Six Things for September...Or More

 Sometimes I catch Oakley doing strange things. This is how he was eating his cereal one morning.

While in Idaho for a reunion (separate post) we took the chance to visit Grandma King. The boys loved playing with her toys. She had them captivated while divvying out little cookie cereals to each.

I had a turn hosting Book Club this month. Our book was Wonder by R. J. Palacio. It is an amazing book. I highly recommend it!  We are not a very formal book club. Basically it is excuse to get out and socialize with other ladies in the ward.

We decided to have a dinner party and a movie party. My dinner party consisted of lots of leftovers that we could choose from to eat. Oakley loved that he could choose his meal. We then popped popcorn, put on our pjs and found our snuggle animals and watched the Bateman Lego Movie. The boys loved it!

 Oakley and Benson LOVE playing in the rain. Usually they run around on the deck when it rains. This time we decided to go out front and splash around. 

 Oakley got soaked because he decided to ditch the umbrella. But check out this goofy grin.

 My boys love books. Benson somehow got cornered and was quite content sitting looking at books.

 I began teaching music lessons which gives the boys a chance to hangout with Dad by themselves. Sometimes they go to the park and other times they watch a show and play. I love this picture and the way Oakley is snuggling with Benson.

 My boys are discovering peanut butter sandwhiches. I have no idea why it has taken me this long to start making them for lunch. The boys enjoy it. Sometimes I even let Oakley dip his sandwich in milk. Yum!
Benson gets peanut butter all over, of course. But he sure is a happy boy!

ONE

I have been thinking about the power of ONE lately. It is such a powerful number. In the mornings I have been trying to sneak some scripture reading. My study lately has been in Mosiah, more specifically chapters 11-18. These chapters talk about Abinadi, a Book of Mormon prophet and his ministry to King Noah and his people.
King Noah was king over a group of Nephites. They were living in the land of Nephi- Lehi near the Lamanite people. There were of course conflicts between the two groups of people. King Noah wasn't exactly a model King. He taxed the Nephites 1/5 of all they owned and 1/5 of their crops to support himself. When Lamanites came, he would underestimate their strength or overestimate the strength of his army, thus not sending enough men to protect the lands. King Noah removed the righteous priests of his father and installed his own, not as righteous, priests. Together, King Noah and his priests began to lead the people from the true doctrine of Christ.

Then came ONE man, Abinadi.

He showed great courage in coming to preach to King Noah. He must have known that his message of repentance would not go over well. Abinadi's faith was strong. When King Noah commanded his priests to take Abinadi away they were met with " Touch me not, for God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver" (Mosiah 13:3). He knew that the Lord would protect him until he had delivered the Lord's message.

In the end, after his teachings of Christ and repentance, King Noah and his priests disbelieved Abinadi. He was ultimately bound, imprisoned, and sentence to death by burning. Faced with certain death, Abinadi would "not recall [his] words, and they [shall] be a testimony against [King Noah]" (Mosiah 17:10). Abinadi's last words were of repentance and the vengefulness of God. He would not deny his words and died "having sealed the truth of his words by his death." (Mosiah 17:20)

*Now I am aware that my quick retelling is not complete and urge anyone reading this read through the entire account of Abinadi.

It may have seemed that nothing came from Abinadi's teachings and prophesying. King Noah didn't repent and change his ways. The priests didn't repent and change their ways... Mosiah 16:2 says "but there was ONE among them  whose name was Alma...And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had spoken."  Alma was counted among the priests of Noah. He was ONE among many who heard and believed the words of Abinadi. He even tried to defend Abinadi which angered King Noah. The king was wroth and "sent his servants after him that they might slay him" (Mosiah 16:3). But Alma fled and hid. While in hiding, he recorded the account of Abinadi.
ONE man out of a many. ONE man set the example and bore his testimony. ONE many believed. ONE man changed.
Later on, we read about the ministry of Alma. He became a prophet and taught the people. Bringing many back to the fold of God. ONE man changing hearts. ONE impacting a nation. All because ONE , Abinadi, heard the Lord and completed the mission set for him.

A month or so ago I took Oakley to the library. We checked out a book called ONE by Kathryn Otoshi. I thought great. He will learn to count with this book. It was true. He practiced counting, but there was so much more included in this picture book.
You see, Blue compared himself to others and had low self-esteem. He wished he could be like the other colors. Red was a bully. He liked to pick on Blue and make him feel even bluer. Every time Red picked on Blue, Red would get bigger and bigger. The other colors were afraid to say anything to Red and felt sorry for Blue. Then came ONE. He was different. He told the others that when someone picks on him he says "no." One's example made the other colors take courage. So when Red came around and started picking on Blue, they call took a stand and gave Blue the courage to count, to see his worth. Red then became deflated and humbled himself.
My favorite part of the book is the last line. "Sometimes it just takes ONE."

The story of Abinadi is great for missionaries. It seems to be a common favorite. I used to think it a harsh story but have grown to love it the past week or so. It tells me that I may not know the outcome of my actions, words, example, but I could be the ONE to someone who is struggling.
Sometimes we feel a bit like Blue, that maybe we don't matter much. We may even let Satan (my Red) to beat us down a little and make us feel like we don't matter. Then all it takes is ONE person smiling, or ONE person reaching out to us, ONE scripture, ONE General Conference talk. Once we find our ONE we feel like a new person and can become ONE to someone else in need.
As King Bengamin says "be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works." (Mosiah 5:15)

"Sometimes it just takes One."

Bear Lake Reunion

 He headed to Bear Lake for our annual Kunz Reunion. The family rents a huge cabin for everyone to stay in. I didn't take too many pictures but got some fun ones of the boys at the lake.
The cabin is just a short walk away from the beach.

 Oakley always loves the cat tails that he find on the way to the shore.

 He also got a kick out of throwing rocks into the lake.

 Benson got in on the action, too. He ended up getting soaked.

Children's Museum

Grandma and Grandpa Kunz took us to the Children's Museum at the Gateway. We spent hours there and the boys could have stayed all day. They had loads of fun playing and exploring.

The Hive was a hit with all of the balls. They boys had endless fun putting balls in the holes.

 Oakley is always begging us to drive. He says he will be old enough tomorrow to drive. He often sneaks into the drivers seat of blazer and pushes all the buttons.  He had a blast with this car.

 Benson loved being the one in charge, too.

 Oakley made himself at home in the little play house. He was busy baking and setting the table for dinner.

 Of course any hat he sees he needs to put on. He found this one and knew exactly what he needed to do. He rode that digger around for quite awhile.

 Benson had fun mowing the lawn just like his Dad.

 He has also knew exactly what to do with the saw. Someone has been watching Daddy at work.

 Daniel encouraged Oakley and I to get in the hurricane simulator. My hair was going crazy with all the wind. Oakley was ok to start then decided he really didn't like the wind at all and hid his face.

 We then went outside and had to play in the helicopter. Check out Benson's grin!

Peach Days

Peach Days is a pretty big thing around here. We were shocked at the enormity of the event. Brigham City shuts down streets and sets up carnival rides. There are TONS of craft booths and such. There are parades, a library book sale, numerous food trucks,and a Miss Peach pageant. We decided to check things out this year. After parking a few streets away and walking a few blocks we made to the center of the party. We are guessing about 5,000 people were there.


 We mostly walked around to get a feel of everything. The boys each got a cute wooden handmade car. Oakley loved this booth and took forever decided. He cracked me up by saying "I'm trying to choose. I just can't decide." 

We then treated ourselves to some delicious peach ice cream. Yum!

Labor Day Picnic

We stayed in town for Labor Day this year. But what would the holiday be without a picnic?

We found a nice little spot and ate our lunch on a blanket. The boys love picnics and this especially because we were up the canyon. I also took the opportunity to snap some photos of the boys. They LOVE being outside.

 Oakley went for a short hike with Daniel and picked me some beautiful flowers.

Ogden Temple Open House

Daniel and I took the opportunity to attend the Ogden Temple Open House with the boys.

Oakley was not a happy camper. He refused to put on the white shoes and wanted to be carried the entire time.

 I loved seeing the beauty of the temple.

 A week later Oakley asked if we could go to the temple again but "this time I want to walk. But I don't want to wear the white things."  Instead of driving back down to Ogden we drove around the Brigham City Temple. Oakley wants to go inside the temple so bad. We told him that when he turns 12 we can go inside. He now claims that he will "be 12 tomorrow so I can go in the temple."