Pencil Me In

Heidi's birthday got crazy-busy yesterday! Even I was exhausted at the end of the day!

Here's the rough itinerary: 8am breakfast and gift with family, 8:30am Pre-school (where she had a little party with chocolate chip muffins and juice provided by mom), 11am Haircut at Root 66, 12noon Happy Meal lunch with Daddy, 12:30pm Date with Aunt Debbie Holm (shopped for bday treat), 2pm pick up Addie and Daddy to go to matinee in Bozeman, 2:45 visit bookstore while waiting for movie, 3:15-4:45 watched "Horton Hears a Who", 5:30pm dinner at Grandma's with Gray cousins, 6:30pm cake & presents, 7:30om phone date with Aunt Lisa, Uncle Will, and Uncle Sam who were all together in Phoenix, 7:45pm-CRASHED!

I am sad that I didn't take pictures of Heidi's haircut, lunch date, and treat date with Aunt Deb, but here are some pix of our other activities...

Birthday girl in the Hundred Acre Wood at the bookstore
Browsing for books
Melin Kids with the Horton Poster
Heidi loves Horton (This book was my favorite when I was a little girl, too--I loved the message). Daddy, Heidi, and Addie waiting forthe movie to start

Grandma Rosalie made this darling cake for Heidi--she's so sweet!

She also made Heidi a beautiful new dress for her birthday, but somehow I didn't get a picture of her holding it up...? I'll take one when she wears it.

After a spaghetti dinner, the kids gathered round to sing Happy Birthday...
Heidi LOVED her elephant cake!!!!
Hannah, Rosalie, Danny, Heidi, and Addie

TIME FOR PRESENTS! This cute elephant bench was Heidi's first gift from mom & dad...(isn't the summer stuff at Target ADORABLE!?! It took all my will power not to buy the lady bug garden clogs and umbrella!)
To go with the bench, here's an elephant sprinkler for summer fun!
And an elephant throw blanket from IKEA (click)--it goes with the bedding we have planned for Heidi's new room. (And here's Addie's)

The Grays gave Heidi this "vintage" elephant penny bank--it's really cute how the pennies drop down the trunk.
James likes Heidi's bench! (He's sitting on it right now watching Sesame Street)
James and Rosalie try out Heid's Bench.

***

What a fun day! Thanks everyone who helped celebrate our Sunshine Girl!

(and thanks for all the pre-birthday gifts from Aunt Amie -dance outfit, Nana-bag of fun elephant stuff, and Great-Grandma & pa Elrey-birthday card and dollar).

HEIDI ROCKS!

FOUR years ago today, at ten minutes to ten in the evening, Miss Heidi Lynn took her first breath and lit up our lives! We began today's celebration with a banner, balloons, and breakfast for the birthday girl.
Her Royal Sleepiness donned her crown and opened a small gift from the fam and a darling baby doll from Aunt Jill before getting ready for pre-school and eating breakfast. Addie was, of course, coaching her from the sidelines...
...Here are my girls on 04/17/04...Sweet Sisters!
Happy Birthday, Heidi-Lynners!

Mom and Dad love you so much and we're so proud of how sweet and fun you are and all the good choices you have been making! We're so glad you were born to our family!

--More updates to come!--

Happy Birthday, Heidi Lynn

Aunt Lisa is sending you these fabulous "anamalz"--hope you have a fun day!

Amigos

I was just listening to that one Genesis song that totally sounds like a Peter Gabriel song, but Peter Gabriel was out of Genesis when it came out--you know, the "Follow you, will you follow me?" song? It's so pretty and I was really surprised when I found out it WASN'T a PG song. Anywya, it warms my heart. It just now made me feel how lucky (no, blessed!) I am. I have a sweet and rich life because it is interwoven with some of the finest people to ever walk the earth. And my husband just plain ROCKS.

I was wondering the other day if I were weird for feeling so deeply about the death of someone else's child, a little girl I never met in person. And then I had this little "aha" moment. There are many great reasons for truly loving other people, for creating real and lasting relationships inside and outside of our families--there's the whole baptismal covenant of bearing one another's burdens, mourning with those who mourn and comforting eachother, etc., and there are all the obvious benefits of having awesome people to hang out with, to roadtrip with, to compare parenting tips and gospel insights with, to help you be better, to share your load, etc. But here's another thing I realized: when we love eachother deeply and unabashedly, we can experience so much more in life. Because we are empathizing and truly sharing one another's burdens, we gain experience not just from our own tribulations, but those of our loved ones. And the more people you love and share with, the more you learn and grow, and before you know it, you're on the path to perfect charity, the pure love of Christ which endureth forever. Thank you, friends, for sharing your joys and sorrows with me so I can grow.

I love the promise that the same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us There. What a wonderful party that will be!!!

feliz cumpleanos

This is my beautiful and dear friend, Heidi

(holding James' future wife, Ruthie)...

This is Heidi's farm in upstate New York

(where she raises goats and chickens and four children wiht her chiropractor husband)

Today is her birthday

Happy Birthday, Amiga!

'Til We Meet...

The loss of little Kraven has haunted me all week, has caused me to ponder life, death, and family, and to pray fervently for the Smith and Carlisle families. So I hope it won't offend anyone if I share the following thoughts openly with my blog readers. Please read the following with the reverence the subject deserves...I just wanted to let you into my head this week.

***

Dear Jess,

I have been really shaken by the loss of Kraven, touched by your blogs, curious if 'they' found any rhyme or reason to her drowning...

I don't know if it's even appropriate, but I wanted to share this little experience I had at the Jordan River Temple on Friday morning. It's probably no secret that I have a bit of an anxiety problem, exacerbated three-fold now by mothering three precious children. I am almost always seeking encouragement and confirmation that I am on the right track in my mother- and wife-hood when I am at the temple. So we were doing some initiatory work and the words "til you have completed your work on the earth" kept standing out to me. The spirit then taught me so clearly that each of us has a work to accomplish and we go Home when it is done. That's just one more small bit of peace I can have in dealing with life and death and child-rearing. The first big lesson of motherhood was learning "They're My children, too, and I can be with them everywhere." The second is that, just like me, they will perform their work and they will go Home to Him. The time frame is different for all of us, but God bless Kraven for doing her work so efficiently, and God bless her family in her wake.

Your whole family is still on mind and in my prayers... Love, Jamie

***

Jamie,

Paige would love to hear all of that...I think you are so right about Kraven having finished her work. Because it was such an unexpected, peaceful slipping away I think we all feel that it was her time to go and for whatever reason Heavenly Father spared her from the troubles of this world... As for the reason she died, Paige is convinced that she died before she went under the water. The medical examiners have all said there is no sign that she drowned. Even if she was unconcious, her body would have struggled and there wasn't a mark or bruise to indicate that she struggled...[Paige has ]repeated her experience with seeing Kraven under the water, so peacefully asleep and then realizing that wasn't right and starting into action. She must have had super-mom strength because Kraven was nearly as tall as she is and 88 pounds. She immediatly started cpr and the police officer first on the scene helped her when he arrived. Then the paramedics came and were able to restart Kraven's heart. And Paige believes that Kraven was already gone by then...They think that Kraven had to recover circulation and be on the ventilator so she would be preserved to donate her organs... Paige said that when they took her off the ventilator last night (early this morning really) she looked so beautiful and peaceful. Death is an eternal event. Just like a birth, so I imagine that although its hard and very sad, it's just as beautiful to see a life go out of this world as it is to see one come in. Tim Hester is blessing his newest little baby girl this Sunday. Its a tough weekend for them because Tim and Julie's families are both just as heartbroken as all of us are about this. But I think its fitting to see these things together. He gives and He takes away. And we're all in this together... --Jessica

***

Thanks for this , Jessica...this email really felt like a hug from far away! I do feel less blue after reading it, and you can assure Shawna I am not freaking out about the tub! ;) Because (I know it sounds trite, but) you go when you go, and we need to live with faith, hope, and charity, and power--NOT fear!

Please do pass my thoughts and LOVE along to Paige. I have adored her since I met her 14 years ago, and my heart really goes out to her. She is amazing (like her mother).

...I love you, friend, and I love your extended families. I wish I could be there this week... a funeral and a baby blessing...like the Maria McKee song says, "Life is sweet, life is sweet, bittersweet, and the days keep rollin' along..." --Love, Jamie

***
Good-bye, Kraven (click here).

On The Road, a week ago

Last Monday, after I blogged THIS, this is how Livingston looked:Where did all the mountains go!?!? We definitely needed a spring break!
So on Thursday, April 3rd at 3:32am, we got up, loaded up some stuff and the kids, and hit the road by 4:15am. Posties did the same thing and we met up at IHOP in Idaho Falls to celebrate Amie's 25th birthday (4/3) and Heidi's 4th birthday (early--4/15) with some Who Cakes!
Here's our IHOP table at 8:30-ish ...everybody got dressed up (not!).
Heidi and her Who Cakes
Addie and her Who Cakes

Jammie-Cousins at IHOP
Jake and Addie switched cars, so Heidi and Jake had lots of fun between IF and Draper!
Two Silly Cousin Pals!

Despite the racket, James went back to sleep for about an hour as we drove thru northern Utah.

***

When we got to the hotel, Amie offered to take Ad, Heidi, Jake & Sam swimming while I laid down with James, and Rich & Matt went suit shopping at the two-for one sale. Everyone came back around 3pm (and James did NOT nap) and we had a little food at IKEA. I chose some new bedding for the girls for The Great Bedroom Swap of 2008 and we headed over to Jill's for a little "Post dinner" with Matt's fam and Dad Post.

Cousins enjoying Aunt Jill's yummy Chicken Parmesan
(I'm sad I didn't get pix of my kids with thier grandparents!!!! Sorry Mom, Mark, Dad Post & Laytons!!!)

Addie & Ally were so excited that ALL FOUR girls had the same Easter dressed this year! Here they are playing "Hannah Montana." I think Ally was being Miley and Addie was being Hannah, but I am not sure.
***
Rich went over to Jeff Spalding's in Saratoga Springs, and Matt's fam went to Matt Bailey's where they stayed for the weekend. Iwatched TV with Jill and got the kids ready for bed. Jill decided they could stay over, so I said prayers with each of thekids and my nieces and tucked them in. James crashed with Uncel Drew and I left to p/u Rich for a quiet night at the hotel (YAY).

Utah!

After Jill's yummy dinner on Thursday and some Must-See TV, Rich & I headed back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep (we'd been up since 3am, after all) and got to the temple in the morning.We had a lovely time doing initiatory work at the Jordan River Temple Friday morning! Afterward, we couldn't get hold of Jill or mom (they had our kids, so we figured they must have taken them out or something), so we stopped at Target for some essentials and went to the hotel to change out of our Sunday clothes and into something comfy to wear to the zoo. We picked up some Chadder's for lunch (which is almost as good as In-n-Out), tried to find Mike & Amy, and found mom at Jill's with my kids and Jill just arriving with hers. They were working on Jill's yard and waiting for "the guys" to come home from golfing.

***

We got our kids ready to go to the zoo because we had promised Heidi she could see the elephants as part of her birthday celebration. As we got ready, more and more kids wanted to go, so my mom handed me $20 and we broke the law by double-buckling a couple of kids, and headed up to Hogle Zoo in SLC.
Zoo Entrance (not my photo)

Heidi, Addie, Ally, & Belle waiting for their zoo tickets.
Here's most of the gang that ended up going to the zoo Friday afternoon.
(Jake, Matt, Matt's friend's daughter Brooklyn whom the Posties were babysitting, Belle, Abby, Sam, Addie, Ally, Rich, Heidi, Jack & James in the stroller, and me)

Jake, Heidi, & Belle at one of zoo potty breaks

Addie & Ally
James showing Jack his Diego elephant
Heidi, Addie, Ally, & Jake check out the albino alligator


TRIE LOVE! Heidi with the elephants
This isn't a great picture, but James loved watcing the monkeys--they were so entertaining!
Addie and the lemurs

Matt made friends with a giraffe
Sanck break at the giraffe building. Amie brought strawberries and crackers, I brought graham crackers, water, and gummi bears. We all shared and the kids stayed in good spirits.
Heidi & Jake with the turkeys

Toward the end of our visit (3:45-ish), we rode the zoo train. I got to sit with James and my adorable nephew, Jack.
James loved the tiny train!
From the train we discovered the zoo playground, so we gave the kids 15 minutes to play there. Here are Belle and Addie coming out of a turtle shell.

Addie being fake-devoured by an alligator
Belle & James on a caterpillar
Heidi & Jake hatching from a dinosaur egg.

Heidi pushing the water ball--

you can see Belle, Jack, and Rich in the reflection, but I don't know the boy in the green jacket.

Here's the Zoo Crew(click to enlarge) on the way home (Matt & Amie had already taken off to meet up with the Bailey's and give them their child). I had planned to stop in Holladay to visit my old friend M.E., but the traffic and the tired kids proved a bit too much for a good reunion, so I sadly had to postpone.

***

We got back to Jill's just in time for me to freshen up and go out to dinner before Janet picked us up for Girls' Night Out/ Amie's Birthday Party in Provo. Rich and the other Daddies took the kids swimming together at our hotel. We ladies first stopped in American Fork to pick up our little sis, Amy. We waited around for her for a while and finally called her cell and found out she couldn't come. So we just headed straight to the movies cuz we were too late for dinner. Jill and Mom had made us all some crazy birthday hats to wear and that was pretty fun (see pix on Jill's blog). We watched "27 Dresses" which was a pretty cute movie. Amie's mom and sister were with us for the movie, and then her cousins joined us at Olive Garden for desert (which turned out to be dinner cuz we were starving--I had the tilapia and it was great). We were expecting Amy Drews, too, but she couldn't meet us there, either, dang it! I got back to the hotel near midnight.

***

Saturday morning came fast and we all took showers and got dressed for another busy day, including a solemn assembly to sustain our new prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and a new apostle, Todd Christofferson. We ate breakfast at our hotel and then went to Jill's house to watch the first session of conference. We'd planned to take the kids to see Horton during the break, but they voted for playing wiht cousins instead! So we folded clothes and listened as the kids played together quietly (mostly). We stood by quorums and auxiliaries to sustain President Monson and we were taught some good principles. Between sessions we went to Tai Pan for some home decor and Cafe Rio to pick up lunch. We hung out with the Petersens for lunch and then headed over to Posties for second session and dinner (they had invited us). We kind of had to rush through dinner to get Willy and Rich to priesthood meeting on time, and so I could get to the Trax station to pick up Aunt Marti. Then Mom, Janet & Christa, Audrey, Jill, Marti, and I ended up at the pool at mom's hotel to swim during priesthood session. We got the kids in their jammies and met the Daddies (Will & Rich had gone in Herriman, Mark & Steve had gone in So. Jordan, the Mayberry boys had been at Temple Square, and Drew had gone with his dad). Jill offered to let all the girls have a slumber party at her house, but then she felt bad for Marshall and invited him, too. She took off with a car full of niece and nephews, so Rich and I had yet another restful night! We grabbed a bite to eat (thanks, uncle Ralph!) with Mayberrys and Drews, and hit the hay, exhausted again!

***

Sunday morning we took bagels and cream cheese over to Jill's to eat breakfast and let the cousins say good bye one last time. Rich & Drew went out to Saratoga Springs to fetch some of Rich's tools at Jeff's and look for Matt (Matt was on his way to conference in the conference center).

Mom and Mark came and got their kids and went over to the Grays' and we left for home (after taking this picture of all the kids). We stopped for lunch in Draper and drove to Poky through the last conference session (we listened on KSL radio). It hailed like crazy on the way......but the sun mercifully appeared so the girls could get their ya-ya's out!

We stopped in Pocatello to visit with my dad, Becky, and two of Becky's daughters and their kids. Dad had grilled a giant round steak and made a deluxe salad bar, so we all visited and played and ate. Dad & Becky gave Heidi her bday gift early--it's a light tabel/ coloring desk so she can trace pix of Littlest Pet Shop pets and color them...a perfect gift to use in the car.

However, she didn't get to use it in the car because she and Addie were OUT in like 20 minutes! We left Pocatello at 6:20pm, and they crashed before Blackfoot! James never did settle down and drove us nuts all the way home whining for a bottle and to get out of his seat. I guess that's how it goes--as soon as you get one kids out of the crazy toddler stage, another one starts it up.

Despite ominous clouds and hail, our trip home was pretty nice and mostly clear. We arrived safely at home around 10:30pm Sunday and were glad to be here. It was a great trip.