A chapter we will never forget

Today is the 3rd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. August 29, 2005.

Gustav is currently threatening the Gulf Coast States, and putting Southern Louisiana on alert.

I sit here at home and the memories flood through me. We evacuated on a Saturday and it hit on a Monday. The days of the week are exactly the same for this storm to make landfall as was Katrina. People in the New Olreans area are still trying to re-build their lives. Those who have re-built still see the daily reminders all around.

When I am asked where we just moved from, and people hear my reply,

the most common question is, "How are they doing down there?".

I tell them that it is a mess and there is a still lot of work to yet be done.

Going through that experience and living in New Orleans afterwards, I learned 1-one huge lesson, that has changed my outlook on life; is that anything can be taken away from us at any moment and our lives can change in an instant. Our material possessions are insignificant, we all take so much for granted, be thankful to Heavenly Father for everything you have.

It is easy for me to forget how blessed I am. When life gets difficult, I remember that there is always someone who has had it worse than me, or still does. I will never forget the people who helped me and my family during that time and I will always be thankful for your love and kindness.

The Lord blessed us with the strength to endure, be strong, and move forward. Josiah and Jacque were resilient and their memories are happy ones. Paul was amazingly strong and proactive through the entire ordeal. I was the one in shock to witness the enormous power and destruction of mother nature, especailly when we drove to Gulf Port & Waveland, Mississippi to see the area, wow. With that, we also got to witness great selfless service of thousands of poeple from all over the country coming to work in wet, moldy homes.

It was amazing!

I loved living in New Orleans. I miss it. I miss the people, we had the greatest ward ever- The Jefferson Ward- was our family, I had the best of friends there, Paul had a great group of people to work and learn with, and our children had close friendships. It was truly a great time in our lives. Now, I know what it means to miss New Orleans. We are blessed to have lived there.

It is a city rich with history, culture, and great people- that we will be praying for.

photos on hold . . .please be patient

My camera is in the shop. I hate not having a camera. Monday, I could not see any images through the view finder or the lcd screen. I checked online and I found articles on a CCD SENSOR recall on many different makes and models a few years ago.

So, I have sent it off to be repaired. {sniff, sniff} I like this camera. It has been good to me. It's just a medium point & shoot deal, but I have grown very fond of it. I will miss it while it's gone. I hope you don't miss too many great photo ops while you're out sick.

Soccer Season

This is the first year of soccer for Josiah and Jacque.

I had no idea it would be so time consuming. No wonder they are called "soccer mom's"

That's all I do; Soccer Practice & Soccer Games. Soccer, soccer, soccer.

Wake-up, eat, soccer, shower, drive, soccer, sleep, school,

soccer, clean, soccer, soccer, soccer.

The kids love soccer, and we love watching them play soccer, so soccer it is!!

Our First Grader

Josiah started at his new elementary school last Monday.

I am always much more nervous than he is.

He has been excited to start school & meet new kids. Josiah is slowly finding friends his age in school, church, and sports. He has found a little red-headed girl in his class to 'crush on' too. {which doesn't surprise us} His teacher is so sweet also! She told him that all she expects is that he be the best first-grader he can be. She said that she loves him and that she is here to help him because she cares. awww.

Everyone at school is so nice and soft spoken. It has been nice for me, as a parent, to feel welcomed. The faculty waves at us and says 'thank you', with a huge smile. It is so nice!

The school Josiah went to in Louisiana, was highly recommended, and we liked it. However, they were very strict with the children and their parents. I was always afraid the I was going to get into trouble, by parking in the wrong place, going to wrong directions, or walking into the wrong door!

I was asking Josiah's teacher a million questions on 'Back-to-school Night' about the car-pool line {where no-one is yelling through a megaphone, and there is no long waiting in line} and parking, just because the last school was so strict. Josiah even told me that the lunch ladies are nice too, and don't yell in the cafeteria. I was even allowed to walk him to his class until he knew his way around. AND even to take something to his classroom he forgot. :)

I think this is going to be a great year for Josiah! {and me!}

Dressing up?

Attire:

~Josiah~

Hat- home-sewn-flannel bag

Cape- flower blanket, that I made for Jacque

~Jacque~

Hat- small-sunflower gift bag

Cape- Barbie pillow case

Weapon- pretend- butter knife

What else can I say? They are just so UNIQUE?

I guess it might be a hint. Is it time to sew the kids some super-capes?

Trying to something fun...

...before summer is over.

It hasn't been the most exciting summer. Last year was kinda the same.

Ever since the twins were born, it has been difficult to get out.

The most exciting thing we did this summer, was probably the move.

The kids have been begging me to go to the water park, since we got to Utah.

The one they really want to go to, I don't dare try by myself, but I thought I'd try the city pool. It has a kiddie area, and I thought if Danielle came with me, I might be able to manage, {without anyone drowning}

Josiah and Jacque had a lot of fun.

The twins, on the other hand, were another story, of course.

Hannah is very timid, and get scared easily {and cold} in the water.

Pauly is very brave, and I let him go exploring, except he wouldn't stop crawling, even when the water was getting deeper. Crazy kid!

After many attempts, and Pauly screaming 'cause he wanted to be set free, and Hannah grabbing on to me, for her dear life, and shivering... I decided that was enough. I got out with the babies and let Josiah and Jacque play for a while longer, until the babies didn't want to sit in the stroller anymore.

I tell the kids, just be happy you got to come play in the water.

Staying just a little while is better than not coming at all.

We will get past this phase with the twins, they will get bigger,

and we will be able to do more fun things.

Storytime

Josiah and Jacque LOVE their big sister Danielle!

Thank you Danielle for being so good to your siblings!

For all our LDS Dental friends

Paul and I have been so busy lately, we completely forgot about our

August 14th ~ Valentines Day.

Luckily, Friday night we already had plans set up in advance.

I assume most of the people we knew in Dental School aren't aware,

because I didn't see any of you there . . .

There is a Academy of LDS Dentists. Paul attended a two-day conference at BYU.

I went with Paul to a dinner and fireside.

It was so nice, and it wasn't only because I got away from the kids. We ate dinner and talked to other dental couples, after, Richard E. Turley, the church Historian, gave a interesting presentation on the Joseph Smith Paper project.

We later found out, too late though for me to attend, that there is a Spouse's Program that has great speakers to motivate and uplift. ALSO, they have a Youth Program, for ages 6-11 & 12-18 they took the kids to The Gateway one day, and Seven Peaks Water Park another day,

and the older group went to Lagoon.

I encourage all of our LDS Dental friends to join and go to the conference next year!

Here is some info: http://ce.byu.edu/cw/dentist/video.cfm

Hope to see you all next time!

Olympic Swimming

Paul has been so excited for Michael Phelps!

He's breaking world records, that are all his own.

Wow! Absolutely Amazing to watch him.

Double jointed... have you seen him stretch?

I can see why this is Paul's favorite Olympic sport to watch,

Paul was a swimmer in his high school days, and still loves to

swim laps as his exercise regimen when he has the time.

We will be glued to the TV to see if he gets 8 gold medals!

Two in a basket

Hannah is always trying to get into everything. Paul decided to join her.

{this wasn't staged.} How cute~

Danielle!!

We love having her visit us all the time!

She is a awesome daughter and big sister.