Jill's Epiphany about Life

I had an epiphany the other day about life. For the longest time I have had a slight struggle with putting church and real life together. They were almost two completely separate lives for me. Not that I was different in on or the other, I just had a hard time equalizing the two. How did one really fit into the other, and what does it really matter anyway?
Well, as I was talking to Durrant about this late one night I was able to somehow put it all together in this parable: This world/life is like a school. Church is the classroom, and life is the lab where we go and try out all the things we learned in class. Then, after school is out, we can go home and report our progress. Some of us will have progressed further in our schooling than others, and a few of us will still be stuck in detention.
However, the classroom is critical. If we don’t have the instructions for the lab, the lab can get extremely frustrating and discouraging. We also have lots of instructors to go to when we get confused; prophets, parents, and other church leaders. And, (coming from someone who works in a college bookstore) school wouldn’t be school without textbooks: Scriptures, modern rev elation and personal inspiration.
But, keep in mind, the classroom is irrelevant without the application of the lessons learned. Why go to class if you can’t put the principles to work? Sometimes you don’t really see the point in the lab until weeks after the particular exercise, then it all comes into place and there is clarity. Other times you can’t possibly see how this particular experiment works, let alone how it could turn out okay. But somehow, if you keep following the guidelines from class, it all works out – usually better than you could have dreamed.
Yes, I realize this little parable of mine is probably full of holes. But it helps me put together two separate worlds in a way that makes sense. It also helps me realize that this life isn’t just now and that’s it, it is for eternity and what we do here really does matter.

Impromptu Vacation Part 1

So, a few weeks ago, Friday morning, I got a call from my father-in-law.  He wanted to know if we would be interested in going to Fish Lake.  This being the place where Durrant built most of his wonderful childhood memories it took about -5 seconds to say, "Uh, YEAH!"  Turned out that Bryce and Elizabeth were not able to join us, but we did catch up with Warren and Amanda while we were there.  Here is the evidence:

 The water was ICE cold (amazing that a melted glacier's water would be cold) but Asher didn't seem to notice.  I think it was because he was numb after about 5 seconds and couldn't feel it.  It was nearly impossible getting him out, he loved it.

We stopped at the dollar store and picked up some cheap water guns for the boys to play with.  HILARIOUS.  Durrant was very patient and kind showing the boys how to fill them up with water.

After playing at the lake we decided to head to the cabin for a nice warm shower and dinner.  This toy was at the cabin and Asher took it everywhere with him, he even made up sound effects for the different figures.  And, although it looks like he is naked, I promise he does have a diaper on... :) 

The next morning Asher could hardly wait to get outside and explore.  He was in his element, he could go anywhere and touch anything.  Who needs a candy store when you have the big outdoors???  Anyway, we discovered that he would find the big rocks and run to stand on them and shout "happy day."  It was so cute I had to record it.

You thought I was kidding when I said he was a climber.  Not so...

Chillin' with Dad in the hammock.  Gonna be a good day.

And the tradition of Penny Rock holds true for one more year.

I have great hopes that I will be able to install the second edition of Impromptu Vacation very soon.  However, you now have the teaser, enjoy.

Lawn Mowing, "Tawah Building," and Book Reading

The day we brought Asher home from his surgery he we pretty drunk, like I mentioned before.  However, it didn't take him long to bounce back.  Dad brought out the lawn mower and Asher was bound and determined to help him out.  I thought it was so cute I had to get some photos.  

You can see that Durrant has his earphones in.  Asher will usually insist on taking one of D's headphones and listening to music along with him.  That usually leaves D to hold Asher in one hand so they can both listen to music, and mow the lawn with the other.  By the time they are done, Dad is DONE. :)

 Some very dear friends of ours were kind enough to bring Asher a get-well gift.  He LOVES it.  Here is a photo of him building his "tawah (tower)."  Now, his favorite word in the mornings (walk) has grown to two favorite words.  We do a lot of tower building. :)

I took this photo this morning before church.  I thought it was very appropriate for Father's Day.  Nothing like layin' on the floor reading books with Dad.  Awesome.  

 

Asher's First Surgery

We made it!  It was rough going for a while (at least for mom) but we are now home and are ready to get back to life.  The surgery went well, only took about 20 minutes, and the doc said everything looked really good.  At the moment we have a kid drunk on pain meds who has the munchies and listening to Pink Floyd and Yellow Submarine (courtesy of his dad).  We are pretty entertained. :)

Anyway, here are some of the photos of the day:

Dressed to impress!!! :)

They have some pretty cool toys here, Mom.

Right before they took him back, looking drunk on drugs. :)

Made it through, and snoozing in Mom's arms.

Attempting, and then successfully taking off the band-aid from the IV.  He didn't like it so much.

Communicating Hydroseal

So, some not so awesome news in this post. Asher is going in for a surgical procedure Monday morning. Evidently, it is a fairly common, easy procedure, but I'm still a bit nervous about it. Anyway, here is what is going on:

When Asher was born his Doc said something about a communicating hydroseal, but said they usually fix themselves over time and not to worry about it. Well, when Asher had the flu last week I noticed his little sac was strangely lopsided. I got online to WebMD (NEVER do this!), and started freaking out as I read about hernias, etc. We called the doc and made an appointment.

Evidently, when little boys are forming their testicles actually come out of the abdomen. And their little sacs have a sleeve-like structure that they slide down until they get to their permanent spot. That sleeve is supposed to close off. Asher's didn't. Currently there is fluid going in and out of that sleeve, which isn't life threatening. However, eventually some of the intestines could find their way into his sac and that could cause some major problems. Therefore, Monday morning we are going in to get him drained and sewn up so he doesn't get a hernia playing T-ball when he's 8 years old or something.

Durrant keeps telling me that it is a common procedure and not to worry about it. But, I confess, I am worried. I know it doesn't make any sense, but I don't like the fact that my child who is less than 18 mo. old is going under the knife - I just can't be comfortable with that. I called my bro-in-law, who is going to be a nurse anesthetist, and told him he had to make me feel better. I called my bro, who is going to be a urologist, and asked him if we really needed to do this. If I had a phone number for God, I think I would call him and ask Him a few other questions (hope that isn't too sacrilegious).

However, as much as I'm not looking forward to this, I realize it is a small "trial" in order to prevent a bigger one in the future. I'm sure everything will go fine and Asher won't even notice the difference (it's same-day surgery, and he should be back to normal Mon afternoon). And then I can go on and worry about how to pay for all this!!! :)

Ah, life, aren't you grand.

Anyway, along with my goal of keeping everyone updated I have shared the latest. And if I'm brave I will try and bring the camera so I can adequately document my son's first surgery for all of you who are so far away. :)

Goin' on a walk!

Okay, so I'm trying harder to keep you up to date, so here goes:

Asher LOVES to go on walks. Really, he just loves being outside. So, the first thing he says every morning when he wakes up is "wok" (pointing to the door just in case I missed it). These are a few of the pictures I took this morning as we walked to the store. I think he looks pretty cute in his shades. :)



Until next time... :)

Catch Up Time...

Wow, has it really been since Christmas since I last posted pics of Asher??? Okay, I am a slacker. Well, here is a bunch we have taken since then:

Here is The Christmas Story snowsuit all over again except in baby blue. I loved it, Asher didn't so much.

I have to time my dish-doing for when Asher is either with Dad or asleep. If not, I have discovered through examples like below one of the lessons you learn when you are a parent: dishwashers are FREE GAME.


Cousin Hope was here for a few hours and we played ourselves silly during that time. Here is some of the evidence:

And last but not least, tub shot. Great times were had by all.

Asher wearing Mom's shoes (he does this a lot, he really likes the heels...) during our first picnic of the year.

Before and after of Asher's first ever haircut. It was a little complicated, but we got 'er done. :)

Playin' with the dog at Grampa Hunter's house (May 2010). Don't know exactly what is so cool over there but it's pretty awesome, let me tell you!

That's all for now. Hopefully I will do a better job of keeping you up to date. Until then, we love ya! :)