Let it Snow?

No, my camera lens is not dirty. For a few minutes today, it snowed! When I looked out the window, my first reaction was, "Oh my prettiness!" I know I should be looking forward to warmer spring days, but I love the unexpected too. Not to worry though, it has stopped and I'm confident there won't be another snow day.

In other news; Cameron and Tom went to Moscow, Idaho today for Vandal Friday at the University of Idaho. Cam likes the school and they have done a good job of recruiting him. He feels like they really want him. I don't have the heart to tell him, "That's what they say to all the seniors."

Easter Weekend

What a busy, busy Easter weekend! A taste of what went on in our household. Courtney was babysitting and Cameron was at a Priest/Laurel conference, so that left the two youngest and Mom to color eggs. Lucky for Mom, after she rushed to meet hubby at the temple, she noticed some of her fingers were a lovely shade of green. It didn't go to well with the all white color scheme. Oh, well.
For several years, we have had a tradition of doing Easter Story cookies. We love the message it teaches, and the kids look forward to helping. Cameron and his friends showed up at the end, just in time to put their piece of tape on the oven.

They turned out great, and with teenagers, they are already gone!
I don't like the Easter Bunny. He takes away from what I think the holiday is about. It's a good thing my kids have their Dad. He was a good sport and after a long and exhausting day at church, he still made the two little ones Easter fun by hiding Easter eggs around the house. The weather was a bit iffy, so they decided to stay inside.
We had a yummy dinner with ham, funeral potatoes, jello salad, green salad and candy for dessert. Most importantly was being reminded of what today is about. The incomprehensible sacrifice of my Older Brother. I hope one day I can better understand His love for me.

Holey Moley!

We have a section in our backyard that we never finished. It was designated as a potential spot for a future shed. I don't know what it is about this time of year, but every year about this time my kids start digging. The shovels come out and before long we have a very large hole in our back-yard. Since it has been going on for so long, our kids friends sense the need to help. At one time last year, I had a platoon of kids digging trenches in my back yard. (In all that digging, we haven't unearthed the bones or three kong dog toys we know are buried somewhere).

Yesterday, Maddy and a friend started digging. Since we are trying to get our house ready for sale, I put a stop to it before the hole was too big. I had a strange thought as I was watching these girls shovel dirt. In China, when kids are digging up their yards, do their parents ask "Are you trying to dig to America?"

An Award!

Thanks for playing my little game. I loved your responses.

The truth is--



My sweet hubby is "vertically" challenged. On Sunday as he was walking up to the stand, his suit coat caught on something that grabbed his coat just right and tore it. Sooo..... yesterday, he went out and picked out a new suit! He has been needing one for awhile. He wears it so much, it was looking pretty tired. This just forced him to get another one. I am a bit frugal, and may try to mend this one for a back-up.

For all those that played my little game I have an award, a major award for you!

What's your guess?

I want to play a little game. Tell me what you think this is and what happened. I'm sure your imaginations are better than reality. I'll share the true story tomorrow.

His REAL birthday to me!

I posted briefly on Cameron's birthday a little about his dramatic entry into the world. Shortly after he was born, he was trying really hard to breathe, he was working too hard. The doctors put him on oxygen and told us it was most likely immature lungs. He didn't improve at all and after doing all they could in the Logan hospital, they said his best chance would be to be life lighted to another hospital. As soon as the life flight nurse took one look at his chest x-ray, she knew it was a heart problem because it was enlarged. We were terrified. We went back to my room and cried as we heard the helicopter take-off. The cardiologist called us and informed us that he had a coarctation of the aorta. As the aorta leaves the heart, a part of it is pinched, not allowing enough blood to the lower half of the body.

Many months after he was born we were looking at pictures and noticed in this one, taken minutes after his birth, his legs and feet were blue! We now know it was because his heart wasn't working right.
We weren't able to hold him because he was on a ventilator and had tubes everywhere. They let us hold him briefly before his surgery at four days old. They go in through the side and find the narrowing of the aorta. They cut it out and sew the two big pieces together.

The above picture was taken the day after his surgery. The nurses were great and had a fun sense of humor. This was on St. Patricks day, no pinching here.
Every day he got better. I HATED the I.V. in the head, but they ran out of places to put it. Eventually he was freed from all the wires and tubes and after only ten days, was able to come home. I am so thankful for modern technology. The outcome would not be nearly so great if he had been born a few years earlier.

I know I have posted a lot about this boy over the last few entries, but I think of this blog as a place for me. I'm not good at keeping a journal, this little place works for me.

Eighteen candles

::::Dinner- Broccoli Cheese soup
::::Presents- pants, books and another guitar hero controller; so he can make us feel really bad about our guitar playing skills.
::::Cake-Red Velvet, with cream cheese frosting! Yum!
::::Surprise! Thanks to the girl that is a friend. She and her friend "decorated" his car while he was at mutual.
::::clean-up-Tom had payed attention to the upcoming weather; so, Cam and Dad cleaned the car before the rain made a bigger mess. Under the toilet paper---saran wrap!

How did I allow this to happen?!!

I don't know how this happened, but somehow my only baby boy turns eighteen today! He was born a day before his due date, after a long and nauseous pregnancy. We were and are so excited to have him start our family.

He weighed in at eight pounds even. Shortly after birth, he had a hard time breathing and was put on oxygen. Unfortunately, he had to be life flighted to Primary Children's because he wasn't improving. More to come on that topic in a future post!I entered this picture in a cutest baby photo contest. It won second place! I, of course, thought the judges were wrong, it should have been first. The picture that won was of a girl, of course.
When he was little, I would squish him and say, "I'm going to miss you!" I knew he wouldn't stay little for long. I do miss him, but what a special young man he has become!
Eighteen Facts about Cameron

1. He has a GREAT sense of humor! He keeps us laughing. At Costco the other day, I was buying swimsuits for the little girls when the cashier asked Cam, "Are these for you?"
He grinned, "yea, I lost a bet." Everyone around the checkout that heard the exchange started laughing.

2. He LOVES his family. When he was a baby, I thought Heavenly Father made a mistake in sending him first; he loved kids and would want to be around other kids. I realized I was wrong when Courtney came along. Those two have always been buds. He loves his little sisters and does the appropriate amount of big brother teasing.

3. He is a geek and proud of it. He is comfortable in his own skin. He has a confidence I wish I had, especially at his young age.

4. He plays the French Horn, trumpet, mellophone, and valve trombone.

5. He was in Tae kwon do for years and was a belt away from black when he BEGGED us to let him quit. He couldn't stand hitting other kids.

6. He has a very bushy uni brow.

7. He has a strong testimony of the gospel. He just seems to get it.

8. He is not athletic. We put him in T ball, coach pitch, basketball, gymnastics, soccer and tennis. Sports are not his thing.

9. He loves broccoli cheese soup.

10. He likes a girl and momma don't like it!

11. He doesn't like eggs.

12. He works at a movie theatre. Now when I go to the movie, I try not to spill to much popcorn.

13. He can't seem to keep his room clean.

14. He is not embarrassed to give mom or dad hugs anytime or anyplace.

15. He can play a mean guitar hero.

16. He is preparing to serve a mission by saving over half his paycheck.

17. He loves seminary.

18. He has spoiled me as a mom. These teenage years have been a piece of cake. He is easy going and fun.

Happy Birthday Cameron!! You are my favorite son!

Missing that hour!

I am not the only one having a hard time adjusting to the time change!

I have a plan!

Tom is crossing his fingers that this is it for me. I went looking back at all the plans that I had saved and then rejected for various reasons. When I came across this one again, I couldn't remember why I had cast it out! I need to tweak a few things, but overall it is the closest to what I want. I'm starting to get a little excited!

Now, I just need to get this house ready to put on the market. I have a few closets left to dejunk and two rooms to paint. I'm amazed at how many bags of stuff I've already taken to goodwill. When we first moved here we thought this house was huge and we would never fill it up. That didn't last long. It's a good thing to purge every so often. I'm loving it when I open my linen closet and everything is labeled and neat and tidy. We need to hurry and sell it before we mess it up again.

Why does he love me? Let me count the ways.

I absolutely adore my husband. He is giving, kind and he makes me laugh. I know he is right for me, but their are times when I can't figure out what's in it for him. This thought has been going around my brain since last Sunday and I've decided to pay attention to what I do for him. These experiences make me wonder-- why?

1. I have always been a bit challenged in the getting things in my mouth department. Obviously, I manage to do quite well with most of what I put near it, but some always manages to get away. In junior high, the running question of the day would be, "Where on Terri's body is the toothpaste today?" Anyway, back to last Sunday. With my family, I like to sit near the front of the chapel to be close enough to Tom to give kids dirty looks when they have giggle fits over replacing "hell" with "heck" in the Sacrament hymn. I needed to sit on the end because of a choir number in the program that day. As the deacon handed me the tray with water, I had moment of panic. Do I take the tray from the deacon before I take the cup? Do I take the cup then the tray? "(I think we need to have a class in enrichment meeting on proper Sacrament etiquette.)
In my haste to grab the cup and the tray from the poor deacon, I missed my mouth with most of the water, but managed to make a perfect two point shot down my cleavage. As I was frantically patting my chest, wishing my hand was more absorbent, I felt HIS eyes. I looked up to see him giving me that look I am all to familiar with. He did the eye rolly thing.

2. I love to sing. I'm not saying I'm particularly good. I think I am and think everyone else should think I am too. He walked in on one of my particularly loud and beautiful arias, and guess what he did. He did the eye rolly thing.

3. He took me to lunch this week after we signed papers for our lot. I really tried to get everything in my mouth, I guess I shouldn't have suggested Mexican. He did the eye rolly thing.

There is more, so much more, but I think I've done enough damage for one post.I think I know why he stays with me. He is training to become the Mr. Universe of the eye muscle world. His eyes have been well trained.