The true cost of having a child

My mom sent this to me through e-mail, I love it! And... since our computer died, it's the best post I know how to do right now. Feel free to copy it to yours if you wish!

The government recently calculated the cost of raising
a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00
for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That
doesn't even touch college tuition.
But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down.
It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171..08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is
don't have children if you want to be
'rich.'
Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140.00?
* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kiss es and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said
or how your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:
* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.
You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under
refrigerator magnets and collect! spray painted noodle
wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for
Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters
for Father's Day.
For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for
your buck.
You get to be a hero just for:
* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a
baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream
regardless.
You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added
to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long
list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great
grandchildren.. You get an education in psychology,
nursing, criminal justice, and communications that
no college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there
under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo,
scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart,
police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them
without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without
counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the
price!!!!!!!
Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren
& great-grandchildren !!!!!!!
They are the best investment you'll ever make!

The best part of Easter weekend

There were a lot of sweet surprises this Easter holiday!

Easter egg hunts, easter treats, sweet easter kids!

Tommy exclaiming, "________or _______!" when he got his Easter eggs. Can you guess? It's on the video and really cracked us up! (Believe it or not, pun not intended!)

Mmmm.... sweet imported chocolates and "biscuits" (cookies) from England! Ahh.... Lindt, Cadbury and Galaxy! All my weaknesses in one box! Thanks to a very sweet mission companion.

Baby shower gifts for my sister Lindsay. She's expecting a girl! Yay for pink, flowers, bows, tutus and all that fluffy stuff.


But the sweetest part of our Easter weekend was watching this sweet baby girl being sealed to her Mom and Dad in the Bountiful temple. There's something about the temple that makes time stand still and reminds you of what life is all about. Here was an amazing couple, being sealed to their amazing little daughter in the House of the Lord. They have been so blessed by our Heavenly Father- He wants ALL His children to enjoy EVERY blessing He has to offer. No matter what our circumstances or where we are today. Thank you, Lexi, for reminding us all!

(Hopefully you can click on this pic to enlarge and see the joy on my parents' faces!)

Coolest. Park. Ever.

These are a few pics from the coolest park in West Jordan. I didn't get a shot of the whole castle/fort structure- you'll have to go and see it for yourself! There is a maze inside and slides coming out of the fort. I've never seen a cooler park. My Relief Society president told me about it, she teaches 2nd grade and they went here for a field trip when the copper mine was closed on April 1st. The address is 78th So. and 1950 W. Your kids will love it! One thing, though, others know that it's cool and it was very crowded! Try to visit on an obscure weekday in the middle of off-track!

Becca's perspective

Becca's view of us watching conference!

A day in the life....

Of me! I keep waiting for a big, exciting event to happen in my life to post about. Instead, I thought I'd show my amazing accomplishments of April 3rd, 2009. Ha ha.

First task: Prepare to share!

My kids have been called upon to share "their" room with some cousins this weekend. I made their room look like this:

I probably should have done a before/after shot, maybe it will be a now/ later shot... when I let the kids in again! Yay! No legos, hairclips, papers, and elastics stuck in every nook and cranny. I love you kids, this is how a clean room is supposed to look! :)
Second task: Take a brownie break. Hey, I've got to keep up my strength! A very nice friend shared this recipe with me, and now we're hooked!

Third task: This!!!!
And this!!! Okay, this pile took me both Wednesday and Friday to complete. Yes, my back and arm are sore! I heard that Al is in town, I wonder if I can ask him when that global warming thing is supposed to kick in? Soon, I hope!! :)

Girl's Night Out- help form a blog chain of love!

This is from my cousin, and I'm reposting on my blog to help get the word out! She's organized this fantastic event for an amazing cause... helping AIDS orpans in Africa... please post on your blog to get the word out! :)

PLEASE:
1) re-post the Girl's Night Out information on your blog front and center.
2) ask ALL of your family and friends to re-post this poster (above) and the event information (with link to http://www.theprombomb.com/) on their blogs as well.
Please! Ask everyone you know to do it. Email everyone you know and ask them to do it. When have you been given and EASIER way to serve!? Let's make a blog chain of love!
We are talking LIVES here people! Every 5 women who walk into our event on Saturday ($5.00 admission) ='s enough formula to keep a baby alive for ONE MONTH! Think of the potential of that child. Think of the WORTH of that soul. Every dime we make will help improve a life. A REAL life. A real child of God who needs us to stop being busy, content, and indifferent.
My Cousin (who just got back from spending a month in Africa) told me about a nine year old girl that they found prostituting herself years ago in the streets of Lusaka. Mothers Without Borders took her in, got her the medical attention she needed, and put her in school. She is 15 now, and the fact is, she has AIDS, and she is going to die. There is nothing that any of us can do to change that, but because of the efforts made by Kathy Headlee and her volunteers at MWB, this girl lives a life of dignity. She lives a life of love. She lives a life where she knows goodness, kindness, and something other than being completely alone in a world that is just waiting to eat her alive. That's something.

If you are interested in volunteering at the event, we would love to have you! (email me)
But please, right now, for the next hour, volunteer yourself to be a promotional/advertising committee member and call, text, email, blog EVERYONE you know! Act like this is for your child, or sister, or mother. Act like this is YOUR project. Act as though lives depend upon it (because, indeed, they do.)

African violets and motherhood

These are beautiful pieces of talks by Elder Robert D. Hales and just what I needed to hear today! I hope you enjoy them, too!

"Look at family as an eternal perspective. Be patient in growing your family. Your family is not unlike a leaf off another plant, now transplanted, plucked off and placed into a glass. I’ve learned something by watching my wife grow African violets. It’s an interesting process. Let me describe it to you. It is very much like raising children. First, she clips off a leaf. A crisp, healthy leaf off the mother plant and puts it in a stem of water. Then she waits. It will be a number of weeks before white roots sprout from the stem. Then she carefully plants the stem in a pot of fertile soil, places it in a place where it will receive the proper light, and carefully waters and nourishes the tender plant. And then she waits. Over time, it sprouts many leaves. It becomes very interesting when you’re planting three or four sprouts at the same time. It takes every plant a different time to bloom. Despite coming from the same mother plant and living in the same environment. We had almost given up on the fourth plant a few weeks ago. But someone said, “Have patience.” Someone who had grown African violets. And had grown children. We can almost miss the joy of the three blooming plants by our focusing concern about the fourth that hasn’t bloomed yet. Similarly, we need to have a great deal of patience and faith knowing that if we will continue to nourish and care for a child or a plant, it will eventually bloom, of that I give my testimony. This reminds me of when I hear educators talk about ‘late bloomers’- of which I am one. The lesson learned is in knowing that those leaves that come from the mother plant, when given the proper care and patience, will eventually bloom. Regarding our little children, do we get a little impatient with their progress? Do we sometimes wonder why we are having family home evening, family prayer and scripture study? Wonder not, the spiritual root structure of our children is being developed by our righteous efforts. And although at times it may be hard to discern, those roots are growing."

"May I spend a moment or two talking about a unique lifelong learning experience for a woman. I feel it deeply. It is called motherhood. Motherhood is the ideal opportunity for lifelong learning. The mother’s learning grows as she nurtures the child, in his or her development years. They are both learning and maturing together at a remarkable pace. It’s exponential, not linear. Just think of the learning process of a mother throughout the lifetime of her children. Each child brings an added dimension to her learning, because their needs are so varied and far reaching. For example, in the process of rearing her children, a mother studies such topics as child development, nutrition, health care, physiology, psychology, nursing with medical research and care, educational tutoring in many diverse fields, such as math, science, geography, literature, English and foreign languages. Development of gifts such as music, athletics, dance, public speaking, and the learning examples could continue endlessly. Just think of the spiritual learning that is required as a mother teaches about gospel principles and prepares for teaching family home evening, and auxiliary lessons in Primary, Relief Society, Young Women and Sunday School. My point is, my dear sisters, and for the brethren, who I hope are listening carefully. My point is that a mother’s opportunity for lifelong learning and teaching is universal in nature. My dear sisters, don’t ever sell yourself short as a woman. Or as a mother. It never ceases to amaze me that the world would state that a woman is in a form of servitude, which does not allow her to develop her gifts and talents. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could be further from the truth. Do not let the world define, denegrade, or limit your feelings of lifelong learning and the values of motherhood in the home both here mortally and the eternal learning and benefits you give to your children and to your companion."

Salsa, anyone?

I figured out that I could make my own salsa from my food storage ingredients! Three to be exact: canned tomatoes, dried onions, and dried peppers. I just pulsed the tomatoes in the blender, added the onions and peppers to soften them up, and whalaa! Instant salsa!

Sunrise

If you are reading this, you are tagged! Post your fourth picture from your fourth folder! This is a beautiful sunrise that John caught just last week. Don't ask me why it's only in our fourth folder, I think our picture folders are backwards!

Scripture Power

Okay, this is cool- really! I do have a little bit of time on my hands these days, like when all the kids are at school and John is at work. I am reading 2 Nephi right now... a.k.a. Isaiah, and as I was reading along, I'm thinking, "WHAT?" And had to admit to myself that I had no idea what I was reading about. So, I clicked on this link that takes you to BYU TV. Then I clicked on Scripture Discussions. From there, you can click on ANY chapter of scripture that you are studying and have 4 professors of religion explain it to you. Awesome! I made a lot of notes and actually understood a LOT more than I would ever been able to understand on my own. I love technology!

HAPPY DAY!

We didn't know how.... or when... but we do now! This is my sister, Melissa, with her daughter, Lexi. Lexi was placed with Melissa and her husband, Ryan, for adoption in September. Since that time, the birth dad has tried to intervene and gain custody of Lexi. We even attended a L...O...N...G.... hearing on the matter. But, today we got the news that the birth dad signed the papers that make it possible for the adoption to be finalized! Oh, happy day! Our family has been fasting, praying, and hoping that this day would come. Ryan also put the birth Dad's name in the temple last weekend. We have received assurances through the spirit that it would happen. The Lord is so good to us! We are all celebrating... Congratulations Melissa and Ryan!

Before I met you.....

Before I met you....

I didn't know how special it was to be a Mom.

I didn't know the meaning of the word "sociable".

I didn't know my heart would swell as I watched you perform on stage. You make me so proud!

I didn't know that you would have such a strong desire to do what is right.

I didn't know that someone so young could have such a big testimony.

Before I met you....

I didn't know that someone could be born with so many natural talents and abilities... dance, art, music... just to name a few.

I didn't realize what being a "girly-girl" was really all about.

I didn't know that you would teach me so much about loving everyone unconditionally.

I didn't know that you would be such a special friend to your little brother.

I didn't know that you would be the "domestic diva" in our house- decorating, baking, organizing, creating beautiful things!

Before I met you....

I didn't know a little boy could be so handsome.

I didn't know how to get silly putty out of blankets.

I didn't know that you would wear me out at the end of every day.

I didn't know the names of Spiderman's enemies.

I didn't know someone could work so hard to overcome difficult obstacles.

I didn't know that I would find so much joy in every small accomplishment.

Before I met you....

I didn't think about the salvation of unborn babies.

I didn't know such a stalwart spirit would belong to our family.

I didn't know how much joy I would have as I look forward to the resurrection.

Before I met you....

I didn't know how badly I would want to be with someone, every day, every hour!

I didn't know that someone would be able to forgive me (over and over again) for all my faults and shortcomings.

I didn't know someone could be so talented.

I didn't know that someone could know how to do *everything.

*meaning: music, lights, sound, audio/visual equipment, wiring, electronics, writing, building a home from start to finish, being a fun, creative Dad.

I didn't know that you would show me in so many ways how to come closer to the Savior. Your example is amazing!

Feeding frenzy

It all started so innocently, on a bright, but cold Saturday afternoon.....

Sharing a snack with the geese at Wheeler Farm!






Soon, flocks of geese were coming in for a landing and.... well, we'll let the video
speak for itself! They were LOUD and just to warn you, a little violent.

#62 on YouTube!

In case you missed it, this was #62 on YouTube last week. It's beautiful!

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