New Years Letter

So I'm contemplating sending out a New Year's letter. Kinda a wrap up of all the activities of 2008. I have such a hard time puting all my thoughts on paper. I think my mind has ADD. Got some cute paper, so I guess I just have to tough it out.

Abbi

Abbi: Portrait of a Dog

Please to go shopping? I's reddy!!

She loved her little ducks.

Deep in thought...*cookies*

Holly

Holly a.k.a. Hodgie

She reminds me of a little doe.

I don't know how she sleeps like this, but she does it all the time.

In the laundry basket, she finds the strangest places to lay.

I'm a Wii addict...nice

Ok, so in the 3 days since Christmas, I have become a total Wii addict. I've mastered Mario Party 8, and now I'm starting on Trauma Center: Second Opinion. I got Cooking Mama, but I don't like it as much as I like the one for my DS. I got the Wii for Dane, but I seem to be playing it much more than he is.

Back to watching The Sound of Music...then more Wii, I think.

Moped...sweeeeet

I got a moped for Christmas! I've been begging for one for over a year, and Dane finally relented yesterday. Took it out for a while today. Went to choir practice this morning, and then to the library and fish store and grocery store. It holds a lot nore than I thought it did. My Helmet is pretty sweet too. There's not much that's funnier than seeing a girl on a moped with a Harley Davidson helmet on. I wish I knew how to post pictures...it's pretty awesome.

Earhquake!!

So we definatly had an earthquake this morning about 7:45. I thought Dane was having a really active dream, but no. So I got up. USGS says it was a 3.6, not too bad, but you could cetainly feel it.

Christmas cards...

I finally got the Christmas cards sent out. We decided that trying to control 4 dogs at Petsmart was probably not going to work, since Jasper is dog agressive and Holly would more than likely bite Santa. Not too worried about Abbi and Luca, they really don't care about things like that. We got a good picture by the Christmas tree. After about 20 pictures, Mom finally said the magic word(cookies!), and got all the dogs to look at her. Also got a nice picture of Dane and I in front of the tree.

Oh yeah...

Been trying to remember to get to Petsmart to get our Santa picture done with the dogs...We can't take Jasper though, because he is mean to other big dogs except Abbi, maybe because she is "special". They need a bath, they are all stinky kids.

Isolation

I feel so isolated here. I know I have my parents in the area, but sometimes that isn't enough, especially with Christmas coming up. I know most of it is my own fault, I don't leave the house much and I hate to call people. I should feel like I have more free time with Grandma being in the hospital, but I don't. I am grateful for the support of my family here and the support from my church family. I did get Christmas shopping done and I am going to mail packages today to Illinois and California, maybe I will take the dress I got back to the store, it looks wierd on me, maybe cause I'm so short. I dunno...

Long time...

I know it has been quite some time since the last post, but I just can't seems to find the right words to use or the time to write sometimes.

Most of you know that Grandma has been hospitalized again. She decided that she no longer wanted to take all of her medicines, especially her thyroid medicine. I founder her wandering the house about 4 am Wednesday morning, talking incoherently and acting a little drunk. I thought she was having another stroke, so I called 911. They were here within 5 minutes, I was surprised. We got to the ER(I rode in the ambulance with her), and they started running test. They did a CT scan on her head and determined that she did not have a stroke, but a very bad urinary tract infection. Apparently, when older people get these types of infections, it can mimic a stroke because of the dehydration and fever. She never mentioned to me that she wasn't feeling well, but that's her, not wanting to cause a fuss.

She was admitted around 6 am to get IV antibiotics and run more tests. That's when her doctor asked me when her thyroid medicine had been discontinued. I said that it had not been. There was no trace of the medicine in her blood, and her level was 66, when it should be 0 or less than 1. Hmmm...that got me thinking, she must be cheeking her medicine when I give it to her. Guess I will have to check when I give her medicines now, or crush them up in her applesauce.

Luca has been all over the house looking for her these past 3 days. His chair napping buddy has left him and he doesn't know what to do. I know he will be happy when she comes home tomorrow.

Life isn't like the movies...you can't rewind

Not that I would want to. I think that everything I have been through and everything I have done has helped to shape the person that I am today. I'm happy where I am.

Oh, I have a new nephew! He was born to Dane's sister Jamie, and her husband Brian. He was born on October 9th at about 7:30am California time. 7lbs 7ozs of beautiful little Asher!! It's times like this that make me really want a child even more. Kinda tired of being in the "no kid club".

Went to Bryce and Jona's wedding in NY on the 4th. It was beautiful, Jona was gorgeous, and I cried the ENTIRE ceremony. I will definatly post pictures, but not too many of me during the ceremony, because in every one, I'm pretty much bent over sobbing...not too photogenic, I'm not a pretty crier. The reception was much better though, didn't cry during that, but I did forget my speech cards, so I couldn't make my speech, but maybe that was a good thing, because I'm pretty sure I would have cried again, and I know people were tired of that!

Well, Dane is out with Alex, I think they are at the movies. And I'm watching survivor(sorta). Thought I would post a little before I fell asleep.

Baptism and Barbeque

So, Dane and I got baptised into the Mormon Church Saturday evening. Alot of people showed up, much more than I had thought would. Dane's old girlfriend Jen came, too. Didn't really expect her to come, but I think she was moved at how Dane has matured and become more of an adult.My mom came too. I have noticed that he is happier and doing more to help me and trying to make me happy. I saw him put a t-shirt in the dirty-clothes hamper the other day and almost fainted! I didn't say anything because I didn't want want him to think I was making a big deal of it. I did say thank you later when we were going to sleep.

Ok, back to the baptism. I got to go first, and I didn't drown. I thought my jumpsuit was waterproof at first, but no such luck...I was soaked from tip to tail. Then Dane went and Elder Johnson almost smacked his head on the step, but Dane didn't find out til after it was over. Then we changed and went back to the meeting room. They were giving testimony at the time that we came back, and after Nathan sat down, nobody was going up. I took that as an opportunity to make Dane go up and speak...he he. He did well. He thanked everyone for coming and thanked Alex for introducing us to the Church. Then Alex gave his talk on baptism and Brother Cox gave a very eloquent (and very long!) talk on the Hold Ghost. I have never met a man that could talk for so long and so well as Brother Cox!

After Brother Cox's 3-hour talk (just kidding!), we heard from Bishop Michaelson, and the closing prayer was given by Brother Tyler. After the talks and closing prayer, we had food! I love to eat, so that was a very welcome surprise. I got to meet a bunch of people I had not yet met. We now have 3 Rebecca's in 1st ward. Me (Rebecca), Sister Cox (Becky) and Sister Fire (Becca)! I'm sure there are more, But I haven't met them yet. The Elders made me a little pink blanket and they gave Dane a tie. I guess one tie wasn't enough for Dane, because by the end of the evening, he had collected ties from alot of the men. He even took Elder Johnson's sweet blue tie! I love it, it is so cool. Dane is all about cool ties now. I know what he is getting for Chrismas!! Sister Cox had ordered us some quad scriptures when she was in Boise, Idaho. She got them personalized with our full names, and they are sooo pretty. Dane got Blue, and I chose Black. He was very surprised to see that I had come up with such a thoughful gift. We finally rolled out of there about 9pm, a very well spent evening behind us. But not much could have prepared me for what was coming on Sunday...


Sunday morning came uneventfully. I got up at 7:45am to get grandma up and dressed, Dane followed at 8am. Grandma had her usual breakfast of grits and toast with a Glucerna shake and a heaping handful of medicines. Dane and I had fruity pebbles (when you are an adult, you caneat whatever...so back off!), mine dry, Dane's with milk and Pringles on the side (what did I say?). We meandered to the car and got fully loaded up by 9:15. Grandma decided she only wanted her walker...NOT the wheelchair, I obliged beacuse, well, lets face it, it's much easier to walk beside her than to push her in a heavy wheelchair up ramps and over speed humps and parking lots. We got inside and were once again congratulated by people on our baptism. Met even more people... Word started spreading about the BBQ we were having later that evening, but we will get back to that in a few more paragraphs! The Sacramnet Meeting started with the blessing of Brother and Sister Weidrich's baby girl Jolie. I always get a little teary-eyed when they give baby blessings. It has just got to be the best feeling in the world. Having this little one and being able to present her to the world and the congregation.

Next, it was Dane's turn to recieve the Holy Ghost. He sat in a chair and the men laid their hands on his head and gave him his blessing. Then it was my turn. I had Brother Cox give me the Holy Ghost. I tell you one thing, I don't think he ever has to struggle to find words. Unlike dane, who is a man of very few words, Brother Cox could talk the ears off of deaf people, which isn't a bad thing, Sister Cox is very lucky to have a man that likes to communicate. After my blessing, I went bak to my seat and the Bishop had us stand and gave the church a chance to recognize us a new members. It was a very good day, and it only got better...

The word spread fast that we were having a cookout after church. We had invited many, but only expected 5 or 6. Well, about 4:30, Brother and Sister Tipping and Brother and Sister Cox showed up and the ladies strated helping me to cook. Sister Cox and I made deviled eggs, while Sister Tipping made hamburgers and turkey burgers. More people started showing up, first Fred, then Nathan, then Elders Kofford and Johnson. And somwhere in the middles of it, Alex snuck in under the radar. Before I knew it, there were 25 in the house, and not much place to sit down. The boys grabbed some chairs from the dining room and garage, and that helped with the overflow. The single men retreated outside with Dane to mess with the burgers, and about 30 minutes later, he came back in to see how people were enjoying the food. I had told him to say the blessing about 45 minutes earlier and he just shrugged it off. Well, people were hungry and Dane put 2 and 2 together and realized they weren't eating because he had not blessed the food. After a quick apology about not knowing the "rules" yet, and laughs from everyone, he gave a quick blessing and everyone was soon eating.

Things began to dwindle down about 7-ish, and most people had gone home by 8. The Elders stayed and had Dane and I write in in Elder Koffords journal (it is NOT a diary, he pointed out). I wrote a quick paragraph, and Dane wrote his novel. It was a long, but very good day.

Colds, missionaries, and life itself.

As I sit here watching cartoons with dane and trying not to go to sleep from all the decongestants I have consumed today, I find my mind wandering a little. For the past few weeks, dane and I have been trying to select a church and religion to commit to. We have been mostly going to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also know as the Mormons. The missionaries have been visiting, too. They are very nice people, and very family oriented. Not so convinced on some of the beliefs, but there is good and not so good to anything I guess. This coming Sunday, we will be visiting the Presbyterian church just up the road. Grandma seems to like coming along for the ride, I think the social interaction does her good.

Dane is enjying his new indoor job with Verizon, even though he has to get up at 5am to be there at 6. He is taking calls on his own now, although he does lack some confidence in his verbal skills, but he keeps telling himself the more he does it, the easier it will be.

The pack of dogs are doing well, too. Jasper and Abbi got into a bit of a tussle the other night, now Abbi is nursing a hurt eyelid. Don't know what started the brawl, but when they get into it, it can be pretty loud. Holly tends to stay out of it for fear of being trampled. That's about all that's going on here, not too bad for the second blog...

First Blog...

Never thought I would be a blogger, but more and more people are doing it, and it seems like a really good way to let people know how we are doing.