May and Attempt at Haiku

What is there to say,

when the month of May

has slipped away?

It finally felt like spring,

flowers bloomed, the grass turned green

and once we saw a tornado.

The days grew longer,

we played outdoors

and ate on our new picnic table.

The last soccer game was played,

Daddy had a birthday.

Time flies when you're having fun!

The 3 Nephites Story

I have been horrible at keeping up with the blog lately. I just haven't had much of a break or been able to produce intelligent writing lately. Updating my profile on Facebook has been so much easier than writing a blog entry. Sorry about that. A few notable things have happened. But first, let me share this quote by President Henry B. Eyring:

My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done. ”

The other day, I decided that I wanted to get out of the house. The kids have been sick with colds for a while and I had just gotten the "ok" from the Dr. to venture out and be around other people again. There was a playgroup meeting at the church and I also had some obligations to visit teach with some of the gals at the group. It had snowed the day before and had continued through the night and some in the morning. I couldn’t see much outside because of the way the wind blows the snow on all of our windows. That should have been my first clue. When I let Eddie outside to relieve himself, I noticed the snow drifts along our back fence were almost as tall as the fence, and in other parts of the yard I could see grass. That should’ve been my second clue.

So, I dressed the kids, warmed up the car, swept the snow off with a broom, then scraped the ice off, shoveled a path to the car and went back inside the house to get the kids. During this time, my hair had frozen into icicles. By this time, after all the work I had done to get to the playgroup, I was determined to go. I loaded the kids in and pulled out of the driveway. It didn’t look so bad on the roads, though visibility was poor due to the snow blowing everywhere. I made it to the end of the road to turn right, but…I drove the car right into a snowdrift, which wasn’t off to the side of the road but instead was right in my lane. Feeling a bit shocked and foolish at this point, I step out of the car to access the situation. I definitely needed to shovel my way out, but I didn’t want to run back to my house to get the snow shovel with the blowing snow, snow drifts and icy roads, and leave my car with all my kids in it. I went back into the car and decided to say a prayer because I needed help. After I finished praying, I looked in my rearview mirror and something caught my eye. It was a truck. In all my time outside shoveling and stuck in the snow, I hadn’t seen one car at all and then all of the sudden one was there right after my prayer. Out of the truck stepped three large men and they had snow shovels. Coincidence? I think not.

Okay, so it wasn’t the 3 Nephites. They were my neighbors, but I definitely believe that these men were an answer to my prayer. As foolish and stubborn as I was to venture out into very bad driving conditions, Heavenly Father inspired three men to get in their truck to get milk at the grocery store at that very moment. Why did three men have to go to the store to get milk and why did they have snow shovels with them? Well, they must be used to these weather conditions and must have known that they might need to use the shovels. But, they probably didn’t realize that they’d have to use it on some Wyoming weather rookie a few hundred feet away from their homes. I’m just grateful that Heavenly Father answers prayers even when we’re being a little reckless and stubborn.

Snow in September

Okay, so it really didn't snow here, but it did snow this weekend in Montana. What a way to start September, huh? This weekend, my parents drove up and spent Labor Day weekend with us. We've been telling our family for a long time that this is our last summer here, so if they want to see Glacier and Yellowstone, this is the time to do it. So, my parents came at the end of the summer, literally. When they showed up, we were enjoying 85 degree weather. When they left, they drove home through 8 inches of snow on the pass. Luckily, we were able to go to Glacier before it snowed. It was short-lived but we were able to drive on Going-to-the-Sun road. It really is as beautiful as I've heard it was. The only regret about this weekend was that my dad was not able to take Jaren fishing for the first time. The weather and a few other things conspired against us preventing us from enjoying the weekend to the fullest. But, we had a great time and as usual, Jaren and Eddie were the most bummed when my parents drove away.

So now that I've caught you up with the weekend, let me fill you in on a few other recent developments. Dallin finished his treatment of cranial molding two days ago. He wore his helmet for four months and it has made a lot of difference. The only unfortunate consequence of wearing a helmet for that long is that Dallin is so used to it being there, he is constantly getting bumps, scratches and bruises all over his head. In fact, this evening he fell down the stairs. I always thought that if he fell down the stairs it wouldn't be so bad because he was wearing a helmet. Well, wouldn't you know it, he never did fall down the stairs until tonight.

Jaren started preschool today. He was so excited to start and hopefully still is excited about preschool. Unfortunately, when George picked him up today he said he had been a bad boy and was hurt in his eye. I hope that doesn't mean he got into a fight with another kid, but I'm thinking he did. He's a small kid but he also stands his ground. He's been known to "stand up" for himself at church when other kids have tried to take away his toys. We'll have to work on some of that behavior.

Finally, some sad news for George and I. Last week, George and I found out that I would be having another miscarriage. We didn't announce that we were pregnant again because it was so soon after my first miscarriage (I miscarried June 19 and was 1o weeks pregnant on Sunday-can you do the math?). I began miscarrying yesterday, so we're off to a really great start in September aren't we? Well, to be honest, even though having two miscarriages in a row really isn't that great, I feel comforted in knowing that Heavenly Father has a plan for George and I. I have been humbled several times recently and though some might doubt Heavenly Father's love for me in having me suffer through these, I have felt sustained in my trials and have grown closer to Him as I pray more fervently than I would have if I didn't have trials. I guess I'm one of those people who need a reminder every now and then to keep me humble and prayerful. Anyway, I just wanted to share a few things and let you know that we are doing fine. Life is still good and everything will work out just the way it's supposed to.

Oh and on another side note, George is leaving next week for six weeks. Anyone feel like visiting?

Our Carnivorous Snowman

Jaren and Frosty

I'm a little behind and should have posted this photo last week. It was taken on April 24. The snow was beginning to melt from the big snow storm we had a few days before and Jaren was very persistent that we build a snowman. So, he and I rolled up some snow at 7:00 o'clock at night, placed a few rocks and a carrot here and there and wallah...we had ourselves a snowman...almost. We couldn't figure out what to do for his mouth, so I thought it would be a good idea to grab some food coloring. I carved out a little space for the mouth so the food coloring would be contained and this is the result. I should've taken pictures the next day. It was awful! Frosty had dribbled all over his front. It really looked like he had eaten one of the squirrels that like to frequent our yard and forgotten to wipe his face and chest. I was helping out a friend the next day and when she came in, she said "Cute snowman". I was like "Oh yeah, thanks. Jaren and I made it yesterday", not knowing how rabid Frosty then appeared. Maybe next year (I'm praying it won't snow again this spring) we'll do something different about that mouth!

Bizarre Weather

Jaren waist deep in the snow.

His poor bike nearly buried.

And George's car nearly buried as well.

Jaren and George shoveling the driveway.

I did not believe George Thursday last week when he told me he had heard we would have the worst snowfall of the year this last weekend. When we woke up Saturday morning, we both scoffed at the weatherman because it had not snowed yet. Sure, it was cold, but snow...nah. We were going to luck out and just get the cold weather. Since we are both training to run a half-marathon in June, I was going to run 10 miles outside after breakfast Saturday morning. George encouraged me to run at the fitness center, so after contemplating running in the cold and running in the warm indoors, I followed his advice. I am so glad I did. When I finished my workout, it was freezing and the snow was coming down fast and blowing everywhere. It then continued to snow until Sunday morning. These pictures are of George and Jaren as they are trying to clear a path for us to drive to church. All of our meetings at church were cancelled except for sacrament and even then, the ward was about 1/3 the size it normally is and that it saying quite a bit! For a native Washingtonian, this is so bizarre!