Throw Back Thursday

Guess who?
Age in picture = 4 months.

Food For Thought

Last Sunday was Stake Conference at church.
During this meeting we are combined with several wards
(congregations) in the area.

After Cody's first round in the foyer with cranky little Aspen it was my turn.

I sat down by a gentleman and simply said hello.



I began asking the man questions about where he was from, etc... and for the next hour I found myself immersed in his incredible life story.

In the beginning of 1998 he lived with his wife and 6 sons in
Liberia, Africa.
One day the rebel soldiers stormed through his village, they captured his wife. He immediately gathered his 6 children and ran with them into the
"bush" to escape.

He says his wife is "lost." He has not seen her since the day he ran into the bush with the children. Nor has he seen even ONE of his family members since that day. He is one of eight children and does not know if any of his siblings or parents are still alive, or if they are alive where they are.

At this point my heart was beating fast, eye's swelling with tears.
Aspen is at my leg demanding a shortbread girl scout cookie
with yelps and arm signals.
I hand her one and offer one to Myer, my new African friend. He looks me in the eye and offers sincere gratitude for the little cookie and then we continue.

At some point he met a woman in the "bush" who began to help him survive the harsh conditions with his little ones. They found a refugee camp and established it as their home for the next 11 years. He said they had
"Very little food. I work, get a little food and we hungry always."

At the camp they would anxiously scroll down the "list" posted week after week to see if his family was on it, signifying their turn to board a plane chartered by the US Government, headed to America.
The Government has been helping war victims create new lives in the states
for many years now.
One day last fall it was their turn to come, but not all of them,
they came in shifts.

Seven months later there I was talking to Myer.

In one hour he reminded me that:
I ought to be more grateful always for the blessed life I live.
Get to know those in your midst, there is wisdom is each person's life story.
Remember the reasons why our nation is great.
Be thankful for every meal.

After the meeting we exchanged contact information and I met the woman who helped him in the "bush" (now his wife) and each of his children, ages 22 to 6.

We may never know the stories of those who cross our path unless
we have the desire to say hello.
Today I am thankful that I learned about the story of a man sitting right beside me on Sunday.

Oddly enough my Mom was on a plane headed out of Africa when I was talking to Myer. See some of her 2 week African adventure HERE.
Now she is off to Spain!

It's Spring!

Upon my arrival home from DC I happened upon these beauties.
Last year we transplanted them along our walkway in the backyard
and I LOVE 'UM!



I also LOVE when my girls sing THIS song!
Even more than hearing them sing this song,
I LOVE it when I observe them
abiding by the principle of the song.

Home Again

Our main squeeze has arrived home safe (happy sigh of relief) and sound.
One month ago we stood on the front porch and waved good-bye,
with tears in our eyes.

Cody spent 4 weeks in Washington, DC to participate in a mandatory radiology pathology training course. From 8-5 he enjoyed top-notch lectures presented by Physicians flown in from various parts of the nation.

Before coming home he took a quick trip to Boston to be a presenter
at the yearly Pediatric Radiology Convention!

This past year, in all of his spare time, he has been compiling years of medical data and producing (along with the head physician of pediatric radiology at our local children's hospital), research on
Ultrasound-guided Percutaneous Therapy for Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. Say that 10 times fast!




The girls missed him terribly, so did I.
Brinley was certainly the most aware and often tearful about his absence.

So glad to have my best friend back!
Now we need to find space in our medically overloaded bookshelf for the over 1,400 pages of notes he brought home from the course.

Washington DC

On Friday I flew to Washington DC, to reunite with my sweetie, child-free!

First stop = Gloria & Isabelle Cantos. It's been 15.5 years since I have seen them, which is much too long. When I was 12 I hoped on a plane headed to Madrid Spain and adopted Isabelle as my Spanish Mommy for the summer.
Gloria had become my first Spanish Mommy many years prior when I was still in diapers during her year with our family in Utah. It just so happened that Gloria recently moved to DC and Isabelle was there for a visit from Spain, perfect timing!



I will always be"baby Leah" to Gloria (on left),
she still calls me that to this day...and I love it.
Isabelle (Gloria's Mom in between Cody and me) had spent countless hours knitting each of our girls beautiful sweaters (below) for next fall and presented them to me, a priceless hand made gift of love.
She also made sweaters for Audrey, Kenneth and Rella.

Isabelle and I held hands much of the afternoon, just like the good old times, while Gloria helped translate because I lost my Spanish years ago.
I was able to see Gloria's kids, now grown up kids, who I spent much time with when I was in Spain. Certainly the most "time travel machine" like experience I've ever had.



The following two days were planned by my better half, aka Cody.
He earned an A++ for his well planned activities and tour guide abilities!

Here is what we accomplished on day #1=



Supreme Court
Library of Congress
Capitol Building
Natural History Museum (above)
Lunch at the trendy Dupont Circle
(at only the most amazing, to die for, Chinese restaurant I have ever been to...so we had to go back again on Monday)



The Air & Space Museum
The White House
Dinner in China Town @ Vapiano (another incredibly delicious and uniquely DC restaurant)




...and several other mini stops along the way, like the Old Post Office (below), a street parade and a Asian street fair.



Although our feet and joints were slightly exhausted from the previous day, we set out for another packed day
in DC, day #2 =

Arlington Cemetery, where we visited my Grandfathers grave.



It was a humbling experience walking around the cemetery with countless headstones. As we pondered the heroic selflessness and ultimate sacrifice of our American soldiers, we felt immense gratitude for those who are much more brave than we will ever be.



The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
We were able to witness the changing of the guards, fascinating.


(Cody took this beauty of a picture)

Washington Monument
Lunch on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial
Vietnam Memorial
Holocaust Museum, how our hearts ached.



We even took time along our path to enjoy this tree made entirely of metal.
We were so excited to discover a piece of modern art that we could actually appreciate! Notice Cody at the base of the tree.



Our feet were screaming at us by the end of day #2, but we could not afford to miss our grand finale stop of the day...



The Washington DC Temple.
First we toured a display of Eternal families around the world at the visitors center. Then we enjoyed the warm spring air as we sat on a bench below angle Moroni and reminisced about days long past when we did the exact same thing on the grounds of the Los Angeles temple.

Day #3=
Lunch with my BFF (best friend for life) Cody
The Museum of American History.
(No pics taken that day so enjoy this one from day 1)
A teary good-bye as Cody sent me off on the metro,
and then a short flight home.



DC was great, beautiful with spring blossoms everywhere, so much to see and do, but the best part of all was being with my dear husband whom I've missed over the past month!

A HUGE shout out of gratitude to Auntie and Nikki who flew out from California to care for the girls and make this trip possible.

(Nikki with BRINLEY 2005 at a petting Zoo in California)



All reports indicate that both kids and caretakers were in seven heaven during my leave of absence and enjoyed many fun times together!

(Auntie with baby AVERY 2006)

THANK YOU!

Smores on a Stick

The girls and I made these beauties a few weeks ago.
They were fun, easy and yummy!
I took this picture before they had cooled, so only one stick had been inserted.

My SIL Jill has organized this most amazing monthly
"Learning Circle" group.
Read the linked post and make sure to also check out the links in her post.
I'll admit that I shed a few tears doing so.


Friends close by:
Take a moment to consider heading up a Learning Circle, more info here.
If you do I will be your very first member and you will make me very happy! The Power Of Moms is running a special on the start up Learning Circle kit until April 10th, it's just $30 and Jill says it's SO easy and fun to be the organizer! Will you be the organizer?

Happy Easter

We had a wonderful Easter!

Reason:
1) Daddy was home! Oh how we all love him so!

2) We watched the 180Th semi-annual General Conference sessions.
Although conference is comprised of four 2-hour sessions our girls have come to love this special weekend. We make it fun by printing out games, found here, like conference bingo, apostle fact cards and coloring pages. They also love to listen for special "key" words to tally up as they were doing when I took the picture below where Avery is displaying her pencil with pride.

3) We enjoyed a delicious Easter dinner with lots of great friends.
Thanks Angie & Cory for hosting all of us!
And thanks to Miss Dana for being Aspen's "go-to" surrogate mother.

Check out the Mormon Women Project!

This digital library will show that among the 7 million women currently members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is stunning diversity and strength that may not always be recognized. The MWP is particularly interested in highlighting the righteous choices women make in all circumstances and locations. It celebrates women who have made deliberate choices — with the help of the Spirit and personal revelation — to overcome personal trials, magnify motherhood, contribute to communities outside their homes, or be converted to the Gospel.

I think you will find their stories inspiring & uplifting!