Chuck is Back!!

Chuck, how do I love thee?

This show just makes me smile. The mixture of goofiness, romance, fast moving spy stuff, comedy, etc. I love it. It looks like Zachary Levi has gotten more buff for this season. I guess it's all that Kung Fu he's been learning.

I am so excited this show is back for its 3rd season! If you missed the first 3 episodes, you can watch them for free here!

Some sewing!

It felt so good to get some sewing done before Christmas!!

Ooga Booga jammies for these three



Pictures courtesy of Tiff. She is such a good photographer!

Matching skirt and birdy top sets for Sarah and Elise


close-up of embroidered applique

Christmas and my dad

We had the most amazing Christmas. It was just SOOO good to be with family and all the people I love so much. Being with all the kids every day just fills me up like nothing else does, and my family members all bring something to our family equation that I love. Here are some of the fun pictures (thanks to Tiff for the best ones!):



Elise loved the big kids

The kids' favorite thing was to lie on the floor in a row and take turns having this gorgeous baby sit on their backs!


Jake climbing the pole

Sword fighting - all the kids against Pa - what a good sport!



All of this was made more exquisite because of some news we got in the last couple months. My dad has cancer. He has had immune system problems his whole life and things were getting so much worse with not being able to fight anything off and then keeping it colds/sinus infections for months, that he insisted on more immune system testing. I'm glad he did. They showed that his IgG was way too high, and the other immunoglobulins were all very low. That is indicative of a rare cancer called multiple myeloma. This was confirmed with test after test. He needs to start treatment right away, and the treatment for this is extremely aggressive. He will do a 96 hour full-time heavy duty chemo cocktail the first time and then they will give him six weeks to recover, and then do it all over again. He will have stem cell transplants of his own stem cells to start fresh and hopefully build a new immune system. Then he will be on chemo drugs for about 1-2 years after the initial 5 months of heavy chemo. He is in very strong health otherwise and is quite proud of his low cholesterol and 117% lung capacity! Because of this, the doctors have high hopes that he could live for years after this treatment, and this helps us to cope with the fear of what is coming with the chemo.

I love my dad so much. "Beyond amazing" doesn't even describe him. He has been the greatest second dad Jake could ever have. He has given us so much I could never list it all. Most of all, family and the gospel are first priorities for him, and he and my wonderful mom have built our family on these precepts which have made all the difference in my life.

Why yes... I do need help.

Psychological help.

I absolutely love browsing sewing blogs. Some of my favorites are not even in English! It makes me feel broadened a little though, to be able to stick the link through google translate and read most of what they are saying. It makes the world feel a little smaller to me and I love that.

Think this is too funky with the armbands?

Some of the European sewing and clothing is more funky, or at least funky in a different way than the U.S. styles, but I am drawn to them. (This is definitely one of the less funky things I have considered.) One of my "issues" in life is seeing so many different styles that I start to wonder what my sister and sister-in-law will think is normal for me to sew for their kids! I think I probably talk myself out of way too many things. Why the anxiety... WHY????? :D It keeps me from getting lots done, I know, aside from the energy riddle. I worry if I can do it, what part I will screw up, what if I do it and they hate it, how the neckline might be too stretched out, my seams aren't perfect, will it fall apart, does this really go together... ACK! Obsessive much? It is actually a wonder I get anything done!! I swear that inner voice is like a sick, leather whipping, psycho sometimes! Don't be scared of me. I don't usually let that part spill over to other people. Really. In fact, I don't even think all that stuff matters that much! Just doing something and having fun doing it is seriously such a joy. So why can't I let go of the dang obsessiveness?! It is good to be self-aware at least. If I know I am anxious, and I am aware of it, then I can at least know that I am being weird or freaking myself out and talk myself down some. I think I need to go meditate.

5 More for Turkey Day

Today I am so grateful for life and the beauty in it. Here is my list of 5 for today. (I was going to do one yesterday, but life got in the way!)

1. modern medicine

2. energy medicine

3. that I get to have dinner with my family today.

4. that I have lost a little weight

5. gamma globulin

Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. Thanks so much for all of your feedback about my blog - it is working now, I think/hope! and for your always kind comments. I am grateful for you all!

Five a Day

Five things I am grateful for today:

1. FAMILY - you guys are wonderful and I love you all!
2. Jake - he is such a great kid and fills my heart with love each day.
3. the gospel, good church leaders, scriptures, guidance, the SAVIOR (Yeah I'm cramming that all into one so I can fit it in!)
4. good books
5. that my sister and brother and spouses/families are coming for Christmas ... WOOOHOOOO!!!

I have a question - is my blog only showing up green to you, with the pink writing, and no brown background? It keeps doing that for me so I wanted to check. And - can anyone tell me how to just get a cute banner at the top - and favorite sites for that? I love this background, but it is not displaying correctly, plus the design takes up a lot of space. Thank you for any help or feedback!

You gotta swim

I like the song "Swim" so much that sometimes I come to my blog just to listen to it. It is at the top of my playlist to the right if you want to hear it. Andrew McMahon, the singer and song-writer for Jack's Mannequin wrote the album The Glass Passenger during and after his battle with Leukemia. It is full of deep emotion. I read that he said he wrote this album to get someone through a bad day. Some of his songs are not my thing, but I love Swim and a few others. I just love what the iTunes review says about Swim: "Swim may be the album's spiritual center, an expression of dogged resolve in the face of dark forces." You can view a video of the trailer for Dear Jack, the documentary of the diagnosis and battle with Leukemia here.

You gotta swim

Swim for your life
Swim for the music that saves you
When you're not so sure you'll survive

You gotta swim
And swim when it hurts
The whole world is watching
You haven't come this far
To fall off the Earth

The currents will pull you
Away from your love
Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave
Begging to tear down the dawn
Memories like bullets
They fired at me from a gun
Cracking the armour, yeah

I swim for brighter days
Despite the absence of sun
Choking on salt water
I'm not giving in
I swim

You gotta swim
Through nights that won't end
Swim for your family, your lovers
Your sisters and brothers and friends

Yeah you gotta swim
For wars without cause
Swim for these lost politicians
Who don't see their greed is a flaw

The currents will pull us
Away from our love
Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave
Begging to tear down the dawn
Memories like bullets
They fired at me from a gun
Cracking the armour, yeah

I swim for brighter days
Despite the absence of sun
Choking on salt water
I'm not giving in
I'm not giving in
I swim

You gotta swim
Swim in the dark
There's no shame in driftin'
Feel the tide shifting
And wait for the spark

Yeah you gotta swim
Don't let yourself sink
Just find the horizon
I promise you it's not as far as you think

The currents will drag us away from our love
Just keep your head above

Just keep your head above
Swim

Just keep your head above
Swim

Just keep your head above
Swim

When asked in an interview what he has learned from his experience with Leukemia, he replies: "If I could say anything, if I've learned anything from it - you never know what's coming for you. I don't say that to instill any sort of paranoia, but the point being, you don't know that you might not wake up tomorrow, and it's you or your friend, or some other possible road block that you might not know happen. You try and make sure day to day that you're living, not so that you are prepared for something like that, but you're living in a way that would make you okay with it. That could mean a lot of different things to a lot of people. For me, it's as simple as trying to live a life as a kind person, and doing things that I'm proud of, and looking after the people that I love in my life, and being as connected to the things and people that hold you in and are special to me." - Love that.