Hardy House

Status Update

2011-05-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

Dearest Friends and Family,

Thank you for all your love, support and prayers during this challenging time in our lives. We know it must seem as if we are constantly asking for fasting and prayers but it seems as if we are in need our friends' and family's faith during this next week.

This past week I flew to Arizona to mediate with the birth mom of our two (hopeful adoptive) children- Josiah and Kimball. But upon arriving at court the mother's attorney told CPS that she refused to mediate. Actually her and her mother refused to even go into the room with me. (You can imagine how this made me feel!!! It was a huge sacrifice to even be there!) But after some persuasion from different parties they agreed to at least meet me. Their "mediation" seemed pointless, as they did not mediate at all other than ask me what contact Dave and I would allow if she placed her kids with us. Her lawyer was a big bully to me and treated me so disrespectfully especially because I have no idea what was going on (sorry I have never been to court before, or even talked to a lawyer before) and she kept using "lawyer lingo" to confuse and stump me. I felt demoralized, humiliated and completely devastated by the end of our "meeting".

After the meeting I was very, very upset.

I sobbed in the shower.

But after multiple prayers, scripture reading (D&C 122), a blessing and attending the temple I am feeling at peace with whatever the Lord has planned for us. I know that we are supposed to be an eternal family. I have had that witness reassured to me so many times. However, we are at the mercy of agency. A gift given to all of us. A gift that has the power to change everything; especially the lives of two beautiful little children.

We have court this Tuesday, May 24th. At this court the mother can choose whether to sever her rights and have some contact with her children (a sacrifice we are willing to make) or go to trial (if she does she will never have any contact with her children again). There is currently a 2-3 month wait for trial dates. In the meantime, she has pushed the courts for a court order to see her children weekly. Grandma is very upset about this because the children were doing so well. We are all unsure how these visits will affect the kids and their future mental health. We are hoping and praying that they will be protected and guided by the Spirit of the Lord while they are with her.

We are hoping to have fast this Sunday May 22nd. We are fasting that the right thing will happen. That hearts will be softened and that the will of the Lord will be done.

We thank you again for your thoughts, prayers, fasts, and temple name placement on our behalf. Dave and I have occasionally commented that we feel we are the only ones with problems because of how often we need help from others. However, we have also realized how blessed we are to have friends and family across the nation who love and care for us even when we are SO far from them.

May God bless you all and thank you,

Susan, David and Jarom Hardy

Miracles Happen

2011-04-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

So one of my favorite movies is Princess Diaries!! And I love the song “Miracles Happen” by Myra. It is so fun, upbeat and happy!!! I love dancing and running to it. Well this fantastic song has been in my head recently because we believe that “Miracles” really do “Happen.”

One happened for us on March 29th. We had court and the children’s father did not even attend. So his parental rights were severed and he did not contest it. YEAH!! He has since moved to South Dakota and is doing well starting over with life. We hope and pray for him.

Here is the miracle!!! So the birth mom has not been very agreeable since the kids have been in CPS. She has been fighting us tooth and nail even from prison. She was not going to change her mind and was going to stretch this out to trial which would be worse for the kids because we couldn’t have them until the end of trial. But at court on the 29th she agreed to mediate with us!! So that means that we agree to some form of contact after the kids are adopted whether its letters, cards, pictures or a blog. She gets out of prison on May 13th. So we will mediate with her on May 16th and we hope and pray that we can reach an agreement! (I am terrified because I have to go by myself!!!) We are praying for softened hearts so that we can get these kids as soon as possible.

And if everything goes well, court will be on May 24th and if she still agrees to the mediation arrangement we can take the kids home that week!! Then a 6 month wait, finalization and then a temple sealing.

We believe in miracles.

March Trip

2011-04-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

Jarom and I headed out to Arizona again in March!! It was so warm!!!!! Dave froze at home with weather in the teens. He is going out by himself on April 14th!! He is so excited to see his kids.

Jarom and Josiah feeding the ducks at the Phoenix Zoo.

Ahhhhh, do not fall in the water!! One of my biggest fears is having my child fall over an edge!!! (Any edge, at the theater, at the water generated power plant, at the races, anything!! Its that gut wrenching feeling. )

Matching shirts and silly faces.

Jarom insisted on having a picture with his favorite animal- Dolphin!!

Sibling picture!!! Come little girl smile on command. She is so defiant!!! If we want her to smile with a prompt she will stick out her frown and scowl. Any advice anyone one how to get your kids to smile? Danica, any advice?

Such beautiful blue eyes!!! Love this girl!!!!!

OMG!!! They actually are playing instead of fighting!! Its amazing what a little sand can do for your relationship with your younger sibs!!

Jarom and Josiah did SO good on this trip!! I am so glad that Jarom was able to come. He was able to play and play and play with Josiah! They got sidewalk chalk and drew huge race track and pretended on be Lightning McQueen. They build sand volcanoes. Bathed. And went to see Tangled together. It was SO great!!!!!

Discovery. I love watching little kids and all the little things that fascinate them! Here Kimball is watching the sand fall off her hands.

Josiah and Grandma J. Its so wonderful to have another set of grandparents/parents!!! We LOVE them. We have such a great relationship with them!!

Bros!!!

Scrub A Dub Dub

2011-04-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

Rub A Dub Dub

Two little boys in the Tub

Scrubbing brothers with Deigo towels

Smilies in the tub.

These two wanted to do everything together!!! Taking a bath after playing in the sand box was one of those things!

Feb Trip to AZ

2011-03-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

So due to finances or the lack there of I was the only person who was able to go to Arizona in Feb! Poor Dave it was zer0 degrees in Indiana when I was soaking up the sun rays at 68 degrees in Arizona.

It was a really good trip for me as their "mommy or mommy-Susan." That is what they call me even though we did not start it or even encourage it. I want them to have a mommy who is going to be around all the time and not leave after a few days and not see her for weeks on end. But alas that's what they call me. We went to the zoo and fed the ducks!

Josiah driving the tractor at the petting area.

Kimball riding the horse at the Fisher Price playground. She is SO attached to me and it breaks my heart to leave them!! I mean walking away as your little girl screams "mommy, no I want my mommy" to catch a plane. Ahhhh.

I LOVE this picture!!! She is SO cute. I just want to smother her with kisses. Some of her fake smiles are a little daunting but this is a real Kimball smile! I love this little girl.

Clarification!!

2011-03-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

Okay so I read some of the comments from a few posts ago and I definitely need to update everyone!! First I will ask for forgiveness. We did not know how much to share with everyone because we weren't sure if we would get this two children.

So back in Sept (yes 6 months ago) my aunt's sister contacted us. She and her husband had been looking at our adoption blog provided to her by my aunt Ruth. They asked us if we would be interested in adopting children and not baby like we had planned. We thought and prayed more about it and came to the conclusion that we should pursue this contact.

Their 2 grandchildren are in CPS with them as the foster parents but the situation with the birth parents has not improved and the case will more than likely move to adoption. The caseworker asked them to find a family who would be a good candidate. Due to health concerns and age these grandparents could not adopt them- so they found us.

We have been in contact with these two kids 4-5 per week via phone and skype. We have sent letters and packages and have actually visited them 3-4 times (we try to go about every 5 weeks). We have been trying to establish a bond and connection with these children even though we are SO far away. Some days are better than others. But we are so thankful they live with their grandparents who have adopted us as their own son, daughter and grandson!!

On Feb 2nd a huge blessing occurred. The judge finally ruled that their case plan would be changing from reunification of the family to adoption with us as the primary adoption family!! Hurray!!!

So to answer your questions . . . . . YES we are hoping to adopt two children in the next 3-6 months. There are many, many, many more courts and hearings and trials that need to take place before they are placed in our home but we are 99% hopeful they will be placed with us.

Many more challenges and changes will come to us as we move through this process but we feel confident that these kids are suppose to be in our eternal family!! (Heck they are blond haired and blue eyed just like the one I already have!)

There have been SO many emotions attached with this adoption. Some good and some so. so frustrating and just down right disappointing!!!! I thought infertility treatment was bad. This might be harder on the emotions. Its just the situation that these dear children are in and that we have absolutely no control or say that breaks our hearts. Its like standing on the side lines with your mouth taped with duct tape as you want your child being hurt by someone else and you have NO WAY to stop it. But hopefully it will be resolved sooner rather than later. So I can be on the side line with a huge megaphone and cheering pom poms or even better yet a coach's jersey so I can be on the field with them!!!

So if you happen to remember the Hardy's in your prayers we will be eternally grateful. We are praying that these kids will be placed with us as soon a possible so that they can forget the horrific beginnings which they had and start over fresh with us!

So I do need some more help!! If you have any ideas about parenting or ideas, thoughts, blogs, books about activities to do with 2 and 3 year olds please, please, please send them my way!! I think I have forgotten what you do with little kids besides watch movies or go to the zoo!! (That's what we do on our date night/watch the kids nights!!) You forget when you are not around them all the time!

Love, Susan

Arizona in Jan.

2011-03-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of our kids!!! We just have to wait 3-6 months to bring them home! If you ever felt like praying for the Hardy's now would be a great time to start!

Kimball (2yrs)playing in the snow. She has the coolest birthday ever!! 10/9/8!! Awesome and easy to remember.

Kimball posing on the tree. I do not mean to brag but this little girl is super smart and a talker!!! She is not even 2 1/2 but she uses 8+ word sentences, understands so much and is potty trained!!

Josiah (3yrs)on the tree!!

Grandma Katherine took the kids on a 2 hour drive over winter break to find snow so the kids could experience it before they moved from Arizona to Indiana.

Dave LOVED the fresh oranges off of the trees in Grandpa and Grandma J's backyard. There is nothing better than a fresh orange.

Jarom and Kimball crashing after a long day at the Children's Science Center in Phoenix.

We are so excited to have a little girl!!! (Terrified too!!) Dave and I took the kids to IKEA where the two boys played in the children's center and we were able to play kitchen with Kimball. We wanted to make sure she would play with it before investing any money into a little play kitchen. Here she is making pancakes!!

Matching shirts as we tried out the camping gear at Dick's so we would know what we needed for camping this summer! Both boys love Batman.

Jarom getting ready to punt a small ball at a park with some friends from Philly.

Josiah LOVES soccer. And believe me when I say this boy is going to need to exercise a whole lot!! Very, very, very active.

Silly faces at the zoo!

My first Quilt!!

2011-02-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

Alright I did it!! I finally did it! I completed my first quilt!

It was a baby gift for my sister's second baby boy. I have so much fun! It was super easy (believe me that is all I could handle). Thank goodness for "steam a seam" What a life saver!!

I love how all the colors turned out and matched the little paw prints! My sister's family LOVES dogs.

House Upgrades

2011-02-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

A few people have asked what I have done with vinyl lettering recently?

Time clocks!

All the places Dave and I want to go!!

So we are not allowed to pain our walls. So I came up with this idea to add a splash of color to boring white walls. (taken from Crate and Barrel and Ikea as you walk through their show rooms) Almost every room in our house has something like this up. I am attempting to do pink stripes on boards in Kimball's room.

Jarom and Josiah's room. Some of the boards warped just a little bit but it was cheap and easy to do and still gives some color to boring white walls. Above the blue boards I want to write "Its a bird . . . . It's a plane . . . . Its . . . ." in red vinyl to match the things that go theme I have started. Any other ideas?

Vinyl above the bunk beds. I need to make one for the lower bunk in Josiah's name.

Reds and blue for the boys and of course pinks and green for the girl.

Let's Eat!

Just in case our kids do not know what to do in the play room. This vinyl did not have enough "tack" so I had to mod podge over the letters to get them to stick. Live and learn.

** Stay tuned for more ideas and improvements.

Grandpa Ralph comes to Bloomington

2011-01-20T19:32:00.000-08:00

We had a great time with my father!!

He spoiled us and took us to the Indy 500 race track. We went on the awesome tour on the track, to the bricks and onto the winner's circle!!

Dave posing at the Indy 500 museum.

Old Indy 500 car engines

This is the posh build in where all the classy rich people get to watch the race and the owners of the race track!

Posing from the news casters room! Great view out the window of turn one and the finish line.

Dave braving the pouring rain to stand on the champions block!!

Dad too!!

Touching the bricks at the brick yard!! The starting line up here. These are original bricks.

Inside our tour bus (we went around the entire track 2.5 miles) this one of the two straight aways.
Dave and Pops on the bus!! GO BYU!!

Indy 500 museum.

Grandpa and Jarom in the splash zoo waiting for the dolphin show to start!

Outside with the elephants.

Jarom and Grandpa being eaten by a walrus.

My dada was such a great sport. I did not think that he even liked zoos, but Jarom wanted him to go so bad!!! My dad was a great sport and I like he even enjoyed himself. He was fascinated with the penguins.
Petting dog sharks!!

We loved having my dad came and stay with us!! So fun and relaxing. Our house is pretty low key. Great food, great games, great conversation, great adventures, great company,
& great times!! So excited for more to come in the future. We love you, Dad

Labor Day

2011-01-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

So back in September . . . we went with some friends to a local National Park. I "hiked" a little through the "hills." Remember, we live in Indiana and hiking meaning following a expansive, almost paved trail through a wide group of trees. There are very limited changes in altitude and our children could all walk the 1/8 mile.

At the end is beautiful small river with a rock bed for climbing.

Jarom took off his shirt and went to work exploring and cooling off from the Midwest heat.

Cater, Cai and Jarom all shirtless playing in the water fall. The water pooled at the bottom and the parents were able to soak their feet. Then we went out to eat at Five Guys!!! Yum so glad they have one here now!!! Love those burgers and Idaoho potatoe fries.

Indiana University Children's Choir

2011-01-07T19:50:00.000-08:00

Okay so an update from October. Jarom had a choir concert. He is a member of the IU Children's Choir. They had their first performance in Oct at the Bloomington Farmer's Market.

Here he is the first one out of the door for the performance.

Jarom's choir group is called Decant Choir. We LOVE his teachers. They are Doctorate students at IU.

Keep your eyes on him as all the other group member filter in.

Can you find him still? Dave said he did great!! I unfortunately had to work the night before and was unable to get out of bed for a 9am performance. I know I am such as bad mom but when you get to bed at 4:30 in the morning and have to go back to work for 12 hours on 3.5 hours of sleep its difficult.

This fall Jarom, also went to Choir Camp. He had SO much fun. We were so nervous about it but he did super and loved his cabin counselors who are IU undergrad students. I mean come on, they are music majors, they've got to be great!!! Dave and I did not get very much sleep that night but he is so excited for next year.

I-U (clap, clap) I-U (clap, clap), I-U (clap, clap)

2011-01-06T19:42:00.000-08:00

Indiana University Football. We love going because students, their wives and kids get in for $5.00 bucks!! Come on Big 10 football for five bucks-anybody would go!!

After the game, everybody is allowed on the field. Not like BYU where they send security, the police, the national guard and even SWAT after you if you step on the grass!!

Jarom LOVES the band!! IU has the best music school in the country!! The band here is AWESOME!!!

So a section of the south field after the end zone is blocked off so kids can play on it the entire time. Is that not a little boy's dream? To play on a college football field? Okay maybe its just Jarom's.

Okay so there are only 2 things sad about IU football games. 1.) Everyone is wasted due drinking at the tail gate parties and 2.) the cheer leaders and dance team SUCK compared to BYU. I did not realize how good the Cougarettes where until we moved away. I mean when everyone is competing for second place at the National Dance Competitions instead of first you know they are fantastic!!

Blue Man Group Minus One

2011-01-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

So there are a few bald men in our ward. And one of them had the brilliant idea of being Blue Man Group for the ward Halloween Party. Dave, as the baldest in the ward, was invited to participate.

The application of the paint.
I had to work, so Dave did a bunch of play by plays for me.

Travis Ficklin the genius behind the idea!! Using a hair dryer to dry the paint before the ward party. Notice the bathroom? Does every stake center's bathrooms look like this?

The final results!! We researched how to do this before the party. Most of the Blue Man Group characters use of head cover and ear cover but hey when your already bald you don't have too!! They wore blue gloves on their hands.

Travis and Dave. They watched a bunch of You Tube clips with Blue Man Group performing. They attempted their mannerisms. Next year they want to actually do a performance using PVC pipes, paint, and black lights!!! Sound awesome.

We were so bummed. Dave actually "bic-ed" his head for the party!! And then 1 hour before the party the 3rd participant cancelled because his kid was sick. But he was a church on the next morning without his head bic-ed. I think he just chickened out.

Nice work Dave!! And he cleaned up nicely too.

Lizzy's visit

2011-01-06T15:41:00.000-08:00

Back to the best gift ever!!!

Okay so for my BIG 2-8 Dave wrapped a plane ticket up for my sister, Elizabeth to come visit. He had me open it last!! I cried. How many people cry over birthday presents. But I just missed my family SO much. It was a great week.

Isaac had a great time with our two dogs!!

Jarom and Isaac LOVED playing the basement with all the little people!

I whipped up some of my best cooking skills and we had a great time eating Italian. Here is Spaghetti with Roasted Tomatoes, Garlic and Pancetta. I love this cooking blog and really, really recommend this.

Lizzy and I wanted to try our luck taking 3 little boys to the zoo. We had a great time!!

Cheetahs on the glass. Who gets this close?

Posing with the elephants. Isaac's eyes were starting to droop.

They were drooping because of all his dancing and singing during the dolphin show.

Tiger.

Isaac meeting a tortoise.

3 little boys in the desert. One in utero at the time.

ELizabeth, Isaac, Carter & Cai petting the dog sharks.

Ready to roll.

Issac, Carter, Susan and Cai watching the seals and sea lions.

This poor little boy!! Asleep.

We also took Elizabeth to Fourth street. Which is an ethnic food section. You step out of the car and the air just smells divine!!!! Curry, BBQ, rice, Cajun, spices just fill the air. But we went to a Thai restaurant!! Yum. Our favorite. We all ordered Pad Thai.

Poor Isaac. He was too tired to remain awake at the restaurant.

We also did facials and masks, pedicures, manicures all while the baby was sleeping!! And don't forget shopping and watching Chick Flixs!!

So we watched Letters to Juliet. It was good until the last 5 minutes. I mean seriously, who wrote this ending!!! Ahhhhh. I seriously laughed out loud and I still cannot get over it and its been 5 months!!! We need to have an alternate ending made- please.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2011-01-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

I know back to summer!! Just a little more details for July and then we will finally be up to date. So when Jarom and I went to Philly we had to stop by our favorite water park in the entire United States!!

Welcome to Camel beach

It is huge!! These are the speed slides. You don't have to pay to park. You don't have to pay for a tube!! And there are SO many slides!!

There is a awesome wave pool. Jarom and I spent some time in here!!

My favorite spot was Pharaoh's Court!! Super fun!!

We also LOVED the Lazy River.

We also enjoyed the Vortex and Spin Cycle!!

Jarom's favorite ride was the "Checkered Flag." You race down a 90 yard slide on mats!!

We also enjoyed to longest tube run in the US- The Titan!! You can fit 8 people in the tube and you don't have to carry it up yourself!!

There are tons more rides here including: Tube runs, more mat slides, another kid area- Caribean Cove, bumper boats, a lap pool, a surfing area, a ski lift ride and tons of shopping and places to eat!!

Adventures of the Summer . . .

2010-12-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

So Dave thinks that I go from zero to one hundred and fifty in about a day and a half and he has some pretty good examples of me doing just that. I get this idea in my head and think over it for a few days (I don't tell him everything I think- I don't want to overwhelm the poor man with nonsense) then all of the sudden I decide to do it and I do it.

I just completed a predictive index, which is a test about yourself, your personality, your tendencies, and traits (its not 100% but it gives you a good idea about yourself). So I took this "quiz" and found out I am a high "A." Which means I am a task oriented person. I am focused on one tasks or another until its done and then I move on to my next task. I don't need praise or appreciation from others. (I think it would be great for ALL families to take this and find out what kind of people are in your family, and how to get along with each other!! I am going to recommend it to my family for a family reunion activity)

So anyway, I move from task to task to task to task to task and I have to get everything for it and work on it until its done (hence why I did not blog for a LONG time) . Examples: going to grad school after finishing my bachelors. I got a sewing machine earlier this year, gardening from scratch, reading any book, landscaping the entire yard, library organization, vinyl lettering, room/house decorating, bow making and over the summer it was also

CANNING

I had to buy all the right equipment (actually Dave bought it all for me!!) and we went to town. I have never canned in my life before but this is what we canned with help from this fantastic book!!

Peaches!! Loved these, especially the ones with a spring or two of mint or sage!!! Goodness. (There truly is a different between peaches though, go for the Georgia ones- so GOOD and easy to peel and pit.

All sorts of tomatoes. . . stewed, crushed, diced and of course SALSA. Someone gave us this fantastic recipe from the 1800s. And we LOVE it. We did six batches of salsa. Actually, Dave did most of the salsa when I was at work, hence why he was the one to buy all the supplies. He did not like borrowing equipment from others.

Canned jams are my favorite!!! This year we did Strawberry Jam, Raspberry Jam, Triple Berry Jam and of course tons of freezer raspberry and blackberry jams.

Pleas note: all of the veggies and fruit, first needed to be picked, washed, hulled and even frozen. We found the best blackberry patches and Dave and Jarom went to town picking berries. We went to a local orchard for the raspberries and went back and went back and went back. Goodness no wonder I did not blog!!

Here is just a list of some of the other items from our canning adventures

Green beans

Blueberry Syrup

Raspberry sauce

Applesauce

Apple Pie filling

Applebutter

Pear butter

Frozen Pesto- So good!!! It freezes great we just throw a spoonful or two into our pasta, add some cream or milk and grate Parmesan cheese over everything and heat through!! Or pesto stuffed pork chops or a creamy sauteed chicken! Opportunities, endless. . . .

If anyone has any ideas please, send them my way for next year!

The Big 2-8

2010-12-04T18:39:00.000-08:00

That's right I turned 28 this year!!

As I reached this age I began to think about all the changes that have happened since 1982. . . . .

"Ode to Youth"
I realize I am closer to 30 than twenty.
That I have more gray hairs coming in everyday.
That the wrinkles under my eyes are probably going to stay there permanently.
That I don't really look great in "cool" clothes anymore.
That I am older than lots of people in our ward.
That I should just give up on attempting to wear high heels.
That tanning doesn't have as much draw to me as botox or liposuction.
That white teeth aren't in the budget.
I think I will keep my nose just as it is.
That I'd rather go to an all inclusive resort then a beach party.
That teenagers make me feel old and wise but with SO many flaws.
That when Dave graduates we will have been in school 14 years since graduating high school.
That my 10 year class reunion is next summer- do they even do that anymore?
That all I have to look forward to in the future is either more school or more work?
That I don't know very many songs on the radio anymore.
That my younger sisters don't think I am "cool" just "weird"
That I am thrilled beyond belief when I get to someone to help me clean the house!
That I prefer to read "old woman" magazine instead of "teen hip-hops"
That I don't know who Justin Bieber is? (how do you spell his name?)
That I remember watching Tailspin, Ducktails, & the Rescue Rangers and that I don't have a clue what cartoons are on TV these days. (heck we don't even own a TV)
That I prefer to shop for other people, especially my kids, rather than myself.
That I am starting to realize that I did not do anything with my teenage years.
That I actually enjoy crafts. (I know I admit it now!!!)
And that all I want for Christmas is a day with my sisters because they are getting old too!

Speaking of sisters!!! Dave gave me the perfect gift for my birthday. He flew my sister Elizabeth and her son Isaac out from Provo, Utah to Indiana to visit us. He bought her a plane ticket and wrapped it up in a gift box. Then when I saw it, I started bawling!! Who cries when they receive a gift? That must be part of getting old too.

Oh, how I miss my sister!! Stay tuned to hear about our adventures!!!!

Be Still My Soul . . . . . . .

2010-12-03T08:39:00.001-08:00

If you have ever wondered "Should I pray for the Hardy's?"
Answer: YES. Here's why . . . . .

Praying for hopeful miracles in our life.

Indiana State Fair

2010-12-02T08:29:00.001-08:00

We decided to spurge and go to the Indiana State Fair.

The tickets were $2.00 each. This ride was 2 tickets! $4.00 bucks to ride. What a rip off.

Jarom and his friend, Rachel, got to pick one ride. Here they are taking off.

Food was great. Next year we are going to come on a Tuesday because all of the food is just $2.00. Everything and anything. Goodness here we come. . .

Jarom and Rachel in the cattle barn. This cow was SO cute!!!
P-U. It stunk. Dave was ready to fire up the grill.

Cinncinnati, Ohio

2010-12-02T08:27:00.001-08:00

We were so excited for our Cincinnati trip. Jarom and I planned the entire trip around visiting the NEWPORT AQUARIUM.

Sitting on the banks of the Ohio River on the Kentucky side is this awesome tourist attraction. We went for the afternoon special which includes paying for one adult and getting two kids in for free. So we took Lindsay Ralph, my cousin, who is Jarom's age.

Hopefully everyone enjoys this post because there are some fantastic pictures that I did not take!! Here is the entrance of the aquarium!! Inside these doors they have HUGE humpback whales breaching, sharking attacking and all sorts of ocean animals hanging from the ceiling. It was so cool. Then to enter the exhibits you go down an escalator.

Our favorite exhibit was the shark tank. It was this huge tank with a tube in the middle that you walk through and can be in the middle of the exhibit.

Huge sharks, sting rays and tons of fish.

Lemon sharks, tiger sharks and a bunch of others that I forgot the names of. Jarom could tell you every single one!! He loves sharks.

This is Jarom's dream! To clean the shark tanks and to feed them. We found out that after your have 25 deep dives under your belt you can volunteer for this!! So Jarom is anxiously awaiting the day he turns 13 so he can be scuba certified. Until then we are doing lots of swimming lessons and snorkeling.

Shark Rays. They are incredible. It totally looks like a cross between the two-shark and ray.

One of the many cool fish tanks.

Penguins are one of our favorites too! So active and fun to watch!

Tying the Knot- About time!!

2010-12-02T08:25:00.002-08:00

After decades of waiting, my beautiful aunt Lisa, was finally married for time and for all eternity.

Columbus, Ohio temple- where she grew up.

Family photo: top left grandpa Ralph, Don, Brian, Stephen Ralph (brothers of Lisa)
bottom: grandma Ralph, Tom (groom), Lisa (bride), Sharon and Minda (sisters of Lisa)

Bride and groom walking on the temple grounds before heading over to their reception.

Jaro,m bored on the ground waiting in the shade to be done with pictures.

Our trip to Seattle

2010-12-02T08:25:00.001-08:00

Our visit to the "Emerald City"

This is what my view looked like the majority of the time while in the car

The was the view behind me. The kids did great together!!! Katelyn is such a talker.

This was my other view. Go mama, go mama, go mama, go

This is the view most of the week beside me, my brother, Jonathan and his wife, Jenna.

While we were there we spend 2 days baking desserts and shopping for my younger brother, Benjamin's, Eagle court of honor. Congrats little brother.

Dave's sister, Christine and her family, were able to come visit us from Easter Washington. We loved seeing them. We went to the zoo together and then had a spaghetti dinner.

Tyler, their oldest, posing in the aquarium.

We learned about barn owls

Susan and Jarom in the jaws of a shark.

I think the petting zoo and the playground were the favorites of all the kids. Jarom LOVED playing with his cousins.

It wouldn't be a visit to the Ralph House without major projects to complete. My brothers and father decided to get a bob cat and redo the driveway. Nice huh? Our only vacation of the year and we get to work. Awesome.

We went to the Ballard locks and watched the boats come in and out of Lake Washington into the sound. Here we are surfing with the waves.

Samuel watching the water rise and fall as the flood gates were open or closed.

Lake Washington.

Boats coming into the lake

Jarom watching the fish at the fishery ladders. Yum!!! We love salmon. One of my roommates from BYU and her little boy were able to meet us at the locks and then we went to our FAVORITE Thai restaurant in Bellvue.

We were able to go to the Seattle temple while we were there.

We had a great time on the side of the road after we shredded one of the tires. Too bad the spare did not fit. So we had to call my dad to come save us but first he had to go and buy a spare that would fit. We were sitting on the side of the interstate for more than 2 hours.

I love this beautiful mountain!! Dave and my dad went to Seattle one morning and took then underground tour. They said it was really neat.

Samuel and Jarom outside a children's museum- good thing it was free otherwise it would have been a rip off.

building towers and making silly faces

We designed a silly maze.

Reading books in the tepee

Playing in the water!! We started squirting each other with the fountains.

Jarom turns 7

2010-12-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Jarom!!!

I have had a bunch of requests to see Jarom's birthday cake! Well here it is. . . . .

He asked for a ocean and this is the best I could do.

I love the fins and flukes on these cupcakes. I just wanted to make sure we had enough food.

Jarom getting the great white shark from his cake!! That's all he wanted for his birthday.

Swimming with friends/guests at our out door pool!! Jarom recieved a pair of shark googles for his birthday.

Jarom playing with his shark . . . shark attacks . . .

Susan giving Cai kisses!! Love this boy!

Jarom's B-day at the Zoo

2010-12-01T20:28:00.001-08:00

Jarom decided instead of getting any presents this year that he would rather get a Zoo Pass which allows you to go to the zoo with a membership for one year and take two guests.

If you know anything about Jarom, you know the first thing we did was go to a dolphin show.

We watched the dolphin show from the dome under the water. It was very different and cool!!

Jarom brought one friend with him to help him celebrate- meet Tanner Willis.

Happy Birthday picnic and playground!

Jarom and Tanner waiting for a elephant show!!!

We love elephants!!

Jarom "racing the cheetah" to earn money to save the cheetahs in Africa.

Mom helping prep Jarom and Tanner for petting the sharks.

Jarom petting the dog sharks

After we got home we had ice cream cake and presents from Grandparents. He loved the shirt!!

Jarom attempting to eat ice cream cake and talk on the phone to grandma at the same time

Troubles Brewing . . . .

2010-12-01T20:24:00.001-08:00

Before we moved to Bloomington, Indiana people warned us about the tornadoes and the flash floods. Boy were they not kidding. . . . . .

This is what is looked like outside our house when the tornado sirens went off. When they go off you are suppose to go to a safe place like a bathroom, basement or the hallways of the school. We go to our basement/playroom and have a great time with snacks, toys and games.

5 minutes after the sirens started this is what the sky looked like.

7.5 minutes after the sirens started the last of the blue sky is disappearing and the winds are picking up and the rain starts!!!

It pours rain and then a few minutes later funnel clouds start forming and then we really run to go to the basement. About 20 minutes after the sirens started its clear skies again. Bizarre huh?

Lake Monroe and Picnics

2010-12-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

While Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Kip (Dave's parents) were here we also went to Lake Monroe for a picnic and to throw rocks.

Lake Monroe is HUGE and has tons of little branching arms to explore. Here is Jarom and Grandma in the no wake zone getting ready for a picnic.

Jarom at lake Monroe

"I just skipped a rock 3 times!! AWESOME. Beat that dad!! "

Dave has been piddling with our camera trying to get it to take close ups of nature. He is one of his favorites from our trip to the Lake.

Indy 500

2010-12-01T19:57:00.001-08:00

What does Indiana have that no one else does? If you are into professional racing you know!!

THE INDY 500

The official race is on Sunday and cost almost $150.00/ ticket for the nose bleed section but the Saturday before is the time trials where every car gets to go solo on the track and then the top 9 times get the first 9 spots in the race. It was SO much fun we cannot wait to go next year.

We hung out at turn #1. Here you can see the straight away and the pit.

Dave's dad is really, really, really, really, really, really, and I mean REALLY into racing. He usually piddles around and cannot keep up if we go anywhere. But we were the ones who couldn't keep up with him as we were going into the race track!! So really that man can move if he wants to.

Cars in the pit getting ready to RACE. This is Danica Patrick's team. In neon green.

Danica Patrick's speed. 225.234, 224.876, 224.001, 223.920. She was pretty slow.

Everyone was booing when she was driving by, I did not know why until she was interviewed after her race. She blamed her poor scores on her pit crew. She took no responsibility for her bad driving. I booed her too!! Poor loser.

Jarom was happy as long as he had food and drinks and could sit by Grandma.

Here is Jarom cheering for the number one car!!

Chior Concert

2010-12-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

This past semester Jarom has been a member of Indiana University Children's Choir. They have a concert every semester. Here are a few pictures from Jarom's first concert.

Here are all of the performers.

Can you find him in this very blurry picture? (We need a new camera-BAD!)

Hint: first row, second from the right. The tall blond.

Scenes from Bloomington

2010-11-30T19:27:00.001-08:00

Just a few pictures of Bloomington in all its "Bloom."

One of my favorite scents is Honeysuckle. And it grows wild here. YUM. It blows through our house if we leave the windows open in the spring.

Jarom playing in a stream by our house.

Walking on the Clear Creek Trail. Honeysuckle all over this trail!!

Beginning of the trail.

Old walking bridges!! One of my favorite things.

Lake Monroe by our house!!

Lake Monroe
Trails all through Bloomington. Horse trails, running, walking, hiking, any trail you want.

Another shot of lake Monroe!! Its HUGE. Cannot wait to post pictures of our boating and tubing trips.

(Sorry some of the pictures are so fuzzy- Dave finally cleaned the lens on his phone.)

Easter!!

2010-11-30T19:19:00.000-08:00

We did not think that the Prophet would mind us using our time wisely. . . . listening to General Conference and coloring eggs.

This year was super fun because I made HUGE baskets for Dave and Jarom and then made a long, treasure hunt with clues and everything. Jarom's led him to a new bike with his Easter basket hanging from the handle bars. I got new kitchen towels and a DVD. Dave got oodles of candy and 36 new tennis balls.

Jarom and Mom coloring hard boiled eggs for Peter Cottontail.

Our soccer boy.

2010-11-30T19:10:00.001-08:00

Jarom wanted to try soccer again at our local YMCA. He did better than our first attempt. This time we actually ran on the field instead of sitting in the goalie's box!!

We actually got to touch the ball (Nobody needs to know that it was only during warm ups!)

Our tall "little"boy!! Everyone on the field was 6 year old.

You could definitely tell who the Hispanic kids were- they were awesome even on the 4 year old field!!! Our proudest moment as parents this soccer season was when Jarom got hit in the face while playing goalie!! His team won thanks to him.

Trip to Nauvoo (I know back in April!!)

2010-11-30T18:42:00.000-08:00

I know, I know everyone hold your breath the Hardy's have finally posted a blog!! I think its been awhile and guess what? We are going to try to do several every day over the next few days as we update you on our last, I don't know, SIX months. Sorry but here our some highlights from April!!

Jarom helping to make bread with a real fire and brick stove.

Jarom churning butter in the kitchen! They also gave us homemade ginger bread men!!

Nauvoo store back in Joseph Smith's era.

Aunt Rebekah came with us! We went on a carriage ride pulled by these two horses. It rained and poured the entire time. We got to use blankets from Nauvoo and Jarom got knocked off the back we the horses started. Ooops!!

A blacksmith missionary teaching us how to make prairie diamonds!!

Rebekah and Jarom outside the blacksmith.

Nauvoo Temple. We stayed at a local hotel and ate a buffet lunch at the Nauvoo hotel. It was awesome!!! Thanks a ton Rebekah!!

Jarom pointing out the boats that the early Saints used to cross the Mississippi River in the winter.

Jarom throwing rocks into the river. This river was HUGE and even had waves.

Jarom posing by the brothers. Oh, to have a love like they did for each other in our own families.

Jarom in Carthage Jail.

Jarom looking into Carthage Jail. Oh Praise to the Man!!

Summer Fun!!

2010-07-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

Okay the Hardy's are still alive!! I know many of you think that we have vanished off the face of the earth. But don't worry we are still alive and kicking. Below is a Reader's Digest list of all we have been up to these last 3 months:

April:
Aunt Rebekah came to visit and we went to Nauvoo
Spring break- hotel in Indy and finding a Red Robin!!

May:
Attending an adoption conference in Indy
Major thunderstorms and tornadoes
Jarom finished1st grade
Building a flower retaining wall, garden & herb boxes and raising aspects of our yard
Moving over 4,000lbs of rock, gravel and soil
Jarom's first cavity filled
Dave finishing his first year as a Ph.D student and not being able to find any classes for the summer.
Driving range and golfing

June:
Watching a Siberian Husky puppy
Jarom's 7th Swim Birthday Party
Getting a Indy zoo membership and using it almost every week!!
watching 3 other little boys- I LOVE LITTLE BOYS!! Wish they were all mine
Visiting Seattle, WA
Ballard Locks with a college roommate and eating Thai food
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium with Dave's sister's family!!
Seattle Temple ad IHOP
Red Robin
Tacoma Children's Museum
Games and BBQs,
designing vinyl lettering!!
Seattle underground tour
Playgrounds
Family drama and offending every member of my family
Fixing brakes in the Audi
Ellie, Our Frenching going bald and expensive trips to the vet

July:
New church callings (Dave- YMs and Susan- Stake Librarian)
Work 4th of July
Putting up vinyl lettering around house
Picking Black berries
Red Robin
3 cavities filled
Fixing brakes on Tucson
Going to Columbus, Ohio for a wedding and seeing Susan's parents again.
Swimming at hotel
Finding the nicest Wal-Mart ever!! (It was like walking into a Hilton Hotel!!!)
Going to Cincinnati, Ohio for Peds Trauma Conference.
Getting a GPS (finally!!)
Getting goats ready for fair
Major car problems!!!
Newport Aquarium in Kentucky/Cincinnati
Another trip to Red Robin!! (unlimited refills on Root beer floats)
Work again
Tons of produce from our garden!! (We love tomatoes and herbs!)
Visit Pennsylvania for 5 days
See great friends
go to a Water park (Camel beach is the BEST water park in the world!)
Produce Junction for cases of awesome food!!
Wawa
Adventure Aquarium
Philadelphia Zoo
California Pizza Kitchen
Canning season (green beans, diced tomatoes, salsa, peaches!! and more to come)
Pick Raspberries
Pick more blackberries
Go swimming at our neighborhood pool
Hosting a baby shower!
Hosting book club
Working at the YMCA
Root canal done on Dave, crown to follow in August
Movies - Despicable Me

Future plans these next 2 weeks:
Create a monthly menu
go camping for 2-3 days
go to Holiday world (amusement park)
go swimming
pick Raspberries
Can blackberry jam, raspberry jam, and Strawberry jam
make raspberry syrup
can pears and apple butter
can apple pie filling!
Host book club movie night (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
Get the stake library ready
Get ready for school to start
Go on an overnight with husband

Is that enough stuff? If anyone has another suggestion for what we should be up to let me know. Pictures and more details of the "fun" stuff to follow

SUSAN

Projects!!

2010-05-17T23:12:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't been blogging very much. Sorry. I have been working on so many, many different projects around the house. Here is a list of a few.

1- taking wood 4 ft x 8ft x 1/2in. thick, cut, sand, prime, Kilz paint, paint either "Burning Bush" red, "Lemon Blush" yellow and "Sauteed Mushroom" tan. move furniture. measure walls... level... drill... anchor... screw. Measure boards twice... drill... screw... hang on the wall. (To be repeated 3 more times!!!) Find pictures and art or vinyl lettering to hand on painted boards!

2- Dig a huge hole in the clay in the front yard... level dirt... buy retaining wall stones... place in the ground... measure and level area... stand on stones... level again... repack or remove more clay to make it level... continue till all the stones are on the ground... jump on the stones... cut a stone in half...place on top of first layer of stones... measure and level... repeat for 3 layers. This builds a retaining wall 14 inches off the ground. fill with bags and bags and bags and bags and bags of soil!! (Which by the way are super heavy!! Who has ever heard about buying dirt?! I certainly never have!!) Then go to multiple greenhouses, nurseries, Wal-Mart, Lowes and Menards to find the perfect flowers! Plant, water and watch them grow!Re-water. Protect from the huge thunderstorms we have been getting.

3- For Mother's Day, Dave, bought me an outdoor 2-person swing. So assemble... screw... hold.. . adjust... screw... tighten. RELAX!! It was a lot more tricky than that with a little helper!But we really, really love it!

4- Mother's Days gifts for sisters and mothers. wash... iron... measure... cut... pin... sew... Arrrrggg... unstitch... sew... cut... apply... sew... sew... sew... wrap... (One day I will actually send them with thier cards!)

5-Decide to host family, friends and missionaries in the same week! But we need more yard space. Talk Dave into leveling out a 25-30 square food section on the back yard so we can put in a play gym for Jarom and our friend's kids. dig up ground... save the pieces to put back on top... shovel... shovel... shovel... shovel... shovel... dig... dig... shovel... go to the store and buy rocks!! (Who the heck buys rocks?!!) Get 40, sixty-pound bags into the car (almost break the suspension on our car)... carry around back and up a hill... sweat... breathe heavy... repeat thirty-nine times... cover with top soil (also needed to be bought in 20, forty-pound bags and carried around back, up a hill) Go get sod from a dumping area... place in car... avoid the worms... lug into the back yard... place over top soil which is on top of rocks. Get flood light so we can see in the dark... lay sod, stomp on rocks, top soil and sod. water. fertilize and water again. fill holes in sod with top soil, water and sprinkle grass seed... water. Pray for some rain at night and sun shiny days!

6- Decide to start a vegetable garden and an herb garden. weed wack the honey suckle back. move clay/dirt around. consult with friends with gardens. get five 2in x 8in x 10 in boards to make 4x4 garden & 4x8 garden. get hardware to screws boards together. replace Dave's drill because it broke! have 3 people carry boards around to the back yard. assemble... go to the store to buy soil... unload by carrying up hill in the rain to the back yard... buy cow manure to fertilize soil... learn that the soil is too moist and that you need sand and gravel to drain the garden so it doesn't rot. Go back to the store get more fillers so the garden can drain... head to the nursery to check plants... nursery closed come back in the morning. get more garden soil, cow manure, compost, gravel and sand. Carry each bag individually into the back yard in the pouring rain... again and again... and again... 8 loads to the hardware store. Almost break the suspension in the car-again. (we need a truck!) carry more bags and bags and bags. Get soaked and filthy dirty. Go faster so I can take a shower before going to work! And hopefully we can plant tomorrow!!!

7-Its thundering cats and dogs! Wait another day to fill the boxes and plant! In the mean time, clean out the basement and reorganize our food storage. Help a friend remove 4 truck loads of boxes that we were storing for them in our basement. Remember some of the things that we had behind the boxes! Organize the basement closet. Dejunk. move storage shelves. call friends to ask if they want some super nice stuff that we are getting rid of. fill extra storage bins. label and stack on the closet! Find out that I actually have 2 1/2 crates of baby stuff. Yeah!!! vacuum. Goal for the summer- re-evaluate food storage and find out what we need!

8- Its finally cloudy and not raining. fill the garden boxes. lay out preen (prevents weed growth). lay the boxes on the preen. evaluate if we want to move them. cut a few holes into the preen where the tomatoes will be. open the gravel bags. dump into boxes. spread around to cover the base of the boxes. Pour 12 bags of sand over the gravel. pat down. patch holes on the sides. open bags and bags of composted manure, more bags, and bags, and bags and bags, and bags of top soil, open and pour bags and bags, and bags of garden soil, and some cow manure. mix all together. level out at the top of the boxes. sprint inside and take a shower- Visiting teaching in 10 minutes!!

10- drive to a friend's house. borrow clippers to prune tree growing into air conditioner. hack, cut, clip, hack... hack... hack... clip... pull... pull harder.... yank. Finally. no ore leaves or branches in the air conditioner.

Here fish-y . . . fish-y . . . fish-y. . . .

2010-05-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

So Jarom has been begging me over and over to have salmon. What little 6-year old begs their mom for salmon? Well, Jarom does. So I hunkered down and bought some Wild Alaskan salmon fillets from Costco the last time I was there. (Almost broke our budget!!) But hey when you only have one child who is asking for something healthy who wouldn't buy just about anything?

So I made this salmon for him when we got home. He took one bite and raised his nose to the air and said, "Mmmmm, mom, how can God make something so good."

I almost choked on the piece of salmon I was eating. I tried so hard not to laugh and explained to him that it was because he was a child of God. I had to come up with something spiritually building! But seriously, the things he says.

On another fish story.

Last fall, while I was working as an nurse practitioner, we had some friends in the ward who watched Jarom after school for a few hours before Dave got home. It worked out great because their daughter is also in first grade and they ride the same bus. So theirare people to play with and its close to the house.

But one night the mom had made salmon for herself and husband and hamburger helper for Jarom and her two children (she thought they wouldn't want the fish). However, when Jarom saw they were having salmon that is what he asked for. (He has never had hamburger helper before) Well, when her two kids saw Jarom eating the salmon that is what they wanted too! Needless the say, the kids ate the salmon while the parents suffered through hamburger helper!

Poor parents.

Such as tender heart

2010-03-31T17:41:00.000-07:00

So Jarom's latest fascination has been with dolphins and whales. Everything he talks, plays and reads about lives in the ocean. So I thought it would be kind of cool to watch Free Willy with him via Netflix streaming.

Needless to say Jarom LOVED it. He was doing signs while Jesse, the main character, was doing them for Willy. He was making the noises Willy makes and even thinking up new signs for tricks for his toy dolphin.

However, I was totally baffled when near the end of the show, after Willy jumps the wall to be free, I look over at Jarom and see him sobbing.

Huge fat tears were rolling down his cheeks. He was so upset he could hardly talk. I ask him what's wrong. He barely chokes out, "He will never get to see him again." Okay so I was a little emotional at this point too. I cuddle him close for awhile till he settles down.

Then about 15 minutes later in bed. I hear this soft sob. I go to check on Jarom and he is crying about Jesse not getting to see Willy again. Its then that I broke down and told him that Jesse does get to see Willy again in Free Willy 2.

Happiness covers his face! Thank you Warner Brothers for making at least one sequel that makes someone elated!

The prayer

2010-03-31T17:31:00.001-07:00

(FYI-This isn't Jarom)

So the other day we finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family. We had family prayer and then I stayed on the ground while Jarom said his own prayer. During his prayer I just rested my heads on my hands and bowed my head on the side of the bed. At the completion of his prayer (He says them quietly to himself) he says to me "Mom, did you pray that the Book of Mormon was true?"

I said, "I have before."

Jarom responded "Well I just did. And I feel happy and warm inside."

Oh, be still my heart. I love this boy. I am so, so glad that some FHE lesson and all of our family time together, lessons, church, scripture study and family prayers are being comprehended, at least a little bit.

Thank you dear Father.

Road Trip!

2010-03-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

We needed a break from Bloomington! So we hit the road- north bound to Indy.

Safety first!

We decided to get a hotel in Indy for one night over spring break! It was super nice. Brand new= cheap deal!! We played games, went swimming in an indoor pool and whirl pool, read, watched cartoons, and had a great breakfast.

For dinner we found Red Robin and enjoyed bottomless steak fries!! We haven't had that goodness in over 4 years!

Lion and and Tigers and . . . . .

2010-03-24T11:04:00.001-07:00

. . . DOLPHINS, oh my!!

For spring break we decided to head to the Indianapolis Zoo!! They have a great Oceans exhibits. We spent time watching the seals sunbathe. We chased "Dory" fish all over the tanks. We got to pet sharks!!! Play with the penguins and pray with the walrus. And we got to observe dolphins chasing and playing with each other from the middle of the tank!

We loved the desert exhibit with Meerkats, tortoises and snakes. But Jarom was very, very disappointed they did not have any crocodiles.

One of my favorites is the African Plains exhibits with Elephants, Baboons Rhinos and Giraffes.

After a quick picnic lunch and a playground run we went to a dolphin show!

Incredible!!!

They did so many cool "behaviors"! Dolphins are Jarom's new favorite animal!! Ever since we went to the zoo Jarom has been fascinated with Dolphins. Sleeps with them, reads about them, "talks" like them, eats like them, makes us new signs for trick they can do and even did show and tell about them! He has a animal report due in April, guess what animal he is doing it on? Dolphins. He no longer wants to be a pilot when we grows up, he wants to be a dolphin trainer. I told him he needs more swimming lessons. We hope to take him to swim with the dolphins.

After the show we went down and talked with one of the trainers for about 30 minutes! We learned so many cool things about dolphins! Jarom standing in front of the tank. The bubble in the dome where we observed the dolphins from under the water.

We then took a little jaunt in the Forests exhibits to see the tigers and bears! I love Tigers too!!

Dave and I decided if we ever get to build our own Kingdom there would be lots of tigers and dolphins!

We loved our trip to the zoo and hope to get a membership one day! So we can see lots more dolphin shows! If anyone has any information about swimming with dolphins let me know!

A tale as old as time . . . . . .

2010-03-04T17:53:00.000-08:00

Dave spoiled Jarom and I last night at took us to see

Disney's Beauty & the Beast: The Broadway Musical

Jarom took this picture of our billfold!

We have some of the best balcony seats!!! You can see the enchanted rose on the screen.

Jarom was just thrilled to be here. He read the whole program to me before the show started and sang parts of the songs.

We had a great time!! I don't think that I have laughed that hard in a long time. My favorite scene was the "Gaston" song. They did this cool dance with beer mugs and banging them together.

Jarom's favorite scene was "Be Our Guest!!" That was incredible. Fireworks and gold streamers shot out from the sides of the theater! Everyone was awestruck.

Dave's favorite was "Beauty and the Beast" and the ballroom waltz and dancing.

We also found the best Italian food in Bloomington! Dave took us out to a "fancy" restaurant before the show to get us in the mood. Jarom was a perfect gentleman and ordered Crab Cakes, held still the entire time, spoke in a soft voice and used the napkin on his lap!! I was so proud!!! (We are training him to go on a cruise with us)

SUSAN

Snow day #6

2010-02-22T18:02:00.001-08:00

Okay so out of the last 3 weeks we have had no less than 6 snow days- 2 per week. And although its nothing compared to the snow in Philly -21-36 inches (Which we wish we had enjoyed). Here are a few clips of what we did during all our extra free time and 8 inches of snow.

In the parking lot of Batchelor Middle School before sledding

Nolan and Rawley Ficklin all warm and dry before hitting the slopes.

Brooks Ficklin bundled from head to toe.

Sweet Ian Willis saying "Mommy, I cold, Mommy I cold, go home."

Jarom tromping up the hill carrying his own sled.

We love this hill because its in our back yard and the kids can carry everything up themselves!

A picture of what was happening all at once on our hill. My nurse skills were on high alert!

Rawley Ficklin and Alyssa Willis playing/sledding in one of those blue water barrels.

David Shelton, Jarom Hardy & Tanner Willis enjoying some snow fun! (It took me forever to get these 3 in a photo, one of them was always at the bottom of the hill)

We really had a great set up with camping chairs and everything.

One more pictures of these two- Rawley and Alyssa. (Super cute and wonderful kids!! I would be ecstatic if my children turned out like these two)

PS: About 5 minutes after this was taken sweet Alyssa broke both of the bones in her forearm. Poor thing. A few days later we dropped off balloons and candy bars for her to get better soon.

Our growing girl!

2010-02-22T17:39:00.000-08:00

I have had several requests to put up some pictures of our "newest edition." Ellie is almost 6 months old. She is full of kisses (licks) and cuddles. Dave is proud of the few tricks that she has mastered recently- come, sit, roll over, shake and crawl.

Puppy love! What an adorable face. Its a face even Dave has grown to love.

I thought taking pictures of children were hard. Taking pictures of dogs is even harder.

Come on just look at the camera!

Big yawn and now we are ready for bed.

This is my favorite picture of her!!

Ellie truly is a sweet heart (and she cuddles with me) at least

until I have a baby to cuddle she will.

Its Too quiet. . . . .

2010-02-22T12:23:00.000-08:00

Every mother knows . . . . . when its quiet somethings wrong. A child's getting into something or doing something that is going to require extra cleaning. I have had many episodes of "Its too Quiet" which resulted in finding walls colored on, make-up all over Jarom's face, cookies and crackers missing, flooded bathrooms ect. While my last episode of "Its too Quiet" looked like this:

I couldn't be happier! I still have to watch out for stolen cookies and crackers though.

Food for Thought

2010-01-25T21:44:00.000-08:00

I found this quote from a magazine ad for an international adoption agency. So I thought I would share.

She'll have your love,

Who cares if she doesn't have your eyes?

Florida Court Sets Atheist Holy Day

2010-01-22T18:42:00.000-08:00

This is a totally untrue ruling but I thought I was funny enough to share.

In Florida , an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Passover Holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians and Jews and observances of their holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days.

The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring,"Case dismissed!"

The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, "Your honor, How can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays.."

The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, "But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant."

The lawyer said, "Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists."

The judge said, "The calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day. Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that, if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned."

You gotta love a judge that knows his scriptures!

We are OFFICIAL

2010-01-21T21:56:00.000-08:00

On January 19, 2010 (13 months after we started working on this) we were FINALLY approved by the LDS Family Services to adopt! Check us out and give us your opinions!!

Here is our LDS Family Services address:

https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/22713086/ourMessage.jsf

Click on the left side tool bar to learn more about us and see a pictures of us!

Love, SUSAN

All I want for Christmas is . . . . .

2010-01-16T09:17:00.000-08:00

someone to pay our dental bills. And all our other medical bills . . . . .

So we did something crazy this week! We scheduled every apt we could for the same week. Dental apts, hair apts, vet apts, Ob-gyn apt. You name it we did it!

Dave, Jarom and I finally had our first dentist apt. since moving to Bloomington. The office was great! Clean, nice, modern and hip. (I just pulled a name off our insurance provider list) They did many things on my teeth that I had never had before. Like: 18 individual x-rays and an entire panoramic x-ray. Digital camera pictures of my teeth. This cool laser light that tells you the risk of cavities in your teeth and a major in depth gum examination where actually read off my gum numbers. (lets talk about an eye opener)

But hey, even with insurance. Major OUCH on our bank account! Here's the break down from one day at the dentist office (please note: these costs are for future work and do not reflect cost for the inital examination).

Dave- (IU student insurance) They only pay $500.00/year. He needs 6 fillings replaced. And at least one crown.

Susan- (private insurance) They only pay for some preventative care. She needs 3 fillings (I have only had one cavity ever and in one visit they found 3!!!) She also needs some realignment of her teeth to help with her migraines. Which is $4,995.00 and of course insurance covers $0.00.

Jarom- (private insurance) They pay for all of his preventative care. He needs 2 sealants. And one filling.

So we are looking at over $7, 995.00 out of pocket expenses for dental care. OUCH!!! Man I wish we lived in Philly or at least by some friends of ours who just graduated as dentists. Any advice on what we should do? This kind of money doesn't grow on trees at the Hardy house.

I just increased the number of hours I work in the ER just so we can get on the hospital's insurance plan. More time for mom to be gone. I guess this is what it means to put your husband through school!! 3.5 years and counting!

I'm Dreaming of a White . . . .

2010-01-16T08:43:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS!!!!

I love real trees!!! They make houses smell SO good. I love gold and red colors on my tree. And I love LIGHTS! We used 16 strands on this tree.

Jarom and the girls waiting on the stairs to come down into the living room for stockings, a super great breakfast and the Christmas presents.

Jarom's 6th Christmas. Even though we were all by ourselves we had a great time. Then mommy had to go to work.

Jarom, Dave and Ellie opening presents.

Merry Christmas Susan!!! I have wanted a dog like this for about 5 years! Thanks Dave for giving me a sweet, cuddly present. Almost as good as a baby!!! Maybe next year.

Hey Ellie girl! What an adorable bow!?! The girls got more in their stockings then Dave or I. I guess that's what happens when you individually wrap EVERYTHING.

Jarom wrapped in an alphabet blanket from his aunt Rebekah!! He sleeps on it every night on our floor.

Cruise #2

2010-01-16T07:38:00.000-08:00

So to celebrate Dave's first semester done we decided to go on another cruise. (And we couldn't beat the price!!) We went to Key West, Florida and Cozumel, Mexico on a 4-night cruise. It is was nice being together but sadly it rained or was cloudy almost the entire time!

Dave hanging out on the pool deck ready to leave Miami's clouds and rain for the Mexican sun and beaches. We did lots of eating! Sushi bars, ice cream bars, healthy choices bars, stir-fry bar, breakfast bar, lunch buffet and grand restaurant dining! (PS: Their shrimp is to die for!!!)

Susan reading Marley and Me on the pool deck. We were so excited because our room was right below the pool deck but alas we did not get to spend very much time on it.

Not to be gross of give you too many details but this is where we spent much of our time. It was raining so much that we had to do something- so we caught up on some much needed sleep, read books, watch a movie or two and played games like checkers oh and ordered room service! I love inside rooms!! SO dark!

In Key West, there was a tropical storm. We literally walked in the pouring rain!!! Puddles 6 inches deeps or more. Thank goodness for sandals! I did not post those pictures! If you want to see them check them out here . But we did get some pictures by Highway 1. Which we drove on many times in Philly.

After Key West, we went to Cozumel, Mexico which is about 2 hours south of Cancun. We were so excited for our 3 reef snorkel (we even bought our own gear!!) and then lounging around on a beautiful beach. But alas it was another cloudy, windy day. We still went on our snorkel. It was FREEZING getting out of the water after being in it.

We saw some amazing fish. There were big swells and all of the Chinese people on our boat got sick and ended up feeding the fishes!! One guy missed the side of the boat and we saw more of his lunch than we would have preferred.

We were in Cozumel only for 4 hours when it was light outside. So we hailed a cabby who took us all over and showed us the town. Thanks to Dave's great Spanish. They we went to a "authentic" Mexican restaurant. I got my favorite drink- Pina Colada (Don't worry it's virgin!!!!!) We were serenaded by 3 singers.

Here is some Aztec artwork.

It was cold! A mind numbing 74 degrees. All the locals were wearing winter coats. We were in t-shirts!! A Christmas parade occurred while we were there. Santa rode a fire engine and threw candy in the street. In the plaza there was lines and lines and lines of children waiting for the government to give them Christmas packages of food and toys.

When we got back from our trip I felt like I needed to go again- due to the weather!! This time we are thinking about an all-inclusive resort just buying a plane ticket somewhere are winging it! What do you think?

Food for Thought

2010-01-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

There was an old Cherokee chief who told his grandson about two wolves who were fighting. The first wolf was named anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The second wolf was named joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The grandson asked his grandfather, "Which one will win the fight?"

The wise old man replied, "The one you feed."

Our Newest Addition!

2009-12-26T22:52:00.000-08:00

Time does something to memories-either sweetens them or you just simply cannot remember them.

Over time you forget how much your back hurts when you are pregnant.

Over time you do not remember why they call it labor.

Over time you cannot recall how horrid dirty diapers smell.

Over time you dismiss from your mind how tired you are with those sleepless nights.

All you see is that your baby is no longer a baby anymore.

And in my case- I consigned (until our wish comes true) to have a puppy.

But you still forget what they entail.

Overtime you draw a blank at how sweet puppy breath smells.

Overtime you let slip from memory how wrinkly and cuddly they are.

Overtime you fail to remember how warm they are when you hold them.

For some reason though, overtime you cannot recall how much puppy chow they actually consume.

Or you misrecollect all the things they chewed on that you had to replace.

Or you think no more of how much it costs to take them to the vet (especially those shots!!)

Or it escapes from your memory how many hours you spent in the freezing cold trying to train them to go to the bathroom outside in the middle of winter because you did not have enough foresight to see this before you bought her.

Or you think no more of how many paper towels you used cleaning up messes on the carpet, hard wood floor, stairs, kennel, kitchen, clothes, bed, car . . . . . .

Or you consign to oblivion how many cleaning products you need to get urine and feces smell out of EVERYTHING!!

Or you draw a blank on how many loads of laundry a puppy requires.

Well I recently had a brain lapse (like some of my now pregnant friends)

that ended in an addition to our family.

So I was walking around our puny mall the other day (because the Bath and Body Works I went into did not have their Wallflowers on sale anymore (I wasn't going to pay $10.00/each when I got them for $6.00/each 2 days before). So while wasting time walking around the mall, I happened to go into the SAME pet store where we got our Boston Terrier, Scout, from in February.

In this pet store they have a long row of puppy containers where you can pet and hold them to your heart's content. Well, in one of those containers they had the most adorable French Bulldogs (aka Frenchies) I had ever seen!

I have wanted a Frenchie for about 5 years now. So what did I do? I quickly snapped a picture to send to Dave, found out they were 50% off, begged to have her for Christmas, (and Hannakah, and Martin Luther King Day, and President's Day, and St. Patrick's Day, and Kwanza and any other holiday I don't really celebrate) and walked out the store with this bundle of wrinkled happiness.

Well it just so happened that the week before I found this dog, I had finally (after years of deliberating) decided on the color of Frenchie I wanted- Fawn (like the deer). So I told Dave that if I ever found a female, fawn Frenchie that I would be very, very, very tempted to get her! He did not think much of it. But just one short week after finally deciding the exact dog I wanted (and not actively searching for one) we this fur ball!

Jarom wanted to name her 'Squirrel' from the movie UP. That did not fly with me. I am sorry you do not name an AKC purebred, very expensive Frenchie, Squirrel (That would just shame Martha Stewart who has two!!). So we considered some others like Bells, Harley ect. . . Then finally at 2:26am in the morning I woke up and had the perfect name for her! Her name would be "Ellie"! After the little spunky girl at the beginning of the movie UP ("Adventure is out there!!!").

Ellie and Scout are quite the buddies and have spent many, many hours wrestling and playing. Their favorite game is tug-o-war which they play against each other. Ellie is such a spunky, sweetheart who fits her name to a Tee. But like I said I had a memory lapse about everything required for a puppy. And we bought her in the dead of winter!!! This is making for good use of our winter coats!

Dave's figuring it would have been cheaper if I had just paid my $20.00 for the 2 Wallflowers I needed and had not wandered the mall. Too late now. But we LOVE her.

***PS: I am not allowed to go into that pet store for awhile. Out of the 4 times I have been in there 2 of the times I have walked out with a puppy!! What can I say! I have a tender heart!!

How I Feel

2009-12-25T15:06:00.000-08:00

I found this description of secondary infertility by someone and I thought that I would share it with everyone. I do not want sympathy or anything, I just want people to understand how I feel.

The 'Lonely' Infertility

I've heard secondary infertility referred to as the 'lonely' infertility. You don't feel like you fit in with childless couples, but you're not part of the fertile world, either.

People assume that because you have a child, you can obviously reproduce, so if you have a small family it must be because your priorities are out of whack and not because you are having problems conceiving.

Meanwhile, people with no children criticize you for being ungrateful. You shouldn't complain because at least you have a child.

But neither group is right. Grieving an incomplete family is difficult, no matter how many children you currently have. To suggest otherwise is like saying that one of your children is expendable.

People experiencing secondary infertility are not ungrateful. Their pain is just as profound. They know all too keenly what they are missing. They are often misunderstood and miscast by thoughtless observers. They are lonely.

--We are hoping to send everyone a New Year's Letter and some adoption pass along cards.

Please let me know if you do not want the cards (we will not be offended).

Please send us your address too!!!

visit these sites for more information.

http://www.2ofus4now.org/

http://www.leadmeguidemewalkbesideme.blogspot.com/

Food for Thought

2009-12-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

So blogger isn't working to upload any of my photos so you'll just have to wait for the 6 blogs I have ready to post! In the mean time I thought I would occasional grace everyone with words of wisdom. They are going to be called Food for Thought.

I was watching TV in the Miami airport on Monday when CNN news reporter discussed with an economist the new billion dollar plus stimulus package. When the economist said something profound. He said:

America will never be out of debt and quite possibly soon declare bankruptcy unless WE STOP SPENDING MONEY!!

I feel like a teenager!

2009-11-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

I hope nobody thinks that I am obsessed- because I am not. (I don't own a piece of clothing or even all the books) But I went to see this movie on opening night with a bunch of women from the ward. I did not want to miss out.

So for a 7:00am showing, I was in line by 5:00pm. That is such a teenage thing to do. We heard everyone talking about us behind our backs at that time. But by the time the show started everyone was jealous of us because we were the very FIRST people in the theater. We saved 24 seats. These are just a few clips of the movie! Enjoy.

The reason Edward leaves . . . . .

The birthday gift. I think they went too far in the movie. Edward is still is tremendous pain when he kisses her.

Victoria's henchman. Ready for the kill.

The HEROES of New Moon

Team Jacob!!! So I have officially switched teams!

I am all for team Jacob and this is why . . . . . .

A tanned hottie- on steroids! But I will still take David Michael Hardy any day.

Jane- is my favorite Vultori member. Crimson eyes. Thirsty.

The verdict to change Bella Swan or die. But how and when?

You will have to wait until June 30, 2010 for Eclipse to come out!

I hope everyone gets to see it soon so we have something to talk about!!

Big 10 Football

2009-11-18T14:20:00.000-08:00

We finally made it to a Big 10 game. It was fun- especially for the price. $5.00 bucks for students (everyone goes for the tailgating and not the game!)

My dad, Dave and Jarom outside the stadium!

It was such a beautiful day!

This is how close we were when Wisconsin had the ball. Otherwise we couldn't see.

I was glad that I got to go to the game- at least for 1- half. Then the ER called my name- begging me to come to work.

Jarom posing for a picture

Unlike BYU, IU lets their fans on the field after the game!

Look, no security guards, event staff or even muggers. Just kids and families on the field that they paid for with their ticket.

And into their football workout room.

I am so excited for IU football to be over. I am SO tired of unconscious, drunk, vomit laden college kids and girls who found themselves lying naked.

When Grandpa Ralph Came

2009-11-13T10:42:00.000-08:00

It's always fun when Grandpa comes

When Grandpa comes hoo-ray

He always says the kindest things

and in the kindest ways.

He has a wrinkly. twinkly smile

He's happy all the day.

It's always fun for everyone

when Grandpa comes.

Thanks for coming to visit us dad. We miss you.

Wish this would happen to me!

2009-11-08T22:03:00.001-08:00

So recently I took care of a 21-year old female who was complaining of abdominal pain. She said that her friends said her stomach looked "bloated" and that she should check it out.

So she came to the ED. They have nothing else to do there right? (see this post if you are missing the sarcasm)

Here is what she told us . . . .

- She has had mild cramping over the last few months
- She has irregular periods
- She is not married and doesn't have a boyfriend
- She is currently having a "light" normal period
- She has had a "normal period" every month
- She does not work
- She lives at home
- She is not currently sexually active
- The last time she had sex was over 5 months ago.
- Her friends think her tummy is bigger.
- She has a 9-month old little girl.
- She took a home pregnancy test yesterday that was positive- she thinks its wrong and wants us to do a blood HCG test. (BTW- those home pregnancy tests are the most specific and sensitive tests on the market!!! They a very, very, very reliable!!)

So it turns out this young 21-year old girl was in fact pregnant. (She didn't have a clue until she took the home pregnancy test) Anybody have a guess at how far along she was?

So after a quick ultrasound she is 32 weeks along!!

So although she hasn't had sex in over 5 months she was getting some oh, about 8 months ago. Lucky her. I asked her about adoption, she said she could never do that. Poor baby.

New Family Pictures

2009-10-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, so these are no where near the quality of Danica Nelson (thanks to her skill, nice camera and awesome-ness with photoshop) but they were free. So here is a glimpse of our fall family pictures.

Susan putting on shoes (ignore the mess behind her please!!) and Jarom picking his own clothes!! (Thanks Philly for turning my son into a gangster) I love the hat look.

How do you get kids to look at the camera?

I like this last one the best except Dave's smile.

PS: Like I said before these are 'all natural' pictures. If anyone has any free time and wants to photo shop them feel free!! We are hoping to use one or two on a family collage for our birthmother's to show them what we look like! That is still a work in progress. While I attempt to figure out photoshop 7.0.

Advice before heading to the Emergency Room

2009-10-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

I thought it was under my professional license to educate everyone who reads this blog about when to head to the Emergency Room, especially with the latest "Swine Flu" hypocondriac-ism.

1.) If you are going to bring your child to the ER please check their temperature before arriving don't just bring them in because they "feel hot" especially if you have cold hands.

2.) If you are going to bring your child to the ER please take off their coat once they are in the room, don't leave it on for 2 hours before you are seen by a doctor and then rush to the nurses' station hollering that your baby is too hot!

3.) Please do not bring your child to the ED because they have red cheeks, especially if its 1200am. (given them some Tylenol and put them to bed!!)

4.) Please give your child both Tylenol and Motrin to keep their fever down before bringing them to the ER. That's really all they are going to get in the ER. But it will cost you about $420.90 for those meds. Why do that when you can get them at the drug store for $8.00?

5.)Please, please, please do not bring your 4-month old in because they have been crying for 40 minutes. Sorry they do that.

6.) Please do not bring your child in if they get a mosquito bit. Yes, they itch put some hydro cortisone cream on it and send them back outside to play.

7.) Please do not come into the Emergency Room because you threw up one time!! (Unless its massively bloody- a few small flecks doesn't mean anything) You will go the bottom of the list and stay there until everyone else is seen. Up to 3-4 hours.

8.) If you fall on the cement and scrap your face please wash it off yourself and make sure you really need to be seen. Only gaping holes bigger an 1 inch get any attention. (Another note- parents do not panic!!! Small cuts can be left open for 24-hours and then be stitched up without any complications. So finish doing what you are doing before you bring them in)

9.) If you need a work/school note call your primary care provided. Please do not go to the ED for one. It will cost about $298.00 plus. And you take time away from patients with real, genuine emergencies!! Like the heart attack I had yesterday.

10.) Please do not come to the ER if you have not pooped in a few days because you were sick. You will wait a long time and be told to take Miralax or even start eating more because you probably did not eat every much when you were sick. Save yourself some time

FYI-

10.) Emergency rooms and doctor's offices have been asked to stop doing the "Swine Flu" test. YES!!! That's because no body is willing to pay the $300.00 plus it costs. The treatment is the same for all viruses.

11.) Swine Flu is a virus.

12.) Virus all last close to the same amount of time- 6-10 days!! The worst day is day 5 when you finally are at the top of the hill! Hang in there you will survive and it will get better.

13.) Treatment for Swine flu or any virus- rest!!! clear liquids (jello, juice, Popsicles, broth), and Tylenol or Motrin for body aches.

14.) If you have a cough, runny nose, congested sinuses, & are sneezing stay home!! Everyone is going to the emergency room now. If you aren't really sick you are about to be because you will probably catch a virus just by walking in the door.

15.) If you feel like you are getting the "sniffles" take a decongestant like claritin, zyrtec or allegra (these help unclog you so you can breathe better and may help ward off complications of sinus congestion). Also warm liquids and steam from broth, tea, chicken noodles soup ect. opens your sinus and helps with decongestion.

16.) If you have a deep cough start taking Mucinex (it breaks up the mucus in your lungs so you can cough it out!!)

17.) Tylenol and Motrin can be taken together for maximum pain control and fever control (just alternate every 2 hours)

18.) If you are getting a sore throat- suck on throat lozenges (I like the ones with numbing medication in them), gargle a crushed aspirin in warm water or sip/drink hot fluids. (Receptors in your throat can't feel pain and warmth at the same time!! So drink to alleviate the pain)

19.) If you feel like you are starting to get sick. Take some towels or blankets and throw them in the dryer for 10 minutes. Warm, snuggle-y blankets do wonders to help you feel better (why do you think we give heated blankets out in hospitals!!)

***20.) Prevention is the best medicine. Hand washing or even better alcohol based hand sanitizers are your best defense against illness. Use at least 1/2 tsp and let them air dry!! (According to the CDC alcohol based hand sanitizers are to most effective and convenient way to kill bacteria and viruses.)

I want everyone to be protected and know how to handle a viral illness this winter. Good luck and good health to you!

PS: I thinks it's outrageous that the governments of certain states are mandating that everyone receives the H1N1 vaccine. I know there have been several deaths due to the virus (please note they were at risk patients with other underlying complications) but to mandate that everyone gets the vaccine is crazy. Do you know how many Americans die from coronary artery disease every year? Millions. This is the leading cause of death for males and females in the United States. If those states really cared about their people they would mandate that no one smoked, no process food would be available for purchase, no alcohol would be consumed, pills would be forced down your throat for genetic risk factors and everyone would be forced to exercise everyday. I don't see any of those things being mandated do you?

PSS: The cases mentioned above were patients I really took care of. A physician and I were talking the other day about how as a society we were getting smarter (electronics, ect) but as individual people we were actually dumber. Because of modern day electronics who knows more than 5 phones numbers by heart? I don't. Because of wide spread hospitals and access to healthcare (both physically and financially (thanks government) people don't remember or just panic when it comes to taking care of minor illnesses. This could also be due to TV shows that extrapolate very very very very rare cases.

The 5 Balls

2009-10-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

A dear friend of mine shared this quote with me. I love it!!

"Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls - family, health, friends, integrity - are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life."

I try to remember this every time I get bogged down with being in the thick of the thin things of life!

New Cells!

2009-10-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

So we needed to get Indiana phone numbers due to our jobs!! Here's how to contact us vis phone.

Susan cell- 812-391-3389

David cell- 812-391- 2899

Like I needed a reminder

2009-10-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

Dave here, Susan normally does the blogging, but this one was just too good to pass up. I go to work very happy these days, I love what I do, I work with good people, and I am moving in the direction I want to go....Quite a bit different than my previous job.

Some might ask why it is I did not enjoy my previous job. It really wasn't the kids, sure they were obnoxious, but what teenager isn't? Some teachers weren't overly pleasant, but I dealt with it. However, it was the overall system that was just so messed up that I couldn't deal with it any longer. The following is an alleged answering message from a school in Australia (the veracity of this story is probably not true); it pretty much sums up how I felt while working in public education:

"This is the message that the Maroochydore High
School, Queensland, Australia staff voted unanimously
to record on their school telephone answering machine.

This is the actual answering machine message for
the school.

This came about because they implemented a policy
requiring students and parents to be responsible for their
children's absences and missing homework.

The school and teachers are being sued by parents who
want their children's failing grades changed to passing
grades - even though those children were absent 15-30 (Dave here, I had multiple students with 2-3 times that, and they still felt they should pass)
times during the semester and did not complete enough
school work to pass their classes."

To listen to the recording, click here.

Ode' to "Green Eggs" and ham

2009-10-02T12:31:00.001-07:00

Do you like "Green eggs"and ham?

I do not like them,

Sam-I-am.

I do not like

"Green eggs" and ham.

Would you like them in a house?

Would you like them with a mouse?

I do not like them in a house.

I do not like them with a mouse.

I do not like them here or there.

I do not like them anywhere.

I do not like "Green eggs" and ham.

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

Would you? Could you in a car?

Eat them! Eat them!

Here they are.

I would not, could not, in a car

I do not like "Green eggs" and ham!

I do not like them, Sam-I-am!

You do not like them.

So you say.

Try them! Try them!

And you may.

Try them and

you may I say.

Say!

I like "Green eggs" and ham!

I do!! I like them, Sam-I-am!

And I would eat them in a boat!

And I would eat them with a goat...

And I will eat them in the rain.

And in the dark.

And on a train.

And in a car.

And in a tree.

They are so good, so good you see!

So I will eat them in a box.

And I will eat them with a fox.

And I will eat them in a house.

And I will eat them with a mouse.

And I will eat them here and there.

Say! I will eat them ANYWHERE!

We do so like "Green Eggs" and ham!

Life's Little Pleasures!

2009-09-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

- Being able to keep someone out of my bedroom for a few moments of solitude

- Being able to hear someone at the front door before they hurt themselves knocking so much.

- Being able to put the car away without getting out into the muggy, humid air or nippy, freezing weather

- Being able to grind large chunks of food up in the sink.

- Being able to not waste so much water when I have to hand wash dishes.

- Being able to get rid of the steam from a hot shower

- Being able to hear the "natural" sounds nature makes.

- Being able to see my counter tops because everything has a place.

and

- Being able to pee at the same time someone else is!

Nashville, Indiana

2009-09-21T17:18:00.001-07:00

This weekend before I had to work we visited a small town in the middle of no-where Nashville, Indiana about 18 miles west of Bloomington. In this small town you can:

Leisurely browse through the quaint shops or visit every flea market in Brown County. Shopping in Brown County Indiana can be a delightful adventure. In the shoppes of Little Nashville, visitors find original watercolor paintings, sculptures, toys from yesterday, stained glass art, solid wood furniture, wood carvings, metal sculptures, pewter, hand blown glass, custom jewelry, interesting clothing, perfumes, wind chimes and even...custom bird lodging. (It's just like Lancaster- Amish country in Pennsylvania- heck it even smelt like the Amish stores)

We ventured into one of many fudge shoppes at one they were making hand-dipped carmel apples. Yummy! I asked the "apple dipper" where they got their apples from.

She said, "Oh its a place a few miles from here but you don't want to go there its really out in the sticks!"

I laughed out loud at her!! Because to us moving from Philadelphia, PA Bloomington and their quaint town of Nashville was in the STICKS and I told her so!

It doesn't get better than this out here in the "STICKS"

The day we visited the town was having their annual "Outhouse Races" It was hilarious! These people are creative with nothing to do within 90 miles of their homes.

But with the changing seasons we are in for some beautiful fall weather! The National Park in Brown County, IN hosts more than 1 million people in October and here is a glimpse of why.

Kids say the Darnest things

2009-09-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

Quotes by Jarom

Dad: “Jarom, did you learn anything at school today.”
Jarom: “Duh, dude that’s what it all about.”

Dad: “Jarom, what do you do at recess?”
Jarom: “I chase girls.”
Dad: “Oh? What do you do with them when you catch them?”
Jarom: “I don’t know. Take them to the other boys.”

Jarom: “Come on dad, drive like you are in Philly!!”

Jarom: “My favorite place to be is at home with you guys.”

A Rubbermaid box

2009-08-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

While I was getting my Master's degree at UPENN I took a class on child development. During one of these classes we had the BEST guest speaker I have ever heard!!! He was an adolescent physician who specialized in working with at risk, homeless teens (And you thought your job was tough). Near the end of his lecture he spoke of hard crusted, burnt out, coarse clinicians who became so immune to what they saw that they had no feelings. These people had so many hard and challenging experiences that they channeled everything into a box. Over time this box became so over-filled with tender heart-wrenching experiences it could not be open or managed.

He went on to describe a Rubbermaid box. Instead of being made of cast-iron. It was made of plastic. Instead of having 6-inch, steel plated, bullet proof walls it was transparent, pliable and amendable. Instead of having a lid that had 3 sides welded down and one very small side that was fastened down with 12-inch bolts it had a mailable rubber seal. Not one that would just fly open at the drop of a hat but one that is flexible and seals easily but also easily opens. He spoke of opening the box frequently and dealing with what was put inside so we don't become one of those hard-crusted, burnt out, coarse, feeling-less clinicans. So today I am going to do the unthinkable and open my box and share a little bit of this past weekend.

When I awoke Monday morning at 10:43 I was exhausted! More exhausted then I have felt in SO long. Many people probably look at the time I got up and wonder why I was so tired. Then they remember that I work from 3:00pm till 3:30am. So it is very likely that I would be tired. This particular night I did not really sleep. For one, around 5:15 our entire smoke detector system (which runs through our whole house) went off scaring the living daylights out of us. Two, it went off again 20 minutes later after Dave had gotten out of bed to check all three levels for a fire. And then again around 6:00am it went off. (This time Dave did not check the house he just ripped the smoke detector from the wall in the Master bedroom and removed the battery. Then he check on me.

He checked on me because for the first time in our marriage I had slept somewhere else besides next to him which added to my sleepless night. The reason why is I had to touch and be next to Jarom. And he is a wiggle worm!!! Bending, curling, stretching, twisting, humming, grinding his teeth, tossing, squirming, fluttering, tugging, grabbing, jerking, pivoting and fidgeting. But I had to sleep by him. I had to know he was there. I had to feel him and hear him. I HAD TO. I even pulled him off of his top twin bunk bed and laid him next to me on his bottom full bunk bed so I could be next to him. I made sure we were both warm and covered. (Not that it mattered with all of his movements). But I HAD to make sure my little boy was there. I had to feel him next to me and hear his breathing. To know that he was alive.

I really did try not to bother him. I did try not to wake him or move him but as I lay there in my own bed I couldn't stand it. I had cried already. I had gotten out of bed and prayed, no, pleaded and begged my Father in Heaven to spare me of all of the emotions so that I could sleep but it did not help. I had to know my little boy was there. I had to feel him and hear him.

Earlier this past week we went to a local pool for Jarom's back to school night. Dave wanted to take Jarom on a big drop-down slide in the deep end. I did not like it. It was really high and just dropped down about 15 feet into 12-ft deep water. Dave went down first so that he could catch Jarom. I stood on the side, hyper-attentive for my little boy. Jarom went down the slide while Dave wasn't watching.

Aaaagggghhhh, "DDDDAAAAVVVVVEEE get Jarom"

I am glad to say that Dave did get Jarom and was reprimanded by the lifeguard for letting him go down without first passing the swim test. (We did not know. There was no signs up and it was our first time at the pool.) As you can imagine we went to the little kid area for the rest of the night. But within 10 minutes of Jarom's incident the lifeguard had jumped in 2 more times to save others. (They really should put some signs up) On the way home Dave and I decided that the worst way to die would be to drowned.

That night I dreamt Jarom drowned. We were both finishing our laps at the local YMCA. We both wear goggles and flippers. And there he was floating on the bottom of the pool. I was harried! I had to go check on him.

Although he was sleeping peacefully in his bed I still had all the feelings harrowed up inside me that he had drowned. I was completely tormented. Pain seeped out of every cell in my body. My heart just died. I was in agony. Despairing over the suffering my little boy would have endured.

Then on Sunday afternoon around 4:45 I watched a mother act just how I had felt during my dream of Jarom drowning except she was experiencing it for real. She screamed and yelled at the staff, cursed us with some of the worst words I have ever heard. Blamed us for not saving her son and then dropped to the cold, hard, cement floor and sobbed! She writhed in pain- the pain of a broken heart. Her little boy, her baby, was gone. There was nothing I could do for her. I cried.

We worked on this blond hair, blue eyed 4-year old for 15 minutes. Pushing every medication to get his heart to beat. Epinephrine, vasopressin, atropine, lidocaine, narcan everything- over and over again. He was worked on for 20 minutes by EMS before he ever got to the hospital. They shocked him 8 times and pushed even more meds and fluids! Still nothing. Just a flat line- asystole. And before that he was given CPR by a pediatric nurse for 5 minutes before the EMS arrived. I know this for a fact because she is my next door neighbor.

This sweet little boy was swimming at our private community pool. I drove by and saw people playing in the water on my way to work. I only saw two adults sitting on the side and 10 kids playing in the water. I thought "maybe Dave and Jarom will want to go swimming again today."

"Convert, convert, convert, convert!!!! Please have a heart beat. Please dear Father save this little boy." No one knew how long he had been under the water for. He was so blue. When he was brought into the emergency department 4 grown men were working on him. CPR, fluids, a tracheal tube for breathing anything and everything!!! The monitor showed great chest compressions with CPR. They worked him so long and hard even the pediatric team came down. -NOTHING! I cried and tried to hide it from my other patients who also were in the ER.

Because the pool is private there are no lifeguards. It's a swim at your own risk pool although there are specific rules about who, where, and how many. But due to lawsuits we found out there was 24/7 video surveillance. That little 4-year old boy was under the water for over 12 minutes!!!!!! Now I am pissed!! And I cried for the suffering that little boy endured while his mother talked on the side. She thought he was safely floating on a mat. What she did not see was him lose his balance and fall off into the deepest part-5 feet.

Now I think, "What if Dave and Jarom were swimming then? Would they have seen that little boy? Could Dave have saved him?" I do not know for sure. My neighbor, the pediatric nurse, was there watching her 5-year old and did not even see this little boy go under.

I still cry for this little 4-year old boy whom my son could have played with in the pool this summer. I cry for the agony that little boy must have endured- not being able to breathe. I cry for the heartache that his family went through and still has to go through. (All children who die in the emergency room have to be quarantined until there is an investigation- no family was able to go in and touch him or say good bye to this little boy.) I can barely drive by the pool without breaking down- I need to find another route because I pass it 8-10 times per day. The day after the drowning- I saw the father out by the pool just staring. I slowed down. Please don't do anything stupid with your pain. Please dear Father help them.

So now you know why I was exhausted. I was depleted of all energy. Void of all emotion. It was SO emotional, so exhausting. I do not know if I will ever be able to swim in that pool again- which is also a bummer because that is why we moved in this neighborhood-for the pool.

Now you know why I slept by Jarom. Now you know why I had to touch him, feel him and hear him! Because there was someone in my neighborhood who wasn't going to get to put their little boy to bed tonight or ever again. Can you imagine what that feels like?

Thank you sweet little boy for helping me remember what is most important in life. For helping me to remember my son during my crazy life. For helping me to know what I want out of life. For helping me know that the most important things in life are not things. For helping me remember hugs, kisses, holding hands, sweet smiles and love. For helping me open my box so I don't become a hardened, crusted clinican but one who feels, sympathizes and empathizes. Thank you for helping me remember the Atonement and its power and influence in our short daily lives! Thank you!

And I still cry.

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away. . . . .

2009-08-13T12:12:00.000-07:00

Although I tried to prevent it it still happened:

My son LOVES Star Wars.

So you can image is joy when we went to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis and they had a Stars Wars display. That just made his day!!!

Jarom by Anakyn before he turned bad in Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Jarom's favorite character is Darth Vadar but R2D2 is a pretty close second.

Do or Do Not, there is no Try. "He is the awesomest fighter!!!" according to Jarom.

C3P0 with Jarom.

I thought this poster was pretty cool. I happen to tolerate Star Wars especially I-III because of the use of modern technology. I know that I am going to be shame of some of my friends and family for saying this but I really, really think they need to redo IV-VI. If you have ever watched all the movies in a row (Jarom and I did over about 3 days) you will know that it is truly painful to go from I-III to IV-VI. There is such a huge difference is technology and animation that I could barely make it through the old ones. Its horrible!!

There are just things that are painful to watch- for example the fighting scenes in IV-VI. In comparison to the new ones- all they do is barely wave their sticks, mostly they just hold down each other's swords. No jumps, no twists, nothing. In the newer ones the fight scenes are incredible!!!! Totally what I would picture a Jedi doing?

Oh, and another thing. In the "newer" movies they are training young Jedis from childhood. Anakyn himself was barely able to make it in. Then he had years and years of training. How can Luke Skywalker (at his very old age of a teenager) be trained to be a great Jedi with only a revolving ball (in the back of a ship) and a few months with a washed out, old-timer like Yoda? And don't feed me that genetics crap? Genetics are great but you still needs years and years of practice.

Oh, and I love Harrison Ford!! He is one of my favorites but I can barely stand to watch him in these movies. You can definitely tell its one of his firsts. Its just bad. They are trying way to hard.

Okay so now that I have vented I will go play Star Wars with Jarom. I get OB1's ship from I-III!!! Its the coolest. In real life its made from press board and Styrofoam. Sorry to disappoint all you avid Star Wars lovers!! It was on display at the museum.

Happy Fourth of July!

2009-08-05T19:24:00.001-07:00

I know its about 1 month and 2 days late! But I wanted to share some of our adventures over the 4th of July!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

For starters what's a 4th of July without 4-wheeling!! So we all left our campsite and went on the bikes at a nearby ATV trail. After that we went to my cousin's house and had the BEST home fireworks display I have ever seen!! Here is some of my fam waiting to watch the show.

Hanging out. In Seattle the sun doesn't set until about 10:30pm. So we all ate ice cream and watch the little boys play with fire crackers, bottle rockets, Chinese lanterns, worms, Army tank cars, butterflies & army grenades until it was dark enough.

Sunsets in Seattle are my FAVORITE. This doesn't do them justice. Susan, Jenna & baby Katelyn.

Jarom with his Chinese lantern house.

So after the little boys got to play with fire the big boys got to play. Guess what happens when you discharge helium balloons into the air and have people shoot a hundred Roman Candles at it? You win!!! Everyone took turns "shooting" helium balloons. It was FUN!

So my cousin, Ken, LOVES the 4th of July!!! Its his favorite holiday. He probably spent at least $1,200 dollars on fireworks. And we are not talking puny little fireworks. We are talking HUGE- black cats and the ones that light up the entire sky. So he spends a lot and its worth everything penny. His home designed displays are incredible!! Seriously I have never been to such a huge, great, long show. It was incredible. Next year we are skipping the lake and going here.

But seriously, if you have never been do yourself a favor- save your money and go to his house! Its worth the drive.

How to tell your kid had a GREAT time?

2009-07-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

When I flew to Seattle to pick up Jarom, who had been visiting family while Dave and I got situated in Indiana, I was greeted by a little boy whom I barely recognized.

How can I tell if he had FUN? Because this is what he looked like!

Jarom's legs.

Jarom's ankles and hands.

Jarom's filthy face! My sweet sister in-law gave me some baby wipes- they were gross by the time I was done with his face! Thank goodness for showers & exfoliating scrubs!!

Jarom had such a GREAT time with all of his family!!! He asked me if he could do it every year!

What do I miss?

2009-07-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

Here in Bloomginton, Indiana its been below 75 degrees during the day and below 55 degrees at night. It has been raining and cloudy for the past week. I have been wearing sweats and sweatshirts, eating soup and warm bread, and sleeping with a third blanket on my bed. Our neighborhood pool has been closed due to chemical overdose so there is no water to splash and swim in. Boo-hoo.

So when the weather gets like this I can only reminisce about my last vacation to the Caribbean and this is what I miss. . . . .

Isn't it beautiful? Don't you just want to be there? oh, oh, oh, oh, oh pick me? pick me?!? pick ME!!

One day I will go back!! And I can't wait to see the warm and feel the warm sand on my feet and body. Anybody what to split the cost of a condo for a week?

Our Next Great Adventure

2009-07-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

Before I picked Jarom up from his 6 week vacation with family in the west. Dave and I headed out in our "mini" SUV to our next adventure.

Can anybody guess what we are about to do? This is the view from inside the car.

With our equipment strapped down as tight as possible we headed to Lake Monroe. To do some . . . . . .

Kayaking!

Dave was so excited!! Ever since we went kayaking in Key West, Florida Dave has been anxious to do some more! Thanks to IU Outdoor Sports we were able to rent EVERYTHING for $14.00 bucks! I think I have talked Dave into just renting a kayak every time we want to go out instead of buying one and storing it in the garage.

You can't tell from this photo but Lake Monroe is HUGE. It's the biggest lake in Indiana and only about 15-20 minutes from our house.

We had a terrific time in the "no wake zone" exploring the alcoves and terrain.

We island hopped for awhile and got out and swam many times! That's my favorite part!!

By the end we were sore from hours of paddling and swimming, we learned that rudders are really valuable, and we were all smiles and ready for our next time on the water.

Sugar and Spice and Everything nice

2009-07-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

That's what little girls are made of

So when I have some little girls of my own these are some of the things I can't wait to do:

- dress them up in Potter Barn Kids dresses
- make hair bows/hairbands
- make twirly skirts
- goshopping
- accessorizing (necklaces, hand bags, sunglasses, bracelets ect.)
- have tea parties
- play dress-up
- dance in the kitchen
- dance classes
- play make-over
- share secrets
- do hair
- do pedicures/manicures
- SHOES!!!
- sing/music/laughter

But till I have girls of my own I am going to borrow these sweet little ones and do all the aforementioned items above starting with these sunglasses.

Sadie, Susan, Brynn (trying to keep her glasses on), & Shay check out our shades from Old Navy.

I LOVE these little girls with their unique individual personalities and quirks!! I can't wait to have a brown-eyed, brown haired little girl of my own. (PS Jarom can't wait either- he prays every day for one.)

Jarom asked me how old he would be when he finally got a little sister. What do you say to that?

What can be better than . . . . .

2009-07-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

FOOD!!!!

There’s only one place in Bloomington where residents can eat foods from 40 different locations without having to walk more than a few steps in between each bite.

Welcome to "A Taste of Bloomington"

Tons of people roamed the area from 3:00pm till 11:00pm. There was so much food to try- Thai, Italian, ice cream, vegetarian, Afghanistan, Mexican, Japanese, Vietnamese, smoothies, shakes, Barbecue, strawberry lemonade, Chinese, pizzas, pastas, salads, beef brisket, on the Grill, pulled pork sandwiches, Greek, ribs, Mediterranean, olive bars, bakery items, oodles of noodles, cakes, baklava ice cream, cheesecakes just to name a few!!

It all went to a good cause too. Money for the local food bank and soup kitchen!

Here I am with Thalia and her son Ethan from our new ward here in Bloomington we were eating buddies. YUMMY GOODNESS

So if you want to attend this fantastic event next year click here for more information and plan your trip around it!

Philadelphia, I will not forget thee

2009-06-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

I can't forget Philly, I own "investment property" here. Well, I am finally to the end of my stint as a single guy, and I cannot even express how wonderful it feels to almost be in Indiana. To say that living by myself has been difficult would be quite the understatement. Everything has been pretty tame, nothing wild or crazy to relate, but it was never fun coming from school, where I am not exactly in the best environment, to a completely empty house. The strangest feeling in the world is to open up the door and see absolutely nothing where there used to be so much. I spent most of my time in the bedroom because it was the only room that had anything in it, and it was too depressing to hang out in any other room.

Fortunately, this month has not been all depression, sadness, and solitary confinement. That would have been absolutely horrible, and it’s not exactly how I prefer to live my life. This month has been good for a few things. I am currently undefeated in my football videogame (I wish I could say the same for my basketball game), I am also currently undefeated in tennis, proper appreciation needs to go to Nathan and James for helping me feel so much better about myself. I have a feeling the losses on their part were somewhat intentional. I have also been very blessed to have been able to spend so much time with friends here in the area. I think the coolest statistic, above and beyond videogames and tennis, is the amount of times I have had to cook dinner (if pouring a bowl of cereal counts for anything) for myself during the past two weeks. The answer, TWICE. Thanks to all who have made this difficult time so much happier.

The most important benefit of this time apart is the opportunity to take time to reflect on what is really important. I have always known how lucky I am to have Susan in my life, but it is so easy to get so caught up in life that the most important people tend to get ignored. While I have not particularly enjoyed this time away, it has been very beneficial to me to remember why I fell so deeply in love eight years ago. Susan is the absolute best woman in the world for me. I have had a lot of time to think about our experiences together, and how we have ended up together. She is just so amazing that I hope that I can somehow do enough for her. Good thing she is stuck to me for eternity, so that I just might have a chance.

Over the past month, I have also missed our anniversary, Jarom’s sixth birthday, and a few other things. Missing the anniversary sucked, but Susan and I have actually been apart for four of the seven anniversaries that we have had, so that was, sadly, almost more normal than not. Missing Jarom’s birthday was difficult because that has not happened before, and you only get so many birthdays with a child before they are gone (I plan on celebrating my anniversary for an infinite number of years). I am extremely grateful to my sister and my parents who found a way to make this a special day for him, and I am also very grateful for technology as I was able to see pictures of the event as they were happening, but it was still very difficult being away from him. I have spent many hours over the past five weeks browsing pictures and videos of my family, and my heart is filled with gratitude to have them in my life. I know that our lives have been so crazy trying to work full-time, having both of us in school, and trying to provide a normal family life for our son, but I am glad they are there, and I plan on making sure my priorities are in the right place during this next stage of our lives.

Due to the depressive nature of this time, I made sure that I got out and did things with as many people as I could. I am so grateful to those that let me stop by, have dinner, play tennis, or just generally hang out. I was able to go to the temple in DC, and Manhattan. I was able to develop a very special friendship with Nathan who truly helped save my sanity during this period, and I was able to renew and strengthen other friendships that I could not have gotten along without.

One of the capstone events of this month was my trip to Gettysburg this past weekend with Nathan. I have wanted to go there ever since I moved to PA, but have just not taken the opportunity. It was a very sobering experience to walk across the cemetery where thousands of soldiers are buried. I found it very interesting that the graves are arranged almost as if at a concert hall around the spot that Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address. One of the most touching things to me was that so many of the graves were just numbered. There was no name, no date, no place of birth, just a number. These valiant people stood up for what they believed in to the point where they not only sacrificed everything including homes, families, and their own lives, but they also sacrificed to the extent that nobody will truly know who they were for what they did. Now they are just a number.

Now, as I leave Philadelphia, I am so excited for what lies ahead. Today has been surreal in that it does feel as though it is time. But I also know that my better half awaits just over twelve hours away, and that is where I need to be.

I wanna go here!!!

2009-06-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

Although I am not a kid anymore I got so giddy and silly when I first saw this building . . . .

This dinosaur is really crashing out of the building!!!

While these two are SO excited to break into the

CHILDREN'S MUSEUM of INDIANAPOLIS

Isn't that the coolest thing ever!!! I want to go there and I am old.

The 'ladies' who I went with (Shay, Brynn, Sadie). And the little lego construction worker was so adorable. I wanted them to keep doing construction so these little lego men could be out.

Spiderman protecting the citizens.

A carousel on the bottom level- $1.00 to go on it!!

The main exhibition is this . . . . .

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

You can view maquettes, concept designs and artwork from the series, as well as costumes, props, models and character art from the live-action feature films

The visual exhibition features artwork, costumes and other pieces used in the concept and production for STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, the first-ever animated feature and television series from Lucasfilm Animation.

I am SO excited to take Jarom here and anyone else who wants to visit us!

First day on the JOB

2009-06-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

So my first 24-hours on the job. My newest job has been working here . . . .

The Emergency Department in Bloomington, Indiana. It is one of the top 5 in the state. My first few days have been interesting, exciting and difficult to adapt from a nurse practitioner role.

This is pretty much what all of our room look like (for those who have never been to the ED). Complete with heart monitors, oxygen, suction, overhead lights, pumps and crash carts.

There are a wide range of patients seen in all EDs. But today I looked like this . . . . . . . .

I am not kidding. A 42-year old male with a MI (myocardial infarction) aka. heart attack! Between my preceptor, a nursing aide and myself we had him rushed to the cath lab (where they go in with a camera through his leg arteries and visualize his coronary arteries (arteries of the heart)) on the other side of the hospital 13 minutes after the ambulance brought him to the ED. He went with two IV sites, all his labs drawn, heparin & lopressor given, and a completed and read EKG. We seriously looked like these pictures. Screaming at people to get out of the way!!

Why am I struggling because I want to look like this . . . . .

I have been trained to complete assessments, ask questions, complete histories, do suturing (aka stitches), do I&Ds (incision & drainage), complete procedures and make diagnoses. What do I do as a staff RN? The physician's orders. (Even then I can't do the orders until he puts them in the computer.) I have felt so limited, so restrained, so helpless when the physician has 14-16 people to see and I am sitting on my backside waiting for him. Trying to be helpful but trying not to get in his way. Not to mention pay or the lack there of as a staff RN.

I know something will work out. I just don't want to lose the skills that I have learned. (And the skills that I have paid to learn). I want to help people. I want to help the physicians help our patients. Please let me find a job where I can do that. Where I can help.

Miss this little boy . . .

2009-06-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Since the new year I had been watching this cute little bundle of joy for several hours each week. His parents sought me out in December to watch him and it truly answered our prayers! I was able to stay home, be with Jarom when he came home from kindergarten and yet still have some income.

It was wonderful to have baby laughter in our house, baby smiles, pack-n-plays, strollers, bumbo seats, bottles, jars of puree food, spit up and even some dirty diapers. Oh, how I miss those days.
Issac helped me to remember what it was like to have a little one around. He taught me that crying is okay, that stains come out of clothes and that baby smiles can brighten anyone's day.

I loved holding him when I fed him a bottle, burping him afterwards, playing with toys, singing songs, helping Jarom hold him, helping him to roll over, smothering him with kisses, having him sit and play in the kitchen while I made dinner, going on walks, having people admire "my two blond-haired, blue-eyed boys" when I went to a store watching him chew on the diaper bag strap and watching him pull a blanket over his face to go to sleep.

Thank you Christina for allowing me to take care of your little one. Thank you for trusting me with him. Thank you for letting me love him as a mother. There were days I did not want to give him back. I truly love and miss him with all my heart. He helped me to know for sure that I can love someone else's baby even if they did not come from my womb.

We still hope and pray there is a birthmom out there for us. And after caring and loving Isaac I cannot wait to hold my baby in my arms, rock and sing, play, feed and yes, even change those poopy diapers.

One short day in the Emerald City!!!

2009-06-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

Divas and Romance and Thrills:

Oh my!

So remember my last NYC trip? Well the whole reason we went to

NYC is to go here . . . . . .

I LOVED it!! It was great. I laughed and laughed and tried not to sing to the music so everyone else around me could enjoy it! That proved to be challenging for me. Sorry Matt.

Props greeting guests as they arrive at the Gershwin Theater on 50th & Broadway- Times Square.

Friends who went with us.

Matt and I getting ready for the show to start. We had great seats. I LOVE the lower levels.

James, Martha & David in their seats.

Tasha & Amanda drove up with Amanda's mom just to see the show!

Waiting in line to go to the bathroom. It was crazy but we wanted to have empty bladders before the show started so we could enjoy the entire thing! There was a lady directing people to different stalls (just like the dressing rooms of the temple) It was so funny!! I laughed out loud.

If every musical had the brain,

the heart, and the courage of 'Wicked'

Broadway really would be a magical place.

It was wonderful and I can't wait to go again!! (Maybe they will come through Indianapolis). Thanks Paige for making one of my dreams, while living in Philly, come true.

Jarom is so upset that he couldn't go. He LOVES the music from 'Wicked'. They have a strict 8-year old policy. So he knows when he turns 8 he can go. He is stoked. So am I.

To market, to market . . .

2009-06-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

To market, to market

to buy a fat pig

home again, home again

jig jiggity jig

Here in Bloomington every Saturday they have a Farmer's Market downtown. Some friends wanted to break me into this Bloomington experience.

The market was crazy (for such a small town) filled with tons of people. Buying all sorts of yummy goodness. There were lanes and lanes of people selling all sorts of stuff.

It was an extremely warm day (we even put sunscreen on). Everyone was under tents!

Some people even made their own aisles with their pop-up canopys. Everything you could think of (if it was in season) was for sale.

Fruits, vegetables (even chillies!!), flowers, herbs (both fresh and dried) . . .

Fresh bakery items, kettle corn, ice cream, wine, quiche, yummy cheeses, coffee, cookies, fresh fruit smoothies, honey and . . . . .

Honey on a stick!! This booth also made candles and all sorts of cool things from bees wax! Look at the table. Pictured above are the ladies I went with. Top:Lauren & Necia, Botton: Brynn, Sadie, & Shay

You can also find an array of barbecue sauces and the MEAT to go with it! Our favorite was the Texas style BBQ sauce. (This is were Chris (the dad) spent most of his time!! Maybe he felt a little out numbered)

Tons of people there were selling bacon, sausage, tenderloin, chops, steaks, eggs, breasts, legs, thighs, and meat candy. . . .

If anyone can guess what this is I will make you some and send it to you!!!

There were even local artisans demonstrating their musical and art skills! This is what made it feel a little more hometownish. All the singing and twanging to country songs. It was a super fun morning!

Stay tuned to find out what I do next!!!

Happy Birthday Little One!!!

2009-06-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

For those who can't keep track of dates (like me) I just wanted to let you know our little one is 6 years old today!!! I cannot believe it! I remember having contractions during microbiology class at BYU with him. He has grown up in SO many ways. How time flies. To learn more about Jarom click here.

Here are a few snaps of our first few years with him. . . .

Getting ready to go on his first plane ride.

Being held by his uncle Samuel.

Sitting with mom at a Jazz Basketball game.

Learning about flowers with mom on the SLC temple grounds.

Driving his first car at his Aunt Christine's house (PS: Jarom has spend 2 of his 6 birthday here. Its great because one of her son's birthday is on the same day as his. Today Jarom is there having a birthday party and watching Kyle get baptized. )

Daddy holding Jarom at the SLC temple.

Driving the "real" truck.

Dirty faces! He wanted more brownie!

So that little baby grew into this boy. . . . . .

Playing in the sandbox at Grandma's in Utah while mom studied for her FNP exam in Indiana and Dad finishes his teaching contract in Philly. When will we be together?

Making a crocodile out of cupcakes- something else he did away from his parents.

We sent Jarom a package for his birthday in it was this water gun. So far (we've been told) that he LOVES it and has spent hours squirting things.

With his mom!

Dearest Jarom- I hope you have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. You have grown up SO much since you were born. You can do incredible things now like read, say your own prayers, run, speak kindly, do your helper tasks, and play with other kids. You are such a great little boy. You have been through so much with a mommy and a daddy who are so busy with school and life. Thank you for that. We LOVE you forever and can't wait to see you again. Have a great day!

-Love You- Mom

National Certification Examination

2009-06-06T05:26:00.000-07:00

Okay after months of sitting and studying, I finally got to take my National Certification Examination which recognizes me as a Family Nurse Practitioner. It was a grueling 4-hour exam which started at noon with no food or drink allowed (great right in the middle of lunch and my sleepy time).

Minimum score to pass the examination- 350

Susan's score- 425

HUGS & KISSES & THANKS & PRAYERS go out to all of you who thought and prayed for me. I truly have felt your love and kindness as I have been studying and as I took the exam. Thank you.

Views of Bloomington

2009-06-03T17:54:00.001-07:00

So lots of people who have never been to Bloomington keep asking me:

What's it look like in Bloomington, Indiana?

Well I can' figure out why they haven't been to Bloomington yet. Isn't a vacation spot? An escape from the pressures of life and chaos? A resort for those needing a sanctuary? An a beacon for those who LOVE IU basketball? Its only about 1 hour south of I-70 for those who frequent transcontinental trips.

Okay so maybe it's only us that the aforementioned applies to. So I will show you the views I have had of Bloomington since moving here 13 days ago. From where I sit this is what Bloomington looks like . . . . . . .

That's it folks! That's all I have seen of Bloomington since arriving. My southend hurts so much from sitting in these two places and I think I am developing Thoracic Curvature Syndrome from studying for so long.

Wish me luck- only 39 hours till I can take my national examination to be a real Family Nurse Practitioner! (Or better yet pray for me!! I need all the prayers I can get- Seriously!!!!)

PS: Stay tuned for more "real" Bloomington pictures to come after this test.

Surprise

2009-06-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

The only reason that I am even doing this is to surprise Susan and show her that I know how, at least I hope I know how. So anyway, there have been a few people that have been wondering how a very happily married man is doing when the love of his life is a thousand miles away. Well, it's really quite simple. Here is my beautiful house, you remember the one that didn't sell.

Anyway, this is what it now looks like on the inside.

So, as you can tell, I don't have much to do. I can sit on the floor toward the sunlight, or I can sit on the floor away from the sunlight. If I am really bored, I can lay down on the floor. See, I told you that it is easy to keep myself busy during this time of solitary confinement.

Fortunately, I have one resource that has saved all levels and sanity, and even gives some sort of happiness and comfort.

HALLELUJAH!!!!!!! The freezer was left filled with all sorts of goodness, including otter pops, fudgecicles, and cookie dough that helps ease the drudgery of staring at blank walls. I told you that a married man separated from all that is good and wonderful can survive :)