Blast From the Past

Joe's mom grew up on a farm in Sutherland, which is just outside of Delta. Her dad was a cattle rancher, raising his own cattle as well as taking care of other people's cattle, and raising crops to feed his own cattle as well as others. When he got older his son, Joe's Uncle Howard, took over. Real cowboys:) When Joe was younger, his family lived in a trailer on the property for several years. His dad was a teacher there, and everyone else helped out on the farm. Now Uncle Howard is retired himself, and he leases out most of his acres to other farmers. I'd been hearing stories about Delta for years, but had never been out there. I was so excited to go out there, and it did not disappoint - it was another of my favorites of our trip. Yep, Delta. Who knew, right?:)

Our itinerary included a stop at the cheese factory (no pictures).

Horseback riding on Red.

Making new friends.

Tractor ride.

Visiting Fort Deseret.

Collecting sunstones at Sunstone Knoll.

Riding the 4-wheeler.

A weenie roast around the fire, and reminiscing about "the old days".

And a beautiful sunset to end it.

It was a great day, and I can't wait to go back. Uncle Howard reminds me a lot of my Great Uncle Asay. He had a farm in Wellington Utah, and when I was a kid we'd go out to visit him every Memorial Day (which was my favorite holiday, next to Christmas, because I loved visiting Uncle Asay so much). I loved watching Cora with her Great Uncle Howard - she really took to him - it was like watching myself, and I was flooded with old memories while making new ones.

I also thought alot about my dad. He also grew up on a farm in Wellington, but his dad had a stroke when my dad was a teenager, and they had to sell the farm. That's when they moved to American Fork, and they've been there ever since. I asked my dad if he thought he would have ended up being a farmer if his dad hadn't had that stroke, and he reckoned he probably would have been.

It's crazy how drastically our lives can change, from the paths we think we are going to go down, to the ones we actually take. 13 years ago, Joe NEVER would have thought that he'd be in the military (he originally planned on getting a degree in mechanical engineering), but here we are in Korea, on a completely different path. Can you tell that going to Utah makes me sentimental? Plus, I just watched the season 4 finale of Doctor Who, and Donna Noble took a right turn instead of a left turn, and it changed the whole universe!;) Not a Doctor Who fan? Hmmmm, that's a shame.

The Ascent

We just got back from a wonderfully needed vacation in Utah. It was wonderful. It was needed. Documentation is essential, but will take up more than one post. I will start with Box Canyon.

Joe's brother Jesse suggested some of meet at Box Canyon for a "little" hike. We were all game - there were 6 adults and 10 children (ranging from 11 years to a 2 month old in a baby sling).

If you've never been to Box Canyon in Utah, it is a popular spot for rock climbing and repelling. It is also a very narrow canyon.

At first, it seemed like this would be more of a nice walk than an actual hike.

Then we started coming across obstacles - big boulders that had fallen down into the canyon.

They weren't anything too bad. Some we went around.

Some we went under.

Some were bigger than others, and maybe just a little menacing.

Some of the kids were showing a little nervousness, but everyone was having a good time.

Then we came to something a little more difficult.

This was much too steep/difficult/high for any of the kids to climb. Jeanette (my sister-in-law) said that maybe she should stay behind with the baby, and I voiced concerns that some of the kids were getting scared, and that maybe it wasn't the best idea to go on.

But Joe's older brothers, John and Jesse, were determined, and assured us it would be fine.

Jeanette and I consented, and I climbed ahead of Jesse and John (with some difficulty), so that the three of us formed kind of a human ladder of sorts, by which we passed the kids on up, and got everyone safely to the top.

That was the first of many times that we did this. The next picture was at the hardest point, were we had 5 adult in a row (I'm on top, then Joe, Jeanette, Jesse, and John, who you can't see, is at the bottom).

Not only were we passing the kids, but keep in mind that we had a 2 month old baby in a sling that we were passing as well. Jeanette and John were kind enough to re-enact this for me, since I forgot to take a picture of the actual process.

Several times Jeanette and I expressed how absolutely CRAZY this was, and perhaps the CPS would be coming to take our children away later. Quote of the day: Joe says, "I'm glad I'm not up here alone, in case I get stuck, someone else can cut my arm off. I don't think that I could cut my own arm off." Nice one Joe;) But we made it the whole way, which was to a dead-end for us (since we didn't have any climbing equipment), at which point we turned around and retraced our journey.

I think the kids all felt very accomplished, and we all put our hands in together and shouted for TEAM LIDDELL!!!

I was the one with the camera the whole time, and as I was taking pictures, I kept thinking about this picture.

It's called "The Ascent" by David Linn. It was printed in the Ensign magazine back in 1996 (I'm pretty sure that was the year, but I don't remember the month). I remember, because I was on my mission at the time, and I cut it out of the magazine and put it in my journal. I still have it. The caption at the bottom of the picture said, "The Lord has taught that one of our responsibilities as members of the Church is to help our fellowmen through this life, 'every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God' (D&C 82:19). As we are lifted, and as we in turn assist others on their mortal journey, we transcend the darkness of the world and enter the light of the gospel."

The trip up Box Canyon ended up being one of my favorite things about this vacation. Reaching the end of our journey together, and with each other's help, reminded me how grateful I am to have married into the Liddell family. I love them all as much as I love my own Petersen family. No matter how hard life's journey is, no matter what obstacles we come up against, we can get through it together as a family - pulling, pushing, lifting each other up. None of us can make it on our own. Families are Forever - it's one of the most important parts of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Numbers

13 - that's how many years ago, this month, that I met Joe. Who ever said that 13 was an unlucky number? Here are some other numbers.

We have been in love for 12 years - maybe Joe was in love with me longer than that.....I don't know;)

We have been married for 11 years (and 8 months).

We have made 4 children (they're all keepers).

We have had 7 cars (1 we never drove....only towed).

We have had 2 traffic tickets (both mine).

We have bought 22 bikes (don't judge).

We have lived apart for a total of 15 months (military, ya know).

We have moved 9 times (but only packed ourselves 3 times - unpacked every time).

We have lived in 7 cities (in 2 different countries).

We have flown across the ocean 7 times (Joe has actually done it 11 times in the past 13 years)

We have owned 1 house (soon to be 2).

We have been called to jury duty 3 times (served none).

We survived the first 9 1/2 years of our marriage without cell phones (and everyone thought we were crazy).

We've texted each other 0 times (okay, we've never texted anyone else either).

We have won 103 dollars (thanks for the comp slots Circus Circus).

We have argued 0 times (what do you mean you don't believe me?)

We have been to Disneyland 2 times (that number is WAY too low).

We have driven 100's of thousands of miles (we know route 66, and we are not friends).

We have laughed a million (Joe is the king of one-liners).

We have kissed....well, I can't count that high....but who's counting;)

We've got a lot of numbers ahead of us. Love you Joe!

More Museums

In the last couple of months we were able to visit 2 more museums with some friends. The pictures aren't great because I keep forgetting to bring my nice camera with me everywhere - I always carry my other, smaller camera in my purse just in case. I love all the museums around Seoul. Some are better than others, but my kids always enjoy themselves. First up is the Samsung Children's Museum.

weaving area

water area

everyone in their smocks

building area

the crane was a big hit!

photo/picture area

I'm the queen of what?

When you ran past this screen (below) cherry blossoms would appear on the branches, and then blow off again. Didn't get a good picture of it though.

kitchen area

can you see Madelyn in the sea of yellow?

here she is!

music area - J.T. composing his own symphany

The other museum we went to was the National Science museum of Korea. It's very large, and some of it wasn't that exciting. Sometimes it's hard to enjoy things when everything is in Korean. But they had a children's room that the kids absolutely loved!

giant piano - made the water in the pipes bubble and light up

building blocks in a space shuttle type room

this was the space part in the main museum, which my kids also liked

Madelyn as an astronaut

Alex's turn

space walk

Obviously there are a LOT more displays and activities in both of these museums than I have pictures of - enough to fill a whole day, and a whole memory card - but I try not to get carried away....especially if I don't have a good camera with me;) Finally, the favorite part of the science museum was in the children's area, and was a room that was tilted - had to get a video of that:)

We Celebrated the 2nd of July

Okay, technically we celebrated the 4th of July, but it was on the 2nd. The base here has a big to-do every year. Last year we only went for the fire works, but this year Joe had to work and I decided to take the kids for a few hours to the festivities. We found ourselves a nice grassy area on the side of the stage, which was perfect because the fireworks were right in front of us rather than behind the stage area. We bought ourselves some hotdogs and BBQ chicken, and had a picnic, listened to the different bands that played, and danced the night away. We hadn't been there too long before we attracted a cute little Korean girl, who's parents were camped out next to us. She started dancing with the kids, and before I knew it, her parents were giving my kids all sorts of treats and glow-in-the-dark bracelets.

I told Alex to ask the little girl what her name was, but he kept insisting that her name was China, and he wouldn't ask. I don't think she spoke any English anyway:) It was a great night, and end with fireworks, of course. I took a couple of pictures of the fireworks, but I'll just post a few of the pictures my kids took instead:)

Wall-o-Art

School is finally over, and it's time for our traditional picture of the art we've collected from this school year. As the kids are growing up, we are adding more and more art each year - we started a few years ago with the dining room door, and now we've upgraded to a whole wall in the computer room. The art will come down when the new school year begins in the fall, and some of it will be filed away for future generations. Until then, please do enjoy - I'm sure grandparents will enjoy the most, and the rest of you can just pretend:)

Happiness is Not Bird Poop

What?! I know, weird title, right? It's our new family motto:) - so here are my thoughts about being happy.

The other day JT was having a melt-down. He was saying that he wasn't happy, he'd had a terrible day, and he didn't have a happy life. His day, you ask? It had consisted of spending the day having fun with the family, going swimming, eating out, having a treat, etc. But now, oh the horror, he couldn't play video games, and that was the focus of his unhappiness. This called for a lecture. First, I pointed out to him all the fun things that had happened that day - we made a list, and it was long. Then I pointed out that only ONE thing had gone "wrong" that day (no video games). Obviously there were a LOT more good things going on than bad, but because he was focusing on the ONE bad thing, he was feeling unhappy.

Pssst, here's where my title comes in.

I said, "JT, happiness is not something that just happens to us, it is something we choose. If a bird poops on you, you don't have any control of that - it just happens. But happiness is not bird poop. You have to CHOOSE to be happy, and it's easier to choose that when we focus on (or do) good things instead of bad things" (of course, this produced a lot of laughing, and suddenly it was much easier for him to feel happy;)).

I've been thinking about happiness a lot lately, partly because my friend Naomi is devoting a whole month of blog posts to happiness, which I think is great. She is including posts about things like flowers, colors, exercise, singing, dancing, romance, reading, etc. My own list would also include family and friends, good food, Disneyland (for my inner child:)), and the mountains, to name a few. All of these things make it easier for us to choose to be happy. In fact, they make it so easy sometimes, that it doesn't feel like a choice - we say "these things MAKE me happy." but nope, I still think it's a choice.

It's more obvious that happiness really is a choice when it's harder to make that choice....and sometimes it's a lot harder. Life's circumstances are often downright unhappy (and I'm not talking about people with depression/chemical imbalances, etc. because that's a whole other issue, and sometimes goes beyond mere choice). Sometimes we choose things that make us sad, angry, frustrated, etc. But often, they really are just things that happen to us, and that we have no control over. Sometime's life's circumstances are bird poop, for heaven's sake!

I remember when Joe had to be in Korea for a year without me - not a happiness-inducing circumstance, not to mention that I had a brand new baby who was very fussy. One day, during that time, my sister asked me if I was happy. I was able to honestly answer that, Yes, I was. Even though it was one of the hardest times in my life, even though I often cried myself to sleep at night, overall, I really was happy.

Where is your focus? What is your attitude? What are your actions....your choices?

For me, I focused on my family and other blessings. I was able to live with my parents (yes, that was a good thing). I got to talk to Joe almost every day, and sometimes video conference. I was able to be there to celebrate my grandma's 90th birthday, and I was also there when she passed away (yes, also a good thing). I had two beautiful children that I got so spend my days with, because I didn't have to work, even though I was playing the single parent. Joe got to come home for a few weeks for the birth of the baby. I got to spend time with friends that I hadn't seen in years. I got to live in Utah, which I love. And the list goes on.

Joe sometimes worries that I won't be happy about where we get sent for the military next. I always tell him that it doesn't matter where we go, I'll still be happy - even if it's the last place that I want to go (I won't say where that is, I don't want to jinx myself, hehehehe). Here in Korea, I see a lot of unhappy spouses. It is not always easy to live here. We are half-way around the world from our family and friends. The culture is the complete opposite of what we are used to. We can't speak the language. A lot of the conveniences that we take for granted in America, simply don't exist here. It's not easy to get around. It's crowded. It's polluted. There is a long list of bird poop, and sometimes it's a lot easier to choose to be unhappy here. I know people who just stay at home and count down the days until they leave, and they're miserable the whole time.

I can't do that. I have to choose something else. So despite all the things that are out of my control, despite the fact that I ache to be with my family, despite that sometimes being here just makes me want to pull my hair out, and yes (gasp) I complain.....I choose to focus on the good things, to do the good things, and I choose to be happy. Korea is a BEAUTIFUL country. The four distinct seasons here are fabulous, and I love it. There is so much to see and do here, there is never an excuse to be bored. The people are lovely. The food is delicious. I have great friends here. And best of all, I am here with my husband and children.

I will actually miss Korea when we finally leave, even if I never want to come back;)

Poop happens, as the saying goes - that's how it goes, right?;)

Bird Poop, yes.

Happiness, YES!....because it's not bird poop.