To our dear readers of "In A Nutshell"...Please stay tuned as our posting schedule is changing! Our new schedule for posts will be on Mondays with a few special holidays, birthdays and events on the days that they fall on.
We have come to realize that the amazing talent of our Mother far surpasses the time and the talent that us children have to do her justice. So in allocating more time for posts, we hope to continue to bring you the quality that she shared with you and the quality that you deserve.
However, I did want to share one quick thought with you today though...While I was on vacation in Cancun, I saw this young boy on an old broken down couch as HAPPY as can be. If you look at the couch it has several holes in it, his shoes are worn and the small toy car in his hand was missing a wheel as I watched this young boy "drive" his car along the ground.
As I witnessed the complacency of this young boy and his surroundings in his simple life, it made me think of so many things I am blessed to have in my life and am so grateful for...my family, my home, my job, my friends and my life...Funny how witnessing one small boy's satisfaction and happiness in his life can make a grown man think...isn't it?
So as the great Confucius said..."Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated!"
My advice to you this week....don't sweat the small stuff and keep it "SIMPLE"! It may turn out to be one of the best weeks you have had all year...Go out and PLAY!
Happy Tuesday!
I really don't remember my life without Mike! I do wish I could remember something about the day Mom and Dad brought him home from the hospital ... but as an eighteen-month-old toddler, I was probably more concerned about putting something in my mouth and drooling all over it! What I do know, is that I can't imagine my life without him! Mike's an amazing brother, friend and uncle! I'd like to address the amazing brother and friend! Mary will do us the honor of relating Mike's amazing uncle-ing skills!
Sometimes brothers get a bad wrap! Often they are stereotypified as teasers and taunters to their siblings...most especially their sisters! Instead, Mike harnessed his brother-ing energy into things like:
*making sure he opened the door for me as I'd get in and out of the car OR run ahead of me so he could open the door before I got to a building,
*writing notes and posting them on my bedroom door to "wake him up after I'd got home from a date so we could talk,"
*exercising his amazing musical skills by becoming D.J. extraordinaire on vacations or long drives (cannot tell you how many artists I've come to love because of Mike) and last but certainly NOT least,
*my most loyal, Friday, movie-watching buddy! I almost ALWAYS fell asleep first...but he was always ready to watch another movie with me the following Friday! Mike eventually initiated an activity called the "afghan-dance" as a way to prevent me from falling asleep before the end of a movie. The afghan dance was an extremely entertaining dance that would be performed with the afghan blanket my Grandmother crocheted! Unfortunately, I still fell asleep during every Friday movie night!
As my brother and friend, Mike has always been there for me! Someone who may not necessarily agree with all my shenanigans BUT will always have my back! I wish I could say I was a model child and that I always made the correct choices ... but I don't ... and therefore have always appreciated the advocate I have in Mike! Always there for me ... doing his best to make me feel recognized, loved and understood! A quality I feel is invaluable and touches me to my very soul! Like I said before, Mike is an amazing brother and friend! Now Mary will tell you about his skills at being the World's BEST Uncle!
UNCLE MIKE... the kid Magnet! It is true...if you are a kid under the age of 99 then you will love Mike. The reasons Uncle Mike is soo cool are as follows:
*He adores all little creatures, so in return they all adore him back.
*He is creative in story telling, teaching, and in food... he once named chicken nuggets "Yoda Chunks"... and how could any kid resist the temptation of something from Star Wars?
*He is as patient as Job. Once I watched him sit in a chair with a sleeping baby for nearly 3 hours....YIKES...my arm is numb.
*He laughs at nearly everything that those little nieces and nephews do.
*He can out do anyone in a cartwheel contest!! Yes...16 in a row.
*He compliments them and supports their activities.
*He is their number one photographer.
*He loves them NO MATTER WHAT... funny story here: I remember in my young twenties going to a movie with Mike, Jordan, Gina and her new baby Paris. Gina had just fed Paris and Mike wanted to hold her...and what do babies do after being fed?? They burp and spit up and that Paris did... all over Mike! I remember saying something immature like, "How do you like having breast milk all over your clothes...HA, HA?" It did not even seem to bother Mike as he continued to hold her, "I have never thought of it that way."
And with that Uncle Mike you are loved so very much by all those who are around you !!! Happy Birthday Big Brother!!!! Know how proud we ALL are to call you brother and friend ... can't imagine life without you!
♦ Hope you'll share YOUR stories and photos with us at: nutshellstories@gmail.com.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.
Driving up with a friend to my daughter's annual "Girl's Camp" last week, I grasped firmly to the pan I was balancing on my lap! It's not often I travel into the mountains with a pan full of WICKED-inspired cupcakes, but I guess there's a first for everything! As we drove away from the city and continued further and deeper into God's green country, I couldn't help but marvel at the beauty all around me!
"Look at this," I said to my friend, "just look at the beauty all around us!" As the storm from the evening before had freshened the color and smell of the heavily wooded country, we looked at our surroundings in a sort of reverenced awe and lowered our windows to breathe in the crisp smell of freshly-moistened pine trees! I've not ALWAYS been this appreciative of the beautiful surroundings I live in, but I must say, I've come to terms with how lucky I am!
Living in Idaho, it's not often that we have to draw parallels to how it would be to live out in the country! We do have samplings of city life but we have vast amounts of beautiful country that can be visited within a relatively short amount of time! Basically...that drive to girl's camp, all whilst balancing the Wizard of Oz prequeled cupcakes on my lap...helped me to realize that I live in the best place on EARTH...you don't believe me...just watch this VIDEO! Now I've seen a lot of beautiful places, and been amazed at man-made things, BUT I've definitely come to realize, "there's no place like home!"
♦ Hope you'll share YOUR stories and photos with us at: nutshellstories@gmail.com.
Rafting is one of my favorite things to do. Maybe its the thrill of it or perhaps it is the beauty of canyons you can only access by river. Whatever the reason, some of my best memories during college were the 2 summers I spent in Moab, Utah working for my uncle's company World Wide River Expeditions. They actually paid us to go rafting all summer! Not only was it fun, but I really feel like I learned a lot of great things. I got to know my uncle Steve, my aunt Nikki and my cousins and I was able to spend a lot of time with my Grandpa & Grandma. Not to mention that it was the "magic of Moab" that brought Mary and me together.
Back to the "great things" I mentioned learning... there were lots of skills I acquired and life lessons from parallels such as always being prepare, staying in the current to make the fastest progress, learning to read the water for danger, and always remember that if you are the guide and you fall out... get back in before any of your passengers notice or you will not get a tip! Believe it or not, rafting has even taught me to be a better parent.
For instance, as a guide you knew that there were dangers to be found in even the small rapids and you also knew that some rapids needed to be taken head on, while others were only safe if by going around the huge life sucking hole. Yet, some times, you could only do so much if your passengers didn't do their job. There were many times when I would scream "left-side PADDLE" only to have the right-side paddle harder and the left-side give up entirely. This would of course send us spinning into the rapids. Often, at that point most of the passengers would dive into the bottom of the raft while those left on the sides would involuntarily go swimming.
I often look at my kids and think "why can't you just listen to me!" They really are good kids, but all to often I forget that sometimes you have to fall out of the raft to learn how to stay in and sometimes you have to get stuck on the rocks so you realize why to avoid them in the future. And yet, so many times I feel like I'm right back on the river screaming PADDLE! while watching as the boat begins to spin out of control. Almost always, though, little hands reach up and say "daddy, I love you" and suddenly I jump back in the guide position and keep on rowing.
Often I wonder to, if God thinks that about us. How many times do we know what is right and choose not to do it only to be surprised by the perverbial wall of water the smacks us in the face. I can just see God yelling at us "Left-side, PADDLE!" I hope I can learn to listen more and trust in the most qualified Guide ever so that I can not only navigate the rivers of life, but enjoy the trip too!
