Snoring.......

Or should I say, sleep apnea, has been an issue in our lives since we got married.
Both of Bill's parents snore, loudly (shake the roof, you can hear them from the farthest corners of the house). And apparently, this is definitely inherited.

When Bill and I got married many years ago... Bill was (and still is a snorer). If I am happily and soundly asleep, then I don't hear it or notice it, and so... it doesn't bother me. BUT... if I am awake (wake up in the middle of the night, or he falls asleep before I do), then I HEAR him snoring and it drives me a bit crazy! I have somewhat sensitive hearing, and the littlest sound can drive me batty! It will be like what I hear goes inside my ear and gets into my head and I just cant' get the noise out of my head!!! I stay up and watch T.V. a lot, late at night, partly to help drown out the noise of snoring. Now I'm not complaining, just trying to explain the situation.

He doesn't snore all the time, and like I said, once I am asleep, I don't hear it, so it doesn't bother me a bit. If he is really tired or ill (I guess keeping him awake, therefor making him more tired), he snores much worse! He has been known to sleep on the couch, just to avoid keeping me up with the snoring that is sure to come on some of those nights. I have even been known to leave the bedroom occasionally (very seldom), if it gets really bad and I want to pull my hair out. ;-)

I had heard stories (we all have) of people hitting, kicking or shoving the other person in the middle of the night, to get them to roll over, and stop snoring (for the time being at least). Well, as a young newlywed, I thought all of that sounded quite cruel. I loved my sweetheart! In an effort to be 'kind' to my hubby but to help solve the issue, I found my own little way that would do the trick. We had probably been married for nearly 2 years when one day, my sweetheart looked at me and said, "Do you have any idea how frightening it is to wake up in the middle of the night, because you can't breathe?" Apparently, that is what happened when I would reach over and gently plug his nose... I only would hold it for a second, and he'd wake up enough to roll over.

Well, I felt pretty bad about the whole thing! Since that time I have resorted to pushing on him, and sometimes a bit harder than others I admit... to get him to roll to his left side. It isn't quite as bad then (he usually doesn't snore on his left side).

Well, finally as he is about to leave the military, he had to have a physical done. He told them honestly about all of his complaints (some of which he'd been telling them for years to no avail). Well, they have sent him to get the MRI that told him he had several ruptured disks in his back (no wonder it's hurts and he has almost constant back pain!). They have him doing all sorts of testing, and the sleep study is one of them.

Two weeks ago, he went for the initial sleep study. It was determined that he stops breathing 12-15 times an hour, and his oxygen saturation levels dropped as low as 74% at times. Now the really sad thing is, it was a good sleep night for him! He wasn't as tired as normal, and didn't snore nearly as much as usual for him. It makes you wonder how bad he is on a bad night!?!

So, tonight he is back at the sleep center again, this time they will be monitoring him, while he sleeps with the aid of a CPAP machine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_airway_pressure
Then tomorrow he will either have a home machine ordered for him or possibly even come home with one. I had heard they were noisy, Bill was even joking about him sounding like Darth Vader, but when i was there to drop him off, they started him on it to get used to it before they hooked him up to all the wires, and I could barely hear it, if at all. So, I guess it won't be so bad as I had anticipated! (I was worried about whether the noise would be more irritating and bothersome than the snoring).

Anyway, he had a broken nose from wrestling intramurals he had to participate in back at West Point many many years ago, and the Dr. noted in his records, he does have a deviated septum. So, whether the snoring is partially a family tendency, or not, that has made it all worse! His nose is actually quite crooked. We have joked about him getting surgery - he saw a friend of ours a few years back just shortly after her surgery. She looked pretty rough - two black eyes, bruised all on her nose and cheek bones... he didn't find any of that comforting at all, and said, NO way! But now, with the CPAP, he will most likely have to wear the full mask that covers both mouth and nose, rather than just a smaller type that goes over only the nose, since it would probably have a difficult time forcing air, through the deviated septum, and into his airway.

The things you learn from a small medical procedure or situation...

Please don't refer to me as Mrs. Vader when we see each other next... ;-)

Hopefully my sweetheart will be able to get some good sleep - FINALLY - and be much more well rested, and he won't fall asleep in the middle of the day, etc. (he actually considered getting tested for Narcolepsy at one time... that was before he was diagnosed with the Diabetes, and that was the biggest cause of his inability to stay awake, at that time, though I'm sure that the apnea wasn't helping!!!)

What's Your Name???

Rebekah: What's your name?

Liam: ..... LIAM

Rebekah: What's your middle name?

Liam: mmmmmmm....... BOY!

Rebekah and mom: cracking up!!!!

Do I get to be first to comment on Adam Lambert??? (this week)

WoW!!! He was awesome!!! and what a difference from everything else he's done so far, especailly last week! WoW!!!

Silly sayings...

Amanda asked Liam "what happend to your elbow?"

Liam replied:

"A person bumped my elbow, because I'm skinny!"

That is all I heard, and it took me a minute to realize he was telling her about his skinned up elbow!

Kids!

Senior Pic's!

We've had a big week. The day before Bill's Retirement Ceremony, Rebekah went out with a freind of ours for her Senior Pictures. They turned out great!!! (We waited till her braces were off, and then we waited for Cherry Blossoms to be in bloom...).

http://growinguprebekah.blogspot.com/ you can find the link to her pic's here.

Retirement Ceremony

Today was Bill's Retirement Ceremony. He isn't officially finished with the Army until 30 June 2009, but he decided to join in with the post retirement ceremony.

It was very nice. There were 4 other people who were retiring at today's ceremony.

Bill received some nice awards, and then they brought the wives up and gave us all an award as well.


Bill gave a really nice speech, and made us all cry...
*** You can find his speech here: http://ibho.blogspot.com/

(Hannah almost cried, Liam didn't cry... he was actually really well behaved for the entire thing! We were so proud of him! He did better than he usually does at Church!)

At some point the older girls must have gotten a bit bored... as here is a picture of their shoes.

(The shoes on the Right... with the sparkles on it, are actually shoes I got for a formal dance at West point - I think it was the last dance before Bill graduated - 20 years ago.)

We went to dinner afterward, at a Chinese Buffet. We had a couple of his former coworkers join us. One was his First Platoon Sgt. from his very first assignment - job- in the Army...

Now all he has to do is out process for the next two weeks from the Army, then he starts his new job at ITT (CAS), here in Huntsville on 6 April.

On our way home there was a beautiful sunset - and I had to take a picture. I thought I should have some profound comment to go along with it, like 'Now as we look toward the sunset of our lives...' HA!!! I may be old, but I am NOT old enough to be looking at the sunset of our lives quite yet! The sunset was pretty anyway!

When we came home - Bill pulled out a plaque he had bought for me. It has a poem about being an Army Wife on it, with a background picture of a flag, and a sweet picture of a statue of a mother and baby.

Breakfast

Liam wanted breakfast this morning...

He didn't want cereal or anything off a shelf in the house, he wanted something in the garage... so dad goes out with him, and they go to the big freezer. They are looking, an "there are no toaster strudels, no waffles, no pancakes." Liam says, "maybe a popsicle?" Ya, that's it!!! Popsicles for breakfast!!!

Funny kid!

Off to NY

No NOT the family!!! We are staying here in Alabama - the new job is LOCAL.

Bill however is off for the weekend with Rebekah, to check out colleges. She is planning to attend Niagara University, in upstate NY (yes Niagara - as in Falls). They flew up there yesterday morning, and will be back late Tuesday evening.

Bill said the campus is very small, but very pretty. Rebekah really liked it. Today they were attending Church in the Ward in Buffalo, so she could check it out ahead of time to see what she can expect there. (Institute class is in Buffalo).

I can't wait to hear more about their adventures.

A New Job...

My dear husband is retiring from the Military this summer. He will officially be a Civilian starting in July. He had quite a bit of leave that he saved up for the end of his military career, and on top of that you can take some leave to 'job hunt', an it all added up. He hasn't been to his office job all month. He has had some things he's had to do, but not the day to day job with the military.
I didn't realize how stressful this idea of retirement had been for him for a while. Last year some time we both attended a week long class on retiring, and all the steps you need to take to make things go the way you want them to, and things like writing resumes, and other things. He expressed at that time how nervous he was about him being able to get another job. I of course see his value, and know how hard he works, etc... and never felt like he'd have any problems getting a job. This year as things got closer and closer, I realized how nervous DH was. He was a little doubtful of his self worth, and he had this whole big family to support and how would we ever make it if he couldn't get a job...
Well, he posted his resume on line, and h got so many phone calls and email contacts from people interested in him that he had to remove his resume as he was overwhelmed by all the interest. That boosted his self esteem a bit. In the end he had abt. 6 offers from various Companies and groups... Who knew that instead of having no offers we'd have such choices? We were, and are very grateful for how things have gone. In these economically difficult times, we are so pleased and grateful to have had offers, let alone several to be able to choose between.
We talked about what each company and position would offer for him professionally, and for our family short term as well as long term. There was so much to think about!!! What type of insurance coverage did each company have, should we just stick with our retiree insurance and get supplemental insurance from the one company that offered that... Do they have vision insurance - as we do have 6 of 8 family members who wear either glasses, contacts or both... What about vacation time? We've had 1 month of vacation/leave time a year for the past 20 years! and Sick leave wasn't counted against your leave... That is hard to give up... of course Salary was something that we discussed, and it honestly did have something to do with a couple of offers that we turned down, but it was definitely not THE deciding factor.
Well, today was the day...
He accepted an offer and had to let the other people who had been so helpful and really wanted him to come work for them as well, know that he was grateful for their offers, but no, we've decided on another company at this time, for a variety of reasons...
We are thankful tonight to Heavenly Father for watching over our little (in the over all grand scheme of the world and all it's peoples) family, and helping to make the path that we have been on over the past 20 years, as difficult as parts of it were at times, (the path was definitely led by our Heavenly Father as some of it we certainly would NOT have chosen for ourselves), such that it would all come together for our good and help to put us (DH) in the position to have so much choice. Also giving DH a boost in self esteem to realize that he has much value to others and he was sought after.
So... after officially signing on with his new company(he will begin work on 6 April - that is when he will be eligible to begin working for someone else (as he will be done with the military, and will then just be using accrued official leave), we decided to go out to dinner to celebrate.
We have a big family with lots of young one's so where would we go that would make everyone (well mostly everyone) happy??? Chuck E. Cheese seemed to fit the bill so we took the kids (minus Rebekah - she had a paper to complete to turn n tomorrow, before spring break, and she has begun showing signs of lactose intolerance, and just didn't feel up to dealing with the agonizing -for her- smells of Pizza with all the cheese, and having to fight eating it so that it didn't' give her a very upset tummy all night and tomorrow...) to dinner and bought them all tokens to play and have fun!!! They all enjoyed themselves (Hannah wasn't in the best mood when we first got there, and we ended the night with someones whole cup of lemonade spilling all over the bench - and the other sister who was sitting on that bench... filling her shoes with sticky liquid...not very happy making) and I didn't have to cook! (always a happy day!).

Anyway, that is our news of the day... BIG NEWS in our lives... BIG changes ahead! Bill has always been in the military - his dad is retired military, and his grandfather was retired military as well, so he comes from two generations of military men... He graduated from high school nearly 24 years ago, and two weeks later he was at West Point Military Academy. Military life is all he has ever known. We have been living somewhat of a civilian life by living off post out here in the community, so that part won't be as big of a change for us, than if we had been living on post and had to pack up and move as well...

But it is official, DH has a new job! Now to enjoy the rest of his leave, as well as get some things accomplished around the house, and yard, before he goes off to work.

I'm so proud of you honey!!! You are such a hard worker and it shows in your work ethic, and others notice as well. All those years and jobs you've done have payed off, and now you are on your way to a new career - until you retire again, and decide if you still feel like teaching school...
I love the person you are, and am so glad that somehow I found you, and am privileged to spend my life and all of eternity with you. I love you sweetheart!

Memories of my mother on her Birth day.

Memories of my mother: Loraine Faith Sherwood Wright 9 Mar 1926 – 31 Dec 1985

Temple:
Mom grew up living near and playing on the banks of the Snake River in Idaho Falls. She watched as they built the Idaho Falls Temple on her old playground, and sometime later after attending LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, UT, she became the Secretary to the Temple President, David Smith. He was the first temple president of the I.F. Temple. When she left on her mission to the Northern States Mission, where she spent most of her time in Illinois, President and Sister Smith gave her a nice book of Thoughts with a lovely inscription inside the front cover:
Gems of Thought compiled by Milton R. Hunter copy write 1949
In appreciation of your Loyalty and service to the Church and to Sister Smith and myself while working together in the Idaho Falls Temple. Faithfully yours, President and Sister David Smith.
“Of what should a man feel proud if not of his friends.” You have been so loyal and fine. From President and Sister David Smith.
After her mission she again worked at the Temple, and she also worked as a temple secretary for President Killpack. He was Temple President when mom and dad got married and sealed. When just the two of them showed up, he asked where her boys were, and they had been left at home. Dad had not adopted them legally (as he didn’t think he should take the place of their father, if some day they wanted to use the names they had been born with – E) and they didn’t think they could have them sealed to them. President Killpack said to bring them to the temple with them, so the next day I believe they went back to the temple with mom’s three little boys and President Killpack sealed them together as a family. I don’t know if it was completely legal, but in those days you didn’t have to go about things with all the paperwork you do now days. The boys all went by Wright as their last name, and no one ever said anything about it. After my one brother had served a mission, and gone on to marry and have children something caught up to him/them, and the church contacted him and said who is R.A.W? We don’t have any actual records on him. So… R.A.W later went through the legal steps to have his name legally changed to R.A.W. My dad Morris I Wright, is the only dad he ever really knew and remembers.

Mom also recorded Patriarchal blessings while she worked at the temple. The youth of the church would come to the Temple on a Saturday morning, and the Patriarch would give them their Patriarchal blessings. Mom would take down the blessings, using her secretarial short hand. She told of how she was never able to take short hand as well and accurately as in the temple. She felt the spirit guiding her as she would take the shorthand and then type up the Blessings. She knew that every word she typed up was exactly what the Patriarch had spoken as he’d given the blessing from the Lord for their lives. She loved working in the Temple.

Mom also used to sing in choirs and she’d sing solo’s different places as well. She has a piece of music for the song The Temple By the River, written about the Idaho Falls Temple. I know she loved that temple.

Mission:
Mom was a working gal, and didn’t seem to be getting married, so… she decided to serve a Mission. As she approached the age of 21 when she could serve, they decided to change the age of Sister Missionaries to 25. She continued working and as she was about to turn 25 the age was changed back to 21. She sent in her paperwork to Salt Lake, and President George Albert Smith passed away, so her mission call was among the first called and signed by the new Prophet David O McKay. Mom always had a special place in her heart for President McKay.

She used to talk about her mission experiences. I remember her talking about serving in Rockford, Illinois, and having to go early on Sunday mornings to the Odd Fellows Hall to clean up from the night before, and sweep up beer bottles, and trash, before they could set up chairs for them to have Church Services there on Sundays. (A few years ago a friend of mine in Japan, D.F., had her mom visiting from Illinois. We got to talking and she remembered being a child and attending church at the Odd Fellows Hall in Rockford, IL. We think it was a few years later than when my mom had been there as a Sister Missionary, but she figured her mom might have remembered my mom perhaps.)

Pierced Ears:
While she was serving her mission several good friends served in the same mission, but so far apart they rarely saw one another. On one transfer day mom was going to be trading spots with her good friend and asked for permission to go a day early, so that they could see one another. One of the companions had been a nurse before her mission and was going around the mission piercing ears. She asked if mom wanted to have her ears pierced and no, she did not. Later that day she was laying on her bed studying, in the other room and the two sisters (her friends) came in pinned her down and pierced her ears. She decided since they were already pierced she might as well live with it. She later was holding a baby and had on small hoop earrings, and the baby got it’s finger stuck in her earring and pulled and tore her ear. She had problems with that ear and got infections in her earlobe her whole life time, even though she only ever wore clip on earrings occasionally the rest of the time.

When I came along, she did not want me to get my ears pierced. I asked for years, and she would say when I was 16, and as I got a bit older she'd say when I was 18. She found a cute card that had Luc from teh Peanuts gang on it, and it said, 'How would you like to get your ears pierced for your birthday?!?' she coulnd't NOT by the card so she hid it in her dresser drawer for abt. 6 months and for my 12th birthday I was finally allowed to get my ears pierced!

Rings:
Whenever my grandmother Cecil Florence Carstensen Sherwood had each of her four babies, Grandpa Ernest Clark Sherwood gave grandma a ring. I don’t know what the other rings were, but the one he gave grandma for my mothers’ birth was a small diamond ring in what today is a beautiful antique filigree setting. My grandmother actually passed it on to my mother when she was in her twenties, (it was a very small diamond, and the other rings had bigger stones from what I understand). My mother wore that ring for years, and at some point had gained some weight and had to have it cut off her finger so it was then missing a piece of the ring.
I remember growing up seeing it and being told the story and understanding somehow (I am guessing my mom told me) that some day it would come to me, as her only daughter. I used to sneak into her room sometimes and open the golden piano shaped musical jewelry box she kept on her white French provincial dresser. I’d pick up the ring and hold it up to my hand, squeezing the one side of the band that was still intact between my fingers and looking forward to the day when I would finally get to have the ring on my hand.

When mom was sick and in the hospital and then died, I was with dad and looking through some of her things. In a drawer of her dresser was a small heart shaped box and inside was the small antique ring from when she was born. Dad and I thought that since she now had her mom’s ring, though she wasn’t going to wear it, she had decided it was time to give me the other small ring, perhaps for Christmas. Dad took it to the Jewelry store and we got it fixed and fitted for my finger. I have worn that ring for 20 plus years nearly day and night. The last time I took it in to have it checked, the jeweler suggested very strongly that I not wear it except on special occasions (he said weekly to church is fine and other events), but not daily and that in fact no one ought to wear jewelry to bed as it gets constantly rubbed against things, and it wears them down. I was wearing out my ring and I would not have it as an heirloom to pass down to my children if I continued wearing it daily. I was so depressed, it was one of the few things I have of my mothers, and it was a special something that gave me a connection that I felt wearing it on my hand to constantly remember my mother. For now I have put it away to save for special times and to be able to pass along to my daughter. I cried when I realized I couldn’t wear it at all times. I almost want to buy a small heirloom type ring to replace it with, or to have a ring made new to replicate it so that I can have something to wear to keep me close to my mother every day. I haven’t worn it in several months now. My finger after 20 years still feels naked…

Pancreatitis:
The following year my mother got sick with Pancreatitis on Dec. 18, 1985. (it had been my birthday when she got ill and went to the hosp). Early in the day, She had been out grocery shopping and running errands, where coincidentally she ran into several old friends that day and had a little visit with each of them, in preparation for the family all coming home for the Christmas Holliday. I was in NY, my brother R, his wife T and their baby T were in Provo, dad, and the two older boys were in CA, and my youner brother R was home in ID. When my younger brother arrived home from school, that day he found mom very sick throwing up bile and in a LOT of pain. He took her to the hospital, where she was put into ICU.
The next morning I was preparing to come home from NY and tried countless times to call home before I left. My flight from NY was a bit delayed leaving due to snow and weather in NY. I arrived in Denver and had missed my connecting flight. I sat all day long and tried to call home to let mom know of my changed flight plans. I called and called and never got an answer. As I waited for the later flight out of Denver, I thought perhaps that mom had gone into town to have lunch with her sister, Aunt D, since she lived near the airport, and so I decided to wait until I figured my younger brother would be home from school to call again. Finally when I called I got an answer. It was my oldr brother RA instead of my younger brother RJ, and it confused me, since RA and T weren’t supposed to be coming in until the next day on Saturday since T was an Elementary School teacher in Provo. RA told me that mom was sick and in the hospital, that’s why she hadn’t been home and answering the phone.
I spent the next several hours in the Denver Airport, knowing very little other than my mom was in the ICU and I could do nothing but wait. Finally we got on a flight, it was a puddle jumper as far as I’m concerned, 20 seats, every seat was an aisle seat, but every seat was also a window seat. We took off and as we approached Idaho they announced that there was a lot of ice and snow and they couldn’t land in Idaho Falls. They suggested Twin Falls, and I started thinking, dad has a brother L in Twin Falls I could call if necessary, perhaps. Then they decided to land in Pocatello. I was closer, but what to do… There were only a few of us on the flight that were going to be stopping in I.F. but there was another airline with a large flight that had had to land in Pocatello as well, and they arranged for a bus for their passengers and the four of us from my flight were allowed to go on the bus to I.F. as well.
It had been hours since I was supposed to have arrived and I had no idea what I was going to do when I finally arrived in I.F. I was worried sick about my mom, and felt so alone while I traveled by myself all day long. Hard as it was, it was so nice to see loving familiar faces when I got to the airport in I.F. off the bus from Pocatello in the snow. Uncle J (my mom's younger brother and my younger brother RJ had come to pick me up. They tried to prepare me somewhat to what I would face when I saw my mom. She had, had a stroke some time during the time she’d been in the hospital (just over a day). She was in a lot of pain and on morphine. She had wires and things attached to her. When I got to the hospital RA, T and T were there, and I don’t remember who else right now as I write this. I went in to see mom (someone went with me, don’t remember who). I went in and started to cry. I remember my mom opening her eyes, and looking at me and she mouthed, “I Love you.” to me. That was the last time she was that conscious and the last words she ever spoke (even without sound) to me.

My dad was able to get back up to ID the following day, with my two oldest brothers. We spent most of that time over Christmas break at the hospital (someone was there at all times) with my mom.

Mom was in the hosp for two weeks. She started to get better at some point in the middle and they had her sitting up in a wheelchair. I remember thinking how hard it would be on her to be in a wheelchair and to have to depend on others to physically help care for her. My mom did NOT want to be a burden on anyone else. In the following week after Christmas my mom had a second stroke, and this one was completely disabling. After a day or two they did a cat scan and saw that there were actually nearly zero percent brain activity. We had a decision to make... We had to decide if we should turn off the life support as that was all that was keeping her alive at that point. We talked about it as a family and hard as it was going to be... we decided as a family that was what we would do.

(My Uncle J wrote me the following:

The most difficult blessing I have ever been asked
to give was to administer to your mom and release her
from this life. I can't even remember who all was
there other than your dad,and (my aunt M his wife). It was a
difficult time for all. I had been visiting with your
mom the morning she fell ill. I left her at noon and
went back to Rexburg, where we lived at the time. It
was early evening when we received a call from (my Aunt) D
that Loraine was very ill and in the hospital. It was
a terrible shock since she had seemed very well when I
left at noon. She had been so excited about the
Christmas season. The house was all decorated for the
events. You were all coming home to be with her for
a few days.

Love to you and to your family.

J)

My Uncle gave my mother a special blessing, and she passed on her own, a few hours before we would have turned off the life support. It was a blessing to me, that she was able to pass on her own, so that I didn't have to live with the fact that we had taken her off of life support, since even though I knew it was the right thing to do it would still have been hard to do.

My mother got ill on Dec 18th, and passed on Dec. 30th, after being ill and in severe pain for two weeks. It was so hard to see her in pain. It was so hard to say goodbye and let her go, but on the other hand it was a blessing that she passed on and I knew she was no longer in pain.

Education:

My mom is that she loved young children! She began a private Kindergarten class and taught two classes a day for several years when I was a small child. When we moved to Calif. when I was 4 yrs old, the laws there were a bit more strict, and she began working in preschools, but her love was kindergarten. She went to night school and received her degree in Early CHildhood Education. When we moved back to Idaho, my parents bought a nursery school and she got it licensed and taught a pre-school and private kindergarten for several years. She LOVED to teach young children to READ and write! That was her big joy!

Family fun times:

A few other memories I have of my mom are these: It wasn't often that she would get down and dirty with us kids, (I am kind of like that as a mom too). I remember one day we were out playing in the backyard, and she came out and somehow we all ended up (all us 5 kids), and her, in a big huge water fight with the hose. She had on a dress and everything, so it was definitely not something she would have normally done with us, but I remember that.

Also, for the years that we lived in S. Calif, I remember her comming in and waking us up on a wat. morning or a summer morning, and asking us kids if we'd like to go to Disneyland or Knott's Berry farm for the day? Who would possibly say NO to that!?!?! We loved Disneyland. I remember all of the old ticket books of tickets she'd have in her top dresser drawer. We'd always end up with lots of extra tickets left over from the easy rides, and we'd never have enough of the 'E' tickets for the cool/fast roller coaster rides! We had lots of fun times and memories of spending time together as a family at Disneyland as child.http://vintagedisneylandtickets.blogspot.com/2008/02/walt-disney-world-october-1971-ticket.html

I miss my mommy! It has been over half of my life time that she has been gone. She has never been here to share the special times of my life - My marriage, my births, my kids... that is hard for me at times.

I loved my mom. I need to work harder at sharing the things I remember of my mom with my kids so that they will come to know and love her like I do.

In Case You Missed It...

The video below is of Hannah and Marissa singing "Somewhere There's a Mountain" at our ward talent show. It was written by Jason Deere and performed by his daughters on Trek: A Nashville Tribute to the Pioneers (http://www.nashvilletribute.com/trek.html). The girls did a phenomenal job and we are so proud and couldn't help but share!

My daddy's birthday

Today would be my daddy's birthday. I don't often think about the basic things like my families birthdays, especially, when my parents haven't been around for quite some time now... but today I looked at the calendar and remembered my daddy.

My dad Morris Ivan Wright was born on March 4th 1920, in Idaho. He was raised on a farm, and they ran sheep, up Taylor mountain, east of Idaho Falls. He attended Rick's College in Rexburg, ID, and joined the church there. He got his teaching degree, and taught high school science and math at Idaho Falls High School.

He liked music and was always humming a tune or singing silly, made up songs. He liked to dance, and was a really good at calling Square Dances - which then meant he didn't get to dance all that much if he was calling the dance.

My dad had a funny sense of humor, and was always trying to play jokes/tricks on people. He was such a hard worker. He always gave 150% in all that he did. He valued hard work and definitely showed his love and care for his family by working hard to provide for us.

My daddy was not afraid to show his feelings. He would give hugs and tell you he loved you pretty freely. He would shed a tear and not feel ashamed of that at all.

He loved his family and the rich history they had in the Eastern Idaho area. He always knew someone from his past whenever and where ever we would go around town. He would talk of the old days and attending school at the little school house out in Taylor, and of the farmers and farms he grew up around. I wish I had more of that history written down so that I could go back and read it for myself, now that I'm old enough to appreciate it, and for my children as they grow up.

It is hard to describe my dad... I used to watch the t.v. show In the Heat of the Night, with Carroll O'Connor. I liked that Character, he played. He was kind of a cuddly teddy bear of a man in that show, and for some reason I like to think of my dad like that character. He knew what was right and wrong, and he worked to do right, and to help others.

My dad was the youngest of 8 children. He had 5 brothers, and one older sister that lived. The baby just before him was the 2nd daughter, but she died at 3 months old. His brother Mark was 4 yrs older than him, and was the next closest in age, died in a farm accident at the age of 23. So, my daddy was the baby of the family. He went off to college, and eventually was drafted into the Army at the end of World War II and served in the Philippines. He however lived back at home helping out on the farm in the midst of his other life.

He eventually met and married my mom, who had been married and had three small boys. He raised them as if they were his own, and then I was born to them, the first daughter, for my mom, and the first baby of my dad. 4 yrs later I had another brother born to my parents as well.

Some of the fun things I remember my dad doing was, he'd sing songs all the time and dance around the house. He loved the song Jingle Bell Rock, and would dance all around the house when it came on the radio. One year he had this red overall suit from working out in the garage... I remember he found this round little white bathroom rug and put it on around his ears, and pretended to be Santa clause. I'm sure I was embarrassed... as I was a teenager, but I look back at it now and it was pretty funny. I have a picture of my daddy dressed up for Halloween so that I could go trick or treating. He put on one of my mom's dresses, and wore one of her wigs, and he went around the neighborhood just to take me out for the night. What a sweetheart he was to do that for me!

One of the last memories I have of my daddy was when I was living in NY, and I gave Bill the phone number at home, and Bill called to ask my daddy if he could marry me. He talked to Bill for a bit and then asked to talk to me. I got on the phone and my sweet daddy was having a little going away party with a bunch of the neighbors at the house... I could hear them all in the background and they shared my happy news with my dad and me through the phone, across the miles. He was moving back to Calif, to go back to work since he still had two kids to raise (me and my younger brother) and support. (His later years were spent (most of my life time) working for the US Dept. of Agriculture, as a Customs inspector at the Los Angeles Int. Airport. He had to check peoples bags, and what not to keep people from bringing produce or foods in from other countries.) He always worked so hard, one day, just 5 weeks after the day I got engaged officially, my daddy did not show up for work and wouldn't answer his phone. This was so unusual for him, that his friends and co-workers he'd known for many years by that time, knew something wasn't right. They went to his place and were able to get one of my brothers to come and check things out. My daddy had passed in his sleep, peacefully, with a smile on his face. I like to think that he was happy to be reunited with my mom who had passed 2 1/2 yrs before, as well as all his other family who had passed on before him. Though he was the youngest of the 8 children born to his parents, he was the 2nd after his oldest brother to pass on in adulthood.

I miss my daddy. I loved him dearly. He was a sweet, sweet man. I loved sitting next to him in church and listening to him sing. One of the songs I remember him singing was Abide with me; 'Tis Eventide... and whenever we sing that song in Church... I think of him.

It's been a very long time, and I don't think of you often enough... but I miss you daddy.

4 March 1920 - 12 May 1988

They say it's your birthday...

For Amanda's birthday, she wanted to go out and get her nails done (and her eyebrows waxed) - and to get some new shoes/clothes (most of the cute church shoes belong to Rebekah, and they will be leaving home soonish... so she wanted to make sure she had some shoes of her own.

She got some cute fun nails...Then she got to go with her friend to the stake dance.

In the morning she woke up to SNOW for her BIRTHDAY. It was very exciting!!! It was very cold though!

Here is the Birthday Princess...Ready for Church and looking so cute in her new birthday outfit!!

We fixed her favorite dinner (Yaki Soba, and Gyoza's). Then we had birthday cake. I tried to do something fun with the cake - checkerboard - that I had never done before. (Liam wanted to help) ;-)The layers didn't stick together well, and part of the cake slipped off (we made that the back), and made a large crater, we joked that it was sort of like an earthquake fault line, where Calif. fell off into the sea...). Poor cake.
Then today March 2nd, dad took her out and she took her drivers test, and passed! We now have two driving teenagers at our house!

(pic from the snow yesterday)

She's a good little driver. She was excited to go run an errand for us this afternoon and went to the grocery store to buy some toilet paper (a house of 6 women, and we ran out of toilet paper... yikes!).

She is excited to take marissa to Karate this evening, just so that she can drive! ;-)

Again, HappyBirthday to my sweet 16 yr old!

hApPy BiRtHdAy AmAnDa!!!!!!!

It's my number 2 girl's sweet 16 today!!!

Happy, happy birthday baby!!!