New Year's Eve

For most of the world, today is a holiday. It's the day people celebrate the end of one year, and the beginning of a new one. Most people make resolutions of some kind, reflect on the year that's passed, or just use it as an excuse to party. Growing up, New Year's Eve was always a time to celebrate, but it was rarely the start of a new year we were celebrating. We had a much more important reason to celebrate. Today is my big sister's birthday.

I think my most memorable New Year's found me crashing her party. It was Jenn, her best friend Marie, and by default, me watching fireworks on the tiny tv on our dresser while drinking Martinelli's. We shared a room, so Jenn had no choice but to include me. It was like that every year. We fought a lot as kids. We had very different personalities, but were forced to share a room. She put up with a lot from her little sister. I don't know how she didn't kill me. Jenn hasn't always had the best of birthdays. One year she ended up taking care of all 7 younger kids because Mom was in bed with pneumonia. I think she was 12. Jenn has always taken care of the family.

As we've gotten older, Jenn continues to be the one who keeps the family together. She was a newlywed my freshman year at college, but her house was always open to me. I think she's done the same for everyone who's gone to BYU. Her house is always the focal point of family celebrations. Everyone is always welcome. She loves to have her house full of family. Any time we gather, it's to her home. She cooks, she cleans, she provides couches and beds and blankets and pillows, she makes us all feel like it's our home. And even when we're not there, she finds ways to make us feel like we're loved and missed and wanted. This family would not be what it is without her. We are a cohesive family as adults because of the efforts of Jennifer. She deserves every bit of the credit, and I greatly appreciate it.

We don't fight anymore. We haven't in years. I feel blessed and lucky to have her as a sister. She is an amazing example to me. She is generous and loving and talented and flat out wonderful. So tonight I will be celebrating again. She won't be here with me. We'll be separated by many hundreds of miles, but I'll raise a glass of Martinelli's and toast the birth of my big sister, the wonderful Jennifer Nielsen. I love you, Jenn. Happy Birthday.

News

So I wanted to have something definite to report before I started talking about this, but we're having a medical issue in our house.

Tyler has vision problems.

He came home from school a few weeks ago after a routine vision screening and they said he has problems in one eye. So I took him to get his eyes checked and he does indeed. His left eye has perfect vision. His right eye has problems.

We've actually taken him to a couple doctors already. I was rather uncomfortable with the first doctor. She didn't seem very competent. She had no idea how to deal with kids, wasn't very thorough, and wasn't even willing to state her diagnosis with any certainty. So today's appointment was a second opinion. They said basically the same things, but this second doctor seemed to check a lot more things and had a plan to help fix things, whereas the first doctor had no solutions or suggestions, just a tentative diagnosis.

His problems start with severe farsightedness. I found that interesting because we're all nearsighted. But he's farsighted, at least in the one eye. Apparently he's been farsighted for a while, but has compensated with his other eye, so it wasn't obvious. The problem is that his brain stopped using his right eye, so now it's become a lazy eye. It doesn't manifest itself the same way Rachel's did. The muscles line up and track together, so there's no crossing or obvious signs, but he's not seeing anything out of that eye. Even with a corrective lens over it, he still can't see anything but the big E on the vision chart. The eye can be forced to focus, but it's not something it wants to do or does easily.

So we start with glasses. We get the correction he needs for the weak eye. But then we add in a patch. For 6 hours a day (not during school time, or he wouldn't really be able to function) he puts a patch over his strong eye to teach his brain how to use the other eye again. The doctor seems confident that with time and correction Tyler will be able to regain a great deal of vision in his eye. He'll always be farsighted in that eye, but not necessarily to the extreme that he is now. And once his brain gets used to using that eye, the correction over the eye will actually do him some good.

This will be my second child who's had a lazy eye. But they've manifested completely differently and been for completely different reasons. I don't know what kind of time frame we're looking at for Tyler, but I hope he responds well. He's excited to get glasses (and almost walked out of the store with the frames he chose still on his face). He hoped we got to sit in the waiting room while they made them so he could have them today. Unfortunately he has to wait a week. :( But when he gets the glasses and the patch, he also gets to do things like color and play video games on doctor's orders! He's pretty excited about that too.

I'll keep you updated as I learn anything new. But for now, I'd appreciate it if you could keep him in your prayers!

Merry Christmas to all!

It has been a most wonderful Christmas. Tonight I feel truly blessed.

My entire family was together for Christmas this year, something that hasn't happened at Christmas for several years. Unfortunately I was unable to be there with them. It's been a difficult week leading up to Christmas, knowing they would be together and I would be here. I already feel separated from them. With so many of them living so close together, it's difficult to not feel like an outsider from time to time. So to not be there once again was difficult and emotional for me. So I've tried to focus on the reason I wasn't able to be there, and to let my happiness in that, my gratefulness at being able to be with Jayme in the temple be the dominant feeling in my life. I've also tried to focus more on the joy that comes in celebrating the birth of the Savior of Men. I've felt my heart sing "Hallelujah" this season, even among the craziness that is the "Christmas season." And I feel the need to repeat the words of the well known song, "Joy, JOY, for Christ is born; the babe, the son of Mary." That joy has helped get me through the last few days when I thought the emotions of missing my family would overwhelm me. It truly is joy that Christ was born, and I'm grateful to feel that joy in my life.

And, of course, everything turned out right in the end. My own family was the picture of perfection. My children were well behaved and grateful for every single thing they got. I heard things like "I've wanted this my whole life!" and "How does Santa know EVERYTHING we want?!" and even "Oh cool, SOCKS!" from my kids. They were excited and happy and had a wonderful day. Scott played with the kids, helped clean my kitchen, and managed a thoughtful and generous Christmas for me. Scott will be the first to admit he's not the best at gift giving, but he did an outstanding job this year. He even left me speechless with the strand of pearls that were in my stocking. They are SO beautiful, and it was completely unexpected. And my family found a way to make me feel included, even from more than a thousand miles away. I didn't get my actual presents from my siblings, but it didn't matter. The little book Jenn made me to hint at it is as much as I needed. It was so thoughtful and made me feel loved and appreciated and like part of the family. Even now, at the end of the day, I still tear up when I think about it. I love them all so much, and it was killing me that I couldn't be there with them. But their thoughtful gift made all the difference in the world. And knowing in addition to that they made a serious effort to record as much of their gatherings as they could so I could experience it later really touches me. I can't express how much I appreciate what they did.

And late last night, someone (we know not who) dropped a HUGE stocking off on our doorstep full of great stuff! Coloring books and crayons and teddy bears and oranges and apples and nuts and all kinds of great stuff for my family! It was a great way to end our Christmas Eve, and started our Christmas morning off so well.

At the end of Christmas day last year, I was in tears. It was a difficult and disappointing day all around. I felt like an afterthought to my immediate family, unappreciated and forgotten, and too distant from my siblings and parents to make a difference. I spent Christmas afternoon breaking up fights and cleaning the huge mess that is Christmas morning. My kids even complained about the home made cinnamon rolls because they think they don't like raisins! I think my lack of Christmas spirit this year is in a great deal tied to my disappointment over last year. Tonight I find myself again in tears, but for completely opposite reasons. My house didn't get cleaned, but that's because we were playing together in it, and with the new things we received and loved. This will surprise no one, but I would SO rather have a messy house after a great day together than a clean house with little happiness in it. Not that I need an excuse not to clean, but I think you get my point. :) It has truly been a day of joy and love, and I feel deeply blessed.

So I end tonight with a heart full of joy, gratitude, love, and appreciation for my children, my husband, my siblings, my parents, my friends, and my Savior. So again I say, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night."

'Tis the season...

...to be jolly, right? Then why do I feel so cranky?

I'm going to assume every one's lives have been busy considering the distinct lack of posts lately. I haven't even checked blogs in quite some time! So I can certainly understand why no one else has posted. I'll admit, though, that I miss the women of the family, their insights, their knowledge, the ins and outs of their days. I hope after Christmas is over you will all blog on all the many wonderful things you got to do together. I can't wait to hear about it!

Today is supposed to be my day at home. We planned on having a couple kids over this afternoon to have popcorn and watch Polar Express. After a week of running around with very little time at home, I was very much looking forward to 2 hours on the couch with my kids. Alas, it was just a dream.

Yesterday, at the request of the school after a vision screening that showed problems, I took Tyler in to see an optometrist. I don't really know the results yet. She said Tyler was severely far sighted in one eye, which had resulted in a lazy eye that wasn't responding to correction. That seems odd to me because even covering up his eye with perfect vision, he can read and see things up close, which would make him near sighted. So I don't know quite what's going on yet, but we have an appointment with another doctor next week. The problem is, after the exam, Tyler's "bad" eye started oozing. There was a lot of goop coming out of it. He doesn't have the goop today, but his eye is very red, swollen and puffy. Just looking at the boy you can see a huge difference in the size of his eyes. So not only do I have to go back up town, a place I was HUGELY relieved to leave yesterday, I have to go to COSTCO. That parking lot alone is a nightmare. It was the one place I would have absolutely refused to go, had I been given a choice. Walmart, if I must; the mall, if I had something I REALLY needed; but Costco, no way. But for the sake of my son, of course I'll do it. And before I knew I'd have to do this, I offered to watch my neighbor's kids while she went out to lunch with her mom. She ended up taking her older daughter with her because she's not feeling well and she's hoping to get her in to see a doctor, but I do have Nathan. So I'm off for another adventure, braving the traffic and rude people to go get Tyler checked out, extra kid in tow!

But, the brightest spot in my week happened last night. Scott came home with flowers for me. I was shocked! Flowers are a rare occurrence at my house. And not only did he come home with flowers, but he had a reason! Yesterday was the anniversary of the day he proposed to me 13 years ago. I didn't even know he KNEW the date, let alone that he remembered or would do something for it. It was a MUCH appreciated gesture at the end of a long and difficult day. It really means a great deal to me that he would remember and do something about it. The flowers are beautiful, but the thoughtfulness is an even greater gift.

So things are busy here. On the bright side, I'm done shopping, I've shipped everything that needs to be shipped, I've received almost everything being shipped to me, and I've even wrapped almost everything that needs to be wrapped! Now if only I could find Becca's stocking... :)
Oh, and I have a piece of carrot cake cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory just calling my name in my refrigerator right now. :D

There are always bright spots if you look for them. Maybe I'm not so cranky after all.

Hilary, my new hero.

Today I had the opportunity to once again work in the Youth Center in the temple. I was really excited to be able to do this again. To me, it's one of the best things I've done in the temple. And today may have been the best yet. But I have to admit, when I got there today, I was a little confused about the family coming in.

According to their information sheet, there were three boys, ages 10, 14 and 16, and a girl age 19. The three boys were to be witnesses only, the 19 year old girl was the one to be sealed, and it was listed as an adoption. I was having a really difficult time coming up with a scenario to make sense with the facts I had. Of course I wanted to know the story, but was too polite to ask details when the family came in. Fortunately, with no prompting, the young woman told us her story.

This is not her "natural" family. This is the family that introduced her to the gospel. She was baptized a year ago August, and when she did so, her own family disowned her. This new family continued to love and support her. She was in the pre-med program at UW, but transferred down to Utah State and changed her major to history, which was the final straw with her family. She said to imagine the worst possible scenario in telling her already estranged parents and that might come close to how bad it was with them. So with no ties to them, she was welcomed with open arms into her "new" family. She was even adopted by them, finalized last month.

But this isn't the end of her story. While in Logan she started experiencing some tingling and numbness in her right side, as well as terrible migraines. It got so bad she ended up taking a medical leave from school and coming home to undergo tests. They were worried she was having strokes, that she might have MS, an aneurysm, or several possibilities. I don't remember the name of what she has, but the long and short of it is that her migraines are literally paralyzing her. She was, at one point, completely paralyzed on her right side. With medical intervention and physical therapy she has regained some movement, but she's a long way away from full range of motion and can't even walk on her own. She was supposed to go to a live in physical therapy place, but they wouldn't guarantee she would be able to leave to attend the temple tonight, so she said no. Even though going would have significantly reduced the amount of time it would have taken her to regain her strength and mobility, she ultimately decided traditional physical therapy would have to do. Being in the temple to be sealed to her new family was her only priority. And she didn't regret her decision for a moment. That young woman was all smiles. She was grateful for the miracles that had gotten her to that point. She was amazing.

As were her new parents. They love that girl. They feel privileged to be a part of her life. They don't care about the physical problems, the medical bills, or even paying for college for one more than they planned for, years before they expected. She IS their daughter to them and they feel blessed to have her. Standing in that sealing room, seeing that family standing together newly sealed, 2 loving parents, a grateful daughter, and three boys so excited to have a brand new sister, I couldn't help but be grateful I was blessed enough to witness that miracle.

You've got to be kidding me

My lovely and not so obedient Becca got a hold of some scissors again. I'll tell you right off she didn't cut her hair again. Not this time. She cut her eyelashes. Yep, more than half, right in the center, on her right eye. There's very little left. I'm amazed that girl didn't do some serious damage to her eye. I'm not taking a picture of this one. I just can't....

Tagged, and not happy about it.

I'm doing this for Angela and no other reason. I'm not going to have all the great pics or stories that she does, but you still get the idea.

Where did you meet your husband?

Dad was teaching Institute, so in the summer between high school and college, I went to that class. Scott was also attending.

What was the first thing you said to your husband?

I don't remember. It was 13 years ago and I had no idea I'd marry him at the time! Our first conversation was trying to figure out how I knew him. It ended with "Oh, you're THAT Scott..." The first thing I said to him when I came back from college was "Hey, I know a friend of yours..." Thanks Devin.

Where was your first date?

We got an ice cream cone (Daiquiri Ice) at the Kitsap Mall, then went to see Forrest Gump, then to Red Robin for dinner after the movie.

Where was your first kiss?

Now you're making me tell on myself. In Scott's old Corsica in front of the movie theater.

Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?

Hee hee. I don't think you could get much shorter. We were engaged before we even got to dinner on our first date. That was in December 20th. I went back to BYU the first of the year, came home the last day of April, and we got married July 22nd.

Where did you get engaged?

This isn't going to make Scott look very good. In his car in the Red Robin parking lot. Yes, that is why we go back there for our anniversary most years. That and we both love their fries and ranch dressing.

Where were you married?

In the Seattle temple. July 22, 1995.

How did your reception go?

As far as I know it went well. I don't remember anything going wrong. But then, I showed up to enjoy the party. I didn't do any of the work that day. We did have an issue when setting up the night before. Scott forgot to arrange for the lattice archway we wanted to stand under, so we weren't sure we were going to have it. Fortunately for him he was able to track it down and get it there.

How was your honeymoon?

Wonderful. We went to Cannon Beach, Oregon. It was only three nights, and it was rather cold, but it was still great. I think we mostly remember the food. We still talk about the dinner we had at the Stephanie Inn.

Whose turn is it next?

I think I'll go with Deborah, Amber, and Laura Lee if they'll do it!

It's the best of both worlds

A couple months ago we heard Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) was coming in concert, doing a concert half as Miley and half as Hannah. We had the brilliant idea that we'd try to get tickets for Rachel for her birthday. Little did we know tickets would sell out in under 15 minutes and online prices would skyrocket, often going up into the thousands of dollars for tickets. That brilliant idea was completely dashed.

Then last week a friend of a friend won tickets on a local radio station. Two days later, my neighbor won as well. With two people I knew winning, I thought I might have a chance as well, so I spent a HUGE part of last week listening to a crappy radio station with even WORSE dj's trying to win tickets. Of course I don't have that kind of luck. Even getting up at 5:00 yesterday morning because they were giving away 5 more sets netted me nothing.

But... another friend of a friend had agreed to buy tickets from someone who had some extra tickets. Then she found out ticketmaster had released more seats. She went online and purchased tickets at the normal face value price in case the guy she was buying the tickets from was scamming her. (By the time I found out, the tickets available were so bad, we wouldn't have even seen the stage so I wasn't willing to pay the price.) That meant, assuming the guy was legit, she had 4 extra tickets she was willing to sell at face value. And I got two of them. :D Rachel and I, as well as two neighbor girls, went up to Key Arena last night for what ended up being an amazing show.

Our tickets were amazing. We were in a section near the back, to the left of the stage, that didn't go as low as the rest of the sections. We were in row 9, which was front row for that section! It was far enough above the floor that our view wasn't blocked at all, far away enough we could watch the big screens, but close enough to the stage that we didn't have to. I loved the seats. I'm not sure I would have picked anything different if I'd had the choice. My neighbor, who won her seats, was in a closer section and in the first row, but I'm pretty sure my view was better.

And Miley puts on one incredible show.

The Jonas Brothers were the opening act. They were really great. Entertaining, fun, and energetic. I didn't know their songs very well, but I'd at least heard them. Most the girls (as it was mostly girls) there were screaming and singing along. They were a great match as an opening act.

Then Hannah Montana came out. I'd heard it was a pretty good show, but I was amazed. The sets, the costume changes, the dancing, the entire thing was pretty incredible. She really knows how to work the crowd, and she is a fantastic performer. She really sells Hannah. You really believe she could be that real person.

The Jonas Brothers came out to do another song with her, then performed a couple more while she went backstage to change into Miley. She is a completely different person, and performer, as Miley. But no less appealing. She really rocked that performance. Rachel and one of the neighbor girls spent the entire concert on their feet, dancing and cheering and clapping along.

It was a long, sleep deprived journey, but ultimately well worth everything it cost to get those tickets for Rachel. She had the time of her life. Her smile was as big as I've ever seen it. Start to finish, it was a wonderful night. For both of us.

Into the Woods

Last Wednesday (Yes, it's been 5 days. I've been busy!) I had the opportunity to go see Into the Woods with a couple good friends of mine at the 5th Avenue theater in Seattle. It was my first time at the 5th Ave. theater, and the tickets were more expensive than I'm used to paying, but it was well worth it.

We started the evening at Rock Bottom, a restaurant just across the street from the theater. It was so funny to me how many people came in, didn't like the wait time, and asked if the hostess knew of a place close by with no wait. Really? That's just silly... The food there was excellent. We all got very different things (lemon chicken for me, open face steak sandwich for Mel, and cheeseburger with onion rings for Deb), but we were all very happy with our choices. The service was fast and efficient, and we got out in plenty of time to get to the show. Overall I was very pleased.

But back to the show. The 5th Ave is a pretty interesting theater. It's ornate and beautiful, but rather Oriental in theme. Mel and I spent a few minutes talking about some of the oddities in the theater (are those peacocks or phoenixes?), but Deb seemed to think we were a bit crazy. We had excellent seats. First balcony, dead center, just a few rows back. The view of the stage was excellent. The cast was great and had me hooked from the very first song. The little girl who played Red Riding Hood was too cute for words. I don't want to ruin the show for anyone who hasn't seen it but wants to, so I'll just say the two princes made the show for me. I laughed more at them then at everything else combined.

Side note: why is it that the line for the womens bathroom can be around the block but there is never a line for the mens bathroom?

The funny thing about Into the Woods is that it could end after the first act. We hit intermission and Deb asked "Is that it?" At the end of the first act, everyone has their happy ending. But we get to come back for a second act where everyone finds their "happily ever after" isn't quite as happy as they thought it would be. Isn't that life? You finally get what you want then realize it isn't exactly what you'd hoped for. Funny how that works.

So Melody and Deborah, I had a fantastic time with you both! I'm so glad we're doing this more often. Can't wait for Neverending Story!!

Good Morning!

There's not a lot I like about fall in Washington. Mostly it's gray and rainy. I do like the variety of fresh, yummy apples that seem best in fall, but mostly I find myself thinking wistfully of the summer that just ended, or as is the case this year, the summer that never was.

But this morning I woke up to a site that took my breath away. It was supposed to be another day of gray clouds and off and on showers, and it was. But before the clouds took over, first thing this morning was one of the most magnificent sunrises I've ever seen. The entire main floor of my house was aglow with the vibrant pinks and oranges streaming in through the windows. I even rushed Rachel out of bed so she wouldn't miss it, knowing with her usual dawdling the colors would be faded by the time she normally got downstairs. For just a moment, before the dark clouds and needs and activities of the day overtook us, I had the opportunity to share a moment with my child oldest child, marvelling at the great beauty and majesty that comes when the Lord paints the clouds with the rising of the sun.

I'm just sorry I didn't think to take a picture.

Conference

I don't usually get to listen to General Conference on Saturdays. What a treat it's been today! I've loved every single talk, but especially Elder Holland's talk. (At least I think it was Elder Holland. I was folding laundry and didn't actually look up...) What a concise and beautiful lesson on the Godhead. There was such power behind his testimony. Is it just me or was there a huge emphasis on really knowing the basic and essential doctrine of the Church throughout both sessions? I'm definitely going to have to work harder at watching the Saturday sessions. I loved every moment of it!

I love Elder Eyring being put into the First Presidency!

What a week!

It has been so fabulous to have Mom and Dad here for the last week. It's been a nice mix of activity and hanging out at the house. We got to play games, go out to eat, ride a ferry boat, eat at Ivar's, go to the Glass Museum, see the Lake house and the Poulsbo house, and even do a bit of shopping. Of course the highlight of the week was Rachel's baptism on Saturday. I am so glad they were able to make it for that.

It's been a wonderful week, and I'm sorry to see them go!

I didn't get nearly enough pictures while they were here, but here are a couple I did get.

Rachel and Scott before her baptism.

Becca outside on the ferry. She almost got blown away!

Becca and Grandma in front of the little bridge at the lake house.

My arms aren't as long as Jenn's, but I think it's not a bad self portrait. :)

Pure Joy

Today was definitely one of the best days of my life. I had the great pleasure of watching Rachel get baptized. It was such an incredible experience. I never knew life could bring so much joy in one single moment. Even now, 12 hours later, I'm having a hard time writing about it because I'm still a little overwhelmed by the experience.

Before the actual baptism, I had the opportunity to introduce her and talk about how wonderful she is. That alone was wonderful. She just glowed the entire time. She had family and friends there to support her, many of whom brought her gifts. She carried around her new scriptures in the cool pink bag from Grandma and Grandpa Texas the entire day, and I don't think she took off her CTR mood ring even to go to bed. The entire experience was smooth and perfect. Nothing went wrong at any point in our morning, and the meeting itself was great. She did have to be put under twice because her foot came up the first time (the whole foot, not just a toe), but she didn't mind at all. She reminded me I had to do it three times. Plus the water was warm, so she liked being in it. The look on her face as she came out of the font was one I will never forget. It was pure joy, and it exactly echoed how I felt.

I really like that we wait to baptize our children until they're 8. This was a decision Rachel made. She wanted to do it. I can't imagine seeing an infant baptized has nearly the same power as watching your child, who's old enough to know for herself, choose to be baptized into the church you hold dear and precious. She chose this, and it means that much more knowing it was her choice.

I'm sure this was a wonderful day for Rachel, but this is my blog, not hers. Today I got to see my daughter get baptized into the kingdom. It was definitely one of the greatest days of my life.

To stitch or not to stitch...

I was at the gym this afternoon when I got called up to the front desk. At first I thought maybe Becca needed me in the kids room, but then I remembered she wasn't in the kids room, she was with my neighbor. I was surprised to hear I had a phone call. Nobody but my neighbor knew I was at the gym. The first words out of her mouth were, "So, don't panic..." Um, what?

They were at Walmart when Becca just turned around to go another direction and walked right into one of the displays on an end cap. She fell back on her bum, and put her hand up to her head. As my neighbor was trying to get her to move her hand away from her face so she could see if she was hurt, blood started spilling out from under her hand and between her fingers. She had two pretty serious gashes; one on her cheek, the other just above her eye.

Fortunately there was an off duty medic near by who was able to stop the bleeding and get her taken care of. I should also mention the employees at Walmart were great with both Becca and my poor neighbor who was seriously freaking out. Becca never cried the entire time. She just sat there and let everyone take care of her.

Of course I rushed her to our doctor's office, calling them to let them know I was on the way with a 4 year old in need of stitches. They "don't take walk-ins" there, and the Urgent Care clinic wasn't open yet, so the best I could do was take an appointment for 90 minutes later. Of course once they saw her they didn't make me wait. We were in within minutes. Faster than if we'd gone to an ER, in fact. We were walking OUT before the time of our appointment.

We didn't see our normal doctor, but the one we did see was great. He decided that the wounds were perfect for Dermabond, basically a medical grade super glue. The skin was easily pinched back together, and the wounds weren't too long or deep. They looked nasty, but they weren't too bad once they got the skin back together. So she was saved the trauma of stitches on her cheek and eye. She lay perfectly still as they applied the glue and did everything they asked the entire time. By the time they were done, she was more than ready to skip down the hall with the nurse to get a handful of stickers. She was really a trooper. I couldn't believe how well she did.

So it turns out the decision was NOT to stitch. But she is going to have a couple neat scars.

EEK!

Rebecca's hair has been in need of some help. She chopped a section off several weeks back, and she won't keep a ponytail in her hair (the only thing that hides it). It was getting so long, the chunk in the back was really obvious. Plus it was just too long. After getting her out of the bath this morning, I decided her bangs really needed to be cut, and while I was at it, I thought I'd at least trim her hair a bit. I didn't stop at a trim. I ended up cutting off about 5 inches! That was never my intention, I just got carried away. I'm not even sure I CAN put it in a ponytail now! But it is pretty cute, at least from the front. And the chunk at the back isn't quite so obvious.

(Becca holding Goldie, Rachel's new puppy.)

Rachel

Today is Rachel's 8th birthday. So following tradition, I thought I'd document a few of the things I love about her.

1. Rachel is the smartest girl I know.

2. She has a love of books that matches Kathryn!

3. She makes friends very easily.

4. She likes to pose for the camera.

5. She laughs easily and often.

6. She's stubborn when angry.

7. She's very sensitive.

8. She loves gymnastics, and she's quite good at it.

9. She has the most beautiful brown eyes I've ever seen.

10. She loves art in all its forms.

11. She can shop for hours at a time.

12. She loves to accessorize.

13. She loves babies.

14. Dogs are her favorite thing ever, and she would love to have one.

15. She gets excited to go to school every single day.

16. She already has a good sense of fashion.

17. She loves to sing.

18. She's a great helper around the house.

19. She never wants to leave anyone out of anything.

20. She wants to make people happy.

21. She likes doing homework.

22. She's very responsible.

23. She's a GIRLY girl.

24. She wants to be involved in everything.

25. She is a great example to Tyler and Becca

26. She wants to do what is right.

27. She has definite favorites, and she's not movable on those. At least for this week.

28. She gets so excited to learn new things.

29. She loves to be silly.

30. She is kind, compassionate, and loving.

Happy Birthday sweet Rachel. I love you!

Working Family

I have a job. Actually, I've been doing it for a while, but I hadn't posted on it or even told everyone yet. Our budget was stretched a little tighter than we liked, but I didn't want to take a job that would take me away from my kids. The solution seemed to fall in our laps.



A man in the Elders Quorum presidency with Scott has a company that puts up signs for housing developments. You know, the ones that say "This development this way" with a big arrow kind of thing. They go up on Friday nights and need to come down again Sunday nights. Gary was looking for someone to take over a couple routes, so we jumped at the chance. We took the middle seat out of our van to have room for the signs, then we load all three kids in the back seat and head out. I do the driving and Scott does the placing and picking up. At first it took us about 6 1/2 hours to do the placing, but we've brought that down to 4 1/2, and I think we can get even faster. Picking up has gone from 4 1/2 hours to 3 1/2, but we're getting faster there too. We have just over 200 signs between the two routes we have, and it pays $1 a sign, so for 8-10 hours of work in a weekend, we earn $200. The kids get paid for coming along with us, as well as for loading, unloading, and sorting signs. It's been a fun little job for us so far, and that extra $800 a month is going to be a huge boost to our budget. And we get to do it as a family!

At Last

I've been meaning to post for a while on my kids first day of school, but life keeps getting in the way. Let's hope I get it done today!

My kids jumped out of bed as soon as their alarms went off (7:00) and were dressed within minutes. They'd had breakfast, brushed hair and teeth, packed up backpacks, and were asking to go to the bus stop by 7:25. Think they were a bit excited? Unfortunately that meant I had to hold them off for half an hour until it was time to go to the bus stop. That gave Tyler plenty of time to wake up Becca by yelling all over the house, and it gave Rachel enough time to accessorize her outfit with everything she could think of. We even changed the color of her watch band to match her outfit.

I thought they should have something special for breakfast, but I'm really not a morning person, so we bought Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. My kids love them and think they're a real treat, so it was perfect. Tyler was his typical self, scarfing them down as quick as he could. Rachel, of course, was more proper, getting out a knife and fork to be sure she kept her clothes pristine.

They both had a great time going through their new school clothes to pick out just the perfect outfit for the day. I have a feeling we'll be seeing this shirt on Tyler a LOT. Rachel took quite a bit longer to pick out her clothes. She had to go through all the combinations of pants and shirts to get just the right thing. It's so nice to see her in jeans that are long enough! (Both kids picked the same shirts for picture day too!)

We did have one snafu for the day. The buses are color coded to make it easier for kids to remember which bus they ride. My kids ride orange bus, but Tyler's teacher told him to get on yellow bus. Rachel got off the bus with the most worried look I've ever seen on her face because Tyler wasn't on the bus! The bus driver of yellow bus figured out Tyler wasn't supposed to be on her bus, but not before orange bus was gone. They had to send a little bus back to the school to bring him home. And the first words out of his mouth were, "I don't like school. It's too much work." He didn't even CARE about the whole bus thing!

So they're off on their next big adventure. Tyler will have his first experiences with all day school, lunch rooms, two recesses, and getting up early. Rachel won't be one of the babied first graders anymore. She's a seasoned second grader. More homework, more responsibilities, and someone to be looked up to. So far they're doing great. They've adjusted to the new schedule, they love their teachers, they're making friends, and they still get up right on time, looking forward to the next day of school!

And the wait continues...

The BEA and the school district reached a tentative agreement on Monday which would get my kids in school, but the contract still had to be voted on by the teachers. So my kids may or may not have school tomorrow. We're still waiting to hear. I know the teachers have left the meeting where the voting was taking place, as have the press vans, but there is still no word on either the hot line or the district website on the outcome of the vote. My neighbor talked to a couple of the teachers, both of whom said they voted against the contract, so it's not looking good. But we're prepping our kids like they have school tomorrow. Lunches have been made, clothes have been chosen, and Rachel is in the shower. Let's hope all our prep work wasn't in vain...

UPDATE:
The contract was ratified with 84% in favor. We will be starting school tomorrow!!

Funny!

Amber posted a blog on an ebay listing that was really funny. I clicked on the woman's blog and found it delightful. She has 6 kids and a crazy life and a great sense of humor. If you'd like to check it out, you can find her here: http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/
I also put her blog up in my links to the other blogs I read. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do!

Power

Last night was a cool night. After a rather muggy afternoon, a storm rolled in pretty late in the evening. Normally I don't think of storms as cool, but this one was. There was a lot of cloud cover, as well as rain, so the huge lightening bolts were reflected off the atmosphere and lit up the entire sky. I've never seen such bright flashes. Even with our black fake leather curtains that block out the bright sun we saw the flashes of light. It was so bright, we just had to go sit outside to watch for a while. Even though I was expecting the flashes, there were still several that made my jump for how bright they were. I've heard loud thunder before, but last night was the first time I recall hearing rolling thunder. We could practically feel it moving across the sky, building and rumbling and receding as it passed us. And it lasted much longer than any other thunder clap I've ever heard. It was one of those times I couldn't help but stand in awe at the power and majesty I was witnessing. All I could think was, "Behold the power of God." It was a cool night.

My yearly torture...

Canning is one of those things that I HATE to do, but LOVE the end result of. As of right now, I think I may never do it again. My back aches, my feet are sore, my thumb is brown and icky, I have several little cuts and burns on my fingers, and my hands still smell faintly of onion. And I still haven't done my pears! At this moment, it all seems a bit overwhelming. But ask me next week when the pain has faded and my kitchen is clean again and I'm sure I'll speak with pride of the quarts of peaches, pints of salsa, and various jars of pear sauce I have stored up. And I know my family will be enjoying the "fruits" of my labor all year. Like I said, I LOVE the end result, but it is such a (literal) pain in the neck!

Oh, and as soon as I'm done with my canning, I'll be pulling out my dehydrator so I can get to work on beef jerky, onion flakes, and other herbs and produce... Why oh why do I torture myself like this?

STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!

Our school teachers are officially on strike. Which means we have no idea when school will actually begin for my kids. I remember going through this when I was a kid (anyone remember how long that one lasted?) but it's totally different from the side of a parent. I have not only the frustration of constantly bickering kids with no end in sight, but the added issues of Rachel's tears of disappointment and constant questions about when school will start. Contract negotiations have gone so poorly the state appointed a mediator to help them sort things out. There has been offer and counter offer after offer and counter offer, and from what I hear, the sides are still so far apart there's no telling when a compromise will be reached. But then, that could just be the rumor mill working overtime. At this point, when the first day of school will actually be is a complete mystery. Let's hope my kids and I don't kill each other in the mean time...

When it rains...

Because I didn't have enough to deal with, we're now looking at yet another repair.

When Scott was mowing the back yard on Saturday, the lawn mower shot out a small pebble and it hit the stationary piece next to our sliding glass door, shattering it. Fortunately it's double paned so we don't have to fix it right this second, but we do need to replace it. The glass didn't fall out right away, it stayed all spiderweb like in the frame for a day or so. All afternoon it crackled and crinkled as the glass continued to break more and more. It was kind of a cool sound, and fun to watch new "webs" form on the glass. Of course that didn't last and eventually glass pieces started falling to the ground. I spent a good hour cleaning up the glass yesterday, getting it off the ground and knocking the last of it out of the frame. We're getting estimates on repairs this week, so hopefully we'll get it fixed soon.

Oh, and the starter on my van is going out.

Catch up... again.

I feel like my entire life is spent doing catch up sometimes. For those who want to know, here are the highlights of my past few weeks:

• Someone tried to break into my van by breaking in a window while we were at a concert in the park a couple weeks ago. Fortunately the safety film on it held so they didn't actually get IN my car, but we still obviously had to have it replaced. It actually held for a few days, then blew out unexpectedly while driving to the library. My kids thought it was hilarious. Fortunately it blew OUT of the car, not in.

• A couple weeks later, at the same park, Rachel's purse got stolen right off our blanket. We were playing in the wading pool, and it was there with all our other stuff. It was the only thing taken. She was heartbroken. We're not sure we're going back to that park anymore, even if it is where the concerts in the park my kids love so much are held. (By the way, the concert that afternoon was Taylor Ware, the yodeling girl from America's Got Talent. She was darling, and very good.)

• My kids got to go bowling for the first time ever a couple weeks ago. It was awesome! Bumpers came up automatically for the kids then went back down for the grown ups, and they even had a cool little ramp the kids could slide their balls down to give them more momentum. That ramp was a life saver. The first few balls Becca sent down the lane went excruciatingly slowly. Even SHE got bored of watching it, and there was one that didn't even go the whole way. It got stuck in the pins. But once we found that, the kids' scores went way up and they had much more fun. Of course Rachel was too old for that kind of thing and did just fine on her own, beating me in all 3 games. She also had the bumpers, but that's beside the point. :D

• Scott and I celebrated our anniversary a couple weeks ago. I can't believe it's been 12 years already!

• Scott and I and some friends went to a great club called the Triple Door last weekend. It had great food, and the entertainment was fantastic. We'll definitely go back.

• We made it (EARLY) to 9:00 church in Mill Creek (north of Bothell!!) on Sunday to be there when Devin Williams blessed his baby on Sunday. It was so nice to see them again.

• We finally decided to have our septic tank pumped this week for the first time in 5 years and found our pump had gone out. It turned into this whole ordeal. Instead of being an hour long, $300 job, it was a 2 day, $3,000 job. Fortunately the pump went out recently, or we would have had sewage backing up into the house. We're lucky it was caught when it was.

• I'm on my third medication for my insomnia, and it's working fine without all the weird side effects the others gave me, but I worry about the dependency rate and withdrawal problems of it. I talked to a friend who's on another medication in the same family of drugs, but it has a much lower risk of dependency, and it doesn't have withdrawal symptoms, so I'm going to ask my doctor if I can be switched to that one instead.

• We had a fantastic Activity Days activity at my house last week. A couple weeks ago we had a lesson on the Word of Wisdom. Last week we put it into action by making a meal together that was based on what we're told we should be eating. The girls had so much fun, and the dinner was really yummy! We had spaghetti with home made sauce full of fresh herbs and just enough garlic, home made meatballs, a really great salad filled with lots of yummy stuff, and home made bread sticks. The girls had the most fun forming the bread sticks. None of them had ever done it before! For dessert we did my crock pot peach cobbler and home made ice cream. I'm not sure how I'm going to top this activity.

• I finally got my eyes checked out for the first time in a few years. I'll be getting new glasses and contacts in a couple weeks!

That's what I can think of about my last couple weeks. We've been spending a lot of time at the park and the library this summer. This was supposed to be my relaxing summer at home, but I'm never home! Does life ever slow down??

Hippo Birdie to Ewe...

Happy Birthday to the bestest, most wonderful, most amazing woman I know!

I love you Mom!

Let's try again...

I went to see my doctor again yesterday because I didn't like the side effects of the medication I was on. So we've changed meds once again. This is the last medication I'm trying. If this doesn't work, I'm going back to be an insomniac. Actually, she suggested doing a sleep study if this one doesn't work, but I'd rather have done that to begin with! I feel like she's really pushing meds, and not the meds I want. We'll see how this goes...

She's awesome!

I officially LOVE my babysitter. My kids adore her (she plays games with them, brings them coloring books, and gives them piggy back rides to bed) and she cleans! My house is always in better shape when I come home than when I left. Friday, she did my dishes (like always) AND she cleaned my kids' rooms!! Getting them to clean their rooms is like pulling teeth, but she and Rachel did both rooms in what I hear was record time. AND she's grateful that I use her and feels like I pay her too much! (I don't pay her ENOUGH!) When both kids love her and the parents love her, you know you've found a great babysitter. Mine is the BEST!

Now THIS is summer

Today is the first of what I'm sure will be many 7+ hour days at the park this summer. We got to the park at 10:00, played for a while, ate lunch while we watched a kids variety act that was the concert in the park for the afternoon, then my kids got drenched in the wading pool. Of course we forgot swimming suits, but it was so hot I couldn't deny them the chance to cool off. We left a little after 5:00 sunburned and exhausted, having had a really excellent day. I took some pictures, but my hard drive is dying so I won't be uploading them until we can get it replaced. Pictures to come soon! I know I should be more detailed about our long day, but I'm too tired. Maybe you'll get more detail when you get the pics. :D

We're expected to hit temps in triple digits tomorrow. Rare for us.

Better than I thought...

Apparantly my lesson on Sunday went better than I thought. I got a call from my bishop last night asking me to adapt it into a talk for Sacrament Meeting this Sunday! How do I get myself into these situations? This has to be his wife's fault...

My favorite lesson!

As I think I mentioned before, I taught in Relief Society on Sunday. It was a pretty remarkable experience for me. My lesson was on the hand of the Lord in the formation of our country, specifically in our constitution. I don't have time to do a full write up here, but I thought I'd pass along a few of my favorite quotes.

Ours is the only country deliberately founded on a good idea. - John Gunther

No human laws are of any validity, if contrary to God's laws, and such of them as are valid derive all their authority, mediately or immediately, from this original. - Alexander Hamilton

In 1740, a mere generation before the Revolution, the intellectual life of America was dominated by clergymen; by 1840, a generation or so after the Revolution, it would be dominated by scientists and inventors. Only for the brief span of a single lifetime would America's statesmen and her brightest thinkers be the same men.

How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! - Thomas Jefferson

One man with courage makes a majority. - Andrew Jackson

No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisibly hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. - George Washington

Those men who laid the foundation of this American government were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits... [and] were inspired of the Lord. - Wilford Woodruff

The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life. This country will not be a permanently good place for us to live unless it's a good place for all of us to live. - Theodore Roosevelt

A citizen of this republic cannot do his duty and be an idle spectator. - Ezra Taft Benson

Because of our unwillingness to get involved in the preservation of these values, small, radical, Godless groups are literally stealing from us our rights to enjoy the freedom to choose our own value system. - L. Tom Perry

Evidently the Supreme Court misinterprets the true meaning of the First Amendment, and are now leading a Christian nation down the road to atheism. – David O. McKay

Ok, that ended up being a few more than I intended, but still not nearly enough. What a blessing it is to live in a land prepared by the Lord. This truly is the promised land and I am grateful to be blessed to be a citizen of The United States of America. Happy Independence Day, and God bless you all.

I need a nap...

I'm exhausted! I've spent pretty much every day at Lisa's house over the past week or so, helping her clean and unpack and paint and take care of her kids. Hunter, her 7 month old, is incredibly cute, but he's a needy little boy. If he's not being held, he's screaming bloody murder. That makes for slow going. The past couple nights I've been there past midnight trying to get Annabelle's room painted (stripes of two colors of pink and white stripes, and we had to paint over a horrible blue wall). So that's why you haven't seen any new posts from me. Lisa is great. She and I are a lot alike and get along like we've known each other pretty much forever. Our kids play really well together as well. I feel really lucky to have met her. But I am exhausted. It'll be nice when life gets back to normal a little. Her husband gets home this weekend from an almost 6 months away doing training for his job, so she won't need me as much then.

I taught Relief Society again on Sunday. It went really well. I'll try to post some of my favorite quotes from my studies tomorrow. They'll be appropriate for the day.

It's a small world after all...

I went to help a new family move into our ward this afternoon. Well, the Elders Quorum did the big move on Saturday, but this woman's husband is across the country doing job training, so she is doing it all herself, with a 3 1/2 year old girl and a 7 month old boy, so I went to help her unpack today. We got to talking about where she was from and what her husband did. She mentioned her husband went to school on Bainbridge Island. "WHAT? What is your last name again?" Dahlstrom. Ken Dahlstrom and his family just moved into my ward! The world seems so small inside the church.

He happened to call while I was there and asked my maiden name. When he heard it, he immediately went into stories of scouting with Ben. I just had to laugh. You never know who you'll run into or what distant memory will suddenly turn up in your ward! I was just going to help a woman alone with her move, and suddenly I'm taken on a trip into my past. This is weirder to me than driving down Meridian and having Alan Cleaver driving right behind me.

Catch Up

Just a few random oddities of my life so y'all feel caught up:

1. Tyler had his birthday party on Saturday afternoon. It was the easiest one I've ever put on, and he loved every minute of it. He looked so handsome in his new church clothes from Grammy and Grampy today! (picture to come)

2. I got my first "excellent!" out of my piano teacher on Saturday afternoon. He was very pleased with how far I'd come on a song we've been working on. That was really exciting for me.

3. I badly twisted my ankle Saturday night and can hardly walk.

4. We had a storm come through here this afternoon. I LOVED it. The colors in the clouds were amazing (as were the greens of the trees against the dark sky) and I've come to love thunder and lightening. I'm so glad my kids love storms too. They ran around, loving every second nearly as much as I did.

5. I still don't love my new medication. I'm still having side effects, but not as severe as with the other one. But I'm not sleeping as well either. I'm leaning towards forgetting meds all together and just suffering through my insomnia, but I'll talk to my doctor once more before I make that decision.

6. I have about 10 loads of laundry that need to be folded. My kids are finally out of school for the summer. I'm supposed to be at Activity Girls Day Camp on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'm still not sure if I can make it. I promised to help a new woman in our ward unpack tomorrow since she has 2 small kids and her husband is out of town. Scott is going out of town for the weekend with his dad and brothers. I'm having a fondue party one night he's gone (Jenn, I could use some help on this!). What happened to the LAZY days of summer?

That's about it for me for now!

TYLER

Happy Birthday to Tyler!

In honor of Tyler's 6th birthday, I thought I'd take a moment and write down a few of the things I love about my son.

1. He loves a good joke.

2. He's smart as a whip.

3. He has a sensitive spirit.

4. He loves to learn.

5. He's concerned with people around him, and wants everyone to be happy.

6. He makes sure he acknowledges as many people he can, and doesn't leave anyone out.

7. He wants to be just like his daddy.

8. He's a great soccer goalie.

9. He's willing to compromise in order to keep the peace.

10. He is so proud of himself when he learns something new.

11. He loves to ask questions.

12. He'll tell his life story to anyone who will listen, or at least anything interesting that's happened to him recently.

13. He has an amazing imagination.

14. He wants to be in the middle of whatever is going on.

15. He saved his tooth fairy money for more than 2 weeks until the ice cream man came to our neighborhood because there was no question but that he was going to buy ice cream from him.

16. He loves to help Daddy barbecue.

17. He gets super excited over little things.

18. He's been telling people the countdown to his birthday since June 1st.

19. He's so ready to be a grown up.

20. He wears his heart on his sleeve.

21. He thinks school is the best thing EVER!

22. He does a great "ready Freddy" ball catching position.

23. He finds humor in the inane, just like his dad.

24. He likes his hair spiky.

25. He is quick to smile and laugh.

There is so much more I could say about my wonderful son, but for now I'll stop and just say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER! I LOVE YOU!!

Enough

I've been on the antidepressant my doctor prescribed for almost a month now, and I have to say, I HATE it. The two main purposes of this medication are to relieve depression and to relieve anxiety. I feel like it's CAUSING both. I've had occasional bad days before, but never this often, and not this bad. And I've never had issues with anxiety before. Sitting in church yesterday was almost torture for me. We sat in pretty much the very middle of the crowded chapel. The normal me wouldn't have thought anything of it, but yesterday it was terrible for me. I don't know if it was just me, but it seemed like the longer the meeting went, the louder the room got, and the noise was oppressive. To make it worse, I felt a constant pressure pushing in on me. It was like I was being compressed and I could hardly breathe. Sunday School wasn't quite as bad as it was a smaller group in the gym, but it was still hard. I had to leave Relief Society early (which was a huge relief) because Tyler was giving a talk in Primary, but the primary room almost did me in completely. I was a mess by the time we got home. Even in smaller gatherings this week, I had a very difficult time being in large groups. At a movie night with some women in the ward, I couldn't sit in a room with 10 other women to watch a movie. It was too confined with too many people. Anxiety is a completely new experience for me, and I do not enjoy it at all. Add in that this is the most depressed I think I've ever felt, and you can guess I'm pretty miserable right now.

In general I think antidepressants are a great thing and a much needed help for a lot of people, but I don't think it's what I need, at least not right now. Fortunately I have an appointment this afternoon to talk to my doctor about this. Hopefully I come back with good news!


UPDATE:
Of course my doctor immediately took me off the offending medication I was on. She was amazed I stayed as long as I did on it. She'd never seen it cause anxiety to the degree I had it. It is a known side effect of the drug, but a very very rare one. She's given me something new to try instead, but is starting me on just half a dose for now. It'll also take a few days to come down off the old medication, but within a week I should be feeling MUCH better. If I don't, she wants to see me again. I didn't sleep quite as well on the new medication, but I woke up already feeling a bit less anxiety. Not a lot, but some. And every little bit helps. And once the old medication is out of my system, I can increase my new one to a full dose if I'm not sleeping enough. So things should be getting much better!

By request

A few pics from Pearls and Gloves:

This is me with Melody, holding the carebear that represented Deborah.

Mel is quite talented at self portraits. :)

We took off our gloves to eat dinner.

I thought this was pretty cool...

Last night's Enrichment night had something so cool, I had to tell y'all about it.

One thing I don't have in my emergency supplies is a way to cook. I don't even have a camp stove. Last night I learned about a really simple and easy way to solve that problem. You need just 4 things; an empty gallon size paint can, an empty quart size paint can, a quart of rubbing alcohol, and a roll of toilet paper. You smush the toilet paper to get it through the hole in the smaller paint can, then pour the entire bottle of rubbing alcohol into it. It'll take a little time for the toilet paper to absorb it, but it will take the entire bottle of alcohol. You then seal the paint can. Punch holes in the larger can around the top and bottom (for ventilation) then seal the smaller can inside the larger one. When it comes time to use it, open up both cans, put the smaller can onto the lid of the larger can, light the alcohol, then cover it with the larger can to give you a cooking surface. Apparently it's hot enough to boil water within half an hour. The heat coming through the holes punched in it is enough to warm you, and to roast pretty much anything you might toast over a fire. It lasts 6-8 hours, and can be replenished just by adding more rubbing alcohol. How easy is that? And if you have the storage space for just a can of paint, you have a makeshift stove!

Great weekend!

It would be silly for me to not blog about my weekend. It was great!

First off, this is just a silly thing, but it was important to me. In my piano lessons, we've been working on Fur Elise. There are two parts that have been giving me trouble, but this week Ashton was able to walk me through one of them, and in practicing the other with him there, I was able to figure out what I was doing wrong on the other one! I'm still not anywhere close to perfect, but at least I know what I've been doing wrong and can try to correct it. I love when a light bulb goes on in my head like that! That's my fizzy joy for this post.

My main event for the weekend was going out to a play with some friends. My friend Melody started a little group she calls Pearls and Gloves. We dress in black dresses and wear (you guessed it) pearls and gloves and go see local plays. The plan is to do a combination of full blown professional stuff in Seattle and smaller local stuff, but the idea is to support the theater. We had our very first outing Saturday night. We went to Everett to see a local production of Guys and Dolls. How is it I've never even seen this movie? How did I not know A Bushel and a Peck was from this musical? or Luck be a Lady? They're songs I grew up with and yet never knew their origins. Our night out was so much fun! Our original dinner plans ended up not working (Wait, we're in Everett? We passed Lynwood??) so we went to Olive Garden to eat. The food was excellent. The play itself was very well done. I was impressed. The actress playing Sarah Brown seemed a touch old for the roll, but she sang VERY well. We got pelted with eggs (plastic ones with candy or dice in them) and the band came walking down the stairs through the audience. It was well cast, well acted, and well sung. Overall I was impressed. We're planning on returning to that theater to see Annie in February. But our next definite outing will be Into the Woods at the 5th Ave. Theater in Seattle in November. As good as all of that was, really the best part was the company. This is a remarkable group of women and I am incredibly lucky to count them as friends. We had such a great time mostly because of each other! (But we REALLY missed Deborah who had a family medical emergency and couldn't make it.) Ok, that's my other fizzy joy for this post. :D

Then came Sunday. For just the third time in my life, I was asked to substitute for Relief Society. (I was also asked 3 separate times to substitute in Primary this week alone as well!) Normally that's something I like to do, but this time I was STRESSED over it. I didn't have the time I needed to prepare the way I wanted. Right before Relief Society was supposed to start, you would have found me pacing the halls shaking like a leaf. I can't remember ever being that nervous before! Fortunately it went well. The women seemed responsive, asked good questions, and made insightful remarks. It was a great lesson. But I came home absolutely exhausted!

That was my fantastic weekend. :)

Where are my sisters?? None of them have been on in forever!

It's Done!!

It's official. My back yard is fenced in once again. After losing a huge chunk of our fence to winter storms, my very handy husband and our neighbor have succeeded in getting it all repaired and replaced. No more stray dogs, no more bratty neighbor kids, no more unwelcomed visitors in my back yard. It took a while because we had to work around weather (pouring cement in the rain doesn't work) and schedules (8:00 PM in the dark doesn't work either), but it's done now. And it looks great! Scott and Randy did a fantastic job; better than the original builders in fact. I think I'm really lucky to have a husband who is able to do these kinds of repairs. They did it for about 5% of the estimate we got when we looked into having it fixed by a contractor. Well done, gentlemen!!

Sunday Post

Today may have been one of my favorite sacrament meetings ever. Instead of the usual speakers you'd expect to hear, the meeting was opened up to the congregation, sort of like a testimony meeting, but instead of bearing our testimonies, we could request to sing a particular verse of any hymn in the hymn book. Most people would give a short explanation of why they chose that hymn or what it meant to them before we sang it, so it became a meeting filled with testimony and a very strong spirit. There is so much truth and love in the hymns, and being able to sing so many of them was a really beautiful experience. It was a little surprising to me what was chosen. When one sister asked to sing the third verse of If You Could Hie To Kolob, I was really surprised. I didn't think anyone but the Sauters knew that hymn! It was really a very special spirit in that room, and I am so grateful I was there today to experience it. In case you're wondering, I did go up and ask for a particular hymn. It was really tough for me to pick just one hymn. There are so many hymns that I love and wanted to sing. For most of the meeting I was leaning towards Lead Kindly Light, but couldn't decide on one verse over another. Ultimately I chose the 4th verse of hymn #86; How Great Thou Art. If I were ever required to choose just one verse of one hymn that was truly my favorite, this is it.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

Then I shall bow in humble adoration

And there proclaim "My God, how great thou art."

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!