Optimism is Contagious

Have you ever seen a cuter bum?

The past few days I have been reflecting on a few moments from my youth. I remember thinking that I would always be a kid. One of my fondest memories was our first backpacking trip with my dad. We loaded up the green VW bus with all the backpacking gear. Those present were Rachel, Sarah, myself, Jared, and of course, my dad. It was a three day weekend and so we planned to spend it backpacking. With stout spirits and high hopes of adventures, we set off up the rocky trail. We began to sing as we hiked but soon grew winded and just hiked. We laughed a long the trail. Sarah and Jared prided themselves on being the fastest hikers and my dad accepted he was the slowest. Rachel and I ended up somewhere in the middle. A long the trail we would stop and hydrate. Dad was always reminding us. I remember seething with jealousy that my scrawny little brother Jared (who, by the way, I could beat up) was a faster hiker than me. He was only 8 but man, that kid could hike. When we reached the camping spot we set up the tents and started a fire. We were thrilled to be there. After singing around a fire for hours, we finally went to bed. I had no idea what time it was when I woke up but it was not light outside. I was drenched. I could hear the rain on the tent. I woke up Sarah. She was drenched too. I unzipped my sleeping bag and found about 2 inches of water pooled inside our tent. Everyone was awake. My dad tried hurriedly to fasten the rain flies but they did not seem to do any good. We were all soaking wet. We had to tough it out. We tried our best to sleep wet but non of us slept hardly at all. When it became light we came out of our tents. Dad was up getting some hot water ready for us to have oatmeal. We all ate soaked to the bone. We were having a great time. Sarah began to bellow a silly song and we all sang a long. We talked about what an adventure we were having. The next day we packed up to hike back to the car. The whole way back we sang and sang. Our packs were completely waterlogged and so heavy we could hardly walk. We laughed and carried on as we hiked on the rain.

As I reflect on this story I think about the fact that optimism is contagious. This life is so short and there are so many that need help being optimistic. Trials and hardships may come and that is why we need each other to lean on. Every change you get, have fun, sing, and spread the optimism!

Rachel sent a gift to Kayla. It was a hooded blankie, three fuzzy blankies, a little teddy bear, a hair wrap, and two pairs of socks. As you can see she loved them. She wanted to hold everything at once. Kayla is growing right before our eyes. It seems like every day I look at her and I notice a change. She is starting to sit up better and roll. I am sure she will be crawling before we know it!! I went back to work full time and Sean is staying with Kayla and going to school. It is really hard being away from her but even harder to find time to post blogs! I am doing my best and give my love to all! Just thought you might want to see her.

Love you Rache

I grew up in the midst of noise, chaos and confusion. We spent many days engaged in verbal or physical quarrels. There was always someone screaming, a stinky diaper to change, someone who was having a meltdown over a bicycle crash or a child sneaking off to wreak havock on an older kid's bedroom. Yes, this does sound in sane but as I write a lump begins to swell in my throat when I think of the great love we have for one another. Rachel (the oldest) is being deployed to Iraq in about three weeks and came out to visit Sarah and I in Utah. What a wonderful experience it was to be together again. Rachel is an amazing person. She has excelled in her accomplishments. She was just promoted to sergeant in the Army, she has amazing brain power and love for life. She does crazy things, like jump out of airplanes, carry the SAW for a week just because someone told her she would never be able to, and doesn't think twice tell a stranger off for looking at her. She has found the love of her life, Kevin, who seems to be a perfect match in every way (we have yet to meet him.) She is a great leader whom I look up to and love dearly. Rache, I will miss you but you will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers. We will all be together again soon and what a joy that will be.

Mothers Day

As you can see, this post was added at 2:30AM. I am not an insomniac and I am WISHING I were curled up in bed with the covers up to my neck dreaming sweetly of fond memories. But I am sitting at the computer with Kayla in my lap seeming completely uninterested in anything related to sleep! I do not think that I truly appreciated what my mother did for me until I too have indulged in the unconditional love that causes you to be so sleep deprived that you begin to think you might die, yet you still have the strength to kiss and love that sweet little thing all the way into the early morning hours. So Mom, thank you so much! I don't think I am going to do this 9 times but thank you for being the amazing woman you are for all of us. I love you and Happy Mothers Day!

California

Isaac, Naomi and Bethany are all still living at home. It was so fun to have them meet little Kayla. During a trip to California last September, I saw my family. the whole trip, Bethany would constantly be coming up to be to put her hand on my tummy and say "Hannah, is the baby kicking?" I believe she bonded with Kayla before she was born because this trip, the other members of the family literally had to pry Kayla out of Bethany's arms!
Introducing new things to Kayla is always rewarding. There was something extra rewarding about holding her while she peered at the crashing waves at Patrick's Point in Trinidad.

We visited the Pier in Trinidad to get a bowl of calm chowder at the SeaScape restaraunt. It was fun taking Kayla out on the pier to see all the fishermen. We saw a huge box of live crab be wheeled up the pier.

Three generations of daughters. How I love my Grandma Dotty, she did the most anyone could do, she gave me my mom!

My dad's parents loved Kayla. Grandma Jeannie held Kayla for the first time and Kayla peacefully fell to sleep in her arms. She stil has the touch!!

This is a picture of me and my two oldest sisters. Sometimes I look longingly on those days as a child when everyday your main concern was playing outside or whether or not mom was going to let you rollerskate before bedtime. My parents never had much in the way of money or possessions but they gave us the best childhood anyone could ask for. They taught us how to play, imagine, be friends with eachother, and laugh. Most importantly, they taught us how to truly love ourselves and love God.

Another gift my mom gave us was a system called "guardians." When each child came home from the hospital, they were assigned to an older sibling, kind of like the buddy system. Guardians would stick together at the fair, hold hands crossing the street, and so on. Naomi was the one assigned to me. I believe I went beyond the assigned guardianship, I think I thought she was my own. I read to her, held her all day, and smothered her in every aspect of her life as a kid. Naomi and I are still great friends and the fact I never put her down and smothered her with affection seems to have had no ill effects on her. She is graduating this year and was just accepted to Humboldt State University. Congrats Nomes!!

Isaac and The Dog

I have a little brother named Isaac. He is ten years old. Isaac is a very brave boy with lots of energy. There is one thing, however that scares the heck out of him: Dogs. He has now been attacked twice and bitten right in the.. eh em.. bum. And now he has been attacked again. This time the dog did not bite him, but attemped to right before a heroic act by his sister, Naomi. Poor Isaac was traumatized all day. Here is the story told from the man's own mouth:
Isaac: "I was almost bitten by a dog this morning. Like Elder V (serving in our ward who had a dog encounter story in Tonga, his home), I felt like booting him right in the jaw, but when I was about to, Naomi chucks her keys at the dog (I didn’t know) and all I hear is the dog yelp and run off. Naomi’s keys had hit the dog. Meanwhile I’m crying, well pretty much screaming. I can hardly eat so I last on three Wheat Thins until 12:30. Oh, the dog’s name is Rascal. Why am I not surprised?"
Even though I feel that it is dreadful this has happened, something about this story told by Isaac makes me laugh, hard. It might have something to do with the Wheat Thins!

The Brother of Jared

My little brother Gideon just went into the MTC last week. Gideon is the middle boy in the family. He is a number of things, the "peace maker", the "comedian", "Jared's right hand man", "Mr. Suave", a "lover of the otter pops", "video game goo roo", "life of the party", "Katie's boyfriend", and much much more. Whatever he may be to each of us, we will miss him dearly and know the Atlanta Georgia Mission will NEVER be the same! We love ya Gid!!

Okay, obviously there is something that Kayla thinks is really really funny. One of the best things about a baby's smile is that it is always genuine. Us adults, we smile because it's polite, or it's the appropriate thing to do. Babies, on the other hand, only smile when they are happy.