As If We Need More Stress

So last week (Tuesday-ish) Bart told me he had a sore throat. I wrote it off to our new ceiling fan blowing on him all night, and figured it'd get better on it's own. Wednesday he left for Moab, Friday was the funeral, Saturday was the Wedding, so I hadn't really thought about it again...until yesterday.

Bart said, "Rebecca, my throat is really hurting...it hasn't gone away." I grabbed my flashlight, looked down his throat, and made my official diagnosis: "I really don't want you to be sick on our trip, so you better go the doctor." (Even though I still secretly thought he was just being a baby and that it didn't hurt that bad).

So he called and made an appointment with the doctor for today. He went in and they actually ran tests! Tests! I guess my "being a baby" theory was incorrect...more evidence that my decision not to go into the medical field was a good one.

They tested him for two types of strep...the first test was instantaneous, and negative, so he doesn't have strep... A I think it is...but the other test results the ones for Strep B (is this the same type of strep they tested me for when I had Addison?) will be in Wednesday morning...yes, that is the morning we leave. Lovely.

And she also thought it might be Mono! MONO?!? Are you kidding me? Those test results won't be in until after Africa, but I just think that's crazy. Who thinks, "Hm...I have a sore throat...maybe I have mono."

The ironic thing is that Bart is always teasing me that I have mono because I'm always tired (I think it has more to do with a crying daughter and a small bladder constantly waking me at night than a medical condition). Wouldn't that be horrible if I actually did have it and then gave it to him!?!?! RIGHT BEFORE WE LEAVE FOR AFRICA!!! Suck. I hope it's not mono.

Fortunately the doctor prescribed an antibiotic for him, so he's picking that up today, and hopefully that will cure his mysterious sore throat.

A Funeral, A Wedding, and A New Calling

Well, this has been an unbelievably crazy week. My mom came up on Monday to help us out...thank goodness!!! Not only did Bart appreciate her keeping him busy while I was at work, but she helped us put up the rest of our lights, put decorative molding around our windows (which looks incredible), and clean the house after we had left for the funeral. Thank you so much mom. Your visit was such a blessing to us. We can't explain how grateful we are to you!

On Friday was Zeke's Funeral. It was an amazing experience. The speakers were wonderful. Two were friends of Zeke, and one was his Brother in Law. They did a great job in honoring him. They spoke of his legacy of service in the community, the wonderful family he raised, his funny quirks, and assured everyone that he is alive and serving on the other side of the veil now.

It was wonderful. All the kids got up and sang a song. Since we were sitting in the front row, when I got up there, I was startled to see that not only was the chapel full, but also that the cultural hall had been opened and was now nearly full. I heard someone say over 700 people were there. I don't know if that was correct, but it wouldn't surprise me. There were so many people whose lives Zeke touched. It was so wonderful to see the whole community come to honor his life.

It was also wonderful seeing so much family at one time. As Maralee put it, "We have made so many wonderful memories today there is no way that we can look back on this day and be sad." It is so true. It was a wonderful experience.

Bart & I left Moab early Saturday morning. After a stop just long enough to grab wedding clothes from our house, we headed up to Salt Lake for Bart's Best Friend's Wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. They have been dating for a long time. I'm so glad they got married. They are so great together.

Bart got to see a ton of friends from High School that he hadn't seen in years, so he loved that. Addison loved the stairs. We were there for five hours and I SWEAR we went up and down them at least every five minuets...and they were big steps...I'm sore! Addison, on the other hand, seems fine! That little girl is amazing! :o)

Finally, I got a new calling today. I am the first councilor in the Young Women's Presidency. I'm really excited for this calling. Last Sunday I was informed that our Primary presidency was being released, but that I would still be the secretary, so I started organizing everything so that the new presidency would be as up to date as possible for the two weeks I was gone. Then on Wednesday I was informed that I would end up being released, and get this new calling, so I spent the rest of the week...well, what time I could find...getting everything ready for someone else to take over. SO CRAZY!!! I am sad that I am getting called and then leaving the girls for two weeks. I hope they won't feel like I have abandoned them. But I'm excited to get back and get into everything!

The Age of Deception

Yesterday my mom came into town and we went to Goodwood for dinner. Toward the end of dinner, Addison was getting restless, so I took her outside to run around. There are a bunch of white rocks for the landscaping just outside the restaurant and a walking path pretty close to them.

Well, Addison ran over to the rock bed, grabbed a rock, ran to the path, and placed the rock on the path. Picturing some poor rollerblader tripping over the rock in the middle of the road (not that I've had any experience with that on THIS EXACT TRAIL or anything) I grabbed the rock and said, "Addison, please leave the rocks alone," as I put it back in the rock bed. She grabbed another rock, ran to the trail, and set it down on the trail. I said, "Addison no! Please don't do that." And put the rock back. Addison ran to the rock bed again and grabbed some rocks. I said, "Addison, if you put the rock on the trail one more time, we're going back inside." She froze in place looking at me.

I was looking her in the eye, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed that she had not one, but two rocks in her hand now. She moved her hand away from me, and grabbed one of the rocks with her other hand. While hiding the hand that was originally holding both rocks (and was now still holding one) she showed me the other hand putting the rock back where it had been, never breaking eye contact with me. She then stood up with the hand that still held the rock behind her back, and watched me. I could just see in her little eyes that she was thinking, "Does she know I still have a rock?" I decided not to comment and see what she would do.

When I didn't say anything, she got really excited and ran back toward the restaurant. She motioned to me that she wanted to go inside with the hand that wasn't hiding the rock. I opened the door and she ran to where my mom and sister were sitting. When she got there she excitedly held out the rock for my mom and sister to see. She then looked back and me with a very triumphant smile.

I realized, "OH MY GOSH! MY BABY JUST TRIED TO DECEIVE ME!!!" I couldn't believe it. She's only one and she's already reached the age of deception!

The Tender Mercies of the Lord

Well, Today I would like to talk about the Tender Mercies of the Lord our family has experienced over the past few days. (If you haven't read the talk by Elder Bednar, click on that link and read it...it's wonderful).

Bart's dad's heart failed on Wednesday, and he passed away. It was a surprise to everyone, and has been very hard, but as we've been talking, we realized all the ways the Lord set this up to be as easy as it could be on us.

First of all, and the one that hit me the hardest, is the fact that if our original Africa trip had not been canceled, we would be in Africa right now. It would have taken us at least a few days to get home...assuming they could even get a hold of us!

Next, Bart's mom was coming back from Moab, so she had spent the night at our house. Bart was up in Ogden at a CTE conference, so he had taken our car. I had been taking Amy's truck to work when she came down to watch Addison in the afternoons. If Maralee hadn't been with me I may not have been able to get up to the Hospital..at least not until the afternoon because Amy would be in work until then and I probably wouldn't have been able to get a hold of her.

In addition, Maralee slept in about half an hour longer than she was expecting to sleep in. If she had gotten up and left at the time she was originally planning to, she would have gotten the news that his heart had failed while she was on the road...not exactly the best state to be driving in.

Zeke was supposed to be released from the Hospital last week, but the doctors had decided to keep him one more week. Had he been released, he would have been at their friends house and it would have taken longer for him to receive medical attention. In addition, Maralee was talking about how they probably would have been blaming themselves for not doing something right. Since he was in the hospital, we know he was getting all the medical attention he needed before his heart failed. The doctors were helping him get back into his bed when he collapsed, so they were there immediately to give him the medical attention he needed. We truly know that everything possible was done in attempt to save him. The Lord had just decided it was time for him to return home.

Zeke was able to go home to Moab for the weekend to celebrate Father's Day. He had an incredible weekend. While at Church he asked a question about the Savior taking on not only our sins, but also our infirmities. Maralee told him that she was sure that he did, but couldn't remember where it said that. Well, Geneava had found the place and given it to Maralee while she was home. Maralee was planning on reading it to him yesterday. Well, when Maralee was telling Sam about this, Sam told us that he had read that exact passage to Zeke the night before. The Lord is so wonderful.

Although we weren't expecting him to die quite so soon, we all had kind of gone through the initial shock of realizing that there was a very high possibility that he would die in the near future, and while it is still hard, I think this has eased the pain somewhat.

There are so many more, but I will leave it at that.

I feel like I have learned some lessons from this as well. Here are just a few.

First of all, the Lord truly is looking out for us and blesses us in so many ways that we can't see or don't understand until later down the road...sometimes maybe never.

Next, never take anything for granted. Although we knew Zeke had a brain tumor, we assumed he'd be around...at least longer than yesterday...you just never know. Always tell your family you love them. If you can do something today, don't put it off until tomorrow. Live life to the fullest TODAY, there's no guarantee that tomorrow will come.

Next, it's a lot easier for other people to tell others the bad news than it is to tell everyone yourself. The phone calls that we received from people giving us their condolences were so much easier than the phone calls we had to make telling people the bad news...If someone you love tells you about a death, tell everyone you can think of that knows them. It's a lot easier to talk to people if they already know and you don't have to break the news to them.

I have also discovered that I have been more sad about the opportunities lost to those he left behind than I am sad for Zeke. I know that he is in a better place. I know that he is free of the brain tumor he had before he left this earth. When I think of where he is now, I am happy for him. What makes me sad is knowing that Addison will never again be able to blow him kisses, or squeal when she gives him five...at least not while she is on this earth. And that the rest of my children won't know him until they too go beyond the veil. But I take a lot of comfort in knowing that we have all been sealed as a family and that we will get to see him again.

Finally, when you are together as a family it makes it so much easier. It's really comforting to be surrounded by loved ones that are going through the same thing as you are. It's so nice to be able to laugh about memories together. Family is so wonderful.

May Video, Roses, and Cute Onsies

Okay, so first of all, isn't this like the cutest onsie you have ever seen! I got it, as well as nine others, and two feety pajamas for Addison on Saturday when I went up to Park City with Tabitha, Haas & Christa. And everything only cost like $25!!! Isn't that awesome!!!

Well Bart is up in Ogden for a CTE conference. He left yesterday and Comes home on Thursday. Yesterday when I got home from work and he had cut me these roses from the garden. They smell SOOOOOOOOOO good! You walk in our door and immediately smell roses. It's AWESOME!!!

Okay, and now for the moment I know you have all been waiting for...our May video. I think Bart may kill me for using a country song, but we do live where the green grass grows! Just look at our lawn in the video!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. We had a great father's day here. I made Bart a steak dinner with corn, fruit salad, and a coconut cream pie. It was very yummy.

Bart spent the day lounging, playing video games, watching the basketball game, and reading. He also played with Addison. She discovered the joys of hiding under a blanket and having her dad tickle her. It was really cute, at one point Addison put the blanket over her head, and then held up her hands out side the blanket and said, "Come on!" motioning for Bart to come under the blanket with her. Bart & I just started cracking up! I wish I had gotten it on Video.

I think my favorite thing about Bart is how much he absolutely loves Addison. I love seeing him play with her, or pick her up spontaneously and give her a big hug. He's such a great dad. I remember my mom telling me when I was young that one of the best things I could do for my future daughters was marry someone who would be a good father to them. I did good. :o)

Here are a few pictures of the bonding today.

Okay, now a tribute to the rest of the Fathers in my life.

First of all, My dad. Let me tell you, I genuinely think that I have the greatest dad in the world! Whenever I talk to my brothers and sisters, we all remember dad working hard, but we also never felt neglected by him. He always made time for us, and let us know that we were important to him. He was always up for whatever antics we would come up with. I remember one time we were on a trip where we were going through a lot of tunnels. Whenever we went into one, all us kids would hold our hands in the air and try and hold our breath all the way through the tunnel. On the last one my dad, who was driving, took a deep breath, and held threw hands up as we entered the tunnel. My mom screamed, "Glen!" and grabbed the wheel. All of us kids were laughing our heads off! We thought it was AWESOME!!!

Now that I have a daughter, I also LOVE how much she loves him. My parents were up last weekend visiting, and my dad had to leave last Sunday early in the morning, before Addison got up. As we got to church, one of the men in the ward was leaning in his car getting one of his kids out of a car seat. He had a similar build to my dad, so when Addison saw him, she yelled, "PAPA!" She was so disappointed when he came out of the car and she saw that it wasn't him. I'm so grateful that my daughter can also feel the love that my dad has for her. I'm so grateful that he's part of her life too.

I also love my Grandpa Collyer. Whenever I think of him I think of quiet dignity. He is such a great example to me. Whenever I think of good Character, he and my dad are the first people that come to mind. I also love seeing him playing with his grandchildren, and now his great grand children. You can just see the pride and love he has for them. I love it!

I love my Grandpa Timms as well. Whenever I am with him, I can't help but smile! He is so fun loving and happy. I love listening to his stories. I swear I could just sit and listen to him for hours. And I love how, when I talk to him, he is always telling me how wonderful my Grandma is, or my mom is, or how proud of them he is. I just love him. He is so wonderful.

I also love my Father in Law. He is going through so much, but he is keeping such a great attitude! I also love seeing how much he loves Addison. When Addison was born, we took pictures of everyone in the family with her. That Christmas, he quietly came up to Bart & I and handed us the picture we had taken of him and her that he had put a Christmas border around and turned into a magnet. He said, "It's Santa and Baby Jesus." I laughed and said, "Wow! Who knew Jesus was a girl." He said, "Shhh...don't tell anyone." I was laughing so hard!

Addison loves him too. She always gets excited when she sees him...and every picture she sees of a man with a beard is "Pop Pop!" The other day Maralee stopped by on her way up to the hospital. Zeke wasn't with her, but as soon as Addison saw it was Maralee in the car, she strained to see who was with her and called out, "Pop pop?!?" It was so cute.

Unfortunately, both of Bart's grandpas died before Bart & I had even met. I love listening to him talk about them though. He has great memories of them. I am grateful for them and the influence they had on him growing up. I know that they, in part, made him the man that I love today, and I will be forever grateful for that.

New Carpet!

So we finally bit the bullet and got new carpet...for the down stairs at least. We also re-arranged.

Addison was really excited about it. I'm not sure whether she was more excited about the soft carpet, or about all the room she had to play before we put the furniture back.
We turned our long front room into two separate areas. The area by the stairs is now a little play room for Addison.
The one by the front door is a little sitting area.

We moved the shelves that were in the long room to the TV room. It's not a very good picture, but it looks great.

I'm really excited about the new carpet...unfortunately now our kitchen and dining room are a mess with all the stuff that was on our shelves. We're going to have a lot of fun putting everything back!

Slowing Down

Well, when we watched gas prices in our area reach $4.00, Bart and I finally decided to change our driving habits to attempt to conserve a little gas. Consequently, I have started driving at 65 mph instead of 75 mph. And let me tell you, it is AWESOME!!!

So I have always driven in the fast lane. I didn't realize it, but it's really quite a stressful thing.

I have always tried to be a courteous driver, so in addition to watching very attentively for cops, I always kept an eye on the guy behind me to see if he was coming up faster than me. If he was then I would move to the slower lane. If someone came up extremely fast, or there wasn't room to move over immediately, the people would get mad at you for being in the fast lane.

Or if someone was driving extremely slow in the fast lane, I'd have to hit the breaks, or sometimes switch lanes to pass them if they wouldn't move over, which would really irritate me. It was just...well, a very stressful thing!

Now that I am in the slow lane all the time, life is GREAT! I don't have to worry about people who come up fast behind me because they expect that I'm going slow and know that they are the ones that need to change lanes if they want to pass me. Also, hardly anyone actually drives the speed limit, so I can set my speed control and never have to worry about slowing down for slower cars. My drive has gone from very intense to very peaceful. It's AWESOME!!!

And, we're getting 10 mpg more than we were. I love our Prius.

The Race We Didn't Run

So this weekend was the Art City Day's Family Fun Run/Walk. Last year we ran this 5k and decided we would make it an annual tradition. After the race they give away tons of cool prizes! Last year I got a water cooler and a camping mat....and those were some of the lamer ones.

So this year my parents were also in town. I was so excited! Amy was also going to run it with us, so we were all going to run or walk the race. It was going to be so much fun! Then last week Addison got sick. I thought, "Well, Bart takes her for walks every day anyway...being outside won't hurt her even if she is still sick." Then I got sick, and I thought, "Well, even if I am still feeling sick, worst case scenario I can walk it with Addison and my mom."

Well, the day of the race came and Addison and I were still sick...and it was raining!!! The weather report had been sunny, mid 70s all week!!! WHERE THE HECK DID THIS RAIN COME FROM!?!?!

I got up, got dressed and thought, "Surely it will stop by the time we get there." We all got in the car and drove to the race...and it didn't stop. As we waited in the car for the rain to stop, I thought, "Shirley it will stop before the race actually starts." Nope. People started leaving their cars and heading for the starting line...in rain that was even heavier than when we started!!!

I decided that although taking a walk in dry weather probably wouldn't hurt Addison, taking a walk in pouring rain probably wouldn't be the best thing for her. If I hadn't been feeling so horrible, I probably would have just sent my mom home with her, but I wasn't too fond of the mental image I was conjuring of me soaked, throat burning and breathing through my mouth because I was so congested.

Finally we all decided to call it quits and go out to breakfast...which ended up being pretty fun. I was still pretty sad that we didn't get to do the race together, but since the rain got even worse and didn't stop for the next hour and a half, I felt a little better about our decision. Oh well. I'm still planning on running the Spanish Fork 5k and there will always be next year for the family fun run...

Sick and Graduation

Well, last Friday was Addison's last day of preschool for the summer. That evening they were having a potluck and had a little program that all the kids were participating in. The older kids were doing the three billy goats gruff, and the younger kids were each a monster in this little rhyme about colors. Addison was "Pink, Pink, sat in the sink."

I feel really stupid, but I was looking forward to this SOOOOOOOO much! I was seriously so excited. I was going to pin pink balloons to one of her pink pajamas. Addison even said, "Pink Pink Sink!"

On Friday when I went to pick her up, Robyn & Nyla said they thought something was wrong with her. She just laid down on the ground and didn't want to move. When I got there, she was just laying on the couch listless. I went over to her and felt her forehead. She didn't have a fever, but then she started to cough, and she coughed so hard she threw up.

I thought it was just a one time thing. I took her home and put her to bed. She slept for about an hour, then woke up. She seemed really happy when she woke up. Since she hadn't really eaten much lunch at Robyn's, I put her in her high chair and gave her some applesauce. She eagerly ate about two bites, then rapidly threw it up. Then she drank some water...and threw that up. This happened all through the afternoon. I kept telling myself, "Okay, if she just gets a little better, we can at least go and do her part." Yeah, she did not get better.

I had signed up to bring carrots, so I sadly left Addison with Bart and took the carrots to the potluck. I stayed for a little bit and taped the program so Addison could see all her friends over the summer.

When I came home Addison threw up again. I pretty much spent the next 45 minutes cleaning throw up. When the potluck was supposed to be over I ran back to it to grab my bowl. When I got home, Addison was fine. She was running around, eating, looking for bugs, pretty much just being her happy self...Right after the potluck ended!!! I guess she just wasn't meant to go. Oh well. There is always next year.

On Tuesday we headed out to Moab for Leonard's graduation. It was nice, except that I got sick. So not fun. Oh well. We were able to get a family picture with all of Bart's family, so that was good.

Leonard's graduation was pretty awesome. It was outside and the weather was perfect. There was a storm coming in the distance, so it was a beautiful sunset too! It was pretty cool. Here are some pictures.