The KaZoo

So, Sethy calls the zoo, the "KaZoo." He says "when we go out to the KaZoo." Or we went to the kazoo. It is Super Cute. I have a video that I will try to upload later with him saying it. My videos haven't been loading that well though, so we will have to see how that goes.

This trip is with my friend Laura and her girls. It was a fun time.

Britney Winkler Remembered

Wow, I just found out that a friend died last week. We did a group preschool together (like joyschool- only better:) with a few other moms. We also were in the marriage and family relations Sunday school class and the infant Sunday school class, together with her and John. Anyway, they both always had amazing insights into the topics that were discussed. I think they had a great relationship and love and respect for each other. They were true examples, and our prayers are with their family.

Healthy Recipes Please

OK. So, I think the fun has officially been sucked out of cooking for me. As if it wasn't fun already with someone always disliking what we have for dinner, unless it is pizza or mac and cheese. Anyway, so, I eat way too much Sodium- almost twice the recommended daily allowance (which by the way is now 1500 mg a day instead of 2300- which is what the labels on the food read- which if you eat 2300 calories a day is fine, but I don't).

Anyway, Breakfast is easy if you have oatmeal or some other type of hot cereal.

Lunch seems impossible, as I used to love sandwiches. Tortillas and Bagels are horribly high in sodium (each having over 1/3 of the total daily allowance of sodium). Bread isn't even great. A Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich has about 600 mg of sodium (again over a third). I love cheese, and that isn't horrible in small amounts, but not great.

And Dinner seems impossible, too. Spaghetti and sauce has about 400 mg of sodium with one serving without Parmesan cheese, and I usually eat more than one serving. Plus I love salads, but salad with dressing is also adding to the sodium level- and without dressing, is yucky. So if you have some good dressing recipes, pass them along.

All that, and the three glasses of milk at least that I need to drink to try to combat osteoporosis(each over 100mg of sodium per serving) adds to the total. Anyway, one day I did great and had under the 1500mg recommended allowance, but the next day I was so hungry, I did horribly. I need to not just be cutting things out, but replacing them with other things. I can do homemade bread and leave out the salt. I don't really salt things at the table, so I can't cut that out much. We don't eat frozen or pre-prepared meals, so it isn't like I can cut those out either.

If anyone has some truly healthy recipes- that my family will eat, please share.

Thanks

At the KaZoo with Missouri

We went to the zoo with Missouri and Emily a couple of times. Here are some pictures.


I thought this was cute that they were holding hands. What sweet kids.

Kara loses her first tooth

Here is my cute Kara showing her tooth. She lost it at school at lunch time. She was eating lunch and it fell out in her lap. She got a cute little tooth necklace to carry the tooth home in. Luckily the tooth fairy remembered to give her money. Isn't she cute.

Playing on the driveway

When the weather is warmer, we love to play on the driveway on Sunday afternoons. This was one of the earlier times. Matthew was learning to rollerblade. He is pretty good at it now. It has been a great driveway. In fact, I am loving the house and especially the quiet street. We have little traffic (maybe 4-5 cars all day long on a busy day), so I don't worry about the kids going into the street.


Here is a cute picture of Matthew. Isn't he cute? Here is a picture of Brian rollerblading with Lindsay.

Here are some cute pictures of Elise. She was hanging out on a blanket on the grass. It was good light for some cute pictures of her. And she was smiling super double cute (as Lindsay would say).

Cute Seth

Here is a cute picture of Seth. Don't mind the mountain of laundry in the backgroung. Yes it is clean, no it isn't folded (well now it is).

Book

I just finished listening to this book on tape. It was our wards book club book for the month (not that I finished it in time or went to the meeting, but it was really great). Really- maybe a new favorite. It has a bit of everything. Let me know if you read it or liked it.

I read it because Guernsey was a middle name of a great grandfather. I am going to look into the name more now. Anyway- a fantastic book.

Dad's Funeral Talk

Dad’s Funeral Talk

Here are my notes.  I know it isn’t exactly what I spoke, but here they are.

A.      Intro, Dad’s testimony- Endure to the End.

a.      Dad’s Testimony (from email).  I can’t remember when I didn’t have a testimony.  Any time I have reflected on the matter, I have always known that God is really my Father.  I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  I know that The Book of Mormon is the word of God.  I know that the Gospel was restored through Joseph Smith.  I also know that Jesus is the Son of God.  He came to earth to atone for our sins, if we will repent.  I know that I can have my family for eternity, f I remain faithful to the end.  I know that Gordon B. Hinckley is a prophet today. 

Love, Dad

B.      Patience (Hope) w/ illness Parkinson’s & Cancer never he never gave up. 

D&C 121:7-9  My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

 8And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

 9Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands

Once Mark (maybe?) game Mom a blessing and it said, “There is ALWAYS hope.”

President Uchdorf’s talk- Dark & Despair?  “Divine principles of the restored gospel we hope in can uphold us and carry us until, once again, we walk in the light.” 

In January, near the end of his life, I asked Dad what he wanted, he said he wanted to walk.  I think he was being a little funny, but not very.  Cute

C.      Death,  His death freed him from his weak body.  He is now with his family that has gone before. 

.

a.      Alma 40:12, Paradise 12And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow

b.      D&C 138:57 Preach Gospel-  I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the breaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead.

c.       Mosiah 16:6-9 (8 sting of death swallowed up in Christ) And now if Christ had not come into the world, speaking of things to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption.

 7And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.

8But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.

9He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death

Hope in Christ-  Explain Ressurection, Alma 40:23The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame

D.     Eternal Families, Marriages- The only way he and my Mom could be forever was in the temple.

a.      Faith, Hope that God will keep his promises.

b.      Dad worked hard to keep his promises

                                                              i.      Never yelled at Mom

                                                            ii.      Recorded FHEs when he was in Greenland for a year

                                                          iii.      Regular Temple attendance

1.      Even in the end, he went with the help of Brother Muhlestein

Enduring to the end.

            Church every week, and temple every week. Almost up to the last minute.

E.       HOPE-  ALWAYS HOPE-  He help[ed so many people.  He, like our Savior, ALWAYS SEE HOPE  for a better life in EVERYONE.

F.       Testimony-I have a testimony of our Savior love for me.  I know He loves me.  Because he loves us, the gospel is true.  Because of his love for us, we can have eternal families. 

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

My Dad

So, it has been awhile since I have blogged. I have a lot to blog about, but I really wanted to write a little tribute to my Dad first.

My Dad passed away on February 28th, 2010. It was a Sunday evening. Sunday morning, he woke up, and felt up to going to church, but then he had a coughing fit, and stayed home. By Sunday evening, his body was just too tired to go on. My mom put it nicely when she said his mind was willing, but his body was too weak. He always had such a great attitude.

I really feel blessed to have had such great parents in my life. I cannot express enough appreciation to have grown up with parents so faithful to their testimonies of the gospel. I am eternally grateful. I have countless memories of my Dad bearing his testimony of the gospel. He said he didn't remember a time when he didn't know it wasn't true. What a great blessing to have had such great parents. It is an example to me of what kind of parent I would like to be to my children.

There are many many things I can write about what a great man my dad was, but one thing has impressed me and I have thought about it over and over and over for the past year. I never heard my dad complain. He never said "Why me," or anything. My Mom was also a stellar care taker. She really focused on each moment in time trying to enjoy every minute she had with my Dad. To me, looking back, they were such a great team. They both did what they could for each other, lovingly and patiently. My Dad couldn't do a lot for my mom, but for that last Valentine's Day, he asked Ruth to get my Mom the biggest box of chocolates she could find for him to give to my Mom. The love they had for each other, and the way they lived their lives through this challenge, really has touched me. I think a life of living the gospel has blessed them, especially in the challenging times. Their faith held them up and gave them such strenth. I saw it. It was such a blessing. I hope to live like that.

I am so grateful I have the knowledge of the gospel in my life. I know we have an eternal family, and I will see my Dad again. I know it. I know it. What peace this knowledge has given me at this time. I am so grateful.

Ruth's Wedding

So, I got to go to Rurh's wedding, and I took Elise along with me. We had a great time. The wedding was really nice. There was their own flavor to the festivities. It was fun. Elise sat on Dad's bed with him and played with his fingers. It was sweet.

Here is Grandma holding Elise.

Here are a couple with Elise lying by Dad.

Mark liked Elise. I think he must be good with his sister Leah. He liked to blow on Elise's head and make her smile.

Here is another one. I love Elise's smile. Mark is such a sweet boy.

George and Jill before the wedding.

Amber loved to help out with Elise. She was really good with her, too.

Ruth and Brian before the wedding. Isn't Ruth looking so beautiful.

The marriage.

Ruth, Brian, and my Mom and Dad. It was so nice to have all my brothers and sisters there. I rode down to Monticello with Gary and Darlene and Rae. It was fun to get to visit with them.

Brian had fun here with the other kids. They played a lot. They went to Chuck E Cheese's and had movie night, and just had a blast.

Christmas Part 2

So, here we are at Brian's family's house. Seriously, this might have been one of the most fun Christmases I have ever had because it was so fun to surprise our families. It was so nice to spend one more Christmas with my Dad, and it was fun to have the kids play with their cousins. Brian and his Grandpa Taylor and Lindsay.



Here is a cute one of Lauren and Elise. Sofie loved to hold baby Elise.
Here we are at the bowling alley. Here is Claire and Chloe. I beat Brian for the first time ever in our first game, but our second game, I did my personal worst- I got 50, yes, that isn't a typo, 50. I guess that is what I get for bragging about beating Brian.

Puzzle mania was going on.

We were working on a puzzle at the table, Kara and Lindsay were doing a Fancy Nancy puzzle, and Seth was working on puzzles on the floor.

Kara wanted some pictures taken of her.

Kara wanted to take some pictures. I am sporting my new haircut. Someone asked for a picture of it awhile ago, so here it is. I did locks of love, and I really love it now that it is much shorter. She also really thinned it out, so I love that, too.

Here is one of me and Seth.

Kara kissing Elise.

Kara holding Elise.Family picture time on the couch.

kids on the couch

Elise on the floor. Happy as can be. Lindsay and Seth and Thomas in the baby area of Kangaroo Zoo. The kids absolutely loved it.

Lindsay.

Seth took about 5 minutes to warm up to the idea of a big blowup playground, but he really loved it.

Another bouncy toy to play on.

Here is Lindsay again. Notice I didn't get any of Matthew or Kara, they were too busy running around and playing with their cousins and aunts.

Seth running around. He never wants to keep his socks on, but he did here because I told him it was a rule, or he couldn't play. He was so cute and he had such a great time. It was really fun.