Thanks, Daddy!

Yesterday was Veterans Day. I thought about my Dad all day. He is a Veteran of WWII. There really aren't a lot of them left, unfortunately.

He served in Japan. He was a medic and I am sure experienced some horrific things there in the South Pacific. When I was a kid, we would try to get him to talk about the war and what he did and it was like pulling teeth to get him to tell us anything. I guess he didn't want to relive that time.

I am just so grateful for him and countless others like him, who sacrificed so much for this country. (And for all those who are now sacrificing for this country.)

This summer at our family reunion, my Dad sang, "God Bless America" around the campfire. It was heart warming to hear the inspired words of Irving Berlin, sang with the conviction of one who risked his life for the love of his country. The lilting tones of his Irish tenor voice strummed our heart strings and brought tears to our eyes. We felt the depth of his convictions and his love for his country and for us.

Thank you, Daddy!

Emily turns 29

29 years ago today, our beautiful daughter, Emily, joined our family. It was a fun filled day. My sister in law, Cheryl, and her year old son, Keith, and I were hanging out together making cookies and trying to find our errant dog. I was having contractions but didn't really know what to do or if it was serious. I remember my Mother in Law called and I had a contraction right when I answered the phone and she was convinced that I was having the baby right then because of the strain in my voice. She called Scott at work and told him to get home. I called my Mom with updates during the day and when I called to say that the contractions were about 4 minutes apart, she told me to get to the hospital asap. I called Scott and he came and got me and we headed into the hospital. Emily was born shortly after.

I was so thrilled to be a mother. I had looked forward to it for years. During my teens I could almost always be found with a baby in my arms. If it wasn't one of my little sisters, it was one of the babies from the ward. My Dad used to check my Sunday School class every week and make me return whichever baby I had with me. You can imagine my thrill to be a mother!!

Emily was a beautiful baby. The nurse who brought her to me after she was born told me that she was the most beautiful baby that she had ever seen and she was right! She was a good baby too! The night we brought her home, she slept through the night. I woke up in a panic, but she was just slurping away on her thumb sleeping soundly.

I have posted some pictures of Emily. I could not find any of her baby pictures. They are in a box in the garage and I don't want to wait for Scott to come home and find it, but here are some of my favorites. There are a lot of pictures of Emily with other family members. That's what happens when you are the oldest. (The other reason is that last Christmas I gave each of the kids an empty photo album and a packet of pictures of them through the years and I neglected to keep many of them for myself. I am now going to have to raid the kids photo albums and make copies for myself.)

I had a plethora of pictures of Emily and Levi together and I just couldn't resist sharing a few of them. Here is Emily in different family groups. I realized that Luke isn't in any of them. He wasn't around yet!!

Emily was an energetic, creative, out going, talented, loving little girl and has kept those qualities and many more. She lightens up the room when she enters. I feel very blessed to be her mother.

Fitz's morning ritual

If you read my post from yesterday, you know how I feel about our morning walks. I thought it would be fun for you to get Fitzwilliam's point of view. As you can tell, he is an enormous black lab and therefore is very strong. He and I have an ongoing struggle to determine who is actually walking whom. Out of necessity, he has to wear a halter type of lead called the "Easy Leader" which basically has a strap that goes around his muzzle. He really hates it, but it allows me to take him for walks because he can't drag me around. The more he pulls at the leash, the more it pulls his head back. Don't misunderstand me, he still pulls and I am constantly holding him back, but he isn't dragging me.

The pictures below are what Fitz does when I release him after walking. He drops down and rubs his muzzle on the ground. The second picture shows how quickly he moves.

Morning reflections

Yesterday morning as Fitz and I were on the home stretch of our walk, I was reflecting on how blessed I am. As I thought through my life I could really see the hand of our Heavenly Father in just about every little detail. As we continued up the hill, I reflected on the beauty of the morning. The air was crisp and my view was full of riotous colors. My eyes rested on the Temple which was directly ahead of me. The beautiful colors of Autumn stood boldly in stark contrast to the luminescent white of the Temple. I took out my phone and snapped the scene. Isn't it beautiful?
Unable to resist the pull of the Angel Moroni as he stood watch over the trees which exploded in the most vivid shades of Autumn, I lead Fitz into the parking lot and we snapped this picture.

The following picture brought tears to my eyes for some reason. The glorious red leaves against the cold gray of the sky, spoke directly to my soul. The promise of change and renewal and the hope of a glorious future rose up inside me as my heart beat quickened.

Fitz and I made our way through the parking lot and back onto the sidewalk. Birds were flitting all around, resting quickly on fences and then off to continue their morning tasks. Fitz in his single mindedness kept his head directed down the sidewalk, tugging at the leash, urging me to quicken my pace. The glory of the morning would not allow me to hasten. My eye caught the same rose bushes I wrote about in an earlier post; one blossom still fresh in all of its full bloomed glory and wondrously enough, a bud in all of it's promise clung to the vine.

And then home! Home in all of it's inviting warmth; both of furnace and of love. Home where my heart is truly entrenched. Where there is family and acceptance and tasks for me to accomplish.

I am truly blessed. My body is healthy and strong and my legs can carry me out into the beauties of nature. Where I can find peace and comfort and confirmation of my worth and value in this world. I am a daughter of Heavenly Parents. They love me and guide me daily!