BYU Women's Conference

Our Women's Conference Group:  Hannah, Katie, Caroline, Me, Marianne, & Clarissa

I love BYU.  I graduated from there 12 years ago this summer.  At the time I graduated, my dear cousin Hannah and I were roommates.  This week we reunited as roomies and had the time of our lives as we walked around campus, stayed up late laughing until we cried, and fueled up on inspiration and hope as we attended the great classes at BYU Women's Conference (we cried a lot at those too).  As Hannah and I palled around and ate BYU Creamery ice cream, it was as if no time had passed.  The only difference between those 12 years was that we no longer look like BYU students, I was 34 weeks pregnant and waddling between classes more than racing, and instead of talking about boys and classes and our dreams for the future, we talked about husbands and kids and our dreams for the future.

We had a great Women's Conference group.  Clarissa (my wonderful neice who got to go for the first time and room with her mom and my dear sister Marianne) enthusiastically called us the "best group" of the whole conference.  Katie and her friend Caroline joined us from Boulder, Utah.  As always, Katie was a lot of fun, and her friend Caroline is lovely.  We immediately discovered that we have the same maternity shirt (we are both wearing them in the picture).  Caroline is due a few weeks after I am, but is handling her pregnancy with a lot more grace and patience than I am.  I think she's a very cute pregnant gal, and there's nothing cute about the 80 pounds I've gained!  Note that she and Marianne kindly let me hide behind them in the picture.

We missed my mom, my sister Thelma, and my sisters-in-law, Jennifer and Melanee, at Women's Conference.  They were all busy with more important things.  We look for them to join us next year (except for my mom who will still be serving a mission).  Hannah and I also had to call my cousin and her sister Britta to reminisce about old times and tell her we were thinking of her as we laughed about the crazy things we've done together.

As always, I came home from Women's Conference refreshed, determined to be better, and so excited to be home again with my Edgar and our children.  The kids were all playing outside when I got home--even though it was almost bedtime. 

Yesterday Lili said, "Do you know why we were all outside last night when you came home?"

"No. Why?"

"We were waiting for you.  Everytime a car came (not a real common occurrence here), we thought it was you."

What a happy thing a family is to come home to!

Superman is Back!

Marcos is back!  It is such a relief to have him normal again.  He has lost a little weight, but otherwise he is himself.  It was a long week for all of us.  Everybody watched a lot of Blue's Clues and I held Marcos and read to him so much.  He woke up every night several times.  Ammon, who is used to being the baby, didn't enjoy all the attention Marcos got and tried to sit on my shrinking lap as much as he could.  Marcos has helped me to get ready for having a newborn again.

Finally, on Friday, Marcos started eating normally and acting like himself.  He still woke up several times at night and last night he woke up once.  I refused to carry him (I'm already carrying his little brother) and made him walk to the kitchen to have some medicine and water.  He didn't wake up again.  He's enjoyed the attention and command he's had on the household.  One day he demanded that Ruben not play in the toy room.  He's also been able to eat and drink in the family room, where we made him a special bed.  One day I was so desperate to get him to eat something--anything--that I gave him chocolate chips and marshmallows for lunch. 

  Last night I said, "Marcos, I think you're all better."  He said, "No, Mom.  I'm not!"  He is hesitant to give his power up, but really, what superhero wouldn't be?

Bee-fore and After

This is the Marcos I've always known and loved--happy, enthusiastic, easy to please. That was before--before he got his tonsils out.

This is the Marcos I love now--today was his fourth day after surgery. Since he's so young (the tender little guy's only three) I didn't really believe the doctor when he said every day would be worse for about a week. The doctor was right. Marcos cries a lot and gets shaky and hysterical. It brings tears to my eyes. The pain medication burns his throat going down. The other morning I was trying to get him to take it. "This will help you feel better," I said. "But I'm not getting better!" He sounded so sad and desperate. I am learning how difficult it would be to have a chronically ill child. I feel blessed that my children are usually very healthy and that this is a temporary situation for little Marcos. I took this picture of him today and said, "Should we take a picture of you for Grandma and Grandpa?" He said yes, and without any prompting from me, said a weak little, "Cheese." Bless his heart.
Yesterday was a surprise 40th birthday party for my brother-in-law, Robert. He's a beekeeper (among many other things) and so I made him a beehive cake. I had made the bees bee-fore Marcos's surgery. I had made a few more than forty and put everything away when I caught Marcos (the bee-fore surgery, normal Marcos) eating one. After counting, I realized he'd eaten seven! I had to get everything out again and make more bees. Now Marcos won't eat anything. I wouldn't mind if he'd eat a bee or two.

Robert was a great sport. Here he is wearing a bee mask Marianne got for him. Our other news of the week is that we are the proud owners of a German Wirehair Pointer. Lili has always wanted a dog and lately she's been even more insistent that she get one. She wrote me a letter this week, saying "Pleese can I have a dog? Even just a littel one." I refuse to take responsibility for her wobbly spelling. It turned out that this week we found out about a family that needed a home for Hunter--our new dog. Hunter is great with the kids and doesn't bark at night, and seems like a nice enough fellow--for a dog. He also has an incredible amount of energy and a great desire to run all the time. I weigh quite a lot now, but it is difficult for me to control him. There's no way Lili could take him on a walk by herself, but we're hoping to get him used to us and our home here and then maybe he won't try to run away. He got away three times yesterday--his collar was too loose. Now he has a new collar and he's doing better. Lili is so happy with him. Her happiness is worth a lot.

A Busy Week

As I decided which pictures to post, I was surprised that so much happened this week. Besides all of the pictured events, we also spent two days in Salt Lake City where I lost my cell phone, waddled across several downtown streets with my five kids while Edgar was in the temple, and drove through a snowstorm in the dark. I could hardly see and the stoplights weren't working because the electricity was out. Good thing I'm such a stellar driver!

We began the week with a bang on April Fools' Day (pictured above). That holiday just doesn't come often enough. I love pranks. I made this delightful "chocolate pie" with "strawberry topping." My kids (especially Ruben) were hoping it was similar to their aunt Jennifer's to-die-for chocolate pie (all Ruben wants for his birthday is her recipe). They were disappointed that the pie was actually shepherd's pie and nobody ate it but Ammon and me. Edgar took some to work and was also disappointed. I had dyed the milk blue, but you can't really tell in the picture. Ruben, who is the most oblivious person I know, didn't notice the blue milk as he ate it in his cereal.

"How do you like your cereal, Ruben?"

"Good."

"How's the milk?"

"Fine."

Lili could contain herself no longer and burst out that the milk was blue.

"Oh."


Two days later was Edgar's birthday. He was working nights. I made him his favorite cupcakes (chocolate with cream cheese filling). In case you're wondering, Lili does wear that shirt an awful lot and Ammon mostly wears pajamas all day around home and the other boys are Superman on a daily basis. I finally broke down and washed the Superman suits the other day.

We celebrated Easter Eve as usual. We decorated eggs, had our Easter egg hunt, Hawaiian haystacks, and a wonderful program about the true meaning of Easter by Jennifer. She has such a gift of captivating young children and of teaching by the Spirit.

Ruben's costume du jour was that of a cowboy (in green sweats and black rain boots--very John Wayne, don't you think?). He, Luke, and Savannah were reviewing their spoils from the Easter egg hunt. It was gorgeous weather.

Here Lili, Carolina and Marcos are counting eggs. Marcos was being the mom in an apron and Savannah had been the dad--as always. She's such a good sport.

Later, our boys let cousin Luke use one of the Superman suits and these superheroes really saved the day.

The Easter Bunny brought the boys new coordinating shirts. See, Ammon doesn't ALWAYS wear pajamas.

I meant to only put one picture of Lili in her new Easter dress, but I accidentally uploaded both of these. She is a lovely girl.

Happy April. Happy Easter. Happy Spring.