Aquarium

It is official, I have a really BIG family. Let me explain. We were in a very large elevator at the aquarium yesterday. I was holding David at the time. A man holding a boy about Ethan's age turns to me and says, "Sometimes I wish they were still that young. Sometimes it is just easier to keep track of them." Another lady in the elevator, with one child, was listening in. She turns to me and says, " Are all of these yours?" She then did a quick count. "Five?" I replied with a hardy and happy YES. The first man, who had two boys, said, "Well, we just lost all rights to complain." Thankfully, we had reached our destination and nothing more needed to be said. Yes, it was my first "Are these all yours?". I'm sure there are plenty more in my future.

We loved the aquarium. We timed our driving right going in and out, so as to avoid rush hour. We spent about 5 hours there. I was really glad dinner was in the crockpot when we got home. We will definitely be going again. Except for pooping every 30 minutes or so, David did great. The boys didn't even run off. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

The kids dressed up as penguins and got to run around a penguin habitat.

A perk of our membership is access to the sharks. The kids loved the sawfish one the best. Look it up Michael, you'll love it.

Throughout the day, they bring out various animals for you to observe. They teach you lots of interesting things. This is a Red Footed Tortoise. We learned tortoises only live on land. We also learned they all have 13 bumps on their shells.
These are the seahorses. We wanted to get a picture of the sea dragon, but the tank was to curved. That is a definite must see. It looks like a plant with eyes.
We enjoyed every minute of the aquarium. Here, we are waiting for the water show to start.

And the snow begins...

The State of Virginia has declared a state of emergency...because of snow. And, just now, the snow has begun. Marquie went to Walmart last night to get pain medicine for Dad (which, I'm sure he won't use) and took pictures of the empty shelves. Hopefully, when she gets up, she will post at least one. All flights in and out of Dulles are canceled. We have an gas generator and gas in the tanks. We are snug as bugs in a rug!

One Hole Shy

It was good to talk with everyone yesterday and I thank you for your faith, fasting, prayers and love. This has been a very spiritual week and I would like to share some of it with you. It started Sunday with our fast. Church services and meetings were canceled due to snow so we had a stay at home sabbath. We had a devotional in the afternoon and then closed our fast around 16:30. When we knelt to pray the feeling of the Spirit was very strong and we were all filled with a great peace.

Monday there was the pre-surgery visit where they took blood and did an EKG and then the "gas man" talked with me. it was one of the better experiences I have had with a pre-surgery visit and it brought a great deal of comfort to mom. She worries about me so very much and when the EKG and blood tests are all normal, she has a greater peach. now just have to get the stress out to get the BP in line. Actually have made great progress over the past week and a half.

I had been pondering whom I wanted to administer to me for this procedure. Our home teachers came on Sunday and I openly told them that there was a surgery scheduled for Thursday. Nothing registered or if it did, nothing was offered, blessing, meals, shoveling, transportation, nothing. Because of this there was a high level of discomfort in asking them. As I pondered, my feelings were to ask Brother John Sweeney, our High Priest Group Leader and a good friend. He was honored, I gave a couple of suggestions for companion that I would feel comfortable with and we agreed to meet at our home at 18:00.

When they arrived we had just finished dinner and for me the clock mark of when I had to stop eating. We gathered in the living room and invited Leah Utz, Marquie's friend and Diana to also join us. It was evident from the beginning that the Spirit was strong. Marquie offered a prayer and we chatted for just a moment. Brother Sweeney shared that after I called he was pondering what more he could do to be prepared and decided that while it was only part of the day, he could fast. I was deeply touched and thought of a story that Elder Matthew Cowley shared on being prepared to use our priesthood. Brother Karnes anointed and Brother Sweeney sealed. I was quite amazed that during the blessing, only about 10-15 seconds were given to my surgery and it was a very matter-of-fact "reference". I was told that getting the surgery done was righteous and then he moved on to bless me to be strengthened and prepared to do what the Lord had in store and it was time to be prepared.

Brother Karnes left and we chatted with the Sweeney's (Sister Sweeney also came) for a few minutes and Brother Sweeney shared with us that as he pondered and prayed for guidance he was promoted continually that the Lord had a work for me to do and I need to get my physical in order and doing so yesterday was in keeping with his will.

Well, even through the blessing for the surgery was almost non-existent, it did the job. As you all know they checked me into the hospital due to concerns of pain because the surgeon did so much invasive work. Well, I must say that I am amazed, truly, that the pain is as minimal as it is. Coughing is no fun but I am able to move about and overall, unless I am moving it is only a minor irritation.

Family, this is a testimony. Please listen and please share with your children. The Lord takes care of those who come to him and do all they can do to prepare. I am greatly blessed and know that I will heal quickly.

Oh, "one hole shy"? An executive golf course has nine holes. I have eight in my belly (No pictures!). Yes, there was a great deal of work done. Love you all.

Dropped Class!

So, I just did something super fun this morning that I thought I would share. A week ago I was asked to go from 3 classes at AIU to 4 which is a lot of work but I thought about it as it would really help pay for the kitchen remodel we want to do. But after a long but enjoyable discussion with James last night--I love pillow talk--we decided to go to 2 classes per session max! Yippee! Only 2 chats per week! So, now I'll have more time to spend with the boys--now I need to figure out how to use that time.

SO not fair

I have been with Jaime all day, like I am everyday, and today has been a hard day. She's been fussy, unable to take a nap and very bored with me. Justin came home and she is happier than a clam. She can't contain her smiles and ecstatic squeals. How is this fair?

When we talked to Mom she said we should blog about things. When I told her I worried that everyone was sick of hearing me talk, she informed me that my last post hasn't been for a week and that no one is sick of me blogging.

Here are a few stories. I'll make Justin blog about our Shanghai trip and all that.

When we first went grocery shopping I told Justin I needed some non-scented lotion. We picked out a bottle of Dove that said "moisture milk" with a bunch of characters. He didn't know all of the characters, but we thought it was probably lotion, so we got it. We got home and I rubbed it all over my legs and chapped nose. I noted it had a strange consistency, but thought it was just a weird Chinese kind of lotion. The next morning, Justin looked up more of the characters and found out it's body wash.

One of my favorite foods is the burrito-type thing I had a picture of on our blog. The first time I went to order by myself I couldn't remember for the life of me how to say "No spice" and it was REALLY spicy. I had trouble eating it, but now I always order it with spice.

We can't talk about the church here. At all. If someone inquires about our religion, we are only permitted to say the name of our church and then close the discussion. The other day we were in a store and a man asked us "Are you from Utah?" We said yes and asked how he knew. He saw Justin's BYU hat. He was a convert who had been introduced to the church and baptized in Hong Kong. But, because he holds a Chinese passport, we couldn't talk to him about the church. It was hard for us to walk away and say nothing. It’s a strange situation with the church here. There are Chinese natives who are members, but they’re not allowed to meet with foreign members. China’s thing is that they’ll allow freedom of belief/religion but not outside influences.

Jaime is changing so much. She’s really active and craves new things to look at, and believe me she gets a lot of that here. She’s starting to grab things with her hands and is talking a bunch. Soon I’ll get to start baby foods for her and I’m excited - mostly because this means I won’t be the only one who can feed her. I’ll be making my own because Chinese baby food is questionable. The people here just can’t get enough of her. People stop and say stuff as we walk by and we just have to keep walking, otherwise we’d be stopping all the time. If we do stop and talk, usually a handful of people stop and talk to us and sometimes a big crowd. It’s crazy. They love to hold her and she doesn’t mind it. The other day in the market when everyone was telling us she wasn't dressed warm enough, Justin said in Chinese "Foreigners don't fear the cold!" and they all thought that was very funny.

Love you guys.

A Delightful Morning

What a fun morning I had today. James called on his way to work and talked to me for about 30 minutes about work and musical auditions and spring break. Dad called and sounded very stressed while I was talking to James so didn't get to talk to him long (he always hangs up quickly when I am talking to one of our children)and he has big meetings today--hope he's okay. Justin and Jodi called while they were trying to get little Jaime Lynne to go to sleep (around midnight for them) and we talked for over an hour--heard of fun adventures in Shanghai and they found a store with a good deal on cocoa so needed the no bake cookie recipe which I immediately forwarded to them. (Heather, you could say you started an epidemic). Heather called me immediately after that to update me on Joe's job options and the redecorating of their home (it was her day off). Marquie and Diana both called also during that time, but there was not much chatting there. They just wanted to come home from school early (early release today because we're supposed to have a snow storm). So......Michelle........

Anyway, wouldn't it be fun if they all blogged all this stuff so you could hear all about the details?

I feel so blessed.