There's No Place Like Home

I want to be in love with the place I live. Everywhere we have lived I have tried to find something about that place that makes it the best at that moment. Yet, doing that in this move to Arizona has been tough for me. I told myself over and over in the summer "You can be happy anywhere" and, while I knew that is true, it seemed like I was also hearing "blah blah blah" behind that thought. I was happy, I am happy, I just wanted to feel like this is home - a place I could happily stay as we don't want to keep moving, especially as our kids get older.

I will always miss the Hill Country of Texas. I will always think a little longingly of the beauty of the place and the people I miss and just the "Texas"-ness of it all. It is an amazing place and one that will always hold a piece of my heart.

I don't know exactly what changed (or when) in my heart, but I have come to know that I have found a place to "put my home." I think, for me, home has become a state of being more than a location on a map. As long as I am seeing my kids grow and thrive, as long as I can serve, as long as I am around people I love, I can be "home." My kids are happy and thriving, there are always opportunities to serve and we can find love where ever we choose. So here I am. And, truly there is no place like home.

The Newest Princess in the Kingdom of God

SUCH a special day for our little girl! October 10, 2009, Emma Catherine Davies was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was so nervous, partially because she didn't want to have to do it twice and partially because she really hates to have "everyone" looking at her. But she sailed through. Here she is in front of the font before the baptism. She was very cooperative of a Mom who couldn't get enough pictures.

The picture below shows a glimpse of the relationship between Emma and her Dad. I know people think I am stubborn, but I am NOTHING compared to these two. When they are at odds -- get out of the room. :)

Side note about the dresses. When Rick found out I was making TWO dresses (one to be baptized in with bloomers underneath) and one "pretty" one for after, he complained about it. I told him he was getting off easy. I already had the material for both, so it would actually save him money. Besides, I told him. I only got to have one girl, so if I had wanted her to have 5 dresses, it should be okay. I very very rarely go overboard on girly stuff. He was also worried it would be too much for me, as I was making them while I was in pain earlier this summer, but it actually kept me sitting down more and still made me feel like I was being productive.

The "pretty" dress holds special meaning for me. It is made from material left-over from my wedding dress. Her baby blessing dress is also made from this material. I asked Emma about it before sewing it and she was really excited. She chose it over pictures of other "floofy" dresses. After she had been to a baptism in September where 2 of her friends were baptized, both with "floofy" dresses, I was worried that she would want a different dress. Here is what she said, "My dress is even more special, because my Mom made it." Okay, if that didn't make me feel good......

The above picture is right after she was baptized and changed. She is still wet and freezing as the water was cold. We could not get her warmed up for several hours. Doesn't she look "perfect"? She is so happy here. I love the smiles of the newly baptized! It is my favorite part.

The picture below I just could not help including. She looks so elegant and regal. Emma is all girl in many ways, yet most of the time you will find her digging in the dirt, playing with rocks, hair flying every which way (even if it was only brushed 5 minutes before) and generally looking like no one loves her. I know that soon enough she will worry more about which lip gloss to use, but for now, I will take the little girl who climbs trees and isn't worried about what others think of her. I love her love for life and am grateful for her cooperation of all the pictures I wanted in her pretty dress and with her hair done (which she patiently allowed me to do - even though she hates hates hates hairspray).

In front of the Mesa Temple.

Caleb asked, "Why are you getting so many pictures of Emma?", but when I asked for some of him, we got very few that are presentable. He just won't cooperate, the little stinker. Here is one tolerable one. I tried to get some of him alone and some of him with Emma -- to no avail. Well, none that I will post, anyway. In this picture, we are joking that we are supposed to look like we are happy and loving each other, when in reality we were all done with each other by this point. :) The joy of family pictures.

All in all, it was a very special day (and the day after). Emma has very good memories and can't wait to wear her pretty dress again.

Alive and Kicking

So, okay, I have had several people mention that it has been a long time......... We are still here. To be honest, it has been an incredibly rough month for me. I have been sick, tired and sick of being sick and tired. But I am going down to 1 chemo treatment each week now, so, hopefully, I can get some energy back. The library and I have become good friends as it is right around the corner from my Dr.'s office. Also, I am sleeping better, so that helps, too. So, I have not been on the computer much at all, unless it is for something quick.

But life has not slowed down for us and here is a list of pictures -- highlights from the last month. This month we have:
learned new tricks. Dobby learned that after babies eat at Grandma's house there are nibbles to be found.

We swam - a lot! Thanks to Uncle Spencer and Aunt Karson for letting us come over - whenever!

Emma learned to sew with Grandma. She LOVED it! And her seams were straighter than mine were until I was in high school!

We played with cousins -- pretty much all day every day.

LOTS of playing with cousins.

Two girls named Anna. I happen to think the one in pink is pretty darn beautiful - inside and out!

We got to spend time kissing babies -- though not nearly enough.

We camped in the mountains -- so nice to be cold at night! Rick and Polly and Ken did all the work. I just sat there and was lazy!

First day of school -- August 12th -- way too early for me. The kids are happy, though, and love their school. Caleb is learning the French Horn (his tone is pretty darn good for the first week). I will post more on this later.

We are ALMOST to our Webelos and Arrow of light. He has 3 more weeks. Not cutting it close or anything.

We celebrated Rick's birthday. Below is the RAW cheesecake he requested for his "cake". Yes, it is not a typo -- it is a raw cheesecake, and very very delicious! Rick tasted the little piece of one I got from Whole Foods and requested it. It was a hit. The kids loved it, too. Just goes to show that raw does not always mean green. :)

I am also going to start a new blog or two on something other than our family. This month our family is working on going gluten-free (well, mostly Caleb, since I already am and Rick hasn't quite been able to "commit" and Emma doesn't care about bread much anyway - other than pasta) and dairy-free. It is such a challenge! Like I don't have enough on my plate. But we desperately need to figure out a few things, so here we go...... I will share some of what I am learning on another blog. I will link to it when I get it up. Cooking gluten-free is such an adventure. An adventure I should have documented with pictures last week when I tried a new bread recipe that looked soooooo beautiful out of the oven, I almost cried. Then I did cry when 10 minutes later it was literally flat as a pancake. My Mom and I were laughing so hard, I was crying. If it hadn't been so funny, I would have been so sad. Caleb is already feeling better without wheat, though, after eating a little wheat over the weekend, his stomach has been a wreck for the last few days. *sigh*

Anyway, we have much to be grateful for and are looking for ways to learn to love living in Mesa. It will come, I am sure. Being close to the temple and to family top all of our lists right now. What a treat to leave at 2:55 and make it to the 3:30 session or to take the kids to the Visitors Center for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir exhibit and to the grounds for FHE. Emma loves seeing brides there and got brave enough to go talk to one. The bride was so sweet and emphasized to Emma how happy she was that she got married in the temple. Best lesson for FHE of all. :) We love playing with cousins and Grandma and having family take care of us. I am grateful for sisters and sisters-in-law and a mom who look out for me.

Another PET scan

Okay, so the good news first: I had a PET scan on Monday of last week and got the results on Thursday. GOOD news! Everything is shrinking. At a pretty quick rate. If this keeps up, there will be NO need for surgery! Hurrah!!!!

And I said, good news first, like there was bad news. There is no bad news, so that is good news, too! I have continued to ride the roller coaster of good days, bad days but I guess that is to be expected. It is frustrating not to be able to plan anything ahead of time because we aren't sure how I am going to be feeling, so we are grateful to see good results and know that this is all working and accomplishing what we want.

Overall, it has been a good month for our family. The kids have had lots of fun with cousins as the pictures below show. And, this weekend, to celebrate my good results and because Rick starts work on Monday morning, we drove over to San Diego spur of the moment to spend a day at the beach. Thanks to Jon and Megan for letting us just come jump on their weekend. We had a great day at the beach! I hope to get some pictures up from the beach at some point. But, it was a glorious, beautiful day. The kids and Rick played on the beach and in the water all afternoon while I got sun-burned on the sand, watching them and reading -- just relaxing!

Rick, Caleb and Emma ready to watch the Sharks 3D movie at the Science Center.

Abby and Emma at the Science Center.

A group of cousins with us at the Science Center.

Jacob, Caleb and McKay doing Rock Band 2. It was noisy and fun.

The Grass is Always Greener

Why is it that we want something other than what we have?

When we lived in Texas, we missed Trader Joes, but now that we are in Arizona, we want HEB back (okay we DID know we would miss it but, darn them for being so great!). When my sister sees dead deer on the side of the road, she says, “Why did you have to think the grass was greener on the other side? Why couldn’t you have just stayed where you are?” I say there are never enough hours in the day to get things done, but when I can’t sleep after a chemo treatment I get discouraged about not sleeping instead of using that time to be productive. My daughter has the body I always wanted (those LONG beautiful legs), but I stress about finding clothes that fit and are modest and cute for her ultra-thin body.

You get the idea.

Today, this cute cute body (in the above picture) that I love so much put on an apron and wanted to make herb rolls with me for dinner. I was thrilled. This little person is someone who pops over to visit several times a day from next door and I adore her! Today, she measured, stirred and mixed and then kneaded away until the dough was ready.

The ironic part: HER mom was making bread next door and she was not interested in helping her at all. MY kids were watching “Herbie: Fully Loaded” and weren’t interested in helping ME at all, but I am sure if they knew Aunt Karson was making bread next door, they would have thought it was fun to help her.

Regardless, fun, cute Gracie – I love her. I did NOT feel good after chemo today – this was a hard day. And she brought a little sunshine into my life.

Happy 4th of July!

Our Fourth of July celebration started waaaayyy too early. The ward had a breakfast/parade/flag ceremony that started at 7:00am. The kids got up at 6:00 to decorate their bikes, then off to the church to we went.

Here is a picture of Emma and her friend Maddy. It has been so nice for the kids to already know people here from last year. It has definitely made the transition a little easier.

Here is Caleb with two friends: Tyler and Josh.

Stopping in the "parade" long enough for me to get a picture.

Our patriotic puppy: mad because we wouldn't let him join the parade. He was thrilled with all the kids there!

Later in the day, we swam and had fun. Brady and Berta came over and Polly and Ken. The trampoline ring became a "sparring" ring. The funniest part about it was the audience on the side. The little girls lined up chairs to watch (just like fair maidens), then they were joined by the younger boys, as well.

Emma had a bit of a rough day, physically, though. Early in the day, I got to watch her racing down the street on a scooter (with Dobby attached to the handlebars by his leash) and do a flip in the middle of the road -- landing on her head and sliding on her knee. Ouch! Then, later, while swimming, she flipped off the diving board and hit her back. MORE ouch! Then, as soon as she recovered from that, she and Rick were playing and she bent her fingers back and couldn't use her hand the rest of the day. When it still hurt this morning and had some black and blue and swelling, we were worried that it was broken, so we took a quick trip to the urgent care. Thank goodness, it was okay. She got to see x-rays for the first time and was fascinated by the whole thing.

Overall, it was a fun day. And we are happy that it didn't end with a cast on a hand. Not swimming or playing the piano for 6 weeks were thoughts she couldn't bear.

Today Feels Like Friday, but I Know Sunday Will Come

Yesterday was a hard day and it went on a lot of the night. I learned yesterday afternoon that a friend from last summer had passed away yesterday morning. This man is one who came to be treated by Dr. Lodi also. I fell in love with Tom and Dana as a couple. They were my age, full of life and enthusiasm and spunk. You rarely see people as in love as these two! They loved each other, their kids and just being a family. It has been hard to think about Tom passing away. I had just recently learned that he wasn't doing well and I know he was in a dreadful amount of pain. There has been many tears and much introspection. I wish I could just fly up to Colorado and give Dana a big squeeze. I love Dana with all my heart.

I have been trying not to wonder why there has to be so much pain in life sometimes. I only know that through this all I have been so grateful for the One who can help us through it. I am grateful for the timeliness of this message that the Church put on their website only this week. I have watched it several times in the last 24 hours, including early morning hours when I should have been sleeping, but my heart was aching instead. The resurrection has become so much more real for me in the last year. I am grateful for the Savior, for His Gift. I know that someday I will have two legs to kneel at my Savior's feet to thank Him for all He has done. But I will not let that stop me from kneeling with one leg today. Today, I need to remember to be grateful to be with MY family and to be alive. I am truly grateful for the knowledge that if I can be worthy, I can be with my family forever.