Feel-good Rocks

Since Geoff is commuting to Salt Lake (when he isn't traveling internationally) each week Adele made him something special for his new office to make him happy and to remember her.

Hyper Girls 2012

Tennie and Geoff went on their 2nd Annual Hyper Girls hike a few weekends ago.  It is always a little tricky to find a time that works for everyone, and this year soccer got in the way.  So they left Thursday mid-afternoon and got home early Saturday morning.  This time they went up above Donner Lake.  There were games, hikes, beautiful vistas, good campfire food, wee-hour nights, and Geoff and Tennie led their respective groups in AM yoga.  It was a great time, as expected.

Screen Time

Recently some friends and I had an exchange about how we deal with our kids and their screens, and I responded about what we are currently doing in our home.  So I remember how we did things, and since all of us could use each others ideas, I thought I would include my contribution to the online conversation here:

Our twelve-year-old just bought her grandmother's old iphone for $20.  My ten-year-old just bought her own brand new ipod touch.  Since they have freedom to buy things with their own money, and since we applaud initiative, we have discussions and set boundaries around what we are comfortable with at home and what is appropriate for their age.  As has been mentioned, I really feel this has to be considered individually with each child. 

Both of our girls can currently only use the camera and a few okay'd games (which they can only play 15 minutes a day, and they lost interest in those quickly).  Our twelve-year-old is currently working on a proposal as she would like more privileges.  We encourage proposals as we want them to feel they can ask and we'll consider things.  We are looking for a win-win.

Geoff and I have come to realize that social media is inevitable, and will be a major part of their lives, so we are focusing our discussions on the importance of managing screen time, something all of us need.  We have FHE about it, dinner discussions, and private conversations when things come up.  Recently we were focusing on agency and emphasized the paragraph in the For Strength of Youth pamphlet that says,

You are also responsible for developing the talents and abilities Heavenly Father has given you.  You are accountable to Him for what you do with your talents and how you spend your time.  Choose to do many good things of your own free will.

For us, at our stage, this is really the big concern.  We want them playing outside, creating, imagining, etc., not staring at a screen.  But if we are always on our phones, or looking at screens...it is hard to hold that standard for them.  We set the example of lifelong management of how we use our time and talents.

We currently have a family rule of no screens after 6:00 (when dinner begins).  That works for now.  Later we'll make adjustments, but as was mentioned, I think that having an unplug hour is a good idea.  We also still try to have their internet access on our main family computer where it is in a main family space.  They do school work on an ipad, but only on specified websites...no searching, or browsing in their rooms or in private.  

We have access to ALL of their passwords, and they know we have a right at any time to ask to look through their emails (and eventually texts).  We don't have any reason to not trust them, thankfully, but it is an expectation we set early on.

There is a great book called Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens that gives good guidelines about what is appropriate at each age, what to warn your kids about, and has a good written agreement that both parent and child sign.  Overall some really good ideas. 

Lastly, we occasionally have a screen fast when they get a little to obsessed about playing games or checking emails.  It might be a week long.  This gives us a sense of how okay we are without the screens, and allows us to see how much of our time they are monopolizing.  When Geoff and I feel we need to reign things in and create a boundary we will do a fast to give us a little time to think things through.  After they haven't had any screen time they are grateful to have any privileges back!
 

Tournament Weekend

Tennie and Adele had tournaments Saturday, and Geoff's sister Nikki was in town to see the games.  Ceci was sad not to get in on the day's action.  She had a bye game.

Soccer dominates our lives, but it sure is fun!

Love this picture of my nephew, Tag.

Big News!

As you know, we've been in a place of "transition" for over four years.  We went to France thinking it would be a year away, and then we would come back and start a normal life again.  We moved in with Geoff's (very gracious) parents when we returned to the states and have been here for over three years!  Job offers have come and gone, but we haven't ever felt right about any of them.  Our gut feeling was to wait; something would come.

Patience is a hard virtue.  Not knowing one's plan or direction in life is a difficult challenge. Living in someone else's space isn't easy for anyone involved.  AND, personal growth and perspective come from such times.  Our family is fundamentally different after these "wilderness" years, as we call them.  This was by far the hardest time of my life, and God taught me some things about myself, and about His involvement in my life.  It is HARD to be grateful for life's adversities, but looking back I am grateful for these years.

And now it is time to start a new chapter.  Geoff has been asked to be a part of a new initiative in the (Mormon) church to help the poor members of the church outside the United States.  He'll be working at church headquarters in Salt Lake City.

We are really excited to be a part of such a tremendous challenge.  Ironically, I have fully engaged in life here in Auburn for the first time.  Our fall schedule is PACKED full.  Geoff will be commuting to Salt Lake each week starting this week.  Finding time to plan and organize a move will be superhuman, so some things will fall through the cracks.  We are still planning to take our three week trip east in November, we'll return to pack things up, and hopefully move to Utah mid-December (such a lovely time of year to move).  That is if everything comes together perfectly.

So there you have it.

Ceci's 8th Birthday Party

A big family birthday party worked out perfectly this year.  We met at a park after the baptism and had a potluck lunch, we ate a lot of cake, Ceci and cousins had a treasure hunt and then we had a pinata.  It was a great way to have everyone together.

 Getting ready to make a wish...

Cutting her own piece of cake 

 One's birthday only comes once a year...

Our pinata handle broke so Nikki braved holding it while all the kids took a few turns swinging the bat.  Here is the birthday girl knocking it right out of Nikki's hands.  Geoff's youngest sister Brittany actually marched in and nearly beat the pinata to a pulp!  Shocking for the kids, really, but hey!  They got the good sooner!

 "Trade you this for that."

My brother's son Tag, and Geoff's sister Ingrid's daughter Lucy were fun to watch.  Lucy wanted Tag's sucker.

It was at this party that we told our Big News!