Last week we got to go to TJED Land for one of the last times before GWC moves to Salt Lake City and southern Utah loses my affectionate label. I get as excited as a kid going to Disneyland whenever we go there, because I always discover treasures. (For those who don’t know, I call southern Utah “TJED Land” because that’s where George Wythe College is, the college started by Oliver DeMille. DeMille is the author of A Thomas Jefferson Education.)

I made it a quick trip for three days and two nights with my five out of seven kids and my mother-in-law. We made it a win/win deal by me providing the driving and vehicle and my mother in law providing the money for gas. The purpose was to observe my son in class at George Wythe College and go see our nephew/grandson/cousin in a Shakespeare play for his commonwealth school that my sis in law helped direct.

Instead of staying at my sis in law’s home like we usually do, we stayed at my friends, the Bowlers, so that said sis in law was not overwhelmed with hostess duty on top of putting on a play. The Bowlers are also in the commonwealth school of Washington county. (See http://lemimentortraining.com/School_Alternatives.php if you want to know what a commonwealth school is.) The mom and dad, Kent and Amy, do an amazing job of mentoring the Key of Liberty class, the Thomas Jefferson Youth Certification class, a math class, and the self-directed scholar class. Whew! Plus they are parents to six beautiful, talented, terrific children, all redheads. Their oldest son plays the piano fabulously. He is on a mission for the LDS church in Siberia but his music lives on while he is temporarily gone. You can order here http://simplyoriginalpiano.com/

Here’s my mother in law telling Amy about the benefits of chaparral  (aka Mormon tea, or Brigham tea) while they harvest some in her yard. “Why Amy!” my mil said, “You live in a veritable pharmacy!” Amy thought she asked where the nearest pharmacy was and started telling her how to get to Walgreen’s. “No, no,” said Grammie. “I’m talking about the herbs in your backyard.” 

I treasure any time I can get with the Bowlers. I met them through my sis in law, when I took my son down to TJED Land two years ago for his Youth for Freedom camp, and instantly fell in love them. I feel we are kindred spirits. Their son wrote a paper about Abraham Lincoln for his Thomas Jefferson Youth Certification class that changed the way I think about Lincoln. That got me thinking about the hero generation and why there was no hero generation during the War Between the States. That thought got us collaborating, so we did a presentation here for the 14-15 year olds at the TJEd Forum last year and are doing it again this year for the 12-13 year olds. http://www.tjedmarketplace.com/forums/slc/2011/youth-forum-ages-14-15/wanted-heroes-dead-alive

Then last September I got to see them for the self-directed scholars’ retreat for LEMI and then I got to see them again, to my surprise, at the May Masters of Influence event. Amy and I had a lot of fun visiting, sitting by each other. Our sons are classmates at George Wythe College so that gives us even more to talk about. I guess we even look alike, someone at the event even asked me if we are sisters. “No,” I said, “Just good friends!” We do have a lot in common, both went to BYU, both of us are LDS, we both have two daughters, who are about ten years apart in age, and a gaggle of boys, both do TJEd, both want Ron Paul to be president, and both belong to a commonwealth school. I am already planning on how we can see each other more for decades to come: have one of my kids marry on of hers! Which is a total possibility, we have kids similar ages with two sets that are opposite genders.

One difference between us though is that she likes the Hunger Games, and has read the books and seen the movies. So we discussed that. She said yes, there is violence, but it is depicted as awful and evidence of the corrupt society the characters are living in. She said that the book relates to today because we are living in a corrupt society. She said the book is useful for getting youth to face hard questions to prepare them for what may be hard times ahead. Then I came home and found in my email someone referring to a webinar here that explained why Hunger Games is good reading. http://leadershipeducationacademy.com/?page_id=2145

So that’s another take by people I respect, the folks at LEA (Leadership Education Academy) and my friend Amy. Amy also said when she reads violence she doesn’t picture it. She just glosses over it.  So that’s how she can read it. But I’m different. I picture the violence and then the scene replays over and over in my mind, making me more and more depressed. So, knowing that about me, I will not be reading the book. I can face those hard questions without reading it.

The Bowlers have some gorgeous scenery around their home that features a ravine in their backyard. It was the kids’ playground while we were there. They also have shelves and shelves of books. So while the kids played in the ravine, I read. I got too absorbed, and ignored a prompting I had to go check on my little guy. He slipped out with them and got stuck on the other side of the ravine amidst some thorns. Thank goodness for big brothers who can scramble quickly and rescued him!

The play that the commonwealth school did was wonderful.

My kids’ cousin had the starring role of Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing with a darling girl playing opposite him of Beatrice. It was fun to watch them. Grammie pronounced that it was worth paying for the gas to come from Provo to see the play.

So going to the GWC class was a dream come true and seeing the play was delightful. Both those events gave me sweet memories. Hearing the class members, talking with Kent and Amy and Grammie and finding new titles to read off their bookshelves provided the treasures I discovered. I have mentally added these titles to my “to-read” list. Who knows when I will get to them, as I am reading books for my online Finishing School and my Family Builder class.

First, my mother in law, who we all call Grammie, told me about this book written by her good friend, Phyllis Gunderson. It’s about the last days, with a mixture of ancient Mayan legends, Nostrodamus, and more prophecies, told in story form, to make anyone want to get their year’s supply of food:

I found this one on the Bowlers’ shelves: (what follows is a description from goodreads.com)

This is one of the most comprehensive treatises ever published on the doctrine of State sovereignty and the inherent right of a State to secede from the Union. Written by a New Orleans lawyer who was to have been one of Jefferson Davis’ counsel in the treason trial which never occurred, this book compiles extensive quotations from the earliest American statesmen, both before and after the ratification of the Constitution in 1789, which prove beyond all argument that the American people were never organized into a consolidated democracy, but had existed in their colonial condition as separate political bodies and continued to do so after their independence from Great Britain. The author singles out the tortured logic of Webster and Lincoln for heavy criticism, and shows that allegiance and treason are terms which have no meaning constitutionally if not in reference to a sovereign State. Also included are nine lengthy appendices outlining the ordaining acts of the original thirteen States in the Union, the changes made to the Constitution by the Southern States in 1861, the original forms of the Tenth Amendment, a review of Alexander Stephens’ Constitutional View of the War Between the States, etc.

I can’t help but think that states’ rights is an important doctrine to understand. Who knows but someday the state I live in may want to leave the union because of some hot political issue.

I also found this one:

and this one, that I can’t wait to read.

I have already read this book,

but had forgotten it is from a series, listed here http://www.regnery.com/pig.html

I can’t wait to read them all!

http://leadershipeducationacademy.com/?page_id=2145

Here’s my daughter dutifully studying for her Williamsburg Academy class with the incredible scenery in the backyard.

The kids had a ton of fun playing! Thank you Bowlers for the wonderful visit and your hospitality!