Broken Eggs, Laundry, and Love Notes

For the last few days I have had a mounting pile of clean laundry to fold. My poor kids (and myself) have had to pick out our clothes from the pile and hope that they weren't too wrinkled to wear. So after my plans changed for the morning (I couldn't volunteer at Chad's class today as my friend was too sick to watch Halle and Sean) I decided I would finally conquer the mountain of clothes. Whahoo, what an exciting way to start off the day. I love laundry!!!!! (Make sure you say that last line with a hint of sarcasm).

As I was folding away, I noticed that the house was quiet, always a tell-tell sign that something is wrong. So as I went upstairs to see where Sean was I wasn't too surprised to see him up too no good again. My first hint of trouble was when I saw the refrigerator door open, then as I went further into the kitchen I saw my son bent over a carton of broken eggs. This is not an unusual thing in our house. For some reason Sean is just obsessed with eggs. (I have heard of AAA, but I am wondering if there is an EEE : Exsessive Eggs with Extreme mess.) Luckily, he had actually broken them all and contained the mess in the egg carton. Usually he just starts flinging eggs around the kitchen and it is quite the joy to clean up afterwards.

Unfortunately, I will have to take a little blame on this one. Last night for FHE we were discussing how being obedient like Nephi helps to keep you strong. So for a demonstration I let the kids drop a raw egg into a bowl and watch it splat open - representing not being obedient. Then I let them drop hard boiled eggs into a bowl and see how they didn't splat open - representing the strength we get from God when we are obedient. So, I guess Sean was just trying to have FHE again - it is nice to know that he was paying attention to at least one part of the lesson.

I had all but forgotten the egg incidence until I started preparing dinner tonight. As I opened my cupboard to grab a bowl, I noticed 4 more broken eggs in the bowl. I am glad I discovered that today and not several days from now. Gotta love that Sean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This afternoon I meet with some of my friends and their kids at the Children's Museum in downtown Spokane. It was so great to talk to adults and have a safe place for my kids to play and burn off some of their energy. They were also super excited that they had friends to play with there. Sean spent most of his time with the two displays that had water. Needless to say he was soaking wet when I brought him home.

I think the greatest part of my day were the love notes I received. Halle loves to color and write her ABCs. So throughout my day today Halle keep delivering me pictures and notes. She would sneak quietly into what ever room I was in, wait until I was turned away or not noticing her, then she would quickly throw the note in my direction and run away with a faint giggle following her trail. It is nice to be loved! It is nice to have kids that love me pretty unconditionally. It makes being a mom all worth it sometimes.




The kids beating on their dad. I am glad that is how they show their love for him. Me, I am happy with the love notes.

How a Sunday Should Be

Yesterday, Sunday, was an amazing day.

We now have church at 8:30am. Yes, I know that I am a little strange, but I love church first thing in the morning. I like just getting up, having breakfast, getting ready and then just going directly to church. That way there is no time for kids to fight, no time for them to mess up the house before we leave, and I don't have to fit in one more meal before three hours of church.

After church we ("We" doesn't include Chris, as he has his own church agenda with being on the high council.) come home, I fix lunch, we eat lunch, we play a game together, we read stories together, and then we all take a nap (that is my favorite part of the day).

After nap time, the kids can play, and I can read the paper, work on my blogging, and get dinner ready. Yesterday, I volunteered to feed the missionaries at the last minute. I was excited that things worked out this way. The day before I had prepared a nice huge meal for the King family, in honor of Daniel's 43rd birthday. We had lots of left overs, so I keep thinking who we could invite over for dinner to help us finish up the food and who wouldn't be completely offended that it was left-overs. Then ta-da, in Relief Society they asked if any one could feed the missionaries. My hand shot up immediately. (You know missionaries will eat anything!)

While I was arranging for the missionaries to come over, my husband was arranging for our Home Teacher (Brother Wood) to come over. It all worked out great. While the kids were napping, I worked on getting my first blog written. After they woke up we had our home teacher over, and just as he was leaving the missionaries came for dinner. Then to put the icing on the cake, we hurried and got back into our church clothes so that we could go to the Stake Center to attend the baptism of Chris Henley (Serena King's son).

It has been so exciting to see the transformation in Chris, in fact the whole family. It truly has been a miracle and a blessing for our family.

The King Family story begins like this:

Once upon a time there was a home teacher who was assigned the name, "Daniel King." The name seemed vaguely familiar to the home teacher. As he called to make an appointment to go visit this individual he found out that they had attended high school together (thus the familiar name) but was not interested in the church anymore, didn't want visits, but if you had to call, then okay.

Months of phone calls turned into years of monthly phone calls and any attempts at visits were stopped at the door step. The home teacher was pretty vigilant, even though the new wife of Daniel was sometimes annoyed at his persistence. She couldn't understand why someone from a church her husband used to go to would be so interested in them.

Then one Christmas, the wife of the home teacher made a little cookie gift for the home teacher to take to all his families. When he went to the home of the King Family, the wife answered, the home teacher shoved the gift in her face and she was pleasantly surprised. Something had changed.

A few more months went on as before, but with more friendly response to the phone calls and drop by visits. Then the home teacher and his wife met with the Bishop of the ward and were called to be full time missionaries for the ward for a period of three months. They were encouraged to reach out to their neighbors and fast and pray about who they could share the gospel with. The home teacher and his wife had already been doing this faithfully, but had yet to have a good response with the neighbors and hadn't felt impressed about what else to do. But the prayers and pleading to find someone to share the gospel with went on.

A few weeks later, while the home teacher was talking to Daniel King, he mentioned his wife was now searching for some religion in her life, and could he (the home teacher) and his wife come over sometime to answer some questions and inform them more about the church. "YES!" was the answer.

So the home teacher and his wife went to the King's house, a little apprehensive but full of hope and full of prayer. They talked and talked and talked. The spirit was there! The spirit had been working on this family and preparing them and humbling them to open their hearts and listen to the good news of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

When the home teacher and his wife left, they were on a spiritual high. It had been the most awesome , spiritual experience the two of them had ever had together. They continued to fast and pray that this family would be able to overcome any obstacles the adversary might throw in their path. It was a hard struggle, but with the help of the missionaries and several ward members, the testimony of the King Family grew and strengthened. They know that the church is true.

Serena felt the spirit right away. She just struggled with her knowledge as she had never really had religion before. Once she felt she had studied enough and understood the basics she was ready to be baptized. She choose the baptism date to be on Christmas day. How wonderful is that? Every Christmas, she will now be able to not only celebrate the birth of Christ, but her birth through Christ and her devotion to him.

Daniel has also come a long way. He had already been baptized, but has also been reborn in the fire of the spirit. He is quite the scriptorian and has a continual thirst for knowledge.

Alisa, was very interested at first, but keeps changing her mind. I'm not sure what it is she is struggling with, but I know that she has felt the spirit, and that if we can keep that going, she will also have a desire to be baptized. She loves the youth program and the friends she has made at church.

The biggest surprise to me is the change in Chris. When I first meet this young man, he was a typical teenager. He didn't want to be involved with our "religious" conversation. Didn't want to change his life. Didn't know what he wanted from life. Then he had a humbling experience, being away from home at a job corp. There he was faced with a forked path. He literally had to choose between good (the teaching of his mom and her pleadings with him to change his life and her prayers for him) and evil (hanging out with all the other job corp kids who were drinking and doing drugs). He made the choice to come home and be safe. He countenance changed and he was finally ready to learn about the gospel, which he then eagerly accepted.

So, to attend his baptism yesterday, like I already mentioned, was like icing on the cake. The spirit was so sweet and strong. He now wants to be a missionary and has plans for his temporal and spiritual future.

I am so thankful for the gospel and so thankful for the way it changes lives for the better. Heavenly Father really does have a plan for us and it is a plan of happiness.

Serena King's baptism on Christmas day 2006.


Chris Henley's Baptism on Sunday January 28, 2007

Welcome to Lara's World

Hi family and friends,

Welcome to my blog. I had heard of "blogging" here and there in snippets of conversation and from the media, but it wasn't until my friend Andrea showed me her blog that I really got the complete picture. I really started to enjoy getting to know my friends better from this communication but I was also reluctant to start my own. (I really, really, really hate to write - so maybe I'll blog about that another time.) Then I read an article in a magazine about virtual family reunions and how families can use all the new technology that is now available to keep connected. And since I had thought of publishing a family news letter once a month (my goal for the past 6 years now) I thought this would be the best medium in which to accomplish all of that.

Several of my friends created a "100 things about me" list. It was really fun to learn new things about people I thought I already knew pretty well. So, I have decided to do the same myself. Hope you have fun reading :-)

100 Things About Me

1. I was born breech - feet first and without any help from the doctors.

2. I am the first born child to my parents.

3. I am the only girl in my family.

4. I have three brothers.

5. I used to have blond hair, just like my children have now.

6. I have lived in Provo, Utah; ??? (too young to remember), Mississippi; ??? (too young to remember), South Carolina; Springville, Utah; Melton, England; Cheyenne Wyoming; Springville, Utah; Ryhl, Wales; Liverpool, England; Sale, England; Warrington, England; Blackburn, England; Manchester, England; Urmston, England; Lancaster, England; Springville, Utah; Spanish Fork, Utah; and Spokane, Washington.

7. I have traveled to: England, Germany, France, Switzerland, Vienna, Luxemburg, and the Czech Republic.

8. Someday I would love to travel to Hawaii, Russia, and Australia.

9. When I lived in England as a child, I had an English accent.

10. When I attended Kingston Middle School, while I lived in England, I had to wear a school uniform. It consisted of a grey skirt, a white blouse, a green neck tie (with yellow K's on it) and a green v-neck sweater. And long hair had to be pulled up.

11. I had to take a bicycle class and take a bicycle test in order to ride my bike to school in England (just like a driver's ed course and test!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

12. My mother is from London, England.

13. My mother met my dad while he was serving his mission in England.

14. I served a mission to Manchester, England.

15. I met my husband, Chris at one of my best friend's wedding. So Chris and I first layed eyes on each other at the Timpanogos Temple.

16. My friend had tried to set me up with Chris but at that point in my life I had vowed to never go on a set-up date again!!!!!! Good thing I got another chance!!!!!!!!!!

17. Okay, this is way harder to do than you think! I must be boring.

18. I now have brown hair with natural grey highlights. (see #5)

19. I am 5' 71/2" tall.

20. I will never reveal my weight. But I will thank each of my children for permanently adding 10 extra pounds after each pregnancy.

21. I currently have three children: Chad (6), Halle (4) and Sean (2).

22. I married that last greatest eligible bachelor!!!!!! (see blog title)

23. In High School I always had very long fingernails and painted them bright and wild. (You would never know that now.)

24. Of all the places we have lived when I was a child, we always lived just close enough to walk to school. I have never taken a school bus, except for field trips.

25. I studied two years of French in High School (and one year in middle school). But all the French I can remember to say is "Shutup," and "Where are the toilets?"

26. I always wanted a baby sister, so when my second brother, David came along, I used to dress him up as a girl and call him Davina. (Sorry David!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

27. When my mother announced that we would be having one more sibling, I prayed and prayed that it would be a sister. When I found out I had brother #3 I cried all day long. But as soon as I was able to see and hold him, I forgave him for being a boy.

28. When I was a kid my favorite TV shows were Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, and Charlie's Angels. Now when I watch those shows I laugh hysterically.

29. I am now addicted to watching Lost and Heroes.

30. While giving birth to Chad, Chris and I watched the first Survivor finale on the TV in the birthing room.

31. I was the Barbie Queen. All my friends came over to my house to play Barbie's because I had a ton of Barbie toys. (Now Halle is carrying on the tradition).

32. My mom was an only girl, I was an only girl, and so far Halle is an only girl.

33. When I was a pre-teen my favorite books were the Chronicles of Narnia. The whole set of Narnia books were given to me from my Grandma and Grandpa Hansen. I read them over and over and over again. I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wordrobe to Chad and Halle and then took them to see the movie.

34. My favorite book recently is Charles Dickens's David Copperfield.

35. My favorite books to read are English novels and fantasy.

36. I haven't really been into reading for a very long time. I used to love reading.

37. I hate writing.

38. I graduated from BYU with a double major (microbiology and biology teaching) and a double minor (chemistry and zoology).

39. I tried to balance my brain a little and for one semester decided I would minor in English. The reading was okay, but I couldn't take the writing. It drove me insane.

40. I will never write or publish a book.

41. It took me forever to graduate because I liked too many things.

42. When I first started BYU I wanted to be either a veterinarian, a school councilor, or a dentist.

43. I got my first real job as a 6th grade science teacher at Springville Middle School.

44. I hated my first year of teaching and came home crying almost every night.

45. I absolutely loved my second year of teaching and cried every day for a year after I quit teaching to become a full-time mom.

46. I discovered that it is a lot easier to teach 200 students every day from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm than take care of a brand new baby 24/7/365 1/4.

47. Spelling is not my talent. So forgive me if you find spelling mistakes!

48. I love bacteria. (see #38)

49. I hate fungus. I especially hate that they put in in the "produce" isle of the store and consider it a vegetable. It has it's own kingdom. It is not a plant or an animal. And, I refuse to eat them if at all possible.

50. I also refuse to eat seafood. (Except tuna fish from a can that has been canned in oil.)

51. I also do not eat anything with an exoskeleton. (Crabs, lobsters, spiders, grasshoppers, etc.)

52. I thought I was a pretty picky eater until I met my husband. I'm glad I met someone that has the same dislikes that I have. (Although my husband will eat fungus, and I did too on one of our first dates when he ordered pizza with pepperoni and mushrooms - the things you will do when you are in love.)

53. I am also not a tomato person. I didn't like ketchup until I was about 10. I didn't like pizza until I was in college, and I didn't eat spaghetti until I tried my mother-in-laws to die for recipie, and I only like "Stoffers" brand lasagna. As for tomatoes in salads, they do make a nice decoration and add color to the plate.

54. I did try octopus once. It was disgusting.

55. Right before my mission I had a class on parasites. Most of these parasites can be found in South America and Africa. Right before I sent in my mission papers, all of my other girl friends were being called to South American missions. I was sooooooooooooo grateful that I was called to serve in England.

56. I don't always make my bed in the morning. Okay, okay, to be truthful, I rarely make my bed in the morning. (Sorry mom and Jeraldine.) But it really bugs me when my kids beds are not made.

57. It wasn't until I was a mature adult and looking through a cook book that I discovered that you didn't need a mix to make cake. You could make it from scratch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

58. I play the piano. Just good enough to help out at church once in a while. And yes, it is now one of my biggest regrets that I didn't practice more and quite lessons while in High School.

59. I play the flute. I would love to play better. (See #58)

60. One summer in Jr. High I taught myself to play the clarinet and saxophone.

61. I tried playing the fife.

62. I would still love to learn how to play the cello and the harp.

63. I am not a good singer. But for some reason most people think I am musical.

64. I took ballet, dance and gymnastics when I was much younger. I had to quit gymnastics when we moved to England. I really wish I could have done more with gymnastics. I loved it and now my daughter is taking gymnastics. I have a lot of fun watching her.

65. I was on the school netball team in England. (Kind of like basketball, but you are not allowed to dribble, and you can only go in certain areas of the court, depending on what position you play.)

66. I did track and field in elementary, middle, Jr. High, and High school. When I was younger, my favorite events were the 100m, long jump, and high jump. In Jr. High and High school I ran the 100, 200, and 400m. I thought I was pretty good (fastest and second fastest in my school). But after meeting my husband (a track coach) I found out I pretty much sucked at running. (My times were not that good.)

67. I wish my husband had been my track coach! He is awesome at helping young people find their talents and helping them set goals and grow in their achievements. (Unlike any of the coaches I ever had.)

68. My name "Lara" means "famous." My parents named me from the movie, "Dr. Zhivago."

69. I have a song, "Lara's Theme."

70. My middle name is "Joan." Joan is the name of my maternal grandmother. But I called her Nanny.

71. Joan Charsley and my mother are my heroes. Joan joined the church after allowing two missionaries (one being my dad) to teach her about the Book of Mormon. She joined the church soon after, the only one of her family. My mother, Pat, was not interested at the time and also engaged to be married to someone else. But at my Nanny's baptism, my mother felt the spirit and decided to investigate the church too. When she gained a testimony, she too wanted to be baptised. Her fiance gave her an ultimatum, him or the church. My mom was baptized. And the rest is my family history.

72. My maiden name is "Hansen." This name comes from Denmark. My great, great Grandfather, Christopher V. Hansen was one of the Mormon pioneers who settled in Utah.

73. From my Grandma's side of the family I am related to LaVell Edwards. (He is my grandma's cousin.)

74. I am now a "Caviness" which from the example of my husband and my in-laws means having grace and flare, doing things right, and don't forget just a little bit competitive.

75. Wow, I am 3/4 done with this blog. Have I said anything you didn't want to know yet?

76. My Grandma Hansen is wonderful at geneology. For a while I was very worried I wouldn't get married and not get a geneology book. My grandma put a huge geneology book together for each grand child. We get it as a wedding gift when we are married. It is one of my most prized possesions.

77. I love boating and water skiing. My grandpa Hansen taught me to water ski.

78. My mother taught me to embroider, cross-stitch and knit.

79. I taught myself how to crochet. I love to crochet.

80. I can still do a backflip and a frontflip on the trampoline (and I am willing to prove it).

81. I am domestically challenged. My house is still mostly pre-decorated from the previous owners.

82. I am a Mr. Bean and a Dr. Who fan. (Yes I really do have that British Blood in me.)

83. I hate the cold. I wish that there could be three seasons instead of four (no winter).

84. I hate shopping. I'd rather go grocery shopping than clothes shopping.

85. I have green eyes.

86. I still get those #*%&@* zits.

87. My right big toe always pops when I walk barefoot.

88. I hate being barefoot. I am always wearing socks or shoes.

89. I love having my back massaged.

90. I hate it when anyone touches my feet.

91. I got to see the Womens Short program at the National Ice-Skating Championships held here in Spokane. (Thank you Chris -- it was a great night!!!!!!)

92. In Jr. High one of my friends offered me drugs. I said, "No thank you, I am not sick right now." Later that year in health class, I finally clued into what she was offering me. Thank goodness I was clueless.

93. I have had pet ducks, a pet turtle, and lots of pet cats.

94. I gave up six cats when I married Chris (he is allergic and not too fond of cats). That is how I knew it had to be true love.

95. I love sugar. I eat vegetables because I know they are good for me, I don't ever crave them.

96. I avoided high school dances like the plague.

97. I had my first kiss at 23 years old. (see any relation to #96?)

98. Chris has a great story about our first kiss. (He doesn't like my version.)

99. I honestly thought I would never be married or have kids.

100. I gave up a 4-year full-ride scholarship with the airforce.

Yea! I am done. I am sure that after a good nights rest I will think of 100 better things to say than what I did. But that is what you get.

I hope that my next blog doesn't take me 3hours to do like this one.