The Moral Forest

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, who is also a young mother, and she told me that she feels selfish for not wanting to leave her infant with a baby sitter. I felt like a fish, because I went boop boop just like a fish getting air, until I could think of something to say. It really bothered me, and I was thinking about it all afternoon, and even as I was falling to sleep that night. Then I started awake at around 4am. I had been dreaming about The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, the Lorax is the forest's voice, and when an enterprising young businessman starts wiping out a forest of truffula trees, the Lorax explains to the young punk that he's not just cutting down a pretty grove of trees, he's affecting the birds who live in the trees, the bears who eat the truffula fruit, the fish whose pond is shaded by the trees, and on and on. At the end of the story, the Lorax entrusts the reader with a packet of truffula seeds, and asks him to repair the harm that's been done.
What does this have to do with a young mother who feels obliged to detach herself from her infant? When I talked to her a little more, she guessed that it was really our messed-up society that gave her the idea that her protective feelings toward her baby are selfish, and she should toughen up and do what everybody has to do - abandon her kid. I firmly believe that our society has chopped down the moral forest that used to protect us from crazy notions like that. All this wonderful progress, all these beautiful gadgets, all these entertaining gizmos come at a devastating price if we're not smart about how we use them. If the businessman had been smart about harvesting the truffula trees, he could have taken some, and replanted and pruned the trees, and the businessman and the forest could both have benefited. Getting, getting, getting progress without sober reflection and planning can be caustic to the foundation of civilization.
We've certainly had plenty of Loraxesque prophets to warn us of the dangers ahead. In the 60's Paul VI warned of the dangers of birth control in his encyclical Humanae Vitae. I don't think birth control is the problem, I think selfishness is the problem, but he recognized that the ability to have small families and therefore more disposable income would drastically change society. In 1995, the Mormon Church released The Family, a Proclamation to the World. In that statement, the First Presidency of the Church urged society to protect the family, and spelled out exactly what the family is - a mother, a father and children.
I wonder if it's not too late. When a beautiful young mother questions her own mothering instincts, I wonder if the moral forest that sustained us all hasn't already disapeared.

And What Am I Supposed to Do About This??

The Geists' Garden

Joanne and Elton Geist are a wonderful couple we go to church with. A couple times a year, I get a call inviting the kids and I to come share in the bounty of their incredible garden. Yesterday, Joanne invited us to come pick thornless blackberries. The kids love this because the berries are huge and the vines are scratch-free. Once the girls had gathered all the low-hanging berries, Joanne took them for a tour of the garden and let them pick beets and tomatoes. Here they are showing of their produce -

...and checking out the donkeys -


Nathan was a trooper. He had to stay in the pack the whole time. Now that he's mobile, that gets boring pretty quick. He did actually pick a few green berries and try to shove them in his mouth. I'm too quick for him ;)

Wouldn't It Be Cool If Healthcare Was Just Like the DMV?

House Republicans just released this flow chart to demonstrate the bureaucratic horror Democrat government-run health care would be. See what our kids have to look forward to?

Growing Like Weeds

Another boring post for all our fans, but one I want to be able to look back at when the kids are older.

Eve – 43.25” 48th percentile for height
35 pounds 9th percentile for weight

Sadie – 38” 3rd percentile for height
32 pounds 10th percentile for weight

Liberty – 32.5” 3rd percentile for height
26 pounds 25th percentile for weight

Nathan – 27” 74th percentile for height
16 pounds 25th percentile for weight

Busted

I don't usually like to put stories on here about the kids getting in trouble, because it seems kind of rude, but this one I have to share. A couple days ago, I brought the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's, next door, and they were all whining, so I sent them outside to play. After a while, I could hear Libi screaming bloody murder, so I went out to check, and she was standing on the lip of the bed of Ben's truck, body splayed out on the back window of the cab, and fingers gripping the edge of the roof - hopelessly stuck. I gave her a little swat on her biscuits before I helped her down, and asked the girls what the HECK was going on. Eve told me that Libi was just trying to do what Sadie did. Hmmmmm. Sadie had been climbing on Daddy's roof and sliding down the windshield. I tried to disguise my laughter with a few coughs, but I lost it when Sadie came running over, pulled up her skirt and offered her rear for the inevitable swat. I turned my back to put my stern face on, then told Sadie we'd better go look at Daddy's windshield to make sure she didn't break it. She knew there was a huge crack in it and told me, "I didn't do that; some knuckle-heads broke Daddy's windshield." At that point, I had to go inside and have a good laugh.

Orifices, Part II

Well, I guess the rice crispy episode was a bit too painless. This morning Liberty came to me saying, "Way way in my noe!" No way, we just did this! At first I couldn't see it. A black raisin is hard to find in a dark little hole, but she kept insisting it was in there, and eventually, I found it. This time blowing didn't work, and I had to ask Monica to come over and help me hold her down and hold the flashlight while I dug around. It did come out after a little screaming, and sad as it sounds, I hope her nose is sore for a few days. If this continues I'm not going to be able to DIY (do-it-yourself) anymore. The objects are getting deeper and bigger.

Star Valley Vacation

We went on a week-long vacation to Star Valley, WY at the end of June. I don't really have the time to tell every little detail, but here's the visit in pictures -
Ben had to work a couple days.
Enjoying lunch in Uncle Steve's front yard.
Parks there just aren't the same.
I sat down to feed Nathan, and when I looked up, I saw this. I was too busy trying to be available to catch her if she fell to take any more pictures. She did just fine and was ready to try it again!

We visited Teton Nat'l Park early early early one morning, and stopped at Colter Bay for a picnic breakfast and to visit the Indian Art Museum.



Bison -

Those are elk!The Tetons -
My favorite part of the Valley, up by Smoot -
Steve's front yard in the early morning -


Steve's back yard at sunset -


My favorite evening of the whole trip was when we went to a bbq with a couple families who are friends with Steve. The kids had a blast playing 13 different kinds of tag, and we thoroughly enjoyed the grown-ups.