Congrats, Sis

On Friday, my now not-so-little sister, Mercy, graduated high school.


I'm sure that this will embarrass her if she reads this, but I would like to talk just a little bit about how amazing she is.


Mercy, now 18 years old, was diagnosed in utero with a large diaphragmatic hernia. With this hole in her diaphragm, her internal abdominal organs had migrated upward and prevented her lungs from developing. At the time she was diagnosed, very few children with a defect as severe as hers had survived.

Despite physicians telling them that there was no chance she would survive, my mother decided to carry the baby to term.

However, they had gone to the cemetery to pick out a plot and headstone.

When Mercy was born, she cried. It should have been impossible without developed lungs. But that cry showed that Mercy was a fighter.

She spent months in the hospital. She had her lovely dark curls shaved off for IV placements. She had multiple surgeries to rebuild a diaphragm using her abdominal wall muscles. She was on ECMO. She received sheep surfactant to help with her lung development.

She still has significant scars on her neck, chest, and stomach.

But she is alive.

And she's still a fighter.

Now, she loves costume jewelry and ball gowns. She wants to be an actress. She's fiercely loyal to her friends.

I've been there to see her grow up. I was so glad that I got to see her close this chapter of her life, tears and all.



Good luck with everything, Mercy. We'll be cheering you on like always.

Girl Night (And Day)

An amazing thing happened over the weekend.

I had my mom and my two oldest sisters over. To my house!!

It was wonderful. Nearly 24 hours of girl-ness. Something that I have obviously been in dire need of.

Even my 18 year old sister, Mercy, noticed this. "Wow," she said. "I bet this is nice. With you being the only girl living here." Yeah, it is.

We watched movies on the air mattress in my living room, while eating popcorn and chocolate. We giggled over silly parts in the movies (something definitely girly. Men don't giggle.)

The next morning, after a beautiful breakfast of fresh strawberries and crepes, we headed to Park City. For some pure, unadulterated shopping.

I love Keith. Very much. But, like I'm sure pretty much all men, he's just not that big into shopping. Even if we are looking at flat screens or laptops or such. It's a "well that's cool. Next!" type of thing.

Shopping with my mom and my sisters, I realized how much I miss just hanging out with girls. There was this particular moment, when we walked into the Coach outlet store, when I had that "we're not in Kansas anymore" feeling.

We were all nearly breathless over the beautiful displays of purses. My mom and sister were sifting through silk scarves. And I almost mentally allowed myself to buy this fantastic lilac trench coat. (Note: I hunted the internet to find a picture of this coat, to share it's fabulousness with you. But there was none to be found.)

I also think that I was able to share my love of Ann Taylor with my family.

Although, shopping with my super-skinny-should-have-been-models sisters was not exactly easy on my self image.

Finally we headed home with two jackets and a fabulous pair of jeans (and no purple trench coat).

I'm so thankful for the time I had with them. I try hard not to think about how long I'll be in Iowa, and how much with change while I'm gone.

Thanks, my girls, for the wonderful time.

Tea Party

Friday was another combined birthday party. This time, for Grace and Spring.

Grace, who is now 6

Spring, now 4 years old

Grace and Spring, ages 6 and 4, are my youngest siblings. They are the babies of the family. And the princesses. So what better than a fairy princess tea party?

Two cute little girls with their two cute little cakes

Along with some very rowdy little kid party games.

Happy Birthday, little girls!

Spring, Mom, and Grace

Happy Birthday...To you and you and...

We have a lot of multiple birthdays in our family. My mom and my brother are a day apart. Another brother and a sister are on the same day. Actually, there are two of those events. And another one of my sister's birthday's is the day after mine. Another brother and Roman are just days apart.

I guess that's what happens when you have a big family. I mean, there are only so many days in the year.

My family

Anyways.

We have gotten used to combined birthday parties.

And we had another one yesterday.

Happy 25th Birthday Salem!! I can't believe you are growing up right along with me. But no matter what, I'm still older than you! You are an amazing little brother. Although I always think of you as the only big brother in the family, since you always seemed so close to the same age as me and we really shouldered through the same things as children. Thanks for being so wonderful and always having a word of encouragement and faith in people every time I feel discouraged and my sarcasm gets out of control.

Birthday Boy!

Blowing out all 25 candles
(Look at the smoke!!)

Happy 45th Birthday, Mom!! I can't believe that you are so young and that you are so grown up. I've said it before and I will say it again (and again, and again...) The older I get, the younger my mom seems. I feel that we are moving towards the same age. You are my best friend. Thanks for always having an shoulder to cry on, and ear to listen, and the patience to put up with your daughter and all her weird ideas and opinions as she slowly grows up.

Blowing out all 45 of her candles

(Oh, and for the record, you know, posterity's sake...I made my mom a cake. A real cake. From scratch. Cake, filling, and frosting. Even with Keith saying, "We could just get a box. You know, the one with the sprinkles." I made a orange zest cake with orange filling and marshmallow frosting with toasted coconut. And it tasted okay. Yeah for me!)

The cake I made! For my mom.
Yummy!!

And then, the coconut caught on fire.
Whoops.

And Happy Birthday to you!


----------------
Now playing: The Beatles - Birthday
via FoxyTunes

Road Kill

Coming back from my brother's and sister's high school play of "Pride and Predjudice," we hit a skunk.

Just my luck. The first skunk I have seen in the wild, well, alive. And now it is road kill. Poor thing.

Our car stinks. At first we didn't smell anything. But 30 seconds later, the smell was so overpowering, my eyes watered. They say that if you get sprayed by a skunk, you should bathe in tomato juice. What if your car gets sprayed? And still stinks 4 days later? I don't know any car wash centers that offer tomato juice cycles.

This is the second animal we have hit.

We hit a deer the day after Christmas.

We hit poor Pepe le Pew the day before Valentine's.


Tell the rabbits to stay off the road around Easter.

A Poem

I know that Christmas is over. But there is something related to it that I simply must post. Unfortunately, I didn't get around to beforehand, because of interviews and out of town visits. But enough excuses.

This is a poem written by my little sister Galilee, who is seven years old (soon to be eight!!).

Thanks, Galilee, for the beautiful imagery of Christmas, seen through eyes we all once saw through.

Christmas

Christmas feels like cold as the
winter air.

Christmas looks like colorful
presents.

Christmas sounds like snow falling.

Christmas tastes like minty
sweets.

Christmas smells like the cold fresh
air.

Lights and Houses

This post is mostly going to be an apology for the lack of pictures.

Last night, my mom, a handful of siblings, Keith, the boys, and I went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.

Living along the Wasatch Front in Utah, this is a holiday staple. Every year, we bundle up against the cold, brave the ice, and wander among the grounds surrounded by trees draped in millions of colored lights. The effect is quite magical. There is also a place to listen to the re-telling of the Christmas story.

Nothing puts me more in the Christmas spirit. And as the boys get older, they enjoy it more (instead of just being cold.) This year, their eyes were huge as they took in the lights.

Afterwards, when the 18 degree weather had taken it's full effect, my family came back to my apartment so share some cocoa and cookies.

(And here is where the apology is: I was all set to take some truly magical pictures, only to realized that the memory card for my camera was not in my camera, but at home. So no beautiful twinkling pictures of millions of Christmas lights).

Today, as I frantically wrapped Christmas presents and attempted to finish things up before we go out of town early tomorrow, it was obvious the boys needed some diversion.

So we set to work assembling a "gingerbread" house (actually, graham crackers, because no boys here like gingerbread.) We actually go quite ambitious, constructing a gingerbread church. The boys were quite proud of it.

These are the before pictures.

Roman, demonstrating the finer points of the gingerbread house's architecture

Blaise, fully impressed by the "final" result

I would love to show you some after pictures, but those would look like a series of tears and then some full mouths of graham crackers and Mike-and-Ikes, since the house fell down after Blaise rather enthusiastically decorated the roof.

I think we'll stick with a kit next year. Might not taste as good, but is much sturdier. Which, in this case, is what counts in this house.

New (Super-cute!) Addition

My sister Auralee just gave birth to her second baby on Friday, December 12, at around 5 pm in the evening.

A beautiful, healthy baby boy. 7 1/2 pounds.

The new addition to our family

Congratulations, Auralee! You look so happy, so peaceful holding your absolutely perfect, delicate baby. Snuggling him to your cheek to take in that glorious new baby smell. Smiling over his squeaky new baby cry. To see you together, to see you so happy, makes me happy too.

Auralee with her baby
(who is yet unnamed)

There is nothing like a newborn. The softness, the sound, the smell. Drink in every moment.

Every new mother I visit reminds me of my own birth experiences. I'm sure it is the same for every mom. We remember the labor, the build up, the emotions, the unique circumstances surrounding our own children's birth. For me, these memories are some of the most vivid in my life.

Me, proud aunt, and Auralee
And darling baby

Welcome to this world, darling boy. You come into a family full of grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins who love you more than you will ever know. We cherished you fiercely from the moment we knew you had arrived; actually, even before. Our "circle of love" effortlessly has expanded to include you in it.

Proud, happy grandparents

Welcome, my darling nephew, and know that you are loved.

High School Musical

I would like to give a shout out to my younger siblings (well, they're all younger.)

I just went to see my brother, Christian, and my sister, Mercy, in their high school production of Hello Dolly. I know that many of you also went to see the play.


Christian was Barnaby Tucker.

And the play was fantastic. The singing was great, and the costumes were fantastic. It was the best high school musical I have been to. And it is not just lip service because they are my siblings. I've been humming "Put on Your Sunday Clothes" and "Hello Dolly" ever since.

I would also like to "publicly" congratulate Christian on his first place win in his division at the Utah Shakespeare Competition. I know that it was a couple of months ago, but still. Congratulations, Christian!

I have very talented siblings.

I recognize that there has been a slight post drought lately.

Between being gone...

Views near Aneth, UT

Looking back towards Montezuma Creek, UT

My dad with "his" dog

And the cold weather, and the earlier darkness, we have not been able to get out and do anything lately. The craziness that is residency application ends in a few months. Things will be much more interesting after that!

Family Carving

My grandma (Roman and Blaise's great-grandmother!) came to visit us from Portland over the weekend. I was excited, since I haven't seen her since May.

It was cold and rainy during the weekend, making outdoor activities out of the question.

What a gorgeous view from the front door!

So, for a family activity on Sunday, my dad decided that we should all carve pumpkins. My dad and grandma picked up the pumpkins on Saturday, and we all met on Sunday for the carving!

Everyone, hard at work on their pumpkins

Papa, lending a helping hand

Christian and Brooks, elbow deep in pulp

Keith, working on his masterpiece

David, just getting started

Okay, first a little background on this. Keith and I first started carving pumpkins (seriously carving pumpkins) about 4 years ago. Before this, there may have been a little, silly, buck-toothed jack-o-lantern sitting on the porch. But after Roman was born, and was old enough to notice, we have taken to visiting a pumpkin patch each year (will post when that happens). And then, we carve!

Over the years, the designs have become more elaborate. Keith has become the master carver. He is amazingly artistic and talented when it comes to carving pumpkins. I never let him get away with saying he isn't artistic anymore. He gets more adventurous every year. (although the best templates have been removed from the internet for copy right purposes which is absolutely ridiculous. Don't get me started.)

We did try to keep it simple with the family. After all, we were outnumbered 3 to 1 with children under 10.

No one said it was going be be clean!
After all, we cleaned out at least 8 pumpkins!

Everyone made their own designs, as well, which made this extra unique, challenging, and fun! We decided that the little kids "sponsored" a pumpkin, since they told me what they wanted on their pumpkin, I drew the design, and then cut it out. But of course, it is their pumpkin.

Here is the finished work for the evening!

Galilee's Pumpkin: Haunted house
This was as scary as I could make it.

Keith thinks my "haunted houses" look like "Who houses"
(from the Grinch who stole Christmas)


Gwendolyn's Pumpkin: Haunted House
She also wanted a haunted house.
I'm not sure the effect is any scarier here.


Grace's Pumpkin: A Fairy
I was rather proud of how this turned out.


Ariana's Pumpkin: A ballerina

I had no hand in the rest of the designs. I give all credit to the appropriate "artists."

Trelawney's Pumpkin: A Fairy
This was Trelawney's original design.
She drew the picture, and helped carve it out
(with only minimal help!)


Mercy's Pumpkin: Les Miserables
Mercy developed this stencil from one of
her own drawings!
(Okay, she did require just a little help from Keith on the carving)

I will admit that the best pumpkin of the evening does not go to Keith (although this is the first year Keith has drawn his own stencil.) This pumpkin also belongs to Roman, since he sat and watched Keith draw the design, and then punched all the transfer holes.

Keith's and Roman's Pumpkin: Batman, Dark Knight
The letters didn't show up as much as we would have liked.
Maybe we'll try again.


Brooks' Pumpkin: The Grim Reaper
This was very impressive.
Admittedly, he did "steal" the picture from one of
Christian's original drawings,
Brooks did make the stencil and carve it single-handedly.


Christian's Pumpkin: Dragon
I think this won for the evening.
Christian is definitely the most artistic in our family.
This dragon is his own design, and the execution of the
carving is fantastic!

Great fun. I will add more pictures after we have our family pumpkin patch trip. I can't promise that we will top what has already been done.

But we love a dare!

Auralee's and David's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AURALEE and DAVID!!

Auralee and David are two of the people in my family that have birthdays either on the same day, or one day apart.

I can't believe how old my siblings are getting. To me, it feels like no one has gotten any older since I moved out after high school. So, I have a really hard time realizing how old they are.
But Auralee has turned 22 years old today, and David turned 14.

My beautiful sister, Auralee, with my darling niece, Laurelei

The birthday boy, David

It was wonderful to be able to get together as a family. We always try to get everyone together for birthdays. And we were able to get all of my siblings together. What a party!


Oh, and some very exciting news. Auralee announced yesterday that she is having a little boy! So I will have a new nephew late December!