President Hinckley

I will always remember the first time I met president Hinckley. The story still makes me laugh when I think about it.

When I was a senior in high school I was in a show choir. Each choir got to choose their own costumes and unfortunately I was in a group that didn't have much taste. Each girl had to go out and find a pattern and fabric samples. Then we all presented what we found and the group voted. The outfit was actually OK until we got to the pants and someone suggested striped pants. There were some of us who did not like the idea, but majority ruled. (Unfortunately the only picture I have of the outfit is at my parents house, so I can't post it right now.)

December 2004 our choir was able to go sing at the Church Administration building. We were excited because we were going to be able to sing for members of the first presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. President Hunter was not in the office that day but both president Monson and Hinckley stopped by to listen to us sing. When President Hinckley came out of his office, with a smile on his face, he said something along the lines of, "Oh you came to sing to us in your pajamas."

Needless to say some of the girls were horrified. I thought it was kind of funny, and it gets funnier every time I think about it. He was gracious and after we were done thanked us for coming and said we sounded nice.

I loved president Hinkley and will miss him. He was a great prophet and had a great sense of humor.

Tag I'm it

I was tagged by my friend Laura a couple of weeks ago and I am finally getting around to it.

The Rules: Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

Share 5 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
or

Share the 5 top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list.
or

Share 5 things you never pictured being in your future when your were 25 years old.

Tag a minimum of 5, maximum of 10 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
The tagees have a choice of which they want to do.

I have chosen 5 top places I want to see or see again.

1. Paris, France. I have always thought it would be fun to go to France but I wouldn't want to go there by myself. Now that I could have Ryan as a tour guide (he went there on his mission) I think this would be a fun place to visit. I know Ryan would like to go back during the Tour de France season so maybe we will get there in a few years.

2. Washington DC. I went to Washington with my family the summer before I got married and had lots of fun. We were able to see a lot while we were there but there was a lot we didn't get to see and I would like to go back someday and see more.

3. New York. There are three main things I want to see in New York. One is the statue of Liberty another is the Church sites there (the sacred grove) and the third is a show on Broadway.

4. Southern California. when the kids are older I would like to go on a trip to California with them. We did a lot while we lived there but Emily and Joe were so young that they only really remember it because we have pictures. So I would like to take them there in a couple of years and do the whole tourist thing of Southern California.

5. Camping in Utah. Ryan will not like this one but I want my kids to see all of the fun national parks in Utah. Ryan will probably be willing to go to these places because he likes to mountain bike and hike, but I don't think I will ever get him to camp over night. I think it would be fun for the kids to experience at least one night camping out.

Now it is time for me to tag people. It says I have to tag 5 people but I don't even know if I know five people who have blogs that I can tag. So if you read this and want to do it, Tag Your It! (Is that cheating?)

Spider Telangiectasia

For as long as we can remember Joseph has had a sore on his face next to his eye. Sometimes it is barley noticeable and sometimes it is really red and bleeds a little, but it never goes away completely.
So when he had his check up in November I asked the doctor about it. She said it is called a spider telangiectasia. At some point he got a sore there and when his body tried to heal it, it formed a mass of blood vessels. She also said that it is common in children and will usually go away on its own. But because Joseph's bled occasionally she referred us to Dr Vanderhooft, a dermatologist, who said that because of the bleeding she would do a laser treatment on it.

So today was the big day. Ryan and I took Joseph to the University Hospital. Joseph was really good about it, but when we got to the operating room it was a little intimidating. I thought they would just do it in a regular exam room but it was done in an OR. It was kind of interesting to me, because I had never been in one awake before. The operating tables are a lot smaller than I thought.

We got Joe to sit on the table and he was fine with that. Then the doctor had everyone in the room put on blue glasses to protect our eyes. Then she asked Joe to lay down on the table. At that point he decided maybe he wasn't into this and so it took a little bit of talking to get him to do it. Then Dr Vanderhooft put ice on the spot for a couple of minutes and talked to Joe. Then she covered his eves with a blue towel and zapped the spot 4 times with the laser.

Joseph cried for a few minutes but everything went well. However, the new sore on his face is a lot more noticeable.
The Dr said that it will all go away in a few weeks. It does not seem to bother Joe. We have to keep band aids on it so he does not pick at it, and he seems OK with that. I asked him if I could take a picture of his face. He told me I could only take a picture if he could wear his sombrero that he made at school yesterday. (His shadow Josh couldn't stand not being in the picture too.)

Loyal & Trustworthy

This morning we woke up to the realization that the weatherman was correct. The snow storm this morning added another 15 inches of fresh snow to our yard. (we actually measured it with a yard stick). The kids were excited and couldn't wait to play in it this afternoon.


We have gotten a lot of snow this winter, and it just seems to keep piling up.

(Emily and Joseph on top of the mountain of snow next to our driveway)

(Joseph on top of the mountain)

But the thing I found the most amusing was when I looked out the front window this morning to see if it had stopped snowing, there on top of one of our snow piles was The American flag. Put there by our loyal and trustworthy Boy Scouts for Martin Luther King Day.

Joshua at 2

Josh turned Two on Saturday and to celebrate his birthday on my blog I want to share a few special things about him.




At age two Joshua is obsessed with trains. He loves books clothes toys even TV commercials that have anything to do with trains. Whenever he spots a train he yells out "A boo boo".

At age 2 Josh likes to be his Grandpa's Buddie. When ever he hears grandpa's name he gets excited and starts chanting D'ster, D'ster. (this is Grandpa's nick name in the family).

At age two Josh likes to be part of the group. If we are doing something he wants to do it too. Sometimes he will let us help him and other times he wants to do it himself. He is starting to become pretty good at a few of the Wii games.

At age Two Josh speaks his own language. He speaks in full sentences but most of the time he uses words only he can understand. When mom tries to teach him words by telling him what something is instead of repeating the word back to her he tells mom what his word for that thing is.

At age two Josh loves his older brother Joseph and copies everything he does. He can't say Joseph yet, so he calls his brother GoGo.

At age two Josh doesn't like to be messy. He washes his hands when they get dirty and when he needs his pants clean he will tell mom right away or bring his us a clean diaper and wipes.

At age two Josh likes to help. His favorite place to help is in the kitchen. He really likes to help if it involves playing in the water.

At age two we love Josh and we are glad he is a part of our family.

Happy New Year

Grandma and Grandpa came to celebrate New Years Eve with us and we had a great time. We had yummy food and played games. We started off with board games, but after we beat Ryan in a game of Sorry, we broke out the Wii. Josh only made it to about 8:00pm (his normal bed time).

Emily is a great bowler, and Joe is really good at golf. Grandma and Grandpa were pretty good also. The favorite game of the night was Rayman Rabbit. The kids like super bunny. Joe can always make him land on his bum.

While the rest of us took our turns on the dancing game, Joseph and Emily danced around the room to the music.

As the night grew later the kids began to get tired but tried to stay awake. Joseph made it to 11:30 and then crashed in the middle of the floor when Ryan picked him up to take him to bed he woke back up. But a few minutes later he was out again on the couch.

Emily laid on the couch but did not go to sleep until the new year.

Luckily for us they slept until 9:00 the next morning. 2007 was a pretty good year for us and we are hoping for a great 2008.

Happy New Year!