Of Good Report

Yesterday was a red letter day!  It began at 6:30, early for a Saturday and ended late.  All the in between times were wonderful.  I readied myself and finished preparing and setting up food for the guests who attended Estelle's baptism.  I set out flowers and springish decorations.  My friend and neighbor, Melonie Jex, agreed to bake the quiche I had prepared so it would be hot and yummy when we returned from the baptism.  9:00 a.m. is early for a baptism and the conflicted with some schedules, but we had most of our family there.  Calie Macdonald was ready to have a baby so they didn't make it; he, in fact, was born this morning--yay!  With that one exception, all other grandparents aunts, uncles and cousins were present. The Tymons and Neva and Karen, Wendy and Christian came.  They are very supportive and I love them!   Even Taylor, who is sick AGAIN came to this once in a lifetime event.   Our stake Primary presidency is awes...

Today began a little earlier than most, especially for a Saturday.  We were awakened, or rather jolted out of bed by a phone call at 5:00 a.m.  When it rang Destry and I knew who would be on the other line, what we didn't know until we answered was which one of Taylor's ailments was the reason for this call.  Asthma.  Not surprising.  It's spring.  Pollen count is high.  He is hanging out outside and sleeping in a tent in the boonies an hour away. Taylor's scout troop is camping out near Mona.  Good cell service--yay!  Fortunately for us and most especially fortunately for Taylor,  Destry's brother JR Macdonald lives in Santaquin which is much closer to Mona than Saratoga Springs is  AND his sweet daughter, Allison, has a nebulizer.   So, Destry called  JR and asked him to take their nebulizer and pick up Taylor.  Hooray for family!  Destry immediately left to meet up with JR to bring Taylor home.   They w...

With Mother's Day just three days away and a recent service given me by my mother, I have been thinking about the love I have for my three moms.  The woman who gave me life, Shirley Renee Luce Smith; the woman who gave my husband life, Sherrie Lynn Horrocks Macdonald and the mother who came into my husband's life during his teenage years, Claudia Walkenhorst Crump have all had an influence on me.  I love them all.  They all continue to serve their families in ways both seen and unseen. Several weeks ago my sister-in-law, JuNette, asked if I wanted to attend BYU Women's Conference with her this year.  Heck ya!  Two days of uplifting, inspirational, motivating talks, fun talks with JuNette, mint brownies and no children...I didn't even need to look at the calendar.  I was going.  She suggested we stay in a hotel closer to BYU and, to be honest, it would be way more fun to have girl talk at night instead of making sure kids were in bed.  When ...

Eight years ago on May 4, I gave birth to a free-spirited strawberry blond girl.  I considered briefly not finding her gender at the scheduled ultrasound, but I couldn't wait.  I was thrilled to find out that I would be having a second daughter.  Emma would have a sister!  Estelle was an easy baby and easily transitioned into our family, but once she could walk things have never been the same!  She can be demanding, yet sensitive; curious, yet afraid; confident, yet shy and I am grateful for the eight great years I have spend with her so far! My pregnancy with her was the most difficult I had had.  I was nauseous for the whole nine months.  I was tired and so ready for her to arrive.  On the night of May 2, I had regular contractions until around 3:00 a.m.  In fact, I was seriously considering calling my mom to come to our home to stay with Spencer, Taylor and Emma, but they stopped.  I knew I had a doctor's appointment the next day, s...

My baby turned 6 last week on April 3, 2013.  She is a loving, joyful girl.  This year on or around my children's birthdays I am going to write about their actual day of birth.  Sarah's birth day was the only one that was scheduled ahead of time.  I had four other youngins at home that needed to be cared for and I thought that 39 weeks sounded like long enough to be pregnant so I went ahead and scheduled an induction. There were some things that were convenient about that, but in the end, it was not my preference.  I got to the hospital showered and as prepared as I could be and was given an iv filled with Pitocin to get things going.  It didn't.  I sat there and I sat there, but nothing happened.  Not one teeny weeny contraction.  Dr. Kari Lawrence came in and broke my water.  That did it.  My previous three deliveries were natural, unmedicated, painful.  Estelle's was especially painful and I didn't want a repeat of that so...

Every human being is an individual.  Everyone knows that.  Even identical twins have subtle physical and personality differences.  Teachers vary, just as their students vary, just as snowflakes vary.  Think of that.  No two snowflakes are exactly the same.  Think of a teacher with a classroom of 35 students.  Think of the number of teachers any given student has throughout his/her elementary, secondary and college years.  Teachers come and go like the ebb and flow of the tide.  Many do so without making much of a difference in the landscape of a child's life.  Others leave a beautiful ripple extending a lifetime.  Still others leave a damaging scar on the heart of a child. Teachers are authority figures.  They are experts.  They are ignorant. They are loving and spiteful; passionate and dull; caring and ambivalent; influential and forgotten.  To a first grader they are a god. ...

Mothers do many things each day throughout a child's life to keep him/her safe.  We scold a toddler for straying into the street; we make children wear helmets; we set curfews and make sure teenagers return safely; we put up baby gates and lock up cleaning supplies; we give our children vaccinations; we clean the house, wash hands and disinfect wounds; we hand out vitamins and herbs; we fight at mealtimes about eating vegetables and avoiding candy; we put up fences and trampoline enclosures; we provide swimming lessons and lifejackets; the list goes on and on and on and on and . . . As the mother of a child with three potentially fatal medical conditions, my quest for safety has been compounded many times over.  My 12 year old son, Taylor, was pretty much born with asthma.  When he was a toddler we discovered he was allergic to tree nuts and peanuts.  The peanut allergy is so severe that he could have a reaction to the mere smell of the stuff. So we read label...