Korean clothes

I have to post these pictures. My mother-in-law made this outfit for Aidan. That is right she actually knit these all by herself and without mistakes as far as I can tell. She gave them to us on Thanksgiving to keep Aidan warm. Now I was unaware exactly what this was. I ask if it was a snow suit. But apparently it is for wearing around the house. Just a regular outfit. Both Matt and Sarah had them when they were little.

I think Aidan looks adorable in it and it reminds me of outfits I used to see the kids where on MASH. (yes that is all the exposure I have had to the Korean culture) My mother-in-law wanted us to put him in it for church but we thought it a bit to casual. It is a little big on him but my mother-in-law made it so that the pants could easily be rolled up and the waist band is a elastic.

Okay it isn't exactly within my fashion realm (because I am such a fashionista, LOL) but I still think it is amazing that she made this awesome little outfit. If I could make a scarf it would be a great day.

So if any of you want one for your kids let me know. It is incredibly warm and great for hanging out in. She could sell these at craft fairs huh? Plus tell me Aidan is not adorable in it.

Christmas Tag

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate- Hot chocolate. Egg nog is just gross.

2. Do you wrap presents or bag them? I start with wrapping. Then when I figure my wrapping is too ugly to show my mom, I start to bag.

3.Colored lights or white? I like white on the tree because it makes my ornaments look best. I like colored on everything else.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No

5. When do you decorate? Ideally right after Thanksgiving although that can be postponed for any number of reasons. It used to be that after decorating a nursing home the last thing I wanted to do was come home and decorate.

6. Favorite holiday dish? This is a tough one. I do like the Christmas eve tacos. But more traditionally, I would say sweet potatoes. Oh or the punch my mom makes with ginger ale (not Vernors) and white grape juice.

7.When and how did you learn about Santa? I guess I was about 5. I was standing on a stool next to my grandma in her kitchen and she just said "you know Santa isn't real." And that was that.

8. How do you decorate your tree? With ornaments. It is eclectic. I have some from when I was a kid. I have some that have been given to me and I have a large collection of ones I have made myself. (if anyone wants some of those, please let me know. I realized I have a ton of left overs.)

9.Snow-love it or dread it? I love it. I didn't know how much until I got to Kansas and we are still snow free. I am not a big fan of shoveling it though.

10. Can you ice skate? yes, but I don't do it very often. I am also a much better skater in hockey skates than figure skates. If I wear figure skates I can figure I will be on my butt a lot.

11. Do you remember your favorite gift? Yes, I have received many fabulous gifts in my life, but oddly my favorite is one I did not ask for. It was a Tune -a-Fish. A shower radio. It looked like a fish. I had it for a couple of years, then one day it lost its suction and that was it, busted in the tub.

12. What is the most important part of the Holidays? Being with family and friends. Giving. Remembering my Savior.

13.Favorite Holiday dessert? My Grandma's hand dipped chocolates. She only made them a few times a year. Christmas was one of them. They were awesome. She would bring out these tins full of them. Each candy was nestled in a little paper cup. Then when she thought we had all had enough, the tins were returned to their hiding place somewhere in the house. Apparently she had to hide them from the others who lived in the house. (Kenneth and Christina, oh how naughty).

14. Favorite memory? Last year we got Aidan a tickle me Elmo for Christmas. We got it out of the box and he freaked out. He cried and screamed and buried his head in my chest. He wanted nothing to do with that thing. We still have it up in his closet. He knows where it is. When I ask if he would like to play with it he always says "NO". He is not a big fan of possessed toys.

15. Do you have a special ornament? Yes, I have a collection of ornaments that were on my tree as a kid. The are old and faded but I love them just the same.

16. What do you do on Christmas Eve? I go to my mom's house for a Mexican themed dinner. I don't know why it is Mexican themed, but it is. That's right, tacos mean Christmas to me. Oh and when I was young and Beth and I had separate bedrooms we would take turns sleeping in each other's rooms. I guess that was so that one of us didn't beat the other to presents in the morning.

17. If you could have anything for Christmas this year what would it be? A trip home and a job for Matt. If I could get a two for one deal on that I would take it.

18.What do you do for your neighbors and friends for Christmas? I make ornaments. I do something different with glass bulbs every year. So if you need some ideas, ranging from way easy to "why am I doing this", I am your women.

I tag Beth, Holly, Caity and Kate.

Happy Birthday

Congratulations to Jenny and Matthew on their new addition, Colten David.

Welcome to the family baby!

A soft answer turneth away wrath...

Last night I learned something that sent me into the stratosphere. I was very angry. Very angry. I was going to blog about the whole thing then luckily I had a moment of clarity. I was going to call the offending parties and yell and scream. But then my daily scripture calendar said this,"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger." (Proverbs 15:1) In light of this scripture I have decided to take a different slant with this post. I want to share with you what I have learned from this recent experience so far.

I have learned that actions speak louder than words. Much, much louder. Like actions are caring a huge megaphone and words are just a little mouse in the corner. After 20 years of being told one thing an action completely nullified those words. What a shame. I was never really sure that the words were the truth but I never thought they would be denied either.

Here is the bigger picture lesson is this: No wonder God says that it takes both Faith and Works to return to live with Him. It is fairly easy to say you believe something. It is even easy to fool ourselves into believing that we believe something by saying it enough. The true test is not just the saying but in the actions that follow our belief.

Much like the early pioneers. They not only said they believed, but when the call was made to move West they packed up their families and a few of their belongings and followed the command. Do we really believe enough to follow whatever the call? Are we as the pioneers or are we as this person who has ticked me off?

I know we have all had times in our lives when we have been tested and have failed. It is called sin. We know something is not right but we do it anyway.

But what is it that brings us back from that state of sin? We recognize our mistake and ask for forgiveness and God in his goodness forgives us.

Now here comes the biggest problem I am having with this analogy. I am wondering if in my imperfect state if I can forgive this wrong. I also am wondering what to do if no apology is made. I know that forgiveness is for me and not the other person but 20 years of lies? Somehow in my human weakness I am trying to calculate how one should have to pay for this. I know it isn't the way it should be, but my humanness is complicating it.

Do any of you have any wisdom on this for me? I know you do because I have the wisest blog readers out there.

Aidan says.....

Okay just a quick post. Aidan has been learning more about his bodily functions. Mostly related to using the potty. His newest phrase is "I poopin' da gas". Now my mom probably likes this since she finds the word fart offensive. So I let him keep saying it. It is actually pretty accurate right?

Hop on the Halloween Train

I am sorry it has taken me so long to make this post. I was having some technical difficulties. This year Aidan had a much better understanding of Halloween. He didn't really pick out his costume. A friend had given me the overalls and we bought the hat, bandana, and train whistle from Oriental Trading. I figured he loved trains and this would be fun for him. Another little boy at church was also a conductor but he had box held on with suspenders that looked like Thomas the Tank Engine. Luckily I don't think Aidan was very aware of the little boy during "Trunk or Treat"



This picture is from Tuesday night before we went to church for "Trunk or Treat". It was a little cooler that night than it was on Halloween.




The next night we made a pumpkin. I did all of the carving but Aidan choose the shapes for the eyes and nose. Granted he only really knows triangle, circle, and octagon. So it was pretty simple. I wanted him to pose by the pumpkin, but he wouldn't. I even tried to tell him that Ethan, Saroya, and Jaleigh had posed by their pumpkins. But no way.




He would sit on the porch without the pumpkin.



But this is what happened when the pumpkin was placed next to him. He went and sat in the yard and wouldn't even look at me. What a kid.


Those were the only pictures I got of the pumpkin because by the time Halloween arrived the pumpkin was destroyed. We had a very windy day and the pumpkin was blown off the porch railing. Lucky for us my mom had sent some decorations. So we decorated Friday night before we went trick or treating.


Here is Aidan with his pumpkin candy bucket. Isn't he cute!



We got one more picture and we were off to wait for trick or treating to start at Aunt Sarah's. We didn't know what time trick or treating started exactly but we thought that it either started when the tornado sirens went off or at dusk.

While we waited at Sarah's house we got to play with her dog Romeo. He is very shy but finally started to warm up to Aidan. They became best friends.














It turned out we had a long time to wait. We waited for over an hour. Finally, at about 7:15 pm, we headed out because a few kids stopped by Sarah's. I thought we would be bombarded by kids. We live in a neighbor full of kids and the houses are close together. So much like my neighborhood in North Muskegon. But no! There were maybe a third of the houses that were passing out candy and there were almost no trick or treaters. We had 2 come to our house. Which left us without much candy.

I had even made Matt go out and buy more candy. I guess I was in the nursing home mode still. We had gone through two big bags at church on Tuesday night so I was concerned about running out at home. But we did not have 300 kids and we did not run out. So we have enough candy to last until next Halloween. Unfortunately, I can't say that Aidan collected most of it.

Aidan was so brave about trick or treating. We had been quizzing him before we went trick or treating. We asked "what do you say when they come to the door?" Aidan: "Trick or Treat". Me: "What do you say when they give you candy?" Aidan: "Sucker"

We worked on that but we never did get it right. He would knock. He would say trick or treat. But when they would let him pick what he wanted he would still say "sucker". Then he would add a "thank you".

Halloween was sort of a let down. I guess I would have liked for the whole neighborhood to see my cute boy.

But to wrap it up here is Aidan fully enjoying his Halloween costume.

Oh how I love the "Cheapy Store"

I promised forever ago that I would tell you guys about the "cheapy store". Here in Topeka it is called Capital City Surplus. But thinking back I have had one close to where I live in both Utah and Michigan as well. I Provo it was Reams and in Fremont it was Brookside Market. I have done a little research on the internet about these stores. They are called salvage grocery or banana box stores or scratch and dent stores. There are some chains that have begun to specialize in salvage grocery. I also understand the Amish also frequently run these stores. In Fremont the store is run by the Amish. This store here in Topeka is actually a warehouse that distributes these banana boxes. So they are only open to the public Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And things are not as organized and you would find in many salvage grocery stores. There is a lot of digging and searching for what is available.

A salvage grocery store takes things that for a variety of reasons traditional grocery stores are not selling. Usually it is because the box or can is dented, the label is peeling, perhaps it is past its best by date, maybe there was an overstock of a certain item, they can be things that were limited edition items, or things that are no longer made. I am a firm believer that a dented box does not affect the taste of my hamburger helper. I am sometimes a little concerned about the best by dates. My mother told me that when she worked at Gerber one of the scientist there told her that food was good well beyond its best by date. I also think this is true in most cases. Or at least I hope it is because I rarely check the dates on things from my own pantry. Who knows how old some of the soup in there is.

Here is a picture of the items I bought on a typical trip to the Salvage store.

The total cost of these items was $7.35. Not bad right? I mean you could pick out just a few of these items and come up with $7. Although this is an example of how careful you need to be. The Justice League Teddy Grahams were rancid. Some things can be that way. They were well past their "best by" date. And since they obviously had oil in them I probably should have chosen not to purchase them. But I figure with how much I paid their was really no loss. That was an example of some limited special edition that the stores no longer sell. You can also see I bought soy chips. When at the store I rarely try things like this. I know I like potato chips. Why risk my money on a more expensive unknown? But for less than a dollar who cares. If I hate them, I know where the trash is.

I think I will list just a few of my favorite purchases from the cheapy store. Nutella, Jergens Natural Glow Lotion, John Frieda Blonde Highlights Shampoo and Conditioner, Pantene 2 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner, Icee Green Apple and Cherry Frozen Treats, a case of giant pretzels ($1), Edemame 16 servings ($2), giant bags of Nestle Semi-Sweet Morsels, Jiffy Baking Mix, Purina All Natural Cat Food, Johnny Cat Litter and Bags, Crest Tooth Paste, all kinds of cereal.

I get to try things that I normally wouldn't splurge on. For example I found some Kashi Orchard Spice Cereal there ($1.25) I have an old recipe for microwave cereal muffins. I thought that would be a good cereal to try it with and I was right. They were fabulous! With real apples and nuts and raisins in them.

So my advise is to look around in your area. Find a salvage store. Try it out. You might like it. You may not be able to do all of your shopping there but I usually go there first and then fill in the rest at a real store. If you need directions to the one in Fremont or want the recipe for microwave cereal muffins let me know.

Want a good laugh?

As I have stated before we watch a lot of Disney Channel here at the house. I have to admit that sometimes it is the only thing that is decent to watch on TV. Anyway, they have a new show with the Muppets ( or Muffins as Aidan calls them). This clip is from that show. I have also included the original clip from Camp Rock, just in case you aren't familiar with it. I was only sort of familiar before I saw the Muppet one so I thought I would add it too. Watching the original makes the spoof twice as funny because Beaker is no Joe Jonas.

Can't you just feel excitement of new love?

Oh I forgot

Three more things I forgot. Yesterday we went to the train station to watch for trains when we were done at the park. We saw one just sitting there but it wasn't very fun. Then on the way home there was a huge train parked at the intersection by our house. So Aidan and I pulled over and got out and looked at it. How cool.

I have not yet put my flowers on Etsy. I guess I am just too nervous. I am afraid they just aren't good enough. Although we went to a craft show last weekend and someone was selling Christmas ornaments that were just paint swirled around inside glass bulbs. I did that ten years ago as my Christmas gifts. I pointed out to Matt that he had $40 worth of handmade ornaments on his tree. He said I should make some more and sell them. Men just don't understand art. Well, except for Dan.

Finally, take a look at my friend Katie's blog. She is pregnant and had a plaster cast done of her tummy. You have to see it. It is so beautiful. Mine would never look that good, but her's is awesome.

Just a little taste

When my grandmother served leftovers, she would come in from the kitchen with the leftovers heated up in a frying pan. There were usually several items but only about one serving of each. She would say "there is just enough for everyone to have a little taste". Then she would give each person a spoonful of the various selections. That is what this post is. Sort of a catch all.

First off, I saw a new baby sea monkey in the tank today. Almost missed it because it is the size of a piece of food, but there it was just cruising around. I hope it lasts. I also tried to make a video but I just can't get then in the right light or something. They are just about clear so it is hard to catch them at an angle that the camera will pick up. In person they are clear as day. So why don't you all just drop on by?

Next, we started potty training today. I think Aidan thinks there is actually a train. We got a video from Pull-ups about potty training and he says "let's go watch the potty train". Maybe if I blew a train whistle when it was time to go potty. I could do some sort of Pavlov's dog thing with him. Which might work at home in the short term, but I am sure his kindergarten teacher would not blow a train whistle for him.

I can't say if it is going well or not. He likes the potty, but he keeps dribbling. He goes when he sits down but it is mostly dribbles too. Dr. Phil suggests you get them to drink a whole lot. Normally, I can't keep up with Aidan and all of his cups, but today, "no thanks". I am perplexed. I have seen him drink Lake Michigan in a day. Maybe if I pretend I don't want him to drink anything that will help.

As for my calling, it is going better. The past two weeks I have called the people and they have gone and cleaned no trouble. Last week the sister even came and picked up the key. Although the first time she came I had fallen asleep and didn't hear the doorbell. Boy did I feel bad. Then the other member of the bishopric pulled me out of Relief Society to tell me we needed to get together to make a new schedule. I am not opposed, but I don't know how I can be of much help. I don't know anyone. I don't know who is in the ward or who has left. I don't know who is active and who isn't. But I guess maybe I will learn as I do the schedule. Beth made a good point the other night. She pointed out that I had been a member all my life and served in a variety of callings. I have been able to be successful in those callings or at least I knew what I was supposed to do. Maybe this calling is a tad confusing. I also found out from the previous building cleaning coordinator, who still does it for the other ward that meets in our building and schedules the building for both wards, that I am supposed to schedule the building for our youth night. I may even have to go to ward counsel to make this happen. Wow! how hard can we make this. I don't mean to complain. I actually had a good moment this week. I called to remind a sister who is elderly. She said there wasn't a whole lot she could do and the others could just clean circles around her. I said "we appreciate your efforts". I think that made her feel good.

Aidan and I went to Gage Park yesterday. It is really a nice place which I would like to explore more. It is quite large and divided into several different areas. The zoo is there. There is a playground and rose garden and a cool water park play area place. Aidan's favorite part is the little train that goes around the park and gives you an informal tour of the park. The part I find interesting is the part of the playground area where they have cement animals. Giant cement animals that the kids can play on. They also have a little train engine and a real caboose. I took some pictures when we were there. I thought you might like them.





What you can't see in this picture is that Aidan is scared to death.
He is shaking and maybe crying a bit. The sunglasses hid quite a bit.


We did not even try the elephants. I think Aidan was afraid when
I said the word "elephant".


I think these weird looking things are kangaroos. I guess you are supposed to
climb in their pouches but they were filled with water, dirt and cigarette butts.


Here is Noah's Ark. Aidan liked this one a lot. Maybe because he didn't
think a boat could eat him like an animal would or something.


Climbing and playing in the boat.





Here is the adorable little engine. There are nobs inside to turn and
things so it is really like they are driving.


This is the shoe of the "The old women who lived in the shoe".
There is a fireman's pole inside which Aidan is too scared to go down.
But here is what he looked like before I helped him down. Again, the
sunglasses hide the fear.



I was sure he would die when I put him on this camel. I thought it
was so cool. We had even read a book with camels in it the night before.
He was shaking like a leaf. I told him it was so cool and all of his friends
would be jealous to see him on them. Nope didn't work. I took the pictures
and then took him off before he passed out.


Well, that was your little taste. I am off to the cheapy store. Some people call them banana box stores, or scratch and dent stores. I find it to be an adventure. I always find different stuff there. The past couple of weeks they have had diapers and pull ups. You can't beat a pack of those for five bucks. Maybe my next post will be on the cheapy store.

What to do about my calling

Okay first off for anyone who doesn't know. The LDS Church is run completely by volunteers. We are asked by our church leaders to fill a position(or calling) such as teacher in Sunday School or pianist for the children. We don't turn down these callings generally because we feel the church leaders have been inspired to ask us to fulfill these callings. I would say that often when I get a calling I don't exactly feel prepared for it, but after a few weeks I get used to it and even find myself growing spiritually and in my talents as I serve.

Which brings me to my latest predicament. About six weeks ago I was asked to be the building cleaning coordinator. My understanding was that I was supposed to call people to remind them to clean the building. There was a key but it got magically passed from one family to the next each week and the two or three families coordinated what time they wanted to come clean or if they wanted to pass the key between themselves. I'll admit I forgot the first week. I can't seem to make it part of my life. Sometimes I remember and call on Monday. Sometimes I forget and call Friday afternoon. I finally got the key last week. Who knows how it ended up being put in an office a church. Anyway, this week when I called I asked the people to call me back and we could set up a time for me to open the building. They never called.

Today a member of the bishopric asked me to please just pass the key around or call earlier in the week so people could pick up the key because the last couple of weeks they had to call a member of the bishopric to get a key. First off, I really don't like this calling. I would pass it around at church except I don't know 90% of the people in the ward. I am shy and it takes about everything I have to call the people each week. I guess I feel as though I am failing but I learn a little bit more about how it is supposed to be done each week. Really I was handed the schedule and said, "here you go, have fun, it's easy."

Like this week I learned there was a code to the security system I had to know to get in. Wouldn't that have been great for me to try to go last week and set off some alarm and have the cops show up. I am sorry this is so rambley. I just feel bad that I don't want to do it. I feel bad that people think I am failing at it. I feel bad that I am not excited about this. I feel bad if I let people down by not calling on time. I don't want people who's only contact with me is this to think I am some sort of loser.

Any help out there? I know it seems ridiculous that I am letting it get to me this way. I just dread the doing it. I guess it is an assignment not a calling so I wasn't set apart. Maybe that has something to do with it. So let me know how you would adapt if this were you.

Thanks

Will these sell?

Matt doesn't think these will sell if I list them on Etsy. Now he is a guy and he says if it isn't at Walmart people don't buy it. He also grew up in a home where that was probably true. In our house we had something called a vase (pronounced vawse). Yeah we had fancy stuff. We had stuff just because it added beauty. So to me it isn't that far fetched that someone would buy one of these. I guess I also wonder because I have trouble seeing past their imperfections. I see what I want them to be or even compare them to the real thing. Of course they never match up to those standards. I guess I am asking for a reality check. So here are the pics. If you could let me know if they will sell and at what price point that would be great. Thanks. The flower is about 4 inches and the whole thing is about 8 1/2 inches.

The Naked Problem

Okay, I need all the help of all of you moms out there. Aidan will not keep his clothes on. I thought I had found a solution today with overalls, but no such luck. He figured out how to get out of those too.

Now this would not be a huge problem for me except, the diaper comes off too. Which would not be a huge problem if he would use the toilet. But last night for example I found him with a poopy diaper on the floor and poop in various places throughout the bedrooms. Even the poor Webkinz cat had poop on her butt.

I have no idea why this is happening. Sometimes he needs to use the bathroom, sometimes he just doesn't want clothes on. He likes to lay on my bed and watch TV in the buff. Where did he come from?? I love to cover myself. I think clothes are the best invention ever.

So is there anyone out there who can help me?? When the old folks used to take all of their clothes off we tried the overall thing. With one we even had to do a jumpsuit that fastened in the back. Do they make those in 2T?

Aidan loves to sing

I am having a great time with Aidan as his language skills develop. My most favorite part by far is that he loves to sing. He wanders around all day singing songs from Disney movies and Cars. He has very different names for some of the songs but somehow I know what song he wants me to sing. Today the kid started singing "Life is a Highway" during sacrament meeting. I am thankful his speech is not perfectly clear yet. I know the people who sit around us at church get a kick out of him since they do catch some of the things he says during church. Anyway, he does sing church songs. He comes home from nursery with new songs all the time. Just a nod to the music leader and the nursery leader here for teaching him these songs. Today he wanted to do the "here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors, and see all the people". I didn't know he knew that.



He sings for my mom on the phone. Last night he started singing and reflexivly said "look at me gaga". So since she can't see him singing for her I recorded this little bit for her. Not his best performance. Usually he does the motions from the beginning, but after the fourth try to get him to do it the batteries in the camera died. Technology!! Anyway, I know he loves to watch all of your kids sing and dance so here he is.

HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY

Photo memories

So in getting settled and looking for pictures of Savannah for a previous post, I have found pictures I haven't looked at in years. The first are a set of photos from Girls' Camps of yesteryear. This time of year I always think about camp. Plus I am very lucky to have my dad be the ranger at the camp where I have so many fond memories. I mean in the down time he lets me go to the places I really cherish if I want to. Anyway, I warn you that I have no release from the subjects of these pictures to use them. So if you happen to be one of them and you just can't stand it let me know and I will take them off.

This is the beautiful "Land of Destiny" Not exactly sure what it is really called but we went there for devotional every morning and testimony meetings or other special events as well.

Here we are at one of those evening meetings. I believe the guy down front attempting to build a fire is my dad. In fact, I think this was him building a fire with ashes from fires past. You guys who live in MI have to ask him to tell you about that.

This is a very little Caity Tracy. I think this was her first year. Isn't she cute. Oh yeah, I am on the left and Beth is on the right, just in case you didn't recognize us in our gorgeousness.

This is a young Megan Tracy wearing a fish hat. I love this picture because it reminds me of one of my favorite things about Megan, her self-confidence. I mean I would not have worn a fish hat at that age for fear of what people thought. Now I think "how cool".

Okay, here is my opinion, the coolest 5th and 6th year prank. Beth and Megan were part of this prank and possibly the masterminds. They drag this canoe up a long hill, hoisted it over the fence surrounding pool, filled it with candy(which was usually thrown at the younger girls in the morning to wake them up), and set it afloat in the pool.

Oh wait I forgot about this prank. But it only affected a few very dedicated kitchen staff. Poor Sister Carey. She opened the fridge one day and found this. Yes, I put it there and I was the camp director that year. It was terrible. It actually made me gag to make it. It is just yellow jello and a baby ruth but it was realistic enough to make me ill.

Now for our next set of pictures. These are a young Beth. I couldn't help myself. She is just a doll. Plus I think you will understand why she keeps her hair the length it is now from the first few photos.

In my family this was a classic photo. My mom and aunts often posed for pictures in front of my grandma's flowers. So I guess Beth and I were just trying to imitate the grown ups.

Yes this was MY idea of a vacation photo. Not cool scenery but a hotel room. Tell me you can't see craftiness in those eyes. Maybe a bit of mischief. Oh the hair.

This is little Beth getting ready for her first dance. I don't remember her as a super girly girl. So our friend Jennifer helped her with hair and make-up. Jen often helped us with hair because she had always had long hair and her mom knew how to braid and curl and stuff so she showed us how. I mean what can you do with a boy hair cut that is fun?

Ah young and in love. The happy couple at a dance at the stake center. A point of interest in this photo is to the right of Dan. If you look close you can see a young Joel. Yes, that is Joel. Wait here I have cropped it.

Can you see him now? This is not a trick of photography. Joel really was that small. Unlike Dan his growth spurt took awhile.

May I please encourage you to visit Caity, Beth and Megans blogs for grown up photos. Links can be found to the left in the margin. I want to make sure you know they are still cool and have great fashion sense.

Okay, you are right it isn't fair to put up bad pictures of others without putting up a few of my own.

Here I am in my very immodest clothing at,of all places, Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Yes, I did the perm for a time. I was probably in middle school. I think by high school I had returned to the hairstyle I had as a toddler and still have now.

This is me in 8th grade. We were on the boat over to Mackinac Island. This was my last perm. As you can see it is very frizzy. Pam gave me this perm. She failed to mention that I shouldn't go to bed with it wet the night she did it. So it frizzed out and stayed that way. After months of ugly I decided to play it straight. Another interesting thing in this picture is I am wearing perscription sunglasses. I didn't have contacts yet and my dad had gotten me these. Well, now they are at the bottom of Twin Lake. I jumped off a boat and forgot I had them on.

I hope you have enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as I have.

My Testimony

I started this on July 2, so I thought I should get to work on it. I was reading the Ensign (LDS magazine). Not that I don't usually read a few articles in it but I don't usually start the day we get it. The cover piqued my curriosty. It said "Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet". I thought that was interesting because the internet is one of those good and bad things like fire. It can keep you warm or burn down your house. I was suprised to find that one of the suggestions was to bear your testimony on your blog. It never occurred to me. Plus sometimes I wonder if I spend too much time blogging anyway. Maybe I do spend too much time blogging about things that don't matter. So in an effort to share the gospel, let people get to know me a little better, strengthen my testimony and perhaps justify my blogging a little, I would like to share my testimony.

I know I have a Heavenly Father who loves me. I know He supports me from day to day. I know he hears and answer my prayers. I am grateful he has given me a wonderful family and friends who are such good examples to me. I am thankful for the scriptures. I know they are the words of God to his people. I know they are His words to me. I know that when I truely read and study the scriptures my heart and mind is opened to understand the things of God, even it if just a small portion.

I am grateful for the temple. I know that by being married in the temple and keeping the promises I made there I can have my family with me forever. I know that my life did not begin at my physical birth nor does it end at my physical body's death. I am grateful that I have been blessed with Aidan and hope to be blessed with more precious children. Aidan is one of my best examples of living the gospel. He is so pure and sweet (most of the time). He likes to say prayers, he always points out pictures of Jesus and temples when he sees them. He helps me to remember that those things are important.

I know that prayers are heard and answered. I know faith is required to have those prayers answered. Faith is believing God will keep the promises He has made to us. He wants the best for us even when we don't understand what is best for us. Heavenly Father has provided us the gift of prayer to bring us closer to Him. He wants us to pray and ask for blessing. He then wants us to do all that we can to assist Him in granting those blessings. Which is not always easy, but is always worth it.

I know that a young man named Joseph Smith prayed in the woods one morning to find out what church join and saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that began the restoration of the gospel to the earth in our day. I know we have a prophet on the earth today, Thomas S. Monson. He receives revelation for the world today. I am so thankful for a prophet to lead and guide us. If a people ever needed a prophet it would be us.

I was born to LDS parents. I have long history of faithful family members. I can't say that one day I woke up and had an epiphany that the church was true. I can say that after living the gospel day to day and studying it's teachings I know it is true. I know from the very depths of my soul that the gospel is true. I have a living Savior who sacrificed his life for me. He has made it possible for me to not suffer the full weight of justice for the sins I have commited. He has brought mercy to me as I have asked for forgiveness and repented of my sins. I am thankful that my disobedience and foolishness does not have to keep me from returning to live with my Father in Heaven. Which is my belief and ultimate goal, is to return to live with my Heavenly Father.

Thank you for letting me share my testimony with all of you. I am glad I had this opportunity and I don't know why I put it off for so long.

Miracle

Just wanted to let you all know that Savannah has come home. Yes, one month to the day that she was last seen she came home. She was missing her flea collar and had a new family of fleas on her. She was a bag of bones and a patch of fur was missing off the top of her head. No wounds or scares or anything. Can you all believe it? I can't either. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. What a blessing they have been.

Aidan and I were laying in his bed very late last night and she just popped up in the window meowing. I ran out of the bedroom to go open the door and I was screaming "Savannah is home!!" Matt couldn't believe it. He had to come look for himself. At first he said "I don't know if that is Savannah." But then he looked in her sweet little eyes and he knew. So I guess it is time to get her a new name tag and collar.

Just goes to show you that you never know what is going to happen. Oh and that cats have at least nine lives

Goodbye Savannah

Well, I don't want to write this post but for some reason it seems like I need to. The week we left for Michigan our cat left too and hasn't come back. Tomorrow it will be 4 weeks. She did this to me once before. She ran away and came back three weeks later smelling like a garage and about three pounds lighter. But for some reason I just don't think she will be back. We have been to the Humane Society and made a report, I put on Craig's list a missing add and there is nothing at the leasing office about a missing cat. I can't imagine that she could make it locked up in a garage or something in this heat. One time she even went into my neighbor's house when it was vacant and the owners dropped by and a lady came over to get a box and shovel. She said there was a dead animal in her house. She said it was weird because she found poop in her tub. When she said that I knew it was Savannah. She is semi-potty trained. There she sat frozen in fear in a closet. She was fine obviously but the neighbors I think thought I was crazy. Ever since the first time she went missing she has made a point to stroll by the house when we get home to let us know she is around. This time nothing. So I thought I would do a little eulogy.

Savannah was born August 26, 1999. She was the third cat I had gotten since moving into my own house. She was sort of an accident. I had two cats, one of whom wasn't even six months yet. I had this friend, Georgia, who rescued cats. She and my sister were at an ice cream place in Whitehall and their they found Smokey. I don't know how they knew she was lost and needed rescuing but they did. Georgia was a responsible owner and would take the pets to spayed or neutered. When she got to the vet for the procedure they told her the cat was pregnant. She couldn't abort the kittens, but she knew her husband would not want the kittens as well as the cat. The vet told her their would only be two kittens. So she went home and told her husband I would take one and it would be easy to find someplace for the other one. She then told me that I was getting a new kitten.

I waited and waited for what seemed like forever, but one morning I got a call at work that the kittens had been born. Three total and there were two gray and one black cat. I went over right after work. Oh they were so sweet. Even with their eyes closed and their claws sticking out. I picked Savannah out right away. She was very outgoing. She was the first to escape the pillow barricade we had made by their mother and the first to leave the box they were living in. I decided to name her Savannah because I was reading The Work and The Glory series at the time and thought it was a nice name. It was also cool because I got her from Georgia. Here are some pics from when she was a few weeks old at Georgia's

Isn't she just a doll. Like I said she came as an adventurous kitty. She quickly made friends with my boy kitty Gid. Who was also an adventurous lad.

She was so pretty with green eyes and tiger stripes. Her tummy was a warm cream color and the fur there was perfect for rubbing. Which may be why Matt liked her so much. He is allergic to cats and naturally more of a dog person, but when we decided to decrease the number of cats for his health he chose Savannah to stay. He won't admit this now but when all three lived outside and we had to feed Savannah her special food, he would let her come in the house and hang out and pet her while she ate.

At first I thought she would not adjust to Matt because she peed all over our couches, then she pooped in his air intake on his car so his car smelled like a litter box and it took us a long time to figure out why. Then when we got a dog she was so good to him. She let him drag her around and play with her and lick her fur. She really came into her own being the only kitty.

She didn't even mind when Aidan came along and took "her" room. She did sleep in his crib a couple of times but who could resist such a nice empty bed. She loved Aidan to pieces. The older Aidan got the closer they got. Aidan started to follow her around and she never seemed to mind when he used her as a pillow. She would just lay there and let him pet her.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention her wild side. For all of the taming and potty training, and sleeping in comfortable beds that she did, she was still wild. She loved to be outside. She used to kill many an animal. She took over the neighborhood cat mafia when her older sister Saskia left. She would sit up on top of the car and hold court. Then neighborhood cats would come over and sit on the slightly lower trash can and talk to her I think. She didn't have front claws but somehow she managed to keep order in the neighborhood. You always knew when she had been on the roof of the car because you could see these tracks where her little paw prints were smeared as she slide down the front windshield.

What a character. There are so many more stories to tell. She was afraid of strangers. She hid every time I took her to the nursing home with me. Usually in an impossibly small space. She spent a good part of the move to Kansas sitting next to me on the passenger side window ledge (if you can call it that) with her mouth open panting. Matt and Aidan couldn't stop laughing at her.

I had so many nicknames for her. Most of which Aidan had picked up. I called her Vannah and mee, mee usually. She didn't start out with a middle name. But one day when she was being naughty Savannah Marie just came out of my mouth. I say it is because I had to think of a naughty person's middle name. My Aunt Christina's middle name is Marie. Take it for what it is worth.

Well, I guess I will end with this sweet picture I found of her last night. She is sitting in her favorite place. It just seems like it could have been taken any day or time, even yesterday. We will miss her so much.