Wonderful Gift

This Valentines Day was my 23rd one with Brent, and since his heart attack last year, I have been especially grateful for all the holidays. I realize that Valentines Day may just be a good way for retailers to boost their bottom line, but I choose to think of it as a day to be so thankful for a wonderful man and beautiful kids. Last year I wrote about our Valentines Day tradition of decorating the table and fixing a big breakfast, complete with pink waffles and strawberries, for the kids. I was a little melancholy this year thinking that Dalin wouldn't be here for the next two, and who knows how many after that, years, but we had a terrific day. The night before the big morning, Brent and I had a very gourmet dinner with some old and very dear friends. The prime rib and company could not have been better. Thanks Nelson's, Hall's, Tanner's, Tolman's, Legg's, and Hill's for sore cheeks from laughing, an extended stomach, and lasting memories.



And then, after 23 years of thoughtful and sweet Valentines Day gifts from my husband, this year, for the first time, he gave me a gift that made me cry. The painting of Joseph and Emma Smith cuddling their new babies is exquisite. I have spent many hours studying the lives of the Smith family, and I have always loved the story behind this painting and how it depicts the wondrous love of three fathers--Heavenly Father, John Murdock, and Joseph Smith. I can only imagine Emma's joy when she was given these two beautiful babies to raise as her own having just lost her twins.
There are so few paintings out there with both Emma and Joseph, and I am passionate about the role Emma played in the beginnings of the church. I have always wanted a picture of both of them. Thank you, my sweet husband. I love you. Happy Valentines Day.

Six Already

Jensen is six! Can you believe it? Of course, if she's six, that means that Brent just turned 45 and me, 42. Wow. We figured out last weekend (by we, I mean my brother Jared, who had a good laugh over it), that Brent will be 58 when Jensen graduates from high school. I gotta tell you, though, that having a little tag-a-long child at the end has been pure joy. I think everyone should do it. Other than having to dye my hair forever so people aren't asking Jensen if I'm her Grandma, I'm looking forward to the next few years. Since I usually don't have birthday parties with friends for the kids until they are 8, I hadn't really been thinking of a party for Jensen. However, she had. The Sunday before her birthday, she invited everyone she saw at church, no matter what age, to her party. She was so excited about it, I couldn't say no. (Part of that spoiled last child thing, I know, I know. . . .) No matter how much I tried to talk her into unicorns, Jensen wanted a "horse" party. Keep in mind that it is my SIL Lauralee who is the champion kid party-thrower in our family, and her living across the US really throws me into a panic at times like these. What the heck am I going to do for a horse party? Well, thank goodness Jensen was born in the days of the worldwide web and Zurchers party store, because between the two, we had a grand party with five friends (I made her whittle down her list considerably). Thanks, Laurie, Shaina, and Rily for all of your help with the party!

We followed up the friend party with a family dinner at Chuck E. Cheese, where "kids can play while moms relax" according to Jensen and the TV. That place is kid paradise, and Jensen couldn't have been more thrilled. We left Friday for Sun Valley to see Jared and Maren, ski, sled, hang out, eat a lot, and get our teeth worked on. My baby, who is absolutely terrified of anyone doing any kind of work on her, was so brave! She had to have some fillings, and we have been talking about it for a couple of weeks, psyching her up, positive mom-talk, all of that. She had finally convinced herself that since she would be six, since she could watch a movie at Uncle Jared's office while he worked on her, and since he had something called "happy gas," she might be ok. When I peeked into the room after she was in the chair and settled, I saw her crying softly and wiping the tears away quickly, trying so hard to get through. The hygenist was very sweet and telling her that they would take good care of her and that Uncle Jared would be very careful with her. Once the movie was going, the tears stopped, and she did terrific! The worst part was afterward when she realized she was numb and it wasn't going away immediately. That's when she cried a lot. Oh well. It was a big step for her, and I was just grateful she didn't have to be sedated or strapped down or something. My baby is growing up. . . . Anyway, Happy Birthday to most of us at my house!

Inversions and Idiots

This what an inversion looks like. What's that you say? It must be early morning, late evening, or a big storm day? NOPE! It looked like this outside for about three weeks in January, and had it not finally cleared after three weeks, you would have had to write to me at my new address in Boise at the St. Michael's Institute for Mental Health. Seriously! Three weeks? It even snowed a little bit during that time, which in theory should've cleared out the crap, but no, it stayed GRAY forever. I spent three weeks praying and sitting under lights and trying not to eat myself under the table. . . .

On my birthday Wednesday the 21st, I was called in for jury duty. I had jury duty starting January 1, but of course the 21st was the first day I was called in to be questioned to possibly sit on a jury. This is my second time at jury duty in Canyon County (Brent and most of my friends have never had jury duty, mind you). I wasn't chosen for the jury the last time, so I was kind of hoping I might get a chance to see the jury process at work this time. I arrived at the court house at 8:30 and watched a short video with the other 70 or so prospectives. Then we waited to be called into the courtroom for the "voix dire" process--the jury questions. The attorneys and judge were doing pre-trial stuff, so we waited and waited and waited some more. The baliff gave us a potty break around 9:30, then we waited again. Finally at 10:15 the baliff came back into the room to tell us that the man charged with the crime had pled guilty to felony burglary, and we were all dismissed. He said that once the guy found out there was a jury panel waiting and knew that the jury would actually see the video tape of him committing the burglary, he figured he was pretty much hosed. Duh. A video tape? Why would you think you had a chance at being found not guilty in the first place if there was a tape of you ripping the place off? Ok, to be fair, Brent says that during the pre-trial the defense attorney was probably trying to get the tape excluded from evidence for some reason. I'm thinking that would have been an interesting and short trial. Kind of wish the guy would have taken his chances with the tape. . . :)

Other than that, Brent and I had a great birthday week. In fact, the whole week was a party. Thanks to friends and family who made it bearable getting older. We love you all! (A little spelling error, but the sentiment was perfect. Thanks, Cassie!)