This Made Me Think of Miss Em

I was just looking for something for girl's camp in The Friend ( a church magazine for children) and saw a picture of a little girl in a wheelchair, and had to read the story. When I read it, it made me smile and cry a little, because it reminded me of Emily. During church she loved music, and would get so excited during singing time. I just thought it was short and uplifting, so I thought I'd share it.

C. J. Gudmundson, “Smiles to Share,” Liahona, Jun 2009, F8–F9
Based on a true story“Be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you” (D&C 68:6).

“What did you learn in Primary today, Sasha?” Mom asked as they drove home from church.
“Sister Duffy taught us about special gifts called talents,” Sasha said. “She said Heavenly Father gave us all talents so we can help others. She said when we share our talents, it makes people happy.”
“That’s right,” Mom said. “Jesus taught that we should use our talents to serve others.”
Sasha sat quietly for a moment, staring out the window. “But, Mom, what about Lauren?” she asked.
“What about her?” Mom asked.
“Well, she can’t talk, and she’s in a wheelchair. What kinds of talents does she have that can help others?”
“What is the first thing you notice about Lauren when you see her?” Mom asked.
Sasha thought for a minute and then said, “Her smile. Lauren is always smiling.”
“That’s right,” Mom said. “What else?”
“She’s always laughing. Especially when we sing or she hears the piano. She always gets so excited. And she loves to blow kisses to people.”
“How do you feel when you are with Lauren?” Mom asked.
“Happy. I always feel happy when I’m around Lauren,” Sasha said.
“Me too,” Mom said. “That is one of Lauren’s talents. She shares love and happiness with everyone around her. That is one of the most special talents of all.”
“We are here to accomplish something, to bless society with our talents and our learning.”

Favorite Washington Places

We had a great time in Oregon and in Washington. I miss the ocean so much! I just love it there. I want to retire to the Oregon coast and run a bed and breakfast. This is at Cape Perpetua, Oregon, where Robby and I went on our honeymoon. This is the day before the race.

Janica and I getting dropped off for the start of the marathon.

My happy dance, I guess. I was a little hyper. This was about 2 miles into the race.

Coming across the finish line.

Janica and I at the finish.

Robby and Lily cheered us on.

Janica's little girl and Lily. You'd think having twin sisters as mom's, the girls would look more alike!

My first night at home we went and had a salmon cookout at Birch Bay State Park. It was Copper River Sockeye, which is so, so yummy. This is my mom, dad, and Lily at the beach.

Aunt Sarah and Lily at the beach. I have a lot more pictures on Facebook. Way too many to put on the blog!

I grew up seeing these sunsets. I really, really miss it. This is just 10 minutes from my house.

For my dad's birthday we drove up to Nooksack Falls. It's always a humbling sight. The snow is melting quite a bit up top, so the river was really full of water.

Mount Shuksan from Mt. Baker Ski are. This is looking toward the beginner runs. This is where I grew up skiing every weekend.

This is The Chute. I grew up skiing this run. I also slid down it once, from the top to the bottom. It's right underneath the chair lift, so it's kind of embarrassing when you fall, because everyone can see you!

Sitting on Chair 1. The Chute is behind us.

We went over to San Juan Island, and got to ride the ferry. This is Mt. Baker behind us.

Lily loved playing with Grandma and Grandpa. More than she liked me!

This is in my backyard, at the waterfall that my brother Steve built. Dad and Lily would go out and sit by it. She loved it. Being home was great, although it really made me miss Emily. I used to go home with Emily during the summer and let her roll around in the nice soft grass (Texas grass is not soft) and take her too all the places that I took Lily.

It's now over 100 degrees here in Texas. I really miss the beautiful Washington and Oregon weather. Lily is very busy, pulling herself up on EVERYTHING. She still won't say mama. She and I have been going swimming, trying to stay cool. Oh, at least we're going home again in 6 weeks! Last year I was pregnant all summer, so I guess I can't complain.

We Did It!

Janica and I ran our first marathon on Saturday, in Newport, Oregon. It was an amazing experience for me. I'll post pictures in the next day or so. Here's a link where you should be able to see us at the finish line. http://aep.exposuremanager.com/p/nm09_45/under45_14534 Thre's 2 pictures after that one of us, too. The race was right on the coast, and followed the water the entire way. We had perfect weather. I was lucky, and felt really good for the whole race. My legs were tired at the end, but no bad knees or anything like that. Janica's right leg was bothering her, which was a bummer for her, but we felt good about how we did overall. Our final time was 4 hours 11 minutes, and from mile 15, where we turned around to head back to the finish line, no one passed us, but we passed quite a few people. Our 2nd half was actually faster than our first, I think due to less bathroom breaks. As we crossed the finish line I was laughing and crying. I was quite unprepared for how emotional I was! I haven't felt like that since Lily was born. Lily was obviously the more important, bigger, better event, but the way I felt as far as my emotions was similar. I started training for this right after Emily died, and I think that had a large part to do with how emotional I was at the end. I think that she was cheering us on. And we had so many people there at the end-Robby, Lily, Janica's family, Robby's sister and her husband, his mom and her friend, and my parents and sister Sarah. I think it doesn't matter what it is or the distance of the race, that feeling of accomplishing a goal is just a great feeling. Thanks for all the encouraging words!