And She's OFF!

Today Emily decided she was going to take off walking. She has been cruising and taking about 3 steps at a time for 4-6 weeks, but today she just decided to walk across the room. What a brave girl! Here is a little video we thought you would all enjoy

Lots of other exciting things have taken place this month too. Porter turned six-to my surprise. I can't believe he was only one when we moved here. In the craze of life he has grown, and we stopped to celebrate his birthday. We had a robot party for him, and I am proud to say, he loved it. Tyler brought all of these cool lugs,nuts,bolts and wires( that were scrap from his work) and the kids built their own robots. Everybody had such creative designs.

One other fun thing to share-Marshal was a shepherd on his cub scout troops float. I loved the crisp cold air the day of the parade. We actually got red cheeks and wore coats and gloves. I miss the cold air! Of course since the parade we have been in light jackets and sweaters.

PURGE Prop 8

I have a huge need to purge feelings about proposition 8 so I can move on with my life and since talking with others seems to intensify the feelings rather than helping me move on I've decided to blog a little about my 2 week obsession.

Admissions-
I have read every article written on prop 8 on the latimes,deseret news, lds.org,and on mormontimes.com.
I have read way to many blogposts on the above listed sights
I have felt outrage,surprise,fierce loyalty,sadness, among many other emotions

Certainly I should be sick of the topic if nothing else, but I find myself still pivoted to it. So I ask myself the question WHY?

I think that deep down I feel that this is a hugely pivotal issue in our day and time. I am outraged at the treatment of our brothers and sisters in the gospel across the nation and I am saddened at the members of our own faith who have been blinded by the sophistry of men on this issue. I cherish my faith and testimony above all and the thought that all religious liberties could be in such jeopardy is disheartening. The knowledge that absolute acceptance of the gay lesbian lifestyle in states like Massachusetts and CT has let to radical changes in the education curriculum and parental notification responsibilties is frightening. But perhaps the most alarming signal of how an adoption of genderless marriage could effect religion in america is found in European countries that have already adopted it. Ministers preaching against the gay/lesbian lifestyle have faced imprisonment.


So where to go from here?

I have come to the point of overload and have decided that I have to let go of all of this "information" thus the blog.

I want to express a huge debt of gratitude to all those in CA who worked tirelessly to defend the sanctity of marriage as God wants it. and to those in AZ and FL who also adopted such defense as well.

I am proud to be a Mormon. Proud that our Prophet and First Presidency stand firm for what is right in Gods eyes. I am so heartened by the numerous churches that have stood firm in defending marriage and understand the deep significance of this issue.

I have a testimony of the Proclamation of the Family and know that it was divinely inspired. I know that God knows the consequences on us as individuals, and on our society, if marriage is not protected. I also know and that we will be led through what ever storms will rage as we move forward. So I am now going to excercise faith and hope and move on with my life.

An Election,Halloween,and Puppies

So much has happened since I last blogged. An election, two new puppies, Halloween and lots of thoughts about both. I'll spare you all my election analysis since it is over and we have moved on. I feel optimistic about our new president and am hopeful that he will be a good president. I didn't vote for him, but I am hopeful. I am very happy proposition 8 passed in California and feel grateful to all the people of California who decided to protect marriage-despite personal persecution etc.

As for the puppies- they have been so easy. The boys love them and do practically everything for them. Including clean up and take them out in the mornings. They are the cutest little pups and we are excited to see what they will look like when they grow up. I have had to call Dana(my sister) for puppy training tips and all her advice has worked so far.

And Haloween? We had a Ninja, Optimus Prime, Tinkerbell and a Chicken. We ate candy for a week and were sad to see the last of it go(at least the chocolate).

I absolutely love the cool crisp air and am looking forward to the Holiday Season.

Pumpkins and Knives

I love fall. The crisp, cool mornings are the best. Hannah, Emily and I have been going on walks right when we get home from dropping the boys at school and enjoying the morning sun, the birds and an occasional butterfly.

Another fun fall tradition involves pumpkins and knives. We got together with our friends this year and carved. My specialty is cleaning out the seeds. Then the artists take over. Porter and Marshal did their own. Tyler helped Hannah, and Emily and I cheered them on.(see pictures)

I also love fall cooking-breads, soups and apple crisp. While I don't always love cooking, it seems that fall is definately the time when the chef in me comes out. Maybe its just that all my comfort foods are to hot to eat in the summer:)

What are your favorite fall recipies?

Porter Concerned

Porter(serious and concerned): "Mom it seems like Hannah and Emily are yours but Marshal and I aren't because we go to school."
Mom: "You'll always be my boy!"
Porter: "It just doesn't seem like I will"
Mom: "Porter, even when your a grown up man you will always be my boy-you'll just be big"
Porter: "but mom, I won't always live with you"
Mom: "Thats ok, I'll visit you and you'll visit me and we'll always see each other. I'll even come and watch your kids so you and your wife can go on a date:)


I guess that appeased his worried mind because he started giggling and gave me a big hug.

VISITORS

Ok so this is 2 weeks after the fact, but Thanks Brice and Sara! We had such a great time when you visited us. Hannah still prays for Sarah and Bricen and thought that we were going to see you at church the sunday after you left. Marshal and Porter kept telling her "Brice and Sarah went home Hannah," but when you are two it takes a little bit longer to see that your new friends are really gone.

Here are a few fun pictures from your visit. We hope this will inspire others to come and visit us.

Thank you for the ticket to ride game-we have played it a lot and the boys are getting quite good at it. I have watched Jane Eyre twice and love it too and Marshal and Porter are still fishing- caught 11 just the other day. So you see, you left a little piece of yourselves with our family that won't soon be forgotten. We love you

A bunch of pictures

Mom and Dad I promised you some pictures so here are a bunch. We love you and miss you ! The top is of Marshal and Porter doing a secret service for their Dad. They decided that they would help unload a load of wood so Tyler could take them grape picking faster. They unloaded 73 of the 200 2X4's. I was so happy because they had been fighting all day long and then like magic they were best friends working so hard together. The next is obvious-Hannah loves to hold Emily so I snapped a cute shot of them. Third is one of the many times we've had the missionaries over for dinner-but Elder Baruga was leaving and so we all took pictures. Fourth is

one of Porter and I on a Mommy son date. We went river roving and then to Scoops for ice cream. We had a great time. Last- I tried to get one of Emily standing up,not that you can tell she is standing, but this one turned out the cutest of the bunch.

This is our last week of summer-It has gone by to quick! I love having the kids home, but I do get excited to buy all their school supplies. I love new pencils and paper, books etc. Check out this little video too. Love you-

Fishing for Lunch

Today it is 91 degrees plus humidity. We went fishing at the Park, or tried to, and had a picnic. In the end,even after lessons from Tyler, we ended up with a tangled fishing line. Marshal did successfully change the reel after we ruined the first one but who knew how to tie the bobbers back on? Tyler had picnicked and returned to his troublesome trucks so we tried to figure it out ourselves. Eventually we opted to play on the slides and swings until Emily had decided it was all enough!

We did have a nice time inspite of our unsuccessful bid at fishing. Thought you would like to see some pics-

PS-Porter was not really mad he was just doing his best grumpy face.

Marshmallow Men and a Chocolate Milk Mustache

I have had such a hormonal week. Don't you hate it when everything normally minuscule becomes mammoth because its that time of the month?! Although I have been as unpredictable as the winter weather here in eastern nc I think my children have made it through the week still emotionally intact.

Porter has spent the week creating and playing with his marshmallow men. I wish I could show you a better picture of them but they are not photogenic at all . Tonight he wanted me to write their names on them in blue marker. Here is the list of names he chose: sausage, pizza, sixer,macaroni, mac, mic-mac, mac-r, sixy,sevensy, hedwig,6r,mac-mac and sausage-hot dog. I never knew giant Marshmallow's could be so endearing. So if your children are bored just pull out some Marshmallow's and a black magic marker- eyes, ears, a mouth, some hair -and a child's imagination make for hours of entertainment!

Another note. Last night I was putting Hannah to bed as the phone rang. I of course answered it. It was my sister -in-law and I started to chat as I hastily laid her in bed and said good night. As I was visiting with Sarah I noticed Hannah slip out of bed, but I didn't realize that she was headed to make herself some chocolate milk-or rather fudge in a glass. I found her

a little while later looking like she had just eaten dirt. When I started to laugh she said " That funny me do that".

Ahh the joys of being a mother....

Family News and the Fourth of July

Summer has kept us busy. Since I blogged last here is what has been going on:





Emily had another surgery and it went really well. The doctor said that her eye sizes are evening out and she doesn't think she will have to do another surgery for quite a while. Yeah! We'll still have to make our every other month visits to Duke. You know I finally have the directions memorized now and it doesn't seem like such a long drive anymore.



Hannah's vocabulary has exploded! She talks so much these days and has started singing to boot. I love to hear her sing "I am a Child of God" and "You are my sunshine". At bedtime she always says "Mommy sing me a song please" which is fun for me. She has also decided that she doesn't need naps anymore which i am not to pleased about:( but I guess they have to grow up sometime.



Porter's new favorite thing to say when I ask him to do something he doesn't really want to do is "Mom its my life". I thought that wouldn't come until he was 13. It really is kind of funny, but I have to hold a straight face, which I achieve about 90 percent of the time. On a different note, He and Tyler started turning an old lawnmower into a go-cart last saturday and that seems to be his new passion. He loves to put things together and he love to help Emily.





Marshal is of course enjoying some time away from school. We are reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows together. We have a new family in our branch and he has made good friends with Brennan a boy his age. They are enjoying spending time together which is very nice for Marsh. He also started scouts last month which he seems to enjoy so far.



On the Family front- we had such a great 4th of july weekend. Tyler had work off and we spent the day together at home in the morning, went to a birthday party, to see fireworks and watched Jurrasic Park that night. Then on Saturday we headed to GooseCreek for a picnic and to play in the water with our friends the Cutrels. The weather was warm but not humid and the water was perfect. I think the high light for me was seeing how excited Tyler got at catching little fish called manhadens with his new casting net.





I have applied for some childrens literature/writing classes and am excited to finally be taking some steps toward writing childrens books which I have wanted to do for ages. I have so many ideas churning in my head and I feel excited to move forward with them.



Hope you all had a nice weekend too!

I LOVE IT!

I love when my kids get out the pots and pans, the dry beans, a spoon and some little cups. They start spooning and dumping and filling-its such good fun. The kitchen floor gets littered with all of it and its a pain to clean up but I love it.

This morning my kitchen floor was a sea of Kidney Beans and baby food jars and little hands and feet. I started thinking about all the things that I love and it felt good just to roll them around in my mind.

I love it when Tyler comes home from work. I love the warmth of his embrace and the stir of his kiss.

I love the excitement that fills the room when Daddy's home.

I love to read something thought provoking- about life, religion, politics,the world etc.

I love bare feet in the grass

I love strawberry picking in the spring and the red faces and hands that come with it

I love the taste of ice-cold limeade(not to much sugar please) on a hot summer day.

I love to hear my house ring with my kids laughter.

I love to sit outside all by myself and listen to the wind rustle through the trees. I love the way it feels on my face and arms and feet.

I love waking up early and opening the blinds to let in the morning sunshine

I love when people ask me questions about what I believe

I love the moments when my children tell me what they are really thinking about. Its especially nice if we are sitting outside on the trampoline, but usually its at night after scriptures and prayers when all is still.

I love to move. Any mode or pace will do: walk, swim, do chores, go biking, singing and dancing around the house(most fun when the kids join in), or jumping on the trampoline. Moving is pure bliss

I love to sleep in a well made bed: cotton sheets, two pillows and a little bit of chill in the air

I guess this brings me back to the beans. I swept them up and put them in a bag. My red sea is gone, the pans are away. I think next time I'll try black turtle beans with a few lentils or split peas in the mix. Maybe the kids will create an ocean next time.

Jesse or Duke?

Yesterday morning I was roused from my early morning reading by the very loud clucking of hens. Or so I thought. It turned out to be the the clucking of a frantic rooster being chased by two dogs. I looked out the window and couldn't see anything and laid back down. I heard more frantic clucking and looked out a different window. A big black dog was circling the hen coop and then he ran up the hill and over the road. I couldn't see bigfoot the rooster and thought he had been killed.
I went to the front of the house and opened the door. I saw a mane of gold down in the ditch. The rooster had been trapped by a golden retriever under the culvert in front of our house. The dog ran to the open door and started wagging its tail. I guess he was proud of his work and wanted me to be too.
For two days we thought we might have finally found our family pet. We called the pound because we couldn't just keep him if he was really somebody else's dog. The kids fell in love with him and then.... His owner showed up at our house to claim him. We had been calling him Jesse-thanks to Porter, who named him after his friend from church.
His real name isDuke, he lives on 1200 acres of farm land. You know I think he fell in love with the kids and despite the acres of endless exploring he has on his farm, he wanted to stay with us. When his owner called for him to get in the truck he laid down and refused to move. His owner eventually had to pick him up and put him in the truck.
Maybe he will wander back, or maybe well have to get a golden retriever of our own.

Summer is on the way

I am so excited for Summer. All my kids running at my feet, reading and swimming and singing laughing, fighting , playing-- Going home to visit our family in Utah-Yeah! We are excited for a great summer this year.

Just a bit of news....

Last week Marshal was awarded top AR reader in his class. He was thrilled and is so excited to go miniature golfing with all the other top readers in the school. I think he re-told the story 10 times and I was happy to see him so happy. Apparently he has been working towards it all year but I had no idea about it. Way to go Marshal!

Porter Graduates from Pre-School this week-with graduation gowns and the whole bit. A little over the top for me, but he is excited and it is fun to see him looking forward to it. We will post pictures and maybe video-they have been working on songs for the last two months. We are proud of you Porter!

Hannah and Emily won't know what to do when everybody is home-but I'm sure they will love it. And Everybody will get to know each other better, I love that part.

I have been working like mad trying to get my house organized. I'm almost done. For those of you natural organizers out there, I wish you were here to help me. I really have to work at this stuff . But I am proud to say that after years of trying I am almost ready to claim victory on my time. I hope when it is all said and done I will only have to spend 10 minutes a day on pick up. Of course that doesn't include laundry and cooking but I think my time will open up. I will have time to-spend more one on one time with my kids, do more service with my kids, enter an essay contest I have been eyeing, read the library books I get before returning them, and start exercising. The list could go on, but I think that is a fair start.

Cheers to the happy days of Summer and a clean, organized house.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

I just wanted to say that I have the best family ever. Yesterday I was treated to a new camera from everybody. Marshal bought me a twix bar with his own money and chinese food with lots of veggies for dinner. Today I woke up to pancakes and huge hugs from my kids and a husband who didn't have any early morning meetings. Then this afternoon everybody surprised me with fresh picked flowers and a cake and I got to take a nap. I felt very appreciated,loved, and well taken care of.

One of my greatest joys is being a mother even with all the hard stuff. I am grateful to my own dear mother for all I have learned and continue to learn from her. Happy mothers day to all you wonderful mothers!

Emily's surgery-Hannah's patience and a whole lot of LOVE

Today is Friday-2 days after Emily's surgery and all is well. Probably most of you didn't even know she was going in for surgery. Apparently surgery is just going to be a part of Emily's and our lives. It is amazing how much better her little eye looks. I hadn't realized how high the pressure had gotten, even with medicine. I just thought that was how her eye would look-cloudy. Like smog in Utah.

Today we are grateful for lasers, a very skilled surgeon, and great pediatric anestisiologists. We are also grateful for friends who shared their home and family with the girls and I so we didn't have to stay in a hotel and can I tell you how wonderful Hannah was? She went through two days of doctors and hospitals with no complaint until the last hour on Wednesday at which time our friend Suzanne and her little girl Emily came to the rescue. I'm not sure they felt they were much help-but they were.

I also have to say thank you to a kind Heavenly Father for priesthood blessings. Could we live with out them? One of the great blessing of the restoration of the gospel is the comfort and guidance we recieve from these beautiful blessings. We could all feel the power in the promises given to Emily in her blessing prior to her surgery and in the many prayers offered for her from friends of all faiths.

So the prognosis? Continued surgery to control pressure from becoming painful and also to prevent one eye from outgrowing the other. What about vision? Em's doctor took pictures of the backside of her eye and I thought it was cool to finally see it in color and 3D. You know she really doesn't have optic nerves- they are just missing. She is also missing alot of vessels that you see in a normal eye. We didn't get pictures of both the eyes, because the pressure in one eye was great -so no surgery in that eye. According to the Doctor though, a picture of the other eye would show basically the same thing.

So you might ask how do we feel about all of this? You know I don't know that I have ever had a greater sense of peace about a challenge in my life. Emily has changed me forever.

I am chagrinned to admit that a few months ago my worries were so superficial. I can even remember thinking-How will our family pictures look from now on? Of course there were concerns of more substance, but most of them were grief over the common ground that would be lost between us because she would not see the world I see every day.

Over the last months though, I have felt great happiness and hope at the world I am only starting to see because of Emily. A world full of amazing people who I have the privilege of getting to know. A world of possibilities and amazing accomplishment-where vision is more than sight and where our little girl inspires good in all who see her sweet smile and feel of her incredible spirit.

Of course there are occassions where you see the pity in peoples eyes or hear the dismay in peoples words. A few months ago, I would have been one of them. I would have felt sorry for a little girl without vision and parents who would be burdened by this for the rest of their lives. In my heart I would have been so relieved that it was not my burden to carry.

Today, I consider this challenge a huge blessing. Even a wonderful blessing we have been given to learn that the Lord truly sees not as we see and that he is aware of all his precious children. I know all will be well. I am confident that there will be difficulties of one sort or the other, but I know the Lord will sustain us and we will be better because of them.

Oh sweet Emily we love you! We are so grateful for you and all you add to our lives:)

Big Foot and Boots

This morning I decided to tackle my biggest fear-as of late. Big Foot our very large rooster has figured out how to get out of his pen. Today I had the brilliant idea that my -used to be- hiking boots would be excellent protection against him. Tyler and the boys don't seem to share my fear by the way- but oh how my adrenaline starts pumping when Big Foot starts to run toward me.

This morning I had had it with not being able to even feed the chickens with out fear of this red and golden beast so I donned my boots and held a large stick in my hand. I tried to lure Big Foot to the front of the yard with food and then sneak around the garage to get to his harem at the back.But alas, protecting his hens seemed more important even than food. He started to run toward me, you really can't believe how fast a chicken can run. I kept repeating my "put him on the defense"mantra that Tyler preaches and I launched my stick at him. He kept coming so I picked up a brick and threw it too. He stopped momentarily so I quickly dumped the food in the hen pen and picked up the rake for the journey back to the entrance of my safe haven.

I didn't even get a chance to use my would be rooster boots but maybe tomorrow. What am I going to do when Tyler decides he wants a bull? We have definately got to get a dog!

Baptism and Confirmation

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Yesterday Marshal was baptized and today confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We are so happy for him and so proud of the choice he made. His Baptismal service was lovely. He was well supported by his Branch Family and we were thrilled that his teachers from school came too. In his journal he wrote " I was baptized today, the water was cold. I have the Gift of the Holy Ghost. All my sins have been washed away. I am eight. " Marshal we love you ! What a wonderful blessing you are in our family !

Gathering Turtles for Marshal's Birthday party turtle race.
Its kind of Redneck but we do have the liberty to do this since we live in the South.

Spring

I just loved all these pictures. What cute kids we have! No, Marshal and Porter don't live with the chickens, but they might if we would let them. The picture of Hannah is a classic. She idolizes her brothers and this particular day she needed to wear Marshals soccer shirt and baseball hat. I thought she looked so cute I snapped a picture.

As for the chickens, Tyler and the boys finished the chicken run and I am so glad. I can be in the yard without the fear that Big Foot-our very large rooster, will attack me or the girls. Lastly the picture of us on the bench was really more for the beautiful tulips behind us than for a shot of us. We have all loved these yellow and red tulips this spring. Cheers to warm spring days, bare feet and a sweet southern breeze that reminds you rain is never to far away.

Emily

We just wanted you all to see this sweet smile.