For the Church

Miscarriage # 1

MISCARRIAGES: #1 I've had 5 miscarriages--one was twins--and 5 D&C's. The first was before children. We had been married 4 months and had gone to Flaming Gorge to be with family. When I told Mom that I couldn't handle seeing chicken, she said, "You're pregnant!" I had no idea. I was. The end of July I started bleeding. I checked in with my doc. He said, "Go to bed to save this baby." I was in college and had to take mid-terms. How could I go to bed?!? But then I decided I could for the babe. I was given a blessing that it could go fast if it needed to go. Within a couple of days I started into very painful labor. I realized this after I had had children. The problem was that it was the day I was going to meet my new brother-in-law, Bryan. The family had plans to go to the temple. I couldn't go, so I sent Lawrence. I hoped he would really hurry home. It was a Saturday and I couldn't check in with the doctor again, I would have to go to the emergency room. Finally my husband came, they had templed and gone out to eat, and I cryingly scolded him for leaving me so long. We went to the emergency room. They put me on a relaxer and did a very painful D & C in the ER room. The next morning we went to his parent's house and I met his brother and family. We took family pictures. I look at those pictures and realize the sadness and experience in my eyes. I felt like it was a babe who needed a healthy body and this wasn't healthy enough. I got pregnant again within two months and this babe carried full term. It was Stephanie! She has a very healthy body and has a hard time knowing when she's sick. Her appendix was about to rupture once and she was hurting some. I'm thankful she has a healthy Andersen body. Sooner than we expected we were expecting again! Kristen had to get here. I knew I was pregnant because I was morning sick while trying to make countless batches of English Toffee for Brad's wedding. People would see me holding Stephanie and say, "Oh, you're going to have two babies, huh?1?" and I'd think that no, Stephanie was old (a year and a bit). But I really did have two babies! I hoped that Stephanie would walk before Kristen was born. She barely did. They are 16 months apart. They were good buddies, then a great threesome when Lauralee came along. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Kristen was so excited to get here, but then she didn't want to be born. She was 18 days overdue, no matter what I did to try to get her here. But when she came she just wanted her mom and no one else for many years. I remember leaving her in Kindergarten, crying, trying to hold onto my leg. She finally got better when she was about 7 or 8. Her first night after birth the nurses did all they could to try to calm her, but finally brought her in to me. Kristen went straight to sleep. She just loved her mother, and knew her mother could protect her from the boogeymen.

Finishing Off Our Basement

I haven't written for a year and a half. That's awful. Well, we are in the middle of finishing off our basement. Sheena chose it for her senior project. She fulfilled her hours just packing up everything and taking it out to the Homestead. And there are so many hours yet to come! Lawrence and I shopped for almost everything at Home Depot last Saturday. It cost $1500, after a 10% discount for opening a Home Depot credit card. We get 5% of things we buy now. We will put a toy closet, a game closet, and a blanket closet in the hallway and finish off the furnace room with some new shelves and the old clear containers. I'm excited about it. Right now Lawrence is doing the electrical and filling and painting the cement walls of the furnace room. Then he'll do drywall and plywood for the closets. We'll do some type of flooring in the furnace room, too. We've been in the house almost 29 years so it's about time we finish the basement!

Giving Thanks

Since my daughter blogged about Thanksgiving I thought I should, too.

Our tribe (minus Stephanie and Morgan) met up with most Andersens in Riverton (SW Salt Lake City) at a church. The problem was that another family reserved it online and we reserved it in person and the two didn't sync. But we pulled the plastic curtain to divide the big gyms and all was well.

We had 45 there. We took 4 dozen rolls, butter, and raspberry and strawberry jam.

I wanted to play basketball, volleyball, cards with the girls, Primary with the middles, and coloring and balloons with the littles. I also had all our Christmas music, but didn't get to that.

Oh, how nice and relaxing it all was. I actually got to feed new baby Raylee her bottle, too. HUGE BONUS, as she's still in the only-mom-or-dad-hold-her stage. Kallie got to hold her, too, the luck out!

EVERYTHING tasted heavenly--potatoes, gravy, turkey, cranberries, two pecan yams, hot rolls (white and brown--ours), good water. Then later all kinds of pies, cobblers and ice cream. YUM!!!!

I'll see if pics will upload.

Then we visited Keilee & Romone Vaughn and there were also Logan's tribe and Aubrey's tribe there. Aubrey's due with a girl April 4th, 2012.

We overnighted at Kristen's while Sheen & Lauralee slept over with the other teen girls at Whitney's.

My youngest and I visited KMart the next morning, only to stand in lines for more than an hour for the two times we bought. They said my receipt would be on email. IT'S NOT AND I'M MAD. I don't even know how much each thing cost. hmmmmmmm.....

We met up with Dave's (Hilton) tribe later Friday night, then ate out at Carls, Jr., with Dave, Seth and Levi. Levi's taller than Seth now. Seth's a freshman ambassador at Utah State. He loves his medical sociology (alternative med) class right now. Levi is STILL healing from his crushed elbow from Flaming Gorge. He just had his 4th surgery, I believe. They are still trying to kill the infection in it. He has a pick line under his right upper arm and has to school from home for the many times a day he has to get antibiotics in his line. Wow! He needs some heavy duty fasting from us all next week.

Markelle Andersen needs our fasting, too. She has a bone tumor by the knee in her right leg. It's pretty big, about 2" x 1 1/2". The doc said to leave it alone right now. Kind of scarey.

Our amazing home teachers, Nancy and Jay Jensen, challenged us to give only prayers of thanks before and during Thanksgiving. That has been a great blessing to me. I've felt so much more grateful than ever before. On the drive south on Thanksgiving day I read many scriptures about Thanksgiving, thanks, and gratitude. That helped. Did you know David (pre-sin) gave a great prayer of thanks when the altar was brought to the temple? Read it in 1 Chronicles 16:7-26, pp 569-571.

I started a new medicine, Abilify, 3 weeks ago. I only take 1 mg, but it's helped me incredibly to actually accomplish and finish things, and remember better. It almost makes me a tiche manic, but I'm working on that.

That's it. Love you. There's SOOO much for which to be thankful.

Love,

Suz

Laughadaisy: 31 Days of Card Making {31} - A Giveaway

http://laughadaisy.blogspot.com/2011/10/31-days-of-card-making-31-giveaway.html?spref=bl">Laughadaisy: 31 Days of Card Making {31}

From my very talented sister-in-law:

A Giveaway: So, I've had a fun and interesting month of card making.  And now I can rest.  Haha! Just kidding. ;-)  I won't be resting much this week, ...

9/11/2001

ABOUT 9/11:

Last night at a program in Logan a man said that 9/11 was like Pearl Harbor to our parents and Kennedy's assassination to us (though I was only 6).

We talked about 9/11 with our girls in the morning before the Tabernacle Choir broadcast about it. I think there were other programs on Discovery and History channels.

I had lived in New York City and had been on the top of the buildings. It was my city, too.

BUT! A few years ago a man named Lance Richardson gave a fireside here in Preston. He had written a book called The Message. He had died, then came back, and wrote about his experience. I asked him what he thought about 9/11. His answer astounded me. He said he was so incredibly excited for all those people and the amazing experiences they had after they died. I'm sure they would have incredible peace and love from then on. It's just that their families miss them like crazy. Plus, it was a horrible act. But I feel that his answer is a true about the event.

A YEAR?!?!?

I cannot believe I haven't written for a year. That's pathetic. I did write lots in January and February and March when my niece's girl, Charis, was badly injured in a car accident and was recovering (see http://charisisgettingbetter.blogspot.com).

SOOO, in the meantime our oldest girl Stephanie married Morgan Graf Zollinger on March 12, 2011.

Our second, Kristen and her husband, Eric and two little cuties are living in Spanish Fork, Utah. We are so thankful for Eric's good job at Temkin International in Payson, Utah (http://www.temkininternational.com).

Our third, Lauralee, graduated Cum Laud from BYU's Business School in Business Management. She had a job before graduating in Salt Lake at Whipple Superior Service (http://www.whippleplumbing.com). She's one of the main accountants now, working many, many hours every week.

The other two have done well in school and church and home. One was in the play of Willy Wonka, and got her license. The other loves reading.

Our old van's transmission died and after three unsuccessful attempts at repair, we got another van. This one is silver.

Man and I are working well.

He is still at Valley Implement and Irrigation (http://www.valleyimplement.org/default.htm). He takes care of the computer warranty submissions, and is the substitute service manager, the substitute equipment manager, plus a service technician. He takes care of the company's tools and books, and installs new service software on to the computers. He's been there 23 years. He's soft-spoken and a great helper.

I have had a crisis or two this year, but things are getting better, I think. We live in a world of imperfect people, including myself, don't we. ; )

This summer we had wonderful vacations at South Lake Tahoe, California, with the Andersens and Flaming Gorge, Utah, with the Hiltons. Also in the Fairview, Utah, mountains with my Green cousins. It cost a lot, but they were all worth it.

Now we're facing winter again. In June and July we had SO much rain, that all garden things and farmers fields are WAY behind the usual harvest dates. We had a great raspberry crop at the Homestead (Lawrence's parents). We sold them for $30 a case this year. I talked my man into a "Sabbatical" for our garden. That means every seven years the land (and you) rest. So we planted nothing. It's been heavenly and a little crucial for us. Every marriage needs that every seven years.

I love the Church, it's teachings, it's Priesthood, and it's Book of Mormon. I love to read some every day.

That's it for now.

Love,

Suz