General Women's Broadcast

Apologies for the blurry pictures, they were taken with my phone. Just illustrations of the wonderful evening the five of us were able to share. My mother, my sister and my two wonderful sister in laws, an evening of good food, great spiritual uplift, fabulous company and 18 inches of ice cream. Who could ask for a better night.

Something to be Proud of

Here they are! Our three eldest children all with awards from the school. Isn't it grand? Taylor and Seena both scored very well on the state compentency exam. Seena was above average in language arts and advanced in math while Taylor was advanced in both. The state wide average is much lower so kudos to our kids for bringing those averages up! It makes a father proud. Alec has been working very hard this year to improve his grades. He brought home his first report card of the year with the highest grades he has earned overall since he came to us. We are so proud of him. In fact, Alec was able to be entrusted with his coveted first cellular phone. "Uh Oh!" He is on our mobile network . . .Not to fear! I have included in our services the ability to restrict when and to whom he may call. You have to appreciate technology sometimes. Anyway, I wanted to share this with all our family and friends because it is something to be proud of.

A Lesson Learned

How did we go from then till now, and not know how? I just had to write a story for one of my classes at the college about an event that taught me a lesson that impacted my life in a major way. I wrote about my experience with Allison's birth and a hard learned lesson in humility. As most of you know when she was born, she came to us with a heart condition known as PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus). It is a small opening in the heart that did not close after birth as it should. It causes breathing problems and eventually bigger ones leading to death if not treated. There are two treatment options: treating it with a medicine called Indomycin that constricts the vessels in hopes of helping the opening to close on its own. (doesnt usually work in full term babies). The other option is open heart surgery to close it by way of suture. I was very upset and I struggled with all of this news as well as with the reports of Allison losing weight and aspirating. Our baby seemed to be losing the battle. In my frustration I gave Allison a blessing and tried to force my will, but the Lord had another idea in mind. Allison continued on the same path. Then came the day to start the medicine and I will forever be grateful for what happened next. On our way out of the NICU that evening I was feeling very angry and I was at wit's end. As we were about to exit the unit we stopped at the double doors and could not help but notice a family in mourning through a small opening in the door to the consultation room. The doctor had just informed them of the death of their child. Something hit me at that moment with such force that I felt as though I could not breath. My attitude went from hateful to grateful in less than a second. Even though my sweet little angel was stuck in the children's hospital with some struggles, she was alive. And in spite of her condition she was one of the biggest and healthiest babies there at five pounds and nine ounces. I began to very grateful to my Father in Heaven for sending me Allison and started to act the way I should have from the start. That night I asked Michael to assist me in giving Allison another blessing and this time asked that the lord's will be done. The next morning as we arrived to see Allison we were greeted with the report that miraculously she had recovered after a single dose of the medication!!! It usually didnt work after three in full term babies. I was so overwhelmed that I needed to remove myself for a moment and allow my emotions to escape. It was a lesson I will never forget. Today Allison is doing great with no signs of the PDA.

Evidence of the Moment

This year I took my wife to dinner at Flemming's for her birthday. The food was great, but the company was amazing. I have been blessed to have found someone so amazing who completes me. Even though I try and do something spectacular for her each year on her birthday, I feel like a complete failure. I could not ever return what she continually gives me each day. So in light of this I wanted to give her something to remember this time. I am not a fan of pictures that are of me, but my wife specifically asked for pictures of us together doing things so she could have evidence of the moments. Here it is. This year's birthday dinner!

A "Great" Photo is not a "Good" Photo

Families are so special. It is hard to get them all together some times just for a moment to capture an image that will show everyone something that is dear to me. Even after they are all assembled we have wiggles and giggles, sad faces, and kids out of places. Yes, it can be a trial to do something that seems so simple but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love my family and I am always very proud to show them off. This is not a good family photo, but it display's all the most important people in my life. In my recent photography training (and I did not take this picture) I learned about what a good photo consists of. This would not qualify as a "good" photo. I however, have come to a greater knowledge about what makes a "great" photo. It is all about the content of the material, not the clarity or lighting or color. This represents the most important aspects of my life and I could not ask for more than that.

Favorite read of the summer

Mark of the Lion a trilogy by Francine Rivers far and away was the best thing I read this summer. The first book was the best and it made me question what "love" was, not romantic love, but real love, love of the Savior, charity. It also made me think alot about forgiveness.

I have read a few other books by this author and some were okay, and some were down right corny but the Mark of the Lion touched my heart and I would reccomend it to any one.
Since I gave you the best read of the summer I guess I also have to give you the worst. The Shack and I can't remember off the top of my head who the author was, but I know that it was a NYT bestseller. It tries to talk about God and forgiveness, but it misses the mark so completely that it made me almost uncomfortable. I think it is probably in the Spirituality for beginners section and perhaps that was what made it a best seller, but I had a hard time finishing it except that I had started it and that darn compulsion to finish what you start wont let me leave my books half read. (Close second worst Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult, definatly not her best book)

First day of Kindergarten, first day of school

First day back to school is exciting, but not as monumental when it is the first day of kindergarten.

Kinsey was so excited to be a big girl and ride the bus, she woke up early and got dressed with the other kids even though she didn't go till 11:00. What a wonder it is to be going to school for the very first time.
Allie on the other hand was not excited about anyone going to school. She stands outside and waits for the bus everyday with Kinsey, and she waves and waves till the bus is out of site. Then she turns around to sadly come back in the house with boring old mom.

Moment of note

Alec recieved multiple awards at Scouts. We are very proud of the effort that he is putting toward scouting. And I am enjoying all the pretty mother's pins.

Brendan turned six

He wanted a Cars cake, you know with Lightning McQueen, I called Elisabeth cause she is good with things like that. We plotted while I was at work and she met up with me after my all nighter. We made this cute Cars cake and I was quite pleased with how it turned out, but my birthday boy was less than impressed. The other children thought it was awsome, but when I brought him in to see his cake all he could say was "oh, that's it" Needless to say I was a little crushed. Someone said "he's just six" and that is true, but it made me think, maybe we all have a bit of "brendan" in us, and maybe we all need to be a little more aware, a little more gracious, and a little more thankful for the things that are done for us.

My Brood

Quintessential summer is the stinging smell of chlorine, the relentless heat of the sun beating down on you from above as well as rising up from the pavement below, and sweet sticky rivers of strawberry, cookies and cream, rocky road, or mango sherbet streaming down your hands because you just can't lick fast enough.

To Ohio

It was time to take Kiki and Brendan back to Ohio.

So we got in the car and drove and drove.

and drove and drove

and drove some more.

Over 36 hours straight between daddy and me. Can you say exhausting?

Cousin Brady

We don't have very many cousin's on the other side of our family.

So when cousin Brady and Uncle Nathan came to visit it was a huge deal. We LOVE Brady.

4th of July

We were invited to a pool party for the 4th of July, but I was so tired of celebrations that didn't mean anything being celebrated by people who don't appreciate or understand what they are celebrating, that when dad said he wanted to do something meaningful for 4th of July, I was thrilled. The kids put on a very cute little patriotic show covering the history of America right down to Nephi. Jenifer and her boys sang a wonderful song about George Washington, Mom made a great Flag cake and Michael put on an amazing fireworks display. It ended up accomplishing everything that I wanted to accomplish! Yeah!

Birthday boys

Taylor and Roman turn 6 and 10 respectively.

Belatedly we celebrate a joint birthday at Blackbeards

Lots of games

Lides of rides

...But my favorite were the water slides.

From there to here

What is it called when you have to bridge the gap between here and there? Well, whatever it is that is what I have to do. After a busy, busy summer I am back for some good blogging. My family is getting back on a schedule and I feel some what settled(it is the laundry gauge, for a moment it feels under control)... You know what happens then right. Something fantastic will happen that will shake up everything. But for right now things are calm, realtively speaking anyhow.

I took pictures throughout my summer and so I will post and give a drive by comment and then I will attempt to stay a little more up to date.