My Soap Box

Are you a go-getter, get-it-done-er? Or are you a slacker, find-any-excuse-not-to-do-it, I'll say "yes", but not follow through-er?

I don't know why I get so bothered when people don't do their part. My issue mainly stems from people in the church, but I know we encounter both types of people in our everyday lives. By nature, or maybe by my upbringing, I am a go-getter, get-it-done-er. It is a blessing and a curse. I often feel a responsibility to pick up the slack from those around me that are not doing what is required or asked of them. This just adds to my already long list of personal responsiblities. Both Wayne and I are very involved in church. He is a member of the Bishopric (they preside over our congregation) and I am a member of the Relief Society Presidency (the women's organization). Between the two of us, we spend about 6+ hours a week in meetings, visit numerous families a month, prepare and teach lessons and give leadership to those around us. So, if I can go to my meetings every week, get my Visiting Teaching done, teach a lesson every 3 months, get my 5 children ready for church...by myself, and be ON TIME, preparea nd print 100 monthly newsletter, plan and organized activities every month, on top of the everyday stuff, why can't some people just do the 1 thing they are asked to do?

I admit there are times when I would rather watch a movie with the kids or go on a date with Wayne, but duty calls. Off to my meetings I go. I made a commitment to do all that was required of me when I accepted the call. And I also accepted the responsiblilities that Wayne has with his position, when I sustained him. There have been weeks when he has a crazy day at work, is on-call and is only home long enough to grab a plate of food on the run, before rushing out the door to do something else. I don't know how many times I've asked if he could cancel, just so we could see him for a minute, but know that is not a real option for us. We are not that type of people. We will do what we are asked to do; there are people depending on us to do our part!

So, if you are a slacker, find-any-excuse-not-to-do-it, I'll say "yes", but not follow through-er, take this counsel from some of our church leaders:

"No matter what your family needs are or your responsibilities in the Church, there is no such thing as “done.” There will always be more we can do." ~Elder M. Russell Ballard

"Your call has eternal consequences for others and for you. In the world to come, thousands may call your name blessed, even more than the people you serve here. They will be the ancestors and the descendants of those who chose eternal life because of something you said or did, or even what you were" ~Elder Henry B. Eyring

So, if you aren't doing your part and assuming someone else will pick up the slack, just how much is really getting done? I'll get off my soap box now...I just needed to vent.

Where have the last 7 months gone?

Ohhh, how I love our little Beaner-boy! He has only been a part of our earthly family for a mere 7 months, but I could not imagine our family without him! He has brought us such joy and happiness! Just look at that little face!

I have to admit (and brag a little) about just how lucky we have been to have such well-natured babies. Emmy was almost the perfect baby. She was calm, quiet, mellow...everything a first baby should be. I say "almost" perfect because she did suck her fingers; a habit that we broke by taping socks to the sleeves of her pajamas! Azia was also pretty good...a lot like Emmy, but a lot louder! (She's still the loudest in the family.) Azia was a very happy, chunky baby. She did drool for almost a year straight, but slept the best out of them all. "I sleepy now" is what she would say just before she would tuck herself in for a nap or at bedtime! Parker...there weren't many babies cuter than him! OK, that's probably a bit biased...but he was a very handsome baby. Big eyes on a big head with a big dimple! He is still a very sweet boy! Cardiff was also a dream as a baby. He too was calm, quiet and mellow. He's been a bit slower with his speech, but has made huge improvements. Cardiff has the most expressive face of all of the kids and manages to get his point across...eventually. And that brings us to our little Sawyer. Like I've expressed, the four older kids have all been such good babies, but I honestly have to say that Sawyer is probably the best one out of them all. He only cries if he is hungry or tired. He just got his first 2 teeth with very little saddness and no drool! When he is tired, we simply lie him in his bed with a blanket and off he drifts...no fingers in mouth and no soo-soo (pacifier). The only problem...I think he may be our only child WITHOUT a dimple!

We truly have been blessed! In reflecting on our wonderful family, I also realized that all of our kids' nicknames start with the letter 'B'. Emmy is "Bugsy-Boo" or "Bug" for short, Azia-Bunner, Parker is "Bud", Cardiff is "Boo-Boo" and Sawyer is "Bean," which is short for SoyaBean. The first initial of their first names also spells the word "SPACE!" Cool, eh?

So, happy 7 month birthday, Peanut (that's my nickname for him). We LOVE you!

Cousins Photo Shoot

It's funny, but we see Jade's family and Brian's family (who all live in Utah) more than we see the family members who live less than an hour away from us here. But I am glad that we do see these long-distance family members so often. It really gives our kids a chance to get to know their cousins and build those special relationships with them. I remember how much fun I had with my cousins (most of them lived in Vancouver/Victoria or Kingston, Ontario) when we would get together over the summers and I hope that our kids are building the some kinds of memories with their cousins.

After our week with Goodmans in Utah, they spent a week home in Lethbridge. We thought it would be fun to do a little cousins photo shoot. It wasn't easy trying to get 7 kids to all participate willingly and happily. I really admire those "real" photographers who work with kids doing "real" photo shoots! We did our best to click off some pics of the kids together. Ideally, I would've liked to have gotten a picture of all of the boy cousins together, but they faded long before that happened.

Here are some of the shots we did get...enjoy!

The Burton kids and Goodman kids. That is almost all of the Chan cousins (missing Aubrey and Addy who live in Arizona).

Rhett is a pretty happy little guy! (OK, not so "little"!)

Rhome is a real busy-body...always on the move!

I missed getting a decent picture of Cardiff by himself (he was probably off throwing a rock at something), so he doesn't have a "solo" pictures. Maybe we'll have to try again this fall, but here are some of our kids.

Pictures of Azia and Sawyer (whose nickname is Soya Bean).

My Beautiful Girls are growing up!

Parker is all too happy to strike a pose.

Emmy has grown up way too quickly!

The Burton Bunch!! (Emmy, Azia, Parker, Cardiff and Sawyer)

More Summer fun...

In our 3rd trip to Utah since January, we actually had quite a bit of family time. This was one of those rare trips where Wayne wasn't totally booked up with recording sessions or bookstore promotions and we had a lot of free time together as a family.

We pulled into the Salt Lake valley late afternoon on August 4 and were hit with the almost unbearable heat! I'm sure it was HOT when we lived there, but I honestly don't remember it being so uncomfortable. (I guess I have re-climatized back to our cooler Canadian climate!)

We decided that since we've started reading the Doctrine and Covenants as a family (we read the illustrated children's reader with the kids), that it would be fun to visit the Church History Museum. It had been about 6 or 7 years since we were there last (Emmy was about 3 or 4 years old). There was so much great stuff to see, but we were mostly grateful for the cool air conditioned shelter!

There was a great exhibit called, "I Am a Child of God" and it had a bunch of fun activities for the kids. They got to touch part of President Hinckley's walnut tree that was later cut down and made into the pulpit for the Conference Centre.

They also had fun dressing up and pretending they were part of Lehi's dream...holding to the iron rod and walking on the straight and narrow path.

We did some more of the "tourist-y" stuff this trip. Wayne took Emmy, Azia and Parker on a hike up to the Timpanogas Caves. We'd done the hike a few years ago and had a good time. This time, however, I opted to stay home (and stay cool) with Cardiff and Sawyer.

We also went to Thanksgiving Point for the first time and checked out the Museum of Ancient History and an IMAX movie.

Wayne did manage to book a session in the recording studio to do up demos of a couple of the country tunes he has co-written with his brother, Allan. Yes, he does write country music! YeeHaw! Allan was able to join them in the studio to witness the talents of the studio musicians; as did their other brother, Brian, who now has caught the recording studio "bug". Wayne also introduced his new Christmas album, "This Night" to different vendors, distributors and bookstore owners at the LDS Booksellers Convention. We are all very excited about this album and we hope you'll all check it out when it is released this fall!

Great fun had by all on this trip. We left our second home on Friday (Aug. 8) and brought Jade, Mike and their boys back with us. They came up to Lethbridge for a week, so the cousins had a lot of good times together. More pics in the following post!