Another Week

Last night we went swimming for Family Home Evening. The kids love to go to the BYU indoor pool. The boys like the high dives. They challenge each other to jump off the highest dive (25 feet) that is only open for a few minutes every hour. I noticed a funny thing last night as I watched Andrew and James each ready to jump off the short dive. Their swim trunks were exactly the same color and style except that Andrew's were covering his knees and James' were a little short. They were wearing the wrong suits. I don't know if they ever noticed.

Tonight for Young Women's the laurels will tie a senoir quilt for Johannah. Rather than just sewing 2 pieces of fabric together, I pieced a quilt top together. Her chosen colors were black and white. I really had a tough time sticking to just black and white. I'm not quite finished yet, I will need to spend some time this afternoon finishing the edges and sewing the back on. I'll have to take a picture and post it.

Josh is busy planning his Junior Prom date. He has lots of ideas. He was shocked to find out how much it will cost for just 1 date.

Well, Kate got a hair cut last week. She looks really cute. Her hair is now shoulder length. She has been wearing it to school with a headband. Very cute.

Be Strong in the Lord

Yesterday the high school kids were out of school. They spent most of their time playing video games on the computers. Nathan even came over to play for a while.

As I was thinking about a lesson for family night I thought I could incorporate the idea of video games. At the beginning of family night I asked the boys how they win the game, how they keep strong and powerful. They explained how to get extra men and gold and food and shelter. This was a great lead in to the lesson I had planned. I had read a talk given by Elder M. Russell Ballard, entitled, "Be Strong in the Lord". We began by reading Ephesians 6:10-13 (take unto you the whole armor of God). Elder Ballard says, "I like to think of this spiritual armor not as a solid piece of metal molded to fit the body but more like chain mail. Chain mail consists of tiny pieces of steel fastened together to allow the greater flexibility without losing protection. I say that because it has been my experience that there is not one great and grand thing we can do to arm ourselves spiritually. True spiritual power lies in numerous smaller act woven together in a fabric of spiritual fortification that protects and shields from all evil." Elder Ballard lists 6 things that will help us build our own spiritual chain mail.
1 - Protective Power of Prayer, D & C 10:5
2 - Procective Power of the Scriptures, 1 Nephi 15:24
3 - Draw on the Mericiful Grace of God, Ether 12:27
4 - Watch Yourselves, Mosiah 4:30
5 - Don't Waste the Days of Your Probation, 2 Nephi 9:27
6 - Reverence Invites Revelation, D & C 6:12
Elder Ballard says, "The Lord has given us specific doctrines and principles that show us how to clothe ourselves in the armor of God so we can stand against the powers of evil...As with chain mail, you need simply to add small, individual pieces of armor each day through prayer, scripture study, focusing on things that matter, and acting in a reverent manner."

End of Semester

Yesterday was the end of the semester for the younger kids. Kate & Andrew got out of school early yesterday and we went to see "Bedtime Stories" at the dollar theater. Johannah, Josh, James & Jacob have Monday off.

Thursday we went to a ballroom fundraiser. We ate luau food and watched a Polynesian dance program. Nathan, Tyra and Caleb came.

Josh asked a girl to Junior Prom. This is Josh's description. Andrew dressed up in dark clothes and was placed in a box that looks like a giant sized crayon box. He walked of to the door with a frozen cube of butter with a "J" taped to it. Then he walks away. 15 minutes later he comes back with microwave popcorn package that has a note that says, "Now that I've buttered you up, I'd explode if you would go to Junior Prom with me." Also the letter "O" was attached to the popcorn. Then he walks away. 15 minutes late he comes back with the reset of the letters of Josh's name and he walks away.

St. Patrick's Day

We began the day with cinnamon rolls and sent the kids off to school. I had planned to make a green dinner with "monster soup" (split pea soup), but some of the kids made a fuss. I suppose this is expected when there are teenagers around. A leprechaun brought gold coins for the kids at dinnertime.

The weather has been so beautiful. I hope it lasts! On Sunday I was released from the Young Woman's as Laurel Advisor and given the calling of Visiting Teaching Supervisor. There is about a month left of school and I am looking forward to completing the semester. I have a list of projects I would like to work on during the summer.

In the last few weeks I have read the Eragon series. The series begins with the book Eragon which is about a boy who by an odd chain of events hatches a dragons egg and becomes a dragon rider. There is a movie about this book, but as always there is much more to the book than the movie. The second book in the series is Eldest. This book is filled with magical creatures and battles. The third book in the series is Brisinger. The journey continues and the confrontation of good and evil takes place. These books are written by Christopher Paolini and each is about 500 to 700+ pages long. I enjoyed the story but now have to wait for the fourth and final book in the series to be published.

Wacky Dinner

Last night we had a wacky dinner. We do this about once a year but the kids would prefer to have one more often. We invited our neighbor friends over, they also have 8 children. We served lasagna, french bread, salad, jello, corn, broccoli, carrots, brownies and strawberries. Each item is placed on a list with cup, fork, knife, spoon and napkin. The word for each item is disguised and everyone chooses 5 items to be served to them, per course. We had many goofy combinations the meal was fun!

Tyra and Nathan are at it again. I wish they would stop playing tricks on each other.

Spanish Women & Textiles in the 1700's

I went to Spain 2 years ago for a field study to research in the Archives. One of my purposes for going to Spain was to examine the records and figure out what textiles were being described in the marriage inventories, death inventories and wills. Besides genealogy, I have an expertise in working with linen and weaving. I needed to learn about the materials and stitches used in the needle work listed in these old inventories. I asked the older women in Spain to show me examples of the stitches and items that I had seen mentioned in the records. I also went to many ethnographic museums that held household items from history. I discovered many things, but one of the most exciting things to me was that the women used a stitch on linen called Desilado. This is similar to Hardanger where linen thread is removed leaving open boxes and the remaining threads are woven together in a pattern. I think Hardanger is my favorite kind of linen work.

I am now working with a history professor to write an artile about these women in historic Spain. Two weeks ago I was invited to give a one hour presentation to a BYU History class about my findings. The presentaion went well and another history professor was in attendance and had many other research ideas that could stem from what I have done so far. In June I will spend 2 weeks working on the final draft of my article. This history professor is writing a book about different aspects of culture in Spain in the 1700's and has asked me to write a chapter about the textiles. I am very excited about the many opportunities before me, especially working with things I love.

Home at Last

I love sleeping in my own bed! Last night Scott, Kate, Andrew and I arrived back to Provo about 1am. We made a trip to Anaheim last week. On our way back we stopped in Las Vegas to see my sister and her kids. We headed north to Provo about 4pm. As you can tell it was a long drive. We hit a snow storm and traveled slowly.

Today I will play catch up on everything. This morning I went to unload the dishwasher and it had the clean load of dishes I put in on Wednesday. No one bothered to empty it and wash dishes while I was gone. Silly high school kids!

I'm Alive, I Think

Well its been over a week and I have been so sick. I have now finished my antibiotics and can now talk. I still have a cough but I feel much better. It's about time too! I have too much to do I can't slow down.

This week I will teach my students about census records. I also have a research presentation to give on Wednesday. I will be speaking about the women of Garganta la Olla in Spain. I have extracted information from marriage and death inventories and I have an interesting collection of the belongings of these women. Oh, did I mention that I'm working in the early 1700's. My focus is on the textiles these women made and passed on to their loved ones.

The kids are doing great and the older children are preparing to compete in the Dance Sport competition in couple weeks.