Andrew's Blessing

Andrew was blessed on the 17th of January. He looked big to be getting blessed, but he was only two and a half months . . . He was very excited for the event, or at least he didn't cry, so he seemed excited. It was a wonderful experience for me as a mother to have a reminder about how special this little boy is to our Heavenly Father, and what a big job we have to help him be all he can be. I mean that in a positive way. Here he is all dressed up for the occasion.


We were lucky enough to have several family members there for Andrew's special day, and we loved getting to be with them. Here are the pictures.

First, our little family. Poor Noah was exhausted since we have church from 1-4, so he needed lots of hugs.
Josh is just awesome.


The boys with Grandma and Grandpa (Gary's parents).
Andrew with Grandma and Grandpa (my parents).

Derreck, Jessica, Dallin, Martha, Deanne, Merrill


Aunt Sarah decided to provide Andrew with some tummy time. Yes, poor Aunt Sarah has a black eye and stitches. You can read the story here.


We thought it would be twice as cute to have twice the boys in the picture . . . until Noah chose his place. So typical of day to day life . . .


Andrew poses with Aunt Kayla and Aunt Martha.


Noah got over his tiredness to play crazy games with Uncle Eric.


Aunt Hannah at one point had "snakes" on her back named Josh and Tate.

Andrew with just his mommy and daddy.


Here's a picture of "the Marks." The Mark that started it all, Tate Mark, and Andrew Mark.


Andrew and Mom


Not pictured but attending were Cindy, Nate, Dave, Braden, Sophie, and Madeline. We missed Sara and Taylor and family because, good news, they had a new baby! You can see his cute self here. Congratulations to them . . . looks like we'll be getting together for one of these events again soon . . .

P.S. Getting used to the new blogger . . . pictures are a little all over for now. And what happened to spell check?

Acknowledging Tragedy

Eleven years ago I was an English teacher in Taiwan. I lived with a woman named A-e, and her 9 year old girl Sherry (or Yi-jun). Someday I'd like to write all about them, because they were great. A couple of months after we parted ways there was a terrible earthquake in Taiwan and the apartment building they lived in toppled to the ground. They were killed and it was really hard on me. I remember watching the news of the devastation in Taiwan and thinking how awful it was that everyone around me just went about their daily lives worrying about clothes and parties while so many people in Taiwan (and I) were suffering.

Now there is terrible devastation in Haiti. Part of me wants to ignore it, because it makes me feel sad and helpless. Another part of me thinks I've got to do something more than a one second thought and some meager funds. I've thought, "I've got so much, and so much of it's not even necessary for life. I could go without makeup for a while to help them . . ." Then I realized that would be a 2 dollar donation anyway, but you get the train of thought.

So what is my point? I'm not exactly sure. The point is that it's an issue I wrestle with at various times in life, and right now I have some thoughts. I've been really busy lately, and barely had time to touch the computer. I'm really determined to preserve our little family history, so there are tons of posts I want to post, but for some reason I felt bad barrelling on without acknowledging that people are suffering. The thing is, people are always suffering, and it could really be a depressing existence to dwell on it. I don't think we're supposed to. We are commanded to be of good cheer. (I love John 16:33.) I think we're supposed to help as much as we can with prayers and other resources we may be blessed with, but then we have to let it go and realize all that is good and beautiful in life. These things serve as my little reality checks, to keep me grateful and not shallow (a tough job). When I get to wishing for outfits that make me feel snazzy and money for vacations, I can check myself. I can look at all of the clothes in my drawers and realize I will not be cold or naked. I can fix dinner and be grateful to be full. I can kiss my babies and my husband and realize what a miracle all four of them are. I can read the scriptures and realize the point of my existence.

So, I went to lds.org to get a link to the aforementioned scripture, when I saw that the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has made an official statement on the Haiti situation. You can read it here. I'll add that to my thoughts. I can't conclude my thoughts for now, because as I said before, I wrestle with these kinds of things from time to time. Still wrestling.

2010 - The New Year was When?

You may remember this post about how I've had a theme for each year since 2004. Some of them have changed my life, others not so much. Last year's theme, 2009 - Potty Train Josh's Behin', might seem shortsighted, but it was worth it. I got 8 months of only one child in diapers, oh, yeah! You may be thinking I have abandoned themes this year, but actually, I have only delayed in writing about it, as I have delayed most everything else these crazy days (who wants a Christmas card?) (Serious.).

We spent Christmas in St. George, and arrived home in time to watch 20 minutes of Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest before the ball dropped to bring in 2010. Most of the 20 minutes was spent trying to spit out the show's entire title, but anyway, we saw the Black Eyed Peas sing "Boom Boom Pow," which inspired me as far as rhyming goes. Not only does it have one of my favorite lines I would LOVE to find a reason to use ("I'm so two thousand and eight, you're so two thousand and late"), it also has the line, "We're on that HD flat, this beat goes boom, boom bat." Boom boom bat? Not to demean their cleverness, but isn't that kind of cheap as far as rhyming goes? Couldn't anything be put there, for example, "Could you please pass the salt, this beat goes boom, boom balt." Thus, my first idea was that my yearly theme could be, 2010 - This year goes boom, boom ben.

I decided to pass on that one, and quickly threw out other obvious options like, 2010 - buy a hen, or, 2010 - design a pen. I thought of 2010 - Use diagrams by Venn, but soon realized Venn diagrams will do nothing to organize my house, so the theme wouldn't meet my biggest needs. Although, I probably should do some of those with Josh. I then realized I have been pregnant for at least a portion of each of the last 5 years, so I thought a fitting theme might be, 2010 - I'm not pregnant in 2010. Other considerations - "snuggle my Ken," "listen to music by Len," "for currency use yen," or, "be a good frien'."

A lot of those are good, but I wanted one for this year that I could really reach for, like 2005-Husbands Arrive. So, I have settled on, 2010 - Enjoy my children before they are men. I need to make a sign, print it out, and tape it to my closet, just like when all of this started in 2004. These little boys are awesome. I can't say enough how much I love and enjoy each of them and their unique personalities. However, it does get pretty crazy, especially around the time when Gary's life has to be work instead of us. Especially around the time Noah starts opening doors and jumping out of his crib, and Josh and Noah realize they can climb on the counters and destroy together. I get very tired and start wishing for spring, or older children, or something else . . . but I don't want to live that way. In the spring Andrew will be that much closer to kid and farther away from new baby. I'll love it, but I love this, too, and I want to soak it in. Noah may be into everything, but I barely care because he's so darn cute. He requests "Child of God" before he goes to sleep, and it's such a sweet tiny voice. And Josh's 3 year old mind - I love it! (Example: "Mom, if we don't have enough money we can go to the store and buy some. Or just make our own.") I have been so blessed to have wonderful moments even in the crazy sick times, and I want to be able to continually notice and enjoy those. This is a goal to really work for, and work hard cause it's worth it. So, there you have it, the theme for 2010.

Self-Bribery

It is about the time when one finds one's self wearing nothing but a bathrobe, holding an armful of dirty potatoes in one arm and trying to turn on Sesame Street with the other, screaming toddler clinging on one leg, baby screaming to be fed, goopy eyes and noses on all three kids, haven't been out of the house in a week (for real, no exaggeration), changed two entire sets of clothing due to blow-outs that day, trying to get over a sinus infection . . . that is the time when one promises one's self brownies. One's husband might not have gotten home until late, but a promise is a promise. Mmmmm . . . .

(And that was yesterday. Still haven't been out of the house. Kids are still sick. Gary's not home tonight, either. First time to touch the computer in a long time, and now only because I have to for church. But it's all good . . . I've actually been blessed to get through this and have some good moments, which I am publicly pledging to share because I want to remember them, but not now because I think Josh is getting an ear infection. Wait, that sounds like Noah. Maybe him, too.)