The Land of 10,000 Faces...

Fun With Tape...

Oliver with his nose taped. I don't know if he was inspired by Pee Wee Herman... or what... :o)

The view from the side reminds me of the Whos down in Whoville!!! :o)

You can tell they are brothers by their noses.... hehehe.

I LOVE this picture of Jaren! He's so stinkin' funny!!!

"Oops... I Crapped My Pants..."

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Sooooo.... Ed didn't feel well yesterday when we were planning on having our Valentine's Family Candlelight Dinner... so today we thought we'd spend the day together and have our dinner some other night when we all felt better.

It was our first outing since my surgery down in Iowa City and so we split up for a while and decided that we would meet back up around noon to go to the Isle of Capri for their lunch buffet. Ed had promised Oliver that they would go and play Black Light Mini Golf at the arcade inside of Crossroads Mall.

So... Eden and I go through the mall and stop by an asian gift shop to buy my brother, Bryan a late birthday gift. As I was purchasing said item... a feeling rushed over me... like a voice whispering with a sense of urgency... GET TO A TOILET... NOW!!! I just knew that I was going to crap my pants... I just KNEW it... because Ed was sick the day before and I knew that he had given it to me. So I grab Eden by the hand and we hi-tail it out of the store toward the restrooms in BFE! I just knew that I wasn't going to make it and I knew that I was going to SHART in my pants... ya know... that fart that is really... um... well... POOP! Okay... so as we are briskly walking (running would have just let my insides loose) I'm trying to squeeze my buttcheeks together to keep anything on the inside of my body from coming to the outside of my body!!! But... to no avail... as we are rounding the corner of Walden Books... the impending doom was upon me and I farted and could feel something more... yes... LUMPY FARTS had entered my clothing and made me stink to high heaven!!!

I leaned over to Eden and said, "Your mom just crapped her pants!!!" We picked up the pace a bit and headed down the long hallway as I was half in agony and half in laughter at what had just transpired!!! I headed into the restroom stall and tried calling Ed, but the reception sucked, so I couldn't get a hold of him. I kept reassuring Eden that I was still there and told her to stay there and not leave the restroom. I kept saying, "Come on Ed... pick up the phone... I just crapped my freakin' pants... I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I JUST CRAPPED MY PANTS!!! Is this real? I feel like I'm in a movie... Dumb and Dumber or something!"

Evidentally a woman heard me and asked me if she could help. I said that Ed was in the mall so she paged him and told him that, "...your wife had a little accident and is in the women's restroom..." Another woman was nice enough to take the kiddos to play in the play area with her children while Ed bought me some undies, wet wipes and sweat pants!!!

(I still cannot believe that I soiled myself! So... not only do I have old lady bones... I have old lady colon elasticity problems as well... IT REALLY SUCKS TO BE ME RIGHT NOW!!!) So... I get all cleaned up and then I have to face this stranger who knows that I crapped myself and wrangle all of my kids. She was very nice and seemed like she understood that accidents happen! Thank you, Amie... and the other lady out there who paged Ed!!! I'd still be sitting on the toilet a week later if it wasn't for the kindness of two complete strangers!!! Life... oh... man... what a day!

Women's Choir & Scrap Night

Thursday, February 12th, 2009


Tonight was a fun-filled night out with the girls that I desperately needed! It all started at around 6:20... (It was supposed to start at 6 pm, but since I had to wait for Ed to get home to watch the kiddos AND our van has been dead with a flat tire in the driveway for like 2 weeks now... it was more like 6:20 when the fun really began...)


I drove to church for our new Women's Choir that Naomi, my sister-in-law, put together. She is a music teacher by day and thought that it would be fun to form a group of ladies to sing together during the week. We had a lot of fun and it reminded me of Jr. High when I was in lots of different music groups. I was in 7th grade Women's Choir, 8th grade Women's Choir and Mixed Swing Choir. I sang alto throughout my days in the choirs at school, but never really learned how to properly read music. I'm really excited that she's going to actually teach us things about music that we otherwise wouldn't probably learn! I'm really excited about this! :o)


Choir practice got over at about 7 pm and then Krista and I headed over to Diane's house for our scrapbooking night that we go to once night each month. We get to meet with other ladies who share our love of scrapping and giggle and act like 13 year olds! Oh... it's sooooooo much fun! :o) I love that I can spend a little money each month to expand my scrap stuff, get together with other ladies and destress and also to get creative and make things with my own two hands! I just love it AND I truly feel that I NEED it in my life! I'm blessed with a husband who agrees! Ed always lets me do what I want and is just awesome about it! Tonight we had to choose a Background and Texture paper that we wouldn't normally use in our scrapbooks. She wanted to show us that we could make our page pretty even by using paper that we wouldn't ordinarily use! It was so much fun!

Me and My Page

Krista

Misti

Anna
Diane - CTMH Consultant

Good times were had by all! *Grab it... Pull it out... Love it... Put it on your page..." Yeah... fun times. Krista... that was for you!!! :o) A tee hee hee...

30 Going On 13... Yeah... I Said It Right...

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009

Bird's Eye View of the Hospital in Iowa City.

Today Mandy and I ventured down to Iowa City for many different reasons... the first being that I had my post operation check up with my surgeon. Following that... lunch... OF COURSE... and then wedding gown shopping and looking for wedding rings for Matt. We had such a fun day together! Mandy picked me up at around 8:30 in the morning and we were off to U.I.H.C. It takes about an hour and 15 minutes to get down there, but then it took forever to find a parking spot!




So... I checked in and was sent back to the lab for blood work (3 vials) and then down to the radiology department for some x-rays. The first one was of my lower leg bones from my ankle to my knee and the second was of my femur, from my knee to my hip. They took the x-rays of my right leg, which I thought was odd since my left leg hurt more, but I'm sure they know what they are doing! :o) My left hip was hurting especially today which made walking around the hospital a bit tiresome... especially since I didn't get out my sweet wheels (walker)!!! You know... I didn't want to make Mandy jealous since she didn't have one to scoot around the joint with!!! :o)


After my x-rays were done, I went back up to where I checked in and waited for a few minutes to see Dr. Lal, my endocrine surgeon. If ANYONE reading this ever needs surgery for your parathyroid, thyroid, etc... I would HIGHLY suggest this woman! I can't believe all that she has done for me during this whole ordeal. I even told her that my mom and I were impressed that she actually called me to see how I was doing after my surgery. Usually... when I have surgery I never see that person again! She replied that her job wasn't over with surgery. I was very touched that she would call and she even called my pharmacy to straighten some medication questions out! Now that is what I call EXCELLENT service! It really means alot when you can feel that someone truly cares about your health and wellbeing. If you are reading this... THANK YOU!




After a bit, I was called back to see Dr. Lal and she explained a few things to me. She said that my parathyroid hormone level was 94 and while that was a tad high (65 is the high end of "normal") she wasn't too worried. When I first went in to Covenant hospital, it was over 1,ooo!!! Before my surgery in Iowa City, it was 911 and right after my surgery it was 10... yes... ten. So... she said that it's a good sign that it was higher because that means that my remaining two parathyroids are "waking up" since my massive one was pretty much taking over everything!

I also recieved a sheet of paper "Surgical Pathology Examination" and my diagnosis was as follows:

A. Parathyroid, right lower, parathyroidectomy: Hypercellular parathyroid tissue (2.83 grams), consistent with parathyroid adenoma. (Dr. Lal said that hypercellular means that 50% of my large parathyroid was fat cells and that the other 50% was parathyroid cells. It was 2830 mg which was smaller than a plum. Normal is about 50 mg which is about the size of a small grain of rice or about 4 millimeters! It was VERY large in comparison!)

B. Parathyroid, right upper, parathyroidectomy: Benign parathyroid tissue (0.22 grams). (This one was also larger than normal, being 220 mg... normal is 50...)

History
30 year old female presented with calcium 19 and PTH 1000. Severe vitamin D deficiency...

And then there was some other stuff that I didn't understand on there. Anyways... she explained what the important things were and I just love that she takes the time to explain it all to me in a way that I can understand!

Close up of my sweet neckmeat... you can see the stitches on each end in a loop.

She also took out my stitches and told me that I should moisturize and massage my neck to help reduce the puffiness of the scar tissue underneath my surgical site. Also, I need to remember to use sunscreen on it as well. Interesting side note: It takes about 2 years for a scar to heal after surgery.

Dr. Thomas O'Dorisio - Endocrine Specialist,

Me - Freak of Nature,

Dr. Geeta Lal - Endocrine Surgeon

I also finally got to meet the other endocrine doctor, Dr. O'Dorisio. He was so funny! He told Mandy and I that he had on his Jerry Garcia tie and that the name of it was, "Creme de Menthe Hangover". He was so nice and funny! He told me that he was really worried about me that night that I was starting to cramp up due to my hypocalcemia! It's crazy how everyone tells you how worried they were about you after the fact... I guess people don't want to cause alarm in an already scary situation! Anyways... they were great and even let me take a picture with them! Yes... I'm a dork... I know this. :o)


***Soooooo... I go back down on Tuesday, February 24th for my bone density scan (DEXA) and to meet with Dr. O again on the Endocrine Floor.


After my meeting with them, we traveled by elevator to 2RCE where I almost got my arm ripped out of the socket trying to hold the elevator door open... with NO LUCK. I had to quickly reclaim my arm before it was gone forever! So... we went back to where I was admitted the first time to see Perla, my great nurse, but unfortunately she wasn't there. I did get to see Meghan and Robin, some other nurses and aides that helped me as well. They were ALL so fantastic! I miss them!

"Unlock Your Inner Chimp"

Then... we went to the gift shop and bought some fun key chain thingys called "MonKEYS... Unlock Your Inner Chimp". I thought I'd give them to all my close friends, because we all need to unlock our inner chimps! I kept the orange one for myself since Jaren does that same face lately! :o) I was parched at that time and Mandy said, "I have enough change to blow up the world", which was the funniest thing that I heard up to that point! After that we got in line to buy some Sprite or... "Spree-tay" as we called it. Mandy said to the cashier, "We'd like these... unless they are like 4 dollars a piece... then they'd be called Spree-tay..." like Tar-jhay... :o) We were just crazy! Too many laughs!! I'm from... IO-WHAT?! Yeah... I can't even remember what THAT ONE was about! Everything ended in "WHAT?!" We are such nutty fools, I tell ya! That's how I like my friends... nutty and chimplike... just like me! I seriously felt like I was in Jr. High again! I was 30 going on 13!


Sooooo... we leave the hospital and head to Walgreens where I purchase a short sleeve shirt to change into since it was "GORGE" outside! (Yeah... I changed in the car on the way back to Cedar Rapids while Mandy was driving down the highway... ah... the good ol' wild child days were back again... if only for a brief moment...) I got some more calcium, some watercolor kits for the kids and some delish Cashew Roca... oh my gosh... heavenly to my tastebuds!

Bread Pudding... BEFORE...

Bread Pudding... AFTER...

"Look, Ma... I'm a Whirling Dervish!"

We finally get to Cedar Rapids and eat at Biaggi's Italian Ristorante... I don't know if that's the whole name or not... but man... it was DELISH! Mandy ordered Butternut Squash Ravioli with walnuts and I ordered their special, Rigatoni De La Nona which was crispy eggplant and basil on a bed of Rigatoni pasta topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese chunks throughout. YUMTASTIC! WOW! It was excellent! (Too bad I left it in Mandy's car... ARGH!!) Then... for dessert... we split White Chocolate Bread Pudding and I even licked the plate afterwards... (only because we were like the only people in there AND... I just got off the crazy train!) "My food baby is crowning"... yet another hysterical moment of our crazy outing! We are both certifiable... I think... ;o) Our waitress had a good laugh chatting with us and witnessing our crazy antics! As we left... we sang... "The hills are alive.... with the sound of music... Ah... ah... ah... aaaaaaaaahhhh..." while I twirled around in the parking lot. Yes... flashbacks to Jr. High... :o)

Moving right along...

Next stop... Crazy Town... no no no... David's Bridal... *cue cheesy commercial ditty* "You'll Love David's Bridal..." We looked through some dresses, but didn't have much luck as they were all pretty much strapless. Not a modest one among them... BLECH! Don't get me wrong... the ladies there were really wonderful about trying to find dresses that were simple, yet elegant and tried to find some with a tad more coverage. Not everyone wants their goodies hanging out for all the world to see!!! It's kind of frustrating... but anywho... we came home and looked online for some dresses that actually had sleeves on them and found some GORGEOUS options! Yay!!! After that we looked at a jewelry store so Mandy could get some ideas on what to buy for Matt's ring and found a few that she liked! I'd post the photos, but I don't want to spoil the surprise IF she chooses one from that bunch! :o)

Close up of Mandy's GORGEOUS ring from Matt... It's just breathtaking... I LOVE IT!

Anyways... THANK YOU, MANDISA for such a wonderful day of chatting and crazy times! I will truly miss our girly dates when you move!!! We'll have to just plan some girly WEEKENDS in order to hang out now! :o)

Friday Night Lights... Camera... Action... with Bella!

Friday I got to visit all night long with my good friend of 20 plus years. Her little girl, Isabella, is now three months old and just as cute as a button! I got to take lots of pictures of her and she was even smiling in a few of them! I love how babies smell when they are that age! I held her and loved kissing her soft hair! She is a keeper, Meg!

Sweet little Bella...

25 Random Things...

1. I was chased by a camel that got loose from "Perry's Wilderness Ranch" during a Blessed Union of Souls concert that was held at an outdoor festival when I was in high school.
2. I just had a parathyroid removed that was the size of a plum! It's supposed to be the size of a grain of rice.
3. I was the baby Jesus as an infant in a real nativity at my church in 1978.
4. I only had 3 wisdom teeth... and NO... that doesn't mean I'm not as wise as all of you! :o)
5. I'm scared of tornadoes, child birth and spiders.
6. I just had a heel spur removed from my left foot. I no longer have my gallbladder, two parathyroids, a ganglion cyst in my left wrist or any of my wisdom teeth.
7. I was born breech... BUTT FIRST... and no "Butt-head" wisecracks... ;o)
8. I love being a member of the "mormon" church!
9. I have a mental illness.
10. I really... I mean REALLY... LOVE to shop... talk about getting a thrill out of finding a good deal!
11. I love being with good friends and family.
12. I wish I had a larger house so I could entertain more often... I love get-togethers!
13. I love playing board games... especially trivia games... (I have a thing for GSN... the Game Show Network!)
14. I LOVE being crafty! I love to scrapbook and create fun things with my hands.
15. I think I would like to be a teacher, a secretary or maybe a carpenter when I grow up. Don't get me wrong... I LOVE being a stay-at-home-mom! :o)
16. I like to get things organized. You wouldn't know it by the chaos in my house! Hey... organization tools cost money there people!!!
17. I love to eat! I love Hawaiian Haystacks, Fettucine Alfredo and Sweet and Sour Chicken. I also LOVE mozzarella sticks! YUMTASTIC!
18. Several people have said that I should be a comedian. I love to make people laugh, but I don't like to be put on the spot and have to perform... ya know? I get stage fright!
19. I would love to visit Norway and see where all my ancestors came from. I enjoy doing my geneaology/Family History.
20. I love Jane Austen. I've been reading her novels and I love all of the movies as well. I'm reading Pride and Prejudice at the moment and I just finished Sense and Sensibility.
21. I can't read music and I don't know how to play any musical instruments although I think I would have liked to play the drums! I have a funky beat... um... yeah.
22. I have the most WONDERFUL husband! I have been blessed beyond what I feel I deserve.
23. I've been a cashier at K-mart, a teacher's associate, a detasseler (of corn), worked in a potato factory, made pizzas at Papa Johns, worked at Hobby Lobby and worked in the paint and stain department of an interior design store, I also sold Party-Lite candles.
24. I designed the logo for my all girl's hockey team jerseys. I love to draw.
25. I love my life, even through the struggles...

Olive Garden Baby Shower - Ollie's 2nd Ambulance Ride

Last night a bunch of us girlies got together at the Olive Garden for Meg's baby shower! She's having her first baby girl at the end of the month! Yay! We had so much fun eating, talking and laughing! I absolutely LOVE my Girls Nights Out! :o) They are an absolute MUST in order to remain sane and connected! Seriously... I feel re-energized afterwards!

Lindsay, Krista, Martie

Meghan H., Meghan G., Me

We met up there about 6 pm and waited for a while (almost 2 hours... yowzers). Luckily, a seat opened up for me in the lobby and I plowed through the crowd in order to sit and rest my weary bones! UGH! I have to say... my neck feels great, but my bones still hurt really bad! It hurts mainly in my knees, but sometimes they hurt so bad that I feel the bone pain in the teeny tiny bones in my TOES!!! Crazy, huh?! My surgeon said that it would take a while for the calcium to feed my hungry bones! On Tuesday I go back down to Iowa City for my post op check up and x-rays. I'd like to have a bone density scan just to see where most of the damage is done. I had all of the kids for the first time by myself in TWO MONTHS! Man... I was just exhausted!!!

Anyways... Meg H. picked me up at around 5:30 and we ventured out to pick up some clothes for the baby shower and a book... of course! I love giving books as gifts! My kids LOVE to read... and Jaren is starting to sit for longer periods of time now so it's fun to sit and flip through books with him! :o) We got there and like I said I sat for a while, took all my pills while I was sitting there (Thanks for the H2o, Krista!) waiting. Mandy came and Matt was there with 3 of his kids! I got to meet him, but didn't really get to talk with him since the lobby was PACKED with people! I feel bad that I didn't get up and give him a hug and greet all the kiddos, but my legs were KILLING ME!!! (Don't think I'm a huge jerk, Matt... cuz I'm not!) :o) I'm sure we'll meet again! SOON... or so I'm told! ;o) So... we finally are seated and of course it's like the table the furthest away from where I'm sitting!!! I was pining for my sweet wheels aka: my walker! Yeah... I feel like an old woman hobbling around on my weak legs! Yes... thanks again, Krista... for the old lady comments! Hehehe! You know I love ya! Man... I had so much fun last night... I must have REALLY needed to get out of my house... since that's where I am pretty much ALL of the time since our van is dead and has a flat tire. BLECH! Okay... my mind is just going all over today... sorry if you aren't following... :o)

So... we are seated at the table and we order. Meg opens her darling presents, we take pictures. YES... pictures... we seriously see a guy that looks AND sounds just like Jerry Stiller, George Castanza's dad on "Seinfeld"!!! Okay... so I HAD to take a picture of him with Meghan's camera! He even had a shirt on that looked like he borrowed it from Kramer! I wanted to go over to him and ask him to say, "SERENITY NOW!!!". :o) "Festivus... for the rest of us..." Good times!

During our dinner, the waitress comes over and asks if anyone has a white van. Krista piped up and said that she did. Then the waitress said that someone had hit it while in the parking lot. She went out to see if it was hers... later she saw that they had left a note. She wasn't too worried about it... because there was a crack in the bumper from a previous mishap. We think that they must have thought that they had done it. Good thing we are honest folks... RIGHT, KRISTA!?! ;o)

We had so much fun until Ed called Krista's phone and said that Oliver was in the ambulance. I was like, "What happened?" He said that he came downstairs and told him that his stomach hurt and then he started having an asthma attack and couldn't breathe. Ed gave him an albuterol treatment and that did nothing, so Chad came over to be with Jaren and Eden while Ed followed the ambulance to the hospital. Ed had to work at Goodwill overnight so his dad went to the ER to be with Oliver and took him back home with him at 12:30 at night when he was released. I guess his tummy ache was because he has impacted feces... yum. More water and fiber, please. Poor little man. He seems to be doing better today! Thank goodness!!!

"What can . . . young mother[s] [do] . . . to reduce the pressure [of raising young children] and enjoy [their families] more? . . . "Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction. "Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: 'The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less' (Loud and Clear [1004], 10-11)."

M. Russell Ballard, "Daughters of God," Ensign, May 2008, 109

LOW LEVEL ALERT!

So... I've been getting my blood drawn weekly, sometimes twice a week, since my parathyroid surgery. I had it taken earlier this week and Dr. Lal called and said that my Calcium AND Vitamin D levels were low (you need one to absorb the other). SO... I went back today to get my blood checked and my CALCIUM, VITAMIN D, MAGNESIUM AND PHOSPHOROUS levels were ALL low... AGAIN!!!!!!! I just want to scream! I just got one changed from a liquid to a pill form AND picked up ANOTHER form of Vitamin D to take. Here is what I take on a daily basis...

Calcium Citrate (3 large horse pills/4 times daily)

Calcium Carbonate (4 tums/as needed 4 times daily)

Ibuprofen (1 pill/as needed every 6 hours)

Hydromorphone (1/2 pills/as needed every 4 hours) GONE

Magnesium Oxide (1 pill/3 times daily)

Calcitriol (1.5 ml/twice daily) OR (3 pills/twice daily)(Vitamin D)

Easy Lax (1 pill/twice daily)

Senna (1 pill/twice daily)

Vitamin D (1 pill daily)

Citalopram (1 pill daily)

Omeprazole (1 pill daily)

Ergocalciferol (1 pill/Every Wednesday)(Vitamin D)

K-Phos (3 large horse pills/3 times daily) NOT NEEDED as of yesterday... who knows now, I might have to start taking them again!!! AGH!

So... as you can tell... I have a large amount of medicines in my body on a daily basis! Since Dr. Lal (my surgeon) is out of state, Dr. Ordificio? is supposed to call me and tell me what to do now. I'll keep you posted...

The Family: A Proclamation to the World
The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife.

We declare that God's commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife. We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God's eternal plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. "Children are an heritage of the Lord" (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

This proclamation was read by President Gordon B. Hinckley as part of his message at the General Relief Society Meeting held September 23, 1995,

in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"It requires courage to make good choices, even when others around us choose differently. As we make righteous choices day by day in little things, the Lord will strengthen us and help us choose the right during more difficult times. "The teachings and values we cherish the most are not embraced by a secular world. To maintain a firm stance for ourselves and our children, the message of the restored gospel must be firmly planted in our hearts and taught in our homes."

W. Craig Zwick, "We Will Not Yield, We Cannot Yield," Ensign, May 2008, 98

"Stacy's Movie Corner"

I rented some movies today after my brother, Chad took me to get my blood drawn and my levels checked again. (He's been great about taking me every week. Thanks, Chadwick!) I seriously checked out about 12 movies to watch since I'm by myself all day long and I'm letting my body rest for once! :o)

One movie I rented seemed like it would be a good, uplifting movie to watch and was based on a true story so I thought I would try it out. As I watched it, I realized that not all movies are created equal! Obviously I realized that before, but... I really felt as if the movie makers were trying to hard. It was definitly a "longshot"! Does that make sense? I mean... first of all, the acting was horrible (bad casting)... the story didn't flow smoothly (bad writing)... and it wasn't believable (in the fact that this girl learned football terms and plays in a short time that seemed like she'd known them her whole life). They didn't take the time to develop the characters and their dealings with one another. I'm sure they tried to do the film justice BECAUSE it was based on a young girl's life, BUT man... they failed miserably. It really left me wanting.

Next, Ed popped in a movie that was very thought provoking as well as moving. It was about a man who had no hope and who had found hope at the end of the movie. ("Henry Poole is Here")The acting was wonderful... it made it seem like I truly KNEW these people and really felt for all of the characters involved. It didn't have to have fast cars, intelligent robots or fantastic explosions to keep my interest. Maybe I felt more connected with the subject matter in this movie as opposed to the previous viewed... or maybe just because the acting (and film making) was phenomenally better! It gave me a better appreciation for the cinema and the whole creative experience. I love watching the bonus features that usually accompany DVD's nowadays. They give the veiwer a glimpse into the film making and casting process that he or she otherwise wouldn't have known about. It was interesting because I felt that the main character's eyes did much of the acting! (They said that in the bonus materials as well.) It was amazing the feeling that I felt just through the look in his eyes. (Luke Wilson = "Henry Poole") I would recommend this movie to anyone! Two thumbs up!

We are all blessed with talents given to us from Heavenly Father. It is evident that Luke Wilson was given the gift of acting and the ability to bring his characters to life. Just some food for thought. :o)

"I long have been impressed with the truth that meaningful prayer requires both holy communication and consecrated work. Blessings require some effort on our part before we can obtain them, and prayer, as 'a form of work, . . . is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings' (Bible Dictionary, "Prayer," 753). We press forward and persevere in the consecrated work of prayer, after we say 'amen,' by acting upon the things we have expressed to Heavenly Father. Asking in faith requires honesty, effort, commitment, and persistence."
David A. Bednar, "Ask in Faith," Ensign, May 2008, 95