Unplugged

Did you know this week was National Unplug week? We decided as a family to take the challenge (I didn't say it was unanimous did I?!)

Monday was hard. There was complaining, arguing and general unrest all around.

Tuesday was harder. The little kids needed an entertainer, and the big kids weren't offering to take on the role. And the noise...wow 7 unhappy kids make a lot of noise!

By Wednesday things were settling down. The kids knew we weren't giving in (I can't say I wasn't tempted...especially when it was just me and the babies at home and I had a ton of homework). They all seemed to find their non-electric groove though. Zach read two books, Mckenzie played dress up with the girls, Zane and Ammon discovered a forgotten box of Legos, and Dan and I managed to get to bed on time for a couple of nights. Thursday we kept busy baking cookies and playing games, and going to the ball field to watch a softball game. When Friday fianlly rolled around, and the 5pm plug in drew near, the kids waited impatiently. I made them clean the basement to dull the anticipation (what a great mom I am to help relieve their anxiety). Well the time came and the TV's and video games blinked on...for about 20minutes...then they were all back out with their freinds, reading thier books, or playing in the yard. What a lot of drama for nothin!

Fire!....oh it's a cake.

Now that's a lot of candles! We celebrated Grandpa Ricks birthday last week...and din't even set off the smoke detector! Love ya dad!

Princess party by two princesses for two princesses!

Emily's birthday was at the end of February, but with life being what it is, her "friend party" kept getting postponed. Then Mckenzie said she'd do it for her and decided to count it as a Personal Progress project for Divine Nature. I told my good friend Trena what she was doing and she proposed a double party for our 6 year olds, with our teenage girls as the hostesses. What a great idea! So Rachel and Mckenzie got to work planning, and budgeting. They made invitations, came up with games, and made the food. They held the festivities in Rachel's beautiful backyard (thanks Trena!) Emily and Annie dressed up in their prettiest princess dresses and spent the afternoon partying with the girls from their church class. Rachel and Mckenzie did a great job! The girls had a wonderful time. And the first party of the year is over...only 7 more to go!

17 year olds!

Zach at State Competition for FFA (center back)

Say what you will about teenage boys, but I'm sure crazy about mine. Sure he's loud and a little lazy, he teases his brothers, and can't seem to figure out how to get his clothes into the hamper, and honestly, he is the MOST disruptive person on our row in Sacrament Meeting. But other than that, I can't complain.

Zach is an excellent student and has received many awards for his academic performance all his life. This year, his senior year, he has finally discovered the extracurricular side of education. He sang a solo in his first choir concert, won 3rd place in the District Aquaculture Competition for FFA, and last week traveled to Tucson to compete in the State Competition. Individually he came in 9th and as a group their team took 1st! Next week he performs in the Red Mountain High School Musical Beauty and the Beast. All this and straigh A's to boot.

Zachary, you are Awesome!

Peace, Be Still!

Most of us have heard the song, Master the Tempest is Raging. It's Tres' all time favorite hymn. I loved listening to him sing it to Bekkah when she was a baby. It was written in reference to the Savior calming the stormy sea of Galilee when he asked his disciples "Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" as written in Mark 4:36-41.

Mary Ann Baker wrote it after the death of her brother. She was now alone, destitute and her faith shaken. “I have always tried to believe on Christ and give the Master a consecrated life,” she said, “but this is more than I can bear. What have I done to deserve this? What have I left undone that God should wreak His vengeance upon me in this way?”

But as the days and weeks passed "the God of life and love began to calm the winds and the waves her heart. Her faith not only returned but it flourished, and like Job of old, she learned new things, things too wonderful to have known before her despair."

Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high! The sky is o’ershadowed with blackness. No shelter or help is nigh.

Carest thou not that we perish? How canst thou lie asleep When each moment so madly is threatening A grave in the angry deep?

Then this beautiful refrain:

The winds and the waves shall obey my will; Peace, be still! Peace, be still! Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea Or demons or men or whatever it be, No waters can swallow the ship where lies The Master of ocean and earth and skies.
They all shall sweetly obey my will. Peace, be still! Peace, be still! They all shall sweetly obey my will. Peace, peace, be still!

And the final concluding verse:

Master, the terror is over. The elements sweetly rest. Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored, And heaven’s within my breast.
Linger, Oh, blessed Redeemer! Leave me alone no more, And with joy I shall make the blest harbor And rest on the blissful shore.

The storms of life are violent and great. Our faith can waver in these times.

As Jackson's recent health issues cause us new worry and the uncertainty of Bekkah's heart condition looms, the Father may say “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?”
I can take comfort in knowing that the Master said “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

And if we only have our two babies for a little while, we can be sure that we will one day rest on the blissful shore together as a family forever.

Peace be still.

Listen, Listen

Listen, Listen, when you have to make a choice, He will guide you, always.

Have you heard this from primary? Today I felt the promptings of the spirit and it made me think of this song.

I was on my way to the grocery store and Jackson fell asleep. Rather than wake him, I unbuckled his car seat from the car and placed the whole thing in the cart. Bekkah sat up in front in the child seat. We finished our shopping and headed quickly out to the car. The wind had picked up and it looked as if it were about to pour down rain. The cart was up on the curb in front of the car. I went around and opened Jack's door, then came back to carry my sleeping baby still in his seat, back to the car. As I went to lift him, I stopped and thought, "I'll get Bekkah first." I remember thinking, "that's dumb, I already have Jack's door open" but I went ahead, lifted Bekkah out and headed around to the other side of the car. Just then the wind picked up and a sudden gust threw the cart off the curb into the street where it flipped on it's side. I ran back to a screaming but unharmed baby. The car seat held him tightly in place, away from the pavement. Had I moved Jack first, Bekkah would have been thrown into the street and would have sustained at least some major road rash, if not a concussion and stitches...or worse.

One could argue that I was "just lucky", but there is not a doubt in my mind from this minor little accident, that a loving Heavenly Father watches over us and the Holy Spirit guides. I am grateful for the prompting of the spirit!

Rebekkah

THE PATIENT:

Bekkah and I spent the afternoon at the hospital for her heart check up. They did the usual battery of tests, the worst is pulling off the "stickers" from the EKG. She squeezed her eyes so tight it almost made me cry. I wonder what she must think in her little mind as she watches me smile and ask her to hold still while doctors and nurses inflict pain on her. She's such a strong little girl.


THE PROGNOSIS:

"There are two schools of thought in medicine," her electrophysiocardiologist explained to me, once he examined her. Old school is "If there are no symptoms or they are under control, don't do anything." The new school is more proactive. They say, "fix it now before problems arise and it's too late to fix." Dr. Andrew Papez is most definitely from the new school. Unfortunately she is still too small. Her accessory pathway (extra path the electrical pulses go through that make her heart beat too fast) are much too close to the AV node (normal pathway) which makes surgery very dangerous as they could accidentally close off the AV node and he thinks there may be more than one extra pathway. Her Ebstein's Anomaly (malformation of the tricuspid valve) will get worse as she grows. If the blood volume that flows backward into her other ventricle continues to increase, she will not get the oxygen she needs. The procedures to correct this valve surgically are not very good and often patients come out of the surgery worse off than when they went in, if they come out at all. With all this he was cautiously optimistic. He is thrilled that she is stable, and amazed at her size, color and the sparkle in her eyes. Most Ebstein's babies are small, frail, and somewhat lethargic. He is taking her off of her current medicine because the side effects can sometimes cause cardiac arrest and it makes her skin blister in the sun. The new medicine is not as effective but safer. We'll try it and pray she remains stable.



THE RESULTS:

There's nothing like a day in the doctors office to give you a reality check. Those little daily problems like quarreling kids, homework struggles and financial obligations that seem insurmountable one day, don't seem quite so bad. Pull your little ones onto your lap today, and hold them tight. Life is so very fragile.