Hearts and Hands

On Saturday, Chelsea and I participated in a wonderful humanitarian service day. It was a stake YW mother/daughter activity called Hearts and Hands. Before we started, the chapel was completely full, so I know there was a great turn-out. Chelsea served on the planning committee. She showed good leadership skills over the past couple of months. I'm proud of her.


Many quilts were sewn and tied. Felt puppets were put together. Receiving blankets for still-born babies were lovingly made. Soft little hearts were stitched together for children to hold while going into surgery. Flannel blankets were made for kids in the local refugee program.


I'm happy that many of my young women and their moms were able to come and spend time together in service. It is a beautiful thing to be the Savior's heart and hands. He trusts us to do His work.

Searching High and Low

Don't you hate it when you go shopping looking for something specific and you can't find it? I need (okay, want) a new dress and I can't find one. I'm so frustrated. I've seen so many super cute dresses that I can't wear. Some are sleeveless and some are capped sleeve with not enough fabric under the armpits. Or some have a low neck line and a cami won't look good under it. I have found a few that would actually work, but they turned out to be a couple inches too short when I gave them the "sit down" test. What is a Mormon lady to do?

Today, I was at Macy's. They had a lot of dresses on sale. I tried on about five that I thought were contenders. I walked away with nothing. I did find a black one that I could wear, but it is exactly like the red one I bought at JC Penney's last winter. It is a sweater type dress with a cowl neck and 3/4 length sleeve. I like it, but I can't have two dresses that are virtually the same. Especially since the red one is my only winter dress. Everything else I have for winter are separates. A few skirts and some sweaters.

I also stopped in at Target for non-clothing items. I walked by the women's clothing department and was surprised to find two dresses that I thought would work. Tried them on. Too short. So frustrating.

I have had my eyes peeled for a couple weeks now for modest and stylish dresses. Why am I not finding one? Am I looking in the wrong places? Where is Stacey London when I need her?

WHAAAAT?

Are you kidding me? Last night was the start of the new season of The Amazing Race and I missed it! Why did I not know that it was starting? I didn't have my dvr set to record it. I'm gonna stay up tonight and watch it online. It better be available to view. I'm so excited to watch. Off I go.

Car-less

Today I am home by myself....on a Saturday afternoon! When was the last time that ever happened? Matt, Josh, and Emma went to Bogus Basin to ski/snowboard. They took the Suburban. Chelsea is on a group afternoon date (pre-Sweetheart dance date) with Rockwell. She took the Honda. I'm stuck at home. No car. My little girl can drive her. It's crazy! How did I get to this point in my life so quickly?

And, to top it off, if I was a nice mom, which I'm not, then Josh could be getting his driving permit this month! That might be allowed by the state of Idaho, but in our house, the permit doesn't happen until our kids are 15, a sophomore, and taking drivers ed. So Josh will just have to wait until the end of August to even think about driving. Actually, he is already thinking about it. He begs us every now and then to let him drive down the street. Nope. We ain't those kind of parents:)

So, here I sit. I'm enjoying the quiet, grey Saturday afternoon all by myself...car-less. I think I will go read my book.


Picture of Josh and Chelsea on the first day of freshman/junior year of high school

Some Must Push and Some Must Pull

Look how beautiful this painting is. I've had my eye on it since I first saw it months ago. I finally decided this is what I wanted to put in our present dining room/future sitting room. The walls in that room have been bare since we moved in almost 6 years ago. I haven't been able to pull the trigger and make a hole in the 7 ft. wainscoting until now. I can't wait to hang it.



Sorry it's so small. This is the only way I could download it. Once I hang it up, I'll take a picture of it and post it so you can see the beautiful detail.

The young men and young women of our ward are doing our first ever Pioneer Trek this June. Matt and I get to go along with Chelsea and Josh. Matt will be the trek photographer and I will get to be... well, I'm not sure yet what my job will be once we are there. But I have lots of preparation work to do as the YW president and trek committee member. Right now, I'm responsible for publicity and helping the girls make their bonnets and aprons.

What a wonderful, courageous heritage our church has. And I, personally, have such an heritage. I have pioneer ancestors that I'm looking forward to learning more about, and I will be taking them along with me as I go on this handcart trek. I know I will appreciate and love them even more. I honestly am excited about this opportunity. And looking at this beautiful painting will remind me of that.

Going Where I Never Wanted To Go

There were no posts last week. I got sidetracked with an unexpected detour.

On Monday, I had a big reminder that my "race" will be challenging, sometimes disappointing, and sometimes will take me to places that I don't want to go. Sundance, our six year old poodle, had two seizures about 8 hours apart. It is always so upsetting to watch him go through that. The seizures are horrible to witness, but so is the way he comes out of them and the few minutes that follow.

It had been six months since he had one. As far as I know. But I'm pretty sure cause I'm with him so much. I've been giving him phenobarbitol twice a day since the last part of July. The meds had controlled the seizures, but the side effects weren't good either. The meds made him feel hungry all of the time which was not helpful to his obesity. Sometimes he would lay by his food bowl and just cry. We were constantly over-feeding him about 1/4 cup a day. He still wanted more.

The second seizure on Monday was during family home evening. The whole family was sitting at the kitchen table playing a game. Sundance was under the table. The kids saw it happen. Even though he had had many seizures since last spring, this was Josh's first time actually seeing it occur. I think it was a blessing in disguise for this to happen in front of the kids while we were all together. It reminded them that Sundance was a sick dog. Matt and I knew it was time to put this to an end for him and for all of us.

After Sundance was back to normal, we sat down again at the table and talked to the kids about taking him to the vet and putting him to sleep. What a hard thing to discuss with our kids.

We all had a few more days with him. Friday at 4:00 finally came. I thought it was best to wait until the weekend so that we could have a couple of days of grieving together before heading back to school and work.

I don't want to discuss it any further today. All I will say is that it was the hardest thing I have ever done or witnessed. I'm glad Matt was with me. I loved that dog. I took care of him to the very end. I took him to his groomer, Judy, on Thursday for a bath. He smelled so good and was so soft. I even gave him his morning dose of medicine on Friday even though it wasn't really needed.

We all miss him. It is much quieter in the house. No night time snoring, no sounds of licking, no paws clicking on the wood floor, no intense barking when the doorbell rings. It is hard. But I know we'll get used to it. My kitchen floor has food crumbs on it for the first time in 5 1/2 years. I guess the broom will come out more frequently now.

All three of my kids have been in school full time now for four years. I thought I've been home alone during the day that whole time. But I really wasn't. I am today. I miss having him follow me around the house or keeping track of where he is sleeping. I don't have anybody to talk to anymore. I'm sad.

I know God loves us. I know there is a heaven for us. And because I know that, I know he loves all of his creations. He loves his animals, and therefore, I believe there is a place reserved for them when they die, too. It's gotta be that way. Sundance's dog spirit can't just disappear. It is somewhere.

Maybe he is with that other cute poodle I once loved, Barney. What a pair they would make. Black and red go together.

My Guy

Today is my guy's 42nd birthday. The day was started off by running five miles with him. It's good to be healthy at such an old age:) I hung our family's birthday banner for him


and made him a yummy oatmeal breakfast. Have you ever put flavored coffee creamer on your oatmeal? I'm so glad the lady at the ortho told me about that. We have hazelnut. Just a tablespoon is all you need. Then add just a little milk. Try it!

When he was in the shower, I snuck in and took a picture of him in his "birthday suit" just for fun. It got deleted pretty quick! But here is a picture of him that I love.


When he came home from work for lunch, I surprised him with some sushi made fresh at Fred Meyer by an oriental dude behind the counter. Matt loved it. I like making him happy.


When he is done doing his doctoring, I will be making him a mushroom swiss burger with caramelized onions. It will be his first hamburger (or any red meat for that matter) since mid-November. It is beef that one of his patients brought him the other day. Weird, huh? Sometimes people bring him gifts. In Guam, a couple of times, someone brought him huge fish that they had caught. Anyway, I hope it sits well with him. He is excited about eating it.

For dessert, I have made him these. Don't they look great?




Tonight we are going to see "True Grit" cause that's what he wants to see.

This is his birthday present. Now he can look super cool when he runs in the sunshine.



I love my guy. Happy birthday.

A Task I Don't Love

Yesterday, I experienced the joy of finally getting my son's hair cut. The joy came AFTER the trial... of getting him there.

Do I even need to say that Josh does NOT like to get his hair cut? He pretty much hates it.

I must tell you that I have always loved my boy's hair. Love the color. Love the thickness. I like it when he lets me run my fingers through it.

BUT... it had gotten out of control. Way too long! I don't mind letting him have slightly longer hair than most boys at church. It's just hair. There will come a day when he wants to cut it shorter like he used to wear it. For now, it's okay with me that it covers his ears and swooshes over his eyebrows a bit.

I don't fight him too much about it. But lately, it has become an issue. It was time.

Yesterday, I finally got Josh in the car and took him to Sports Clips. Quite a masculine place. It obviously caters to boys and men. I'm always the only female, except for the all-girl staff. I, personally, hate sitting in there. There aren't any girly magazines and ESPN is not entertaining for me.


Josh is a negotiator. He thought that because he was cutting his hair, I should get him a new video game. Ha Ha Ha. Are you kidding me!! NOT a good trade. But that is how he feels about losing his precious long hair. He tried hard before and after the cut. I said I'd stop and get him a candy bar, but that wasn't equal in his eyes. He'd rather have nothing, I guess, cause he didn't want me to stop. He just wanted to go straight home.

A couple of hours later he was fine and happy. It just took him a little while to get used to his new look. It's still on the longer side when it comes to a clean cut Mormon look. But it is okay with me. He's such a handsome boy.