Madness

God’s Country was the serious post.  Now, for the nonsense one. It does have the benefit of having A LOT of cute kids pictured.

We stopped at one overlook during our drive through Zion, and Dave decided to pose the kids a la the music group Madness circa mid 1980.  They were a little confused by his instructions…

  

Brad got in the act to demonstrate:

It took a while, but this is what they came up with:

NOW, here’s what he was going for (Oh, I see!):

I’m not sure they captured the vision.  You be the judge.

Maybe we should have tried this pose:

But definitely not this one:

God’s Country

We were in St. George over President’s Day weekend to watch a little baseball (phenom nephew Jackson), bake a little bread with Grandpa, have a little (big bowl of) Mongolian BBQ, and enjoy family…

As we often do, we spent an afternoon in Zion National Park.  GORGEOUS with just a dusting of snow.  Take a look:  

We stopped and hiked to an overlook and inserted ourselves into the scenery:

     It’s powerful to recognize the hand of the Creator in this magical place.

More Olympic Musings

We LOVE the Olympics.

It totally takes over our house when they come around and is the one program on tv everyone can agree on.  Sports we would NEVER watch on tv are suddenly all-consuming.  I even get a 2-week pass to watch figure skating whenever it’s on although I do have the endure the constant, “This is NOT a sport, blah blah blah”.  BUT they still watch.

Last week we were in St. George when the Olympics started.  I loved how all the cousins crammed into this small room to watch the events.  There were bodies everywhere!  The crowd went absolutely wild when the two Korean speed skaters knocked each other out of the race on the last lap, leaving the Americans (Ohno and Celski) to win silver and bronze.

 

This is the video game generation, so they came up with a few ways to make the events even more exciting:

• Elbows are always allowed.  In fact, the more contact the better. (Can you guess, this suggestion came from the football players in the crowd?)
• Spears randomly chucked at the athletes.  Even better if dipped in poison.  Of course, the biathlon athletes will have a real advantage since they carry guns.
• Rolling barrels down the halfpipe.  Actually, I think the snowboarders are probably the best equipped to deal with these kinds of obstacles.  I strongly suspect they also play a lot of video games.  And, while we’re on the subject, “PULL UP YOUR PANTS!”  Sheesh, even olympic snow pants for snowboarders have to show hiney while mctwisting and double corking…

However, Shaun White is truly amazing.  I do not understand how those tricks are even physically possible, especially with baggy pants (I’m old, I know). 

And, “dude” is now apparently the universal greeting among men of all sports and professions.  Ok, maybe not figure skating:)

Bryce was home sick a day last week and we watched a whole day of curling, which is apparently how long it takes to play one, um, round or game or match or whatever.  We still can’t figure out how it was scored.  I did decide, however, that that was the olympic sport I could potentially medal in.  I do know how to sweep, there isn’t any additional balance obstacles like skates or skis or boards, AND I could totally rock those uniforms. 

OK, maybe not these:

But, this is in stark contrast to any of the skiing or skating events, which all have very unflattering and tight uniforms.  Oh sure, they look good on Lindsey Vonn, but not many others.  Even Bode shows a little paunch.  I could probably do ok in the snowboarding uniforms, but I think we can agree those stunts are out of the question for me at this point.

So, look for me on the medal stand in curling in 2014!  Sponsorships now available!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Jeff:  Bryce, it’s 10 o’clock. Go to bed.

Bryce:  What?  It was like 9:20 only five minutes ago!

Tyler:  Time flies when you’re watching ice dancing!

Peacock Humor

Today’s “Pearls Before Swine” by Stephan Pastis.

It's true. Jeff does have a really cute tail.

Words to Live By

“Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.  He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace.”

~President Ezra Taft Benson

(thanks to Katie, experienced missionary mother)

Now All That’s Left is the Waiting

Justin put in his mission papers, we should know within 10-14 days where in the world he’ll be for two years.

Maybe one of THESE places?

Guesses now being accepted with VALUABLE prizes for the person who comes closest, like:

• Refreshments at the Peacock home as we send him off with warm wishes, and
• Front row seats when he speaks in church, and
• An autographed Book of Mormon, and of course, most importantly,
• Bragging rights.

He’s also started a Facebook page, “Where will Justin Peacock go on his mission?” where many interesting guesses have been gathering.

I’m really having a southern feeling…

Something Else to Add to My List of Bad Ideas…

Feeding the family a hearty bowl o’ beans the night before a long car ride.

Leap of Faith

This is me.

Not literally, but this is the mental image I have of myself. 

For 19 years we have hoped and prayed that our son would choose to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when the time came.

The time is nearly here.

Of course it is a good thing.  It means that he has lived his life in such a way that he is worthy to serve the Lord.

It means that he has a testimony of Jesus Christ and is willing to follow Him. He is willing to put his life on hold to dedicate himself to the work for two years as an act of worship and service.

I know all of the worldly blessings he will gain from his service.  He will test and challenge himself in a way that no other experience can offer him.  He will learn and grow.  He may learn a second language.  He will become more independent, more compassionate, learn how to problem solve and develop his spirituality; preparing to be a better person, husband, father.

I know that he will be protected.  I know that God lives and has always blessed us.  All that we have, indeed even our children, is not really ours but God’s first.  I know all of this.  Yet, it is a test of my faith too.