Two love stories and a little taste of heaven...

Just before Christmas we had a house full of wonderful family, 

all here to celebrate the love shared between these two people, 
Jessica & Joe. 

It was so much fun!!

Katie snapped this picture one evening

 when I was on my way home from the office 

of everyone trying a Utah tradition, Betos. 

Which brings me to the second love story in this post. 

See the cute little red-head with the striped shirt in the above picture, just to the left of center?

He is Katie & Keith's son

and his name is Charlie.

He met Joe's sweetheart at their family reunion last summer 

and was instantly a fan.

I'm crazy about little kids 

and loved Charlie's interactions with Jessica. 

Charlie has PKU so he can't eat lots of things most of us can eat, 

including wedding cake. 

Jessica is a college student who loves baking 

and she made their wedding cake.

She didn't stop there though. 

She also made a little wedding cake just for Charlie 

that was low "phe" so he could eat it

and feel included in the festivities.

I'll never forget the look on his face when he found out it was

okay for him to eat that gorgeous little cake

Jessica made special for him. 

(photo by bright angel imagery)

I thought he might dig right in,

but instead he jumped up and gave Jessica a hug,

thanking her for her gift. 

It still makes my eyes water.

I love these lines from "The Family"

"The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships

to be perpetuated beyond the grave."

"Sacred ordinances... available in holy temples 

make it possible...for families to be united eternally."

It was all a little taste of heaven on earth.

Congrats Joe & Jessica.

<3

The "white" part of our White Christmas...

We had a White Christmas this year!

The trees were heavy with snow.

Rascal went bonkers over the snow!

He'd run wherever we were throwing it and catch it in his mouth...

and on his head.

Video here...

Rascal loves to catch snow almost as much as he loves to catch tennis balls! :)

An Indian Name from a Catawban Chief..

Our oldest twig, Zac, is sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ 

with people of the Catawban Indian Tribe in South Carolina. 

He wrote home a while ago that he'd been given an Indian name 

by one of the Chiefs. 

How neat is that!!!

I love all things Native American! 

Many years ago, when I was a little girl, I'd spend the night with my cousin 

and study display case after display case on their walls, full of arrowheads 

that her Dad had come across in the deserts of Idaho. 

They were beautiful and so interesting!

When I was 6 months pregnant with Our Girlie, 

the Mr. and I climbed up, down, around, and through Mesa Verde 

with these two little guys.

It was a life changing experience! 

Now, every night when I lay my head on my pillow, I'm grateful 

for a soft bed and warm blankets, 

grateful I don't have to worry about a 40' cliff just outside my door 

when toddlers or sleepwalkers are in the house. 

(Look in the top right corner of the picture above

 - what an amazing little community in that alcove.)

About two years ago we found pictographs in this home.

 Dig that rockin' skylight!

It seemed a gift more than a coincidence 

when just after hearing Zac's Indian name was Red Woodpecker, 

this little couple showed up in our yard. 

They spent a lot of time behind a boulder digging in the snow.

They also spent a lot of time in our neighbor's tree. 

I couldn't see why until I got the pictures on the computer. 

We're enjoying these woodpeckers 

and are grateful for messages and pictures 

from the dear people in Catawba 

who tell us they're enjoying our Red Woodpecker, Elder Branch.   <3

Come on, seriously, a big MAN spoon? That's hilarious!!

Our blonde twig dislocated his shoulder three times in the last year.

The first time was on the basketball court at the park.

He turned and took off running to get a ball,

not knowing that his Scout Leader's 9 yr-old daughter was rollerblading right behind him.

He realized, as they were both going down,

that he was about to flatten her like a pancake and needed to grab her

and roll to the side to help cushion the impact.

They survived the impact, though I'm sure she's traumatized, 
and his shoulder was dislocated.

He put it back in place and the soreness subsided so we never checked it out.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the story as his shoulder dislocated two more times.
After it dislocated the third time, this one during a racquetball match,

we thought we'd better get it looked at before he heads off on a mission to Timbuktu

and has more problems.

The MRI showed a torn labrum.

You could see the little shredded flap just floating around in the image.

Surgery day came and he had the nicest prep nurse!

She had him smiling and laughing while she was putting in his IV.

He was still smiling when surgery was finished.

Smiling, and asking his pappy to fix his hair now that he couldn't use his right arm. :)

The Dr. tucked the flap back in place with 4 anchors

and Hunter would be sporting a sling for the next 4 weeks.

The first week was a little rough.

The Percocet made him sick to his stomach and the nausea meds didn't help. :(

One night during that first week,

he was sleeping well so I didn't wake him to give him pain meds.

OOPS!!!

He woke up with his bad arm in pain

but unbeknownst to us,

his sling had been cutting off the blood flow in his good arm all night.

It hurt an incredible amount more than the surgery arm.

It was the worst pain he'd ever felt in his life.

Both arms were spasming and posturing 

and he was sure he was dying from a blood clot!

He's a pretty chill, relaxed kid normally.

This was NOT normally.

We got pain meds in him,

I was massaging the cramping muscles in his good arm,

the Mr. was encouraging him to breathe to get the muscle spasms to subside,

our girlie was trying to feed him some food so the pain med wouldn't upset his stomach.

It was the ultimate tag team operation, right?

We'll never forget Hunter's replies,

"Call Sister Olsen!!!"   (our sweet nurse friend)

"No, I don't want a little BOY spoon, I want a big MAN spoon!!"

"Dad, don't tell me about oxygen!!"

It was totally rude of us, we know and we're sorry, but it was so funny

to hear Hunter completely and totally out of character.

We could not help ourselves, we had to chomp on our tongues to keep from laughing!

Come on, seriously, a big MAN spoon? That's hilarious!!

You don't want us for your nurses. Total fail!

In reality it only took about an hour for the pain meds to help

but it sure felt like eternity at the time.

We're glad that first week is over.

We're also glad for all of you!

Thanks, everyone, for your treats, visits, messages, and smiles. :)

You helped so much <3