It's a Girl!

Paul and Kelsey had their ultrasound today, and their little baby is a girl. Paul showed me pictures, and he said he'd make copies, so I can post them here.

Wow, the girls are taking over. She will make five granddaughters and three grandsons.

Motherly Thoughts and Deathly Hallows

A fellow writer, Deanna posted on her blog yesterday about a way cool website called Pinterest. Deanna included some pictures of her favorite things. One item almost made me gasp and my eyes got all misty.

Is this awesome, or what?

Today, Ed and I are going to an early, early showing of Deathly Hallows 2. It starts at 5:05 p.m. I can't wait!

And at one of the premiers, the trio and Jo speak about the end.


*sniff*

Holiday

I worked like crazy to get my manuscript (mostly) ready to submit to my critique group, and I gave up  my leisure reading to focus on that project. I've also been working out with the P90X program, so I don't have the time to read while on my exercise bike or treadmill. Because of a knee issue I haven't done P90's cardio, so I've been limited to reading one day a week. So I've been really starving to read.

Not any more. Ed and I finished one book together already, and I'm working on the book I've been reading on the treadmill. It's a romantic suspense, so it's been tough to set it down. I've got a huge stack of books I want to work on. I will report on my reading on my writing blog after the 15th.

Paul and Kelsey came for breakfast this morning, so we all went to Kneaders. They'd never had their (to die for) French Toast. Paul was freaking out because it was so good.

Kelsey, Paul, Ed

Then we went to the Colonial Fest going on at Scera Park. It was way cool.

Do they ever grow up? He's going to be a father later this year. O_o

Ed was fascinated by the canons.

I think Paul would have a problem with the uniforms being too short for him.

This is what happens when you ham it up for the camera too much.

 We've got plans to go to a neighbor's get together later this evening. Utah's expanded the fireworks laws, and I'm ready to start shooting people. When they haven't got the sense to quit at a reasonable hour ...

Anyway. Happy 4th of July!

Pottermore

Squeeee!

Finding Joy in the Journey

I Believe...

That just because two people argue,

It doesn't mean they don't love each other.

And just because they don't argue,

It doesn't mean they do love each other.

That we don't have to change friends if

We understand that friends change.

That no matter how good a friend is,

they're going to hurt you,

every once in a while

and you must forgive them for that.

That true friendship continues to grow,

even over the longest distance.

Same goes for true love.

That you can do something in an instant

That will give you heartache for life.

That it's taking me a long time

To become the person I want to be.

That you should always leave loved ones with Loving words.

It may be the last time you see them.

That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

That we are responsible for what

We do, no matter how we feel.

That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

That heroes are the people

who do what has to be done

when it needs to be done,

regardless of the consequences.

That my best friend and I

can do anything or nothing

and have the best time.

That sometimes the people you expect

to kick you when you're down

will be the ones to help you get back up.

That sometimes when I'm angry

I have the right to be angry, but that

doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

That maturity has more to do

with what types of experiences you've had

And what you've learned from them

and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

That it isn't always enough,

to be forgiven by others.

Sometimes, you have to learn

to forgive yourself.

That no matter how bad your heart is broken,

the world doesn't stop for your grief.

That our background and circumstances

may have influenced who we are, but,

we are responsible for who we become.

That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret.

It could change your life forever.

Two people can look at the exact same

Thing and see something totally different.

That your life can be changed in a matter of hours

by people who don't even know you.

That even when you think you have no more to give,

When a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

That credentials on the wall

do not make you a decent human being.

That the people you care about most in life

are taken from you too soon.

'The happiest of people don't necessarily have

the best of everything;

They just make the most of everything they have.

~~Author Unknown

Father's Day

"A father is a guy who has pictures in his wallet

where his money used to be."

--author unknown

As I was making plans to take my sweet hubby out for dinner tonight for Father's Day, I happened upon a couple of blog posts that motivated me to do one of my own. One is by Robin Weeks and the other is NieNie's brother's post on his Modern Mormon Men blog.

I was a single parent for 2 1/2 years after my first husband died. Both of my children desperately missed him, though they were so young (David was almost 4, and Erin was only 17 months) they didn't have the ability to express their sense of loss. It showed up in other ways. I was concerned especially for David because let's face it. I'm a girl. I couldn't tell him how to be a guy.

What helped was I ended up getting married again. While no human being is perfect, my new husband Ed loved these two kids. They are his in every way the three biological sons we've had together are his children. He would do anything for them. In his flawed humanity, he wants only what's best for them and now their children.

David prepared a card for Ed a few years ago before he and his family moved to China to show his appreciation for Ed. It included a song about a stepdad. It made all of us cry.




But I want to continue NieNie's brother's comment in his post about acknowledging Father's Day. This is an issue that can seriously make me angry. My own ward (congregation) would do nothing on Father's Day, and they didn't even have the excuse that it was stake conference as NieNie's brother's ward did.

I went on a little rant during ward council, when I was over activities last year. I told the bishopric and the other ward leaders that not acknowledging fathers Father's Day minimized the impact fathers have on their children. That it was an unspoken sermon on the unimportance of fathers. It wasn't a message I thought we wanted to give anyone.

I shared with them a newspaper article I'd read some years ago where a local phone company had provided free phone calls to prisoners in the local prison on Mother's Day. Men lined up for hours for the chance to call their mothers. It was so touching the phone company offered the same opportunity on Father's Day.

Not one man lined up to place a call. Not one.

This doesn't mean that everyone who ends up in prison had an abusive or missing father. Society is full of people who overcame that kind of parenting without ending up incarcerated. Nor does it mean that good parents can't end up with children who take dangerous paths.

However, it does speak highly about how very influenctial a loving, engaged father can be in the lives of his children. In a world where so many boys and young men don't have a good role model on how to be a man--and just having big muscles or sexual or athletic prowess doesn't make you a man--we need to take every chance we get to acknowledge the ones who are good models of manhood. The bottomline is it takes more to be a father than just being a sperm donor.

I was grateful the ward council took my comments to heart and made sure fathers were acknowledged last year. I hope they do the same again this year.

So on this Father's Day, I'd like to acknowledge the great men in my life. They're great men not because they amassed lots of wealth or worldly praise, but because they were/are loving, engaged, present fathers. My deceased father David (he died 3 months ago); my Uncle Ned; my father-in-law, David; my brother David; my sweet husband Ed; my sons David, Robert, and now Paul, whose wife will have a baby in December; and my wonderful son-in-law Spencer. (I'll be you noticed the plethora of Davids in my family.)

Happy Father's Day, guys!

Deathly Hallows 2

I'm going to get to see the movie a little early. A neighbor let me know about a local coupon business group that was working to get a 5 p.m. showing on July 14th. Since the 15th is the last day that candidates can file for the local election and I can't leave early, I was stressing.

No more.

SQUEEEE!!!!