Happy New Year! 2014

Here's a little re-cap of the rest of our 2013! I really, really want to blog more over here now, especially with our babies on the way! So... Becca turned 13. We gave her a nice easel for her art and she's added many new art supplies and to her collection since Christmas.

Allison turned 16 in September and received her Young Womanhood Recognition Award in November. Once we started looking at all of her projects that she has completed the last year or so... she realized she was a lot closer to being done than she thought!

Allison is still working on her driver's license. She got her learner's permit in June and she has to use that for 6 months before she can get her "official" license. We think she'll be ready to take the big test in January!

John celebrated his 39th (!) birthday in October. We took him to Hoover's for dinner and then spoiled him with his favorite treats.... donuts!!

This guy has been amazing this year, completely taking care of our family at my Mom and Dad's house. He fixes everything, keeps the fire going so we can stay warm, does a lot of the grocery shopping, runs a business from home, and much, much more... including a lot of the dirty work that have to do with the animal life here in the country. I don't know what I would do without him. Love him so much.

Mr. Thomas is THRIVING here in Marysvale. He has the cutest friends, the best teachers, an amazing school, and more... he really has so much going for him, it's been such a blessing. Marysvale has around 30-40 elementary students total in the whole school and they take the best field trips and take the whole school whenever they go anywhere.

Thomas has gained confidence like never before in academics and socially. His teacher sent me a text with some pictures of Thomas on the stage at school with his friends. Thomas had written some Indiana Jones "plays" and scripts and he and his friends were acting them out for the rest of his class. Thomas was acting as writer, director and actor! Wow, what a change for our cute little boy.

Thomas was also cast as "Rudolph" in his school Christmas play. The secretary at the school, Jeri Sylvester, (one of our favorite people) was in charge of the play and said she knew Thomas could do the part because she had seen him dance one day in his classroom while they were getting ready to go to P.E. (haha!) He was AWESOME!! We loved it so much. Here is the video of his performance, I could watch it over and over all day long!!

And then... there are these two little people. John and I went to the South Towne Mall on November 16 to get an ultrasound. We knew I was pregnant and we wanted to be sure all was well with baby before we started sharing our news.

As soon as the technician put the scanning tool on my stomach, we saw two babies! He said, "Oh, it's a surprise! There are two babies!" I started doing a kind of laughing/crying thing because I was in total disbelief. My Mom did something similar when we called them in New Zealand to tell them. Right away he told us that they were a boy and a girl and I was only at 13 1/2 weeks! We had another 18-week ultrasound at the hospital here in Richfield and they confirmed the genders.

Baby boy is twin 'A' and will be born first if I have a regular delivery. Baby girl is twin 'B' and is closer to the surface of my stomach than baby boy. Needless to say, we are excited beyond measure and are feeling really blessed. I prayed and hoped and asked Heavenly Father for one more addition to our family for a long time and He decided to send us two!! I'm so glad they'll have a best friend in each other as they grow up. There is much to plan for and BUY for... we saved our crib and a couple boxes of clothes from over the years and so we really are starting over in more ways than one.

I saw this cute graphic and it describes exactly how I feel. We are all really, really EXCITED!! I'm also feeling blessed and happy because I'll be able to stay home from my teaching job after Jan. 10. I'll work at home with my article writing job and get ready for these two babies to come into the world.

We are due May 21 and I'll be ecstatic if we can make it all the way to May. We've requested the prayers of family and friends to ask that all will be well with the babies and the delivery. So far, so good! They are growing exactly as they should be according to schedule and I feel great. I'll write more about this later, but I take several nutritional supplements that have helped maintain my energy levels and helped me feel balanced. I've gained around 10 pounds so far and many inches around the waist. I guess I'll be posting some "selfies" of my growth as that seems to be the thing to do!

My sister Melissa had her cute little baby girl, Makenzie, at the end of November and Emilee will have her baby boy in February. I told my parents that they will each have a new grandbaby for each arm when they return home this summer! We all feel the missionary blessings poured out on our families while they are away serving the Lord.

SUPER DUPER Coconut oil deal!

When we started to change Thomas' diet 2 years ago, we not only took away many staples that we were used to eating all the time, we also added many new foods that are mega-beneficial. Coconut oil is one of those foods.

Just a few benefits of coconut oil include:

1. Rich source of saturated fat. (aka "brain food")

2. Increases energy... burn more fat!

3. Fatty acids in coconut oil turn into ketones.

4. Improves blood pressure.

5. Provides natural sunscreen protection.

6. Can boost brain function in Alzheimer’s patients.

7. Reduces allergy symptoms.

8. Increases mental alertness.

Sources: Authority Nutrition and Wellness Mama

Coconut oil is just an overall amazing SUPERFOOD that no one should be without. When you visit the grocery store to purchase it, you may have a little bit of sticker shock when you see the price. That's why I wanted to share with you how to get the best deal possible on coconut oil.

 

Just to compare, I usually pay $21.99 for a 78 oz. bottle of coconut oil at Costco. This online deal at Vitacost.com will show you how to get two 54 oz. bottles of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil for $10.29 each. SUPER deal! Here's how to get yours:

1. Sign up for a new Vitacost account and get an automatic $10 off $30 purchase coupon.

2. Add 2 54 oz. Vitacost Extra Virgin Certified Organic Coconut Oil containers to your cart. Right now they're on sale for $16.99 each (at the time of posting...)

3. Choose the 'Set & Save' program to get an additional discount on the coconut oil products.

4. Use the $10 off coupon at checkout. (You will receive a special code when signing up and via email.) If you add on an extra low-cost Vitacost item like some $2.49-$2.99 supplements or some yummy cacoa products to get your order over $25, then you'll also get FREE shipping. (I always go for that!)

5. Check out and watch for your super deal on SUPER FOODS coming your way and on your doorstep!

6. Last, but not least... SHARE this deal with your friends. It's the BEST deal I've ever seen on coconut oil!

*If you already have a Vitacost account, you also have the option of using the coupon code BEVITA6 at checkout for $5 off $30 in Vitacost brand products. **Also be sure to change your Set & Save options after your order arrives unless you'd like regular shipments of coconut oil.

 Thanks to Utah Sweet Savings for sharing this awesome deal. :)

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Knock-Your-Socks-Off Smoothie

Thomas begged for another "batch" of these smoothies to be made at dinner. We had already had them for breakfast! Nothing like having dessert for breakfast around here!

IEP Meetings, Third Grade, Autism and OCD... an update on Thomas

I'm happy to report I have a very positive update on my Thomas to give! Thomas had his annual IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meeting a few days ago. I have attended IEP meetings that have been less than encouraging in the past, such as the spring 2009 4-year-old preschool meeting for Thomas. It was there that I was told Thomas scored around the 4th percentile for every kind of communication skill. Ugh. That day was so discouraging, I left the school wanting to cry.

Thomas made HUGE strides academically during the school year 2012-2013. He started 3rd grade last fall (2012) and he was subsequently tested on his math and reading proficiency levels. Both scores came in at an end of Kindergarten level. Fast forward to January 2013. Test scores for reading and math just 4 months later were at a 2.5! (Middle of 2nd grade levels! This was about the same time that he was overcoming his horrible case of eczema.)

We moved our family to a very small community in March 2013. Thomas was used to being pulled out of his regular education classroom to attend his special education class to work in small groups for around 3 hours each day. The school that we moved to has a special education teacher that serves in two schools and was not able to offer Thomas as many hours of special education time. He had some adjustments to make, which can be extra difficult for children with autism and Asperger's tendencies to make. Thomas was struggling with refraining from teasing or laughing at his classmates when they were having difficulties. I visited his classroom when Thomas started school to warn tell his teachers and classmates about how Thomas may tend to laugh at someone when they get hurt or get in trouble, etc. It proved to be a trial to his regular education teacher as she tried to teach a classroom of children, plus try to manage the misbehavior of this new student with autism.
The wonderful special education teacher at his new school recommended and recruited the assistance of an autism specialist who normally works in the Cedar City Utah area. His name is Bob Wasden and his advice when he met Thomas proved to be a valuable gift. He talked with Thomas and asked him what he liked to do at home. Thomas told him that he liked to play the Wii. Bob suggested that this was the reward to be taken away when he misbehaved at school. The special education teacher called me with the idea. The teachers at school would keep track of Thomas' behavior at school with a stamp chart. If Thomas earned all his stamps, he would get an hour of Wii time at home after school. If Thomas missed out on stamps due to teasing or misbehaving, he would lose 15 minutes of Wii time at home. He could also earn extra Wii time at home if he had an extra great day at school. I have to be honest, when I first heard about their plan to take away his technology time at home, my pride was telling me that THEY couldn't tell me what to do with Thomas' time at home! However, I agreed to the plan over the phone and we started implementing it the next day. I could not believe the difference in Thomas' behavior. It was almost immediate.

I also used our techniques from the 1-2-3 Magic discipline book and told Thomas that if he was counted to a "3" for using potty words, yelling, disobedience, etc. that he would also miss out on 15 minutes of Wii time the next day. The potty words... disappeared. The teasing.... took some time to overcome, but he started trying really hard to be kind to his friends at school when they were crying or upset. Fast forward again to the start of this school year in August 2013.

We had decided to have Thomas repeat the 3rd grade. He was less than excited about it and told me many times last summer that he wanted to move onto the 4th grade. He brought this up with me one day while we driving home and I finally had an idea about what to tell him. "Thomas, we looked at the time when you started Kindergarten when you were five and Dad and I realized that you started school too early." Thomas thought for a minute or so in the back seat. Then he replied, "Okay. But the NEXT year, I'm doing fourth grade. And I'm not going to do it again! And the NEXT year, I'm going into 5th grade. And I'm not going to do it again!" And on and on.... until I told him that was fine.

So Thomas started this school year, 2013-2014, as a third grader. He has the same classroom teacher, new friends, AND he also has his own classroom aide to assist him throughout the day. Thomas was once again observed by Bob Wasden, the autism specialist, just last week. Bob told his teachers that he couldn't believe this was the same child that he had observed last spring. His behavior has improved so much! His classroom teacher told us that the teasing behavior is GONE! Bob also worked with his new aide and helped her to understand some of Thomas' behaviors. Something that was suggested (and very new to us) is that Thomas has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I guess we knew he has OCD, but we had never put a label on the behaviors. For example, Thomas was playing outside during lunch recess and decided that he'd like to climb the tether ball pole. He climbed the pole with all his strength, and could almost reach the very top of the pole. His aide told me that he needed just a little more leg strength to reach to very top of the pole that day. Thomas was so, so close to touching the top of the tether ball pole.... and then the bell rang. Thomas' aide told him it was time to go back inside for his math work. Thomas was obedient and went inside the school with her, but he was feeling so disappointed that he was unable to reach to very top of the pole. Thomas shut down for the rest of the day. He couldn't complete his work or math problems because he was so disappointed about coming so close to reaching to top of the pole and not being able to finish.

Mr. Wasden explained to Thomas' aide that his refusing to work after the pole incident was due to his OCD. When I talked to Mr. Wasden later that same day, he told me that he believes his OCD symptoms are stronger than his autism symptoms at this point. He also said that the OCD problems could really hamper his education. His suggestion to solve these complications is to offer Thomas accommodations in order to appeal to his OCD, yet also achieve his educational goals at the same time. He suggested that if Thomas is obsessing over climbing the pole at school (or any other task not completed) and it's time to work on math problems, that his aide can ask him to work on the first half of the math problems... then go outside to climb the pole before finishing the last half of the math assignment! Brilliant! His aide was excited to have some new options, ideas, and liberties open up to her. She tried the 1/2 math, climb the pole, 1/2 math idea the next day and it worked great!

Thomas will also be working on communication skills, such as a "ping-pong" conversation, where Thomas is able to ask other people and friends about their day and activities. He tends to stay in his own world and think and talk only about the subjects that he is interested in.

And now... for the HAPPY NEWS! Thomas is completely ON GRADE LEVEL in both math and reading for the 3rd grade! I can't tell you what wonderful news this is for us. I wanted to cry.... but this time, it was tears of JOY when his teacher told us! We met with Thomas' teachers and principal during his IEP meeting for around 1 1/2 hours. We all shared a lot of "Thomas stories" that are marking his progress since last spring. After the special education teacher completed his IEP documents, I read over them and realized that most of his goals are focused on his social and communication goals, not his academic ones. WOW.

After 2 1/2 years of diet changes, a few months of a cleanse diet, brain balance therapy used at home and multiple visits with doctors, supplementation, and endless hours of help with special education teachers and aides, our Thomas is ON GRADE LEVEL in both math and reading! This is really a miracle. There's no others way to put it. We love that so many of our family and friends are happy for us and the changes we have witnessed in Thomas. :)

 

And, to top off all that brain power, look at how adorable he was during his photo session last month. :)

 *Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. I am a mother helping my son overcome the huge obstacles of autism and OCD with the use of diet, supplementation, brain balance therapy, and lots of love. For more information on Thomas' healing brain, I suggest reading this post on the gut, brain, eczema connection. (Or Google it, there are many articles and studies made on these connections.) His legs that healed are a reflection of his gut, which is a reflection of his brain... no wonder he's showing such remarkable progress in school.

  
Photos by Jill Collier Photography

Our Favorite No-Bake Chocolate Cookies

These are my absolute FAVORITE treat to make these days! I understand that some people may have an intolerance to oats, but so far Thomas has been fine with these and so we make them at least.... well, let's just say several times each week. ;) We do buy gluten-free oats for these cookies and were lucky enough to find a producer of these in the Salt Lake area that gives us a 40 lb. bag for $11.99! This is quite a deal, especially if you've shopped gf oats. (Note: the oats are NOT certified gluten free, but they are processed in an environment where they are not contaminated with gluten materials.)

 

Here's the recipe adapted from the amazing dessert cookbook by Laurie Vukich: Beauty in Every Bite Desserts

Raw HEALTHY Chocolate Oat Cookies

1 c. dates

1/2 c. raw honey

1/2 c. coconut oil

1/3 c. olive oil

1/4 c. rice or almond milk

1/4 c. cocoa or cacoa

2 T. carob powder

2 dashes salt

1 t. vanilla

3 c. oats (we use gluten free)

Combine all ingredients (except for the oats) in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour over oats, mix and spoon onto a cookie sheet. Keep in the refrigerator.

Have a healthy snack every time you pass the fridge!

Our Family's Home Zytoscan!

Our family was offered an amazing service by Dr. Ken Taylor. If you remember, Dr. Taylor was the catalyst of the help we now seek out for Thomas. He administered the hair minerals test for Thomas in 2011, which showed his extreme aversion and sensitivity to wheat and wheat products. This one factor (taking wheat out of Thomas' diet) has probably done the most good for Thomas than anything else we have ever done for him! So, remember when we first took Thomas in for a zytoscan? This was in the spring of 2012, when Thomas was suffering from serious eczema symptoms. His first zytoscan helped to pinpoint the exact foods that were bothersome to Thomas. Many of these included dairy products and fruits. Earlier this summer, Dr. Taylor offered to send us an IN-HOME zytoscan service. How cool is this? The zytoscan hand cradle was shipped to our home and we downloaded some software to prepare for the zytoscan session with Dr. Taylor. We called Dr. Taylor's office to schedule a time for our WHOLE family to receive the zytoscan services.

 As you can see, the process is really simple. Thomas completed his while hanging out in his pajamas and watching a Lego movie! Dr. Taylor was available online during the scans for any questions. We could type in comments or questions to him through the Zyto scan software while the scan was being administered.

 

Here's my hand on the Zyto scan hand cradle. :) The Zyto scan also can tell which of your major organs may be stressed or out of balance. Yes, the Zyto scan can do so much more than scan for food sensitivities! The Zyto scan will use the information gathered from placing your hand on the cradle to scan food sensitivities and will look for any items in the environment that may be an irritant or stressor to you. The final result of each our Zyto scans gave us a printout of all the biomarkers out of place in our bodies and also gives suggested supplements or homeopathic remedies that will help to remedy these imbalances. For instance, these were my top three supplements suggestions in order to assist my body with rheumatism and arthritis:

 I do not yet feel the effects of these diseases, but I love that the Zyto scan can detect a problem before it is at a critical stage. Also, my husband's kidneys lit up on his Zyto scan- showing that they need the most care, attention, and accompanying kidney supplements right now. John used this information to start researching the foods that will benefit his kidneys. As another example, my liver showed up as the organ in the most need, which is something I had already suspected and have been treated for in the past. For the most part, our family enjoys good health and strength. This is the time to focus on our health! We don't want to wait until something goes seriously wrong! I love that this work is preventive in many ways. Here is also a look at the supplements that Thomas is adding to his repertoire: 

(FYI- Thomas was scanned for many more biomarkers than the rest of us were. That's why there's seems to be so many more out of place! As a result, he received a more in-depth review of his system and thus was asked to take quite a few more supplements.)

 

And here's a small snippet of the foods (in the negative numbers) that are bothersome to one of my daughters. When our Zyto scan was complete, we simply packed up the Zyto scan hand cradle and cord and sent it back to Dr. Taylor in Texas. When he received the list of supplements our family needed on his reports of the Zyto scan, we received this in the mail!

Keep in mind that this collection of supplements is for FIVE people. We were a little overwhelmed and it took me some time to sort through what belonged to whom. Fortunately, my daughter Rebecca helped me color code them all for each member of the family. We feel that we are all enjoying good health, Thomas included, but we love that the Zyto scan gives us a more in-depth look at other things we may not be aware of happening in our bodies. We also love that we can get this service completed in the comfort of our home! This is an amazing service that I'm sure we will utilize again and again. We are looking forward to being scanned again after we have been taking our supplements for a few months. In this way, we can monitor our progress and the helpfulness of the supplements that were prescribed.

Thomas' Eczema

So, I'm long overdue for an update on my cute son & our family's battle with Autism and other health issues.  The last time I updated you was in December, when I told you about his overcoming many social, communicative, and behavioral issues when we dropped wheat & gluten from his diet.  I also told you about an awesome book that changed my way of thinking about foods forever.

Let me take you back to March 2012.  Thomas was suffering with horrible, horrible eczema.  It was so horrible & inflamed that I took a picture of his leg- the place that was affected the very most. (*Warning: This may be painful to look at. I can't imagine what it felt like to my little boy.)

I felt like I was doing everything right: he was eating only whole foods, no processed sugars and no gluten.  I gave him his prescribed supplements in a smoothie every night and morning.  It turned out that the smoothies were the problem.... they were mostly made from dairy products & berries.  I'll explain.

Since moving back to Utah in 2011, I was on the search for a new dentist.  I happened to see a reference to Dr. Jared Nielsen on the Real Foods Facebook page and thought I would look him up.  He's not a dentist, however, but lectures on dental practices.  I looked through his website and found this page on "Free Forums"- I found that he had a video on Autism.

WOW. WOW. WOW.  If you have a child with autism or know someone that does, I guarantee you will be blown away by these videos.  He was describing my child EXACTLY.  I knew I had to meet him.

We did visit with Dr. Nielsen in April and showed Thomas' legs to him.  As soon as he saw them, he said a couple of things. "Because his legs look like this, this is what the inside of Thomas looks like, too.  His brain probably feels like it's on fire." and.... "It looks like he is having a reaction to dairy and strawberries."

Hmmm.... really? He suggested that we see his brother, Dr. Brandon Nielsen, in Lehi to get a Zytoscan to see what his food sensitivities are.  This was (and is) the easiest, non-invasive way to find out your food sensitivities.  Thomas only had to put his hand on this contraption:

The results?  YES, he was definitely reacting to dairy and to berries.  The cure?  Thomas was given a treatment used to kill Candida, a yeast that grows inside the body and can invade tissue and the brain. Besides causing eczema, Candida can also cause acne, be a companion to fibromyalgia, and a host of other health problems.  Candida feeds and grows on sugars and yeast.  So, Thomas was given a "Cleanse" or "Detox" diet to kill this horrible yeast growing inside his body.

Alright, this is where it gets HARD. Because Candida lives and thrives on sweets and sugars, we had to eliminate those completely.  That's right- NO sugars, not even natural sugars in fruits & no artificial/substitute sweeteners either. Plus, he needed to follow this diet for 6 weeks.  It was overwhelming to me just to hear this and think of how we had to change things even more for Thomas.

Instead of telling you the long list of things he could not eat, it's easier to tell you what he could eat with this prescribed diet: (1) Vegetables (organic- no sprays), (2) Meats not treated with antibiotics (because antibiotics wipe out your good flora, too!), & (3) Coconut oil & plain coconut milk.  That's it.

Thomas was also prescribed some supplements and shake mixes, sprays & ointments to help heal his insides and outsides.  This was hard for our family to adjust to.  As a Mom, I had to figure out what to feed him!  I went to the produce section of the store (Smith's has a pretty good selection of organic vegetables) and went to work cutting and chopping.  I bought the grass-fed and organic meats at the Real Foods store in Orem.

After 6 weeks of following this diet, we went back to Dr. Brandon Nielsen for a check up.  His eczema was healing (the red bumps had scabbed over), but, Thomas wasn't ready to eat fruit again. Dr. Nielsen asked us to leave any and all sugars out for another 2 weeks. Luckily, I had a back up reward of a double-bladed light saber for him in the car after our visit. :)

Things were going well, until.... my husband and I went on a vacation at the end of May.  Thomas still needed to stay on his strict diet while we were gone.  When we got back from our trip, however, we could tell that we would have to start over with his cleanse diet once again- his legs looked so painful: scratched up, red bumps everywhere, and he was constantly picking at the scabs.  Here we went again with tightening up on the diet!

But now.... I'm happy to tell you that all the hard work and sacrifice paid off!  We visited Dr. Jared Nielsen in July and he adjusted Thomas' supplements even more, saying he was starting to react to a few of them.  He must have hit on the right combination, because after that visit we saw marked improvement in Thomas' legs.  Time to celebrate!  YES.  This is how they look now, I took this 'after' picture yesterday 9/4:

This is a before/after of his arm from the same time period:

Is this not exciting?!  It really is exciting to me and our family, this is something that we worked and worked on for what seems like a long period of time.  Thomas is so happy to get to eat fruits like pineapple, watermelon, and even apples again! I must say that I am SO very PROUD of my son, he was willing to do something that most adults probably would refuse to do.  I do know that when things get tough, you are in a position to do the hard things to get better.

Is Thomas healed?  Only time will tell.  For now, I'd say the answer to that question is a YES and he's enjoying much better health overall.  He's not coughing or wheezing anymore with his asthma either.  I am especially happy because this was a real heal, not a cover-up of the symptoms with a steroid or steroid creams.

If you're wondering if we found a dentist, we did!  Dr. Jared Nielsen recommended Dr. Robertson in Spanish Fork, he practices a kind of dentistry that I didn't know existed.  Check out his website for more information.  We started our dental work with him and he is going to remove all my kid's old metal dentistry work. (Did you know it's illegal to put mercury in your pet's teeth, yet they use it for children?!  Yikes.)

Also, working with Dr. Jared Nielsen led us to the work of Dr. Robert Melillo, the author of a book called Disconnected Kids.  I purchased this through Amazon.com and it had many, many "ah-ha" moments inside for me.  This book is designed to help children with a spectrum of disorders including Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, Dyslexia, ODD, and more.  It's all about brain balance and if you have or know a child with any of these afflictions, I highly recommend looking into his work.

Please pass this along to family & friends, and please feel free to ask me any questions.  In short, the update on my Thomas is that he is getting happier and healthier everyday!  He is a joy to everyone that knows him.

Spring & Summer in Southern Utah

 So, in case you haven't heard... we moved to Marysvale!!  Perfect timing for many members of our family, my parents were needing someone to house sit for them... so here we are!  Above are Thomas and Becca riding a camel near Tuacahn on Spring Break.

 Thomas and I went on the school field trip to hunt for trilobites!  He found like 100 of them!  Super cool.  I'm going to put them in a nice case... the only other place I've seen these is in museums.

 Thomas and Becca are loving hanging out with my parents' cats: Peanut and Butter. :)

 Big Rock!!

 Our favorite raw no-bake cookies: coconut oil, olive oil, almond milk, dates, cocoa, carob powder, vanilla, oats.  Oh MAN!!  These are so good and we're addicted.  Hence, they get a spot on our blog today.

 Thomas drew a LOT of Lego Batman pictures at school this year.....

 Hiking at Zion NP for my birthday trip.

 Hike just with Thomas.  He wrote a story about it when he got back to school.  The girls were at the temple with the Marysvale Ward YM/YW.

 Mother's Day!!

 I love this pose.... haha!  Thomas at Scout Day Camp.

 Hiking to the 'M' in Marysvale.... I'd never been before!

 More day camp activities!  I even got a turn on the zip line!

 Swimming lessons

 Hike to the falls in Marysvale with the YW.

 Field trips galore!  Thomas is so lucky to be at such an amazing (and small) school.

Becca in the "baby seat" and zipline at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  What a riot!

Mom & Dad's Farewell

So, my parents are on a mission. They were called to labor in the New Zealand Wellington mission as CES Specialists.

They are teaching Institute classes at the University of Canterbury & overseeing several seminary teachers in the area. They will also be helping with the young single adult choir and Mom will teach keyboard lessons. How cool is this mission?! They have been so, so excited.

They have a blog that you can follow on their adventures. It is the ChCh Chronicles. ChCh stands for Christchurch, the city where they are serving.

So, they had their fantastic farewell awhile ago and I wanted to record some of the things they spoke about. Their talks were very dear and special to me. They represent a lifetime of good choices, faithfulness, and doing what is right. They have been rewarded with an amazing family, good health and the means to go and serve at this special time.

Mom's talk:
She taught us several island greetings and how to respond to them Mawri, Tongan, Samoan. Her talk was centered on learning. She reminded us that it is a commandment to learn and said that she loves to learn.

She spoke of her grandfather, (my great-grandpa Doug) who encouraged her to go to college. She worked and saved for college, and he matched all of the money she saved. She attended BYU for $225 each semester. She was the first person in her family to attend and graduate from college. She received her degree in Home Economics.

She married my Dad in 1972 and moved to Marysvale in 1974. Mom wanted to be a mother and stay home and that's what she did! 

When my youngest sister Emilee was 2 or 3 years old, my Dad was out of work (we can relate...). So my Mom applied to teach at the elementary school. She had substitute taught there a bit and had taught me in my Kindergarten year, so they already knew her. (Side note: she also worked really hard and went back to college to receive her elementary school teaching degree and certificate.)

She started working full time and said that she loved it because she got to teach my sisters in her classes, she was with her children during the days and she loved to see what they were learning. She figured that teaching school would be temporary and that she would return home full time once things were back to "normal" once again.

Instead, she went on to teach and also served as the school's principal for a total of 30 years. She was an amazing teacher & helped so many children. She improved the school so much and in turn improved the lives of the children that were taught there and also their families. (last paragraph is my commentary...)

Mom said the hand of the Lord was in her life always. Now, she was able to save money from working and they are able to pay for this wonderful mission. Along with this blessing was the announcement from the church that the couples' mission expenses for housing would be capped at $1400/month. (New Zealand is ex$pen$ive!  This was a huge blessing for them.)

Dad's talk:

Dad spoke about thinking of his grandmother (Mamo, my grandfather's mother) a lot.  When he was done with high school and getting ready to turn 19, he told his parents that he didn't want to serve a mission. He said his parents took the news "pretty well" but that they told him he had to tell his grandmother this news herself.  He was less than excited about this prospect.

He also talked to his Bishop about his decision and he was simply asked to pray about this.  He was working at Dee's (?) in downtown SLC at the time and was finding that every time he thought about a mission, he would get tears in his eyes and want to cry.  He said there may have been a few "teardrop pancakes" that he helped prepare....

Dad also talked about how his mission changed his life, working in the temple changed his life in every way these past few years, and how he's been studying the gospel and getting ready to teach Institute.  He said he realized they may received this calling because Mom had spent 30 years teaching in the classroom and he has spent 30 years with milk cows. :)  (He's an awesome teacher, by the way. I know the Institute kids just love him!)

He also shared the scripture Ezekiel 11:19: And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh. (Love it!)


There is a blessing that comes from answering calls from the Lord, including the calls for missions and temple service. 

He also encouraged everyone to keep going when reading the Book of Mormon. "Every holder of the priesthood should participate in daily scripture study" (President Monson) He told a story about how a bullet was shot at a Book of Mormon and it stopped in 2 Nephi.  "Even a bullet can't get through 2 Nephi!"

Here they are in their "miracle picture"- 19 out of the 20 grandkids with Mom and Dad.  #20 is our cute Matthew... we'll have a re-do at the Resurrection. :)

A few Tommy-isms (that we never want to forget)

"This is going to be so embarrassing, I have to use a band aid to hang this up."
(We were out of tape and he wanted to hang up his Ninjago Lego picture on his bedroom door.)

"I wish 'mouse' could write us a letter and let us know how it's going up there."
(Referring to his pet dwarf hamster who passed away last month.)

Thomas likes to "place orders" for his food lately.  He can be heard saying, "Can I have some turkey with a side of apple slices?" ...or "Granola with a side of orange juice."... or "Can I have another batch of oranges?"

"I had a nightmare last night. Santa was there and I was being naughty, so the reindeer were crying."
(For those that know Thomas well, you already know that Santa is a really, really BIG deal to Thomas.)

Another side note: a couple of weeks before Christmas, Thomas' obsession with Star Wars & Star Wars Legos came to an abrupt end after 3 years!  He now loves, draws, watches, and plays with Ninjago Legos- it's his new thing. :)

A Day in the Life...

Wow, my world has changed! Here's a quick recap and then a schedule of the craziest day of my life. I sold my business/blog in November to a guy from France. (!) It was a relief to be sure! I worked the site for 3 years and started from basically nothing (a Blogger site).

The site grew and helped provide for our family, plus helped me land a job while we were in Dallas. There was so much more to it than coupons & deals, that's for sure! I'm grateful that Heavenly Father gave me the blessing of working at home while I could. I'm also grateful to be finished.

The same week that the sale of my blog came together, our ward here split. We didn't change wards, so I was happy that nothing seemed to change for us.... or so it seemed. Right after the "split meeting" the Bishop of our ward asked to talk to me and John. He asked me to be the Relief Society President. (gulp!!) I felt sick for a week, but then felt much better after being sustained and set apart. Thank goodness.

This calling will be a great blessing! Even though our ward split, it is still huge, despite it covering 3 streets in our neighborhood. We have 100 visiting teachers and the first week of December brought several projects: reorganizing visiting teaching, ward giving tree, ward Christmas party, and Allison was also asked (before the ward split) to organize the Young Women in Excellence night. Yikes!

Here's how that day went:

Tuesday, December 4, 2012:
7:30 a.m. Becca & Allison have already left for school. Thomas is staying home with a little cough.
8:30 a.m. John departs for the Scout Shop in Orem. He's the new Scout Committee Chair and also has a Court of Honor the same day.
9:30 a.m. Relief Society Presidency meeting at our house. We're making last minute preparations for the Ward Dinner on Saturday & planning 2013 lessons.
11:30 a.m. Make brownies for the Young Women in Excellence program.
1:30 p.m. John returns from the Scout Shop. Yep, he was there for hours learning how to enter everything in the computer system.
3:30 p.m. Becca gets home from school, I go to pick up Allison from her acapella Valentine's Day practice (a.k.a. "Valigrams") and we go to Smith's to buy ice for the program tonight.
5:00 p.m. Allison, John & I go to the church for an early set-up and decorating.
5:45 p.m. Quick taco dinner while Thomas has a bath.
5:55 p.m. Thomas is out of the tub. He finds some shorts to wear that I recently bought from a yard sale. 6:00 p.m. Thomas is crying LOUD. He says his legs hurt. They are red and forming white looking bubbles on his knees.
 6:03 p.m. I realized that the clothes I bought from the yard sale had cat hair on them (which Thomas is allergic to). He takes some Benadryl and changes his pants.
6:10 p.m. We head to the church as a family for the Court of Honor and YW in Excellence program. The girls set up their displays:

6:30 p.m. John holds the Court of Honor
7:00 p.m. YW in Excellence program begins. I play the piano for the hymns, later Allison sings & Becca plays the violin for a musical number.
8:15 p.m. All the festivities are complete and we help clean up.
8:25 p.m. John heads to the car with Thomas.
8:27 p.m. The car won't start. The electronic words in front say "BAD KEY."
8:35 p.m. I flag down another ward member leaving with his family. He takes them home and then comes back to take John to Walmart to buy new batteries for our key.
8:40 p.m. T, A, B, and I catch a ride home with other various ward members. :)
9:00 p.m. John discovers that our key is broken and makes arrangements to get a ride to the dealership in American Fork in the morning. (Yep, this is our only car at the moment.)

The next day the car is towed and we buy a new $200 key for our car. Wowee- it's a good thing this day was extraordinary and not the ordinary, I would never survive.

 My goal for the new year- an amazing family blog!! It's in the works... I'm so excited for 2013 and to finally get this blog published in book form. Happy New Year everyone!