Wordless Wednesday

Great-Grandpa and Baby Kayden

Here's the pictures!

Kitchen Remodel

For those of you who have been waiting, here is a slide show of the kitchen remodel. Work is going fairly smoothly. We have had only a few minor bumps, most of which were resolved fairly easily. We had one scare where we thought that in order to pass inspection we would have to tear up the downstairs wall to put in a big weight bearing beam, but the inspector was convinced otherwise. The new windows are in and insulation is next. Next Monday they will start the wall board and we will be painting by Sisters Weekend (this is an annual event where my sisters all get together and spend the weekend together). I am this year's service project.

We also had a wonderful long weekend over President's Day. Jayme and Virginia came for a visit since they could not come at Christmas time. We battled cooking for 8 adults and 2 kids with no kitchen. So we ate out a lot. We also went out alot. We spent the day at the coast on Saturday. We then headed for the Harward family cabin Sunday evening. Monday we had a big breakfast and then put up our old kitchen light and cabinet from our house at the cabin. After that we headed for the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It was so much fun!! We came home and ordered GIANT calzones before everyone packed up and headed for their own homes! All in all it was great weekend. Oh yeah, at the start of the weekend, Reed picked up Keegan when he picked up Jayme and Virginia at the airport. Keegan got to come down a day early and have his first real sleepover at Grandma's. He was such a big boy and we had lots of fun together before Mom and Dad showed up. Being a grandma is great!!

I have been struck lately by the numerous little miracles that go on all around us. I know that there is plenty of negative out there if I choose to focus on it, but right now I guess my mind and heart are somewhere else. I marvel that God truly does have a plan for all of us and that most often I do not understand why things happen the way they do and what the purpose is. Maybe I am looking for much too small of a purpose, when the big purpose is "And all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good"!!
Recently a dear friend has been able to get pregnant after years of fasting, prayer, blessings and many, many tears. As she has begun to show, people now realize that she is expecting. She is so cute. As I listened to her and another dear sister who had also endured a similar story, I was struck when she said how much joy she finds in each little thing. She has endured the long, sleepless nights and fussy periods, because well it took so long to get there. I think of Jackie having such joy in a negative test result. There are still no answers, but for now it is not bad news. I think of others who were complaining about time lost to diagnosis or fretting about one thing or another and I thought about Leman and Lemuel. Am I like them sometimes? Do I want all my answers now? Do I wish that I had never gone to the Dr. about my knee? Maybe it is because I was helping another sister in YW as she prepared for an activity. I shared that she might want the girls to learn the "as if" principle. It is found most clearly in Jarom 1:11. Basically the scripture talks about how the Nephites were taught to live their lives "AS IF" Christ had already come. It is a marvelous principle when we apply it to our lives. If there is something that we know we want or ought to do, you live "as if" you are already there. So, young men can learn to become and be prepared to be better missionaries, by living "as if" they are already a missionary. Well, this dear sister was thrilled by this principle and how she could apply it. Then as we talked, she turned it back on me. She told me that maybe I needed to quit debating whether I should have surgery on my knee and just live "as if" I had already decided. I have had such peace since then. I guess it is my own little miracle. Who knows why I have to go through this NOW. Who knows why I have endured what I have, but it is okay. It is pretty doubtful that they will open up my knee and say, "No, this isn't that bad. She doesn't need to have this done." And wake me up. Isn't that silly that that is my fear? Silly me!!

(Not so) Wordless Wednesday

Watch both of these little clips. Keegan wanted to learn to play Grandpa's bugle. Then Dad had to see if he could do it. Which one do you think did it better?

The Demolition Begins

Even though construction doesn't begin for another week and half, Reed can't stand the wait. As Jessica was preparing to BEGIN packing up, Reed starts tearing cupboards out. Poor Jackie and her family had not even left after spending the weekend here. I was away at a presidency meeting and came home to find out that Reed has unloaded the cupboard above the fridge and ripped it out of the wall. To this day, it is still sitting on the floor of his lab!!

I had a plan as to how I was going to pack and move the kitchen over this week, but Reed had a different plan. You know how they say that doing a remodel is hard on a marriage - I am beginning to understand. Communication is THE most important thing. Then comes the realization that what may seem the logical way to proceed for you, is not necessarily the way your spouse sees it. I am trying to learn to stay flexible and be willing to change my plans. It is a work in progress. If I can just contain Reed and his desire to start ripping things out!! It must be a male thing.

Tonight I am resting as it is snowing outside. School will be on a 2 hour delay due to the weather. It is nice to know the night before. How ever Reed is restless and wants to continue to move stuff out. I just need a break! We continue to try to figure out how to set up temporary DSL access and what our temporary kitchen will look like. Enjoy the before and during pictures.

Reflections on the Week

Well, this week I have been a working woman. I have subbed full time in the office at the high school. Thanks to Jessica, who has held down the fort at home and taken care of the shopping, the cleaning and getting things ready for dinner. We planned out menues over the weekend and then I did the shopping list and she has kept it together for me.

It has been nice to be in the work force on a temporary basis to realize that I have the skills to work out there if I need to. I have enjoyed working through some things on my own and figuring them out. I guess that at my age, it is nice to know I could do if I wanted to!! They even gave me a school shirt to wear this Friday!

Next week we will begin the big clean out and pack up of the kitchen. Should keep us all busy! Plus I need to finish end of the year reports, quarterly reports and setting up files for the new year. Never a dull moment around here!