First Haircut

A couple of weeks ago, I took Matthew to get his very first haircut. We went to this great place called Cookie Cutters. It caters to kids. Ever since Hyrum, I've alway been a little bit nervous about that first haircut. Do you all remember how he completely freaked out? But Matthew was great. They put an Elmo video on for him and he sat really still and let them cut his hair. Not one tear. Except from Mom. :) He did have a funny/worried look on his face when she was using the clippers, like he was wondering what in the world was going on. It was pretty funny. We caught it on tape so you will have to watch the little video. It makes me laugh. Anyway, he's not my little baby anymore. He looks all grown up now. sniff, sniff. But he also looks quite handsome. Milestones. They are bitter sweet.

The Audacity

Well, sure enough. I offended somebody. I don't know who it was, but I am really, really hoping that "Anonymous" reads this post. My last post was about my utter dislike for cats. Now usually I love it when people leave comments. And I have had people I've never met before leave me comments, which is kind of fun. But they have always signed in, and left there user names. They have always been friendly comments too. I have never had a disgruntled one, left by an "anonymous" user. It makes me wonder if it was maybe one of my friends who didn't want me to know exactly who they were. Or if it was some random stranger I've never met before. The point is. There are lots of people out there that I love and think are pretty great who like cats. Some of them even have cats for pets. I don't think any less of these people. But that doesn't change the way I feel about cats. I think they are abominable. My friends who really know me, know that my last post was a "vent" and trying to find the humor in a terrible situation. The main reason for this post is to let "Anonymous" know a thing or two. In all fairness, I can agree with most of the things this person said in their
comment. But there was one sentence that I found extremely harsh and I'm going to defend myself on. And that was this, "Maybe it was the people that owned them (the cats) that are horrific and disgusting." Well, "Anonymous". Let me tell you about the person who owned those cats. He was my Uncle. His name was Mark. I have some happy memories of Uncle Mark when I was a little girl. He would take me for rides on his motorcycle. Sometimes we would stop at the corner store and he would let me pick out a little treat. We would go for walks and have talks and he always made me feel like I was someone special. And I always got a birthday card from him on my birthday. When I got older, things kind of changed. My Uncle Mark is mentally ill. It's a terrible disease, kinda like a modern day leprosy. Nobody really wants to be around you. Lets face it, it's a misunderstood disease that nobody wants to talk about. Mark turned to illegal drugs, which didn't help the situation. For the most part he led a terribly sad, lonely life. Hence his toleration of cats, I would guess. My sweet Dad checks in on his brother regularly, though there has been little he can do for him. We all know he has tried. For awhile now, things have gone from bad to worse. It turns out that Mark is terminally ill. He has two tumors growing in his brain. The doctors have given him about 4 months to live. The tumors are affecting his ability to walk, and talk, and dress himself. Mark couldn't even take care of himself, let alone 5 cats. I don't think it was a case of "neglect" at all. Mark loved those cats. He really did. It was a case of the hard knocks of life, if you ask me. I should say that there were some good things I found when cleaning that apartment. Things that brought back the tender feelings I had for my Uncle when I was little. He had a picture of our Savior on his wall, with the poem Footprints In The Sand. And we came across his Eagle Scout award. Mark was a good guy, who was handed some difficult and unique trials. So I guess what I'm trying to say to you, "Anonymous". Is that you probably shouldn't post comments, and make statements on someone's blog whom you really don't know. Because if you knew me at all, or the situation I was blogging about, you wouldn't have felt the need to defend a Cat. And one other suggestion. You should alway sign in and fess up to who you are. If you really believe in something, own up to it. Not only that, it takes the sting out of comments that otherwise come across as harsh. If I had a name to go with the comment, I don't think I would feel quite so defensive. And for everyone else out there. For the record, I DO like animals. So I'm posting pictures of two of my favorites. Awwww, aren't they adorable. Of course they are! Afterall, they aren't cats!!

Ailurophobia - Fear of Cats

This picture gives me the chills. Just as if someone was running their fingers down a chalk board. Now I have to admit, I have never been a cat lover. Or even a cat liker for that matter. For one thing I'm very allergic to them and I don't enjoy the sniffling and sneezing. The itchy, scratchy eyes and throat I suffer from whenever I am near one. I also think they are extremely self serving and pompous. Which are not character traits I admire in the least. But in the past I have managed to tolerate them. Well, this last weekend I had a very unpleasant experience that I guess you could say has kicked my dislike for cats up a notch. Maybe that's an understatement. I can't even watch cat food commercials anymore with out totally creeping out and wanting to take a shower. I think it's safe to say the I suffer from Ailurophobia. A fear of cats. If you were to ask me which was worse, spiders or cats? I would have to ask you... There's a difference? For me, it's seriously a toss up. So, what was this horrific experience you ask? Well, here are the heinous details. But remember. You asked. It all started with car trouble. Our Suburban has been acting up. It just got new tires and this week spent two days in the shop. Not cheap. But we have been blessed. We were given an opportunity/job that would cover the cost of all these repairs. The job, was to clean out an apartment. Now who's apartment it was is a story for another time, perhaps. I'm still trying to come to terms and make sense of some very sad things. Anyway, there were five cats living in this apartment. And they had been there for awhile. Now my dear sweet husband was with me. I don't think I could have survived this whole ordeal without him. We started cleaning. And I honestly have never seen or smelled anything like it in my life. Okay, that's not true. I saw and smelled stuff like it on my mission. But I never had to try and clean it up. It was almost beyond description. The smell of cat urine and feces was so strong that there were several times I started gagging, and I would have to run outside to catch my breath to keep from throwing up. We had to get rid of all the furniture. We decided to start with the couch. When we moved it, I kid you not, there was about a 6 inch pile of petrified poop that ran the length of the couch. Oh, GAG!! Cat poop is so foul. It's not even normal poop. It's all sandy and grainy looking. You know cats carry disease. You aren't even supposed to touch cat poop if you're pregnant because it can mess up your unborn baby. HELLO!!! Doesn't that tell people something. Dog poop is safe. Rabbit poop. Hamster poop. Give me a big ole' pile of horse poop any day. Over a nasty, disease infested, sandy turd from a cat. Heave!! Anyway, back to my story of heinousness. Bless Mark's heart. He told me he would take care of the petrified poop and I could get started in the bedroom. And if I may point out, Mark had to chisel that poop off of the floor and wall. When he was done, it like stirred the smell up or something because it was even worse, if that were at all possible. It was like he had breathed new life into this entity. Meanwhile I'm in the bedroom, with rubber gloves on mind you, throwing bedding and clothes that are covered in cat hair and fresh urine into big black garbage bags. I had a terrible allergy attack that even after multiple doses of benedryl lasted for two days. I have seriously never seen so much cat hair. It was everywhere. On the stove in the kitchen. In the fridge. The cupboards. You name it. I wanted to cough up a hair ball. Which, by the way, have to ask, what other animal does that? Besides a nasty cat? So we are busy cleaning. And we had been told that the cats were most likely not there anymore because nobody had seen them for days. Oh, but they WERE there. Hiding. Lurking. I remember thinking to myself, "How can these clothes feel wet, could a cat maybe still be in this closet?" Gulp. Little did I know, I was about to find out. So there I was, busy working on the bedroom closet. Chucking clothes into garbage bags as fast as humanly possible. When, out of nowhere, (cue the scary movie music) pounces a gray, hissing cat. I screamed bloody murder. I'm sure I've never screamed so hard in my life. I don't think I've ever been so terrified in my life. Now I admit I've had cause to scream at the occasional spider. But spiders don't lurk. Spiders don't hide. Okay, maybe they do. The point is the stupid cat scared me to death. Mark ran to my rescue and got rid of cat number 4. Yeah, cat number 4. Did I happen to mention that 3 other cats had pounced out at us at this point? Each one of them scared me and got a scream, but not like terrifying, evil number 4. It gets better. Or should I say worse. Now remember that there were 5 cats. Cat number 5 was still lurking. Still hiding. He hid while we made two trips to the dump. Hid while I cleaned the bathroom. Hid while I swept the floor. Hid and plotted. Finally I started cleaning out the pantry. There was a box of boots. I start to pull out the box. All I can are see are boots. I think it's perfectly safe. Then when it's right near my face this. . . oh, my shattered nerves. (My heart is racing even remembering it.) This.. BIG BLACK CAT from the depths of @#&! Jumps out of a boot, right at me! In the darkest corners of my mind, I'm still screaming. I'm sure people in the next time zone heard me screaming. And now. I can't even watch a cat food commercial. Don't even THINK about litter box commercials. Go there, and I'll need a padded cell. I see a cat, and my skin starts to crawl. I can actually smell that apartment again. Shivers run down my spine. I'm afraid I will never be the same again. Frankly, cats freak me out!! So, I have to ask you. After reading my story. Honestly. How can you say that cats are anything but horrific? Disgusting, at best?

A Happy Sixteen Years

Today Mark and I celebrate our 16th Wedding Anniversary! When it comes to my marriage I have always felt very blessed. Looking back on the last 16 years there are lots of happy memories and some sad ones. I'm so thankful that I had Mark with me to share these experiences. There are so many things that I love about Mark. Here are a few, in no particular order. Mark is very creative and artistic. He is very calm, and even tempered. I can't say the same about myself. But he has a calming effect on me that I find very comforting. He very, very seldom raises his voice. He is a really cute Dad. He knows just how to be a terrific father. Having Mark around helps me to have courage. One example, when Matthew was born we found out he was going to arrive by emergency c-section. Now I know women have babies this way every day. But those women are not me. They must be stronger and braver. Made of different stuff. I was NOT happy about this tid-bit of information. I was seriously scared to death. They wheeled me back to the operating room without Mark. I wanted to die. At the very least be put to sleep. While they were prepping me for surgery I seriously kept saying "Please, just put me to sleep. I DO NOT want to be awake for this. I'll just see my baby when I wake up." And the nurses and doctor would say, "Oh no, you don't want to miss this. You'll be fine." Well, then they finally let Mark into the room. I have never been so glad to see anybody in my whole entire life. He was the most comforting sight I've ever seen. And he looked so handsome in those scrubs! I was perfectly fine after that. He held my hand and I wasn't scared anymore. And I am glad I was awake to see Matthew come into the world. Another thing I love about Mark is his sense of humor. This guy of mine is pretty funny and he makes me laugh. Sometimes even when I don't feel like it. He finds the humor in everything. Mark has a green thumb, which is good, because I don't. He can fix or build just about anything. I mean it's really quite amazing. He is very kind. He is always willing to help someone who might need it. Mark is very patient. One of the sad things that we went through these last 16 years was when we lost three of our babies. This was an especially difficult time for me. I cried a lot. And Mark was so tender with me and very patient in allowing me the time and means I needed to work through my grief. I got to a good place about the loss of those babies and I could not have done it without his tenderness and compassion. He has an enthusiasm for life that is really quite contagious. Oh how I love this guy of mine!!! One last thought. I know that Mark has seen me at my very best, BUT he has also seen me at my very worst. And still, even with all the not so good stuff, he continues to love me. He takes the good and the bad. The chaff and the grain, so to speak. Keeps what's worth keeping, and then with a breath of kindness, he blows the rest away. I find that humbling and comforting. I am so thankful, and joyful, for the knowledge that we are going to be together forever. I truly love you Mark. More and more everyday. Happy Anniversary!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

Okay. I'll start with the Good. My parents recently bought a second home up in Midway for things like: Family Fun and Vacations. They have been very generous, and are happy to share it with their 4 daughters. I'm one of those lucky daughters. So last weekend we took advantage of their generosity and spent the weekend up in Midway. It was WONDERFUL. We really enjoyed ourselves up there. It was a great, peaceful, much needed getaway. The kids had so much fun up there, riding bikes and hiking. Now for the Bad. Saturday morning we decided to head up to Cascade Springs for a rendevouz with nature. As we are bouncing over the treacherous, undeveloped back road to get there, I didn't give a second thought to our tires. Which I admit, happened to be in desperate need of attention. Upon our arrival at the Springs however, we discovered... you guessed it... a flat! I kind of thought to myself, " Whatever... Mark will simply change it and we'll be on our way." Now you would think that after being married to Mark this long, I'd have learned by now that when it comes to his life, nothing is ever simple. It should not be called Murphy's Law. It should be called Mark's Law. I'm really not kidding. So Mark gets the tire off and goes to retrieve the spare. And this is where the. . . "if anything can go wrong, it will. At the worst possible moment." kicks in. I don't really know all the technical jargon but basically this gadget thingy was stripped and it would not lower the spare tire. So Mark climbs underneath our Suburban and is wresting with the spare to try and get it to drop down. No luck. We decide to use our cell phone and call for help. No service. We are too far off the beaten path. I start praying really hard. I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father saw fit to answer our prayers. A kind and helpful family from West Jordan show up. They had a Leatherman, Water, and Band-Aids. They kindly shared all three, and believe me all three were needed. One of them even climbed underneath the Suburban with Mark and helped him break the cables that were holding our spare tire hostage. Mark finally got the spare on, and off we went to enjoy some nature. Well on the way home over that bumpy, heinous back road. We pop another tire. I'm really not kidding. Mark drops us off at home and heads to Heber before all the air leaks out of our second flat of the day. And here, my friend, is the Ugly. We had to buy four new tires. Can you say, "KaCHinG!"? It only set us back about 650 big ones. And it is definitely the "Ugly" part of this story.

Scoliosis Is Tough

I haven't posted for awhile. I've been kind of down in the dumps. Most of you know that Kaylie's surgery was postponed. (due to a case of the sniffles and a possible blood clotting disorder) It has been a real blow because we were so ready to have it behind us. Do you have any idea how much mental energy it takes to prepare yourself for something like that? A LOT!!! It looks like we get to agonize over this for a couple more months. But here is something that makes us smile. Hopefully it will bring a smile to your face too. Kaylie reminds me of the little sheep. She just keeps "re-boundin". I know that the Lord will only give us that which we can truly handle. I believe that Kaylie has proven herself strong in ways most children her age could never be. (and the Lord knows that) I am so thankful for such a courageous, beautiful, sweet daughter. When it boils right down to it. I am truly blessed.