Gratitude

We're heading into a crazy part of the month- Jared is traveling the next 2 weeks, and we're going with him :). I still have laundry to wash, and invitations to make, and it's always difficult for me to be away from home in December, because there are so many things I think I need to do right at home. But I would rather be with Jared in a hotel than at home without him. :)

We drove down to my parents' for Thanksgiving, and were able to see my dad and mom, Burke & Amber and their kids, and Kyle & Emmeline, Joy, and Alyson. My brother Burke brought his deep fryer, and cooked a turkey in it. You can see he had a lot of help from the other guys :) Morgen is in the bottom corner, petting her newest friend, Cassie. The guys pretty much stayed outside to watch the turkey, and keep the kids [and the dog] out of the hot oil. Removing the turkey took some serious discussion [which my dad was happy to help with]: Hyrum's in the orange, getting some cooking pointers from his dad. We also had an oven-cooked turkey, and both of them were delicious. There were a lot of great pies, and home-made stuffing and cranberry sauce, my mom's delicious turkey gravy, mashed potatoes, and candied yams.

This is my favorite picture from Thanksgiving this year: my nephew Carson enjoying the filling in his lemon tart:

We played "Bohnanza" which is a trading game involving beans. :) Lots of fun- Kyle and Emmeline always have the best games! We also played "Ticket to Ride," and "Imagine If..."

Friday we drove down to Fillmore [about 2 hours] to buy a tree permit, then headed back up toward Scipio to the Fish Lake National Forest to cut down our Christmas tree. Growing up, my family either had an artificial tree, or a fir tree we'd bought at a tree lot. But Jared got pinyon pine trees; their scout troop would cut and transport a bunch of trees back to town, and sell them. Not only is he great at finding, cutting, and transporting trees, he's also pretty good at picking out the perfect one for our living room. And I have to admit, it smells divine :). We went earlier than we did last year, so the weather was cool but not snowy. Here's my kids, helping Jared load the tree on top of the SUV.

I can remember carrying Myles through the snow while we looked for a tree last year. He wanted to walk- he always wanted to walk once he figured out how. But, he had slippers on, and the snow was wet and slushy, so I kept him in my arms, where he fussed and squirmed. Holidays are hard this year, because I have memories of Myles from the last two years, and I won't get any more chances to make them with him.

Gratitude List:
* The times we are allowed to travel with Jared when he works.
* Good food, a wonderful family, and the opportunity to spend time with some of the people I love.
* That I get along w/my family.
* Continuing a tradition we began last year, of cutting down our family tree.
* Memories of Myles, even though they sometimes bring tears, because I'm happy we had him as a part of our family for 19 months.
* My knowledge of life after death, knowing I'll see Myles again.
* Memories we are making as a family now, because I realize how precious they are.
* My husband and my 4 children.
* My family and friends.
* My faith in God and His plan for me.

Little things from the week:

Well, nobody got sunburned at the beach, because I was manic about sunscreen :). Jared has an incredibly unfair advantage because he tans easily and well. Thank goodness our kids have all [even Myles] inherited that from him. I burn, then freckle. So the sunscreen was mostly for me LOL. Ironically, Jared was born in Utah, while I was born in California. If anybody should be able to tan, I think it should be me. :P Oh, and we went to a tiny, but cool, surfing museum when we were in Huntington Beach.

I posted about the Tuesday night stop in St. George. The kids and I drove home Wednesday, and that was, well, it wasn't pretty. But I'm thinking if I bring duct tape next time, I can solve that little problem...

I was supposed to go to a meeting that Wednesday night [some of the Utah moms from the Angels blog], and up until the time of the meeting, I was still unsure whether or not I'd be going. I am so glad I did! I met some wonderful women, and we all shared our stories about the children we lost, and showed pictures, and cried and laughed with each other. It was such a relief to meet other women who experience the anger and grief and guilt and incredible emptiness that comes with losing your child. But I felt so much hope and love and gratitude that night, and I am looking forward to the next time we meet together.

Thursday and Friday were pretty normal days. I was catching up on laundry, and schooling the kids, and also trying to work out what I'm making for Christmas, and when I can get it done LOL. Friday after lunch, I settled the kids in front of a movie [**side note: I have figured out how to avoid fights about this! One child picks 3 movies he/she wants to watch. Next child discards one movie. Last child discards one movie, leaving one movie, which is what gets watched. I have never had anybody argue about what movie to watch since I started this, and I hope that continues**] Okay, so the kids were settled in front of the TV, and I snuck into the bathroom for a nice, long, relaxing bath. I finished looking through one of my magazines, then got dressed and left the bathroom to find my husband sitting on the couch! I knew he'd be home Friday, but I had expected it to be much later in the evening. So that was pretty cool :).

Saturday the kids and I drove up to Red Butte Gardens for a worm class. Once or twice a month the Garden offers children an opportunity to learn something about gardening in general, or about a specific thing/event in the gardens there. This time, as I said, was about worms. At first, Morgen was the only one excited about this [she loves worms, snails, slugs, and most creepy insect things]. After we made it to the class, and discovered we were going to be making a worm farm, there was much enthusiasm from all children! We came home with this for each child: a plant [pineapple sage], 5 or so red wrigglers, some food for the worms, and a worm farm made from 2-liter plastic soda bottles. Oh, and a greater appreciation for worms in general :).

Gratitude List:
* Walker is reading one of my favorite authors: Mercedes Lackey. This means we get to talk about books together :)
* Morgen loves to draw fantastical creatures [mostly unicorns- what is it with girls and unicorns?], and her animals are becoming more recognizable.
* Hyrum writes his name everywhere now, in capital letters. Oh, and he still clears his throat before he prays, and it still makes me giggle.
* Gas was $1.75 at the pump yesterday. Why isn't anybody reporting that?!?
* God
* my family, even when they're crazy.
* Jared
* good friends
* Coldstone has [at least the one in Huntington Beach has this] my favorite flavor of ice cream EVER: Dark Chocolate Peppermint. Mmmmmmm!
* meeting some of the ladies who post on the Angels Blog
* Getting ready for Thanksgiving this week by making pies. Another Mmmmmmm!

I have...

My friend Kristina posted this list on her blog. The idea is to highlight the things on the list that YOU have done:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Home again

LOL, I feel almost like a visitor in my own home- it has been wonderful to spend so much time with Jared [even though he was working a lot of it]. And, overall, I think the kids did well- they are all still alive, and I am still sane ;). Which, after the drive home, is saying a lot. We spent the night in St George because we were dropping Jared off there for another exercize, this one with his own unit. The California trip was to work with out-of-state units [CA, AZ, and I think one other, but can't remember].
Anyway, I wish we could hang out in St George for this one, so we could spend some more time with Emily and Scott & their family. But, we'll have him home by Friday night, so it's just a few days.
I filled up my entire memory card, and part of another one. After I upload them all, and edit out the bad pics, I'll post a few. No pics of the dolphins, because I was too busy watching them to remember to get the camera. I have plenty of pics of the beach, though ;).

Dolphins!

We went to the beach yesterday, and today as well. :)I love California! Yesterday Walker was sure he didn't want to get wet, so he wore shorts. About 30 seconds after we got to the beach, he was waist-deep in the ocean LOL. So today, I made sure we all had swimsuits, and packed a lunch. It's about an hour drive from our hotel to the beach, and with rand mcnally's help I got directions right to the
There weren't many people there when we arrived, but as it got warmer, and the tide receded a bit, a whole bunch of surfers showed up. We saw a little toddler, who was being watched by his grandma. She had him on a soft leash, to keep him out of the ocean. They both live in Huntington Beach, and talked w/me for a little bit, while my kids were playing in the surf. Morgen kept mentioning sharks [too cold this time of year]. We also, thanks to this lady, saw a pod of dolphins swimming and jumping in the waves. There was a girl who came later with her parents. She played with my kids for an hour or so before they went back to their hotel, which was right across the street from the beach.
And that's all for now- off on another adventure :)

I am proud of you, too, son

Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting at church. It's an opportunity to get up in front of the congregation, as the Spirit moves you, and testify of Jesus Christ. Hyrum has been asking for 3 weeks, "Is today testimony day?" so he was thrilled to finally hear, "Yes." He asked for my help, so I crouched down next to him and prompted him. I thought we were finished, and was ready to help him close, when he popped out this comment, "And I'm very proud of my mom." ??? I made it back to my seat without laughing, which would have hurt his feelings, but it sure made me smile! I just wonder where that comment came from.

Gratitude list:
* I am going scrapping w/some friends tomorrow, and won't be back until Sunday morning.
* Jared
* snow- it snowed today, and I love it!
* warm boots
* Walker shoveled the driveway. I told him if he did, he could skip math today :)
* hot cocoa
* mittens
* a working heater in my car
* that I have a dryer, so my clean and wet clothes don't have to be hung up inside
* Heavenly Father

On to the next project

I've pretty much given up on the hope I can blog daily. LOL, I sometimes feel like I'm going down the big hill of a rollercoaster- going too fast and gonna crash. Luckily I've stayed on track so far :).
Last week Jared took a few days off- Tuesday I spent in my craft room while he took care of the homeschooling. I made a reversible garland for the holidays.
this is the Halloween side:

and here's the Thanksgiving side:

The frame has 2 places for pictures on the left side, and a blank calendar painted on the glass behind the garland. Eventually this will be hung up, but not in my entryway. The door slamming would probably knock it off the wall and onto the tile floor, and I like this too much to want to break it.
So that was Tuesday. Thursday we all went up to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, up near Ogden. I wish there were more/longer trails- we got to drive around a pretty big area, but the walking trail was only a 1/2 mile long. We need more space to run around in, LOL. We did see a blue heron, and several ducks and geese, some coots, and maybe a loon. All in all, a pretty good field trip.

Jared and I went on a date Saturday. When we first started dating, we'd go on long walks and talk- sometimes for 3 or 4 hours. We did that again Saturday, and I really enjoyed it. We also picked out a bunch of little trinkets as possible travel bug charms- each of the kids got one, and I made one too. Hyrum chose a yellow hot-wheels car, Morgen chose a little green ball-cap [ornament] with John Deer written on it, Walker chose a globe compass, and I chose a socket. :) They're all on their way around the country, and we can track them to see how far they travel.

Tuesday of this past week I took the kids up to Heber. The cemetery where Myles is buried is very well-kept, but 3 times a year they do a thorough cleaning, and throw everything but the headstones away. So, we go up the week before and remove anything we want to keep. We bring it all back the next week :). The rest of the year, the cemetery staff clean around these things, even mowing around flower arrangements. Anyway, we pulled everything off his grave and stored it in the trunk, then grabbed some sandwiches and headed over to the North Field. It is beautiful right now, and I let the kids run and play while I read a book.
The rest of this past week I have been sewing. I sewed a witch costume for Morgen, a warlock costume for Walker, and I would have sewn a jaguar [no yellow sweat suits for a cheetah, so we changed it] costume for Hyrum except he fiddled with every single button or switch on my sewing machine. By the time I had ruined the collar of Walker's costume, cut out a new one, and fixed all the settings on my machine so I wouldn't ruin another collar, I was too fed up to sew anything else LOL. He had the black sweat suit, though, and since Walker helped him find a tail, and I did his make-up, he wasn't too upset about it.
Our next project is me helping the kids make doll blankets out of scraps of donated fabric. We picked up the fabric at the LDS Humanitarian Aid Center, and promised we'd return it, sewn into blankets, by the end of November. I'm alternating between excitement [because we're making something together] and dread [this involves scissors, after all].

Then it's Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and New Year's, and I don't know where this year has disappeared to!


Gratitude List:

* 2 quotes I found on other blogs today:
"Please don't nag yourself with thoughts of failure. Do not set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. Simply do what you can do, in the best way you know, and the Lord will accept of your effort." --Gordon B. Hinckley, November 1989 Ensign, p 94.

"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God ... and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we came here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and mother in heaven." --Orson F. Whitney

* Neighbors who invited my kids over to help make a treehouse, effectively entertaining them for 4 hours now.
* Music on my ipod, and silence in my home.
* That my parents are only an hour away, and that a lot of my family [and many of my friends] are only an email away.
* That I can sew [thank you mom!] and that my kids love home-made costumes.
* My husband.
* Fall weather, changing leaves, crisp apples, and daylight savings time.
* My faith in God.

Time

I never seem to have enough time. I'd like to blog every day, and I usually have something I think is important enough to share, but the reality of my life interferes frequently. :) Jared took Tuesday and Thursday off this week, and Tuesday I spent most of the day hiding in my craft room, working on a garland for Halloween/Thanksgiving. It's finished, and I might remember to post a picture of it, eventually... My kids seem to be progressing in their schooling; at least, their test scores say so. Hyrum is doing much better with his writing.

I had a bit of a freak-out when I realized I have less than a week 'till Halloween, and I need to sew 3 costumes. Gulp! I do have the fabric, though. The good news is that I finished knitting a baby hat, and it turned out pretty cute, so I can move onto my next project :). I have a list- a pretty long one- so I'm focusing on the costumes for now.

I made brownies today. I used the recipe my mom makes to bring to her family events [and it is always a favorite], but I added something: raspberry filling and cream cheese. Mmmmm! Oh, this is such a bad thing for my 'healthy lifestyle' resolution! After I poured the brownie batter into a pan, I squeezed the cream cheese into thin stripes about 2 inches apart across the width of the pan. Then I squeezed the raspberry filling next to/on top of the cream cheese. I ended up cooking the brownies over double the recommended time, because the extra moisture from the added toppings slowed the cooking time down. It was worth every single minute, however :)

And, sadly, we still have a few pumpkin chocolate chip cookies left in the freezer, which means I should really go running before I eat them, too. If I still ran, that is.

Gratitude list:
* pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
* a date with my husband tomorrow
* good friends
* I have the right to vote :) [and I'll be exercizing it, too!]
* the internet- makes research of anything so much easier
* raspberry-cream-cheese brownies
* my family
* a reminder that following Christ can be simple- reading 2 chapters in my scripture study, keeping a prayer in my heart, remembering to thank God for my blessings.

A vague presence

So, just got a text, and Jared's plane [with him in it] is officially on the ground in Salt Lake City. Hooray!!!!
*** that's pretty much my gratitude list for today :)

An unofficial count

Well, the exact amount of alligators that Jared has spotted comes to, and I quote, "lots." Amazingly, the count for cottonmouths and containers is precisely the same, which leads me to believe this may actually be a secret military counting code, and my husband has forgotten to share the translation with me. Yeah. I, in all my recent travels, have seen a genuine pumpkin-seed-eating squirrel. He [she?] left all manner of partially gutted pumpkins all around Red Butte Gardens, and we were privileged enough to witness the actions causing the pumpkin carnage.

Jared's ETA back in Utah is also less than precise: sometime after Saturday, and definitely before Halloween, depending on which plane flight he and his vehicle are assigned to, and whether or not they end up driving back. The good [and sort of weird] news is that we have shirt-tail relatives there in Texas, where he's currently staying. My brother's wife's father's parents live in Silsbee. No, seriously, Amber's grandparents do live there. Like I said, weird. I mean, Texas is a HUGE state, and Silsbee is a small town- what are the chances? Anyway, they got in touch w/Jared to see if he needed anything before he left.

Jared's mom organized a donation to the LDS Humanitarian Aid in memory of Myles' 2nd birthday. She and my FIL drove over to my house today, with a big clothes basket full of outfits, and we went shopping with the money that was donated and bought more clothing. We're taking all of these to the donation center tomorrow.

******WARNING: I am about to step on my soapbox******

And, my latest pet peeve is complaining about the economy. It's not because I think it's doing stellar, but our society tends to believe what we see/hear on the news, and good news doesn't sell. So, a few quotes and definitions to bring some hope [and a reality check] into my life:

"The media has correctly predicted 36 of the last 2 recessions." -Zig Zigler oh how very true this is!

"How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself. So always think positively." -Norman Vincent Peale I need to forward this to my congressmen, and probably to the President as well...

Recession: A period of two consecutive quarters of negative GDP [gross domestic product] growth

"Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the second quarter of 2008, (that is, from the first quarter to the second quarter), according to final estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 0.9 percent." ***this was released on Friday, 26 September 2008 on the US Government's Bureau of Economic Analysis website

According to the definition of recession, we are not currently in one. :)The market and our economy are moving slower than a snail in molasses, but they are moving in a positive direction.

Oh, and one more statistic [from Dave Ramsey]: 97% of the 5-year periods in the stock market have made money. 100% of the 10-year periods in the stock market have made money; and this includes the Great Depression, the S&L failures, the dot-com crash, and 9-11.

I think we will weather this storm, and we'll be fine as a country. However, LOL, I am definitely looking for candidates who will balance the national/state/local budgets, and STOP SPENDING MONEY THEY DON'T HAVE. And, I'm making sure I check how they voted for the idiotic [ooooh, I hate this bill] bail-out law that was passed this past week.

******now returning to the regularly scheduled blog******

Gratitude list:
* my ipod and the ability to listen to my music whenever I feel like it.
* the gifts and notes we've received as a family in remembrance of our Myles.
* email, so I can keep in touch with my friends.
* a photographic record of my life, however incomplete it may be.
* God

g'night. or morning. or whatever *yawning*