Hard Core Kid

Yesterday I was a little sleep deprived. Owen woke up at 2 a.m. and was loud enough to get me out of bed... I moved him downstairs to his pack and play so he wouldn't wake up Corey or Natalie, and then I went to make his bottle, which is when he fell asleep. That's been happening a lot lately (it always seems to take forever for the tap water to get warm). So then I layed down on the couch and was woken up by someone screaming upstairs at 3:30... got up and went back up there to find that Natalie was being attacked by a messy diaper (she's been a little sore). I was glad that Owen was downstairs so Natalie wouldn't wake him up. She's actually pretty good at sleeping through his noise, but Natalie... she is loud and doesn't know how to shush. She moaned as I tried to quickly take care of that, and then I couldn't fall back to sleep. So I went in and asked Joseph again what time it was that he wanted me to help him make sure he was up at? ...was it 4? He was going to the temple to do baptisms before school (before 6:30 am jazz band which was already before school). He went to bed about the same time I did, and before we went to bed I was questioning whether it was prudent or not. I mean, you're gonna be tired. Not that I want to discourage him from attending the temple, but wow, this kid is pretty intense. He goes every week. Usually it's been Friday after school but Joseph felt that he needed to go today. So more power to you. He texted his friend, turns out Scotty woke up late, so instead of his friend coming out here to pick up Joseph, Joe asked if I could take him there. So at 4:15 we were on our way in the dark. Not a lot of drivers on the streets at 4 am. After dropping him off, I couldn't help but be impressed. I used to think Corey and I were kinda die hard Mormons, but our kids are putting us to shame. Getting up at 4 am to do baptisms before school on your own?! Like not a youth activity planned by an adult leader... just me and a friend? I never did that in high school. You're a good kid Joseph, and your pal Scotty is a good kid too. Not just good, you guys are great. I have hope for the future

Another thing~ Joseph usually takes the van to school (he didn't yesterday cause I needed it for my ultrasound appointment) and whenever I take the van after he's been driving it, do you know what comes on the radio? Not any of my favorite cds (Brandon Flowers or Imagine Dragons) and not his jazz music either... It's GENERAL CONFERENCE for pete's sake! I've collected almost 2 decades of conference cd's and Joseph is working his way through them. What is driving this young man? Perhaps it's cause he's heading out on a mission in two short years or something. He's getting ready, and he's gonna be great. I'm also pretty proud he's setting such a high standard for our family, he's a good leader of the pack.

hard core - noun - the most active, committed, or doctrinaire members of a group or movement.