Left to Tell

I was talking to my friend Cathy a few weeks ago, and the topic turned to prayer.  She told me about this book she had just read, called "Left To Tell".

It is the story of Immaculee Ilibagiza, who survived the Rwandan Holocaust in the early nineties.  She spent three months hiding in a 3'x4' bathroom with SEVEN other women.  They literally had to sit on top of each other, and barely spoke a word for fear of being discovered. When she began hiding, she weighed 115 lbs, and when she got out, she weighed 65 lbs.  The thing that got her through this ordeal was the relationship she developed with God.  She prayed for nearly 20 hours a day, and through her experience, she learned how to communicate with Him, seek for His will, and forgive the evil men who killed a million of her people, including her family.

This is the first paragraph of the forward in the book:

"I've read thousands of books over the past 50 or so years.  The book you hold in your hands is by far the most moving and poignantly significant of the vast library that comprises my lifetime of personal reading.
You're about to embark on a journey that will undoubtedly change the way you view the power of faith--forever."

It is not an easy book to read, because of the horrific things she describes, but I am so glad I read it.  She believes that the reason she survived this ordeal, is so that she could share her story and help others to heal through His love.

It made me think twice about my own problems, and how insignificant they are.  Todd took the book tonight so he could return it to the library on his way to work tomorrow, and already I wish I had it back to re-read.

I hope that I can apply some of the things she learned to improve my own faith and prayers.

Curious

Be sure to notice the background!

My kind of quilt shop

This is the sign in front of the quilt shop in our new town  (well, hopefully it will be our new town whenever we sell our house)



Fabric emergencies?

I think I'll get along with these ladies well :o)

Summer at the pool

Our kids only went swimming one time last summer.

Yeah, we're losers like that.  I blame it on the fact that I didn't have a maternity suit.

We're making up for it this year, though.  We swim nearly every day when we're at the RV resort, and I've actually learned to kind of like it :o).  Most days we have the pool to ourselves, which is especially nice.

 dun-nuh....dun-nuh...dun-nuh, dun-nuh, dun-nuh...

 My assigned jobs are to apply the sunscreen, blow up the floaties...

 ...and carry them to and from the pool.

(only one mother was harmed in blowing up the floaties)

The return of the tooth fairy

Dillon lost his first tooth this week!

 I was tempted to tell him the truth about the tooth fairy until we found this note on his bed:

It's been so much easier since we told Brayden and Caleb...

They just send us a bill at the end of the month.

Three drowned rats

Even though it rained almost the entire day, I took the kids to the new splash pad at the park while visiting Todd this week.  To say they absolutely loved it would be an understatement.
We will definitely do this again (preferably on a sunny day, with swim trunks)!

I don't think Caleb's shoes have dried out yet.

 Boys will be boys...

Thou art not yet as Job...

I'm chuckling to myself right now as I think back on this crazy summer, and marvel at the blessings we've received. 

I wrote here about our trailer nearly blowing over in the wind a few weeks ago.   What I didn't mention is that the next week the same thing happened again!  This time, Todd moved our trailer to a new spot.  Dillon never says a prayer now, without praying for our trailer while we're away.

In addition to the wind, we've also faced floods, fire, insects, cankers, and let us not forget the 100+ degree temperatures, and the swoobs* that go with it.

Before the kids and I left for our recent trip to the trailer, we had a major downpour, and water started leaking from the ceiling vent in the bathroom.  Here's Justin playing in it:

I took this picture of our backyard so Todd could see what it looked like as we left:

 We had a river in our driveway

 And when we got to the RV resort, we discovered there had been a fire on the mountain (1/2 block away).  It's hard to tell in the picture, but everything in the background was burned.

 Here's a better picture that I took a little ways down the road. I'm not sure if the park was evacuated.  If it was, we weren't here to move our trailer anyway.

While Todd was driving down last time, he ran into a mob of mormon crickets, and at night there are cockroaches everywhere (so far only outside of the trailer).

I think the stress of our situation has caused me to clench my teeth at night...with my tongue in between, so I have cankers all along both sides of my tongue.

The funny thing is, that even with all the craziness, I feel more relaxed and have spent more time with my kids than the past two summers combined. 

The days when we are home are a little hairy.  With Todd away I'm a single parent, while trying to keep the house "show ready" and finish the quilts I've had for way too long.  

The days when we visit Todd at the trailer have been really good for us.  The kids have been forced to be more creative in making their own fun. This morning I found them outside playing charades :o)  Cleaning the trailer takes about 30 minutes (with dishes and floor mopping) and then we're free to go to the pool, or the library, or do laundry at the clubhouse (I love doing 3 loads at once!).  I've enjoyed spending time with my kids without the stress of quilting, or yardwork, or the constant "Is it 3:00 yet? Can we play wii?".  The boys love to walk down to the garbage/recycling center at dusk to watch the bats flying in the air, and I love living close to a craft store :o).

All in all, it's been a good summer.  Not at all like I expected or planned, but good.  Honestly, if I had to choose it again, I would.  There are parts of it that really stink, but as always the blessings have outweighed the trial.  We have been stretched, molded, and pulled out of our comfort zone. We've been forced to rely on the Lord more, and focus on the things that are most important, and I believe we are better for it.

*sweaty + boobs = swoobs

I've been bitten...

by the family history bug!

Ever since I moved here to "the middle of nowhere" I've had this silly wish that I could find an ancestor who lived here.  Since my family came across the plains and settled Cache Valley and parts of Idaho (all North of here), and Todd's parents were converts to the church, I really didn't think there was much hope.

Then, when I was a cub scout leader, we had an activity where a local man shared the history of our county.  I learned that Hanksville (which is a town in our county) was once called "Graves Valley" named after a John Graves who came with the Powell Expedition.

I got excited at that thought, and crashed the Family History Sunday School class for a couple weeks, trying to find some connection.  There was a John Graves on Todd's side, but he would've been about 15 at the time of the Powell Expedition and I couldn't make any connection...especially with my limited knowledge of Family Search.

I was pregnant with Justin at the time, and not feeling well, so after a couple weeks of wondering...I gave up.  Through my search, however, I discovered that I couldn't even fill out a five generation sheet for Todd's Dad. I knew that there was work on his side that needed to be done, but felt that it wasn't my time--with morning sickness and all.

A couple months ago, our ward announced that there were spaces in the Family History Sunday School class if anyone was interested in signing up.  I remembered the work that needed to be done on Todd's side, and decided to attend the class.  Because of sickness and being out of town, I missed all but three of the classes.  Today, during our last class, they announced that anyone could come that evening and there would be someone to help.  I decided that since I'd missed most of the classes, I'd better go get some one-on-one help.

With my friends Julee and Karen by my side, I "dove right in" to New Family Search. It didn't take very long before I had a couple questions about Todd's grandma, that I knew my mother-in-law would be able to answer.  So, tonight I called her to ask them and sure enough, she had the answers I needed.  During the conversation, she told me something about HER grandma that Todd's sister had recently discovered in her own Family History work. I didn't think to much of it, and got ready for bed.

An hour later, I found myself in bed, unable to sleep so I got up and came to the computer.  It was still Sunday, so I got on New Family Search and decided to play around on my mother-in-law's line to see if I found the same thing as Todd's sister.  I did.  Then I started clicking randomly to see how far back the line would go.  I went back five or six generations and found an icon indicating that some work needed to be done.  I clicked on it, and had to do a double take when I realized that this ancestor, who is on Todd's mom's side, rather than his dad's, is buried in Hanksville.  I also found ancestors who were born in Fremont and Therber, and another buried in Giles (also in our county).  I still can't quite believe it, and since I can't sleep, and I don't dare call my mother-in-law in the middle of the night, I decided to type. :o)

That's not the end of the story, though.

Back when I was called to be a cub scout leader, Brother Petty (from the bishopric) told me that there was no doubt that I was supposed to be called to that position, and he asked if I would tell him the reason when I figured it out.  Here is a link to the post where I wrote about my setting apart for that calling.

I'm not going to lie...it was not my favorite calling.  And I ended up getting released when I had morning sickness and Brother Petty called me in to say "We're worried about you and feel like we need to give you a break".  I left his office crying because I felt like I had totally failed in my calling.  And I still had no idea why I was supposed to have that calling in the first place. There were so many people who would've done a better job.

Tonight, however, it all came together.  If I hadn't gone to that cub scout activity (which, by the way, was one of the last ones we had before I was released), I never would have learned about Hanksville being called Graves Valley, and I wouldn't have searched Todd's dad's line and discovered the work that needed to be done.  It was the guilt from that, that led me to take the class, and it was missing the class so many times that led me to go to the Family History Center for one-on-one help tonight.  Then, it took my mother-in-law's comment and my inability to sleep to FINALLY discover that we have ancestors in our little mountain valley.

Tender mercies, I tell ya...

Now I can sell my house (I hope) and move on...as soon as I perform the sealing that I found that needs to be done (and keep going on Todd's dad's line).

Oh, and I fully intend to drive out to the Hanksville cemetery and search for a headstone.

And I need to tell Brother Petty and Sister Oyler (the primary president at the time) why I was supposed to have that calling.

**Update:  Now that I don't have "middle of the night brain" and I'm looking closer at the dates, I'm pretty sure there is a problem with the information on New Family Search, and we DON'T actually have ancestors in our county.  However, there is definitely a problem that needs to be fixed and I intend to figure it out.  I still believe that this is why I had that calling...

First haircut

I made an appointment to get my own hair cut this week, and took Justin along.  Half way through my cut, I noticed the curls around Justin's ears and without even thinking about it, I asked the stylist if she had time to do a "first haircut".  She did, and now my baby looks like a big boy.

I feel like I need to run out and buy him a mini-fridge for his dorm room...

Eleven months

Slow to wake up, and then...pop!

As much as I hate to admit it, I think it's time for a haircut.

At eleven months, Justin:

* pulls himself to standing

* eats puffs, cheerios, noodles, scrambled eggs, legos, wood chips, pebbles, and anything else he can get into his mouth

* babbles, squeals, and throws little fits when he's mad

* loves swimming in the pool (in his baby float)

* is still fascinated by gadgets (cell phones, remote controls, stereo buttons, etc.)

* is a wiggly worm when it's time for a diaper change

* points to Curious George in books

* loves to play peek-a-boo

* is full of mischief

* has "his boys" wrapped around his little finger (and maybe Mom and Dad too...)

Blessed

Last Sunday, the kids and I followed Todd to the RV resort where our trailer is parked to spend a few days with him.  We got there at about 9:30 at night (just after dark) and noticed right away that our propane tank cover was missing.  Todd got out and walked around the trailer and saw our chocks and locks on the ground, and our stabilizing jacks were bent and the wood underneath had been moved.

A neighbor from the resort ran over to tell us about the "hundred mile an hour winds" that had ripped through the park a few hours earlier, and pointed out that the trailer next to ours had a tree on top of it!  Another man told Todd that he "thought [our] trailer was gone" because it was rocking back and forth so hard. 

The stabilizing jacks on the back of our trailer were bent up underneath, and the wood was a few feet away.  

Todd was able to bend the jacks back into place, and we gathered up the wood and chocks that had been scattered, and within about 30 minutes all was well.  

Before we said our family prayers that night, Todd gathered the boys together and told them that when he was leaving the trailer the previous week, he felt prompted to pray for our trailer to be protected while he was away.  He stood in the doorway and said a quick prayer before he left, and our "home" was protected in the storm.

I am grateful for a husband who was "in tune" and followed that prompting.

(The man who had the tree fall on his trailer showed up at about 11:30 that night and was able to get it moved.  Luckily, the damage was minimal). 

The next morning, I took a few pictures around the park.  I think we missed quite a storm (and I think I'm glad we missed it)  Down the road there's a storage unit with a metal roof that is all twisted from the wind.  There are also pieces of the metal roof all over the mountain behind it.

Sewin' up a storm

 I've been quilting A LOT in the past month or so.  I don't know whether people feel sorry for us because of our job situation, or whether it's a blessing from heaven, but whatever the case I've taken a lot of local quilts lately. Most of them needed to be done for a graduation, or a wedding, so they had to be done right away.

I was doing pretty good at keeping up with the house (gotta have it ready to show at a moments notice...) and    getting some quilting time in each day, when I got to the end of this one:

This is the bottom right hand corner.  It's hard to see in the picture, but I had about six square inches of quilting left, when I ran out of bobbin thread....grr.  I took the bobbin out, wound some more thread, and that's when I heard it:

CLUNK.  

GRIND.  

HALT. 

and PING (broken needle flying across the room).

Did I mention that I had two more queen sized quilts that needed to be finished within the next 36 hours?  for a wedding? and the closest place to have my machine serviced was over 3 hours away? yeah.

My timing was shot to he!l, the rocking finger was facing the wrong direction, and my hook assembly was off by more than 1/4 inch.  I've had a few mechanical problems with my machine before, but never anything like this, and never so many vital things at once.

I waited (somewhat patiently) for Todd to come home, and pulled out my maintenance DVD.  We watched the appropriate sections, and then watched them again. I was still trying to wrap my head around the mechanics of it all when a lightbulb went on in Todd's head.

He was awestruck at the way the thread was pulled around the bobbin case, and the rocking finger moved out of the way to let the thread pass through, and then pushed the case to allow the thread through the top.

I was awestruck that he could grasp it all, and knew exactly what to do to time my machine.   He walked in, grabbed a screwdriver and went to work, and within a few minutes my machine was back in business.

I never could have done it without him, and I have to say (now that it's over) it turned out to be kind of fun.  Next time we're looking for a cheap date, I'll have to remember my Gammill maintenance video ;o)

 Thanks, Todd.  You're my hero. 

I was able to get the next two quilts finished, and then I threw in this tablerunner that I made for a store sample:

I have four more quilts to finish, and then I hope to start packing up our house. We still don't have an official offer, but we've got a few people interested so I'm going to start packing in an "act of faith". I really, really, really want to move before school starts...