Hi...

Well, we are back from Maui and it was amazing, wonderful, relaxing, so totally awesome. The weather could not have been more perfect and I was totally able to relax because I knew my kids were being well cared for by 2 people (thanks mom and dad!) who love them every bit as much as we do, I was even able to relax when I found out Naomi was sick and throwing up (I'm so sorry mom and dad!) I want to go back. Soon. I am trying not to be sad right now, but just can't help it because our camera got left on the plane. With all of our pictures from Hawaii. And all of our pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch at Greenbluff. We realized it was gone as we were leaving for the trunk or treat-so we got NO pictures of our kids on Halloween, I want to cry about that. Luckily my mom got pictures of Grace, Elliot and Maggie in their costumes, but I have absolutely no documentation of my baby's first Halloween (except some crappy picture on my phone). It may sound a little overly-dramatic, but I feel like I am in mourning!! Those are memories-put-to-picture that we will never be able to get back. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will find it on the plane (I submitted the form), and if someone else found it I hope that person is honest. Anyway, I'm just going to try and think about what an amazing trip we had, that makes me feel better.

Later...

I just talked to my mom and we were talking about a scare my friend Camille had with her newborn Lola, read about it here, and it made me realize that losing a camera is really not all that bad. We still have the memories and we are all healthy and happy. It makes me remember what is really important :)

Just Thinking...

My high school graduation-1993

Don't you just love Dana in this picture :)

Isn't modern technology amazing? Just over 10 years ago when I got married neither Ray nor I had a cell phone. We would go to work and go all day without talking to each other. Now we talk a few times a day. It would drive me crazy if I couldn't get ahold of him when I needed to. Now we can hardly imagine a world where someone doesn't have a cell phone. We don't even have a land line in our house.

When I was in high school 16 years ago I never used the internet. The computer was used to write papers, that's it. I learned to type in the 8th grade on an ancient typewriter. Remember that America Online commercial where the guy says, "Why do I need America Online, I already have a computer?" I admit, I was a little confused by this. When I was in college the majority of my research was done in the library, not on the internet. I went to the computer lab to type all of my papers and my only email was my college email. Now, it seems, everyone in college has their own laptop! Now you can get the internet on your phone!

Now, I can sit here and type this, give you updates on my family, show you all of my pictures, within seconds. You could see it from anywhere in the world! Convenient, yet a little scary! It is really amazing the way modern technology has allowed us to communicate and keep in touch. It is mind boggling, really.

But sometimes I feel like it is info overload, like things used to be so much simpler. There is always some new, and expensive, gadget that will supposedly improve our lives. I realize that there is no way to go back, I wouldn't even want to. All of this is very addicting, but also very useful and good. But sometimes I just want to simplify and just not be so "connected". The question is how to do this. I read this article from a blog I really like about this issue. Ouch, consider me rebuked. I guess you just go back to the old adage that has never failed us, "moderation in all things". I am going to resolve to not feel so much pressure, from myself, to keep my blog updated. I'm going to resist the urge to log on to facebook 56 times a day (I joke, sort of). Because there are definitely some other things in my life that need that attention. Moderation in all things, I like that.

For Posterity

Naomi just started sitting up by herself yesterday. She is so close to crawling. She does the army crawl really well, but hasn't quite mastered the real crawl. I know 2 people with babies the same age as her that have been crawling for 2 months. As Ray puts it, "Naomi's just fat, she just wants to lay there and be fat!" Which isn't completely true, she rolls all over the place :)

Maggie is a dancing machine!! She loves to dance. Her favorite show is "Fresh Beat Band" on Nickelodeon. She actually can follow some of the choreography during the opening and closing scenes! Whenever slow music comes on she gets this really funny look on her face, like she is about to cry, and does her own little interpretive dance. Up next, potty training. Am I up to this, you may ask, after the potty training debacle of '08/'09- Exhibit A, Exhibit B ? We shall see...

Elliot's favorite word right now is "holy cow!!" Like yesterday at Grace's soccer practice he said, "Holy Cow! I am so good at monkey bars!". He holds his hands out to the sides and moves them up and down enthusiastically as he says it. Oh yeah, he also recently learned to do the monkey bars and he LOOOOVES them now. I started reading Bob books with him the other day and he is picking up reading so fast. I wish I would've started earlier...I had very good intentions.

Grace scored a goal at her soccer game on Saturday!! First time. She was so excited. She has really improved this season. She has a really good coach. She is also reading so well now. We practice every day and she is really improving. She is really excited because she is going to be singing a duet at church during the yearly primary program (once a year the kids at our church are responsible for the program, showing us what they have learned in sunday school during the year). She has a very pretty voice and isn't shy about it, which I think is wonderful!

And.....2 weeks from right now I will be in Maui!

Mr. Indestructible

How AWESOME is this picture?!

My dad has one serious guardian angel. There is a serious purpose for him here on this earth. In May my dad was driving back to Pocatello from their house in Cascade very early in the morning. He was about 30 miles from home and fell asleep at the wheel. He woke up a split second before he hit the guard rail. He went off the road at one of those big concrete embankments that are under bridges, with the big concrete pillars holding them up. His BIG TRUCK jumped the guardrail, went in between the first 2 pillars, went up the embankment and came back down the other side, driving out in between the last 2 pillars. It is nothing short of miraculous that he survived that accident, let alone in one piece with only bumps and bruises to show. Had he gone off the road at any other place, at the speed he was going, his truck would've flipped who knows how many times, or he would've hit one of the concrete pillars head on. There was a car behind him who saw all of this happen. They stopped to help and were simply astounded that my dad got out and was walking around after the accident happened. My dad said that when he woke up the split second before his car went off the road the thought, "Well, I'm a goner" (YIKES!!!).

On Saturday my mom frantically called me at about 9:30 pm telling me that she was at the ER with my dad, that he had cut 2 of his fingers on his table saw when he was working in his wood shop. She asked me to call all my brothers and sisters and ask them to start praying for him. That was pretty much all I got out of her at the time. My dad is a podiatrist and a big part of his practice includes foot surgery. He is right handed and had cut his right hand. His fingers were not cut completely off, luckily. They ended up life flighting him to Salt Lake because there were no hand surgeons to be found in Pocatello. The doctor at the University of Utah hospital advised him to just cut his pointer finger off at the middle joint, because he was missing some bone and part of the joint and his top joint would likely never work again, his middle joint would be very unstable. My mom and dad decided to keep his finger, despite the doctor's pessimism because, as my mom put it, "there are factors in play that this doctor just doesn't understand". (Remember the guardian angel, remember his great purpose on this earth?) If anyone can prove that doctor wrong it is my dad. Anyway, they released him on Sunday after the surgery and my parents decided to still go on their trip they had planned for this week, what a trooper! (Just a conference, they guy has to get his continuing education credits-hand surgery or no.)

Things like this have happened to my dad his whole life. It has not always been quite so dramatic. But sometimes it has. When he was a child he was hit in the eye during a good old dirt clod fight. His vision was permanently damaged and he is basically blind in that eye. He overcame this obstacle to become a surgeon. There was also the time when he fell into a big bale of hay and would've died if my grandpa hadn't miraculously found him and pulled him out. There was a time when he was on his LDS mission in Korea, when he was almost hit by a stray bullet on a bus. Like I said, things like this have happened to him his whole life-you get the gist.

I sincerely believe he is being watched over and his work here is not done. I am pretty sure that he believes this, too. My dad has more integrity than anyone I know-okay, my mom and dad tie for this position :). He strives everyday to emulate Jesus Christ. I feel so privileged to have him for my dad. He lives his life in a way that makes him worthy of these guardian angels.

Shameless Mommy Moment

I just saw a video on one of my friend's blogs of her little 6 month old saying "mama". It was so cute I just had to copy her! You can also see how cute and roly poly Naomi is. She is sitting in her favorite place, her high chair :)

I also just had to include this adorable picture of Maggie, it's not often I get a good smile out of her :)

Taken Care Of

Psalms 66:20

Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy for me.

Our lawn was getting really long. I was feeling anxiety about it. (Interesting, the way stress reveals itself.) The problem was that the lawn mower was locked in the shed in the backyard and we couldn't find the key. I had searched everywhere. I had even had a discussion with Ray about removing the door handle in order to unlock the dead bolt. I was the one who locked the door (with the key) because the kids kept getting into the shed. The key was not where I thought I had put it, that much I knew. So, in my desperation I said a little prayer. Sometimes it doesn't occur to me to pray about small, insignificant problems. Why should I bother Heavenly Father with something so temporal and petty? Shame on me. Up to this point the story in my head was that the shed had not been unlocked since I locked it. I said my prayer and thought popped into my head.

Literally the second I finished my prayer.

I thought, "maybe Ray HAS mowed the lawn since I locked the shed and the key is sitting in one of his pockets". That is exactly where the key was. After this experience a few things occurred to me.

All we have to do is ask, He is anxiously waiting to hear from us.

Heavenly Father wants to help us.

There is no such thing as an insignificant problem in the eyes of our loving Heavenly Father.

God knows each of us so personally, he understand our needs, and he loves us more than we can understand.

Prayer is powerful

I have been taught my whole life, and I believe with all my heart, that each and every one of us can communicate directly with God through prayer. I can't even count the number of times my mom has told me to "pray about it". It is such a simple, basic precept that is available to anyone in the world who is willing to humble themselves and submit to God. I don't know why, at times, it takes me so long to get to that place of humble submission. We can be guided and directed by the hand of God, all we have to do is ask. I know that sometimes answer to prayer is not so obvious, especially when the issue at hand has more gravity. But our prayers will be answered. This I know.

Just Say NO

I smelled cigarette smoke when I was on the elliptical machine this morning.  The smell of someone who has smoked their whole life...their skin is saturated with the smell.  Out of the corner of my eye I checked out the person who had just gotten on the machine beside me.  It was a man, probably in his 60's.  I suddenly felt so much compassion for him.  Here was someone who was probably suffering more than me at the gym.  I thought about how hard it must be for him to catch the breath he needed to exercise.  But here he was at the gym at 5:30 am.  That takes commitment!  If only he could find that same commitment to kick the habit.  I have heard that nicotine is as addictive as heroin, poor guy...