Glad To Be Alive

It has been a whole year since this happened, so many of you may know all about this, but I was really touched by it today and wanted to devote a post to a remarkable woman.

Stephanie Nielson is an LDS blogger who has had a very strong following on her wonderful blog which celebrated the small moments of family life that make it all worthwhile. She is a dear person, and so is her husband. Last year, they were in a plane crash that killed their friend and severely burned and almost killed both of them. I guess the Lord saw fit to put these tremendous people through a true refiner's fire when He gave them this trial but Stephanie is healing and writing her blog again. She hiked the Y Mountain Saturday to mark a year since the accident. Her husband Christian had burns on over 30% of his body and Stephanie had burns on over 70% of her body and was in a coma for over 2 months.

I sometimes feel so awful physically, and grow so incredibly tired of it, that thoughts like - getting in a car accident and passing from this life might be a big relief- but then I take it back and apologize to the powers that be. In reality, I am so so very grateful for my life, and all the many blessings in it and I have no desire to leave Jake behind until we are both much, much older. I just wanted to say how grateful I am for my life today. I have so much. I love you - family and friends. I love the Lord. Stephanie is a beautiful beautiful person and she still appreciates the small and the big things that many of us often forget. I celebrate her and her life. The Lord has quite a plan for her.

Here's a quote from the New York Times about her and her blog: “People don’t understand that of course Stephanie had days where she was crazy and wanted to pull her hair out... Her relationship with her husband wasn’t perfect. But she chose to focus on the beauty.

“And the more she focused on it, the more she had.”

May we all do the same.

Since Today Is My Birthday...

And I am turning 37 (ACK! Where has all the time gone!?)...

I decided to share 37 Random Facts About Me

1. I think it would be awesome to learn to fly an airplane.
2. I have been parasailing and loved it!
3. I would really love to go hang gliding.
4. Bungee jumping doesn’t appeal to me because I think it would yank my back completely out of whack and I would hurt.
5. For one whole summer, I wouldn’t (or would only rarely) swim in our pool when I was younger because of all the snot I always saw people wipe from their noses.
6. I thought it was cool when my cousin Camille plugged her nose when she swam, so I did too, and now I ‘have’ to plug my nose.
7. I absolutely LOVE L-O-V-E LOVE riding on a boat, in the front with the wind in my hair.
8. I love wind.
9. I would really, really like to prove to myself that I can make money at a great job that was meaningful to me.
10. I would REALLY like to feel up to doing more than lying in bed all day every day. REALLY.
11. I love heat. When I was in High School, I had a heater in my room and knew how to use it! I think I probably kept it at about 75º in there.
12. I love sunshine and spring and summer and dislike fall and winter.
13. I don’t like mushrooms. All I can think about is that they’re fungus.
14. Sometimes I eat cinnamon straight out of the spice jar.
15. I think hairspray is icky. I don’t like the smell. I don’t like the feel of it in my hair. And I really can’t stand the feeling that it is on me anywhere, and it feels like that once you spray it on your hair, because that stuff goes everywhere.
16. My favorite meal in college was Special K cereal. But that was also when I really got into learning to like vegetables.
17. I don’t like chocolate. Well... not that much.
18. I like chocolate chip cookies, but pick out some of the chocolate chips. Ok –I’d pick them all out if I could.
19. I don't really like candy.
20. I do (unfortunately) like baked goods and bread.
21. I think carrot cake (without raisins or nuts) is way better than chocolate or vanilla cake.
22. I don’t tolerate a lot of noise very well.
23. I feel things extremely deeply.
24. Life would be a lot easier if I didn’t.
25. I read constantly. I often have a novel, a self-help or health-type book, and something else like a church magazine going at one time. I can’t focus well on the non-fiction, but I like to learn that stuff so I try. I have to have a good novel going at all times.
26. I am very interested in alternative medicine.
27. I really like things to be pretty and am very aesthetically-minded. Ie: cool fonts, pretty paper, my surroundings, clothes, etc.
28. I’m kind of scared of people.
29. I like words. I LOVE word games. One of my top favorites is where you make as many words as you can out of another word.
30. I write to people better than I talk to them.
31. I wish I had more kids. Like 4 altogether.
32. But I would need MUCH better health.
33. I love water. It is the only thing I really like to drink.
34. I think the voice is the best musical instrument. (not mine)
35. I like to travel and see different places. I even like to be in different cities that are near to me just to be there and see what they are like.
36. I like natural foods and rarely eat refined sugar. I try not to eat processed stuff.
37. I don’t eat or drink dairy, except for cheese, which I seem to tolerate just fine.

Me in 1974 (age 2) with Jeff

Got kid's art?

Well you have to go and submit it here! This guy is brilliant. He even says so himself. (Which makes me giggle.) And meanwhile, you gotta go check out what this word genius says about my niece Sarah's art. Remember to dance with the triangles today!

Music Camp

We had such a fun night Tuesday night. My mom, dad, JoAnna, Sam, Sarah and I all went to see Jake play the drums and cymbals at East Canyon Resort (a campground with a general store, restaurant, pool, etc.- my kind of campground!) He got to go to a music camp up there for 2 days and it ended with a concert. Jake did a fantastic job and it was gorgeous up there in the mountains. What a fun place!

Playing the congo drums

and the cymbals

the band in the pretty pavillion

On another musical note (ha ha get it?) you must watch this video from America's Got Talent. I probably would not watch this show myself, but Jake likes to watch it and it is great to have something to watch together. It is these stories that make me glad that I do. I love this guy. His tears at the end just topped it off for me.

4th of July Part 2

I guess I was being too ambitious saying I would post these the next day. Here are the rest of our 4th of July pictures. We had a lot of fun! Here's yummy little Elise in the flag onesie I appliqued for her. Andrew and Elise togetherJake did a great job manning the fireworks

Sam and Andrew got to pick out which ones we did next. They danced, screamed and jumped all around when each one went off. It made the night 10 times more fun to see how excited they were.

And here's Elise with her hand over her heart. I guess she is as grateful for this country as I am.

It's a Grand Old Flag

Andrew had requested some 4th of July jammies back when I finished his St. Patrick's Day pjs. He wanted the flag to be a pocket. Well, since Sam is in town (YAY!) and has always loved flags, I couldn't leave him out! When I told them I was making them, Sam very hopefully asked if they were the kind with the flag going all the way across instead of little ones all over. Luckily, that is exactly what I had planned and cut out already! So here are the flag jammies. With many thanks to Gram for helping me to match the stripes. I cut these out of Old Navy Men's boxers which made the stripe-matching a little harder but was perfect for the fabric! I finally finished these on July 3rd and brought them to Sam and Andrew with chocolates in the flag pockets on the shirt. (My mom stuck a flag in it for this picture.)

When I brought the jammies out to them, they were so excited that they went and changed right then and there in the playhouse. (We won't mention the streaking to run upstairs to get some underwear since they just had swimsuits on.)
My mom wanted them to tuck just the center part of their shirt in so we could see the blue part of the flag, but then they both proceeded to tuck their shirts in as far as they could. When we said "oh wait...." Sam said they needed to do it that way because then they looked nice "right Andrew?" :) Andrew agreed. Did I mention how much I love my nephews?

There are already so many pictures in this post, I will wait and post a couple pictures of Elise being patriotic tomorrow. I hope you all had a happy 4th!

A Little Piece of Heaven

Welcome to the World Miss Elise Kimble!

What is it about babies that makes it so you just can't pull away. They just lie there sleeping and you want to sit and watch. This precious bundle was delivered on June 14th to Curt and Anne and they are pleased as punch. In fact, we are all in love with her. My dad insists that if you went up to heaven to find the most beautiful baby to bring to earth, it would be little Elise. She is as precious as they come and doesn't want for attention when family is around!

Smiling for her dad on her first day home from the hospital.

She is a long awaited and special blessing and I am so glad she is here!