Sunday Thoughts

"The more we obey God, the more we desire to help others.
The more we help others, the more we love God and on and on.
Conversely, the more we disobey God
and the more selfish we are, the less love we feel."
--John H. Groberg

I need to go to church today because I'm not feeling as good as I'd like to be feeling inside. Hopefully it's just PMS and not something more extreme.

Edited to add: We went to church, all was well. I feel much better and as always am glad I went.

**Thoughts?**

Andrew's 20th!

My little brother Andrew turns 20 years old today! This is kind of unbelievable to me because I was 16 when he was born! Andrew was something of a surprise for my parents who were both 39 when he was born. This was back in 1987, when Ultrasounds were NOT routine for pregnancies, so they had no idea he was going to have Down's Syndrome.


I remember dropping my mom off at the hospital very early in the morning so she could deliver(my dad was out of town) then I went to school. What in the world? Now it seems ridiculous to me that I didn't stay with her, but I was self-absorbed and clueless back then so it never occurred to me to stay with her for the delivery (I don't even know if they would have let me). My poor mom, delivered him alone at the hospital and was rewarded with a disturbing hush from the doctor and the nurses! Later the doctor actually talked to her about different places she could send Andrew! (It was 1987, not 1957!!)

I just remember getting a phone call from my dad telling me Andrew had Down's Syndrome. I was very upset about this, not because he was in our family, but because I didn't like the way the Downs' kids at our school were treated and I feared that for Andrew's future.

This is a picture of my mom and Andrew in 1988 (I don't have any photos of him as a newborn). It kind of freaks me out now to think that my mom was only about 4 years older then than I am now. She looks so young and had 4 teenagers and a newborn, whoa.


We all loved having Andrew in our family. He was such a cute baby, super easygoing and he stayed little for a long time, so we got to experience the cuteness of his baby-time for longer than we would have if he hadn't been Downs.

Could he be cuter? Seruiously? This was his first birthday (obviously).

This is me and Andrew at my high school graduation in 1989. (How much do I miss mouth zits?)

I used to take Andrew with me to my friend Betsy's house sometimes, just because he was fun to have around. This is us sharing some ice cream (me with an unfortunate headband because I was growing out my 80's bangs).

Christmas 1990, I brought home some BYU shorts for Andrew, he was tiny they fit him like pants.

Andrew visiting Adam and I at BYU in 1990 sometime.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Andrew, fall 1990.

Me and Andrew while I was home visiting in the summer of 1991.

Robyn, Lori, Andrew and I in a seriously vintage photo from Christmas 1991.

Andrew and Adam in 1997.

Andrew was the cutest little kid. He seemed to be just Downs for a long time, but has gradually shown Autistic tendencies, gotten more withdrawn, has to hum or rock back and forth to soothe himself and has become more challenging as he's gotten bigger and stronger. This has been a sad turn of events for us, because he's not happy like he used to be.

Landon and Andrew in the tub in our apartment 1998.

Andrew sitting in Whitney's crib, showing a rare smile. Approx. 2001

Andrew and my dad on a waterslide, July 4, 2006.

Andrew loves Lori and sat on her lap earlier this month when we celebrated her birthday. He loves to open presents, so he was helping her.

He carries multiple Woody and Jessie dolls with him everywhere he goes. They have an excellent shake-factor which jives nicely with his Autism.

My dad is Andrew's favorite person. Andrew usually steers clear of crowds and loud noises, so when the whole family gathers he usually takes refuge in his room. He will occasionally surface for a drink or a drive-by hug from my dad. (Notice he's holding Jessie.)

I took this picture of Andrew on Labor Day. He left his room and chose to sit in the den for awhile. It's rare to get him to look up for pictures.


So Happy Birthday to Andrew, who might see these pictures if my mom or Lori show them to him, but who can't read this and doesn't need to anyway.

Paris Picture Video

Hooray, the Paris pictures are hung. Tell me what you think. Of course they'd look better with a painted wall, but since we're lowly renters we can't paint. Also, I really want a headboard now, so I may have to get creative to come up with an affordable solution for that. But for today, it's about the pictures!

Creative Friday--Insanity Edition

Remember how last Friday I very happily and easily put all my recently printed Paris photos in to the two photo albums Michelle had given me for my birthday? Well, that euphoria came to a screeching halt today and was accompanied by a couple kidney punches and a mental paper cut with a generous dash of salt!

When I left Michelle's last Friday I had about 50 more photos to place, but needed another album. I have since been to TJ Maxx (where she originally purchased the albums), 2 different Ross Stores (remember the heinous Latin Jazz version of Hey Jude?), the craft store and online only to come up empty handed. Fortunately Michelle had bought herself an identical album and informed me yesterday that I could have it!

Over the past week I ended up going through the photo cds from the other girls on the trip and ended up printing another 109 photos because they actually took some pictures of me (unflattering though they may be, they document my presence in Paris so I embrace them) and also had all the group photos on their cameras. No big whoop right? Oh so wrong, there is much whoop.


This meant the new photos displaced many of the photos I had already put in the albums, so I thought I would just take some out and then put the news one in as necessary. It was going well until about 2 hours into the project when my blood pressure started to rise as I got more and more frustrated and confused by the picture displacement and incorporation of new photos. Also, Michelle and I felt absolutely senile because we were having a very hard time remembering which day we did things. We did pretty well with most of it, except for the last couple days and nights. It was driving me batty!


Then I remembered that I have a bunch of photos (67 it turns out) from the trip to the Musee D'Orsay on our last evening there. They aren't on any of the photo cds because I had to use Michelle's camera that night because my battery was recharging and then I downloaded those photos in to Smugmug, and deleted them from her memory card. This means I had to come home today and save each one to my desktop from my Smugmug then download them to Costco to be printed. Fortunately I caught this error before finishing the album loading process, my fear now is that I will run out of room in the 3rd album. Heaven help us all!

I didn't have many photos of our day except for ones with Eva, but she's so cute that I couldn't resist posting them. Certainly they're better than no photos right?

**Are you patient when your projects
don't go as planned?
Is Costco the boss of your wallet too?
Do cleansing breaths ever really work?**

Blogging Breakfast

Laurie Brooks is in town from California so we had a little breakfast get together yesterday so we could see her. (Amusingly it has been exactly 1 year since I met her while in California last year.)

We met at Kneaders where I indulged in a bacon, cheese croissant (oh my) and chocolate milk. A gluttonous but tasty breakfast for sure.


Amie cringes and groans (literally) every time I pull my camera out, and yesterday mentioned something about me controlling which pictures get posted. So I am purposely posting this frightening picture of me because she and Laurie look good. How about that?


Michelle's daughter Eva and Hannah's daughter Mya amused each other and were very cute as they checked out the cookies and treats for sale.

This was the seen at the 4 tables we took up. From L to R: Hannah, Amy H., my empty seat, Laurie and Amie, then on the other side Michelle, Livy & Melinda, Ryan then Jessica.

Amie's daughter Jessica is the ultimate mini-mom/babysitter so she entertained the kids brilliantly at another table. This allowed us to sit and chat for 2 hours! No wonder I left there experiencing "church butt" (aka very sore tail bone) from the hard chairs there.

We didn't get a group photo, but did take this self-portrait right before we left (everyone else was gone by then). It was a fun morning and nice change from the norm.

By the way, Melinda wants to host a monthly breakfast at her house in Payson for those who are interested. The first one will be sometime during the week of October 15th, so if you're interested and can swing it let her know.

**Do you like going out for breakfast?
Do you get church butt?
Do you groan when the camera comes out?**

Painfully Motivated

I don't know what got into me yesterday. It was almost as if the many hours of Freestyle (a rearranging design show) culminated in my mind and took over my will. I happily blogged for an hour in the morning and then stood up and started clearing out the family room. I have never taken everything out of a room before in order to make a rearranging attempt, but since that's what they do on Freestyle I decided I would do it too. Good grief, where does this type of motivation come from?

It started out simply enough. I moved the love seat out of the room, then moved the big couch out of the way. It's so satisfying to vacuum under the couches.

The dining room took the brunt of the mess, and I was okay with that.

I decided I was so sick of our old entertainment center that enough was enough, armoire or not it had to go! That meant I unhooked all the equipment, removed the books from it and shoved it outside!
I was so satisfied with this and had visions of pushing it down the driveway and putting a "Free" sign on it so that some newlywed or someone could take it away from my life forever.

Our room is so limited because of where the fireplace and front door are, but I really wanted to try to come up with a new furniture arrangement. I considered using our black table to hold the tv and wanted to try it in the corner of the room, but it didn't look so good.

The dining room got increasingly crowded!

I convinced myself to try the kids' dresser as the tv stand in the other corner of the room and then back where the entertainment center used to be. That meant dumping out their drawers and bringing it out of the bedroom (because apparently EVERY room needed to be a disaster). I even managed to lift our super heavy tv onto the dresser only to find that I hated it that high and on the light wood. $%#@!

That meant I had to admit defeat and bring our trusty, old entertainment center BACK in the house!! It was much harder getting it up the porch steps than it was getting it down!

This is how I felt after getting it back in the house! Notice my unshowered frightfulness.

I actually started to feel better when I got it back in place because my other attempts had been so disappointing. So after 5.5 hours of furniture moving, dusting, vacuuming and weeding out of books. Things were getting closer to being back to normal.

We had to take a 3 hour break for our first football game (we won) and for a family dinner out to JCWs, then it took me another 2 hours to finish getting everything back in order. I was so done with all of this!


So this is the finished product as of this morning! The kids have enjoyed telling me "it's exactly the same, mom." But I know it's different. The books are all rearranged and decluttered, there are no cobwebs behind those bookshelves, the vhs tapes have been edited out and the entertainment center thoroughly cleaned so even under the tv is dust-free. I guess that will have to be enough to satisfy me for now. The end.

**Do you ever get painfully motivated?
Do you fantasize about rearranging?
Do you vacuum under your couches?**

SPT--Insert Photo Here

Oh dear, I'm posting my Self-Portrait Tuesday on a Just Because Wednesday, what does that say about me? How about that I'm dedicated, but busy? Ha.

I had a hard time thinking of something I've been meaning to do for a long time, but have actually done since there are many projects that need to be done, but aren't. (Does that ever end?) So this may be lame, but I don't think it is because it's something I've been needing to do for a long time and did specifically because of SPT (so thanks Lelly!).


I got my oil changed! It didn't take very long, involved them vacuuming my car (I love that) and a free car wash to boot. I left there a happy girl.

**Did you have a hard time with this SPT?
What projects do you need to do, but haven't done yet?**

Biorhythm Blues

I think the cold nights are doing a number on Randy and I because we both overslept this morning (I had an alarm clock malfunction) and were awakened at 8:40 by Landon! Whitney had just gotten up as well. My theory is that with the cold nights we're all sleeping super snugly and soundly and aren't stirring the way we normally do. (Also my spastic alarm-clock setting skills aren't helping matters.)

It was 64 degrees in the house when we woke up! That's cold even for me, so I finally caved and turned on the heat to at least get it up to 68 degrees. I also took a scorchingly hot shower (I couldn't see well because of the steam) and am now feeling like a functioning human. No doubt, I'll end up turning off the heat and possibly opening the windows later, but for now I had to warm this place up. Oh happy medium...where are you?

Whitney had her 2nd gymnastics class yesterday which was most chaotic (there are several classes going on at the same time) and loud (my favorites, not). I watched and was feeling a little frustrated with her class because I'm not sure what they're learning. But then I had to talk myself down and remind myself that they're learning fundamentals and to not expect results right away. Fortunately they got to spend time on these bars so Whitney loved it and I felt like they were doing something that she couldn't do on our living room floor. I'm a little iffy on these classes, but am willing to give them a try for a little while longer.


Last night Randy had to work on the computer so I set up my little pop-up (the legs are like ironing board legs) table that Michelle gave me for my birthday a couple years ago, so I could write and make some cards while watching some design shows. It's not the most comfortable set-up because I sit on the couch and can't lean back all the way, but it gets the job done. I even had some tasty Ben & Jerry's Heath Bar Crunch to go with it. Though this was very dangerous and far more time consuming than I'd planned.

Today I find myself fighting the urge to slack. I don't know if it's PMS, the chilly weather, or some random biorhythm in my body but I'm feeling somewhat neutral and unmotivated about life. I must fight through this because there's no reason (that I'm aware of anyway) for it and I hate feeling this way. I will have to force myself to leave the house and run some errands, though I really, really, really don't want to go.


This afternoon I have Activity Days at my house and then football practice (that sounds funny doesn't it?). I had no idea flag football was going to be so time consuming, but the season is condensed into 4 weeks because of the weather so we have 2 games a week plus a practice...sheesh! I'm not sure the coach loves having me for his assistant or not, but I'm doing it. Tomorrow night is Landon's first game, so I should have photos by then.


I got this cute thank you card from Kelly yesterday for the birthday gift I sent her. Thanks Kelly!

I just remembered it's Self-Portrait Tuesday and that I still don't have any idea for the assignment. I'll have to work on that today and post again later.

**Do you get inexplicably unmotivated?
Do you get bugged by classes that seem like nonclasses?
What's your favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor?**

Chilly Monday

The weather has turned beautifully fall-like this past weekend, with rain, a cool breeze and the leaves on the mountains changing color. I could not be happier about this. I was inspired by Elizabeth's billowing-curtain photo last week and was pleased that I could capture my kitchen curtains billowing yesterday morning as well. Oh the joy.


Today I feel like hibernating. It is actually chilly this morning (66 degrees in the house) and I don't want to leave. It's all I can do not to go back to the cozy and read all day. I suppose I could, but as always the clock (while the kids are at school) is tick, tick ticking, plus today is early-out again! Blast.

I must catch-up on my good mail. I swear documenting it is therapeutic. I am always surprised by what I have received when I take the time to document it.


Landon left this cute note for Randy and I the other night. He made cross bones out of licorice (it took me awhile to figure this out). I love these spontaneous offerings from the kids, they're so pure.


Michelle sent me this very cute thank you note along with these awesome tag labels. Thanks Michelle!

Claudia sent me this post card about a month after her trip, so funny.

Hannah sent me this cute thank you note with some really sweet words.

Allison sent me this note to thank me for making these for her for her birthday.

Robin sent me this thank you note for remembering her birthday, so sweet.

Lori sent this cute thank you note (which we had made together earlier in the week) to thank me for some miscellaneous sister stuff. Most enjoyable.

Roshelle sent me this nice note, sheet of stickers and crostt-stitched bookmark she made for me. Thanks Roshelle!

Patsy sent me this cute circle stickers because she knows I'm in love with this pink on pink color scheme these days, so nice. Thanks Patsy!

Sweet Mique sent me this nice note along with some tasty Cafe Rio recipes. Thanks Mique!

Natasha sent me this amusing thank you note for some good mail labels I sent her. Apparently my initials are a source of amusement for her, I'll have to remember to actually write my name on the envelope next time. Ha.


Amy M. sent me this simply genius thank you note for some good mail I sent her. Thanks Amy!


Holly sent me this great package with darling cards she made for me, a sweet note, and chocolate! Thanks so much Holly!

** Do you want to hibernate today too?
Is documenting your good mail therapeutic for you?
Do billowing curtains make you happy?
What will you do today?**