Meet the Mormons: my review of the movie

I took Zoë and attending the movie, "Meet the Mormons", with our Young Women group last night. It was fun to ride up and listen to Zoë and Anna (the YW I gave a ride) chat about different things. We met up with a few people from our ward (I think I saw maybe 12 people from our ward).

The movie was disappointing, and that is a little sad considering I had very low expectations. I felt like I was watching a prolonged MomronAd. The stories of the people they highlighted were really good, but there was so little background. The only "voice" you really heard was the person speaking in first person, although they did get some soundbites from family, coworkers, and friends. But, the whole I felt was lacking. Sure, it was inspiring to see the beautiful things some of these people did, but did it make me feel any closer to Christ? Actually, only twice: once when a man talked about how he distincly heard the Holy Ghost tell him to "go back to the fence" and when he also talked about how we can't be like the Dead Sea- always taking and never giving leaving us dead and salty and good for very little, but more like a  living lake that both receives but gives; and when another man talked about how it wasn't the location that was important, but more the prayer offered, that made a place sacred and special.

But, I have had those inspiring prompts from watching Halmark commercials.

Disappointing because it truly didn't address anything of the doctrine, or nod even to some of the things that DO make Mormons different. If members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are living lives they are supposed to, then they will be living the lives that will testify of the same things this movie did. I guess this movie might reach places where we don't have many members, and it might make people look around and ask "Well, who is a Mormon?"

I know I wasn't the target audience, but I do know that this left more holes than answered questions about Mormons. I read some reviews, and they also had the same sentiment: this didn't address any doctrine (mainstream, particular to Mormons, or controversial), it was one giant advertisement*, and it was uplifting but not necessarily inspirational. In fact, the Fusion advertisement that showed the quadripelegic with his body piercings and tatoos who became an engineer and developed his own steering wheel so he could control a racing car was about as uplifting as the movie!

Don't get me wrong. It was well done, the music was awesome (favs were the instrumentals for the Costa Rica piece and the Napal piece and the song "Glorious" sung by David Archuleta at the end). It was a good at showing that Mormons are people who believe in Christ and try to live good lives. So, go see it! It's worth donating to the American Red Cross. It is a good and uplifting movie. Just don't expect to learn much from it.

*reminds me of Elder David Bednar's talk in October 2014 conference when he said, "As members of the Church, we do not receive prizes or bonus points in a heavenly contest. We are not seeking simply to increase the numerical size of the Church.".

FHE Pumpkin Carving

For Family Home Evening tonight, we carved our pumpkins. We left the little pie pumpkins we got from Stokoe Farms, and instead carved the ginormous pumpkins the girls picked out from a nearby farm stand. Miranda has been sick with a fever, but after some Advil and GingerAle, she perked right up and had a great time, as did all of us.

Nica got some help, but she did carve quite a bit of her own.

Miranda lovin' scooping out the pumpkin guts.

Megan had the biggest pumpkin and was the last to finish.

Zoë had to battle a soupy pumpkin- her's was already a little too ripe.

Zoë's finished pumpkin! Rat included.

Nica wanted to see if the rat would fit in her finished pumpkin.

Mirand's finished pumpkin- I think she got the facial expression just perfect.

Megan's finished pumpkin- spooky and silly, the perfect combination for this girl!

Nica wanted to take a picture of me with her carved and her "potato-head-like" pumpkin. I didn't carve my own pumpkin (usually I help one or more of the girls and I am exhausted by the time I would get around to my own. Maybe next year when they might all be able to carve their own).

Travis carved his pumpkin in just a fraction of the time it took the girls. I love his face!

Stokoe Farms

Last year when Grandma & Grandpa were in town for Megan's baptism, we went to this Pumpkin Farm that had all sorts of rides and activities. I loved how well their pictures turned out on the haystacks, so this year I made sure before we left that I got pics of the girls.  I will post another of all the fun and how we almost didn't go, but we had a great time, and really enjoyed Columbus Day at the farm.

Zoë, Megan, Miranda, Veronica

Veronica

Miranda

Megan

Zoë

Lake Drive

Last Sunday we drove to lake Canadice, one of the pristine Finger Lakes only 20 minutes from our house. I wish we could have kayaked, or I could have hiked, but it was still a beautiful drive, and we loved all the colors.

Travis was our chauffeur.

Miranda, Megan (in the back), and Zoë Looking out their windows.

Nica wasn't really sleeping, but faked sleeping when she saw me trying to take a picture.

Miranda, of course, made friends with the first person who would pause for a moment. This gentleman and his wife were walking down to the waters edge, and this kind man listened to Miranda (his wife wandered off)

Nica immediately took to rock hunting. Yes, it was sunny and pleasant out, but not what I would call shorts weather. But Nica wears shorts year round.

Nica & Megan at the water's edge, Travis behind them. Another couple was loading up their canoe in the background.

Crazy Megan

Sweet Megan

Nica with her rock. She and Megan found some amazing rocks along this lake.

Nica dancing under the Falling Leaves.

Megan, Travis and Miranda walking back to the van.

They turned around for me.

I could hang this on my wall. It feels like I am laying on my back, in the warm sunshine, and I can almost feel the warmth on my face, the cool breath of air, and smell that leaf-smell of fall.

We drove to the other side of the lake and I had Travis take the girls and walk down to the lake along a trail. I didn't go because I still didn't trust my leg to work correctly (couldn't feel uneven ground, and I have tumbled more than once because of it).

Hunting for rocks.

The girls unconsciously lined up in order while they were hunting for rocks.

The geode Megan found.

Grape Picking in Naples

Upstate NY is famous for its grapes: concord and white Niagara grapes. We were given some Concord grapes from a friend who couldn't use them, and I used the steam juicer another friend gave me to make delicious grape juice! I think our mouths might stay purple for weeks!

Because we enjoyed the juice so much, and because I wanted more, and because it was so easy to make, we decided to get more grapes, and so drove about 45 minutes. It was only $0.35/lb of grapes. Pretty cheap!

The girls were AWESOME pickers, and in no time we had almost 150 pounds! Whew! I took home 5 boxes of grapes, but only kept four boxes (Another friend asked us to get some). I have since turned three of those into 6.5 gallons of concentrated grape juice. (13 gallons after mixing to a drinkable dilution).

Nica pulling a wagon with empty boxes, ready to be filled with grapes.

Shortly after starting down the hill, Nica lost control and we had a runaway wagon! Thankfully Veronica Morphy caught the wagon and nobody injured. Whew!

Miranda getting ready to pull her wagon.

The row of concords we picked.

Megan showing her green Niagara grapes. They were not as plentiful, but were super sweet! Megan picked an entire box of Concord grapes by herself in half the time the rest of us took.

Nica in her Halloween garb (yes, she is wearing shorts over her pants- it is her signature fashion statement), eating a snack of Halloween fruit Gummies.

Zoë was a fast and hard worker. She found great clumps of grapes (purple or green).

Miranda flitted from side-to-side of the vines, picking here, and there. She loved being outside, with friends, and picking fruit.

We took our friends, the Morphy's (Mom on far left is Veronica, son Garrett, then Zoë, and Mya Morphy on far right).

Zoë was taking a video of the vineyard.

Grape field with beautiful fall colors in the hills surrounding us.

Just Can't Slow Down: Addendum

This is an addition to the end, or an update, for my previous blog post.

So, after finishing all that work (grape juice and bed making) I fell into bed and the next morning, after packing lunches and getting the fam off to their schools, I fell back into bed until 11 a.m. I didn't do much the rest of the day, just taking it easy (for which my body thanked me, and my brain balked but had little sway in the matter!)

Oh, before leaving for school, Miranda pitched a fit about something, storming upstairs and throwing herself on her new bed. It fell apart! I was very upset with her, giving her a stern talking-to, until I looked more closely at the bed. The cleat, the long board that goes along the side to hold up the slats to support the mattress, had been glued but secured with only 2 (instead of six) screws: one screw at each end. Oops! My mistake! I got it fixed up in the afternoon and it will hold her throwing herself on her bed, now.

Super Mom/Woman I am not. Just love being busy, working on projects, and DOing things. But, I do have my seriously lazy days (pajamas all day, books that fall from limp hands because I fell asleep for the tenth time while reading in bed, etc).

Just can't slow down

So, apparently I am feeling better. I still move slowly, and I have bad days. Walking up hills is not pleasant, and I don't trust myself on uneven ground. But I woke up feeling really good this morning! 

So, I made my to-do list:

1. Nica's snack

2. Snack & papers to school, charge battery!

3. Make bread

4. Grapes into juice

5. Beds

The girls helped me make snacks (Drew faces on clementines to make them look like Jack-o-lanterns, cut cheese with tulip cookie cutter and pushed pretzel stick in end for a witch's broom). I started the bread. And, although I forgot to charge the battery before I dropped off things at school, I did when I got home. I finished baking bread and got started on grape juice. 

My friend generously gave me 30 lbs of Concord grapes since she was hosting a wedding for her step-son in a few days and knew the grapes would go bad before she could get to them.

Loaded steamer! The smell that suffused my house as the lid settled and the juice collected was heavenly!

I managed to turn those 30lbs into 14 quarts of delicious grape juice.

And, of course, I had to taste some! Isn't it pretty!? Trust me, it looks as good as it tastes.

I had promised Nica I would save some grapes for her to help me make juice, so I was done with all that by about 11am. And decided to work on another project that has been hanging over my head. I bought wood a few weeks back to make bed frames for Miranda and Veronica. I cut the pieces last week, during one of the last 70° weather. Today it was almost 70° again, so I was even more motivated to work on this while it was warm outside.

And, except for a little more sanding and stain, I FINISHED! 

Nica's bed frame, finished in the garage. I was waiting for her to clean up her room enough so I could move her new bed in. Miranda's was already in the room.

Two bed frames! Megan was super helpful to get the girls' room clean so I could bring the frames up. Miranda helped me carry her frame (in tears because she thought she was losing her bed!) and Nica held the door. Megan helped clean the room, carry and assemble Nica's bed. 

Nica's first Big Girl Bed! She was super excited to finally have a real bed.

Miranda is more excited that I have plans to make her a "princess bed" (hang curtains from a frame). 

And, then I made more grape juice with Nica and Megan. I also intended to make yogurt Parmesan chicken for dinner, but just before I was starting to coat the chicken in yogurt, I looked at the time and realized it was 6pm! An hour before bedtime! So, freezer pizza usurped the menu (with fresh Concord grapes, new grape juice, and cucumber from the garden). 

And now, I think I am going to go soak in a hot tub, and hope I didn't over-do it on my back/leg...