Together Again

The past ten days have been crazier than usual in our household. I went to my sister's wedding at the same time as Nathan went to a work conference. Danielle is now the youngest traveler in our family. She flew at only 6 1/2 weeks old.

We flew to Reno a few days before Lenaya got married, so that my mother-in-law could see Danielle for the first time. She looked like she was about to jump out of her skin she was so excited when we walked out of the terminal. She finally got her much needed baby-holding out of her system, and we had a great time visiting and shopping. We ate some great food, and eased my food cravings for Chinese and fresh Mexican. I also had a great time seeing the rest of the family and got a quick visit with Jeff & Jen before they headed to Utah.

On Friday we went to Sparks and I'm sure I hindered more than helped in the decorating, but luckily Lenaya had simple plans, and so there wasn't too much to do. I got to have a tour of the home that Lenaya and Brian have just closed on. It's going to be wonderful with a few coats of paint and a little remodeling. I'm glad they have a home.

The whole family showed up within a few hours of each other then, and that's when the fun really started. All my siblings were there along with their families and I was sad that my kids were missing out. It was complete pandemonium and I was quite sleep deprived, but the conversations were worth the pounding headache I had the next day.

The wedding day itself went perfectly. We had a family breakfast where I had a chance to talk with both my uncles and their families. We hung out in the afternoon and then headed over to the church.Lenaya looked beautiful in her dress and there was quite a large turn-out. She and Brian have a lot of people who love them. My favorite favorite part of the ceremony was when Xiana walked down the aisle and saw Brian. She said in her sweet high-pitched voice, "Hi Daddy!"

It brought tears to my eyes. I am glad that she has such a good daddy. I think that they are going to be really happy together and that makes me happy. My dad kept choking up all day. His emotions were tender, as he was so grateful that she has come so far.

Danielle did really well on the plane, considering the evenings can be her fussy time. On the first flight home we sat next to an elderly man. When he saw us sitting next to him, he gave a look saying, "Out of all the people on this plane, I have to be the one stuck next to the baby!?" He never said a word to us the entire two hour flight. To make the situation even more humorous, Danielle had a blowout and I only had two wipes left. I'm sure he was horrified, but I kept thinking that somebody changed his diaper when he was a baby.

Meanwhile on the homefront, our kids were looked after by some friends of ours who are heading off to Medical school in the fall. On Saturday morning, they took the kids to their favorite place to go on the weekend: Big R. They got free popcorn and saw the cute baby chicks. They had a lot of fun but were really happy to see me when I got back late Sunday night.

I still had a busy week ahead of me once I returned, because Nathan was gone until Friday. Between calls he managed to buy a new car that we are picking up from Pueblo next week. It is an Ocean Mist Metallic Honda Odyssey with grey leather interior.

We had a very rare sleepover on Monday night, because our best friends were moving to Nebraska and the boys wanted as much time together as possible. At 10:30 that night they came to me upset because they forgot to go outside for night games. I thought about how it would look for our kids to be running around in the backyard with flashlights on a school night, and then let them go figuring that I know the police chief and couldn't get into too big of trouble. It was a sad day when the Fletchers left for Nebraska. We feel a void in our lives!

My days were consumed with our usual schooling, soccer practices, scouts, meals, meetings, book club and trying to keep the house from falling into shambles. Nicole had class pictures on the same day that it was our turn to bring snack. We somehow made it through the week until Nathan was home on Friday.

Today I cleaned the bathrooms and went shopping since we had resorted to making dried milk, we were so low on groceries. Nathan came with me, and it was so nice to be together after 10 days of separation. I don't know how single mothers make it. I am so happy to have our family back intact. It will take us at least a month to catch up on the events, and I am glad that we are together.

Future Mothers

This past week we enjoyed a visit from a dear friend named Brooke who is from Redding, CA and is seventeen years old. We have known Brooke and her family since she was seven. We met her when our young boys were the age she was when her father died. I felt a connection with her family, because I could imagine how much harder life would be without Nathan. When she found out that I was having another baby, Brooke asked if she could fly out over her Spring break to visit. (Brooke has always loved babies). We had a wonderful visit.

This brings up a topic often on my mind. I am currently the Stake Young Women's President and have stewardship over the 60+ Young Women in our valley. Consequently, they are often on my mind, and I ponder over what I can do to help them reach their potential and overcome the many obstacles in their path.

I never go to sleep before I take the time to pray for them. They really are up against so much. If they could see clearly who they are and what they want, I think it would change what they do and why they do it. When we were talking to Brooke, we were asking her about college plans and what career she wanted to go into. She was a little ambivalent, and after some discussion I realized that what she wants to be when she grows up is a mother.

There is a no more noble goal, yet the world has erased that choice for young women. We are convinced that we must achieve something more to be considered successful. What a tragedy. And as a result, so many women feel valueless and push the belief onto their daughters that motherhood isn't enough.

I hope Brooke keeps that desire in her heart and is careful to marry someone who is the kind of father she would have wanted. I have the same hope for all the young women in my life...that they will recognize what is important to them and live to achieve that. I hope they keep their lives centered in Christ, so they can be guided in what will bring them joy.

I hope they look beyond television and movies in defining what love is. So often it is defined as lust, when real love means sacrificing, being patient, giving service to others, and getting up with a crying baby in the middle of the night without even being asked. I find it ironic that I used to say that some guys were "too nice." So often we want adventure, when it's actually great to be married to someone who is nice.

I hope that my own daughters can grow to know who they are....daughters of God. I hope they can look beyond the peer pressures of the world and do what they want to do. I hope that I will teach them and prepare them for the world in which they live. Life isn't going to get any easier and there will be more and more roadblocks placed in their path. Ultimately, I know that they can overcome the world's view and find joy in what is good and true.

Brooke was with me when Danielle smiled for one of the first times. I look forward to hearing about her child's first smile, and hope it brings her great joy!

Spring aka Wind

My favorite season has always been Spring. That is, until I moved to Alamosa. Here the winds have replaced Spring. I feel even more housebound, because even though the temperatures are so much warmer, I am still stuck inside. Any flowers that attempt to poke their heads out of the ground are blown apart pretty quickly. The outside here is still brown, when everywhere else in the world people are planting their gardens. To cope mentally, I finally had to decide that as long as I live in Alamosa, I will have to change my favorite season. The trouble is I haven't been able to decide what to change it to yet.

Yet, as the saying goes, there is always a silver lining to every cloud. My silver lining here in Alamosa, is my view. We live next to a wetland area and I have 6 large windows that point out toward it. I can always tell that Spring is here by the sounds and sights of the birds. I love to be woken up to their natural alarm clock. There are Canada Geese, Ducks, Robins, and a myriad of other nameless birds. My favorite neighborhood bird whose appearance always thrills me is the Yellow-headed blackbird.


Despite the fact that we had two days of nice weather and were able to go out twice on walks before the wind came, I can look out the windows and spot pretty birds and ducks nesting on little islands. I've also spotted a red fox back there as well as countless deer.


Even in other seasons there is endless changing beauty. The green of the summer and the frozen winter wonderland are just as beautiful. It's a lesson that I've learned that there is something wonderful wherever you live. You can choose to mourn the thing you no longer have, or you can find the unique blessing in front of you. So I look out and watch last season's cattails blowing in the wind, and I tell myself that someday the wind will stop and I can get out in my flower garden and enjoy one of my four favorite seasons.