AB Unfiltered

I know what you're thinking, "AB has a filter?" Yes, yes I do. Lucky for you! However, there are a few people that have been in my life for long enough and in enough quantity that there is no use using the AB filter when I'm around them. They have seen me cry selfishly, grow spiritually, make mistakes, yell at their kids, fall in love, pack up my life with tears in my eyes, be oblivious to their needs...you get the idea. Not only have they seen the worst (and best) of AB, but they are still my friends! Honestly, I'm surprised they didn't ditch me a long time ago. Last weekend we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday together by...well, by, um, doing nothing. Mostly, we hung out talking and let our children run free around us. It was the most relaxing weekend I've had in a long while. I love them and I know that they will still love me even after they see I've posted this unflattering picture of them both. (BTW: we need to stop taking pictures of the kids and take a few of ourselves)

Reverence Child?!?

In our church/ward they ask a child to be on the stand before church as an example of how to be reverent when we enter Sacrament meeting. The child stands quietly with their arms folded for about 10 minutes as people come in and take their seats. When they called to ask if Nash could do this I was shocked. Our ward is light on small kids and Nash has a reputation... it's not necessarily a good one. Nonetheless, I accepted on his behalf.

Today was his big day. He reluctantly let me walk him to the front as we arrived (early!) and stood in front of the Bishop. Our very smart and loving Bishop, whose youngest is Nash's buddy, immediately showed Nash what to do and gave him some words of encouragement. We sat right in front hoping to help him out. He smiled, waved to a few friends as they entered, played with his Superman tie a lot, but overall did a great job. As Brother Leishman (our Bishop's 2nd counselor) thanked "Superman Nash Carpenter" for his good example you could hear a chuckle roll through the chapel. If it had been any other meeting our loving ward family might have stood up and cheered. It only took a few minutes for him to be back in his seat asking questions at full volume, playing games with the cute girl sitting behind us, and generally just being Nash.

Those 10 minutes gave me shining hope for a day when it won't be so shocking that Nash is asked to be the reverence child.

Along those same lines...Nash moved into Sunbeams today. A big day for him moving onto Primary with the "big" kids. And a bittersweet day for me as my baby leaves nursery. Emma and Dedan reminded me yesterday of how old they will be turning this year....pain and joy watching them grow up. The motherhood conundrum.