Happiness

  Elizabeth and I at my Grandma's bday party!    Well, I am at 38 weeks tomorrow- full term! Yay! !The time has flown by so fast! Maybe that's what happens when you are busy with 4 kids in school and keeping busy substituting as well!    And now comes the time when I can't sleep. I just can't get comfortable- the bed is too straight, my curves are too curvy and it's not a great fit! I have a full body pillow but it doesn't help much. I need one of those big, huge J shaped body pillows they sell that are quite expensive! And of course, I am just EXCITED! I know that excitement can cause adrenalin rushes, but I can't help it. I held a nine month old last night and thrilled at the thought of having another one! The kids are getting excited too and ask about when the baby is coming or if they will come home one day and find me nursing on the couch. I reassure them that they will get to visit us at the hospital first!  I love babies. And I get ...

Asher      All the cars, lined up!     Ethan, getting ready to race!   Ethan     Jonah and his car! He won the sportiest award for his design.   Ethan and his car. He won the "most unusual car" award. We thought it should be the most unique car award, but that's okay!   Someone brought an old Model T racer- the kids loved it and loved honking the horn!  " The Red Hot Rod" and "The Blues" Ethan doing some painting. This year, we didn't have a lot of time to work on the cars, since e-mails about the event got sent out late and we were gone during Spring Break. The boys did a great job even on short notice! Josh did a great job helping them too!    Jonah taping and painting.   Oh, Baby! Almost 37 weeks there. Getting ready to meet this little guy! 

Ethan and Jonah on St. Patrick's Day! As some of you know, my twinners are both on ADD medicine. Their grades both began to plummet in 3rd grade. They stopped paying attention in class and were not able to do well on the in class assignments or tests. After an evaluation from the Dr., their teachers and us, we put them on medicine to see if it would help. And after a few trial-and-error type trials, boy did they help! Their grades went from mostly C's to straight A's. Both of them. We were happy! There have been not very many side effects, but Ethan's medicine (Concerta) effects his appetite. Once it hits his system, he is not very hungry. So, from the hours of 10-5 he doesn't eat a lot. But, at dinner he eats a ton and has a nighttime snack. Jonah is on a different medicine (Intuniv) and hasn't had that same side effect. As a result, Jonah is bigger than Ethan for the first time in his life. Since my boys are both pretty small for their age anyways, it...

Grandma Betty We love you! Your open arms, Your giving hands, Your thoughtful Cards and gifts and Packages; Make us smile Make us laugh And feel loved. Icy cold drumsticks. Glasses of cold o.j. B.B.Q chicken, Fruit Salad And chocolate cream pies- (We can never get enough!) These are the treats Of Grandma. For all those times You have been there for us. We thank you. We appreciate you. We love you, Grandma Betty.

  My Grandmother Betty and I   This past weekend, my family held a big SURPRISE birthday party for my Grandma's 90th Birthday! We had been planning it since December, so we were all looking forward to it! Luckily it was during Spring Break (and I was 35 weeks along- not 36 so my Dr. gave me the ok to travel), and we were able to attend! Josh had one of his big yearly conferences during Spring Break, so my sweet Mom flew out to Arizona and drove with me to California. It helped a ton! Everyone was coming for the birthday party, so we stayed with my Grandma. She already knew we were planning a party (but she didn't know how big it was) so it was okay that we stayed with her. About 50 people were there- all 4 of her living cousins, two of her children, most of her grandchildren and almost all of her great grandchildren. We played Grandma Betty BINGO and learned more about her life. I read a poem and Grandma herself read a poem about her life (so sweet!). We presented her...

In Fourth Grade, the kids get to pick a Famous Arizonian, study them, write a report, do a poster board and then dress up like them and answers questions as the whole school tours their presentations. This year Ethan and Jonah both picked the Navajo Code Talkers- on their own. They said that that was the only name on the list that they recognized. I guess we are still working on being native Arizonians! They spent a lot of class time and home time working on their projects! Ethan even memorized a 5 paragraph speech for his class. I tried to get it on film, but he was being shy at school and then I forgot! Way to go, Ethan and Jonah!      

In the middle of February, I was able to go with Jonah on his field trip to the AZ State Capitol Building. Ethan's class was going too- on a different day- but I went with whoever gave me their permission slip sooner.   Jonah and his good friend Bridger- he's old enough not to want to sit by Mom on the bus!   Inside the first Governor's office- pretty neat!   Inside the old state Legislature room- there were no women representatives and most were Republicans!  This is Jonah- saying "Mom, don't take a picture of me!"   Arizona's State Capitol     My Crew!   Jonah's 4th Grade Class- w/ Mrs. Bretzke! 

I didn't sleep well last night- lots of thoughts and ideas and emotions rolling around. I wanted to share with you one thought in particular. It is this: Sometimes the miracle is when the Lord answers differently than we prayed for. His answer- whatever it may be, includes the miracle and his Tender Mercies. Often it is very hard to see during that time  we are praying for something. This idea hit me more strongly as we, as a Church group, reflected on the pouring rain that happened during Saturday's Youth Cultural Celebration. Everyone was praying for a stop to the rain- the leaders of our area, the Parents and Leaders of the Youth, the Youth themselves. All day there was a circle of blue above the Youth practicing- keeping the field dry and clear. In fact, if it had rained even a 1/2 inch in the reservoir basin they were practicing the city had said they would cancel the event. President Monson would not arrive and the many hours of practice and prep would have no...

pic via online   And so, last Saturday evening I found myself driving with a friend from the ward and her husband to the location of the Cultural Celebration- Discovery Park in Gilbert. Armed with an umbrella and chair, driving amidst dark, looming clouds and a forecast of rain, we parked in a large dirt parking lot and found our ward prepping for the arrival of President Monson, President Eyring and the start of the performance. They had been there since 1 pm- doing a full dress rehearsal. And as we arrived on the large field- several football fields long and essentially a flood control area- it began to rain. A pretty good amount. It hadn't rained for most of the day and we were not expecting it to. Not really. We opened umbrellas, put on plastic garbage bags as makeshift ponchos (although I have some in my 72 hr kits) and within 5-10 minutes my jeans were soaked through. That was also the time for the 12,000 youth to gather on the field and greet President Monson....

12,000 youth practicing for the Temple Cultural Celebration So, this is THE weekend! The Cultural Celebration and Dedication of the Gilbert Temple. Being 34 weeks pregnant, the Young Women Leaders gave me an out on being a "Captain of 10"- someone who was in charge of 10 youth and had the responsibility of dancing in the performance if one of the Youth was sick that day. And so, while I didn't have to attend all the practices or the Super Saturday (think 15 hr day) practice in the heat last weekend- I did go to most of the practices and learned most of the dances- just for kicks and giggles! It was a blast! Our ward has the biggest Youth Group in the Stake (area)- think 80 youth: yes, 80! I am over the 12 and 13 year olds and we have 16 of them! Yep. There are 2 other leaders besides me over the same age group. And, so for the past two months, the Youth have been prepping and preparing, singing, dancing and doing sign language for the big event. President Mon...