Seeking out the One

I love Christmas. I love everything about it. Now that I live up in Utah, it's even better with the snow! I love the anticipation of the season, the songs, the lights, just everything. Tonight I was blessed to have felt the season spirit in a very special way.

Tonight was our Relief Society party (for those that have no idea what that means, its when all the women get together and eat and talk!) I have always LOVED Relief Society, but I especially look forward to the Christmas one. It always means lots of good company and delicious food to enjoy at such a wonderful time of year. I don't have to chase down children or worry about what foods they are picking in or if one or more have already left the building. In this ward, we have amazingly talented and creative women who do everything way above and beyond anything I have ever witnessed! I like to think that maybe I am creative-here or there-but I really don't compare! So, it was with great excitement that I looked forward to this evening.

Then I remembered. I have Celiac Disease. It's not something that affects me very often, at home because I have easily learned to cook around it. In fact, other than social gatherings or trying to eat out, I don't feel like my life is any different than it was before. However, imagine for a moment attending a mormon function with desserts and trying to avoid all wheat product. Impossible, huh? I knew that I had three options. I could go and politely turn everything down and watch everyone else eat the yummy things and pick through a thing here or there that might be safe or I could take my own food or I could just stay home. Well, I really didn't feel like going and being the one person not enjoying a delicious feast of holiday goodness and I certainly didn't want to be the one walking in with my own treat-yeah that's fun! So, I opted to stay home. I didn't even fully make the decision until the morning of. I was bummed, but it was a lot less work and no one would have to feel bad, and let's face it, in a ward of over 100 women I would not be missed. As it is, my calling at church is just playing the piano, so most sunday's I wonder if anyone even knows who I am.

About 2 hours before the event, I got a phone call. It was the Relief Society President on the other line. Here is how our conversation went.

Her: Hi Ramona, I was just calling to see if you were coming tonight. We'd really like to have you there.
Me: um, no I don't think I'm going to be able to make it.
Her: Really? Are you sure?
Me: (wanting to lie, but really, who can lie to the Relief Society President) well, I know that there was going to be food and with my inability to eat wheat, I didn't want to make a big deal, so I just thought it would be easier if I stayed home.
Her: Let me call you back.

So, there was a bit more to the conversation, but you get the idea. About 20 minutes later, she called back with the ingredient list of what was being served and how many things I would still be able to eat. Of course, I went.

It was a wonderful evening with delicious food. They had this delicious looking cake that was crumbled and layered with peppermint ice cream, but they also had a few extra bowls of just plain ice cream (well, not too plain, it was peppermint, my favorite). They had artichoke dip with crackers and chunks of bread and a bowl of chips (gluten free) and so on for everything. Whether those things were all part of the original plan or some dear sweet sister ran down to Wal-mart to grab just before it started, it didn't matter. I felt like I fit in and more importantly, I felt loved. They didn't need to go to all the extra effort. In fact, if I had my way, no one would have even known. And maybe to many it seems like a silly reason to stay home in the first place, but I couldn't stop crying at the end of the evening when the final message was presented. They talked about Christ and the real meaning behind this amazing time of year. They said the same words we all hear every year about the same story and the same baby that was born in a manger. But, as I sat there, surrounded by beautiful women who took the time and effort to make me feel important enough to be there, the real message was taught. Jesus was more than a baby in a manger. The events of that night were only the beginning to a life of self-less love and teaching and sacrifice. Jesus never let the one go unnoticed. Like the true shepard He was, He always knew and met the needs of His flock. For me, this night, I was the one. This sweet Relief Society President taught more in her quiet actions than any word that was spoken. She followed quiet promptings to call me in the first place and then she did everything she could to make the night possible for me. I didn't have to take my own food or sit and watch everyone else eat without me. I was part of the fold and the lesson was profound.

So, as we all get busy during this time of year, remember to seek out the one. It may be someone in your family who is struggling a bit this year or a neighbor who is feeling alone or it just may be someone in your ward who can't eat wheat and feels a little out of the loop! No matter what our efforts are or how small they may seem, we may never know how much it means to the one.

My Happy Ballerina

I love everything about this photo! It will forever remind me of my little girl, in tights and a leotard, so excited, so happy to finally be at ballet lessons. I think this means most to me because I have always loved ballet as well! I'm not one to live my dreams through my kids (well, at least I try not to) but I was blessed with a little girl who loves it as much as I do! I know it could change, but let me live in my dream world for now. I imagine her spending the next 15 years with me driving her to and from lessons. She'll trade in her cute little ballet slippers each year for bigger ones. I dream of the day when I will watch her pirouette across the stage in perfect elegance and form. She will turn and spin on the very tips of her toes like I tried to a million times as a young girl, in love with the elegant art of ballet! I just hope that no matter where she goes or what she chooses throughout her life, I hope she never loses that look of pure joy! I hope every adventure can be faced with that!

Tender Mercies

I have been thinking a lot, lately about this term. It seems to be talked about a lot at church and really first brought to many of our attention by a beautiful talk by Elder Bednar a few conferences ago. Last month, at Relief Society salad social, the talk was on the Tender Mercies of the Lord. Since that time, I find myself pondering and finding the many little moments throughout my daily life when the Lord shows me He loves me. I think I love these two words so much because they represent something so personal. We all live in awe at the big things God has done for us from the creation of our beautiful world to the quiet wonder of a newborn, just kissed by heaven's lips. But, to me, when I think of a tender mercy, I think of the things that may not mean anything to anyone else, but it means everything to me.

Just yesterday, I went grocery shopping and took the two youngest. Noah was great, for most of it, hanging out in the moby wrap, just happy to be looking around! Olivia was pleasant, but curious. She "needed" everything and I think we passed 15 potential birthday presents that she felt she needed to buy right there. She's 3 and definately to "mature" for riding in the cart, so what should have been an hour long shopping trip stretched into almost 2. By the time I reached the check out line with my cart filled to the brim, Noah was done. The poor thing was ready for a nap or food or both and just began to scream for all he had in him. Olivia was still trying to convince me that every candy in the check out area needed to be in our cart, and I was ready to join Noah in the screaming. At that moment, a kind man, clearly a grandpa stepped over and asked if he could unload my cart for me. I felt more gratitude than pride at that moment, and I stepped back to bounce and sooth my baby. He chatted while he unloaded and made me feel that I deserved the help. Noah fell asleep and by the time, my groceries were rung up and back in my cart, I felt more than joy at being done. As I pushed my cart to the car and encouraged Olivia to hurry just a little faster, I felt warmth around me. I knew at that moment that it was no coincidence that this kind stranger stopped to help. He felt a nudge from a loving Father in Heaven and he listened and helped. With the warmth I felt love. I knew that my Father in Heaven loved me, was aware of my struggles and weaknesses. I knew that through the hands of this sweet grandpa, the Lord was able to reach down and help me. He lightened my burden and reminded me that I am never alone.

It also made me stop and think if I listen enough to those little nudgings. Do I pass up opportunities to help the Lord in performing those small tender mercies for others? Do I let my pride or my fear keep me from being an instrument for Him? And if I do, how can I overcome it. I pray that I strive harder to listen more, love more, and show my gratitude for the multitude of mercies the Lord gives to me.

My New Blog Venture

Well, this is something I have wanted to do for awhile and I've finally figured out how to do it and took the plunge! I've started my own FREE blog wear blog! So, if you are wanting some backgrounds for your blog that have a bit of that "down-home baking" feel to it, then check out this link:

Home Baked Blogs

(much more to come, this is just the beginning!)

3 Months old--My Little Man

I do not know where the past three months have gone! It seems like just yesterday that I was admiring my new little son, just hours old! He is such a sweet and happy baby (especially now that we have the reflux under control!) and I just love him more each day! Here are a few pics to show him off!

Summer Update

I can not believe that summer is going by so quickly! It feels like we just got out and now I'm already getting info about the new year coming up. I hate how fast it goes.

We've had a good summer so far. The weather has been amazing and I'm learning to really love summer in a climate that is warm but not so hot it burns your skin off! LOL! I really love the mornings and the evenings.

Chipper is at scout camp this week, and it has been really hard to not see him or even talk to him. I know that this is just the beginning of slowly letting go, as he grows and gets older, but it is definately not easy!

Mitchell and Abby are gone with John this week to Nevada, for his meetings, so it's just the 3 youngest and me! It should be a very quiet house.

Sam is enjoying summer school and next week is his last week. It went so fast! He loves to go and especially ride the bus. I enjoy how easy it is when he's gone. That probably sounds bad, but he is so busy and keeps me on my toes! Just Monday, I took 5 of the kids to Thanksgiving Point to their Discovery Gardens. It's absolutely beautiful there and they have a Noah's Ark water feature. We had been there about 2 hours and we were all tired and ready to head home. I was helping Olivia put on her clothes when I turned around and Sam was gone. It was just that quick and no matter where I looked, I couldn't see him anywhere. I spent about 20-30 minutes looking on my own. I just kept circling the park, calling his name, etc. I had Mitchell and Abby wait by the front gate, so he couldn't come back and escape. I was exhausted and the heat was really getting to me by this point. I went to the front gate and asked the girl for help. She called Security and they came to help me look. I felt some relief at not being alone. They ended up getting a call from the large gardens (400 acres worth) next door and he had somehow gotten in over there. I was so relieved and amazed how quick he is. I wish I could say that he was unnerved by it all, or even slightly afraid of a stranger bringing him back, but he reappeared with the security guard with his usual smile as if nothing had happened. I swear he is the reason I will be grey before I'm 40!

Olivia is our little social bug. She is convinced that she is going to school this fall and every new thing she does, she say's she learned it at school. She cracks us up with the things she says and comes up with. Just yesterday, she told me I was born yestermorning! I love this age!

And sweet Noah is growing and doing so well. He has some reflux issues which is no fun! It has caused him some real fussy spells that are so hard with a newborn. Last week, I went to an essential oils class in our ward. I took him with me, and he was so fussy. You know that "stiff in your arms" feeling, like he was in pain. This has become so common for him, especially after eating. We put some oils on his little chest and rubbed lavendar onto his feet. Within 5 minutes he calmed down and relaxed in my arms for the rest of the evening. It was amazing! I bought some oils and have been putting them on him after every meal. I have seen some improvment and best of all, he sleeps 10 hours a night since then! I definately won't complain about that!

So, there's an update! There are so many more things I could write about, but little one is tired of being in my arms while I type, so we're going to go play!

Pictures from the park

I took the kids to the park today, while we had a few moments of break in the rain! We had a lot of fun! I snapped so many pictures-over 150! I only have a few edited, and will post more later tonight! I just love my camera and using it to take pics of my kids! Abby is so fun, she is like a little model, coming up with all sorts of poses. She doesn't "play" at the park, she "poses" for me!










Mitchell, on the other hand, is our stunt devil! He tries out every way he can hang and climb, then he wants me to take a picture, proving that he has accomplished the latest feat!

More Photos

Are you all sick of my photos yet? I just love snapping pics of my kids and sharing them!



Okay, so I can't claim Reagan, but isn't she a cutie? She's my niece and she, Olivia
and Sam had so much fun "fixing" the scooter when we visited a few weeks ago.

Summer Break

I'm so excited that it's summer break! We had a fun trip down to Nevada to visit family! We had planned to visit friends, as well, but on the way down, John's car broke down (or died) and it kind of changed all our plans. Since Noah's arrival, we don't fit in one car anymore, so we have to caravan if we go any place altogether! It's kind of crazy, but it works for now. But to be down to one car, kind of complicated things. Kirk came to our rescue and we were able to get the car and Mitchell (via Uncle Kirk) back up to Utah. Now we get to find a new engine to put in our Honda that was supposed to last forever!

Other than that, we had a great time and was able to see my parents and all of my siblings and their children.

New Pics

I finally uploaded some pics of Noah! This is when he was 3 weeks old!



And here he was 2 nights ago sleeping so cute!

Happy Mother's Day

I thought I would post some new pictures of Noah! The first layout was a picture taken when he was one week old. The second layout was of a picture I took yesterday, at almost 3 weeks old. The time is going so fast! He is such a fun and wonderful baby! For all the fear I felt for 9 months in having him join our family, it has been relatively easy! He is a dear blessing!

Noah is HERE!!

I know I'm a few days late posting all the details of Noah's birth and pictures, but things have been so crazy!

I went in Tuesday morning to be induced. It was kind of nice to be able to know that morning that I was really going to have a baby! It was also Mitchell's birthday, which he has been very excited about!

I got there a little after 8 a.m. but by the time they got everything going and my water broken, it was closer to 9:30. The deal was they were going to let me have an hour to see if things kicked in on their own, or they were going to start the pitocin. Of course, nothing happened, so at about 10:30 they started the lowest dose of pitocin. I think the waiting was the worst part of all of the process. I was just ready to be in labor!!!

Finally, after them turning it up every half hour, by a little after 12:00, things started to pick up and begin to be fairly steady. They were a bit painful, but not bad at all. They gradually got closer and harder and after about 2 hours, I was getting tired. They still weren't too painful to endure, but I didn't want to wait too long and then not be able to get the epidural. At this point, I was at about a 5.

They ordered the epidural, and I was amazed at how quick it all went. Soon after receiving it, my blood pressure dropped (I had prepared them for this, because it wasn't the first time) and they immediately gave me a shot of Ephedrin (which is basically speed). It took away the dizziness and naseau and my blood pressure immediately jumped back up where it should have been, but it left me feeling almost giddy! It was a crazy feeling and I had tons of energy! Not that I could do much but lay there and wait! LOL! So, that was all finished by about 3:30 and I told them I would be ready to push in an hour to an hour and a half. They nodded, but I'm sure they didn't believe me. I was still only at a 5, so I think the poor doctor figured he would be hanging out most the evening.

Sure enough, right about 5 p.m. I began to feel the pressure with each contraction (I wasn't in pain, just could feel that they were going on) and when they checked me, I was ready to push. They got everything set up, and in less than one push, his head was out! It went very fast! His actual birth time was 5:22 p.m. and he weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 22 inches long!

He scored great on his apgar and looks great! He is still doing very well, except for some jaundice that they are keeping an eye on. He's a very alert baby and very mild. He only cries when he's hungry!

Here are some pics of our sweet little man:

Wow! It has been forever!

I finally got around to changing out our Christmas decor here and updated it for spring! Granted, with the snow that fell last night, it felt more like Christmas than April!

I'm really going to try and be better about posting, and I'll start with an update on us!

We are all healthy and happy and still LOVING our home here in Utah! We survived the winter, and actually, I never tired of the snow! Abby turned eight recently and was baptized this last weekned. What a special memory it must be for her, to have been baptized on Easter weekend. It just seemed to add a little extra meaning! A lot of our family were able to come and visit and it was great to see everyone!

The kids all love school and it's so fun to see them growing and making new friends and surviving all of life's little lessons!

Our newest addition should be arriving any time now! I'll be 40 weeks on Sunday (as you can probably tell from the picture above!) We are getting very excited to meet little Noah and welcome him into our family!

John found out on Sunday that he passed the Utah Bar and that was very exciting news for us! February was a very stressful month as he studied and prepared! It's so nice to have that behind us!

My business is growing and I love designing so much! In fact, all the little goodies in the header are my newest creation! I had so much fun designing spring, even if I couldn't see it outside yet!

Sam is doing great, loves school and is trying so hard to talk! Most of his words are vowels only, but we are adjusting well to his little language and it's fun to hear him express himself! Olivia is our little sunshine and such a fun girl! I truly can't believe she is almost 3!!

So, there's the update for us! I promise to post details and pictures, as soon as Noah makes his appearance!