Have to say

I am frustrated with our illustrious lawmakers at the moment. Our governor vetoed a bill that would allow businesses to choose to not work for gay marriages. I am not sure if she did it out of personal conviction or if she just gave into the whole nation's whining, but I wish she hadn't.

Please understand, I am not against people being gay. I know some choose it and some do not. That is their business. I'm not against them for it. I have some friends who are gay. And if I owned a flower shop or a bakery and they wanted to buy flowers or whatever, I would not mind. But I could not do these services for gay weddings.  I simply could not. It is against my religion, the free exercise of which is protected by the very first ammendment to the Constitution.

The problem is that people with the same ideals as mine, who would serve gay people under any other circumstances, are being brought to court for not servicing for gay weddings and being told that their first ammendment rights are basically revoked. These people are told that they're not allowed to choose, that their constitutional rights are unconstitutional. That is wrong on so many levels.

But another problem we have has been on proud display in Utah and a growing number of states. These are states which voted to define marriage in its correct moral form. But judges have come along and declared that unconstitutional and thrown the whole thing upside down, effectively allowing just the opposite of what the people voted for. Gays are now legally allowed to marry in these states. What these judges are doing looks a whole lot like law-making to me, not law-interpreting. And if I'm not mistaken, that, unfortunately, would probably be the fate of the bill that was struck down anyway. And then the whole state would have their rights revoked instead of just whoever was taken to court. So maybe it's better that it didn't pass? I don't know.

I'm just tired of it all. I'm tired of people being called unfair and old-fashioned and hateful and intolerant and whatever else for living what they believe, especially since our religion doesn't call for hate and whatever. We are to love everyone, no matter who they are or what their lives are like or what they believe or what choices they make, and I do my best to do that. And so how am I hateful when I can't support gay marriage? I can't support sin. It is offensive to God and by supporting it I would be offensive to God. You bet I am steering clear of that. I need Him!

Anyway, this is starting to look like a nonsensical jumble. I and sleepy, and that's what happens. I didn't want to post on Facebook because my friends seem to have surprisingly widely varying views on the matter and I wasn't up for a fight, but I had to say something, dang it! It is just shocking and horrible. But it's the pride cycle, just like in the Book of Mormon. Nothing new, but it doesn't end well, does it? ;)

Wednesday Picture Day

I give up.  I don't like being wordless.  This is hereby declared to be picture day.  I got  a new camera yesterday and took a billion pictures.  I mentioned on Facebook how I'm kind of frustrated with it because it pixelates backgrounds and hair.  But some of these came out pretty good.  The boys thought some of my silly settings were fun, so we took some silly pictures and they laughed.

Cute baby in his walker (His feet don't touch the floor yet, but he has fun being in his walker.)

 

Benji on the "fish eyes" setting.  Ha ha!

 

This one kind of makes me laugh.  It doesn't quite look like Timmy.

 

Jill on the punk setting or whatever it is.  I kind of like this one.

 

This is one of my favorites.  Michael with the fish eyes setting.  Hilarious!

 

I did fish eyes on Joshua, but it didn't make much difference since he was hiding in my blanket.

 

Hyrum on the reflection setting.  Timmy looks at this and says, "Hyrum!  Aaah!"  He thinks it's funny.

 

This one doesn't quite look like how I see Brom, but it's cute. :)

Thoughts on Tuesday

I often think that all I ever talk about on here is how I'm puzzling out this existence or how the two little ones are doing. I feel kind of bad for slowing down on documenting the others kiddos. I guess it is just that they aren't changing as fast. Well, today I'd like to talk about them.

Hyrum is a teenager! That fact still hasn't quite seemed like it could possibly be real yet. He has a wispy little mustache going on, and Jeremy wants to get him to shave it before Saturday's Temple celebration. Is that not nuts?! Hyrum says he'd rather just have a mustache. He has had a lot of fun having an MP3 player, and his earbuds are quite good. We have to go over and poke him to get his attention. But he loves being plugged in and bopping to music while he's on the computer.

Joshua has found two websites that are helping him learn to program websites. At first he was upset that Benji and Michael were doing it too, but he got over it. He hasn't been able to do scouts since January or so since they've been working on the Temple celebration. Joshua just recently got new pants because his old ones got a huge hole in the crotch. He insisted that these were the best fit, but they aren't. They fall down every time he stands up. Got to get that boy a belt!

Benji, of course, has a puppy. Said puppy cannot be dissuaded from pooping in Jill's room. We've tried and tried with odor eliminators so he doesn't smell and think that's where to go, but so far we haven't had much luck. Mostly he just does his bidness outside, though. Benji really loves that dog a lot, but he is often slow to take care of him. Silly boy. Ah, well. He is only 10, after all. Benji, like all the other children so far, loves to cook. He just learned to make omelettes, and he likes that pretty good. He puts in peppers and cheese.

Michael is really excited about his baptism. He liked getting the program ready. I noticed at one point that he wasn't picking anybody from out of town, so I suggested this or that person. But he said no, that he didn't want any of the guests to have to do any of that. I guess he's just trying to look out for people who have to travel. I thought it was funny that he didn't think the people in town are guests at the baptism. He he. Right now Michael is in his sleeping bag kneeling on that trampoline at the computer.  Ha ha! He likes to play with the puzzles on there.

Jill is still her silly, girly self. She likes to wear skirts. She likes to be told that she looks pretty. Lately she often likes to disobey right after she is told no, and then she runs away crying when she gets in trouble. Silly girl. But she likes to give lots of kisses and tell me she loves me. She refers to me as "my mommy." She is also constantly climbing up in the window that looks into the kitchen from the living room and playing on the counter. (I definitely have a love/hate relationship with that window.) On the one hand that behavior helps me keep the counter cleaned off, but on the other hand, I'd rather clean it on my own schedule instead of just whenever Jill and Timmy feel like throwing everything off.

And there you go. :) That's what the others are up to.

Monday Meme

Blast it! I started this 3 times! I found a super long meme. I'll delete some of the more stupid questions.

1 - Who was the last person you texted? Bishop Mawson - baptism bidness

4 - What sports do you play? Ha ha

5 - Who is the first person in your contacts? Aaron and Kenzie's landline phone.

6 - What is your favorite song as of the moment? I don't really have one, but I have been having fun listening to songs from high school and college. And I had lots of fun singing church music going to and from the Temple on Saturday.

7 - If you were stranded on an island, who do you wish to be with? Duh. My family. If I had to pick one person it would be Jeremy. He would help me stay sane and feel like our kiddos would be fine. And he is fun to be with. And he is my favorite.

8 - What do you feel right now? That is a strange question. I'm tired.

9 - What chocolate is your favorite? Dove dark with almonds, but only because Belgian chocolate isn't usually available.

14 - What do you want to be in the future? Myself - whoever that ends up being

15 - When was the last time you cried? Why? The other day. I will keep that to myself.

16 - Are you happy? It was a happy day, yes.

17 - Who do you miss? My Cedar city friends, particularly Tia Fawson.

18 - If you were given a chance, would you like to have a different life? Nope.

19 - What was the best thing you were given? Life

21 - What is your favorite dish? I don't really have one, but I really loved the dinner I made tonight - lemon pepper chicken, dressing, and sweet potatoes. Yum!

23 - What is your biggest regret? Not standing up for myself. That and yelling at my children and spanking them. I have improved a lot on those over the years, though. Thank heavens!

26 - Name someone pretty. Jill

27 - Who was the last person you hugged? Brom

28 - What kind of music do you listen to? 90s pop and hymns mostly.

29 - Are you over your past? I would be if it would stay in the past! Ha ha! But really, I have come a long way. Still have a ways to go, but progress!

32 - Do you have troubles sleeping at night? I have problems not sleeping! After my babies are weaned I stop waking to take care of them. I don't mean to! Thank heavens for Jeremy.  And good thing I somehow wake up when he isn't home.

34 - What do you prefer, jeans or skirt? Jeans

36 - Did you ever have a girlfriend/boyfriend whose name starts with a “J”? Yep. And whadya know! I married him!

39 - Do you have any phobias? I used to fear being chased, even at play, and I was afraid of the dark for a long, long time. Like until I went to college. But I'm really only afraid of things that could hurt me or my family right now. (Yucky bugs that carry germs and bite and sting and such.)

40 - Did you try to change for a person? I don't remember. I think o did.

42 - Would you go back to your previous relationship? I never really had one.

47 - How many roses did you receive last Valentine’s? None. But before you feel sorry, just remember our birthdays are both right before Valentine's Day. It would kind of be overkill to go all crazy with it. That and it feels so fake. I don't need to feel forced to show love. I'd rather just do it every day because I like to.

48 - Have you ever been kissed? Ummm... gonna have to go with yes on this one.

49 - How long is your longest relationship? 14 years, 9 months, and 18 days.

53 - Do you have a grudge against anyone? I have grudges against holding grudges. I hate grudges. ;) I try to just move on because it feels better, but there are definitely people I want to never see again.

54 - Are you a crybaby? Sometimes

58 - Do you like getting hurt? LOL. No. Except sometimes it is fun to get some sympathy. ;)

59 - Does anyone hate you? I am not sure, but I don't want to know if they do. I can't live with knowing someone is upset with me. It is too painful.

60 - Did you slap anyone whose name starts with an “R”? What in the world?! How many people have I ever slapped?!

61 - What hair color do you prefer? I like my hair how it is, but it was fun when I dyed it a little red. I liked that.

64 - Have you ever thought of killing yourself? No. (Good golly! Who thought up that one?!)

68 - Are you good at holding back your tears? Sometimes.

71 - Are you a KPOP fan? Obviously not. No idea what that means.

73 - Have you ever sacrificed something important to you for someone you love? Yes. It's in my job description.

75 - Have you ever ridden a boat? Yes. My dad had a canoe for several years. I loved going canoeing at Lyman Lake.

79 - Have you ever been jealous? Who hasn't?

83 - Do you have any memories you want to erase? Don't we all?

86 - Have you ever had an argument with someone? I was thinking about this the other day. Did I tell you how I insulted Jennifer once during an argument? If I didn't, let me know and I'll tell you.

91 - Do you believe in the phrase “If it’s meant to be, it will be”? Yes, but I also believe we're supposed to do something to help it along.

95 - How do you look right now? Sleepy.

96 - Do you believe that first true love never dies? No

100 - Did you ever feel like you’re not good enough? Oh, yeah. But I got better. I am pretty comfortable with myself these days. And it is because I decided I was good enough, not just because anyone else thinks I'm worth something.

Timmy

I may have mentioned that Timmy likes puzzles. Just now he was watching me do a puzzle app on my phone. And then out of the blue he said in a very sweet voice, "Bye bye, puzzle." And then he switched immediately to his growly voice and said, "Get out, a puzzle!" (Puzzle is pronounced "puzzoe", and the zz often sounds like a dz.) It made me laugh, so he did it again. It was so darn cute! I loved that he saw the effects of what he said and knew to keep going. Hooray for a developing sense of humor! :)

PS I love to laugh, and lately I have been laughing a lot. It is fun.

And one more thing: at bed time the four older boys, who share a room, are often found talking when they should be sleeping. I try to get them to stop because they need their sleep, but it warms my heart to hear then enjoying each other's company.

Temple Celebration

This is how Hyrum spent his Saturday - dancing all day! He came home sweaty and covered in dust. They had to cancel the last run-through because they kicked up too much dust and people were getting sick. This is all the groups together. Each region is a different color. Hyrum is also in a square dance for the celebration and says he will be in the back right corner for that. His shirt for that is a tan snap-down one. In this picture, Globe Stake is that little red dot. He says he didn't know they were making a design. Ha ha! So flippin' exciting!

Thoughts on Tuesday

Man! I woke up with a migraine and two little boys who desperately needed me. I couldn't even get medicine because these little guys couldn't let me get off the couch. Thank heavens they are feeling better and I was able to get this headache under control! For a while there I was pretty convinced I'd be running to the bathroom to throw up. Yeah, it is so much more enjoyable to take care of my little ones now that I'm feeling better.

Yesterday I went down to the valley to take Timmy to the dentist. Hyrum and Brom came too. I was glad for Hyrum's help so I could hold Timmy when he needed it. This time wasn't as hard on me as Jill's turn was because I knew better what to expect, but IV sedation still freaks me out. The anesthesiologist gives them a shot in the arm, and after crying for a minute or two they calm down and get a weird glazed look in their eyes and then all they want to do is look in my eyes. It is so disturbing! It's like the life was just sucked out of them and they aren't themselves anymore. But that way they don't notice when the monitors are hooked to them and the IV is inserted and stuff. The anesthesiologist stays and monitors them through the whole procedure, and then when it's over and the IV and everything is out and off they bring me to see my baby wake up. Jill was still sleeping long after I came in. Timmy was rolling around crying in true Timmy fashion. And he has the wrong teeth. It's sad to me. But he had a lot more work that needed done than Jill did.

You may have noticed that he had a LOT of decay on his front teeth. (NO MORE SIPPY CUPS! I am not getting one for Brom.) His back teeth weren't really better.  He didn't need any pulled, but he had multiple root canals. Poor baby. :( he has a lot of crowns. All the ones in the front are white (Thank heavens! That is a tender mercy!), but they don't look the same. For one thing, they remind me of Shirley Temple, and for another thing, he has no gap. Well, at least it is temporary. He will grow new ones in a few years. It will still take some getting used to. He came to ask me for ramen yesterday at lunch time, and when I came with him he smiled and giggled as usual, but he had the wrong smile! It was a tad bit heartbreaking. But you bet we are so very thankful that the hard part is over and that his teeth have been taken care of.

So yeah, yesterday was a hard time for Timmy, but he seems to feel better. I'm so glad! I am feeling quite blessed and thankful that it's done. I'd been dreading it for a long time.

Jobs

I thought maybe you guys would like to know a little about what's going in the way of jobs right now.

I'm pretty sure you're all aware that Jeremy started working for the community college here in Globe, right?  It's through EAC.  Kind of interesting that he's working for EAC, huh?  He teaches a macroeconomics and AutoCAD.  Funny thing about the AutoCAD class: there is another guy who is teaching the other AutoCAD class, but he doesn't know how to use AutoCAD hardly at all.  What the what, now?  Yeah.  Pretty silly, but that's how it turned out.  Jeremy is really enjoying teaching those classes a lot.  And one nice thing about it is that he got to download a teacher's edition of AutoCAD to his computer.  And you know what that means, don't you?  That's right!  That means he is back to work drawing plans for our future dream home.  (A castle, in case you aren't up to speed on things.  Totally his idea.  I definitely support it, even if it does make me giggle a bit.  Most people say, "Yeah, right.  Ha, ha!"  That's ok too.  Jeremy is pretty clever, and I truly believe he can make this happen.) It is really fun for me to watch him draw again.  It sure brings back memories.  I always liked that.  He pushes buttons and lines appear, and then he moves them around and clips off the unneeded ends and all that.  It's just kind of cool.  I bet it might be less magical if I had any idea what kind of buttons he pushes to make the lines appear.

When he started teaching at the college he also stopped working at SEABHS.  That meant that we needed to figure out something else since the college is only part-time.  Well, one day he went out with a bunch of fliers advertising tutoring services.  He put them up all over town and has also been advertising on the Globe/Miami Yard Sale Facebook page.  I'm not sure how many students he has, but he has been enjoying tutoring.  He meets people at the Globe or Miami library for it.  It's fun for him to see lights coming on.  He's helping kids who have gaps in their math abilities and a little girl who needed to learn to read.  What that little girl asked Santa for for Christmas was to learn to read.  Well, Jeremy's helping fulfill that wish, and she is getting it!  Pretty neat. :)  He has also offered business consulting, but no takers on that yet.

And just today he started working at Miami High School.  He is some sort of aide.  He has a schedule like the high school students do, and he just goes from one classroom to another "being a pest," he says.  I think he's helping students as they need it in different classes.

Funny about Timmy today:

We've been potty training him right along with the puppy, Buster.  So far it's not going so well.  He wets in his pants every five minutes it seems.  Yesterday about 7:00 PM I gave up and just put a diaper on him. (Yea, me for waiting that long!)  Well, today I got him dressed with a shirt and diaper until I could find him pants. (We're going out soon, and I don't want to do the underwear thing out in public just yet.)  Well, right away he ran down the hall and stripped off that shirt and diaper and sat on the potty.  He was so pleased with himself!  Then he asked for candy.  (We got some M&Ms to give him when he goes potty.) Hooray, little fella! :D

Also, just now he was sitting with Brom and me, and Brom grabbed my hair.  Timmy grabbed the hair out of Brom's hand and said, "No hair!"  And then he proceeded to cuddle with it himself.  Silly boy!

Timmy and Buster are good friends.  The first time I heard Buster bark it was a Timmy, but it was playful barking with his tail wagging.  So now Buster barks and Timmy giggles and giggles.  Their developing relationship is one of the cutest things I have ever seen!

Oh, silly guy!  He just fell down behind the table. It looks like one of his teeth went right through his bottom lip.

 

And on that happy note, I think I'm done. 

Throwback Thursday

This time I decided to just do pictures from all our birthdays in 2007. We don't have any from my birthday that year.  It's really not uncommon because I'm usually the one taking the pictures.  But anyway, looks like it was a happy year. :)

 





Michael turned 1!  Here he is with Joshua and some new funnels to play with in the bathtub. (We still have them.) Remember those bandages on his hands? (He tripped and caught himself with his hands on a wood stove.  It was so darn sad.  But as soon as the doctor took care of it he went on playing like nothing had happened.  That's my boy!)

 

4 boys!  We printed them some cute hats with Michael's picture on them.  That was fun. :)

Joshua, Michael, Hyrum, Benji

 

Jeremy and I both turned 29. Jeremy prefers chocolate pudding for his birthday cake.  I think I forgot to get birthday candles, so we used the next best thing. ;)

 

Yummy! (Hyrum and Michael)

 

 

This wasn't from a birthday, but I wanted to share it anyway. Kimberly and Emmett came to visit, and Michael was checking Corwin out. Ha, ha!  Poor Corwin! He didn't like that very much.

 

Joshua turned 5!  We made hats again. :)

 

Present time! Michael, Benji, Hyrum, Joshua, and Joe.

 

Hyrum turned 7!

 

He and Thomas's birthdays are close together, so we decided to have a party at Jennifer's house to celebrate both birthdays.  Any excuse to get together. :)

And last but not least, Benji turned 4!

 

We got him this happy night light to stick on his wall.  It didn't last super long, but he liked it. :)

The end.

Wordless Wednesday

Well, this one won't really be wordless.  Today is Jeremy's 36th birthday! :D So I just need to say - I am immensely proud of him, and if given the chance I would pick him again. :) He is a good man and a caring husband.  I'm thankful for him.  I am a lucky girl!

 

Yeah, he's pretty much the greatest! And handsomest!

Thoughts on Tuesday

I was thinking just now, remembering a friend from high school. One day a few years ago we happened to be in St. Johns on the same weekend, and we ended up at the stake center, walking the halls with children at the same time. We stopped and chatted, and he told me about his family. He and his wife had lost one daughter to heart defects, and I at the time I saw him they were either still struggling with a second daughter's heart defects or had just lost her as well. It was touching to hear him talk about it. How could I not be touched? But another thought I had was that I wanted to tell him what I had been through as well. I didn't. I didn't think it would be an appropriate response. I wondered if it would have been comforting to him to know that he was not the only one experiencing something hard. But I think sometimes we get caught up in measuring our own difficulties against other people's, and I didn't want him to think I was being unsympathetic.

I have wondered sometimes how people would react if the deepest, hardest things I have gone through were suddenly revealed. I think that surely if we truly knew what demons and trials others are dealing with we would be slower to judge and quicker to be charitable. But it can't be that way. We just need to be slow to judge and quick to reach out in love anyway. Heaven knows, that is what we ourselves want of others.

And measuring our trials against someone else's is silly because their courses are specifically chosen just for them, just the same as ours are, and that means that they have to be different. What matters is not whether their trials seem big or small to us but how we nurture them in their trials or at very least be patient. Who knows what trials a person may be having that they just can't talk about?

But I also thought, well, we know that our Savior loves us with a perfect love. But don't you think He is even more sympathetic to us because He knows precisely (through personal experience) what we have been through, how it felt, and what it meant in our lives, and alao what else lies ahead? That is pretty neat. I am glad He knows. He knows my faults and weaknesses and struggles, but He also knows precisely how to help me. I am thankful for the knowledge that there are worlds without number that He has made with amazing creations on each one, and yet he still cares about the birds and the lilies of the field. And he still cares about little ol' me, even when I am petty or selfish or impatient or unkind. He still sees in each of us something that we can't see, so we just need to trust and hold on and help others hold on too.

Up late waiting for kiddos to fall asleep

So here I am. I'm nursing Brom and typing on my phone with one thumb. My other hand is holding Timmy's hand, and he's falling asleep on my legs as I sit here reclined in my recliner. It may take me all night to type this. Ha ha!

Ok, so biggest news first: last night (January 6) Jeremy took Benji and got him a puppy. Yes, we are crazy, but you already knew that! Here is a picture (at the bottom
)

He is such a cute, sweet doggie. He is really quiet too. I have yet to hear him bark, though he has whined a bit. His name is Buster.

Now before you think we jumped headlong into this, we have actually been talking about doing this for quite a long time. Just recently, though, we felt that it was time, and we found out about a few puppies that needed homes. (Also, I could mention that Benji has been praying for a puppy every night for like 6 months!) So anyway, yes, we have a puppy now. He is not hyperactive or loud. (Thank heavens!)

And here is the real shocker: we are housebreaking him. I never ever wanted an indoor dog, but if we move back to our house in Cedar City he would have to be an indoor dog. That is the rule for the HOA. So better to train him now than later. And he is actually doing quite awesome for a puppy! He even ran around and whined to let us know he needed to go out this evening. He is kind of a chicken,  though. He doesn't like the dark. Ha ha! And he likes to eat leaves.

Benji spent all day today taking care of him and was all worn out by bed time. But he sure loves Buster. Last night he sat and held him and cried about how he had taken Buster away from the two of his sisters that were left. Poor guy. We helped him out by telling him that the people couldn't keep him and he'd just go to the pound if nobody took him. But he will have a nice home and lots of love here. Benji felt better after a while. He slept in the living room with him last night. Buster's bed is a milk crate with old towels in it. Benji slept on the couch with the crate right next to him. And, boy, was he up early this morning!

Ok. One more thing and I'd better go to sleep.

I thought I had mentioned this before on here, but maybe not. I mentioned on Facebook a few weeks ago that Timmy finally called me Mama! He had called everyone else by name but even when we sat and looked at family pictures and practiced saying names he would say everyone's name but mine. Then one night out of the blue he came up to me as I was laying by Jill on her bed at bed time, and he said, "Mama. Mama." And he knew what he was saying too! He has said it a few times since. I am so pleased!

A while later I realized what probably brought it about.  Aw had watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and on that show one of the kids thinks "Zooee Mama" a funny thing to say. Timmy picked that up right away and started saying, "Zoomy Mama," in his matter-of-fact tone of voice. And then he shortened it.  So Zooee  Mama was a vehicle that for him to say and understand Mama. Well, I'll take it. :)

And here is a cute picture of Brom. He is still a little wobbly sitting in the shopping cart, but today was his first real time doing it, and he looked way cute and did great.


Oh goodness. One more.


One night everyone was in bed but Timmy and me. 
I had to go to the bathroom, and Timmy came and tried to open the door. 
I said no, and I heard him go away. I assumed he had gone to my bed as usual, but 
I cam out and didn't find him there. 
I found him on his own bed with his stuffed doggy! 
Miracle
!

Throwback Thursday

...And then the hamburger just came right down out of heaven!  It was a burger miracle!

(Rob gave Michael birthday money to buy a burger, and he was able to get a whole kids' meal. This was 2009.  Michael was 3.)

Little Jill at Grandma Badger's house at Christmas time (Awwww!)

 

Benji playing with Play-Doh during October Conference 2011. (Pretty sinkin' cute!)

Worldless Wednesday

Monday Meme

Sooo... I hoped those little daily themes would get me excited and help me blog at least every weekday, but I still never remember.  This morning, though, Kimberly reminded be to blog and said that since it is my birthday today (Yea, me!) maybe I should blog about my best and worst birthdays.  I think I could do something like that. The worst birthday I can remember I wrote about in an update back in 2012.  Here's what I said:

"My birthday was a bit of a bummer.  Jeremy and I have had sore throats all week, and it all kind of came to a head on my birthday.  Jeremy was throwing up and feeling awful.  And I had procrastinated or not found time or something so that I had a major shopping trip that needed to happen that day.  We were running out of a lot of things.  So I got my buns in gear and went on that shopping trip.  I had 3 kiddos with me, but when two of them are too big to be in the cart, it just gets interesting.  Technically, I would like Jill in the basket, but she thinks she’s too big.  She and Michael were both running every which way the whole time.  Oh, it was just oozing with funness.  And I knew that because Jeremy was sick I’d have to buy my own presents, and that is an absolutely miserable thing to me.  I feel horribly guilty and selfish buying birthday presents for myself.  I finally, cringeingly, bought myself a $5 movie (Julie and Julia), and then I got a movie for everybody else (Tangled) and some popcorn so we could eat it while we watched.  And that was that.  I figured we could at least have some party.

"So then after I had the cart loaded all full we made our way to checkout.  I found a line that wasn’t too long.  The guy in front of me didn’t appear to have anything, but I thought, “Well, at least he won’t take long.”  Then he turned to me and said, “Oh, here she comes.”  And then to his wife, who was like 5 lanes away with a cart that was heaped full he called, “Over here, honey!”  I was so hurt that he could see me at my wit’s end with 3 kids and a full cart and insist that he and his wife go first.  And on top of that my husband and I were sick and it was my birthday and I wasn’t getting any presents other than that one I bought myself.  You bet I turned my buns around and went to another lane and then cried all the way home.

"After that, though, things were looking up.  When I got home Jeremy hurried out to help me carry stuff in from the car.  And it really made me laugh because he was wearing his bathrobe with his apron over it.  And this was not just any apron.  This is the kind made of space-themed fabric that he got for his birthday some time before I even met him.  I like that apron, and it just looked awesome with his bathrobe and slippers. :) He was wearing said apron because he had suddenly realized he hadn’t made me a cake.  So he hurried and made me a cake while I was gone, and he tried to get the boys to clean up and do their homework.  And then we watched those movies and made a big mess with popcorn and cake.  Good times."

There ya go. I still feel really sad when I think of that birthday. I felt so forgotten. Blargh!

OK, now for a change of gears. I don't have a favorite birthday ever, but I do remember certain birthdays more than others. Mostly I remember the presents I got!  I remember that when I turned 8 I got to have a birthday party, and that was fun. I remember that I got a tea set that I loved so much!  I still have two of the little cups.  It was a beautiful white porcelain set with roses.  I LOVED it.  A friend gave me a Pound Puppy that birthday, and I was so excited.  It was just what I wanted.  Oh, and I got a Care Bear.  I really loved that birthday because I got to get baptized.  I was so excited that it was my turn.  I told Mama that I wanted to do the baptism on my birthday and the party another day because getting baptized was more important.  It was definitely more important to me.  I was excited that my Peterson grandparents came for my baptism, and I made sure to ask Grandma Peterson to give the talk on the Holy Ghost so she could tell her story about the Holy Ghost. (Mental note: next week talk about that.  It's a cool little story.) I remember that when we went down in the water Daddy had his socks on.  I thought that was pretty funny.  I loved that it was my turn to wear the pretty white baptism dress Mama had made when Jennifer was baptized.  It was long and had a white fabric rose on the belly.  As we were getting in the car to go to the church, though, I climbed over a seat in the station wagon and popped the seam that attached the bodice to the skirt.  Mama and I ran back into the house to fix it.  If I remember right, I didn't have a slip on underneath that dress, and she made me go get one while she sewed.  Decency before all!  ;) Just teasin'.  I remember how special I felt being baptized and confirmed.  Not only did I feel pleased that it was my big day, my time in the spotlight, but it felt so good inside.  It was wonderful!  Yeah, that was probably my favorite birthday.

Another birthday I got some crystal clip-on earrings with yellow flowers on them.  Yellow is my favorite.  I loved those earrings!  For my 12th birthday I got a pattern and some yellow fabric to make a jumper.  (It's that kind of dress with no sleeves.  I wore a plain white t-shirt under it.  I had that dress until a while after I got married.  I loved it!  I still like wearing yellow.  It's a happy color.) Mama helped me sew that dress, and I was so excited about it!  That was the first dress I ever made, but it definitely was not the last. ;) I like sewing dresses. Another birthday I got netting to make a skirt for one of the dances I made up. (That was one of the best things about being in Mrs. Wing's dance classes.  She helped us make dances and let us perform them at our recitals.  It was such a blessing to me!) I think Mama made that skirt for me.  And speaking of dance skirts, for another of my dances Mama used her wedding veil to make me a skirt.  It's pretty and white with beads and stuff on it.  I love it a lot, and I still have it in my closet.  Another birthday I had wanted a camera, but I didn't get one.  Daddy asked me, "Did you get everything you wanted?"  I said, "No.  I wanted a camera."  So he went and got one of his own and gave it to me.  I felt kind of bad about that, like I was being selfish, but I loved that camera a lot.  I used it a lot too, and I was thankful to have it. :)

Jeremy came home from his mission not long after our birthdays in 1999, and he brought me a music box that's a little piano.  You open the lid to make it play.  Well, you have to wind it too, of course.  It's cute. :) On other birthdays he got me a ruby ring and necklace.  The stone on the ring is shaped like a heart.  And the necklace is shaped like a heart with little rubies here and there on it.  I am really bad about remembering to wear jewelry these days, but I really love these.  Once while he was commuting to school at ASU one of his friends sent a sack of yellow grapefruits home with Jeremy on my birthday.  It was an old feed bag.  That was a lot of grapefruit!  We ate it all.  It was the best grapefruit I have ever, ever had.  That was fun. :)

Another thing I like about my birthday is that Aaron has the same birthday.  It kind of makes me feel closer to him, and I like that.  He is a good friend and I'm thankful that he's also my brother-in-law.  Sweet! :D We've had some fun times celebrating together.  Sometimes it's been a little awkward, but even when we don't even get together on our birthday it's fun to share the day with someone I like so well. :)

And there you go. I'd better pick up my cute baby boy.  He does like to lay on the floor for a while.  He gurgles and kicks his legs and has a great time, but he's had enough, I guess.