More of Sydney...

Yes, I know... just wait if we ever DO have a baby- it will be at least 10 posts/day.

It's a Girl!!!

As an answer to Alex's question, everyone meet Lilia!





Here are a couple videos:

Compassion

I have no idea what happened when I first started typing this, so here I go again. Last week one of the counselors in the RS called and asked if I would help with her lesson the next Sunday. The topic was on compassion. I thought a lot about it and decided that looking (for some one to help) and listening to the small voice or that sudden thought that comes to you and then acting on it. Dad said that he thought that compassion is learned. And this memory came to me.

When I was a little girl we lived out at Mission lake in Horton, Ks. My dad was the caretaker and it was an extremely popular place for people to go to. There was boating, swimming etc. I was probably 8 or 9 years and you would never know to look at me now, that I was kind of a frail child. The winters in Kansas can be extremely cold, especially when the north wind would blow. When it was really cold my folks wouldn't let me walk the 2 miles to school. At this time, it was during the depression, that the govt. had different projects going to try to help people get jobs. Anyway, at this time the REA hired boys, probably late teens, to work at the lake, I'm not sure what they did, but I remember them. I remember my mom saying to my dad on those bitterly cold days, "Bill, it's too cold for those boys to be out working in this cold. You go get them and bring them into the house." My dad did and the boys came into our warm house. We had a 'warm morning' pot bellied stove that heated the rest of the house. My mom would say to the boys that if she had more wood for the cook stove in the kitchen, she would pop some corn. Like a flash the boys would go out to the wood pile and bring in lots of wood and my mom would pop corn. Right next to our house was an apple orchard and after the harvest we would go out and pick up the windfalls and we would have a winters supply of apples. Just below the apple orchard was a field where they grew pop corn and again, after the harvest we would go and glean popcorn and then sit around and take it off the husks. So, we had apples and pop corn for the REA boys and for our family. What a treat it was. During those days the boys and I would play chinest checkers and I got really good. But looking back I wonder how many of those games they let me win. I still have the marbles and the chinese checker board. I treasure them.

Years later mom and dad and I moved to Idaho and when your grandpa and I moved to California they moved back to Kansas and bought the house they would live until my dad had to be moved to a rest home, and later so did my mom. Anyway, back to my story. When spring came my dad needed to have the space plowed up where he would plant his garden. We always had a hugh garden. So, dad called this one man in town and made arrangements for him to come and plow his garden spot. He came down and plowed my dad's garden and did what ever it was to smooth it out. When he finished my dad started to pay him and he said,"Bill, you don't have enough money in your wallet to pay me. You may not remember, but I was one of the boys that you and Mrs. Scott took in out of the cold back when I was just a boy."

I guess compassion is made up of many things, but learning is certainly one of them

Love,
Mom, Grandma and Great Grandma

Need Gymbuck$?

This is more aimed to the ladies (with babies) in the family. I have... um.... a bunch... of Gymbuck$ that it does not look like I will be using this time around. I found a fantastic coat, hat, gloves and dress for Valerie for Christmas and I still have $150 (off $300) left.

So.... if anyone needs (or shall I say "needs") Gymbucks let me know. I keep planning to go to Gymboree (the closest is an hour away) to peruse the back of the store for baby clearance, but I have had absolutely no time and I am not liking what is online.

So, let me know... how I miss working at that store sometimes, I stopped working there when Valerie was 8 and Janie and Jack spun off us.

Crystal

a new family member

This is Sydney, our new baby. He is 7 and is a moluccan cockatoo. He is pretty entertaining! Moluccans live to be about 80 so really, we are his pet.

Happy happy birthday, mommy dear!

This is one of my favorite pictures of mom. Love you mom!! Happy Birthday!

love, becky


This is Dana now, I'm just going to add a couple pictures to Becky's post.



AND.......this is the funniest commercial!!! I laugh so hard every time I watch it. Just wanted to share.
FUNNY COMMERCIAL
Anyone know how you can make a link so people can just click on it? I can't figure it out.

It certainly was awesome having birthday eve with Mom Croshaw and now... officially 39 minutes on this day of her birth. I am sneaky and got her to pose for some... interesting pictures with Valerie. My favorite one I have seen of Debby is the one of she and David asleep and snuggly at the airport- feel free to edit and post pictures of this woman we all love so much.

I personally feel tonight more strongly than ever before a great sense of gratitude and love for Debby and the steadfastness of her faith, the epitome of her example as a good mother, and her unfailing love for her family. All of her children are so lucky to have her as a mom and here is your chance to tell her why you love her, share a fond memory or send her well wishes (or all the above).

OXOXOXOX

Thanksgiving fun

I just thought of something we could do when everyone is here for Thanksgiving. we need everyone's support and involvement in this one. You'll probably have to work out a little and stretch before you come. Everyone follow this link and practice the dance.
Leslie, you're in charge of costumes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTRNX5Yb0DU&NR=1
PS, I get to be Haini.
Colin

Funny

Not to ruin the spirituality of the blog from that last post, but here are a couple hilarious things I saw tonight.
This one's a Nacho Libre tribute: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3150657336020865067
This one's the $250,000 America's Funniest Home Videos winner, and this one actually deserves it:
http://abc.go.com/primetime/afv/index?pn=videoplayer&id=364210
Colin

Prayer...it works

I had an experience with prayer this week that just reamffirmed to me that Heavenly Father is constantly watching over us and knows all of our needs, however insignificant. I was about to leave to pick Grace up from school and realized that Elliot was poopy. So I changed him and went outside to throw away his diaper. he ran up behind me and locked the front door, they are just those little push button locks. Well, we have a child proof lock on the front door so he couldn't turn the handle to unlock the door. So Elliot and Maggie were inside alone and I was supposed to be leaving to pick up Grace and I was locked out!! All of the doors and windows were locked, which I diligently check every day so I knew it was usless to try and get in on my own. So I went around to the back yard where we didn't have a lock on the door, but the door was deadbolted. The door is glass so Elliot could see me. We don't have a lock on that door because the deadbolt sticks and Elliot can't usually open it. So I said a prayer that Elliot would be able to turn the deadbolt and went to work trying to get his attention. It took us a while, Elliot walked away a couple of times, he tried to turn it a few times without any luck, but finally he reached up and turned the lock and the door opened!! I was so grateful that Heavenly Father was watching over me. That definitely strengthened my testimony of the power of prayer. All we have to do is ask.

love, Becky