When The Going Gets Tough...

...The Tough Get....Ice Cream!

My Hero Re"Visited!"

McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden.  It is very new and modern.  This shows only a small part of it.  It's not even a shell of the hospital I delivered Heidi in.  So glad that Josh can be in such a nice place!

Doesn't he look great?!   (He put those shoes on by himself.  Can you imagine doing that but you can't even feel your foot and everything in between is paralyzed too?)  We were impressed with all he can do!!

One of the rehab exercises: Lifting a 9 pound ball over his head.  They had him do many, many reps.

Now they are working on the techniques for him to pull himself up into a sitting position.  This is very hard work also!

Then they strapped him to this contraption.  They gradually raised him from a laying position to almost a standing position.  They were trying to help his cardio vascular system practice pumping throughout his body from bottom to top.  So they also monitored his dizzy level. 

Another day he had to work this machine for 15 minutes.  He worked up a sweat.

Here he is working on a weight machine for strength in his arms and shoulders.  That's his therapist, Nephi!

One time the family hung out while he worked out:

Katie wanted to sit on my lap:

Sophie just slipping down from sitting on her Daddy's lap. 

He is much loved and admired by all who know him!

For Josh!

Josh had to miss the family Easter Egg hunt this year, so I took some pictures for him.  These kids were fast; I should have taken a video!

The Anticipation!

The Hunt!

 The Loot!

We missed you, but thanks for sharing all of your Easter candy

when we came to visit! 

Talk about loot!

"That We...Might Have Hope!"

I am feeling full of hope on this Easter morn!

From "The Infinite Power of Hope" by President Dieter F. Uchtforf   October 2008:

"Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time.

Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness. 

Hope is a gift of the Spirit.  It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection,

we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior. 

This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment,

 and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and

overcome the temptation to lose hope.

Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace,

 mercy,  rejoicing, and gladness. 

The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet;

it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls."

 "Hope sustains us through despair. Hope teaches that there is reason to rejoice even when all seems dark around us.

With Jeremiah I proclaim, “Blessed is the man … whose hope the Lord is.”

With Joel I testify, “The Lord [is] the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.”

With Nephi I declare: “Press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end,

behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.” 

A Spicey Life!

I have a life filled with lots of variety right now!

Yesterday morning was this: Hiding Easter eggs for grandchildren!

Today was this: Serving in the Sacramento Temple.  I was the assigned temple worker for a young girl receiving her endowment!

 Tomorrow will be this: Off to Utah to visit Josh in Odgen and the rest of the family in Clinton!

Next week: More adventures including a trip to Carmel!

Views of Virginia!

I had a very nice trip out to Alexandria, Virginia! 

Visiting Aubrey was just great!!  I took this photo of the whole NICU setup where Aubrey lives right now.

All that stuff is to take care of her.

I enjoyed seeing the apartment where John and Sara live right now.  I had not seen it before.  They live on the 2nd floor, right hand side of this building.  Members live above them and below them.

We had to stop at this yummy place!  Sort of like In and Out but only better!

A special treat for me was to visit Fredericksburg!  In the previous week I had watched a genealogy show online where a man learned that his ancestor had fought in the battle of Fredericksburg during the Civil War.  They took the man there and showed him around the battle site.  Then a few days later I was wondering what was on PBS one evening and when I saw that it was Ken Burns' Civil War documentary, I decided to watch it for a few minutes.  They were telling about the battle of Fredericksburg!  So when John and Sara told me they thought we would have time for an outing on Saturday, I was very pleased when John said: We have been wanting to go to Fredericksburg.  What do you think?   I was ready to go and was not disappointed!

We stopped first at Chatham house on the opposite side of the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg.  This was the Union headquarters and hospital during the war, but I was also interested to learn that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln had also visited the house.

It was from the back of the house that in December of 1862 the Union army launched an 8-hour bombardment which ravaged the city.

It was also from this area that they built the pontoons to aid the troops in crossing the river.

The people fled the city and the Confederate troops regrouped behind a stone wall at the bottom of Marye's Heights along the Sunken Road.  Waves of Union soldiers were killed as they approached shoulder to shoulder with their bayonets poised.  Some of the original wall still exists.  This whole area is known as the "bloodiest landscape in America."  (85,000 wounded and 15,000 killed)

It is a peaceful, beautiful spot today.

The sign by this tree says it was alive at the time of the Civil War.

Then we drove down Lee Drive through the rest of the battlefield where General Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, General George Meade and others continued the battle in which victory ultimately went to the Confederates.

I wondered why there was such a significant battle at this particular spot.  I learned that Fredericksburg was midway between the two capitals: Washington for the Union and Richmond for the Confederacy and being along an important waterway, both sides needed control to protect their capitals.  

We walked through a cemetery and my thoughts turned to the mothers and wives back at home who wished for the safe return of their sons and husbands.  Seeing a new little family just beginning back in Alexandria and the tragedy at this site for so many families made for a thoughtful afternoon.

My Hero!

One of my heroes is having a tough time right now!

He needs all of our prayers!!

This photo was taken a week ago, so he looks much better now with all the tubes and lines out.

He's working hard in rehab.

He is a wonderful husband!

A great father!

And an outstanding son!

President Ezra Taft Benson: "If we only knew it, heavenly hosts are pulling for us—friends in heaven that we cannot now remember who yearn for our victory."

"Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed, for I am thy God and will still give thee aid.  I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand." from "How Firm A Foundation"  Isaiah 41:10

"Be strong and of a good courage!"  Joshua 1:6