Kansas City Temple

The Kansas City Temple Open House was this past month.  We decided it would be nice to go and see the temple, as well as give Miriam a chance to see the inside of a temple (she calls anything with a spire a temple, even the Disney Princess castle at the beginning of Disney movies).

So we caravaned with our friends the MacCabes.  

Since it's almost a 4 hour drive, we stopped at the local park before to get some wiggles out.

I love how Stan doesn't discriminate against age at a park.  He usually has just as much fun on the equipment as Miriam does.

I only wish our plan had worked and we had gotten ALL the wiggles out.

Unfortunately, between Anna & Miriam, I think all the adults were more worried about keeping the girls reverent than actually enjoying the tour.  

But it was nice to go anyway and even with rowdy toddlers, I still felt the wonderful spirit that accompanies the temple.

Eliza and Van.  Van is 3 months younger than Eliza, but has WAY more hair!

We were so tired after all that, we caught a quick dinner and headed home.  It was a good day and I am thankful for another temple close by.

Technology

(I apologize if you're getting this the second time around, but I forgot to add the few pictures of the girls in the middle, the rest is the same post)

 I recently acquired a Kindle Fire.  

One evening shortly after this acquisition, Stan called for my help from the other room. 

 This is what he was doing:

Taking pictures of all of our handheld, portable electronic devices.

From left to right:

ipod nano, ipod classic, ipod touch, iphone 4, HTC Android phone, Kindle Fire Tablet, Toshiba Thrive Tablet

 So pretty all lit up :-)

Hers and His.  I outnumber Stan by one device.  But really, it's so tiny it shouldn't count.

And no, Miriam doesn't have her own device.  But that doesn't mean that she doesn't know how to use them, because shes does, and often.

Even Eliza can't be put off by the glowing screen.

It was a little embarrassing to have all of our electronics laid out on the table like that.  It forces you to admit guilt to a technological addiction.  Let's not even get into TVs and computers.

I won't go into to details of how we actually do really use ALL of these devices, but we do.  That is why we haven't parted with an older gadget as we've acquired a new one.  

However, do we NEED them all?

Probably not.  Seriously, how many different ways does one really need to access the internet and music?

And just to remind you of how far technology in these areas have come since I was a child (we won't even go back as far as my parents' childhood :-)

When I was a kid, this is how we listened to music:

Cassette tapes and the radio.  I remember Jody and I would record songs we liked off the radio so we could listen to them over and over.  Of course, you had to stop and rewind...

And in Elementary school, this was the peak of technology:

Playing "Oregon Trail" on an Apple Computer.

Now I can listen to music on my ipod nano, 1" squared.

I can access the internet on my phone that fits in the palm of my hand.

Scary to think what might be possible in another 30 years!

6 Month Photo Shoot

Eliza had her 6 month photos done (thanks again to Joy Jackson Photography).  As with Miriam's last set of pictures, I had a hard time getting Eliza to smile, which I thought was odd since she smiles so easily normally.  I guess she was so intrigued by everything she wasn't interested in smiling much.  But they turned out so cute anyway:

Everyone comments on how big her cheeks are.  I love the rolls on her arms too.  Stan affectionately calls her "Chub Chub" and Miriam has followed his example.  I guess it's true and it's the only time in her life it will be okay to call her that :-)

I just can't get over the expression on her face, so funny!

I think this is my favorite because she finally captured the smile that melts my heart everyday.

Hand, Foot and Mouth

At Eliza's 6 month check up the doctor discovered she had an ear infection.  She was put on antibiotics and we went about our business.

6 days later she started coming down with a  low-grade fever and was unusually fussy.  That night she was up ALL night long, still slightly feverish.

Fearing that her ear infection had not improved, I took her back to the doctor.  Her ears were fine, but he did discover a tooth bud just barely poking through.

Boy did I feel silly for not catching that.  Shouldn't I know better by now, the second time around?

However she did not improve the rest of the day and had another awful night's sleep.  

Examining her gums for further teeth, I noticed one gum on the top was slightly sunken (NOT a sign of a tooth poking through).  Stan said it reminded him of a cold sore.

I also noticed two pus-filled blisters on her thumb.  

At first I thought it was because she had been gnawing on her thumb due to teething.  Beginning late afternoon, she would not eat anything.  By bedtime that evening we force fed her 2 oz. of milk with a dropper and she cried the whole time.  She wouldn't even suck on her pacifier.

 I was really worried about her getting dehydrated, so the next morning when she still wouldn't eat, I did 2 more oz. with a dropper.   After that, I called my sister-in-law Anne, who has 3 children of her own and is also a nurse, and talked to her about what might be going on.  I described the sores that I thought were unrelated, and she asked if Eliza had any on her feet.  I checked and she did.  She suggested something called "Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease."  I looked it up on the internet and she had all the symptoms it described.  It can also cause a sore throat, which might have been why she cried even while eating with a dropper.

 Thankfully she started eating again later that morning and started feeling better after that.  It's a virus, nothing you can really do, so we didn't return to the unhelpful doctor (although part of me would have liked someone who knows to look and tell me for sure that is what she had).

It's also really contagious, so we layed low for a week to make sure we didn't pass it onto anyone else.  Eliza didn't get very many more sores, so I think it was probably a mild case.  And even more thankfully, Miriam didn't get it from her.

So they are both well and happy now, and so is Mom!

Easter

This is the first year we really did anything extra for Easter, and the girls (especially Miriam) really enjoyed it.

Eliza loves to grab anything she can reach for and managed to get her some newspaper.

 We let Miriam decorate some eggs and she loved it.

She was so ecstatic about the Easter baskets she forgot to go potty.

Even Eliza enjoyed her stuffed bunny.

Daddy just wished he could go back to bed.

It was a beautiful Spring day.

Miriam had a blast finding all the eggs around the yard.  She didn't want to carry the basket, instead she found the eggs and brought them back to the basket.

The girls stayed home from Church so they wouldn't pass around Eliza's sickness, so it was a pretty low-key, but enjoyable, day.

Except for some heartbreaking news.

We have a couple with whom we are good friends.  Friends whom we have shared date nights, game nights, birthday parties and babysitting with.

Duben, the husband, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a cancer.  You can read more of their story here.  He has been battling it since last summer, completed his chemo and they had gone down to Houston to complete a round of radiation.  Due to many complications (you can read more of that story here), he passed away Easter Sunday.  He left his wife Carrie and a 2 1/2 year old daughter, Ainsley and 2 month old son, Anderson.

Oh how my heart breaks for them!  They are our age, in the same stage of life as we are.  Miriam and Ainsley are only a month apart in age.  It is only too poignant how similar, but now how different our lives will be.  

I cannot imagine my life without Stan.  He is my rock, the one I look forward to seeing every day.  I cannot imagine raising our wonderful children without his help, love and support.  I cannot imagine them growing up, not knowing their wonderful father.

I hope I never take him for granted, though I know I could definitely do better and expressing my love and appreciation to him.  Carrie had mentioned in one of her posts, that when Duben had to be on a breathing tube, he could not talk.  She said he was on it for 3 days and they couldn't talk (except for writing).  She pointed out that they hadn't gone that long without talking since before they started dating.  I realized the same is true with Stan and I.  Even when we dated long-distance, we talked on the phone every day.  Oh how we take the little things for granted!

It is also all too tender of a reminder of losing my own mother to cancer.  I can only imagine the pain and sense of loss must be magnified exponentially to lose one's spouse.  I miss my mother every day.

It makes me so grateful, once again, for the Gospel and the Plan of Salvation.  Although the pain is very real and you never stop missing a loved one who has passed, there is an incredible amount of comfort and peace, knowing this life is not the end.  I will get to see my mother again.  Someday my children will meet their wonderful grandmother.

What a perfect reminder on Easter Sunday, that Jesus Christ conquered death and rose again the third day.  Because of his Atoning Sacrifice and Resurrection, we too will rise again and be resurrected and reunited  with our Father in Heaven and loved ones.

I am so grateful.