February, Weeks 1 and 2

FEBRUARY
Week 1
Welcome back to real life! Where food doesn’t magically appear in front of you and all the laundry from the past week waits for you!

We arrived home Saturday and Sunday morning getting to church at 8:30 was a little rough. But we made it. It was a nice day. We fasted, Tyler did too. He gave a family home evening lesson on Joseph Smith. We told the kids all about the trip, gave them gifts and showed them the photos and videos we took. Everyone helped with dinner, we made brownies, we played Pit, and we hit the hay!

Monday we celebrated my birthday. Sweet Freeman went to the store at 5:15 to get fun foods for a birthday breakfast. He decorated the kitchen. For dinner he brought me my favorite Zoes Restaurant steak kabobs, dessert from Olive Garden, and surprised me with a gift certificate to get a foot massage. Sweet guy. The family went around the table and told me why they love me at dinner. Tyler said he loves me because I try to live the gospel and try to obey the commandments and go to church, “and,” he said, “Heavenly Father sent us here for a reason. And Mom is trying to live those reasons.” Sweet. I’m glad he can see that I try. Freeman said that he loves that I am patient and forgiving.

Lauren Reber brought me flowers and Stevie gave me herbal tea and a tea mug. Sweet friends!

Week 2
After being postponed twice in January, Anslie and I finally had our big birthday date last weekend. Freeman set us up at a Hotel in Dallas near the Galleria Mall. We arrived at the hotel and after jumping on the beds, left our luggage. We took the shuttle to the mall, had dinner, and I let Anslie pick out some jewelry at The Children’s Place. We came back to the hotel and she opened Grandma Janet’s gift: 5+ crafts for Anslie to do with friends or by herself. She was so excited! We immediately did the homemade lip gloss together. Then Anslie painted my fingernails a lovely shade of violet pink! I surprised her with two gourmet cupcakes with candles and sang her “Happy Birthday.” We read my journal from the day she was born and read her birth blessing. I had forgotten that Freeman blessed her to always be close to the church. He promised that she would have a calming influence where ever she goes. She already does that. And my journal said that I felt immediately that she would be a strong spirit, one that didn’t always have to be in the limelight, but one that would have inner strength. Also already true. We settled in to the movie The Little Princess. At first she wasn’t sure that she liked it, but then didn’t want me to turn it off .

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel, got ready for the day, and then headed to the American Girl doll store for lunch. They have a bistro in the store. You can bring your doll and they give her a seat at the table and bring dishes out for her too! We had fun asking each other questions that they had sitting in a basket on the table, and after lunch, wandering around the store looking at little pianos, bicycles, skates, beds….they had everything a doll could ever want! We bought her a book.

That evening we attended Flower Mound High School’s musical production of The Little Mermaid. There were 5+ kids from our ward in the production, that made it fun to see. The cast flew with cables when swimming and Ariel had an amazing voice! Super fun.
I loved the time I had with my sweet girl. She is growing up fast. She is a girl that is always herself, speaks from her heart, and is so so much fun. I am so grateful I have her!

Tyler is one busy boy these days. Basketball is almost over and soccer is just starting, and we are running to keep up with both. On Saturday he had a scouts activity, soccer practice, basketball game, and birthday party! I think he wore his poor Dad into the ground!

Tonight Tucker bumped Tyler’s lego ship and Tyler said, rather bothered, “I said to not touch that! How do you listen??!” Tucker looked at him innocently and said, “Well, I have two ears on my head, and they help me!” Silly boy! Tonight as I tucked him in, I told him “Tucker, you are a gift from Heavenly Father to me.” He wrapped his chubby little hands around my neck and said, “Mommy, I am so glad you are my Mommy.” And planted a kiss on my cheek. Oh does life get any sweeter?

We have had preschool at our house this week. On Tuesday we had a Valentines party. The kids brought decorated boxes and bags and we exchanged Valentines. The kids were so excited! Though putting the Valentines in the boxes was a hard process – it was rocket science to put the right Valentine in the right box and not move your own box until all Valentines have been deposited there. Oh my!

On Tuesday afternoon the kids worked hard to finish practicing and homework. It was 68 F outside, so we went to the park, and they rode their bikes furiously for 2 hours! I’ve been sick, so I sat in a chair, wrapped in a blanket, and watched. I was grateful to find a solution that allowed me to rest and still let them play and enjoy the beautiful weather!

I am sick this week. I feel pretty run down and tired. But I’ve been able to stay mentally on top of the fatigue and keep functioning to keep my family functioning. I’m grateful for that.

Friends,
I have fallen off the wagon for two years. Oh dear! I may not post pictures, because they take a lot of time to post! But here's our January 2015 happenings.

2015

January
Week 1-3
January has been a month of renewed intentions and lots of birthday parties! Freeman organized a fit challenge competition for his family to get ready for the cruise. It was wonderful motivation to workout and eat right, and man, I feel so much better when I am doing those things! I challenged the kids to eat no sugar until we left for our cruise, about 4 weeks. I wasn’t sure what their reaction would be, but they accepted the challenge and even carried it out at school and church when they were offered treats. It was hard for all of us, but so rewarding to realize that we can do anything we put our minds to!

For Freeman’s birthday we had a birthday breakfast with homemade cinnamon rolls, bacon, and lots of other yummy things! We gave him the Saturday off for the most part and hoped he felt loved!
Our sweet Tucker boy had a birthday. We made him a train poster and a Boxcar children cake (his request) and had a family party. All he wanted for his birthday was trains. We bought him an electric Thomas and friends engine and so did Grandma Janet, and he was in heaven! I can’t believe he is four!

Anslie also had a birthday, though, poor girl, Grandma Lewis died the weekend we had planned to celebrate. She cried that it had to be postponed, but then accepted it and didn’t complain again. She got to choose between a birthday party with friends or an overnight date with Mom at a hotel. She chose a date with me, so we will do that in February.

Grandmas and Grandpas and friends were so kind to remember our birthdays and celebrate with us!

Week 4

We just returned from a Caribbean Cruise to celebrate Mom and Dad Linton’s 50th Wedding Anniversary with 8 of the 9 siblings and spouses. It was something to remember!

Freeman and I flew in to Ft. Lauderdale Florida on Friday evening. We all met up at the hotel. We enjoyed rooming with Mark and Collette and catching up with them! The next morning we woke early, had breakfast at the hotel, and headed to the Ft. Lauderdale temple. This temple was built in the spring of 2014. It is a small temple, but reminiscent of the Bountiful temple with arched corridors in the front. I loved the inside better than any other temple I’ve seen. With dark woods, gold accents and leaf designs in the lighting, rugs, and stained glass, it was so beautiful. We enjoyed doing family-name sealings together. What an amazing moment to be in the sealing room together and see 9 couples, all of whom I have grown to love and respect so much. None of us is perfect, but we are all trying to live good lives.

We took pictures in front of the temple and then hurried off to catch our ship!

We travelled on the 2nd biggest cruise ship in the world, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis. With over 5,000 passengers, it was an architectural wonder. It had an open-air park with plants and walkways in the center, and a “boardwalk” area off the back with shops and a water theater. It had a huge indoor theater as well as an ice-skating rink, an indoor mall, and numerous restaurants.

Our room was lovely with a bed, couch, and a balcony overlooking the ocean. Mom and Dad had a suite with a living room area that comfortably fit all of us so we could gather and be together in the evenings.

Our second day, Sunday, we came to port at Nassau, Bahamas. All the cruise staff looked confused as we exited the ship in our Sunday clothes while everyone else left wearing swimsuits and flip-flops. We took a van-taxi to the local lds service. Nassau itself was surprisingly run down. It was a breath of fresh air to drive up to the church and see clean cut, beautiful, shining saints walking to church in their dresses and white shirts, their faces all aglow with gospel light! The sacrament meeting talks were sincere and humble. The sweet little black boys in white shirts and ties won my heart. I was especially touched by the closing prayer, where the brother thanked the Lord “for our lives and for our beautiful country.” They don’t have much, but they do have that, and he was grateful.

Dinner was formal that night and Rachael did hair for the ladies. We ate at the Coastal Kitchen, a restaurant for only suite guests. We were delighted by lots of new flavors, especially the unique flatbreads. There was lots of tasting and sharing. We got laughing about our wacky idea of a floating temple cruise, Mom and Dad could be the President and Matron, and maybe an Angel Moroni atop? The restaurant staff brought an anniversary cake and we sang “Happy Annivesary to you.”

Afterwards we gathered in Mom and Dad’s room and presented a few Anniversary gifts to them. Rachael had made an original pencil drawing of Mom and Dad on their wedding day and the Arizona Temple where they were married. I made a photo album of Mom and Dad through the years. Elise made a huge Anniversary banner that we hung in their room. Ardene made a book full of notes and letters from children, grandchildren and other relatives, honoring their marriage. Kristi made a movie of Mom and Dad’s life through the years, with music. It was awesome. Most of us were teary by the end. It was such a special night of love and appreciation. Freeman also presented the winners of the fit challenge with their awards. Go Teresa and Annie!

Monday was a ship day, Freeman and I found a great spot the “Solarium,” a quiet deck on top that overlooked the ocean. We read “The Rent Collector” for a few hours and just relaxed. It was nice. It was Elise’s birthday. We sang to her at dinner. Her birthday got cut a little short since we were in a hurry to get to a water show. The show was amazing, with professional divers jumping from heights up to 50 feet!

Tuesday we stopped at St. Thomas. This time we left the ship ready for the beach and water! St. Thomas is part of the US Virgin islands. Freeman had arranged the whole day. We took a taxi through the island, which was quite hilly! Between the hills and the crazy driving, we all felt a little green by the time we arrived! We met our yacht crew and headed out to sea again. Our crew were great, a captain, second man, and young lady who did the cooking and ship work. The second man was a member of the church with a fascinating story! He and his wife decided years ago to take their children out of school and sail around the world! Since then they have homeschooled and lived in all kinds of exotic places. Now that their teenagers are getting to the age where friends are important, they are considering moving back to the states.

This was such a fun time. The ship was small enough that we all just hung out together. It was fun to soak up the sun, chat, and snap photos. An hour later we arrived on the coast of St. John, at a little bay with great snorkeling. The water was an unbelievable kool-aide turquoise color, the sand white, and behind it, a wall of jungle mountain, with a perfectly straight slope, jetting up into the sky. I felt like I was on a movie set.

We donned snorkeling gear and jumped in. Mom and Dad even jumped in and snorkeled! The water temperature was perfect. I saw a large turtle and a sting ray, and several of us saw sharks. After an hour in the water we hopped back aboard. They had an enormous spread of delicious food for lunch and surprised Mom and Dad with an anniversary cake! I lounged in the front of the ship on the way back and chatted about home-school with Rachael.
It was the funnest day of the cruise, by far.

Wednesday we docked in St. Maarten. Half of the group took a Jeep tour of the island, the other half joined us hanging out at the beach. We took a taxi to Maho beach, known for its airport just feet from the beach. We got some great photos and stood only a couple hundred feet from the back of a jet as it took off (the blast blew some people to the ground!) Next we walked a short distance to another beach and played in the water for awhile until we had to return to the ship. Again, unbelievable water and beautiful sand. On the way back, traffic was bad and our driver took us around to the French side of the island to avoid it. We made it back to the ship with just 15 mintues to spare! After dinner we attended an ice-skating show, the performers were very talented, especially considering that their rink was so small!

Thursday was a ship day. Teresa and I did yoga in the morning. Still feeling calorie inundated, I ran a mile. Next I tried the rock wall, so fun! We especially enjoyed lunch at Giovanni’s, an Italian restaurant. Our waiter, Inshan was super cheerful and funny, and brought us obscene amounts of food. Like 20 platters of food for 6 of us before we were done. I don’t remember the last time I was that full, the food was so gooood, it was hard to stop! That evening was formal night again, Rachael did my hair and we all looked fabulous. Dad talked us into a Merry-go-round ride in formals. Why not?

After dinner we attended an acrobatic performance in the theater. You couldn’t tell we were on a ship, the theater was huge. The performers were very talented, and the show was incredible, and at times, odd.

Friday was our last day on the ship. Teresa and I had been doing yoga, with the hopes that the class would be held on the helipad at the very front of the ship, but it had been too windy. On Friday they finally held the class on the helipad! It was fun to do yoga and have a 180 degree visual of the ocean. I loved being in shavasana and feeling the rise and fall of the ship, hearing the soft whish of the waves, and feeling the sea wind blow across my face. I snapped a mental picture of that moment for later. Later, I tried the zip line and Freeman did another round on the Flo-Rider, a wave machine for surfing on the ship. I joined Teresa and Kristi in my first Zumba class, which was surprisingly super fun! It was our last afternoon, so Freeman and I went to Mom and Dad’s huge balcony and soaked up the sun. Freeman and Isaac tried the Hibachi restaurant and Rachael and I had salads and talked on the balcony some more.

After dinner, we returned to Mom and Dad’s room for one final night together. Mom and Dad said a few words, and then Dad sang two love songs to Mom. It was the sweetest expression of love. Hans suggested that we go around the room and share what we appreciate about Mom and Dad’s marriage, and we did. I felt the spirit testify of eternal families and the enormous blessings that come from trusting the Lord’s promises. I was touched by the tenderness I witnessed between Mom and Dad, and felt so grateful for the good lives of all of Freeman’s siblings. It is good to be a part of something so special. Mom and Dad aren’t perfect. Their parenting hasn’t been perfect. Their marriage hasn’t been perfect. But they have been loyal and true to each other and to the promises they made to God. They kept trying when things were hard and they believed things could work. And, what do you know, they did. Beautiful things have come from years of effort, persistence, hard work, and doing their best to do what they perceive the Lord wants them to do.