I have a wonderful family, both blood related and through marriage. David and I were blessed to live by his side of the family for a while and now we are by mine. Neither of our families are perfect and yes, I'm sure we all irritate each other at times but I honestly feel really blessed. I mean, I have heard some real horror stories of "in-laws" and neither David nor I have them. We may "wonder" about certain things and why they happened but honestly, they are so minor. Most importantly, though, I think David and I have a good understanding that we were just raised by different parents so not all is going to be as we think it should and that is ok. Both sides of our family love the Lord and both are supportive family members. I got to really feel that this last weekend. First, Amanda and I went to Joplin, Missouri to get Levi some of his scouting stuff. She never seizes to amaze me when it comes to giving. While we were in the mall, she took Levi and Hyrum to the arcade...of course paying for their tokens because, well, that is typical Aunt Me-Me. I didn't ask her to do it and neither did the boys.
Later that night, Daddy was outside getting ready to wash my Grandpa's truck. David's truck has not been working for weeks now and all we had to do was ask once if we could use Grandpa's truck for possible jobs for David to use. Well, when the jobs were over he still needed to get that truck going before giving the truck back and not once did we hear a complaint from my Grandparents. I like this picture because it is Brigham who is washing Poppy's truck. David and I think that he has Grandpa's body type. So many people tell me how he looks so much like Ronald and I agree but he's got my Grandpa's body through and through!
A few days later was the Pelican Festival parade. All Levi was going to be doing was sitting on some hay on the back of a truck bed, waving. G&G. Nanny, Poppy, Amanda, Steve, Logan...they all came. While we were waiting for the parade to start I hear my Grandpa tell Brigham, "You know Brigham, I'm real proud of you getting all those Greens at your school. I know I keep telling you that, but I'm real proud of you." You see, sometimes just being there is good but sometimes saying the right things and letting someone know you are sincere is what is needed. Brigham's first 2 weeks of school was not good. His teacher goes by a color system with disciplining. Green is the best, Yellow is a verbal warning, Orange is a 10 minute time out at recess, Purple is no recess and a note to parents, and Pink is a visit to the office and calling in a parent. I was really worried about Brigham those first 2 weeks. He kept coming home with purples and nothing but negative notes from his teacher, Mrs. Goff. At first, I exploded at him, which of course just scared him and didn't help a bit. Then I started to listen to the spirit. We slowly worked a system at home going along with the system Mrs. Goff had at school. It was hard work on all our parts. It really was. Listening to your child whine because he can't play games on purple days and having to deal with a crabby child for the remainder of the evening is not fun! There were so many times I just wanted to give in and just let him get lost in some mind numbing play station game but the spirit kept whispering to me that I had to keep this up. I had to make him understand consequences. We had Family Home Evenings on choices. I had to patch things up with his teacher that seemed to really not like this hyper child of mine. I had to listen to the spirit that kept telling me that she was going through a rough time and that I needed to make my suggestions seem more like they were geared towards me changing and not her. I volunteered in his class. This may seem so silly to some but you have to have a truly hyper kid who gets distracted very easily to really understand this situation. I worked real hard on positive reinforcement and finally it payed off. He started to not only get better but actually come home with Greens! I didn't even think that was possible. I mean really, I'm not trying to be negative about Brigham but you have to understand how very hyper he is and not only that but what kid is not going to at least get one verbal warning throughout the day?! I called my family up the very first day of his improvement and my Dad said, "I'm not surprise because when Brigham puts his mind up to something...." Brigham must have overheard me telling David what my Dad said because the next day I overheard him telling one of my family members on the phone, "When I put my mind to something ......"
Later that night, Daddy was outside getting ready to wash my Grandpa's truck. David's truck has not been working for weeks now and all we had to do was ask once if we could use Grandpa's truck for possible jobs for David to use. Well, when the jobs were over he still needed to get that truck going before giving the truck back and not once did we hear a complaint from my Grandparents. I like this picture because it is Brigham who is washing Poppy's truck. David and I think that he has Grandpa's body type. So many people tell me how he looks so much like Ronald and I agree but he's got my Grandpa's body through and through!
A few days later was the Pelican Festival parade. All Levi was going to be doing was sitting on some hay on the back of a truck bed, waving. G&G. Nanny, Poppy, Amanda, Steve, Logan...they all came. While we were waiting for the parade to start I hear my Grandpa tell Brigham, "You know Brigham, I'm real proud of you getting all those Greens at your school. I know I keep telling you that, but I'm real proud of you." You see, sometimes just being there is good but sometimes saying the right things and letting someone know you are sincere is what is needed. Brigham's first 2 weeks of school was not good. His teacher goes by a color system with disciplining. Green is the best, Yellow is a verbal warning, Orange is a 10 minute time out at recess, Purple is no recess and a note to parents, and Pink is a visit to the office and calling in a parent. I was really worried about Brigham those first 2 weeks. He kept coming home with purples and nothing but negative notes from his teacher, Mrs. Goff. At first, I exploded at him, which of course just scared him and didn't help a bit. Then I started to listen to the spirit. We slowly worked a system at home going along with the system Mrs. Goff had at school. It was hard work on all our parts. It really was. Listening to your child whine because he can't play games on purple days and having to deal with a crabby child for the remainder of the evening is not fun! There were so many times I just wanted to give in and just let him get lost in some mind numbing play station game but the spirit kept whispering to me that I had to keep this up. I had to make him understand consequences. We had Family Home Evenings on choices. I had to patch things up with his teacher that seemed to really not like this hyper child of mine. I had to listen to the spirit that kept telling me that she was going through a rough time and that I needed to make my suggestions seem more like they were geared towards me changing and not her. I volunteered in his class. This may seem so silly to some but you have to have a truly hyper kid who gets distracted very easily to really understand this situation. I worked real hard on positive reinforcement and finally it payed off. He started to not only get better but actually come home with Greens! I didn't even think that was possible. I mean really, I'm not trying to be negative about Brigham but you have to understand how very hyper he is and not only that but what kid is not going to at least get one verbal warning throughout the day?! I called my family up the very first day of his improvement and my Dad said, "I'm not surprise because when Brigham puts his mind up to something...." Brigham must have overheard me telling David what my Dad said because the next day I overheard him telling one of my family members on the phone, "When I put my mind to something ......" 
