15 years ago
Monday, March 17, 2008
Stake Conference
This past weekend was stake conference. It was fabulous! Spending a week in Vegas with my family, and then hearing my stake leaders speak were just the things I needed to hear to assure me that, "All is well." I am constantly freaking out about whether or not I am doing everything I can, should, need to do for my husband, kids, friends, parents, siblings, callings, etc. No matter what I am doing at any given time I am never comfortable in my own choices. Every single minute of every single day I am completely freaking out that I am not doing the right thing at the right time, and whatever I am doing is never good enough. Luckily for me, my husband is always reassuring me that I am just fine, and my decisions are perfect. I was very blessed while I was in Vegas by my parents and siblings repeating over and over that I am worthwhile, needed, and perfectly acceptable just as I am. Stake Conference did the same thing for me. I learned that the things I am doing are the correct things for my family and me, and I all I need to do is, "Carry On." What a relief! I'm so exhausted from the years of stress, I think I'll get a sleeve of Thin Mint cookies, and go lay down for a while. God bless the Girl Scouts!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Anna is the Best!
My hot mess of a blog is now looking just a bit less ADHD-ish! Anna came over today, and sat for 2 hours sorting out my unorganized display of random thoughts and pictures. She's coming back SOON to play around with my template and what not. Thanks, Anna, you're the best!!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
More on the Magnificent Seven
Last October was the, 177th SemiAnnual General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. One of my favorite talks, "O Remember, Remember," ( http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-775-24,00.html)was given by President Henry B. Eyring. He spoke of his journaling experiences, and explained, "I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: 'Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?' As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done." I have tried to include his question in my own journaling, and I by doing this I have found something very interesting. I could write something new everyday regarding the many ways I am blessed by having my husband, my parents, 
my children, 
and my amazing brothers and sisters. Like I've mentioned before, my brothers and sisters are absolutely amazing! My mom fell February 18th, my dad fell the 21st, and we got to Vegas on the 29th~ the same day my dad came home from the hospital. For those who don't know, my dad has no use of his right arm and hand. He is right handed. His radial nerve was severed during a surgery that was meant to replace an old artificial shoulder joint with a new titanium one. When my dad fell on the 21st he broke his left arm, leaving him without use of either hand. When Redge and I arrived my siblings had already done the following: removed doors from my mom's bathroom for her wheelchair; installed handicapped bars; made and stored food; grocery shopped several times; taken both my parents to doctors appointments; picked up perscriptions; took turns sleeping at my parents' home so my mom was never alone; bought a shower stool, lap desk, trays, books, and millions of other things to try to make my parents' lives as comfortable as possible; they never left my mom alone for a minute; visited my dad in the hospital; and took care of their own families. Melinda flew in from Costa Rica with her daughter Molly (who looks exactly like me) to help my mom, and offer a moment of reprieve to my other sibllings who all live locally. I need to add here that my brothers and sisters don't have easy lives. They have great lives, but not easy~ especially not the past few weeks. 
Jeff, the oldest, is a CPA. We are currently in the middle of tax season. He is also a High Counselor in our old stake, and serves with the Young Men/Young Women Organization. 
On March 1st he had this huge leadership training thing. He ran the shindig. In the middle of tax season. Luckily, he married Marci. 
She's the manager extraordinaire! She works 30+ hours a week, and runs their 4 daughters wherever they need to be, and keeps track of it all! 
On top of that, Marci is really fun! 
Naomi is the baptism coordinator for her stake, which worked well for us getting Taite baptized in her stake, and the fact that her husband, Mark, is the 1st counselor in their bishopric, made it that much easier. 
Naomi's degree is Elementary Education, and has a licensed pre-school in her home. She's a great teacher, and she puts her heart and soul into the kids in her classes. Mark is very busy with his insurance company, and is currently in Chicago for the new business he is starting. They have 3 awesome kids that they are constantly helping, loving, teaching, and running. Josh, their oldest, will soon be 18, and his eagle project was last Saturday. 
So, in the middle of my parents' ailings Naomi is also trying to teach, support her husband, do her own calling (on the day of Taite's baptism Naomi was at the stake center from 7:30AM to 2:30PM running the whole baptism thing~ while the rest of us left the church at noon & went back to Naomi's house to eat and party,) attend to the needs of her children, coordinate an eagle project, and make sure Josh was ready for his first real art show~ which was held the night before the eagle project. 
By the way, the Eagle Project was a huge success, and we all appreciate everybody helped Josh! Quincy and Mo are just as busy as the others!
Quincy works for Pulte Home where he runs the show for a Del Webb Community in Mesquite. He also has the deacons to run. He's currently preparing to take 19 boys to scout camp! 
At home, Mo runs the 4 boys to and from school, games, friends, scouts, and finds time to play girly stuff with Mae.
On top of that~ Mo is pregnant with number 6! 
Melinda and Heath have been in Costa Rica now for several months, 
and I still think it's amazing that they decided they could spare Melinda for over week to fly to Vegas in order to help my parents. Jenn is a total saint! 
With 4 kids ages 5, 2, and 10 months she has got to be crazy busy, but when you add in that her husband, Nate, is just finishing his first year of medical school, 
Jenn still cuts a few heads of hair at home, and her two youngest kids are twins,
you have to wonder how she does it! But, she does, and still finds time and energy to get to my parents' house every single day! 
Eric has a crazy work schedule as a paramedic, the most famous paramedic ever, I might add! For those who don't know~ he is the paramedic who saved Roy Horn, you know, Roy from Siegfried & Roy! I'm so totally not joking! 
He was on Dateline and everything! At any rate, Eric runs himself ragged with saving the lives of everybody all over Las Vegas, but he still finds time to help my entire family. 
So, by the time I got to Vegas my job was so easy! All I had to do was upkeep what my brothers and sisters had set up before I got there! However, my siblings didn't see it that way at all! They kept calling me, coming over to check on me, and saying things like, "Thanks so much for being here," "Thanks for taking care of Mom and Dad," "Please tell Redge how much we appreciate him letting you be here right now." 
Little did they know how relieved Redge was to not have to take care of me! He pretty much had a reprieve himself! He didn't have to take care of Arthur or me! 
Redge is used to having to run Reece, Seth, and Taite. He was grateful to have a week of not running Arthur and me, as well!
I am so grateful for my family. I'm grateful, and as Grandpa Bird said, "I'm humbly proud," of the people my brothers and sisters have chosen to become. I'm especially grateful for my parents, because they're the ones who taught us how to get to where we are now.
my children, 
and my amazing brothers and sisters. Like I've mentioned before, my brothers and sisters are absolutely amazing! My mom fell February 18th, my dad fell the 21st, and we got to Vegas on the 29th~ the same day my dad came home from the hospital. For those who don't know, my dad has no use of his right arm and hand. He is right handed. His radial nerve was severed during a surgery that was meant to replace an old artificial shoulder joint with a new titanium one. When my dad fell on the 21st he broke his left arm, leaving him without use of either hand. When Redge and I arrived my siblings had already done the following: removed doors from my mom's bathroom for her wheelchair; installed handicapped bars; made and stored food; grocery shopped several times; taken both my parents to doctors appointments; picked up perscriptions; took turns sleeping at my parents' home so my mom was never alone; bought a shower stool, lap desk, trays, books, and millions of other things to try to make my parents' lives as comfortable as possible; they never left my mom alone for a minute; visited my dad in the hospital; and took care of their own families. Melinda flew in from Costa Rica with her daughter Molly (who looks exactly like me) to help my mom, and offer a moment of reprieve to my other sibllings who all live locally. I need to add here that my brothers and sisters don't have easy lives. They have great lives, but not easy~ especially not the past few weeks. 
Jeff, the oldest, is a CPA. We are currently in the middle of tax season. He is also a High Counselor in our old stake, and serves with the Young Men/Young Women Organization. 
On March 1st he had this huge leadership training thing. He ran the shindig. In the middle of tax season. Luckily, he married Marci. 
She's the manager extraordinaire! She works 30+ hours a week, and runs their 4 daughters wherever they need to be, and keeps track of it all! 
On top of that, Marci is really fun! 
Naomi is the baptism coordinator for her stake, which worked well for us getting Taite baptized in her stake, and the fact that her husband, Mark, is the 1st counselor in their bishopric, made it that much easier. 
Naomi's degree is Elementary Education, and has a licensed pre-school in her home. She's a great teacher, and she puts her heart and soul into the kids in her classes. Mark is very busy with his insurance company, and is currently in Chicago for the new business he is starting. They have 3 awesome kids that they are constantly helping, loving, teaching, and running. Josh, their oldest, will soon be 18, and his eagle project was last Saturday. 
So, in the middle of my parents' ailings Naomi is also trying to teach, support her husband, do her own calling (on the day of Taite's baptism Naomi was at the stake center from 7:30AM to 2:30PM running the whole baptism thing~ while the rest of us left the church at noon & went back to Naomi's house to eat and party,) attend to the needs of her children, coordinate an eagle project, and make sure Josh was ready for his first real art show~ which was held the night before the eagle project. 
By the way, the Eagle Project was a huge success, and we all appreciate everybody helped Josh! Quincy and Mo are just as busy as the others!
Quincy works for Pulte Home where he runs the show for a Del Webb Community in Mesquite. He also has the deacons to run. He's currently preparing to take 19 boys to scout camp! 
At home, Mo runs the 4 boys to and from school, games, friends, scouts, and finds time to play girly stuff with Mae.
On top of that~ Mo is pregnant with number 6! 
Melinda and Heath have been in Costa Rica now for several months, 
and I still think it's amazing that they decided they could spare Melinda for over week to fly to Vegas in order to help my parents. Jenn is a total saint! 
With 4 kids ages 5, 2, and 10 months she has got to be crazy busy, but when you add in that her husband, Nate, is just finishing his first year of medical school, 
Jenn still cuts a few heads of hair at home, and her two youngest kids are twins,
you have to wonder how she does it! But, she does, and still finds time and energy to get to my parents' house every single day! 
Eric has a crazy work schedule as a paramedic, the most famous paramedic ever, I might add! For those who don't know~ he is the paramedic who saved Roy Horn, you know, Roy from Siegfried & Roy! I'm so totally not joking! 
He was on Dateline and everything! At any rate, Eric runs himself ragged with saving the lives of everybody all over Las Vegas, but he still finds time to help my entire family. 
So, by the time I got to Vegas my job was so easy! All I had to do was upkeep what my brothers and sisters had set up before I got there! However, my siblings didn't see it that way at all! They kept calling me, coming over to check on me, and saying things like, "Thanks so much for being here," "Thanks for taking care of Mom and Dad," "Please tell Redge how much we appreciate him letting you be here right now." 
Little did they know how relieved Redge was to not have to take care of me! He pretty much had a reprieve himself! He didn't have to take care of Arthur or me! 
Redge is used to having to run Reece, Seth, and Taite. He was grateful to have a week of not running Arthur and me, as well!
I am so grateful for my family. I'm grateful, and as Grandpa Bird said, "I'm humbly proud," of the people my brothers and sisters have chosen to become. I'm especially grateful for my parents, because they're the ones who taught us how to get to where we are now.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Game for Jess
THE RULES:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.
1~ There is nothing in the whole world I love more than hanging out with Redge and our kids! My favorite is when we read together!
2~ I love to read! Especially the scriptures, but I also really enjoy reading and rereading the classics, old and new. I love reading the classics to my kids.
3~ More than reading I love to study. Again, especially the scriptures, but I want to learn and understand everything! Brigham Young said, "Should our lives be extended to 1,000 years, still we may live and learn." I do everything I can to take advantage of the time I have to really learn. My greatest sin, beyond my lack of charity, is my selfish attitude (which I suppose shows my lack of charity) regarding my study time. One Saturday Redge found me studying, and said, "It's been almost 5 hours. Can we have you now?" My feelings are best desicribed in the song, "Strangers Like Me," from Disney's Tarzan, (that sounded a bit "Mary Catherine Gallagher.)
Show me everything, tell me how
I can see there's so much to learn
It's all so close, and yet so far
Oh- I just know there's something out there
I wanna know, can you show me
I wanna know
Tell me more, please show me
Some other world far beyond this place
Beyond the trees, above the clouds
I see before me a new horizon
I wanna know, can you show me
Please tell me more, please show me
I wanna know
4~ I love chiffon! You know, the fabric mom's used to use to make baby blankets. I had a green chiffon blanket (I actually still have it, but gave up sleeping with it when I got married) that I loved rubbing between my fingers. I still love the feeling, and keep chiffon ribbons all over my house to rub.
5~ I love my entire family! My husband, kids, parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and beyond! I have such a firm testimony of family, genealogy, and personal & family history!
6~ I have been teaching myself to play the piano.
7~ Seth and I have been taking sign language for 2 years. It is our time together. We love it! I have been able to serve as an interpreter for a deaf woman in our ward, and I'm loving it! However, I must say that this sister generally teaches me more than I translate for her. I'm not fluent, but I'm trying.
I am tagging: Anna, Becky, Debbie, Jenn, Kacey, Marleen, Michelle, and Nikki
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.
1~ There is nothing in the whole world I love more than hanging out with Redge and our kids! My favorite is when we read together!
2~ I love to read! Especially the scriptures, but I also really enjoy reading and rereading the classics, old and new. I love reading the classics to my kids.
3~ More than reading I love to study. Again, especially the scriptures, but I want to learn and understand everything! Brigham Young said, "Should our lives be extended to 1,000 years, still we may live and learn." I do everything I can to take advantage of the time I have to really learn. My greatest sin, beyond my lack of charity, is my selfish attitude (which I suppose shows my lack of charity) regarding my study time. One Saturday Redge found me studying, and said, "It's been almost 5 hours. Can we have you now?" My feelings are best desicribed in the song, "Strangers Like Me," from Disney's Tarzan, (that sounded a bit "Mary Catherine Gallagher.)
Show me everything, tell me how
I can see there's so much to learn
It's all so close, and yet so far
Oh- I just know there's something out there
I wanna know, can you show me
I wanna know
Tell me more, please show me
Some other world far beyond this place
Beyond the trees, above the clouds
I see before me a new horizon
I wanna know, can you show me
Please tell me more, please show me
I wanna know
4~ I love chiffon! You know, the fabric mom's used to use to make baby blankets. I had a green chiffon blanket (I actually still have it, but gave up sleeping with it when I got married) that I loved rubbing between my fingers. I still love the feeling, and keep chiffon ribbons all over my house to rub.
5~ I love my entire family! My husband, kids, parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and beyond! I have such a firm testimony of family, genealogy, and personal & family history!
6~ I have been teaching myself to play the piano.
7~ Seth and I have been taking sign language for 2 years. It is our time together. We love it! I have been able to serve as an interpreter for a deaf woman in our ward, and I'm loving it! However, I must say that this sister generally teaches me more than I translate for her. I'm not fluent, but I'm trying.
I am tagging: Anna, Becky, Debbie, Jenn, Kacey, Marleen, Michelle, and Nikki
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Man, I love my family!
It was so great to be able to spend some time with my family! I seriously have the coolest brothers and sisters ever! We laugh with (and definitely at) each other, but when we need anything there are always 3 sisters, 3 brothers, and that many in-laws jumping in to make sure everything goes alright. I absolutely adore my family, and I thank my Heavenly Father every single day for the blessing of being able to call them "my brothers and sisters."
Jenn, Nate, Quincy, and Mo
Melinda and Molly flew in to help with our parents, while Heath stayed in Costa Rica with Luke, Anna, and Daisy. That's amazing! What a great son-in-law to stay in a foreign country with 3 kids, and send his wife home to help care for her parents. Thanks, Heath!
Jenn, Nate, Quincy, and Mo
Melinda and Molly flew in to help with our parents, while Heath stayed in Costa Rica with Luke, Anna, and Daisy. That's amazing! What a great son-in-law to stay in a foreign country with 3 kids, and send his wife home to help care for her parents. Thanks, Heath!
Naomi has all the good toys!
Naomi is doing such fun stuff in her backyard, and this see-saw is awesome! As you can see, it isn't just fun for the kids, but the adults as well! Naomi and I had so much fun! Lucky for you all, Redge couldn't resist taking a few pictures of us acting like the kids!
Rockband!!!
Okay, we love rock band! I have to say that next to Susan's sugar cookies, Rockband may just be the single most amazing invention known to man. I'm so not kidding! I am now performing in the "Medium" levels, and I can hold my own! I love guitar, and the drums are rather spectacular, but sometimes I get shin splints working the foot pedal. Am I the only one who suffers from this? I think I'm going to have to start a support group for my fellow Rockband addicts.
Reece, like every other teenager (and adult who tries it) loves Guitar Hero, and is progressing quite nicely! We're so proud! I wonder if there are Guitar Hero recitals like there are piano recitals.
Seth totally wails! Redge and I love watching him perform! He's so totally Eddie Van Halen!
Bless her heart, Taite was sick, but couldn't stay away from Rockband!
Rockwell Charter High School!
Redge took this picture of Rockwell last week, and we're so excited to see what's happening with the school! For more information about Rockwell check out the website~ rockwellhigh.net
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