A doctor aborted the wrong twin

This is just the saddest story, on so many levels. But it's also thought provoking. Makes me realize how shallow some people are. Not to mention heartless. Do some people not get life at all?

A lady in Australia was told one of her twins would be born with a serious heart condition, so she wanted her Dr to abort that twin at 32 weeks. That's just 8 weeks before the due date. And the Dr accidentally killed the "wrong one."

The story.

Richie sends his birthday wishes too!

This made me so happy I just had to share. I haven't even shown it to Grandpa yet. He's too busy talking to Richie's Dad on the phone right now. He's going to love this!!

Look what baby Grant sent to Grandpa!

This just shows a little of the picture poster Grant sent...I couldn't get it all in our printer. 

But you get the idea. I wish I had taken a video of Grandpa opening it up. 

He was SO excited. There is just expression after expression of our little guy. 

And if you are not familiar with the dynamics of our family, 

you won't know the unlikelyhood that Grant would look like Grandpa Dennis.

As Dennis admired his wonderful gift he said, "This has McKenna written all over it!"

It does indeed!

And no, it's not Dennis' birthday yet. Not quite.

So this was a total surprise.

Grant I'm sure is getting stronger by the day....take a look.

And trust me, I've held those braces in my hands and they are not light.

Mexican Casserole

Do you want to know something you can quickly fix when you are hungry and looking for something filling?
This is it:

I made this last night....the picture is from a magazine. But I made so many changes that I won't even give you the original recipe. And mine did pretty much look like this picture, minus the tomatoes, since they aren't in season right now.

Here's what I did:

1. 6 tortillas....I used a corn/wheat blend but any kind will do.

2. Brown 1/2 lb gr turkey (or beef) with 1 chopped onion and 1/2 green pepper.
add 1  1/2 T taco seasoning and 3/4 c water and let simmer a few minutes

3. one generous cup of frozen corn.

4. 16 oz can of refried beans mixed with 1/2 cup salsa


So you start with the 2 tortillas flat on the bottom of the casserole dish sprayed with Pam. Then add 1/3 of each mixture till you have everything layered. Then you top with 3/4 c cheese and bake at 350" till bubbly hot.

We loved this but it was a bit too hot for me even though I used mild salsa. Dennis thought it was just right, but next time I will cut the salsa down to 1/4 cup or maybe even leave it out entirely and just put it on the table to use as a topping.

This is a recipe you can play with to get it how you like. We will definitely make it again.

Then today I was gone a lot, so I just made a quick dinner of breakfast, 

and asked Den to set the table. 

It wasn't till I sat down to eat that I noticed something a bit strange.

Den really had no idea how I ended up with 3 forks. 

It was fun laughing while we ate tonight.

I don't know what to title this

Dennis and I attended a funeral Friday morning which included a complete Catholic Mass. This is far from the first Mass I've attended, but I always find them interesting.

Friday morning was different though. The Catholic Priest (I hope I am identifying his title correctly) actually quoted a Mormon during his talk. He mentioned Steven L Covey's book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." I have never even read this book, but I've heard quotes from it for years. But hearing about it in a Catholic Mass? I admit I was surprised.

Quoting Covey, this Priest talked about how we should "begin with the end in mind." That we should envision our own funeral and think about the words that we wish to be said about ourselves. This can help us visualize what we value the most. To begin with the end simply means to start with our destination in mind. That gives us a sense of where we are in our life.

I love it when religions come together in shared beliefs. I personally think the Catholics and the Mormons, and many other religions, have more common beliefs than we have differences. After all, we both pray to the same God. We are all brothers and sisters. 

Why have I not read this book before? 

I don't know, but I'm very interested in doing so now. 

I know my Mom read it. 

I can still picture it sitting there by the couch in her living room.  

The funeral was for Bill Pieper. He was/is the brother of Rose Emler, who we lived across the street on Fairmont most of our growing up years. We just knew him as "Uncle Bill"
 
The picture below shows "Uncle Bill" on his wedding day back in 1961. About in the center of this picture is Rose Emler (Uncle Bill's sister) along with her 4 children surrounding her: Robbie, Terri, and Karen and holding baby Tammy. Anyway this was 51 years ago...the same year we moved across the street from them. And somewhere through those years, they have become like family.

Go here and roll your cursor over the map 

to see how religions break down state by state.  

Interesting to watch.

Let's just Hide the Mother under a Blanket!

Back in the day. And I do mean way back in the day...did you know it was popular to photograph small children while sitting on their mother's lap...while the mom was completely covered by a blanket?


Then later the lumpy Mom would be hidden further by a mat before the picture was placed in a frame.

So what did they tell the children? 
"Don't worry, Mommy's still here with you but we don't want her in the picture so we're covering her up." 

And just why did they not want Mom in the picture?

 This one is so well done, you can hardly tell!

 Perhaps they had a few hidden Dads back then too?

Oh yes, let's just stick Mom behind the drapes. 

Oh my, photography has changed through the years.

My nervous husband

Dennis was tense the entire drive over to Sweet Tomatoes tonight. He said it was a bad idea to take the twins there, and it would never work.

I think he was reflecting back earlier today when we took the twins to the care center to see a few of our friends there.

They only have it in them to be "good" for so long.

Don't get me wrong, he adores the twins as much as I do. But like he reminds me, they are TWO and there are 2 of them. He thinks it's best to just love on 2 year olds at home, and not bring them out in public until they are civilized.

My argument was
1) At least I would not have to clean up after dinner and
2) It would put us that much closer to bedtime after it was over. (no offense intended, we just get tired)

On the drive there I put my hand on his arm and said, "Just remember, we can't always change the circumstance, but we can change our attitude." Good thing he has a sense of humor.

As we were going towards the door of the restaurant I told the twins, "Just pretend you are FOUR."

That seemed to work because look how well they behaved!

We had very little of this....

And I just freaked out once when I took them both to the bathroom. 

It wasn't the cleanest thing I ever saw and I kept saying, "Don't touch anything!"

But we made it and they were so wonderful, we even went to see how my Dad was doing since his surgery yesterday. He amazes me! We're talking recovering from 2 incisions in his chest where they replaced his batteries....and this was just yesterday. He claims to have no pain!

We give the babies back to their parents tomorrow.
Good thing we will still be related because I know we will miss them.
And as soon as we have a good nap, and a good night sleep, we will miss them even more.

Just about every time I cough or sneeze, Téa says to me, "Are you okay?"
And I answer, "Yes, I'm fine. It's just a cough."
Téa:  "Ohhhh, is it an owie?"
Me:  "No, it doesn't hurt. Just a cough."
This is when Jonas joins in: "A cough? Do you need medicine?"

It plays out like a symphony. Nearly word for word every time. And Jonas always come in at the end.
Dennis laughs and says, "I've never heard anything like this."
I will miss all their sweet sympathy!

This is why I love 2 year olds..

They are eccentric!
They wake up each morning totally trying to relive the day before.
Téa had barely opened her eyes this morning (but Jonas not quite)
and she wanted her Belle costume back on.

They play like no one could possibly get hurt.

 And then they are the first to check out the owies, when they do.

They dance with their entire heart and soul

If they like something, then they REALLY like it.

They are totally gripped by The Lion King. 

Have you ever met a 2 year old who wasn't??

(How do you like the way Den duct taped some old bedspreads over the dusty concrete?)

They are so excited about their next adventure

that I could hear them softly giggling on their way up to the door to Joy School this morning.

And I think Jonas would say the best part of his day is 

when nap time is over and he gets to be reunited with his Téa again.

So yes, Day 2 with the twins.

We are hoping their parents are enjoying every minute together in Vegas!

I have a sneaky daughter in law

Amy asked Logan if he would take this week off to take care of the kids so she could have a little getaway with her girlfriend Crystal. So he did.

But instead, she had it all planned out that she would surprise him instead. I played into this whole thing by asking Logan if I could have the twins for a few hours today. This gave Amy an excuse to bring them over, complete with clothes for the next few days.

I haven't heard yet how it went, but at 2:20 she was planning to tell Logan he had 25 minutes to pack. And at 4:40 this afternoon they both flew to Las Vegas together!

So Den and I have the twins until Thursday.
Amy gave me permission to do this all Grandma Honey style.

I'll explain.

First off I had their "hospital lunches" all ready and waiting for them.

They scarfed nearly every bit of these down.

When I served them spaghetti for dinner Jonas took just a few bites and said, "I give plate back." Téa wasn't interested in it either. Before Amy left she said, "If they don't like what we are eating then we don't make them anything else." but then she added this very key phrase, "But you are Grandma, so you can do what you want."

So away the spaghetti went, and I gave them English muffins coated with honey and mandarin oranges instead. No complaints here.

Off to the store we went to have some fun. 

Grandpa cautioned them to keep their feet and bodies inside the car.

If I were the Mom, I would have said at this point, "Okay you need to get out. You aren't following the rules." 

But no, I didn't say that.

And I definitely would not have bought them these Disneyland looking cups. 

I rarely ever bought my kids anything extra, and certainly not in the grocery store.

Nor would I have let them hang out looking like little beggars.

Then home for a bedtime snack of  Banana Shakes.

Look at the text we just got from the traveling parents:

and just a little FYI....what Amy meant by "He acted way better than I thought."....is Logan rarely shows much emotion, even when he is really happy, or even when he's sad. 

He's a stoic kind of guy.

So I guess this adventure pushed him over the top.

My word for 2012

I don't have one.
But I'll explain what I do have.


I've noticed many people select a word they will emphasize and work on each year. I think that's great but I've not been prompted with a word, or quite frankly, looked for one. But I have had phrases come to me just as clear as can be...over and over in my head to where it almost feels like someone is shouting it.  I better listen up right?


Last January this phrase came to me right after Christmas, "Teach us tolerance and love." I would even wake up hearing this in my dreams. On several different nights. It's actually a line from a hymn. It made me think lots about accepting those who are different from myself. Just because I may not understand someone and what they do, does not mean they are wrong and I am right.


I tried to focus on this phrase through out the year. I even gave my Mother's Day talk in church about tolerance and love.


I am way far from perfect or anywhere close to it. I have lots of work to do on myself. I still mess up a lot. But I do try, and I will continue to try. 


2012's phrase came again to me without my trying or looking for it. It just arrived in the mail one day before Christmas. I didn't recognize it at first, even though when I read it, it stuck with me. I pondered about it a lot. It was a line from one of the Christmas letters I received. From a woman I have loved and admired for years.


This line from her letter sounds simple, yet, it's all here. The reason for our existence. The map of our happiness.

I keep hearing in my head, "as we strive to become more like Him." That's what it's all about. 


I can get frustrated because sometimes in an attempt to be helpful and more loving, it ends up having sort of the opposite affect. I think that's why I appreciated this video so much. I can relate to this little girl. Perhaps we all feel like this sometimes, I'm not sure. But I do. 

But I also have great examples around me. Like my children. 

As you may know, we had to stay in a hotel over the holidays because of water damage to our home. So on Christmas Eve we all found a paper by our door asking if we would like maid service on Christmas Day. I thought, "of course, we need it." I had done lots of cooking in our room and was anxious to have all our onion peels, etc taken out, and the sticky kitchen floor mopped. So I marked yes on our paper, and put it outside our door as requested by the hotel.  


The next morning I got up early and look what I saw by both of my sons and daughters in law's doors.

Their trash, along with the note....and they both, 

by coincidence as far as I know, 

signed them the very same way:

Lightening the load of the maids on Christmas Day.
Why didn't I think of that??

I have great teachers in my life.