Missionary Tales

Rick is gone again to Alabama and so I thought I'd pass the time remembering how cool he is and reading his mission diary. :) He was an amazing young man and I love to hear how excited he was and how committed to his mission and to serving the Lord. I found some funny stories in a book put together by his mission president. The missionaries wrote in weekly to the Pres to report and share what had happened that week. There were 80 some pages so I didn't read the whole thing but there were two that caught my eye as I was skimming:


Elder & Sis. Woodbury - Rockaway 1 - Dec 11, 1994 - "NEW CONVERT ADVERTISES - HAS 5 ATTEND HER FIRST FHE - We had just given Tina Jordan the second New Member Discussion, ending with the commitment invitation to "organize and conduct a family home evening next Monday."
Tina lives alone. She runs her real estate office from her home. Her only daughter, Debra, died at the age of 14. Tina's husband ran off with a woman from Japan. Bur fervent and imaginative Tina believes that if living Apostles ask her to do something, God will open the way for her. So last night as we reviewed, she casually apologized for mis-timing her first FHE, but resolved to do better next Monday evening. Puzzled, I asked if she had held it alone. "No" she said, "I just told the group that next week I would be better organized." I asked "which group is this and how many?" She said "Five!" "You mean you had five of your relatives come and share FHE with you?"
"Well, no," she apologized, "I just advertised and got only 5 people off the street, but next time I'll have more." Tina apparently not knowing that it wouldn't work, wrote with a crayon on the side of a cardboard box that each Monday night from 6 to 8, she was holding FHE, a gospel discussion, and that anyone wishing to share it with her was welcome to come. She taped it to her front window. She was late getting prepared, but right at 6 pm, a man from Trinidad, with his wife and teenage daughter, knocked on the door. When she was a little slow to open, he ran around the back and knocked again. He was anxious for FHE. After a brief introduction and planning for the following Monday, as they were leaving, two other young women knocked on her door. Now she has 5 for next Monday. How many more may come.
Next time any member says that they can't hold FHE, because it is too hard to get all the family together, I will relay this story and ask "Have you tried advertising?"


Elder Mavy/Nicklaus - DL - Uniondale 11 Sp - Oct 3, 1994 - "NO FEAR - BIKE ACCIDENT AND BIKE THIEVES - A car knocked my bike out from under me. Both myself and the bike were OK. Then about 30 minutes later, I was held up by a couple of teenagers with a knife, who wanted my bike. I started asking them "find out" questions and they eventually gave up saying "You ask too many questions!" and lost interest. I never once felt afraid for myself or for losing the bike, which I had no intention of ever giving over. I felt that the Lord protects us when we are obedient and hard working."


:)

Lauren

Sometimes I wish I had just 2 kids. This little girl is the hardest thing I've done in a LONG time. It's a battle to keep her latched on - she fusses and cries, kicks, pinches, pushes etc. I literally have to keep her body pushed against mine (for the 2 minutes she's willing to nurse). This stress isn't helping either of us and lately the issue has come to a head. I've said before that she doesn't nurse long on either side but until now she's still done fine with her weight gain. Not so any longer. I've been worried and dreading her 6 month check-up. I knew it would be bad news. It was. She is not gaining weight like she should. We are thinking that the quick nursing has tricked my body into thinking she's weaning herself and my supply has dropped substantially. So at her last appointment she'd only gained 1/2 lb. in 2 months and dropped to 4th percentile in weight. She's not even on the charts anymore. I have a month to try and get her weight up before the doctors will start testing to see if she's sick. So I have been trying to pump after each feeding - but there's nothing there to pump. And manual pumps need some priming (liquid coming through) in order to get good suction and really work. And I don't have that. It all seems like a vicious circle. I pump to get more milk, but I don't have milk so the pump won't work. Lauren needs more food but she won't eat. Aargh. Rick has been occasionally able (3 times total now) able to get her to take some formula but she won't for me and I'm the one who's home with her all day so I'm not sure what to do. I try and feed her as long as possible and switch sides when she starts her freaking out cry but after side #8 or so she is done and won't latch on. The doctor said the issue now is getting her weight up with calories so we are feeding her 3 times a day with as many solids as she will take. So frustrating! I just don't think we are going to have a turnaround within the month and I am nervous for our next visit in October. I know she's not sick but unless she nurses it seems like the only option is formula unless I miraculously start getting more milk in. Any ideas besides caramel popcorn (thanks Shelly!)?

Last ones!

Still more...

Here the boys are on their favorite ride. I think we went on 3 or 4 times. Buzz Lightyear!
And here's MY favorite ride - Pirates! I was the last one on before the park closed. Lauren loved it too obviously.
Fun with dad in Tomorrow Land.

A ToonTown story...

You all know Rick is built like Superman - an upside triangle for a torso. He has otherworldly upper body strength. That's part of why I thought this was so funny. So here he is in Toon Town. There are lots of cute photo ops around and I got him to play along with me and take some pictures. I had seen some boys push down on the TNT handle and cause a big boom and fireworks and smoke and I thought that would make for a fun picture.

So I had him pose and push. Imagine our surprise (well, you don't need to imagine Rick's just see the next picture) when Rick made no boom - no fireworks. What he did make is a big wah-wah-wah-wah sound like when you die in a video game.

And so of course he had to try again, and again and again, each time earning buzzers and other assorted "You're a wussy loser" sounds until finally...

We have smoke! And of course a big bang! Brute strength isn't everything! Especially in Toon Town!

More!

Nathan would not look at me for anything!
Dusk at Sleeping Beauty's castle...
Leaving the park after the parade.

Notice the Tees

We all made our own tie-dyed Mickey shirts to wear on our trip! The center shape is a Mickey head.

Catching up again

It seems strange to talk about death and then post about Disneyland, but I've been asked more than a few times for updates on our Birthdays (mine and Ashlyn's) Trip this past Labor Day to California. So here are some pics. I have a busted camera so I don't have any new pictures from after we returned. Maybe the camera had too much sand and salty air. But if I did have a camera that worked I would show you Rick's two new accomplishments:
1. Concrete sloping of the sidewalk curb on our driveway. Now we won't bottom out and scrape off the undercarriage when we back out.
2. Rick's water rotation system is almost functional. We have 2 big plastic drums for water storage that Rick has rigged up to hook up to our sprinkler water so we will be "rotating" our water each time we water the lawn.

So here are the pics of our first day in CA. The kids had a Murphy bed and enjoyed playing in the pool (to varying degrees - if you've been swimming with us you know what I mean). The earlier pics were also from this same day - the 1st, Labor Day. Nathan is pouting in the pic on the pier. And that walk to the pier is the reason why we didn't go to Disneyland on Tuesday (the day after all of this) like I had planned. See, it was quite a walk to the famous Oceanside pier. We were excited and eager to go out, the morning was overcast, and we didn't use sunblock. Spare me the lecture. I had guilt in spades. Because by that afternoon it was obvious that we were burned. All of us. Rick to the point of pain on the backs of his legs and a fantastic headache. Lauren peeled and her face was nice and swollen (Violet Beauregard) as it reacted to the sun she received. The others were pink-cheeked as well. But it was Lauren that had me feeling awful. I'd been so careful with her to that point! So we stayed home on the 2nd and went to Anaheim on the 3rd.

If you're in Seattle this week...

here's Mara's funeral arrangements...

Just as a quick follow-up note to the post from earlier today, our funeral plans are as follows:

Viewing: Thursday, the 25th, from 6-8pm.

Funeral: Friday, the 26th, 11am, with graveside service immediately following.

Both the viewing and the funeral will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 625 M St NE, Auburn, WA. These plans are still being finalized, so we will inform you of any additional changes. Please feel free to wear pink and/or purple to the services in Mara’s memory. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Mara’s honor to one of the following organizations, which we have benefitted from:

The Make-a-Wish Foundation (www.northwestwishes.org)

Seattle Children’s (www.seattlechildrens.org)

Auburn Valley YMCA (www.seattleymca.org)

Thanks again for everything!

Mara went home today

From Mara's site:

9/22/08

Mara passed away this morning at 8:12am. Her body now rests peacefully and her spirit has returned to her Heavenly Father and her Savior. Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers - they have been felt in abundance.

So we've been a bit emotional today. We heard last night that this was probable but it's so difficult to swallow. I feel grateful for my little ones and yet I am breaking inside for Heather and Bryan, Max, Natalie, Katrina and their families (of which we are a part).

Mara is Ashlyn's age - just starting 1st grade, 6 years old, cute, loves to write and draw... It's just so easy to see my little girl in her when I read Heather and Bryan's posts. It's a bit distant for Rick, as he doesn't know Mara, but I feel her loss keenly. I think mothers are that way.

I had a good long cry this morning (and follow up sessions throughout the day that I'm sure aren't finished yet), just like I did about this time last year when I received the email telling the family about Mara's condition. Ashlyn and Nathan came in today and wanted to know what was wrong and I have to say that I didn't really want to tell them. Ashlyn calls Mara her "friend" and prays for her ALL the time. I knew it would be crushing. I feel sad that they never knew each other here on earth, but it's sweet to know that they'll meet again just a little later. We knew Mara's condition hadn't improved and recently there was a point where I was ready to pack up and drive to Washington to visit Mara when Ashlyn had a long weekend off from school. I knew it was silly and impulsive (driving for 4 days by myself) but I really wanted our little girls to meet. I know they would have loved each other. Well, of course I did tell the kids why I was crying and at first I'm not sure that they knew what to do - how to react. I talked to them about how my sadness was not for Mara, but for those who love her and are separated from her for a time. I tried to emphasize how happy and free Mara is now - how she can dance and draw and laugh and eat yummy things and run and play and be with her family in Heaven. It was still sad, but I think it was helpful for them to see that for Mara this is a release from pain and frustration. She is whole again.

This past week/end I've tried to prepare a few Family Home Evening lessons to get some completely ready to go so I don't have to scramble. I scrapped those lessons for tonight and think it is important that we have a lesson about the Plan of Salvation. Because the knowledge we have that life and families are eternal, that death is just a blip in our lives, and that we are all children of God who started with Him and will return to Him is why we can have a measure of peace when so many others do not.

I remember a roommate I had in college - Gracie. I remember vividly a conversation that we had late one night in the room we shared about death. She was a born-again Christian. She was very active (as was her mother) in her church. Her father had died before he had decided to follow any particular religion and as a result, Gracie considered her father to not have been "saved". She bawled like a baby as she told me this. She cried because her religion taught her that because of this - because he had not been baptized - that he was currently in HELL. I was blown away that she believed this and embraced a religion that taught her that her wonderful, loving father was in hell. With the devil. As if he had done some terrible, unspeakable sin and deserved punishment. I wasn't going to any church at the time but I KNEW that that couldn't be true. God is not like that. He is a God of mercy and love and I knew that what Gracie believed was not right. That is not how things work. What about all the people on earth who have never even heard of Christ, of his atonement and sacrifice for us? People who, through no decision of their own - perhaps time or distance or the place where they lived - were prevented from having a knowledge of Christ? I told her my feelings. That God was Love and loved her and her father and would never be so harsh. I told her that it made no sense - of course her Dad was in heaven - he hadn't been a bad person. But she was adamant and ended our conversation in a rage that I was trying to tell her differently than what she had been taught. I was stunned. How blessed I was was to later find a church that taught exactly what I knew all along - that life is eternal and does not end nor begin with mortality. We will all have a life after this in which we will again meet our Savior. After this life our spirits will be at peace and if we haven't accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this life we will be taught in the life to come and have the chance to kneel at the Savior's feet and accept him. Doesn't that just resonate? I know it did with me when I heard it. What kind of God would penalize you for not having heard of Christ and therefore not being baptized and living his commandments? Held to a law you know nothing about? Totally not fair and, of course, that's not how He works. But so many people don't know that.

And so, tonight, I'm going to formally go over exactly what this life is, how we came here, and where we are going. We talk about this informally so much that it won't be new to my kids but I want to give them the vocabulary and some visuals so that they REALLY understand and can KNOW and have the peace that all of our family has right now. They can KNOW that Mara's had a BIG hug from Jesus himself, and her grandmas and granpas, cousins, and friends and everyone that's passed on before her. My kids can know that we are here to live and grow and learn and try and eventually to die and return home. I'm excited to share this with them again and again and I hope they'll be able to share this with others. Because to think like Gracie did - that would be hell.

First trip to the beach

Here we are in Oceanside - where our kids had their first glipse of the ocean and first feel of sand between their toes!

Jack Handey is real!

It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man...

If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down?
We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.

The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw.

Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.

One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my little nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh, no," I said, "Disneyland burned down." He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late.

When I was a kid my favorite relative was Uncle Caveman. After school we'd all go play in his cave, and every once in a while he would eat one of us. It wasn't until later that I found out that Uncle Caveman was a bear.

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.

The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.

And (for whatever reason) Kim's and my personal favorite from HS:

If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy.

Maybe you already knew that this guy wasn't just someone SNL made up - but I just found out today. Man... the memories. I need to get a book of his.