Saturday, November 30, 2013

JED'S WISH - THE FAITH OF A CHILD

My friend Shelli, whom I met when I worked at BYU is on a similar journey in life. She and her husband adopted a son a short time after we blessed to adopt Carly. He is a handsome little boy named Jed. He started Kindergarten this year just like Carly did.

Jed has wanted a sibling for a long time now and his parents have been working, hoping and praying to have that blessing come about. My heart is so full and happy for them because today Jed got his wish! He had a little brother born today they are adopting! (I would bet a lot of things come about in life because of the faith of our children.) I am so excited for my friend and her family I can hardly stand it!

Sometimes when you have walked down a difficult road it is hard to see someone you love have to walk it, too. It is a huge blessing when you see them come to the end of that rocky road and hit the pavement! So my friend, may the ride from here be smooth and calm. OK, with two boys that may be too much to ask--but may your journey be filled with much joy and laughter! I love you my friend! God Bless!

Friday, November 29, 2013

BLESSED LIVES -- MINE AND MY BABY GIRL'S

11/29/2013

You wonder about this day. You worry about it. You pray about it and prepare for it--but still you worry. Will you be ready? Will you say the right things. Will you have the right words and answers for your sweet little one when their tender hearted curiosity finally turns into actual questions? Will you be able to satisfy their minds and calm their hearts when they truly understand what the word you've been saying to them for the past few years means? You know the one you've been reading to them in all the pretty stories trying to help them understand--so it didn't come as a huge surprise later--the "adoption" word?

Well, that day you wonder and worry so much about ended up being tonight for us--at least with the oldest of our little ones. It was a tender and poignant discussion and even though she is not yet six--it was a weighty matter for her heart. I have felt for several years that it would be. She has a very tender spirit and feels things deeply. She is also very bright and perceptive. I believe Rob and I were able to explain things in a way that helped her see how many amazing blessings she has. And that she has these blessings because Our Father in Heaven loves her very much, and because her birthmom who also loves her deeply loved her enough to give her more than she could give her at that time.

We helped her understand that just because I couldn't carry her and give birth to her did not mean she was not meant to be ours. We believe very much that the Lord had a plan for us and she was meant to come to us. We told her how we prayed hard for the right child to come to our home--and that even though I didn't give birth to her she was born in our hearts long before she came to our home.We know she was meant to be our child.

She will have one blessing most children don't get--she will one day get to have two moms. We told her how much we love her birth mom and how grateful we are to her for bringing Carly into our world. I will be the mom who raises Carly but then, we will help her find her birth mom so she can have both of us in her life.

In the end, Carly will have the blessing of having two families and two mom's -- where most people only get one in life--and that's pretty darn amazing when you think about it! A blessed life for certain--just like she has blessed mine. :)

A FEW MORE THANKSGIVING PHOTOS

The older grandkids who were able to come to
Thanksgiving Dinner--L to R, Julie & Megan Dyer,
Ashley & Alyssa Ridgeway, Caitlin & Ian McOmber 

Susan Ridgeway, Grandpa, Caitlin McOmber

My favorite photo--My daughter Megan
towering behind Grandma, Lol!

 

Thursday, November 28, 2013

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you had a wonderful holiday! We certainly did -- though, I think we are all tuckered out. We may need a nap till Christmas now!

We had most of the family here. Susan came with her family for a bit and then went on to her husband's family's for dinner. Sarah and her crew came and stayed. We had most of mine here and we all had a great time and of course, ate way too much--but it was all yummy!

Grandpa got the results from his gallbladders tests and they came out negative. They didn't find any problems with his gallbladder or liver. His regular doctor wasn't in to give him the results so he will probably hear more next week on how they will proceed next to see what may be causing his upset tummy. I will let you know what we hear.

Sarah took lots of photos--and of course, I don't have any of the ones she took. I only took a few so I will post those. Have a great weekend!

Grandpa with Sarah

Grandma with Sarah
 
Julie with Jono
 



Wednesday, November 27, 2013

NO NEW NEWS

Grandpa had his gallbladder tested but we don't have the results yet. We are hoping to get them before Thanksgiving but aren't holding our breath. Other than that-- we are just holding out for Turkey.  Yep, that's the only reason we're still here, hahaha! We'll let you know if it's any good! Hope you have a great holiday with your family!

Saturday, November 23, 2013

WHAT A GOOD KID!

It's very cold here. We had a nice Saturday where for once Rob was not on-call. He and I tried to work our way through mountains of old paperwork to file it and or trash it. (I'm a recovering paper-collector.) Paper drives me nuts. I never know what I can throw away and what I have to keep. Gah!

Rob and I traded headaches today but in between doing that we watched the BYU-Notre Dame game. Then we took the kids to a Trampoline Park they'd been begging to go to. Plus, Carly had gotten a free ticket for being a good citizen at school at school this week so we needed to let her get her reward. Then afterward we took them out to dinner, again with a certificate she had for a free kid's meal for being good. She really is a good kid.

Grandma and Grandpa have been pretty low-key today. I don't think any of us left the house until evening-and then it was just us to go do our thing. I guess none of us are crazy abou the cold. Go figure. At least we didn't have snow today! Keeping our fingers crossed!

Friday, November 22, 2013

UPDATE

Grandpa's still been having a few episodes here and there of becoming nauseous when he eats so Grandma called the doctor yesterday. The Dr. decided to have him go and do a gallbladder test before they do anything else. I believe he is going to do have that done on Monday. Hopefully it won't take long, even with the holiday, to get the report back. We will keep you posted though.

We had 70-80 mph winds here last night. It was really bad. There was a stretch of highway near us where they had semi's double parked for five miles in one of the far lanes of traffic with the cops waving other cars over. They had to pull all the semi's over to keep them off the road so the wind wouldn't topple them. Pretty darn scary when the wind is that strong.

The wind brought in some pretty cold air and tonight it is 36 degrees. The temperature has really dropped. I just want to stay inside in my jammies and veg this weekend. It sure would be nice if I can! I'm not going to count on it though!

Well, not much else happening. Better go for now! :)

Thursday, November 21, 2013

SOME NEW PICTURES

My friend Tammie just sent me some pictures she'd taken of our family at an event we all attended together. We were all dressed up so she started snapping photos. I'd forgotten she even took them but I am grateful she did as they turned out so nice--even if I do say so myself. My little ones are growing so fast, I can't snap enough photos of them.


My cute family--minus our older girls


My handsome men


Mama and her sweetie pie


Mama, Daddy and our little ones
 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

MY VERY BAD BILL COSBY DAY :)

I had such a frustrating day with the kids today. In fact, it's been two days in a row! Gah! Such temper tantrums--golly gee! I made hubby take me out for dinner and I was starting to talk to him about it when he cut me off and turned on the cd player in the car. I clammed up and was feeling for myself and he was cheerfully trying to get me to listen to the cd. It was Bill Cosby. I was too frustrated with him at first to listen much. After all, he didn't even let me get out my whole yukky story about my day and I had just said "Honey, I don't know what I am going to do with Jono and his little tempers!" Then he wants to play me a cd.

Turned out he had a method in his madness. It was Bill Cosby's cd on raising kids and it was pretty hilarious and it had to be 30 or 40 years old. It also sounded like he'd been in my house today. :D  My cute husband was trying to tell me my little ones were being normal and it would be okay. He was also trying to get me to lighten up a little bit and get me to laugh. He accomplished all of the above.

Some days you just don't know if you are doing all the right things or not--and you certainly don't always know what it normal until you talk to other parents to see if their kids are acting like your kids. I went out to the mailbox late the other night and happened to meet my neighbor coming home late and we both found out we'd had a rough day with our kids. We were able to reassure each other it must be something in the air and that they would calm down again. Sometimes, that's all we need is a little common ground with someone else and a little space and things are all better.

Bill Cosby said something about parents always having a stressed out or unhappy look on their face because of all the life their children suck out of them--that is until their children are grown with children of their own. Then when they are watching their grandchildren give their children the identical problems --they get this smirk that says it all. (It was much funnier the way he said it.)

But, I bring it up only because last week, when I went downstairs for a minute, between loud, long tantrums, my Dad called me into his bedroom. I went in and he said, with a knowing smile, "Nancy, I'm so happy you got the chance in life to "experience" having children."  I want you to know I didn't miss a beat. I said, "Dad, me too--and I am so grateful you are right here to be a part of it!" Lol!

Saturday, November 16, 2013

I'M GRATEFUL FOR MY HERITAGE

I apologize for neglecting the blog for several days. I've gotten caught up in a little bit of family history, so to speak. We have a family group on Facebook for my grandparents on my mom's side and someone asked for some photos last week. It just so happened that I had a satchel full of photos of a generation or two. So, I've been busily loading those into that site.

It's so easy to catch the family history bug once you get started. I'm not very good when it comes to putting it all on a pedigree or chart but I just love hearing the stories and seeing the photos. I love knowing about the real people and their lives. It makes me wish I'd known them. I know I will know them all some day--but hearing their stories now and understanding the heartaches and joys they went through makes me feel closer to them now.

I love seeing my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles as little kids or teenagers. It really makes me realize even more that life is a never ending cycle. We are born, we live our lives out and then we are born into the eternities.

I'm so grateful for the family I was born into. On both sides of my family, I came from such wonderful heritage--from such good, down to earth and loving people. I love my family so much and am so grateful for them. I especially miss my grandparents--on both sides. I've been thinking this week more about my mom's parents because those are the pictures I've been working with--but I had wonderful grandparents on my mom's and dad's side and I miss them every day.

It's a great time to dig through your old box of photos and run your mind down memory lane. It's that time of year when we spend a lot of time counting our blessings and I know this year I am especially grateful I was able to grow up knowing and loving all of my grandparents.

Here are a few photos I've found this week:

Glenn Flint and Nellie Shields Bock
on a date 
L to R: Marcia and Nellie Flint
Kaye Flint
Carolyn Flint

John Steven Brackney with Eva Carolyn Flint

Miss Carolyn Flint (Carson)

Carolyn Flint in her wedding
dress her mother made for her.

Carolyn skating at the falls

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

THAT'S MY STORY . . . AND I'M STICKING TO IT

We've had a lot going on lately and I get to the end of the day and sometimes don't even realize til the next morning I didn't blog the night before. Both Rob and I (and Grandma and Grandpa I'm sure) are exhausted at the end of the day. Everyone's got their own things they are busy doing but as for me I am usually chasing my kids, having playdates, trying to keep my house in some semblance of order and in the last several weeks trying to keep things working or make them work!

For the last several weeks I've been having trouble with my van. It's been overheating. Each time I've had trouble with it I've had to take it in to have it worked on. The first time we took it to the local garage we normally take it to when something is wrong. Then they sent us to the dealership when it was something more serious. We have now been back to the dealership a total of three times. Now, it's at the "cross your fingers with me" and "knock on wood' hopefully last place we will have to take it before we have to shoot it! Oh my--it has been a real ordeal!

We finally decided after taking it to the dealership, one too many times, that maybe that wasn't the best option after all--even though they were recommended to us. So, we took it away from the dealer and found someone that can now fix it.

Thankfully, mom and dad have been here as a back up for transportation as I have little kids in school this year and we live too close for Carly to ride to school (Kindergarten) on the bus and too far for her to walk! Plus, I am part of the pre-school car-pool. So, it has been a stressful couple of weeks.

As if all that wasn't enough, then we had a refrigerator start to go out and had to get someone in to look at that. We built our home and moved in just over 8 years ago so even though I still think of it as kind of new apparently the appliances don't consider themselves new anymore--and feel they can have an occasional temper tantrum. Darn. And giving them a time out would only make the situation worse, I guess. Huh, maybe that's why it doesn't always work with the kids, either. Go figure. Lol!





Friday, November 8, 2013

GRANDPARENTS DAY IN THE KINDERGARTEN CLASS!

Carly was so excited today! It was Grandparent Day in her Kindergarten class and she got to show her Grandma and Grandpa where she goes to school and exactly how she spends her days! More importantly she got to show off her Grandma and Grandpa!


The kids did a cute little performance where they sang some songs for all the Grandmas and Grandpas. After that, the Grandparents got to make some fun things with their Grand kids . . .  


Carly and Grandma making a special Carly-faced star magnet!


Carly cutting out Carly!
Then they got to read with them, play games with them, and have milk and cookies with them. How awesome is that?!

Fun times with Grandma and Grandpa!
All of us mugging for the camera!

I'm not sure if this is the "Are we done yet?" shot or the
"Mom, are you done taking pictures yet?" shot, Lol!

Grandma and Grandpa were really good sports and played right along. Grandpa even told me being there took him back to his Kindergarten days.

Though, I suspect if Grandpa had a favorite part of the morning--it was probably the  milk and cookies part! Naw, just teasing--pretty sure it was the part where he saw how excited and happy our sweet Carly was to have her Grandpa and Grandma visiting her in school. She was so proud to have them there with her! I sure love my little girl! And I love my parents, too! It was a fun day!



HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!

I'm officially a day late now--as it's after midnight and their actual anniversary is on the 7th but I still want to post something in their honor. Can you believe my parents have been married for 55 years?  Me neither. I wonder why they waited so long to have kids. Weird that my sisters and I are all in our late twenties and early thirties--don't ya think?! Lol! Oh YAH, don't believe me?! Well, that's our story and we're sticking to it!! Hahaha!

Here's our other story, only this one is true! We have the best parents ever. They really were (and are) good to us, fair with us (except that I'm the favorite) but then, that's fair--right--cuz if you are the favorite--they should just say so? LOL! Not only that, they should put it in writing--so you can show it off to your siblings. Hahaha! But I digress.

Anyway,  I know all three of us are very proud of our parents. They are such good people and always have been. They taught us right from wrong and have always pushed us to be the best we could be. They are good to us and to each other, and are kind and good to those around them. They taught us to be respectful and always modeled the things they taught us.

We love our parents so much and are so grateful to have them in our lives. They are such wonderful examples, not only to us, but to our children as well. We love you so much Mom and Dad! Thanks for everything!



Wedding Day
November 7, 1958

 
Columbus, Indiana
Mid 1960's




Easter Sunday
Grandpa and Grandma's house
Mid 1960's




John and Carolyn
November 2009

Sunday, November 3, 2013

PILLOW PUPPIES

It was kind of a strange Sunday. Only the kids felt good today. Rob was struggling with cold symptoms and I have had a bad headache most of the day. We didn't make it to church. I don't think either of us even made it outside today. We woke up to a skiff of snow but it soon melted. Although, there is supposed to be more coming tomorrow. The kids can't wait to have enough snow to play in. I'm O.K. either way, I guess.

One of our dogs has started having some aging problems. Sadie is only seven but she has started limping consistently like she has arthritis. I realize seven can be old for a larger dog. I just didn't expect it to happen this quickly. My last dog lived to be almost 15 and didn't begin having problems nearly this early. I started giving Sadie Co-Q 10 today and I am hoping it will help her. Our other dog, Tashie, is a year younger and still acts like she's a puppy. They are both lab mixes and are on the smaller side for labs (though, you really wouldn't call them small--just small for labs.)

Both are really sweet dogs and are so gentle with the kids. They let them climb all over them. They even let them pretty much ride them when they were younger- and didn't complain at all. Carly isn't as rough with them anymore but I still have to tell Jono to get off them once in awhile. He still tries to ride them or sit on them like they are horses and they just let him--so I have to be the protector. Poor puppies. Actually, they love the attention they just might love a little less of it from time to time.

Sadie with Carly (in their younger days) being used as a pillow

Julie with Jono riding Tashie
 
Well, if you are ever looking for a dog to have around kids, I highly recommend labs. They are so gentle and kind--and of course, ever, ever faithful!

Friday, November 1, 2013

STAND BY!

Reason number 1,127 why we want the government running our healthcare for us. They are already doing such a bang up job with so many other things!

Went to renew my driver's license today--did not need to take the test--just a simple renew. Got there at 4:30 p.m., they close at 5:00 p.m. I filled out the paperwork and waited in line. I reached the first clerk at 4:40 p.m; she took my paperwork; looked me in the eye and said "You are on stand by." I said, "I don't know what that means." She said, "I can take your picture and process your paperwork but if they don't call you before 5:00 p.m. to finish your license we will ask you to leave and return another day to pick it up. (This office is in another city 15 minutes away.)

Luckily for me, I was called 3 minutes later, only to be asked for my passport, birth certificate or social security card which I provided four years ago (which they failed to scan in at that time.) So I now have a 6 month temporary until I return with those docs. Keep in mind they have me on file as a licensed driver and I couldn't be one had I not provided those documents. Gah!

Wonder what else we could have the government do for us?! Stand by! LOL!