2011 My road to George

17 years ago I fell so in love with Scott, I just knew I would never love another man ever again. A baby changes everything. I have been guarding my heart for 9 months knowing this little one would have me at first breath, but the road was rocky and there were hazards and we didn't know if he or mom Salina would make it. Little George is a blessing and our little miracle. His mom and dad have been trying for years. No route was working even stepping into the adoption path. SO they saved their pennies. Anthony knew from his birth that it would be a challenge for him to be a biological father.
How grateful we are for the light and knowledge from God that inspires science and that hand picked invetrto worked. Salina was under an extreme regimen of pills and shots daily while they worked to harvest her eggs. She is the toughest mentally non complaining woman I have ever meet and it was heartbreaking to see the suffering physically she endured. All the hormones created what is called hyper stimulation which them caused her liver mega problems she was at the hospital almost daily with IVs and not fun testing.
They got a record 16 eggs. Five once fertilized (with Anthonys microscoped- hand picked for the strongest healthy swimmers) took and were healthy embryos. Two implanted. Then one was lost and she started to bleed. We all grieved at the loss of a twin. But Joy seemed tempered as we held our breath and prayed for Salinas health. She had to quit her job and be on bed rest for months. Saline dealt with constant bleeding and wondering if the blood clot created in her womb would keep little George from properly attaching to the wall. The doctors were grim. Each ultra sound and there were lots of them I was just numb. I was so scared something would happen to Salina and I know my brother would be just broken without his Salina and we adore Salina and seeing her so ill so not herself was hard.

But as weeks passed into months her health very slowly improved and then one day little embryo showed us he was George and was finally bigger than the blood clot so the chance of losing him or hurting mom and diminished not completely but enough for us to take a breath and thank the Lord for family and miracles. Still I am always constantly on a vigil of what is the next death or disaster thinking that if I am waiting it will hurt less or I'll somehow be able to stop it. I know it is crazy and exhausting being hyper vigilant. But I thought if we lose little George or worse lose Salina I can't handle it so I will just not feel anything.

After the trial of not having a child of my own I think it was especially hard to watch them struggle with infertility and knowing what it meant if it didn't work. Friends would ask... aren't you so excited? I would smile but inside I wanted to scream no. I am terrified. I don't want to bury another family member. Yes I am drama. I feel things really deep I wonder if it is some sort of compensation for not being able to smell. I didn't buy anything for the baby. I remember the devastation of returning baby items that would not be need years ago and I could not do it again. I watched our family struggle with juggling extreme Joy and fear. Anth would see a cute little bib and bring it home to surprise Salina and she would say we don't even know if we will need it. The hormones truly make you not yourself and I can only imagine seeing blood daily wondering if today was the day you lost the second one. The times in my life where I have been in constant prayer I feel so close to God who is always there but I am fickle and distracted by sparkly and I forget how much he wants my happiness and growth. He always saves the better part for me even when I can't see it at the time. How grateful I am for all the answers I received that I thought were wrong but were exactly what I needed.
Yesterday Aug 5, 2011 at 2 am Salina got up to go to the bathroom and frequent visit for expecting mommies. Her water broke or maybe she wet her pants never having had a baby before she was not sure. A call to the hospital followed by a check at the hospital meant baby was coming. She was 4 days or so form being full term and he was due at the end of August but I kept telling them he would come early. They really wanted him born in August not Sept and he delivered. by about 10 am there was not progress on the dilating so patosen was given and in one hour she went to a 10. A nurse happened by the room for a check and just took a look. You are having this baby now. Anthony went into shock. After and hour and a half of pushing we had our boy! I'm head over heels in love! It is so great to see Anthony as a dad. He feels all this weight and bliss and is loving it. Salina is so calm and happy and beautiful. I love watch her hold him. He looks just like her to me. George makes these adorable noises. Scott says he looks just like a little old man a general authority. Scott calls him buddy. Hello little buddy, Scott says as he snaps photos. Scott won't hold him, he is not a baby person. I am dying to hold him but I am sick and can't yet hold him so I made him the photo on the cell phone wall paper and I cradle that. From the first glance this boy has me for life. 

Love Blessing Blessings

When a baby is born in I believe it is a blessing. No matter what or how I just adore babies and think they are a blessing. It takes a child for me to remember what is most important in life. A child teaches me to forgive fast to love wholly. To see things with optimism and hope. A child trusts. In my religion any baby born is completely without sin. Pure and clean and straight from Heavenly Parents. Heavenly Parents who created a marvelous perfect spirit which is then gifted a body of flesh on lone to us during our time on earth to teach us way more than we will ever teach them. The new baby is brought to our worship service and given a name and a blessing. We believe the blessing is inspired and can be a guide and comfort to the child while they are on the earth. I know that babies are without sin and do not require an infant baptism. To me this was one of the huge burning questions I had while seeking answers in the spook ally of life. I have many friends who believe differently and think babies are born in sin and require immediate saving ordinances to be clean and I say Thank the Lord for religious freedom. Each and every blessing of a little new blessing aka baby I attend is a sacred gift. The latest was little Lucy Hurst looking beautiful in a white sparkly dress hand made by her talented grandma. Really is there nothing better in life than holding a brand new baby and knowing it was so recently in the presence of Divinity-- for me it is the best.

Oh Cupcake

This was taken by me in Germany in Epcot and it tasted better than it looks. Life is sweet. Cupcakes are one of my favorite things in the world. Disneyworld has the most amazing different kinds of cupcakes. I learned that there are shops which sell only cupcakes a few years back while traveling in California. YUM! I giuess to me they are the best only if the frosting transports my whole self to a happy place. Sure I like the cake part to be moist and have flavor but generally the cake is just a method of transport of the yum frosting to my waiting lips.

Catch a wave!

I think of of the things I loved the most was being in the water and then having a warm rain start to fall. It felt wonderful as it massaged my back while I snorkeled and then I would lift my head out of the water to see a magnificent rainbow. Even a few times during dinner it would rain as we ate outside and I would just turn around in circles and giggle in the rain. I love it. Scott always headed for cover. Storm blew past usually very fast. Right outside our door was this perfect beach. Perfect meaning it had something for everyone in our group. To one side Kelly and Scott could catch waves (I retired after one big wave smashed me into the sand. I am more of a in the water rather than on the water type of girl. Plus I am kind of sissy and do not like pain or risk). Teri is terrified of fish and water but for the first time she enjoyed just floating in the gentle waves. When we snorkeled together she would grab a hold of my arm and squeeze so tight I lost the feeling. But i was proud of her efforts and I think she kind of liked it. Lynda and Neal loved to sit and read or watch the ocean surrounded by lush tropics. I loved the assortment of fish and the number of them. We swam with sea turtles and seals. The turtles are little little dudes just like in Nemo. They totally love to catch a wave and poke their heads out to watch us frolic. How nice is it to walk back to the shower and not have ride in a car first? The only other time I loved snorkling so much was at black rock in Maui when we stayed at the Sheraton and could aso walk right to the beach. I was very glad to have my Arbonne sun screen which when I have used it and reapplied it I have never once been burned. I use the Arbonne baby spf30. I try to put it on 30 minutes before exposure to the sun and reapply every hour or sooner. Works like a charm. I have 2 clot options white or red. I never mastered the beautiful tan look so I keep to my shade loving sunscreen wearing plan. Scotty however got some sun and look adorable with that blond hair big brown eyes and a healthy looking glow. Thanks to Sherilyn who warned me about the sea urchins which I saw lots of I never went with out my water shoes or fins. I did get stung one day. By a bee! I was in the middle of the ocean and a bee dive bombed my bum and wow did it hurt. I screamed and cried. Scott went under to see what it was and the bee was still stuck to me and drowning. I am allergic to bees so we then waited to see if I would react. It had been years since my last sting. nothing happened the first day except a huge 6 inch welt and pain. The next day it was sore and itchy so i rubbed it in the shower really good. Bad idea I puffed up. Teri kind of freak and called Scott who was fishing and said I was blowing up before her very eyes. I started to cough a little but did not have to see a doctor:) Anti swelling drugs and not rubbing helped a bunch. I LOVE the water. One day we also went to this place called Lydgate Park where they also had excellent snorkeling. I saw 20 plus under water crabs there. They looked like big spiders so I swam away not wanting to get pinched. The fish were huge and Scott pointed out some eels.

KI Memories Paper:)

I have paper that I just love and one of the lines I adore is KI Memories. Here is a link to an album I made using it! Family Reunion Album Here are a few pages from it:) "Last summer I forced my hubby's family to have a big reunion. It is the second time I have done this and I LOVE IT! I wanted to make an album to remember each person. I used some fun KI Memories paper and went to town. I love the bright colors. The main photo is stitched to the page and a 4 x 6 card with personal info slides in behind it. That way I remember birthdays, favorite foods, children and anything else I want to keep for each family member. It is a mini album 9 by 9 in size."- OPC

Kauai Marriott

Lynda and Neal are the best in laws in the whole world. They are so kind to us and we cry each time we have to say goodbye. I wish we lived closer to his parents. Any chance we get to spend time together is a real treat. Neal does not like to travel. He says he can sit by the pool or avoid the sun at home. I say but you can't be with us! He did not comment:) I know he loves us, especially Scott. Neal and Lynda are good moral people. They are honest, hard working, charitable, smart and classy. Here are some photos of where we stayed on Kauai. If you ever have the change to stay there on Poi Pou Marriott vacation club-- do it. We could have spent the whole week and never left and been in heaven. The ocean was like an aquarium right in front of our resort. We snorkeled almost every single day. I was thinking that it is one of my very most enjoyable things in the whole world to snorkel. Lynda and I swam in the salt water pools that were heavenly. I always pretend that I am in the Olympics in the pool. I started this as a young child with my little brother at a condo we had growing up. I do gymnastics, ice skating and synchronized swimming. Anth would be the judge and we had such fun. I missed him. I had a very nice bar routine this trip he would have been impressed with the tricks I picked up from Nastia and Shawn. To swim at night and see the bright stars and tiny half moon was breath taking. It is not as fun to do my routines with out judges but I sure did enjoy the water. My dad always called me a mermaid and had a hard time getting me out of the water. Now it is Scott who has to drag me out. Lynda and Neal watched the Republican convention with us. I really enjoyed Sarah and wish she was running for President. It distracted everyone which helped me get in extra pool time to work on my floor routine and triple lutz.

Free dinner and laughs

I had so much fun tonight doing a play rehearsal with a bunch of people I love to be with. It was our first real rehearsal (we had some major glitches beyond anyones control) so we are way behind schedule but having a grand time. I laugh and think it is funny. I really do think it will be a great fun family show. I think everyone gets a free dinner too. I found out tonight in addition to my friends in it already that Sue will be playing my mom!!! Yipee!!! and my friend David is a genius at the piano and he will be our accompanist. Ben and Sarah were perfect and have major chemistry on stage even if their parts are not supposed to be in love. I was laughing hard from my tummy it felt so good after having a stiff neck for so long to feel pain free:) If you need a great Dr for neck pain let me know. The man playing the Phantom is so funny and he is in my ward too. I love his wife who I get lines with. I'm so happy to be doing a play:) I really really missed the stage it feels great to be on it once again. It was a little bit of a juggle as I tried to go back and forth between a Stake YW/YM pres. meeting. I got a work out dancing and running back and forth. Here are the dates for the play if you want to come... April 24, 25, or 26. that is a Thur. Fri. Sat. I think our Bishop will be proud of Riverbend in the Stake Play, since I am married to him I'll put in a good word for us:) We only have 4 or 5 rehearsals left so "break a leg".

Old favorites

My younger brother just had a birthday. He is the most considerate person I know. Anthony tried to make everyone feel special and always rememberd birthdays. He has moved away and I was thrilled that so many people remembered his birthday this year. He has a really tough job and is far from all his family, except his cute wife. She loves her new job. Aunt Sue was beyond excited to see them both and kept hugging and kissing them and got angry when anyone called to take away attention. It made Anth and Salina feel great. We had a few favorites while he was here. 1. Hires is a hamburger joint that has been around since 1959, way before my time. They used to have the roller skating type car hops who now just wear comfortable shoes. Long ago I worked for a bank called Capitol City (a story for another day) where Don Hale the founder of Hires used to bank along with his daughter Nancy. They were a really nice family I loved his wife who was very kind. I think the daughter hubby was a police officer who also was a neat person. All of this made it even cooler that my family had been loyal fans of hires from the get go. They now have many locations. I have had several great moments at Hires. We always go there as a family after a death and even after my next old favorite Anthony's wedding sealing. They make the best rootbeer around. In fact it is the only rootbeer I drink. I do not like cola or carbonation, but when at Hires I order a rootbeer with extra vanilla. I love the root beer freeze too where the blend up vanilla ice cream with rootbeer. They make their own buns, fry sauce, veggie burger (MY FAVORITE veggie burger) dressing, root beer, fresh cut fries the list goes on and on. I lately have ordered the roasted turkey grilled with cranberry- yum! While Anthony was in town for a quick minute we treated him for his birthday to an old favorite- what a fun way to enjoy 2 old favorites. 2. Glause Bakery- a family spot since long before my time. They make a cake that we all enjoy and we were able to get one for him. 3. Crown Burger- not so much a fav of mine but my men love it. 4. Aunt Sue just like the good old days- she is so funny right now. 5. Visited Aunt Shugs grave. Boy do we miss her.

Angie= Aurora

Cute Angie and her friend John Paul came to visit. I had not seen her photos from her recent working stay at Disneyworld. Guess which princess she was??? Sleeping Beauty. My all time favorite since childhood. It was really great to hear all about what it is like back there to be a Princess. She also played Ariel and a few furry types like Pluto. She got to be in the brand new stage show with Prince Phillip. ANgie got to be in the MK all night long which the park was closed. Her dress was amazing. She looked so elegant and princessish. All her family made it back to visit except one. She even had friends come back to visit. I wish I had known when she was back there because I would have gone for sure. She let me keep some darling photos of her I will scan in. We all discussed the princesses and agreed that Sleeping Beauty really is beautiful and feminine. How fun that out of all the ones she could have been she was my favorite Aurora most of the time.

Blog-iversary?

Hey- I just saw it has been over a year since I started Miss Glimpse:) Thanks to smarty Melissa (for helping me set it up) I have kept a great journal for over a year. Hip Hip Hooray!!! I also should thank cute AMy in CA who was one fo the first family blogs I ever saw and fell in love with. Miss Glimpse has been a great way to keep up to date with friends and family and to keep me on my journaling/ expression toes. It is very therapeutic for me to write- it helps me sort out my mind. Here is me taking my own photo to remember this day:) You have to love self photos. The angles are always weird and it is hard to get the smile thing down! Here is Scott humoring me with a photo while he is one the phone that I think may have become a permanent part of his body. What did we do before cell phones? This no smile face is me thinking of life before blogs and cell phones. I'm sure glad we went digital with the photos... then it is no waste to have a no smile strange photo!

That makes me think about all the new gadgets we have we didn't have in the past and what new ones we will have that are not even invented yet. I remember our first personal computer a commodore 64 and I can remember when cell phone weighed 5 pounds and were huge. I have decided just now that my miss glimpse is one of my new favorite things:) I talked to Anth tonight who had this strange thing called beggars night in IA- everyone came trick or treating the day before Halloween. I'm not sure what that had to do with this journal entry but that is me random.

Hart to Hart

After a few days in bed I go a little nuts. Scott got me something to watch from the library I have been really wanting to see for years. Hart to Hart. Not to be confused with the remake from the 90's. This is the good old 1979- 1983 run. I LOVE IT!!! Remember-- I was a TV junkie growing up. Our TV was on 24/7. I can sing the beginning credits to most 80's TV shows. This drives my husband a little bonkers. He was outside working with his dad chopping wood up hill both ways in a storm his whole childhood; while I sat with my dad and brother in front of a TV. My mom thought TV was a waste and only watched Hill Street Blues, MASH and LA Law. The rest of us loved these great old shows. Jonathon Hart reminds me of Scott. You will have to watch an episode and tell me if you can see it too. They don't look alike but their manners are similar. How can you not adore Max and Freeway? Plus the billionaire lifestyle is great with the cars and trips. I think it is fantastic how in love these two are on the show and they are happily married. It is still romance and fun yet married. What a great concept for TV and real life:) It reminds me of some of my other favorites like Remington Steele, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Murder She Wrote. Scott and I also watched this old episode of the Beverly Hillbillies at Christmas- we were rolling on the bed laughing so hard. It reminds us of Scott's dads long lost family in the hills of West Virginia. We have never meet some of his relations and so we imagine that they live in the hills frozen in time when in truth they probably all are smart and have degrees from Harvard or they invented the Internet or something. I just wish I could hug and kiss Scott- I don't want to get him sick but I love him so much and watching these old episodes makes me think he is my Jonathon. My mom in law broke my heart by pointing out that Robert Wagner is 78! I saw a photo and he is old. Guess what that means I am older and will be older still. But I am still darling and will just get darlinger-- hee hee.

Love My Stingy Salsa Man

My man is a jack of all trades and he is pretty good at many of them. It is good I adore him or I could get a little jealous of his practically perfect in every way-ness. For Labor Day he slaved over fresh salsa making it all day. If I tried to help out I was chased out of the area. He first woke up before the sun and drove to different farms looking for tomatoes he could buy fresh picked. Then I didn't do my part by helping get him prepared so we have a difficult time finding lids, peppers, unprocessed organic honey... Finally he got started and the fumes were unbearable- my eyes tears and burned for hours. I peeked down at him in the kitchen and he had on our snorkel gear-- to off set the onion/ garlic/ pepper gases. Aunt Sue thought is smelled Delicious; I could not smell it I could only feel it. It was heavy in the air. 2 batches later he made it to bed at 3AM that is almost a 24 hour labor intensive project. He is the master of salsa. I LOVE IT!!! YUM YUM YUM!!! We have eaten 2 bottle already. It is thick, fresh Delicious heavenly yummo yum. We also have been eating other fresh veggies and I could burst of happiness. I wish there were words to describe my pure joy at eating fresh veggies. There is nothing that beats the flavor of a fresh picked vegetable. Scott's shoulders are very sore and his back is bothering him. He is kind of stingy with the salsa because of the labor to make it. I'm glad he is selfish because I don't want to share it either it is amazing. At first we thought of Christmas gifts this year of all canned by us gifts... apricot jam, salsa, peaches-- but then we decided- Forget That:) Hoard it for ourselves. (That makes me giggle.) Our dear friend Tina is the one who shared her recipe for salsa many years ago and we have been craving it for years. Scott used to go over to Tina house once a year and she would help him make it. Then he felt to no more impose and bought all his own equipment. We (make that HE) did almost 60 jars this year in the 2 batches. Last year was hilarious as my brother wanted in on the yum. He went along to Tina's but would not believe Scott to bring gloves and protective goggles. His hands were red for weeks and he was heavily perfumed with garlic/ onion/ peppers. He did gain a huge appreciation of the art of salsa and decided to not try making it again. He used to tease Scott about the stinginess of the salsa, no more my friend. He still loves to eat it just not make it.

Hooray for Christmas

It is early for most people to begin thinking about Christmas. My husband and I travel often so if we don't get the decorations up and music on by the 1st of September we don't get to enjoy them at our home. We still celebrate but at other locations and there is something to be said for your own taste and traditions. Last year we didn't even put any up except 2. One s up all year. It is my "Is it Christmas Yet?" sign and then a small iron candle holder of the Holy Family. SO I am planning on getting my head into the Christmas spirit in just a few days... Yippee! Scott prefers waiting until Oct. But I think he is on my side this year as last year we went without. This year because of his church callings we will not be on the road as much but I still like the holidays to last for as long as possible. The only dilemma is how it over laps into Halloween but if you have ever seen the Nightmare before Christmas there is no problem with having my few Halloween decorations up with the Christmas ones in the background. I'm hoping Scott will string our bright orbs this year again, it has been a few years since we put those up. I also am going to organize and clean house with the decorations. Some I will never part with because they were my grandparents- broken or not I love them. Others are just worn out or have no more use so I will donate them. It will be wonderful to get out all my favorites like the Nativity:) I also want to get good photos of favorites so I can do a mini album about them and the stories that go along with them.

My favorite Lake

I wish I was still there, the burn did not scare me off. It is devine! Most of the photos I took were not the greatest but I did find a few on the goverments website, the names are listed. WOW, I wish everyone could see this lake atleast once. I have been on many Lakes and there is just something about Lake Powell that sets it apart. I just toured my camp site for Girls Camp-- Oh Boy am I in for it:(

Reunion 2007 photos taken by Marlene

The first photo is from our wedding of Grandma and Grandpa. They both looked awesome that day.

I love this wonderful group photo. It is hard to get a good one of everyone. Marlene is awesome:) I'm sad it is over. I loved being in Park City with all of them. This is all of Scott's mom side's family. We had a few people not there (Richard & McKenzie), and a few more who made brief a appearance (Brian, Andrew, Mary, hubby and new baby). Scott's family- ROCK!!! I am making an album with a 2 page layout for each family member and little fun tidbits about the lives of each member of the family. It is really turning out cute. I am using my old KI Memories paper, with a 5 x 7 black and white photo. It is hard for me to not use color as I LOVE color. But the paper and accents are very colorful so I think the BW adds some depth and focus. I'll post them up when I'm done:)

a few more...

Here are a few more...