Hurricane Sandy- Mormon Helping Hands

If you have eight minutes, this is an amazing way to spend it. I wholeheartedly adhere to the belief that people are inherently good. When tragedy strikes, it unites us. The best in us can emerge and in doing so, we see the Savior's visage in our countenance. This video shows that. The Mormon Helping Hands is a tremendous brand, because when I see those vests, I see power, honor, and warm hearts.  

Lessons for Daddy

This last week, Elizabeth and Cambria were able to have a well-deserved vacation, joining up with Elizabeth's mother, sisters, and sister-in-law for the biannual Torgesen Girls Weekend. Hopefully Elizabeth will take the time to blog about their adventures (hint, hint; nudge, nudge). I am glad that she had this time, for with four little ones, she needed the chance to recharge her batteries.

In the meantime, while I was able to spend time with our sweet kids those four days, I was privy to some important, meaningful, and amazing lessons.

• No matter how long, difficult, complex, or challenging a day we fathers may have at work, they most often pale in comparison to the days our wives experience.
• Playing in the snow together is rejuvenating. Snowballs, snow angels, frozen digits, and big boots. One of the best parts is the hot chocolate (with marshmallows, of course). And snuggling afterward.
• I loved getting to know our adorable children even better. Such personalities!
• For instance, our kids, including Stockton, enjoy Rom Coms. Two of our movie nights were spent watching "Sleepless in Seattle" and "One Fine Day"--both of their choosing!
• Every child is going to have a fit each day. There is no escaping that.
• Every parent is going to have a "moment" each day. There is no escaping that.
• Breakfast for dinner? Yes, please!
• Siblings just have an innate ability to push each other's buttons. Multiple times a day.
• Elizabeth does so much and I'm grateful for every bit of it. From teaching our children vital lessons, listening to them, nurturing them, chauffeuring them, Band-Aiding them, and sitting alone at church with these angels the past 6 1/2 years...you are wonderful!
• Patience is a virtue, and sometimes I'm not as "virtuous" as I'd like to be.
• We are all--children and parents--works in progress. 
• Bedtime can be among the most frustrating times. But more often than not, they can be the most spiritual moments. A sleeping child is one of the most beautiful sights I've ever beheld. So peaceful. 
• Stockton and I loved our alone time while the girls were at school, including basketball at the church. This will undoubtedly be a constant for us over the next several decades :). 
• Children love being given responsibilities. It is so important we teach them how to work.
• The simplest things are the best things.  
• There is no greater feeling than that moment when you are reunited together as a family. Each and every member of the family is irreplaceable and precious. All the more reason to work hard together to have eternity and forever as a family. 
• There are so many helps in life: Church, school teachers, loving neighbors, Primary, etc. But the responsibility of raising our children up in righteousness rests squarely on the shoulders of the parents. We cannot pass this on to anyone else. It is a sacred calling. We have been charged to raise these precious children of our Heavenly Father, to teach them principles, and to love them. 
• Of all the joys I've experienced in life, nothing compares to being a husband and father. I LOVE BEING a DADDY!