Happy Birthday Heber!

Its hard to believe that twelve years have gone by so rapidly; my baby is about to receive the Priesthood. Today Heber and I spent the day together--we went 'window shopping' (he asked me if I knew what that meant!), got a smoothie, had his picture taken and found a great deal on some heeleys that he just had to have. I suppose this might be the last birthday that he wants to hang out with Mom at the mall....

What a blessing Hebs had been in our lives. He is a miracle who joined our family at a very difficult time. He provided a wonderful diversion and kept us all busy with something other than the norm. How grateful we will always be for him and the miracle of his arrival.

Heber you are brighter than all of us put together; you have an amazing sense of humor, a love of creating things, you are sensitive and loving. You are a friend to everyone. You have made some of the most incredible lego things imaginable. You are a great addition to your soccer team and a phenominal uncle. We are blessed to have you as an integral part of our family. Happy Birthday Heber--Mommie wuves her witto baby.

Happy Birthday Josh!!

Happy Birthday to my firstborn son....Though you never look at blogs; this is for you anyway. You came into this world after three sisters. They dressed you, corrected you, mothered you and taught you by experience about the female gender. At some point in your life I am sure you will be grateful.

I learned about mothering boys on you. Let me just say, "I'm so sorry." I didn't know that it was normal for boys to dump out lotions, powders, perfumes, etc. I didn't know it was normal for boys to sit down with a dozen eggs and break them to see exactly how much force it took. I didn't know it was normal for boys to smash electronics to see what made them work inside. And finally, I didn't know that nine or ten year old boys are allergic to bathwater, clean clothes and shoes. Thank you for teaching me though I apologize for my strong resistance in many cases.

I love your balance between individuality and the need for family. I love your testimony and love for the Savior. I love to watch you with your neices and nephews. I love to hear you ask your brother to attend a BYU game with you and know you mean it. I love that your littlest brother wants to be just like you right down to the AE polos with the popped collar. I love to watch you seek out friends who need someone to care about them. I love to listen to you argue points that you know are absolutely a farse but you love the sparing. I love to watch you study.

Most of all--I love to watch you become just like your Dad; to stand like him, to sit like him to speak like him to pray like him. I love to watch you, because I know the world will always be a better place because of you. I love you son; I will always love you--Happy Birthday and once again, thanks for letting me learn on you. You have taught me over and over again.

Just Go With The Current

This morning I went a different route on my walk. I went off the main roads and walked the Parkway. I need the music of my ipod to keep my walking. Ususally I listen to the tune and I speed up or slow down depending on what the beat of the particular song is. Today, I listened to the words and there were some messages that I needed to hear. (Thanks Kara--my personal electronic consultant)

I always enjoy the sunshine, the fresh air and the massive mountains as I am walking, but today I was impressed to stop on the bridge over the river. I stood and watched the water flow past--around the rocks and deadwood in the river's path. Then I turned and looked the other direction. Floating in the river were a pair of ducks. I first, of course, noticed the beautiful color of the male mallard as he swam gracefully, in one direction, downstream by the edge of the river. Then I noticed the female. She was a rather blah color of brown but she definitely had her own beauty. In contrast to the male, she was right in the middle of the river where the current was the fastest and the roughest. As I watched I thought, "there is something wrong with that duck." She was bobbing up and down with the deep ripples of the river and she was doing 360's in the water! But the longer I watched I saw her spinning and moving with the water. It was quite a ride she was having. Both she and the male reached the bend in the river and disappeared around the wide curve as I stood and watched.

It was then that it hit me. She wasn't fighting against the bumps and dips in the water and she didn't go headfirst to the bend. For onlookers it might have even appeared that she had no direction--at first I even thought there was something wrong with her. She let the flow of the river carry her along.

Then as I walked up the steep hill, I stopped again (not something I hardly ever do when I walk) and I looked out over the valley. The beautiful changing leaves were really breathtaking. There were all colors ranging from vibrant green to deep red. As I looked more closely I notice that none of the trees were changing colors at the same time. There were identical trees standing right next to each other but their leaves were different colors. They shared the same soil, the same sunshine, the same mountain air, but their timing for changing was different.

Eventually, most will lose their leaves as the wind becomes colder and the snow begins to fall. Some will even hang on to their lifeless leaves throughout the winter and they will drop in the spring, but one thing is for sure. Every single tree will sprout fresh leaf buds in the spring regarless of when they lost their leaves and the process will begin again with each individual tree, standing next to the others, blooming, thriving and changing at their own pace.

Oh the beautiful lessons in nature. I have been so frustrated for the past couple of weeks because it seems that my "leaves are not changing fast enough" and because I have felt that "I am caught in the deep dips of a current that I just can't seem to get out of. I have been impatient with my body and have continued to seek comparisons to figure out when I would get better. Today I realized that I need to just go with the current, 360's and all and enjoy this and every season of my life. The leaves will change and spring will inevitably come again. Its my blessing to chose joy in the journey.

Usless Answers X Three!

3 Favorite Last Purchases
Pink purse-- Jeans-- New perfume

3 Favorite Movies
Somewhere in Time-- The Christmas Story-- Anything with Richard Gere!

3 Things I haven't done yet
Died (thank goodness)-- Gone on a cruise-- Prepared for a trip without being a grouch or throwing at least one fit

3 Things I cannot live without
Showers-- Toilet Paper-- Family-- Scriptures (yes, I can count, I just need all these)

3 Favorite Foods
Chicken Picatta-- Olive Garden Salad-- Chocolate Opitfast (yup, I really do love it)

3 Favorite Television Shows
Ace of Cakes-- Oprah-- House

3 Last Places I've Traveled
California-- The Mountains --Heaven; when I'm in Jim's arms

3 Favorite Desserts
Anything Chocolate-- Anything Chocolate-- Anything Chocolate

3 Things I would buy if money weren't an issue
Cancer treatment for the uninsured and poor-- A slurpee machine for the 3rd floor at PCMC-- A Jag

3 People I tag
Kris-- Carol-- Shalene

Happy Birthday Alaina!

Goodness, wasn't it just last week that we brought you home from the hospital with all your black hair and red Indian-like skin? Didn't I just cut your curls for the first time and walk you around the corner to preschool yesterday? Wasn't last night your first dance recital with you adorably dressed in a traslucent white skirt and shiny black tap shoes? Didn't we just put you on a plane to visit Oma and Opa? Wasn't it yesterday when we sat in the sand and built sandcastles in Mexico and just yesterday that you sat next to me in a PCMC waiting room as the moments ticked on endlessly like a timebomb? Wasn't it just a minute ago that you drove off in a little white car with your sister to start High School and a minute later that we found the perfect wedding dress and ordered the Root Beer bubbles for your wedding cake? Wasn't it a second ago that you became a wife and a mother and an eternal family?

Time. Where does it go to? It flows out of the baby pictures and the school pictures and drifts up when you open the dance recital programs and the wedding announcements and the grandbabies pictures. Time is encapsulated in the feelings of the heart and the memories of the mind. Where did yesterday go? Its in my heart where you will always be. Happy Birthday Alaina--you are a wonderful woman, eternal companion, mother, sister, daughter and friend. I love you forever and always.

Newspapers..what a way to start the day!

This morning I thought I would pick up the newspaper and take a look at what was going on the world; or should I say what the reporters say is going on the world. I don't watch the news on TV much as I am convinced the news, both local and national are the most violent programs available on TV. So, I picked up the newspaper. Here are a few of the headlines:

• Dog owner is arrested after scuffle over doo


• Trial date set in 2005 bank-fraud case


• Man finally charged in May shooting at home


• Teen slices his hand during attack on man


• Man jailed in stabbing of relative with pen


• Hotel staffers, maid with mop tackle man


• New details emerge of deadly traffic stop


• Man's kin sue hit-run driver who killed him


• Engine failure blamed in jet crash


• Both parties try to woo women voters


• Motorist on sidewalk kills 1 man injures 2

Iwas just about to sink into the depths of depression when I saw it--it was in an inconspicuous bottom corner on the last page of the sections I was reading. You may laugh at me but I think this is great. Why don't they put more good in with the bad? Have the editors found that we don't read or watch the news if it isn't degrading, violent, morbid or sensational? I like to know what is going on in the world, but I don't believe for a second that it is all bad. I know there are terrible things that go on but I also know that there are good people with good motives that do good things. I see it everyday around me; why don't those stories get reported? Would the world read and watch; I know I would.

Me and my girls!