Sick Days, Birthdays and every other day in between...

First things first.

Sorry!!

I've been a very, very bad blogger. I don't even have a good excuse. 'Cept to say, I've wanted nothing to do with the computer the past few days if it didn't involve writing. And even that was somewhat feast/famine. I had some really awesome ideas, that were waylaid by "emergencies".


See Exhibit "A"....Joshua.

He's been having a rough patch the past few weeks; with sharing, getting along with his brother and the poor kid just went to the Doctors and now they want to take out his tonsils and adenoids. He's scheduled for surgery Wednesday; but I may cancel until May. We'll see. (His tonsils are Stage 3 of 4. Really blocking the airway and the poor kid snores like a lumberjack!!! You can hear him for miles!!)

So, strap yer seatbelts on, I posted a lot of pics and I've been savin' up a whole lotta stuff I've been wanting to post....!

And...as promised, just a couple of pics from Time Out for Women.

I was so thoroughly amazed at their line-up.

I can honestly say I heard something I needed from each of them; My favorites however being people I really didn't think I needed to hear and had prepared to put on the 'auto-pilot' during those time slots....(I'm being 100% honest here...)


I went there thinking "I need to hear what so-n-so has to say..." and yet, although I felt the spirit during their talks (I.E.: I went thinking I needed desperately to hear what Kim A. Nelson and Emily Watts had to say, and although they were good, they didn't strike the chord I needed so I could recharge my batteries.)



Does that even make any sense?


Amazingly enough, I heard just what Heavenly Father needed me to hear. (surprise, surprise...) but the message wasn't what I thought it would be.

I thought what I needed to hear was all the stuff 'bout motherhood. You know. Finding "JOY" in the Journey...ENJOYING your children....blah, blah, blah. You know what I'm talking about.

What I needed to hear though, came from Emily Freeman and Kris Belcher. (I'll post my little brife synopsis' of the other's highlights later...)

Here are some of the highlights I found in Emily Freeman's talk. It's all stuff we know. It's all stuff we sometimes forget too. Me, most especially.

And I need to get her book. She wrote: 21 Days Closer to Christ.

*We all need time-outs. (And REALIZING you need a time out is the first step to being/becoming a stronger person.)

*The best of the music is not written in the notes. :D

*Start finding the time for personal study. Asking yourself: What do I 'get' from the story if it was my story?

*Make the most of what you have to offer.

*There are ordinary miracles in our ordinary lives. (LOVE THIS!)

*GO & SEEK. (Take a Personal Inventory and again MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU HAVE TO OFFER.

*A season of gratitude needs to come before a season of giving. EX: Ever notice that Thanksgiving always comes before Christmas? (Eh? Yup. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.)

*LEARN TO BE CONTENT.

*Learn the principle of giving all. Because in giving all we get more back. (That's everything we gave and EXCESS).

*The "BE THERE" principle: It's attitude and action. I'll be there. You can count on me. I'm always on the Lord's side.

Sometimes we're required to go a bit further; not just a casserole, but to give of ourselves and be there. You don't have to say anything. Just be there. The Lord knows you and He knows what will happen next. He's the "tender" behind the "mercy".

Deep, huh?

I have sooo much I need to improve on. Like, all of it.

Then came Kris Belcher. She was the last speaker of the day on Saturday. For whatever reason (okay, so I know the reason), I really, really identified with her.

Brief synopsis of her background (as listed by Deseret Book)

B.S., Therapeutic Recreation, Brigham Young University; author, Hard Times and Holy Places; In the Dark, but Healed by Light

Born with a rare form of eye cancer, Kris has spent most of her life blind in one eye. Recently, cancer returned, leaving her completely without sight. While her life circumstances might be unique, her story of healing doesn't have to be. Kris is blind, but she has experienced a healing-the kind of healing that comes through personal testimony of the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. She shares how similar healing is available to all of us, regardless of our circumstances.

Not that I've ever been blind. Or had cancer.

But I have had my own share of heart ache. And I've seen my carefully laid plans go awry. The gist of her talk was pretty simple with a somewhat recurring theme.

*Our expectations are not always what Heavenly Father has in mind for us.

*You can either be angry, sad or scared or you can turn it over to your Heavenly Father.

*Christ will be with me and ahead of me during the rest of my life. Whatever it brings.

*I had to learn to let go of my will and place it on the alter; give it over to my Savior and my Heavenly Father.

*Remember the scripture: "God won't give you more than you can handle"? Well, it's not true. Of course God will give you things you can't handle! It's to teach you to love and rely on Christ. We need to adjust it to more accurately reflect the truth. God will never give you more than you can handle with Christ's help.

*Hope→Faith→Becomes an Anchor→In Christ.

*We don't have to stay in our sad little stories. But we do have to go through them. The emphasis being on through, not stay.

*Even though it wasn't Heavenly Father's will to cure me, the experience will help me become the person he wants me to be.

*There are obstacles. We can't "pray" them away. But we will become better and stronger as we rise to each challenge.

*The pains we feel are "growing pains" as we grow to be more compassionate and Christ-like.

So, you may be scratching your heads and wondering "HUH? What could she possibly be saying?". Well, never fear, let me enlighten you!

















(L-R: Hillary Weeks (Soooo funny. She sang a bunch of little 'ditties' or 'spoofs' of songs and 'tweaked' the words. Climb Every Mountain now has new meaning to me, as I remember her lyrics: "Climb every mountain, press every seam, launder all the clothing, 'til you get it cleaned" is now my all-time favorite song to sing, while cleaning. Hee, hee.); Kim Nelson, Kris Belcher, Emily Freeman and Emily Watts.)

I'm probably the worlds greatest repressor. Like repressing bad things. I can go with the flow and then something bad happens, I get back up on the horse (excuse the lingo/terminology) and just get goin' again.

It's just how I was raised.

I don't quite grasp the consequences from actions sometimes. For instance: The problems I've encountered with my health.

After my hysterectomy I was just grateful to be free of pain, so I could focus on being a wife and mom. Didn't really process much past that.

It's not been until ten months later that I'm beginning to process the agonizing grief that comes with knowing I'll never have biological children.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm grateful every minute, of every day, for my darling, rambunctious, sweet, little boys!!! They're truly mine in every sense of the word. And I know (deep down and in the other parts as well) that if we'd had kids off the bat, we'd probably never have considered adopting them.

And they're definately ours.

But, sometimes, my heart breaks knowing I've never had the opportunity to feel a baby move inside of me. Or that I'll never feel the horrible, agonizing pains that come with bringing a child into this world. Or the many, many, wonderful, horrible, and yet still simply amazing things that come with the joys and pains of creating a child. Much as I would've liked to.

It's something that I'm aware of. All the time. Sometimes it's painful and sometimes, it's not. It is getting better, but only as I process all the feelings and grief. (Yes, grief. It's a definate loss, and again: I'm slow at processing.)

So, all the things Kris said, I totally 'got'.

Just a little "aha" moment again. I'm having epiphany's left and right here!! But, what can I say?! Except.....I'm really, really slow. :P

But I'm cute to my husband!! :D



















(L-R: Kelly, ME, Selena, Carrie & Beth)
So, obviously, it was good. And I had a blast with all my incredibly good-looking friends. Geesh, Ladies! Can't one of you NOT be photogenic, like me? (mumble, grumble).

And....I told you I was gonna do it...but did you believe me? Maybe not. THIS was before my cut. I was seriously going to hack off all the hair with scissors. And I got to take a quick little 'hack' at my pony tail. I was soooo giddy!
















My extremely handsome and talented brother, Jake entertaining the masses, while Cami fixed my hair. Mom's holding Rowan, Jake's youngest son.



















(Stann and the boys' oggling the bumper cars. I kaboshed the whole 'let the kids go on bumper cars' idea Stann had. I think he forgets they are 2 and 3!)

I'll keep you in suspense a little longer as I show you what we did today for my birthday. :D

Hee, hee!

This picture, is of our return trip. We wore 'em out good. (You could totally hear Josh snoring over the radio...!)


















Stann took me and the boys to Seaside for my 33rd, whoops! I meant, 29th birthday. We had a blast. Stann bought 2 lbs of salmon jerky, we bought the boys some 'tool' toys from the outlet mall ($6.40 spent in all for BOTH!) Then he went back and got them a tool bench.

But we started out good!

And I? What did I get?

Unbelievable memories of my family playing together. :D A sunny(!) day at the beach!! And a crab-cocktail. (YUM!) We played on the beach for awhile, then took the boys for a carousel ride, went to the outlet mall and just had fun being together.

It's just nice to every once and awhile, remember why I married Stann in the first place!

He's a real kick in the pants! :D

So, now, drumroll please....

There it is. The new 'do.

As you can see, I was NOT exaggerating on how much I had cut off. And can I tell you...

IT FEELS SOOOOO GOOD! :D

This I caught the other day. I love seeing the boys play together and get along. Makes me feel like I'm doing a good job of teaching them to love each other.

And lastly.....Happy Birthday to Jason.

He leaves for BYU-I, in a week. :( We hate seeing him go, but he has these con-fangled ideas of becoming a pediatrician.

And well, McNamee's, they have a lot of kids, who in turn, are probably going to have a lot of kids, sooooo.....we'll let him slide, if he hurries his butt up and gets his doctorate. LOL.

But at his party, Stann and I were introduced to Guitar Hero. And we are now officially addicts. But we play it together. :D It's always tons of fun to sit on the couch laughing your butt off with your spouse. :D It's been pretty fun, actually!

And the VERY, VERY, LAST....if you have never tried buttermilk syrup, take a look below.

It's got to be what the Roman's and Greek's described as "nectar of the God's...". Soooo yummy.

I made some for Jay's B-day party; we had breakfast for dinner. :D

I was going to post the recipe, but seeing as how I'm already super long, I'll post it later.

So that's it.

The past few weeks in a nut shell.

Or was it just March?

Anyhoo...

I'll keep trying to be better, but I'm not promising anything until I finally get the hang of writing/spending time with family/managing my house/managing calling/being a good wife/mom/sister/friend/daughter/visiting teacher, etc., etc...

I'll let you know if I ever find the 'winning' combo. :D

And, now, I'm going to bed, where I'm HOPING I'll get breakfast in bed tomorrow, courtesy of my husband.

Probably not. :D

But one can hope!!!