Bonds that Make us Free - My Thoughts

Ben was recently recommended a book called Bonds that Make us Free. It is a nonfiction, self-help-type book. At first, Ben didn't like it, but continued reading it because of who recommended it to him. As he got into it, though, he quickly realized that it contained life changing principles. 

Here are some of the principles it teaches: 

-Other people are not the problem. The problem is that you see the other person as the problem. 

-When you see other people as the problem, you mistreat them (even if you are trying not to). This allows them to use your behavior and attitude towards them as a justification for their behavior. 

-Collusion is when two people are misbehaving and using the other person's behavior to justify their own behavior. If one person does something to offend, the other person is "justified" in yelling at them. Because the second person yelled at the first, the first is now justified in giving them the silent treatment. And it goes on in a cycle indefinitely, until one of them finally stops. 

-When you change your heart towards others, the Spirit will tell you what the right decision is. Until you change your heart, there is no right decision. Even if you do the "right" thing, if your heart is in the wrong place, you are doing it for the wrong reasons and it is therefore not the right choice still. 

-Our negative feelings toward others are not caused by their behavior towards us (even if that behavior is inappropriate). Our negative feelings toward them are caused by our own hearts. When we see them in a negative way or with a hardened heart, we cause those feelings and mistreat them. When we soften our hearts toward them and see them the way God sees them (as a whole person who makes mistakes), we can easily forgive them and treat them with true charity. 

The ideas found in the book are really important to understand. They help you find a true win-win when it seems impossible, helps you overcome any offenses that you find in others' behavior, and truly learn to love God's children. I don't love the way the book is written or the way some of the ideas are presented, but I still think the book is well worth reading because of the ideas it contains. 

Night Swimming!

On Monday this week, we got to go night swimming with some of Ben's siblings and cousins, and it was so fun! 

We went after we put the kids down, so all our babysitter had to do was sit at our house. We had Ben's dad come and stay with them. Since we have a pass, we drove our car and everyone rode with us. Ben's cousin Makenzie, her husband Coy, Ben's brother Caleb, and Ben's sister Melissa came with us. Jessica and Donovan were going to come, but they were waiting on Covid test results (came back negative!) and were staying away from people until they knew. 

We left around 8:30 and got to lake around 9:00. It had been a really hot day, hitting 100 degrees, so it was still really warm, and the water was in the 70's. We went to Redfleet, which is a really cool lake. It has a few beaches, but it's mostly rocks and cliffs and the water is better for swimming because there aren't as many weeds as the other lake near us. 

We hiked up to a spot away from people, but then accidentally ran into someone who was fishing. We were going to leave, but he was really nice about it and told us he was leaving anyway. The spot we found was a good place to jump in, which is what I wanted because it's so much easier to get in all at once than it is to slowly walk in. 

Ben got in first and swam around so that we could be sure it wasn't dangerous to jump. We could tell it was pretty cold for him, and Makenzie and I were especially nervous to get in. Melissa had brought some glow sticks, so we got those out and everyone put some on. Then the rest of us got in the water. 

I was the last one in, but I did jump in. The impact wasn't as bad as I had feared, but then it got cold--colder than I feared. I tread water for a moment, and it didn't take long to get used to the water and warm up a little. A couple people got out and jumped back in, but I just stayed in the water. I did swim over to the rocks and rested for a moment, though, to catch my breath after how cold it had been. 

Then we swam over some cliffs and Ben and I got partially out and sat on a rock together, just watching the water and the cliffs. Redfleet is probably the prettiest place in Vernal, it's breathtaking. There were also bats flying over the water, which freaked Coy out but they left us alone and it was really cool to watch. 

Then it was starting to get windy and a little cold, so we swam back and got out to dry off. It was a little before ten at this point. 

It was French Fry Day, so we stopped at Wendy's and got 4 large French Fries to eat on the way home. Once we got everyone dropped off and got home, it was about 10:30, which was perfect. 

It was a really fun day and we're hoping to do it again soon!

A Day at Lagoon!

Yesterday I got to fulfill a "mom dream" of mine--taking my kids to Lagoon! Some of my absolute favorite memories growing up are going to Lagoon with my mom, sometimes with friends or my Grandma. I loved those moments together and I am so happy I was able to begin forming those same memories with my own children. 

We decided to go out and back in the same day (it's about a 3 hour drive one way). We left Rylee with Caleb (she had a blast with him!) and took Ben's cousins Makenzie and Koy with us. We were trying to leave by 7:00, and I think we made it out by 7:10. 

The drive was long, especially for the kids. They were really excited and it was hard to wait! But we had lots of snacks for them and they did really well. We made one stop for the bathroom in Heber and made it to Lagoon around 10:30. It took us a few minutes to get our stuff all ready (we had a lot of stuff). We had brought our double stroller, which turned out to be really useful. We carried snacks, a change of clothes, swim stuff (which we ended up not using), and other things like sunscreen and hand sanitizer on the stroller, and the kids got to sit in it whenever we were walking around or waiting for something. 

The first thing we did when we got in the park was to find a pavilion to leave our coolers of food. The pavilion we were at was right by Kiddie Land, so Ben and I took the girls on some of those rides while Makenzie and Koy went with their cousin and his date to do some of the bigger rides. 

We started with the firetruck ride. I went with Parker and Ashtyn while Ben took some Dramamine. It's a pretty cute ride and the girls were laughing the whole time at how the ride "tickled their tummies". They were super excited for rides after that.  

Next, we went to the Ladybug Bop ride. I went with Parker and Ashtyn went with Ben (that was our default). It was basically the kid version of the Rocket, having sudden falls. At first, Parker was not sure about the falls, but then I showed her how she could scream each time it fell and she had fun with it after that. Ashtyn didn't really like that ride and didn't want to do it again. 

Then we went over to a car ride and let the kids ride on their own together. I was a little nervous to send Parker on without me, but she went with Ashtyn and they were just fine. They had a blast! 

Right next to the car one was the Flying Tigers ride, which was similar to the car one. Ben went with Ashtyn and I went with Parker, and Parker thought it was fun that she got to "fly" the airplane. Then Ashtyn really wanted to do the teacups ride, so we went over there. Ben didn't want to get sick, or he knew he'd be miserable the rest of the day, so I went with the two girls. We picked the pink teacup and Ashtyn really wanted to spin it fast. I didn't want to get sick either, though, so I let them spin it a little and told them that Koy would take them if they wanted to go fast.

Then we went over to the Odysea ride. It was getting hot and up to this point, we'd been in the shade the entire time. The line for this ride was in the sun, which made wearing the masks harder (they had us wear our masks in line, which wasn't too bad most of the time, and the kids did really well with it). But once on the ride, it was fun. Parker didn't want to get splashed in the face, so she hid her face against the side of the ride the whole time, but she said she had fun. Ashtyn had a blast! On the Odysea, it sprays water at certain parts, and you can move your car up or down to get hit or avoid the water. Ashtyn was in charge of moving their car and she maneuvered it to soak Ben, which she thought was hilariously fun. 

It was about noon at this point, so we headed over to the pavilion and had lunch. We had brought sandwich stuff and snacks. While we were eating, Parker fell off the bench and scraped her leg on some plastic. It was a pretty bad cut and I didn't have a band aid, I felt bad. I went and got paper towels to help and once we were back to rides, she didn't notice it anymore. 

After lunch, Ashtyn wanted to go on the Bat. It was the one ride she was tall enough for that Parker wasn't and the ride that she was looking forward to the most. In the car ride up, she'd told Koy she wanted to go to it with him, so Koy, Koy's cousin and date, and Ben went to the Bat while Makenzie and I took Parker back on the Fire Truck ride. Then we went to the whale kiddie ride (one Parker really wanted to do) but it was closed for sanitizing. So we decided to do the Jumping Dragon roller coaster. Parker wanted to sit by Makenzie and she absolutely LOVED it. When it stopped in the middle, she was so mad it was over, then so happy when it started going again backward. When it was time to get off, it was quite the job to get Parker to come off. 

Then we decided to go to Rattle Snake Rapids, since it was so hot. It was pretty far from the other rides, and the line was longer, but it moved fast. Everyone in our group fit in one raft. Ashtyn sat by me and Parker sat by Makenzie, and they both basically hid in our laps the whole time trying not to get wet. We got super soaked, especially by the waterfall. Koy and his cousin and date went over to do some bigger rides again, and Makenzie and the girls and I decided to go on Rattle Snake Rapids again. I got out the girls water goggles for them, so they didn't hide as much this time around, but we got even more soaked, since we were directly under the waterfall this time around. 

We met up with Ben after that and walked over to Pioneer Village to get some ice cream. Ben and I got Moose Tracks to share, Makenzie got Pralines and Cream, Ashtyn got Playdoh, and Parker got Tiger's Blood. We mostly ended up all sharing, and it was yummy. Then Makenzie went to meet up with Koy to do some more bigger rides and the girls and I walked around Pioneer Village. This is something I do every time I go to Lagoon and it never gets old for me. The girls really liked it too. Their favorite was the hat shop--Ashtyn and Parker walked out saying things like "Madame," and "How do you like my hat?"

We had planned on going to Lagoona Beach and thought now might be a good time, but when we walked over there, it was so crowded, it wasn't very appealing. I was still soaked from Rattlesnake Rapids (Ashtyn had already dried off and I had helped Parker change into one of her extra sets of clothes), so walking around to dry off sounded especially nice to me. 

We decided to do some more rides and went over to the Tidal Wave. We explained to the girls about how you put your hands up and scream when your side goes up. They were doing it until it got really high, then they got scared. We told them they could just hold on and just scream. Ashtyn's face was sacred the whole time, but afterward, she said it was a lot of fun. 

Then I told the girls they could do the Merry Go Round, the first thing they had asked about when I told them we were going to Lagoon. They were so excited to do that. I got on with Parker and Ben got on with Ashtyn. Parker chose a cat because it had a beautiful bow, and Ashtyn chose a horse. Then I went on again with the girls while Ben stayed with the stroller. Ashtyn picked the cat this time and Parker picked a horse. 

Ben and I were ready for a little break after that, so we sat down in the shade and got out some chips and water. We waited there for the rest of our group and then we all went into Terror Ride. Ashtyn wanted to ride with Makenzie and Koy, and Parker rode with Ben and I. Ashtyn didn't get very scared and thought it was a lot of fun. Parker got pretty scared, especially at the jump scares, and said afterwards that she didn't really like it. 

At this point, we were right by the white roller coaster, which Makenzie and I wanted to do together, so Koy and his cousin took the girls to the teacups while we rode on the roller coaster. When we went to meet up with them again, they were on the Flying Tigers ride, which the kids rode a couple times. 

Then we went over to the Bombara, a short roller coaster that the kids were big enough to ride, but that was fun for the adults too. Ashtyn rode Ben and Parker rode with me and both of them had a ton of fun.

After that roller coaster, we decided to split up again. Ben and I took the girls on some more kid rides while the rest of the group went over to the Rocket. I was feeling slightly nauseous, from the heat and too much junk food I think, so I ready to just do some smaller rides with the kids.   

Then the kids wanted to do the Fire Truck ride again, so we all went over and did it together again. Then the Bulgy Whale was open again, so we let the kids do that one. There was no else in line, so the kids got to just stay in their whale seat and go over and over. Parker kept yelling for the attendant to make it go faster. She was really nice, and told us she wished she could. 

Once they got off that, we decided to the the Odysea again. Ashtyn got to soak Ben again and Parker and I figured out how to avoid the water altogether. 

We were all feeling pretty tired and hot by this time, so we went over to the pavilion, where I filled up our water bottles with ice water and we all rested and got some water. This helped and we were ready for some food, so we met up with Makenzie and Koy and ate at the Biergarten. We weren't super impressed with our food, but it was so nice to sit in an air conditioned, quiet room for a few minutes and their bathrooms were really nice. 

I got a caesar salad and chicken fingers with fries to share with the girls. Ben and Koy both got different kinds of sandwiches (I think they were happiest with their meals), and Makenzie got tacos. After eating, Koy and I were feeling energized again, but I think Ben and Makenzie were starting to drag. The girls were doing great the whole time, but I could tell they were starting to get worn out. It was about 6:00 at this point. 

After dinner, Koy and I took the girls on the Jumping Dragon roller coaster (Ben and Makenzie were both worried about getting sick on it, since it goes backward). Then we met up with Ben and Makenzie again and went on the Bombara again. This time, Ashtyn sat with Koy and Parker sat with Makenzie, so Ben and I got to sit together. 

After this, Ashtyn really wanted to do the Bat again with Makenzie and Koy, so they went over there while Ben and I took Parker to do a car ride (she really wanted to). She rode it a couple times, then we went and met back up again. She never wanted to get off, especially since they had a pretty car, she said. 

After we met up again, we went over and let the girls do a boat ride, which is a really cute ride with a bell. Then they really wanted to do a helicopter ride together. Ben and Makenzie were resting and Koy got an ice cream cone. When they were done with those rides, we went over and got in line for the train. It was a little bit of a longer ride, but the kids really wanted to do it. I could tell at this point that they were getting to the end of their patience, because of how they were as we were waiting. 

The train ride was fine. The animals aren't really that cool of a thing and I agree with a lot of what I've read online about it being better for Lagoon to give them to someone who could give them a better home. But regardless, the kids liked the train ride. By the time we got off the train, it was about 7:30. We decided to do one last ride and then head home. Makenzie and Koy went over to do the Cannibal one last time and I took the girls on the Merry Go Round. 

Ashtyn picked a horse and Ashtyn picked a swan. She asked if it moved, and when I told her it didn't, she wanted to switch. But then she wouldn't pick and they wanted to start, so I picked for her .She was really mad that I did that and we were all tired at this point. Then we headed to the pavilion where I got the girls' pajamas on. I wanted them to use the bathroom one last time before we got in the car, but Lagoon closes the bathrooms before they close the park. I'm still a little mad about that. 

We made it to the car and got everything and everyone loaded up. We found a gas station where we could use the bathroom and I brushed the girls' teeth so that we could just put them right in bed when we got home. We left the gas station at 8:30 and it took the girls less than five minutes to fall asleep in the car. They were exhausted. They slept the whole way home, and Makenzie and Koy slept most of the way home as well. 

Ben and I listened to Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson and then talked to keep ourselves awake. We made it home around 11:30 and were in bed around midnight. 

It was a long, exhausting day and so, so fun. I'm so glad we did it and made those family memories together. I'm already looking forward to the next time we can go to Lagoon!

Fourth of July Fun!

This year, our Fourth of July looked a little different since we couldn't do my Grandma's Fourth of July party. We still had a lot of fun and kept a lot of our traditions though! 

We started off the day just being lazy together. The kids played outside until after Rylee's nap, when we took our little kiddie pool over to Ben's parents' house. There, we put the sprinkler under the tramp and let the kids play with water all afternoon. 

After playing with water, we had a yummy dinner. We had shredded beef sandwiches, chips, corn on the cob, potato salad, vegetables (including from the garden), and peanut butter kiss cookies. When dinner was done, we watched The Wizard of Oz and the kids got a much needed rest. 

When the movie was over, we had homemade creamies outside, where the weather had cooled off to perfection. Then we got out Pop Its for the kids. 

At this point, it wasn't dark, but it was past 8:00 and we weren't wanting the kids to stay up super late, so we got out the fireworks we had bought. We didn't go all out, like at my Grandma's, but we also didn't want to skip fireworks altogether. Rylee especially loved them all. 

When we got home, I put Rylee to bed while Ben unloaded the car and Ashtyn and Parker watched some of the aerial fireworks that were going on down the street. Once we finally got them in bed, Ben and I took a blanket to our lawn and watched the neighbors' fireworks as a little date night together. 

It was a wonderful day! I wish I'd taken pictures and we sure missed my side of the family all day, but I love my little family so much. It was so nice to relax as a family while still enjoying some of our favorite things about the Fourth of July.