Today

I'm titling this post "Today" because it is in celebration of the fact that I'm actually posting on the day that these pictures where actually taken! Small miracles, right?

I think the flu bug likes this family, because they decided it was Jared's turn for a dose on Wednesday. He came down with it midafternoon and spent most of last night awake and in misery. Poor guy.

Despite the sickness, we tried to finish up some yard work today in preparation for our trip this weekend to Idaho. We managed to finish the planting beds this afternoon before he headed back to work. Here's the improved view. We're excited about how it's turned out so far.

The Gift of Life

A few years ago, when we tried IVF for the second time and things didn't work as we had wanted them to, Becky did something for me that I'll never forget. Upon hearing news of our loss, she sent us a giant bouquet of beautiful flowers. We enjoyed them, and thought of her love and prayers each time we looked at them. It happened to be right around Memorial Day and the thought crossed my mind that there may be a greater purpose in those flowers than just to be enjoyed by us. We didn't make the trip to Idaho to decorate our own family members' graves, so I decided to see who needed us here, in Huntington.

I remember driving through the cemetery here, all prepared for the special day, and noticed that the northeast corner of the cemetery was void of color.

With Kimball and Koria in the back and the flowers in the front, I drove over to find a hundred or more small burial sites, simple and unnoticed. I felt impressed to get out and lay a flower from the arrangement that Becky had given us on each stone, a reminder to those who have gone before that they were loved and remembered.

Even though I knew nothing about those people, as I stopped to read the small markers, I realized that many, if not all, were infants who had passed away within days of birth, or close thereafter. I thought of their lives, so short, barely a breath.

I thought of their parents, who I am sure felt a pain and grief that couldn't be soothed by words or others. I felt a kinship to them, a kinship born of understanding, but I also knew that their lives were far different, and probably far more difficult, than anything I would ever pass through.

With each flower I laid on a gravestone, I felt my own burden lifted, my own feelings justified. I said a silent prayer and let tears fall that came from gratitude and compassion. I learned a powerful lesson that day, one that I find myself learning often in life: We are all children of God, all loved equally regardless of standing or situation, or even personal choices.

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God."

A couple of weeks ago, a sister from our ward called me up and asked me to help her teach the relief society lesson which was on missionary work as I am one of two sisters in our ward to have served. As a thank you, she sent me a bouquet of flowers, and as I was out running errands yesterday, the thought hit me, "Why don't I take the kids and the flowers over to the cemetery and we do the same thing again?"

It was special. I had Kimball and Koria lay the flowers on as many of the graves as we could while Luke and Layne looked on from their seats in the car. There weren't enough flowers to cover them all, but it was enough to remind me of how special that previous occasion was. As the kids asked questions, I found myself explaining the plan of salvation, of the love our Father has for us, of how much I love our family, of the purpose and importance of the temple and the work that we do there. Tears came to me again. Just as before, I came home feeling pretty selfish for having been blessed so much by the service of others. A new family tradition has been born, one I hope to continue throughout my life as a reminder of lessons learned.

I hope that any and all reading this know how much I love you, of your importance to me, of God's love for you. He lives, and loves us. His Son has made this life, and the next possible because of great sacrifice. May we make each day of that life that He's given for us worth it, regardless of our personal situation. It's a gift after all.

Tuesday, May 24

Tuesday. Hmm. Where do we start and where do we stop?

Well, let me just say I don't recommend the stomach flu unless you are into bizarre forms of self-torture and quick weight-loss.

I managed to keep everything down, and Jared managed to make it to the U2 concert that was postponed from a year ago. Is two years worth the wait, travel and exhaustion? He thought so. I was very excited for him to get to go ... just very bothered by the fact that the flu had to hit me the day before, preventing my going with him.

It's all good I guess. I mostly stayed home because I wanted to take care of the sick young ones myself, and for that I am glad. Jared didn't make it back home until 3 a.m.

Kimball and Koria also had their first t-ball game (they're the Pirates) and went with our neighbor who's son is also on the team. Jared's their coach this year, so he asked our neighbor to fill in for him too. The kids said that things went great. Koria took her time deciding that she wanted to play, so we signed her up late and she doesn't have her shirt yet, so I pulled out her one and only yellow shirt and did my best to make a replica of Kimballs with a permanent marker. She didn't seem to mind.

I also forgot to mention that Jared and I moved our swing set to a new location on Saturday. It's not in the midst of weeds (for now). Here's our backyard view. We'll be working on the new island throughout the summer. I think that it would be fun to put in a raised fire pit to roast hotdogs and marshmallows on in during the summer.

This is just a random picture of some cucumber (the tall plants) and walla walla onion starts that we have going in the house right now. I started them last week and we hope to transfer them to the garden after our trip to Idaho for Memorial Day and Jared's birthday.

Although this series of shots is not in order and they are not from Sunday, these are what will have to count as the day's entries for May 22, 2011.

The first one, taken within the first 2 months after Koria and Kimball were born, shows how exhausted I was at that point in my life. No need to elaborate.

The one following shows me with some of the nieces sometime around last Memorial Day (I think) getting more of my energy back, as does the one from our cruise to Alaska about a year ago.

Sunday? Well, it was not a pretty sight, kind of like that last picture of me just minutes following the birth of Koria and Kimball. We didn't take any pictures Sunday or Monday due to the fact that half of the household was otherwise occupied in the bathroom. I came down with the stomach flu that the kids have been passing around in the middle of the night on Sunday and have not been up to much since. Trust me, you don't want to see a picture of me today either. It's for everyone's best good.

4 More Grad Pics

Stone Cold Black, getting her diploma ...

Due to the chaotic nature of our lives and Saturday in particular, Luke had a good time with his chocolate pudding while we were otherwise occupied on Saturday night during dinner. Had to take a picture.

I made the graduates stand outside in some of our newly covered planting beds for a picture before they headed off for the big night. Hot, hot, hot!!!

Koria and Kimball loved their preschool teacher this year, CarolAnn Stream, who really has a special ability with teaching and leading children. They love to see her at church or anywhere else in town.

Preschool Graduation

Saturday night, Jared took Koria and Kimball to their preschool graduation while I stayed home with Luke and Layne. From Jared's report, they both did great. They, of course, explained that they got to sit on the very back row, on "the big seats" due to their stature. We explained that this would probably be the theme for the rest of their lives and that height is a very good thing. Both had memories their parts well, Kimball's about body juice sucking spiders that "paralyze or kill their victims when they inject venom using their fangs," and Koria's about the cycle of change that a caterpillar undergoes to become a butterfly after "it's new skins splits open" and it comes out of it's "chrysalis." Big words for five-year-olds. They did great.

Jared said that after the program was done, all of the children had a chance to march down the middle isle to receive their diplomas (by the teacher's husband). All of the kids where instructed to walk slowly down the isle while their teacher read some information about each one. Jared said that Kimball, in typical Kimball fashion, ran/skipped the whole way, to great laughter from the crowd. We found out that his favorite foods are apples, bananas, and various other fruits, that he wants to become three things professionally: an airplane pilot, a chef, and a firefighter, and that his favorite person is MOM (had to capitalize it-- that gives him huge points in this house), and his favorite place to be in camping with Dad.

Koria tends to shy up a bit in the public spotlight, and did well, but kept her pace to the norm. Her favorite person (at least on the day of the interview) was a friend in the ward that she'd been playing with named Libby, her favorite foods are chicken noodle soup and quesadillas, she wants to be a teacher when she grows up (she would be a great one), and her favorite place to be is Disneyland.

They were all smiles when they returned home and had to tell me all about it. They learned a lot this year, including how to read and count past 100, increased their abilities in cutting and coloring, as well as writing, and further developed their memorization skills and made lasting friendships.

Their teacher spoke with Jared after the program about how "brilliant they are." No need to expound -- if you know them, you'll agree. They amaze me with all they learn and how fast they catch on to concepts. I hope that they always have such a love of learning. Education is powerful.

Baby Swing

Tuesday night, the first night that Layne held anything solid down for about a week, Kimball came running into the hallway only to lose all of his dinner. He'd done the same thing in his bedroom. Out came the carpet cleaner. I spent a good portion of Wednesday and Tuesday nights cleaning carpets in all of the kids' rooms. I didn't take pics. Sorry.

Wednedsday, Layne decided to lose all of her solids again ... in her crib. That was a fun cleanup. Poor kid. Poor crib. Poor carpet .... again, no pics.

Thursday, I did a LOT of laundry. No pics.

Friday? I more of the same. K&K had an early school day to practice for their preschool graduation the next day (more to come on that). More rain, all three days. No yardwork. And yes, no pics.

These, however, where taken on Saturday morning, a bright and sunny morning. Jared was at meetings for work all day on Tuesday in Heber City on Tuesday, so he picked up a new baby swing to add to our swingset.

Luke is a huge fan, and Layne's warming up to it. We let them enjoy it for a while on Saturday morning as well as the trampoline. All four loved it. The trampoline enclosure is like a gigantic crib. Layne was laughing at the netting. Luke loved the balls. Koria and Kimball liked having two more kids to bounce and push around. What could be better?

After Luke and Layne started their naps, we hit the yard like a bunch of mad men and women and managed to get a lot done: most of the rocks put onto the planting beds, and a functioning drip system for the garden.

We were exhausted by the end of it all, but still had four baths, dinner, and a preschool graduation to get to... and one talk for church plus a gospel doctrine lesson to prepare.

Due to all that, we're tired. I'll get around to the preschool graduation tomorrow...

Snow ... in May ... In Eastern Utah

This just doesn't happen here ... not even in February. We've had a lot of rain the last two weeks, but snow? Yep. Tuesday morning. Just in time to ruin any hopes that I had of completing our flower bed project. It didn't last long, and we actually enjoyed it, but the rain/snow did keep us indoors for a majority of the week. Here's a few pics, and a look at our progress as of Tuesday morning.

Just Dance Kids, Revenge of the Layne, and More...

For our FHE activity this past week, Jared played Just Dance Kids with all that would join in. I sat out as I was feeling whatever Layne had been suffering from for the past four days.

Needless to say, Jared provided comic relief for my weary brain and body. Here's just a little glimpse at his moves ... he's gonna kill me ...

Luke even joined for a while. We normally do have him fully clothed. I just really just reaching an all-time level of "I don't care what you look like tonight" on Monday, so he was going to town in his shirt and diaper.

And this? Well .... this is just a taste of what we all endured this past week. Layne minus food and drink are not a happy mix. She was not about to be happy. Can't say I blame her though. Not much is worse than the stomach flu.

The other three made up for it though. Aren't they handsome?

Field Trip to Little Bear Camp Ground

This past Monday, Kor and Kimb had their last field trip of the school year. This time, it was help up in the mountains just a few minutes to the west of Huntington. They had a chance to bring and eat a sack lunch (always a thrill), spill most of their soda pop that we packed for them to drink (I didn't care -- it was outside), slide down the side of a dusty hill, run some races, and hunt for bugs to put in their bug catchers.

They had a great time, and the races where each run three different times for both boys and girls. Kimball took 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place in his rounds, while Kor came in 2nd, tripped near the end of the second run, and just had fun running in the last (after much convincing on my part).

I convinced the two of them that we needed to let the bugs go or that they would miss their home right before we took off. All that I need is extra buggage around here.

Meanwhile at home, Jared took an extended lunch to be with Luke and Layne. Layne was still hurling all over the place. She's picky with her beverages (like me a guess) and refuses to drink anything but water or milk, and since milk was not an option, she spent a good portion of the last week on water and whatever else she managed to hold down. She turned cranky on us as a result. She wouldn't even crack a smile for the camera ... pics to follow on the next post.

Yard work never ends, does it?

You don't have to answer the question posed in the title. It's redundant. Here's another look at our progress in the planting beds and the island that we are making in the back yard. Never enough time to get it all done, is there?

There's also a picture of some of the seelings that are beginning to sprout in our cups. I put them in the back window seal for extra light and to be out of the way. We hope they continue to progress.

Those are hollyhocks from the seeds that you gave us a couple years ago, Mom! I am hoping that they will flower this year. The irises are also doing well, one peony plant, and all of the lilac and choke cherry starts are too. Adds a little green to the scene! Thanks for sharing with us!