Quote of the Day

I saw the following quote posted on the wall at my dentist office this morning. (Yes I know, "only in Utah") It think it's one of my new favorites:

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."
— Gordon B. Hinckley

I sure miss him sometimes.

My Hero

I love the 4th of July. I always have. I love singing patriotic songs, even though they make me cry. I love the parade, crazy as it is. I love seeing the sky full of hot air balloons. I love a huge fireworks show, although I think do-it-yourself fireworks are lame.
We weren't able to do much to be super festive this year, the baby is too little and I'm still recovering, but we had a fun afternoon at a picnic with cousins.
Later that evening I stood in my driveway with my husband and watched as two Apache helicopters slowly made their way through the sky. I guess they had flown over some Independence Day event and were heading back. I thought they were kind of cool to see and then my husband quietly said, "I love that sound. It brings a huge sense of relief." For him the sound of an approaching Apache means help is on the way. It means air support is coming to blast the bad guys.
It brought to mind again what he as personally been through in the name of Freedom. He has been shot at, had his truck hit with a rocket propelled grenade--while he was IN it, and even lost a friend in battle.
To be honest, I think the 4th of July is kind of hard for him since coming home. It affects him in ways that I can never understand.
I am grateful for the men and women in uniform who have fought for us.
I am even more grateful for MY man and everything he been through, the sacrifices he has made for our country and the daily sacrifices he continues to make for me and our family.

The baby story

Today, June 29th is the day I have been waiting for and focusing on for the past nine months. Induction day. It was day zero on my countdown to baby.

I never would have guessed that my countdown would actually end five days earlier but I'm EXTREMELY grateful!

I've spent the past few weeks feeling rather miserable. Monday and Tuesday of last week were particularly bad. My body hurt all over--so much I couldn't sleep, I was having tons of random contractions and I pretty much wanted to cry all the time.

I got up at three in the morning on Wednesday to use the bathroom (yet again!) and lo and behold my water broke. At first I wasn't sure what had really happened, I was in the bathroom after all, but it was soon clear that this was not a bladder control issue! I crept back to bed and gently kissed my husband and told him he had to get up. I had no idea how much time we had. My last two kids were induced so I hadn't gone into labor on my own since my first baby over nine years ago. I honestly had no idea what to expect.

We had to get all the kids up and load them in the car. They were a little delirious but very excited. Fortunately I had packed their suitcase the night before just to have it ready. We got to my mom's house a little before four and called her from the driveway to come unlock the door. By then I was having strong and consistent contractions.

I was admitted to the hospital around 4:30 and got the epidural by about 5:15. My doctor showed up thirty minutes later. I was dilated to a six but he could tell things were progressing rather quickly and said he would come check me again in about twenty minutes. Five minutes later I had one really strong contraction that the nurse saw on the monitor from the nurses station. She came back in and said, "that was a big one I bet you're ready." I totally did not believe her! But sure enough that was all it took. The doctor came back and after about three sets of pushes little Henry James made his debut into the world. I guess he was just very anxious to get here!

Out of the mouths of babes. . .

I guess I must be nesting because I have spent the last two days feverishly getting my house in order. Which is no small task considering the state of things around here. My life has gotten so crazy that housework has been at the bottom of my priority list for far too long. There are multiple household and yard tasks that have been neglected and I am suddenly determined to tackle them.

As I pulled out the mop this afternoon my five-year-old exclaimed, "Oh, you're using that thingy! I like that thingy."

To which his sister interjected, "You mean the mop?"

He replied, "Oh yeah, mop. I haven't seen it for so long I forgot what it was called."

How sad is that?!

"All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good"

You've heard the story a million times in various talks or Ensign articles. You know, the one where a downtrodden individual opens their scriptures to a random page and there they find the exact answer for a problem or the comfort they desperately seek. It's as if the scriptures are delivering a direct message from the Lord.

Don't get me wrong--I'm not knocking the story. It has been true for me multiple times in my life.

It just seems that every time I try this little exercise lately I always seem to end up in Doctrine and Covenants 122.

Should I be concerned?

All Hail the Bread Ladies!

One hour ago all of this was just flour, sugar, yeast, salt etc. I kid you not. Sixty minutes. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't done it myself.

Last week our Stake had a food storage class presented by "The Bread Ladies" They have developed the most remarkable, simple, fast, easy and lovely bread recipe that can be used to make literally dozens of things.

Check it out at pantrysecrets.net

My life as a domestic goddess with never be the same.

Blogging for Jennifer Day!

This is my friend Jennifer. She is a very beloved member of my extended family. I guess if you wanted to get super technical, we're not even related but we do share some nephews.

I first got to know Jennifer when I was a teenager. She and her husband came to Utah to go to school and didn't have any family here so we adopted them. They came to Sunday dinner at our house every week for years. They were there at numerous "just immediate family is included" type of events, like wedding lunches and Christmas morning, because that's what they were to us. I remember that Jennifer's was the first familiar face I saw waiting in the temple chapel the day I received my endowments.

Family circumstances, job changes, various moves and the passage of time have caused us to drift apart a bit but Jennifer will always be one of my favorite people. There is so much to admire about her.

Especially now.

Jennifer has been in the fight of her life since last fall. She received a bone marrow transplant in September and although the transplant was a success she has experienced multiple set backs such as viruses that her body struggles to fight and a lovely thing called graft-versus-host disease, as well as numerous lengthy hospital stays.

But she is somehow able to persevere.

So this is a shout out to Jen--To say we love you, we believe in you and you are always in our prayers.

Go, Fight, Win!


This wonderful picture was taken by Jennifer's daughter. It is titled "One Day At A Time - Bone Marrow Transplant, Day 153" I love this photo!