Four Generations

It's getting to be THAT time of year again.  The time when our normally busy, but somewhat manageable schedule goes LOCO!  We've been doing end of year testing (required by Virginia law even for homeschool!), having planning meetings for next year, planning girls' camp crafts again, collecting youth conference registration forms, picking up Spencer from JMU, preparing for giving a talk in sacrament meeting this Sunday, going to a memorial service for a beloved former teacher of Adam's, and eating up the couple of days that my parents were in town.

All this extra stuff going on in addition to my normal running kids all over creation for 2+ hours a day  means that my own home has become a mere stopping place in the endless merry-go-round that my life has become.    I've spent no more than a couple of waking hours home each day of the last two weeks.

Tomorrow has the potential to be the first normal day in a while (except for the 4:00am drive to the school to drop Emma off on her field trip, the mommy-daughter activity day activity with Ellie in the evening,  and the extra chauffeuring duties I have in the afternoon), but all in all I am very much looking forward to some good old fashioned bonding time with washing machine again...at least for a few hours!

So I sit here tonight, eyes drooping with sleepiness, and the responsible side of me thinks I should be trying to dig out of the pile that my house has become or work on my talk or something, but instead I forgo sleep and sensibility and am writing this blog post instead.    I was worried that I would forget and let these precious pictures get buried into my computer files.  After all, it's only a few times a year that we see my parents and even less often that we see my last living grandparent, Nana Crain!  Four generations together is definitely worth staying up to commemorate!

 I had to share their visit with my two brothers and their families, so all in all we spent less than 24-hours together.   Luckily the weather was lovely,  and we took our lunch from Plaka (a greek restaurant) and headed to the park.

Ellie so loved seeing her grandparents and great-grandma again and I do have to say that I think she bonded with all three of them while they were here.  

Luckily my sister, AnnaLisa, lives close to me, so she  got to share in our time with them.

Adam's a little shyer about jumping into pictures, but I love how this one of Nana and them turned out!

My dad recently had knee replacement surgery and was hobbling around a bit while he was here, but that didn't stop him from being Silly Grandpa still!

I can't believe how tall Adam looks next to my mom in this picture!

Right after lunch they drove to Maryland to spend a day with my brother Matt and his family.  We loved having them visit and hope that they will be able to come again soon! 

At first I thought that we wore Ellie out with fun.  Turns out though, her fever (after the poor reaction to her medication) had returned.  The poor girl has now been spiking low fevers almost every day for about three weeks now.  Most of the time she acts pretty normal, but collapses once it hits 100º every few days (like in this picture).

Safe to say, she will never be trying that medication again!


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Mormon Prom

So some of you non-Mormons out there are probably wondering what Mormon prom is and why is it such a big deal. It's a HUGE production that took dozens and dozens of people thousands of hours of work to put on.  My friend Cindy was the director of it and she has been working on it well over a year....all voluntarily and without pay.   The end results were absolutely phenomenal and after all the hours and hours of work, it really was the "Dance of the Decades."   

The entire church was transformed into a breathtaking walk through time and nearly 700 juniors and seniors from the surrounding 6 (or maybe 8) stakes showed up to participate in a magical night of good clean fun.   There was no drinking, no dirty dancing, no skanky clothing, and no offensive song lyrics.  It was simply a night when a big group of youth seeking to live with high moral standards could enjoy an evening together.   

The 1950's room bedecked as an old-school diner was one of  my favorite rooms.  My friends Ellen and Kylee designed this room and the details they put into it were mind boggling to me.  I can barely even decorate my own house...in fact I still haven't decorated months after our renovations ended...and together, they transformed our very vanilla YW room into an amazing step back in time to the 50's.  

Even the waiters and waitresses (which included three of my beautiful young women and a good friend of Adam's) looked like they stepped right out of an episode of "Leave it to Beaver".

The 1970's room, designed by my friend Linda, was another one of my favorite rooms. It had a  lava lamp lounge and an almost life-size VW bus for people to pose in!

Of course the room I related to the most was the 1980's room!  I felt right at home with the familiar movie posters, the Super Mario cut-outs, and 80's vernacular hanging around the room!  I daresay I also would have done much better on the 80's quiz that Cami said she failed miserably at.

It was a whole lot of effort put on by a whole lot of people, but it was worth every second of it for these wonderful youth! 

Last, but not least,  the reason why you're here in the first place....Cami's prom pictures.  She and her date, Matt, are good friends who have been in the same seminary class for the last three years.

 Cami originally forgot the boutonniere at home, so I had to make a mad dash home so we could get the proper picture of her pinning it on him.  It turned out to be one of my favorite pictures of the night.

Sadly Cami proved no less forgetful with the corsage he gave her. Shortly before taking off for dinner she took it off to wash her hands and forgot it on a friend's counter, so she went flowerless for all of about 30 minutes of the night. 

It's too bad too, since the ribbon matched Cami's necklace perfectly! 

Here are all the young gentlemen in their group...

Graham, Matt, Cole, Frank, Sam, Jesse

and the beautiful young ladies!    I seriously don't think they could have been any more gorgeous!

Faerlan, Maddie, Katy, Cami, Hannah, Jordann

Here are a few more pictures that I liked from the night!

Mental note for next year...before taking a group photo like this I will make sure that all the girls have their corsages on the same wrist!

I love how this one of Katy and Frank turned out.  They are seriously adorable! 

I take partial credit for the cute chalkboard in this group photo!  I saw a prom picture online that I liked with the chalkboard, so Cami grabbed hers off her wall and made it look cute!  I personally liked the fun touch it added.  

And here is one last glimpse at a few more of my beautiful young women... 

(NOTE:  a few of these pictures were taken by Bro. Nielson)!

Kate and Mary Kate

Meagan and Sarah

Cami, Ashley, Katy

Maddie, Faerlan -- Maddie, Hannah

I only donated a paltry couple hours of hanging up balloons and that token glimpse I got at the efforts that went into this night, made me all the more grateful for all those who sacrificed and worked for so long to make this happen.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  

And thank goodness that it's another 6 years before it's our stake's turn to host again!   

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NOTE:  The pictures of the decorations at the beginning of this post were taken by either Bruce or Ellen. 

Also a few of the pictures of the young women and their dates were taken by Bruce, since they did not end up in the same group as Cami.

Birthday Boy!

Nineteen years ago today this cute little guy made me a mother...

And it's basically been one big nonstop adventure since!

In honor of his nineteenth birthday, here are nineteen random facts that you may or may not already know about him (and a few that he may not want you to know):

1.  He is a bacon aficionado and only likes his bacon cooked the one "right way", which is dipped in a mixture of flour and sugar and slow cooked over the griddle until just barely crisp.   He will take over the job from anyone he deems as doing it incorrectly.

2.  He is the most injured of all our children.  He's had stitches, staples, and two broken bones (a finger and a toe).   With three broken bones in my life (collar bone, leg, and toe), I am the only one who is anywhere close to him on the injury list.

3. Also, between his three surgeries, bout with leukemia, five months of hospitalization, allergies to numerous medications, and natural teasing personality he's caused more tears than the rest of the kids combined....times 100.

4.  He wore only jeans and t-shirts (no collars) through early elementary school, then switched over to only t-shirts and athletic shorts which he wore most of the way through high school. When he went to college he suddenly decided it was time to develop a real sense of fashion and now wears only name brand shirts and slacks.

5.  He is the pickiest eater in our family.  He would much prefer a sandwich and plain old spaghetti than many of the crazy new recipes I try.

6. He is a cheese connoisseur and if a dish has cheese in it he probably likes it.  When he is home, you can usually find at least 5-6 different kinds of cheese in our fridge at any given time.  His favorite is smoked gouda.

7.  He has a gift with words.  He has always been good at getting his point across either on paper or orally and much to Cami's jealousy, he can whip out excellent academic essays with little effort.

8. He's not much of a sweets guy, but if  you want to get on his good side, a batch of peanut butter bars could never hurt your cause.

9.  He recently updated his FB status to say that he was "In a Relationship"!  :)

10. He is pretty even-keeled.

11.  Most of the way through high school he considered matching socks to be an unpleasant and unnecessary task.

12. Speaking of which, organization in any manner is not his strong suit.

13. He is very sweet with young children and loves nothing more than to make them smile.

14.  His soft spot for young children aside, that affection does not mean that he shows any mercy to them when playing board games.

15.  For as much as he shunned the spotlight through most of his childhood, he was a surprisingly good sport about the extreme spotlight he had on him when he was sick.  He now is much more moderate when it comes to attention--he still doesn't seek it, but he also doesn't shun it anymore either.

16.  Deep down inside he is a book worm.  When he was in elementary school he'd read 1-2 chapter books a day and we'd have set rules so he wouldn't read all day and all night and get nothing else done.

17.  Speaking of books, his favorite authors are Orson Scott Card and Nicholas Sparks.  For anyone unfamiliar with those authors, the first is the science fiction author who wrote Enders' Game, the latter is an author who specializes in tragic love stories that get made into movies.  His titles include, "The Notebook," "Safe Haven,"  and "A Walk to Remember".

18. He can play the clarinet and piano, but most likely wouldn't ever admit to it.

19. He has a love-hate relationship with this blog.  On the one hand, he hates it because it sometimes shines the spotlight on him, on the other hand, he's told me  that he has many friends (mostly of the female persuasion) that read it regularly...a fact which I don't think bothers him greatly.  :)

 
We love Spencer and look forward to him coming home for the summer next week.  I'm already stocking up on cheese and bacon.  :)

Happy birthday, Spence!  We love you!



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On a completely different note...check out this picture of our neighborhood creek this afternoon:

It normally has about 6-inches of water in it and you would not even be able to see the water from this distance and angle on a normal day.

Luckily it's supposed to be beautiful for the rest of the week....just in time for my mom and dad to arrive into town tomorrow for my twin nieces' baptisms this weekend!

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Things that Matter

*The birth of sweet new babies.     *A sick grandparent on their deathbed.  

*A wedding of a daughter.     *A teenage cancer friend who passed away tonight.

*A friend who lost a young daughter to AML a few months ago and now faces a terminal illness in her husband.   

All of these are things that friends of mine are experiencing right now---in the last 24 hours-- 

and my heart is caught in this swirl of conflicting emotions of joy and heartbreak.

I grin at the pictures of the chubby cheeked  newborn babies in the arms of their beaming parents and yet in the same moment cry tears of sadness for the friend who said goodbye to her sweet daughter tonight and another friend who prepares to say goodbye to her father-in-law. 

The mother in me longs to make everything all better for everyone, just like when I could kiss my toddlers' booboos and magically make their troubles go away.    Yet I know that against the crushing tide of grief, that my efforts alone will never be more than a mere bandaid on a gushing wound.   I  reach out in comfort, pray for them, and seek to relieve their suffering the best I can, but ultimately the peace that they long for has to come from within the chambers of their own heart....from God.   

For God is the healer who can heal all wounds.    

All of these happenings have led me to ponder on  the ups and downs that life brings each of us and  yearn to hold onto those ups  better and stop dwelling on the downs.  I want to learn to not only recognize better the beauty in the simple moments that can often go unnoticed in a day,  but also to cultivate in my heart a greater capacity to savor those moments.  

  

 To rejoice with my daughter as a cute guy in her seminary class asks her to Mormon Prom. 

To soak in the sun rays and truly enjoy the beauty of a glorious spring day.

To savor Ellie's joy at finally being able to  ride a bike without fear of what will happen if she has a seizure.  (she will stop pedaling, but not fall off or swerve into the street)

To let my heart soar in the realization that my kids truly enjoy being together.

And to watch with delight as Cami rallies the entire family, plus a few friends, to give them some  lacrosse pointers!

This picture reminds me of the quote Ellie wrote in her notebook a few weeks ago:

"By ourselves we are strong.  Together, with God, we are unstoppable."

 I'm too tired to feel unstoppable most days, but I like to think that sagging energy and all, that with  a renewed focus on my relationship with God and the things in life that matter most, that I can keep moving forward and making a difference

... one day at a time. 

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“ ...we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most. Let us simplify our lives a little. Let us make the changes necessary to refocus our lives on the sublime beauty of the simple, humble path of Christian discipleship—the path that leads always toward a life of meaning, gladness, and peace.”                                                             —Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Almost Perfect Date

This has been "MY"special movie clip since the moment a family member heard it uttered on the big screen fourteen years ago and called me as soon as the show was over to tell me that I'd been born on the "perfect date".

For years I've referred to it and quoted it every April 25th and very few people have had a clue what I was talking about.

This year, though, I've seen this picture in several places on Facebook and Cami says it's all over Twitter today too.   Finally non-April-25th-ers are starting to discover what the perfect date is as well!

....too bad Ellie didn't get that memo, though!

Poor Ellie developed a high fever and a rash on Tuesday--symptoms which put her neurologist on high alarm about her new anti-seizure medication (Lamotrigine).

We immediately stopped giving her the medication and kept the neurologist updated about how she was doing.  When she didn't improve and the rash continued to spread, on  Thursday afternoon we were told to bring her to the emergency room.    There the doctors determined that her symptoms did NOT fit with the scary things that they were worried about and sent us home after a few hours.

There is still one more minor issue that needs follow-up, but after yet another trip to the pediatrician today,  it was declared that as things stand right now she doesn't need to come back to the doctor's office again until next Friday unless something changes.    Today she still has the fever and the rash, but  she seemed to be feeling just a tad more chipper and I was happy to have her accompany me for a post-doctor visit birthday lunch.

Then after spending the afternoon and evening in very normal fashion, which means hours in the car toting kids all over town, Glen and I went out for a birthday dinner and  came home to this beautiful cake made by Emma and an edible fruit bouquet from  my sisters.  All in all, it was a quiet, albeit busy way to ring in my birthday and I'm thankful to celebrate a new year of life...even if half my family did have to be reminded that today was the day. :)

Now that the perfect date is almost over and my Facebook notification bonanza is about to come to an abrupt end, I will take advantage of an already started blogpost and throw in a few more pictures from Spring Break.

This was a path we found that wound just off the beach in Kiptokeke State Park.

There was not another soul on the trails that day and we enjoyed the quiet, peacefulness we found...

The kids toted their seashells with them throughout the entire walk...

and in general we all just enjoyed the opportunity to be outside...

and enjoy the freshness and togetherness of a cool spring day.