Happy Place

One mile north north of my house, this is what I see.

The north Texas skyline.

We live on the edge of the prairie. There are no mountains. There is no lush forest. There are rolling hills after rolling hills. The beauty of this area maybe harder to see but it is there. Some may say that it is bland and boring.  For me it is home. It is where my heart and soul reside. It is where I raise my children and live with the love of my life. It is home for my family.

This is one of my favorite places to go running. I exercise early in the morning and I love the peace and calm that comes as the sun starts to rise. I don't listen to music. I listen to the birds and the wind and my heartbeat and the sound of my feet. I listen to myself.

I believe that everybody should love where they live. No matter where they call home. We all need to find our happy place.

The Heart

I have learned so much about the heart recently. I have previously studied the human heart in anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology. I have learned about this organ in many different ways. Recently, I have talked with some of the top cardiologists in the country. I have learned about artificial hearts, pacemakers, valve replacements, and heart pumps. I have watched heart monitors with concern. I have learned what it takes to keep a heart ticking.

I have also witnessed love in it's truest form as my father in law never leaves Elaine's bedside unless it is absolutely necessary for his own health. He sits and reads to her. He holds her hand. He prays the most sincere prayers for her. I have seen great compassion from the doctors and nurses. It is amazing! They have helped us understand this entire process of healing. I have also witnessed the love, encouragment, and prayers of family and friends from all over the country. They have all contributed to her recovery.

All I can say is simple. Thank you. 

Happy Anniversary

Aaron and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary on December 17th. He surprised me by taking me out on a date. We drove around the Temple where we were married and talked about the feelings we felt that day thirteen years ago. It is so wonderful to remember things together. Our love has grown so much since then and I am so grateful for him in my life. We talked of our experiences since then. It is amazing all that we have been through together. I am who I am today in part because of Aaron. Anyway, I could go on forever about how much I love him.

He then surprised me by taking me shopping for a new camera! YEAH!!! It is a birthday/anniversary/Christmas gift. (I love having all three major events so close together.)
Now, I feel like I'm back in the blog business except I haven't had time to sit at the computer for days. I have a lot of catching up to do. So, stay posted.

All About Ammon

As I have mentioned before, Aaron's little sister has a boyfriend, his name is Ammon. They met back in September. On their first date he was such a gentleman as he carried Lauren across the river.Later that night, before their date ended he helped us toiletpaper her parent's house. I don't know if it is the fact that he is studying to be an engineer or if he just an experienced toiletpaperer, but he was much more meticulous about it than the rest of us were. Maybe he didn't realize they might be his in-laws someday.

Ammon is a great guy! The more I find out about him, the more I like him and I'm not the only one. Savanah not only wants him to be apart of the family, she wants him to be apart of her birthday party in a few weeks.

You would think that any guy who is dating a girl with 5 older brothers, would want to throw himself off a cliff. Not Ammon, who loves to rock repel, he's taking it all in stride."The Brothers" all seem to like him as well. Since they are all named after scriptural figures, (Aaron, Mark, Jared, John, and Michael) Ammon seems to make a nice fit.

The Importance of Pets

When it comes to our kids, we have four-n-more. When it comes to our pets, we have more-n-more. Our long pet list keeps getting longer. Friday, we added six geese. Geese are very different from ducks. That is why we need ducks and geese (this is how Aaron explains it to me). Alysha, my sister-in-law, reminded me of when we were "pet haters" I guess now, that makes us "reformed pet haters".

The goslings were hatched on Thursday, placed in a box, and overnighted from New Mexico to Utah. We paid extra to have their gender determined (no, I don't know, or want to know how they did that). The girls came with red paint on their nose and the boys had blue paint. This is important for raising geese because they mate for life and therefore, it is not good to have more boys than girls for obvious reasons. When they are hatched, there is little or no human contact until they are purchased in order for the geese to imprint properly with their new owners. Our six geese: Gulliver, Joan of Arc (JOA), Buckbeak (Bucky), Gwendolyn, and Julius Caesar now believe we are their parents since we were the first humans they had contact with.
Saturday afternoon we took them outside to enjoy the grass and the sunshine. It is fun to see them explore their new world.

On a sad note, Gulliver Goose died on Sunday morning. We are not sure of the cause of death. We were all saddened by the news and held a funeral out in our pasture. Aaron gave a short talk and Esteban said a very appropriate prayer. We all cried. Ethan and AJ took it very hard. Later, Savanah asked me when Gulliver was going to wake up. I told her that he wasn't going to. She said, "Well, I prayed that he would." We sat together as I explained about Gulliver's body that we buried and his spirit that is now in heaven. We talked about the Resurrection and how, because of Jesus Christ, we would all be reunited someday.I think having pets teaches kids so many things: responsibility, working hard, caring for another living thing, where babies come from, and yes, losing a loved one. Some lessons are harder to learn than others.

The Miracle of the Band-aid

Savanah tripped and fell the other day. If you look closely, you can see the pinpoint drop of blood on her knee. For her, it was a very dramatic moment. As the loving mother that I am, I told her to wait for a minute and I ran for the camera. I was snapping pictures until I noticed the look on her face wondering why I wasn't caring for her injury. I placed the camera down and proceeded to put on a band aid, give her a hug, tell her I loved her and it would soon be better. She jumped off the counter with a smile and set off to continue playing.

I wish they could make bigger band aids that could solve bigger issues of heartache with such ease. I think a band aid and a hug could solve a lot of problems around the world.

Valentine's Day

I don't know how I feel about Valentine's Day. I believe that those of us who have a "valentine" don't need a special day out of the year to know we are loved. I don't like the idea that society tells us that we have to buy gifts for loved ones on a specific day. Aaron gave me Martin Luther King Day and Groundhog's Day gifts this year. They mean just as much to me. A bouquet of flowers in the nearby store cost $29.99 on the 14th. The next day, they were only $9.99 and looked just as beautiful! What a difference a few hours make!

Valentine's day is torture for those who do not have a "valentine". Aaron's sister, Lauren, wore her red pin-striped pants because she was festive and a black shirt because she was in mourning.

Now I've told you why I don't like Valentine's day, I'll tell you why I do like it.

As AJ was walking out the door to school that day, he remembered he needed to wear nice clothes because he was going to have a Valentine Tea at school. (It wasn't tea, it was Sprite, but you can't have a Valentine Sprite, can you?) When he returned home from school he told me he wouldn't be able to help me at home. He had to serve girls all day. He had to pull the chairs out for all 4 girls on his table. The first one told him if he pulled the chair out for her again she would kill him (now that's women's lib) so, he was too tired to do anymore nice things for the rest of the day.

I was planning to make a heart shaped pizza for dinner, but Aaron called to say he would fix dinner that night. It wasn't a big deal to me but, I decided it was important for the kids to see him serve me. Esteban was really impressed that dad would do that for me. He made these amazing salads that we all loved. He should really cook more often, time just doesn't allow for it. Esteban thought it was a nice gift and so did I.

So, there you have the good and bad of Valentine's day. My favorite story was that of the card shop in Trolley Square in Salt Lake City where 3 people were shot and killed on Monday night in a tragic act of violence. The shop owners placed a box outside the store with all their valentine cards along with a sign that said, "Please take one and let somebody know they are loved". I guess that is what it is all about.