Saturday, May 28, 2011

quote

I recently finished a book and while reading came 
upon this quote, which I loved.  Loved.

"We don't always have a choice how we get to 
know one another. Sometimes, people fall into 
our lives cleanly--as if out of
the sky, or as if there were a direct flight 
from Heaven to Earth--the same sudden way 
we LOSE people, who once seemed they would 
always be a part of our lives."


We need to be grateful for the people in 
our lives, love them.


Cherish them.  


Even the difficult ones.  Learn from them all.


Be grateful they took that direct
flight from 'Heaven to Earth' and found US.


You never know when they will be gone.


They sometimes leave us slowly, and in stages.
They sometimes go suddenly.


You just never know.



The End.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

end of year

the school year is almost at an end.


again.


how did that happen so quickly?


we have had volleyball playoffs and final games.


Oly placed 2nd.


dance practices and recitals.


the girls did great.


on a side note:


the "theme" for this years dance recital was


"Oldies but Goodies".


all the music was from the 1980's, circa when i 
graduated from high school.  Say, oh 1985 ish.


does that make me an "oldie but goodie"?


gasp.


we had "end of year sewing class fashion show".


we have had field trips and adventures galore.


the weather has held steady at rain on its best
days and snow on its worst.


we are still waiting for warm weather in utah.


lucky lilacs came and went.


the days are lighter, longer.


i commented to a friend that i find myself more
tired, she told me it just gets worse the older
one gets.


and she should know, she has a good 10 years
on me. :O)


i need to learn to nap, a skill that i have not
yet acquired in this life.


the end of the world was supposed to happen today,
according to one crazy mans prediction.


it appears i am still here, thank goodness!


i was not ready to go yet.


last night my son and his friends drove around 
town warning people with a 6 foot sign on a 14 
passenger van.


(his friends family has about a million kids, give
or take a couple hundred thousand)


they borrowed the van and put a huge sign "THE
END IS NIGH" along the sides.



it gave me a good chuckle when they parked in front
of my house and attracted a crowd.


tonight, they are gathered in my backyard shooting
various items of fruit and vegetation from their
home made potato launcher.


i am awaiting "the angry call" from a neighbor
even as i type.  (there is always one).


end of year, in a nutshell.


more to come.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

healing

Because of recent events in my life...

Namely the death of my father and the surgery
on my neck/thyroid tumor...

...the subject of "healing" has been on my mind.

As Easter came and went, it brought more thoughts 
to my already full mind.


Full to over-flowing.  Spilling outward.
Hard to contain.  Some days manifesting as tears.
Other days, a quiet struggle in my mind.

Thoughts of a Savior who died that I might live,
came unbidden to my mind.


That I might live, in more ways than just one.

Thoughts of a love so great that I might be given
the strength to heal when the capacity is not
within my soul to do so alone.

Thoughts of a healing so complete that it encompasses
more than just my body and soul.

Healing.

It has been amazing to me as I've watched my bloodied
and surgically altered neck wound heal.

It went from being held together with steri-strips
and gauze pads to a faint thin scar line that brushes
across my neck.  A quiet mark that is more than
a whisper, but something much less than a scream.

It makes me a little queasy to look at it up 
close and touch the scar tissue that lays underneath,
but it has drawn me in curiously every day to take
a closer peek and watch how it has changed.

Our bodies are AMAZING things.  

It amazes me that they can be altered, cut up, cut
open, sewn back together again and heal.

As if, almost, nothing had ever happened.


I have had friends look and touch and marvel.


As have I.


I have had some tell me that I should cover
and hide and conceal.


This line of thinking has made me pause.


At first, I thought this is how I would feel too.
That I would be self-conscious and prone to
hide.


As the weeks have passed, I am inclined to bear
the scar proudly, and out in the open. It is a 
visible reminder to me of coming through to the
other side. Passing through something that was
hard, and scary, and difficult, at the time
of crossing through.


I like being reminded that challenges can be
overcome.  That we can find the strength within
ourselves to keep going forward. 


If we dig deeply, as we sometimes do.


I like the constant reminder, to myself, that
we can heal and defeat even the
most seemingly challenging trials that may
come our way.

Time is on my side, and everyday the scar looks
a little better.  In a year, I am told I will
REALLY have to look hard to see the incision line.

Death, loss, another kind of scar, or wound, that
I must heal from.

This pain is different, although in some ways 
just the same.

The scar is not visible, but the wound cuts just
as deeply.  Leaving a deep gash on the inside.
One that is not so easy to see. Yet one that
must be healed as well.

It will take time to heal from this bruise to 
my soul. My heart.  My mind.


It's amazing how at times just the littlest things
can cause this wound to bleed and seep.

Healing.

I believe that healing encompasses all the aspects
that surround the very core of who we are as people.

Emotional.

Spiritual.

Mental.


Physical.

Each of these play together, come together, to make
our souls whole.

Each of them must heal for the scars to become thin
faint white lines that splash across...

...Across our bodies, our hearts, our minds and our
souls.

As I search deeply within my being, and marvel at the
ability that we have been blessed with to heal, I
find great comfort.

I look at life through new eyes.

I have gained a new perspective on the future.

The past can shape us, scar us, hurt us, cause us
pain and grief, anguish and heartache, real physical
hurt.  Real physical scarring, both inside and out.

The beauty of this, I believe, is ALSO a gift to us.

Through these things, out of the deepest of heart aches,
we can find the greatest of joys.

Sometimes, oft times, the journey is unbearably painful
and hard...but if...

...If, we can make it to the other side, the joy of
healing, of hearts and bodies made whole again, is
infinitely worth the pain of any journey we must 
travel.

And for those times when we cannot quite do it alone,


heal,


Our brother, and Savior, then steps in for us to 
complete the healing process that we cannot manage
on our own.


Alone.


But together with Him, He can...


...take away the bruise that can make our very
souls ache.


He can take away the bitter,
 and replace it with the sweet.


He can take away the sorry,
 and fill us with joy.


He can heal what we cannot.


He can make up the differences where we fall short.


I am grateful for the scars I proudly bear, both
interior and exterior wounds, that have left me
less than perfect.  This is what makes me human 
and loving and compassionate and caring.  
It gives me eyes to "see" what I could not "see" before.


It gives me heart to "feel" what I could not
"feel" before.


I am grateful for the scars that have shaped 
both my body and soul, and have helped me to 
become who I am.


I am grateful for the bridges I have crossed, the
paths I have traveled, the journeys that have 
have been made.


I am grateful that our bodies have been given 
the ability to heal.  I marvel often at this gift.
And find deep gratitude for it.  


For it gives me hope on days when the crossing
still seems painful, or the tears flow freely, or
my questions have no answers.


So in hope and healing, both inside and out, I marvel
and find the strength in my own journey to continue...


...onward.


Proudly, humbly, quietly, finding solace and comfort
in scars, both healing and unhealed.


















Sunday, May 8, 2011

And last, but certainly not least...Volleyball




















This is Josh's 3rd season playing High
School (club) Volleyball with Olympus High.


Kyle was thrilled to be able to help coach this year.


In years past, Olympus hasn't always had the "best"
team in the valley.  THIS year they seeded 2nd!!


They had some phenomenal players and played some 
super FUN, fast paced games.


My favorite comment of the season was their first
game against Brighton High (who traditionally has
a VERY GOOD volleyball team).


Brighton walked into the gym to play and said (so
that enough of Olympus players and parents could
hear), "Oh its just Olympus. They suck!  This is
gonna be easy!"


Olympus then swept Brighton in a two game blowout!


It has been fun to watch them match up again during 
the season, and Olympus has been a force to be reckoned
with.


I am SO disappointed in my pictures!  Even though I have
a great camera, Volleyball is SUCH a fast paced sport I
need a lens that costs about $1000 to have enough light
and enough speed to capture all the action.


Until then, I caught what I could. (and wept in disgust 
when I looked through the 100's and 100's I took.  ARGH!)


It has been so fun to watch Josh do something he is 
GREAT at.  And loves to do.
He plays middle blocker and can really jump.


He practiced and played all while studying for his
TWO AP tests (History and Calculus) and doing lots
of homework.


Tests completed.  Results in July.  Hopefully passed.


Volleyball down to the last week of playoffs!


GO OLY!

Lagoon Dance Competition

It's been a busy block of life around here.
Is it ever not really?

Birthdays, dance competitions, birthday parties,
volleyball finals and playoff games, AP tests,
end of school year activities, etc.

I am trying to catch up on all my blogging so 
my mom has something to look at!

Yesterday we spent a good chunk of our day at 
Lagoon waiting for the girls to compete with
their dance classes from Elite Dance.

Grace takes Jazz.

Eliza clogging.

This was the first competition for both.

They were great!  The place was a hotbed for
girls in leotards and sparkly, glittery things.

If I were a teenage boy (say around 13) I would
hang at a Lagoon for the next 3 weekends.

Lots of cute girls dancing!

I am not sure how Lizzie's clogging class did,
but Grace's dance took 2nd place in her age group
for Jazz.

There was A LOT of waiting between dances--the best
part was the half our ward/neighborhood/kids school
friends (and parents) were there!  So I had a fun
time socializing and talking with the great ladies
from my neighborhood during all the down times.


















Paul Mitchell Fun






There is NOTHING better than the "Paul Mitchell" Party!!
We do this when our girls turn 8.  The thing I love?
We ALL get in the car, drive to Paul Mitchell Hair Salon.
The hair professionals THERE get to take the girls and do their hair
and paint there nails.  I get to take the girls home.
What does this mean for me (lame-o mother of hating to give parties?)
I DON'T HAVE A MESS AT MY HOUSE!
I don't have to DO ANY WORK!
Can you see the beauty in this?

 Waiting to be done up.
 Getting started.



 She's loving it!
(All the girls were, if I posted all the pictures it would be
a 5 page blog post!)





 Nails, picking a color and getting them done.

 All done and HAPPY!



 All the girls...
 Posing.
 More Posing.

 The 2nd best part of this party?  I DON'T HAVE TO BAKE (which although
I DO LOVE it...it is just easier to do things this way!)
Off to the "D.Q." (Dairy Queen) next door to have dipped
ice cream cones and open presents.  We sang Happy Birthday
REALLY (really really) loudly.



And THIS is how she felt about the WHOLE thing!
(even though this picture was taken a different day!)

It was super fun!!
 I love watching all the little girls interact with 
each other, the Paul Mitchell crew and I know I will miss
these days when they are gone!