Explosion of Awesomeness

Recently our ward had a special third-hour lesson on Sabbath-Day worship, which takes on a whole new significance when you hear someone label it a "prophetic priority."  One of the things I loved most about this meeting (besides the fact that they made it possible for Primary teachers to attend--woot!) was its emphasis on what Elder Bednar calls "multi-generational families."  He taught that strong multi-generational families are the Lord's best tool for bringing each one of us back to him.

I may or may not have heard choirs of angels singing when I heard this teaching, because our family is just starting to qualify as a strong multi-generational family.  Mom and Dad were both converts, and they raised their kids in the church without the blessings of a faithful extended family.  Luckily for us, our extended family is strong and full of love.  We have so many wonderful memories of our grandparents especially, and I love that my kids are growing up knowing them well.  But we kids are basically second-generation Mormons, and so what has happened in the past ten years has taken us by surprise.

Dozens of cousins.

Here's the original group of Mom, Dad, and the sibs:

And here we are with spouses and children:

So maybe we're not quite up to dozens yet, but another five or ten years ought to do the trick.  And honestly, we knew that our numbers would kind of explode.  But I don't think we were prepared for the explosion of awesomeness. (I know.  Sheer poetry.  Ha, ha!)

My siblings have each and every one of us married up, which means our family has gotten stronger and stronger each time there has been a wedding.  And watching my kids grow up with cousins as best friends has been one of the greatest joys of my life.  But the very best part of being a member of this family is the joy we have when we get together.

Recently this handsome guy, who is second to youngest of the siblings, left on a mission to McAllen, Texas.  In light of the fact that Taylor's pretty much the coolest person in the world, we spent his last two weeks here in pretty much a non-stop sibling party.  It was a Taylor-paloozah.  We swam, we ate, we drank, we played, we laughed and we cried.  We all attended his farewell, which is big, since Nikki and her baby came from California and Kendall came from D.C.  Then we drove up in caravan to see him off to the MTC in Provo.  

This is different for us Monnetts.  We've never seen the kind of joy that happens when uncles and aunts, parents, cousins, siblings, and children get together after long absences.  When we were kids, we celebrated ordinances, holidays and milestones in a smaller way.  But now the faith that we celebrate is confirmed by the very showing of loved ones--as if the Lord is giving us a taste of what we are striving for, just in the happiness we have together.  When I'm with my siblings, I feel that all is right in the world.  

I don't know for sure, because we're still early in this experiment.  But I can already see hints of the good our extended family does for my kids in their daily lives.  Living gospel principles is not theoretical for them, because they are watching older cousins, aunts and uncles do it, through thick and through thin.  They know that there are a whole ton of people who love them for who they are. And they know they're never alone.  This is powerful.  I know that they're being strengthened for whatever trials are ahead.  They will stand strong because they are accountable to so many people who love them.  

Okay.  Sermon over.  Here are the rest of the pictures.  I love my family!

Michael Buble

A few days before Mother's Day this year, I got a call from my newlywed sister, Nikki, and her husband, Derek.  They were planning a special Mother's Day surprise for mom--a hot-air balloon ride--and wanted to know if I wanted to pitch in.  Well, you have to know the Monnetts to understand just how completely unprecedented such generosity is, which is not to say Mom didn't deserve such an awesome gift.  But having already spent the allotted five bucks on Mom's present, I wasn't able to contribute.  Well, it turned out that the hot-air balloon guy would only let them buy two tickets at a time, so the ended up buying one for Grandma, as well.  Four hundred dollars later, Mom had a sweet, thoughtful present that she wasn't sure she could even accept from struggling newlyweds.  They were adamant, though, so Mom worked on getting an appointment set up with Grandma and the balloon guy.  Grandma kept stalling, and eventually decided she really didn't want to do it.  Mom was wondering what to do, when this handsome face popped up on her computer screen:

 

Michael Buble was coming to Salt Lake City!  She did some quick research and then called Nikki and Derek to see what they thought about Mom trading in the hot-air balloon ride for concert tickets.  Of course, knowing how much Mom loves concerts, Nikki and Derek thought that was a great idea.  They figured they could get tickets for the three of them on the ground floor, or get nose-bleed tickets and include Georgia and me.  Luckily for me, they are very generous people.  And the rest, as they say, is history.  Georgia and I farmed our kids out, mom borrowed Dad's CNG car, and we headed north.  There we met Nikki and Derek, Kendall, who had driven down from Logan, and Spencer and Kris--all at a Greek place for a special "birthday dinner" for Spencer and Ty.  Then we chilled at Spencer's place for awhile, and then headed to Energy Solutions Arena for the concert!

Buble was AWESOME!  He was funny, sweet, humble and a terrific show-off.  His voice was just as amazing as on his recordings.  He took time to try and translate a fan sign from Spanish with hilarious results. He stopped the concert and had all 10,000 people in the arena sing "Happy Birthday" to an 83-year-old woman on the front row.  He talked about the joy of being a father, and about his immense gratitude for us, his fans.  

 

 We had such a great time!  The lights, backgrounds, and effects were totally amazing.  My favorite part was "All You Need is Love," during which the amazing lights show was complimented by billions of tissue-paper hearts being launched into the air.  Guys with huge vacuum thingies attached to fans shot them back into the air once they reached the ground.  It was awesome!  We all took some home as souvenirs.

The band was incredible.  Several came from the Julliard School of Music.  He also had a strings section, which, as he said, "came all the way from .... Salt Lake City.  I think a few of them are even Mormons. Raise your hands if you're Mormons."  Half the strings raised their hands. "What a minute," he said, turning to the audience, "how many of YOU are Mormons?"  At least half of the hands went up.  "Oh, man," he said, "I feel so left out!"  Mom was ready: "It doesn't have to be that way," she yelled.

"Burnin' Love"

The opening act, an a capella group named
Naturally 7.

 "It's a Beautiful Day"

 After his bows, he came back and did a half-hour encore.  He invited some kids up on the stage to sing "You've Got a Friend in Me."  And my favorite part was when he took out his earpieces, ditched the mic, and sang "A Song for You."  Ten thousand people in that room and we all heard him clear as a bell.  It was amazing.

After the concert we hung with the rest of the family until way too late, talking singing and laughing.  Then Taylor, Mom, Georgia and I spent the night at Serenity's.  The following morning we had a birthday breakfast for Nikki, who turned twenty that day.  Then we headed home!  

Six Months of Pictures--Part I

Can't.  Blog.  Six months.  This is the closest I can get for you:

TJ's and my first investigator gets baptized!

Zion Canyon

Crazy Hair Day at BES

Naomi and Eden's private preschool for two.  They have a ball together.

Naomi's fifth birthday!  She is such a sweetheart!

I can't believe I'm old enough to be the recepient of "Look, Mom, no hands!"

TJ's and my fabulous, five-day getaway.  Thanks Monnetts and Baileys for taking the kids!

Snow in Saint George--

short and sweet as snow always should be.

He didn't pee his pants, but it sure looked like it.  This shot took some Paparazzi-like skills from Georgia and me!  Love you, babe!

Eliza FINALLY lost her first tooth!  Hooray!

Granddaddy visited from Georgia.  We loved seeing him!  We didn't take pictures of him, but we did take pictures of the three of us fooling around while he was outside with Mom!

Paul on the zipline.  Yes, we have a zipline.