The weekend...cherries, the temple and Dr.Laura

...kind of a strange title, but encompasses all the events and thrills we experienced over the weekend.  

Cody is so tired of the birds eating all our cherries every year, he is pulling out all the guns...literally.  It started out with him and Goldie standing watch with a pellet gun, trying to shoot the birds out (it doesn't hurt them, just stings a bit...we are hoping that they will tell all their bird friends not to go near that tree!)  But that method was quite time consuming and probably not very kind.  So, he hung cd's from the branches and when that didn't really work, hung the net over it and placed the owl on the ladder.  Kind of a funny contraption, but we haven't seen any birds today!  Maybe we will actually get to taste our first cherry from that tree in the over 5 years since we planted it!

Now the owl can stand guard!

On saturday, we went to the Oquirrh mountain temple open house.  Just as we were running into the temple (running because it was raining...well, pouring actually) lightening struck the angel moroni.  hmmm...not sure what that means.  They still let us in!

true story...the proof is in the picture!

I wrote a letter to Dr. Laura and they posted it on her website.  I thought it was pretty cool, so here it is!  (If you want to see if I am telling the truth, go on her website, letters from listeners and the letter generations of at-home moms)

Dear Dr. Laura 

My husband and I have been long-time listeners and have read several of your books.  We are so grateful for your advice.  We have a wonderful marriage because of you!  I appreciate your support for at-home-moms and love hearing from women who have made the change to stay home with their kids.  You did not influence me though; I have to admit…I have to give that credit to my mother.  She stayed at home with my 6 siblings and me for over 30 years (There is a 22 year age difference between the oldest and the youngest).  She has always been such a great example to me.  She fell out of a tree at the age of 12 and broke both of her legs and her back.  She was in traction for 6 months and had to learn to walk again.  She proceeded to graduate from college, marry and have 8 children (she lost a 2 month old baby).  She was a stay-at-home mom for all those years, teaching us how to take care of the home, garden, sew, cook, etc.  As she sat next to me during my son’s graduation, I looked at her hands.  At first I thought how old they looked and how she has lost partial use of them.  And then I saw how much her hands have accomplished through the years, how she nurtured her babies and grandbabies.  How she used to be so strong and could open any jar.  I saw her tender touches and firm scoldings.  I learned how to be a mom from her.  But I can’t forget to mention my dad and how hard he worked for us.  They were a great team.  My parents have given us a tremendous amount of support through the years as we raise our family.

I have loved being a stay-at-home mom for 18 years to my 4 children!  My oldest just graduated from high school and I have been thinking a lot about the decisions my husband and I have made together in the past 18 years.  We have made many sacrifices to be a team and make our family the number one priority.  My husband has worked hard to provide for us so I could stay home with our children.  We live in a smaller home, but one that we can afford easily.  We don’t go on luxury vacations, but choose take our kids snow skiing and boating instead.  We eat dinner together as a family, eating nutritious homemade meals instead of going out to dinner.  We take our children to church on Sundays instead of the movies.

The other day, my son and I had fun as we went through the family scrapbooks and talked about his life growing up. (Well, I was trying not to cry and hide the sniffles) We talked about so many of the fun things we did as a family.  He is 18 now and I am thrilled to say he is a great MAN who is willing to work hard, cares about helping others, and also happens to be smart and good-looking.  He is leaving for college knowing that he cannot be serious about a woman for a long time, and who is not willing to read “The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands”!

I am sad to say that my job is done, but I have NO REGRETS!  I do not wish I worked outside the home so that we could have a bigger house, or he could have better clothes, etc.  I got to see him take his first steps, say his first words, lose his first tooth, make the baseball team and kiss his head when he was sick or hurt.  I was always there for him.  I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything!  I can look at his life and know that we gave him the best so that he could be the best! (whew! One down, 3 to go!)

Some people say that women are not ambitious and I have to disagree.  The definition of ambition is “the strong desire to do or achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work”.  I would say that defines a stay-at-home mom!  I had a strong desire to raise 4 wonderful children to become useful members of society and I know I have accomplished that (with at least one so far).  I was determined to learn how to economize, make healthy food on a small budget, recover furniture, and even drywall so that we could have a beautiful home and family on my husband’s salary.  And we worked hard!  It wasn’t always easy, but it was worth every sacrifice we made to hear my 18-year-old son tell me he had a great childhood!  Thanks Dr. Laura for your support and advice.  You are amazing.  Oh, and by the way, I AM my kids’ mom AND my husband’s GIRLFRIEND!

Love, Caroline