Just Be. Fun Run. Girl Power.

This whirlwind week began in normal whirlwind fashion. The girls and I keep busy running from school to work/babysitter to choir (for Viv) to dance (for Viv and Ru), and to a number for other miscellaneous things.
It is difficult to know how to balance all of the good opportunities we are blessed to choose from in life. On the one hand, we want our children to benefit from the many options out there – so many extra-curricular activities. On the other hand, they are still so young, and life will only get busier and busier. They need time to just be, and to enjoy downtime to discover who they are.

That being said, we are trying to expose our children to activities/lessons that we believe they are interested in. Olivia (5) has tried soccer and gymnastics. She is now trying dance and singing. Ruby (3) is just starting out with dancing. Next we may try rock climbing, swimming, and piano. Who knows where their real passions lie, and where they will excel. I think there is a reason why there are financial and time constraints on the amount of activities that we can try at a time. So, we are just doing the best that we can and feeling things out.

On another note, we had the opportunity to participate in an event celebrating International Day of Peace. It was Sonoma’s first peace vigil, and appropriately, she slept peacefully through the whole thing.
The next day (Saturday) we got up and went to a 1 mile fun run race to benefit an old friend of mine, Christina McEvoy. She has been diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma cancer. She has two young boys. Her husband Eric was a good friend of mine in high school. I was explaining all of this to my daughters (about why and for whom we were going to run). They were very serious, and then all on their own, suggested that they donate some money from their piggy banks. I was so touched by their thoughtfulness. It was so sweet to watch them bring their bank to the race, dump out some change, and take it to my friend, Eric (Christina stayed home because she didn’t feel well). If anyone reading this post would like to help them out, or run in the upcoming race for her in Kaysville, or would simply like to know more, visit http://www.iwillwinthisfight.com/ (Incidentally, it was the first race for all three of our girls – and for me, now that I think about it. They were troopers! We will definitely do more in the future… Kaysville).

Finally, I had the opportunity to go with my mom and sisters (and Sonoma and Bailee) to the General Relief Society Conference in SLC last night. We rode the Frontrunner from Ogden, then took Trax into downtown. We ate at my new favorite restaurant in SLC: One World Café (http://www.oneworldeverybodyeats.com/). The food was delicious and organic and local. More than that, their philosophy is amazing. I highly recommend that you check them out and go eat there.

After that, we headed to the Conference Center. I sat in a theatre room away from the crowd because that’s where they sent all the nursing moms (you can’t have crying babies in a room where a live broadcast is happening). It was a good conference. I really liked the prophet’s talk about not judging. My favorite part of the meeting was when Julie Beck announced an upcoming book about the history of Relief Society. In my adulthood, I have discovered women like Emmaline B. Wells (among others) and studied them. For a long time I was confused and disappointed by the fact that people in the church don’t learn about the women in the early church at church (aside from brief mentions of Emma and Lucy Mack Smith and Eliza Snow). So, woohoo! Now those women will be much more commonplace in church settings, and young women will have more female role models to look to. Yea.