Goooooooooo Pierce's!

For you outsiders, this is our family cheer. Yes, very original, I know, and more exciting than anything. We started doing our little "hands in the circle" cheer a couple of years ago when we were trying hard to start out our day the right way. The "right way" should include family prayer and scripture study, with breakfast together, but usually, it consists of Mom and Dad trying to wrangle the three big kids into the same room, without toys and console a fussy baby. We have to mess with Erma (Erin's morning alter-ego) and let's face it, sometimes Allie's early morning chipperness can be a bit annoying! Anyway, by doing our family cheer, we find that it helps us all stop for a moment and recognize that we are bigger and better together than we are alone. I find that if I make a conscious effort to physically love my children each morning, it makes it easier to get through the day with them.

With all this said, I felt like it was a good summation of the last three weeks. This year we truly tested the limits of family togetherness and took our kids on an 18-day vacation. We spent most of the time with members of our various extended families, but at night and in the car, we had all six of us crammed into one room or one car. Will decided to start teething and Allie decided to go mental on me. However, with those exceptions, I must say that it was better than I could have hoped for.

I plan on blogging about most of the stuff we did individually, but I wanted to dedicate one post to the overall feeling of the trip. Matt, who was initially skeptical of the monumental task, admitted on the last day that he thought the trip had been good for our family unity. This got me thinking..... that's something that is priceless. To me, it is important that everyone in my family learn to love and value each other. Each of my children is blessed with brothers and sisters and they are very blessed and loved by their parents. It is sometimes a hard task as a parent to try and teach loyalty, love, concern and understanding, when the world is constantly telling us that we need to be individuals and to do what is best for ourselves. While I believe that we all have our own path to tread, I do believe that we are not on this journey alone. I know, without a shadow of a doubt that these people are in my life for a reason. We all have opportunities to bless and teach and to be blessed and taught by others. This is the reason my girls share a bedroom; it is the reason they have to work together on chores and it is the reason that I make them go on family vacations. This last thing hasn't been much of an issue in the past, but I can see that as Erin grows up, our time to mold, shape and enjoy her is moving more and more quickly.

I hope that my kids never forget the fun times we had on vacation; the laugher, the trivia contests, watching King of the Hill that seems to be on in every hotel room we ever stay in, roadside attractions, love of country and love of family. I know they'd rather forget the sharing of a sofa-bed, eating at Subway, when only Allie LOVES it, and hearing mom tell them that in fact, we are NOT there yet.

Life is so short, and I'm so thankful to have time with my family. I love my husband.... he is the best guy in the world, and more importantly, the best guy for me. I love my kids; I feel so honored to be their mom.

A couple of months ago, our Bishop gave a lesson at church that talked about how Satan (or any threat for that matter) seeks to divide us from each other. We are told that we are not good enough, that others are better and that no one will understand what we are going through. While we were on this vacation, I had several opportunities to reflect on this lesson and I feel that it applies so well to family life. Abraham Lincoln so fittingly quoted Jesus when he reminded us that "a house divided against itself cannot stand." As families, we are all in this together. We work together because we can accomplish more together than alone.

I want my family to always remember this trip as the great experience it was, even with it's warts. I want them to remember the family unity they felt, even if they can't call it that. And I want them to know that in our lives, we all fight together. No one is alone and I am so grateful for this knowledge.

GOOOOOOOOOO Pierce's!