Merry Christmas

Day 25: Christmas

Christmas morning- no matter how stressful the rest of the season is, always seems to be happy, calm and full of JOY for me. I love seeing the kids faces when they see the tree. I love seeing them open something that they really wanted.

Amanda Favorite Moment: Opening my very first temple dress. I have been wearing one that my mother in law loaned me the day I took out my endowments our whole married life. I got married in it even- which I will always cherish- but having my own beautiful, new, white dress that my husband picked out especially for me means more to me than anything in this world. I bawled. Jeff knows me better than I know myself. He also picked out a new perfume scent for me to wear- which may seem insignificant, but I have been wearing other people's scents my whole life. First one that my mother always wore and that a date once told me made me smell like an old lady. Then one that a boy friend bought me because he loved how it smelled on his old girlfriend. Then one that was very popular at the time and everyone wore and told I should wear. Now I have my own- scent that is unique to me- that no one has smelled on someone else- at least not yet. That I hope will remind my husband of me forever. The sense of scent is so important to me and I attach scents to memories and important times in my life and so this is something that I will always remember.

Ashtyn: Everything- she was very happy with all that she received and gave this season.

Whitney: Holding my new fur real monkey chimp- that hugs me back.

Ethan: Mr. Potato Head- he begged and begged for all sorts of Lego sets and has built each one over and over and loved them- but he has become very found of a certain spud with removable features that he likes to put upside down.

This year may end up being our last year of true believing. Ashtyn is starting to ask all kinds of questions and you can see that she is starting to see too many coincidences. Like this year when she noticed that Santa's handwriting looks exactly like dads...hmm?? But like they say in the Polar Express..."Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see."

Christmas Advent Close

Day 19: Christmas Breakfast at Little America- This is a tradition in Jeff's family. We love it and it is the best meal we have all year. This year however, found me at home with a sick little Whitney while Jeff and the other kids feasted on the goodness.

Day 20: Had to cancel our red and green dinner tonight because of illness. The kids watched a Christmas movie in our bed.

Day 21: Red and Green Dinner. We invited Jeff's cousin and his family to dinner tonight to enjoy foods in red and green. We had Chicken Cacciatore with a lovely red sauce. Farfalle noodles I dyed red. Green salad with red and green veggies and fruit. Green bread. Red Jello gigglers. Pomegranate 7-Up. Red velvet cupcakes with red and green frosting. Key lime frozen dessert in red and green.

Day 22-23: Our plans were to celebrate Jesus's birthday and make snowman pizzas, but we ended up being busy with last minute Christmas details and we didn't get to do these activities.

Day 24: We held a Christmas Eve dinner with my family. We enjoyed delicious ham and other fixings and exchanged gifts. My sister gave me the most awesome cupcake cookbooks that have me in the baking mood...

Kevin & Melinda

This is a BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT to my sister and her husband for their birthdays. His happens to be today!

Melinda is the youngest in our family. She is seven years younger than me, so as you can imagine I didn't necessarily love having her hang around me all the time at least not until I got into High School and married. I have three sisters. They are all tall, thin and gorgeous. Melinda is the brunette in our family. She has always been extremely beautiful and has the best fashion sense of anyone I know. In fact a lot of my clothes are hand me down's from her. She is married to Kevin. Kevin is one of four in his family including his twin brother ( I still can barely tell them apart and only when they are together. ) He is a hunter, builder, gather. He is amazingly talented at construction. Before we moved he and his brother tiled a few rooms in our house to help us sell it. I'm pretty sure he could fix anything or learn how to. They are the parents to Brody- who is the cutest baby in the world. They are the kind of family that would do anything for anyone. We LOVE them! We hope their birthdays are/were fantastic.

And the winner is......

Thanks to all those who entered the Mix N' Chop give away. Congratulations to the winner! I will contact you and set up delivery of your prize. (PS- Whitney's arm is fine, she just wanted to wear her old sling for fun.) (PSS- Paige I did put your name in the hat-I'll pay any amount of shipping to make someone happy :)

More Happy Days

Still Counting....

Day 10: Make Sugar Cookies. We made lots of them. I gave out snowflake cookies to all the neighbors. If you want a really good sugar cookie, this is the one to use. My sister in law introduced me to it and I get requests for the recipe any time I make them. Email me if you want it :)

Day 11: Buy a new ornament for the tree. This is a tradition. This year we chose: Dad- Utah Jazz ball, Mom- Eiffel Tower ( I really wanted a little house or something to remind me of our new house but I couldn't find one), Ashtyn- A pair of pink beaded ballet slippers, Whitney- A pink glass Ipod and Ethan- a small snowman that changes color.

Day 12: We went to Temple Square. I love Temple Square. We hadn't been in a long time and it was so beautiful. This year the kids were old enough to walk instead of needing to be pushed in a stroller, so we drove to Jeff's work and then took tracks the rest of the way. As we drove by each stop Ethan would say is that Temple Square- then when we got there he just kept saying there it is, there it is- but what is funny is that his head was completely turned in the opposite direction and he didn't even see the real Temple Square and we said no it's on this side and he turned and saw the temple and was so excited. As we were walking in we saw several homeless people holding signs and it really broke Ashtyn's heart, she was so sad and wanted to help them. We also got to see a couple get engaged- well actually we heard it first and then saw them. Afterwards we went back to Jeff's work and had hot cocoa and pistachio's. We couldn't have asked for a better night- I way over dressed the kids and I was not cold in the least. But who would be with tights, three pairs of pants, two shirts, a sweater, coat, jacket, scarf, hat, gloves and boots. The kids favorite part was the nativity scene with narration. Ethan asked me if Jesus was really born and if Mary and Joseph really stayed there and I realized that he actually thought we were witnessing the birth of Christ. He thought the characters were real. It was the most precious thing.

Day 13: Make a gingerbread house- which Ethan promptly asked to eat right afterward. We also went to Jeff's parents house tonight and had the kids reenact the nativity. Jeff and his siblings did this when they were little and his mom wanted to carry on the tradition with the grand kids. They take turns playing the different parts. This year Ethan was Joseph and our one year old niece Madelynne was Mary. Ashtyn was a wise man and Whitney was the angel. It is always so cute and funny to watch them. They never come in when they are suppose to which frustrates Jeff's dad and if they don't stay in their spots Jeff's mom keeps picking them back up and putting them back where they are suppose to stand- which leads to crying kids and all kinds of bribery to get them to do it (like this year they gave Mary the remote control to the X-Box instead of a baby Jesus.) The rest of us are just busting up laughing while the kids go about doing whatever they want. Gotta love it.

Day 14: But presents for each other- this year we took the kids to Target and let them buy presents for each other.

Day 15: Go Sledding- BBBBRRR- really cold and windy but really fun too.

Day 16: Christmas lights tour. We drove around looking to beautifully decorated homes and drinking peppermint chocolate chip shakes.

Day 17: Visit Jeff's grandparents. We love them to pieces. They are so cute and fun and the kids love their house and the cookies they always make when we are there.

Day 18: Christmas movie night. We have actually been watching lots of Christmas movies- I love all of the classic Rudolph movies and Mickey's Christmas Carol, etc.

"Soup's On"- Literally

I wanted to post/vent about something that happened yesterday and is continuing into today. Let me just start by saying GGGGGRRRRRRR! OK with that off my chest I will begin to paint the scene for you. Last night as I prepared to make dinner I found that we were down to the last of our provisions before shopping day again. So with all the creativity I have developed as a veteran wife over the years I came up with what I considered to be a substantial and nutritious meal to feed my family. I decided upon Navajo Tacos- but we didn't have chili or lettuce so I found instead a delicious can of tortilla soup. I fried up the scones, grated the cheese and was just trying to pry open the lid on the can of soup when I proceeded to knock the can onto the floor. (Side Note- This is not a one time occurrence in my life- I have always been somewhat clumsy and especially when my hands are cold they become rather stiff and tend to have a mind of their own.)

As you can envision nice red soup with chicken, rice, corn, beans, tomatoes, etc. flew all over the floor and cupboards and dishwasher and Ethan and me. As if the mess was not enough I realized that there was our dinner- ruined. Now all I had left to serve the kids were some fried scones and cheese. I looked in our dish rag drawer only to find that I had no clean dish rags. GGGRRR! So I grabbed a towel and proceeded to mop up the mess beginning with Ethan's head. There was soup all over the place so I was wiping for quite some time. After a while the mess appeared to be gone so I went to the pantry to look for a substitute to our dinner. Inside the pantry I found a single bean- just one little bean and I thought "Wow that flew a long way from where I spilled the soup." Needless to say our dinner was not that great that night. I went to bed early.

Fast forward to today. I woke up tired. I walked into the kitchen to get the kids breakfast and I started to notice red splotches all over the pantry door. I grabbed a Clorox wipe and started wiping them off and there kept being more and more splotches all the way up the door. Then to my horror I saw red, dried, crusty SOUP all over my ceiling!!! So I needed more than a little wipe. But remember that I have no clean rags at this point- so yet again I grab a towel and climb up onto the counter to begin the clean up. I am really mad at this point because I have to scrub twice as hard to clean dried on soup and our ceiling is vaulted so my arm is beginning to go dead from the angle I am scrubbing at and I am hoping that I don't slip and fall off the counter and hurt myself. After thirty minutes of scrubbing I decided to stop and come back to it later. There was soup all over the top of my cupboards and moldings. The area where the soup splattered is at least 12 feet from where I dropped the can. I will probably be finding soup for the next few weeks in tiny little cracks and crevices that I can't see. GGGRRR! I'm sure in a few hours I will be able to laugh about this- but not right now. How's your day going?

You are Good - Nichole Nordeman

GIVE AWAY!

I see other blogs do give aways all the time- I even comment and try to win- I never win. So today is my lucky day and yours too. I am going to do a give away.

A few nights ago a secret angel left a very lovely box on our door step. We heard a swift knock, knock late one evening and when we opened the door there was the most beautiful striped box on our step. In it were all kinds of wonderful and delicious items along with a note that said to pass the Christmas Angel on to two other families and spread the joy. Which we did last night.

One of the items in the box was a Pampered Chef Mix and Chop. If you have never used one of these, they are awesome. It makes the most wonderful finely chopped ground beef and it pulverises frozen orange juice (no need to thaw any more) Those are the two primary things I use mine for and I love it. I can't brown hamburger with out it. I'm sure that there are millions of other fabulous ideas it could be tried on as well. Here is the way they describe it on the Pampered Chef website:

"A Pampered Chef® exclusive! Unique, beveled pinwheel blades efficiently chop and crumble foods for even cooking and seasoning. Its high-quality nylon design follows the curves of your cookware and won't scratch the surface. A soft grip and thumb rest help you comfortably grasp the handle and chop more easily. Heat-resistant to 428°F. 11". Dishwasher-safe."

I already own one of these wonderful kitchen tools so I thought in the spirit of the Christmas Angel I would give this new one away to one of you. Just leave me a little comment and I will choose a winner at random- I probably won't mail this until after Christmas due to the high demand on the Post Office this time of year and my very little desire to stand in a long line with four kids:) But I will notify you when I have sent it. GOOD LUCK- You have until December 18th.

Jeff

Meu marido belo. Amo-o mais que vida se. Pensava sobre você hoje e decidiu colocar um novo playlist em aqui de vinte canções que dizem exatamente que o que o meu coração sente-se para você. Sou sortuda ser sua esposa. Obrigado para ser meu melhor amigo. Será mina para sempre. Ame-Me

16 Days to go

Wish we were here!

Day 8: Today we were planning on visiting Jeff's grand parents, but I had a meeting come up that I needed to go to and then we caught colds at our house so we wouldn't have been able to go any ways and it worked out fine to reschedule. Today consisted of more sledding.

Day 9: We went to the mall and rode the carousel and then shared a corn dog and fries from Hot Dog on a Stick. Afterwards we went to pick out our presents for our cousins.



The temperature today is 22 degrees. BBBRRRR! It is cold. Too cold for my liking. Ashtyn and I suffer from Raynaud's Disease. Days like to day make it no fun to be outside. She tolerates the pain and discomfort to go sledding- but is usually only able to stay out for short periods of time. This morning just being outside long enough to get in the car made Ashtyn's feet hurt and my hands go crazy. I tried to rent a movie from the Red Box yesterday and my finger wouldn't even register a response on the machine because it was so cold. I had to make Ethan touch the choices we wanted. We rented Julie and Julia- I loved this movie. It was exactly the type of thing that interests me- France, Cooking and Pearls.



Today I am really grateful for a warm home, fireplace, hot cocoa, hot baths, cozy sweaters and heated mattress pads.

Christmas Countdown Continued

We are still counting down the days until Christmas and I wanted to keep sharing the things we are doing each day. It has been making our Christmas much merrier to spend time together.

Day 3: Go through the old toys to make room for new. The kids had fun sledding today as well. Tonight we decorated the house for Christmas.

Day 4: Pick out our Christmas tree. It is one of our traditions to pick get a real tree for Christmas. I love the smell of pine and it's fun to get a totally new and unique tree each year. We don't cut down our own- we go to a tree lot or usually to Lowe's and can always find something wonderful. We came home afterwards and let the kids snuggle in our bed and watch a Christmas movie.

Day 5: Breakfast with Santa. Our city holds an annual breakfast with Santa and we thought we would give it a try. It was fun. The food was good and the kids got to officially tell Santa what they wanted and luckily it was not anything new that we hadn't already heard about :) The Santa looked more like one you might see on a Harley, but he was really nice and came around and talked to all the children there before letting them sit on his lap. Afterwards we went home and decorated the tree. Our tree consists of sentimental ornaments, a few strands of lights, and a red bead garland. I grew up with a tree like this and still have some of the ornaments from when I was little. I love to look at them and remember the years I received them. Another one of our traditions is to pick out a new ornament each year that represents something we loved that year or a special event.

Day 6: Celebrate St. Nicholas Day. I thought it would be fun to learn about St. Nicholas and celebrate. The night before we read the story of St. Nicholas and then the kids left their shoes by the fire place and put carrots inside for St. Nicholas' horse. In the morning they awoke to find a little treasure inside their shoes (glitter ball that they had been wanting and a sucker). We made monkey bread for breakfast to celebrate as well. This didn't turn out exactly like I hoped because the story tells of his death and Ashtyn wondered how he comes if he is dead. Then the next day she asked me if Jeff and I had bought the glitter balls and left them instead of St. Nicholas. I told her yes we did because like she said St. Nicholas is dead- she ended with "Well I still know that Santa Clause is alive and will come to our house."

Day 7: (Today) We are writing our own Christmas story and will post it when we are done.

This is a picture of the advent calender I made to do these activities with. I looked all over for a cute advent calender and could never find one I really liked. At least not until today. This is a cute website that I love to look at and I just may make this next year.

Countdown to Christmas

Our kids love to count down the days until Christmas- well really who doesn't? Christmas is actually my least favorite holiday. It's the time of year that I feel the grumpiest, so for me I am counting down the days until it is over. I know that sounds very Scroodge like, but I have a very hard time finding the balance between joy and all the ugly feelings that pop up. I always start the season with a feeling of utter happiness. I am one of those people that love to hear Christmas music for months. It really does make me think of Christ- which I love. But it seems that every year as it draws closer I can't help but feel stressed- over how many people we have to buy gifts for, over whether or not these people will like what we buy them, my kids constantly changing their minds about what they would really love to get, trying to get my shopping done early only to find that because I did it so early the store will no longer take back the item that I no longer feel is the right thing to give or they have recently put every item I previously bought on sale for way less than I paid. The traffic, the crowds, the icy roads, hoping that I don't forget someone and hoping that I have time to do all that this season requires.

Sometimes I dream of a Little House on the Prairie Christmas- the kind where your house gets snowed in and you can't leave and no one can come and it's just your family snuggling around the fireplace while your kids play with the one and only present they got and are so grateful for. Or where your family decides to all give up Christmas gifts this year so you can buy horses to plow your land. A simple Christmas. This leads me into a question that we are debating at our house....

"To Wii or not to Wii"
We have been debating whether or not to get our children a Wii this year. There are so many good things about this particular gaming system and yet so many things that I dislike about gaming all together. We have a PS2- it's quite old and really Ethan is the only one who ever plays it because we only have a couple of racing games. We are in no way addicted to playing it, but I fear we may become with a Wii. We know lots of families who have them and we have played them before and really enjoyed ourselves- but if we have one here all the time will the kids not want to do anything else?- Will Jeff and I find ourselves on "Wii Dates" instead of ever leaving the house? It of course goes completely against my "Little House Lifestyle". So if we don't play it that much is it worth the money required to purchase it? What do you think? If you have a Wii do you love it? It you don't have one, why not and would you ever consider buying one?

There are only 23 more days to go so the count down continues. One thing that we are doing this year to find more joy together is I have planned a small activity for every day until Christmas- nothing big- just something to look forward to. Here's what we have done so far:

Day 1: Get out all of our advent calenders and then go to the library and check out Christmas books or books about Winter. (A lot of other people had this same idea and we didn't find too many- but reading is always fun regardless)

Day 2: Make ice ornaments to hang on the steps outside. I found this idea in Family Fun

Thanksgiving

Our first Turkey

Jeff carving our first Turkey

Our Thanksgiving Table

Our Thanksgiving turned out wonderfully! It ended up just being our family and it was one of the nicest days I have ever had with my family. We were in no hurry to get up so the whole day started off calm. When we did get up we turned on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and snuggled with the kids while we watched it. I started to prepare dinner around 9. When I got the turkey out of the fridge it still felt a little icy in some parts so I put it in an ice bath for an hour. When we took the wrapper off it had a bit of slushy ice inside of it which made it very cold to work with. I was worried that the ice might pose a problem, but decided to go ahead and proceed with prepping it because it felt thawed out every where else. I had the turkey in the fridge for over four days- so for the future I will plan on maybe five to six days thawing time. This is the first turkey I have ever handled and I had no idea what the neck or giblets were suppose to look like and if Martha herself had been observing me should would have found it amusing to watch Jeff and I try and decipher the different parts to the bird. We found the neck tucked inside and it was hard to see because of the slush and the package said that the giblets were tucked inside the neck cavity which we thought we were looking in, but it turned out to be the bottom that we were searching- I had no idea that turkeys were open on both ends..LOL! Once the bird was rinsed and dried we added some celery, carrots, onion and garlic (something from all the recipes I had read or been told) loosely inside the bird. Then we placed it in a bag and were good to go. It took about three hours to cook. While the turkey cooked I prepped everything else as far as I could so that when the turkey came out I could put the yams, green beans and stuffing in the oven. Mean while we cooked the potato's on the stove top and the gravy. The only thing I ended up forgetting was the rolls that were still in the freezer. Everything turned out exactly like I remember it growing up. It was all so good. The kids made place cards and set the table. While we were eating Ashtyn read us a story she had written about turkeys called "Bright Feathers" and Whitney read us all the things our family had written on the thankful chain we made for FHE the Monday before. It truly was the nicest day I have had. We were not in a rush, all together, working together, cooking along side my hot husband, the house was warm from all the cooking, it smelled wonderful, we weren't trying to impress anyone but ourselves and we were all happy to spend time with each other. I still love the big family thanksgivings, but it was nice just to be with my family. After we ate and cleaned up we took a plate of dinner to my mom who had just had surgery a few days before then we stopped by Jeff's parents house and got to see his parents and two brothers and their families. Then we went back to my mom's to help her and see her for a minute and then we went home and ate chocolate pie (Whitney's highlight of the day) Then we got the kids to bed and I put a Marie Calenders razzleberry pie in the oven to bake. It came out more than perfect and I enjoyed a piece of it all warm and oozing. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. I am so thankful for my family. I have a beautiful husband who loves us and supports our family so I can stay home with the three kids that I am so lucky to have. It was a great day!

Thanksgiving Hats

I am having Thanksgiving at my house this year. There will only be our family and two or three guests- It will be small and quaint. I have never in my life cooked a turkey so I am super excited to try. I love Thanksgiving dinner, all the tastes and smells that only come once a year. Here is a list of my favorite dishes.

Mashed Potatoes

Candied Yams

Stuffing

Green Bean Casserole

Pumpkin Pie

What are yours? I would love to hear about all the wonderful dishes that are Thanksgiving to you and if you have any recipes or turkey roasting tips please pass them on!

This Thanksgiving I will be wearing this hat. I ADORE this hat and it was a gift from one of my favorite people in the world. I wanted to give a huge shout out to my super awesome SIL Malia that made me this cool hat. She is a crochet super hero. If you love this hat and I know you do, you can buy one here or purchase the pattern like she did and make your own.

What a GREAT idea!

I wanted to share this wonderful idea I found with all of you. I have secretly been throwing the Halloween candy away slowly so that the kids don't know it's gone- but when I read this I knew it would be perfect for the rest(we still have a ton). What a GREAT idea!

I Love Primary

Our ward split on October 25th. The day it split I was EXCITED and SAD and HOPEFUL. EXCITED that it wouldn't be so big, that I wouldn't just be another face, that I would finally get to know people. SAD that I wouldn't see all the people that I had gotten to know anymore, that I wouldn't get called back into Young Women's- a calling that I had always wanted and had only had for a few months. HOPEFUL that our new ward would be where we needed to be, that we would feel welcome there, that we would love it.

November 1st they began the reorganization. When we got to church I commented to Jeff that I had a strong feeling that I would NOT be serving in Young Women's any more and that I felt like Primary was where I was suppose to be. We left it at that and went inside. New callings were announced. When my name wasn't called for Young Women's I bawled. Right in the middle of sacrament meeting- cried. It hit me so hard that I wouldn't see all those girls I had grown to love so much every week. Cried, even though in my heart I truly felt like I was suppose to be somewhere else.

Wednesday we had a goodbye party in Young Women's to say goodbye to all the girls and leaders that would be in different wards now. Before I went I had a phone conversation with the new Young Women's president in my ward. She told me that she had submitted my name to be her laurel advisor. She said that she couldn't wait to tell me because she saw how sad I had been on Sunday. She said she felt so strongly that I needed to stay in Young Women's. This confused me and yet made me happy. Maybe I was wrong- maybe I really am suppose to stay in Young Women's.

Thursday I got a phone call to meet with the Bishop. I was fully prepared to hear him call me to Young Women's. We talked for a bit. He asked me about my experience in Young Women's. I told him how much I love it there. Then he said "We'd like to call you as the secretary in Primary." WHAT? I was shocked. He proceeded to tell me that there were several organizations that felt strongly about my name. He said he had prayed so hard to know where I was suppose to go and in the end he felt like Primary needed me the most. He asked me what I thought. I didn't mention Young Women's. I knew he was right. That I was right all along. That Primary was where I needed to be. I told him that I love Primary and I meant it. I told him that I was excited to work with the Presidency.

Friday I got a call from the Primary President. She said that we had two days to organize a new Primary and that Sunday would be our first day. At this point our ward had not received any computers yet- so everything must be done by hand. I had to make all the rolls, door signs, list, birthday lists, teacher information, etc. all by hand. I spent all weekend on the computer getting organized. By the time Sunday came- it was ready or not here we go. We were ready. Primary went off without a hitch. Everyone got to the right class, there was reverence, our sharing time went great, I got all the rolls where they needed to go and back again. It was a success.

Sunday night I was talking to the President on the phone and she told me that she had felt so strongly about my name. She said that when she submitted it the Bishop he told her that I was needed in Young Women's and that she would need to pray again and submit a new name. She said she went back to her counselors and told them to pray. They all got the same name. My name. She went back and told the Bishop that she could not receive another name and that she knew I was the one. He told her he would pray about it. He did and he too felt that she was right. Primary is where I needed to be. I have a testimony that the Lord does direct the church. He calls people to the right place. It's not a decision made by men- but by him. I know that Primary is the right place for me to serve. I am so thankful to be in this calling. I am so thankful to get to be with my kids each week. I do not feel sad or any remorse. I am EXCITED. I am HOPEFUL. I am HAPPY.

The rain that fell from Spain

Jeff's parents have been home now for a few weeks- part of me can't believe they were even gone. It was a blink of the eye. But I have these pictures to help me remember. They were so kind to bring us back a taste of Spain. This plate I will cherish always. I am very sentimental that way. It will be an heirloom to be passed on. I may not always display it like I am now- but I will always keep it special. The red dresses were a gift for all the little girls. Besides the fact that I think they are adorable- they are striking- they are fun and funky and made the best Halloween costumes. The little boys are sporting the soccer jersey- a favorite sport in Spain or shall I say football.

A Beautiful Person

Photo courtesy of fistulafoundation.org

Dr. Catherine Hamlin. She founded the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in 1974 in Ethiopia. This beautiful person was submitted by my sister in law Malia who wrote:

"I have followed her work for about five years now and I am consistently impressed with the ways she gives new life to these women. When I think about her my heart fills with gratitude, admiration and love."



The following information is taken from http://www.fistulafoundation.org/ and summarized by Malia. Check it out…you’ll be amazed, too.

A fistula is a hole between a woman’s birth passage and one or more of her internal organs. The fact is that less than 6 out of 10 women in Africa and other developing countries give birth without even a midwife, much less a doctor. When complications occur (which is often due to several factors of living in a 3rd World Country), there is no one there to help. After many days of obstructed labor, the baby’s head against the side of the mother’s pelvis cuts off blood supply to tissues in that region and the fistula develops when the dead tissue falls away, leaving a hole between her vagina and bladder (and sometimes rectum. After this obstructed labor not only are their babies most often stillborn, but they become permanently incontinent. Due to the low status of women and girls in these areas, women that develop fistulas are abandoned by their husbands and ostracized by their communities because of their inability to have children and their foul smell. Some are locked away in small, dark huts…sometimes for YEARS!


The saddest part? The majority of fistulas are 100% curable. They just don’t have the doctors that are able to do surgery to fix them (and most of the women have no idea what is even wrong!). In the late 1950s Dr. Catherine Hamlin and her husband, also a gynecologist, wanted to practice medicine somewhere where they were needed most. They opened a midwifery school in Ethiopia. A colleague of theirs explained fistulas to them (something they’d never heard of because it’s been extinct in the US since the 1890s) and the couple immediately began learning everything they could so they’d be able to help the thousands of women that were suffering. They perfected the surgery to mend the fistulas and in their first year treated 30 fistula patients. They soon discovered, however, that even other patients were shunning the fistula patients because of their odor so, in 1974, they opened the fistula hospital. Catherine’s husband died in 1993 but Catherine, now 84 years old, continues to oversee the work in the hospital and even does some of the operations.

Dr. Hamlin not only “fixes” these women, but the hospital also provide rehabilitation for them so they can be integrated back into society with dignity and a sense of worth. They train them that when they are pregnant and they feel the baby move the first time that means they need to start walking (knowing it may take months to get there) to a hospital. I can’t remember all the other things, but I do know that when they leave they are given a fresh, new dress…and their dignity. All women need that…I can’t even imagine how they must feel.

Though over 90% of fistula surgeries are successful, there are some that are so severe they cannot be repaired. However, Dr. Hamlin has provided hope for these women as well. Because they are unable to return to their villages, these women are invited to live at the hospital (and the surrounding “Village of Joy” developed just for them) and are trained to provide care to others. They attend school, make handicrafts, and some help with the gardens and livestock. It makes me choke up to just think about the hope they must feel as they are surrounded with people that understand and still see their value and worth.

All of this has come to pass because of ONE woman. Dr. Catherine Hamlin chose to reach beyond herself and to take her gifts and talents and abilities to recognize and then bless thousands of lives with them. And those women she’s saved, I have no doubt, reach out more often as they extend the dignity, hope, and care that they, when all hope was gone, received from Dr. Hamlin.

She inspires me.

And THAT is why she is one of the 50 most beautiful people in this world.

Pumpkins and Parades

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

*DON'T PRESS PLAY UNTIL YOU READ THE FOLLOWING!*

Today when the kids got home there was an eruption of chaos and fighting. A whole lot of "She called me and He did this to me.." The kind of situation that makes every mother want to pull her hair out. These are the moments where I have to turn on music to stop myself from going ballistic and harming the sweet little darlings. I went about making dinner with the music up really loud- trying to drown out the noise. I hate when they fight because I honestly don't know how to resolve their issues without hearing "Why do you love them better than me?" So I tell them to figure it out and then pray that they do. Ashtyn and Ethan's fight ended with a nice big bruise on Ethan's face- not as a direct result of anything Ashtyn did- just a battle wound. After the tears had died down a bit I saw them disappear into the bedrooms. A while later they came out and asked me to see the above video. Press play now.

I couldn't help but giggle(which made Ashtyn mad all over again because she thinks I am making fun of them- but that's a whole other issue)They were so cute and it melted my icy heart. It makes it all worth it to know that they do hear me and understand how I expect them to behave. OK-Motherhood crisis averted. I really do love them. I really do!

Weekend Update

Friday night I hosted a girls night out with the "Bud Wives"...who are the "Bud Wives" you ask? They are the wives of all the "Buds"- who happen to be all of Jeff's friends from High School. That's what they called themselves..the "Buds". Similar to the "Clan" if you went to high school with me.



I love all of these girls. They have become good friends and we try to get together every three or four months. Only a handful were able to come this time, but if was still just as fun. We got take out from Olive Garden and then sat at my house and talked the night away. I realize every so often that I don't get too many good adult conversations, so it's so nice to be with these gals.



Saturday morning we had Jeff's cousins little guys come over while their parents went to the temple. We just started this temple swap and I am so excited to have a set time and date when we get to go to the temple and not have to worry about a babysitter. These two little boys are Ethan's best friends in the world! They might as well be brothers and since they live so close to us we get to see them a lot.



Then in the afternoon I went and donated blood. I LOVE to donate blood. Maybe that sounds weird, but I feel like it is the one thing that I can do on a regular basis to help someone else. I have O negative blood- or the universal donor blood- the kind they keep in ambulances. In fact all of my kids do too. I'm not sure what Jeff's blood type is and no one seems to remember, but I think the chances of him having the same type is pretty high. Wouldn't that be so cool if we could call ourselves the universal donor family :) I get called to donate every eight weeks because I am a perfect match for a child with sickle cell in our local hospital. I hope I can continue to donate for the rest of my life.



Saturday night Jeff went to the BYU game so the kids and I worked on their Halloween costumes. Ashtyn is going to be a vampire, Whitney a mermaid and Ethan Scooby Doo.



Sunday we went to Jeff's parents ward for their homecoming. It was a really wonderful meeting. I can see how their testimonies have grown so much. Afterwards I snuck out early to go to my ward because it was suppose to be split and sure enough it was. We are now members of the new seventh ward. I am excited to be able to get to know more people because it was so hard when the ward was huge. I am sad though that I won't get to see most of my young women any more. Out of the 60 on our rolls- only 16 will be in the new ward. I am also sad that I might not get called back into young women's. I have only had this calling for a few months and I love it. I like change. I'm excited to see where it takes me.

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Weekend Update

We started our weekend off at the annual "Walk of Remembrance and Hope" in honor of our little nephew Ryan. Ryan will be six on his birthday. I believe in ANGELS!

We walk for them until they can walk again someday.

Love notes to Ryan.

Waiting to release his balloon.

We love you Ryan and miss you every day!

Dancing in the wind- All those little balloons represent babies that are gone- it made me sad that there were so many and yet surprisingly happy to watch the balloons sway and dance in the breeze- I could almost hear laughter- I think all of those little ones are happy too.

This is what I think Ryan looks like today by The Kids.




After the walk we headed up the canyon to see the last of the fall colors.

This was a fun little snake we found- fun until we realized he was dead.

Sunday we held a Welcome Home dinner for Jeff's parents who just returned from a mission in Spain. We also celebrated our niece Phoebe's birthday- she is kind of stand offish to me sometimes but she was a cutie tonight. Happy Birthday Phoebe!

Gotta love chocolate cake