agree on everything. Pick what is really important to you and work towards a compromise, listening to your spouse’s arguments and being humble enough to adjust when necessary. Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t always right and my ideas weren’t always the best idea. I also went through a period where I felt I was never right and that was frustrating. I shared this with Robert and he has since tried to help me see when I am right.

The one thing Robert wants more than anything is for me to be happy. When I’m happy, he is. When he sees me happy, he does more things to continue this pattern, thus improving our marriage. Don’t ever manipulate your husband, (remember charity). But, understanding this pattern can change things around for you. Don’t worry if everything isn’t completely fair. Life is not fair from our vantage point. In the end things will even out though. You can’t give without receiving in the end as long as receiving is not the reason you give.

One of the best books I have ever read on relationships is “Bonds that Make us Free” by Terry Warner. What I got from this book was that charity is the key to all relationships. If you look at a person in the very best light, give them the opportunity to change and become better, you will develop better relationships because people tend to try to measure up to your expectations. I know that I am constantly working on ways to improve myself. I believe everybody is doing the same thing. Whether it’s true or not is irrelevant. If it changes your view of that person, you will come out better.

Family Values

I was talking to a friend of mine at rugby tonight. We started talking about values and passing them on to your children. I told her that we have a definite plan for our children and it makes certain issues easier to deal with. For instance, I told her, we don't have to worry as much about the kind of movies our young kids watch because we have a rule that if you're not 13 or older, you don't watch PG-13 movies. Of course, there are always a few PG movies I have problems with too, so we take those on a case by case basis. She asked me what I do when all their friends get to watch the movie, and they don't, and I told her they just don't get to watch it and it's too bad. They don't really miss anything. I don't get too hung up on peer pressure.

Of course, I told her my children weren't perfect and we were definitely a work in progress. It's a good thing I made that disclaimer because not 5 minutes later, Ammon punched another kid in the face. We have since determined he was not angry, just being silly. We're working a little on his impulsiveness though.

Anyway, I thought I'd share our family values here. I am currently making a list of how to teach these values to your children. They will be forthcoming on this blog.

1. Faith
2. Charity - Service/Family Relationships/Communication
3. Responsibility - this was a big one for my dad
4. Integrity
5. Hard Work
6. Uplifting Music
7. Education
8. Wholesome Recreation
9. Talent Development
10. Health

I might add or change this list as necessary, but I believe most of what I want my children to learn in life is contained in this list. I'll explain in future blogs how I apply these things in my home.

I think it's vital to have a plan when raising a family. Of course, the destination is the most important thing, so looking at where you want to end up, is a good idea. Personally, I want all my children to be happily married to someone they love, have a good job that they enjoy doing, enjoy being around their parents and siblings and to be faithful in church service with a firm testimony of Christ. That would make me truly happy. Once the destination is determined, you just walk backward from there to make the list of things that are most important to your family.

Rambutan

I had a Rambutan the other day. It tastes a little like a Lichee sweet and a little slimy. Maybe compares to a grape? Very tasty once you get the outer shell off.

Being Famous

Angie sent me an e-mail that I thought deserved a spot on the blog:

Yes, yes, we mothers may not live a glamorous life, but it's better than fame any day. (Okay, so MOST days.) But I was also thinking this morning that you could argue that good mothers are actually more famous than any starlet of the big screen. I mean, consider your Mom. Brett and I were doing the math the other day, and she has 12 children and 30 grandchildren - let's say she ends up with 50 grandkids. If each of them average just 3 kids each, that's 150 great-grandkids. Another generation would be 450 great-great grandchildren. So now the total of blood offspring is at 662. And that's just 4 generations. Not to mention all of the spouses in there - that doubles the total! You keep going and the numbers are mind-boggling. Generations and generations of people will all rise up and call her blessed! I don't think any earthly position or accomplishment can hold a candle to the kind of fame and veneration only a mother (or parent) can achieve. A few generations from now all but a very few "famous" people will have been LONG forgotten. But not us mothers. Hah!


LOVE IT!!!!

Why It's Better to Be a Mom Than to be Famous

I started a notebook for Ashlee. I wanted her to know that it is better to be a mom than to be famous. Sometimes, I feel less important than others because I'm up to my armpits in stinky (I mean really stinky) laundry. It's not very glamorous. Still, I know that doing the laundry, cooking for my family, being there when my children get home from school and tucking them in before they go to bed has to be done, so why should I be miserable doing it. Thus, the notebook. I have to look at the bright side.

So, here is my list for today:
1. Going for a run with no paparazzi after me and listening to messages of inspiration
2. Coming home to the 3-year-old helping the 1-year-old pour milk in cereal
3. The 3-year-old cleaning up the milk spill off the floor
4. Listening to the piano, clarinet and violin all being played at the same time in different locations throughout the house.
5. Noticing that the violin isn't as screechy as it used to be.
6. The clarinet isn't as squeaky
7. The piano is being played nearly in rhythm
8. Being able to get my very stubborn 6-year-old to practice piano up to my standard
9. Making the executive decision to turn around after walking down the hill to school after the 3-year-old screamed the entire way down because it's too hard to walk and then not picking him up once. He came home with a smile on his face.
10. Playing people toys for 10 minutes with the boys before jumping in the car
11. Dropping off the generous donations from church members for the Homeless Connect Event in Brisbane
12. 3-year-old making a sandwich for 1-year-old
13. 2 hours to chip away at my to do list while the kids nap
14. Making the executive decision to go to the park with the kids instead of making bread for dinner. Picked it up on the way home
15. Deciding to not be ashamed that "yes, I do bake bread and I'm not afraid to admit it"
16. Being able to persuade a bad attitude out of the 12-year-old to have Family Home Evening
17. Having a good discussion about standing up for what's right even if you have to stand alone
18. Hard is Good - motto for the day!