Can You Answer These Questions?

I had an interesting conversation with a friend last week about picking a church to attend. I thought it was important to pick a church based on whether or not you agreed with their docterine and philosphies. My friend thought it was important to pick one close to your house that had nice people. She was convinced that most churches (Baptists, Protestants, Anglicans, etc) all basically taught the same things so it didn't really matter which one you attended.

For some reason this conversation has made me crazy, so I went ahead and wrote the 11 most important things I would want to know if I ever switched churches. Here it is:

1. Where does your church stand on moral contemporary issues (abortion, divorce, homosexuality, women clergy, etc)? Do they support any political affiliation?

2. What community organizations does your church support with either money or time?

3. What sort of qualifications do you have for your clergy?

4. What is the financial breakdown of your church? What percentage goes to salaries, building costs, church programs, community donations, charities, etc?

5. How does a member of your church receive personal revelation (answer to prayers)?

6. What fellowship programs do you have so members get to know and serve each other?

7. What classes or programs do you have to help me better understand the scriptures and your interpretation of them?

8. How are your weekly sermons created? Are they set topics or lead by personal inspiration?

9. How are you helping instill Gospel truths to the children of the church? What particular milestones are there for them and how are you helping prepare them to meet those deadlines?

10. What is your church doctrine on the judgment and the Atonement? How are we saved? How are we judged? How would you describe Heaven? What happens to those you don’t make it there?

11. Why should I attend your church over another domination – Baptist, Protestant, Mormon, Islam, etc? What sets you apart and why is it true?

It would be great to hear your thoughts and opinons on the topic. What draws you to the chruch you attend and why do you stay there? What questions would you want answered if you switched denominations? Could you answer the questions I posed above with certainity?

Bedtime Drama

Abby has recently learned to crawl out of her crib. It's been a bit of a challenge for me to get her down for a nap now that she knows she can just escape and play away her nap time. I've tried to follow the SuperNanny rules -- keep putting her back, no speaking or negotiating, not giving up until her regular nap time has lapsed, even if she refuses to sleep.

My biggest problem is that if she crawls out of her crib to play, she can't get back in to put herself to sleep when she starts winding down. I would hate to switch out her bed right before we move; I was hoping she would stay content in her crib until we got out of here.

After about two hours of me wrestling with her she finally got to sleep, so I couldn't help but videotape her passed out in all her glory.

While I was hanging out by the door to catch her being naughty, I caught her singing a complication of Popcorn Popping, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, How Much is that Doggie in the Window and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. How can I be mad at someone so adorable?

Any tips on keeping her in her crib?

Tap On

Here is Abby rocking out her new church shoes. Clearly, she is going to be a tap dancer.

Do We Smell?

Here comes an awesomely truthful rant. The purpose is not to offend people, but I’m sure it will. I write it in jest, but we all know that humor stems from the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts; suck it up!

I’ve never in my life been in a ward as weird as the one here. I’m not saying the people don’t live the Gospel, love the church or have charity -- I’m just saying we’re a big group of socially awkward nut balls. All of us. There is not one exception.

Jeremy and I have tried our hardest to be friends with everyone. Almost weekly I send messages to other moms in the ward to set up play groups. We all have kids near the same age range and we are almost ALL stay-at-home-moms. Am I needy because I think our kids (and us) could benefit from getting out of the house and having human face-to-face interactions? One lady told me I was needy straight to my face. Perhaps I am, but at least I'm not lame. And I leave my house.

If anyone even bothers to respond to my emails, I usually get tons of “I’m too busy” or “It’s too difficult for me to come see you” or, my favorite, “Maybe next week.” It’s been next week for three-and-a-half years. Next week isn’t coming. Get yourself a calendar and put my name on it already.

We’ve also had a ton of parties where we’ve invited EVERYONE in the ward. We don’t play favorites or invite people based on who likes who. You either want to come or you don’t. It’s not fifth grade. But since most people don’t come, I’m assuming perhaps we’re the people they’re looking to avoid. This is better clarified by the fact that we have gotten about five invites in three-and-a-half years to someone’s house in the ward. This doesn't include the many, many dinners I had at my friend Maryl's house. She was a shining exception. I have a feeling that we’re not the only ones who are out-of-the-loop. Isn’t a ward supposed to be a big happy family? A respite from the world?

I know you’re probably thinking we’re super losers at the moment, but it’s just not the case. We spend most of our time with people outside the ward. We’re still moving and a shaking and loving life. We just long for the days of Beijing where the ward was friends and every Sunday was a brawl to have the most guests over for dinner. We didn’t avoid each other like the plague, give people the preverbal “we should get together sometime” middle finger and avoid the people on the same base like they have the scabies.

Perhaps people just forget we exist because we live so far away.

Is it because we're Democrats (or at least I am and hope Jeremy will fully switch sides someday)?

How many more days until we leave?

P.S -- It also bothers me that expatriots around here never talk about the wives of the family. We're all obsessed with what our husbands do, where they are in the world and where they are dragging us next. It would be super nice for someone to ask me what I'VE been doing. Which, for the record, has been a lot. I've climbed Mt. Fuji, hiked the Inca trail, taken a ton of online courses in biology and political science, read 35 books since April, taught myself to run, took two vacations home, did a bible study on Daniel and lost 45 pounds. Oh, and I also cleaned my house nearly every day and parented up a storm. Thanks for asking.

You're Welcome

My mom was dying for me to take a photo of Abby with our tree and some presents. They aren't great, but she really wouldn't sit still for any more photos.

Merry Christmas!

Santa stayed up really late wrapping presents for little Abby to open in the morning. We were all set to go. I just needed Jeremy and Abby to get up.

Even the dogs got a special treat in their stockings. I was a little afraid they were going to rip the socks down during the night and eat the treats.

Here was the big moment when Abby saw what Santa brought. If you can't tell from the video, she was pretty ambivalent about the whole thing.

Here she is opening up her first gifts.

She really seemed to like this book.

She was super happy that mommy got some chocolate and spent a good part of the day trying to steal it from me.

Here she is taking her baby out for a stroller ride.

The Human Shield

This week I was able to attend the Yamato/Zama Military Branch Christmas party. The Yamato branch was in charge of the program and we handled the food. Even Santa made an appearance there. Fun was had by all.

Christy and I couldn't resist getting a snapshot with the Jolly Old Man.

I had four of my English students come and enjoy the show. They had never been to church before and learned a lot. It was so much fun to see someone experience the real meaning of Christmas for the first time.

Here is the Yamato Ward choir singing Oh Holy Night. It's one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I especially enjoyed hearing it in Japanese.

The highlight of the night is always watching the Japanese people duke it out at the buffet table. They are all order and submissiveness until they smell/see the food. I actually had to use my massive (in comparison to them) body to create a shield my students so they wouldn't be trampled.

I Won - Woo Hoo!

I got a rather unexpected phone call yesterday telling me that we've won a Christmas decorating award. The housing department would be coming later in the day to bring us a sign for our yard and our prizes. Sweet deal. However, I am certain that they had the wrong house and probably meant the prize to go to my neighbor. What do you think?

MY HOUSE:

MY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE:

The Lonely Orange

We're pretty lucky to have an orange tree in our backyard, but it's totally sad that we only got one orange on it this year. Abby loves to eat oranges so she's pretty excited about it. Here she is checking it out...

Girls Gone Wild

This weekend the girls got away for a ladies-only camp out. We lived it up.

We hit the books hard.

We rocked this miniature golf course. Katie took the cake with her Tiger Woods intensity.

We think this was supposed to represent Mt. Fuji, but it looked like a tetanus trap so we Mulliganed on right by.

The hungry, hungry hippo!

Eat your heart out Jane Goodall.

This polar bear was cross eyed so we gave him glasses.

The second night included an upgrade (at least for Natalie and Katie).

The best part of the day was getting the keys to the golf cart. What were they thinking?

This is where we "roughed" it.

Driving around in the mac daddy golf cart.

We found these old creepy abandoned buildings that needed exploring.

We showed off our lean mean muscles with some chin ups. I could do them, but opted to sit in the golf cart under the blanket.

More creepy crap.

I don't believe this is the recommended dosage.

Girls Gone Wild....

I Gonna...

This is Abby's new favorite game. As you can tell, she gets so excited she can't even breathe when we play. It brings me so much joy to see her so happy.

Open Mike Night

We take requests...

Santa Stank Eye

Last week we hit up our ward Christmas brunch. It was a hoot. I especially enjoyed the kids reenacting the nativity scene. They are the cutest.

Abby is pretty obsessed with conducting the music. There was no way she wasn't going to be a part of the action.

I spy with my little eye SANTA!

If I could read Abby's mind she would say, "whatever you're panhandling is not worth it. Take your sack and shove it."

"I dare you to touch me again, chubs!"

Love For Utah

Our trip to Utah was awesome! Here are our favorite moments captured on film:

St. George: We had a fantastic time with Jeremy's Grandpa and Grandma Lyman. We loved seeing their mission photos, taking a long walk around their neighbourhood, eating Bonnie's delicious feasts and watching Abby make Play-Doh animals with her new friends.

Friends: We were thrilled to spend time with some of our favorite Utah friends. We had Thai food with Joel and Rachel...

Italian food with Biggies and Heidi (and their clan)...

A baby blessing feast with Justin and Tiffany, Tobey and Denise and assorted family and friends...

Festival of Trees: This was my first time at the festival. Primary Children's Hospital raises money every year by having people donate decorated Christmas items that they sell/auction. Usually each tree comes with a story from the family who donated it. It was very touching to see how the family honored the memory of their loved one in the way they presented their tree. For example, one baby liked barbies so they had a barbie-themed tree and presents. I would have loved to have purchased this safari tree....

Someone built this awesome playhouse to be auctioned...

This was a gingerbread castle that was for sale...

Holiday wreathes were a hot item....

Clearly, Abby loved them.

There were decorations for hearths...

This was a beautiful mother and daughter set that I loved...

The festival clan...

We couldn't think of leaving SLC without hitting up The Cheesecake Factory.

Family time :)

Denna was kind enough to get Christmas up and running at her house so Abby could enjoy it.

I'm sorry to say that I don't have any photos of our sweet Thanksgiving or the food competition with Sara and Bry. I'd love to blog adventures. Please forward some photos if you have some. Thanks :)