Cousins

I LOVE this picture! It brings to mind all the memories I have from my childhood of going up to our cabin and spending time with my cousins. Those are memories that will never be forgotten and always cherished. I'm now so happy that my own children will have their own memories to reminisce over when they grow up. All the fun things that happen when they get together: the noise, the pretending and the laughter. There is also plenty of craziness. For those of you who haven't seen our family in awhile these aren't all of the cousin's, we are missing Amy's two boys, Aidan and Davyn, they didn't come this weekend, and JoDee's two oldest girls Andee and Madee, who are too old now to participate in the toddler mayhem. And JoDee's youngest boy Crew who was in the other room, and Wesley who is Tyler's oldest boy was in the other room as well. But the rest of them who are in the picture are as follows going from left to right. Savannah who belongs to Mandi, Baylee who belongs to JoDee, London who belongs to Mandi, Talin and Collin who are mine, and Wyatt and Noah who are Tyler's.

Craziness Ensues

This is what happens when the family gets together. The children are put to bed and the silliness begins. We all have a little bit of giggly silliness inside of us and it seems to explode when we sit down at a table with one another and start talking and playing games. Tyler is the only boy with four sisters, so I am hardly surprised at the crazy personality he has come by. I sometimes think of him as Wolverine or a tall hobbit because of his crazy curly hair that is typically kept a little longer and uncombed. It cracks me up, he's always good for a laugh. And JoDee is my oldest sister. She is especially fun when we get her out of mom mode, the fun giggly side really comes out and becomes quite entertaining. You never know what you're going to get when the chaos ensues and play dough can be made into Harry Potter glasses. These will always be my most favorite and cherished memories.

Merry Christmas

The best thing about the holidays is spending it with family. I especially love my family because there is never a dull moment. Christmas has been great this morning and the kids love their presents and their cousins even more. Talin and Wesley were reunited and are still best friends. Well, after the presents were open and the cinnamon rolls eaten, we all kind of headed outside for some adventure. There is never a shortage at the Adair's home when it comes to toys. Shane bought the family a quad for Christmas and everyone was eager to go out and ride the quad, the sand rail, and the rhino. Of course the sand rail caused quite a bit of noise and roused the neighbors to action. The cops were called and we soon had company. I don't deal with law enforcement very often and was a little nervous as to what would happen. Well, Shane and JoDee know their fellow cop quite well, even call him by his first name, and he knows them! I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a run in with the law is a common occurrence when noisy toys are being used in a neighborhood. Everything turned out okay and we are all happily eating Christmas lunch/dinner. Hope everyone enjoys their day!

WooHoo!

The world is once again a wonderful place! No, I'm not bi-polar. We actually were able to get a sooner flight. We had to go out of a different airline, which might be questionable, I had never heard of it before. It's called Allegiant Air and only flies to Las Vegas and out of Las Vegas. But right now I don't care if it's second class air, cause we are flying out tonight!! We won't get to Cedar until late, late, late tonight, but it's twenty-four hours earlier than before, and we're garaunteed to not miss Santa. So I'm happy. Hope everyone else has a fabulous Christmas!!

Denver Snowstorm

I'm really struggling right now with the overwhelming feeling of despair. We did not fly out yesterday to Vegas. Our flight had a lay over in Denver, so you know the rest of the story. The soonest that we are able to fly out will be Christmas Eve. That means we'll make it into Vegas at 8:00 PM, and still have a two and a half hour drive to Cedar City from there. Santa is going to beat us to Cedar most likely. But for now I'm going to put on a happy face for the boys and try to enjoy the next few days at home with Tom. Pray that we can have a Chambers' family miracle and get an earlier flight!

Happy Birthday Tom

Happy Birthday Tom!!

Okay, so yesterday was Tom's birthday, and a crazy day as well. You see, Tom has his last final today before we fly out this afternoon. So he had been killing himself the past week to get all of his studying in so that he would have some extra time on his birthday to play with his kids, relax, and help me get everything together before we left today. Unfortunately things didn't turn out that way. Tuesday night Tom told me that he would have to go to school on Wednesday cause he didn't get to cover all the material he was hoping to. So I thought, okay, a few hours on Wednesday is much better than the whole day! He'll be home by one or so and we'll still have the afternoon. Well, three o'clock rolls by and no sign or phone call from my birthday boy. So I call him and he sounded absolutely desolate, and told me he might not be home until 6:00!!! I was so upset. I hung up the phone and wanted to curse all the injustice in the world that Tom couldn't be at home earlier on his birthday. Well in the end he ended up coming home at around 4:30. We ended up taking our pet snake Bongo to a friends house to be watched while we're gone and picking up seven day fish feeding tablets for our fish. Then we headed over to Applebee's. I used to LOVE Applebee's, but the relationship died last night. Yuck! I had the orange chicken rice bowl, or something like that, and it was awful. Although I've been fighting a nasty head cold these past few days, so maybe it altered my tastebuds or something and caused the later stomach ache after dinner, I don't know. But I'm still not going to eat at Applebee's for a long time now. I've totally gotten off on tangents here and what I really wanted to say in this blog is that I love Tom. His birthday wasn't super fabulous, and I fell asleep at 8:00 last night on PM Sudafed, but he didn't care. He's a great guy, always making sacrafices for his family, and his kids love him to death and so do I. I hope his 28th year is wonderful and happy for him. We love you Tom!

My New Love

Okay, you would normally think that something titled my new love would be me talking about a secret crush or something human. But no, my new love is oatmeal. Not for me though, but for my youngest child, Collin. For the past week I have seriously questioned his parenthood and thought that perhaps satan had a hand in his making. His attitude and talking back was becoming more than I could bare. What was I doing wrong? I had stopped spanking and started time outs, nothing was working. Well, I think I figured it out. Last week I let him pick out his own cereal. Of course he picked out something with a lot of color and packed full of sugar. The cereal was on sale and said whole grain on the cover. Now that I think about it, how can anything that's main colors are blue, yellow, and red, be made of whole grain?? It can't! So, there's Collin loving his cereal, eating two bowls a day. You see once he eats breakfast we are out the door doing many things and don't return home until lunch time, so the only thing in his belly is this sugary cereal that is doing him and his attitude no favors. So I decided to try oatmeal. The child had a total turn around, he was immediately happy and his belly is now going to be full for longer than thirty minutes. Nina always told me that a happy boy is a boy that eats breakfast and has a full belly. Well I'm finally seeing the light!

Santa's Phone #

My friend Yvonne emailed me the cutest thing. The number below is Santa Clause's phone number and you can listen to him give a new message everyday. He's very jolly and you can listen to him from Dec 13th - Dec 24th, and it's FREE! Here is a picture of my boys enjoying the message from Santa Clause. Talin had just listened to it and was getting a kick out of Collin listening to it for the first time.

Santa Clause 1-800-972-6242

This day has been quite lovely. Tom and I decided to split our children apart and each take one to do some errands. It was decided that he would take Collin and I would take Talin. Mainly because Collin is obsessed with me and we rarely are apart. So I thought it good for him to bond with his father while I spent some one on one time with Talin. Well Talin and I started off by going to Yoga, well he didn't do yoga, just me, he was in the play center. Then I took him over to Toy's R' Us so that he could pick out a Christmas present for his brother. It was quite amusing, he picked out a Peter Pan and Wendy character, something he's been obsessed with for awhile now. And from what I heard from Tom, Collin picked out Superman for Talin, which is something Collin has been obsessed with as well. I think the only way everyone will be happy is if they switch their gifts after they open them. Anyway, it was nice to be alone with Talin. It had been a long time since we just sat around and talked together, and he has some interesting things to say. I was informed at one point that babies have to be held all the time or else they can roll away and get lost. I thought it was hilarious! And when we were home he wanted to wrap his present that he got for his brother, and he actually did a swell job. I often forget how old he is getting and that he can probably do much more than I allow him to. Like the other day he made his own peanut butter and honey sandwich and has also changed his brother's diaper on different occasions. He really is the sweetest boy and is always looking out for others.

Well the rest of the day was pretty crazy. I wish I would have taken a picture cause Betsy and I made a ton of Christmas sugar cookies. I started baking them at 12:30 and we didn't get finished until 5 pm. It was a long afternoon to say the least, the entire table was filled with cookies. After that I was just flat out spent and ready for bed. Of course that's never an option at 5:00. It was a nice evening though. After we put the kids to bed Tom and I watched "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV, and he had never seen it before, which I didn't realize. Six years of marriage and I still don't know everything! So it was fun to watch it with him. He is such a good guy and even gave me a back massage, because after a long day of running around and bending over cookies, I was in agony. It makes me realize that even though the past three days were spent in the mood, I was able to overcome it and enjoy my little family.

Every once in awhile I get into these really foul moods. They're nasty too, they consume all around me and it can be a little scary at times. I don't know where they come from, but at times it's quite frequent. My poor Tom. I really think he is a saint especially when I'm in one of the moods. He seems to tolerate it quite well and doesn't let it effect his own state of tranquility. Which is a good thing cause it saves the kids from having only my nastiness around. Speaking of my children...at what age do they start to realize that they should just stay away from mom when she's in one of her moods? I mean when I was a kid I remember avoiding my Cyndee when her mood struck her. I didn't ask for anything or need anything, I became self reliant. But my children don't seem to catch on. When the storm hits they seem to become more persistent in their wants and need for attention, often following me into the other room to ask me questions or something. Don't they understand that for their own safety they should just step away? Anyway, as you can tell, today is one of those mood days. Logically I know I could overcome it, but sometimes you don't want to, you just want to give into the mood. Tomorrow will be better.

Balm of Gilead

I don’t know of anyone that has not at sometime in their life carried around the weight of heartache, guilt, disappointment, or other grievances. I’ve been going around the past ten years or so with a weight on my shoulders, and it’s been just recently that I’ve decided to really do something about. Well, in my quest for peace of mind and spirit, I have been visiting my Bishop regularly. He has shared incredible insight with me about the Gospel and the healing power of the Atonement. The Atonement does not just offer a forgiveness of sins, it is also there to heal those that have been hurt and sinned against. So I wanted to share a talk that my Bishop gave to me to read with friends and family and hopefully let it inspire you. It’s called The Balm of Gilead, and I’ve found it to give me so many answers and comfort for my own life. Some of my favorite lines in the talk are as follows:

“It is painful to be the victim. But have you not yet learned how much more painful it is to be the offender?”
“Some frustrations we must endure without really solving the problem. Some things that ought to be put in order are not put in order because we cannot control them. Things we cannot solve, we must survive.”
“Too often the things we carry are petty, even stupid. If you are still upset after all these years because Aunt Clara didn’t come to your wedding reception, why don’t you grow up and forget it?”

I love, love love, this talk!! Please take a few minutes to read it. I don’t think anyone can hear these things often enough.

Balm of Gilead

Elder Boyd K. PackerOf the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Boyd K. Packer, “Balm of Gilead,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, 16

Some years ago, I spoke at this pulpit and entitled my talk “The Balm of Gilead.” The response was surprising. That very day two lawsuits were settled. One or both of the litigants decided that what they might gain materially was not worth the cost spiritually.
I wish to repeat much of what I said then.
In ancient times there came from Gilead, beyond the Jordan, an ointment made from the gum of a tree. It was a major commodity in trade. The Ishmaelite traders who purchased Joseph from his brothers were carrying this balm of Gilead to Egypt (see Gen. 37:25).
It became symbolic for the power to soothe and to heal.
There is a Balm in Gilead,To make the wounded whole,There is a Balm in Gilead,To heal the sin sick soul.(Recreational Songs, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1949, p. 130)
My message was then, and is now, an appeal to those who are not at peace, those whose lives are touched with bitterness, with hostility, or with resentment. It is a plea to those who anxiously struggle with worry, or with grief or disappointment, with guilt, or with shame.
We see so much unnecessary suffering, so many who cripple themselves spiritually carrying burdens which could be put down. Many suffer from real misfortune and injustice. Sadly, some only imagine that they do. In either case, self-inflicted penalties soon become cruel and unusual punishment.
If the burden is guilt, then repentance is the Balm of Gilead.
Some, however, seek to cure guilt with self-justification, a quack medicine which only covers the symptoms; it will never cure the cause. Self-justification leads one to blame another for his mistakes.
For example, when you seek financial gain, you may be tempted by others to miscalculate, even ignore, risks. When things go wrong—and they can go wrong even in carefully managed affairs—some look for others to blame. They want some “deep pocket” to make them whole. They want someone else to carry their responsibility like the scapegoat of Old Testament times, which was ceremonially burdened with the sins of others and left to wander in the wilderness.
They have little difficulty finding some attorney willing to act as high priest in transferring their responsibility to someone else. They file suit with little or no merit, intending to force others to settle in order to avoid the unconscionable cost of defending themselves in court.
There is no dishonor in appealing to a court of law for either justice or protection. I refer to those who do so to justify themselves and shift their own responsibility to someone else.
Such efforts are successful often enough to permit self-serving lawyers to convince yet another client that he need not honor his own commitments. The word integrity becomes tarnished by counsel and client alike. And there follows that long trail of acrimony with brother against brother over property or money.
Be careful lest you yourself become the goat and carry unseen spiritual burdens into the wilderness. More serious by far than the loss of property or money are the unseen spiritual penalties which accrue like interest on a debt which one day, in the eternal scheme of things, must surely be paid.
I read somewhere of a young couple who settled in the wilderness. While the man cleared the land, his wife tended things about the homestead. Occasionally, the cow would get into the garden, and the husband would complain.
One day, as he left to get supplies, he said in a sarcastic way, “Do you think you’ll be able to keep the cow in while I am gone?” She thought she could; she would try.
That night a terrible storm arose. Frightened by thunder, the cow escaped into the woods. Several days later the husband returned to an empty cabin and an apologetic note: “A storm came up, and the cow got out. I am so sorry, but I think I can find her.”
He searched; neither had survived. The author concluded the incident with these words:
Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds;You can call back your kites, but you can’t call back your words.“Careful with fire” is good advice, we know;“Careful with words” is ten times doubly so.Thoughts unexpressed will often fall back dead.But God Himself can’t kill them, once they are said!(Will Carleton, The First Settler’s Story).
It is painful to be the victim. But have you not yet learned how much more painful it is to be the offender?
How precious is that spiritual balm of Gilead, for there is a spirit in man.
There are spiritual disorders and spiritual diseases that can cause intense suffering.
If you suffer from worry, from grief or shame or jealousy or disappointment or envy, from self-recrimination or self-justification, consider this lesson taught to me many years ago by a patriarch. He was as saintly a man as I have ever known. He was steady and serene, with a deep spiritual strength that many drew upon.
He knew just how to minister to others who were suffering. On a number of occasions I was present when he gave blessings to those who were sick or who were otherwise afflicted. His was a life of service, both to the Church and to his community.
He had presided over one of the missions of the Church and always looked forward to the missionary reunions. When he was older, he was not able to drive at night, and I offered to take him to the reunions. That modest gesture was repaid a thousandfold.
On one occasion, when the Spirit was right, he gave me a lesson for my life from an experience in his own. Although I thought I had known him, he told me things about his life I would not have supposed.
He grew up in a little community with a desire to make something of himself. He struggled to get an education.
He married his sweetheart, and presently everything was just right. He was well employed, with a bright future. They were deeply in love, and she was expecting their first child.
The night the baby was to be born, there were complications. The only doctor was somewhere in the countryside tending to the sick.
After many hours of labor, the condition of the mother-to-be became desperate.
Finally the doctor was located. In the emergency, he acted quickly and soon had things in order. The baby was born and the crisis, it appeared, was over.
Some days later, the young mother died from the very infection that the doctor had been treating at another home that night.
John’s world was shattered. Everything was not right now; everything was all wrong. He had lost his wife. He had no way to tend both the baby and his work.
As the weeks wore on, his grief festered. “That doctor should not be allowed to practice,” he would say. “He brought that infection to my wife. If he had been careful, she would be alive today.”
He thought of little else, and in his bitterness, he became threatening. Today, no doubt, he would have been pressed by many others to file a malpractice suit. And there are lawyers who would see in his pitiable condition only one ingredient—money!
But that was another day, and one night a knock came at his door. A little girl said simply, “Daddy wants you to come over. He wants to talk to you.”
“Daddy” was the stake president. A grieving, heartbroken young man went to see his spiritual leader.
This spiritual shepherd had been watching his flock and had something to say to him.
The counsel from that wise servant was simply, “John, leave it alone. Nothing you do about it will bring her back. Anything you do will make it worse. John, leave it alone.”
My friend told me then that this had been his trial—his Gethsemane. How could he leave it alone? Right was right! A terrible wrong had been committed and somebody must pay for it. It was a clear case.
But he struggled in agony to get hold of himself. And finally, he determined that whatever else the issues were, he should be obedient.
Obedience is powerful spiritual medicine. It comes close to being a cure-all.
He determined to follow the counsel of that wise spiritual leader. He would leave it alone.
Then he told me, “I was an old man before I understood! It was not until I was an old man that I could finally see a poor country doctor—overworked, underpaid, run ragged from patient to patient, with little medicine, no hospital, few instruments, struggling to save lives, and succeeding for the most part.
“He had come in a moment of crisis, when two lives hung in the balance, and had acted without delay.
“I was an old man,” he repeated, “before I finally understood! I would have ruined my life,” he said, “and the lives of others.”
Many times he had thanked the Lord on his knees for a wise spiritual leader who counseled simply, “John, leave it alone.”
And that is the counsel I bring again to you. If you have a festering grudge, if you are involved in an acrimonious dispute, “Behold what the scripture says [and it says it fifty times and more]—man shall not smite, neither shall he judge; for judgment is mine, saith the Lord, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay” (Morm. 8:20).
I say therefore, “John, leave it alone. Mary, leave it alone.”
If you need a transfusion of spiritual strength, then just ask for it. We call that prayer. Prayer is powerful spiritual medicine. The instructions for its use are found in the scriptures.
One of our sacred hymns carries this message:
Ere you left your room this morning,Did you think to pray? … When your soul was full of sorrow,Balm of Gilead did you borrowAt the gates of day?Oh, how praying rests the weary!Prayer will change the night to day.So, when life gets dark and dreary,Don’t forget to pray(“Did You Think to Pray?” Hymns, 1985, no. 140).
Some frustrations we must endure without really solving the problem. Some things that ought to be put in order are not put in order because we cannot control them. Things we cannot solve, we must survive.
If you resent someone for something he has done—or failed to do—forget it.
Too often the things we carry are petty, even stupid. If you are still upset after all these years because Aunt Clara didn’t come to your wedding reception, why don’t you grow up and forget it?
If you brood constantly over a loss or a past mistake, look ahead—settle it.
We call that forgiveness. Forgiveness is powerful spiritual medicine. To extend forgiveness, that soothing balm, to those who have offended you is to heal. And, more difficult yet, when the need is there, forgive yourself!
I repeat, “John, leave it alone. Mary, leave it alone.”
Purge and cleanse and soothe your soul and your heart and your mind and that of others.
A cloud will then be lifted, a beam cast from your eye. There will come that peace which surpasseth understanding.
The Lord said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
“Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:15–18).
I bear witness of Him who is that comfort, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Those of you that know Talin don't see him in this state very often. Well as of the last few days I have seen him like this way too often. I'm not sure if the stress of the Christmas season is getting to him or what, but he has had several break downs a day over the past week. Sometimes being a parent is extremely tough, especially when you don't know what to do, so I've just decided to vent about it and hopefully his attitude will improve soon. It seems as though every little thing sets him off lately. Yesterday getting ready for church he went hysterical when I wouldn't let him put his own outfit together, and then he had yet another break down when I forgot to give him a hug and kiss before he went into Primary. And of course the rest of that day was followed with several ridiculous events that sent him into high hysteria. And then today he got upset at school because I made him carry his own backpack into class. I mean he always carries his own bag, I'm not a pack mule! But it was just one more thing that sent him over the edge. And then this afternoon at lunch it was the trauma of eating an orange that did not have it's skin peeled off. At that point he was sent to his bedroom to hopefully sleep for hours on end, and he is still there now sleeping, and I just hope that he sleeps a very, very long time. It is his first nap he's taken in the past week, and I think it's the secret ingredient this child needs to function. Please give me sanity now!

The Family

Duluth, MN - Visiting Tom's mission - July '06

My Little Zoolanders

I never thought that children could be vain. I was wrong. My boys love themselves. They spend a ton of time in front of the mirror, they accessorize their outfits, they love to have their hair fixed, and they even put on deodorant and Tom’s cologne before heading out the door. Talin is much worse than Collin. Talin puts together his own outfits all the time. And he looks great when he does! He knows how to wear a pair of jeans with a button up shirt, a tie and a blazer. The other day he looked like he could be on the cover of GQ. He has made me realize that an orange tie can look fabulous with the right shade of green on a pin striped shirt. I try to downplay his natural talent for fashion, but he is going to be very handy to have around some day.

My Soap

I’m going to be completely honest here; I’ve never used a bar of soap. When I was young I hated bathing, my mother got me into the tub once a week on Saturday night so that everyone at church would know that my hair really was blonde. As I got older bathing became a more regular occurrence, but I still hated the whole soap thing. Wasn’t it good enough to stand under the hot water to get clean? So when I was a young adult and working I would buy Bath and Body or Victoria Secret body wash. I loved it. Everyone used loofah, they were the greatest thing for washing your body. Now days I’m showering everyday. It’s taken a long time to get here, but I do shower once a day, and I’m still a regular user of liquid soap. Well, the other day at the store I needed to stock up on my favorite Olay soap, liquid form of course. So Tom heads over to the soap aisle and comes back with my favorite soap, but it’s in a bar. I was quite perturbed. “I don’t use bars”, I quickly informed him. Ended up getting the bar for him and a bottle of liquid for me. I was happy. So there I am in the shower getting ready to lather up the loofah, when I see the bar of soap sitting there. It had been a long day with a hard work out and the thought of rinsing out the loofah, unscrewing my liquid soap, putting it on the loofah and screwing the lid back on was too much work for me. So I reached for the bar of soup. Wow. I loved the bar of soap. So much less work, you don’t have to rinse off the bar when you’re done and it makes the job so much more efficient. And as long as your husband is not in the house you don’t have to worry about the horror of dropping your bar of soap. So I am recommending the bar to everyone. Join with me and have an effortless wash.

"Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude."

I'm feeling full of gratitude this morning. My family and I are twelve days away from flying to Utah for Christmas. I'm just so grateful for everyone that made this dream into a reality. We had no intention of flying home the first year we were out here, we didn't have the money to even consider it. Well, thanks to my siblings who thought that just wasn't acceptable, we are able to make the trip back. I want to express how insanely grateful I am to each of my siblings and their spouses and my mother for contributing the money to buy our airplane tickets. This is going to be an extra special Christmas spending it with all of them and I can't wait to get there. The funny thing is that a little boy's prayers have been answered through them. Talin has been praying for the past six months that we could get onto an airplane and go see Grandma and Wesley. Well his prayers are happening, although he hasn't been informed yet because Tom and I want to surprise them the day before we go. Plus we didn't want to be asked everyday over the past month, if this were the day we were going on the airplane. And one more thought for Amy. I can't wait to see you and your family in a couple of weeks, I know the drive will be worth it and we'll have an awesome time.

Long Johns

I love thermal pajamas, otherwise known as long johns. I think I first fell in love with them when I was six years old and saw E.T. for the first time. Elliot wore them, and I was convinced that I needed a pair of my own. And today I decided that my boys needed a pair of their own long johns. They look so cute in them and when it feels like -20 degrees outside with the windchill, they are quite handy to wear underneath a pair of jeans as well. We are slowly acclimating to our world, I never had a reason to buy long johns in Arizona. Thank goodness for this move!

Woes of Medical School

Having a husband that goes to med-school is really tough. For some reason Tom seemed to breeze through his bachelor's degree. He had a job, he had school, he had a wife and two little boys, and still he never struggled. In fact I was always quite impressed at all the time he did have to spend with us. It was really great. Well I figured med school wouldn't be too different, right? Wrong. It's very different. People who go to medical school almost aren't human. I don't know how they do it. I'm finding more and more that single motherhood just isn't my calling, but for some reason it seems to be coming much easier than 3/4 time motherhood did in Flagstaff. And Tom, well Tom is as close to the perfect guy as you'll get. If you're wondering how he's doing in med-school, well he's doing fabulous of course. It's hard and he worries, in fact I've never seem him worry so much, but it's kind of nice to be the strong one every once in awhile and try to ease the stress. I think after all of the schooling is done we won't know how to have a normal life, we are much too used to forming our lives around the next test!

The fun Santa trip, we usually get in about three or four visits to him before Christmas. We're planning the next one already since Talin asked Santa for a gun. I told him that Santa doesn't bring guns for Christmas, so now we have to clear up the misunderstanding.

My Boys

I know, I know, they are incredibly adorable, cute enough to eat!

Welcome to my blog. I started this because Amy asked, several times. She thinks it important since I now live thousands of miles away from home that I keep record of our comings and goings for all to know. Fabulous! Tune in for all the chaos that ensues with my family, hence the title reigning chaos. I wish I lived close to all my friends and family and didn't need a blog to keep you all updated, but sadly that's not the case. Enjoy.

Let's Play Make-Believe

Let me start off by saying that I am a huge fan of playing imagination type games. I think it's very important for children to turn off the TV and use their head to entertain themselves every once in awhile. As a child I spent countless hours using my imagination to play, it was great. So I was thrilled when I noticed Talin starting to do this himself, he started at a young age, easily entertianed by things and engaging in make-believe quite often. It was even better when Collin got older and could be involved with it as well, and after awhile whenever we were in the car Talin was assiging out characters that we could each be. I've been Superwoman countless times while the boys have been Batman or Superman, or I've been the designated bad guy so that they could save the day with their superhero powers. It goes on and on. Well last Sunday we were driving to church, me listening to my 24 hour Christmas music radio station that comes on once a month, and the boys chatting in the back seat. Well after awhile I overhear what they are saying. Talin starts to yell at Collin, "Collin, you're Jesus Christ!", while Collin yells back at Talin, "No, I not Jesus Christ". Talin replies, "Yes you are Jesus Christ", and once again Collin answers back, "No, I not Jesus Christ". I didn't know if it was appropriate for me to laugh, but by the time we arrived to church it had been decided that I was Mary, Talin was Joseph, and Collin had finally consented to being Jesus Christ.