Quote for the Day

"The gospel is ALWAYS the answer, whatever the question."

~ Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Hoppy Easter

This last Sunday we had a really good Easter.  Jarom and I both gave talks on the Savior, and they seemed to go well.  After church we had a treasure hunt for their Easter baskets, which was a lot of fun as they ran around, trying to figure out the clues.

I was hoping  that it would cover the whole "Easter egg hunt" thing, since we had not participated in one anywhere else, but it was not to be.  So after letting my mom-guilt get the better of me, I dug out the food coloring, and we had a great time.  I even hid the eggs around the house, but since we had only colored a dozen eggs, it was the quickest Easter egg hunt ever.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the kids with their baskets, or coloring eggs, or finding them!  I'm really kind of ticked at myself, because I have a hard time remembering things that aren't captured in a visual medium of some kind.  'Cause they were having a lot of fun and looking cute while doing it!

However, it wasn't a total wash, because I did at least have the presence of mind to grab the camera while the kids were blowing bubbles that they had gotten in Primary.  And we'll just pretend that you don't notice that Jarom's shirt is completely unbuttoned, or that Taran was wearing dress-ups for her clothes all day. 

Please don't judge me.

:o)

Pictures Just for Emily

My cousin Emily asked for some pictures of us, and I love her like a sister, so I would do whatever she asked, even if it was something actually hard.  Oh, and all the rest of you can look too.  :o)

How cute is this kid?

Feeding the ducks at Shelley Lake   (The experimental bread sure came in handy!)

The daredevil of the playground

Having our picnic

Tired out at the Zoo

Enjoying the alligators!

Stomach Flu, Part II

Just to update ya'll (not that I think you're hanging on every word, in need of an update, but mostly to keep myself accountable to. . .myself) when I weighed in after the sickness saga, I was 148.5, so I had gone up, but not as much as I was afraid of.  And I was still in the 140's so I was thrilled.

I have been very busy the last couple of weeks, and feel totally behind in the making bread/doing laundry/cleaning bathrooms kind of way, but the reason I feel behind is a good one, or so I keep telling myself.  My kids have been tracked out since April 1st, and since I was such a sluggard about doing things in January, I was determined not to let this opportunity pass by.

So far we have gone to the children's museum (they have a really great one in Raleigh), got tons of books at the Library, fed the ducks and had a picnic at the park, and Jarom went to his first Cub scouts Camporee.  Then Jeff took the day off work and we spent all day at the Zoo (which is a 6 mile walking trail--whose idea was that!?), and yesterday we went to Monkey Joe's, an inflatable jumping place that I got a great "Groupon" for a couple of months ago.

Taran and Ben have colds, so today I wussed out and let Kelcey stay home from preschool so that I could make bread and catch up on the aforementioned laundry.  Yet another check mark in my best-mother-ever-scorecard. 

My sister Sue and Dave are coming next week to stay with us on their way up to Illinois (yay!) and we're planning a cook-out, plus a trip to the Dinosaur museum, and a movie night, while they're here. 

Maybe I'll get real motivated and put some pictures up so you can see all the fun, but I doubt it.  Although if my mom actually reads my blog and asks, I probably would.  :o)   In the meantime, you'll just have to take my word for it--just LOTS of fun!

"I'm just one good stomach flu away from my ideal weight!"

Well, this last week I had the most wonderful and fantastic experience of food poisoning, brought on by my REALLY stupid (so, so, stupid!!) OCD need to not waste anything.  I am fairly embarrassed by the whole thing, but my desire to be scrupulously honest requires me to tell you that I ate a quesadilla that had been sitting, forgotten, in the microwave overnight, but I figured that if I nuked it long enough, all the bacteria would be killed off, and I would be fine.  That was SO not the case. 

This was the sickest that I have been in years, and let me tell you, it was miserable.  I was nauseous (Websters backs me up, Sue!) when I went to bed, and I started throwing up at 1:45 am (interestingly, after dreaming about throwing up because I felt so gross it was almost {almost!} a relief), again at 3:00 am, and was praying to throw up the rest of the night.  And in the morning it was horror at both ends.  I won't go into any more detail than that, but I'm sure it's already TMI.

Poor Jeff had to stay home from work to take care of the two little ones, because I was completely and utterly useless.  Aside from the aforementioned running to the bathroom to take care of particular needs, I stayed in bed almost all day, in various states of consciousness. 

I finally got up around 12:30 pm and made the heroic effort of eating 3 saltine crackers, followed by the equally daring decision to take a shower.   However, that was apparently too much for my system, because that 45 minutes of mobility exhausted me so much that I when I got out of the shower I couldn't even get dressed, and just crawled beneath the sheets to sleep for another 2 1/2 hours.  Pathetic.

It really was a 24 hour bug, because I still felt sick for the rest of the day, even when I went to sleep, but in the morning I had slept all night, and felt so much better by comparison (albeit a little weak), that it was like resurrection morning.

So, here's the thing: Friday is my weigh-in day for Weight Watchers, and this time I was 147.5.  But I don't know how to feel about it.  Sure, I'm back in the 140's, which is fantastic, but it's not real since my body got rid of basically everything that I ate on Wednesday, and Thursday I just had saltines.  So, we'll see what happens next Friday.  I am determined not to freak out if I go up again, but maybe, just maybe, I might stay the same? 

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering, the post title is a quote from "The Devil Wears Prada," where the shallow assistant chick is bemoaning her lack of fitting into size zero clothes, or something like that.

Oh, well, whatever.  But the real moral of the story?  You're probably all much too smart, and much too careful, and, frankly, much too clean, to ever do what I did, but I'll say it anyway: If something has been out all night, no matter what it is, no matter if you feel guilty, THROW IT AWAY!!!! 

It's just not worth it.

Double the c, double the s, and you will always have "success"

Finally!  I have figured out a bread recipe that works!  Every time!  Ok, two weeks in a row...but still!  It works with my kitchenaid, and it works with our humidity and sea level altitude, it raises nice and high, and most of all, the texture is perfect for sandwiches and toast.  Woo hoo!!!!

P.S. On a totally unrelated note, 150.0!!!  I'm almost back to the 140's, which I had practically given up hope on.  And I'm fitting into my skinny jeans!!  I was actually able to pull my box of pre-pregnancy clothes out of the attic and go "shopping" for a practically new wardrobe! Can I hear another woo hoo!!!!

Dear Grandpa

My Grandfather Barrus died this last week, on Tuesday, March 15th.  I was lucky enough to be able to go out to the funeral, and stay with my mom and dad for a couple of days.  My Grandpa's an amazing person, and I don't even have enough room to go into all that he's done and all that he has said that is so important to me. 

A little while before he passed away, my mom asked me to write him a letter, talking about my memories, and saying goodbye, essentially, so I thought I would post it for ya'll to read and remember Grandpa too.

Dear Grandpa,

There are so many memories of you as I go through them in my mind. Some of my earliest (and best) memories are from when I was a child and we made our annual pilgrimages to your home. “Going to Utah,” was more than just a vacation; it was something magical, and bordering on the realm of fantasy.

I always knew that I was really, truly, at Grandpa’s house because of the exquisite scent of the summer night that greeted me as we would step out of the car after our long drive onto the warm concrete of your driveway.

I remember that you were always such a warm and calming presence—of course, maybe not when Adam and I made mud pies in your garden, but on the whole, your whole personality bespoke peace.

I remember your garden and the cool grass under my feet as I would walk from the house to my climbing tree, enjoying the beauty that surrounded me. I remember hiding under the bottom of the stairs, and creating a whole world for myself—until we had to put the cushions back on the sea o' couch, at least. I remember how much I loved going to church in your ward, and the novelty of having a church so close that we could walk to it.

Later, when there were too many of us to gather in Utah all at the same time and you would “make the rounds,” to visit all of us in turn, I was always so excited to get to spend some special time with you. As I got older, I remember you coming for various baptisms, or whatnot, and knowing we were lucky because you would stay at our house.

I remember one time in particular, during the winter, that it snowed so much that school was canceled, but you and mom had decided that we were going to go “mall walking”—my first foray into that brave new world. I remember sitting in the back seat of your car as you drove through the drifts, feeling proud that my grandpa was not only brave enough to drive in the snow, but cool enough to want to go to the mall. :o)

And when I was going to BYU, I knew that when things got just too hard or too crazy, that I was always welcome to come up to Bountiful and refresh myself in the calm and peaceful Spirit that was the overwhelming feeling and tone in your home. As I remember these times that I have spent in your company, I now recognize that it was your devotion to the gospel and the Savior that always made being with you, and in your home, such a special event.

I appreciate the example that I have seen in your life, and the testimonies that you have borne, especially at our family reunions. I remember in particular when you talked to all of the grandkids at the reunion outside of Zion National Park, about the importance of a temple marriage, that everyone so far in our family had been married in the temple, and how you truly hoped that we would each make the decision to get married there, and only there.

I had always planned on being married in the temple, but hearing how many generations of our family had done that, and how you hoped that we wouldn’t “break the chain,” so to speak, really helped me renew my resolve. That was a big deal for me, especially since I was going to be dealing with that fairly soon at that time in my life.

It has been such a strengthening influence to be able to look at your life and know that I could always depend on you to do the righteous thing, give inspired counsel, and follow the Savior, no matter what. I know that your example has helped my mom become who she is.

My dad has mentioned that it was your example, after they got married, that helped him know the kind of father and man that he could become. So you have helped the two most wonderful and influential people in my life be more of who they wanted to be, which has, in turn, helped me be more of who I want to be—Jeff too, as a matter of fact. I think that is the thing that I am most grateful for, out of everything. Your influence has been, and will continue to be, felt through the generations.

I love that you have always been such a lover of theater, and an example of high standards of entertainment.

I love that you took the time one summer while I was visiting from BYU to show me Grandma’s grave, even though it might have been painful.

I love that when I was going to BYU that you always made me feel welcome, and that I could visit any time, bringing various friends and roommates, so that I had a home away from home. Even though, as I look back on it, it was probably only rarely as convenient as you made me feel it was.

I love that you came to events that were important to me and supported me. When I was in a choral concert at BYU, not one of my roommates made the effort to attend, but you and Grandma Flora drove down to be in the audience, and even took me out to ice cream afterwards. That made such an impact on me, and I am so grateful that you took the time to do that.

I love that you have always been such a fantastic example of serving in the church, that you made going on missions as a couple so much the norm that I almost can’t remember how many you’ve been on. (Four!) Seeing how much you wanted to go on missions, and how much you enjoyed sharing the gospel, however you could, really helped inspire me to go on my own mission.

I love that you’ve also been such a standard of righteousness that I knew that if I could be reasonably sure that you would be proud of me, that I was doing the right thing.

And I love that you’ve been an example of righteousness, so that I knew that if Grandpa thought that something was good, it was, and if he had doubts about something, then it wasn’t.

I love that when I would come to your house that you really wanted to hear about my silly life, and my silly struggles, and that you were so encouraging.

I absolutely love that you always remembered not only my birthday, but Jeff’s birthday, and each of my children’s birthday. I am floored that you even remembered Taran’s (and Benajmin's) birthday last week, with all that is going on for you personally.

And I really, really, really loved that you took the time to write in my cards that you were proud of me, and that you thought I was doing a good job as a mother in Zion. That really means so much to me, and it always made me feel better about myself, and the job I was trying to do.

Thank you for giving me such a wonderful mom, that you and Grandma taught her to be faithful in the gospel, so that she could teach me, and I could teach my children.

Thank you for your testimony of the gospel, and your courage in sharing what you knew your family needed to hear—in the family letters, talking in person, and by your example.

Thank you for being a true patriarch of our family, and giving me and my family a gospel legacy that we will always lean on.

Thank you again for your testimony. Thank you for being prepared so that I know that it’s going to be ok. I promise to do my best to make sure that there are no empty chairs.

I love you, Grandpa.