Ethan's 12th B-Day

Today at 1:27 PM Ethan turned twelve. (He pulled out his scrapbook to confirm the time.) It is a landmark birthday. He was sustained in sacrament meeting and ordained to the office of Deacon in the Aaronic priesthood after church. It was his first day to meet with the Deacon's Quorum. Now all the men in our family go to priesthood meeting together. The girls called just as I was decorating his icecream cake. It was 3:00 PM here and 1:00 AM (tomorrow) there.
We continued the family tradition we started Jecia's freshman year of college by singing "Happy Birthday" with the absentee members on the phone. It is so fun to connect with our girls on the other side of the world. I love modern technology!

Ethan checking out new Star Wars Legos for his collection

Ethan on his new bike

A Pinch to Grow an Inch

We have a spot in our laundry room hallway where we chart the growth of the family. Nowhere else in the house is it acceptable to write on the walls, but on this space it is condoned and even encouraged. This tradition started at my Grandparent's home long before I was born. The first marks on our wall were made April 22, 2001. At that time, there was a big gap between Marshall's 6' 1'' mark and that of our children. At odd times we hear comments like, "I think I have grown. Come and measure me." or "Hey Jecia, I think I am taller than you. Let's go measure." This leads to all interested parties converging on "the wall" with Mom or Dad as the unbiased pencil toting judge. A new mark is made, labeled and dated and the verdict announced.

Jecia and Eliza reached their full height a few years ago, so now the boys use them as benchmarks of growth. Caleb passed Jecia while she was on her mission. He was thrilled to have her come home to a "big" brother. Ethan has yet to surpass Jecia, but it won't be long. Eliza was still 1/2 inch taller than Caleb when she left for Jerusalem in January. This morning Caleb felt certain that growth had occured. With pencil I hand, I measured marked and recorded the official results. And the winner is... Caleb by three quarters of an inch (5' 10 3/4 "). He's grown an inch and a quarter in one month. The upside to all of this is that he wears shorts 11 months of the year so I don't have to buy him new pants every two months. Shoes are another story.

An Amazing Husband

I have the most amazing husband! Four days after Joseph's funeral I left for an eight day Western Caribbean Cruise. It was the kind of trip that people dream of and take perhaps once in their life. The timing and circumstances made it diffucult for me to be excited. I went with my sister Yolonda so we could complete a seminar required for a travel certification. Marshall stayed home with the boys. (One more reason I was not very excited.)

The cruise was wonderful. The MSC Orchestra is beautiful. The weather could not have been better. The ports were lovely; Key West, Cozumel, Grand Cayman & Cayo Levantado. Many times each day I wished Marshall were there to share an experience.

I arrived home about 7:30 PM Sunday and he met me at the airport. I was soooo excited to see him. He was even more excited to see me. He recounted the adventures of the week. Up each day to get the boys off to school before he left. Home in time to make dinner while helping with homework then off to karate or Scouts then home for showers and bed to be ready to start the day again. There was no down time or break! He spent the weekend cleaning the house, doing laundry and repairing and repainting our kitchen stools. He was worn out and glad to have me home! I was equally glad to have returned and we have both enjoyed a greater appreciation for each other for the last few days. That will be the last cruise I do without Marshall. He is just too amazing to leave behind!